MTG Salvation

Quote from Orange

...oh come now. The name says it all. Its name is sooo close to nantuko shade that it must be. Although, I could see it pumping insects and not just itself, that would be an interesting take. Shade is more popular and iconic of a card, why wouldn't they do a card that references it!? I don't see any other cardnames that would resemble the shade so I speculate based on the name that this is a shade influenced card for green.

That is, unless shade is a purple riprint! whoo hoo!

The names sound alike, but that's all. If you look at it logically, you come to a different conclusion. Here:

Nantuko Shade: Nantuko (green insect creature) Shade (black shade creature)

Nantuko Shaman: Nantuko (green insect creature) Shaman (red and green priestly creature).

The only time nantukos are black are when they are undead (shades, zombies). Otherwise, they are always green.

So, Nantuko Shaman will be a G creature or maybe a GR creature. The chances of it being mono-black are slim to none.

Cheers,
rant

I doubt it. Green has many more nantuko creatures than black. I hope it's a new version of Eternal Witness. Maybe:

Nantuko Shaman 2GG
Creature--Insect Shaman
When ~this~ comes into play, return a card from your graveyard to your hand.
3/2

I can dream, can't I?

Cheers,
rant

I'm really digging the purple cards and I'm glad they are Standard/Extended legal. However, there are two cards I wish they hadn't reprinted: Psionic Blast and Witch Hunter. I just think these are both great violations of the color pie. I know MaRo said they were stretching it, but these two cards bust it. I'm not saying they are too powerful. They are just out of flavor now. I won't quit Magic over it, but I am a bit disappointed.

Most of the others really kick ass. Avatar, Akroma, Flying Men, Spectral Lynx, Mystic Enforcer, etc. These are great cards that I'm happy to see back (and hopefully crack open).

Cheers,
rant

Quote from Nubaa

Then why was Nevinyrral's Disk given to the white magus instead of say, the black one? That's a clear case of nostalgia being trumped by the color pie. I don't personally believe that WotC is going to violate it in any case where it would make a big difference.

Actually, Magus of the Disk is perfectly on color. White is the only color that can destroy every kind of permanent so long as it does it fairly. Green doesn't destroy creatures. Red doesn't destroy enchantments. Black doesn't destroy artifacts or enchantments. Blue really doesn't destroy anything. There is no other color the disk mage could go to and not violate the pie.

Cheers,
rant

Quote from St@rWizard

This card is Living Death, what are you guys crying ''crap!'' thinking??? Sure, just like Lotus Bloom and Wheel of Fate it has suspend and can't be played otherwise, but this is #3 of the 6-card cycle of powerful cards of old with no mana cost and with suspend X-Y. The best thing for us to do is speculate on the others. My guesses:

White - Balance
Blue - Upheaval
Green - Plow Under

It wouldn't hurt to have those back now would it?

Great speculation! I never thought of a suspended Balance, which is one of the underappreciated yet most broken of all cards. That would be the coolest thing ever!

And Living End seems to be a good card. Living Death was a format defining card in Tempest era--and that was before the dredge mechanic. I predict a Living End/dredge deck will be tournament viable. So far, this is my third favorite card in the set, after Jaya and Wheel of
Fate.

Cheers,
rant

Edit: If you play Leyline of the Void, it breaks the symmetry of this card. Hope no else said that first.

I'm betting it's a wurm. There are several hits for wurm in the Orb. I'd like a cool, new wurm. It could be a beast, and it could be Liege of the Pit.

It's really hard to say right now, but if it isn't a wurm or the Liege, I'd be surprised.

Cheers,
rant

Quote from Zyrakris

This guy isn't that great. Putrefy and Mortify (and Deathmark) can now counter your Wrath-effect. Good job.

Ah, yes, once again we have someone point out that creature removal will actually remove your creature. The same could be said about artifact removal and the old Disk. I think you should just play good cards and expect your opponent to do the same. Some of yours will get destroyed, countered, etc. and some will stick around to do their job. It's the nature of the game.

I think Magus of the Disk is great. He's Akroma's Vengence on a nice-sized body. Yes, he comes into play tapped, but that is probably fair considering what he does. This is a solid card--even with Purtrefy and Mortify in the format.

Cheers,
rant

Quote from brindelin

So how high would he be on your list?

Pretty high. I need to complete my playset. However, if I had to choose, I'd pick Meddling Mage and Simulacrum over Shadowmage.

Avalanche Riders would be brutal in the current Standard. Imagine you took 2 to play a dual untapped, then the Riders blew it up and charged in for damage (or to kill what you played with the dual). Nasty! I've always been a fan of this card, but I question if it should be in this environment.

Cheers,
rant

Quote from Aftermath

i would run 2 Patron of the Kitsune they are just really amazing in this deck and they are beat sticks. i would also play 1 more Grand Arbiter Augustin IV and play 1 Congregation at Dawn the card is just amazing in this deck works so well and gets you the fatty's that you need.

The Pontiff is not worth it and a yosi would also be nice too just one.

Thank you. I actually don't own any Patrons and don't want to go buy them with Kamigawa rotating out so soon. Maybe I'll replace Pontiff with Yosei. Actuallly, I made a mistake because there is a Congregation in the deck. I think there are only 3 Guildmagi and 1 Congregation. I'll have to check, but yes, Congregation is awesome in this deck.

The reason I really like the Pontiff is that he kills opposing doves. You play Pontiff, kill your opponents doves, and fly in for the win. However, adding a fourth color to support him probably isn't smart. Yosei seems better.

What about Loaming Shaman in the sideboard to take out Solar Flare's fat graveyard and end dredge shenanigans?

Cheers
rant

Hey,

Here's the build I'm thinking of running at a local Standard tournament. I don't play a lot of Standard, so any help is appreciated. I'm sure the sideboard needs work. I can't decide if running the Pontiff is worth splashing black. Also, does Yosei, Valkyrie, or another SSS have a place in this deck? Anyway, this is my build:



So, let me know what you think.

Cheers,
rant

Sylvan Safekeeper would be interesting to have back in Standard. First, there is an uber-plethora of targeted removal these days. I'll gladly sac a land to keep my Slum in play. Second, he combos well with Life from the Loam and Crucible of Worlds which is back in 10th (not sure how long the overlap of TS/10th will be). I've often thought he was an underappreciated card.

Cheers,
rant

In a column where he discussed the reserved list, MaRo used Thunder Spirit as an example of a card that would make a great reprint but that can't be reprinted due to the stupid reserve list. By making it a totem, you get around that restriction. I'd like to think that MaRo has been looking for a way to slip one of my all-time favorite creatues back into the game for a long time.

Thunder spirit totem won't be as good as an actual reprint of thunder spirit, but I'll still rejoice.

Cheers,
rant

Quote from Tapsymboldancer

I find the pose with the snake similar to that of spirit link

Completely agreed. I thought the same thing. The snake seems to be the focus of the art, but it's bearer may be card. Hard to say what this is.

Cheers,
rant

Quote from CheeseshireCat

Actually, BLEH. Art is awesome, especially for the foil version, but for kinda "Circle of All" card, not for Story Circle. Keyword: Story. Anyone remembers the original Masques art? Neither of the newer editions of that card have any link to the card itself.

Totally agree. The art for the original Masques card is still my favorite. The power of myth and belief are what protects you. I like this art a lot, but it has no flavor. It would've been great on a different card. He's a talented artist, for sure.

Cheers,
rant

To all the people saying the angel is bad: What did you expect when MaRo said there was a 2 mana angel? We weren't going to get Akroma or Radiant for that mana. I think it's an interesting card and probably very playable. She's definitely great in Limited and in any white-heavy aggro deck.

I have nothing to say about Jaya except that she's brutal. Oh, and that I could never understand in a million years how anyone thought that art was for Braids.

Cheers,
rant