Dragon's Maze Previews

[tamaness]

Blanka?



Sorry, couldn't resist

Pretty much.

[JackSlack]

Pretty much.

That one is INSANE. That's ... wow.

[SomeCallMeTim]

I'm getting more and more excited...



and


for removal seems decent to me. I would LOVE the tempo blowout of bounce, then they sac the creature they have left for 5. Kinda stinks that it's in Dimir, because that's probably my least favorite guild (sorry Kathleen!)

And straight up removal...separate the blocks were removal light, but now we're going to have to be mighty cognizant of what our opponents are keeping up methinks.

[Drecon]

Also this:



Standard is now pretty much dominated by Sphinx's Revelation Strategies.

I'm skeptical on if this card can actually make a difference, even right now these decks run enough spot removal, but I do like that they're actually printing these aggressive creatures to make sure other decks at least have a game plan.

Doesn't seem mythic though.

[Docbrown]

I'm not sure if that's how it works Lemegeton. The card specifically says Ghoultree costs (1) less to cast for each card in your graveyard. Since you're not casting it, but scavenging it from your graveyard, I think it'll always cost 7G. It's ability doesn't alter it's actual casting cost from my understanding.

8 mana for 10 1/1 counters is better than increasing savagery.
There's also ANY red 4mana 6/2
Or r/w/b 2 mana. 3/1

[JayBlanc]

Well, hello possible infinite turn interaction between Vorel of the Hull Clade and Ral Zarek.

Doh, of course I misread the card. And it's obvious *why* she can't target Planeswalkers.



Turn three Vorel, turn four Ral Zarek, turn five activate Zarek's +1 with the untap targeting Vorel, in response activate Vorel targeting Zarek, then resolve and then activate Vorel targeting Zarek again. Opponents better do something good in their turn...

Which doesn't work of course, but let's say we're playing Modern, and we have a play set of,

[Docbrown]

Well, hello possible infinite turn interaction between Vorel of the Hull Clade and Ral Zarek.

Doh, of course I misread the card. And it's obvious *why* she can't target Planeswalkers.



Turn three Vorel, turn four Ral Zarek, turn five activate Zarek's +1 with the untap targeting Vorel, in response activate Vorel targeting Zarek, then resolve and then activate Vorel targeting Zarek again. Opponents better do something good in their turn...

Which doesn't work of course, but let's say we're playing Modern, and we have a play set of,

Ral goes in my ruw American control deck.
Ideally.
Mecurial chemister with illusionists bracers taps for 4 cards. Ral untaps.
Tap the chemister again for 4 more.
Ill yank the temporal mastery to exchange him in.

[Shinneh]

Does the Dimir guy actually grind, or does he just remove 4 lands from the deck?

[Utilitarian]

He grinds. Have another look at the cars. Reveal cards until you reveal 4 lands, then put all those cards in the graveyard

[phlip]

It's a little odd... so far on the cards that grind multiple times they say "put all cards revealed this way into the graveyard" to avoid the potential ambiguity... for cards that only grind once, they can just say "put those cards into the graveyard" because being plural means it has to be referring to all cards revealed, not just the land revealed. But they still mean all the cards revealed, just just the lands, it's just a clarity issue.

[phlip]

I can't think of anything to say here beyond "Oh fuck".

[ZePancakes]

Tajic: by god he is going to be a handful to deal with.

[Utilitarian]

I can't think of anything to say here beyond "Oh fuck".

I can only imagine the satisfaction of playing this the turn after your opponent plays an Angel of Serenity...

*edit* Man can you imagine casting Give/Take on a Fathom Mage? Six mana for six cards yes please

Also Tajic is kind of neat. Didn't think we'd see a flat out indestructible creature. 7/7 with battalion is nothing to sneeze at as well

[Kapol]

It's important to keep in mind that he's a 2/2 with battalion, not a 7/7. Slap a rancor on him and he's really good... IF you can keep him and 2 other creatures on the board. At the moment, I don't think that's a very easy thing to accomplish. Most decks will have some way to deal with him. If not directly, than through destroying the creatures around him. I'd be a lot happier with him, I think, if he cost an extra mana and had Vigilance. As he is, I'm not that impressed. I actually think he's one of the weaker champions just because of how much he relies on his own keyword.

[Lemegeton]

I can't think of anything to say here beyond "Oh fuck".

yeah saw him this morning. holy fuck aptly sums up my reaction too. especially when you read the mtgdaily article showing just how disgusting he is going to be

[Yaxley]

I notice mtgsalvation doesn't currently have a source for Plasm Capture. Wizards has always said the only way they would reprint Mana Drain is if the entire R&D team got hit by a bus, so I wonder.

[Lemegeton]

It's important to keep in mind that he's a 2/2 with battalion, not a 7/7. Slap a rancor on him and he's really good... IF you can keep him and 2 other creatures on the board. At the moment, I don't think that's a very easy thing to accomplish. Most decks will have some way to deal with him. If not directly, than through destroying the creatures around him. I'd be a lot happier with him, I think, if he cost an extra mana and had Vigilance. As he is, I'm not that impressed. I actually think he's one of the weaker champions just because of how much he relies on his own keyword.

yeah that was my initial impression of him too. he is too dependent on having good creatures on the board when you play him. indesct is not great when a board wipe or removal kills his allies and you dont trigger batallion. he could really do another ability like :1RW target creature you control is indestructible this turn.
as he is you could play him on turn 4 but only have like 2 bomber corps out already which can be easily removed.

do you think maybe wizards are making boros a bit weaker on purpose given how much it dominated limited in gatecrash

[DSmaster21]

I'm not sure if that's how it works Lemegeton. The card specifically says Ghoultree costs (1) less to cast for each card in your graveyard. Since you're not casting it, but scavenging it from your graveyard, I think it'll always cost 7G. It's ability doesn't alter it's actual casting cost from my understanding.

8 mana for 10 1/1 counters is better than increasing savagery.
There's also ANY red 4mana 6/2
Or r/w/b 2 mana. 3/1

Sorry everyone for the poor context but I have to respond to this.

Increasing Savagery is much better. IS allows you to put 5 counters on for four mana, this is exactly half and can be played earlier. IS then can be exiled to put 10 counters on a card this is the same effect as exiling Ghoultree would give you, however IS does it for 1/2 less mana 6GG (I count colored mana as 1/2 for CMC) and IS can be used twice for a total of 15 for 8GGGG. The added value of multiple uses of the same card are hard to understand but hopefully this simple math will help.
For Comparison
!5 x 2 = 30
8GGGG x 2 = 16+8G

30 for 16+8+4
30 for 28

10 x 3 = 30
7G X 3 = 21GGG

30 For 21+3+1 and 1/2
30 for 25 and a half

However you need two cards vs. three to gain thirty.

Also Flesh/Blood costs 3BG to play so not 7G

Ie.

2 cards vs. 6 cards and a cost comparison of

28 to 18



Update: Sorry my source of spoiled cards did not have the Golgari maze runner at time of posting.

[Lemegeton]

funny you should mention that as i am now testing another version of this deck and have removed ghoultree in place of primordial hydra and am using increasing savagery and gyre sage to pump even little guys to 10/10 and even more and then hit with essence harvest. i still like the general idea of a big dude+plus essence harvest as its direct life dmg and cant be blocked. sure essence harvest can be countered but it only needs to hit once to win a game. also using bioshift in this deck as its so much fun to move the +1+1 counters from my big dude in response to removal. sure you can kill my hydra but first ill move all his counters to my strangleroot geist.

[ArchieO]

I was going to say Tajic is awesome because simply having an indestructible blocker is good but all these cards kill him so maybe not quite as insane as i thought.

Executioner's Swing, Angelic edict, arrest, soul tithe, trostani's judgement, paralyzing grasp, stab wound, augur spree, detention sphere, death's approach, devour flesh in the right circumstance, merciless eviction, 1000 lashes and thats just in GTC and RTR

Edit: you're correct utilitarian, I should read cards more carefully

[Utilitarian]

Rapid Hybridization doesn't kill him but your point is well made regardless

[ArchieO]

Sooooo Legions initiative seems legit


On board wrath counter for 2 mana, that pumps your dudes, naya blitz just got a really powerful tool! I have to say I am not quite sure why it is mythic but it is definitley a constructed focused card. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if it was a top down design = anti-wrath thats not a counter spell

[Kapol]

It seems pretty good. I might look into getting some for my deck, though that's iffy since it's a creature-focused deck. I can see some interesting plays based around it though... like "I cast Supreme Verdict" "Alright, then I pop my Legion's initiative in response." "Good, I counter my own Supreme Verdict and swing in for the win."

Also, I don't think it'll help much with Verdict in the current standard. Most decks running Verdict are also running Snapcaster from what I've seen. As such, they're just bring in Snap the next turn and re-verdict after the initiative is off the field.

[Lemegeton]

Sooooo Legions initiative seems legit

hey supreme verdict. Fuck You

[ArchieO]

hey supreme verdict. Fuck You

That was pretty much how i read it too

It seems pretty good. I might look into getting some for my deck, though that's iffy since it's a creature-focused deck. I can see some interesting plays based around it though... like "I cast Supreme Verdict" "Alright, then I pop my Legion's initiative in response." "Good, I counter my own Supreme Verdict and swing in for the win."

Also, I don't think it'll help much with Verdict in the current standard. Most decks running Verdict are also running Snapcaster from what I've seen. As such, they're just bring in Snap the next turn and re-verdict after the initiative is off the field.

Umm that can't happen, first you can't counter supreme verdict, second the dudes come in at the beginning of the next combat step so you can't force them to pop it and then swing in for the win

Also of note in the WRU flash decks, this also gives you a go around on resto angel, augar and snap caster etb effects as well as using it in combo with supreme verdict, to whit, pop it play verdict you creatures come down at the start of the combat step ready to attack.

So many applications for this card, I really like it