And run it with morphs to lightning-proof them until they flip.
Omenchild
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(6 votes)
haha the ultimate johny card (those are the crazy deck making ones right?)
its a deck out of creatures that have no interaction normally, but then pumps them up
Gwafa_Hazid
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(7 votes)
Ya know... considering it's green, and considering it's supposed to give pure power and nothing else... and the creatures involved have nothing else... Would it have been such a crime to add Trample?
Donovan_Fabian
★★☆☆☆ (2.4/5.0)(5 votes)
This card actually isn't that good, it costs slightly more than gaea's anthem, and on top of that most decks usually do play with creatures that have abilities, where otherwise it only works on tokens. Sigil captain is technically the better card for token purposes as its a creature instead of an enchantment so it can beat down on its own, and it gives out counters instead of straight up power increase so if it leaves the field the tokens stay large. Juniper order range also helps in that regard except that it costs 5 mana so it isn't quite as easy to play.
It can still get pretty out of control if you have a token producer that stays in play for a while, but then your probably winning anyways.
The one value this card has over all those other options, is an aggro deck, playing cards like watchwolf and some of those basic aggressive creatures without abilities.
Arglypuff
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(5 votes)
Actually, Gwafa, yes, it would have been a crime to add Trample. Let's say I have a bunch of 1/1s with no abilities (Humility in in play, for example). Then all of these 1/1s become 3/3s, and (if trample were added by the card), then the tokens become 3/3 tramplers. But then all of my 3/3 tramplers become 1/1s with no abilities again, because Trample is an ability. If this card gave trample, this card would be UTTERLY useless.
It's been a long time coming. Now my Grizzly Bears can start out as 4/4's. Awesome.
Denizs
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(4 votes)
if you put it into Selesnya United and play with Howl of the Night Pack, then if you attack with a Nacatl War Pride, you'll probably win the game.
EvilCleavage
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(11 votes)
Oh man I love this card! like someone had said, this card can make all those old school cards with no abilities awesome! Pack four of these in a deck, and have an awesome vanilla deck. I love the whole concept of it. Great card WotC
Huh. It pumps your opponents' vanilla creatures and tokens, too. Considering that, and comparing it to Gaea's Anthem, I wish it cost {2G} or even {1G}.
achilleselbow
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Does this work for creatures with things like comes-into-play effects, cycling, or effects that work when the card is in the graveyard? If there are effects that only work or activate when it's a creature card and not a creature permanent in play, do those still count as abilities of the creature, or are they just abilities of the card?
Test-Subject_217601
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I want it.
greg2367
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
any kind of ability at all will void this.
anything in the text box besides flavor text voids this. absolutely anything, including CDA
I hope "Creatures with no abilities" becomes a set focus like Defender was for Rise of the Eldrazi. The only part that hurts it as a group of creatures is that unlike Defender creatures (like Vent Sentinel or Overgrown Battlement) they can't have abilities that work off creatures that have no abilities...because then they'd no longer be a creature with no ability.
TPmanW
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
I hear most tokens have no abilities. Just watch out for the bird ones.
Wow. If anyone read to the end of that, or at least hit "see all" put at the end of your post. I bet no one does for like the next 10 years.
GO BEARS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
rawsugar
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(4 votes)
i'd have preferred lower cost (like 1G) and nontoken permanents only. or another card doing that^^
Fert12334
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
@ land_comment I did.
@ rawsugar Ive always thought that about this card too, it should cost less. Its good as it is, but it should be cheaper seeing how it affects both yours and your opponent's creatures.
4/5
HoboNumber4
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Very fun, flavorful, and exciting card, which encourages people to play vanilla creatures nonetheless--but still. It should have costed one less, been non-token creatures, or been only creatures you control.
Minus_Prime
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(5 votes)
This card single-handedly ruins about 95% of all "strictly better" comparison arguments.
blurrymadness
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
@Denizs Actually it won't work with Nacatl War-Pride. Both it and it's tokens have the triggered abilities (that create tokens) and the static abilities (must be blocked.)
Maybe you said that because Nacatl effectively makes other creatures unblockable? But if that's the case you may as well just attack with Nacatl and then Might of the Masses on it since it'll get crazy free bonuses.
Askthespartan
★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5.0)(5 votes)
This sucks. It doesn't even combo with Storm Crow.
Superllama12
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
I think that, just like the idiots running around saying: "0.5/5, dies to Doom Blade", we should all go around saying that "Earth Elemental is better than Arc Slogger because of this card"
BegleOne
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(5 votes)
I waited forever for this card to be printed, because it does nullify so many "strictly better" arguments. But I was disappointed when I saw it; to be powerful it needs to cost less or boost more. +2/+2 for 4 isn't going to help much when you're entire strategy is around attacking with vanilla creatures. It is hard to get creatures through that have no evasion, haste, protection or shroud. It's such a weak strategy in the first place that you need a lot more than +2/+2 for 4 for it to be viable.
Tokens might be what scared Wizards about the concept, but I don't see how it's much more than a win-more card in a token deck that's doing its thing.
@Argylpuff Has that stopped Wizards before? They'd just rig the wording. Something like "and can assign their combat damage as though they had trample." and be in the clear. As long as they don't say they "have " + keyword or something in quotes, they aren't adding abilities to the creature itself.
ICEFANG13
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(5 votes)
I wish this would only affect your side, it seems expensive because of how straightforward your creatures are. Tokens are alright with this, but Gaea's Anthem seems overall better
I agree with BegleOne. If you've got the tokens to make this useful, just use Overrun, or Echoing Courage. +2/+2 for 4 on a vanilla creature just isn't strong enough.
I hope they make a Muraganda expansion someday. I don't know how the mechanics would work -- "vanilla matters" isn't a very exciting theme, after all -- but the setting has some really awesome flavor. Prehistoric fantasy is made of win.
For anyone who cares, the two other cards from Muraganda are Imperiosaur and The Mimeoplasm. The Mimeoplasm's character bio, found in his Commander deck, also provides some cool info about the plane:
"Little is known about the bizarre entity that crawls the world of Muraganda. The fang druids call it the Mimeoplasm, as it absorbs the traits of anything it engulfs. The saurid warriors of the south seek out the Mimeoplasm wherever it roams, believing it to be the key to a mysterious afterlife, hoping to see in it traces of their fallen loved ones. The elves of the tropics believe it to be part of nature's cycle, a way to channel death back into life. The scarwitches hiss when it approaches, seeing it as the ultimate enemy of the world. Whether it's a natural process or a malevolent force, the Mimeoplasm never fails to command respect."
Like I said-- awesome flavor. Please make this set happen, Wizards!
Shadoflaam
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(5 votes)
Hey guys, Kobolds have color indicators now. No text. BRB Legacy deck
Paolino
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Yes, this card at is way too expensive for the bonus it grants, specially because the bonus is grant also to opponent's creatures. Of course, the idea of a Sir Shandlar of Eberyn deck is really exciting... :)
xarkos
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Overall I'm going to have to agree with the general idea that the cost might be a little high. It definitely feels like a 2G card to me. That said there is one word for which this card is rather fun: kobolds. Even in that case however there are too many good boosts for kobolds which grant abilities so even then this is limited in its usefulness. I'd almost rather stick with my p/t boosting instants than have a fourth round enchantment with an effect that stops helping me the second I cast an Overlord.
thedudeabides91
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(5 votes)
Has no one seen the interaction with living weapon? All the germ tokens become 2/2s
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Ahhh the petroglyphs. R&D's excuse for printing crap vanilla cards. "Hey!!! You can put him in a horrible petroglyphs deck!!"
Anyways, this card changes over time. It used to be that Transguild Courier wasn't affected by this, but now, because of color indicators, it's now vanilla.
this card would work wounders for a weenie deck with lots of O or 1 cost dudes in it , or tokens as well . Here is a list of some cards that might work in this deck : Memnite Little girl ( she costs 1/2 mana ,so you can play 2 for one but you still have to pay one mana to cast her ) Bears is ok for this gather the townsfolk any other token creating card heck even those normally lame vanilla 1/1 for 1's will drop fast here .
I still like Tempered steel + memnite/orinthropter better . 4/5
And WHY cant I rate anything ?
Averyck
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
My Mycoloth now makes 4 3/3 saprolings a turn...ya'know, if it devoured 2 creatures when he entered. getting 4 3/3's a turn is nothing to scoff at. getting 12, or 20, now that's frightening.
Trygon_Predator
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A fun card for Bear/vanilla/token creature decks. Note that it does not ruin "strictly better", contrary to Toes_of_Krosa. The point of "strictly better", overused as it is on Gatherer, is that, in a vacuum, a card is better than another. Typhoid Rats, for instance, is strictly better than Muck Rats, because for the same amount of mana, you get a 1/1 deathtouch black rat instead of a plain 1/1 black rat. Adding Muraganda Petroglyphs, a enchantment, would make Muck Rats good, but it still wouldn't be "strictly better" than Typhoid Rats (and you could make the argument that a 1/1 deathtouch is still better than a 3/3 vanilla). Just thought I'd get that out of the way. Too many comments on here are to the effect of "well, it is vanilla, but it's not strictly worse because Muraganda Petroglyphs!"
@emcee117: You sir fail at Storm crow trolling. Flying is an ability therefore this does nothing for Storm crow. If no one believes me look at the rulings on this card.
Lifegainwithbite
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(3 votes)
The mana cost makes this too hard to build a deck around... You'd want this out really early to compete with non-vanilla creatures.
ThatStunna
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(4 votes)
I like this card because it makes many "strictly better than" statements incorrect.
azure_drake222222
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Good for token decks.
FurnaceOfRath
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I want to make a morph deck with this.
Rancid_Raptor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Combos with Storm Crow
Earthdawn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you want to troll a friend who likes playing this card, run Shoving Match in a deck. Worth some lulz :)
AncientTimer
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Power creep has passed this long ago. An updated version would be nice. Something like: 1G, Enchantment, Vanilla creatures you control get +2/+2.
Don't know if even that would make anyone play with vanillas due to the extreme power creep lately seen in creature abilities.
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
STORM CROW HAS FLYING
IT DOESN'T BLOODY COMBO WITH STORM CROW
GAH!
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Indestructible but otherwise-vanilla creatures used to get a bonus from this; now with the M14 rule changes, they no longer do. Not like it matters much, since this sees little play, but...
MechaKraken
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is even better when you have token generators out. Play it with Grave Titan or Ant queen to build an army quickly. The petroglyphs also work really well with Coat of arms out for even more pump.
Toes_of_Krosa
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ah Muraganda Petroglyphs, ruining the phrase "strictly better" since 2007.
Edit: @Trygon_Predator: I know full well the real definition of "strictly better", as stated by MaRo. I was simply making a joke based off the way it's misused so often. YOU, on the other hand, either gave a poor explanation or don't understand it yourself. The phrase "strictly better" means something like "better in the vast majority of common situations, to the point where the others are irrelevant." Thus, Muraganda Pertoglyphs would be irrelevant to whether Typhoid Rats is strictly better than Muck Rats (which it is, by the way).
@BrianTumah: Nobody mentioned Mountain Goats because they have an ability: Mountainwalk. This card won't pump them.
Green has gotten some pretty efficient vanilla creatures lately, stating the obvious Leatherback Baloth. I could imagine these sorts of things + tokens making a fun casual deck.
SirLibraryEater
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
When you're about to play this in a casual game, ask your opponents to guess what your favorite kind of ice cream is. Then say, "Vanilla." *YYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHH*
Ataraxiom
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Some mages forsake their scrolls and libraries to perpetuate every "strictly better than" argument ever started.
Kodanshi
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Oh how this Enchantment is loved by Morph creatures…
Comments (76)
3.5
its a deck out of creatures that have no interaction normally, but then pumps them up
It can still get pretty out of control if you have a token producer that stays in play for a while, but then your probably winning anyways.
The one value this card has over all those other options, is an aggro deck, playing cards like watchwolf and some of those basic aggressive creatures without abilities.
Watchwolf, Woolly Thoctar, etc.
anything in the text box besides flavor text voids this. absolutely anything, including CDA
2. forest, Watchwolf
3. mountain, Woolly Thoctar
4. swamp, Murganda Petroglyphs
5. island, Fusion Elemental
Mana Curve:
1:
3 Enlightened Tutor
1 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
4 Savannah Lions
4 Norwood Ranger
12 (9 creatures); 8{W} 4{G}
2:
3 Grizzly Bears
4 Blade of the Sixth Pride
3 Watchwolf
10 (10 creatures); 7{W} 6{G}
3:
4 Regal Unicorn
4 Nessian Courser
8 (8 creatures); 4{W} 4{G}
4:
4 Muraganda Petroglyphs
4 Order of the Sacred Bell
8 (4 creatures); 8{G}
-- 38 cards -- 19{W}, 22{G}
Land:
10 Plains
8 Forest
4 Windswept Heath
-- 22 lands --
60 cards total
The reasoning behind the lands is you want to hit a Plains as your first drop (for the Tutor), ideally, with a Forest as the second for Watchwolf.
Let me know what you think! It seems to check out if my math is up to snuff.
Bearsbearsbearsbearsb
earsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbears
Bearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsb
earsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsBearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbea
rsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbears
Bearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbears
bearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbears
Bearsbear
sbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbear
sbearsbe
arsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbears
Bearsbe
arsbearsbearsbearsbearsb
earsbearsbearsbearsbea
rsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbears
Bearsbearsbears
bearsbearsbearsbearsb
earsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbears
Bearsbea
rsbearsbearsb
earsbearsbearsbearsbears
bearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbears
Bearsbearsbears
bearsbea
rsbear
sbearsbearsbearsb
earsbearsbearsbearsbearsbea
rsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbea
rsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbears
Bearsbearsbear
sbearsbearsbearsbearsb
earsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbears
Bearsbearsb
earsbearsbearsbearsb
earsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbearsbears
Wow. If anyone read to the end of that, or at least hit "see all" put at the end of your post. I bet no one does for like the next 10 years.
GO BEARS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did.
@ rawsugar
Ive always thought that about this card too, it should cost less. Its good as it is, but it should be cheaper seeing how it affects both yours and your opponent's creatures.
4/5
Actually it won't work with Nacatl War-Pride. Both it and it's tokens have the triggered abilities (that create tokens) and the static abilities (must be blocked.)
Maybe you said that because Nacatl effectively makes other creatures unblockable? But if that's the case you may as well just attack with Nacatl and then Might of the Masses on it since it'll get crazy free bonuses.
Tokens might be what scared Wizards about the concept, but I don't see how it's much more than a win-more card in a token deck that's doing its thing.
memnite much
Has that stopped Wizards before? They'd just rig the wording. Something like "and can assign their combat damage as though they had trample." and be in the clear. As long as they don't say they "have " + keyword or something in quotes, they aren't adding abilities to the creature itself.
For anyone who cares, the two other cards from Muraganda are Imperiosaur and The Mimeoplasm. The Mimeoplasm's character bio, found in his Commander deck, also provides some cool info about the plane:
"Little is known about the bizarre entity that crawls the world of Muraganda. The fang druids call it the Mimeoplasm, as it absorbs the traits of anything it engulfs. The saurid warriors of the south seek out the Mimeoplasm wherever it roams, believing it to be the key to a mysterious afterlife, hoping to see in it traces of their fallen loved ones. The elves of the tropics believe it to be part of nature's cycle, a way to channel death back into life. The scarwitches hiss when it approaches, seeing it as the ultimate enemy of the world. Whether it's a natural process or a malevolent force, the Mimeoplasm never fails to command respect."
Like I said-- awesome flavor. Please make this set happen, Wizards!
Kobolds have color indicators now.
No text.
BRB Legacy deck
Of course, the idea of a Sir Shandlar of Eberyn deck is really exciting... :)
All the germ tokens become 2/2s
4x Tempered Steel
4x Memnite
4x Phyrexian Walker
Anyways, this card changes over time. It used to be that Transguild Courier wasn't affected by this, but now, because of color indicators, it's now vanilla.
Memnite
Little girl ( she costs 1/2 mana ,so you can play 2 for one but you still have to pay one mana to cast her )
Bears is ok for this
gather the townsfolk
any other token creating card
heck even those normally lame vanilla 1/1 for 1's will drop fast here .
I still like Tempered steel + memnite/orinthropter better .
4/5
And WHY cant I rate anything ?
Note that it does not ruin "strictly better", contrary to Toes_of_Krosa. The point of "strictly better", overused as it is on Gatherer, is that, in a vacuum, a card is better than another. Typhoid Rats, for instance, is strictly better than Muck Rats, because for the same amount of mana, you get a 1/1 deathtouch black rat instead of a plain 1/1 black rat. Adding Muraganda Petroglyphs, a
Just thought I'd get that out of the way. Too many comments on here are to the effect of "well, it is vanilla, but it's not strictly worse because Muraganda Petroglyphs!"
Don't know if even that would make anyone play with vanillas due to the extreme power creep lately seen in creature abilities.
IT DOESN'T BLOODY COMBO WITH STORM CROW
GAH!
Edit:
@Trygon_Predator:
I know full well the real definition of "strictly better", as stated by MaRo. I was simply making a joke based off the way it's misused so often. YOU, on the other hand, either gave a poor explanation or don't understand it yourself. The phrase "strictly better" means something like "better in the vast majority of common situations, to the point where the others are irrelevant." Thus, Muraganda Pertoglyphs would be irrelevant to whether Typhoid Rats is strictly better than Muck Rats (which it is, by the way).
Green has gotten some pretty efficient vanilla creatures lately, stating the obvious Leatherback Baloth. I could imagine these sorts of things + tokens making a fun casual deck.
Then say, "Vanilla."
*YYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHH*