Discussion Forum

Born of the Gods Speculation

So how 'bout dem spoilers?

Here is what stands out for me so far:
Courser of Kruphix - the 3 drop that green-heavy midrange needed. Solid body with a big butt early game, and a mana flood preventer late game. The life gain is surprisingly relevant too, often making this guy a somewhat stat-shifted centaur healer. I adore this card.

Kiora, the Crashing Wave - a plus one that hoses midrange decks that rely on desecration demon or blood baron or other lone threats, a minus one EXPLORE, and a realistic minus 5 that releases the Kraken(s). This is one bomb ass planeswalker.

Kiora's Follower (a.k.a. me) - Can you tell I like Simic? This card screams combo opportunity. In standard alone it interacts with Bow of Nylea, Vorel of the Hull Clade, Nykthos, any land, and anything with the inspired mechanic. Johnny goodness indeed.

Eidolon of Countless Battles - if white weenie decks remain a thing after Drown in Sorrow, this card will be an excellent finisher. Begs to be put in a deck with Hero of Iroas as well. And that artwork...damn Swanland, you have amazed me yet again.

Satyr Firedancer - do you ever have trouble deciding whether to target your opponent or his pesky x/3 with your lightning bolt? This guy makes the decision for you. As only a two drop, he can turn a red deck's turn 3 into a one sided board wipe.

Phenax, God of Deception - a lot of people are disappointed with this guy, but he's honestly my favorite god so far. After seeing Rogue Deckbuilder's BUG Defender Mill deck tech (great YouTube channel, 10/10 would recommend), I'm excited to make my own version work even better with this guy.

Fate Unraveler - my Nekusar deck is going to love this card. An Underworld Dreams that I can give hexproof with swiftfoot boots? Sign me up for a foil.

And those are just a few of my favorites. This set has been getting quite a bit of static on some other websites, but it has really impressed me so far. What do you think? What are your favorites so far? What do you think will make a splash in constructed and what will remain in the junk bin?

Posted 23 January 2014 at 08:02

19 replies

There's a few pretty cool things but overall not that amazing of a set IMO. Tribute is a pretty terrible mechanic outside of limited.

However, this card is awesome.

http://media.wizards.com/images/magic/tcg/products/bng/KDJ)D(jk2m2389/QI9zl86WxJ_EN.jpg

0

Posted 23 January 2014 at 09:17

I only looked at the official spoilers on the wizards site and there was nothing really worth mentioning.

I have mixed feelings about perplexing chimera but it seems like a lot of fun in Commander. Works with Venser, The Sojourner. Looks like a very chaotic element thrown into a multiplayer game. Should have been UR.

I like Arbiter of the Ideal a bit but probably just because I want to abuse it with Mind over Matter and that's just stupid as there is already so much that can be broken with mind over matter.

0

Posted 23 January 2014 at 09:41

Yeah, this certainly isn't the greatest set (not even good enough to justify buying a box, imo) but its still fun to talk about. That chimera is another fun one, I just don't like how it then gives your opponent the ability to do the same. Best for EDH, I dont see it working too well in standard. I agree that it definitely should've been UR with all of the chaos it will cause in multiplayer

0

Posted 24 January 2014 at 04:14

With cards like Venser as Seth mentioned or Brooding Saurian and Homeward Path, you will not be sharing the epic ability of the Chimera. The ability to steal CITP effects as well as gaining control of spells of your choosing is just ridiculous. It might not be a $40 power card by any stretch (although Gilded Drake is similar and $20...) but it's by far one of the coolest Johnny cards printed in a long time. Even without any of those effects, it's awesome chaos compared to annoying chaos.

0

Posted 24 January 2014 at 12:34

I ordered the cards I though showed potential. Perplexing Chimera and Arbiter of the Ideal are the ones I like best and I'm starting a new EDH build that uses these cards. Bant colors seem to give me all I need and cover all the cards Epsilon mentioned to abuse Perplexing Chimera. Seems like an excellent opportunity to build around the new commander Derevi, Empyrial Tactician.

I saw Earthcraft is not on the EDH banlist, seems like a good opportunity to get this old card back into play. Haven't played it forever and it seems so broken. I have no idea why no one is playing this card.

0

Posted 27 January 2014 at 09:39

Derevi is such a broken commander... I have a list with her and it's just ridiculous. Way fun but "casting" her for 4 all game is just stupid broken.

I've got a spanish Earthcraft that I opened from a prize pack and it's currently in my Marath deck. It's such an overpowered card though. I tend to tone down the power of my decks cause otherwise I just win EVERY game... Earthcraft has always been one that needs to be cut and I'm already considering it in Marath as well. >.>

0

Posted 27 January 2014 at 10:14

I own a playset from way back, it's only recently while buying cards that I saw it as a suggestion in related cards and that I remembered the card. I noticed it's a 20$ card now which is a lot for a card I haven't seen anyone play in ages.

I would love to see your Derevi build, preferably the non toned down version :) I don't tone down my decks because my group is pretty high level and my decks don't really stand out that much compared to what the others play (I'm by no means the best or even a good deckbuilder compared to the others). The only thing I stay away from are kill combos, I do use them sometimes but usually cut them after a few games for obvious reasons.

0

Posted 27 January 2014 at 11:12

I'll port my list and link it in a little bit for ya. (http://www.mtgvault.com/epsilon-2/decks/derevi-edh/)

I try to avoid infinite combos as much as possible and that is one of the biggest problems with Earthcraft... It creates infinite tokens in Marath with just a single doubler (Doubling Season, Parallel Lives, Illusionist's Bracers, etc) and depending on which one you get out, it can be more than just infinite tokens. I'm not about to cut the doublers which basically means I have to replace earthcraft it I don't want it to get too out of hand. I already removed Mana Echoes (another cool card I wish I could play) for similar ridiculousness. Anything that makes Twilight Drover go infinite is just silly. ;)

0

Posted 27 January 2014 at 11:27

Added my list above.

Some of the better cards in the deck would be Reconnaissance (untapping after combat damage and still getting to use the Derevi triggers on other things. Thawing Glaciers (hit with 5 creatures, ramp out 5 lands before it bounces to your hand EOT...) Opposition needs no explanation. Voidmage Prodigy is just dumb with Derevi.

Anyway, some changes I would make if I had the cards (or had extras) would be adding Coalition Relic which is just dumb with Derevi. (like Thawing Glaciers) Stonybrook Schoolmaster is another one that's dumb with Opposition and other effects in the deck but I wasn't playing during that set so I don't have any and haven't been able to find any in boxes at the LGS. Bloom Tender isn't quite "broken" but effectively makes flashing in derevi cost 1. You could similarly use some of the enchant lands that make them tap for extra but that again breaks Earthcraft.

Earthcraft and Prophet of Kuphrix would both make the deck a bit too strong IMO. Seedborn Muse is bad enough but the built in flash on Prophet is retarded broken. There's room to go more stax-ish as well.

There are better cards in general that might improve the list but I have a lot of decks so some of the premium staples are spread pretty thin at the moment.

0

Posted 27 January 2014 at 12:10

awesome man, I really enjoy your builds. You play a lot of stuff that I've never even seen. You sort of develop your own meta when you play in the same group all the time and although we do innovate it's never more then a new card being introduced every so often. The reason I don't search the web for EDH decks more often is because every EDH deck I see online feels underwhelming to me.

Prophet of Kuphrix is rediculous, it's the overpowered version of what's been a powerhouse in multiplayer for years. Still as I want to play Arbiter of the Ideal I need to play that card.

I REALLY like Reconnaissance, I have never seen this card before and I'm very happy you brought it up.

"Voidmage Prodigy is just dumb with Derevi."

how so? it says :manau::manau:sacrifice a wizard. How can that be broken with a tap/untap mechanic?

thanks man, really appreciate the input. Gives me tons to work with for my new deck and it will introduce a much needed variation of cards compared to the rest of my decks.

0

Posted 27 January 2014 at 13:04

[QUOTE=Seth]"Voidmage Prodigy is just dumb with Derevi."

how so? it says :manau::manau:sacrifice a wizard. How can that be broken with a tap/untap mechanic?[/QUOTE]

She's a Wizard. Sac Derevi to counter a spell. Flash her back to tap/untap whatever you want. Insert Seedborn Muse to make it super easy to counter multiple spells on every player turn... >.>

0

Posted 27 January 2014 at 13:13

[QUOTE=_Epsilon_]She's a Wizard. Sac Derevi to counter a spell. Flash her back to tap/untap whatever you want. Insert Seedborn Muse to make it super easy to counter multiple spells on every player turn... >.>[/QUOTE]

lol, that is rediculous. I take it Derevi can be cast at instant speed when you activate her ability? (hence you using the term flash in). I had not even concidered the ability as a way of "flashing her in"

0

Posted 27 January 2014 at 14:12

Is Presence of the Master something you hold back against enchantment decks or do you just play it whenever you draw it and go with it even if it means your own enchantments are dead?

0

Posted 27 January 2014 at 14:15

another question: I see you play flash. Is flash something that can be interacted with, as in blink the creature before it dies?

0

Posted 27 January 2014 at 15:06

[QUOTE=Seth]Is Presence of the Master something you hold back against enchantment decks or do you just play it whenever you draw it and go with it even if it means your own enchantments are dead?[/QUOTE]

That's mainly in there as a catch all for the gods. There's a lot of new enchantments to be watching for that are difficult to remove after Theros (and not BNG) so outright preventing them from being cast is worth the potential of delaying my own enchantments. It's a very high priority kill target so it's not likely to be around forever anyway. ;)

[QUOTE=Seth;39678]another question: I see you play flash. Is flash something that can be interacted with, as in blink the creature before it dies? [/QUOTE]

You aren't able to respond until the spell fully resolves but a lot of things don't really care if they stick around. Being able to play Acidic Slime, Bane of Progress or Eternal Witness for 1U as an instant is pretty silly. Replacing 1 with U in the casting cost of a creature is totally worth being able to flash it in if you do intend to keep it around as well. The deck plays very reactionary since you want to be able to bring in Derevi in response to moving to combat or other such tricks. Being able to flash in any creature EOT, as a blocker or in response to a big play can be huge.

Her ability has no timing restriction, is immune to counters (not stifles though) and always costs 4 regardless of how many times you've used it. Even without the uber twiddle she'd be pretty OP IMO.

0

Posted 28 January 2014 at 06:54

thanks man, I guess I just never gave it any serious thought.

- I can see flash working well in a lot of situations. I have it lying about somewhere so I'll give it a spin in my Derevi build. Most of my decks are very come in play effect heavy so it should work well despite the card disadvantage it creates.
On top of being just good in a lot of situations it can easily become rediculous with a little help from cards like Mimic Vat, Minion Reflector and (in black decks) Mikaeus, the Unhallowed (the broken)

- Derevi sounds like the ultimate bant control commander. Jenara, Asura of War was already good because you could play her and then hold back and play it safe not giving away to much of what you're packing. Derevi is much more powerful then that.

0

Posted 28 January 2014 at 09:38

So Derevi was actually just banned as commander in the 1v1 duel commander format. (Along with Zur... YAY). The normal EDH banned list isn't updated til next Monday but I don't forsee her being banned there. Still a pretty good indication of how obnoxious she can be.

0

Posted 28 January 2014 at 11:35

Would seem odd to me to ban her as a commander in multiplayer, not having seen her in action yet I'm sure I underestimate her still but comon. The restriction list for commander is pretty compact and everything on it is supposed to be game warping. She's not game warping. I'm sure Edric warps the game more in multiplayer then Derevi and they didn't ban him while he is rightfully banned in 1 vs 1.

Anyway this is just wishful thinking, you totally warmed me up towards this general and it would suck if they take her away now that I'm about to build.

Thanks for the warning though, I don't really keep myself up to date and I would not have known if you had not mentioned it.

0

Posted 28 January 2014 at 11:58

They wouldn't ban her in multiplayer. She's certainly powerful but not any more broken than Zur, Sharuum, Uril and the other Tier 1 generals. I'm not sure if she's even tier 1 in multiplayer honestly (although she definitely could be, she's still a bit too new). It would send a very negative message for them to ban one of the new commander product generals less than three months after they were released. Especially when at least one member of the RC was involved in creating it. >.>

It's just a testament to her power to see her banned in 1v1 this quickly. Even Edric took like an entire year to be banned in 1v1 whereas the C13 generals have been around less than three months.

0

Posted 28 January 2014 at 12:13