Probably a bit expensive for standard play but I can't wait to try this out in EDH and would love to open it in sealed (or maybe even draft if the format is slow enough).
Returning non land permanents to hand or play is a powerful ability especially when combined with lands that fetch other lands. Something like play this, play Ghost Quarter, sacrifice GQ targeting your own Ruins of Trokair fetching 2 plains returning 1 non land permanent to hand and 2 to play would make for a huge swing in position and if you really wanted to up the stakes then returning permanents like Solemn Simulacrum to fetch more plains would be particularly strong.
Mostly because Zedruu couldn't give two poops about 4 life a turn being directed at itself and you aren't really losing card parity by giving it away but you are taking away their reactive capacity.
I was going to say that Avaricious Dragon might jump up in Standard because of the Dragon synergies, but thus far the Dragon-benefited cards have slotted into control decks and this guy is obviously suited for RDW. In EDH something that dumps your hand immediately and then takes some time to give you a benefit seems bad. I don't see a ton of people playing Grafted Skullcap.
The rest is just a bunch of overcosted filler commons and uncommons to me. I also have a dragon deck which doesn't have the slightest interest in the mythic dragon.
I'd like another copy of the effect at CMC 4 that's an ETB and not Wickerbough, for the purposes of Pod/Yisan/whatever. I think Slime and Stomphowler are enough in the 5 slot for this effect.
Eternal Dominion could get out of hand real fast if you've copied it a couple of times. Undying Flames not so much but again, copied it could close games out quickly.
Neither of those cards you mentioned seem that color pie breaking. Green has a long history of messing with flying creatures. It's also probably the best color for destroying artifacts.
I dunno, at best it's tied with red but I think red actually takes the cake as far as artifact destruction goes.
It's another card I don't like for color pie reasons. Green seems to get "I can do anything, as long as I'm hosing someone." (See also Plummet and Viridian Revel.)
That said, there's usually someone playing blue at your table, and that person is probably playing counters, Twincast, bounce spells, and other things that are at their most awesome on your opponent's turn. (Plus, you know, things like Jace's Ingenuity.)
yeah, green has always historically been able to hit flying creatures and it is probably the "secondary" draw color behind blue...and green has always hit enchants and artifacts - neither of those cards are outside of the color pie. green is not just 8/8 creatures with trample.
Black is the secondary draw colour imo, though green has definitely got some options.
As far as seedtime is concerned I remember a lot of hype when it came out and then it kinda fell with a weak thud. Too conditional and easy to play around.
I think Sidisi's strength is in decks such as Xiahou Dun as one of the 99. And in that case, the creature-heavy combo builds will profit the most. I plan to at least test it, but I'm doubting that it's going to be amazing, per se. Certainly not bannable.
What do people think about banning Bond Beetle? This was seriously a consideration that came up in a playgroup mentioned on MTGCommander.net.
Considering that that was one guy who's post honestly sounded like a bunch of B.S., I wouldn't put much stock in it.
Maybe the black blue command will be playable in cruel control
I can already see it...
Choose two -
Target player discards the top five cards of his or her library.
Target player reveals cards from the top of his or her library until two land cards are revealed. That player puts all cards revealed this way into his or her graveyard.
Target player discards the top X cards of his or her library where X is the number of cards in your hand.
Until end of turn, whenever you cast a spell, target player discards the top three cards of his or her library.
Goodness knows why people would think playing three mana for a dork is a good idea. MANA DORKS NEED TO BE 1CMC NOT 3!!!
I'm not a fan of 3 cmc mana dorks unless their name is metalworker myself. 2 cmc dorks and lower are acceptable though.
Too bad Harbinger has such a weak butt, but I still think it could make a splash in commander in the right deck. Just throw a collar on him and that's a pretty fearsome boardwipe.
Ugh, the if you cast it clause and an additional 5 creature clause? Me no likey.
Who cares? The casting clause needs to be there to prevent bounce/flicker/blink shenanigans anyway and, if you want a board wipe in a multi-player game, there will be at least five creatures on the board anyway.
Except if you need a board wipe and the creature count is 3 or less(I'm thinking shroud/hexproof here) it's a dead card. I've never seen reiver demon or it's buddy actually played because of that clause.
Personally I'm not a fan of the cast from hand bit, if it was just cast that would be something - but shenanigans are my middle name and not being able to do any makes me a sad monkey.
Ugh, the if you cast it clause and an additional 5 creature clause? Me no likey. The casting cost is a little more bearable though, both in total cost and in splashability.
Edit: I hope that lightning dragon that had it's art spoiled in the set announcement is as awesome as it looks.
The real power of this card is being able to stock your graveyard. I tend to play it more like a budget Bazaar of Baghdad in my Kresh deck. When you're also playing things like Sneak Attack, Living Death, Coffin Queen, etc the card advantage is insurmountable. Draw and discard is nice if you play fatties, but graveyard shenanigans is where it really shines. I rarely lose games in which I manage to stick a Greater Good for 2 turns.
I'm just going to echo this, I can't count the number of times I've drawn my deck/nuked the table with sneak attack and greater good.
Can someone go into detail why Griselbrand is banned? I know pay 7 life draw 7 cards is strong but I feel like there is enough answers for it not to be worthy of being banned.
Basically Grisel is a better yawg's bargain and that spell doesn't play well with the format - so yeah. He's just absurd as a commander or as 1 of the 99.
As for Necropotence, the end of turn restriction is really relevant as is the discards being exiled clause.
I would love to have RN unbanned but I just don't see it in the cards for now. For the cost its effect is so strong and it's hard enough to interact with that I think there are justifiable reservations on the part of the RC about any possible unbannings.
Having said that graveyard hate is way stronger now than when it was unbanned, and so is discard - which is another decent answer. It does make earthcraft a little more broken, but it's not like it isn't broken now either.
Ugh, forget protection and pump spells - this guy turns removal/counters into 8 beats on the board in addition. Disgusting. I think I need to disband zedruu and make a voltron deck with this dude instead.
Fixed.
Yeah, that's some pure value there. Someone else mentioned Parallax Tide which is disgusting.
I personally really want to throw him out there with Storm Cauldron on the field. You better have a removal spell in hand...
Edit: I also really want to Sunder the field with him on the board.
Zedruu loves avaricousness...
I dunno, at best it's tied with red but I think red actually takes the cake as far as artifact destruction goes.
Black is the secondary draw colour imo, though green has definitely got some options.
As far as seedtime is concerned I remember a lot of hype when it came out and then it kinda fell with a weak thud. Too conditional and easy to play around.
Considering that that was one guy who's post honestly sounded like a bunch of B.S., I wouldn't put much stock in it.
You have "the sight", don't you?
I'm not a fan of 3 cmc mana dorks unless their name is metalworker myself. 2 cmc dorks and lower are acceptable though.
Too bad Harbinger has such a weak butt, but I still think it could make a splash in commander in the right deck. Just throw a collar on him and that's a pretty fearsome boardwipe.
Except if you need a board wipe and the creature count is 3 or less(I'm thinking shroud/hexproof here) it's a dead card. I've never seen reiver demon or it's buddy actually played because of that clause.
Personally I'm not a fan of the cast from hand bit, if it was just cast that would be something - but shenanigans are my middle name and not being able to do any makes me a sad monkey.
Edit: I hope that lightning dragon that had it's art spoiled in the set announcement is as awesome as it looks.
I'm just going to echo this, I can't count the number of times I've drawn my deck/nuked the table with sneak attack and greater good.
This list is a good reason to start with: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/214015-banned-griselbrand-tendrils-of-vintage
Basically Grisel is a better yawg's bargain and that spell doesn't play well with the format - so yeah. He's just absurd as a commander or as 1 of the 99.
As for Necropotence, the end of turn restriction is really relevant as is the discards being exiled clause.
I would love to have RN unbanned but I just don't see it in the cards for now. For the cost its effect is so strong and it's hard enough to interact with that I think there are justifiable reservations on the part of the RC about any possible unbannings.
Having said that graveyard hate is way stronger now than when it was unbanned, and so is discard - which is another decent answer. It does make earthcraft a little more broken, but it's not like it isn't broken now either.