Pointed Discussion

Shouldn't this card be errataed to have Vanishing?

But... it comes into play with no time counters.


And it is sacrificed as a state-based effect if it has no time counters.


So as soon as you cast it, it must be sacrificed.



I think this card needs some errata.

No, to both of the first posts.

This card effectively has Fading, an older version of Vanishing that is similar in all ways, except it is sacrificed if you cannot remove a counter at your upkeep, not if there is no time counter. It's not a static effect, it is a state-based effect that is only checked during an upkeep, The same way your max. hand size check occurs at the end of your turn.

This was never a great card, and it relies on a very narrow creature type (there are currently only 16 thrulls, not counting all the alternate art) but the artwork is just so amazingly surreal I can't help but give it an extra point.

I got excited when i read the words "time counter". I was hoping it be something like take another turn for black. Then read further down and was so disappointed.

It was an okay card at the time because of Breeding Pit

This card wouldn't have been any good even with Breeding Pit, since Breeding Pit creates 0/1 creatures, and this card makes attacking creatures +2/-1, instantly killing the army of tiny Thrulls you've spent half-a-dozen turns breeding. I suppose if you also had a Bad Moon or a Thrull Champion it would make this card slightly more worthwhile...slightly.

You don't attack with the bred 0/1 thrulls, you sac them for this and Ebon Praetors.

was this the first card to use time counters?

this seems like it has a great effect, with an obvious deck strategy it's pointing you at (use Thrull tokens and death triggers), but the big drawback is that Land Destruction, which already hurts pretty bad even on a basic land, will 2-for-1 this minimum- if you sacced a bunch of Thrulls to it, then they kill it...bad times. I'm sure this can be exploited, but it paints a target on a land, when lands don't even need targets painted on them. I'd only believe this could be good in Commander, since you'll only have one in your deck, and it'll tempt you, at most, to lose only 1 land, and you CAN try to play politics to keep your land safe.

Still- this an all-around posterchild for 'RISK-RIDDEN STRATEGY', and those don't usually turn out well.

3 stars, because I'm a softie.

Tourach's One-Use Buff {1}{B}{B}

Sorcery

As an additional cost to cast {Cardname} tap a land you control.

When creatures you control attack this turn, each gets +2/-1.

You can just use this once and not care about thrulls or it going away. Or you could go {B}{G} and use land untappers.

Could have been useful if it started with some counters and then ate Thrulls to get more. As is, it is stupid and clunky.

@ grifone_coronato
Tourach's Gate gives all of your ATTACKING creatures +2/-1 until end of turn. It won't hurt your 0/1 critters.

@ Ideatog
You have the right idea. If you can't/don't want to sack any creatures you can still get a single use +2/-1 for an attack; it's almost an Army of Allah (though without instant-speed advantage).

@ HappyKitty
You're making me unhappy, kitty. It doesn't check for time counters until during your upkeep (note it's not even "at the beginning of your upkeep" like so many newer cards), so you can even sacrifice something during your upkeep just before removing a counter.

Tourach's Gate
Sorcery

Until your next turn, creatures you control get +2/-1.

"Even *I* don't pay this thing's upkeep cost." -- Tourach

One really weird thing about this card:

The original printing tapped the land as an effect rather than a cost, yet lacked wording requiring that it be untapped, so you could activate it unlimited times.

The modern oracle text now taps as a cost, yet it has the text saying that the land must be untapped, even though that is now redundant.