I dub thee "Akroma's Grizzly Bear". How many abilities can you fit on a 2 mana 2/2 anyway? Especially one that looks like a toothy version of a woman's... uh... never mind.
Doaj
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I liked the leak that said this was a spider. Still plays well with Swarmyard. Great sideboard material in Modern and Legacy against Delver. Don't know if he'll see standard play though. Depends on what ends up in M14.
He may have missed the delver boat, but he can certianly still nom his fair share of Geist of Saint Traft. Also, in modern, the Delver party never stops!
protohamster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This would be cooler if it had thrashing mossdog's art.
I love that this kills fliers dead, I love that it deals handily with blue, I love that you get great value for , I love that is getting the efficient creatures it always should have had, and I love the alien-looking Freudian art... But why in Urza's name is this not a spider? This could have been the Spider tribe's ultimate anti-air defender following their long history of clearing the skies, why make it an Insect?
The solution to Delver we've all wanted... for over a year.
LordOfTheFlies87
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Weird f-ucking design.
Gcrudaplaneswalker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Funny how they made the Gryff in the picture Blue. Now THAT is a lot of creature for 2 mana, and it's very splashable.
DeviousPie
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(14 votes)
Wizards: Agent Superbear, we are being overrun by Delver of Secrets. We need your help now! One year later... Agent Superbear: HEY GUYZ! I'm sorry, I just got your call. What did I miss?
James_Kernaghan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It evokes tears from the privileged.
Slimbokid
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hey nice vag--URHK!
Wurmcaller
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
So, Grizzly Bears are just plain outplayed by this thing. 4 abilities, 3 of which are almost always usable? This cries push so hard that it's painful. As others have said this is an obvious counter to Delver, but way past the time that Delver was viable in Standard.
ManyCookies
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late! So you have a Delver problem? Well don't you worry about him, because I came pac- No? You don't? Well... what about Cloudfin Raptor? No? ... Crap."
psychichobo
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(20 votes)
Niv-Mizzet: 'Nothing shall stop me in my quest to seek the answer to the Maze! Nothing, you hear me?! NOTH-'
the next day...
'So Niv, still not reached that maze yet? Must've been something pretty powerful to stop you...' 'Yes. Powerful. TERRIFYING. I don't want to talk about it. Shut up.'
i wonder why the high rating. everyone is thinking only in delver and snapcaster or what?? this an average creature. did sryb ranger see a lot of play?
BongRipper420
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You know a creature is good when it has twice as many keyword abilities as it's flexible mana cost.
SirLibraryEater
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Color hate? Really? I thought we talked about this, Wizards. But really, fantastic card. I need some.
What is powercreep? Well this is the perfect example of it. We have an environment where Delver of Secrets is barely being run and they make this monstrosity. I understand him being a sup'ed up Grizzly Bears But at least make him cost the fact that he costs is absurd. Then lets give him 4 abilities that basically hates Blue. Can't be countered might as well say F.U. Blue, Reach, Flash, and protection from Blue. Wow.
I had this thing sprung on me and it was annoying. The fact that this thing blocks your 3/6 flier all day long and doesn't receive a scratch is ridiculous. Oh and for every green player who whines about Green not getting good creatures, look no more. This thing is hideous.
RagingGoblinGrenade
★☆☆☆☆ (1.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Well, this is certenly green giving blue a middle finger.
Also, for the people crying about this being a "power creep". I have a question for u: How will this fare against any 3/3 vanilla common/uncommon who isn't blue?
Answer: the same as a bear.
Jhyrryl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
People are complaining that this is pure F.U. to blue...but it happens to fit Simic strategies just fine, especially once Ambush Viper cycles out of standard.
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"An evil thing in Spider form"- said every Sphinx ever.
Mode
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(6 votes)
That bear is on crack - no less than four freaking abilities for free, now that's something.
And that 'something' is called power creep.
Having flash and reach alone would have put into that category to some extent, giving it protection from blue pretty much seals the deal already, but going one step beyond and adding immunity to counters as well isn't even power creep anymore, it's power rumble. Or i guess power lashing, in this case. Blue will rightfully learn to hate this little bug(ger).
Splizer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Muraganda Petroglyphs is possibly the only ONLY thing that means this monster isn't strictly, STRICTLY speaking, better than a bear.
TowerDefender
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
What were Wizards thinking? It needs If a spell or ability an opponent controls would cause you to discard it, instead put Skylasher onto the battlefield like Loxodon Smiter LOL
The_Trendkill
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
As a fine illustration of how far we've come since the original Ravnica block, if this card had been in Dissension it would have been the best creature ever printed at the time.
WolfWhoWalks
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(6 votes)
I thought I read this wrong at first glance, then I just realized that Wizards must've just come down with a bad case of the power creep flu...
Lockwert
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Who knows, we might get some nice cantrip library manipulator on M14. This can easily be preemptive delver hosing.
AncientTimer
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Usually I'm pleased when WotC releases extremely good green creatures. Green should have the very best creatures in the game I think. Although that has never really been the case.
People need to stop complaining on every card about power creep. The game's always going to have more and more powerful cards as it grows and as long as the cards aren't at the level of Skullclamp or Jace, the Mind Sculptor and as long as they don't wreck formats, there's nothing to complain about. This is a card that's sideboard material against blue. Sure it's good against blue but in most situations, it's just a bear with flash that can chump block fliers. It doesn't even stretch the P/T curve. It's still just a 2/2 at the end of the day.
Why are people complaining more about Skylasher than Voice of Resurgence which has a massive impact on every game and is clearly not just a 2/2?
GruesomeGoo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Six middle fingers to Blue for two mana. This little guy is easily one of the best bears in Magic, outclassed only by Scavenging Ooze, I think. 4.5/5
Lookin' at the art, all I can think about is "Spy on this!". Great creature!
steev
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(7 votes)
Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE complained about powercreep on this guy, but magiccards.info says he's going at 38 cents right now.
So there's that.
whoiam
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Powercreep? Nope, he still doesn't do much. There is no competitive decks that Skylasher helps to stop. If it had been GG with the protection from both blue and black, then it would have seen play.
SAUS3
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
This card is crap design. I don't care if it is used or not, it is crap design. It is obviously aimed at competitive play, but it's not even strong enough for that. Now it's just another rare that a poor kid will get in his booster pack only to be disappointed (most kids are timmies).
EyeballFrog
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I could be annoyed that it's absurdly better than a bear, but it's not as though strictly better than a bear is new. I could be annoyed that it doesn't cost GG like I assumed such stats would.
But no. I'm actually most annoyed that it isn't a spider. For I anxiously await the day when spider tribal becomes a thing.
danialjames
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
That funny cause just today I played someone who had a spider tribal edh deck. It was red green and black, and a a bunch of spiders i never knew existed.
Blazemeister
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Against a blue deck this will be a very annoying wall that can kill a decent amount of early game creatures. Against any other color it is just a slightly above average bear. Great sideboard potential against the right decks at least.
lilwolf2005
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
My anger and rage against playing blue was so great, it manifested into this card. Even the artwork is to my liking. "Try flying around this spear through your heart you piece of !@#$". Deliciously perfect.
Polycotton
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Anyone else reminded of John Carpenter's 'The Thing' when they look at this creature? Specifically the scene when the dude's chest collapses and chomps down on the guy reviving him and removes his hands.
This creature is sick. Surprised it's not GG instead of 1G.
Taudisban
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Blue gets color hate: "OMG POWER CREEP STRICTLY BETTER THAN GRIZZLY BEARS" I don't think anyone freaked out this much over Kor Firewalker. Red hate isn't powercreep?
There is 39 1G 2/2s that are definitely better than Grizzly bears. Not all of them are strictly better but, then, neither is this this guy. Pro blue can hurt you as well. Either way, they have been printing strictly better bears since Wild Mongrel and I'd personally claim the dog as being better than a narrow hate card.
Epochrasite
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@ The_Trendkill So, you're saying that people thought this would be better than Dark Confidant? The brokenness that is dredge? I'd even say the Guildmage cycle would have outclassed this in Dissension, as they do more than sit there being a reach bear if your opponent isn't playing blue. Which guess what? They weren't. Decks to beat were Boros and Zoo or BW aggro variants.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It is an answer to geist, but they still have a chance to path to exile/doomblade.
Phelplan
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(5 votes)
I am totally a green mage at heart, but I agree that this should cost at the very least. I really don't want to complain about powercreep but I am not a fan of the fact that rares (or worse, mythic rares) can cost the exact same amount as a common and have the power-level be soooooo skewed towards the rare. Sure, give rares and mythics a bit of a boost, but it shouldn't make equivalent-costed commons look like total sh*t when placed alongside - this card does that. And it's the type of thing that makes me angry at Wizards of the Coast when I see it. Because a deck stuffed with all rares is a pay-to-win scenario that makes the game not much fun for those of us who don't want to hand our wallets over to Hasbro.
ekann123
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This thing is so good in standard!
-It blocks Delver -Kills Geist of Saint Traft -Kills Snapcaster without trading -Can't get Vapor Snagged -Can't Gut Shot it -Can't Mana Leak it -Blocks Lingering Souls tokens
Wait a second... ;)
FaltonOV
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(6 votes)
Am I the only one that thinks something should give so that this thing can have first strike? I mean, come on - that artwork SCREAMS first strike.
In case of that almost impossible scenario where mono blue aggro somehow dominates...
IndubitableSalmon
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Should've been a bear.
Tiggurix
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@whoiam: Just because this isn't seen in competitive decks doesn't mean it's not powercreep. A few years back, a creature like this would have been inconceivable.
Syrtees
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This card is unbelievably overlooked. All it takes is one pro to build a deck for this thing and it will shoot up in price just like Nightveil Specter, and that's only used because it has 3 mana symbols for devotion.
5/5 This card is ridiculous.
blurrymadness
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
4 abilities on a 2/2; I can understand it seems overwhelming but let's not cry power-creep. In most cases it's an Ashcoat Bear with Reach; which is hardly the best thing to throw in a deck. The rest is blue hate; which because blue is so powerful requires multiple abilities just to get protection to work. Even the Flash is there because of blue.
If anything this should be a wake-up call to players that blue is *that good.* When you see 4 abilities on this card; I see a Green White Knight that requires 4 abilities to do the same job as Knight's 2; because it's against blue.
Comments (67)
But why in Urza's name is this not a spider? This could have been the Spider tribe's ultimate anti-air defender following their long history of clearing the skies, why make it an Insect?
One year later...
Agent Superbear: HEY GUYZ! I'm sorry, I just got your call. What did I miss?
the next day...
'So Niv, still not reached that maze yet? Must've been something pretty powerful to stop you...'
'Yes. Powerful. TERRIFYING. I don't want to talk about it. Shut up.'
this an average creature. did sryb ranger see a lot of play?
But really, fantastic card. I need some.
I had this thing sprung on me and it was annoying. The fact that this thing blocks your 3/6 flier all day long and doesn't receive a scratch is ridiculous. Oh and for every green player who whines about Green not getting good creatures, look no more. This thing is hideous.
Also, for the people crying about this being a "power creep". I have a question for u:
How will this fare against any 3/3 vanilla common/uncommon who isn't blue?
Answer: the same as a bear.
And that 'something' is called power creep.
Having flash and reach alone would have put into that category to some extent,
giving it protection from blue pretty much seals the deal already, but going one step beyond
and adding immunity to counters as well isn't even power creep anymore, it's power rumble.
Or i guess power lashing, in this case. Blue will rightfully learn to hate this little bug(ger).
But this one breaks reasonable boundaries too much. Not as foolish as Phyrexian Obliterator or Wurmcoil Engine but still stupid.
Why are people complaining more about Skylasher than Voice of Resurgence which has a massive impact on every game and is clearly not just a 2/2?
freaking delvers.
So there's that.
But no. I'm actually most annoyed that it isn't a spider. For I anxiously await the day when spider tribal becomes a thing.
This creature is sick. Surprised it's not GG instead of 1G.
There is 39 1G 2/2s that are definitely better than Grizzly bears. Not all of them are strictly better but, then, neither is this this guy. Pro blue can hurt you as well. Either way, they have been printing strictly better bears since Wild Mongrel and I'd personally claim the dog as being better than a narrow hate card.
So, you're saying that people thought this would be better than Dark Confidant? The brokenness that is dredge? I'd even say the Guildmage cycle would have outclassed this in Dissension, as they do more than sit there being a reach bear if your opponent isn't playing blue. Which guess what? They weren't. Decks to beat were Boros and Zoo or BW aggro variants.
-It blocks Delver
-Kills Geist of Saint Traft
-Kills Snapcaster without trading
-Can't get Vapor Snagged
-Can't Gut Shot it
-Can't Mana Leak it
-Blocks Lingering Souls tokens
Wait a second... ;)
Or save you from Nightveil Specters and Medomai assaults.
5/5 This card is ridiculous.
If anything this should be a wake-up call to players that blue is *that good.* When you see 4 abilities on this card; I see a Green White Knight that requires 4 abilities to do the same job as Knight's 2; because it's against blue.