Pointed Discussion

This is Commander material which is rare for an uncommon one drop, it can act as a second voidstalker removing troublesome EDH generals without hexproof.

Indestructable? ...No Problem.

Hexproof? ...No Problem.

Evasion? ... Problem.

I see this being used in a ton of Ninjitsu decks.

You don't want to block? Oh, that's fine...

"Git in ma belly!"
~~~~~~~~MTG Charybdis

Oh, I JUST got the flavor of this.

It sucks your opponent's creatures in. Like a vortex. Duh.

The sea is hungry for everything except Unicorns

Fine for Commander. Not that good that it's an auto-include in each and every Commander deck, but still good enough, especially in decks low on removal. Might also be fun on a soul foundry in Commander, what with the cheap activation cost of it.

My Gomazoa no longer must stand alone!

Will obviously combo with Scylla. Your opponent's Pirate Ships will never make it through!

I love this card so much, it's so cute and I feel like this ability will be seriously underrated.

This was the all-star of my prerelease deck...

...but only because I tucked it and redrew it four times in a row before stabilizing.

I was at two life, controlled no other creatures, and three of the four creatures tucked were 12/12 Nessian Wilds Ravagers.

Least. Deserved. Victory. EVER.

I wonder what Scylla will be?

Excellent against tramplers, or any creature that would like to deal combat damage for that matter.

Beautifully cheap combo with Valor Made Real.
This turns two 1cc cards into a pseudo-Final Judgment against non-evasive, attacking creatures.

It's also great that it works with blocking creatures (and with that Lure tactics), too.
(Despite the odd fact that — unlike some older aquatic creatures *cough* Islandhome *cough* — it can attack your opponent's creatures on dry land.)

The activated pseudo-provoke for is just icing.
(Although I'd love Wizards if they finally returned this keyword for real rather than giving us imitations.)


Also this gets really good when you don't get the card disadvantage from it like your opponent.
You can bounce it in response to activating its ability, then recast it to repeat the process.
Or you can make token copies of it via Soul Foundry.

Last but not least, it has a relevant creature type.
Flamekin Harbinger can help you pull your desired combos with this thing off.

This will probably be a staple in all my mono U control decks from now on.

This ability is unbelievably powerful when your deck is designed to manipulate your deck. Oh, and did I mention it doesn't need to block for its ability to be activated?

In a land pocket? Vortex Elemental. Lightning Bolt aimed at it? Shuffle it away!

I also feel the need to point out that it will be awesome combined with Cosi's Trickster and Psychogenic Probe

Easily my favorite card in the set

Dammit, "mode" what are the formatting tips you are using to link cards with a special word?
It's an elemental so master of waves says "pump it"!

I recently added this card to my mill deck and I have to say its a great addition for a blocker in my deck. It's not a traditional Wall or Defender for-say, but its cheap to play and it will make your opponent think twice about attacking if you have a few blockers up. While a traditional removal spell or perhaps a defender card may be a better, Vortex Elemental is just too much fun! If you are looking for cheap removal this is definitely a possible choice and it works well in the right situations.

This kind of card's psychological effect is immense. Every limited event for BTG will no doubt have tables with:

"Turn 1, Island, Vortex Elemental." *Opponent groans.*

And despite not having Heroic itself, this thing is a fantastic target for pump spells, especially those stuck at Sorcery speed. You cast the pump before combat, ideally giving trample to it somehow, and present a very cruel choice. Block with a dork, and trample damage goes through to beat face freely. Block with a big guy, and you won't have that big guy anymore. Don't block? MORE pump spells could follow, or at very least a nasty amount of damage. I love being able to mess with people like that, and it's yet another advocate for UG strategies. 5/5 for that kind of sadistic joy alone.

I suspect, can't confirm, that this will be very powerful against the Horde deck and whatever equivalent comes out in Journey into Nyx. You fundamentally have a very fast 1-drop answer to giant creatures, which is half the theme of this block and no doubt what the monster decks like the Hydra, Horde, and Nyx's deck have.

Well then, looks like Blue found its control 1-drop for the next standard session. It can even tuck itself away from kill spells!

Oh, and to state the obvious, it's an elemental