Is that a goat head on the left of the transformed side?
I'm guessing she merged with a few of the things she recently drank blood from. I think I can see another head to the right of hers, and a hoof on the lower left.
As for the card itself, trading 3 tokens or recursive creatures for actual cards from your opponent feels pretty powerful. Probably not worth running against opposing token decks though.
I think the people who are disappointed in the power level of Emrakul, the Promised End are definitely underrating her. The main problem is that she's being compared to Emrakul, The Aeons Torn, one of the most powerful magic cards ever printed. The old card excels at killing people on the spot, but the new card isn't too far behind, just in a different fashion.
Instead, the new card should be compared to Mindslaver itself, arguably the closest analogue and an eminently playable card in its own right. Let's put the two side by side:
afterwards, you get a free 13/13 flying trample with a little protection (their extra turn = a normal turn)
As you can see, mostly it comes down to this: Mindslaver effectively gets you a time walk, and Emrakul gets you a giant evasive beater with decent protection. If Standard decks exist against which Mindslaver is especially effective (traditionally combo or control, decks which may actually be happier with you getting a time walk than a giant beater), the new Emrakul will see a good amount of play. I don't really like her in a format full of aggro decks and tokens, but if that changes she could shine. As for other formats, she'll probably fight for Mindslaver's niche. Just don't expect the new card to define its own niche like the old card.
The common problem with a deck like this is what happens when you don't draw the engine card. Imaginary Pet, Esperzoa, and Sheltering Ancient all do almost nothing if you don't have the Ascendancy out (and ancient is particularly bad against creatureless decks). That being said, I think I would go with a slightly different build:
Lightning Mauler allows an alternative to having the Ascendancy out, and Izzet Charm can be used for interaction or to loot away excess lands/maulers/whatever else. Maulers can also be cashed in for Hour of Need sphinxes when necessary, and can be used to force through damage with bloodrush from Ghor-Clan Rampager. I also had Ravaging Riftwurm instead of Imaginary Pet, but changed it to the latter due to curve reasons and the ability to recur. I'm not sure Tarmogoyf belongs in this list, but it's pretty easy to get at least land (fetchland) + creature (vexing devil) + instant (bolt or charm) into the graveyard early, so it just needs the opponent to Serum Visions or something to get it online by the time the Ascendancy is out.
Also, I thought of a few more creatures that would be interesting in an Ascendancy deck:
> Noble Hierarch - Lower curve, boosts single fatty attackers, turn 2 Ascendancy and possible white splash. Does add more chaff to the deck, though.
> Generator Servant - Great with Hour of Need and can haste out multiple fatties when you're lacking the Ascendancy. A little slow though, and again adds more chaff.
> Akki Underling - About as inconsistent as the channelers from before, but I did take note of it as a possible 2-drop that triggers the Ascendancy.
Temur Ascendancy is my favorite card spoiled thus far, it's just so flexible and lends itself to so many different builds. Did a quick search for other fun things that work with it in modern, with an eye for creatures that are ok when you don't actually have the enchantment in play:
> Ghor-Clan Rampager - combat trick that can also be a hasty 4/4 that draws a card.
> Obstinate Baloth - a good card in general against hyper-aggro decks, to regain lost ground while playing midrangey creatures.
> Volcano Hellion - at worst a removal spell, at best a Flametongue Kavu that draws a card and beats for 6 before probably dying.
> Hour of Need - counter-removal that gives cards and 4/4 hasty flyers.
> Illusory Angel - an efficient, evasive creature without the Ascendancy. Pretty great with it.
And other things just for fun:
> Spellbreaker Behemoth - makes many of the things that trigger the Ascendancy uncounterable.
> Brackwater Elemental - a poor man's Hell's Thunder.
> Mul Daya Channelers - perhaps not good enough, as a deck with 4x Ascendancy will make this only draw a card roughly 50% of the time at best. Still, it's a 5/5 for 3 mana, that you can manipulate with fetchlands if you want to use it to ramp out more fatties or set off a huge Hour of Need.
Vampire Nighthawk is good, but Golgari isn't exactly the kind of deck that wants a 2/2 when Mutilate is the game plan. And there's no ****ing way that I'm playing Cathedral Sanctifier, but maybe that's just me.
If you're not playing lifegain, why bother with this in the first place? If you want it on-curve, you're kinda in the Trained Caracal plan. No thanks.
Art is still sweet.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's worth playing in a deck without any lifegain. I'm just saying that you don't have to be going as deep as using Heroes' Reunion or Cathedral Sanctifier to make the wurm worthwhile. Good value creatures with lifegain attached, Vampire Nighthawk being an example, are what this guy goes with.
As for what Golgari wants, who's to say that they actually want Mutilate? Perhaps there's an efficient lifegain aggro deck with this card waiting in the wings. More than anything in the scenario I put forth, I'd be worried about having the 1BB for nighthawk on turn 3 followed by 2BG for wurm + doom blade on turn 4. I'm interested to see the possibilities, however.
Despite it's greedy nature, Voracious Wurm is a card that I like. Scavenging Ooze seems like a good partner in crime. It'd be great if Theros gives Standard the tools for a lifegain style deck, rather than the current meta, which has my beloved Trostani riding the bench to fend off aggro. Voracious Wurm needs some new buddies before he can shine. But hey, Flinthoof Boar only needed Stomping Ground...
I don't think this guy really has to be in a lifegain-style deck, Wizards just needs to keep printing a bunch of incidental lifegain cards like they have been. More cheap dudes that gain life (in the vein of Cathedral Sanctifier and Lone Missionary) would be nice, and pretty much any creature with lifelink is best bros with the wurm. You don't really need to go terribly deep to make this guy work, you just need a deck full of creatures that can stand on their own -- they just happen to do so in part due to life gain (such as Vampire Nighthawk).
Let's not forget Gift of Orzhova and Unflinching Courage, which both work well with the card regardless of which you draw first. Either the auras hit another creature and help the wurm get big, or they go on the wurm and help give him evasion.
Vampire Nighthawk is also a nice companion, swinging in and letting you play a 4/4 wurm on turn 4 while keeping up Doom Blade mana or something similar. As noted above, Tithe Drinker is similar (but probably not as good since it's so fragile). This card with Tavern Swindler, however...is just hilarious
TravisWoo... I hope you're not really him, or but that in your sig, because with all the press he gets, you're shaming his name.
Considering the negativity and sarcasm oozing from just about every post, I think it should be obvious it's someone else.
As for the topic of the thread, I can certainly see how you might think Dimir is getting shafted, due simply to the fact that aggro is seemingly being pushed at every angle. I think the lack of a Doom Blade reprint is a good part of that, since Ultimate Price isn't terribly good against things like Reckoner and Thragtusk and a million Burning-Tree Emissaries. Orzhov at least gets Orzhov Charm, while Rakdos and Golgari can leverage all the good aggro cards.
That being said, I don't think all is bad for Dimir, and at 105/166 cards spoiled there's still entirely a good chance for wonderful things in common and uncommon. It's not like UB control needs rares really, just cogs to help manage resilient and fast aggro. That, and two-color decks aren't as much a thing in constructed these days, simply due to the fantastic manabase that allows the leveraging of other additional colors.
you also have to think about if those elves were played after him or not...lets say 2 of 4 were he would be bigger cuz he turns them into mutants which interact with coat again making everyone larger
No, the fact that they're also mutants doesn't do anything, I'm afraid. If you read the rulings on Coat of Arms:
Sharing multiple creature types doesn't give an additional bonus. Coat of Arms counts creatures, not creature types.
This means that functionally there's no difference between Elves and Elf Mutants in the scenario.
Hmmm, I feel my understanding of the rules might be off but if the stack goes:
Token enters
Coat of Arms pumps the token
MB further pumps the token
Then:
MB + 1st ET = MB (3/5) and 1st ET (4/4)
MB + 2nd ET = MB (4/6), 1st ET (5/5), 2nd ET (6/6)
MB + 3rd ET = MB (5/7), 1st ET (6/6), 2nd ET (7/7), 3rd ET (9/9)
MB + 4th ET = MB (6/8), 1st ET (7/7), 2nd ET (8/8), 3rd ET (10/10), 4th ET (11/11)
MB + 5th ET = MB (7/8), 1st ET (8/8), 2nd ET (9/9), 3rd ET (11/11), 4th ET (12/12), 5th ET (13/13)
MB = Master Biomancer
ET = Elf Token
I humbly apologize if my rules understanding and/or math calculations are off.
The Biomancer effect isn't a trigger, it's a replacement effect, so it simply causes them to come in with that many counters. That means the scenario would go like this:
Cast Elvish Promenade -> all tokens enter with counters equal to current power of Biomancer at resolution (Coat of Arms + 4 other elves = Biomancer is 6/8, so six counters) -> you now have five 10/10 elf tokens with six +1/+1 counters on each. This means you've just paid four mana to get five 16/16 creatures and grow all your other stuff :3
Edit: Incidentally, Coat of Arms is now making your Biomancer an 11/13. You should probably play some more elves.
I feel like this guy gets absurd when paired with Joraga Warcaller, not to mention the other elvish lords that boost his power (Imperious Perfect comes to mind for token generation). Also makes your lategame 1-drop elves and the Perfect's tokens nuts once you've activated Ezuri, Renegade Leader's overrun. Gotta get me a playset ASAP.
Excuse me sir, have you seen Scavenger Folk? Or perhaps Word of Command?
This doesn't mean the dream of Mecha-T-Rexes terrorizing the Ixalan countryside is dead though, just that they won't have infect
Also, big fan of Winding Way. It's a strictly better Mulch, which I've always been a fan of.
I'm guessing she merged with a few of the things she recently drank blood from. I think I can see another head to the right of hers, and a hoof on the lower left.
As for the card itself, trading 3 tokens or recursive creatures for actual cards from your opponent feels pretty powerful. Probably not worth running against opposing token decks though.
Instead, the new card should be compared to Mindslaver itself, arguably the closest analogue and an eminently playable card in its own right. Let's put the two side by side:
Mindslaver
- mythic rare
- can be countered
- 10, in installments
- works with artifact synergies/search
- take a sabotage turn in which they draw a card
- afterwards, you get a free time walk (they pass back to you after sabotage)
Emrakul, the Promised End- mythic rare
- can be countered (but still gets value!)
- about 9-10 on average, occasionally more or less
- works with creature synergies/search
- take a sabotage turn in which they draw a card
- afterwards, you get a free 13/13 flying trample with a little protection (their extra turn = a normal turn)
As you can see, mostly it comes down to this: Mindslaver effectively gets you a time walk, and Emrakul gets you a giant evasive beater with decent protection. If Standard decks exist against which Mindslaver is especially effective (traditionally combo or control, decks which may actually be happier with you getting a time walk than a giant beater), the new Emrakul will see a good amount of play. I don't really like her in a format full of aggro decks and tokens, but if that changes she could shine. As for other formats, she'll probably fight for Mindslaver's niche. Just don't expect the new card to define its own niche like the old card.4 Vexing Devil
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Lightning Mauler
3 Imaginary Pet
4 Hell's Thunder
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Izzet Charm
4 Temur Ascendancy
2 Hour of Need
Lands
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Misty Rainforest
4 Stomping Ground
4 Steam Vents
2 Breeding Pool
1 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Island
Lightning Mauler allows an alternative to having the Ascendancy out, and Izzet Charm can be used for interaction or to loot away excess lands/maulers/whatever else. Maulers can also be cashed in for Hour of Need sphinxes when necessary, and can be used to force through damage with bloodrush from Ghor-Clan Rampager. I also had Ravaging Riftwurm instead of Imaginary Pet, but changed it to the latter due to curve reasons and the ability to recur. I'm not sure Tarmogoyf belongs in this list, but it's pretty easy to get at least land (fetchland) + creature (vexing devil) + instant (bolt or charm) into the graveyard early, so it just needs the opponent to Serum Visions or something to get it online by the time the Ascendancy is out.
Also, I thought of a few more creatures that would be interesting in an Ascendancy deck:
> Noble Hierarch - Lower curve, boosts single fatty attackers, turn 2 Ascendancy and possible white splash. Does add more chaff to the deck, though.
> Generator Servant - Great with Hour of Need and can haste out multiple fatties when you're lacking the Ascendancy. A little slow though, and again adds more chaff.
> Akki Underling - About as inconsistent as the channelers from before, but I did take note of it as a possible 2-drop that triggers the Ascendancy.
> Ghor-Clan Rampager - combat trick that can also be a hasty 4/4 that draws a card.
> Obstinate Baloth - a good card in general against hyper-aggro decks, to regain lost ground while playing midrangey creatures.
> Volcano Hellion - at worst a removal spell, at best a Flametongue Kavu that draws a card and beats for 6 before probably dying.
> Hour of Need - counter-removal that gives cards and 4/4 hasty flyers.
> Illusory Angel - an efficient, evasive creature without the Ascendancy. Pretty great with it.
And other things just for fun:
> Spellbreaker Behemoth - makes many of the things that trigger the Ascendancy uncounterable.
> Brackwater Elemental - a poor man's Hell's Thunder.
> Mul Daya Channelers - perhaps not good enough, as a deck with 4x Ascendancy will make this only draw a card roughly 50% of the time at best. Still, it's a 5/5 for 3 mana, that you can manipulate with fetchlands if you want to use it to ramp out more fatties or set off a huge Hour of Need.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's worth playing in a deck without any lifegain. I'm just saying that you don't have to be going as deep as using Heroes' Reunion or Cathedral Sanctifier to make the wurm worthwhile. Good value creatures with lifegain attached, Vampire Nighthawk being an example, are what this guy goes with.
As for what Golgari wants, who's to say that they actually want Mutilate? Perhaps there's an efficient lifegain aggro deck with this card waiting in the wings. More than anything in the scenario I put forth, I'd be worried about having the 1BB for nighthawk on turn 3 followed by 2BG for wurm + doom blade on turn 4. I'm interested to see the possibilities, however.
I don't think this guy really has to be in a lifegain-style deck, Wizards just needs to keep printing a bunch of incidental lifegain cards like they have been. More cheap dudes that gain life (in the vein of Cathedral Sanctifier and Lone Missionary) would be nice, and pretty much any creature with lifelink is best bros with the wurm. You don't really need to go terribly deep to make this guy work, you just need a deck full of creatures that can stand on their own -- they just happen to do so in part due to life gain (such as Vampire Nighthawk).
Let's not forget Gift of Orzhova and Unflinching Courage, which both work well with the card regardless of which you draw first. Either the auras hit another creature and help the wurm get big, or they go on the wurm and help give him evasion.
Vampire Nighthawk is also a nice companion, swinging in and letting you play a 4/4 wurm on turn 4 while keeping up Doom Blade mana or something similar. As noted above, Tithe Drinker is similar (but probably not as good since it's so fragile). This card with Tavern Swindler, however...is just hilarious
Considering the negativity and sarcasm oozing from just about every post, I think it should be obvious it's someone else.
As for the topic of the thread, I can certainly see how you might think Dimir is getting shafted, due simply to the fact that aggro is seemingly being pushed at every angle. I think the lack of a Doom Blade reprint is a good part of that, since Ultimate Price isn't terribly good against things like Reckoner and Thragtusk and a million Burning-Tree Emissaries. Orzhov at least gets Orzhov Charm, while Rakdos and Golgari can leverage all the good aggro cards.
That being said, I don't think all is bad for Dimir, and at 105/166 cards spoiled there's still entirely a good chance for wonderful things in common and uncommon. It's not like UB control needs rares really, just cogs to help manage resilient and fast aggro. That, and two-color decks aren't as much a thing in constructed these days, simply due to the fantastic manabase that allows the leveraging of other additional colors.
No, the fact that they're also mutants doesn't do anything, I'm afraid. If you read the rulings on Coat of Arms:
This means that functionally there's no difference between Elves and Elf Mutants in the scenario.
The Biomancer effect isn't a trigger, it's a replacement effect, so it simply causes them to come in with that many counters. That means the scenario would go like this:
Cast Elvish Promenade -> all tokens enter with counters equal to current power of Biomancer at resolution (Coat of Arms + 4 other elves = Biomancer is 6/8, so six counters) -> you now have five 10/10 elf tokens with six +1/+1 counters on each. This means you've just paid four mana to get five 16/16 creatures and grow all your other stuff :3
Edit: Incidentally, Coat of Arms is now making your Biomancer an 11/13. You should probably play some more elves.