... because fighting fire with fire would have been too obvious.
SIlverSkyz
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(6 votes)
I hate turbo land. It is so boring to play against. Four, straight to my side board.
stratoscythe
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(4 votes)
For those people who hate green player that constantly mana ramping
Minus_Prime
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(7 votes)
Anti-Primeval Titan. Figures the titan's ability had to be optional..
Leonin_Kha_Cameron
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Warp World. you get just one of these guys and your opponent is taking a hand full of damage. get 2 Tunnel Ignuses and it's gg if the other guy got at least 4 lands.
WhiteyMcFly
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Valakut was getting it good in this set... Might as well put in a great hoser. Even better in legacy for punishing fetchlands.
agentdynamo
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(10 votes)
Wizards is pushing it with the innuendo here...
nineyears
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i like this card. anti-primeval titan yeah maybe. dont forget about lightning bolt and pyroclasm and valakut it self. yeah you may hold'em down for a few turns, but what about wurmcoil engine with the lifelink?
valakut still strong if i didnt get better. there's not a lot of spot removal that will kill a primeval before he attacks. and with summing trap being cast at the end of ur turn into a primeval is a lot of damage.
da-odd-templar
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I don't understand the people hating on the card. Not every rare will be a very splash effect. This is a 2/1 for 1R which is already good enough to see play in aggresive Red decks in many Standard formats - the ability is actually really nice against the decks Red decks usually have problems against. Really nice card, does what it does well.
ss4_link
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(10 votes)
"Is it just me or does Tunnel Ignus sound dirty?"
"Well, kind of, let me put it like this: What if they made a card called Melatio Elemental."
Leshrac_Nightwalker
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
When I commented to a friend that I would be pleased to open "almost any rare in this set" at the prerelease, he pointed this out almost right away.
Admittedly, the only thing that came to mind was that this'd be a way to make New Frontiers much less enticing for your opponent(s). Making the card a little more one-sided is good... still don't really want to open one of these in a sealed event, though.
-EDIT-
@Wraique: Brutal. =(
Re: innuendo - well, it's not an "INGUS"... it's an "IGNUS". I didn't make the association until I read agentdynamo's comment. Of course, that might speak more to my naiveté than to the hope that the association was unintentional.
Ph1005
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If I play Realm Razor and kill it with a Tunnel Ignus on my side, do all the lands trigger it or does another land have to come in before? Let this card be a win condition in my realm razor landfall combo deck, please, please! Oh wait, I can just wait for the player to put a land in himself and just bolt realm razer on his turn anyway... Oooohhhhh :) I love this card instantly: 4 life painlands! I thought about using it against Valakut ramp but it's an easy lightning bolt target :(
Stray_Dog
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Next step down: Carnel Ingus
1stofsevensteps
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I don't think I'll ever see this come up in Constructed, but suppose you are playing this little innuendo against Valakut Ramp when they attempt to go off. That's when you respond with Tainted Strike.
The last two poison counters are left as an exercise for the reader.
allmighty_abacus
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Man, just when I was really liking my valakut deck. It should be priced {R}{R}! It's too splashable otherwise. Oh well.
I could see most decks sideboarding 4 to hose landfall or valakut decks. Once zendikar rotates out I imagine this card not being anywhere near as useful.
gos
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(7 votes)
@Ph1005:
Rule 603.6a reads, in part: "Each time an event puts one or more permanents onto the battlefield, all permanents on the battlefield (including the newcomers) are checked for any enters-the-battlefield triggers that match the event."
So, if Tunnel Ignus and Realm Razer are on the battlefield, and the Razer leaves, its leave-the-battlefield triggered ability triggers and eventually resolves, causing an event which puts all the lands it originally exiled onto the battlefield.
At this point, all permanents on the battlefield are check for triggers. The Ignus sees lands entering the battlefied under an opponent's control, and, since its triggered ability has an intervening-if clause, we immediately check that to see whether the ability triggers. The Ignus asks, when checking the ability possibly triggered by Land A entering the battlefield, "Has another land entered the battlefield under the control of you controller this turn?" Land A looks to its right, sees Land B, and says: "Sure has!" and so the Ignus' triggered ability goes on the stack. Then the Ignus, when checking the ability possibly triggered by Land B entering the battlefield, "but has another land entered the battlefield under the control of your controller this turn?" Land B looks to its left, sees Land A, and replies: "Sure looks like it." ...
In short, if X lands enter the battlefield under an opponent's control at the same time, Tunnel Ignus' ability will trigger X times.
Tanaka348
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
God, my play group runs so many fetch lands this card is going to be bonkers for me.
Internet_decks_lame
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If it were a one drop with a 1/1 body... that would look nicer. But 2 drop is still pretty good.
Very effective card vs land fetch in the legacy format. Not only does your oppoent pay 1 life for the fetch (for ex:Windswept Heath) but now they eat 3 more once the new land replaces it. Coupling this with Magus of the Moon offers a lot of disruption in the messy non-basic land formats. If you examine a lot of legacy decks... they all run minimum 4 fetch, some running up to 8! If this Ignus effect cracks even twice, thats 8 of your opponents life! Imagine 2 of these on the board... one fetch costs them 7 life...
4/5
Wraique
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(13 votes)
Tunnel Ignus? Sexual innuendo? I don't get it. Surely you can't think it's phonetically similar to '***'. Someone explain this to me :P
@ Leshrac_Nightwalker: Tunnel Ignus was the first rare I pulled at prerelease sealed draft. I ended up building three completely different decks. Got shafted hard >.<
Edit: Tunnel Ignus was also the rare I pulled in my first booster, in my first game of booster draft. Tunnel Ignus, I appreciate that you have a place in some sideboards, and you combo nicely with a couple of cards, BUT YOU ARE UNPLAYABLE IN LIMITED PLEASE GET AWAY FROM ME I WILL NEVER LOVE YOU.
Croquette
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@gos
Doesn't the "had another land enter the battlefield" sentence mean that the player has to do it himself? I mean, the Realm Razor makes you put the land back to the battlefield, so did the opponent "have the lands enter the battlefield" or is it you that had his lands enter it?
Maybe it is just about me understanding english :p
Ninjakraken
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(2 votes)
PERFECT AGAINST ALL THOSE 2 COLOR Arid Mesa-esqe lands
shadmed
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Sup, Valakut and Landfall?
Axelle
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(6 votes)
You'd think this would be printed in Zendikar block.
The problem with New Frontiers and Veteran Explorer is that they contain the clause may. Nobody has to search their library, and chances are nobody will. It may put you a couple lands over another player, but then you aren't using this card very well, now are you?
You're better bet is the new Collective Voyage which demands players search their libraries for up to X lands. Even though, again, chances are they'll only look for 1 screwing your ignus over.
CallmeMerry
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
For some tribal shenannigans, this + Fertilid do quite well together because the ability isn't optional and you can pay the mana cost to do it on the opponent's turn, so if the play a land, you pay four mana and hit them for 6. If you can follow up the Ignus with an Invader Parasite, against mono decks, you will rack up an additional 6 (again, assuming they played a land). Clear the Land can work quite well, but is a bit of a gamble, but will usually hit them at least once. If you are up to going blue, Parallax Tide can decimate an opponent after a few turns, especially if you can bounce it back to your hand and recast it the following turn.
Kryptnyt
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@Wraique I've taken late Tunnel Ignus in draft before. Sometimes your deck just needs more goblin pikers.
OmegaSerris
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
While it's flavorful for to hate lands in all forms, it's weird for a card to hose only an ally color. Scars was like that though, see Koth's Courier and Glissa's Courier. There are one or two in that nab plains but really, this was aimed directly at . More specifically, Primeval Titan, the only reason this saw sideboards besides maybe to make fetches more painful.
@CallMeMerry When searching, a player can choose not to pull a card. Rulings on Fertilid: 4/1/2008 Although the targeted player doesn't need to find a basic land card if he or she doesn't want to, that player must shuffle his or her library.
It would be like trying to combo-mill a player by giving them control of Consecrated Sphinx. Sure, you could try and BS a new player but realistically, it will NOT work.
And now we have Ancient Grudge. You know, I think that the point of these cards would have to be "FUCK YO OLDASS PREVIOUS SETS! OUR SHIT IS TIGHTER!" or along those lines. Useful, but really painful to draft.
Tunnel Ignus...this can be fun, but should be part of a wider strategy. Otherwise, you're just whistling in the dark.
Lash_of_Dragonbreath
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Realm Razer. That works, right? Since all the lands ETB at the same time, this will deal a bazillion damage to each opponent.
Also, punishing people for playing with fetchlands. Sweet.
Just control your opponents hand by forcing them to discard or exile any 1, 2, or 3 mana cost cards so that they are forced to lay lands to put down more powerful cards. Then once they get a few more lands out start force discarding or exiling more expensive cards. If you can keep their board clear or mostly clear you can swing with the Ignus and Witch and whatever sacable critters you have to ping them down a notch or two. You can use beckon apparition to permanently remove cards from their graveyard to produce tokens to fuel your Thoughtpicker.
flavioal28
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I didn't like this card much when I first found it in a booster, but it can serve really well in a mana acceleration deck. You can use New Frontiers to put five lands under your control, while your opponent can do the same by taking Tunnel Ingus' ability to the face
Cubozoan
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Tunnel Ignus is a bit of a tricky card to work with, since unless you get clever, he'll only pull his weight against decks with rampant growth style ramp and/or fetchlands. Johnnies looking to build around Tunnel Ignus, though, would do well to consider cards like Ghost Quarter* and Veteran Explorer, as well as New Frontiers, and Collective Journey (which serve as nifty kill cards). You could even throw a playset of Ignuses (Igni?) into a Warp World deck alongside the usual Landfall abusers: According to this guy's rulings, the Ignus will trigger off of ALL the lands the warp gives to your opponent**.
Me, I intend to build a deck with a playset of these and its cousin, Grinning Ignus, with Lorwyn Block elemental support (including the latter Ignus's good buddy Brighthearth Banneret). A full set of Rites of Flourishing will help keep my hand full and my manabase plentiful, while the Tunnel Igni will punish my opponent for taking extra land drops themselves. The Grinning Ignus / Banneret combo, as well as repeated activations of Soulbright Flamekin can pump Ceaseless Searblades into kill range, and Collective Journey will either land the finishing blow (if I control a Tunnel Ignus) or, failing that, set the stage for a game-ending Fireball.
Anyways, I'd say that Tunnel Ignus deserves a 3.5 or 4 out of 5: He's a bit narrow, but you can definitely get results in a deck built around him, and failing that, a 2/1 for 1R isn't terrible.
*Activated at end of turns on which the opponent played a land, ideally. **That's assuming you got an ignus off of the warp, of course.
Comments (42)
It is so boring to play against.
Four, straight to my side board.
valakut still strong if i didnt get better. there's not a lot of spot removal that will kill a primeval before he attacks. and with summing trap being cast at the end of ur turn into a primeval is a lot of damage.
"Well, kind of, let me put it like this: What if they made a card called Melatio Elemental."
Admittedly, the only thing that came to mind was that this'd be a way to make New Frontiers much less enticing for your opponent(s). Making the card a little more one-sided is good... still don't really want to open one of these in a sealed event, though.
-EDIT-
@Wraique: Brutal. =(
Re: innuendo - well, it's not an "INGUS"... it's an "IGNUS". I didn't make the association until I read agentdynamo's comment. Of course, that might speak more to my naiveté than to the hope that the association was unintentional.
The last two poison counters are left as an exercise for the reader.
I could see most decks sideboarding 4 to hose landfall or valakut decks. Once zendikar rotates out I imagine this card not being anywhere near as useful.
Rule 603.6a reads, in part: "Each time an event puts one or more permanents onto the battlefield, all permanents on the battlefield (including the newcomers) are checked for any enters-the-battlefield triggers that match the event."
So, if Tunnel Ignus and Realm Razer are on the battlefield, and the Razer leaves, its leave-the-battlefield triggered ability triggers and eventually resolves, causing an event which puts all the lands it originally exiled onto the battlefield.
At this point, all permanents on the battlefield are check for triggers. The Ignus sees lands entering the battlefied under an opponent's control, and, since its triggered ability has an intervening-if clause, we immediately check that to see whether the ability triggers. The Ignus asks, when checking the ability possibly triggered by Land A entering the battlefield, "Has another land entered the battlefield under the control of you controller this turn?" Land A looks to its right, sees Land B, and says: "Sure has!" and so the Ignus' triggered ability goes on the stack. Then the Ignus, when checking the ability possibly triggered by Land B entering the battlefield, "but has another land entered the battlefield under the control of your controller this turn?" Land B looks to its left, sees Land A, and replies: "Sure looks like it." ...
In short, if X lands enter the battlefield under an opponent's control at the same time, Tunnel Ignus' ability will trigger X times.
Very effective card vs land fetch in the legacy format. Not only does your oppoent pay 1 life for the fetch (for ex:Windswept Heath) but now they eat 3 more once the new land replaces it. Coupling this with Magus of the Moon offers a lot of disruption in the messy non-basic land formats. If you examine a lot of legacy decks... they all run minimum 4 fetch, some running up to 8! If this Ignus effect cracks even twice, thats 8 of your opponents life! Imagine 2 of these on the board... one fetch costs them 7 life...
4/5
@ Leshrac_Nightwalker: Tunnel Ignus was the first rare I pulled at prerelease sealed draft. I ended up building three completely different decks. Got shafted hard >.<
Edit: Tunnel Ignus was also the rare I pulled in my first booster, in my first game of booster draft. Tunnel Ignus, I appreciate that you have a place in some sideboards, and you combo nicely with a couple of cards, BUT YOU ARE UNPLAYABLE IN LIMITED PLEASE GET AWAY FROM ME I WILL NEVER LOVE YOU.
Doesn't the "had another land enter the battlefield" sentence mean that the player has to do it himself?
I mean, the Realm Razor makes you put the land back to the battlefield, so did the opponent "have the lands enter the battlefield" or is it you that had his lands enter it?
Maybe it is just about me understanding english :p
Also, Path to Exile.
You're better bet is the new Collective Voyage which demands players search their libraries for up to X lands. Even though, again, chances are they'll only look for 1 screwing your ignus over.
I've taken late Tunnel Ignus in draft before. Sometimes your deck just needs more goblin pikers.
@CallMeMerry
When searching, a player can choose not to pull a card. Rulings on Fertilid:
4/1/2008 Although the targeted player doesn't need to find a basic land card if he or she doesn't want to, that player must shuffle his or her library.
It would be like trying to combo-mill a player by giving them control of Consecrated Sphinx. Sure, you could try and BS a new player but realistically, it will NOT work.
Also, muahhahahahahahahaahahahahhahaaaaaaaaaaa... Collective Voyage...
Also, punishing people for playing with fetchlands. Sweet.
Thoughtpicker Witch
Duress
Despise
Distress
Beckon Apparition
Just control your opponents hand by forcing them to discard or exile any 1, 2, or 3 mana cost cards so that they are forced to lay lands to put down more powerful cards. Then once they get a few more lands out start force discarding or exiling more expensive cards. If you can keep their board clear or mostly clear you can swing with the Ignus and Witch and whatever sacable critters you have to ping them down a notch or two. You can use beckon apparition to permanently remove cards from their graveyard to produce tokens to fuel your Thoughtpicker.
Me, I intend to build a deck with a playset of these and its cousin, Grinning Ignus, with Lorwyn Block elemental support (including the latter Ignus's good buddy Brighthearth Banneret). A full set of Rites of Flourishing will help keep my hand full and my manabase plentiful, while the Tunnel Igni will punish my opponent for taking extra land drops themselves. The Grinning Ignus / Banneret combo, as well as repeated activations of Soulbright Flamekin can pump Ceaseless Searblades into kill range, and Collective Journey will either land the finishing blow (if I control a Tunnel Ignus) or, failing that, set the stage for a game-ending Fireball.
Anyways, I'd say that Tunnel Ignus deserves a 3.5 or 4 out of 5: He's a bit narrow, but you can definitely get results in a deck built around him, and failing that, a 2/1 for 1R isn't terrible.
*Activated at end of turns on which the opponent played a land, ideally.
**That's assuming you got an ignus off of the warp, of course.
Had it said "goes to the graveyard" it'd hose fetches, harrow, and buff land destruction to uber levels (so I wish they had done that.)
R/B Pox would've been so cool.