Sacred Nectar
This card is awful. It is. Compare it to Soothing Balm which is just better in every way.
I always wondered how aggressive a lifegain spell would have to cost versus how much it would have to gain to be played. Lifegain itself just is not very good when by itself.
It's good on creatures or when done infinitely. A spell by itself just doesn't work well.
But yea, Sacred Nectar is just not that much of an interesting card. Soothing Balm kind of makes me go, "Is this good?" But Sacred Nectar just upsets me.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Random Card of the Day 11
This is a Excommunicate before it was white.
It's an okay card, but I don't think it does anything very interesting or intriguing.
I wonder what the comparison is between this and returning a creature to its owner's hand. I think in comparison to cards like Unsummon there is an interesting look at how much tempo is cost.
Reminds me of my favorite counterspell: Memory Lapse.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Random Card of the Day 10
Goblin Sky Raider
I'm not going to talk about how awful this card is.
Because it's awful.
What I do want to talk about are these:
Suntail Hawk / Lantern Kami
Flying Men
Scryb Sprites
The first ever C for a 1/1 flyer was printed in Alpha, and it was green! Green was the original color of small flying creatures! It had two! The other one being Birds of Paradise. Red had a sometimes flying one drop in the form of Goblin Balloon Brigade, and black had Will-o'-the-Wisp! Blue and white didn't have one drop creatures that could fly!
But Goblin Sky Raider reminded me that I'm still waiting for there to be a B 1/1 flyer and a R 1/1 flyer.
I don't know if that will ever happen, but I think it's something that would be very interesting and telling of how the game has evolved throughout all these years.
I'm not going to talk about how awful this card is.
Because it's awful.
What I do want to talk about are these:
Suntail Hawk / Lantern Kami
Flying Men
Scryb Sprites
The first ever C for a 1/1 flyer was printed in Alpha, and it was green! Green was the original color of small flying creatures! It had two! The other one being Birds of Paradise. Red had a sometimes flying one drop in the form of Goblin Balloon Brigade, and black had Will-o'-the-Wisp! Blue and white didn't have one drop creatures that could fly!
But Goblin Sky Raider reminded me that I'm still waiting for there to be a B 1/1 flyer and a R 1/1 flyer.
I don't know if that will ever happen, but I think it's something that would be very interesting and telling of how the game has evolved throughout all these years.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Random Card of the Day 9
Afiya Grove
This obviously the precursor to the graft mechanic.
I really enjoy the concept and idea behind this card. Creatures eat the fruit and become stronger but the grove will eventually run out of fruit. Very rarely do the mechanics and the concept of a card integrate so well together, this is one of those times.
The card is obviously incredibly underpowered and underwhelming, and I think it would be pushed greatly if there was a similar card printed today.
Also, I feel that there is a discrepancy between Oracle text and actual text; I always thought bury meant to destroy without being regenerated and not sacrifice. Just something that I thought might be a little inconsistent.
This obviously the precursor to the graft mechanic.
I really enjoy the concept and idea behind this card. Creatures eat the fruit and become stronger but the grove will eventually run out of fruit. Very rarely do the mechanics and the concept of a card integrate so well together, this is one of those times.
The card is obviously incredibly underpowered and underwhelming, and I think it would be pushed greatly if there was a similar card printed today.
Also, I feel that there is a discrepancy between Oracle text and actual text; I always thought bury meant to destroy without being regenerated and not sacrifice. Just something that I thought might be a little inconsistent.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Random Card of the Day 8
Murmurs from Beyond
At first looking at this card, the first connection I make is to Fact or Fiction. You're revealing some cards from the top of your library, your opponent makes a choice, and then you get another card in your hand.
What makes Murmurs so awful is that you're always going to get what your opponent wants you to get. I think that is what makes the card so bad. Yes, unlike Fact, you will always get card advantage, but that doesn't make up for this. If there is one car dyou need, you will never get it with Murmurs.
I wonder what the power level of the card would be if they separated it into two piles, and then you were able to chose one of those piles!
Now that would have been interesting.
At first looking at this card, the first connection I make is to Fact or Fiction. You're revealing some cards from the top of your library, your opponent makes a choice, and then you get another card in your hand.
What makes Murmurs so awful is that you're always going to get what your opponent wants you to get. I think that is what makes the card so bad. Yes, unlike Fact, you will always get card advantage, but that doesn't make up for this. If there is one car dyou need, you will never get it with Murmurs.
I wonder what the power level of the card would be if they separated it into two piles, and then you were able to chose one of those piles!
Now that would have been interesting.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Random Card of the Day 8
Entangler
This is such an underused ability. There are five creatures with that ability and two spells that give that ability to a creature you control, and they all are white.
This is obviously something that has a lot of potential. I really like how it works and what it does to combat. Palace Guard is the last thing that was printed with this ability since Lorwyn's Thoughtweft Trio. Three years between using that ability!
And it's weird because it appears at common, so it's not like it's a complicated ability. I just think there is a lot that can be done with this ability, and I really want something like the Trio that has this ability and be relevant.
As creature combat becomes more relevant, I think this ability is something that should become more common.
This is such an underused ability. There are five creatures with that ability and two spells that give that ability to a creature you control, and they all are white.
This is obviously something that has a lot of potential. I really like how it works and what it does to combat. Palace Guard is the last thing that was printed with this ability since Lorwyn's Thoughtweft Trio. Three years between using that ability!
And it's weird because it appears at common, so it's not like it's a complicated ability. I just think there is a lot that can be done with this ability, and I really want something like the Trio that has this ability and be relevant.
As creature combat becomes more relevant, I think this ability is something that should become more common.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Random Card of the Day 7
Goblin Festival
There are three things this card makes me want to talk about:
1) I absolutely hate it when there are cards that encourage people to use the effect numerous times in response to each other. You can activate this card four times in a row, and even if you lose control of it on the first flip, the other three activations still go off. It just seems silly, and it rubs me the wrong way. Specifically because the only way to play it correctly is to know that you can respond to activating it, and that is somewhat advanced rulings.
2) I think coin flip effects are in general really bad. I think there are better ways to have coin flip like effect but not have the coin; that's why I really really liked the clash ability from Lorwyn. It has an unsure outcome like the coin flips, but can be impacted and altered through playing correctly and knowing the cards in your deck. I think the game would be better if all coin flips were turned into clashes.
3) Tribal. This reads like it should be a Tribal Enchantment - Goblin. Remember when they did the creature update a long time ago and added each creature types to cards without them and reworked everything to make it fit all nice and neatly? I feel like that is what they should have done with Tribal. It was a way to make all older cards fit in a modern setting. However, cards like Goblin Assault completely destroyed what they should have done.
I feel like there needs to be a decision around Tribal very soon, because it's something that if they decide to come back to it... Well, there will be many years of cards without it and that will just look really confusing.
There are three things this card makes me want to talk about:
1) I absolutely hate it when there are cards that encourage people to use the effect numerous times in response to each other. You can activate this card four times in a row, and even if you lose control of it on the first flip, the other three activations still go off. It just seems silly, and it rubs me the wrong way. Specifically because the only way to play it correctly is to know that you can respond to activating it, and that is somewhat advanced rulings.
2) I think coin flip effects are in general really bad. I think there are better ways to have coin flip like effect but not have the coin; that's why I really really liked the clash ability from Lorwyn. It has an unsure outcome like the coin flips, but can be impacted and altered through playing correctly and knowing the cards in your deck. I think the game would be better if all coin flips were turned into clashes.
3) Tribal. This reads like it should be a Tribal Enchantment - Goblin. Remember when they did the creature update a long time ago and added each creature types to cards without them and reworked everything to make it fit all nice and neatly? I feel like that is what they should have done with Tribal. It was a way to make all older cards fit in a modern setting. However, cards like Goblin Assault completely destroyed what they should have done.
I feel like there needs to be a decision around Tribal very soon, because it's something that if they decide to come back to it... Well, there will be many years of cards without it and that will just look really confusing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)