Ravnica Allegiance: Spoilers and Speculation
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on Dec. 17, 2018, 11:52 a.m. by AgentGreen
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/card-preview/ravnica-allegiance-promos-and-packaging-2018-12-17
Let's start the talking now :D
ZendikariWol says... #2
It doesn't give spells flash. You could throw out a counter, that would be sick, but you could not play a blocker, unless cast on your main phase (or if you have an instant-speed token generator).
January 9, 2019 10:01 a.m.
It will allow you to play anything in hand at the time of casting the spell. It will work like how Mind's Dilation ignores permissions based on card type unless they go back and change the ruling on that card.
January 9, 2019 10:45 a.m.
ZendikariWol says... #4
Huh. Would that work for the Expertise cycle from Kaladesh, then, as well? I think all of those are sorcery anyway. Nvm, don't mind me, just dumb. Anyhow, yeah, Electrodominance is a ridiculous card.
January 9, 2019 10:49 a.m.
Actually where I was wrong is that you can't use the free spell to counter a counter to Electrodominance. It would still be on the stack and spell has to resolve for that card cast condition to come into play. Once resolved however you can cast anything in hand or less for free though which is still fantastic,
January 9, 2019 10:55 a.m.
The expertise cards would combo well with Electrodominance in Modern with the right build. to kill something or burn face, cast Kari Zev's Expertise for free to steal something from your opponent at instant speed and cast another card with CMC 2 or less?
January 9, 2019 10:59 a.m.
ZendikariWol says... #7
Why do I feel like Electrodominance could honestly be half X damage and still be worth it? It's casting a spell with flash for extra damage thrown in.
January 9, 2019 11:09 a.m.
I'm definitely considering all the ways it can be abused moving forward. Think of it against those decks running Carnage Tyrant. You've been dealing with the little threats all match and boom in drops the Tyrant. Here let me drop some burn to your face/remaining creature and flash in a The Eldest Reborn. I'm thinking small and still think the card will be great. Once I've taken the time to really play with combos? It'll be gross
January 9, 2019 11:25 a.m.
Coward_Token says... #9
Mirror March is a slam dunk for Okaun, Eye of Chaos & Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom, but you all thought of that already
Awaken the Erstwhile is a spicy and reasonably costed way of making everyone hellbent. Obviously goes well with e.g. Theater of Horrors & Experimental Frenzy
January 9, 2019 12:02 p.m.
AgentGreen says... #10
ZendikariWol If Bolas wins this; Ravnica is pretty much fucked.
I don't think Bolas is going to come out the winner this time. His plan is dependent on the 5 guilds he controls being blind to his master plan. Kayla, Vraska, and Ral are the 3 most likely to betray him. Vraksa because of Jace, Kayla because while she is a merc, she still has values and being used as a pawn doesn't fly with her, and Ral feels like he's being used as a pawn; and that won't sit well with him
January 9, 2019 1:17 p.m.
Flooremoji says... #11
THEY DID IT! THEY FINALLY DID IT! IT'S EVEN PAUPER LEGAL! RAKDOS STANDARD BURN FOREVER! Hype aside, wish it similar to Bump in the Night instead of Lightning Bolt, too many people will play it in mono red...
January 9, 2019 1:28 p.m.
With regards to the lore discussion going on:
I'm not all that interested in what happens with Bolas on Ravnica. I think Wizards has made it pretty clear Bolas is going to lose. So long as he is the big-baddie, the story is going to resolve around him, and it's been made clear that the third Ravnica set is going to be the capstone of the current story arc. Ergo, we can expect Bolas to be defeated so a new arc can begin.
I'm much more interested in what will happen to Jace at the end of the story--or, more accurately, what will happen to the Living Guildpact. I foresee three different routes the story can take:
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The Living Guildpact dies in the fight against Bolas, Ravnica is saved from Bolas' clutches, but the victory is bittersweet. In the absence of the Living Guildpact, the bonds of Ravnican society start to decay.
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Jace realizes his absence is problematic for Ravnica, and decides to stay on Ravnica. He might even go so far as to break his Oath for Ravnica's sake, just as Nissa did for Zendikar.
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Jace stays exactly the same as always, and continues to pal around with the Gatewatch without having learned anything. Given the general lack of character development, smart money is on this option. Bonus points if Jace loses his memory.
January 9, 2019 1:31 p.m.
Flooremoji says... #13
cdkime my moneys on the 3rd option too. Wizards loves Jace way to much.
January 9, 2019 1:33 p.m.
Pestilent Spirit + Scorch Mark = 1 to cast exile spells
January 9, 2019 2:05 p.m.
cdkime: Idk...I heard rumors that the 'Watch will no longer be as relevant after this, so I'm betting the 2nd option. Maybe at some point he'll pay a visit to Vryn.
Point is, Ixalan's story told us that this is not the Jace we all loathed. He's a changed man now, all of his memories now unlocked. That, and there was a part where he realizes that his absences were problematic.
From there, I can see two scenarios:
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Jace remains, and upholds his position.
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Jace returns a spark to Azor (ala Immortal Sun), and has him be the Guildpact instead.
The first's more likely, imo.
January 9, 2019 3:04 p.m.
My guess is Jace remains and drops away from the story for a bit and the multiverse starts to build story/lore/myth around him until the next big crisis when he has to be dragged back into the conflict (a la Rey dragging Luke back from his isolation).
January 9, 2019 3:25 p.m.
I don't think Jace would return the spark to Azor as Phaetion said, but I think he's probably going to drop off and become less of an important Planeswalker.
Also, the fact they've printed a card called Priest of the Forgotten Gods (which seems like a jank but beautiful card if you can pull it off) suggests that we could potentially have the Nephilim back.
January 9, 2019 4:01 p.m.
For those wondering about the janky predictor of Nephilim
January 9, 2019 4:04 p.m.
Coward_Token says... #19
I guess the Nephies could be in there story-wise but I doubt they're getting card representation:
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/search/nephilim
January 9, 2019 4:12 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #20
Saddle up cause this is a long post!
First, the lore discussion:
The Ixalan storyline changed Jace's character considerably, so to me the likely route they will take is that he stays on Ravnica (with Vraska) afterwards. Though they could try to tug on the heart strings by having Vraska kill him before all of her memories come back completely, which would cause her to turn on Bolas.
That being said...The Professor threw out an interesting lore idea (that I've added some thoughts to) and I am whole heartedly behind it now (though it won't happen) Here's how it goes:
Everything leading up to this was a ploy by Bolas.
1) He was the one that made it possible for The Gatewatch to come together. Why you ask? To gather the most powerful walkers in the multiverse under one banner. He knew how the Gatewatch would rally other walkers against him once they "knew" of his plan. Amonkhet was just a testing ground to see if they were ready yet.
2) While the Gatewatch was leveling up on Zendikar, Innistrad, Kaladesh, and Amonkhet etc. He was busy creating a powerful army of beings from multiple planes (i.e. Amonkhet and Ravnica).
3) At the very end of the Ravnica storyline, as Bolas stands victorious over the assembled walkers, he reveals that this has all been set up in order to gather the most powerful force he can muster for one reason: to go to war with New Phyrexia. That's right ladies and gentlemen, Nicol Bolas is the hero of this story! He may be twisted and egocentric, but he is trying to defend the multiverse from the scourge of the Phyrexians.
Now this is all extremely unlikely, but I just like that idea since it would be such a deviation from the current, predictable storyline.
Also, some spicy new spoilers today. Each of these look pretty powerful:
Such a lovely card for commander sacrifice themes.
Seems pretty solid, especially since it can pay for it's own adapt costs.
Chain Lightning and Lava Spike are in standard ladies and gentlemen.
I just find the flavor of this card hilarious. You drop all you early ETB creatures. Later on they all pile onto this beast to redeploy.
We also got a two mana lord for multicolor creatures which is interesting.
January 9, 2019 4:17 p.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #21
We've seen 13 mythics so far right? If I am counting correctly (not including the buy a box promo haunt of hightower).
It looks like we have a mono colored mythic in all colors except green so far so I would think that would be one, and we also haven't seen a mythic artifact, so that could be the other.
Im just wondering what if the mono green mythic is ruric thar or borborygmos and they have somehow calmed the f down? Hahaha I just know how many of us were hoping for a new ruric or bygmos so just wanted to offer a glimmer of hope.
January 9, 2019 4:25 p.m.
Cool news: we got our mythics
This seems interesting in a mono-green, especially combined with other ooze token makers.
And this is Xantcha edh written all over it.
January 9, 2019 8:59 p.m.
That Ooze seems like it would fit with Ezuri, Claw of Progress, but what about Rhys the Redeemed? It's definitely good with the former.
January 9, 2019 9:33 p.m.
ZendikariWol says... #25
Y'alls is in for a LOOONG comment. I am SO sorry.
Disclaimer: this is my headcanon. It is ludicrously unlikely to ever happen, but I love the concept anyway.
We start at the fight against Bolas. It's guild against guild, walker against walker, and Bolas' side is looking great. And then, Jace has a chat with the sphinxes. The sphinxes, using their influence, manage to convert the rest of the senate, and the entire senate together manages to Silence Bolas. With only his raw strength, Bolas is quickly overwhelmed. But he has one last trick up his sleeve. With the entirety of the Azorius Senate reaching into his mind, Bolas reaches back. Bolas forcibly manipulates most of them into becoming a puppet army, fighting the other guilds with no fear of their own death. That is, until they meet the Gruul. The senate, unaccustomed to physical violence, falls in minutes. Eventually, Nicol Bolas, exhausted, having expended all hope of victory, decides to have one last laugh. He gathers all his mana into himself, preparing to detonate it. Gideon, in a matter of moments, locates the highest concentration of people, uses all his magic, and forms a shield, saving them from the blast.
In the end, there are little more than two thousand people on Ravnica. The survivors surveys the losses. Nissa weeps, the dust a cutting reminder of home. Chandra stands, jaw slacked, knees buckled, unable to even understand the destruction. Kaya says a farewell to thousands of souls. Jace looks down, pulls his hood over his face, and picks up a chestplate, a sural, and a veil made of chain.
Think of Gideon, he whispers to himself, trying his best not to choke up. What would Gideon say?
"Ravnica," he says to the survivors, an illusion hiding his shaking hands and tear-stained cheeks, "is not the plane on which I was born. But it is the place that gave me life."
"In my last act as guildpact, I demand the presence of every living ravnican tomorrow at sunrise, for the construction of a memorial for the lives lost today. And, out of respect for them, there will be no more bloodshed until this memorial is finished."
"We have all lost friends today. We have all lost family. Everyone standing before you is being shaken by the same sense of loss that threatens to consume us all. But this is not the end. Not for the Ravnica I know! We will rebuild! This perfect city of spires and sewers, of basilicas and gardens and beaten turf, of laboratories and undercities, this perfect city of variety will return! It will return stronger than ever before, rising to a challenge that two hours ago, it didn't know existed!"
"Friends, allies, fellow ravnicans, now is a time of mourning. But the world cannot mourn forever! These desperate times call for us to stick close to our neighbors, to put selfishness aside and move forward, carving a path to a new Ravnica. Our children will have a glorious, shining city to call their own. And their grandchildren will hear stories of the survivors who built it all."
As the onlookers cheer, clap, and weep, as Jace meets his friends halfway, running headlong into an embrace. They console Nissa, meet Kaya, and put Chandra down for a nap.
"Nice speech and all," Lavinia says, strolling toward the team, "but what's this 'last act as Guildpact' nonsense?"
"I figured the plane was in need of better management."
"But you can'-"
"Are there any laws restricting it?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Then I reserve the right, as Guildpact."
"You," Lavinia's face is like a beet, a tiny red star fueled by rage, "are permitted to do that, by your power."
"Great. Now that we're settled on that, the only question is whom! Obviously it has to be someone who cared deeply about Ravnica, preferably someone who doesn't mind paperwork. And if possible, I'd love to make it someone with no guild affiliation, lest the other guilds throw a fit. Maybe someone who has prior experience bossing this office around. Know anyone who fits that description?"
"Are you seriously asking... me?"
"Do you accept your new position?"
"Dutifully." Lavinia responds, beaming.
Anyway imagine that but written by someone who's good at writing.
January 9, 2019 9:46 p.m.
ZendikariWol: Awww, can't Jace just be turned into a Rakdos sock puppet or end up like the puppet in Cult Guildmage?
January 9, 2019 9:56 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #28
Skewer the critics really should have been an instant; would it really have been too powerful if it had been?
Incubation druid is nice, but almost strictly worse than Gyre Sage, because it cannot produce nearly as much mana as the sage, and also requires much more investment than does the sage before it can pay for itself; the fact that it can generate mana of any color is nice, but most decks will want a greater quantity of mana, and use something else, such as Chromatic Lantern, for other colors of mana.
On that subject, tome of the guildpact is simply far too expensive for its effect; it could easily have cost 3 mana and still been balanced, especially when one considers how powerful chromatic lantern is, at a cost of 3 mana.
Biogenic ooze will be insane in conjunction with Doubling Season, so I expect to see decks that contain both of those cards after the release of this set.
Captive audience is amazing, and, as the second black/red mythic rare of this set, proves that utter carnage was fake, unfortunately. Also, did anyone notice Fblthp in the artwork of that card?
January 9, 2019 10:02 p.m.
ZendikariWol: Not really. I was clowning around a bit (No, I'm not a Rakdos player), but I'm just as curious as to what will happen to him. I'm banking on him staying rather than forsaking his duties once again.
January 9, 2019 10:29 p.m.
Alright, so I think this is a good time for a recap on Ravnica Alligience. I think this is the best standard set in recent memory, and I did not think I would say that after the excellent Dominaria and Return to Ravnica sets. It strikes the balance between power level, good enablers, combo potential, playing well with previous standard sets and flavor very well.
I want to highlight the top ten cards for me as of now in the set, 5 for the guild-colored, 5 monocolored:
Prime Speaker Vannifar - This card strikes the perfect balance between all 4 categories above and for me, it is the best card in the set. Heck, besides being powerful, it is an Elf Ooze Wizard which just tickels the imagination.
Dovin, Grand Arbiter - congratulations WOTC, you finally learned how to make a non-formulaic planeswalker that is actually good! Dovin strikes a very good mix on the above categories, which is a rare occurence for 3 mana walker.
Nikya of the Old Ways - this scores well on all the categories above, while also providing fun little minigame in its first ability, much like Nullhide Ferox from last set. Great in Commander too, which I can say for a lot of cards here, giving the whole set a larger audience.
Theater of Horrors - this scores really high on all the marks above, especially the buildaround part, but even more on flavor. Rakdos are fully embracing their macabre circus roles. It works great with their mechanic and it is well costed to boot.
Teysa Karlov - 3rd teysa iteration is arguably her best. Flavor, good build around, powerful in multiple formats, high marks all around.
Going in wubrg order for the monocolor ones:
Unbreakable Formation - high marks on a lot of scales, but mostly the power level and showing off the new ability in a great way. Great card for many, many decks in a lot of formats.
Verity Circle - never has Blustersquall looked so good. And it stacks. And it enables itself (albeit for a high cost). May look as just a solid limited card, but it has the potential to be much more. Plus, sweet azorious flavor.
priest of the forgotten gods - flavor, power level, combo potential, playability in other formats (mostly Commander). Having a Muldrotha deck in the works, the excitement for this card is only surpassed by Vannifar, and that is very high bar.
Electrodominance - high marks on combo potential, playability in other formats and power level, this card does it all. The only thing I do not like is that we did not have it in the set with all the Izzet. Essentially, this card reads : "give any spell in your hand flash. When you cast it, it deals damage equal its CMC" is powerful and right now, I cannot imagine all the possibilities. heck, you can even overpay to deal more damage. If it wasn't for Vannifar, this would be my top card of the set.
Wilderness Reclamation - high marks on all accounts, but combo potential (by staking multiples of this), flavor and multiple format playability is a great thing for this card. Despite being in another guild, it enables addendum perfectly. The first deck I will build in Arena will be a Wilderness Reclamation + Electrodominance combo deck.
Overall, I think this is one of the best sets wizards has produced. A lot of cards scoring high marks in all accounts, this top ten (I know there are still 2 days of spoilers, but couldn't wait).
One keynote - did you notice how good sets have become now that Wizards has a Play Design team? It is as if players are pretty good at crafting a good playing environment! I think that team is the reason we have such a good set on your hands.
What is your top card, top 5 card, top 10 cards of the set?
January 10, 2019 4:26 a.m.
Darkshadow327 says... #31
My top card has to be Teysa Karlov. It is amazing, and just gets me so excited to build around it. After this it goes something like this:
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High Alert this is amazing in Arcades, the Strategist decks. It enables your walls if Arcad,es isn't out, and gives them pseudo vigilance.
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Rakdos, the Showstopper, this card is just cool. It has good stats and, to me, embodies what Rakdos does. Not to mention he is the perfect commander for my demon tribal deck.
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Revival // Revenge, this card is just amazing. Recursion straight to the battlefield is always great, not to mention the second half. Doubling your life total while simultaneously cutting your opponent's in half is amazing.
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Here it's a toss-up between Kaya, Orzhov Usurper and Kaya's Wrath. Kaya, Orzhov Usurper is a decent planeswalker, especially for 3 mana (at least in my opinion). Kaya's Wrath is an amazing board-wipe, especially since 4 cmc ones are rare these days.
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Priest of Forgotten Gods, this is a good sac outlet for many decks. NOt to mention that it also has the upside of basically doubling as removal.
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Essence Capture, blue hasn't really tickled my imagination this set. However, I love this counterspell. While it only counters creatures, the added bonus of a c+1/+1 counter is nice.
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Tithe Taker, I like how this card is akin to Grand Abolisher. It limits what your opponents do, while also deterring them from killing (a little bit) it because of the token you get.
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Biogenic Ooze, this card is just so cool. #OozeTribal
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Smothering Tithe, ramp for white is always nice. While opponents can pay to stop it, it will end up being a cost that people just don't want to pay do they just let you have it (like Rhystic Study).
That's my thoughts on cards from the set, just keep in mind that I see these cards from an EDH perspective.
January 10, 2019 8:50 a.m.
If Electrodominance is my current favorite card in the set, my second favorite might be Persistent Petitioners for the love of mill.
January 10, 2019 2:01 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #33
Well the top card for me is definitely Smothering Tithe. Other than that I find Priest of Forgotten Gods, Judith, the Scourge Diva, Teysa Karlov, Rhythm of the Wild, and Mirror March all pretty interesting.
The idea of Biogenic Ooze alongside 4 Quasiduplicate and 4 Repudiate//Replicate could be pretty fun in Standard as well.
Objectively, Light Up the Stage is probably the best card as I feel it slots into decks across multiple formats.
Prime Speaker Vannifar is probably the strongest Commander card and I think WOTC made a mistake printing her. I wouldn't be surprised to see her banned in the near future.
January 10, 2019 3:27 p.m.
One of my top cards is one I can't find a home for: Nikya of the Old Ways. She's great and all, but she competes with Xenagos, God of Revels for the Gruul EDH deck in my collection.
January 10, 2019 4:15 p.m.
ZendikariWol says... #35
Wow, I wonder if Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor plays aristocrats?
January 10, 2019 7:54 p.m.
I put my personal Top 10 favorite on Twitter if anyone is interested: https://twitter.com/ORly_Fred/status/1083536172557709312?s=19
January 10, 2019 9:16 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #37
I do love me some graveyard/sac strategies which is why I tend to gravitate towards those cards, but I have only one true aristocrats deck that is currently in flux. I am figuring out who I would rather prefer as commander between Krav, the Unredeemed&Regna, the Redeemer and Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker (both very different strategies).
Smothering Tithe is for my Boros-Angel-reanimator list :)
and I reallllly want to try out Mirror March in Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer. Though my build has budget restrictions and is more of a spell slinger version so it might not fit.
January 10, 2019 9:28 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #38
Why does sphinx of the guildpact not have a color indicator? Would it have been to ridiculous to have one that was all five colors?
Knight of the last breath is too expensive for what it does; it should have either cost 1 less mana or been a 5/5, and then it would have been balanced, in my mind.
January 10, 2019 9:34 p.m.
Darkshadow327 says... #39
I agree that in a vacuum Knight of the Last Breath is overpriced and just not very good DemonDragonJ. However, once you put it in the context of the deck it instantly gets better. It would actually be pretty decent in a Teysa Karlov deck. It is a sac-outlet, meaning I can sack creatures like Wurmcoil Engine, Hangarback Walker, Hallowed Spiritkeeper, and Elenda, the Dusk Rose for a big advantage. I also don't really mind it being a 4/4, in a deck that wants creatures to die I can really take advantage of it. Pulse with Teysa Afterlife 3 suddenly turns into Afterlife 6.
While the Knight is overcosted and underpowered, I do believe that it can shine in the right deck. And now that I think about it, I have no idea why I just typed all of this :/
January 10, 2019 10:48 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #40
My guess for why they did the Sphinx the way they did is because saying "all colors' in the text is easier than printing each color symbol. Think of it as a reverse Devoid.
Also, Knight of the Last Breath is costed perfectly. Any lower and the card would be too strong at uncommon. Think of it this way. It's 7 mana for a 4/4 with an extremely relevant (albeit a bit over costed) ability. When it dies you get 3 evasive 1/1 bodies making it essentially cost 7 for 7 P/T. In the worst case scenario where it immediately eats a removal spell, you just 4-for-1'ed your opponent. I agree though that this only wants to be in specific decks, but I think it will be very strong there (like Molderhulk was in Golgari from the last set).
January 11, 2019 9:40 a.m.
ZendikariWol says... #41
Molderhulk doesn't actually cost 9 mana. This guy AND his ability would be good if they were 1 mana less, but as is, he and his ability are both overcosted. Even in commander I'm not using him. A 3-mana sac outlet is ridiculous, and on a 7 mana body that's drastically below the curve? Beyond that, let's really look at this ability: 3 mana to make your creature a 1/1 spirit? Also super not great. It would be good at 2 mana, but only good.
January 11, 2019 10:24 a.m.
I'm in no way going to argue for Knight of the Last Breath as good, but I think if you're building something for a new player and you want them to have fun and enjoy a deck you could do worse than building them an Orzhov deck and using the Knight as utility with Teysa Karlov. It is an easy enough combo to understand and catch even when you're newer to the game and some of those things can be confusing. Pay your to sacrifice something like Ministrant of Obligation and end up with 4 1/1's with flying, vigilance, and lifelink. Then as they get more comfortable they will see what pieces need to change. It will probably never see competitive play, but not every card printed does. Some are just filler
January 11, 2019 10:55 a.m.
AgentGreen says... #43
The whole set is officially spoiled
That being said, that 3 CMC counter-mill looks scary
January 11, 2019 11:52 a.m.
AgentGreen says... #44
The whole set is officially spoiled
That being said, that 3 CMC counter-mill looks scary
January 11, 2019 11:53 a.m.
Scary good!. Thought Collapse, Psychic Corrosion, Patient Rebuilding, Drowned Secrets, Persistent Petitioners, Opt, Chart a Course, and Radical Idea. All the mill you can handle
January 11, 2019 12:22 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #46
ZendikariWol - You would never play Molderhulk outside of Limited or Golgari though. However, within the confines of the Golgari guild where it has great synergy with the guild mechanic, it is quite powerful. That is basically my point for The Knight. It's pretty strong in Orzhov Limited, and it passes the vanilla test making it's CMC fine. I'd be hard pressed to play The Knight in Rakdos or Azorious though.
On the topic of its ability, while yes 2 mana is probably the max acceptable cost for such an ability, the presence of the other afterlife creatures in the set makes this repeatable ability much stronger (and is likely why it costs 3). Regardless of afterlife, being able to cash in your creature for a 1/1 flyer in the event of a removal spell should never be slept on. Removal is always at a premium in Limited. Being able to negate it's effectiveness can decide games.
Wow, there were some pretty strong commons and uncommons spoiled today.
January 11, 2019 2:51 p.m.
DemonDragonJ and ZendikariWol:
With regard to Knight of the Last Breath, I think it is fine how it is costed. As both FSims81 and Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor, you have to take into account the needs of Limited, not just Constructed. I think I have seen both of you ask "why is X costed Y" a couple times, and the answer is almost always "limited."
Let's break this card's cost down:
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Limited needs some powerful cards at uncommon. Cards that, when you are drafting, you have a reasonable chance of seeing, and can anticipate with your picks. These cards should be highly costed, as it will prevent anyone from drafting the card if it is not necessary to their deck, as well as limiting their effectiveness if someone happens to get multiple copies.
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Limited games often result in stalled boards. This card single handedly can break a stalled board. You can leave creatures open for blocking, then sacrifice your creatures on your endstep to get evasive fliers. A 1/1 with flying is pretty boring in Constructed; in Limited, however, flying is at a premium, and you can slowly chip out a victory through a large number of small fliers.
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Simic, Azorius, and Orzhov all have the potential to be slow, control-based guilds. I expect a number of stalled games, and thus a stallbreaker becomes particularly useful.
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You can sacrifice your non-evasive creatures with Afterlife, and just get a whole hoard of flying creatures, quickly turning the tide of the battle.
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As mentioned above, even if this card is removed, you still get 3 evasive bodies out of it, putting your opponent on a clock.
I would hazard a guess that Wizards, in playtesting, tried out a couple different costs for Knight's mana cost and ability cost, and, through extreme amount of testing, determined the final values.
Anyway, I will likely be playing Orzhov at prerelease, and I will be quite satisfied if I have a Knight in my deck.
January 11, 2019 3:34 p.m. Edited.
Do you guys think this a well balanced set?
Not sure what guild I will pick for prerelease.
January 11, 2019 3:58 p.m.
Playing it will go a long way towards me rendering my final verdict, but thus far I am loving this set. I am still leaning towards Simic as my pre-release guild and Rakdos for the two-headed giant pre-release event my LGS does.
January 11, 2019 4:47 p.m.
Coward_Token says... #50
Whew, I've sure talked a lot in this thread. Here's probably my (second-to-)last EDH clutter:
Lumbering Battlement : Drop it, exile your other ETB people then flicker it. There's probably some obvious Worldgorger Dragon -esque combos to be found. With the bonus it gets and its base stats I think the CMC is just fine.
Unbreakable Formation : Call me greedy but with green having Heroic Intervention I wish the prime defensive color got this at 2 CMC.
Eyes Everywhere : There's probably some fun abuse to be had when combined with owner-returning flickering; otherwise it faces stiff competition from Thassa, God of the Sea . Non- you steal from will probably not have much trouble activating its ability again due ubiquity of "any color" mana rocks, although that's far less certain with decks containing 2 or less colors.
Electrodominance : To squeeze just a bit more discussion out of this card, I think it's neat that this also functions as a one-time mana filter due to the genericness of .
Cavalcade of Calamity: I kinda wish they just color shifted Raid Bombardment to mono- instead, since red tends to have so much +X/+0 going on. At least the art is cool.
Persistent Petitioners: Ahahaha, oh yes, this is definitely how I want Advisor tribal to be flavored. A fine addition to the growing Relentless Rats family.
Font of Agonies : Loving the design space here. In the right deck this can probably be an efficient source of removal too.
Vindictive Vampire: For those tribal decks who feel bad over running Zulaport Cutthroat . Too bad it doesn't get Falkenrath Noble 's flying though. (+1 toughness isn't a very large consolation.)
Guardian Project : Kinda surprised Beast Whisperer got a rival right away. As far as singleton formats go, the it's a question of a body vs getting draws from cheating out creatures in addition to casting them.
Incubation Druid : There's stronger dorks out there, but I think it makes a fine complement if you can get counters on it reasonably early.
Rampage of the Clans : Fun in more chaotic Gahiji, Honored One decks
Bedevil : So I'm not a Putrefy fan but I'd still pick it over this if I had the choice, if only because the flexibility of the seems more valuable for the purpose of being able to more often react to threats at Instant speed over being able to target PWs. Still, this is something rakdos deserves and a fine choice when green isn't available.
Cindervines : Aura of Silence , Gruul-style! Neat for Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire decks who want more non-ETB removal.
Sunder Shaman : Not quite Trygon Predator but I think it's worth considering if you can't get that identity.
PS. What was the deal with Ferocious suddenly showing up incognito?
FSims81 says... #1
Ok so the more I look at it, the more Electrodominance might be my favorite card in the set right now. for burn anywhere I want and I can then cast any other card in hand with CMC or less at instant speed? Throw out a blocker, add more burn, toss in a counter to a counter. The possibilities are only contained by what is your deck.
January 9, 2019 9:44 a.m.