Magic: The Gathering

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

For each instance of Extort, whenever you cast a spell, you may pay {W/B}. If you do for that particular instance of Extort, that particular instance of Extort makes each opponent lose 1 life and you gain life equal to the total life lost. So, if you have 4 instances of Extort on board and pay five White mana to cast, say, a Boros Elite, each opponent will lose a total of 4 life and you will gain life equal to the total amount of life lost.

There is the temptation to be all knee-jerk about Extort's multiplayer implications, but the truth of the matter is, multiplayer is a completely different ball game. Any hardcore extortionists are going to be pounded into oblivion by everybody else quick fast and in a hurry.

At any rate, Extort isn't exactly exemplary of the evil that is W/B. It's subtly diabolical, but not quite a means to an end. Now, Obzedat, Ghost Council, on the other hand . . .

[Firewind]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

Yeah I really hope you have to pay it once for each Extort permanent, otherwise it would be pretty insane.

[Malacite]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

The way I read it is you can pay W/B once per spell for each Extort permanent you control.


The official rulings will be up soon enough if they aren't already.


EDIT: You say they didn't "need" anything, but I would have loved to see Battalion and some of the other mechanics be much more functional. Plus, what about when ISD and M13 rotate out? The cards they've added in GTR are horribly weak on their own, and while it's always good to see how diff sets mix, ISD was crafted in such a great way as it stands out well enough on its own. This is not the case at all with GTR (RTR on the other hand is very solid).

[cidbahamut]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

Remember that Extort does stack. Even in single player, having 4 Extort creatures out, tapping 4 mana will cause a total of 12 damage. That is some pretty crazy shit right there. Sure there are better strategies out there but given how cheap the damage costs when you have multiple sources of Extort, it can be kind of crazy. Orzhov also can still go Tokens since Vault of the Archangel won't be getting rotated out until the next expansion.

Is that how it works? It looks like it should function similar to something like Iron Star, where you have multiple triggers off of one spell, but you still have to pay the cost for each trigger.

[Firewind]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

Remember that Extort does stack. Even in single player, having 4 Extort creatures out, tapping 4 mana will cause a total of 12 damage. That is some pretty crazy shit right there. Sure there are better strategies out there but given how cheap the damage costs when you have multiple sources of Extort, it can be kind of crazy. Orzhov also can still go Tokens since Vault of the Archangel won't be getting rotated out until the next expansion.

Boros didn't need anything extra. RDW is already powerful enough and Boros Charm gave it a powerful way to finish a game.

Gruul again didn't need that much since it was already solid midrange and splashing Black just makes it awesome. Remember that G/R already has stuff like Huntmaster, Thragtusk and the shitload of Red removal and Green ramp that is out there. Did they really need more?

Dimir got some nice additions but as much as I love Dimir, I doubt anyone will leave their precious Snapcasters and Delvers for it.

Simic...I guess it adds some more choices to a Bant strategy? I dunno you got me there. Do people still play Bant?

[Malacite]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

Honestly I think Dimir by far got the best cards out of gatecrash, followed by Orzhov and then Gruul. Simic got some cool but expensive/slow tricks and aside from a few absolutely insane rares, the bulk of the Boros cards are trash. Doesn't surprise me in the least (though it does still disappoint) that WotC completely pussed out on making Batallion an effective strategy, or really giving Gruul some solid aggro options.

Domri Rade is nuts, but I still miss cards like Rumbling Slum, Burning-Tree Shaman & Skag-clan Mauler. All of those were insane. The only really good card that shines this time around is the Ghor-Clan Rampager, and even then it's largely because of his GR Bloodrush; I was honestly expecting Gruul to have a lot more mana-efficient beaters with cheap bloodrush triggers, not over-costed bullshit that's OK late game and somewhat decent as a combat trick.

Really I think the only 2 cards out of GTR that are going to have a major impact on the format are Aurelia's Fury & Blind Obedience. Possibly skullcrack vs certain decks (oh and the spotlight, that's gonna hose the new bant auras hard).



I'm honestly super pissed at this set. Orzhov, while getting some cool new stuff, in totality is nowhere near the power level it was last go around; No Bob, Faith's Fetters, Pillary of the Sleepless or Souls of the Faultless (Culling sun would have been a great reprint option). Most of the Battalion guys are crap because they only buff themselves and not the whole group - if Boros Elite was +2/+2 to all creatures, that thing could have easily replaced Champion of the Parish as the new staple 1-drop (or gone right beside it for janky fun). Firemane Avenger needed to cost 3 or less for what she does, or better yet, JUST REPRINT HELIX! Aurelia is too tiny, doesn't even have first strike (honestly what the FUCK is up with that) and costs 6... Assemble the Legion *could* have been viable at 4 as a new R/W Mobilization but no... can't have RW aggro being effective. I would have much preferred Boros have a mechanic based around auras or equipment, to emphasize their training. In part because Battalion, while flavorful, encourages over-extending. But also because they're supposed to be the best trained soldiers on the plane - so it stands to reason they ought to be benefiting the most from having good kit. But they probably felt that would be rehashing Mirrodin again.


I dunno. I love that Dimir is actually really good this time around, but I'm just so horribly disappointed that the other guilds got shafted. The set wins 11/10 no contest for knocking the flavor right out of the park, but as far as power creep goes? Meh. I really, really wish they'd stop adding so many over-costed EDH cards as well - can we not just have side releases like coldsnap or anything really, just separate from standard? Like those 5 avatars they printed, not 1 of those is going to see play in constructed or limited. Please just put Commander in it's own criteria and release stuff exclusively for it, while allowing standard stuff as well.

[Firewind]

Re: Magic: The Gathering



Not the most powerful card in the set by a long shot but I can see her being pretty fun in the right sort of decks. It also doubles up as a nice Draw and Filter Engine if paired with something that can uptap it multiple times.

it also looks like Orzhov decks are going to end up ridiculously overpowered in Multiplayer settings. Extort being on noncreatures is insane.

[Malacite]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

Full spoiler is up - the full set is actually pretty disappointing compared to RTR - they knocked it right out of the park flavor-wise, but as far as power creep goes... eh, they pretty much revealed the best early on. A couple of interesting new ones shown in the full spoiler but otherwise just a lot of junk sadly.

[Firewind]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

I meant it from a Competitive Standard point of view but you probably already knew that

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

because it is functionally unblockable

Not that it's ever relevant, but . . .



I love the flavor text on this guy.

[Malacite]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

I'm not arguing against the Hellkite, nor do I need the weaknesses of Ball Helix pointed out to me I been playing mtg for some time; only reason I never played it competitively was money - I had some damn good deck designs back in the day, and I f'ing called that Modular would be OP as shit back in the day when everyone I knew said I was full of shit, that it would never take off - and then Arcbound Ravager happened


I prefer the Hellkite too overall, because he's permanent and is outside of Mortar range. But he still costs 5, and that's why I don't like comparing them - Ball Helix is pretty much a guaranteed win on T4 if you don't hold back some kind of deterrent or haven't dealt with the board, as I outlined several posts back. But he's not alone, there are other T4 drops like Hellrider that also basically spell death if you either don't answer them right then and there, or wipe the board. I'm a little sad that Battle Hymn costs 2 mana though, since the best you can do is use it turn 5 (provided you have 4 critters - turn 4 I guess if you had a pair of Gather the Townsfolk/Krenko's Command) to cheat out Aurelia.

Sparky might only end up a 1-of, or used as sideboard material against other aggro decks idk it'll depend on what else is in the set but I have a pretty good feeling he'll see constructed play as a finisher. Both Rakdos & Selesnya can win by T4 handily, and this guy is just what Boros needed to do that as well.


Still sour about Aurelia being a 3/4 for 6 though...

[Firewind]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

The main reason I prefer the Hellkite as a finisher is because if it is allowed to resolve, there is no way you are preventing that 5 damage from hitting you because it is functionally unblockable when it hits the table, 10 if I pair it with a Paladin or can also drop a Boros Charm. If I Cloudshift on the next turn, that is another 5 unblockable damage, 10 if a Paladin or Charm is around.

What I was trying to point out with the Trooper is that you can use a simple 1 damage spells/abilities to counter it, a single Izzet Staticaster will nuke the thing (and won't need any sort of Deathtouch on it to do that), instead of dropping your more valuable "Destroy Target Creature" type removal. Also remember that detain also fucks over the TrooperCharm Combo while the Hellkite is just stalled for one turn.

It is a nice addition for a soldier deck if you can get around the horrible toughness that it has, and I never said that it was a bad lategame finisher, just that the Hellkite is better and harder for your opponent to deal with.

[Malacite]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

Well again, the whole set hasn't been revealed, removal of any kind is always relevant, and I also feel it's worth pointing out that he's a soldier - that could possibly come into play.

[Firewind]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

Actually I have a midrange Jund deck that laughs at Trooper. Instant Speed damage is the bane of 1 Toughness creatures.

Don't get me wrong, the Trooper is a very nice finishing option that isn't a Hellkite...But if I'm honest I still prefer the Hellkite in my standard decks for a Red Finisher right now. Obviously, things will change in Gatecrash when the cards are released.

[Malacite]

Re: Magic: The Gathering

Not against another Aggro deck or midrange Jund.