Wait wait wait, since when is a 7/5 for 5 mana without a drawback (But a bonus) get a 2.5 rating?
We're all spoiled here.
Nucleon
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Kind of surprised it isn't an Overabundance effect, given other Gruul cards having similar "punish" mechanics.
Kaixe-Rho
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This thing's rating is 3.5. 3.5! I give up.
Anyway, Heartbeat of Spring stapled to a 7/5 for 5 is stupid, there is some fun to be had with this guy, definitely. Absolutely EDH material, Omnath, Locus of Mana and him are going to be the BEST of buddies. One last thing...this guy sure does NOT look like a 7/5, he looks like he could fit Worldspine Wurm under his foot...hoof...thing. Hey, whatever, he still looks sick as it gets.
Continue
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
It's the same kind of deal as Howling Mine — sure, it helps everyone, but you're the one who's going to reap the most benefits.
SyntheticDreamer
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Mana Flare on a 7/5 body with no drawbacks (aside from the potential drawback of it being Mana Flare) for just five mana? Sold!
Cyberium
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
With buildings on the back of that thing, I'd imagine it's one of the Colossi...
7he7rooper
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
My dream is to have a Boros Reckoner out, play this guy turn 5, then when I untap, lay land and Clan Defiance their face and the Reckoner both for 10.
TheChort
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Tricky card to play with; you most likely tap out to cast this card, so your opponent gets to be the first to play with double mana on his turn. And you don't want to go doubling your opponents mana right before they're ready to cast Sphinx's Revelation/Rakdos's Return!
However, if you start with Yeva, Nature's Herald, then you can flash this in at the end of your opponent's turn! Then hopefully you can pour that mana into something devastating, maybe even something ridiculous like Skarrg Goliath and Boros Charm.
majinara
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Risky card. A p/t of 7/5 for five mana is pretty neat. In the worst case, your opponent uses the extra mana to cast some powerful spells and finishes his turn with killing this guy. Still, your opponent will be the first player, to make really good use of this ability, and it's also more vulnerable than, say, mana reflection or mirari's wake.
SiamKor
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Mana Flare / Heartbeat of Spring are less risky, because they come into play sooner. Doubling everyone else's turn 5~6 mana is often a sure way to get killed. I've seen a guy die to an 11 point Blaze on turn 6 because he dropped his Heartbeat of Spring so he could start spamming Crush of Wurms the next turn.
This is more abusable because it is a creature, and can be flickered at the end of the turn to return on your next turn, effectively doubling your mana and not theirs... but there are other cards that do that at a similar price, without needing the hassle.
Of course, it can beat face for 7, but it can also be chump-blocked, pacified, detained, etc...
Be very careful with this card, do not assume that just because you tailored your deck to abuse the extra mana, your opponent still won't take more advantage of it than you.
Run with hand / land disruption, and pack in extra Fogs and ways to deal with Fireball-like spells and board control like Ensnaring Bridge or Portcullis.
Or else you'll learn the hard way, like many Mana Flare / Heartbeat of Spring mages did before you, that doubling everyone else's mana may very well be the last thing you do in a game.
Anyway, fun card, with the potential to be abused, but that requires careful deck construction to ensure you even see your next turn - particularly in multi-player. 3.5. Maybe 4. I'm tempted to try it out in my Dragon Roost deck (which already sports 4 Heartbeats, 4 Flares, and lots of board control).
pandawolf56
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Zhur-Taa Ancient is not that great in my opinion. Yes, great stats at 7/5 for a 5 converted mana cost, but giving all players double mana? So if my opponent ran this, I could tap all my land giving me double mana, then kill it with something like Dreadbore, and then have fun with my extra mana after telling my opponent thanks. Risky card, and I do not like playing with dice when I can substitute it for something better. 3/5.
ZEvilMustache
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
All I wanted was a large creature for 5 mana. I would have played it as a 4/5 without the ability. As it was, I had to wait for my opponent to mostly empty their hand before I could risk playing this.
Forcing target opponent to lose with Door to Nothingness before turn 10? Sign me up!
Diachronos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I think he's pretty good. A decently strong body for 5cmc, and the effect is really good for his colors.
Sure, he helps your opponents too, but to be honest the focus of him doesn't seem to be "play him to set up your endgame sooner" so much as it is "play him and go as aggro as you can." Getting him out early (Turn 3 seems to be the fastest in Standard), you could use the next turn to do something like... Drop a huge Primordial Hydra Entreat the Angels Devil's Play/Clan Defiance/Bonfire Play all of the creatures in your hand (then Biomass Mutation the turn after!) Play a fatty way before you should be able to
There's a lot of things he lets you do. You just have to make sure it's something that can diminish the downside of letting your opponent do the same thing.
SpaceMagic
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is going to make a Rosheen Meanderer EDH deck somewhere very, very happy.
nemokara
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You kind of have to pick your spots with this guy. Case in point: at the prerelease, my opponent dropped this while I had Bronzebeak Moa and Korozda Guildmage out. On my turn I was able to drop a Maze Glider, swing with the Moa and Guildmage, then sacrifice the Glider after he couldn't declare any blockers to get 5 more Moa triggers. Boom - 22 flying damage.
So try to be sure your opponent can't do something TOO ridiculous thanks to all that extra mana. If they have an empty board and you suspect their only card in hand is a land, go ahead. But if they have plenty of land, plus potentially comboable creatures and/or a full hand, proceed with caution.
RedAtrocitus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A 7/5 for 5 that Mana Flares? Sweet! Even better cuz there aren't any cards in standard that could punish you for tapping out and giving your opponent double mana on turn 5! Realistically, this guys a 7/5 cuz he's secretly a 6+ drop. Don't be throwing this guy down without at least a Negate for back up, but even then, guy on the play can cast a Revelation for 7 on his turn and have his own Negate up for yours. Even more nightmarish is the thought of them using all their extra mana to do crazy stuff on their turn before killing your Ancient and passing. This card is pretty risky in a format with Revelation as played as it is. I love the card but you better survey the situation well before firing this off, not something Gruul is really known for.
Mode
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"Kind of surprised it isn't an Overabundance effect, given other Gruul cards having similar "punish" mechanics."
@Nucleon Good point, i didn't think of that at all because despite the enormouness the artwork suggests, Zhur-Taa Ancient looks like a sublime entity that provides its surroundings with calm, soothing and harmless ways of gathering more mana.
Then again, the flavor text suggests something else.
Rayenous
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
In current Standard, you can either find a way to Flash him in at the end of opponents turn, or simply use Turn on the opponents upkeep to temporarily remove the bonus.
CapmCrunch
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Yeah, this guy looks solid, but he really, really isn't. If you are on the draw, this gives your opponent twelve mana to play with. I have never seen this guy live a turn in Limited, but I have seen him power out a massive pile of fatties on the other side of the board and provide the fuel for an unrecoverable Revelation (draw 9, gain 9 life, nuke the board with Verdict next turn after opponent plays out their hand). Maybe the way to play him is to wait until turn seven, leaving up a counterspell so that your opponent needs two answers to the beast, but his upside has been all downside so far. A card for the casual crowd, and only those who enjoy losing in epic fashion.
IamjustnotCreative
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Hahahaha I got passed two of these guys in Draft and ended up winning 2-0 all three games. What basically happened was with both out they'd panic and waste all there spells and the next turn I'd drop 2-3 7+ drop creatures like it was no ones business.
That aside, this could seriously back fire, thank god I didn't go up against some one with Mind Grind
yesennes
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I play Simic and I thank my opponent when play this. Between Zameck Guildmage, Nimbus Swimmer, and Krasis Incubation, I always use up my mana, and maybe have some to spare for the Simic's expensive counters.
imperfectdude
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
love this guy. played heedlessly in a rage deck, he's brutal--and played in a calculated move for a mana explosion, he's brutal. long live the ancient!
MojoVince
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ok what to do with this ? Surely flashing it at the end of the opponent's turn when he is a little tap is the best and guess what is comming in M14 : Savage Summoning G Instant
Savage Summoning can't be countered. The next creature card you cast this turn can be cast as though it had flash. That spell can't be countered. That creature enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it.
Then this is twelve mana to spend in war and a 8/6 , the icing : uncounterable.
SirLibraryEater
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It is the most mana-rampy card in the world. I don't always mana ramp, but when i do, i let my opponents in on the fun.
AnonymousPerson
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Your opponent's next turn is a risk, but next turn I just unload all my creatures onto the board and it doesn't take long after that. Or play Clan Defiance for a massive X. That's fun too.
SAUS3
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The art on this card is really well done. That thing looks massive. The ability it has is also noted as a drawback allowing for a nice power boost to the card. This is a well-designed card imo. The only problem is that it is probably still too weak for its drawback.
4/5
Agnol
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Saw this card and my initial read was that the effect was a counter to enchantments like Verdant Haven and Crypt Ghast, both of which have a parenthetical that explicitly states that the mana is in addition to the mana the land would normally produce. I still think that without the parenthetical this card limits the amount of mana produced to one mana and not an additional mana, but so far everyone has said differently. I guess until I hear differently I'll play it the way everyone says it works.
Samfu
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
While it does have the drawback of doubling everyone's mana, it can also be useful for X cards, such as Debt to the Deathless. My friends and I were bored, so we played a game with 60 life starting. I had 17 mana on the board, before playing it. Casting cost of 4 from now 34, doubled. my friend who's deck constantly gives him life survived. Barely. I finished that turn with nearly 200 life. It's a really good way to *** someone's day up if you have the right combo of cards.
Wortcov
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
best friend with eldrazi and especialy Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, just get out 8 lands, 3 spawns and a non-land permanents that can give you red and green mana, then pay this guy with the spawns and (for example) pentad prism giving you 16 mana to spend on emrakul and a extra turn after that to spend another 16 mana.
Jaroon
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ majinara That's true. I had an empty board and acces of only 3 mana. After my opponent played this guy, I was able to play another land to produce 8 mana, which I used on a Falkenrath Aristocrat and a Mark of Mutiny targeting this guy.
sweetgab
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Cast this late game. Opponent laughs at you that you play with such a bad card, and forgets that he only has 30 cards in his library and Sphinx's Revelation for 31. 5/5
Deadling
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I was so sad when I pulled this card out of a pack. I kind of felt cheated, lol. I will never use it, and It's not worth enough to sell. I give this a half star...
Selerox
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This can be a dream if you cast in in 2HG, as it can fuel stupidly powerful stuff your team-mate has.
I guess it might be good if you protect it with Alpha Authority or use Savage Summoning, but it's dangerous. You can't just throw it in any old -cost deck like I did.
Sneak it into play at the end of your opponent's turn with Savage Summoning.
Trygon_Predator
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
After playing with this in Commander a few times, I've decided to take it out of my beast deck. The fact that your opponents get to use its benefit before you do is what makes it terrible, and every time I played it, the next player powered out a bunch of costly spells and killed the Ancient at the end of their turn. For this sort of drawback, a vanilla 7/5 just doesn't cut it.
What would make this better? Perhaps a couple of keywords - haste and trample are both very Gruul, for instance. A Manabarbs or Overabundance effect would also fit the theme.
orzhov20
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@thisissakon there is a drawback: your opponent gets extra mana, too
Ugin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Actually the fact that he can double the mana pool of your opponents as well is the reason he will stay on the field. No one will be silly enough to either Unmake,Murder or Cancel him since they can drain benefit unless they already have achieved enough mana advantage to finish the game in one turn. Furthermore he has a solid 5 body which keeps him safe from most burn spells...I mean you can even use him as a blocker and he will still be efficient,look at him,he is not a mountain for nothing. My personal opinion is that people should really stop complaining about his "drawback" since it's not a drawback at all...I mean,if giving mana to your oponents is a drawback then I guess fuelling them with card advantage and knowledge is even worse. I don't see anyone complaining about Edric, Spymaster of Trest risks. What is more he is Green,so if you now what you are doing,you won't be left behind in matters of mana by some greedy White,Blue or Black mages. And by the Gods the art is breathtaking 5/5
creepycrawler
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm surprised the Selesnya haven't designated it as a national park. Oh! Look! There goes Yellowstone!
Comments (42)
We're all spoiled here.
Anyway, Heartbeat of Spring stapled to a 7/5 for 5 is stupid, there is some fun to be had with this guy, definitely.
Absolutely EDH material, Omnath, Locus of Mana and him are going to be the BEST of buddies.
One last thing...this guy sure does NOT look like a 7/5, he looks like he could fit Worldspine Wurm under his foot...hoof...thing. Hey, whatever, he still looks sick as it gets.
However, if you start with Yeva, Nature's Herald, then you can flash this in at the end of your opponent's turn! Then hopefully you can pour that mana into something devastating, maybe even something ridiculous like Skarrg Goliath and Boros Charm.
This is more abusable because it is a creature, and can be flickered at the end of the turn to return on your next turn, effectively doubling your mana and not theirs... but there are other cards that do that at a similar price, without needing the hassle.
Of course, it can beat face for 7, but it can also be chump-blocked, pacified, detained, etc...
Be very careful with this card, do not assume that just because you tailored your deck to abuse the extra mana, your opponent still won't take more advantage of it than you.
Run with hand / land disruption, and pack in extra Fogs and ways to deal with Fireball-like spells and board control like Ensnaring Bridge or Portcullis.
Or else you'll learn the hard way, like many Mana Flare / Heartbeat of Spring mages did before you, that doubling everyone else's mana may very well be the last thing you do in a game.
Anyway, fun card, with the potential to be abused, but that requires careful deck construction to ensure you even see your next turn - particularly in multi-player. 3.5. Maybe 4. I'm tempted to try it out in my Dragon Roost deck (which already sports 4 Heartbeats, 4 Flares, and lots of board control).
Sure, he helps your opponents too, but to be honest the focus of him doesn't seem to be "play him to set up your endgame sooner" so much as it is "play him and go as aggro as you can." Getting him out early (Turn 3 seems to be the fastest in Standard), you could use the next turn to do something like...
Drop a huge Primordial Hydra
Entreat the Angels
Devil's Play/Clan Defiance/Bonfire
Play all of the creatures in your hand (then Biomass Mutation the turn after!)
Play a fatty way before you should be able to
There's a lot of things he lets you do. You just have to make sure it's something that can diminish the downside of letting your opponent do the same thing.
So try to be sure your opponent can't do something TOO ridiculous thanks to all that extra mana. If they have an empty board and you suspect their only card in hand is a land, go ahead. But if they have plenty of land, plus potentially comboable creatures and/or a full hand, proceed with caution.
@Nucleon Good point, i didn't think of that at all because despite the enormouness the artwork suggests,
Zhur-Taa Ancient looks like a sublime entity that provides its surroundings with calm, soothing and harmless ways of gathering more mana.
Then again, the flavor text suggests something else.
That aside, this could seriously back fire, thank god I didn't go up against some one with Mind Grind
Surely flashing it at the end of the opponent's turn when he is a little tap is the best and guess what is comming in M14 :
Savage Summoning G
Instant
Savage Summoning can't be countered.
The next creature card you cast this turn can be cast as though it had flash. That spell can't be countered. That creature enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it.
Then this is twelve mana to spend in war and a 8/6 , the icing : uncounterable.
in the world.
I don't always mana ramp, but when i do, i let my opponents in on the fun.
4/5
That's true. I had an empty board and acces of only 3 mana. After my opponent played this guy, I was able to play another land to produce 8 mana, which I used on a Falkenrath Aristocrat and a Mark of Mutiny targeting this guy.
A team-mate cast this while had a Debt to the Deathless in my hand.
The game didn't last long...
I guess it might be good if you protect it with Alpha Authority or use Savage Summoning, but it's dangerous. You can't just throw it in any old
What would make this better? Perhaps a couple of keywords - haste and trample are both very Gruul, for instance. A Manabarbs or Overabundance effect would also fit the theme.
Furthermore he has a solid 5 body which keeps him safe from most burn spells...I mean you can even use him as a blocker and he will still be efficient,look at him,he is not a mountain for nothing.
My personal opinion is that people should really stop complaining about his "drawback" since it's not a drawback at all...I mean,if giving mana to your oponents is a drawback then I guess fuelling them with card advantage and knowledge is even worse.
I don't see anyone complaining about Edric, Spymaster of Trest risks.
What is more he is Green,so if you now what you are doing,you won't be left behind in matters of mana by some greedy White,Blue or Black mages.
And by the Gods the art is breathtaking 5/5