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Title: New abilities.

Date Posted: Sat Jan/05/13 at 4:04pm

scottymandingo

Posts: 845
Joined: 13-Jul-09

So, now that we all know the new keywords from Gatecrash. What is your favorite (or favorites) so far and why?

As a reminder, the new keywords are Battalion, Bloodrush, Cipher, Evolve, and Extort.

My favorites so far are Bloodrush and Evolve. I think Bloodrush will be awesome for trample and unblockable decks. I like Evolve because I like +1/+1 counters. However, it seems to clash with Undying.

Date Posted: Sat Jan/05/13 at 9:12pm

kevarr

Posts: 29
Joined: 20-Dec-12

I like Evolve but at the same time I see how it could be almost useless in certain situations. I think there are a number of creatures in the new Ravinca block that move +1 counters between creatures that could have good synergy.

Bloodrush is very nice, it lets you use creature spells as instants/buffs. I can see this going well with a Graveward Wurm + Wreath of Geists deck, letting you get more creature cards in your graveyard faster.

Cipher will probably be used more often than the other keywords in combos. It just seems too cool and sneaky to have up a Dimir deck full of Invisible Stalkers or Tortured Souls with Cipher cards.

Date Posted: Tue Jan/22/13 at 11:33pm

Chewy

Posts: 841
Joined: 18-Jan-13

Cipher and extort lol

Date Posted: Thu Jan/24/13 at 7:23am

flagshippredator

Posts: 101
Joined: 22-Dec-09

I like evolve. I can make as many pokemon references as possible, and no one can really fault me for it.

Date Posted: Thu Jan/24/13 at 10:31am

Boyachi

Posts: 1553
Joined: 02-Nov-11

Keep with the pokepuns and you'll activate my trap card yet...

Date Posted: Thu Jan/24/13 at 11:09am

flagshippredator

Posts: 101
Joined: 22-Dec-09

Not if I counter them with COUNTER.

Date Posted: Thu Jan/24/13 at 1:17pm

Academic

Posts: 1305
Joined: 29-Mar-12

Extort extort extort. White-blue stasis just got a nice shot in the arm. The cards are inexpensive, synch up perfectly with the Azorius, and the ability is cheap. I love this ability.

Cipher is fucking awesome... but look at the mana cost of the spells that have it. The cheapest is four, the average is six. These are pricy spells - which is a shame, because they are very, very combo friendly.

Battalion is neat, and would synch up well with token decks. Frontline Medic should go into every Selesnya deck out there. Period. Don't argue this one, I'm right.

Evolve would be cool on it's own, but it's also attached to card that are cheap enough to make it worthwhile. Tiny creatures that make each other bigger, and are cheap? That's pretty cool.

The only one I don't really like is Bloodrush. I understand it can be useful, effectively turning any creature into a suped-up Nantuko Husk, if you have the mana... I just hate this style of play. It's too all-or-nothing. It's nice and compatible with the Rakdos, but definitely not my bag.

Date Posted: Fri Jan/25/13 at 2:28am

scottymandingo

Posts: 845
Joined: 13-Jul-09

Yeah, I think Extort will be a lot of fun. I think it will be a "game-ender". It's cheap and easy sniping.

I like Cipher, but I wish they had some cheaper ones as well, but I understand why they are a little more expensive.

Frontline Medic is magical. It's perfect for Boros... like... ridiculously perfect. And, the Battalion mechanic... couldn't be better for Boros.

I think Bloodrush could be really deadly. It's instant speed and during the attack, it could be a game-ender.

All of the new mechanics are pretty good, but honestly, not the best I've seen. They will definitely be fun to play at the Gatecrash pre-release I'm going to in a few days. I think I got Dimir, which means a lot of Cipher, most likely.

Date Posted: Fri Jan/25/13 at 5:12am

Academic

Posts: 1305
Joined: 29-Mar-12

I think I'm going Boros, but that's 100% because I want a copy of Aurelia for my Kaalia deck. All five of the leaders turned out to be really cool cards - but Aurelia can be exploited for infinite attacks, and that is hella spiffy. :D

While we're going over the spoilers, am I the only one digging the new charms? The Boros get a cheaper version of Flames of the Blood Hand, or a white-red fog that only effects your creatures. The Gruul get a highly flexible combat spell that really controls how a defending player can respond. Hell, the Simic charm is beautiful, too - it's a copy of Giant Growth, Unsummon, and a mass hexproof spell, all for only one card slot. Very, very nifty.

Also nifty - Aurelia's Fury. I am calling it now - this is going to be one of the most expensive cards in the set come pre-release.

[Edited by Academic on 25/Jan/13 at 5:13AM]

Date Posted: Fri Jan/25/13 at 7:04am

Chewy

Posts: 841
Joined: 18-Jan-13

If I get to go to the prerelease, I'm going dimir or simic. Simic was my original plan, but that was before I decided to start constructing an oona deck. I think it'll be interesting to see how other players use the guilds. Though it may be a bit slower at first, there's always the possibility to splash in a color with :). Did that at the return to ravnica prerelease using colors I hated at first and had some of the most fun games and the longest there :). Can't wait :)

Date Posted: Fri Jan/25/13 at 1:14pm

scottymandingo

Posts: 845
Joined: 13-Jul-09

The more I'm looking at Boros, the more I'm agreeing with you, Academic... these cards are nasty. I love it!

Date Posted: Sat Jan/26/13 at 12:58pm

Chewy

Posts: 841
Joined: 18-Jan-13

@academic- You're right about Aurelia's Fury. It will be the most expensive, along with boros charm being the most expensive uncommon in the set just as the selesnya charm was. There's a combo for it that I've got written down that's two cards, but I wanted to give you the opportunity to exploit it. I know that you think i'm a biter, and that I steal combos, but I wanted to see your take on this card. In my opinion, it'll be at it's best in RWG decks. And btw, i'm sorry if I've made you mad. Because in all honesty, that was never the intent.

And that card will get banned possibly, too.

[Edited by Chewy on 26/Jan/13 at 1:27PM]

Date Posted: Sat Jan/26/13 at 2:00pm

knarf_the_dwarf

Posts: 1370
Joined: 30-Nov-11

@Chewy: Forget Academic, he left the path of friendly human being a long time ago. Obviously he has some serious problems in his real life...

@all: Let's ignore Academic for a while, hopefully he learns again to get along with other people and stops biting. After lessons learned he may come back.

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