Sets [KHM] Kaldheim Official Previews
- Thread starter TrainmasterGT
- Start date
In Search of Greatness - GG
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may cast a permanent spell from your hand with converted mana cost equal to one plus the highest converted mana cost among other permanents you control without paying its mana cost. If you don't, scry 1.
Hmm...
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
In Search of Greatness is bonkers. Maybe hard to draft around in cube, but in constructed? Insanity.
And look at this! Cool seeing really nice white aggressive creatures. You'll probably not activate this on turn 2, but dropping another one drop on turn three and boasting Usher seems like a good way of giving weenie decks more consistency.
Also the tokens are humans!! So you can pump your champion of the parishes and your thalias' lieutenants.
This is quite possibly the best card in the set. It's a really powerful aggro dude in the sense that it can create a board state all by itself. While I think it's a little fragile as a 2/1, that's not really important on a Savannah Lion that makes an army by itself. It usually adds at least three power to the board (the 2/1 base stats plus the first token), possibly more, save for the instances when it dies before it gets to attack. Great card, get your foils and never cut them
We're seeing more of the Uncommon Land Cycle today:
Karfell Port
Land
Karfell Port enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add to your mana pool.
, : Sacrifice Karfell Port: Mill four cards, then return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
Surtland Frozenflame
Land
Surtland Frozenflame enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add to you mana pool.
, , Sacrifice Surtland Frozenflame: Scry 2, then Surtland Frozenflame deals 2 damage to each creature. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
It's unfortunate how wide the power band on this cycle is proving to be. Karfell Port and Gnottvold Slumbermound seem insanely good, even in higher power environments. Meanwhile, the Axgard Armory and Bretagard Stronghold seem generally pretty weak for their cost in the context of cube. I'm not sure running these as a cycle is going to be worthwhile. I'm also not sure how to count these. They're lands, but they don't fix for mana and have the mana requirements of gold cards to function correctly. Granted, these are expensive top-end pieces for decks to begin with, so if the other color is a splash, they become easier to enable.
Frankly, I'm not sure where these fit into the cube design story and that is a little frustrating. I like these designs, but I'm not sure where they are good.
Karfell Port
Land
Karfell Port enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add to your mana pool., : Sacrifice Karfell Port: Mill four cards, then return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
Surtland Frozenflame
Land
Surtland Frozenflame enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add to you mana pool., , Sacrifice Surtland Frozenflame: Scry 2, then Surtland Frozenflame deals 2 damage to each creature. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.It's unfortunate how wide the power band on this cycle is proving to be. Karfell Port and Gnottvold Slumbermound seem insanely good, even in higher power environments. Meanwhile, the Axgard Armory and Bretagard Stronghold seem generally pretty weak for their cost in the context of cube. I'm not sure running these as a cycle is going to be worthwhile. I'm also not sure how to count these. They're lands, but they don't fix for mana and have the mana requirements of gold cards to function correctly. Granted, these are expensive top-end pieces for decks to begin with, so if the other color is a splash, they become easier to enable.
Frankly, I'm not sure where these fit into the cube design story and that is a little frustrating. I like these designs, but I'm not sure where they are good.
I don't think they are insanely good, and I think
Standard (not sure why I'm talked about it, but I already ranked):
[Standard bannable] > Bretagard Stronghold > Axgard Armory > Surtland Frozenflame > [Standard playable line] > Karfell Port > Skemfar Elderhall > Gnottbold Slumbermount
Cube:
[Powermax playable line] > [Elegant Cube GRBS line] > Bretagard Stronghold > Axgard Armory > Skemfar Elderhall > Surtland Frozenflame > Karfell Port > Gnottbold Slumbermount > [Elegant Cube playable line]
I'll have to eat a Storm Crow when Gnottbold Slumbermount is banned in Modern and generally recognized as GRBS somehow in a couple of months, but that's my guess.
Edit: I hadn't seen Bretagard Stronghold before, added to ranking as the best of the cycle so far.
Yeah, paying seven mana to reanimate something is good but not insane, even if it's from a land.
Edit: I think the troll land is actually pretty decent, you get a tempo swing in possibly locking out a color from your opponent and adding a pretty big body to the board.
Edit: I think the troll land is actually pretty decent, you get a tempo swing in possibly locking out a color from your opponent and adding a pretty big body to the board.
They're totally gold cards, but eehhh we've had gold land cards before that people have ran successfully. They take up space in a different part of a players deck, so they're way easier to splash for, so I don't think they're the same as a creature you want to play on curve. Plus I love playing spicy lands!
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Love this card, statline and activation match Bloodsoaked Champion so my gut is to run like 4 (yes I know it is worse)
@Dom you were running all snow basics right? Can I interest you in snowman of destiny?
Sorry need the English version.
Someone talked about casting this in response to Avenger of Zenikar's ETB and now I have a new "Most EDH" I've ever seen a suggustion
I think that this card is way better than it looks, at least for Standard.
It looks like Trolls are intended to be some kind of ramp archetype. However, instead of ramping into some specific big threat, the troll game plan is to leverage having more lands than your opponent. Both this and Old-Growth Troll let you turn a land into a troll in the late game, and Waking The Trolls just straight-up rewards you for having extra lands. Don't think of this as overpriced land destruction. Think of this as a land that you can trade for a 4/4 trampler in the late game, that just so happens to keep you and your opponent at land parity.
EDIT:
Also, look at this little sneak:
This has been mentioned elsewhere but the effigy sure (intentionally) plays well with casting multiple spells the same turn.
Unless I'm reading it wrong, it's literally just asking you to curve out. I dont see how that's very difficult to achieve in cube decks or otherwise.
And the "fail" state is still scry 1 a turn? Dear lord.
Also, look at this little sneak:
Oh that's gooood
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
It's asking you to pay GG on turn 2 (ideally), curve out with permanents and have those permanents in hand when the trigger goes off each turn. I think it's not that obvious that this is going to be super good in cube, though the potential is obviously there.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I honestly think Pod is more flexible since it has a much larger number of cards you can pull your +1 cmc target from. We'll have to see, I guess.
Scorn Effigy looks great! It supports artifacts, creaturefall and 2nd spell/turn (which is something I want to get pushed more, jhust like draw 2nd card and cast 1st spell/opponent's turn). Not sure if that's enough, as a 2/3 vanilla is otherwise very unexciting.
Besides the disgusting powercreep (BW saga rofl, G enchantment rofl²) and parasitic snow shit, I have to say that I find some cards pretty interesting.
Usher of the Fallen looks pretty interesting. If it doesn't end up being too strong, it looks like a fine addition.
That angel similar to Stitched Drake also looks interesting, especially since my white section cares about gy/selfmill.
Clarion spirit looks very fitting! I cut Young Pyro and instead added Akroan Crusader, Valiant Rescuer and Murmuring Mystic, to tighten the powerband, so this looks might be another good addition.
Besides the disgusting powercreep (BW saga rofl, G enchantment rofl²) and parasitic snow shit, I have to say that I find some cards pretty interesting.
Usher of the Fallen looks pretty interesting. If it doesn't end up being too strong, it looks like a fine addition.
That angel similar to Stitched Drake also looks interesting, especially since my white section cares about gy/selfmill.
Clarion spirit looks very fitting! I cut Young Pyro and instead added Akroan Crusader, Valiant Rescuer and Murmuring Mystic, to tighten the powerband, so this looks might be another good addition.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Love EC
But hey I get it, rising power over time. You can slow it, and you have to keep it in check, but it's still likely a good thing overall. We're not casting grey ogres anymore
But hey I get it, rising power over time. You can slow it, and you have to keep it in check, but it's still likely a good thing overall. We're not casting grey ogres anymore
deck building flexibility is no contest. This hits any permanent. that's way easier on deck-building. Just build a nice curve of permanents.
Say what you want about the B/W Saga, it still isn't better than Dennis.