Chris Taylor
Contributor
Well if you wanted a card that actively encourages board stalls...
Sets Journey to Nyx Spoilers
- Thread starter FlowerSunRain
- Start date
CML
Contributor
im not really sure how to evaluate this card, does it match up to anything that exists already?
It's close enough. It makes the creature large enough, especially in Limited formats, that the exile is mostly flavor. Sure, there are corner cases with recursive creatures, indestructible, or deathtouch, but Battlegear is the precedent and easiest comparison.
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
The grid is now officially filled.
He seems pretty unexciting. He finds you dudes at will or makes them a lot bigger. The ult isn't really that helpful in moving the game forward to its conclusion. I don't think Mirari's Wake is too worried about losing its place in my cube, +1/+1 synergy notwithstanding. If I can't find a place for Domri, I don't think Ajani has much of a chance.
He seems like a reasonably studly addition. A crappy bear if you need a dude on curve, or a strong aura on 3, its a good package.
This isn't the blue heroic creature I was looking for, but its t0o hilarious not to run. Increasing Savagery might have a place yet!
So far, my favorite day of previews.
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
Setessan Tactics is awesome. Yes, its a green sweeper of sorts. It triggers Heroic like crazy, but unfortunately green heroic sucks. Its still worth playing anyway!
I'm starting to change my opinion on Ajani a little bit. I think he does great stuff for the right decks, but that 5 mana cost really makes things difficult.
I'm starting to change my opinion on Ajani a little bit. I think he does great stuff for the right decks, but that 5 mana cost really makes things difficult.
I like tactics a lot. I've tried to get various fight things to work but they feel so small impact a lot of the time. The +1/+1 helps a lot of course.
I feel ajani's alright. If you get his first + off twice your opponent is probably dead, and if they've had enough removal that they aren't you've got his second +. That said his effects aren't unique or powerful enough to drop something more build-around for him. Seems to be "he's a walker, he's good."
I feel ajani's alright. If you get his first + off twice your opponent is probably dead, and if they've had enough removal that they aren't you've got his second +. That said his effects aren't unique or powerful enough to drop something more build-around for him. Seems to be "he's a walker, he's good."
Tactics is great, excited for that card.
Ajani says 3WG at the beginning of your upkeep, have a card that is probably better than me, also I can be attacked to death. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.
If it could find any enchantment I would like it a lot more as much of white's amazing removal is enchantment, but sadly only a sliver of it is aura based.
If it could find any enchantment I would like it a lot more as much of white's amazing removal is enchantment, but sadly only a sliver of it is aura based.
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
He's sort of garruk III. First ability adds 3 power/toughness to the board and second one digs you cards. Ajani requires a dude to do it, but has "haste" and the card dig ability is usable indefinitely, but slower. He also has +1 loyalty and an annoying ultimate, rather then Garruk's "Kill me or wrath this turn" ultimate which mercifully ends the game. He's a solid card, definitely has to cost 5 mana, I thinks its a matter completely in the realm of "do I want a card that does this?"
I find I'm usually happy to be blocking with that 3/3 from garruk so the haste isn't really a big deal. The difference between getting a new card to getting the p/t equivalent seems pretty huge to me. Remains to be seen if this card is actually exciting. I feel like I'm interested, if only because I love playing GW control decks but man does this card seem awkward.
So now we have a red creature that punishes players for... going small?
So now we have a red creature that punishes players for... going small?
Chris Taylor
Contributor
At first glance, I read over new Ajani and said to myself, "casual card". The more I mull over it, though, the more I'm inclined to think it might be good. Part of it is that he reminds me of a planeswalker we all know and love, the one that's unquestionably the best in cube.
If you could indulge me and ignore the casting cost for a second: same starting loyalty, same loyalty costs, similarly underwhelming ultimates. How do the first two abilities stack up, then?
Well, his counter distribution and Elspeth's Angelic Blessing line up pretty closely. Now, evasion is a big game - especially when you're trying to take the fight to other planewalkers - but having the counters stick around is no joke, either, so I think we can call this one roughly a wash.
How about Impulsing for creature pals versus popping out 1/1 bodies? This one's a tougher nut to crack. Elspeth was so good because she defended herself immediately, didn't require anything of you as a deckbuilder, and provided her own tokens in which she could later pump. A self-sustaining ball of synergy. With Ajani, it's unlikely you'll be able to dig and cast a creature on the same turn you cast him, so he's already slightly worse at defence. He also requires that you play some actual creatures to best make use of his ability - no all-walker Superfriends decks here, folks. In return for putting animals into your WG deck, though - something that you were, in all likelihood, going to do anyways - he brings them to the front lines fast, even though you then have to foot the bill for their services at that point. With all that text in this paragraph having been spewed out, is this ability better than getting a 1/1 for free - no questions asked - every turn? I'm going to go ahead and say probably, though I think it's close.
So. We have a walker that lines up approximately to Elspeth in power level, and is arguably only slightly better. Is that minor upgrade worth a full extra mana?
That's the million dollar question.
We all know that Elspeth is one of the strongest planeswalkers ever printed, and makes cube games utterly uninteresting because of her effortless dominance. When I was power-maxing in another life, she was still far and away the best card in my Modern cube, bar none. She's banned from most - all? - of the cubes on this forum. But lots of non-Elspeth walkers out there are still exciting, fun, interactive, and powerful cube cards. Just how far down can you go from this very high bar, and still make the cut?
Somebody somewhere said that for every extra mana you pay on a card, you should expect it to be 50% better. Ajani's a little better.. but he doesn't look to me like he's an entire half card better. Maybe 5%? 10%? Who knows. I do know that he bears more than a passing resemblance to the only other all-plus planeswalker, though, and that even at five mana, the original Elspeth might well have been playable, decent, or perhaps even good.
All of that text above's really to say: He looks and sounds like the most busted-ass planeswalker of all time. But he costs more. But she was busted as hell. Hell, I'm gonna try him out.
If you could indulge me and ignore the casting cost for a second: same starting loyalty, same loyalty costs, similarly underwhelming ultimates. How do the first two abilities stack up, then?
Well, his counter distribution and Elspeth's Angelic Blessing line up pretty closely. Now, evasion is a big game - especially when you're trying to take the fight to other planewalkers - but having the counters stick around is no joke, either, so I think we can call this one roughly a wash.
How about Impulsing for creature pals versus popping out 1/1 bodies? This one's a tougher nut to crack. Elspeth was so good because she defended herself immediately, didn't require anything of you as a deckbuilder, and provided her own tokens in which she could later pump. A self-sustaining ball of synergy. With Ajani, it's unlikely you'll be able to dig and cast a creature on the same turn you cast him, so he's already slightly worse at defence. He also requires that you play some actual creatures to best make use of his ability - no all-walker Superfriends decks here, folks. In return for putting animals into your WG deck, though - something that you were, in all likelihood, going to do anyways - he brings them to the front lines fast, even though you then have to foot the bill for their services at that point. With all that text in this paragraph having been spewed out, is this ability better than getting a 1/1 for free - no questions asked - every turn? I'm going to go ahead and say probably, though I think it's close.
So. We have a walker that lines up approximately to Elspeth in power level, and is arguably only slightly better. Is that minor upgrade worth a full extra mana?
That's the million dollar question.
We all know that Elspeth is one of the strongest planeswalkers ever printed, and makes cube games utterly uninteresting because of her effortless dominance. When I was power-maxing in another life, she was still far and away the best card in my Modern cube, bar none. She's banned from most - all? - of the cubes on this forum. But lots of non-Elspeth walkers out there are still exciting, fun, interactive, and powerful cube cards. Just how far down can you go from this very high bar, and still make the cut?
Somebody somewhere said that for every extra mana you pay on a card, you should expect it to be 50% better. Ajani's a little better.. but he doesn't look to me like he's an entire half card better. Maybe 5%? 10%? Who knows. I do know that he bears more than a passing resemblance to the only other all-plus planeswalker, though, and that even at five mana, the original Elspeth might well have been playable, decent, or perhaps even good.
All of that text above's really to say: He looks and sounds like the most busted-ass planeswalker of all time. But he costs more. But she was busted as hell. Hell, I'm gonna try him out.
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
I like your math. He's less then a mana better then Elspeth but she was probably worth more then she was printed at, so he's cool.
Again, I think Ajani here is a matter a preference mostly. He seems to pretty clearly fall into the range of what we expect a 5 mana card to do in modern Magic, its mostly a question of whether we want to do this. Indeed, he (as compared with Garruk, Primal Hunter) reminds me of the relationship between Xenagos and Garruk Wildspeaker: they kind of do the same thing in different ways so do we really need two and which one do we prefer?
Again, I think Ajani here is a matter a preference mostly. He seems to pretty clearly fall into the range of what we expect a 5 mana card to do in modern Magic, its mostly a question of whether we want to do this. Indeed, he (as compared with Garruk, Primal Hunter) reminds me of the relationship between Xenagos and Garruk Wildspeaker: they kind of do the same thing in different ways so do we really need two and which one do we prefer?
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
I'm not sure they could have designed a card that I am less interested in if they actually tried to. There may be a point to this card, but its above my head. It gets both the high end of the mana cost spectrum AND the worst power for any of the gods for the least useful effect amongst them.
I don't get it.
I don't get it.
Well these guys gave pretty good hints on what kruphix's P/T was going to look like:
As far as his abilities go I feel it's almost all flavor: He's supposed to be that weird-ass god that nobody hangs around with because he's always looking at the future and speaking in riddles. So he bends reality / the rules for you. Or something. I don't know, man. Omnath ability is certainly sweet with prophet, and nice to have on something that doesn't eat it to wrath or doom blade.
Crowd favorite Gild had a real thing going there for a while, but you can't stay on top forever!
As far as his abilities go I feel it's almost all flavor: He's supposed to be that weird-ass god that nobody hangs around with because he's always looking at the future and speaking in riddles. So he bends reality / the rules for you. Or something. I don't know, man. Omnath ability is certainly sweet with prophet, and nice to have on something that doesn't eat it to wrath or doom blade.
Crowd favorite Gild had a real thing going there for a while, but you can't stay on top forever!
im really annoyed w/ kruphix, they print more tools for by far the strongest color combination in edh while its worthless in every other format i can think of
i like silence the b as a bestow hoser, neat card. probably wont find a spot in my cube anytime soon though im starting to have ideas for an artifacts vs enchantments cube
i like silence the b as a bestow hoser, neat card. probably wont find a spot in my cube anytime soon though im starting to have ideas for an artifacts vs enchantments cube
Anybody else a really big fan of the bestow-with-a-drawback cycle of uncommons?
I don't know if these are all cubeable - hey there, green porcupine! - but I love how aggressively costed they are. The blue and red ones, in particular, seem like such giant beatings. I can't wait to try these out.
I don't know if these are all cubeable - hey there, green porcupine! - but I love how aggressively costed they are. The blue and red ones, in particular, seem like such giant beatings. I can't wait to try these out.
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
The blue one seems like it could be a massive beating or a complete crap. If they are using typical 1:1 removal or sweepers, the drawback is nothing special, but if they have something like fireslinger out its useless in both modes. You can even kill it by bestowing your own dude on it, then get back your bestow guy! Easy 2:1. I guess I have to analyze my list to see if its viable or a feelbad trap. At the very least it can be used as a convoluted Nekrataal variant.
Kicks Tar Pit Warrior in the junk either way.
The white and green ones seem like nothing I'd want to play, silly tricks on the opponent's creatures notwithstanding.
Kicks Tar Pit Warrior in the junk either way.
The white and green ones seem like nothing I'd want to play, silly tricks on the opponent's creatures notwithstanding.