This is a very good card. But it's not as crazy as some of the hype leads you to believe. In practice it will push some decks over the edge and be merely ok in others.
Who said the original leaker was a retailer who got product early? I very much doubt that's true, especially since WotC isn't sending product directly to anyone anymore. It's all done through distributors now.
If someone was actually sent legit product early, that's a lot more serious than someone leaking info.
I was thinking the same thing. I don't know any stores that actually receive the product early. We have to pick up new releases a few days prior to Prerelease / release. We've never had to hold on to product for weeks and wait, that's the distributor's job.
Also, our 'preview card'is an email during the spoilers. Nothing is ahead of time for us.
This is terrible for control. For three very important reasons.
Control doesn't want to tap out to draw with seven lands.
The draw portion is very situational. You need a reasonably full hand to get 7 mana worth of value out of it. If you have a full hand at that stage in the game as control you're likely already winning.
The no max hand size tends to be pointless. If you're at max hands size, once again, your already winning.
The trick for these cards to work is for the spell side to be playable when flooding to smooth out your game. Waiting until the seventh land while flooding doesn't feel like it's an that helpful.
Well considering how unimpressive what we've seen so far with them is, theyve got a lot of work to do to avoid a disappointing year
They're not as bad as you're making them out to be. They can't be too effective without breaking many formats.
The design attacks the weakest part of the game: Lands
Being mana screwed or mana flooded is always a risk. Even one playable dual faced land is all it takes to be played everywhere.
The same reason companions were so broken is exactly why these lands need to be so safe. If they are too strong they will become auto includes that fundamentaly change the way decks are designed.
Your creatures will still kill the opponent if they reduce them to zero before the trigger resolves.
Your creatures may not deal lasting damage to the opponent but are still more than capable of killing creatures, which my be the purpose of some of the wording.
If your goal is to win with the angel, you don't care about their life total.
This thing gets way out of hand with multiple copies. The triggers grow exponentially. With one attacking you get two triggers for life gain when its unblocked. But with two attacking you get eight triggers. Three attacking you get 18. Add on to that other creatures that aren't this angel and it becomes a real game ending threat.
This means that this card plays very well with lifegain triggers like Ajani Pridemate or Archangel of Thune.
This is hard to evaluate. Could range from being junk to being a very viable deck archetype. Well have to see.
I think people are too hard on the dfc lands. They have the potential to be good. I know the spell sides tend to cost a bit more than it looks like they should, but there's always been a premium to versatility and sometimes it's worth it.
The ability to reduce mana screw and mana flood at the deck construction level is something that we sorely need more of.
I find the colorless partner the more interesting as changing its color does not change the identity, which means you could have a black creature leading a completely colorless army.
It does change its identity. You pick what it is before you play the game, that's the entire point. Read the card again.
1
2
I was thinking the same thing. I don't know any stores that actually receive the product early. We have to pick up new releases a few days prior to Prerelease / release. We've never had to hold on to product for weeks and wait, that's the distributor's job.
Also, our 'preview card'is an email during the spoilers. Nothing is ahead of time for us.
1
Why is it incredible at uncommon, it's a common effect. Look at cards like Undying Evil, Supernatural Stamina, and Abnormal Endurance.
1
Control doesn't want to tap out to draw with seven lands.
The draw portion is very situational. You need a reasonably full hand to get 7 mana worth of value out of it. If you have a full hand at that stage in the game as control you're likely already winning.
The no max hand size tends to be pointless. If you're at max hands size, once again, your already winning.
This is the definition of a win-more card.
1
1
This one is actually pretty bad.
Maybe a one off in a deck lol
The trick for these cards to work is for the spell side to be playable when flooding to smooth out your game. Waiting until the seventh land while flooding doesn't feel like it's an that helpful.
2
They're not as bad as you're making them out to be. They can't be too effective without breaking many formats.
The design attacks the weakest part of the game: Lands
Being mana screwed or mana flooded is always a risk. Even one playable dual faced land is all it takes to be played everywhere.
The same reason companions were so broken is exactly why these lands need to be so safe. If they are too strong they will become auto includes that fundamentaly change the way decks are designed.
1
Multiple angels stack.
The angel stacks with lifegain.
Your creatures will still kill the opponent if they reduce them to zero before the trigger resolves.
Your creatures may not deal lasting damage to the opponent but are still more than capable of killing creatures, which my be the purpose of some of the wording.
If your goal is to win with the angel, you don't care about their life total.
This thing gets way out of hand with multiple copies. The triggers grow exponentially. With one attacking you get two triggers for life gain when its unblocked. But with two attacking you get eight triggers. Three attacking you get 18. Add on to that other creatures that aren't this angel and it becomes a real game ending threat.
This means that this card plays very well with lifegain triggers like Ajani Pridemate or Archangel of Thune.
This is hard to evaluate. Could range from being junk to being a very viable deck archetype. Well have to see.
1
The ability to reduce mana screw and mana flood at the deck construction level is something that we sorely need more of.
1
It does change its identity. You pick what it is before you play the game, that's the entire point. Read the card again.