Interesting card. Rather than wait for a creature to be in play and take the risk of having the opponent use any of its abilities or attack with it before stealing it, you can take it from them immediately and even attack with it next turn.
LeGaCy_13
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
funny you should say that demonic angel, just what i did today lol. plus, it wins vs sarkhan vol too: oh, putting 5 dragons into play are you, well how about i take them instead :)
Blue_Blur
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Great card but it's a little to pricey on my part. By the time you actually use it your opponent will already have all their creatures out.
DyadyaIstvan
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(5 votes)
Great way to screw someone out of their win condition. How'd you like to see this sitting on top of your Dragonstorm?
leomistico
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(6 votes)
This card combos well with Living End. When Living goes to the stack you respond with this. Result: Wrath of God +Liliana Vess's Ultimate ability! However, a little costy... 3/5
Kislev
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(6 votes)
I came in second place of the pre-release becuase of this card (damn you exalted creatures). Another player jokely said, "Hey, man you should put that card in you deck," walking away laughing. I thought to myself, well if I'm playing heavy blue I might as well. Sure enough, I won 3 games becuase of this card! By the time my opponent would play his bomb card, I would have enough mana to cast Gather Specimen!
Guest1524274415
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
last week, me and some friends were doing a 2headed giant, I had my mill, partner was master transmuter, other 2 were black-white aggro and a red-green warpworld.
we lost, big time, mostly because we underestimated the combo of bogardian hellkite and warp world
since then, I have been looking at cards to counter warp world, well, this is one of them, good in counter, or in combo.
you use this as they cast warp world, and you get all the creatures they warp in, if they choose to warp again, you get any more creatures they summon plus the augment from the last round to you numbers
in combo, you can use this to gain control of the whole board, warp to clear, gather to steal all the summons, and with the right mana, you can clear their battlefield of everything
never underestimate any card, there is a combo somewhere somehow, that is an auto win
Works well with oneWarp World (presumably the opponent's one) or for multiple ones in the same turn (Twincast/Fork/Pyromancer Ascension/Lotus Cobra), but a WW in a later turn undoes the gathering because the creatures are still owned by the opponents.
Not sure why the warp world debate as it wouldn't actually work with this card unless you are witholding 6 mana and know your opponent will cast it. Also, if warp world is cast a second time all cards are reshuffled so you don't keep the previous ones. I've never had many issues with warp world since half my deck already does something when other things enter play, and my opponent just as much kills themselves when they use warp world. I could see some major potential for this card with imprint or other cards that interact with instants, maybe pyromancers ascension.
jlowther
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(7 votes)
I won a game against a soldier deck the other day because of this card.
My opponent had Darien, King of Kjeldor in play and I was swinging with a Goliath Sphinx. I had her down to 4 life, but she could kill me next turn with her 5 soldiers of various strengths.
So I attacked with the Goliath and cast Gather Specimens, collecting all 8 soldier tokens for myself to use as chump blockers next turn. I chump blocked all 5 soldiers and swung with the Goliath for the win.
Yeah, this card can do amazing things in the right circumstances, and it's just an awesome card to play, especially now that we live in a world of massive Eldrazi.
It would be hilarious to use this against the Spawnsire of Ulamog's ultimate ability. Imagine they drop 40 Eldrazi into play and you steal them ALL...
Coaldrone
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
One of the few cards genuinely effective against Emrakul, given that it's not a counter spell. It also lasts for the opponent's WHOLE turn - some players don't realise this, much to my amusement.
Eric1618
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm not too sure why mind control is rated so much higher than this. For one more mana, you get a mind control at instant speed that can steal progenitus, emrakrul, iona, and... just about any other game-breaking card. And it can ruin otherwise epic cascades. AND it prevents them from playing ANY other creature that turn.
Its hilarious to use against polymorph, and absolutely hysterical to use against the newly printed mass polymorph.
Oh? Iona, emrakrul, prodenitus, ulamog, AND darksteel colossus? I'll be taking those.
It's just too bad that the art is so stupid. An owl? Really? You stole an owl?
Works really well with the "hunted" cycle from ravnica. such as Hunted Dragon :)
ZuesAscendant
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Opponent: I play Polymorph. Me: Gather Specimens Opponent: FUUUU
MrPink343
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Someday, before I die, I want to cast this card in response to a Living Death. It doesn't have to be my opponent's Living Death, it doesn't have to win me the game, it doesn't even have to be in a game that I am playing in at the time, but someday I want to respond to the sentence "I cast Living Death" with "Gather Specimens in response".
land_comment
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Emrakul. HAHAHA!!!!!!!!! Can I say cum? NO????!!!! BUT I CAN SAY shit! How about ass? Geez, wizards...
ROBRAM89
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
+U from Mind Control and for that you get flash and the ability to steal ETB effects. More than worth U.
Gahoojin
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
I knew something was wrong when i played my Emrakul and my opponent laughed...
ZeroSheep
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I played Warp World in a 5 player EDH game last week. My friend played this card. Everyone but him hated me afterwards.
Paladin85
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is one of the reasons why blue is hated so much
For a fair cost of 6 cmc, you can take over any creature tokens generated during the whole turn. Or better yet use one of the hunted creatures from Ravnica. This card is also anti protection, anti shroud which can net you dangerous stuff like Progenitus
4/5
JaxsonBateman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is a card with a lot of potential (I feel it's in the vein of something like Draining Whelk - you 'counter' a spell and get a nice creature out of it), but I'd love it so much more if it were templated like Commandeer. As it is, it's pretty darn expensive for a control deck, but if you were to be able to pitch 2 cards in order to steal a creature, then it'd be really, really awesome.
Then again, it might be too awesome in those circumstances. ^^
TheLionsMane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In response to your Genesis Wave for 25, I play this.
I'm sorry, but you gave me way to many specimens.
TheHandyman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
That's either some great perspective drawing or one hell of a huge owl.
CuriousThing
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Any Rush fans? Does this remind you of the Fly by Night cover?
MechaKraken
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This combos exceptionally well with Mindslaver or Sorin Markov's ultimate ability. Use their turn to play the best creature you can with their hand, so that it ends up on your side of the table instead!
Gareth32
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In most situations, I prefer desertion. Cheaper, and more options. Exceptions being effects that drop multiple tokens, cheating things into play with things quicksilver amulet and of course, Emrakul.
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"oh? You played Wolfbriar Elemental, kicked 6 additional times? How interesting..."
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Perfect against the titans.
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hyper-expensive combo: Drop this with Sudden Disappearance to permanently steal all someone's nontoken creatures.
TPmanW
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Two words: Planar Guide. Four more words: You control ALL creatures
raptorman333
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@jlowther: who ever you played against, she's a noob. since Darien, King of Kjeldor says "you may" put the tokens into play, and that decision is made upon resolution of the ability, when you played gather specimen, she could've just decided not to make the tokens preventing you from gathering any of her "specimen.
not to say this is a bad card, I have it in my EDH deck to deal with my friend's Thrun, the Last Troll EDH deck.
Comments (38)
However, a little costy...
3/5
we lost, big time, mostly because we underestimated the combo of bogardian hellkite and warp world
since then, I have been looking at cards to counter warp world, well, this is one of them, good in counter, or in combo.
you use this as they cast warp world, and you get all the creatures they warp in, if they choose to warp again, you get any more creatures they summon plus the augment from the last round to you numbers
in combo, you can use this to gain control of the whole board, warp to clear, gather to steal all the summons, and with the right mana, you can clear their battlefield of everything
never underestimate any card, there is a combo somewhere somehow, that is an auto win
My opponent had Darien, King of Kjeldor in play and I was swinging with a Goliath Sphinx. I had her down to 4 life, but she could kill me next turn with her 5 soldiers of various strengths.
So I attacked with the Goliath and cast Gather Specimens, collecting all 8 soldier tokens for myself to use as chump blockers next turn. I chump blocked all 5 soldiers and swung with the Goliath for the win.
Yeah, this card can do amazing things in the right circumstances, and it's just an awesome card to play, especially now that we live in a world of massive Eldrazi.
It would be hilarious to use this against the Spawnsire of Ulamog's ultimate ability. Imagine they drop 40 Eldrazi into play and you steal them ALL...
Its hilarious to use against polymorph, and absolutely hysterical to use against the newly printed mass polymorph.
Oh? Iona, emrakrul, prodenitus, ulamog, AND darksteel colossus? I'll be taking those.
It's just too bad that the art is so stupid. An owl? Really? You stole an owl?
Me: Gather Specimens
Opponent: FUUUU
For a fair cost of 6 cmc, you can take over any creature tokens generated during the whole turn. Or better yet use one of the hunted creatures from Ravnica. This card is also anti protection, anti shroud which can net you dangerous stuff like Progenitus
4/5
Then again, it might be too awesome in those circumstances. ^^
I'm sorry, but you gave me way to many specimens.
How interesting..."
Four more words: You control ALL creatures
not to say this is a bad card, I have it in my EDH deck to deal with my friend's Thrun, the Last Troll EDH deck.