I really like Fight to the Death. In the right kind of deck, this thing is ridiculously one-sided. Fun tricks to use with this include indestructible creatures, creatures that regenerate for cheap or for free (since it still allows regeneration), creatures with Persist, creatures that replace themselves when killed (Tukatongue Thallid and Sprouting Thrinax come to mind), cards that alter how blocking works or force bad blocks... and I'm probably missing a bunch of other nifty tricks or comboes, too.
As for those who complain the card is too situational, you're absolutely right. In fact, the vast majority of cards in the game are situational. That's why you set up your deck to create the situation you need so that you can exploit it.
But my number one reason for liking this card is because it allows for the following multiplayer scenario:
Player A: *declares attackers*
Player B: *declares blockers*
Player C: "You!" *points at Player D* "Bring me the Wall Street Journal! You two!" *points at Players A & B, then taps RW* "Fight to the Death!"
The (B/G) won't have deathtouch, Shadormoor/Eventide features wither instead. Likely are regeneration, persist and/or basilisk (whenever ~ deals combat damage to a creature, destroy that creature at the end of turn).
I just thought of the Changeling Colossus myself. Except my thought went along the lines of:
Turn 1: Land, mana elf or Bird of Paradise.
Turn 2: Land, Captain.
Turn 3: Land, swing with Captain, drop Colossus into play and pump.
Colossusize me, Cap'n!
Seriously, though, this guy's pretty good, especially if you can find a way to work in those soldiers with good comes into play effects, like Aven Riftwatcher, Inkfathom Divers, and Stormfront Riders.
I've been sitting here, thinking about this guy for a bit now, and it dawns on me... for this block, this is an extremely potent card. By itself, it's just a glorified Grizzly Bear. But the synergy it has with other tribal stuff is mind-boggling. Just going off what we've seen from the cards spoiled thus far:
White
Gives Kithkin Greatheart +1/+1 and first strike.
Can be tapped to help return Summon the School to your hand.
Lets you draw a card when you play Surge of Thoughtweft.
Blue
Increases X by +1 when you play Spellfumbler Sprite.
Can be championed to play Wanderwine Prophets, or sacrificed for an extra turn if your Prophets deal damage.
Black
Can be returned to your hand with Boggart Birth Rite.
Can be sacrificed to play Fodder Launch.
Gives Warren Pilferers haste if you return it from your graveyard to your hand when you play the Pilferers.
Red
Triggers Boggart Shenanigans when it dies.
Can be used to deal damage with Crush Underfoot.
Makes Flamekin Bladewhirl a 2/1 for R instead of 3R.
Can be stolen and given haste by Goatnapper for 1 turn.
Can be played using Smokeroller.
Gets +2/+2 and trample from Sunrise Sovereign.
Can championed to play Nova Hunter.
Green
Gives Battlewand Oak +2/+2 until the end of the turn when it comes into play.
Gives you an extra elf token when you play Elvish Promenade.
Lets your Immaculate Magistrate give one more +1/+1 counter when you activate it.
Gets +1/+1 from Imperious Prefect.
Gets +1/+1 and indestructable from Timbermaw Protector.
Can be championed to play Wren's Run Packmaster, and gets deathtouch if it's in play with the Packmaster.
Makes Wren's Run Vanquisher a 3/3 with deathtouch for 1G instead of 4G.
Lands
Lets your Secluded Glen come into play untapped when you reveal it from your hand.
That's just from cards we already know about (and any similar cards that could be part of a cycle, like the Secluded Glen). And all that for the cost of a Grizzly Bear? Now think of the implications in Standard, where Slivers still run rampant. Or in Tribal in Magic Online. This thing is mind-bogglingly good, even as a filler card. No wonder Mistform Ultimus was legendary. Could you imagine what Onslaught might have been like if the other Mistform creatures had this ability?
That said, still an awesome card. Totally blew my mind when I saw that line of rules text. And here I was thinking Maro's treefolk preview was badass...
Very nice to see Beacon of Destruction coming back. But I doubt that we'll see his green brother coming back. Here's my reasoning:
Beacon of Creation creates green 1/1 insect tokens. The current Standard, however, already has a green 1/1 creature token: saprolings. And WotC hates redundancy like that. Not to mention it can become confusing to have two types of green 1/1 creature tokens on the table when such tokens are represented by things like dice or pennies. "Wait... did you just sacrifice three insects to pay for your Savage Thallid's regeneration ability?" "... No?"
I know, I know, unlikely to happen in a tournament setting, but still possible in a casual one. And with the risk of confusing new players present, WotC would more than likely pass on reprinting Beacon of Creation this time around.
Of course, that's just my opinion; I could be wrong.
And while we're at it, lump me into the category that hopes to see a return of Beacon of Unrest.
Also, I think it's funny how he finally states that Spoilers are actually good for the game (even though he does say "early" spoilers are bad.) It's just that Spoilers period are what players want. People like to see a taste of things to come far in advance, just to make it worth it when it comes out.
Actually, it's not "early" spoilers he's against... it's "unofficial" spoilers. In other words, anything that hasn't been approved by Wizards to be spoiled.
Won't comment on Haakon; pretty much everyone else has said everything that can be said about him.
Sek'kaur is interesting... as far as having the green in his casting cost, here's my hypothesis: it's the green in his mana cost that keeps you from having to sacrifice the tokens at the end of the turn. Think about it; green is the creature color, green likes making tokens, and more than that, green likes to have tokens that don't automatically die at the end of the turn. So even though the tokens aren't green themselves, the fact that they stick around instead of dying like they normally would is a green effect. Or at least, that's my line of logic. I could be wrong.
Sound the Call... grah... curse you WotC! On the one hand, I love it because it's another Wolf for a possible theme deck... but it's not an actual creature card, so it doesn't count towards the 20 card minimum in Tribal in Magic Online. That said, I still like it and still plan on running it.
Also, one final note on Sek'kaur and Sound the Call - Doubling Season. 3/1 with haste and a land for STE is good. 2 3/1s with haste and a land for STE is better. Same thing with Sound... 1 2/2 for 3 is eh... but 2 2/2s for 3 is decent... and they keep getting bigger with each Sound you play...
Yeah, that Debtors' Knell sure is cool. I like it. A lot.
Oh, no argument here. I love the card, and I wanna try and figure out a way to build a deck around it. Maybe nothing that'll make an impact in Standard, but something fun for casual play.
Hrm... wonder how hard it is to get ahold of Academy Rectors...
As for those who complain the card is too situational, you're absolutely right. In fact, the vast majority of cards in the game are situational. That's why you set up your deck to create the situation you need so that you can exploit it.
But my number one reason for liking this card is because it allows for the following multiplayer scenario:
Player A: *declares attackers*
Player B: *declares blockers*
Player C: "You!" *points at Player D* "Bring me the Wall Street Journal! You two!" *points at Players A & B, then taps RW* "Fight to the Death!"
Basilisk is deathtouch.
Turn 1: Land, mana elf or Bird of Paradise.
Turn 2: Land, Captain.
Turn 3: Land, swing with Captain, drop Colossus into play and pump.
Colossusize me, Cap'n!
Seriously, though, this guy's pretty good, especially if you can find a way to work in those soldiers with good comes into play effects, like Aven Riftwatcher, Inkfathom Divers, and Stormfront Riders.
White
- Gives Kithkin Greatheart +1/+1 and first strike.
- Can be tapped to help return Summon the School to your hand.
- Lets you draw a card when you play Surge of Thoughtweft.
Blue- Increases X by +1 when you play Spellfumbler Sprite.
- Can be championed to play Wanderwine Prophets, or sacrificed for an extra turn if your Prophets deal damage.
Black- Can be returned to your hand with Boggart Birth Rite.
- Can be sacrificed to play Fodder Launch.
- Gives Warren Pilferers haste if you return it from your graveyard to your hand when you play the Pilferers.
Red- Triggers Boggart Shenanigans when it dies.
- Can be used to deal damage with Crush Underfoot.
- Makes Flamekin Bladewhirl a 2/1 for R instead of 3R.
- Can be stolen and given haste by Goatnapper for 1 turn.
- Can be played using Smokeroller.
- Gets +2/+2 and trample from Sunrise Sovereign.
- Can championed to play Nova Hunter.
Green- Gives Battlewand Oak +2/+2 until the end of the turn when it comes into play.
- Gives you an extra elf token when you play Elvish Promenade.
- Lets your Immaculate Magistrate give one more +1/+1 counter when you activate it.
- Gets +1/+1 from Imperious Prefect.
- Gets +1/+1 and indestructable from Timbermaw Protector.
- Can be championed to play Wren's Run Packmaster, and gets deathtouch if it's in play with the Packmaster.
- Makes Wren's Run Vanquisher a 3/3 with deathtouch for 1G instead of 4G.
Lands- Lets your Secluded Glen come into play untapped when you reveal it from your hand.
That's just from cards we already know about (and any similar cards that could be part of a cycle, like the Secluded Glen). And all that for the cost of a Grizzly Bear? Now think of the implications in Standard, where Slivers still run rampant. Or in Tribal in Magic Online. This thing is mind-bogglingly good, even as a filler card. No wonder Mistform Ultimus was legendary. Could you imagine what Onslaught might have been like if the other Mistform creatures had this ability?Don't forget Deathmark.
That said, still an awesome card. Totally blew my mind when I saw that line of rules text. And here I was thinking Maro's treefolk preview was badass...
Beacon of Creation creates green 1/1 insect tokens. The current Standard, however, already has a green 1/1 creature token: saprolings. And WotC hates redundancy like that. Not to mention it can become confusing to have two types of green 1/1 creature tokens on the table when such tokens are represented by things like dice or pennies. "Wait... did you just sacrifice three insects to pay for your Savage Thallid's regeneration ability?" "... No?"
I know, I know, unlikely to happen in a tournament setting, but still possible in a casual one. And with the risk of confusing new players present, WotC would more than likely pass on reprinting Beacon of Creation this time around.
Of course, that's just my opinion; I could be wrong.
And while we're at it, lump me into the category that hopes to see a return of Beacon of Unrest.
Not sure how linking images is supposed to work here, so just click here for now, I guess.
Actually, it's not "early" spoilers he's against... it's "unofficial" spoilers. In other words, anything that hasn't been approved by Wizards to be spoiled.
Every creature you control is Sliver with multiple instances of flanking.
Add Soul Foundry in Extended to make things go even crazier by churning out a Sidewinder Sliver every turn.
And that's exactly why it doesn't keep the name Vesuva.
Sek'kaur is interesting... as far as having the green in his casting cost, here's my hypothesis: it's the green in his mana cost that keeps you from having to sacrifice the tokens at the end of the turn. Think about it; green is the creature color, green likes making tokens, and more than that, green likes to have tokens that don't automatically die at the end of the turn. So even though the tokens aren't green themselves, the fact that they stick around instead of dying like they normally would is a green effect. Or at least, that's my line of logic. I could be wrong.
Sound the Call... grah... curse you WotC! On the one hand, I love it because it's another Wolf for a possible theme deck... but it's not an actual creature card, so it doesn't count towards the 20 card minimum in Tribal in Magic Online. That said, I still like it and still plan on running it.
Also, one final note on Sek'kaur and Sound the Call - Doubling Season. 3/1 with haste and a land for STE is good. 2 3/1s with haste and a land for STE is better. Same thing with Sound... 1 2/2 for 3 is eh... but 2 2/2s for 3 is decent... and they keep getting bigger with each Sound you play...
Doesn't work. Read the card again:
"If a spell or ability would cause its controller to gain life, that player loses that much life instead."
In other words, if you target your opponent with a spell that gives that player life, they don't lose life because they don't control the spell.
Edit: Nope, Solifuge according to the Orb. Feel free to disregard this post.
As far as Polymorphing him into play using man-lands, your best bets for Standard would probably be:
Genju of the Spires
Genju of the Falls
Seige of Towers
Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai
Probably still not good enough for competitive play, but it's a thought.
Mimeofacture: Seen it. Still like it.
Oh, no argument here. I love the card, and I wanna try and figure out a way to build a deck around it. Maybe nothing that'll make an impact in Standard, but something fun for casual play.
Hrm... wonder how hard it is to get ahold of Academy Rectors...