Pretty usefull in the right deck. A 2/2 for five isin't that great, but the fact that you could get a Progenitus or Emrakul when it dies makes it alright.
Colmblack
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Fantastic for getting out that large mana costed creature. Will be very welcome in my U/R Eldrazi deck :)
BigK42
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Eh. I'm not feeling it. Too expensive for what it does.
ZEvilMustache
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Wasn't hot in limited, but I can see it being a lot of fun in the right casual/constructed deck.
Lateralis0ne
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm interested to see where this goes. Could be incredible, could be mediocre.
Guess it'll depend on the Standard environment once Scars officially kicks in.
I like the card, though. {5} is a steep price to pay for the initial package, but considering something of great value could crack the casing on it, you might get a great return on your investment for a 2/2.
I could see Carnifax Demon being good with this, as well as some of the more expensive {G} beasties that have come out. And the Standard environment will of course have Eldrazi, the Baneslayer, and others.
LTJZamboni
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I like how this basically reads Imprint--Hideaway.
I think this may have applications in constructed. 4/5
majinara
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(6 votes)
I don't like it that much, simply because the ability has been there this way too often. So for my taste: too boring. 2/2 for 5 sucks as well, and it's mostly useless unless you are lucky or stacked your library. Not to mention that when the shapeshifter is bounced or exiled or whatever, you also lose the imprinted card permanently. 1.5/5
__Silence__
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hello Reclaim nice to meet you I think me and you are gonna become really good friends soon
pistolsforpandas
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(10 votes)
Hello Clone Shell, meet Sarkhan the Mad. Pay five for a 5/5 flyer plus a big beefy critter? Yes please.
Kryptnyt
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(7 votes)
Eats Lightning (bolts) and craps thunder(mare?)
TheKeiser
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Far too likely to pay 5 mana for a vanilla 2/2 and a Memnite so my initial reaction is "meh."
Goods: 2/2 and not a defender. Most artifacts/creatures with this type of ability have 0 power, are defenders, or aren't even creatures period. Start slapping some +power artifacts (Darksteel Axe / Ogre's Cleaver) on this to force your opponent to block it. If you know there's something sweet underneath.
Pulls the card from the top 4 of the library as opposed to your hand. Summoner's Egg pulls a card out of your hand, but this doesn't give you card disadvantage if it gets exiled instead of killed.
Bads: 2/2 and not a defender. Let's face it, they might shake a bit at the fear of what's underneath, but they're not gonna be in a rush to kill a 2/2. Unless you've hit them before they'll have 10 turns to get any kind of threat out.
Pulls the card from the top 4 of the library as opposed to your hand. Who knows what it could be, you might pull up 3 Cancels and an Island. Unless you're playing a deck where half the cards in it are absolute bombs, you're very likely to get very little out of your investment. Most of the time, you'll probably break even, sometimes you'll win the game with it, and some games you'll get a Little Girl.
Ultimately the weakness of this card is its unreliability, just like all the terrible red rare spells that keep getting printed (hi Cerebral Eruption, the card I want to love). Play a deck with 8 tutors and 4 Liliana Vess and you'll be fine, but any other deck will be pulling their hair out with cards like these.
klieb
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I have a quetion
if i imprint a icroclaw rats on to this card, than sacrifice this to throne of geth would the rats come in to play then ploiferant. i this so because i sac the clone cause in the poliferate to go on the stack then the clone would go to the graveyard causeing the rats to come in to play then the ploiferate would happen.
( and yes this happen to me at the prerlease)
NARFNra
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
essentially two cards for the price of... two. A 2/2 for 5 is really kinda meh, but if you copy a good card you can speed the game up nicely.
SleetFox
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I use this in my Eldrazi deck. I also have two Sarkhan the Mads, which works in my favor a lot. This guy is usually a bit of a risk at five mana, but in a deck that can make lots of mana it's a decent potential accelerator.
Doom_Lich
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Needs the right support to be effective in limited. Shape Anew is effective, Scrapdiver Serpent is probably the single best common bomb, so perhaps blue does have a legitimate limited deck. Just grab sac outlets like Culling Dais/Throne of Geth, and you have a decent deck. When possible grab Solitons and Heavy Arbalest, since that's an almost instant wincon.
See, blue isn't as bad as you thought. You were just looking at it wrong.
darkrai88
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I used this today with only 4 islands and a Palladium Myr on the field. It was killed defending a 4/1 the next turn, and I brought out a Myr Battlesphere to swing for an uncontested 14 damage.
its not a bad card for big mana costing cards, but if you get a "Crystal ball" out on the feild, it could work
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love Hideaway. I like Sarkhan the Mad. I agree with pistolsforpandas on making 5/5 dudes and potentially getting a nice critter for free as well.
MasterOfEtherium
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Baby Shrapnel ; )
SeiberTross
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(9 votes)
This works so well with Artisan of Kozilek. Put a 10/9 Annihilator 2 out, and then get Clone Shell to do it again.
drodalpha
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm wondering, what would happen if Clone Shell was returned to your hand and then cast again? It would exile a second card, and when it entered the graveyard, would both exiled creatures come into play or only the second?
Also, @SeiberTross: Artisan of Kozilek has to be cast to get the creature from your graveyard, so putting him into play from exile by a Clone Shell wouldn't work.
HairlessThoctar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
MEAT PUPPET!
ImpliedQuotient
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The fact that it's a 2/2 that can turn into a nasty creature surprise almost seems like a tribute to morph creatures.
Almost.
Fanaticmogg
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@drodalpha: Whenever you cast a card, it's treated as if it is a totally different card. So it won't remember any cards imprinted on it except the most recent one.
tcollins
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
As a Shapeshifter, this guy has some serious synergy with Precursor Golem. Your opponents won't be so quick to Doom Blade a Precursor Golem if it means risking flipping over whatever is hidden under the clone shell. Best chump blocker ever.
ToAsTy42o
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Oh i got it, i thought you all meant to exile Sarkhan the Mad and imprint HIM. you were all refering to his second ability to sacrifice the clone shell, which would allow you to put a 5/5 dragon out, PLUS go through the top 4 blah blah blah nm! i wish i could remove my comments. But still, that would take 5 mana to get out Sarkhan the Mad, PLUS 5 mana to get out the clone shell.
I would rather use this guy to get out an Eldrazi.
The deck im working on is mono blue (standard) and has: 4 Everflowing Chalices, a bunch of proliferate helpers, basic blue control, 8 Huge eldrazi, and two of these guys
SpencerDub
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@tcollins - There's not really that much interaction between Precursor Golem and Clone Shell. You seem to be confusing the Shapeshifter creature type for the changeling ability that many Shapeshifter creatures from the Lorwyn block, like Mirror Entity, had. Creature cards with changeling are every creature type at every time, yes, but Shapeshifter creatures do not automatically have changeling. Clone Shell doesn't have changeling, so it is a Shapeshifter creature and only a Shapeshifter creature, not any other creature type (like Golem).
Magic cards are very specific, especially in recent years. Cards tend to do exactly what their current Oracle wording says, no more, and no less. "Shapeshifter" doesn't imply "every creature type," just like "Wall" no longer implies "can't attack," and the "Legend" creature type no longer has any rules baggage (instead, that's been shifted to the Legendary supertype). Having the Shapeshifter creature type means only that the creature is a "Shapeshifter," but that doesn't inherently mean anything more than any other creature type does; just like "Bird" doesn't automatically mean flying (see Whippoorwill), or "Elf" doesn't automatically imply mana abilities (see Cylian Elf).
krauser-gogetthegirl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i pulled two of these in my first scars fat pack. i was ***ed. then i played with them. i really underestimated this guy. its gotten to the point my playgroup will just let him attack through because of what he might flip lol.
@Spencerdub- thanks for clearing that up i wasnt sure what the hell tcollins was talking about with the precursor golem
@tcollins- dont get down because you confused the changeling keyword with the shapeshifter creature type. way to think outside the box. thats where the best ideas come from.
Tempted_Johnny
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Tried to combo this with Nim Deathmantle and Pawn of Ulamog x4 with sacrifice engine in place... too complicated to ever pull off, but the theoretical result would be to put all your library's creatures onto the battlefield and then to stack the remainder (if necessary at that point).
CarlosLiberated
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I like putting one of these in the 5 slot in my Birthing Pod deck. Sac it for a Titan plus whatever creature you nabbed with the imprint. If it doesn't work, the deck can recover. If it works, it's usually game over. I also run Acidic Slime and Vengeful Pharaoh so if it doesn't look like I'll be able to take advantage of it I just nab something else. And if Glissa, The Traitor is out, I can retrieve it after a turn or two.
It can be useful because they will often not block it, or kill, because they expect the worse. Even though it might just be a Llanowar Elf imprinted on it.
2 Heartless Summonings on deck "Why yes! Yes I do think I'll dig in my deck for a 6+ cmc creature for 1! Thankyou very much!" ^_^
shotoku64
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Why are most people only seeing a 2/2 for ? This guy is two cards for the price of one. You get a 2/2 (which is a decent one-for-one creature), then something else pops out (that you got to choose from the top of your deck). Plus, the creature that comes out can't be countered! Definitely my favorite card that I own.
Very nice with Sheoldred, Whispering One. I have a sacrifice deck with World Queller, and it's really good, until somebody steals this and sacs it when you have Sheoldred under it...
Body Snatcher is so much better because it makes you to select a card from your hand to discard to play it (which you can bring back with it's effect), Body Snatcher lets you take ANY card from the graveyard.
In comparison, this card is way worse, but that is because of the flexibility (colorwise)
MindAblaze
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My glissapod deck really liked the idea of this card, and yes, while in practice it's nice to pod into a sun Titan, recurring something fun, it rarely happens that the clone shell flips into elesh norn or sheoldred or anything other than an accelerator. Or worst yet, two pods and two lands...swing and a miss... Meh, still fun in casual, too random for competitive.
SeiberTross: It didn't get cast, which makes Artisan of Kozilek just a 10/9 with Annihilator 2...
OH BOY, IS THAT ALL?
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Obvious comparison with Summoner's Egg. The egg is more reliable (since you can work out ahead of time what you're trying to put under there), but this one doesn't give card disadvantage and can be used with top of library fixers in some situations that the egg can't. Overall, similar effects that play surprisingly differently.
Oh, and compare to the Hideaway mechanic from Lorwyn. Interesting!
jeremywar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Didn't anyone ever think of blinking this guy? If you keep blinking it you can rack up a stack of creatures. Then blow him up to play all for free!
Step 1: Exile Phage the Untouchable Step 2: Donate Step 3: Break it open Step 4: Laugh while your opponent swears uncontrollably
bay_falconer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Eldrazi love it!
alzabo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This could have easily cost 4 and not be broken.
Iam_IronMan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"Every day I'm shufflin'."
A_Real_Travesty
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Played a mean psychological game knowing my opponent was going to try out his new stealing deck. Played a U/B artifact deck and laid down Summoner's Egg with Bronze Bombshell. Opponent proceeded take possession of it and crack it open, only to swear at me when it blew up. I snickered and waited for him to pass the turn, where I then dropped Clone Shell and picked a card to slip under him. My opponent gave me a look and threw a couple bolts at it, whereupon it popped and revealed that I had just exiled another Summoner's Egg. I snickered at him for wasting his spells and imprinted it with Phage the Untouchable. My opponent, not sure what to do, just decided to leave the egg alone since I couldn't attack with it. I shrugged and donated it before dropping Steel Golem. In that turn, I both revealed that I could donate, and showed him something he really didn't want me to give him, so he started dropping damage spells. I took a few, and as soon as I saw one large enough I tossed out a redirect and blew up the egg. GG.
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The main problem is that you have to have a deck really geared towards it, but can't rely on this guy; so it has to be able to cast big guys easily in the first place. Were this guy 4 mana I'd think he may have made a splash and at 3 mana he'd probably be broke-as-a-joke.
As it is, if you wish to use him reliably I'd build a deck black effects that put creatures from your grave on top of your library.
DoragonShinzui
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@Jeremywar: That's not how imprint works. Imprint only counts the card that was exiled with THAT imprint process: If you flicker, bounce, or otherwise remove Clone Shell, when it comes back into play it is a different CREATURE (not creature card, creature, there is a difference), its previous state (and, by extension, imprinted card) is ignored.
Ligerman30
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In most formats, you aren't going to be playing things that cost more then 5 very often and playing this to put like a 2 or 3 drop creature under it isn't great value for what you are paying quite honestly. However, if your deck has a lot of bomby 6+ cost creatures, this can both accelerate you and net you a card. This card reminds me strongly of Hideaway, which is one of my favorite mechanics. Also, you have to acknowledge the synergy this has with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.
Comments (54)
Guess it'll depend on the Standard environment once Scars officially kicks in.
I like the card, though. {5} is a steep price to pay for the initial package, but considering something of great value could crack the casing on it, you might get a great return on your investment for a 2/2.
I could see Carnifax Demon being good with this, as well as some of the more expensive {G} beasties that have come out. And the Standard environment will of course have Eldrazi, the Baneslayer, and others.
I think this may have applications in constructed. 4/5
1.5/5
Goods:
2/2 and not a defender. Most artifacts/creatures with this type of ability have 0 power, are defenders, or aren't even creatures period. Start slapping some +power artifacts (Darksteel Axe / Ogre's Cleaver) on this to force your opponent to block it. If you know there's something sweet underneath.
Pulls the card from the top 4 of the library as opposed to your hand. Summoner's Egg pulls a card out of your hand, but this doesn't give you card disadvantage if it gets exiled instead of killed.
Bads:
2/2 and not a defender. Let's face it, they might shake a bit at the fear of what's underneath, but they're not gonna be in a rush to kill a 2/2. Unless you've hit them before they'll have 10 turns to get any kind of threat out.
Pulls the card from the top 4 of the library as opposed to your hand. Who knows what it could be, you might pull up 3 Cancels and an Island. Unless you're playing a deck where half the cards in it are absolute bombs, you're very likely to get very little out of your investment. Most of the time, you'll probably break even, sometimes you'll win the game with it, and some games you'll get a Little Girl.
Ultimately the weakness of this card is its unreliability, just like all the terrible red rare spells that keep getting printed (hi Cerebral Eruption, the card I want to love). Play a deck with 8 tutors and 4 Liliana Vess and you'll be fine, but any other deck will be pulling their hair out with cards like these.
if i imprint a icroclaw rats on to this card, than sacrifice this to throne of geth would the rats come in to play then ploiferant. i this so because i sac the clone cause in the poliferate to go on the stack then the clone would go to the graveyard causeing the rats to come in to play then the ploiferate would happen.
( and yes this happen to me at the prerlease)
See, blue isn't as bad as you thought. You were just looking at it wrong.
Also, @SeiberTross: Artisan of Kozilek has to be cast to get the creature from your graveyard, so putting him into play from exile by a Clone Shell wouldn't work.
Almost.
I would rather use this guy to get out an Eldrazi.
The deck im working on is mono blue (standard) and has: 4 Everflowing Chalices, a bunch of proliferate helpers, basic blue control, 8 Huge eldrazi, and two of these guys
Magic cards are very specific, especially in recent years. Cards tend to do exactly what their current Oracle wording says, no more, and no less. "Shapeshifter" doesn't imply "every creature type," just like "Wall" no longer implies "can't attack," and the "Legend" creature type no longer has any rules baggage (instead, that's been shifted to the Legendary supertype). Having the Shapeshifter creature type means only that the creature is a "Shapeshifter," but that doesn't inherently mean anything more than any other creature type does; just like "Bird" doesn't automatically mean flying (see Whippoorwill), or "Elf" doesn't automatically imply mana abilities (see Cylian Elf).
@Spencerdub- thanks for clearing that up i wasnt sure what the hell tcollins was talking about with the precursor golem
@tcollins- dont get down because you confused the changeling keyword with the shapeshifter creature type. way to think outside the box. thats where the best ideas come from.
the top of your deck). Plus, the creature that comes out can't be countered!
Definitely my favorite card that I own.
A REASON TO PLAY LEASHLING
Body Snatcher is so much better because it makes you to select a card from your hand to discard to play it (which you can bring back with it's effect), Body Snatcher lets you take ANY card from the graveyard.
In comparison, this card is way worse, but that is because of the flexibility (colorwise)
Also, could be nice with Liliana Vess' -2.
OH BOY, IS THAT ALL?
Oh, and compare to the Hideaway mechanic from Lorwyn. Interesting!
Turn 2: Mountain, Seething Song, Geosurge, Clone Shell imprinting Emrakul, Piston Sledge. Sac Clone Shell.
Turn 2 Emrakul for the win!!!
Step 2: Donate
Step 3: Break it open
Step 4: Laugh while your opponent swears uncontrollably
As it is, if you wish to use him reliably I'd build a deck black effects that put creatures from your grave on top of your library.