I finally got a new wall worth playing for my Red/White wall deck. I'm getting a play set that day.
True_Smog
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(6 votes)
I want my Wall of Blossom back !
Laguz
★☆☆☆☆ (1.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Wall of Blossoms was one of my favorite cards back in the day, but i really don't think it can hold up in this environment. It is better for white than it is for green, though.
In all seriousness; Who the heck rated this below 5/5? Shame on you!
faisjdas
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(5 votes)
Thanks for the free 2$ bill in my boosters, wizards.
DonRoyale
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(7 votes)
I don't know if you haven't gotten the memo, people, but this card is reeeeeeally good. It's even better in white, but I would've preferred it in blue. Can't have everything, though...
But seriously. Card advantage and a big middle finger to aggro? LOVE IT.
Temple_Garden
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(8 votes)
Why is this in white? It should be green or blue. It seems these days when wizards wants to give power to a colour they just print a card with an off colour ability.
dudecow
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(5 votes)
This really slows down your opponent. Godsend for W/U control, which was really good to begin with.
Unbelievable wall. Efficient and can take quite a few hits.
@Temple_Garden: Walls are very white. Cantripping (adding "draw a card" to a spell) is color-neutral. Hence, white is the best color for this, better than its original green. Card draw only counts as blue when you get a net gain of cards, not when you break even. Even then, it's not exactly an exclusive effect, just one that's mostly concentrated in blue.
True_Mumin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Damn them WizOs! They be stealin' all my good old cards and repainting them white! I hate this card and everything it stands for in the current state of Magic.
SolidSoldier
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Wow, look at all the crybabies. Who cares if it isn't green or blue, get over it and splash white (which isn't very hard with green or blue) to put this puppy in. This is arguably the best uncommon in the set. Stop rating it low.
agalloch
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(2 votes)
The cantrip really saves this card. Even without it, it would be playable. Pretty good card.
NinjaJeff
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Without the cantrip, Perimeter Captain and Kraken Hatchling would be strictly better (with Hatchling being off color). The fact that you can drop this turn two without losing a card is what makes it awesome.
scutemob
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(10 votes)
guys, this card isn't that good. leave it to the wizards community to get so hyped up over some cards and not over others. Are you serious-
it's a 0/4 Defender for 1W, when it comes in, you draw a card. Does anyone even analyze the cards? Kraken Hatchling is a very good 0/4 for U. You're paying 1 colorless more than Hatchling to draw a card and give the creature defender. Not at all impressive. Sorry. it's not that good. wake up guys.
Cheza
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(13 votes)
>>> Why is this in white? It should be green or blue. It seems these days when wizards wants to give power to a colour they just print a card with an off colour ability.<<<- Temple_Garden I don"t think so.
Green is the creature-based color. Therefore Blue & Black should be the opposite. White & Green should be in between. Black has the best creature destruction spells and blue has the best creature denial effects. Therefore blue should rather use non-creature effects to stop attacking threats and therefore shouldn't use walls to stop creatures. (In my opinion, Puppeteer or a blue version of Goldmeadow Harrier would be a much better choice since it's proactive - you have to tap it before the creature attacks)
Red is the most aggressive color. Therefore Blue & White should be the opposite. Green & Black should be in between. (You could shift it towards Red & Green being the most aggressive colors, making Blue the direct opposite). Blue achieves this with counterspells, trading cards 1:1 to slow the game down. White should do the same in a more non-instant and reactive way. Walls are very reactive. They do nothing when you aren't attacked, creating no threat-potential. Toughness is reactive, since it only works on damage dealt (in contrast to tapping attackers // Pazifism). If green uses any wall, it should rather increase the game speed. The best example is the new Overgrown Battlement. If used, it increases speed due to the mana acceleration effect.
Red is the most random color. Therefore Blue & White should be the opposite. Green & Black should be in between. (you could shift it towards Red & Green being the most random colors, making Blue the direct opposite). Green should use "reveal the top card of your library" or "if the top card of your library is/has ...". Drawing cards is less random, cause you always get the bonus, but still quite random. That's why Blue should either use search (Drift of Phantasms) or library-sort effects (Sage of Epityr) instead of pure card draw.
Last but not least, blue and green are oppossing colors and therefore should create the opposite effect. That means that drawing cards doesn't really fulfill this criteria. IF they work together, the bonus should be more like a symbiosis between both colors with distint effects. In my opinion, the combination of a blue "search your library for *card*" and a green "get's +1/+1 for each other creature with *constraint*" would lead to effects similar to Momir Vig, Simic Visionary however with opposite color prerequisites (blue search & sort putting it on top, green revealing the top card (Call of the Wild-like))
Result: Wall of Omen is perfectly white!
thornraven
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is standard constructed material. Beats Bloodbraid two turns early and provides card advantage, like Bloodbraid (though inferior). All white control decks will play this card. 4.5/5
maxclink
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Compare to, say, Angelic Wall. Flying or free card draw? Hmm, tough one... *ahemahem*
mdakw576
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
guys, this card isn't that good. leave it to the wizards community to get so hyped up over some cards and not over others. Are you serious- it's a 0/4 Defender for 1W, when it comes in, you draw a card. Does anyone even ***yze the cards? Kraken Hatchling is a very good 0/4 for U. You're paying 1 colorless more than Hatchling to draw a card and give the creature defender. Not at all impressive. Sorry. it's not that good. wake up guys.
In most cases cantrips are easily worth +1 mana (though not quite 2... probably something like 1.5ish), especially for a card designed for control. I can see aggro decks not caring to pay 1 mana for a cantrip (goblin guide at 2 mana for a cantrip would be kinda janky), but control will almost always pay 1 mana for 1 card.
having defender doesn't really matter, since kraken hatchling isn't ever attacking at 0 pow and blue isn't known for giving +pow.
bakofried
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The art does leave something to be desired, though. Wall of Blossoms art was way better.
The_Trendkill
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Have you ever found yourself thinking that Wall of Blossoms would be even sicker if you could run it in your control deck? Look no further.
4.5/5
dragonking987
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this Perimeter Captain wall of revernce and wall of nets are the best white walls
Looking even more forward to UW control come Scars of Mirrodin. Vesner's +2 ability (exile target permanent you own, then return it to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step) will create great versatility, and may as well just read +2: card advantage/mana accel.
So why am I posting that here?
Wall of Omens. Good chance you'll have it out by the time you get Vesner out. Exile Wall of Omens, it comes back in, you draw a card. Win. To put it into context, the same ability on Jace Beleren is -1, and a similar (yet better) ability on Jace, the Mind Sculptor yields no loyalty change.
Xineki
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
you need 4 in every deck with a somewhere in it.
tantallum99
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(5 votes)
this is great. useful in a deck with kor skyfisher as well.
Blackworm_Bloodworm
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This isn't card draw in white, it's cantripping in white. You're paying {W} for a Steel Wall and {1} for the cantrip. There is no actual card advantage to be gained here, unless you're bouncing repeatedly with another effect, after which you must summon the wall again. (With the exception of Venser.) Don't delude yourselves; it's not bad, but it's also not nearly as good as you make it out to be.
Easily one of the top 5 white cards of all time in MTG. This will continue to see play in just about any deck with white in it for years to come. 5/5
kolomeha
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm making a W/U control deck and I cannot decide which is better. This or Sea Gate Oracle. This has better defense but the Sea Gate allows you to choose between 2 cards to draw. Granted it costs 1 colorless more but my deck already has a fair number of 2 drops. Any suggestions from the Blue White Control Decks out there?
BlackAlbino
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Correct me if I'm wrong here, isn't this white's only cantrip-creature? If so, 4.5/5 If not, 4.25/5
Fun to abuse in my mono white deck w/ Kor skyfisher , stonecloaker , and best of all, dust elemental
Mono white card draw! Yay! Lapse of certainty and mana tithe F**k you blue!
franconbean
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Gonna paste you up, cover you in wall paper, screw shelves into you and call you a wall...
Lyoncet
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(10 votes)
@Blackworm_Bloodworm "You're paying {W} for a Steel Wall and {1} for the cantrip. There is no actual card advantage to be gained here, unless you're bouncing repeatedly with another effect, after which you must summon the wall again. (With the exception of Venser.)"
You're misunderstanding the concept of "card advantage." Card advantage doesn't mean "you start with N cards in your hand and end with N+1 (or more) cards in your hand." It's definition is "how efficiently a player is using his answers in relation to an opponent's threats." When you play this card, you end up with card advantage of 1 because you haven't really lost a card from you hand (you just turned Wall of Omens into something else, basically) and now you have a 0/4 defender in play on top of that. Assuming this is your turn 2 drop, you've gone from having 8 cards to work with (9 if you were on the draw) to having 9 cards to work with (10 if you were on the draw). That's card advantage, even though your hand never actually grew.
Another way to look at it is this: "Tempo" is defined as how quickly you can play threats. Wall of Omens, like all walls, slows your opponent down by giving them an extra hurdle to get over. However, unlike most walls, it doesn't slow down your own tempo (unless you really need another turn-2 drop, in which case just play the wall on turn 3 or 4) because unlike, say, Wall of Denial, running into this card doesn't make you take longer to reach your next threat. You draw it, play it, and then just pick up another card like you never even ran into Wall of Omens in the first place - except now you also have that 0/4 blocker out.
It's easier to notice the card advantage from cantrips with cards like Vedalken Archmage and the new Pursteel paladin since they turn an entire type (or subtype) into cantrips. Just play a few games with or against PSP and you'll see how much value you can get from cards that give you a draw when they come into play.
Axelle
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(4 votes)
The one time Cheza doesn't complain that something is off-color, it's awesome.
leomistico
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(5 votes)
MaRo (I think) said that this card at the beginning was blue, but in the same set there was Mnemonic Wall already, so it was changed to white. I too think this should be blue, so I don't understand this kind of changes! They could have wait one set to print this card in blue, and print something else in white instead...
If it were blue I would give it 5/5. Instead is white, so 4/5. Don't get me wrong, this is a powerhouse that I would like so much to see in blue, but it's white, and I hate white because of its lots of removal and because it steals a lot of blue mechanics. White, go to hell...!
made4ipod
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
This is fun to abuse with Venser
Kirbster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Well, I like Wall of Blossom's art better.
DritzD27
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
4/5 just for that art. The perspective is freaking awesome. This card is no slouch either I have it in my Hold the Line theme deck and it does some serious work.
TheWrathofShane
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
In magic, whatever color your playing, your always hungry for cards. Your eager to draw your next bomb, always thinking something great is just around the corner.
This card replaces itself, and gives you an 0/4 defender. Any card that replaces itself is worthy of consideration.
Comments (49)
In all seriousness; Who the heck rated this below 5/5?
Shame on you!
But seriously. Card advantage and a big middle finger to aggro? LOVE IT.
Well, you get the picture. The card is really good.
Turn 2: Wall of Omens
Turn 3: Wall of Denial
Turn 4: /lol
@Temple_Garden: Walls are very white. Cantripping (adding "draw a card" to a spell) is color-neutral. Hence, white is the best color for this, better than its original green. Card draw only counts as blue when you get a net gain of cards, not when you break even. Even then, it's not exactly an exclusive effect, just one that's mostly concentrated in blue.
it's a 0/4 Defender for 1W, when it comes in, you draw a card. Does anyone even analyze the cards? Kraken Hatchling is a very good 0/4 for U. You're paying 1 colorless more than Hatchling to draw a card and give the creature defender. Not at all impressive. Sorry. it's not that good. wake up guys.
I don"t think so.
Green is the creature-based color. Therefore Blue & Black should be the opposite. White & Green should be in between. Black has the best creature destruction spells and blue has the best creature denial effects. Therefore blue should rather use non-creature effects to stop attacking threats and therefore shouldn't use walls to stop creatures. (In my opinion, Puppeteer or a blue version of Goldmeadow Harrier would be a much better choice since it's proactive - you have to tap it before the creature attacks)
Red is the most aggressive color. Therefore Blue & White should be the opposite. Green & Black should be in between. (You could shift it towards Red & Green being the most aggressive colors, making Blue the direct opposite). Blue achieves this with counterspells, trading cards 1:1 to slow the game down. White should do the same in a more non-instant and reactive way. Walls are very reactive. They do nothing when you aren't attacked, creating no threat-potential. Toughness is reactive, since it only works on damage dealt (in contrast to tapping attackers // Pazifism). If green uses any wall, it should rather increase the game speed. The best example is the new Overgrown Battlement. If used, it increases speed due to the mana acceleration effect.
Red is the most random color. Therefore Blue & White should be the opposite. Green & Black should be in between. (you could shift it towards Red & Green being the most random colors, making Blue the direct opposite). Green should use "reveal the top card of your library" or "if the top card of your library is/has ...". Drawing cards is less random, cause you always get the bonus, but still quite random. That's why Blue should either use search (Drift of Phantasms) or library-sort effects (Sage of Epityr) instead of pure card draw.
Last but not least, blue and green are oppossing colors and therefore should create the opposite effect. That means that drawing cards doesn't really fulfill this criteria. IF they work together, the bonus should be more like a symbiosis between both colors with distint effects. In my opinion, the combination of a blue "search your library for *card*" and a green "get's +1/+1 for each other creature with *constraint*" would lead to effects similar to Momir Vig, Simic Visionary however with opposite color prerequisites (blue search & sort putting it on top, green revealing the top card (Call of the Wild-like))
Result:
Wall of Omen is perfectly white!
it's a 0/4 Defender for 1W, when it comes in, you draw a card. Does anyone even ***yze the cards? Kraken Hatchling is a very good 0/4 for U. You're paying 1 colorless more than Hatchling to draw a card and give the creature defender. Not at all impressive. Sorry. it's not that good. wake up guys.
In most cases cantrips are easily worth +1 mana (though not quite 2... probably something like 1.5ish), especially for a card designed for control. I can see aggro decks not caring to pay 1 mana for a cantrip (goblin guide at 2 mana for a cantrip would be kinda janky), but control will almost always pay 1 mana for 1 card.
having defender doesn't really matter, since kraken hatchling isn't ever attacking at 0 pow and blue isn't known for giving +pow.
4.5/5
4/5
So why am I posting that here?
Wall of Omens. Good chance you'll have it out by the time you get Vesner out. Exile Wall of Omens, it comes back in, you draw a card. Win. To put it into context, the same ability on Jace Beleren is -1, and a similar (yet better) ability on Jace, the Mind Sculptor yields no loyalty change.
Don't delude yourselves; it's not bad, but it's also not nearly as good as you make it out to be.
If so, 4.5/5
If not, 4.25/5
Fun to abuse in my mono white deck w/ Kor skyfisher , stonecloaker , and best of all, dust elemental
Mono white card draw! Yay!
Lapse of certainty and mana tithe
F**k you blue!
"You're paying {W} for a Steel Wall and {1} for the cantrip. There is no actual card advantage to be gained here, unless you're bouncing repeatedly with another effect, after which you must summon the wall again. (With the exception of Venser.)"
You're misunderstanding the concept of "card advantage." Card advantage doesn't mean "you start with N cards in your hand and end with N+1 (or more) cards in your hand." It's definition is "how efficiently a player is using his answers in relation to an opponent's threats." When you play this card, you end up with card advantage of 1 because you haven't really lost a card from you hand (you just turned Wall of Omens into something else, basically) and now you have a 0/4 defender in play on top of that. Assuming this is your turn 2 drop, you've gone from having 8 cards to work with (9 if you were on the draw) to having 9 cards to work with (10 if you were on the draw). That's card advantage, even though your hand never actually grew.
Another way to look at it is this: "Tempo" is defined as how quickly you can play threats. Wall of Omens, like all walls, slows your opponent down by giving them an extra hurdle to get over. However, unlike most walls, it doesn't slow down your own tempo (unless you really need another turn-2 drop, in which case just play the wall on turn 3 or 4) because unlike, say, Wall of Denial, running into this card doesn't make you take longer to reach your next threat. You draw it, play it, and then just pick up another card like you never even ran into Wall of Omens in the first place - except now you also have that 0/4 blocker out.
It's easier to notice the card advantage from cantrips with cards like Vedalken Archmage and the new Pursteel paladin since they turn an entire type (or subtype) into cantrips. Just play a few games with or against PSP and you'll see how much value you can get from cards that give you a draw when they come into play.
If it were blue I would give it 5/5. Instead is white, so 4/5. Don't get me wrong, this is a powerhouse that I would like so much to see in blue, but it's white, and I hate white because of its lots of removal and because it steals a lot of blue mechanics. White, go to hell...!
This card replaces itself, and gives you an 0/4 defender. Any card that replaces itself is worthy of consideration.