The reason it taps the enchanted creature is probably because the Standard-legal Storm Herald would abuse it otherwise. (That thing also already abuses Eldrazi Conscription in Modern FWIW.)
My personal thoughts are that this set adds an awful lot.
1. Ability word counters are pretty great as they work with just about anything and give a new angle for voltron abilities.
2. Mutate works for me because 1) In addition to treating your mutator as an aura for any of your non-humans (put mutator behind), you can treat your non-humans as an aura for your mutators (put mutator in front); 2) it's an easy way to let any of your non-humans deal commander damage, which is cool; 3) While not intrinsic to the design, wizards was smart enough to have all cards with this ability provide immediate benefits (often giving card advantage/selection) to minimize the risk of going "all in"; 4) if you use instant speed kill in response, I don't lose my dude.
3. Companion seems pretty cool and I'll expect to see a lot a builds using set companions in a similar manner to how partner combinations are exploited.
4. More support for wedges is always welcome.
If you read the mechanics article, you have to reveal your companion at the beginning of the game. You can’t just spontaneously claim that a card has been your companion all along the moment you cast them.
Also, it’s perfectly possible for a player to sideboard in cards for game 2 or 3 that make a companion no longer usable as such.
because you know the restrictions on your opponent’s deck before the game even begins, however, them putting in illegal cards would be really silly to do even if it would be hard to check.
Someone trying to use the macrosage as a companion and sneak a snapcaster mage into their deck, for example, would be utterly incapable of casting it without admitting to cheating and would be disqualified (or maybe have it replaced with a basic land, depending on circumstance) the moment that card is revealed.
Huh... I wonder what this is going to be doing to the secondary market.
While bigger sellers will still probably still sell preorders on singles, they won't have the competition of smaller sellers driving down prices for months, by which time the "established" cards of the new format will be well-known.
Might make Ikiora a bit more expensive than usual... at least to some extent.
While I personally believe that this is real, I’m a bit confused as to why people think that “cycling” is a point to realism?
Gavin did say that 8 mechanics would be returning... in the commander decks... which I doubt that these box-toppers are from.
Further, it sounds like people would be making the same claim to realism for a wide array of mechanics that could’ve returned back. I don’t recall anything being said about cycling in particular.
As for the cards themselves... Using box toppers that point out the reference is an interesting experiment... though it seems like a bizarre tonal shift. If this is revisited on a regular basis, things get kind of odd.
Really not sure how I would feel about the game if players can target King Cesar (Tiger Maetre) with Plug Into the Matrix (Oblivion Ring) so I can use Victor Frankenstein (Stitcher Gerald) in peace.
While the references always lie under the surface, getting too blatant makes things feel like they don’t fully fit together (See: fighter jets attacking Godzilla) and would be distracting in tournament coverage... unless wizards outright outlaws these boxtoppers in tournaments... which would, again, be strange.
On the other hand, this technique could be used to decent effect to “reprint” land-cycles with plane-specific names (such as the allied fast-land cycle from scars of mirodin), to sneak in a reprint of a dead character through similarity to a new character, and so forth.
I don’t oppose this approach out of hand but this particular example seems a bit out there.
Thundering Footfalls
Enchantment (R)
Whenever you draw a card, you may reveal it. Whenever you reveal a creature card with power 4 or greater in this way, put a Foreshadow counter on Thundering Footfalls.
Remove 8 Foreshadow Counters from Thundering Footfalls: You may put any number creature cards from your hand onto the battlefield.
Prowess
Meld
Evolve (there’s just no way it’s not happening)
Enrage
Cascade (unless maelstrom meant something else)
Devour
Monstrosity
Kicker
Those are what I can think of that could be in The commander decks
Monstrosity seems like having the most chance of those,Enrage too thanks to the teasers we know there's a good amount of dinos,Devour looks legit too, dunno about Cascade,Evolve,Prowess, Meld kinda has a chance as well
But yeah looks like a good list
I doubt meld on the grounds that wizards has never put a 2-sided card into a commander pre-con (it removes the ability to play the deck out of the box). Even if two partner commanders get meld, it would force someone playing out of the box not to use any secondary commanders.
So... since I don't think anyone has said it outright yet, I imagine that the more cartoonish style on the most recent poster will be the art-style used for the showcase cards. Heck, that red monstrosity and the yellow badger-dinosaur thing from the initial pictures may be the same exact card.
I just thought of a remarkably simple card that I'd love to see in a commander set or similar environment one day.
Fleshgorger
Creature- Zombie Horror (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, destroy target creature and you lose 2 life.
4/2
While it's a bit too good for standard play, there are too many commander decks that revolve around throwing out the exact same threat each turn and magic isn't great at letting players control those resilient threats without throwing additional removal at those cards each and every turn. I'd think that its slow speed and vulnerability (2-toughness 4 drop that doesn't do anything until next turn)... and its limited utility in a multiplayer setting... and the fact it will eventually kill itself... make things pretty reasonable in commander.
Personally, I would be over the moon if the other crazy mechanic was for mounts.
On a plane of crazy big creatures, riding atop of them to victory like pseudo-vehicles would be kinda nuts
Plus, it would give a way for the intelligent races of ikiora to relate to giant beasts that doesn’t feel like the beast worship of naya/jund or simply running away from everything constantly.
I hereby dub the deck "Herald's Claim"!
As it is written, so let it be done!
Breya, Sen Triplets, Kaalia, and Zur are all humans in the appropriate colors.
1. Ability word counters are pretty great as they work with just about anything and give a new angle for voltron abilities.
2. Mutate works for me because 1) In addition to treating your mutator as an aura for any of your non-humans (put mutator behind), you can treat your non-humans as an aura for your mutators (put mutator in front); 2) it's an easy way to let any of your non-humans deal commander damage, which is cool; 3) While not intrinsic to the design, wizards was smart enough to have all cards with this ability provide immediate benefits (often giving card advantage/selection) to minimize the risk of going "all in"; 4) if you use instant speed kill in response, I don't lose my dude.
3. Companion seems pretty cool and I'll expect to see a lot a builds using set companions in a similar manner to how partner combinations are exploited.
4. More support for wedges is always welcome.
Also, it’s perfectly possible for a player to sideboard in cards for game 2 or 3 that make a companion no longer usable as such.
because you know the restrictions on your opponent’s deck before the game even begins, however, them putting in illegal cards would be really silly to do even if it would be hard to check.
Someone trying to use the macrosage as a companion and sneak a snapcaster mage into their deck, for example, would be utterly incapable of casting it without admitting to cheating and would be disqualified (or maybe have it replaced with a basic land, depending on circumstance) the moment that card is revealed.
While bigger sellers will still probably still sell preorders on singles, they won't have the competition of smaller sellers driving down prices for months, by which time the "established" cards of the new format will be well-known.
Might make Ikiora a bit more expensive than usual... at least to some extent.
silence and Orim’s Chant are traditional oppressive cards that can force your opponents to keep their precious, precious cards in their hand.
Remand and Insubstantiate can also thwart your opponents’ efforts to empty their hand of primo spells.
Of course, the classical route of placing mana drain, arcane denial, swan song, counterspell, Fatal Push, swords to plowshares, Path to Exile, or Brainstorm also works.
Finally, enlightened tutor, mystical tutor, and vampiric tutor are also target.
No other 1-card combos in the same sense as dramatic reversal but tons of good ones you’d probably use either way.
Gavin did say that 8 mechanics would be returning... in the commander decks... which I doubt that these box-toppers are from.
Further, it sounds like people would be making the same claim to realism for a wide array of mechanics that could’ve returned back. I don’t recall anything being said about cycling in particular.
As for the cards themselves... Using box toppers that point out the reference is an interesting experiment... though it seems like a bizarre tonal shift. If this is revisited on a regular basis, things get kind of odd.
Really not sure how I would feel about the game if players can target King Cesar (Tiger Maetre) with Plug Into the Matrix (Oblivion Ring) so I can use Victor Frankenstein (Stitcher Gerald) in peace.
While the references always lie under the surface, getting too blatant makes things feel like they don’t fully fit together (See: fighter jets attacking Godzilla) and would be distracting in tournament coverage... unless wizards outright outlaws these boxtoppers in tournaments... which would, again, be strange.
On the other hand, this technique could be used to decent effect to “reprint” land-cycles with plane-specific names (such as the allied fast-land cycle from scars of mirodin), to sneak in a reprint of a dead character through similarity to a new character, and so forth.
I don’t oppose this approach out of hand but this particular example seems a bit out there.
Thundering Footfalls
Enchantment (R)
Whenever you draw a card, you may reveal it. Whenever you reveal a creature card with power 4 or greater in this way, put a Foreshadow counter on Thundering Footfalls.
Remove 8 Foreshadow Counters from Thundering Footfalls: You may put any number creature cards from your hand onto the battlefield.
I doubt meld on the grounds that wizards has never put a 2-sided card into a commander pre-con (it removes the ability to play the deck out of the box). Even if two partner commanders get meld, it would force someone playing out of the box not to use any secondary commanders.
The rest of that list could work, though.
Fleshgorger
Creature- Zombie Horror (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, destroy target creature and you lose 2 life.
4/2
While it's a bit too good for standard play, there are too many commander decks that revolve around throwing out the exact same threat each turn and magic isn't great at letting players control those resilient threats without throwing additional removal at those cards each and every turn. I'd think that its slow speed and vulnerability (2-toughness 4 drop that doesn't do anything until next turn)... and its limited utility in a multiplayer setting... and the fact it will eventually kill itself... make things pretty reasonable in commander.
On a plane of crazy big creatures, riding atop of them to victory like pseudo-vehicles would be kinda nuts
Plus, it would give a way for the intelligent races of ikiora to relate to giant beasts that doesn’t feel like the beast worship of naya/jund or simply running away from everything constantly.