Dragon's Maze Ratings - Dimir and Gruul
Apr. 22nd, 2013 03:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rakathspseudonymAs we have the full set content for Dragon's Maze, I'll spend each day till the pre-release reviewing and talking up the guilds. Two guilds at a time. I'll start with the two I play and Know best...
Target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose up to X nonland cards from it and exile them For each card exiled this way, search that player's graveyard, hand, and library for any number of cards with the same name as that card and exile them. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
An X spell Lobotomy. It's a pretty neat trick, but I don't think it's worth the extra mana cost unless you can make sure you hit the targets you want. Fortunately Blue has ways of working that mojo and one of the best ways is here. This card fails the markers for Standard (currently), Limited, and Modern. It isn't even worthwhile in EDH as a singleton format removes the value of searching hand/deck/grave for cards. Still, if it was any cheaper people wouldn't be happy.
Flying
Whenever Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker deals combat damage to a player, that player reveals cards from the top of his or her library until he or she reveals four land cards, then puts those cards into his or her graveyard.
2/4
The Vampire Champion is mill on a stick, pretty much. 4 lands is about 1/5th of your lands in a Limited deck, and 1/6 in a constructed death. Number wise, this looks pretty good, and in some ways better after six turns so they should be down six-eight lands meaning he's a clock of either three attacks (limited) or four attacks (constructed). The problem is his turn count, he's a Turn 5 creature. And in Mill... Turn 5 is heavy, you wouldn't deck him over the more reliable Aberration, and you wouldn't deck Aberration if you can afford an Adept Jace.
...However both of those will be in short supply in Limited, where he can ping for a third of your deck pretty easily.
Flash
If an opponent would draw a card except the first one he or she draws in each of his or her draw steps, instead that player skips that draw and you draw a card.
3/1
Dragon's Maze has many ways to screw abusing the power of Sphinx's Revelation. Most of them at 4 mana. This guy, however, is more than just 'screw over Sphinx' he could be a decktype of his own. He's got a good set of creature types (Modern Rogues or Standard Humans), Flash is nice, he combos well. He's a Johnny dream card, in that all the combos can just swim in your head while you look at him. Baby Jace is stronger for him, Sign in Blood is stronger for him, he does so much with so little.
Now, he's a bit frail, but that's okay. Creature kill is very common in this day and age, and his best plays will be done while they lack the removal to handle him. He is also my favorite card in this set.
Return target creature to its owner's hand.
--
Target player sacrifices a creature.
Fuse (You may cast one or both halves of this card from your hand.)
Fuse is a fun little keyword. It means be greedy. Most fuse cards are built to be stronger in tandem and this is no exception. You bounce something (valuable or just there) to force them to sacrifice something they care about. It's two forms of creature 'kill' that bypass Indestructible, Away bypasses hexproof. They are a bit costly but it's at the options of having them both. If this cost 1 less on either side it would be absurd. At CMC5 (for the both) it's very fair for what you do.
As a utility card you couldn't ask for better. Just a word of warning, Far only bypasses Pro-Black, and Away only bypasses Pro-Blue, if you don't fuse the spell.
You may tap or untap target permanent, then you may tap or untap another target permanent.
Cipher
Where Hands of Binding was specifically board control (hurt them to keep moving forward) this is board control to help you and keep your entire play moving forward. Tapping them down 2 creatures (initially) let's you attack, sure. But tapping two of their LANDS let's you cast free of any concerns. Untapping your own lands let's you cast freely AND counterspell next round, or use two spells in a turn. There are possibilities, and that's what blue likes.
This card will see play in Standard. I'm sure of it.
Sorcery - (1UB)
Target player puts the top two cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard. Draw two cards.
This card might make standard play, as draw tech it serves two purposes: Mill them or mill yourself. In a mill deck, clearly, you'll do the former. In a Reanimator? You WANT your graveyard to have stuff in it. In that way it's a good bit of draw-tech. And at common it can end up in Pauper.
Look, the effect is 'good' but not fantastic enough to be worth it all the time. Esper might use it while Sphinx's Revelation exists. It's a kill spell that isn't a kill spell, and late game with enough big creatures and dwindled hand size you can turn it into a pump spell for damage. But mostly, I love the flavor text.
Double Strike
Savageborn Hydra enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
1R/G: Put a +1/+1 counter on Savageborn Hydra. Activate this ability only any time you could play a sorcery.
0/0
LOOK, A TIMMY CARD! It's a big scary Hydra. It does big scary Hydra things. As far as competitive play it's an effective mana sink, and never a dead draw after T3. It's not the best thing in RG+ colors, but it's still not a badly designed little pet monster. It would be nice as a 1/1 so it could be revived as a creature with a toughness, but even without that it has some tricks to play with.
And, flavorwise, the Gruulest of Gruul. It smashes. It smashes good. The lack of trample doesn't matter as Trample is easier to give out than Double Strike.
Vigilance, Reach
Ruric Thar, the Unbowed attacks each turn if able.
Whenever a player casts a noncreature spell, Ruric Thar deals 6 damage to that player.
6/6
Of the champions, he's the one who is the best designed. Some might say due to his character he needs Hexproof, but it's more Gruul to have 'cast a spell, I smash you!' as the warding effect from using magic. He changes the dynamic of any game by setting foot into play. He hates on non-creature. Noncreature is a blue thing, Blue is the anti-RedGreen. He smashes, protects you, and smashes some more. He also runs effortlessly with Bloodrush, as that isn't harmed at all by his abilities.
Lovely build around card, and will definitely make enemies in EDH.
Whenever a player taps a land for mana, that player adds one mana to his or her mana pool of any type that land produced.
7/5
This is... definitely the sort of card you can't use without a little bit of forethought. This is Gruul's Johnny card of the set. Playing this big sexy beast on your turn is asking to die. You want to play this when your opponent doesn't get first crack at the loads and loads of mana you've made. The best way is with my favorite, Yeva. To cast Ancient on their turn, then use the huge mana well you have to kill them in the single turn you have. Probably with a Craterhoof Behemoth or a huge ass Fireball spell.
I like it, but it's too restrictive to see proper play.
Target creature gets +1/+1 and gains double strike until end of turn.
--
All creatures able to block target creature do so this turn.
Fuse
GET OUT THE WAY, BADASS COMING THROUGH!
This one is pretty straight forward. You give your biggest creature Doublestrike (and more power), and your smallest creature decoyness. Thus, they must block the one thing while the other thing KILLS THEM DEAD. This is not a bad card in big beefy Green. It also isn't a bad card in Dragonful Red. This is just plain sweet.
Shame it'll probably see next to no play.
Bloodrush, in limited, is a terrifying thing. Pyrewild makes this even more terrifying by making it repeatable. If you have some way to sink damage on your opponent, you have a chump blocker. He's in for the long haul in a way that is very much what Red wants. And if you have the mana, you can bloodrush a First Strike, hit, get him back, bloodrush normal damage, and get him back again (That's 10 mana, but fun to do!)
Creature - Human Druid (RG)
Tap: Add G to your mana pool.
Whenever you tap Zhur-Taa Druid for mana, it deals 1 damage to each opponent.
1/1
Mana dorks are a dime a dozen (not literally, it's like a dollar a dozen, depend on- not the point), but this guy has a few things going for him. Mostly in the form of kill quicks from both Reanimator Human combo (Zealous Conscripts to give him haste, and cycling with Angel of Glory's Rise lets you tap him infinitely in a turn to kill). With Orochi Snakecaller and an enchantment he's a T3 kill in Pauper. And he's human, so Naya Humans might run him.
Not too shabby.
Nothing quite so Gruul as mindless SMASHING.
Mythic Rare - Reap Intellect
Sorcery - (X2UB)Target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose up to X nonland cards from it and exile them For each card exiled this way, search that player's graveyard, hand, and library for any number of cards with the same name as that card and exile them. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
An X spell Lobotomy. It's a pretty neat trick, but I don't think it's worth the extra mana cost unless you can make sure you hit the targets you want. Fortunately Blue has ways of working that mojo and one of the best ways is here. This card fails the markers for Standard (currently), Limited, and Modern. It isn't even worthwhile in EDH as a singleton format removes the value of searching hand/deck/grave for cards. Still, if it was any cheaper people wouldn't be happy.
Champion Rare - Mirko Vosk
Legendary Creature - Vampire (3UB)Flying
Whenever Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker deals combat damage to a player, that player reveals cards from the top of his or her library until he or she reveals four land cards, then puts those cards into his or her graveyard.
2/4
The Vampire Champion is mill on a stick, pretty much. 4 lands is about 1/5th of your lands in a Limited deck, and 1/6 in a constructed death. Number wise, this looks pretty good, and in some ways better after six turns so they should be down six-eight lands meaning he's a clock of either three attacks (limited) or four attacks (constructed). The problem is his turn count, he's a Turn 5 creature. And in Mill... Turn 5 is heavy, you wouldn't deck him over the more reliable Aberration, and you wouldn't deck Aberration if you can afford an Adept Jace.
...However both of those will be in short supply in Limited, where he can ping for a third of your deck pretty easily.
Other Rare - Notion Thief
Creature - Human Rogue (2UB)Flash
If an opponent would draw a card except the first one he or she draws in each of his or her draw steps, instead that player skips that draw and you draw a card.
3/1
Dragon's Maze has many ways to screw abusing the power of Sphinx's Revelation. Most of them at 4 mana. This guy, however, is more than just 'screw over Sphinx' he could be a decktype of his own. He's got a good set of creature types (Modern Rogues or Standard Humans), Flash is nice, he combos well. He's a Johnny dream card, in that all the combos can just swim in your head while you look at him. Baby Jace is stronger for him, Sign in Blood is stronger for him, he does so much with so little.
Now, he's a bit frail, but that's okay. Creature kill is very common in this day and age, and his best plays will be done while they lack the removal to handle him. He is also my favorite card in this set.
Split Card - Far & Away
Instant (1U) | Instant (2B)Return target creature to its owner's hand.
--
Target player sacrifices a creature.
Fuse (You may cast one or both halves of this card from your hand.)
Fuse is a fun little keyword. It means be greedy. Most fuse cards are built to be stronger in tandem and this is no exception. You bounce something (valuable or just there) to force them to sacrifice something they care about. It's two forms of creature 'kill' that bypass Indestructible, Away bypasses hexproof. They are a bit costly but it's at the options of having them both. If this cost 1 less on either side it would be absurd. At CMC5 (for the both) it's very fair for what you do.
As a utility card you couldn't ask for better. Just a word of warning, Far only bypasses Pro-Black, and Away only bypasses Pro-Blue, if you don't fuse the spell.
All Stars - Hidden Strings and Pilfered Plans
Sorcery - (1U)You may tap or untap target permanent, then you may tap or untap another target permanent.
Cipher
Where Hands of Binding was specifically board control (hurt them to keep moving forward) this is board control to help you and keep your entire play moving forward. Tapping them down 2 creatures (initially) let's you attack, sure. But tapping two of their LANDS let's you cast free of any concerns. Untapping your own lands let's you cast freely AND counterspell next round, or use two spells in a turn. There are possibilities, and that's what blue likes.
This card will see play in Standard. I'm sure of it.
Sorcery - (1UB)
Target player puts the top two cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard. Draw two cards.
This card might make standard play, as draw tech it serves two purposes: Mill them or mill yourself. In a mill deck, clearly, you'll do the former. In a Reanimator? You WANT your graveyard to have stuff in it. In that way it's a good bit of draw-tech. And at common it can end up in Pauper.
Flavorful! - Warped Physique
The Gruul seek unbounded strength. The Dimir deliver cruel irony.Look, the effect is 'good' but not fantastic enough to be worth it all the time. Esper might use it while Sphinx's Revelation exists. It's a kill spell that isn't a kill spell, and late game with enough big creatures and dwindled hand size you can turn it into a pump spell for damage. But mostly, I love the flavor text.
Mythic Rare - Savageborn Hydra
Creature - Hydra (XRG)Double Strike
Savageborn Hydra enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
1R/G: Put a +1/+1 counter on Savageborn Hydra. Activate this ability only any time you could play a sorcery.
0/0
LOOK, A TIMMY CARD! It's a big scary Hydra. It does big scary Hydra things. As far as competitive play it's an effective mana sink, and never a dead draw after T3. It's not the best thing in RG+ colors, but it's still not a badly designed little pet monster. It would be nice as a 1/1 so it could be revived as a creature with a toughness, but even without that it has some tricks to play with.
And, flavorwise, the Gruulest of Gruul. It smashes. It smashes good. The lack of trample doesn't matter as Trample is easier to give out than Double Strike.
Champion Rare - Ruric Thar
Legendary Creature - Ogre Warrior (4RG)Vigilance, Reach
Ruric Thar, the Unbowed attacks each turn if able.
Whenever a player casts a noncreature spell, Ruric Thar deals 6 damage to that player.
6/6
Of the champions, he's the one who is the best designed. Some might say due to his character he needs Hexproof, but it's more Gruul to have 'cast a spell, I smash you!' as the warding effect from using magic. He changes the dynamic of any game by setting foot into play. He hates on non-creature. Noncreature is a blue thing, Blue is the anti-RedGreen. He smashes, protects you, and smashes some more. He also runs effortlessly with Bloodrush, as that isn't harmed at all by his abilities.
Lovely build around card, and will definitely make enemies in EDH.
Other Rare - Zhur-Taa Ancient
Creature - Beast (3RG)Whenever a player taps a land for mana, that player adds one mana to his or her mana pool of any type that land produced.
7/5
This is... definitely the sort of card you can't use without a little bit of forethought. This is Gruul's Johnny card of the set. Playing this big sexy beast on your turn is asking to die. You want to play this when your opponent doesn't get first crack at the loads and loads of mana you've made. The best way is with my favorite, Yeva. To cast Ancient on their turn, then use the huge mana well you have to kill them in the single turn you have. Probably with a Craterhoof Behemoth or a huge ass Fireball spell.
I like it, but it's too restrictive to see proper play.
Split Card - Armed & Dangerous
Sorcery (1R) | Sorcery (3G)Target creature gets +1/+1 and gains double strike until end of turn.
--
All creatures able to block target creature do so this turn.
Fuse
GET OUT THE WAY, BADASS COMING THROUGH!
This one is pretty straight forward. You give your biggest creature Doublestrike (and more power), and your smallest creature decoyness. Thus, they must block the one thing while the other thing KILLS THEM DEAD. This is not a bad card in big beefy Green. It also isn't a bad card in Dragonful Red. This is just plain sweet.
Shame it'll probably see next to no play.
All Stars - BLOODRUSH and Zhur-Taa Druid
Whenever one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, if Pyrewild Shaman is in your graveyard, you may pay 3. If you do, return Pyrewild Shaman to your hand.Bloodrush, in limited, is a terrifying thing. Pyrewild makes this even more terrifying by making it repeatable. If you have some way to sink damage on your opponent, you have a chump blocker. He's in for the long haul in a way that is very much what Red wants. And if you have the mana, you can bloodrush a First Strike, hit, get him back, bloodrush normal damage, and get him back again (That's 10 mana, but fun to do!)
Creature - Human Druid (RG)Tap: Add G to your mana pool.
Whenever you tap Zhur-Taa Druid for mana, it deals 1 damage to each opponent.
1/1
Mana dorks are a dime a dozen (not literally, it's like a dollar a dozen, depend on- not the point), but this guy has a few things going for him. Mostly in the form of kill quicks from both Reanimator Human combo (Zealous Conscripts to give him haste, and cycling with Angel of Glory's Rise lets you tap him infinitely in a turn to kill). With Orochi Snakecaller and an enchantment he's a T3 kill in Pauper. And he's human, so Naya Humans might run him.
Not too shabby.
Flavorful! - Scab-Clan Giant
For the Gruul, bone-crushing rage is the first priority. Accuracy comes in a distant ninetieth.Nothing quite so Gruul as mindless SMASHING.