Sets [FIN] [UB] Final Fantasy
- Thread starter Seeker
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If you really want to pay four mana to give all your Knights flying... well, you want Herald of Hoofbeats then. But if you're nostalgic for Kinsbaile Cavalier or something, you know. I mean, there's a lot more to this card (eat it, Gallant Cavalry, nice vigilance idiot), and the backside resembles Elspeth, Storm Slayer in terms of ending games, but mostly it just makes your knights fly and I just think that's funny. He jumps so high that everyone comes along!
If I want to be doing the W mode of this, this is the larger-upside "save your whole team" that I want (rather than Galadriel's Dismissal, for instance, though that one can just get 'em dead) so this is like, actually surprisingly close to the power level of trick I agree with.
as a Final Fantasy stan I really appreciate the stupid jokes like this - this works as a four-mode card but it's also a funny reference
Most tempting of the adventure lands so far, imo. Overcosted, obviously, but you get the land afterwards!
You may not like it, but this is what peak Magic performance looks like.
I love Cactuar. Finally, the Glitterfang I've been waiting for.
This card rules
as a Final Fantasy stan I really appreciate the stupid jokes like this - this works as a four-mode card but it's also a funny reference
Everyone forgets Reinforced Ronin and Lightning Berserker...
I absolutely do not forget Reinforced Ronin.
pretty sure I've literally never seen Lightning Berserker in my life, partially because it was in the same set as Zurgo Bellstriker which used up that neuron
They could've also not give it flashback at that point. I'd rather have Snapping Gnarlid.
I think part of it is that - more so in original Zendikar, much less so in BFZ but still somewhat - it's way harder to reasonably block landfall creatures that grow in toughness. And I don't even mean something like Plated Geopede where it has first strike!
Blocking a Steppe Lynx requires you to pay two mana and get a Lumengrid Warden statline, and trading with it requires paying three mana for a 3/2 (totally fair baseline, but you're trading not one but two mana down, which is disastrous tempo-wise even when they don't have a trick). The original landfall creatures got stupidly big. The subsequent ones were "only" a 3/3 for 2 attacking on turn 3, Snapping Gnarlid still trading with a three-drop most of the time.
It's a mechanic that is innately way, way better on offense, and every individual point of toughness much more so than every point of power (but every point of power is still a huge knob, 2 is waaaay more than 1). Really, it's not the best mechanic to put on stuff if you don't want an aggressive format at all. But here we are, having decided it is going to be here, +1/+0 is the way to do it given that imo.
ONLY VAGUELY RELATED STORY: Back when WotC employees used to show up at random places and just play Magic against all comers, I got Dave Humpherys talking about Goblin Guide, one of my favorite one drops. He said that originally, the drawback on the Guide was to put the land into play... which did not last very long, since the Guide was "when you attack, ~40% chance you trigger all your opponent's landfall abilities and put your entire team directly into the graveyard". And that's just a really funny thought to me.
Blocking a Steppe Lynx requires you to pay two mana and get a Lumengrid Warden statline, and trading with it requires paying three mana for a 3/2 (totally fair baseline, but you're trading not one but two mana down, which is disastrous tempo-wise even when they don't have a trick). The original landfall creatures got stupidly big. The subsequent ones were "only" a 3/3 for 2 attacking on turn 3, Snapping Gnarlid still trading with a three-drop most of the time.
It's a mechanic that is innately way, way better on offense, and every individual point of toughness much more so than every point of power (but every point of power is still a huge knob, 2 is waaaay more than 1). Really, it's not the best mechanic to put on stuff if you don't want an aggressive format at all. But here we are, having decided it is going to be here, +1/+0 is the way to do it given that imo.
ONLY VAGUELY RELATED STORY: Back when WotC employees used to show up at random places and just play Magic against all comers, I got Dave Humpherys talking about Goblin Guide, one of my favorite one drops. He said that originally, the drawback on the Guide was to put the land into play... which did not last very long, since the Guide was "when you attack, ~40% chance you trigger all your opponent's landfall abilities and put your entire team directly into the graveyard". And that's just a really funny thought to me.
Always down for a Fact or Fiction variant, even if Sorcery makes me sadder than Flashback makes me happy
I just like legendary dog tokens, okay?!
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Oh my! This is kind of great for my heroic theme, doubling as a draw spell in red!
With this I am now seriously considering making some proxy versions that don't say "Job select" and use colorless spirits that are already in my cube from Promise of Bunrei. Would also be very flavorful to have Weapons of certain classes of people being carried by a weak ghost version of them.
I love it. Easy include for me.
I've been running Reckless Impulse and it's been fine, but this seems like it has more game. Being an Instant over a Sorcery helps to soften losing "until the end of your next turn" vs. "until your next end step" (this distinction is annoying to track either way) and getting the pseudo Trumpet Blast as an option is a real threat, especially at just two mana.
In DTM limited, Seize Opportunity was better than folks gave it credit for. I can't wait to swap out Reckless Impulse for this, and I'm very happy this is where we're at with red card draw these days
Another Court Homunculus! You're gonna want to skip Magitek Infantry if you're not breaking singleton, but it's a good reason to do so. I'm not a fan of the art, but it feels like the logical extension of the art style from the Mercadia block at the same time. Between these and Nesting Bot, Hotshot Mechanic, Swooping Lookout, and Toolcraft Exemplar, there's absolutely a critical mass of cards to enable the Tempered Steel deck these days.
It's extremely funny how much Sephiroth is making its way into my Cube considering I have zero attachment to the character. Ransack the Lab has always been on the cusp of my Cube. A really good way to make a cool card 10x more likely to own a slot for years is to add flashback to it. This does exactly that. Hell yeah.
I've always wanted a mono-colored version of Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder. It may be a little too late for that, but his Fire Cross ability may be just enough to put him over the edge. I think 4 mana is too expensive here, especially since he's often going to be "you get to give one creature double strike" and then die to removal, but I do really like the idea of casting 2x 3MV instants back to back from his swing in, which very few creatures can block profitably.
Just incredible design. Will consider it just for the occasional silly deck; I know my players will force this which is both bad and good.
Cute enabler of landfall as well
This seems like it'll scale surprisingly well into the late game.
I always really liked Ransack the Lab, but it rarely cracked my list. It’s nice to see a slightly juiced version
My counterargument is that Eviscerator's Insight was 2/5 and that thing was absolutely busted at doing the Sneaky Snacker thing in MH3, which should theoretically be a more powerful limited format than a Standard-legal one.
I assume Revelation tends to be a worse card in terms of pure value, but better in terms of selection (and the value's closer than you think, since Insight doesn't net a card if you're not doing something unfair with the sacrifice and Revelation puts two in the graveyard)
I assume Revelation tends to be a worse card in terms of pure value, but better in terms of selection (and the value's closer than you think, since Insight doesn't net a card if you're not doing something unfair with the sacrifice and Revelation puts two in the graveyard)
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Chainer’s Edict was a Standard staple for a while, though it was obviously helped by Cabal Coffers being actually playable. Seven mana is a lot, but it’s a hell of a backup option to do something with your mana if you brick in the late game with your control deck.