Not a big improvement over Warlord's axe. In fact, almost no improvement at all. Well, at least it pairs nicely with Kiteshield, despite the fact that both cost you 9 mana to play and equip.
WateryMind
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Yeah.... Cause this is gonna see play when the last block printed had some of the most powerful Equipment ever printed in it...
Limited fodder, AND NOTHING ELSE.
Even then, its terrible.
KikiJikiTiki
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Once upon a time, WotC included Loxodon Warhammer in the core set. I don't know if they were worried about making Stoneforge Mystic even more ridiculous (too little, too late) when they designed this and Kite Shield, but they suck.
Arachibutyrophobia
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
more D&D-esque cards...
Tommy9898
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
I don't give a damn if it is slow, it's a freakin' greatsword. Also, this is a core set, do you really think they are going to make the best most flashiest equipment in a core set? Also, Also, we just finished a block that had 3 of the most efficient game changing swords ever produced since equipment were first made. We can slow it down a little. Get off your freakin' high horse and start getting in there for 3 extra damage.
MarlinFlake
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(4 votes)
But guys, you can put it on your Goblin Bangchuckers! That way they suck twice as hard.
qwertycrap
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(4 votes)
More like the Failsword
Dr.Pingas
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Give it first strike and I'd consider it. Maybe.
ZursApprentice
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(6 votes)
Obviously this is a limited card. However, it's pretty good in limited. Imo, equipment like this is pretty good in limited as it breaks ground stalls, and makes your evasive creatures pretty amazing. The rating feature on this thing is completely arbitrary because in constructed this is obviously unplayable (so probably a zero) but in limited is probably a 3 or a 4.
Mode
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(7 votes)
Great artwork, great name, great flavor. And yet, despite its name, not so much of a great... sword.
"The only blow that matters is the killing blow." So the playability was killed by the fact that the card blows? Wow, this does make sense.
NoobOfLore
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(7 votes)
A lot of the 2012 uncommons are less impressive than the commons.
tazman321
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(6 votes)
More like NOT-Greatsword! Am I right? Am I right? *** you, I'm funny.
HuntedWumpusMustDie
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Greatsword's cost, 3 mana
It's cost to equip, 3 mana
Realizing you found an easy solution to the lack of power in your "Limited" deck... priceless.
Mightyass
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Wizards, I still remember times when Loxodon Warhammer was uncommon...
Myrofkoth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Freaking awful card why print it? Waste of paper and maybe would be alright If it was atleast common
SoulShatterer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
If there weren't better swords in the game, this would be decent. As it stands, it loses to almost everything, and doesn't have the bonus of being a common, either. Wizards needs to quit hiring lazy card designers.
Nagoragama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Decent in limited. Terrible in any other format.
RxPhantom
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A misnomer if there ever was one. More like Mediocresword. Now I get that this is a core set, but that just means things should be simpler, not awful. Sword of Vengeance was in the core set, and had the same cmc and equip cost as this thing. Now that's a great sword.
Underwhelming, even for M12 limited. I played it already and the high mana costs create an unacceptable loss of tempo.
Leafhopper
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Is this card serious? Worst artifact in M12.
MtFrostM
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
and here I thought No-Dachi was below the curve.
lucidtraceur
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(7 votes)
Wait a minute... is it just me, or is this strictly worse than Butcher's Cleaver? Someone really ought to go see Veteran Swordsmith about changing the soldiers' standard issue weapons from swords to meat cleavers...
Asmodi0000
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(7 votes)
I love greatswords.
I HATE this card.
ToastRecon
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
They should have given it play cost 3 equip cost 0 to mirror the kite shield, I wouldn't play this thing in limited. 6 MANA TO GIVE A CREATURE 3 ATK POWER? HELLYEAH!!!!!!!!!!!
Binaro
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I never liked this card before I actually tried it(Gave a Stampeding Rhino two of this, and it became a 10/4 trample). But even now, I still prefer something more efficient.
Funny how you can give a rhino swords and expect it to use them.
Atali
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(7 votes)
I think that when you equip a sword to a rhino, you're just taping it to the front of the rhino somewhere so it will stab into things that the rhino attacks.
humor_love
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I'm sure this comment will be rated pretty low, but that's fine. Examples throughout history indicate that a lack of popularity in reception does not reflect a statement's relevance, accuracy, or truth content; and some of the most powerful and fundamental scientific insights came from people who were horribly persecuted for expressing such insights. I don't claim that my comments here are ingenius; just that your disagreement or disapproval does not mean that you're right and I'm wrong.
I don't think that this Equipment card is underpowered. I think that this is about the speed and power at which Equipment cards should be designed - particularly at the Uncommon level. Conversely, I think that many of the more popular Equipment cards have been too powerful, as they have been designed (yes, their superior power levels have quite a bit to do with their levels of popularity - this is clear).
I'm not the most knowledgeable person on Equipment cards, but a few examples I can provide of what I perceive to be overpowered Equipment cards are Basilisk Collar, Loxodon Warhammer, and Lightning Greaves. It's telling, for example, that not long after the Greaves were released, the designers printed a more balanced form of them in the Swiftfoot Boots.
I know that the reason why many people like the cards I mentioned just above is because they're so powerful. It makes sense that players will enjoy using Lightning Bolt above Shock, for example. Preferences in power are clear. That doesn't mean that Lightning Greaves should have been printed, however. Swiftfoot Boots is quite effective enough. We can say all day long how we would rather play Ancestral Recall than Concentrate; but that doesn't mean that Ancestral Recall was a balanced card, or that the game would have been better if Recall had been printed in Concentrate's place.
Tapir
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
For that price, I at least want a 3/0 germ token out of the deal...
DoragonShinzui
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
...I can't help but feel if there was some sort of error in R&D's list of approved cards.
divinewind08
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think "Great" is an overstatement. Then again, "Mediocreatbestandonlyslightlyplayableinlimitedifyouhavenootheroptionssword" just doesn't roll off of the tongue quite as well.
ndrew68
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I love uncommons that are alllllmost playable in limited. Except it was awful in M12 drafts because it was a very aggresive enviorment so if you were playing agro these weren't worth it. And if you were playing control they still weren't worth it. .5/5
Jayquaz
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This card makes me mad.
TheWrathofShane
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Well, this sword is sharp enough to kill an elephant. And when in the hands of an Eager Cadet, it can slay a Serra Angel! Turns your 1/1 into a five turn clock!
But this is a weak card when stacked up against the more powerful alternatives.
I dont mind weak cards, but I want every single card, including "junk" to be somewhat playable. Hey, we are spending money for these cards! Then again, this is an equipment. And if this is your only option, it could potentially win you some games. But in a very inefficient manner. Could cost you the game, "If only this great-sword was a sword of so and so, I would have won!"
I never got the argument that they need junk cards to hold back power creep. When in tournaments everyone's deck consists of the strongest cards in the format, so the junk cards have 0 relevance.
Ferlord
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(5 votes)
If you want my opinion of inefficient artifacts, read my rant on Rusted Sentinel.
But just to encapsulate it, here's my main point:
An Artifact is flavourfully created by someone. A blacksmith smelts the metal, and creates a weapon. Why couldn't they make something better?
A counterargument would be that; if I looked at all of the other 3-cost, 3-equip artifacts, they're created by some mystical force: Vulshok Battlegear is made by forge-masters, Sunforger is made from the... sun? I guess, and Loxodon Warhammer is probably the Loxodon's pride and joy.
This is just a plain, old Greatsword, made by some shmuk of a person. It's like comparing Iron weaponry to Daedric weaponry in Skyrim.
TheZombifier
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This card may suck, but I still love it. One of my first artifacts. It have brought me victory more than once, against Soldiers, Goblins, Demons, Elementals, Clerics, Werewolves, Vampires... It have served me well, in the hands of Myr and Zombies.
Also beautiful art and, the best of all, amazing flavour text. 5/5 from me.
Saraneth888
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I feel like this probably could have been CMC 2 and would have been more playable in limited. It still wouldn't have been as strong as Bonesplitter or Trusty Machete were in their respective sets.... a No-Dachi without the first-strike seems balanced enough for limited....
As it sits, this Greatsword is just a bit too slow for most limited formats.... I was looking for a nice, balanced piece of equipment to include in my peasant cube that wouldn't be too powerful for the format, and I wanted for this to be it... but alas, it was not what I was hoping for....
Props to the artist, though... that's some ridiculously amazing art.
Shiizu
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Actually the bonus of this card is quite good. +3/0 will make most small critters trade for dragons and beast and other massive creatures. This card's main drawback because of this is its cost. The comparisons are obvious. It's a much, much worse version of the vulshock battlegear and the loxodon warhammer and it doesn't scale well to the bonesplitter.
All of those equipments are generally considered a little bit too good . This is closer to what those's power level should have been.
It didn't have a home in limited and it's too weak for constructed. This was the sideboard card for limited decks that ended up getting in a grind and had to break the balance. If the cost doesn't matter(i.e. in a grind), this is a decent card.
Ghengis_John
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So what can I say that's good about this card?
Uhhhh... At 5 cents each They make great tokens!
Iiiiii bet if you threw 60 of them at somebody it'd probably kinda hurt. Maybe.
You could lull your opponents into a false sense of security by making this your first 3 drop! Yeah... Psychological games!
Uhhh...
Have they ever made a card with the text "destroy any card with more than a 1.5 rating on gatherer"? Cause that'd be awesome.
Comments (47)
Limited fodder, AND NOTHING ELSE.
Even then, its terrible.
And yet, despite its name, not so much of a great... sword.
"The only blow that matters is the killing blow."
So the playability was killed by the fact that the card blows? Wow, this does make sense.
It's cost to equip, 3 mana
Realizing you found an easy solution to the lack of power in your "Limited" deck... priceless.
If it was atleast common
Really, really, really teriffic art though.
Why do people on here lack imagination? This card plus first strike creaturres = WIN
I HATE this card.
Funny how you can give a rhino swords and expect it to use them.
I don't think that this Equipment card is underpowered. I think that this is about the speed and power at which Equipment cards should be designed - particularly at the Uncommon level. Conversely, I think that many of the more popular Equipment cards have been too powerful, as they have been designed (yes, their superior power levels have quite a bit to do with their levels of popularity - this is clear).
I'm not the most knowledgeable person on Equipment cards, but a few examples I can provide of what I perceive to be overpowered Equipment cards are Basilisk Collar, Loxodon Warhammer, and Lightning Greaves. It's telling, for example, that not long after the Greaves were released, the designers printed a more balanced form of them in the Swiftfoot Boots.
I know that the reason why many people like the cards I mentioned just above is because they're so powerful. It makes sense that players will enjoy using Lightning Bolt above Shock, for example. Preferences in power are clear. That doesn't mean that Lightning Greaves should have been printed, however. Swiftfoot Boots is quite effective enough. We can say all day long how we would rather play Ancestral Recall than Concentrate; but that doesn't mean that Ancestral Recall was a balanced card, or that the game would have been better if Recall had been printed in Concentrate's place.
.5/5
But this is a weak card when stacked up against the more powerful alternatives.
I dont mind weak cards, but I want every single card, including "junk" to be somewhat playable. Hey, we are spending money for these cards!
Then again, this is an equipment. And if this is your only option, it could potentially win you some games. But in a very inefficient manner. Could cost you the game, "If only this great-sword was a sword of so and so, I would have won!"
I never got the argument that they need junk cards to hold back power creep. When in tournaments everyone's deck consists of the strongest cards in the format, so the junk cards have 0 relevance.
But just to encapsulate it, here's my main point:
An Artifact is flavourfully created by someone. A blacksmith smelts the metal, and creates a weapon. Why couldn't they make something better?
A counterargument would be that; if I looked at all of the other 3-cost, 3-equip artifacts, they're created by some mystical force: Vulshok Battlegear is made by forge-masters, Sunforger is made from the... sun? I guess, and Loxodon Warhammer is probably the Loxodon's pride and joy.
This is just a plain, old Greatsword, made by some shmuk of a person. It's like comparing Iron weaponry to Daedric weaponry in Skyrim.
against Soldiers, Goblins, Demons, Elementals, Clerics, Werewolves, Vampires...
It have served me well, in the hands of Myr and Zombies.
Also beautiful art and, the best of all, amazing flavour text.
5/5 from me.
As it sits, this Greatsword is just a bit too slow for most limited formats.... I was looking for a nice, balanced piece of equipment to include in my peasant cube that wouldn't be too powerful for the format, and I wanted for this to be it... but alas, it was not what I was hoping for....
Props to the artist, though... that's some ridiculously amazing art.
All of those equipments are generally considered a little bit too good . This is closer to what those's power level should have been.
It didn't have a home in limited and it's too weak for constructed. This was the sideboard card for limited decks that ended up getting in a grind and had to break the balance. If the cost doesn't matter(i.e. in a grind), this is a decent card.
Uhhhh... At 5 cents each They make great tokens!
Iiiiii bet if you threw 60 of them at somebody it'd probably kinda hurt. Maybe.
You could lull your opponents into a false sense of security by making this your first 3 drop! Yeah... Psychological games!
Uhhh...
Have they ever made a card with the text "destroy any card with more than a 1.5 rating on gatherer"? Cause that'd be awesome.