[DGM] Ral Zarek

[Lemnear]

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazin...g/daily/mm/242

Ral Zarek - 2UR

4 Loyalty

+1: Tap target permement, then untap another target permement

-2: Ral Zarek deals 3 damage to target player or creature

-7: Flip 5 coins. Take an extra turn after this one for each coin that comes up heads.


P.S.: can't upload pictures mobile :/

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

Won't be played. Makes me sad.

[Lemnear]

Won't be played. Makes me sad.

Not in Legacy. Potential for Modern's WUR Midrange

[Tao]

I like this card a lot, design-wise. Does all sorts of Izzet things and the ultimate is really fun. Thumbs up.

I think this has some kind of potential. In Standard it will probably see play. Two Bolts on a stick isn't half bad.

For Legacy it probably can't compete with Jace TMS But he has potential. Good with things that EtB tapped, like Nevi Disk, or things that don't untap during untap step, like Grim Monolith.

[Royal Ass.]

Untaps Time Vault :)

[Koby]

Untaps Time Vault :)

And kills Lodestone Golem. Easily a Vintage utility card. Could easily make UR Control Slaver a thing again (with Izzet Charm to replace Thirst for KNowledge).

[Wilkin]

It's a good card.

Hard to see it being Legacy playable since at 4 mana and it's blue, you will inevitably ask yourself "Shouldn't I just play Jace, The Mind Sculptor instead?"

But hey, Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas in the right deck can be scarier than Jace. Maybe there's a way to abuse Ral's +1 Ability. As part of a control strategy with Meekstone, tapping down your opponents creatures perhaps, using Goblin Welder twice a turn, accelerate with Grim Monolith.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Not in Legacy. Potential for Modern's WUR Midrange

I dunno, seems like Ajani Vengeant does exactly what this one does but much better. It might be relevant to the format if there is a deck that plays UR without W but I don't see it.

[Lemnear]

And kills Lodestone Golem. Easily a Vintage utility card. Could easily make UR Control Slaver a thing again (with Izzet Charm to replace Thirst for KNowledge).

Kills Lodestone for 5 mana ... Unplayable. Vintage is done unless WotC slaps more restrictions or enables the format to free from the stranglehold of Shops and Bazaar

[Koby]

Kills Lodestone for 5 mana ... Unplayable. Vintage is done unless WotC slaps more restrictions or enables the format to free from the stranglehold of Shops and Bazaar

Im less concerned with Resistors than I am with Tangle Wire and Revokers. You're just repeating the same old line without thinking of what the actual threats from Shops are.

[edgarps22]

He has particular uses in Metalworker MUD in legacy, allowing for multiple activation's of Welder or Forgemaster, as well as being able to untap Monoliths and do other fun things. That is the deck I see him working the best in, since it saves a bit of room no not needing/relying on Voltaic Key so much while still adding in other levels of disruption.

In vintage, this guy is very very very good. Can also untap Time Vault, much like Tezzeret 1.0, basically gives another out if they nuke your key. Can untapthings you tapped for the Tanglewires, or my god tap down the Trinisphere allowing you to play your moxen and Lotus. Looks very good to help control boards with the tap and bolt options available, the ultimate will probably never be hit before the game ends anyways, but if it is ever hit in vintage, the game is over more often than not. Dismissing this card is a bad idea since his utility is fairly high, not Jace high, but high.

[Lemnear]

Im less concerned with Resistors than I am with Tangle Wire and Revokers. You're just repeating the same old line without thinking of what the actual threats from Shops are.

The rise of Tera Nova Shops with Phyxrexian Metamorph and Sculpting Steel is sure because copying Revoker and Wire is better than Lodestones... /sarcasm

[Koby]

The rise of Tera Nova Shops with Phyxrexian Metamorph and Sculpting Steel is sure because copying Revoker and Wire is better than Lodestones... /sarcasm

Oftentimes, yes actually. What use are multiple Lodestones if I can cast and use my Moxen to fight thru those Resistors. Tangle Wire shuts down that plan cold.

The peospect of using Welder Twice on the same turn is very lucritive.

[Lemnear]

Oftentimes, yes actually. What use are multiple Lodestones if I can cast and use my Moxen to fight thru those Resistors. Tangle Wire shuts down that plan cold.

The peospect of using Welder Twice on the same turn is very lucritive.

So does Chalice. I agree on Welder but don't see it reviving Slaver in Vintage alongside Strategic Planning

[CardboardCrack]

I'll be really curious if there's some way to abuse his +1 ability in Vintage.

[Lemnear]

I'll be really curious if there's some way to abuse his +1 ability in Vintage.

This thread already made some suggestions

[bruizar]

both his +1 and his -2 protect him. his +1 can untap a blocker and tap an attack which means your opponent now needs 3 creatures to start dealing with ral zarek. That's pretty good.

[Lemnear]

both his +1 and his -2 protect him. his +1 can untap a blocker and tap an attack which means your opponent now needs 3 creatures to start dealing with ral zarek. That's pretty good.

How does tapping his creature my Turn affect his attack in his Turn?

[Vacrix]

By itself, its +1 isn't too good at protecting itself.. except perhaps untapping your islands for permission. You could play combat tricks with it but only on your turn, so its +1 needs to interact with something else to reach full utililty. Welder seems pretty good. Stasis is a potential option as well. Untapping Islands each turn is good; tapping down the opponents lands as they try to get enough of them to answer Stasis is also pretty good. It is a win condition all on its own as well both in taking extra turns to push an active Stasis over the top or dealing direct damage with Ral Zarek.

Its worth noting that Ral Zarek's -2 can hit creatures or opposing planeswalkers. Seems good. Not against all of them, but if you lay it down against, say an opposing Jace, you can punish a player if he's been Brainstorming. Its worth noting that 'Lightning Bolts' from Ral Zarek allow you to trade with creatures with less than or equal to 6 toughness.. which just about covers the non-Reanimator size of fat we tend to encounter in Legacy. This also helps in a Ral Zarek vs. Jace showdown in UR Zarek vs. Ux Jace because UR will be packed with Burn to help shrink the Jace quickly before the Jace player acquires too much card advantage. I'd say Ral Zarek is quite aggressive for a Planeswalker and is finally something that aggro control could play. He could easily fit into UR Delver. Ral Zarek can clear the path for Delvers/Goblin Guide, which only need to connect a couple times for the reach to close the deal. Further, his ultimate is quite good. Extra turns in a control deck isn't nearly as dangerous (when you already have Jace to +2 away the opponents turn in a draw-go situation, or a +0 to get the best part of your turn; CA) as extra turns in an aggro control. A UR Delver player who gets extra turns will certainly draw some burn, extra creatures and/or simply extra attack phases for the ones already there. Not to mention, extra turns means extra counters for Ral Zarek, which means extra direct damage.


In general, I think that Jace is probably still better. After all, Jace can bounce huge dudes, and basically just pseudo-mindslaver the opponent by negating the opponents draw with the +2 or fixing their own with the +0. Its easier to stay ahead with Jace as well as get back in the game with Jace.. however.. Ral Zarek looks like he's pretty good in his own way. He has a much shorter term usage than Jace. Ral Zarek has the ability to synthesize well. His +1 works with Stasis as well as Goblin Welder. I'll be trying RUG Stasis in Cockatrice sometime soon, since Goblin Welder is quite good with Quirion Ranger which combos with Stasis and a Tropical Island/Birds of Paradise. He could function like Garruk in GU Turbo Stasis, only Ral Zarek's +1 under a Stasis lock makes your position quite secure. I have quite the experience under Stasis lock; usually, with Garruk, he allows you to build quite a bit of steam and get the lock more and more secure... but if the opponent can find an answer AND play enough lands, then the opponent can break the Stasis lock. In this case, Ral Zarek taps down lands whilst untapping yours. Also, unlike Garruk, while building this lock, you can just unload all your counters into the -2 after holding it for long enough and he becomes your win condition, unlike Garruk, who is primarly just a holder of the lock.

[catmint]

Nice analysis Vacrix (and others). Good to see "out of the box thinking" instead of just "not better than jace".

Don't think UR Delver wants a 4 cmc spell, but if they would want one they might play him over Jace.
Looking forward to see your Stasis lists, since you seem to have experience with that archetype.

The ultimate is super cool. Unfortunate that it apparently will be only a fringe PW for freaky Welder or Stasis decks.

That he compares bad to Ajani Vengeant is true, but Ajani does not have awesome, which is a huge downside.