This could work in the right deck. I'm willing to give it a spin in my merfolk islandwalk deck.
Pramxnim
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Early game wall into lategame beatdown with evasion. I'll play it.
DonRoyale
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Don't ever underestimate this thing. This and Time of Heroes makes it go from a harmless 0/3 into a near-impregnable 2/8 fortress for a mere 2 mana. And it will live in Limited long enough to become a nearly-unstoppable 8/8. At the very least, it trades with Ulamog's Crusher, which is more important than most would think it is.
@Telecaster - Yes, you can. Level up is an activated ability, look at the reminder text.
Anywho, this card was freaking awesome at pre-release and I'll admit I underestimated it when it was spoiled. It won't see much play outside of ROE limited, but I've seen it win boosters, so I'm happy with it. Early game wall, late game killer.
xhillx
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Not to start a huge debate but yes u can defiantly use training grounds with this card. I did it today in the pre-release and it works wonders. 4.5/5
Sprogoel
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@Telecaster & Lmprm13 it actually does work with Training Grounds. But it only reduces the leveling cost to , as Activated abilities of creatures you control cost up to less to activate
Lmpm13
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@WrathofAnima - Telecaster was right, Training Grounds can't reduce the cost to less than 1 mana.
Seems interesting. The evasion makes it good in long games and the cost isn't too high.
EDIT - Sprogoel, thanks for correcting me. YOU CAN USE TRAINING GROUNDS BUT IT WILL REDUCE IT TO 1 INSTEAD. Sorry for my mistake...
Telecaster
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
wow, thanks for the clarification! that just made Training Grounds one of my favorite cards of all time! =)
For my islandwalk deck, I'm torn between this or Serpent of the Endless Sea. The only reason it's a decision is that I run Rite of Replication to great effect, and that's useless with these guys. But High Tide is so exploitable!
RafiqTheMiststalker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Same cost as Storm Crow who starts with evasion...?
No, but seriously. This is pretty cool. The level ups are a nice addition to Magic. I'd like to see the keyword survive. And I'm loving the merfolk tribalism in Zendi block.
Cheza
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In limited, this is VERY useful. Most walls have a toughness of 4, making any attacker with power 4 very useful. However, I would have made a white version instead, since it rather feels a bit odd, that blue focus on toughness that much. Very good for a blue pauper star deck as well. (the first option to block green fatties)
yesnomu
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy was my MVP blue creature during the prerelease. Great cheap common, and makes the transition from wall into beatdown right when I need it. Gamewinner with Drake Umbra.
BlackAlbino
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I seriously underestimated this card. I looked at it and said "meh too expensive for a 6/6" I didn't think about its first two levels, or its islandwalk. I finally decided to put into my new merfolk deck as a filler card. I enjoyed destroying my opponent's green fattie deck with 3 shots to the face. ( already dud 4 damage earlier) now i use a playable set in my deck
nimzo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
At first glance, i'll put these instead of Maritime Guard in a "Deadspread Proliferate" deck.
Shiizu
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Pretty cool defensive guy. The reason to play him is his versatility. You'll play him as early defense early in the game. Later on, when you run out of things to do with your mana, you can turn him into a guy that is big enough to make an impact. Or a win condition if they're playing islands.
Imperialstonedragon
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
better then maritime guard
Ava_Adore
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really like this, turn 2 wall, turn 3 to 4 big wall, Turn 5 Beat stick.
its a solid card that you can play in multicolor, sure it doesn't give you an extra turn every other turn, or triple your spells, but it wont attract too much attention either.
PretzelBraids
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really dig these Level Up monsters.
Lash_of_Dragonbreath
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ludevic's Test Subject one-ups this. Still very good, though. 0/3 for three, 0/6 for four and, eventually, 6/6 with islandwalk for twelve.
I've used it a lot in an islandwalk deck, gets good results when called on. Early game it blocks like a champ, and late game, after my other spells have run out of gas, suddenly hits like a truck.
Comments (22)
Plus, well...shameless plugin of Venerated Teacher XD
Anywho, this card was freaking awesome at pre-release and I'll admit I underestimated it when it was spoiled. It won't see much play outside of ROE limited, but I've seen it win boosters, so I'm happy with it. Early game wall, late game killer.
it actually does work with Training Grounds. But it only reduces the leveling cost to
Activated abilities of creatures you control cost up to
Seems interesting. The evasion makes it good in long games and the cost isn't too high.
EDIT - Sprogoel, thanks for correcting me. YOU CAN USE TRAINING GROUNDS BUT IT WILL REDUCE IT TO 1 INSTEAD. Sorry for my mistake...
Riding a Calcite Snapper
No, but seriously. This is pretty cool. The level ups are a nice addition to Magic. I'd like to see the keyword survive. And I'm loving the merfolk tribalism in Zendi block.
I didn't think about its first two levels, or its islandwalk. I finally decided to put into my new merfolk deck as a filler card. I enjoyed destroying my opponent's green fattie deck with 3 shots to the face. ( already dud 4 damage earlier) now i use a playable set in my deck
turn 2 wall,
turn 3 to 4 big wall,
Turn 5 Beat stick.
its a solid card that you can play in multicolor, sure it doesn't give you an extra turn every other turn, or triple your spells, but it wont attract too much attention either.
Still very good, though. 0/3 for three, 0/6 for four and, eventually, 6/6 with islandwalk for twelve.