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So, we're getting a bunch of spoilers from the Duel Deck, as well as confirmation on Populate as the Selesnya mechanic courtesy of MTGS.
But the one card that caught my eye is Izzet Charm:
Izzet Charm
:u::r:
Instant
Choose one - Spell Pierce; draw two, then discard two; or Shock a creature.
Will this see play? The card seems decently powerful for all three modes, even at two mana.
Just saw the card as well, looks quite decent. Perhaps could be built into a delver/snapcaster grixis tempo shell, seems like it might be pretty powerful. Although it might be strictly worse than playing spell pierce/lightning bolt/instant speed careful study?
Grixis reanimator delver backup tempo plan?
It's basically every utility you could ever want, but it costs twice as much as casting any of these cards individually. I don't think it's really worth it in legacy since you have so much card filtering already, you can usually find whatever you need. For example, compare it to counterspell, or fire//ice. I definitely want to play this in my standard deck though. I just have to choose if I want to run this, or lingering souls, or both.
Great Modern and Std card.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggro_zombies
Closest comparison is to Fire//Ice, and sticking a Spell Pierce in the mix is about as fucking good as a third option gets. On the other side, when people are playing Forked Bolt over Fire//Ice it suggests that the ability to take down two Maverick dorks at once, and to do it for only 1R when one of them is Thalia, is also really fucking important.
Non-Tendrils combo decks might like it more than "fair" decks. Two mana is steep, but a single card that can remove hate bears, fight counter wars, and dig (and drop Griselbrand in the graveyard)? Sounds pretty attractive for the eternal problem of siding in extra protection without slowing down your engine.
I really fucking hope Delve comes back. Most likely in Dimir if it does. Scavenge seems only good in Limited.
That charm blows for Legacy, but I love it's just UR and not 1UR. I like the design patter of Izzet Charm that's going to recur with the other charms: have one ability that's clearly blue, one clearly red, and one that's a little bit of both.
All of the guilds get brand-new mechanics, according to MaRo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawon
Dreg Mangler
1bg
Creature - Plant Zombie Uncommon
Haste
Scavenge 3{B}{G}
Illus. Peter Mohrbacher 3/3
This is why I liked the original Ravnica so much: just good creatures with interesting abilities. I'm a sucker for the "Watchwolves" of the MTG world so this is pretty cool. Might not be the greaterest card of all time in Legacy but it's certainly Constructed playable.
Excited to see Life From the Loam in the Duel Deck!
If there's some sort of BUG graveyard deck viable in Standard post-rotation, I'm playing it. This card looks pretty good for that: something like Splinterfright, this, Strangleroot Geist, Snapcaster...Quote:
Originally Posted by Amon Amarth
Having 3 relevant effects at 2cc looks extremely valuable for Standard and probably Modern as well. But if you look at Legacy... I don't think the Charm's utilities are up to par for a 2cc spell. When Legacy has cards like Brainstorm and Ponder, you don't really need a 2cc spell that does these things. The cantrips function for the same mana cost as these spells do but stuff like Ponder and Brainstorm have additional means of hand/library manipulation via Shuffle with Ponder and putting back 2 cards with Brainstorm. If you need a counterspell, find Spell Pierce/Daze/FoW, etc. Also, I think its relevant that the spell is only spot removal so it can be used as reach late in the game. I'd much rather play the full set of Bolts/Chains in UR Delver than something than play this. You have to cut something to play these cards and frankly its a bit underpowered to warrant cutting something for it. I don't think it will see play in something like UR Delver.
I have to say though, Nihil might be spot on about running it in SnT/Reanimator esque combo decks. Then again, if dropping Grizz/etc. in the yard is relevant, then that must mean the deck is in BUR, and I don't see too many Reanimator decks splashing for red. The charm can counter gravehate though, like Relic or Cage.
Something like Omniscience-Show or UR Painter might be interested in the Charm - it gives you both a protection and a dig slot from one card while also killing annoying utility dorks in games 2 and 3. The actual discard may be less relevant than the ability to convert a potentially dead counter into two better cards, and those decks should always have fodder to discard in the form of lands or redundant pieces.Quote:
Originally Posted by Vacrix
I think Draw/Discard part of Charm requires more attention because it is instant. Careful Study/Faithless Looting cost one less mana, but Sorcery speed means a lot more time for your opponent to respond.
Turn one Goblin Welder, turn 2 sitting on open mana.
Removal? Charm!
No removal? Charm EoT, Draw 2, discard a fattie, next turn robot!
Since it needs 2 colors which is restrictive for MUD, maybe it will find its home in some kind of Welder Control deck (it's already in Welder's color, but also blue for FoW count).
It's definitely fringe playable, while it may not be partularly cost effectice at any one role role, it's ability to play three different roles makes it a solid SB card for being able to shore up multiple match ups with the least number of SB cards, I mean how many cards are good, albeit not great, to SB in vs either Storm or Goblins?
I'm not certain it'll see play in Reanimator, it's kind of hard to justify this over Faithless Looting when you /r, but it'll be a bomb in Standard, Extended and Modern for sure and I could see it ending up in an odd deck like Balance/Top with Phyrexian Dreadnought. Pretty much anything playable Counterspell will have to take a look at this instead.
I'm more interested in what the Izzet version of the Guildmage does. TRhe Golgari version seems pretty decent. Sadly, I don't think it's Legacy-worthy.
Well, last time there was just one Guildmage out of ten that was decent in Eternal (Azorius Guildmage), and that was a bit of a fluke due to "Counter target activated ability" and "Pay a million mana every turn: Tap target Darksteel Colossus" being both useful for Vintage. On the other side, now that they're gold cards rather than hybrids their power level can go up a bit.
The first thing that came to my mind when I saw Izzet Charm was U/R Painter.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attac...1&d=1346042458
Looks like an interesting card. Too bad almost all relevant Legacy spell have 1cc, making it irrelvant in the format.
Anyone want to speculate on there being a decent cards with the 'populate' keyword? It might work if they throw it on :1::w: cards.
I'm excited for the charm cycle. Versatile 2cmc instants might help push certain color combinations in Legacy. If the Izzet Charm is an indication of their overall power, I would not be surprised to see some of them become new format staples (or at the very least fringe playable).
I fear the Izzet one could be the best possible charm we get from the set because other combinations like UB, UW, GB have possibilities to push the acceptable power levels so they could end up with rather clunky designs. On the other hand I might just be talking out of my ass.
Edit: Btw Izzet is a teribble name for a fictitious fantasy world guild (I know, I am several years late for this comment) because it is a real world name. A friend of mine has a boyfriend named Izzet.
The better question is: What are good tokens to copy in the first place? Aside from angel tokens generated by Geist.Quote:
Originally Posted by rufus
The charm design seems interesting. I would love see decent Rakdos and Gruul charms since the power level of :r::g: and especially :b::r: multicolor cards is so goddamn shitty.
I would be quite excited for a :r::b: instant that didn't just read "Terminate" for once. Anything that would give Red more flexibility in all honestly. That color needs some actual identity aside from direct damage.
I'm currently working on URg control, can I have his card right now? Kthx. I think the charm is going to see at least fringe play in some form.
It looks like the pattern for charms is "something color A can do, something color B can do, something both colors can do." Since Izzet Charm has direct damage to a creature, I suspect the red charm is going to either damage players or be some form of combat trick (power pumping, Falter/target can't block, intimidate). I don't suspect the Rakdos one will be as good, though if the joint mode is a better version of Fall (from Rise//Fall) it might be worth testing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Koby
EDIT: I wonder how tight this cycle will be for mana costs. The Izzet one is clearly pushed for Constructed and will see play in this format in at least a few decks, possibly even some sort of midrange RUG deck. The others...Azorius might find a home in Stoneblade if it has two or more relevant modes, and the same for the green one in Maverick or Bant, but the other two aren't in good color combinations (BG, RB).
All I want is a 2/2 with CMC 2 and ETB Populate. But I'm guessing they don't want Splinter Twin 2.0 with Cackling Counterpart.Quote:
Originally Posted by rufus
Destroy target non-black, non artifact creature orQuote:
Originally Posted by Koby
Return target artifact from your graveyard to your hand or
Each player loses one life for each non-basic land he controls or
A little critter kill, a little burn and some random red artifact utility
Eh ... this still isn't quite good enough.
An x/1 EtB populate would have a lot of solutions to it in Standard right now, especially considering it doesn't have haste. Outside of Standard, regular Twin is probably better.Quote:
Originally Posted by TorpidNinja
EDIT: Off the top of my head, in Standard:
Rain of Blades
Cower in Fear
Mutilate
Rolling Temblor
Bonfire of the Damned
Terminus
And a bunch of targeted removal:
Unsummon
Searing Spear
Murder
Geistflame
Death Wind
Prey Upon
I was thinking more in terms of quantity than quality..there are some potentially interesting cards.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barook
Devastating Summons
Kutholda Rebirth
Lingering Souls
Firecat Blitz
Saproling Burst
Reap the Seagraf
Empty the Warrens
Zektar Shrine Expedition
Or Dance of Many, or Heat Shimmer...Quote:
All I want is a 2/2 with CMC 2 and ETB Populate. But I'm guessing they don't want Splinter Twin 2.0 with Cackling Counterpart.
Fixed it, and now we're talking. Powerful? Indeed. Let's try to push some colors that aren't getting love lately.Quote:
Originally Posted by nedleeds
This is realistically going to cost, like, five mana minimum.Quote:
Originally Posted by Koby
And if it costs two, I'm splashing it in Reanimator.
Control/disruption would fit pretty well:Quote:
Originally Posted by nedleeds
Target player discards two cards
or
Destroy Target Creature
or
Destroy Target Artifact
Realistic + useful:
Choose one- Destroy target artifact; or destroy target creature that dealt or was dealt damage this turn; or exile all cards in target player's graveyard.
Knowing WotC it will be
RB - Dung Charm
Deal 2 damage to target non-flying blue creature OR
Draw a card then discard 3 cards at random and smash your ball sack with a mallet OR
Target Vampire you control looks really goth cool until end of turn, you gain cred with the emotional kids at your junior high
The Azorius might contain a blink effect - blink is white while slightly bleeding into blue from time to time (e.g. Momentary Blink).Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggro_zombies
No idea about the other two - probably something with tapping?
You know, I think Izzet Charm, and any other Charms in this set, may be worth dusting off Ishochron Scepter for Modern.
What's your first creature token generator going to be, though? I can think of Bitterblossom and not much else.Quote:
Originally Posted by rufus
deadeye navigator, Nephalia Smuggler and ghostly flicker seem more than slightly bleeding. It doesn't surprise me in the least they just decided to give blue yet another ability from another colour, any of those cards could have been white easily, but no blue has to do freaking everything so lets just take one of whites few interesting abilities and just shove it into blue.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barook
Agreed though, i could see an azorious charm being something like 1. Bounce a non land non creature 2. blink something 3. tap something.
I might be mistaken, but white's blinking ability usually returns the card at end of turn, while these cards return it immediately.Quote:
Originally Posted by ReAnimator
It's actually pretty evenly split between the two.Quote:
Originally Posted by Awaclus