General (BRO) The Brother's War Spoilers

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Seems roughly appropriate for a double-pipped creature with flying. This is definitely not better than Fleecemane Lion and friends.
Not better? Have you been smoking? :p seriously though, flying is one of the best keywords, and we’ve never seen an unconditional 3 power flyer for 2. This honestly is kind of a crazy statline. Perhaps it being legendary is the only thing that keeps it from being too pushed for constructed, since you can’t run out multiples.
 
Have you been smoking? :p
Not any narcotic substances, only some delicious bacon ;).

Seriously though, flying is one of the best keywords, and we’ve never seen an unconditional 3 power flyer for 2. This honestly is kind of a crazy statline. Perhaps it being legendary is the only thing that keeps it from being too pushed for constructed, since you can’t run out multiples.
I’m not sold on the idea that a 3/2 flier for CC is too pushed for constructed in of itself. It’s definitely a good statline, but if the card doesn’t do anything else (which harbin won’t 90% of the time), it just seems like a fine beater but nothing too powerful. The creature is still incredibly easy to interact with even though it can go above most early blockers easily.

As for the Fleecemane Lion comparison specifically, I think Lion is better because it becomes virtually impossible to remove if it isn’t dealt with before it has the chance to go monstrous. The extra point of toughness protects it from a bunch of disfigure and shock type cards and makes it stronger in combat before it has the chance to monstrosity. Lion definitely gets chumped easier than harbin and I think that could be a big deal in some contexts, but I think being unkillable gives it the edge.

In either case, I think it’s likely Fleecemane Lion will remain the more notable constructed card unless a U/W soldier deck manages to become a thing in standard. Soldiers already has a 2-mana lord and Thalia, so this isn’t impossible. But it’s fighting an uphill battle in an otherwise stacked meta.
 
I also think it would've been a much cooler design as a 2/2 that triggered on this and two other soldiers attacking. Less pushed stats, more achievable synergy reward.
 

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
I also think it would've been a much cooler design as a 2/2 that triggered on this and two other soldiers attacking. Less pushed stats, more achievable synergy reward.
I couldn't agree more! As is, it's just power crept. Every other previous example requires you to work for it, be it Delver of Secrets, Dragon's Rage Channeler, or Esper Stormblade. This is just baseline bigger than any 2 mv flyer without downside in history for no reason, and it has an upside.

...

Not that the upside will ever matter, because, let's face it, the only time you're ever attacking with five or more soldiers is when you're already winning hard.

In conclusion, I find it a really meh design.
 
Oona's Prowler and Smuggler's Copter are the 3 power fliers I can think of. Those are pretty good. I think this is strong and archetype defining but not too good for modern magic.
 
I'm a big fan of low MV legendary creatures with reasonable stat-lines, even if it's just from an aesthetic perspective. Just look at these beauties already spoiled!!

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This feels way cooler than assembling the Weatherlight crew imo, I actually would be happy to play with all of these cards from exclusively their french vanilla forms in limited/Cube. Playing with named characters is exciting, the crown symbol on the top only accentuates that, and the art here is sufficiently cool across the board, particularly on Ashnod and Harbin.

For the sake of constructed formats, Harbin isn't entirely new. Like has been said before, Delver is typically the same stat-line for half the colors and half the cost, and spirit decks end up with buffs like this very easily. Supporting the Azor flyers with a Dune-ass little dude that can't be run as multiples is not any kind of power creep beyond what we've seen consistently in other verticals over the last decade.

Is it good? Sure. Is it so good it invalidates older cards in a similar space? I don't really think so, plenty of previous cards have already done that. Dauthi Voidwalker is a mono-colored card with 3 power and a more powerful form of evasion, and its additional upside is absurd by comparison. Blade of the Oni may have worse evasion, but it has just one colored pip and a ton of flexibility beyond attacking as a 3-powered dude. Serra Avenger is more than 10 years old!

So yeah, this is power creep, but not inappropriately so, at least in my opinion. I'm sufficiently excited by the statlines and the art to even be curious for my own cube, but I don't think it'd make the top 10 Azorious cards I'd consider if I were being honest with myself.

ALSO:

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I like this card.
 
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Well then.
 
A 3/2 flier for 2 is good but definitely not busted. The second ability won't change things if you're beating down, but notably it will break board stalls if this card is drawn late, which is a fine bit of utility. It's probably one of the better UW aggro signals available so I might give it a shot, but I don't expect it to be anything special.

On another note, I'm loving the Prototype cards. Reverse Kicker seemed like a pretty boring-if-effective mechanic (why not just make it kicker and have colored artifacts?) at first until I saw someone point out that blinking them gets you the big side, which adds a new axis to blink decks. Between that and the reanimation/cheaty value, they're valuable cards for enabling combo-leaning decks that can still play 75% of a normal game, as opposed to normal combo decks which can usually play 25-50% of a normal game. I'm always looking for ways to combine combo and "fair" magic, and I think that these cards will be super valuable in achieving that goal.
 
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I'm split on prototype. I think the layout is godawful, but cards like Combat Thresher can act as great dual-archetype role players. With thresher, it can play well in my boros double strike theme as both a double striker and a cantrip. It can also play well in my Rx artifact reanimation decks with Daretti etc. In that deck it can act both as a reanimation piece and as cheaper fodder for sacing that replaces itself.
 
Delver innit?

Is this one of those times where I am suppose to ignore people so they don’t spiral out of control? Help me understand if this is some social cue I am not picking up on.

What I should have said is “Look at those statlines.” And then followed it up with an explanation to the people who wants to dig deep “It is a 2 mana flying creature with bigger stats than we’ve ever seen before without a downside”. I could even have added “All other creatures that come close have a downside” for extra super clarity. I could have concluded with “It’s statcreep”
 
Help me understand if this is some social cue I am not picking up on.
If it helps, check out the reactions to the post. You have a Brushwaag, a Ragavan and a thumbs up. I have no clue what the first two mean but I've noticed that their presence indicates the post trends towards a joke or at least something more or less serious. The way it was phrased is also a good indicator!

Is this one of those times where I am suppose to ignore people so they don’t spiral out of control?
You are technically correct, but people like to throw a little chaos around. It's just a way of saying things aren't always black or white, since in the right context, a threat like this already exists. I see it as building on your comment since it gives more food for thought.
It's not trying to discredit you. This is a public forum and having fun makes it all the more appealing IMO.

Jason, I am sorry if I answered out of line, just delete this if so!
 
dauthi voidwalker is indeed a 3/2 evasive creature for 2 with actual relevant upsides. i think it sees SOME constructed play? it’s on my cube banlist for hosing graveyard fun too hard
 
dauthi voidwalker is indeed a 3/2 evasive creature for 2 with actual relevant upsides. i think it sees SOME constructed play? it’s on my cube banlist for hosing graveyard fun too hard
Last time I paid attention, Voidwalker was a thing in Modern — primarily in Rakdos Scam, which is a combo deck trying to get out a T1 Fury or Grief with Feign Death effects.

Understandably, the evasive 3/2 for 2 is considered a lesser threat than the 4/3 that double Thoughtseized you on T1, or the 4/4 double-striker your opponent cheated out. On T1.

(Constructed is a silly place.)

...

Also, fun fact: there are two black 3/2 flyers for 2. And technically a 3/3 flyer for WW! And who could forget the very lovable 3/3 flyer for R? Or the 5/4 flyer for 1U?



I do agree that a 3/2 flyer for 2 with nothing but upside is quite a bit of a power bump (the only card on this list without a crippling drawback is the Heir, after all).
 
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They slipped this one in the card image gallery with a bunch of other random commons/uncommons (apparently Obstinate Baloth is uncommon now?!) and hoped I wouldn't notice. But I'm too observant for them!
Came here just to post this -- what!? THANK YOU FOR THIS SET.

EDIT: In my excitement upon seeing the above Izzet card, I neglected to give the rest a proper look-over. Apparently that's not the end of the sweet commons and uncommons unceremoniously dropped this Monday morning!

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I can handle an Unearth/Zombify split card if each end only costs {1} more.

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This is a red Deep Analysis for less mana, right?? :pogchimp:

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Not bad?? Good mono-color support too.
 
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