This card is amazing! It kills Chimney Imp and trades with Bloodbraid Elf, plus when it enters the battlefield you gain 3 whole life!. As if that weren't enough, it's invulnerable to Disfigure Edit: I was being sarcastic, Swiftgamer. I thought the Chimney Imp reference would cue people off. :)
TheSuperbloop
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(6 votes)
Strictly worse than Angel of Mercy. And that card wasn't even all that good, and certaninly not game breaking.
Complete trash.
Asinine-Ultimatum
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(7 votes)
... because Angel of Mercy was broken? *Sigh* I'd love to know why they did this.
Gaussgoat
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(3 votes)
This card is definitely not good, but it isn't total garbage. With bounce effects you get some lifegain, and it works, albeit very poorly, with a Cleric clan. At 5CC it is really poorly costed though.
It's strictly worse than many things, in fact. Like the much aforementioned Angel of Mercy, which has +1/+0 and flying...for no additional cost. Hence the "strictly," I suppose.
In terms of not-strictly-speaking-but-still-better cards, Tireless Missionaries costs {3} more than Temple Acolyte, which nets it a truly massive and game-breaking +1/+0. It is just a bit less color intensive than the recently printed Archon of Redemption, which has +1/+1, has flying, and synergizes well with many other cards. It is a single color, as compared to Rhox Bodyguard, which has exalted in exchange for its two-colored casting impossibility. And all these are still generally considered to be pretty bad.
If Tireless Missionaries cost {2}{W}, I'm still fairly sure it wouldn't see play in Constructed, but I think it would see a good amount of play in Limited. Only if it cost {1W} or {WW} could it see some play in Constructed. Even then, I think it'd be a long-shot.
reapersaurus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
sooooo.. WotC thinks that +0/+2 and 1 less life bonus is worth THREE mana?!? (compared to Lone Missionary)
Cheza
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
>>>sooooo.. WotC thinks that +0/+2 and 1 less life bonus is worth THREE mana?!? (compared to Lone Missionary)<<< R&D thinks that a Lightning Bolt and a Lava Axe both fit perfectly. +2 damage, no damage to creatures = +4 mana.
It's the try to change the Angel of Mercy into a common card, since white already had too many flyers. However, I would have replaced flying with vigilance to produce a difference worth reducing the rarity.
This is another prove that there is a rarity = power level correlation. And this means that mythics are there just for power creep & money reasons.
Wweenie
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Too expensive even if it does kill Chimney Imp and trades with Bloodbraid Elf, put it out for (5) then get doom Bladed or bolted next turn, that would make the hair on the back of my neck stand up..I like Lone Missionary 4 life and a deuce for mana....much better.
Minus_Prime
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(7 votes)
What, no Vigilance? Guess they weren't so tireless after all.
This is fairly priced at the same CMC as Baneslayer Angel for an equivalent card.
angelheartvial
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ha. It's flavor text = Jahovah's Witnesses.
kajillion
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(16 votes)
It's amazing how much better a lone missionary is than a bunch of them.
Axelle
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Why did they release this after Lone Missionary?
blindthrall
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@Ragamander: I'm going to have disagree about Archon of Redemption. That thing is a house for me.
Radagast
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"This is another prove that there is a rarity = power level correlation. And this means that mythics are there just for power creep & money reasons."
Exactly, and this annoys me. I understand that there could be problems with tossing around Baneslayers at common level, but this thing makes Angel of Mercy look powerful, and that Angel isn't all that great.
People pay money for booster packs - is it too much to ask for cards that are not totally laughable garbage?
NoobOfLore
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I enjoy being an advocate for cards below the curve, but this is really just sad to look at. It's unimpressive, overcosted, and the p/t is really distressingly below the curve. At I would consider using it under some conditions.
Comparing to Lone Missionary, this card got a whopping +0/+2 and -1 life for the low, low cost of 3 mana.
LordWalter
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
The only reason this has above a .5 is that some raters are unaware they can go below one-star.
Dolorosa
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Very, VERY nice art. Attached to an abysmal card. Poor art.
glovesforfoxes
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Just found a copy of this card whilst cleaning. Thought I'd come on here and have a laugh at the gatherer comments about how much it sucked. At time of writing, it has a lower rating than Wood Elemental by 0.015, ouch!
Swiftgamer18
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
That maybe true dudecrow but at cmc of 5 it's unplayable out side of limited really.
Edit: Wow. Two years later looking at this comment, I feel like the biggest idiot.
HuntingDrake
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Ragamander: I was about to post basically the exact same thing.
Also compare to Staunch Defenders: for -> you get +1/+1 and 1 life. Conclave Phalanx won't always gain you 3 life, but has +0/+1 and convoke. The comparison to Archon of Redemption is not even funny, but that's a rare.
Getting carried away now: Lone Missionaries would become a 2/2 for 5 life. Seems fair -- It has the same relationship to Radiant's Dragoons that Panther Warriors does to Winding Wurm. Kemba's Skyguard would become a 2/3 flyer for 3 life, also strictly worse than Angel of Mercy. Interesting... Devout Monk would become a 1/2 for 2 life. Haha, I could see them printing that in Masques!
Man, taking the tires off these missionaries really made them very poor.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is terrible, even for a "terrible on purpose to make the good ones look better" card. All this is doing, is making people question WotC and consider whether or not the next m11 booster is worth it.
Tighten up R&D, I never want to see another card get outclassed by already weak cards ever again.
Continue
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Currently the worst card to find a spot in a core set. I'm glad this only saw one printing — I can't imagine finding it in a pack now. It would be a waste of a card, even at common. Compare now to Cathedral Sanctifier. For more, all you're getting with this is +1/+2. Pathetic. Simply pathetic. 0.1/5
Aquillion
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@kajillion: Makes sense to me. A lone missionary is the real deal, tirelessly going to strange and foreign lands, learning their customs, and trying to teach them his own in turn, working himself to the bone to bring what he sees as the light of his faith to others, regardless of personal costs. He works alone because he doesn't need anyone else to see him doing his good work -- he knows it's the right thing to do in his heart, and that's all that matters.
These guys are posers. They're in it for the potluck dinners and to look respectable in front of their neighbors.
Comments (28)
Edit: I was being sarcastic, Swiftgamer. I thought the Chimney Imp reference would cue people off. :)
Complete trash.
1/5
It's strictly worse than many things, in fact. Like the much aforementioned Angel of Mercy, which has +1/+0 and flying...for no additional cost. Hence the "strictly," I suppose.
In terms of not-strictly-speaking-but-still-better cards, Tireless Missionaries costs {3} more than Temple Acolyte, which nets it a truly massive and game-breaking +1/+0. It is just a bit less color intensive than the recently printed Archon of Redemption, which has +1/+1, has flying, and synergizes well with many other cards. It is a single color, as compared to Rhox Bodyguard, which has exalted in exchange for its two-colored casting impossibility. And all these are still generally considered to be pretty bad.
If Tireless Missionaries cost {2}{W}, I'm still fairly sure it wouldn't see play in Constructed, but I think it would see a good amount of play in Limited. Only if it cost {1W} or {WW} could it see some play in Constructed. Even then, I think it'd be a long-shot.
R&D thinks that a Lightning Bolt and a Lava Axe both fit perfectly. +2 damage, no damage to creatures = +4 mana.
It's the try to change the Angel of Mercy into a common card, since white already had too many flyers. However, I would have replaced flying with vigilance to produce a difference worth reducing the rarity.
This is another prove that there is a rarity = power level correlation. And this means that mythics are there just for power creep & money reasons.
Exactly, and this annoys me. I understand that there could be problems with tossing around Baneslayers at common level, but this thing makes Angel of Mercy look powerful, and that Angel isn't all that great.
People pay money for booster packs - is it too much to ask for cards that are not totally laughable garbage?
It's unimpressive, overcosted, and the p/t is really distressingly below the curve.
At
Comparing to Lone Missionary, this card got a whopping +0/+2 and -1 life for the low, low cost of 3 mana.
Edit: Wow. Two years later looking at this comment, I feel like the biggest idiot.
Angel of Mercy and Shu Soldier-Farmers are surprisingly the only two strictly-better creatures.
Also compare to Staunch Defenders: for
Conclave Phalanx won't always gain you 3 life, but has +0/+1 and convoke.
The comparison to Archon of Redemption is not even funny, but that's a rare.
It has exactly the same relationship to Venerable Monk that Teroh's Faithful does to Temple Acolyte: +
Getting carried away now:
Lone Missionaries would become a
Kemba's Skyguard would become a
Devout Monk would become a
Edit: Whoops, forgot Peace Strider.
Tighten up R&D, I never want to see another card get outclassed by already weak cards ever again.
These guys are posers. They're in it for the potluck dinners and to look respectable in front of their neighbors.