@oddmonk: Agree. This card's strange and unfortunate (and the art's weird too).
Interacts well with Force of Will, as if it needed any help in the first place.
brockdjwest
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I did a double take on seeing this. Umm... what?
Arachibutyrophobia
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(6 votes)
they should've let you cast it for FREE from the exile zone
Mowagh
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Should be a sphinx.
Chimaera2357
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Question: If you champion this, then cast it, and it gets killed, and then the champion dies, does it return to the battlefield?
Trygon_Predator
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(11 votes)
Abusable? Yes. Deserves to be Mythic? I'd say not. Goes infinite with Food Chain, which is pretty scary. Once again, AWOL becomes more and more relevant.
Paleopaladin
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(8 votes)
I'm the last person weep over the teeth being taken out of Oblivion Ring ( a card I HATE HATE HATE!!!), but this is a bad card. First, not terribly powerful for a mythic. Second, it *DOES* cheapen the finality of the exile zone. Once upon a time exiling was called removing something from the game. They're betraying the spirit of how heir long-time players understood that concept!
MyrBattlecube
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Oh my crap all the negativity about this card is so delicious. It's like people wanted this to be broken. But then, you'd all just be whining about how it's killing the game, no?
Anyways, Moorland Haunt, there's your nasty synergy. "5/1/2012 Misthollow Griffin can also be cast from a player's hand." Boy, thanks for that Wizards. I'm glad I know this now.
HeartbreakerStudios
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(9 votes)
What I really won't like is if they take the Yu-Gi-Oh! route and make abusing the Exiled zone a thing, like Yu-Gi-Oh! did with it's DD (Different Dimension) series of cards.
At that point, Removed From Play really was a second graveyard.
Enchantment_Removal
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Actually guise, the exile zone- formerly known as the removed-from-game zone- was MORE ABUSEABLE before the major rules change of M2010. Before then, a player could use the wish cycle from Judgement or Research to reclaim removed cards. But not anymore.
Perhaps the lot of you need a good butt whoopin' from a french-vanilla 3/3 flier.
Lohran
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(10 votes)
Marshmellow Griffin.
LordOfTheFlies87
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Perfect in every way...except the mythic thing.
Bobth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(4 votes)
If you're going to make a card like this, and make it a Mythic, why not make it something cool at least? I agree with everyone saying this is turning "outside the game" into a second graveyard. If this was some sort of legendary creature or planeswalker, sure, maybe, but don't give this to a vanilla 3/3 flier whose name seems to signify nothing important.
axiobeta
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Nyehh. It makes me a bit apprehensive about how close to YGO Magic could get. I'm inclined to think that it won't go much further than this since the mechanic alone (on an otherwise average creature) got it mythic rarity. Don't expect this on anything else people. P.S. I wish it was a sphinx ;_;
In my opinion being mythic makes this card basically a "screw the rules" card. Mythic's do whatever they want, that's why they're mythics. It's not gonna change the face of magic or anything. Oh, and if "screw the rules" made you think of Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged, it just furthers my belief that everyone who hates similarities to Yu-Gi-Oh, just hate the reminder that they used to play it. (no disrespect to Yu-Gi-Oh.)
Anyway, Sweet art. Branching out with acceptable griffin bird heads.
agentvirgo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Back from the Brink would be a beast with this.
BilliamQ
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(4 votes)
Boy, I sure am glad there's no Geralf card. A character with a great impact on the storyline who could have been a very cool card and likely would have had awesome synergy with a relevant tribe? Why print one of THOSE when you can print a boring mythic on a lame creature type that bends the rules of the game!
They aren't making the exile zone less important to the game. This doesn't put other cards into play from exile. He just casts from exile. It's not a big deal, its just a "silver bullet" type effect. Why should exile be so much better than destroy ALL the time? Magic is about card interaction. Swords to plowshares has denied all interaction with its legal targets. Misthollow Griffin is here to say, "Hey, I'm the one creature in Magic the Gathering that can put down the plow and take up the sword again." Why the hate? he's mad cool. Also, this is the first reason anyone would consider not running Bojuka Bog. Other than, you know, coming into play tapped.
adrian.malacoda
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Leaving aside the question of whether this card's effect is appropriate (I think it's interesting myself) this card opens up a whole new span of possibilities.
Yes, he makes Force of Will practically free in all respects. He also makes plenty of other cards more versatile. You can Path to Exile him in response to a Doom Blade and get a land. Stick Path on an Isochron Scepter and you've effectively made him immune to any removal - spot removal, mass removal, -X/-X type effects, etc.
@Starshayd
Sideboard is "outside the game," not exile. Exile used to be called "removed from the game" but was renamed recently to emphasize that it's still technically in the game. You can't Wish for cards in exile, nor can you cast Misthollow Griffin from your sideboard.
Starshayd
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Thanks, adrian!
Artscrafter
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
Half the posts here are simultaneously complaining that (a) this card isn't interesting enough to be a Mythic and (b) it breaks all the norms about what one of the zones of the game is supposed to be about.
Has it occurred to anyone else that maybe it's a Mythic BECAUSE it does something really unusual?
garganeraboy
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
if you have 3 of this in the graveyard you can take skaab ruinator into town... again and again
Yeah, it may not seem like a mythic level card, but it has possibilities.
Mortar182
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
At least it's a decent Griffin for once unlike the rest of his tribe which never sees any type of play
Philip-BANG
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(4 votes)
A peculiar choice for a mythic. It doesn't have any of the splashiness which is usual for mythics, but it's ability is definitely unique. I have been intrigued by this card ever since I first saw it in the spoilers for AR.
Using either of these black spells on the Griffin will practically draw you four cards seeing as you can cast them from exile. That's quite a stabil source of aggression if you ask me. Until you have exhausted your supply of four griffins you can always get them ready again with the aforementioned black spells. I am not sure if a deck like this will work, but I am definately interested in finding out.
j0binett
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This card has so much potential! Imagine Back from the Brink or Séance. If for some reason you also had a Parallel Lives in play that would be great. Your field will be full of 3/3 flyers.
HuntedWumpusMustDie
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Ok, so this card messes with the sanctity of exile being regarded as the "be all end all" of creature removal, but in a game whose dynamics are constantly becoming increasingly complex, I personally support this idea because I feel like the zone of exile has now become less of a place of permanent removal, and more of an abstract zone for permanents to go that are a part of the game, but are no longer on the playing-field, hand, deck, or graveyard. That's why the wording no longer states to remove them from the game, the whole concept was changed, so older players just need to deal with that.The zone of exile is necessary for new methods of creature removal such as oblivion ring to exist. Also, it's not like a second graveyard, there are a large host of cards that use the zone of exile for more than a zone of banishment, Parallel Thoughts, soul foundry, etc... Imagine how interesting this griffin's interactions with these cards would be!
Think of creatures and kill-spells in a competitive evolutionary race: lightning bolt deals damage, so creatures adapt by having defences higher than three, doom blade kills them, so the adapt by being indestructible or by having shroud. Kill spells adapt to indestructibility by using exile. In the current environment, exile is becoming a more and more relavant creature removal tactic. In order for creatures to compete, they need to adapt to this new mechanic, hence- the misty griff!
ttag01
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
surgical extraction almost makes this go squad hawk
Yozuk
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I would like to do something with this. But its such a narrow ability and a rather average body for its mana cost that it isn't worth really playing. I can see this being used with semblance anvil as a way to get the creature reduction and have a creature just in case the anvil gets blown up. But that really doesn't justify it as a card to put into your deck. That being said, I want to try and make at least a interesting combo with it. with Gloom Surgeon perhaps? Might not be practical. But, still might be fun? That is what MTG is about right?
SyntheticDreamer
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(13 votes)
Norin the Wary's trusty steed when escaping the Final Judgment...even though any other time Norin is still horribly frightened by it and runs away from it.
To those who complain, Magic almost definitely isn't going to be suddenly flooded with cards that make exile irrelevant. Just this one, to show that even the most sacred rule can be broken. Note the "broken".
blindthrall
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(5 votes)
As somebody who's been playing since the Dark, I for one love this card. RFG was broken with wish, this is simply blue control's eighth card in hand. Really more anti-discard than anything else. You guys have been bitchin about no good griffins, well here is one of the best blue creatures ever.
And Yu-Gi-Oh is gay.
Superllama12
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
Definitely an interesting card, but I'm not a huge fan, and I pray that they don't turn the exile zone into graveyard #2. However, aside from the nerfing Oblivion Ring, fun with imprint, and infinite combo with Food Chain, it seems to have some in-set synergy with an underused card from Innistrad, Back from the Brink. You can play it, sacrifice it/let it get killed, then play it "from the brink," and then replay it from exile. Obviously not constructed worthy, but definitely fun for the kitchen table
Also, quit whining that it's underpowered for a mythic, mythics are supposed to be weird, niche cards, not just an excuse to print powerful cards!
Totema
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(5 votes)
You guys worry too much. Maro wrote in his latest column about this exact card, about how this sort of card will be the exception instead of the rule. It's clear that he will make sure that the exile zone will stay unique.
Paolino
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(12 votes)
I see and I heard very different opinions about this card... I personally don't dislike it.
Yes, this card is a fist into the exile zone's face, but this doesn't meand WotC is going to make exile the second graveyard (or at least, not yet). This weirdiness makes it a perfect candidate for the mythic status. In my opinion it's better to have weird mythic rares which cost 2 euro than powerful mythic bombs which cost 30 euro (for some months, then the price lowers dramatically, except for some cases). The bombs deserve the rare status, and I'm happy that Vexing Devil and Cavern of Souls are not mythic.
As a last note, I agree that this creature should be a sphinx: sphinxes have mind powers and a great force of will...
Ghostmyth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A lot of people think this card is dumb. I think it just has a Selective Memory
Mike-C
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Wait.. Why? Because "Griffins" were just GRIFFINS before?? Or maybe Moorland haunt was just not good enough already? Hmmm.. Maybe it's got the soul of the infamous Storm crow!! That must be it. Because exile is in its baby stages of becoming the new graveyard which is in its sop***re stages of card advantage. Let's add heaven and hell to the mix, cards "exiled" to heaven become angels that can prevent up to 1 damage/turn and cards that go to hell can ping for 1 damage to target creature or player/turn! That will make for some good times..
*** Btw, why the HECK is s o p h m o r e censored??!***
KokoshoForPresident
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My friend was really annoying me with this card, so I went and got a copy of AWOL. . . it bothers me no more.
This combo is like Squadron Hawk on steroids. It's puts copies of Misthollow Griffin in exile where you can cast them at your leisure, and where they are totally immune to any sort of discard strategy. Someone counters it when you cast it, or kills it after it enters play, just use some of the stupidly cheap artifacts or creatures that exile cards from a target graveyard for little to no cost like Tormod's Crypt or Relic of Progenitus.
Add to this the fact it basically makes Force of Will a free counterspell to be abused with Snapcaster Mage, and it's a cantrip! I don't know what's worse: being beat to death with a Tarmogoyf or a Snapcaster Mage.
LordZogar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card isn't "broken", but there's strong potential. Moorland Haunt + Misthollow Griffin allows you to create 1/1 and 3/3 fliers throughout the game. Individually, these little guys are nothing to brag about. However, unless your opponent is packing Ghost Quarter, it's difficult to disrupt this recurring fliers combo, and left unchecked, those little bodies can add up to something intimidating.
stompfest
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
This + Seance have pretty decent synergy.
mflanaga
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(5 votes)
I think this card suffers from "not cool enough mythic" status. I've only played two avacyn restored drafts and came in first in both of them. Guess which creature i was never unhappy to draw? This underappreciated 3/3 flier for 4cmc that was passed to me both times. I consider this beast good luck. And amen to the guy who appreciates "weird mythics" instead of "must have" mythics.
raptorman333
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I'd like it better if it also had {3}{U}{U}: Put Misthollow Griffin on top of its owner's library. Activate this ability only if Misthollow Griffin is in the graveyard.
But it doesn't. So I'll get over it. And I probably won't play it.
TheManakinTransfer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
When I started playing magic I went around to a friends house where there were boxes and boxes of older card (4th edition onwards) I was looking through the cards and stumbled onto Griffin Canyon and Zuberi, Golden Feather I swore that day to make an absolute beast of Griffin deck. 10 years on, we finally get a playable Griff other than Azorius First-Wing. One day wizards, one day my dream will come true... Keep up the Griffin love
Ferlord
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Have you noticed how many cards in AVR have some kind of allegiance to either Good (Humans) or Evil (Other Stuff)? Well... where does Misthollow Griffin fit? It doesn't look as dark as other creatures in this set, but it doesn't look angelic or holy in any way.
This has lead me to believe that Misthollow Griffin isn't from this Plane and has little connection to the daily turmoil that occurs in it. For all I know, Misthollow Griffin was the tutor to Urza... or better yet: IS Urza! (A reincarnation, obviously). Its ability is very planes-walky, and as the flavour-text dictates, "For some creatures, existence is only a whim", which means, flavour-wise, it can just stop existing when it wants, and come back whenever.
I know that this is all far-fetched speculation, but I'd like some sort of an answer: is Misthollow Griffin just some unimportant creature that just roams Innistrad whimsically, or is it a part of something bigger?
However, to conclude, it's probably the worst card to Cranially Extract
Enchurito.
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I feel that this is one of the worst mythic rares ever, if it DID something when it came back in or if it was uncommon it would be good.
midgit_
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
youre all missing the point of it being bland its the same reason why rockslide elemental costed 7 for a 4/3 double strike in case it has some interaction they missed they make the first one not that undercosted
this one will probably be the only one to do this and i love it a bunch of them would destroy the flavor of it and i love the things you can do with this most of them have been listed here before me but dont forget planar void gravestorm and web of inertia
it had to be mythic its a unique effect it had to be meh powered in case it can do something better than being pitched to fow or grabed with foresight its what it had to be to have this effect
ericsweb
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Enchurito. This isn't even the worst mythic in the same set. Descent into Madness gets that nod for worst Mythic Rare in AVR even over Misthollow Griffin. I do feel that it is underpowered, but I've seen casuals make something out of this card. Moorland Haunt especially. I'm still waiting for someone to make a deck where they can tap 13 mana, and cast Worldfire and then Misthollow Griffin. LOL. To be honest, I'd love this card a lot more if it had Flash so you can do some shenanigans. Oh well, can't win them all. Only an okay card in my opinion but you never know what will show up in future sets that has synergy with this. Whatever card may look like trash today can be treasure tomorrow.
ilovealara
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(2 votes)
If only it had in addition: You may cast cards you own from exile.
'Before then, a player could use the wish cycle from Judgement or Research to reclaim removed cards. But not anymore.' Actually no they couldn't, despite it's name the 'removed-from-game zone' was still in fact a zone in the game, meaning that they were NOT 'outside the game'. This was one of the main reasons they renamed it to exile.
alphagprime
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Could be cool with Seance? Turns the Griffin into a Phoenix?
I wasn't too sure with this card to start with. However...
4 x Misthollow Griffin + (Threban Heretic or Purify the Grave or Moorland Haunt or even Safe Haven) = 3/3 returning flyers that you can use to chump if you need be. Add in 'Selective Memory' and 'Distant Memories' and you can fetch them when you need to!
Love it! Backbone of my 'self-exile' deck.
yyukichigai
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Oh my god, delicious combo fuel. They should've named this thing "Johnny's Griffin." The ideas that are popping into my head.... The effect is wonderfully unique. A bit like an Ivory Gargoyle, but less drawback-ey.
At first I was going to say this isn't a Mythic Rare card, but I was looking at it within the context of Limited, and from a Spike perspective. In Vintage, Legacy, or quite a few other extended formats, this thing could cause some seriously delightful chaos in the hands of a talented Spike-Johnny.
I just don't get the point of this card... even if you do cast it from exile, it's still just a 3/3 flier for 4, what's the point? It reminds me of all the weak cards with protection, the protection may be amazing, but there's not much point if there's nothing to protect... actually, no, it's worse, those cards at least are good targets for auras/equipment/+1/+1 counters. I suppose the food chain combo is interesting though...
pedrodyl
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Another note is that this is like the only decent Griffin in quite a long time
psychichobo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I always figured you were meant to use this with all the lovely blue graveyard eating zombies from Innistrad, like Skaab Ruinator...
JIntegrity
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Manipulate Fate turns in to: Draw four cards. Moorland Haund can pump out blockers ad infintium with this card. Path to Exile is also potential mana ramp. Especially fun when blocking: "I'll block, and in response to blocking, Path my own Griffin."
I built a deck around this card, and my playgroup considers it "the best deck in the group". In a good control deck, the four mana cost is negligible. Early game consists of blockers and counters, and by the time you play this (or I play this, at least), you've got six to eight mana. With Moorland Haunt, board wipe becomes one-sided. This has quickly become one of my favorite magic cards.
Emperorerror
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Wait, so can you play this even if it's not in your deck, then?
Everyone calling this underpowered has no concept of how well a 3/3 flier with an abusable ability fits into a control deck. With Moorland Haunt, you have an unkillable evasive 3/3. That's your win condition, right there.
Goatllama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If only it said "when you cast this card from exile, draw 2 cards" it would be sweet. Even the flavor fits – the Griffin brings back gifts from beyond! As is, still pretty cool but not nearly as useful. It would make for a really cool Sphinx, as well.
ParishInquisitor
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I haven't had a chance to play this fellow, but I think underestimating it would be a bad idea. The unique ability strikes me as being particularly powerful if you build around it. City of Shadows was the first card I thought of, but there are doubtless lots of other options. Anyway, I prefer it when mythics play around in bizarre design space rather than just being broken (case in point: Captain Card Trick).
Nagoragama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ok, well, despite the fact that mythics are "supposed to be" weird niche cards and not power cards, the fact remains that they've printed almost nothing but power cards in the mythic slot. Wasn't terribly happy to ever see this in a booster, and I doubt it will ever have a place in a deck. It exists to make the player who pulled it say, "Well that's weird," and then get stuck in the back of a binder somewhere to never see any play.
armogohma
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Given that they've already printed Conundrum Sphinx, 4/4 would've been nice.
Viper313
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hello I found this card great from cards in the same block like Skaab Ruinator or Stitched Drake making a mono Blue zombie deck, Misthollow Griffin fixes alot of the problems with having to remove cards to play the blue zombies.
Man, nothing feels worse than pulling this in a sealed. Although it has limited use in limited (hah), it is still an incredibly comboriffic card. Still haven't found a way to really break it.
card neutral Force of Will fodder works with Ruinator on curve (in the right deck..) works neat with Serum powder good against common removal; especially if you can eat graves yourself to make him recur easily; such as with Scavenging Ooze can do neat things with imprint, path to exile, and such
@Infradear After you estiblished infinite blue mana you could cast him 1 more time from exile, sacrifice for or whatever. Technically after you established that you had infinite blue mana you could establish infinite mana of each color before spending the mana.
@Armogohma I agree I dont think 4/4 would be a problem with this guy. On his own he would be doing nothing but being a 4/4 for 4 flying beater. And in todays MTG that is subpar for constructed, but it is still nice. The exile ability could deter against some removal or used in combo, but you still have to pay his casting cost which keeps it in check.
Jitteryowl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I don't like cards that get out of exile. Hopefully this and Pull from Eternity will be the last we will see.
You have this out on the field and exile it with food chain 8x for 8 floating mana, then use Plaguemaw to sac it and Back From the brink it to get a token copy. Plage maw untaps because Intruder alarm, rinse and repeat.
Yes I'm aware it won't work due to the wording of Food Chain, but at least I tried.
You can also use it for infinite 1/1 counters with Varolz
deep_shadow
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Dear Misthollow Griffin, I love you with all my heart. Just, why can't you be better? Yours Forever, Johnny
car2n
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Why is this a Mythic Rare? The ability is too fun to be this rare.
Nerobyrne
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Holy crap, it's yugioh all over again ......
"Yes, now your creatures are really gone!" "No, not really."
Kadaver666
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Why did it take me so long to realize the synergy this has with the Innistrad and Dark Ascension Skaab Zombies????
Interesting combo with Surgical Extraction to instantly bring up to 4 Misthollow Griffins virtually into your hand.
Aside from that though, it's a pretty janky mythic. Since he's not scary enough to make your opponent think twice about running exile, his otherwise unique ability is pretty useless. First strike would have made him a truly flavorful as well as useful mythic (he IS a griffin after all).
MacBizzle
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Waaah, the exile zone shouldn'tbetampered with Waaaaah, its power and toughness are underwhelming Waaaaaaah, I can't think of any synergies to apply this card to
Comments (94)
Interacts well with Force of Will, as if it needed any help in the first place.
Umm... what?
Goes infinite with Food Chain, which is pretty scary. Once again, AWOL becomes more and more relevant.
Anyways, Moorland Haunt, there's your nasty synergy.
"5/1/2012 Misthollow Griffin can also be cast from a player's hand."
Boy, thanks for that Wizards. I'm glad I know this now.
At that point, Removed From Play really was a second graveyard.
Perhaps the lot of you need a good butt whoopin' from a french-vanilla 3/3 flier.
I'm inclined to think that it won't go much further than this since the mechanic alone (on an otherwise average creature) got it mythic rarity. Don't expect this on anything else people.
P.S. I wish it was a sphinx ;_;
Anyway, Sweet art. Branching out with acceptable griffin bird heads.
Also, Descent into Madness.
Also goes great with Back from the Brink and Séance.
Also, this is the first reason anyone would consider not running Bojuka Bog. Other than, you know, coming into play tapped.
Yes, he makes Force of Will practically free in all respects. He also makes plenty of other cards more versatile. You can Path to Exile him in response to a Doom Blade and get a land. Stick Path on an Isochron Scepter and you've effectively made him immune to any removal - spot removal, mass removal, -X/-X type effects, etc.
@Starshayd
Sideboard is "outside the game," not exile. Exile used to be called "removed from the game" but was renamed recently to emphasize that it's still technically in the game. You can't Wish for cards in exile, nor can you cast Misthollow Griffin from your sideboard.
Has it occurred to anyone else that maybe it's a Mythic BECAUSE it does something really unusual?
Planar Void?
Serum Powder?
Yeah, it may not seem like a mythic level card, but it has possibilities.
I believe it could be powerful in a B/U deck as a type of mega-Squadron Hawk by using Surgical Extraction and Memoricide on it.
Using either of these black spells on the Griffin will practically draw you four cards seeing as you can cast them from exile. That's quite a stabil source of aggression if you ask me. Until you have exhausted your supply of four griffins you can always get them ready again with the aforementioned black spells. I am not sure if a deck like this will work, but I am definately interested in finding out.
Think of creatures and kill-spells in a competitive evolutionary race: lightning bolt deals damage, so creatures adapt by having defences higher than three, doom blade kills them, so the adapt by being indestructible or by having shroud. Kill spells adapt to indestructibility by using exile. In the current environment, exile is becoming a more and more relavant creature removal tactic. In order for creatures to compete, they need to adapt to this new mechanic, hence- the misty griff!
That being said, I want to try and make at least a interesting combo with it. with Gloom Surgeon perhaps? Might not be practical. But, still might be fun? That is what MTG is about right?
1. Counter the ridiculous effectiveness of Oblivion Ring
2. Try out a new, extremely rare effect, and
3. Find an excuse to ban Moorland Haunt.
To those who complain, Magic almost definitely isn't going to be suddenly flooded with cards that make exile irrelevant. Just this one, to show that even the most sacred rule can be broken. Note the "broken".
And Yu-Gi-Oh is gay.
Also, quit whining that it's underpowered for a mythic, mythics are supposed to be weird, niche cards, not just an excuse to print powerful cards!
Yes, this card is a fist into the exile zone's face, but this doesn't meand WotC is going to make exile the second graveyard (or at least, not yet). This weirdiness makes it a perfect candidate for the mythic status. In my opinion it's better to have weird mythic rares which cost 2 euro than powerful mythic bombs which cost 30 euro (for some months, then the price lowers dramatically, except for some cases). The bombs deserve the rare status, and I'm happy that Vexing Devil and Cavern of Souls are not mythic.
As a last note, I agree that this creature should be a sphinx: sphinxes have mind powers and a great force of will...
*** Btw, why the HECK is s o p h m o r e censored??!***
This combo is like Squadron Hawk on steroids. It's puts copies of Misthollow Griffin in exile where you can cast them at your leisure, and where they are totally immune to any sort of discard strategy. Someone counters it when you cast it, or kills it after it enters play, just use some of the stupidly cheap artifacts or creatures that exile cards from a target graveyard for little to no cost like Tormod's Crypt or Relic of Progenitus.
Add to this the fact it basically makes Force of Will a free counterspell to be abused with Snapcaster Mage, and it's a cantrip! I don't know what's worse: being beat to death with a Tarmogoyf or a Snapcaster Mage.
But it doesn't. So I'll get over it. And I probably won't play it.
Well... where does Misthollow Griffin fit? It doesn't look as dark as other creatures in this set, but it doesn't look angelic or holy in any way.
This has lead me to believe that Misthollow Griffin isn't from this Plane and has little connection to the daily turmoil that occurs in it. For all I know, Misthollow Griffin was the tutor to Urza... or better yet: IS Urza! (A reincarnation, obviously). Its ability is very planes-walky, and as the flavour-text dictates, "For some creatures, existence is only a whim", which means, flavour-wise, it can just stop existing when it wants, and come back whenever.
I know that this is all far-fetched speculation, but I'd like some sort of an answer: is Misthollow Griffin just some unimportant creature that just roams Innistrad whimsically, or is it a part of something bigger?
However, to conclude, it's probably the worst card to Cranially Extract
this one will probably be the only one to do this and i love it a bunch of them would destroy the flavor of it and i love the things you can do with this most of them have been listed here before me but dont forget planar void gravestorm and web of inertia
it had to be mythic its a unique effect it had to be meh powered in case it can do something better than being pitched to fow or grabed with foresight its what it had to be to have this effect
'Before then, a player could use the wish cycle from Judgement or Research to reclaim removed cards. But not anymore.'
Actually no they couldn't, despite it's name the 'removed-from-game zone' was still in fact a zone in the game, meaning that they were NOT 'outside the game'. This was one of the main reasons they renamed it to exile.
4 x Misthollow Griffin + (Threban Heretic or Purify the Grave or Moorland Haunt or even Safe Haven) = 3/3 returning flyers that you can use to chump if you need be. Add in 'Selective Memory' and 'Distant Memories' and you can fetch them when you need to!
Love it! Backbone of my 'self-exile' deck.
At first I was going to say this isn't a Mythic Rare card, but I was looking at it within the context of Limited, and from a Spike perspective. In Vintage, Legacy, or quite a few other extended formats, this thing could cause some seriously delightful chaos in the hands of a talented Spike-Johnny.
I suppose the food chain combo is interesting though...
I built a deck around this card, and my playgroup considers it "the best deck in the group". In a good control deck, the four mana cost is negligible. Early game consists of blockers and counters, and by the time you play this (or I play this, at least), you've got six to eight mana. With Moorland Haunt, board wipe becomes one-sided. This has quickly become one of my favorite magic cards.
Anyway, I prefer it when mythics play around in bizarre design space rather than just being broken (case in point: Captain Card Trick).
I found this card great from cards in the same block like Skaab Ruinator or Stitched Drake making a mono Blue zombie deck, Misthollow Griffin fixes alot of the problems with having to remove cards to play the blue zombies.
Griffins...Griffins everywhere!!
works with Ruinator on curve (in the right deck..)
works neat with Serum powder
good against common removal; especially if you can eat graves yourself to make him recur easily; such as with Scavenging Ooze
can do neat things with imprint, path to exile, and such
@Infradear
After you estiblished infinite blue mana you could cast him 1 more time from exile, sacrifice for
@Armogohma
I agree I dont think 4/4 would be a problem with this guy. On his own he would be doing nothing but being a 4/4 for 4 flying beater. And in todays MTG that is subpar for constructed, but it is still nice. The exile ability could deter against some removal or used in combo, but you still have to pay his casting cost which keeps it in check.
You get Back from the Brink, Intruder Alarm and Food Chain with a tap to sac outlet, to keep within the colors, I'll use Plaguemaw Beast.
You have this out on the field and exile it with food chain 8x for 8 floating mana, then use Plaguemaw to sac it and Back From the brink it to get a token copy. Plage maw untaps because Intruder alarm, rinse and repeat.
Yes I'm aware it won't work due to the wording of Food Chain, but at least I tried.
You can also use it for infinite 1/1 counters with Varolz
I love you with all my heart. Just, why can't you be better?
Yours Forever,
Johnny
"Yes, now your creatures are really gone!"
"No, not really."
Dream Snakes forever
Aside from that though, it's a pretty janky mythic. Since he's not scary enough to make your opponent think twice about running exile, his otherwise unique ability is pretty useless. First strike would have made him a truly flavorful as well as useful mythic (he IS a griffin after all).
Waaaaah, its power and toughness are underwhelming
Waaaaaaah, I can't think of any synergies to apply this card to