Though you are being sarcastic, DysprosiumJudas, your statement holds much truth.
Sub-par (but not outright bad) vanilla creatures are a vital component of any set, they prevent limited from being nothing but a powerhouse slugfest, they provide simple cards to flesh out the gaps in your draft pool, and in your mana curve, they are fodder for beginners and precons.
So, it'll never be an early pick (barring a catastrophically bad pack), and it'll never appear in constructed formats, but it's far from worthless.
Richard_Hawk
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(5 votes)
Cards like this are essential components of any set, especially for the growing popularity of drafting. It's crap, but not "worthless" in a sense it doesn't add value to the game. I agree with @Atali basically. :)
MasterOfEtherium
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
AMAZING ART.
Eternal_Blue
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(3 votes)
i guess every set needs a few cards that make you question why you wasted 4 bux on a booster pack.
Sironos
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(5 votes)
Why make cards nobody likes? You can play it in draft, but you still won't like doing it. a vanilla phyrexian? Wtf is that? That oil didn't change anything apparently. Cards like these have almost made me stop buying boosters besides for drafts, stop it wizards.
Death to all vanilla.
DeathDark
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In addition to the points Atali made, I encourage you to think back to those intro packs, the semi-precons you got when you first started playing. When you opened them, the simple 4/2 creature for 4 was simple to understand. Further, you would later WANT to take it out of your deck, encouraging the building/editing process.
The art is beautiful. I wish the card was strong enough to play.
Demonic_Math_Tutor
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
Really cool art. I just wish i didnt end up with 7 of them in my recent box.
Worldwalker1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'd laugh if I got a bunch of these for a white elephant gift exchange.
I'd hate it, but I'd laugh.
All aside, a basic neccessary card and I'm sure there are worse ways to spend 4 mana, especially if your on defensive with limited options.
Vinifera7
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(3 votes)
The card doesn't do the art justice. Wow that thing looks bad-ass.
TwoStars
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Regarding the vanilla creatures that's in almost every booster pack that turn people away from buying boosters. (A bit off-topic but ah well..)
You need "crap" to fill the booster packs, if every single card was becoming more powerful by the set, then BS angel and the titans will soon become obsoleted by newer cards in the years to come.
I usually buy booster packs because of the surprise element in it. In my opinion, there's a world of difference between someone saying "I just opened a baneslayer angel in a booster pack! lucky me!" than someone saying "I just bought a baneslayer angel! yay!
Cheza
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
@ Atali
Have you ever experienced a limited tournament without crap cards and with more cards at the same power-level instead? If not, then your complete argumentation is hypothetical.
You're trying to justify a thing through the fact that it is a current standard and the fact that there MIGHT be issues if not. But there is no relevant argument in this statement. Nothing to build a chain-of-conclusion around.
It's the same argument than to say that any other color for the sky than blue would be a bad thing. No relevant prove of this statement.
I stopped playing limited tournaments because they are all the same. And this is true since in every edition/block, you have the same easy ranking of cards. Maybe this time it's a white 4/2 instead of a red or black one, but this changes nothing. I will only restart these tournaments IF they print many cards of the same power level. Because only then, you really have to choose your cards wisely (instead of a ranking) and because only then, you have a nearly equal chance to win, no matter which cards were in your pool.
Mike-C
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(5 votes)
This is what happened to Dumbo when he became old enough to drink kids.. See what Hollywood does to an elephant when Walt Disney doesn't call you back for a sequel?? What sucks most probably is that this dude used to be an efficient flier until his fat a** ate too many stinkin peanuts! He's the reason you don't see bowls of em at the bar anymore. Then came the drugs and piercings.. Sad story really.. Shield your eyes children, spare yourselves the agony of seeing our happy little flying Dumbo unable to get his fat a** off the ground.
Dr_Fletchers
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Bart Simpson once said "Wheres my Elephant?"....now courtesy of WOTC there is one in most booster packs :-)
It's nice to see at least ONE loxodon with a power larger than its toughness.
DoragonShinzui
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I love when people *** about how week commons are, then *** about how OP mythics are.
This is exactly what one should get for the cost and rarity. Perhaps not the right color, but New Phyrexia is a strange set, to say the least. Deals fairly hefty damage by itself and has a relevant creature type to boot.
atemu1234
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Needed -1/-1 and infect. would've been better.
Morgaledh
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
***, ***, ***. This card is costed just right for what it is. You could spend 3{W} on worse cards, and this isn't made to win tourneys. It's a vanilla soldier than can do 4 damage and survive a ping. It's a fine card.
I actually like the flavor, a Loxodon with a greater power than toughness! Plus in draft a white creature with 4 power could be useful, give him flying or some other evasion ability and he could do a lot of damage.
Earthdawn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Kills Loxodon Smiter, what's the big deal :)
SkyknightXi
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
(looks at the flavor text) I'm starting to think the transfiguring oil is basically the Dominian equivalent of a nanite swarm...More evidence to me that Phyrexia made Yawgmoth what he was, not the other way around.
Comments (26)
Sub-par (but not outright bad) vanilla creatures are a vital component of any set, they prevent limited from being nothing but a powerhouse slugfest, they provide simple cards to flesh out the gaps in your draft pool, and in your mana curve, they are fodder for beginners and precons.
So, it'll never be an early pick (barring a catastrophically bad pack), and it'll never appear in constructed formats, but it's far from worthless.
Death to all vanilla.
I'd hate it, but I'd laugh.
All aside, a basic neccessary card and I'm sure there are worse ways to spend 4 mana, especially if your on defensive with limited options.
You need "crap" to fill the booster packs, if every single card was becoming more powerful by the set, then BS angel and the titans will soon become obsoleted by newer cards in the years to come.
I usually buy booster packs because of the surprise element in it. In my opinion, there's a world of difference between someone saying "I just opened a baneslayer angel in a booster pack! lucky me!" than someone saying "I just bought a baneslayer angel! yay!
Have you ever experienced a limited tournament without crap cards and with more cards at the same power-level instead? If not, then your complete argumentation is hypothetical.
You're trying to justify a thing through the fact that it is a current standard and the fact that there MIGHT be issues if not. But there is no relevant argument in this statement. Nothing to build a chain-of-conclusion around.
It's the same argument than to say that any other color for the sky than blue would be a bad thing. No relevant prove of this statement.
I stopped playing limited tournaments because they are all the same. And this is true since in every edition/block, you have the same easy ranking of cards. Maybe this time it's a white 4/2 instead of a red or black one, but this changes nothing. I will only restart these tournaments IF they print many cards of the same power level. Because only then, you really have to choose your cards wisely (instead of a ranking) and because only then, you have a nearly equal chance to win, no matter which cards were in your pool.
This is exactly what one should get for the cost and rarity. Perhaps not the right color, but New Phyrexia is a strange set, to say the least. Deals fairly hefty damage by itself and has a relevant creature type to boot.
Edit: ok, "female dog, female dog, female dog." There, fixed.