It was difficult to narrow the list down to just ten, but here's my attempt.
My top 10:
10. Fleecemane Lion
9. Dissolve
8. Firedrinker Satyr
7. Polukranos, World Eater
6. Hammer of Purphoros
5. Soldier of the Pantheon
4. Scry lands
3. Thoughtseize
2. Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
The first nine probably require no explanation. My #1 choice will be more controversial, but I currently think Nykthos is the underhyped standout card of the set.
Honorable Mention:
Chained to the Rocks, Steam Augury - Strong cards but color requirements might keep them out of the spotlight
Phalanx Leader, Fabled Hero, Agent of Fates - Only if Heroic somehow becomes a thing in constructed
Rescue from the Underworld, Gift of Immortality, Nemesis of Mortals - Probably not role players just yet, but could become good with the right synergies
Anger of the Gods, Daxos of Meletis, Underworld Cerberus - All quite good but it isn't clear that the right deck type exists to take advantage of them
Xenagos, the Reveler - Just because he's probably the strongest card I didn't mention yet
No, he does not get four counters from Common Bond. Heroic triggers when you play a spell that targets him. It doesn't matter how many times that spell targets him, it's still only once per spell. However, if you had two of these out, you could trigger them both with one Common Bond, and they'd each get two counters.
There is plenty of reason for this card to be red. Not only does it work well enough mechanically (as the effect is somewhat unpredictable) but blue/red is a perfect match for the name.
This seems quite strong with pretty much anything graveyard-related, and may very well be good enough anyway. It's semi-complex, it's a splashy effect, and will be a desirable card due to FoF nostalgia. I have no problem with this as a rare, unlike Thoughtseize which should never have been rare to begin with.
Duals have already been revealed we should stop speculating. They're new benalia duals. With no way to enter the battlefield untapped, i think those are pretty bad honestly. They should've have had Scry 2 to make for always coming into play tapped.
I think you are seriously underestimating the power of Scry. If these lands had Scry 2, I would seriously consider playing a few copies even in a monocolored deck.
With Scry 1, they are still fine. Worse than shocks, but definitely good enough for constructed regardless. They'll be especially good in control decks, which love to scry and don't mind the drawback as much.
Of course, this is assuming that they're real. I think they are, but we'll see.
So...what set does this end up in? My guess is M15, since the flavor is generic and the mechanics probably lack cohesion with the next block. On the other hand, that's less than a year away. Any other thoughts on the subject?
I activated Vizkopa Guildmage's second ability, then used Alive // Well to gain 10 life, bringing me to 16 and my opponent down to 6. The following turn, I cast Down // Dirty to get it back from the graveyard and do it again. 20 points of life drain in 2 turns without attacking.
The dumb part was, I had seven mana already and I could have activated the guildmage twice to make the opponent lose 20 life in one turn, but I forgot. Whoops.
"Troubled Past"
Enchantment B: Target opponent chooses and exiles a card from his or her graveyard.
You may play cards exiled with ~. You may spend black mana as though it were mana of any color to pay their mana costs.
Gates seemed like a promising idea, but I am shocked at how little support they've received, at least in the first set. If I recall correctly, there are only three cards that interact with them at all. Two of those are strictly limited fodder and the third isn't anything great.
Well, there are still two cards left to be spoiled and then two more full sets in the block, so it's still possible they'll end up mattering, but right now I am disappointed.
This pack is weak. The 8/8, Goblin Rally, and Blustersquall are contenders, but I picked the 2/1 Swampwalk. Black is strong in this set and Scavenge is a good ability. A disappointing first pick, but a good card.
It's hilarious that people think Rakdos Cackler is bad. Yeah, it's been a few years since Goblin Raider was good in constructed, but still...
Instead of complaining that you like Diregraf Ghoul better, why not play them both? With Gravecrawler you can have 12 totally reasonable one drops with 2 power in the same color, which is nearly unprecedented.
If I started with the static ability defining a replacement effect that you suggest, my first idea would be to go with Gideon Jura's first ability:
"During target opponent's next turn, creatures that player controls attack ~ if able."
Seems a lot smoother than your suggestion.
Indeed it is smoother, but it also removes the opponent's ability to deal with it through combat like they would with other Planeswalkers, which isn't what I wanted. It also means he can "fog" for you, improving his functionality quite a bit. I really just want him to make tokens when you beat him up, and not do much else. I also don't want him to be insanely hard to kill against non-red opponents.
I could go with something like "[0]: On target opponent's next turn, creatures he or she controls attack ~ this turn if able. Until your next turn, if co damage would be dealt to ~, put that many loyalty counters on it instead." but that's quite a lot of text.
Balance issues aside, I feel like he could be done without warping the rules in strange and possibly undefined ways by just making it "[0]: Tap any number of untapped creatures you control. Put a number of loyalty counters on ~ equal to their total power." It's not exactly the same (vigilance, haste, double strike etc.), but it's much, much simpler.
If you really want to push the flavor, keep the static ability and go with "[0]: Tap any number of untapped creatures you control. Those creatures deal damage equal to their power to ~."
While your suggestions are good, I don't think they're really what I was trying to do.
Here's another try:
Moengroth, Fungusaur Ascendant 1GG
Planeswalker - Moengroth
If combat damage would be dealt to Moengroth and you don't own it, prevent that damage and put that many loyalty counters on it.
[0]: Until end of turn, target opponent gains control of Moengroth and creatures that attack it are unblockable.
[-X]: Put X 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens onto the battlefield.
[2]
This solves the rules issues but the flavor is weird since the opponent gets to control it. I really want to attack my own guy.
Oh, also, note that I am deliberately using "it" to contrast the use of "him" on Gideon. Maybe this isn't a good idea, though, since flavor text would seem to indicate that Fungusaurs do have a gender.
This guy scales off himself in a scary fashion.
Say you can put just 3 counters on him on turn 3 due to your turn 2 Garruk's Companion, and your opponent hasn't managed any useful attackers yet. Turn 4 you can make 4 tokens. Now you have to sacrifice one to keep Moengroth alive, but even though you cast no creatures turn 4, you still get to put 6 counters on Moengroth come turn 5.
Maybe if there were a way that your opponents could block your creatures attacking him it could be OK. Otherwise I would cosider costing him at :2mana::symg::symg:.
I'm open to arguments that he's undercosted, but I honestly don't think the scenario you've posed is all that scary. If you're able to have a 3 power creature on the board and a Planeswalker without getting either of them killed, and you're willing to use your creatures for this, rather than for just killing the opponent, then I'm perfectly okay with you getting four tokens out of it. That doesn't sound any scarier to me than Garruk's Companion plus Leatherback Baloth against an opponent who isn't doing much of anything.
The point is that here is that a land that costs two to get a free land is too powerful a rare for you, so therefore an evasion creature that gets two free cards is absolutely unprintable by your own logic.
That is absolutely not his own logic, and in fact it's a pretty poor comparison. No one is suggesting that all forms of card advantage are unprintable and overpowered. It's a question of efficiency. Mulldrifter doesn't get you up a card for only two mana and also have the versatility of being a colorless land.
Krosan Verge is indeed a much better comparison. As pointed out before, this doesn't ramp you and doesn't activate for colorless, but doesn't come into play tapped and costs one mana less to use. This means it is almost certainly better than Krosan Verge overall, although not by a huge margin. Possibly printable but definitely quite strong for any deck that wants to invest in a big lategame.
The deck thinning matters little, but the fact that you're up a card just by using a land is quite significant. In fact, these are strong enough that I could imagine mono-colored control decks might even run them with a couple of off-color basic lands just for the quantity of mana they provide. Much like Karoos, but without the tempo loss and vulnerability.
If you do want to run an early creature, you might consider Frostburn Weird, as it survives Anger of the Gods and can block most aggro creatures.
My top 10:
10. Fleecemane Lion
9. Dissolve
8. Firedrinker Satyr
7. Polukranos, World Eater
6. Hammer of Purphoros
5. Soldier of the Pantheon
4. Scry lands
3. Thoughtseize
2. Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
The first nine probably require no explanation. My #1 choice will be more controversial, but I currently think Nykthos is the underhyped standout card of the set.
Honorable Mention:
Chained to the Rocks, Steam Augury - Strong cards but color requirements might keep them out of the spotlight
Phalanx Leader, Fabled Hero, Agent of Fates - Only if Heroic somehow becomes a thing in constructed
Rescue from the Underworld, Gift of Immortality, Nemesis of Mortals - Probably not role players just yet, but could become good with the right synergies
Anger of the Gods, Daxos of Meletis, Underworld Cerberus - All quite good but it isn't clear that the right deck type exists to take advantage of them
Xenagos, the Reveler - Just because he's probably the strongest card I didn't mention yet
This seems quite strong with pretty much anything graveyard-related, and may very well be good enough anyway. It's semi-complex, it's a splashy effect, and will be a desirable card due to FoF nostalgia. I have no problem with this as a rare, unlike Thoughtseize which should never have been rare to begin with.
I think you are seriously underestimating the power of Scry. If these lands had Scry 2, I would seriously consider playing a few copies even in a monocolored deck.
With Scry 1, they are still fine. Worse than shocks, but definitely good enough for constructed regardless. They'll be especially good in control decks, which love to scry and don't mind the drawback as much.
Of course, this is assuming that they're real. I think they are, but we'll see.
You are tired of cards being bad unless they're good?
The dumb part was, I had seven mana already and I could have activated the guildmage twice to make the opponent lose 20 life in one turn, but I forgot. Whoops.
"Troubled Past"
Enchantment
B: Target opponent chooses and exiles a card from his or her graveyard.
You may play cards exiled with ~. You may spend black mana as though it were mana of any color to pay their mana costs.
Well, there are still two cards left to be spoiled and then two more full sets in the block, so it's still possible they'll end up mattering, but right now I am disappointed.
For seven mana it should let you cast them all for free.
Instead of complaining that you like Diregraf Ghoul better, why not play them both? With Gravecrawler you can have 12 totally reasonable one drops with 2 power in the same color, which is nearly unprecedented.
Indeed it is smoother, but it also removes the opponent's ability to deal with it through combat like they would with other Planeswalkers, which isn't what I wanted. It also means he can "fog" for you, improving his functionality quite a bit. I really just want him to make tokens when you beat him up, and not do much else. I also don't want him to be insanely hard to kill against non-red opponents.
I could go with something like "[0]: On target opponent's next turn, creatures he or she controls attack ~ this turn if able. Until your next turn, if co damage would be dealt to ~, put that many loyalty counters on it instead." but that's quite a lot of text.
While your suggestions are good, I don't think they're really what I was trying to do.
Here's another try:
Moengroth, Fungusaur Ascendant 1GG
Planeswalker - Moengroth
If combat damage would be dealt to Moengroth and you don't own it, prevent that damage and put that many loyalty counters on it.
[0]: Until end of turn, target opponent gains control of Moengroth and creatures that attack it are unblockable.
[-X]: Put X 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens onto the battlefield.
[2]
This solves the rules issues but the flavor is weird since the opponent gets to control it. I really want to attack my own guy.
Oh, also, note that I am deliberately using "it" to contrast the use of "him" on Gideon. Maybe this isn't a good idea, though, since flavor text would seem to indicate that Fungusaurs do have a gender.
*shrug*
I'm open to arguments that he's undercosted, but I honestly don't think the scenario you've posed is all that scary. If you're able to have a 3 power creature on the board and a Planeswalker without getting either of them killed, and you're willing to use your creatures for this, rather than for just killing the opponent, then I'm perfectly okay with you getting four tokens out of it. That doesn't sound any scarier to me than Garruk's Companion plus Leatherback Baloth against an opponent who isn't doing much of anything.
That is absolutely not his own logic, and in fact it's a pretty poor comparison. No one is suggesting that all forms of card advantage are unprintable and overpowered. It's a question of efficiency. Mulldrifter doesn't get you up a card for only two mana and also have the versatility of being a colorless land.
Krosan Verge is indeed a much better comparison. As pointed out before, this doesn't ramp you and doesn't activate for colorless, but doesn't come into play tapped and costs one mana less to use. This means it is almost certainly better than Krosan Verge overall, although not by a huge margin. Possibly printable but definitely quite strong for any deck that wants to invest in a big lategame.
The deck thinning matters little, but the fact that you're up a card just by using a land is quite significant. In fact, these are strong enough that I could imagine mono-colored control decks might even run them with a couple of off-color basic lands just for the quantity of mana they provide. Much like Karoos, but without the tempo loss and vulnerability.