I don't think the difference is enough for me to rate them differently, but I think Drop of Honey is slightly stronger. White is slightly more likely to have small creatures of its own. Which fits white flavour-wise, of course.
DarthKithkin
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Works in a deck like turbo fog
Akromar
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(5 votes)
play this on turn one, and your opponent is going to be hard-pressed to get any creature out at all.
Tommy9898
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(4 votes)
Should have been reprinted in Lorwyn to help the terrible giant tribe.
Arglypuff
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Well, unless you are on the draw, and unless your opponent plays a 1-drop, you can't play this turn 1. And even if you do play this on the draw and your opponent does play a 1-drop, that 1-drop is the only thing that Porphyry Nodes will ever kill.
Omenchild
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Lol play this in a creatureless white to just slowly wipe their board.
Vedalken_Arbiter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Those goes great in a Naya Power 5 or greater deck.
nickthemagicnerd
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Raging Goblin
TDL
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Akromar: That's... actually not a good idea. If you play it on turn one, and you went first, then the Porphyry Nodes will just be sacrificed, since there won't be any creatures in play.
While it's true that Darksteel Myr is a good counter to this, if you drop a Darksteel Myr, you can hang on to this card until you get a Tempered Steel or a Steel Overseer out, since the overseer's toughness will always be higher than the Myr's and the TS will allow you to start killing everything with toughness 3 or less to clear chump blockers while you swing with your 2/3 indestructible.
aPimpNamedEmrakul
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(5 votes)
Incredible card in at least a couple types of decks. Naya was mentioned, how about angels? A nice alternative to shelling out >$30 for Drop of Honey.
Fun fact: Porphyry Nodes is nearly an anagram of Drop of Honey as well. It's actually an anagram for Drop Yo Spry Hen. A hen being the creature with the least power, of course. Also "Rye Syphon Drop" and "Shy? Drop Ye Porn." are good ones. :P
Gormaol
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ChampionofSquee And fail against everything else.
This card's name does not make a damn bit of sense.
Granted, Drop of Honey is pretty nonsensical given its ability, but at least I know what a drop of honey is and I can envision a honey trap luring the weak, or something. I've never anybody who is able to describe the flavor of this card.
That having been said, this card's pretty awesome in multiplayer.
Aquillion
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Regarding this card's name. According to Wikipedia:
"Porphyry is a variety of igneous rock consisting of large-grained crystals, such as feldspar or quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained feldspathic matrix or groundmass. The larger crystals are called phenocrysts. In its non-geologic, traditional use, the term "porphyry" refers to the purple-red form of this stone, valued for its appearance.
The term "porphyry" is from Greek and means "purple". Purple was the color of royalty, and the "Imperial Porphyry" was a deep purple igneous rock with large crystals of plagioclase. This rock was prized for various monuments and building projects in Imperial Rome and later.
Subsequently the name was given to igneous rocks with large crystals. Porphyritic now refers to a texture of igneous rocks. Its chief characteristic is a large difference between the size of the tiny matrix crystals and other much larger phenocrysts. Porphyries may be aphanites or phanerites, that is, the groundmass may have invisibly small crystals, like basalt, or the individual crystals of the groundmass may be easily distinguished with the eye, as in granite. Most types of igneous rocks may display some degree of porphyritic texture."
...Porphyry is also the name of an ancient Greek philosopher famous for criticizing the early Christians, but that seems even less relevant.
However, I think the real purpose of the name is to serve as a callback to Drop of Honey, which likewise had and obscure and weird-seeming name with no clear connection to what it did.
I wish Drop wasn't so spendy, as this effect is a little better in Green. That said, this *does* enable white quite well due to it's over-the-curve power it normally gets. 2/1s for 1, 3/1s for 2, etc.
Also, if you buff your guys, this will likewise keep hitting and opponent instead of you. Using this next to a token-producing strategy means you can afford to continue playing creatures; giving your opponent (if he's using creatures) a lose-lose situation. Play into my strategy or hope you live until you find enchant removal; use it; then hope you can catch up.
What can your opponent do but let it kill your guys? But a single Doomed Traveler, Gather the Townsfolk, or Lingering Souls buys you enough time to win the game. If they play something that's big while you're building up, just Plows it.
Comments (24)
That's... actually not a good idea. If you play it on turn one, and you went first, then the Porphyry Nodes will just be sacrificed, since there won't be any creatures in play.
A nice alternative to shelling out >$30 for Drop of Honey.
Fun fact: Porphyry Nodes is nearly an anagram of Drop of Honey as well.
It's actually an anagram for Drop Yo Spry Hen. A hen being the creature with the least power, of course.
Also "Rye Syphon Drop" and "Shy? Drop Ye Porn." are good ones. :P
Granted, Drop of Honey is pretty nonsensical given its ability, but at least I know what a drop of honey is and I can envision a honey trap luring the weak, or something. I've never anybody who is able to describe the flavor of this card.
That having been said, this card's pretty awesome in multiplayer.
"Porphyry is a variety of igneous rock consisting of large-grained crystals, such as feldspar or quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained feldspathic matrix or groundmass. The larger crystals are called phenocrysts. In its non-geologic, traditional use, the term "porphyry" refers to the purple-red form of this stone, valued for its appearance.
The term "porphyry" is from Greek and means "purple". Purple was the color of royalty, and the "Imperial Porphyry" was a deep purple igneous rock with large crystals of plagioclase. This rock was prized for various monuments and building projects in Imperial Rome and later.
Subsequently the name was given to igneous rocks with large crystals. Porphyritic now refers to a texture of igneous rocks. Its chief characteristic is a large difference between the size of the tiny matrix crystals and other much larger phenocrysts. Porphyries may be aphanites or phanerites, that is, the groundmass may have invisibly small crystals, like basalt, or the individual crystals of the groundmass may be easily distinguished with the eye, as in granite. Most types of igneous rocks may display some degree of porphyritic texture."
...Porphyry is also the name of an ancient Greek philosopher famous for criticizing the early Christians, but that seems even less relevant.
However, I think the real purpose of the name is to serve as a callback to Drop of Honey, which likewise had and obscure and weird-seeming name with no clear connection to what it did.
Also, if you buff your guys, this will likewise keep hitting and opponent instead of you. Using this next to a token-producing strategy means you can afford to continue playing creatures; giving your opponent (if he's using creatures) a lose-lose situation. Play into my strategy or hope you live until you find enchant removal; use it; then hope you can catch up.
Example:
Dryad militant
Accorder Paladin
This, Thalia
Veteran Swordsmith, Doomed Traveler
What can your opponent do but let it kill your guys? But a single Doomed Traveler, Gather the Townsfolk, or Lingering Souls buys you enough time to win the game. If they play something that's big while you're building up, just Plows it.