Helm of the Ghastlord + Whispersilk Cloak + Elder Mastery = Batman? o.o
MyMintyHouse
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Considering the amount of mana in the Nicol Bolas Duel deck and the amount of counter spells, this card combined with a Painful Quandary ... is a force to be reckoned with ...
kashonismw
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Costly aura... but lots of flavor, I like it. :)
Lueseto
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
for what it costs, it's totally underpowered. if you are playing lots of discard your opponent should have no hand by the time, or he might have played everything as well... way tooooo costly, and I don't like using that argument against card, but seriously...
MindAblaze
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Everytime I've ever stuck this card it's done great things for me but I have to agree...sooo expensive.
The discard has helped me win a few times but more often than not their playing aggro and by turn six (at the earliest,) their hand is empty or their playing blue and they're ready with a counter or bounce spell...I hate blue! I believe MaRo has said the Most unfun thing about magic is having a spell countered, I second the motion! Exclamation mark!
SirZapdos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It can be deadly in the Bolas deck, and if you have Nightscape Familiar on the battlefield, then the cost is reduced by , which helps.
The Ajani deck doesn't have too many answers to this spell, as a lot of its removal, like Lightning Helix, Searing Meditation or Ajani Vengeant's -2 ability aren't enough to kill the new creature, unless combined. Slap it on Shriekmaw or Jhessian Zombies, and the Ajani deck is almost helpless.
TheWallinator74
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
To be blessed with a fraction of Lord Bolas' powers... oh to dream...
RunedServitor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Put it on a Kederekt Parasite. Actually don't; that's just too disgusting.
Rodrigo_Rahmati
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Think of it mostly like a finisher to Nicol Bolas' deck...
Hercynian
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think of auras like this as creatures. So this creature is a 6cmc 3/3 with haste, flyng, and the ability to make an opponent discard two cards when it gies off.
So lets say 3/3 flying for 3 cmc is good, and haste adds an extra 1 cmc, then his ability (which is hard to assign) maybe adds 1cmc because it's conditional on damage and late game when hands are likely exhausted. Also, the color requirement is quite stiff so that should reduce the cost by 1, but this is in Alara block so that is negated enough to make it irrelevant. That adds up to a total of 5cmc. So it's overcoatsted by one if it was a creature. However it is not, this brings some other factors into the equation:
Being an enchantment means that it is grafted onto another creature, potentially providing a 2 for one kill spell or other nasty effects (-2 cmc). However being an enchantment actually has some advantages of its own that need to be factored in. It can be placed on a creature that has double strike, an ability not uncommon for red, it can interact with various enchantment based card effects like auramancer (not that that would be synergistic), it can be placed on some kind of unblockable creature like dread warlock or invisible stalker (+1 cmc bringing total to -1cmc)
So in summary this card would be pretty competitive at a cost of 4cmc. At 6cmc it would need some other thing attached that would make up for the difference, like totem armor, or intimidate instead of flying for example.
I like the concept of making up for the lack of card advantage that auras net by making opponents discard cards. I think it would go under the radar of magic players conditioned to onlyblike auras with totem armor or "return to hand" clauses. Alas, you come close, but you fall too short, my friend with excellent flavor text. I'll play you anyway just for that reason!
Burnwright
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Slap it on a Kederekt Creeper. Then, if they don't have removal for it, watch them take 20 min to decide whether to block or not. Arcanum Wings could also make it easier to play.
Tiggurix
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Waaaay too expensive. The only good reason to use this Aura is if you can cheat it out, like you can Academy Researchers.
tlloyd
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Absolutely worth the high CMC if you drop it on the new grixis commander Nekusar the Mindrazer. Either this or Helm of the Ghastlord.
mrchuckmorris
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Nekusar, the Mindrazer: The good king giveth, and the good king taketh away. And then he flyeth over there and beateth you in the face.
Yesterday, in my Nekusar EDH, during 1 vs 1 game, I attached it to my nekusar at turn 3 and atacked with it. It was like this.
T1: Island -> Sol ring -> Iron Myr. T2: Swamp -> Nekusar. My opponent: "Oh free cards, great :D" T3: Island -> Elder Mastery. Attack to Nekusar. My opponent: "okey, take five." Me: "Discard two." My opponent: "humm, okey"
His turn: My opponent: "draw a card of Nekusar" Me: "discard two cards :D" My opponent: "oh! I. understood, a combo! Lets play another game?" :/
Comments (17)
The discard has helped me win a few times but more often than not their playing aggro and by turn six (at the earliest,) their hand is empty or their playing blue and they're ready with a counter or bounce spell...I hate blue!
I believe MaRo has said the Most unfun thing about magic is having a spell countered, I second the motion!
Exclamation mark!
The Ajani deck doesn't have too many answers to this spell, as a lot of its removal, like Lightning Helix, Searing Meditation or Ajani Vengeant's -2 ability aren't enough to kill the new creature, unless combined. Slap it on Shriekmaw or Jhessian Zombies, and the Ajani deck is almost helpless.
So lets say 3/3 flying for 3 cmc is good, and haste adds an extra 1 cmc, then his ability (which is hard to assign) maybe adds 1cmc because it's conditional on damage and late game when hands are likely exhausted. Also, the color requirement is quite stiff so that should reduce the cost by 1, but this is in Alara block so that is negated enough to make it irrelevant. That adds up to a total of 5cmc. So it's overcoatsted by one if it was a creature. However it is not, this brings some other factors into the equation:
Being an enchantment means that it is grafted onto another creature, potentially providing a 2 for one kill spell or other nasty effects (-2 cmc). However being an enchantment actually has some advantages of its own that need to be factored in. It can be placed on a creature that has double strike, an ability not uncommon for red, it can interact with various enchantment based card effects like auramancer (not that that would be synergistic), it can be placed on some kind of unblockable creature like dread warlock or invisible stalker (+1 cmc bringing total to -1cmc)
So in summary this card would be pretty competitive at a cost of 4cmc. At 6cmc it would need some other thing attached that would make up for the difference, like totem armor, or intimidate instead of flying for example.
I like the concept of making up for the lack of card advantage that auras net by making opponents discard cards. I think it would go under the radar of magic players conditioned to onlyblike auras with totem armor or "return to hand" clauses. Alas, you come close, but you fall too short, my friend with excellent flavor text. I'll play you anyway just for that reason!
T1: Island -> Sol ring -> Iron Myr.
T2: Swamp -> Nekusar.
My opponent: "Oh free cards, great :D"
T3: Island -> Elder Mastery. Attack to Nekusar.
My opponent: "okey, take five."
Me: "Discard two."
My opponent: "humm, okey"
His turn:
My opponent: "draw a card of Nekusar"
Me: "discard two cards :D"
My opponent: "oh! I. understood, a combo! Lets play another game?" :/