this card needs an updated version that's an assassin/rogue type
John-Bender
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"Spellshaper"? WTF does that have to do with him? He should just be an Assassin like his name implies.
EDIT: Just noticed he is now consider a, "Human Spellshaper Assassin" :P
Elysiume
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Spellshaper applies to all of the creatures with abilities that include discarding a card, e.g., Mageta the Lion.
Mudbutt_on
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Bah, by the time you've killed your first creature you've invested 2 cards and 7mana. And with a 2/2 vanilla body I would not expect him to last long. Just horrible.
Remember, that Masques Block followed the aggressive Tempest and combo-ridden Urza Blocks...this era in Magic was considerably slower in play, and the Spellshapers were printed in that environment probably because their slow nature was less a liablilty and made up for in their versatility. I am so glad to see their even brief return in Time Spiral Block, as their versatility is a boon to casual multiplayer formats, and it imrpoves my selection when building my admittedly too many Spellshaper Tribal decks. They were a great idea executed nicely, and this Dark Banishing machine got beastly in Limited, having pulled a few.
Avatar of Woe, printed two sets later, is of course more powerful, but considering the gap between it and the other Avatars, its unfair to judge it alongside, as balance was not maintained in this case (This is not a complaint against the card, just relative to the environment it was printed in). That said, Notorious Assassin covers his cost over two(or more) turns, meaning he is more reliably placed on the board in early game.
Doom_Lich
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@ Exuberance:
Because strictly most definitely doesn't mean "Better in every situation" it just means subjectively better. You're a nitwit.
Kirbster
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Notice the building he's in is covered with wanted posters displaying his likeness. Notorious, indeed!
Wormfang
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
definitly not "Strictly worse" than AoW. He can come out sooner meaning more kills, he can even be used to set up cheap casting AoW. Also works neatly in a madness deck.
Baconradar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hmm. He really needs his creature type updated to human assassin spellshaper. Or they could just get rid of the slightly silly spellshaper creature type.
Kryptnyt
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
He looks bad compared to some other assassins, but as a spellshaper for a halfway decent spell, he's not going to be terrible in black madness...
Yozuk
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Exuberance
I want to discard my cards though. Avatar doesn't let me discard. I WANT to discard! Besides, If I had this I would put both in the same deck. I would only play it in Commander. So this isn't strictly worse because its effect is something that I want.
Comments (13)
EDIT: Just noticed he is now consider a, "Human Spellshaper Assassin" :P
Avatar of Woe, printed two sets later, is of course more powerful, but considering the gap between it and the other Avatars, its unfair to judge it alongside, as balance was not maintained in this case (This is not a complaint against the card, just relative to the environment it was printed in). That said, Notorious Assassin covers his cost over two(or more) turns, meaning he is more reliably placed on the board in early game.
Because strictly most definitely doesn't mean "Better in every situation" it just means subjectively better. You're a nitwit.
I want to discard my cards though. Avatar doesn't let me discard. I WANT to discard! Besides, If I had this I would put both in the same deck. I would only play it in Commander. So this isn't strictly worse because its effect is something that I want.