I really dug this story. Nahiri comes out of it alive, and we'll probably see her in future storylines down the track, so we get the potential for a cool recurring villain. I buy her motivations and actions. She's seen her home devastated by Eldrazi, and as far as she knows she's been the only one trying to hold them back, of course she'd be pissed at Sorin (hopefully she goes after Ugin next). I bought that she could beat him, as she had time to set up the battlefield of her choosing, one with lots of stone and earth, as well as store a heap of Eldrazi Horrors below. Sorin didn't look like a total chump either, and managed to get the upper hand for a while. Nahiri leaving Sorin up as a kind of statue to watch his plane fall is delicious.
Maybe that white armoured vampire is still around? The art shows her holding something closer to a Vulshok Morningstar not a Trepanation Blade as the story describes.
Keen to see what Olivia does after this. Would love to see her come out on top.
I really liked this one. I'm finding Jace a lot more readable this block. Lilli's also pretty good too, but I REALLY like that after their big sorcery/magic duel they were reduced to just being two people who ultimately care about each other (in their own ways of course). I like following human/relatable characters more than just following "tricksy telepath" and "backstabbing necromancer", so more of this is welcome.
The one thing that seemed odd was that Jace supposedly prepared for this encounter, but wasn't aware of the homunculus watching from the start? Maybe it was "skulking"?
Also, it could be my bad memory, but I recall Lilli killing the Raven Man either in her origin story or in an old comic. Is that right? I might be thunking of someone else.
They've also got a few hangovers from last block in Gisela, Bruenna, Thalia. But do you redo the old characters or give priority to the ones who haven't had a card yet? FWIW, I agree on Lili, Tamiyo, Ulrich, and Ludevic, but I could see Ludevic being pushed to a supplementary product like how Gisa/Geralf were. I think if you did another vampire sire, you'd have to complete the cycle, not have two and not the other two, so I think that's a strike against him. Edgar Markov feels more likely because of his tie to Sorin.
I think Thalia's likely as she's mentioned enough in flavour text, and Ludevic too, as it's probably time for him to get a card. I think they'll have to complete the cycle of Angels, with Bruenna and Gisela, and hopefully some nod to the fourth sister, but all that might be a wanting my cake and eating it too.
Hi, I've got a few EDH decks, all sleeved. With the new set's double-faced cards there's some I want to play, and I've gotten a couple of foil copies of them. If I double-sleeve the foil DFC's but not the rest of the deck, would that cause any issues? My play group would be described as casual so I think it'd be ok, but I'd be curious to know what others think.
I'm running Heir of Falkenrath and Insolent Neonate in my Alesha, Who Smiles at Death deck, and I've been impressed. They're small enough to come down early and get creatures in the bin before Alesha attacks. A sweet bonus is I get to recur them occasionally.
I think Behold the Beyond is going to be huge. Using it in a reanimator shell seems great, it's downside of discarding isn't even there.
The others are a mix of sweet but kinda niche (like the zombies) and pretty meh, like the Constable.
People need to stop comparing Goldnight Castigator to Thundermaw. First of all, Thundermaw was broken. It was nearly modern playable as a 5 drop. Second, a cheap RDW feels a world of difference between 4CMC and 5CMC. Stop trying to put it into another bubble. It's not going to happen, the card is strictly for RDW that curves out at 4 mana. The fact that everyone considers it a junk mythic is actually a blessing for RDW players as they now have a cheap finisher. If RDW dies cause of the secondary clause, it's cause the shell fails, not this angel. It means that RDW fails to do damage faster than any other deck to a significant degree.
tl:dr: This isn't Big Red's mid-game, this is RDW's finisher. That's all. And it certainly is mythical to standard RDW players.
Good point about it not being the next Thundermaw, it clearly isn't. I compared it to Thundermaw just in regards to it's role as a finisher.
I really like the flexible sweeper options, Austere Command, Merciless Eviction. Things that're modal look like a good idea, but just adding a dozen charms seems like a lot of small effects, with no big ones.
Obviously vs aggro decks or a more proactive midrange deck it's drawback is a VERY big drawback. When it's going against a control deck it's super sweet. Imagine it against a control deck that's only got half a dozen creatures tops, certainly nothing aggressive before T6. When you're casting it against an opponent on 8 or less life, it's pretty sweet there too. Yes, the downside is real, and there's going to be matches where it's VERY real, but the upside is definitely there too.
Think back to other versions of RDW, the INN/RtR version curved Stromkirk/Zealot/Phoenix/Hellrider, then Thundermaw. The Thundermaw came down for the kill at the end. He wasn't around for all the other turns. You could stick the "you take double damage" clause on Thundermaw, and he'd still have been powerful, and served more or less the same role (at least in RDW).
Also, the big huge swingy drawback is totally mythic. (In for a penny, in for a pound.)
Hi, I've made a General Tazri EDH deck. (Five colour allies)
I've got the manabase sorted, the Ally count, the fixing, some Ally tricks etc... and I've pretty much included all essential cards that I want to play in the deck. The problem is I've got 12 slots left, and I don't really have anything that deals with opponents spells/permanents etc... Should I load up on kill spells, counters, disenchant effects, sweepers, tutors, charms etc...?
So my question is, what cards would you suggest/use to round out the remaining slots?
The problem here is that sometimes a character is just a instance of a non-legendary creature with a name.
Feather was just suppose to be a normal Firemane Angel iirc.
Agreed, but when a character's built up to be on the same level as other legendary creatures you feel that there should be a card of them. Bruenna was the blue hero in the Mirrodin cycle, she was in all three books and deserved a card (I felt).
Crixizix and Pivlic I can understand not getting cards, as they're pretty close to existing cards. Gisa & Geralf I feel we should've had, maybe even as a pair. Ashnod and Tawnos (less so) were both major players and it felt like they could've used a card.
I just say "May I?" and point at the card. Heaps of players are surprised by how the cards exactly work because we often -think- we know how they work, lots of strange things like the M14 Sphinx triggering whenever ANY flier attacks, even your opponents, catch people out all the time.
Been a while since I posted. Tomorrow's going to be our playgroup's first Commander tournament to be held in an LGS, and we opened the invitation to anyone interested. There's a theme to the tournament - only dual-colored generals, which we aptly named Maze Runner 2013. I'm running a midrange Bruna. If you guys have any suggestions, they're most welcome.
BTW did I just miss out on anything, or do we already have a backstory as to why Elspeth is in Theros?
No real backstory yet, we just know that she's moved to a place where she doesn't have to/want to be a Hero. (A world of Gods.) I think she's overlooking the fact that she comes with a very good Hero-CV.
What is his background, story, and personality like? I haven't seen much written about him on the net.
He only featured in the Mirrodin cycle of books, and wasn't a main-main character. I haven't read the books recently, but he's a proud warrior race guy who helps Glissa in the core.
Maybe that white armoured vampire is still around? The art shows her holding something closer to a Vulshok Morningstar not a Trepanation Blade as the story describes.
Keen to see what Olivia does after this. Would love to see her come out on top.
The one thing that seemed odd was that Jace supposedly prepared for this encounter, but wasn't aware of the homunculus watching from the start? Maybe it was "skulking"?
Also, it could be my bad memory, but I recall Lilli killing the Raven Man either in her origin story or in an old comic. Is that right? I might be thunking of someone else.
I think Thalia's likely as she's mentioned enough in flavour text, and Ludevic too, as it's probably time for him to get a card. I think they'll have to complete the cycle of Angels, with Bruenna and Gisela, and hopefully some nod to the fourth sister, but all that might be a wanting my cake and eating it too.
I think Behold the Beyond is going to be huge. Using it in a reanimator shell seems great, it's downside of discarding isn't even there.
The others are a mix of sweet but kinda niche (like the zombies) and pretty meh, like the Constable.
Good point about it not being the next Thundermaw, it clearly isn't. I compared it to Thundermaw just in regards to it's role as a finisher.
26 Allies
6 Flicker tricks
8 Card Draw
8 Land Search/Ramp
39 Lands
12 Spare slots
I really like the flexible sweeper options, Austere Command, Merciless Eviction. Things that're modal look like a good idea, but just adding a dozen charms seems like a lot of small effects, with no big ones.
Obviously vs aggro decks or a more proactive midrange deck it's drawback is a VERY big drawback. When it's going against a control deck it's super sweet. Imagine it against a control deck that's only got half a dozen creatures tops, certainly nothing aggressive before T6. When you're casting it against an opponent on 8 or less life, it's pretty sweet there too. Yes, the downside is real, and there's going to be matches where it's VERY real, but the upside is definitely there too.
Think back to other versions of RDW, the INN/RtR version curved Stromkirk/Zealot/Phoenix/Hellrider, then Thundermaw. The Thundermaw came down for the kill at the end. He wasn't around for all the other turns. You could stick the "you take double damage" clause on Thundermaw, and he'd still have been powerful, and served more or less the same role (at least in RDW).
Also, the big huge swingy drawback is totally mythic. (In for a penny, in for a pound.)
I've got the manabase sorted, the Ally count, the fixing, some Ally tricks etc... and I've pretty much included all essential cards that I want to play in the deck. The problem is I've got 12 slots left, and I don't really have anything that deals with opponents spells/permanents etc... Should I load up on kill spells, counters, disenchant effects, sweepers, tutors, charms etc...?
So my question is, what cards would you suggest/use to round out the remaining slots?
Agreed, but when a character's built up to be on the same level as other legendary creatures you feel that there should be a card of them. Bruenna was the blue hero in the Mirrodin cycle, she was in all three books and deserved a card (I felt).
Crixizix and Pivlic I can understand not getting cards, as they're pretty close to existing cards. Gisa & Geralf I feel we should've had, maybe even as a pair. Ashnod and Tawnos (less so) were both major players and it felt like they could've used a card.
No real backstory yet, we just know that she's moved to a place where she doesn't have to/want to be a Hero. (A world of Gods.) I think she's overlooking the fact that she comes with a very good Hero-CV.
I came straight here to post that too. I was really feeling for the little guy.
He only featured in the Mirrodin cycle of books, and wasn't a main-main character. I haven't read the books recently, but he's a proud warrior race guy who helps Glissa in the core.