Also, did anyone notice that Tezzeret looks a lot like Claudio Sanchez from Coheed and Cambria? That is, if he dread-locked his hair. We need a comparison picture in here, stat!!
Also, can't wait to get this thing, looks awesome. EMBLEM ELSPETH BABY!
^ Yeah, that's Elspeth. Unless its a Clone masquerading as her...
My thoughts on Koth? He's gonna be a red walker that's involved with battle somehow. Chandra is Red's burn and spell-slinging side, so Koth is going to be the crazy, battle frenzied red walker. Probably makes haste dudes, has low starting loyalty, costs 3-4 (2 being red mana of course) and can use one of his abilities at instant speed.
Perhaps something like this?
Koth Planeswalker 2RR
+1 Put a 2/1 human soldier with haste into play. Sacrifice it at end of turn.
-2 Koth, Planeswalker deals 3 damage to target creature or player. Play this ability anytime you could play an instant.
-6 Gain control of all creatures on the battlefield until end of turn. They gain haste and +3/0 until end of turn.
3
Guys, guys. How come NOBODY has thought of naming the Phylactery Lich deck "Pimp Chalice".
Hell, he screams to go with Everflowing Chalice! THERE'S HIS PIMP CUP! Combine it with Rod of Ruin for his PIMP CANE and Basilisk Collar for his PIMP CHAIN.
They should've just called this gentleman "Pimpin' Lich" cause he's all about the bling and smackin' around the womens AND the mens.
I'm betting that Scars will have Wither. Makes perfect sense if you think about it. A corroding world with creatures spreading that corrosion to each other. Also, Scars might be a bit black heavy, since its going to become Phyrexia eventually...then the final block will be Mirrodin Pure and bring a boost to the other 4 colors.
Necrotic Titan 4BB
Creature-Giant
Pay 3 life, draw 2 cards. Play this ability only once each turn.
Whenever you cast Necrotic Titan or Necrotic Titan attacks, your opponents lose 3 life and you gain 3 life.
This set was a blast to play. I went 4-1 using a R/G defender deck,and I was honestly surprised at how many win-conditions I had. Whether it be Rage NImbus screwing over everyone's board, Vent Sentinel blasting for 2-4 a turn, or just plopping down Pathrazer and Crusher. Lust for War was surprisingly good, as it negated tapping shenanigans.
Each match I played was enjoyable, except the one where I got double mana screwed first and third game.
Best match, however, was my last one, and by best, I mean most out of the blue win in the history of magic. I simply laid a Lust for War on a Kor Linerunner and sat back on no land hand. I simply had given up, but as each turn passed, and for some reason the thing kept...surviving and dealing 3, I watched in amazement as my opponent slapped down 2 eldrazi, then passed me the turn sitting on two life. I simply laid down an Overgrown battlement and waited. He stared at his board, sighed, and admit defeat. I was shocked and amazed. the last game in the last round and I won off 7 turns of Lust for War shenanigans.
I won 6 packs, pulled crap except a foil Training Grounds. Drafted, lost twice to a turn 3 Hand of Emrakul in both games. That was unfair.
MVPS: DEFENDERS, especially Overgrown Battlement. Ulamog's Crusher, Lust for War and Awakening Zone.
Another funny play that just came to mind was dropping a Might of the Masses on a Pathrazer of Ulamog with 15 Eldrazi spawn on the field (all thanks to Awakening Zone!) along with 5 defenders and a bunch of battle-rattle shamans. Swinging in with a 36/32 is always fun stuff in limited.
The problem with these topics is that instead of just discussing the card, people start ranting and raving about stuff that has nothing to do with the cards on hand, or argue whether Card A is AMAZING or TERRIBLE, as there is no chance whatsoever of a gray area between the two spectrum of possibility.
Anyway, my thoughts on Oust. I'm definitely doing some testing, and it'll seriously improve once Path rotates (barring a reprint in M11 with a seriously amazing art redux!) as life gain will always be preferable to an extra land drop. That said, it does some interesting things, too. If they REALLY want that creature back, they can't really crack any fetches of terramorphic/evolving wilds/any shuffle based effects because then Oust has become a one mana hard removal spell instead of a one mana tempo slammer.
Oh, and if a mana producing creature gets Oust'd, or even a level-up creature? Well, you just screwed them pretty hard. It's the equivalent of saying "Missed that land drop? Oh, spent 5 mana on this? Hey, here's 3 life, let's undo all that." And one of the better things is if they're REALLY hurting for a land, and it happens, people, land-screw/color screw is all too possible in reality, if that top card ISN'T a land, and the 2nd one is that one mana producin' dork, then you can gain enough ground to make the rest of the game an up-mountain battle for your opponent. Of course, this is entirely situational, but still is possible.
The problem and benefit of Oust is it has SO many opportunities to be both AMAZING and TERRIBLE. I mean, if it's late game and they plop down a finisher, I doubt I'm gonna be able to solve the game up in a turn or two especially after bolstering their life by 3. But, that's blue and white's territory. Cards that require you to think and plan and react to. The potential is there, glimmering like a gem, but even a perfect gem can be marred unrepairable by a crappy handler. So, Oust, like a ton of the cards in this set, is loaded with potential. It requires, like a ton of cards in this set, to think. Which is amazing. I'm so glad that these cards were printed, as I'm tired of pay 4, 3/2 haste, flip up removal or hand obliteration.
Emerge Unscathed is a good one, too, although the potential is far less than Oust's own, because it pretty much boils down to "Negate target removal spell, swing in next turn unblocked". Sure, there'll be some wonky applications for it, maybe in a U/W deck with that super-cool Spellblade dude!
Time of Heroes is just dandy. Levels were already good stat-wise, with this, it becomes absurdly awesome. And the art+flavor text as seen is INSANELY blood-pumping level. Like, when you drop Time of Heroes, I'm expecting Lord of The Rings' epic soundtrack to start playing in your head, or Duel of the Fates from Star Wars. Level-up is, naturally, one of my favorite parts of the set, so Time of Heroes to me is a god-send.
Of course, I'm really not concerned with this set and arguing its amazing/crappy level to anyone, since I'm personally overjoyed with it!
Perhaps the fact that the entire plane of existence in threatened, every creature in some way has become an Ally if possible. Of course, this would be impossible to do in RoE so I guess they simply left them out. No big deal. I wasn't craving anymore allies anyway, and I'm sure more than enough people agree with me based on the intense hate for 80% of the blokes.
I'm not saying Dragonmaster Outcast is a beast of a card, but whenever I've gotten him out in draft or sealed, it usually ended the game. Somebody outright scooped when I played him/her, and another time all it took was one turn and the 5/5 dragon pulled the match.
He's risky, but then again, if you're playing a good deck, you should have an even match going even if you get stomped early game. And the risk, at least in my experience, is worth the reward.
Everyone, stop feeding the troll. Whenever a new set comes out, there is some deranged lunatic who rants against cards. Frogdragon is the new one, and he's already proven himself as assembly-line fail as the rest of the the set naysayers.
Bull Rush is bad, but it's a common. You open it in draft? Hell, makes the other picks easier now doesn't it! You open it in sealed? Well, you probably have....89 other cards to work with, so good luck. You're playing it in constructed? What's wrong with you? You're playing it in casual? Everyone just had a nice laugh, the game continues. It's. A. COMMON. If this was a RARE, or even an UNCOMMON, I could see this warranting debate. But it's a common. It's the set's Chimney Imp. Laugh about it, discard it. Enjoy your other 14 cards.
Anyway, about Join the Ranks? It's overcosted because if it was a 1W, Allies would've enjoyed a MASSIVE power boost. You can say I'm wrong, but really, when has two instant speed 1/1s been bad? Spectral Procession was 3 1/1s and were played in several different archetypes when legal. Adding a colorless and giving one less body for instant speed is a good balance. If you hate Allies, but really just seem to hate Magic as a game and enjoy harping on it, then don't play Allies (or Magic, in your case). Enjoy one of the other decks possible, take your pick.
And one final measure: I've killed Baneslayers in draft with a Giant Growth and a Giant Spider. Baneslayer is still better than those cards combined.But still, I'm sure someone, somewhere is going to kill a Ob Nixilis or a Planeswalker with a Bull Rush, and Wizards will have done its job. Someone enjoyed the card. It probably won't be you, and in all honesty, it probably shouldn't be you. Go play Affinity as much as you want. I'll enjoy my new set.
Oh, and to stay on topic.
1.Razor Boomerang-It's terrible, if we were debating why this was so bad, this thread would be a lot more entertaining.
2. Rumblin' Aftershocks-Print it at R, and it might've seen Limited play.
3. Scrib-Nibblers-It really should've cost 1B for a 0/1. You're only using it for the ability anyway.
4. Ula's Temple-Right now, it's just a throaway rare.
5. Goliath Sphinx-This is just bad....horribly overcosted and dies to all non-burn removal. At least give it a come into play effect, like Bounce X creatures, Where X is 8 minus the CMC of those permanents. Then it'd be justified at 8 mana, as it just bounced 8 mana worth of permanents.
Also, can't wait to get this thing, looks awesome. EMBLEM ELSPETH BABY!
Yeah, that's Elspeth. Unless its a Clone masquerading as her...
My thoughts on Koth? He's gonna be a red walker that's involved with battle somehow. Chandra is Red's burn and spell-slinging side, so Koth is going to be the crazy, battle frenzied red walker. Probably makes haste dudes, has low starting loyalty, costs 3-4 (2 being red mana of course) and can use one of his abilities at instant speed.
Perhaps something like this?
Koth Planeswalker 2RR
+1 Put a 2/1 human soldier with haste into play. Sacrifice it at end of turn.
-2 Koth, Planeswalker deals 3 damage to target creature or player. Play this ability anytime you could play an instant.
-6 Gain control of all creatures on the battlefield until end of turn. They gain haste and +3/0 until end of turn.
3
Hell, he screams to go with Everflowing Chalice! THERE'S HIS PIMP CUP! Combine it with Rod of Ruin for his PIMP CANE and Basilisk Collar for his PIMP CHAIN.
They should've just called this gentleman "Pimpin' Lich" cause he's all about the bling and smackin' around the womens AND the mens.
Necrotic Titan 4BB
Creature-Giant
Pay 3 life, draw 2 cards. Play this ability only once each turn.
Whenever you cast Necrotic Titan or Necrotic Titan attacks, your opponents lose 3 life and you gain 3 life.
Each match I played was enjoyable, except the one where I got double mana screwed first and third game.
Best match, however, was my last one, and by best, I mean most out of the blue win in the history of magic. I simply laid a Lust for War on a Kor Linerunner and sat back on no land hand. I simply had given up, but as each turn passed, and for some reason the thing kept...surviving and dealing 3, I watched in amazement as my opponent slapped down 2 eldrazi, then passed me the turn sitting on two life. I simply laid down an Overgrown battlement and waited. He stared at his board, sighed, and admit defeat. I was shocked and amazed. the last game in the last round and I won off 7 turns of Lust for War shenanigans.
I won 6 packs, pulled crap except a foil Training Grounds. Drafted, lost twice to a turn 3 Hand of Emrakul in both games. That was unfair.
MVPS: DEFENDERS, especially Overgrown Battlement. Ulamog's Crusher, Lust for War and Awakening Zone.
Another funny play that just came to mind was dropping a Might of the Masses on a Pathrazer of Ulamog with 15 Eldrazi spawn on the field (all thanks to Awakening Zone!) along with 5 defenders and a bunch of battle-rattle shamans. Swinging in with a 36/32 is always fun stuff in limited.
Amazing set, easily giving it a 7 to 8.5/10.
Anyway, my thoughts on Oust. I'm definitely doing some testing, and it'll seriously improve once Path rotates (barring a reprint in M11 with a seriously amazing art redux!) as life gain will always be preferable to an extra land drop. That said, it does some interesting things, too. If they REALLY want that creature back, they can't really crack any fetches of terramorphic/evolving wilds/any shuffle based effects because then Oust has become a one mana hard removal spell instead of a one mana tempo slammer.
Oh, and if a mana producing creature gets Oust'd, or even a level-up creature? Well, you just screwed them pretty hard. It's the equivalent of saying "Missed that land drop? Oh, spent 5 mana on this? Hey, here's 3 life, let's undo all that." And one of the better things is if they're REALLY hurting for a land, and it happens, people, land-screw/color screw is all too possible in reality, if that top card ISN'T a land, and the 2nd one is that one mana producin' dork, then you can gain enough ground to make the rest of the game an up-mountain battle for your opponent. Of course, this is entirely situational, but still is possible.
The problem and benefit of Oust is it has SO many opportunities to be both AMAZING and TERRIBLE. I mean, if it's late game and they plop down a finisher, I doubt I'm gonna be able to solve the game up in a turn or two especially after bolstering their life by 3. But, that's blue and white's territory. Cards that require you to think and plan and react to. The potential is there, glimmering like a gem, but even a perfect gem can be marred unrepairable by a crappy handler. So, Oust, like a ton of the cards in this set, is loaded with potential. It requires, like a ton of cards in this set, to think. Which is amazing. I'm so glad that these cards were printed, as I'm tired of pay 4, 3/2 haste, flip up removal or hand obliteration.
Emerge Unscathed is a good one, too, although the potential is far less than Oust's own, because it pretty much boils down to "Negate target removal spell, swing in next turn unblocked". Sure, there'll be some wonky applications for it, maybe in a U/W deck with that super-cool Spellblade dude!
Time of Heroes is just dandy. Levels were already good stat-wise, with this, it becomes absurdly awesome. And the art+flavor text as seen is INSANELY blood-pumping level. Like, when you drop Time of Heroes, I'm expecting Lord of The Rings' epic soundtrack to start playing in your head, or Duel of the Fates from Star Wars. Level-up is, naturally, one of my favorite parts of the set, so Time of Heroes to me is a god-send.
Of course, I'm really not concerned with this set and arguing its amazing/crappy level to anyone, since I'm personally overjoyed with it!
He's risky, but then again, if you're playing a good deck, you should have an even match going even if you get stomped early game. And the risk, at least in my experience, is worth the reward.
Bull Rush is bad, but it's a common. You open it in draft? Hell, makes the other picks easier now doesn't it! You open it in sealed? Well, you probably have....89 other cards to work with, so good luck. You're playing it in constructed? What's wrong with you? You're playing it in casual? Everyone just had a nice laugh, the game continues. It's. A. COMMON. If this was a RARE, or even an UNCOMMON, I could see this warranting debate. But it's a common. It's the set's Chimney Imp. Laugh about it, discard it. Enjoy your other 14 cards.
Anyway, about Join the Ranks? It's overcosted because if it was a 1W, Allies would've enjoyed a MASSIVE power boost. You can say I'm wrong, but really, when has two instant speed 1/1s been bad? Spectral Procession was 3 1/1s and were played in several different archetypes when legal. Adding a colorless and giving one less body for instant speed is a good balance. If you hate Allies, but really just seem to hate Magic as a game and enjoy harping on it, then don't play Allies (or Magic, in your case). Enjoy one of the other decks possible, take your pick.
And one final measure: I've killed Baneslayers in draft with a Giant Growth and a Giant Spider. Baneslayer is still better than those cards combined.But still, I'm sure someone, somewhere is going to kill a Ob Nixilis or a Planeswalker with a Bull Rush, and Wizards will have done its job. Someone enjoyed the card. It probably won't be you, and in all honesty, it probably shouldn't be you. Go play Affinity as much as you want. I'll enjoy my new set.
Oh, and to stay on topic.
1.Razor Boomerang-It's terrible, if we were debating why this was so bad, this thread would be a lot more entertaining.
2. Rumblin' Aftershocks-Print it at R, and it might've seen Limited play.
3. Scrib-Nibblers-It really should've cost 1B for a 0/1. You're only using it for the ability anyway.
4. Ula's Temple-Right now, it's just a throaway rare.
5. Goliath Sphinx-This is just bad....horribly overcosted and dies to all non-burn removal. At least give it a come into play effect, like Bounce X creatures, Where X is 8 minus the CMC of those permanents. Then it'd be justified at 8 mana, as it just bounced 8 mana worth of permanents.