Negating a block for a turn is pretty nice; would be better if it was an instant.
silverfist
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(3 votes)
Because the target is the player, does this card affect creatures with shroud? It's been a debate between me and friends.
DarthMohawk1
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Gaussgoat:
You have it correct. Ember Gale targets the player; hitting his white or blue creatures is not a targeted effect and therefore bypasses Shroud.
luxma
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(5 votes)
silverfist:
It affects to creatures with shroud or protection from that colour.
Odious trow: oh, Progenitus, I didn't see you there
Aaron_Forsythe
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(17 votes)
Aaron's Random Card Comment of the Day #24, 10/28/10
Most double-color-hosers are typically uncommon (Deathmark, Flashfreeze), with a few at rare that are really hard to deal with and usually exist to solve problems in tournament environments (Paladin en-Vec, Great Sable Stag). So why did Shadowmoor have a common cycle of doube-color-hosers?
Well, I was the lead developer of the set, so I should know. This card, as well as the rest of its cycle (Gloomwidow's Feast, Gloomlance, et al.) we added during development (I can’t recall if the design file had something like these, but I think not). There are a lot of cards in Shadowmoor that reference color, usually the color of your own cards. But the team wanted to have some cards that were maindeckable in limited that had color-matters riders on them that could come up at odd times. After all, due to the heavy hybrid nature of Shadowmoor block, it’s quite possible that a red-green sealed deck has blue and/or white creatures in it (such as Rhys the Redeemed or Riverfall Mimic). We wanted these color-hosers to be great against decks that were the colors mentioned on the card, but also interesting against decks that weren’t primarily those colors. Should you Gloomlance the bigger blue creature or the smaller white creature just to get the discard bonus?
In that regard, I think most of them worked well, but Ember Gale is the worst of them. The others all played kind of like kicker spells—you got to kill a flyer, and if you were lucky, also get a Spider token. But Ember Gale almost always played as a modal card—do you want creatures not to block, or do you want to kill 1-toughness blue and white guys? Rarely did both matter.
We didn’t want another two-for-one removal spell, and this was the best red one we could come up with. I don’t mind that it was as different as it was, as I still think it was an okay maindeck card and an interesting sideboard card, and both parts of the spell mattered, even if it wasn’t at the same time. In a perfect world it would be a bit more like the others, but the cycle in general was tricky to design, and I have no regrets.
Rosuav
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@luxma: It bypasses shroud by not targeting, but since it deals damage, protection still stops it (the damage will be prevented).
Salient
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is a nice, efficient, flavorful finisher card in casual Goblins decks. I'd run two. Late-game, as the battlefield gets clogged with creatures, it breaks the stalemate. Its cost is reasonable (easily playable the turn after Siege-Gang Commander hits play) and if it's not countered, its effect is reliable (there's not really an efficient instant-speed way for a player to grant themselves shroud, and their various creature buffs and equipment and protective/aggressive Auras and such are all equally useless). If it is countered, that happens before your combat step, so you can skip attacking that turn and avoid disaster.
Lorwyn block was current when I started getting back into Magic... I remember wanting to draft this card, never got the chance to. Maybe they'll reprint it sometime. (Aaron, if you happen to be listening -- Wizards should reprint this as a core set common sometime!)
SirLibraryEater
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This actually isn't too bad. It leaves your opponent totally open for attacks with no blocks. That by itself could very well be a game-winner in a red deck. The damage is just gravy, especially because it can kill many often played blue or white spells, like Delver of Secrets, Wingcrafter, or Doomed Traveler (creature or token.)
Comments (8)
You have it correct. Ember Gale targets the player; hitting his white or blue creatures is not a targeted effect and therefore bypasses Shroud.
It affects to creatures with shroud or protection from that colour.
Odious trow: oh, Progenitus, I didn't see you there
Most double-color-hosers are typically uncommon (Deathmark, Flashfreeze), with a few at rare that are really hard to deal with and usually exist to solve problems in tournament environments (Paladin en-Vec, Great Sable Stag). So why did Shadowmoor have a common cycle of doube-color-hosers?
Well, I was the lead developer of the set, so I should know. This card, as well as the rest of its cycle (Gloomwidow's Feast, Gloomlance, et al.) we added during development (I can’t recall if the design file had something like these, but I think not). There are a lot of cards in Shadowmoor that reference color, usually the color of your own cards. But the team wanted to have some cards that were maindeckable in limited that had color-matters riders on them that could come up at odd times. After all, due to the heavy hybrid nature of Shadowmoor block, it’s quite possible that a red-green sealed deck has blue and/or white creatures in it (such as Rhys the Redeemed or Riverfall Mimic). We wanted these color-hosers to be great against decks that were the colors mentioned on the card, but also interesting against decks that weren’t primarily those colors. Should you Gloomlance the bigger blue creature or the smaller white creature just to get the discard bonus?
In that regard, I think most of them worked well, but Ember Gale is the worst of them. The others all played kind of like kicker spells—you got to kill a flyer, and if you were lucky, also get a Spider token. But Ember Gale almost always played as a modal card—do you want creatures not to block, or do you want to kill 1-toughness blue and white guys? Rarely did both matter.
We didn’t want another two-for-one removal spell, and this was the best red one we could come up with. I don’t mind that it was as different as it was, as I still think it was an okay maindeck card and an interesting sideboard card, and both parts of the spell mattered, even if it wasn’t at the same time. In a perfect world it would be a bit more like the others, but the cycle in general was tricky to design, and I have no regrets.
EDH have better options (Eunuchs' Intrigues, Tectonic Rift, Order/Chaos, Demoralize, possibly Ruthless Invasion, etc)
Lorwyn block was current when I started getting back into Magic... I remember wanting to draft this card, never got the chance to. Maybe they'll reprint it sometime. (Aaron, if you happen to be listening -- Wizards should reprint this as a core set common sometime!)