To those saying Sword is better than Warhammer, I'll tell you that yeah it might be. Those are some sweet stats.
But none of those keywords are better than Lifelink. Not a single one.
Warhammer could single-handedly define a race or turn it around, provided you had a resilient beater or other creatures to spare.
Haste in this equipment is basically irrelevant. Vigilance is only better than Lifelink in a few corner cases. Trample appears in both. And the Mirrodin equip grants +3/+0.
Basically, we're trading Lifelink and +1/+0 for First Strike and Vigilance, which is "fine". It's one of those trades that you see that the values even out, but you still feel ripped.
It's like trading your Jace TMS for the appropriate number of painlands. Even if you get your 70$ worth of lands, it doesn't really feel right.
Sword of Vengeance is definitely good and will be a staple (alongside Collar and Sledge while it lasts) as a 1-of in Stoneforge Mystic decks. But Loxodon Warhammer it ain't.
Except it makes a Bitterblossom/Eldrazi 0/1 spawn token into an immediate threat.
People are who are arguing +1/+0 and lifelink > vigilence, first strike and blah are nuts, plain and simple imo. In several decks that may be true, but more decks would care if you can utilize a creature you summoned that turn as a threat, especially a token.
As far as I know, "strictly better" doesn't mean "better in all possible circumstances". That's practically impossible, and, more importantly, such definition can change as new cards are released.
No, in my opinion, "strictly better" means "better on its own", and it doesn't take into account interactions with other cards. You compare the two cards in vacuum. The definitions of "strictly better" I've seen all disregard creature types, and I implore: we must use such definition of "strictly better" that could actually APPLY in the game. This way people will claim that Plateau isn't strictly better than Mountain because it's vulnerable to Flashfires.
Boy, that Human Wizards deck currently in Standard is a beast!
[/sarcasm]
Last I checked, Man-O'-War couldn't be tutored up with Vedalken AEthermage. I do wish people would stop bandying about the term "strictly better" when they obviously don't have a clue what it means.
I think the fact that Man-O'-War is more splashable means A LOT more to more decks running blue than the fact that Aether Adept can be searched for by some obscure card or tribal effect currently can ever mean.
I added the "strictly better than" tag simply to see if anyone bites [and the fact that I completely stand by my above logic], and look what I find! Good job guy.
do i got this right?
deathtouch no longer can assign combat dmg as attacker to the defending creatures? its only doable with trample now?
You can still split the damage your deathtouch creature to the creatures blocking it. You swing with your 2/3 Vampire Nighthawk, and your opponent blocks with two flying 2/2 birds. You can have your Vampire Nighthawk deal 1 damage apiece to those birds to kill both of them.
Before, in M10, you could've ignored the normal rules of ordering how damage was dealt with a deathtouch creature. With those old rules, this meant if your Moongrove Winnower was blocked by your opponent's three Dredge Skeletons and your opponent only had two untapped swamps in which to regenerate them, he wouldn't have known how exactly you were going to assign damage until it was already assigned, essentially allowing you to pick off one of his unregenerated skeletons, you could've even had skipped over a creature in line that he had sent at your deathtoucher to kill something more of value.
Not anymore. You now have to assign which creature will be dealt damage first, and which second or third creature after that all during the blocking step, giving your opponent time to respond and save both of his Dredge Skeletons.
Wait. What? A 4/4 can assign ONE point of damage to an 8/8 blocker and the rest of the damage to the defending player? I thought the whole point of trample was that the remaining damage was assigned to the player, as in.. 4/4 trampler attacks, 3/3 blocks it, 1 point of damage carries over to the defending player?
I really must be missing something here.
The bolded is how trample was processed and dealt from M10 on back, with respect to how lethal damage was defined and interacted with trample. Additionally, even if the 4/4 had deathtouch too with the trample ability, still didn't matter. How deathtouch was defined wasn't lethal damage, and the old ruling of how trample damage was processed took precedence.
Under the new M11 rules, if the 4/4 trampler also has deathtouch, then any amount of damage dealt by a creature with deathtouch to a blocker is also now considered to be lethal damage too. So now, that 4/4 can do 1 point of damage to the 8/8, it'll count as lethal damage with how deathtouch is now defined, and you can assign the rest to your opponent.
Ignore these nay sayers who are saying it'll be too broken, show some testicular fortitude by printing this card in a future core set!
Except it makes a Bitterblossom/Eldrazi 0/1 spawn token into an immediate threat.
Same here!
"What do you mean the Eldrazi legends aren't seen any competitive play!? Fix it damn it!!"
You have to hand it to WoTC, It's kinda damn cool that they were anally cognizant to keep the flavor of this sword consistent for 3 different cards!
I'm wondering about this too. Does the Key provide the necessary synergy with Sorcerer's Strongbox to enable one to draw 6 cards? Anyone?
I wish.
opponent's turn 1: Taiga, Mox monkey.
You:
Boy, that Human Wizards deck currently in Standard is a beast!
[/sarcasm]
I think the fact that Man-O'-War is more splashable means A LOT more to more decks running blue than the fact that Aether Adept can be searched for by some obscure card or tribal effect currently can ever mean.
I added the "strictly better than" tag simply to see if anyone bites [and the fact that I completely stand by my above logic], and look what I find! Good job guy.
You can still split the damage your deathtouch creature to the creatures blocking it. You swing with your 2/3 Vampire Nighthawk, and your opponent blocks with two flying 2/2 birds. You can have your Vampire Nighthawk deal 1 damage apiece to those birds to kill both of them.
Before, in M10, you could've ignored the normal rules of ordering how damage was dealt with a deathtouch creature. With those old rules, this meant if your Moongrove Winnower was blocked by your opponent's three Dredge Skeletons and your opponent only had two untapped swamps in which to regenerate them, he wouldn't have known how exactly you were going to assign damage until it was already assigned, essentially allowing you to pick off one of his unregenerated skeletons, you could've even had skipped over a creature in line that he had sent at your deathtoucher to kill something more of value.
Not anymore. You now have to assign which creature will be dealt damage first, and which second or third creature after that all during the blocking step, giving your opponent time to respond and save both of his Dredge Skeletons.
The bolded is how trample was processed and dealt from M10 on back, with respect to how lethal damage was defined and interacted with trample. Additionally, even if the 4/4 had deathtouch too with the trample ability, still didn't matter. How deathtouch was defined wasn't lethal damage, and the old ruling of how trample damage was processed took precedence.
Under the new M11 rules, if the 4/4 trampler also has deathtouch, then any amount of damage dealt by a creature with deathtouch to a blocker is also now considered to be lethal damage too. So now, that 4/4 can do 1 point of damage to the 8/8, it'll count as lethal damage with how deathtouch is now defined, and you can assign the rest to your opponent.