Everyone's a Critic: Ral Zarek, Love It or Hate It
General forum
Posted on April 9, 2013, 5:09 p.m. by Thedren_The_Inquisitor
Today, we shall take a look at the first ever Red-Blue Planeswalker. Of course I am referring to none other than Mr. Ral Zarek. by now I am sure all of you have seen him, if not here is a run down
2UR,
4 loyalty,
+1 untap target permanent, then untap another target permanent,
-2 Lightning Bolt deal three damage to target player or creature,
-7 flip five coins, take an extra turn for each heads.
Now I am going to go over each detail of this card then let you the fan decide if I should hate this card or love it.
2UR, the Converted Mana Cost. 4 mana seems to be a corner stone of planeswalkers, it is by far the hardest bracket to make wind in. sharing the same slot as Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Elspeth, Knight-Errant is a tough gig. However two colorless mana and a red and a blue is reasonable amount. some will argue that 1UR would have been better but everything is better at one mana cheaper DUH! I am quite glad that he is not 3UR, that would have been a death nail for this guy. so he is fair at 4 and that is that.
4 Loyalty. Now this is the critical juncture for me. That means Mr. Zarek is out of Boros Charm /Searing Spear range. Huge Huge Huge. This guaruntees you will either force your opponent to trade two spells to remove him or they will have to dedicate an attacker to him, because this guy cannot go unchecked.
His first ability is very intriguing, first of all it harkens back to Garruk Wildspeaker s first ability in the sense that if you had to, you can untap a land. but also it is similar to Liliana of the Dark Realms ' second ability in the way that it is more or less two abilities combined. you also get to tap a permanent of your choice. I can see this as a combo enabler, tap my Gilder Bairn untap one of my lands. Do fun things. It can also be used to tap your opponent's threatening defense creature, untap one of my lands and power in for some damage.here I have to stop you, I have heard and read many things saying "Ajani Vengeant Two he is" I will go ahead and say No, AJV allowed you to tap it down AND it didn't untap at the next turn. that is a monumental difference.
Secondly and on to the second ability, AJV was packing Lightning Helix where Ral Zarek brings Lightning Bolt . Three life is a big big difference and can swing the course of a game. Now do not think me disingenuous. a repeatable Lightning Bolt on a fair costed body that can do two other things is nothing to snub your nose at, I was just hoping for something more Electrolyze -esqe, you know considering it's Izzet and all, you get it I am disappointed. BUT this is a good swizz army knife ability, It shoots planeswalkers and players and can help you gain advantage on creature decks by bolting high value targets with a difficult to stop ability,
Finally, what I consider one of the best ultimates yet. Flip 5 coins, take an extra turn for each heads.. yeah fun, worthy of getting there, and most of all insanely powerful. what is the most insane about this ability is that it is the perfect blend of flavor and mechanics. Nothing says 'Hey, I am Izzet." more than careful precise planning into chaos that has a chance to flop. Now the Neighsayers will say "Oh it is too random!" well statistically your going to get about 2.52 heads, yes heads comes up slightly more. Seriously go look it up. Taking 2 extra turns on average is going to win you the game if you can pull this off, you may have another Ral Zarek in hand ready to fill up some extra turns. Let's remember he comes in with 4 counters If you roll him to 5 that is two turn you can do this, Assuming you have played one ramp spell and protected him, you could be taking extra turns as early as turn five. let that sink in.... no don't rush it let it seep into the pores....
I leave you with this thought, not all planeswalkers come out of the pack with format shattering power. for example look no further than Jace, Memory Adept and Garruk, Primal Hunter both of these guys were considered decent during spoiler season, but for the most part flew under the radar for their first few months in standard. I remember declaring that I hated Jace the Anime Sculptor, (still do but i digress). I found Jace to be wholly underpowered and Garruk to be too color specific, I was wrong... what I am saying is do not fall under the spell of spoiler hype, decide for yourself if a card is good or bad
So, Love it or Hate it.... Comment away
Of note: Ajani Vengeant 's +1 ability doesn't actually tap the permanent -- it just prevents the permanent from untapping.
Ral Zarek seems fine in Standard and that's about it. It would be interesting to run him in a RUX deck with Gilded Lotus . Ramp to six, play Gilded Lotus , tap lotus to play Ral, use Ral's +1 to untap the lotus to keep Dissipate mana up. Then ramp into some kind of insanity like Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker or Griselbrand or Worldfire etc. Or just double-ping something with Izzet Staticaster .
He doesn't feel tier 1, but he does seem like a fun FNM card.
April 9, 2013 5:42 p.m.
Thedren_The_Inquisitor says... #4
Hmmmm I agree he could have some fun builds
April 9, 2013 6:01 p.m.
My bet is that some RUG midrange or RUG control deck wants him. A deck like that could benefit greatly from his +1, untapping Gilded Lotus for insane value, Izzet Staticaster paired with Nightshade Peddler for insane value, or even just using him to push through damage with Thragtusk and friends. He has some potential and I am busy brewing a RUG deck as we speak, so I'll keep in touch.
April 9, 2013 6:02 p.m.
Thedren_The_Inquisitor says... #6
I can see him as untapping lands for one mana control spells
April 9, 2013 6:06 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #7
I feel like be could easily drop into a bolas control deck shell to act as ramp himself. I found myself using Koth of the Hammer 's +1 to untap lands. Ral can untap mana rocks like Gilded Lotus which can allow you to play bolas sooner than anticipated.
April 9, 2013 6:41 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #8
I think Grixis is going to be a bigger thing when Dragon's Maze comes out, and I do think Ral could be a player in it.
I might use him in a Heartless Summoning version. Just think;
turn one Faithless Looting to dig for missing pieces,
turn two Heartless or Goblin Electromancer
Turn three, Master of Cruelties or leave up mana for countermagic
Turn Four Ral to untap a land, tap a blocker, Blustersquall to tap down another blocker...or some form of burn spell to finish the game off.
April 9, 2013 7:04 p.m.
Thedren_The_Inquisitor says... #9
Let's keep in mind that you don't have to make a deck out of all new cards. Ral will probably plug into a URW flash list
April 9, 2013 9:28 p.m.
Briannasaurus says... #10
I really like Ral, I think he's a lot of fun. he's very very Izzet, and I think it plays into the mad-genius trope perfectly. I know a lot of people in my friendgroup are pretty butthurt about him, and how he's stupidly overpowered. Sure, maybe he is a little. But I think he'll be so much fun, and I don't even play Izzet x_X
however, my one complaint is the coin tosses. I would like to see a consequence if the coin toss comes up tails. It seems like it would really complete the concept of mad-genius, where things go wrong as well.
April 10, 2013 3:48 a.m.
Combine him with a Krark's Thumb and let the shenanigans begin.
April 10, 2013 7:49 a.m.
Thedren_The_Inquisitor says... #12
One thing i have to say about planeswalkers being overpowered, there is only one definite overpowered planeswalker, we all know his name so I won't even put it on here. Ral Zarek is not overpowered, He is good. Would anyone be interested in a paper about planeswalker paranoia? Why we are such slaves to planeswalkers, their hype and building decks around them?
April 10, 2013 9:25 a.m.
Thedren_The_Inquisitor are we talking +3 Destroy target Tournament?
But I agree, sure his ultimate will probably win a game, but then again; there isn't many planeswalkers who have an ultimate that won't.
April 10, 2013 10:20 a.m.
pookypuppy6 says... #14
Because they are humongous pieces of card advantage and value in a single card, that's why. :$
But anyhoos, Ral is a lot of fun. You hit it right on the nail when you said the ultimate was a great blend of flavour and mechanics.
April 10, 2013 10:20 a.m.
PenitentKnight says... #15
T1: Land, Legion Loyalist (one drop to fill the void in my head)
T2: Land, Heartless Summoning
T3: Land, Master of Cruelties
T4: Land, Ral Zarek, if Cruelties goes through -2 for the kill, if not, tap a blocker and untap a land for a Artful Dodge
T5: Land, either -2 for kill or random burn spell of choice.
April 10, 2013 10:32 a.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #17
@ScarrFisH: Not to nit pick, but Boros Charm alone won't kill Ral. The player can use his +1 ability before you have a chance to respond. Whether you counter the ability with things like Stifle or burn him with Boros Charm , he'll get the counter beforehand. Therefore, by the time the Charm goes off, he'll be at 5.
I really love Ral. A casual player like myself, I see how much fun he could be :3 Sure he's not some ridiculous walker, but that's a good thing. Less need for people to cry "broken!" or "I want him banned!" etc.
April 10, 2013 12:54 p.m.
Thedren_The_Inquisitor says... #18
Jace, the Mind Sculptor is the only overpowered broken planeswalker, the only one that is even close is Liliana of the Veil
April 10, 2013 1:46 p.m.
@umbrotheumbreon I didn't realize plainswalkers could use their abilities once they got onto the field. I was under the impression they had to wait a turn, much like creatures.
April 10, 2013 4:55 p.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #20
No, they don't. A planeswalker doesn't get summoning sickness. Only creatures. The exception to this is anything that can turn into a creature (the Keyrunes, Inkmoth Nexus , Gideon's ability, etc). Those do have to wait a turn to ATTACK but not to activate their abilities.
April 10, 2013 5:01 p.m.
You could say that everything has summoning sickness, but only creatures are affected by it.
April 10, 2013 5:24 p.m.
Ok. I was playing them wrong, then.
Since we are on the subject, their abilities only work at sorcery speed too, right?
April 10, 2013 5:32 p.m.
PenitentKnight says... #24
But damage directed at an opponent can be redirected to any planeswalker they control.
April 10, 2013 5:49 p.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #25
Yes it can, but you cannot directly target the walker. I've seen the mistake SO many times. People think that the planeswalker is a player, mainly because you can attack it. A lot of people do not understand how planeswalkers work, and generally leads to arguments.
April 10, 2013 5:57 p.m.
KrazyCaley says... #26
Ral is not a great card for control decks. I think he'd be at his best in some kind of as-yet-undeveloped Red/Blue Deck Wins concept that swings in with red aggro and uses blue to get in some card advantage and light interference.
April 10, 2013 6:30 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #27
I'm not convinced, can you not cast Boros Charm in response the ral resolving, as ral's abilities can only be used as sorceries and therefore only onto an empty stack, you should be able to remove him before he has the chance of gaining +1.
April 10, 2013 6:53 p.m.
Thedren_The_Inquisitor says... #29
UmbrotheUmbreon all permanents have summoning sickness, it only effects creatures the most obviously, this is why man lands such as Celestial Colonnade and Gideons, cannot attack on their first turn
April 10, 2013 6:59 p.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #30
No, because once he resolves the current player receives priority before you do. At that time he/she can +1 Ral.
April 10, 2013 7 p.m.
Thedren_The_Inquisitor says... #31
planeswalkers, once declared as resolved must enter the battlefield and the caster retains priority, this priority is passed when they decide to activate an ability or when the continue game progress
April 10, 2013 7:01 p.m.
the3rdH0kage says... #33
ok then in responce to them activating the ability, while it is still on the stack you could Boros Charm him and he would die before he got the Loyalty Counter.
April 10, 2013 7:11 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #34
What UmbrotheUmbreon hasn't said yet is that the counter being placed on the Planeswalker is part of the cost of activating his ability. As we know costs must be paid AS PART OF placing the ability on the stack. Therefore the Planeswalker will go to 5 before someone can respond with a burn spell. The only way that "sorcery speed" matters is if someone plays the planeswalker and then passes priority. (Which would be a little silly.)
April 10, 2013 7:11 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #35
the3rdH0kage like I said, adding the counter is part of the cost not the result.
April 10, 2013 7:12 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #37
PW abilities are written as +1: Do something.
This follows the convention of cost:effect. (Pyrohemia has R: blah blah)
April 10, 2013 7:17 p.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #38
I could have sworn I said that =/ Oh well, my bad
April 10, 2013 7:29 p.m.
First there were a few inaccuracies in the original post, most of which have been corrected but using 1 ramp spell to play Ral on turn 3 will not give you extra turns on turn 5, you would have to wait until turn 6:
Turn 3: Play Ral and +1 him to 5
Turn 4: +1 him to 6
Turn 5: +1 him to 7 (Yes, he has enough to ult him now but as you used an ability already this turn you cannot pop him off yet)
One last thing, I don't know if it was intentional or not but I loved Dallie's comment: "are we talking +3 Destroy target Tournament?"
April 10, 2013 11:18 p.m.
PenitentKnight says... #40
@ cirdan I think Infernal Plunge on T2 into Ral Zarek would fit the bill. Not quite as prescribed, but an ult on turn 5 could work that way.
April 10, 2013 11:30 p.m.
I didn't say it wasn't possible, just not the way he described.
April 11, 2013 1:14 a.m.
Thedren_The_Inquisitor says... #43
Why is it during spoiler season, everyone tries to justify how good a card is by suggesting janky combos? how about tap four lands and play this card, then use him conventionally. If you have to lose your whole hand to cast this, it is bad
April 11, 2013 11:42 a.m.
To clarify:
Technically, permanents that entered your control after the beginning of your most recent turn that are creatures can't do anything that costs them tapping, once they become a creature. It's simply a property of creatures, regardless of when they became one. So if you animate a land that you just played, it can no longer tap for mana/attack. If you steal a land and animate it, you can't tap it for mana/attack until the start of your next turn. If you steal a land, wait for your turn, and it's a creature, it can attack/tap for mana. If it's just a land, you can tap it for mana regardless of when you got it.
tl;dr: Permanents that you haven't controlled since before your turn, that are now creatures, have summoning sickness.
April 11, 2013 7:01 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #45
I DO like him as a grixis control ramp piece. Ramp, removal, and "win the game" in a 4 cmc cost is pretty reasonable. Most Grixis control lists already run rocks like Gilded Lotus and adding Ral will have a large benefit. (Even if you are ramping into Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker or a powered Mind Grind . If you T4 Ral you can T5 the lotus and have up to 6 mana available immediately. (3 for a Murder on your turn then 3 for a Dissipate on theirs.) This means T6 you are able to hard cast Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker with mana to spare. This is all just using his +1. (Mind Grind would allow you to mill 10 lands from this mana on T6. Nearly a win on it's own.)
April 11, 2013 7:51 p.m.
I think people are missing an obvious target for untapping. Somberwald Sage
Now what kind of Phatty can we now cast on turn 4 if perfect draw. We have 6 mana from sage plus at least 3-4 extra mana from lands or mana dorks. Worldspine Wurm
casting can be super scary, but more likely Utvara Hellkite
, or Stormtide Leviathan
with 8 mana being able to really cast.
Some best three cards or untapping cards are Gilded Lotus
, Somberwald Sage
. You get the most value out of any of those three. Lotus for ramp spells , and somberwald for your creature spells. getting out a creature like Stormtide Leviathan is a must deal with. I think a turn 4 Drogskol Reaver is the best play since it gives you card draw.
But in a land destruction ramp deck untapping for a Sylvan Primordial
on turn 4 can be hard to recover from.
In a fast style aggro you can go with Minotaur Aggressor
There are 2 red cards now that give double strike and taking up to 14 damage sometimes is not an option.
For card draw you have Sphinx of Uthuun
which will allow you to get both board, and card advantage.
with RUG at the helm your options of how you want them to die are amazing with Ral Zarek. a turn 3 Ral Zarek can make a turn 4 7 casting cost phatty. untapping any permanent is such a power tool with the flexibilty of an old school Icy Manipulator
ScarrFisH says... #2
I think he will be a very versatile component to any deck with R/B in it, not just izzet. The control is very handy, and yes, I do see the opportunity for a LOT of combos. Who doesn't like lightning bolt, or extra turns for that matter? So what if you have to flip some coins? It still gives you an average of 2-3 EXTRA TURNS! There is nothing wrong with that, save if he isn't on your field. "Oh, I run RUB control (something that is gonna hit HUGE in may, I believe)! I'm gonna tap your things, untap my own, and take some extra turns, OH how cute! a 7/1 haste trample -ZAP- crispy critter." Also, just a nit pick, dropping as a 4, boros charm can handle him.
April 9, 2013 5:30 p.m.