Reading this I just love everyones diversity of choices, you can tell what kind of player they are pretty much by seeing which order they placed them in
Id have to go
1. Atarka - Instant Speed land ramp, Skullcrack, Combat trick or combination is pretty solid.
2. Dromoka - Can remove 2 threats from the game at instant speed, a great counter against burn spells.
3. Ojutai - Its as close to Cryptic Command that standard format is ever going to see again, it is insanely versatile in control decks where life gain is an issue against agro, drawing cards is never bad at instant speed.
4. Kolaghan - Instant speed discard effects are a lot more powerful than people give credit for, it makes your opponent think more and could eliminate their response to things you do on your following turn
5. Silumgar - It costs 5 ... pretty sure that's enough to put in last place on my list, even though its effects are powerful the fact that it costs 5 is pretty dismal and underwhelming sure best case scenario you counter their planeswalker and destroy one they have in play already but when does that happen ?? Great sideboard against control mirrors though .. if youre playing control.
That's how I rate and judge them from my perspective.
I can most definitely see this card being played in Legacy Lands, not sure what they will cut, but I guarantee it will see play in that deck, even if sideboarded its a safety net that lets you flash in a Karakas, Maze of Ith, Wasteland, Dark Depths, Thespian Stage etc. Im definitely going to try it in my Lands deck when they release, finding what to cut could pose an issue but the card is too good in a deck that revolves around controlling and playing certain lands when you need to.
I could not disagree more, Manifest is probably one of the BEST mechanics to hit the field of battle in a longtime. Especially with Scry being a huge part of standard you can control the top card of your deck in most scenarios, and treat it as part of your hand, also it allows some pretty silly combos with cards like Quickling (allowing you to stash a face down "2/2" spell to bounce and cast if need be, or summon bombs at instant speed without your opponent knowing whats coming, lets face it Flipping up a Hooded Hydra for GG making a 5/5 that dies and gives you 5 1/1s is pretty solid, or instant speed flipping a Stormbreath Dragon, or even an Ashe Cloud Phoenix for 4 instead of 6 triggering its effect, Manifest is definitely a very strong mechanic and that's just in Standard. Even in Legacy I can see it being strong with the old cards that abused Morph by allowing you flip up face down creatures like Skirk Alarmist, that card may just sky rocket in price because of this mechanic, Picture this in a new form of Blue Red deck, Have a Young Pyromancer in play, Brainstorm, put an Emrakul on top of your library, make your Token, Reality shift it, put a face down Emrakul into play, with a card like Skirk Alarmist, you flip up Emrakul and slam them... sure it sounds like magical Christmas land, but I can definitely see people making Combo Manifest decks with cards like this.
Id have to go
1. Atarka - Instant Speed land ramp, Skullcrack, Combat trick or combination is pretty solid.
2. Dromoka - Can remove 2 threats from the game at instant speed, a great counter against burn spells.
3. Ojutai - Its as close to Cryptic Command that standard format is ever going to see again, it is insanely versatile in control decks where life gain is an issue against agro, drawing cards is never bad at instant speed.
4. Kolaghan - Instant speed discard effects are a lot more powerful than people give credit for, it makes your opponent think more and could eliminate their response to things you do on your following turn
5. Silumgar - It costs 5 ... pretty sure that's enough to put in last place on my list, even though its effects are powerful the fact that it costs 5 is pretty dismal and underwhelming sure best case scenario you counter their planeswalker and destroy one they have in play already but when does that happen ?? Great sideboard against control mirrors though .. if youre playing control.
That's how I rate and judge them from my perspective.