The Gods of Theros
Sep. 7th, 2013 11:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rakathspseudonymSince... this is too long a review for plurk, I'll just do it here!
So... we've now met all five of the Theros Gods. Here they are:
So of course, as Magic Nerds do, they look at five cards in a cycle and think "Which one is the best?" which normally involves a lot of mathematically improbable scenarios and blanket abuse of all the logic and reason they have access to. All the while simplistically stating which one they like best. I... don't want to do that (well, I do, but I could just do that on plurk in one line "I like Thassa!") so instead I'll try to put a bit more thought into reviewing them.
I figure I can easily split up the pros and cons into four sections. "Synergy," "Emergency," "Strategy," and "Curve."
Synergy
For those that don't know, this is the buzzword of 'how well does this card work with the color's philosophical desires' otherwise known as does it play well with it's own color. The answer across the board is "Yes" except for Erebos. I'll get to him in a minute. Thassa gets to start here because she's the strongest on this front.
Thassa has two abilities that both play well in blue. Blue has 'creatures that do stuff when they do damage' and 'creatures that are really weak and die when blocked.' So the ability to make them evasive is nice. And at 2 mana it's a very cost effective trick. Blue is the color of 'the right answer for the right problem, so being able to dig through your deck a bit will add up when it comes to Scry 1. Scry 1 also is the only ability (except Erebos) that doesn't rely on having creatures out, which adds to Thassa's 'blueness.'
Heliod has an ability that works only with creatures... but his other ability makes creatures! So that works out for him. Vigilance isn't exactly... new and interesting to white, but there are enough creatures without it that the effect will be valuable. Nylea and Purphoros require creatures to have any value from their abilities, but both have very heavy creature decks for the moment (Gruul Aggro/Jund Aggro).
Erebos has the weakest synergy because one of his abilities is based more on your opponent's deck than your own. Black isn't very big on 'giving' life out, so you can't make a black-heavy deck to abuse 'oh you don't gain life' as an effect. While it's very flavorful it isn't very reliable. The other ability is something black is always fond of having, but it isn't very useful to abuse, just use. And that's dull.
Emergency
Emergency is the "Oh crap I am out of resources HEART OF THE CARDS, SAVE ME." And then you topdeck...
Heliod and Erebos are the only two Gods that can do something without time or resources. Provided you're late enough in the game to have spare mana to spend on Clerics or Card Draws. If it's too early to have mana for that you shouldn't be screwed already.
If you have a board state of creatures, Heliod is joined by Nylea and Purphoros for giving some level of bonus to your board. Nylea's ability to pump a single creature making her slightly better than Purphy due to her trample and basic maths.
Thassa loses this round outright, as unless you can win by pushing through 1 attack for five mana... she won't do much right away. Sorry.
Strategy
This is how well the God can hold together a decktype, where the God itself is a win con.
Purphoros makes Red Weenie strategies run a shorter clock. As his being out (and not even as a creature) puts an extra -2 on your opponent every round. Which will add up, and quick. The only question becomes do you want to run that when a RDW Aggro is faster. Still, giving yourself blockers with a free Shock is just gravy for a deck that tops out at Purphoros (and his Firebreath is a bonus on top of that).
Thassa's spot is about adjusting your draws to help dwindle their resources, then coming online as a four turn clock after they are out every trick. Alternatively you can curve Merfolk out to 3 (instead of 2) and let Thassa sit as a big beater. Thassa as win-con is about using her to control your draws early, and then late game you can take your time getting the devotion you need.
Erebos would find a home in a Orzov/Mono-B Lifedraining deck. The death by 100 cuts sorta strategy. You've locked White and Green out of lifegain, and if you're not dealing with too much aggro you can turn your drained life into more card advantage. Erebos won't win you the game himself, but like Thassa in the previous decktype gives you an endgame push and a mid-game assist.
Heliod and Nylea both want the same thing, a deck that's already strong and they can just... help. Neither really is the deck's strategy, but neither is counter-intuitive to the deck's standard desires. Heliod + Army = Offense and Defense + Heliod gives you more soldiers. If most of your White creatures are First/Double strike or Lifelink you're further fortifying an already good thing. Nylea meanwhile sits in your standard Green 'turn cards sideways' deck, and gives your budget 2-3 drop creatures more damage.
But if you never drew either, those decks (if they can be made in post-Theros Standard) would be doing fine anyway.
Curve
This covers how well this card falls into line with other cards to play in your own deck. Thassa sits at Turn 3, while the others are all Turn 4.
This is where Nylea wins a point. Nylea might be fighting with a lot of other strong Turn 4 creatures, but she's in Green. Turn 4 starts on Turn 3 in Green. And playing her on curve works if you already have some strong creatures to swing all Trample with, off curve you can play her a turn late to give your 4/4 for 4 trample. She's relatively flexible on when to drop her while keeping effective.
Heliod has the edge of Turn 4 being very lackluster in White. You have Gideon and that's about it. After Turn 4 at the very least you can play Clerics every turn, which is something at least. Erebos is also sitting pretty strong on a weak Turn 4. Diabolic Tutor sits there with him. But other than that if you want more field you should play Erebos.
Thassa and Purphoros both want to be dropped on curve for best effectiveness. The problem they both face is competition. Turn 3 is the first turn for hard counters in Blue, and Turn 4 is usually heavy with strong creatures in Red. Thassa gets the edge here because waiting one-two turns doesn't hurt her too much, compared to the fact you missed out on two damage if you wait on dropping Purphoros.
Heliod and Nylea might not really carry any huge strategic assets, but the sheer utility in their color gives them a pretty heavy edge. Thassa might not be strong, but as she's not weak she gets middle place. Erebos and Purphoros both suffer from being heavily specialized and not as spashable as one would hope. Unless a deck starring them comes to be, they take the sidelines.
So... we've now met all five of the Theros Gods. Here they are:
So of course, as Magic Nerds do, they look at five cards in a cycle and think "Which one is the best?" which normally involves a lot of mathematically improbable scenarios and blanket abuse of all the logic and reason they have access to. All the while simplistically stating which one they like best. I... don't want to do that (well, I do, but I could just do that on plurk in one line "I like Thassa!") so instead I'll try to put a bit more thought into reviewing them.
I figure I can easily split up the pros and cons into four sections. "Synergy," "Emergency," "Strategy," and "Curve."
Synergy
For those that don't know, this is the buzzword of 'how well does this card work with the color's philosophical desires' otherwise known as does it play well with it's own color. The answer across the board is "Yes" except for Erebos. I'll get to him in a minute. Thassa gets to start here because she's the strongest on this front.
Thassa has two abilities that both play well in blue. Blue has 'creatures that do stuff when they do damage' and 'creatures that are really weak and die when blocked.' So the ability to make them evasive is nice. And at 2 mana it's a very cost effective trick. Blue is the color of 'the right answer for the right problem, so being able to dig through your deck a bit will add up when it comes to Scry 1. Scry 1 also is the only ability (except Erebos) that doesn't rely on having creatures out, which adds to Thassa's 'blueness.'
Heliod has an ability that works only with creatures... but his other ability makes creatures! So that works out for him. Vigilance isn't exactly... new and interesting to white, but there are enough creatures without it that the effect will be valuable. Nylea and Purphoros require creatures to have any value from their abilities, but both have very heavy creature decks for the moment (Gruul Aggro/Jund Aggro).
Erebos has the weakest synergy because one of his abilities is based more on your opponent's deck than your own. Black isn't very big on 'giving' life out, so you can't make a black-heavy deck to abuse 'oh you don't gain life' as an effect. While it's very flavorful it isn't very reliable. The other ability is something black is always fond of having, but it isn't very useful to abuse, just use. And that's dull.
Emergency
Emergency is the "Oh crap I am out of resources HEART OF THE CARDS, SAVE ME." And then you topdeck...
Heliod and Erebos are the only two Gods that can do something without time or resources. Provided you're late enough in the game to have spare mana to spend on Clerics or Card Draws. If it's too early to have mana for that you shouldn't be screwed already.
If you have a board state of creatures, Heliod is joined by Nylea and Purphoros for giving some level of bonus to your board. Nylea's ability to pump a single creature making her slightly better than Purphy due to her trample and basic maths.
Thassa loses this round outright, as unless you can win by pushing through 1 attack for five mana... she won't do much right away. Sorry.
Strategy
This is how well the God can hold together a decktype, where the God itself is a win con.
Purphoros makes Red Weenie strategies run a shorter clock. As his being out (and not even as a creature) puts an extra -2 on your opponent every round. Which will add up, and quick. The only question becomes do you want to run that when a RDW Aggro is faster. Still, giving yourself blockers with a free Shock is just gravy for a deck that tops out at Purphoros (and his Firebreath is a bonus on top of that).
Thassa's spot is about adjusting your draws to help dwindle their resources, then coming online as a four turn clock after they are out every trick. Alternatively you can curve Merfolk out to 3 (instead of 2) and let Thassa sit as a big beater. Thassa as win-con is about using her to control your draws early, and then late game you can take your time getting the devotion you need.
Erebos would find a home in a Orzov/Mono-B Lifedraining deck. The death by 100 cuts sorta strategy. You've locked White and Green out of lifegain, and if you're not dealing with too much aggro you can turn your drained life into more card advantage. Erebos won't win you the game himself, but like Thassa in the previous decktype gives you an endgame push and a mid-game assist.
Heliod and Nylea both want the same thing, a deck that's already strong and they can just... help. Neither really is the deck's strategy, but neither is counter-intuitive to the deck's standard desires. Heliod + Army = Offense and Defense + Heliod gives you more soldiers. If most of your White creatures are First/Double strike or Lifelink you're further fortifying an already good thing. Nylea meanwhile sits in your standard Green 'turn cards sideways' deck, and gives your budget 2-3 drop creatures more damage.
But if you never drew either, those decks (if they can be made in post-Theros Standard) would be doing fine anyway.
Curve
This covers how well this card falls into line with other cards to play in your own deck. Thassa sits at Turn 3, while the others are all Turn 4.
This is where Nylea wins a point. Nylea might be fighting with a lot of other strong Turn 4 creatures, but she's in Green. Turn 4 starts on Turn 3 in Green. And playing her on curve works if you already have some strong creatures to swing all Trample with, off curve you can play her a turn late to give your 4/4 for 4 trample. She's relatively flexible on when to drop her while keeping effective.
Heliod has the edge of Turn 4 being very lackluster in White. You have Gideon and that's about it. After Turn 4 at the very least you can play Clerics every turn, which is something at least. Erebos is also sitting pretty strong on a weak Turn 4. Diabolic Tutor sits there with him. But other than that if you want more field you should play Erebos.
Thassa and Purphoros both want to be dropped on curve for best effectiveness. The problem they both face is competition. Turn 3 is the first turn for hard counters in Blue, and Turn 4 is usually heavy with strong creatures in Red. Thassa gets the edge here because waiting one-two turns doesn't hurt her too much, compared to the fact you missed out on two damage if you wait on dropping Purphoros.
Heliod and Nylea might not really carry any huge strategic assets, but the sheer utility in their color gives them a pretty heavy edge. Thassa might not be strong, but as she's not weak she gets middle place. Erebos and Purphoros both suffer from being heavily specialized and not as spashable as one would hope. Unless a deck starring them comes to be, they take the sidelines.