Orc General

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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Freeform Legal
Highlander Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Oldschool 93/94 Legal
Planar Constructed Legal
Planechase Legal
PreDH Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Orc General

Creature — Orc Warrior

Tap, Sacrifice another Orc or Goblin: Other Orc creatures get +1/+1 until end of turn.

2000AD on "Fanghorn Forest": Bark at the Moon!

1 day ago

Balaam__ First of all, I greatly appreciate you for stopping by and reaching out. Thanks! Second, I will address the issue of Orcish Oriflamme - the reason the copy you linked shows up as is because the version you linked appears to be from Alpha, and Alpha had a couple of printing errors showing incorrect information, one of the more famous examples being Elvish Archers (Power/Toughness was printed at 1/2 in Alpha as opposed to the 2/1 it's been in every other edition starting with Beta). Oriflamme was misprinted similarly in Alpha, with a casting cost showing as , but in Beta Edition and going forward, the casting cost has been . I am pretty sure that even if you have one of these misprinted cards, you still have to pay the most recent casting cost.

Next question: "Why?"

Ok, so this is a great question! Thanks for asking. In the 93/94 Oldschool format, a format that includes the following sets:

Alpha Beta Unlimited Collector’s Edition (CE) International Collector’s Edition (IE) Arabian Nights Antiquities Revised Legends The Dark Fallen Empires

Antiquities only has like, 7 or 8 colored cards in each color for the entire set, the rest of it is 100% artifacts and not all of them are good - in fact, there is a LOT of chaff there with a few notable exceptions.

This is for "Atlantic" rules - "Swedish" deckbuilding rules (which I tend to follow) cut off just after The Dark, with no Fallen Empires allowed. That said, enchantments that give buffs in the format are rather few and far between - and when they can be found, they are typically quite specific insofar as the color they will give a bonus to (for example Crusade, or Lord of Atlantis/Sunken City). Wherein it relates to , Goblins have Goblin Shrine, as well as Goblin King of which I play both in a 93/94 Goblin deck I call "Burning Man" (just haven't made public yet). Orc General from The Dark hands out some buffs, but only for Orcs, and only in exchange for sacrificing an Orc/Goblin to receive it. Orcish Oriflamme is somewhat of a rarity or a standout in this department because it buffs every single attacking creature under my control - regardless of type. I agree with you in RE: casting cost being a tad on the high side, but I am down to play it for awhile to see how it goes due to rocking 4 Llanowar Elves and 3 Untamed Wilds - I feel like my ramp is far enough up to snuff for me to "get away" with dedicating one card slot to an enchantment costing , especially since there are only 3 copies to contend with. As well - I understand the concern over the conditional power buff - that the creatures who receive it must be attacking - but this is mainly to swarm the opponent with 6-8 1/1 Lands, animated with Living Lands, all swinging across at 2/1 P/T the moment they're animated by Living Lands. This is in addition to any other creatures I happen to be able to swing with at the time, and the hope is other effects (such as Earthquake) can seal the finish once the opponent's life total has been whittled down far enough.

also has Gauntlet of Might, but that is one of those cards that even the cheapest copy (2ED) is too far out of my budget at present (several hundred dollars for copies marked "played"). Disharmony (LEG) is another one I'd use (albeit this is creature theft, not creature buff), and the budgetary concern there isn't AS bad - but she's still a good $55-$60+, and that's an amount of money that would get me 30-40 cards that were things I need (like basic lands) to put a deck together. So, maybe someday - but right now leaving those on the table just allows my money to farther transaction-for-transaction. Power Surge is a cheapie that can get a lot of damage in if the opponent just doesn't have anything to do, but is also conditional...and not to mention CHEESY lol.

When it came to the whole idea that the playing of Living Lands was supposed to be the big ol' KILLSHOT, the idea of having nothing that provided beef did not appeal to me, whether it was conditional or not. Oriflamme was dirt cheap on TCG Player (35 cents-50 cents), so for now, my opinion is Oriflamme gives a significant power advantage when multiple creatures get room to breathe. They did so long for this one thing. - it's ok if you don't agree, and right now where I'm at it I will absolutely take what you've said into consideration!

rotimislaw on Pattern Recognition #169 - Orcs

5 years ago

Good article berryjon! As always a pleasure to read!

For our Orcish Party, I'd surely recommend Orc General as the Warrior and leave Rogue hiring for someone else :)

Generally, I'd see Orcs as overlords of Goblin mob, using them as a resource for gaining power and overwhelming enemy. That would match their direction to explore their nature on top of power and savageness.

It would also make a distinguishment between them and Minotaurs which tend to work more around Blightning effects as I see them.

Also, it would comply with recently present Gruesome Scourger and Orcish Vandal like cards.