The factory's still-a-land clause is irrelevant; it doesn't enter as a creature.
Well, unless you have something that statically makes lands creatures... Sorta the way March of the Machines makes artifacts into creatures- I'm 99.7% sure that those would become copies.
Seems like a classic build- B&W give you the harsh removal, blue gives you card advantage, shuffle in a win condition or two ala fat motti (or some of the meaner die-hard critters) and you've got it. With 8 duals between the WU and UB the manabase had a start, but BW to round it off it beautiful. Avoid expensive bombs and it should go two for two at FNM.
If only for flavor/casual, I have a zombie deck that loves this. Undead Warchief, Lord of the Undead, Death Baron & Cemetery Reaper might not all benefit enough from costing 2 less, I wanna but stir them together with some Vengeful Dead or Soulless One antics, Twisted Abomination to keep things running smoothly.
Overall, though, all it really needs is an effect to counteract the size loss. Anthems, not being creatures, don't seem as ideal here as lords. Adaptive Automaton, for starters, but Elves seem best-equipped. Imperious Perfect, Elvish Archdruid[/CARD], and Timberwatch Elf play very nicely here, along with Lorwyn-era elvish beats. So much fun(:
Potentially, but I'd bet moxen to mountains he's from Innistrad.
The longer I watch these forums, the more I'm torn- I've seen some very intelligent speculation wrought of naught & some very solid rationales deteriorate into conspiracy theories. That said, it's a fairly safe assumption that, given the timeframe, Wizards will tie it all together & touch on each pre-Mirrodin story arc at least once while they flood us with their overflowing cache of ideas. By 2020, expect an Ixidor/Karn/Bolas showdown.
Innistrad, as it's marketed so far, strikes me as an opportunity to spread the flavor around the colors more by seeing how dark & devious each mechanic can be without violating the pie. Ulgrotha wouldn't facilitate that as well and has an existing flavor. Mirrodin beseiged touched on it, but with artifacts and Phyrexian mana it was a little too risky- a trouble they had on their first visit.
Hayao Miyazaki could pull it off. (Well, except I'd expect Tim Burton for anything Mirrodin:P) Between Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, and Castle in the Sky you get all the detail for Ravinca, the elegance for Lorwyn, the world to make us proud for the brothers' war- Add the under-control budget, the international angle, and merged followings. Might not be the absolute best that way, but I think one nearly botch-proof angle plants me on the side of curiosity.
Also, as a community, we don't need a blockbuster. A huge influx of undevoted players who'll largely abandon the hobby within a couple years would make Hasbro and dealers pretty penny, but then they'll try to get that same money from the people who've stuck with it. Something more under-the-radar and tasteful could be shared and bring around more sincere interest.
Surprised this hasn't been said: Five at each non-mythic rarity shifts the ratio just a little. By making all the other cards appear slightly less often, it could help to knock the price down a little on chase mythics while still keeping sales up. It's slight, which is safer than, say, creating or eliminating a rarity. I remember a time was painlands & *** ran $10/each and were more or less the high price for standard-legal. I worried about the health of magic when I sold a 'goyf for $35. Now, just how high had Jace peaked? Wizards promised to try not to print constructed staples at mythic, but these are the same people who brought us Skullclamp in a block ravaged with affinity. I see this as a subtle attempt at being extra careful.
I feel they did it just fine. Anywhere else, the 3 loss would be better than the 3 gain, but in infect making your opponent lose life is pretty pointless. It's like "make 'em all and let the meta sort 'em out"
Grafted Exoskeleton wasn't in beseiged. Phyrexians are dynamic, and living weapon is their direction. Equally, there's a big flavor gap between an exoskeleton and a sword. Phyrexians don't arm, they modify. Expect equipment to reflect that, and expect every sword to be Mirran.
Surprised by land untapping. Pleasantly, anyway. Most of my decks love this, especially my slew of mid-range aggro. This on doublestrike with instant burn/removal? I kinda wanna build Blue/Red with this and see what chaos ensues. Usual control prep running small haste/evasion/utility critters could be nuts with this. This with bounce is douchebaggery at it's finest, leaving mana to answer a topdeck.
As the variety of Blazes goes, I like this one. For flavor, why would Mirrans care what was in the graveyard the way Phyrexians would? Get rid of it right the first time.
In terms of power, it seems to be about even with half the rare-level variants. Most of them have their ups and downs, but context is key. There's times, I'm sure, you'd rather have a Fireball or an Urza's Rage. Most of the time, it won't matter.
Well, unless you have something that statically makes lands creatures... Sorta the way March of the Machines makes artifacts into creatures- I'm 99.7% sure that those would become copies.
Well played.
Overall, though, all it really needs is an effect to counteract the size loss. Anthems, not being creatures, don't seem as ideal here as lords. Adaptive Automaton, for starters, but Elves seem best-equipped. Imperious Perfect, Elvish Archdruid[/CARD], and Timberwatch Elf play very nicely here, along with Lorwyn-era elvish beats. So much fun(:
Love the art.
Information overload. Shots now, speculation later o.o
Potentially, but I'd bet moxen to mountains he's from Innistrad.
The longer I watch these forums, the more I'm torn- I've seen some very intelligent speculation wrought of naught & some very solid rationales deteriorate into conspiracy theories. That said, it's a fairly safe assumption that, given the timeframe, Wizards will tie it all together & touch on each pre-Mirrodin story arc at least once while they flood us with their overflowing cache of ideas. By 2020, expect an Ixidor/Karn/Bolas showdown.
Innistrad, as it's marketed so far, strikes me as an opportunity to spread the flavor around the colors more by seeing how dark & devious each mechanic can be without violating the pie. Ulgrotha wouldn't facilitate that as well and has an existing flavor. Mirrodin beseiged touched on it, but with artifacts and Phyrexian mana it was a little too risky- a trouble they had on their first visit.
Also, as a community, we don't need a blockbuster. A huge influx of undevoted players who'll largely abandon the hobby within a couple years would make Hasbro and dealers pretty penny, but then they'll try to get that same money from the people who've stuck with it. Something more under-the-radar and tasteful could be shared and bring around more sincere interest.
Grafted Exoskeleton wasn't in beseiged. Phyrexians are dynamic, and living weapon is their direction. Equally, there's a big flavor gap between an exoskeleton and a sword. Phyrexians don't arm, they modify. Expect equipment to reflect that, and expect every sword to be Mirran.
Just say "It has a throat." lol
In terms of power, it seems to be about even with half the rare-level variants. Most of them have their ups and downs, but context is key. There's times, I'm sure, you'd rather have a Fireball or an Urza's Rage. Most of the time, it won't matter.
There's more in the background in the art than in Iraq.
Just sayin'