Temporal Mastery gonna break the format? I think this card is the best card printed for highlander since years. Personal Tutor finally gets an insane target. Miracle cards in general perfectly fit the highlander theme and sensei's divining top gonna get better which each miracle card printed.
My first thought on the card was also that this card would be insane in Highlander.
I don't know if the card is actually going to break the format but it's going to be Jace TMS good in my opinion. What do you guys think?
My first thought was "Wow this is really impressive", but now after a few hours and some discussions later I think "It's ok"
It is only really strong if you draw it in the first 5 Rounds as the first card in your turn, later it is just a cheaper Time Warp, I don't think that any random deck that dont played one of the Walk-Effects before would play this now, only Staxxx maybe because they can handle the hardcast too.
Probably all of the miracle cards are good in HL. By far the biggest drawback in them is the fact that they are absolutely horrible when you have them on your opening seven. Red one is superbly good in burn, good(ish) in decks that play more than two colors and probably not worth it in four-five colored decks. Mainly because you need to have red mana on play when you draw it (fetchland does not suffice), so you need to break those before turn and be stuck with the land you get afterwards. Pairing any of these with blue makes them slightly more playable because of Brainstorm and Jace (although blue tends to draw more cards so this could be problematic if drawn from any draw spell). Time Walk as an effect is powerful, but early in the game it's most likely pretty weak due to not having enough mana to durdle with. As an early Explore this is okay, but the mechanic makes it completely random, so chances are that you're unable to take full advantage of it with mulligans and what else. I expect this to pop up frequently when the set is young, but it will eventually see less and less of play.
Cloudshift and Restoration Angel makes me feel a little bit more optimistic about the blink-deck. It still needs help (and probably a lot of it), but this set might provide more stuff as we see more spoiled cards.
Soulbound mechanic seems pretty fun. I like that they are nigh useless on their own, but provide decent upside when you have multiple guys out. Might be too weak to affect constructed, but Silverblade Paladin might be playable and there are still more things to come. I would like to see this mechanic on a Noble Hierarchish card.
Demonic Taskmaster seems fairly weak. Drawback is severe and while it's fun card to have as your only creature, the upside just isn't there. I'd say unplayable. Same goes with Demonlord of Ashmouth, although Taskmaster actually might have a chance to see play in some deck.
Griselbrand is a sweet, sweet reanimator target. Good against aggro and control. One of the better targets, if not the best, in the deck actually. To be fair, Jin-Gitaxias is probably better early on, but later in the game he is your demon.
Sigarda, Host of Herons is a though creature to deal with. Unfortunately for her, most decks don't need to. Five mana is hugely less important now that Pod is gone, so I don't really see a future for this.
Brainstorm FTW.
Miracle seems incredibly powerful. Everyone is talking about the timewarp. But how about the 5 damage for R?
That seems powerful, very powerful.
Next reason to flame about Stoneforge Mystic :(
Moonsilver Spear (4)
Artifact - Equipment Rare
Equipped creature has first strike.
Whenever equipped creature attacks,
put a 4/4 white Angel token
with flying onto the battlefield.
Equip (4)
Will be really cool in White Weenie think so
(http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129900&d=1334030863)
Quote from: Tiggupiru on 09-04-2012, 08:44:58 PM
By far the biggest drawback in them is the fact that they are absolutely horrible when you have them on your opening seven.
Spoil Mulligan solves this problem ;)
The equipment is to expensive to equip to be used for stoneforge. The Angel is to weak and to late to affect the bord in a wheenie. Futhermore it also affect yourself..
Quote from: LasH on 10-04-2012, 11:06:28 AM
Quote from: Tiggupiru on 09-04-2012, 08:44:58 PM
By far the biggest drawback in them is the fact that they are absolutely horrible when you have them on your opening seven.
Spoil Mulligan solves this problem ;)
Hence my comment about these being very good in HL. Update in the FAQ actually made these even better as you can indeed sac a fetch after revealing, but before casting the miracle. You reveal it as you draw it, then it triggers and you get to respond. Shuffling the deck does not matter as you've drawn it already, so these are pretty good. Thunderous Wrath is head and shoulders above the rest of these, as Banishing Stroke doesn't always have a target and the Time Walk is probably a dud.
QuoteName: Killing Wave
Cost: {X}{B}
Type: Sorcery
Rules Text: For each creature, its controller sacrifices it unless he or she pays X life.
This is worse Divine Reckoning, but I am not going to completely write it off just because the effect is unique and some random deck might just be able to utilize it. Pretty sure that won't happen though.
QuoteName: Druids' Repository
Cost: 1{G}{G}
Type: Enchantment
Rules Text: Whenever a creature you control attacks, put a charge counter on Druids' Repository.
Remove a charge counter from Druids' Repository : Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
This is like a worse anthem or worse earthcraft. Either way, it's not shouldn't see play in any deck. The gain is too minimal to justify wasting a card. Would have loved to see this text on a 3/2 guy.
Quote from: WitH-FuLL-Force on 10-04-2012, 07:24:42 AM
Next reason to flame about Stoneforge Mystic :(
Moonsilver Spear (4)
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature has first strike.
Whenever equipped creature attacks, put a 4/4 white Angel token with flying onto the battlefield.
Equip (4)
Are you trolling? I'll still bite. Moonsilver Spear is horrible outside of limited. Eight mana and no p/t boost means this is truly unplayable, the angel doesn't even attack until your next turn. If this was the card to get with Stoneforge (instead of Sword/Batterskull nonsense), SFM would be more than a fair card and nobody would cry for it's banning.
The anthem-angel is just way too random. The last ability stops Birthing Pod (!) and some of the cards in Pattern-Rector, but in the end you just have a bad P/T ratio, a measly +1/+1 for your other dorks and an ability that most likely does nothing. If you can make use of the p/t boost and have all the better anthems in your deck already, then this is fine. The rest 99.9999% of the decks will play something else.
Quote from: Tiggupiru on 10-04-2012, 12:15:59 PM
The anthem-angel is just way too random. The last ability stops Birthing Pod (!) and some of the cards in Pattern-Rector, but in the end you just have a bad P/T ratio, a measly +1/+1 for your other dorks and an ability that most likely does nothing. If you can make use of the p/t boost and have all the better anthems in your deck already, then this is fine. The rest 99.9999% of the decks will play something else.
It stops Fetchlands?!
Quote from: WitH-FuLL-Force on 10-04-2012, 12:43:00 PM
Quote from: Tiggupiru on 10-04-2012, 12:15:59 PM
The anthem-angel is just way too random. The last ability stops Birthing Pod (!) and some of the cards in Pattern-Rector, but in the end you just have a bad P/T ratio, a measly +1/+1 for your other dorks and an ability that most likely does nothing. If you can make use of the p/t boost and have all the better anthems in your deck already, then this is fine. The rest 99.9999% of the decks will play something else.
It stops Fetchlands?!
Sure, about a turn or two after everyone has gotten rid of theirs. It's possible to screw someone with this, but that requires them to topdeck their fetches
after this hits play and even then they need to be otherwise lacking mana for it to even matter. If Pod were still legal, this would have some potential and even then it would have required pretty specific deck.
The new Vexing Devil seems quite nice for most aggro
QuoteName: Tandem Lookout
Cost: 2{U}
Type: Creature - Human Scout
Pow/Tgh: 2/1
Rules Text: Soulbond (You may pair this creature with another unpaired creature when either enters the battlefield. They remain paired for as long as you control both of them.)
As long as Tandem Lookout is paired with another creature, each of those creatures has "Whenever this creature deals damage to an opponent, draw a card."
Most likely isn't good enough, but interesting take on the ophidian nonetheless. I really like the fact that it can theoretically draw you a card on the turn it comes into play. Drawing two cards a turn is also very powerful, so if you can provide removal for it and soulbounded guy to punch through, he might not be the worst. The lack of word 'combat' makes this all the more interesting. In short, nice guy to help get your creative juices going, but ultimately I think it's not going to cut it. I really wish he will succeed as this type of card is never broken.
QuoteName: Arcane Melee
Cost: 4{U}
Type: Enchantment
Rules Text: Instant and sorcery spells cost {2} less to cast.
Symmetrical effect for five mana? Granted, rare opponents can make an effective use of this ability, but it still costs five mana. If you want blue five mana symmetrical enchantments for your combo deck then might I suggest Dream Halls? It does make a perfect match for Yawgmoth's Will so it's not complete garbage, but it is pretty close. If this makes a good two card combo where the other card is actually a playable card, then all bets are off and this might even be good.
QuoteName: Vexing Devil
Cost: R
Type: Creature - Devil
Pow/Tgh: 4/3
Rules Text: When Vexing Devil enters the battlefield, any opponent may have it deal 4 damage to him or her. If a player does, sacrifice Vexing Devil.
Oh, look. Furnace Scamp got reprinted. If you play this early, this is four damage barring a removal spell. While that is good, it's very mediocre after couple of turns and nigh blank after that. Some people will play this in their burn decks and are convinced it's the awesomest ever when it does what it's supposed to do once in every four games. In short, red cards that let opponent choose their poison, aren't pretty much ever good.
QuoteName: ~Descendants' Path (name is unconfirmed as I am writing this)
Cost: 2{G}
Type: Enchantment
Rules Text: At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal the top card of your library. If it's a creature card that shares a creature type with a creature you control, you can cast this card without paying its mana cost. Otherwise, put it at the bottom of your library.
Turn two Nest Invader, turn three this, turn four HAUMPF! Add Mutavault for much of lolz. Green tribal doesn't usually mean other than elfs, but if there is a good elf deck that also has a high elf count (Elf decks playing many elves is actually way more rare than you would probably think) then sure, why not? Try it out. Sad fact is that this does not actually save you practically any mana in the elf deck so you are trying to make this work as a Phyrexian Arena and I am pretty sure there are better alternatives.
That being said, changeling interaction does intrigue me and the effect is powerful enough for the mana cost, so I can see this working somewhere. Be it a tier 3 deck or just some horrible pile is yet to be determined. Sensei's Top, Sylvan Library, Worldly/Sylvan Tutor and lenient mana cost all make this better. We'll see.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130009&d=1334305866
Oh yes! Not good enough in HL most of the time, but I really wanted to see this to happen. Cool lands are always exciting and this is an actual ability. Slow control might benefit this enough, but that is very specific as they can't have more than two colors as there are enough better colorless lands if you don't abuse your graveyard a lot. Helps decks that need help right now and I am 90% sure that the best colors for reanimator currently are UBr.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129971&d=1334203275
Card is beautiful. That's too bad since I don't think it has enough power. Planeswalkers are hard to evaluate, so this could still sneak a few top8 slots, but don't really know what deck will play this. +1 ability is weak, but it does protect her, so there is that. Second ability is good enough when you are winning a lot, or losing a lot. Not exactly what I hope to see in cards I play. Drawing three is fine for a card that sticks around to take a hit afterwards, though and that is kinda sweet spot of not losing too much and this providing enough value to matter. Emblem is obviously very sick, but it takes a long time to get access to and you still need a card to kickstart the process.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130001
Boy, this is an intersting one. It's horrible on the first two turns, obviously. After that it can get good, but there is no consistency and that is clearly the problem. Killing a random guy and dealing 3-4 damage in the process is not usually what you want to do, although I can see situation where this is good. MonoRed will probably be the only place for this, it's the only deck that will always benefit from the fireball to the face aspect and killing blockers can make this a miraculous topdeck when all other hope is lost. I see potential, but time will tell if it can claim those promises.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130000&d=1334289725
I like the fact they keep printing these. Not very powerful and very difficult to use, but in the right deck this can be insanely good. I have no idea what that deck looks like, but that is just bonus. Might never see play anywhere, but I am sure somebody can provide a home for him. Hopefully that deck can win enough matches to be recognized.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130063&d=1334460153
C-c-c-combo?
Quote from: Dreamer on 15-04-2012, 04:41:12 PM
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130063&d=1334460153
C-c-c-combo?
...breaker.
Combo decks want to control when they are going to Wheel or Twister. It's cheap, but I haven't been able to find a suitable home for the huge amount of draw 7's floating around our format already and there are many which are better than this. Even if you could set it up, you still are unable to play any non-instants in your hand the turn you miracle this. Wheel of Fortune will allow you to play lands, cast Ponders and stuff to set up a good draws for the draw spell and cast rituals that actually benefit you for the rest of the turn. This is by far the weakest of the miracle cards yet and I am nearly 100% sure that this will not be played in any reasonable constructed deck ever.
In other news, still waiting for the Miracle Recall to get spoiled.
I would not be too much critic about Reforege the Soul. It is still draw 7 card and it does not exile itself. So it is open to Snapcaster or Yawmoths will shenigans. Its reduced cost should not be underestimated, it is still just two mana. Playing it for full manacost is not that unreasonable too. There are some combos, that will not pay mana at all - like Dream halls.
Still I find this card sort of fitting into burn deck and even in fast agro deck playing red.
Quote from: Ball.Lightning on 15-04-2012, 09:00:37 PM
I would not be too much critic about Reforege the Soul. It is still draw 7 card and it does not exile itself. So it is open to Snapcaster or Yawmoths will shenigans. Its reduced cost should not be underestimated, it is still just two mana. Playing it for full manacost is not that unreasonable too. There are some combos, that will not pay mana at all - like Dream halls.
Ok. Currently we have these draw 7's in the format:
Timetwister
Wheel of Fortune
Diminishing Returns
Memory Jar
Time Reversal
Time Spiral
+ couple of others that don't really count:
Wheel of Fate
Temporal Cascade
I really don't think one bad one to the mix is going to change anything. Reversal and maybe Diminishing excluded all of these are way better than Reforge the Soul and that is assuming Reforge is as good as you claim it to be. Memory Jar is the most abusable and easiest to repeat, Spiral can actually generate mana and Wheel and Twister allow you to play them on main phase, which is significantly better than during your upkeep.
Quote from: Ball.Lightning on 15-04-2012, 09:00:37 PMStill I find this card sort of fitting into burn deck and even in fast agro deck playing red.
This is not nearly as good as Wheel and even it hasn't seen any play in red aggro or burn since it got unbanned. Turns out it's actually a bad idea to give 4-5 cards to an opponent and then pass the turn. No matter what decks you, or they are playing they can still make your life that much harder.
What can I see from our metagame this statement is 100% true for all deck around.
>>Are you playing mountains and not playing any islands? Wheel is sort of autoinclude.<<
And again some combo deck have different requirements for draw 7 spells. Some prefere pure blue aproach (high tide + hearthbeat, where is double red uncastable), but other combos like dream halls and TPS(deck where red rituals takes place) can abuse it even when payed full mana for it.
I am not dream halls player or newly introduced TPS storm decks player, but some people will try and I would not wonder if they find use for this card.
Problem with TPS is not lack of playable draw 7's but shortage of good rituals. Even original Wheel being available as four-of would not make the deck any more playable.
(http://nurgleprobe.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/standard-wheel-of-fortune-reforge-the-soul.jpg)
Anyway the card is good enough for RDW ;)
(http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130087&d=1334549284)
Brains, brains, I don't lie,
I'll eat their brains 'til their zombified
Sure they might think it's deranged
But they won't give it a thought
- after I've eaten their brain!
Quote from: WitH-FuLL-Force on 16-04-2012, 02:40:41 PM
pic: Wheel pic: Reforge
Anyway the card is good enough for RDW ;)
Which one? Both cards are plain awful in RDW.
Quote from: WitH-FuLL-Force on 16-04-2012, 02:40:41 PM
(http://nurgleprobe.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/standard-wheel-of-fortune-reforge-the-soul.jpg)
Anyway the card is good enough for RDW ;)
I think even wheel of fate is better than this one. Simply bc u can time it and you are with 8 cards full mana on a turn you can predict. You dont wanna draw this wheel on your start not as first, second or third draw. You never ever wanna cast it for 5 in RDW.
Horrible card for RDW. Moderate/Bad for Combodecks because its to specific. Once u r on 0 handcards in a combo deck you prolly lost anyway. You dont wanna cast it as long as you have one combo enabler in your hand.
Never gonna see play in these archetypes. I dont think it will see play at all.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130088&stc=1&d=1334549290
It starts as a 1/1 so that's bad. It has a sufficiently powerful first ability so that's good. Problems do arise wih the second ability. In a non-token deck he doesn't get bigger very fast and in a token deck you should be better off with anthem of some sort. All things considered, awkward. Equipping a Sword of Value & Pressure to this seems like a pretty nice synergy though. Swords do tend to be quite good without extra synergies, so it's not like this should always go in decks with Stoneforge. Sword or not, instant speed removal can really wreck your board if the opponent has some guys out and sadly Champion of Lambholt is good only when they do. All in all, don't quite believe he can break into the scene. I don't mind or be too surprised if I am proven wrong. Seems like a pretty fun dude.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130083&d=1334548940
Well if he immediately pumps a guy you get to attack with, then he is already giving some decent value and you get a massive body to boot. On the other hand, five mana for just a stupid dork that is only good in combat step is only rarely good enough. Pretty sure he doesn't deliver beats good enough, but if you have a green aggro and want to try it just for the heck of it, I am not stopping you. Has the same weakness as all the other soulbound guys already previewed: Removal can easily lead to 2-1 trades in favor of your opponent and that is quite a hefty downside.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130084&d=1334548940
Nephalia Smuggler makes me warm and fuzzy inside. Ranger of Eoasable blinker has value plastered all over him. Four mana is quite the sum to pay, but at least the casting cost is cheap as hell. Still don't know if blinking is viable strategy, but this set gives that archetype a massive boost, so if not today, maybe later.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130087&d=1334549284
Cool name and a potential playable? Inquisition of Kozilek proved to be excellent hand disruption and I much rather have it in my opening hand than Duress against an unknown opponent. This however is completely different story. This is not a "turn one, disrupt your opponent", but rather a "turn three, take out a game ender permanently while leaving up countermagic or do other annoying things to your opponent". If this works out exactly like that, then it's pretty awesome. This needs good amount of testing and a midrangeish metagame (check), but several signs point out that this could very well end up being at least playable in an archetype or two. I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up becoming a staple in controllish black decks.
@Tiggupiru: I don't think Appetite for Brains will see any play because the difference between this card and Duress/Thlughseize/Inq. of Kozilek is that it will happen quite some times where you don't even trade 1 for 1. I mean Duress for example may be bad against some sort of decks but it trades at least 1 for 1 _most_ of the times. This card won't do so imo. The other upside on the named cards is to prevent decks from getting explosive starts but getting their CC4+ card is not good enough most of the time. I'd rather play Blackmail before Appetite for Brains and Blackmail doesn't even make the cut.
So far I am not very excited about Avacyn Restored (thus I'm quite disappointed because at least for me Innistrad and Dark Ascension are awesome sets for Highlander and Cube at least) but there is still more than 2/3 of the set to be revealed.
One card I do like is this:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/544545_10150740187287918_174376972917_9435240_481502897_n.jpg)
+2/+0 haste and vigilance for 3 mana seems to be absolutely fine even in the early turns. It makes late 1-drops a threat and just "needs" the land spot. I don't know whether it will see much play outside of Boros or maybe Naya but I will give this card some love at least : )
Quote from: MarcMagic on 16-04-2012, 10:43:36 PM
@Tiggupiru: I don't think Appetite for Brains will see any play because the difference between this card and Duress/Thlughseize/Inq. of Kozilek is that it will happen quite some times where you don't even trade 1 for 1. I mean Duress for example may be bad against some sort of decks but it trades at least 1 for 1 _most_ of the times. This card won't do so imo. The other upside on the named cards is to prevent decks from getting explosive starts but getting their CC4+ card is not good enough most of the time. I'd rather play Blackmail before Appetite for Brains and Blackmail doesn't even make the cut.
It's not comparable to 'seize/Duress/Inquisition. For starters, you never want to cast in turn one as if you wait until turn three (or four if you are on the play), you have a higher chance of getting something and you should always just do that. This of course means it's not going to be as good in your opener as the other proven discard spells. I am not saying this will replace any of those, but this might see play as a one mana Dissipate for their largest threat. I am thinking about slower black decks, like UB control and the like. Of course, I could be wrong and this ends up being a total garbage, but this is unlike any other card printed before and thus a little bit harder to evaluate than rest of the set.
QuoteName: ~Slayers' Stronghold
Type: Land
Rules Text: {T}: Add to your mana pool.
{R}{W},{T} : Target creature gains +2/+0, haste and vigilance until the end of turn.
I really hope that ends up being the name of this card. How sweet is that? But yeah. Mana producing land that for three mana gives a guy haste AND +2/+0 is serious business no matter what the name. Vigilance is probably mostly irrelevant, but as a bonus, it's not bad either. It does require maybe strict boros to be played as there rarely are room for any shenanigans like these in three colored decks. This a bit shame as the mana dorks and other quickly inferior cards that this helps to get better are not red-white. Still a nice addition and these lands seem like they'll do pretty good and give some dedicated archetypes a boost.
Quote from: MarcMagic on 16-04-2012, 10:43:36 PMSo far I am not very excited about Avacyn Restored (thus I'm quite disappointed because at least for me Innistrad and Dark Ascension are awesome sets for Highlander and Cube at least) but there is still more than 2/3 of the set to be revealed.
This is clearly a Commander set. All those big expensive Angels floating around the target audience is pretty much colletors and EDH players. Hopefully we do get some more sweet competitive cards to balance it out. Limited seems like it's going to be really sweet and actually, I've been enjoying the so far spoiled cards quite a bit. Dark Ascension didn't have too many playables, but managed to have decent number of sleepers, so I don't think this is going to be a bad set.
QuoteName: ~Cavern of Souls
Type: Land
Rules Text: As ~ enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.
{T}: Add {1} to your mana pool.
{T}: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast creature spells of the chosen creature type. If this mana is spent on a spell, that spell can't be countered by spells or abilities.
Probably too random to be of any use in HL. I guess if you play Gx elves with land tutors already in the deck, then maybe. If the format slows down at some point or blue control makes a triumphant return... yeah not going to happen. Or if you absolutely need mana fixing and have a huge number of different colored tribal creatures and barely any non-creature spells... then you have what I like to call a horrible deck. Or... no that won't do it either. Can't think of any scenario to make this good.
Other formats (mostly eternal) could be affected by this and this could spice a number of things as uncounterable things sometimes do, but as for the HL, I think the randomness is too much to begin with. Colorless lands are a huge baggage to your mana base, so unless it's a 2/2 creature for one mana, it needs to be pretty special to make the cut. This isn't.
QuoteName: Somberwald Sage
Cost: 2G
Type: Creature - Human Druid
Pow/Tgh: 0/1
Rules Text: {T}: Add three mana of any one color to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast creature spells.
I was just about to declare this bad, but then I noticed it only makes mana for creatures. Yeah. Sick acceleration, sure. But would you keep a hand with three lands, Llanowar Elves, this and a seven drop? If this bites the dust, you don't have anything that resembles curve. I have the same problem with Lotus Cobra, but he at least can bash for reasonable amount and is in play full turn earlier, so he is fine card, whereas this... not so much.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130145&d=1334635366
Decent even at three mana, but absolutely horrible if ever actually drawn. UW control might have enough ways to return this to the deck so that it can be pretty awesome token maker, but that is pretty much the only deck I can see this going in. Not sure if this good enough in there, but really doesn't hurt to try, I guess.
In a deck with three colors, this can very well be miraculously uncastable in the first 4-5 turns due to double white, so probably not worth it there. White often is the splash color anyway, so this is most likely a bit too limited to actually see much, or any play.
QuoteName: Misthollow Griffin
Cost: 2UU
Type: Creature - Griffin
Pow/Tgh: 3/3
Rules Text: Flying
You may cast Misthollow Griffin from exile.
Infinite mana with Food Chain. Really big bummer that it requires some creature to dump the mana afterwards so you can't just play this in a basic combo shell and win with it. Makes it that much harder to make a good deck. Especially when this is such a great value when pitched to FoW. Might be breakable in other combos as well, so if you are fan of this type of stuff, snatch a copy when you get the chance.
QuoteName: ~Devastating Tide
Cost: 3UU
Type: Sorcery
Rules Text: Return all nonland permanents to their owners' hands.
Miracle {1}{U}
I really dislike these situationally good Miracle cards. When you draw them, there is little to no guarantee that it's worth casting. This at least has the good fortune to cast only five, which isn't way too much for an effect like this, but in constructed, this type of effect hasn't been good for a while now. I would be surprised to see anyone playing this in a tournament.
QuoteName: Descent into Madness
Cost: 3BB
Type: Enchantment
Rules Text: At the beginning of your upkeep, put a despair counter on Descent into Madness, then each player exiles X permanents he or she controls and/or cards from his or her hand, where X is the number of despair counters on Descent into Madness.
Symmetrical effect like this really doesn't seem very good. First of all, you need to have more permanents on board for this to work and it's really slow, so it cannot save you from pretty much any losing position by itself. The wording also makes sure no Smokestack shenanigans where you can easily manipulate how much you will sacrifice all the while making opponent's life miserable.
Don't think this is any good.
QuoteName: Exquisite Blood
Cost: 4{B}
Type: Enchantment
Rules Text: Whenever an opponent loses life, you gain that much life.
Yeah, well. Sanguine Bond and this is a win if you manage to deal some damage or gain life. Two five mana enchantments that are pretty weak sauce alone aren't ideal basis of any combo deck, but it's still worth to note. Maybe some weird MBC brew can make this useful enough that it's worth trying to Sanguine bond them out. At least they are cards of the same color.
QuoteName: Rite of Ruin
Cost: 5{R}{R}
Type: Sorcery
Rules Text: Choose an order for artifacts, creatures, and lands. Each player sacrifices one permanent of the first type, sacrifices two of the second type, then sacrifices three of the third type.
Well, it's worse than any Burning of Xinye I've ever seen, but that doesn't make this unplayable. If you find yourself needing to Wildfire more than anyone else in the room, this seems like a viable candidate. Exiling artifacts is however a bit of drawback. Most decks that like to sweep the lands with these kind of effects tend to rely on artifact mana, so that sucks. Great news is that it actually deals with creatures of any size, so killing a Titan, Three lands and maybe even a signet from your opponent is significant blow.
QuoteName: Craterhoof Behemoth
Cost: 5{G}{G}{G}
Type: Creature - Beast
Pow/Tgh: 5/5
Rules Text: Haste
When Craterhoof Behemoth enters the battlefield, creatures you control gain trample and get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control.
I am pretty sure there is deck or two for this. Not very good decks, mind you, but still. Gaea's Cradle is pretty sweet pair to this card.
QuoteName: ~Conjuring Cabinet
Cost: 5
Type: Artifact
Rules Text: At the beginning of your end step, you may exile a creature you control, then return it to the battlefield under your control.
Well, I know it reads "five mana and you need to have good creatures for this do anything", but all I can hear is "Play me, I am sweet, free value every turn". Might be bit overcosted to the Blink-deck (if that ever becomes a deck), but damn it I am going to try nevertheless.
QuoteName: ~Griselbrand's Scroll
Cost: 1
Type: Artifact
Rules Text: {1}, Sacrifice ~: Target player discards a card. If you control a Demon, that player loses 3 life.
Soft lock with Auriok Salvagers, as is the Necrotic Spellbomb. Could there be something here? Probably not, but I am happy whenever a fringe combo gets a new toy to play with.
Quote from: Tiggupiru on 21-04-2012, 03:56:09 PM
QuoteName: ~Conjuring Cabinet
Cost: 5
Type: Artifact
Rules Text: At the beginning of your end step, you may exile a creature you control, then return it to the battlefield under your control.
Well, I know it reads "five mana and you need to have good creatures for this do anything", but all I can hear is "Play me, I am sweet, free value every turn". Might be bit overcosted to the Blink-deck (if that ever becomes a deck), but damn it I am going to try nevertheless.
And try we will!
W
Angel of Jubilation: nice ability, horrible manacost
Avacyn: another big gal
Divine Reflection: white conditional removal and possible CA - good card in aggro metas
Entreat the Angels: Powerful Miracle - nice finisher for U/W
Silverblade Paladin: S.-mystics new best friend
Terminus: Good when cast as miracle
U
Arcane Melee: Another Enabler for TPS, still no ritual
Devastation Tide: Playable in various U/G Ramp-decks
Stolen Goods: Playable if you have some way to control the top of your opponent's library (probably no)
Tamiyo: wouldn't write this off
Temporal Mastery: Good when miracled.
Vanishment: Overlooked card, but not in HL, I would not want to play vs this + temporal spring though.
B
Blood Artist: Another kill for infinity
Demonic Rising: Playable
Essence Harvest: Another drain effect for black, soon MBC will contain only these and its engines :D
Exquisite Blood: See above
Griselbrand: the true lord of the fallen!
Homicidal Seclusion: maybe playable in hexproof, exalted doublestrike.dec
R
Archwing Dragon: nice
Battle Hymn: goblins?
Bonfire of the Damned: U/R and Stax might consider this
Dangerous Wager: wow. this is a good card for certain decks.
Hound of Griselbrand: maaaybe playable
Mad prophet: see above
reforge the soul: Woa. needs a dedicated deck but is surely powerful especially when cast eot.
Rite of ruin: Stax likes this but it ha strong competition
Thunderous Wrath: RDW
Vexing Devil: RDW
G
Abundant Growth: What? Little gem provides colourfixing at a very low cost if you run basic forests
Craterhoof Behemoth: Elves etc.
Descendant's Path: Emrakul + Mutavault or any Tribal.
Rain of Thorns: Possibly playable but oppressive Manacost
Revenge of the Hunted: Haha. I like this one, because it can lead to annoying blowouts
Triumph of ferocity: phyrxian arena for some decks = good card
Ulvenwald Tracker: playable
Wild Defiance: This stops red removal cold, so it might be worth a second look
Wolfir Silverheart: possibly playable
A
Conjurer's Closet: see above
vessel of endless rest: another manastone at 3
Scroll of griselbrand: instant discard
coldcrow- no love for restoration angel? its imo far and away the best card for HL in this set. its gonna win ALOT of games. there are too many ridiculous etb trigger creatures in this format.
imagine having a kavu, opponent has a 3/3 wild nacatl. you attack with kavu, he doesnt wanna trade, but lightning bolts your kavu. you flash in this angel, blink the kavu, "counter" the lightning bolt, shoot the wild nacatl and get a 3/4 flying angel. i believe thats a 3 for 1. and thats a very COMMON scenario. this card is so sick.
Restoration Angel is the best goodstuff card. Entreat, Terminus, Desolate Lighthouse, Thunderous Wrath and Griselbrand are good but they only go in specific decks, which is not a bad thing. Tamiyo and Vanishment could be okay if there were decks for them. The rest is pretty meh.
oops. I totally overlooked that one. Easy to splash 3/4 flash flyer with a relevant ability and a good cost :o
Restoration Angel didn't impress me that much in the prerelease, although it was decent and could just be the card for this set. Boring, but what are you going to do? Goodstuff isn't exactly very inspiring deck anyways.
I think Tibalt is underrated, but that is just a hunch. No way it's going to affect goodstuffs in any way, but I keep thinking the card has hidden upsides all over him. I also feel that Tamiyo is also a bit better than it looks. Might be good enough to see play in bant, but that might be a stretch. Still, I think she has a few decks already floating around and she is quite decent in them. If you progress the board for the first turns and then lock their best guy with this on turn five, it's quite sweet. This isn't a control card, but pretty good curve topper in midrange.
Ulvenwald Tracker also seems quite sweet. Repeatable creature removal for green is not something that appears with every set, so this probably can get some work done.
Limited seems pretty fun with this set, but I can't help but to feel too few of these cards make the transition to HL. Not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, but wouldn't have been disappointed for a couple of more decent cards either.