I love Doran: the art, the flavor text, the unique gametext, and the raw power. I don't see what's black about him, honestly, but I know that sometimes mechanics must be sacrificed for flavor (see: every dragon printed, ever).
noob123
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(6 votes)
People say that all 3mana creatures suck. Doran just rocks, literally. (It's also a staple in every Rock deck.)
Synt4x
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
Playing this guy turn 2 is pretty much nuts, especially because he makes your Birds into flying death machines.
SavageBrain89
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(9 votes)
One of the collest cards ever in magic: legendary treefolk, tri-enemy colors, beautiful artwork, amazing flavor text, and a superb ability.
Jokergius
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(5 votes)
About FACE!!...Are you gone already? Oh my, what a predicament.
a7141988
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
A 5/5 for 3 that could destroy your opponent's plans (i.e. Nova Chaser, Cranial Plating, etc) is awesome.
Pantheon
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Doran is the commander in one of my favorite EDH decks. There are tons of white creatures with ": +0/+1" that become absolute killing machines with Doran in play.
Donovan_Fabian
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Keeping in mind that woolly thoctars are also 3 and come out as a 5/4, doran would be very awesome with walls, as they could kill creatures they were blocking.
Tezz
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(7 votes)
turn him inside out for being everything but Izzet
ratrase
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(5 votes)
Love the mechanics.
Combos great with Indomitable ancients. 10/10 for 4 mana? Yay.
Zulp
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(12 votes)
One of my very favorite cards in Magic. I've always valued toughness over power, and this card finally applied validity to the statement "the best offense is a good defense". Hot damn.
sethiroth666
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(11 votes)
dorans flavor text might as well be " When doran enters the battlefield, he reaches over the table and smacks your opponent in the mouth."
Everyone knows Doran is a great card, but there's a fun fact that not many people know.
Doran is the only wedge-colored card that's not part of a cycle. There are only 11 wedge cards. There are 5 from the Apocalypse cycle (which is where Lightning Angel is from), there are the 5 wedge dragons from Planar Chaos, and then there's Doran.
This is, of course, not counting honorary wedge cards such as single-colored cards that have activated abilities that cost enemy mana.
achilleselbow
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
What other cards are there with these kinds of triple enemy color combinations? There were a lot in Apocalypse like the Volver cycle and Fungal Shambler, but the only three-mana one like this I can think of is Guided Passage. Edit: Oh yea, Overgrown Estate.
Dear Wizards:
Make us a Wedge block, now that Alara has been taken care of.
Thanks.
Sincerely,
MTG players.
bagilis
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(5 votes)
now the ornithopter is something you won't laugh about!
Nagoragama
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
@infernox10
Oh god, yes.
Please wedge block!
ByGoblinsBeDriven
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Good ol' Doran! I am terrified of this guy, especially as my opponent's general in EDH! If they get their three different types of mana early, this guy FLIES out of the gates and beats your face! Definitely someone I prefer to have on my side. A guy who is essentially a 5/5 that comes out as early as turn three (or two with a BoP in play) is no joke.
What else is there to say? Doran rocks, end of story.
novasun
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Walls rejoice!!!!
SuperSphinx
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
This just makes me want to build a wall deck, I swear. ;D Behold the power of Angelic Wall!!
A3Kitsune
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
No word on a Wedge block but WoTC has confirmed that a Wedge set is sorta, kinda coming. I say "sorta, kinda" because it isn't exactly a set, exept it sorta is. It's called "Commander" (and yes, Commander is the new name WoTC is giving EDH), and it's a release of 5 premade decks with special oversized cards included (think "Archenemy" or "Planechase"). Each deck will be a three-color wedge deck. There will be new cards in these decks, including new Wedge cards.
ROBRAM89
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(6 votes)
This is the problem with wedges.
This ability is quite cool as a white ability, but it's barely green and it's about as black as Lewis Black.
I love the card, don't get me wrong. But it's obviously only WBG for the sake of having some WBG around.
bijart_dauth
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I hate it when legendary creatures (which are basically any one of significance in the story line) Dont show up in the book for the set there released in! I usually have something to say about every legendary creature in a set i've read but with doran i have no idea, cause he dosnt even exist.
Opaque
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
His colors are the colors of all the treefolk in the set. See Indomitable Ancients, Black Poplar Shaman, and any other green treefolk. Murmuring Bosk also goes with him because of this. Wizards is doing all the wedge colors in their Commander decks, and I was hoping that Doran would be in the BGW one, but it is a recursion deck, as it will have Teneb in it.
Ideatog
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
You all want WotC to give you a wedgie?
Vedalken_Arbiter
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Can someone explain to me how this card is black? Did they want to keep it out of GW decks? Just imagine if this had cost {2}{G}{W} or even {3}{G}{W}.
Counter with No Quarter. Also I'm pretty sure there's not going to be a wedge block for quite a while what with the commander precons filling that gap.
endersblade
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@Sarroth Actually, it would make Force of Savagery a 0/0; In your example, you switched its power and toughness, which is not what Doran does. Now, obviously you do need something else in play to keep the force alive to begin with, so at minimum it would become a 1/1 in combat.
Doran is so amazing. It's surprising how many creatures have higher toughness than power. It even makes Treefolk Harbinger useful in battle! You could also Lignify one of your own creatures to buff it to an effective 4/4.
ICEFANG13
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Force of Savagery is an 8/0 with or without Doran in play. He would deal 0 damage with Doran in play (if he could live with 0 toughness)
sarroth
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
@Colossus_of_darkstee: Doran won't save Force of Savagery: Doran doesn't switch P/T, he only changes how damage is designed. Force doesn't become a 0/8; it is still an 8/0 and will die without Glorious Anthem or other such effect. (@endersblade: Reread my post - I said Doran doesn't switch P/T).
@Robram: Sometimes cards are just too good for one or two colors, so they throw in a third to make it fair. Many of the 3-colored dragons fit this. He is no less black than blue or red, but I can see how R&D would think him as {1}{G}{W}, or even {2}{G}{W} is too good. It's not necessarily a problem with wedge colors, but a problem with balancing out powers over eas-ability to cast. Yes I just made up a word.
I love Doran, but he's so popular as a Commander card, which makes me hesitant to jump on that bandwagon. I agree with everyone asking for a Wedge block, though. And yes, the Commander precons have wedge decks, but they don't count. There isn't a storyline and flavor like with the shards in Alara block, and it's the flavor of the shards that makes me want to play their colors, not just the cards they get.
NeoKoda
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Wall of Frost becomes a super mega beast.
Morgrath
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
The treefolk in Lorwyn/Shadowmoor were GWB because those are the colours that fit. Green is obvious, they're trees, growth etc. Black and green actually have a fairly large philosophical alignment when it comes to the circle of life stuff. If anything, white is the colour that least fit with them, but I suppose there was a lot of defender/protector flavour surrounding them, so that gets white in.
It's pointless to say that a card like this, multi-coloured but with one ability, doesn't fit one of its colours. It'd be like saying one of the Nephilim doesn't fit in one of it's colours. Doran's ability and colours are based on his (and his race's) flavour, not each other.
Axelle
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
As of Commander, SleetFox's comment is still true.
TheLionsMane
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
My friend plays an EDH deck with him as a general. I play an EDH deck with Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. My deck has Twisted Image in it. He no longer allows me to play it.
Superllama12
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
This card is sooo awesome, it actually means that it may be possible to make a relatively good Rolling Stones deck...TO THE DECKBUILDER!!!!!!
I've put Doran in a five-color Wall deck with Shield Sphere, Wall of Ice, Wall of Junk, Wall of Frost, Wall of Hope, Wall of Shards, Mistform Wall, Wall of Essence... and Rolling Stones. Always fun to see how people react when Stones hits play...
Anyways, yeah, a virtual 5/5 for is pretty sweet. Better than ol' Woolly because of the extra toughness and the literally game breaking effect. I really like cards that flip an entire aspect of the game on it's head. Upwelling is another example. Only in my playgroup, it is required that the controller brings their own pad of paper and must keep track of all the mana. No one plays it anymore, for some reason. ;-)
ax_morph
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Letsee, Lord of the Rings Deck...We've got Doran as Treebeard, throw in a few kithkin, Prodigal Sorcerer for Gandalf...
Gcrudaplaneswalker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It actually makes walls useful for a change.
igniteice
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Kind of game over if you don't have removal when this comes out on turn 3 (easy to do with fetch lands grabbing old dual lands) and you get hit for 5 on turn 4. It's a 7 turn kill if it goes unblocked. For three mana, that's pretty brutal.
syrazemyla
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
@SleetFox: You might want to amend your comment. There's 10 more wedge cards from the Commander expansion, and then there's Maelstrom Wanderer.
Kirbster
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Affectionately referred to as "Gnarls Barkley."
aboblyndsae
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I thought for some reason that this was a super-expensive card, to the point that I kinda chewed out a more experienced player who told me I should have one in my deck. I wonder what I was confusing this with.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So 5/5 for 3, that can screw with your opponents and make wacky creatures work.
bloodsuck
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Hey it's something that makes flowstone abilities even more useless. Didn't think it was possible.
Anyone else notice that, if you look closely, one of his roots seems to extend like a tail?
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm going to be a little different and point out a cool application for him in Legacy: -He attacks through Ensnaring Bridge
That should be all you need, but there's more depending on your deck-building: -He buffs Tarmogoyfs slightly -He buffs Deathrite Shaman to a 2/2 on his already ridiculous body -He's fetchable via Green Sun's Zenith -Other random good creatures like Courser of Kruphix
So he's a 3-mana Bramble Creeper who you can protect with Karakas. Keep him in the sideboard as helping your GB opponents or getting bounced by Karakas is annoying as well as 0-Life Plows; but against your blue/black fair-deck opponents bring him in. He makes Snapcaster, Dark Confidant, True-Name Nemesis, and other lopsided creatures hit for a measly 1 while being a 5/5 T3. And again, being able to bounce him to Karakas allows for infinite blocks and hard to remove while being a never ending threat.
As a 1-of; he's hard to pass up just for the Ensnaring Bridge effect; and honestly; who doesn't like whipping out crazy Legendary creatures in legacy!?
Comments (65)
Combos great with Indomitable ancients. 10/10 for 4 mana? Yay.
That'd be a fun deck, actually.
I finally made a deck with this guy in it, but I can't find 2 more copies.
Doran is the only wedge-colored card that's not part of a cycle. There are only 11 wedge cards. There are 5 from the Apocalypse cycle (which is where Lightning Angel is from), there are the 5 wedge dragons from Planar Chaos, and then there's Doran.
This is, of course, not counting honorary wedge cards such as single-colored cards that have activated abilities that cost enemy mana.
Edit: Oh yea, Overgrown Estate.
Make us a Wedge block, now that Alara has been taken care of.
Thanks.
Sincerely,
MTG players.
Oh god, yes.
Please wedge block!
What else is there to say? Doran rocks, end of story.
This ability is quite cool as a white ability, but it's barely green and it's about as black as Lewis Black.
I love the card, don't get me wrong. But it's obviously only WBG for the sake of having some WBG around.
Doran is so amazing. It's surprising how many creatures have higher toughness than power. It even makes Treefolk Harbinger useful in battle! You could also Lignify one of your own creatures to buff it to an effective 4/4.
@Robram: Sometimes cards are just too good for one or two colors, so they throw in a third to make it fair. Many of the 3-colored dragons fit this. He is no less black than blue or red, but I can see how R&D would think him as {1}{G}{W}, or even {2}{G}{W} is too good. It's not necessarily a problem with wedge colors, but a problem with balancing out powers over eas-ability to cast. Yes I just made up a word.
I love Doran, but he's so popular as a Commander card, which makes me hesitant to jump on that bandwagon. I agree with everyone asking for a Wedge block, though. And yes, the Commander precons have wedge decks, but they don't count. There isn't a storyline and flavor like with the shards in Alara block, and it's the flavor of the shards that makes me want to play their colors, not just the cards they get.
It's pointless to say that a card like this, multi-coloured but with one ability, doesn't fit one of its colours. It'd be like saying one of the Nephilim doesn't fit in one of it's colours. Doran's ability and colours are based on his (and his race's) flavour, not each other.
I've put Doran in a five-color Wall deck with Shield Sphere, Wall of Ice, Wall of Junk, Wall of Frost, Wall of Hope, Wall of Shards, Mistform Wall, Wall of Essence... and Rolling Stones. Always fun to see how people react when Stones hits play...
"Inside Out"
"..."
Anyways, yeah, a virtual 5/5 for
Run with Reveillark, Cloudshift, and any number of cards along the lines of Pontiff of Blight, Silklash Spider, and perhaps a Golgari Grave-Troll for good measure.
5/5
-He attacks through Ensnaring Bridge
That should be all you need, but there's more depending on your deck-building:
-He buffs Tarmogoyfs slightly
-He buffs Deathrite Shaman to a 2/2 on his already ridiculous body
-He's fetchable via Green Sun's Zenith
-Other random good creatures like Courser of Kruphix
So he's a 3-mana Bramble Creeper who you can protect with Karakas. Keep him in the sideboard as helping your GB opponents or getting bounced by Karakas is annoying as well as 0-Life Plows; but against your blue/black fair-deck opponents bring him in. He makes Snapcaster, Dark Confidant, True-Name Nemesis, and other lopsided creatures hit for a measly 1 while being a 5/5 T3. And again, being able to bounce him to Karakas allows for infinite blocks and hard to remove while being a never ending threat.
As a 1-of; he's hard to pass up just for the Ensnaring Bridge effect; and honestly; who doesn't like whipping out crazy Legendary creatures in legacy!?