Calm down. The creature has to inflict damage to a player to draw cards. They can still successfully block it and deny you all those cards.
The creature gets trample as well as that +3/+3. If you're green and you have five mana, it's all-but-guaranteed that your creatures are already going to be bigger than your opponent's, and that's even before the pump this gives.
I like how this synergizes well with reaper of the wilds. Aside from being able to get hexproof and deathtouch they're in colors that give you ramp and discard/info on possible removals
Reaper of the Wilds also gets deathtouch. Remember, folks - Trample + Deathtouch = virtually unblockable by a lone creature.
There are so many cute combo options, but the more I think, the more I realize that... they're not necessary. Here's what I'm realizing:
1. This card means that absolutely any creature that green plays is a potential blow-out, and it means that it will be very unwise to tap out against green when they have five mana. When even something as innocuous as a 1/1 Elvish Mystic suddenly is swinging for four AND drawing the green player four cards... yeah.
2. This all but ensures that there will be a tier 1 hexproof deck, since hexproof creatures are the safest way to get maximum value.
3. This is pretty much a four-of in your deck if you're playing green. Why? Well, because it's an outstanding topdeck late game, and much like Sphinx's Revelation, it's going to be at its best when you can chain them into each other.
4. Monoblue Devotion is in big trouble as an archetype, and I'm going to be surprised if it stays around at all, really. The reason is because... there's no compelling reason to play it as of now. Green-based decks already were able to get bigger creatures out faster than MonoBlue, and have more consistent starts than MonoBlue... now they'll be able to completely smoke MonoBlue in terms of card advantage as well.
5. I really hope that WotC knows what they're doing with this card, and that they've fully considered the ramifications of giving green something that it's never had before: incredible, unconditional (for green), potentially-uncapped card advantage.
It's as if this thing is custom made for me, seriously.
It's perfect in a non-blue, creature-heavy, tempo-based deck that happens to play a lot of hexproof creatures, that runs enough value cards to benefit such a draw, and that can support a five casting-cost card without any trouble.
I like to think of it was WotC learning from the mistakes made with DGM and realizing that all they had to do was flip it around, and that the big set is where you should have the fixers, not the little one.
So, I've been analyzing the way that WotC's designed Theros block to work for draft, and I'm really impressed. I have speculation on how things will work with Journey into Nyx that I'd like to share here.
Firstly, let's look at how it worked with THS/THS/THS: 10 different draft archetypes, each based around a two-color combination. There's enough depth to support one of the more balanced draft formats I've seen.
Second, BNG/THS/THS: Born of the Gods is showing an emphasis on allied-colored pairs. This means that the first pack is going to favor people who want to draft those particular archetypes, with everyone else making due from the second and third packs... not quite ideal, but shouldn't be too bad.
Now for the meat of this post, JOU/BNG/THS: Here's where it gets really interesting.
First pack will be heavily geared towards enemy-colored pairs.
Second pack will be for allied-colored pairs... note that this is the pack going to the right, which means that if you were cut out of an enemy pair you can make due with an allied-pair combo just fine.
Third pack, the Theros pack, is going to be perfect for filling holes in decks. The abundance of mana fixers, the fact that all 10 color combinations have strong uncommons and commons, and the existence of very solid and flexible mono-colored cards means that people will tend to get the cards that they really want.
What's striking to me is that the full block draft looks like it will support the ability for every single player to have a different deck, without any real fighting over color combinations. If you look at the breakdown of playstyles of the colors in Theros draft it works like this:
Do you see? There's an allied-color pair and an enemy-color pair for each of the playstyles. This means that, in the full block draft, you'll have a fairly easy time going for a particular style of play.
I predict that this is going to be the most interesting and fair draft format ever, and I am extremely excited to see how it pans out.
EDIT: Corrected formatting on mana symbols to make them actually readable.
That's it. I'm putting him in a deck with as many Ordeals as I can, just so on turn 3 I can swing for 8 and: deal 9 to the dome/ramp out six lands/empty my opponent's entire hand/gain 30 life/draw 6 cards/any combination of the preceding.
Does it die to Doom Blade? Yes, but those times it doesn't... oh so epic.
Oh, yes... yes. Kiora, and Phenax, and Prophet of Kruphix... Axebane Guardian, Sylvan Caryatid, and their wall friends... a couple of Prime Speaker Zeganas for card draw. And there's still room for counterspells and pinpoint removal.
Well, WotC, this is why we can't have nice things.
As if BUG wasn't already going to be ridiculous enough, you had to go and give them the hands-down best god in the set. There are going to be so many people angry at getting consistently comboed out by Phenax.
And by "Phenax" I mean "me".
And by "me" I mean, "the existing BUG Wall Ramp deck that I built that was merely lacking a quick wincon."
I maybe completely wrong here, but people seem to think that this requires 2 toughness creatures to be good, isn't the exact opposite true? This finally seems like the answer mono red needs to a lot of the high toughness creatures being played at the moment.
Currently in mono red if you actually want to remove a desecration demon, you have to 2 for 1 yourself, that's it. With this you burn it with two spells but your not really two for one-ing yourself, your playing a spell: "deal six damage to target creature" and then just essentially just lightning striking your opponents face.
This is an interesting point.
Basically, it's a "free" spell in terms of card advantage.
It makes every single other burn spell in a burn deck that much better.
Hmm. In a Lava Spike-style Standard deck this card is going to be nuts.
The creature gets trample as well as that +3/+3. If you're green and you have five mana, it's all-but-guaranteed that your creatures are already going to be bigger than your opponent's, and that's even before the pump this gives.
EDIT: Whoops, double post, sorry about that. D:
EDIT EDIT:
Reaper of the Wilds also gets deathtouch.
1. This card means that absolutely any creature that green plays is a potential blow-out, and it means that it will be very unwise to tap out against green when they have five mana. When even something as innocuous as a 1/1 Elvish Mystic suddenly is swinging for four AND drawing the green player four cards... yeah.
2. This all but ensures that there will be a tier 1 hexproof deck, since hexproof creatures are the safest way to get maximum value.
3. This is pretty much a four-of in your deck if you're playing green. Why? Well, because it's an outstanding topdeck late game, and much like Sphinx's Revelation, it's going to be at its best when you can chain them into each other.
4. Monoblue Devotion is in big trouble as an archetype, and I'm going to be surprised if it stays around at all, really. The reason is because... there's no compelling reason to play it as of now. Green-based decks already were able to get bigger creatures out faster than MonoBlue, and have more consistent starts than MonoBlue... now they'll be able to completely smoke MonoBlue in terms of card advantage as well.
5. I really hope that WotC knows what they're doing with this card, and that they've fully considered the ramifications of giving green something that it's never had before: incredible, unconditional (for green), potentially-uncapped card advantage.
Guys, Wizards just printed the best sorcery-speed card draw they've ever printed, and they put it in green. My mind is completely blown.
This card will change the face of Magic forever.
It's perfect in a non-blue, creature-heavy, tempo-based deck that happens to play a lot of hexproof creatures, that runs enough value cards to benefit such a draw, and that can support a five casting-cost card without any trouble.
In other words, THIS DECK RIGHT HERE.
Firstly, let's look at how it worked with THS/THS/THS: 10 different draft archetypes, each based around a two-color combination. There's enough depth to support one of the more balanced draft formats I've seen.
Second, BNG/THS/THS: Born of the Gods is showing an emphasis on allied-colored pairs. This means that the first pack is going to favor people who want to draft those particular archetypes, with everyone else making due from the second and third packs... not quite ideal, but shouldn't be too bad.
Now for the meat of this post, JOU/BNG/THS: Here's where it gets really interesting.
First pack will be heavily geared towards enemy-colored pairs.
Second pack will be for allied-colored pairs... note that this is the pack going to the right, which means that if you were cut out of an enemy pair you can make due with an allied-pair combo just fine.
Third pack, the Theros pack, is going to be perfect for filling holes in decks. The abundance of mana fixers, the fact that all 10 color combinations have strong uncommons and commons, and the existence of very solid and flexible mono-colored cards means that people will tend to get the cards that they really want.
What's striking to me is that the full block draft looks like it will support the ability for every single player to have a different deck, without any real fighting over color combinations. If you look at the breakdown of playstyles of the colors in Theros draft it works like this:
Do you see? There's an allied-color pair and an enemy-color pair for each of the playstyles. This means that, in the full block draft, you'll have a fairly easy time going for a particular style of play.
I predict that this is going to be the most interesting and fair draft format ever, and I am extremely excited to see how it pans out.
EDIT: Corrected formatting on mana symbols to make them actually readable.
Does it die to Doom Blade? Yes, but those times it doesn't... oh so epic.
This is going to be such a dirty deck.
Turn 3: Wall of Frost.
Turn 4: Wall of Frost.
Turn 5: Phenax, mill half your deck.
Turn 6: Yay, I win!
(That's without even trying to abuse the card. I have some nasty, mean combos cooked up already)
As if BUG wasn't already going to be ridiculous enough, you had to go and give them the hands-down best god in the set. There are going to be so many people angry at getting consistently comboed out by Phenax.
And by "Phenax" I mean "me".
And by "me" I mean, "the existing BUG Wall Ramp deck that I built that was merely lacking a quick wincon."
This is an interesting point.
Basically, it's a "free" spell in terms of card advantage.
It makes every single other burn spell in a burn deck that much better.
Hmm. In a Lava Spike-style Standard deck this card is going to be nuts.