I'm glad they print cards like these. It reminds me how amazingly casual salvation is.
This may see some constructed play, probably sb, if there is both a strong(ish, let's be honest) RB deck and a heavy board control deck. It's basically a way worse Sulfuric Vortex, which means it might be ok.
I don't understand how people still underestimate token cards. Cheap cards that make a lot of tokens consistently see play, and this one costs 3.5 because it's green.
This will be at least in a tier 2 deck immediately post rotation, and has the potential to be in a serious contender if the right support gets printed in the future.
Tempered Steel needs two things: early attackers and metalcraft. Origin Spellbomb helps you get something for very little in both of these respects; TS tends to be cheap enough that it's often cards that are your limiting factor. In your opening hand, Origin Spellbomb is 1 and 1/2 artifacts, although a little worse because of lost information for mulling.
In addition, the ability to be either a normal artifact or an artifact creature is very nice. It allows you to establish metalcraft without overextending into a boardsweeper, but still represents a beater.
Edit: I should add that it is often seen as one of the worst cards in TS, and in competition with other cards that would be the worst card in TS. This means that it's ability to replace itself with one of your other cards you run, which is going to be on average better than it or any other card you would have in that slot, gives it an edge.
I'm a bit confused by the people dismissing it as "just another Kodoma". Are they forgetting that Kodama of the North Tree saw standard play in tournament winning Ghitu Glare decks in the Kam/Rav era? I'm not sure if this card will see play in the current format or not (it has some serious competition in the high end of green) but that argument just doesn't make any sense.
Without any other GY interaction, 4x Desperate Ravings is more CA than 4x Think Twice. The main advantage, though, is that in a lot of situations DR gives you ~1.5ish draws to get what you need at the time instead of 1. It has a mathematical tendency to balance your hand - if you find yourself with too much land, statistically speaking, it has a tendency to result in more spells. And vice versa, which is very important when looking for the 3rd or 4th land drop.
More than that, the argument that it prevents hand sculpting is silly in the current standard. We don't have the draw power necessary to make that a significant concern. If your hand is likely to get worse from DR, you're either really winning or really losing. In the case of really losing, it's more likely that DR's additional dig power finds you an out than it removes one when you want to cast it.
Edit: As for comparisons to FA, they play different roles. The mana cost of CA is completely different. DR is more about balance and cheap(ish) CA while FA is more about digging and inevitability.
Again, you didn't read what I said. I said that all of the points that you made against Fling could also be used as points against Slagstorm and Beast Within. I didn't say that Fling was better or that it fit into the same role.
Anyway, I still think it could be a useful trick in the right meta. Just about every creature in the deck can be sacrificed with no problem. It can be used in response to removal, it can be used at the end of turn if need be on Viridian Emissary or Solemn Simulacrum in a pinch. It can be used on a Wurmcoil targeted by Oblivion Ring. For 2 mana, you deal 6 damage and get 2 3/3s. Seems like a good deal to me.
No. You can't say the other cards can have the same points made against them.
For instance, "You don't want it in your opening hand, you don't want to draw it in the early game, you don't need it when you're ahead, and it's mediocre when you're behind," is in no part true of either card. If you need me to break down why, I can explain in great detail.
" or shore up your bad matchups" is another point he made, and both cards are there to do exactly that (or even turn mediocre matchups into very good ones).
Don't try to twist his point. It just makes you look foolish.
However, there is value in pre-ordering a low price rare you think is heavily undervalued. The first investment I ever made in anything was 40 Bitterblossom for a dollar each. Ended up working out pretty well...
This card will see play during it's stay in standard, even if it doesn't find a home in pod. It's a bit less powerful than Bladehold or Grave Titan, but that means that it's just very very good.
For laughs, look back at the spoiler thread on each of those.
Wow, I can't believe you got me posting here again. It's been since the rules change since I've done anything more than just read the spoiler, but the spike in me wants to help this out a bit.
I'm with MonoBlack and japro. A conditional vanilla 3/3 is on the curve these days - the fact that it can go much higher makes it very viable for standard.
It's a vanilla 2/2 if you top deck it after a wrath. It's also 2 mana, and if you keep playing creatures, it gets bigger. It'll also be played in decks with Dauntless Escort, which, while not stopping wrath completely, certainly makes the full wrath less likely.
This card is very solid, and is comparable to Pridemage in anything GW without an exalted focus.
A big vanilla beater doesn't in this format. It's tempo loss to any of the abundant removal spells or token producers in the format. He's not bad against Faeries, but if you're playing a sub-par card in red-green to combat Faeries...
For threat density I'd much rather run 2 or 3 cost critters, or critters with some additional effect. Turning off counterspells for other too-expensive creatures doesn't count.
I'm not saying that it's a trash card, or that it won't see play during it's stay in standard. I'm just saying that with the current meta the way it is, it's a trash card.
Figure is one of the best one mana creatures in Magic. Just because something isn't as good as him, doesn't make it useless.
Ooze is hard to analyze conceptually, but it's probably as good or better then Savannah Lions in the decks that support it, at least in standard. It beats slightly slower at the start of the game, but turn 4 wrath isn't super common, if people use spot removal on it you just laugh, and the ability to get reasonably large mid game is fairly significant.
It will be one of those cards that if it doesn't see play with Lorwyn, it will probably see play with Live. Lorwyn pushed the power level a lot, and even very good cards can have a hard time being played, especially if they lack the proper support.
This may see some constructed play, probably sb, if there is both a strong(ish, let's be honest) RB deck and a heavy board control deck. It's basically a way worse Sulfuric Vortex, which means it might be ok.
This will be at least in a tier 2 deck immediately post rotation, and has the potential to be in a serious contender if the right support gets printed in the future.
In addition, the ability to be either a normal artifact or an artifact creature is very nice. It allows you to establish metalcraft without overextending into a boardsweeper, but still represents a beater.
Edit: I should add that it is often seen as one of the worst cards in TS, and in competition with other cards that would be the worst card in TS. This means that it's ability to replace itself with one of your other cards you run, which is going to be on average better than it or any other card you would have in that slot, gives it an edge.
More than that, the argument that it prevents hand sculpting is silly in the current standard. We don't have the draw power necessary to make that a significant concern. If your hand is likely to get worse from DR, you're either really winning or really losing. In the case of really losing, it's more likely that DR's additional dig power finds you an out than it removes one when you want to cast it.
Edit: As for comparisons to FA, they play different roles. The mana cost of CA is completely different. DR is more about balance and cheap(ish) CA while FA is more about digging and inevitability.
No. You can't say the other cards can have the same points made against them.
For instance, "You don't want it in your opening hand, you don't want to draw it in the early game, you don't need it when you're ahead, and it's mediocre when you're behind," is in no part true of either card. If you need me to break down why, I can explain in great detail.
" or shore up your bad matchups" is another point he made, and both cards are there to do exactly that (or even turn mediocre matchups into very good ones).
Don't try to twist his point. It just makes you look foolish.
However, there is value in pre-ordering a low price rare you think is heavily undervalued. The first investment I ever made in anything was 40 Bitterblossom for a dollar each. Ended up working out pretty well...
For laughs, look back at the spoiler thread on each of those.
Wow, I can't believe you got me posting here again. It's been since the rules change since I've done anything more than just read the spoiler, but the spike in me wants to help this out a bit.
It's a vanilla 2/2 if you top deck it after a wrath. It's also 2 mana, and if you keep playing creatures, it gets bigger. It'll also be played in decks with Dauntless Escort, which, while not stopping wrath completely, certainly makes the full wrath less likely.
This card is very solid, and is comparable to Pridemage in anything GW without an exalted focus.
A big vanilla beater doesn't in this format. It's tempo loss to any of the abundant removal spells or token producers in the format. He's not bad against Faeries, but if you're playing a sub-par card in red-green to combat Faeries...
For threat density I'd much rather run 2 or 3 cost critters, or critters with some additional effect. Turning off counterspells for other too-expensive creatures doesn't count.
I'm not saying that it's a trash card, or that it won't see play during it's stay in standard. I'm just saying that with the current meta the way it is, it's a trash card.
P.S. @ TheSIN: Sarcasm fail.
Ooze is hard to analyze conceptually, but it's probably as good or better then Savannah Lions in the decks that support it, at least in standard. It beats slightly slower at the start of the game, but turn 4 wrath isn't super common, if people use spot removal on it you just laugh, and the ability to get reasonably large mid game is fairly significant.
It will be one of those cards that if it doesn't see play with Lorwyn, it will probably see play with Live. Lorwyn pushed the power level a lot, and even very good cards can have a hard time being played, especially if they lack the proper support.