This card should have been so much better. The incarnation of magic isnt all what its hyped up to be i guess. this card is a lot weaker than the creatures who fused to form it. I will always be very disappointed with this card.
darkfury
★☆☆☆☆ (1.9/5.0)(7 votes)
Karona is kinda bad. although saying she is an avatar of all mana is wrong. she is only the avatar of dominaria's mana. if say, she was the avatar of Alara (5 times the total manapool of dominaria) or Zendikar (now with 100% more mana) she would be powerful and cool
her ability is the refference that she was a good guy, but then went insane
Omniance
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(3 votes)
Great card for chaotic environments.
Llandner
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(6 votes)
They could have made her soooooooo much more broken...and the odd thing is that they would have gotten away with it!
(Because Shes a god....Goddess....thingy 0.o)
i mean seriously they could have given her protection from everything, flying, trample, haste, vigilance, death touch, regen i mean seriously T.T next time they decide to name something a God actually make it ya know a GOD!
Zoah
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Virtually useless. Looks cool, but not really. (I guess that's why she's a FALSE god) I think this is possibly one of the least useful cards I have ever seen.
First, her color weight is huge, and her converted manna cost outweighs her stats, although her having hast is nice. I don't know... if she were a great deal cheaper than she might actually be sort of not garbage.
The only hope to use her well is either an odd combo based deck or as a last ditch effort to end the game.
So, without wasting any more time on her, her base rating: ***
color weight: -* Power up trick: +* side switcher: -** combo? +*/2
She's a great card! If your opponent summons it. I mean, I'd certainly welcome the help when she randomly switches sides and gives me a huge power boost, after wasting a huge amount of my opponents resources. Summon this card if you want a very grateful opponent.
Nerobyrne
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Goes nice in a sliver deck as a final attack booster/enabler, since she has haste. If the attack doesn't end it all, you can use another sliver's ability to sacrifice her and have something else happen by changing her type with another card.
Actually, attacking and then sacrificing her would go well in any deck, but only sliver decks tend to run all five colors.
Omenchild
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(9 votes)
@ darkfury the manapool of alara and zendikar is greater than dominaria? THE CENTER OF THE FING MULTIVERSE? Dude, no.
sarroth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This fell so short of what it should have been. I'd love a development article on Daily MTG explaining how this train wreck happened using quotes from dev comments. I also find it interesting that it costs all five mana although it's a combination of two mono-colored creatures. Still, "avatar of all mana" I guess lends itself to requiring at least one of each, but then maybe the ability could actually be useful. I like Akroma and Phage too much to be subject to this madness.
SorianSadaskan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
What makes her unique than her previous counterparts (Phage and Akroma) is that while they can literally fight on their own, Karona instead lead and command an army of her own as the story dictates. Imagine controlling a mob and able to pump them up by +3/+3 at each players turn is highly dangerous as her ability can be swing back at you, but hey, such is the price of power.
The difficulty is trying to assemble these colors, most creature decks only operate on two to three colors instead of five. The exception lies with Slivers and Allies.
Don't laugh, because a lot of people didn't anticipate certain minority players to play slivers with Karona to lead in the attack. I admit, she's not amazing at first sight, but true players know her potentials when it's conducted in combat.
divine_exodus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Great in an allies deck.
izzet_guild_mage
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The centerpiece of my Avatar tribal deck :P Also, possibly my new myr general.
SleetFox
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Well, she's kind of like an overly expensive Overrun. So she's still bad, but she makes for a decent way to end the game. Just make sure it works, because you're screwed if it doesn't.
Kindulas
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
well if you were playing tribal you would take better advntage of her +3/+3 ability... BUT FOR THAT MANA!?
Maraxas-of-Keld
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A respectable-ish general If you want to make an ally EDH or something.
novasun
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(11 votes)
MY version of karona
Karona, the false god 2.0 5,W,U,B,G,R this card is considered to have all effects of cards in play this cards power and toughness are equal to the number of cards in the graveyard your life total is equal to the number of cards in your deck if you would lose life discard that many cards */*
dark_hero
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Let's see.....I guess you could use Brand imprinted on Isochron Scepter. That way you just activate it on there turn so you can keep the 5/5 creature with haste......if you couldn't find anything better....like a Chimney Imp. He costs 1 less CMC, isn't Legendary, less color intensive, has evasion, oh and doesn't cheat on you. Something to think about.
I made a pretty devastating token deck where all the tokens are mixed; saprolings, soldiers, thrulls etc. Once you have Eon Hub and Conspiracy out I slap out Karona and basically win at that point unless they have something to either counter her or kill me outright, maybe a stop all combat damage spell..
Overall, from her own set, she's garbage, but mix her with the above mentioned cards and she becomes epic for a token deck..
vigo17
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
why can they make another karona? like the true karona??? i wish i can see some phage ability and akroma in one card
Trizeam
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think I want one of these for my Sliver EDH deck...
fun in multi-player edh, group-hug (brawl) general
Teotanek
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think her chaotic ability it's okay, but she should be more powerful, since she is the fusion of Akroma and Phage, so she should be like 8/8 - 9/9 with shroud, since she's a godess and godess, and sort of some of the abilities of phage and Akroma, like trample, flying, protection, etc, maybe the winning the game ability could be a risky add, and thus reinforce the idea that she ihas no master.Then she would be worht the risk of exchange.
MTGFreak
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
She is my EDH general, I just love passing the wh*re around to everyone!
BlackFlameAshura
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Actually very playable with the new Vow auras in Commander. I love her in the format sometimes, total group hug.
Atali
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(6 votes)
Vow of: take your pick, she's completely become a viable Commander; multiplayer she'll be smashing around the board, but always leaving you, her master, alone. Load up the deck with the multicolor tribe of your choice (I want to make an Avatar tribal deck), or just turn her into Voltron. The only danger becomes opponents with sacrifice effects who want her dead.
sonorhC
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(7 votes)
The very incarnation of an entire plane's mana? Damn, she must be the ultimate thing in the game. But no, wait, she was produced by the Mirari. Wow, the Mirari must be awesome! But the Mirari was made by Karn, Silver Golem. So I guess he's just the biggest cheese around. Except, he was made by Urza.
Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?
ICEFANG13
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I greatly dislike this card.
Ideally, you will need a deck that:
Is tribal, most decks have better lords already as long as the tribe is of real size, with the new super lord Adaptive Automaton, it it less useful to use this temp +3/+3
Can remove the main disadvantage, even if they aren't playing a tribal deck, you'll be getting smashed for 8 (since they may choose Avatar), you will need some walls or health gain to resist it (since you don't want to trade or eat her)
Is probably EDH, increasing the ability to play it, otherwise you will have a deck devoted to it, and aren't playing it.
Here are some 5 color tribes Elementals, you want to play Horde of Notions probably though. Scarecrows, you want to play Reaper King probably though. Slivers.... yeah you don't want to use Karona for that. Atogs, you may want to use Atogatog instead, but you may prefer a semi +3/+3 instead. Dragons, this is one of the better ones, you can eat Karona if you want, although there are an abundance of multicolored dragons, there is only 1 Legendary WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon, the +3/+3 may be better.
However, in something I feel is kinda ironic, Karona is PERFECT for an avatar tribe deck: Acts as a permanent +3/+3 to your creatures (if the opponent wants to hit with Karona) or he can only use a different creature, which helps remove the drawback of getting hit for 8.
Anyway, that's the best use I can think of, she is great for avatar decks, just good luck with making one.
Wprundv
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@MidgetfaceKillah: Zagorka, she is a combonation of Phage (AKA Jeska, Warrior Adept), Akroma and Zagorka who doesn't have her own card.
Tsuichoi
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Karona, sharing that love with all the faithful :)
OmegaSerris
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
She HAD to have haste. If not, she would permanently be stuck in summoning sickness.
Nobody would have had control of her since the beginning of their turn. Sort of like if you mind control something an opponent played the turn before, you can't attack with it until YOUR next turn. And if they naturalize it on their turn, they have to wait once more. On Karona, it would never end as long as she kept getting passed around.
Anyways, I like where they were going with her, but I think the fell short. Granted, creatures in her time weren't as flashy as they are today. But she needed more of a boost to hold that 'false idol' feel. Something to tempt players to try and take advantage of her, yet to be betrayed in the end. The tribal battle cry is nice and all, but falls short of "Break me!" especially with that mana cost. I know she was behind all of the insanely powerful Decrees (Powerful, I didn't say mana efficient) but yet, this all she'll do for you?
ZeroSheep
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
The general of my Chaos/Politics EDH deck. Use Homeward Path to take her back temporarily if she gets passed to someone you don't like ;)
LordRandomness
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(8 votes)
I've got it. Changeling tribal.
No matter what your opponent picks when they attack with her, all your stuff gets the bonus. Find one that can conveniently block her without killing, and there you go.
DarthParallax
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Karona should have been in FTV: Legends.....except for the part where she sucks a$$ compared to pProgenitus.
She is a 5/5 for 6 mana, in 5 colors. Dragons can get 5/5 for 5 mana in one color on a good day these days, and even Blue had some pretty heavy flyers on the cheap EVEN back in the day when blue was supposed to have crappy creatues (they usually had drawbacks)
I don't remember how much power Phage had because it didn't matter. Akroma was a 6/6. I firmly believe that the first correction this card needs is to be made a 7/7 with flying, so that it can successfully block and kill Akroma if you have a card to remove her 'protection from...' abilities.
The second thing I suggest is that they actually use the mechanic they were thinking about putting on Akroma: ''Whenever this creature dies, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control." I also think that they should have keyworded it- and called it Immortal.
An Immortal 7/7 flier might be enough. After all, we are not trying to just make another Super Voltron. It would make Akroma less special. Karona wants to be short, elegant, and to the point with her abilities to have the most aesthetically pleasing contrast with Akroma and Phage; and being 5-colored is quite snazzy just on its own.
The third thing I suggest is this: Creatures you control get +1/+1. An Omni-Lord would feel fairly appropriate for a God-Spirit-Avatar-Incarnation of Mana. You also want to remember what this ends up looking like to a Designer FROM BACK THEN. They've changed so much about how they think since, that it would be flat out wrong to try to make Karona what she could have been if they'd designed her at the time they were making Commander or FTV: Legends.
Karona, the False God
Creature- Legend
Flying Creatures you control get +1/+1 Immortal (Whenever this creature dies, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, target opponent gains control of Karona, the False God.
7/7
This is a huge what-if. We will never know. But I like my 'fixed' Karona quite a bit, since I think it keeps what is good and changes only what is not good about the original :)
Once you have all 5 in the yard, she enters and gains all of them, becoming a 9/8 Haste, Flying, Trample, Vigilance (will rarely matter though), Firebreathing, Fear creature that pumps a tribe by +3/+3 when it swings. Practical? Hell no. Cool to watch work out in casual? Of course. Just make sure you are able to deal with the mess you've made, since you'll be passing her around once the turn is over.
Bonus point if you grab them all with Conflux and give a long "by our powers combined" speech.
SquirePath
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Use Empress Galina to get her back during your opponent's turn.
lol.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Slivers? Easy finisher. Or you could swing for 8 and fling... no one will see it coming..
Should have costed 3.5 for being interesting and style finisher.
Enelysios
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
EDH, changeling and the vows (Vow of Wildness) have finally given this legend a place to call home. Keep in mind this is a decade after her printing. When she was released, she was gag-inducingly bad, and to add insult to pulling her as a rare, she is the culmination of the awesome Phage the untouchable (Who does manage to be far worse in EDH I suppose) and Akroma, Angel of Wrath.So following two blocks of awe-inspiring legends that did new things and pushed the boundaries of what a beatdown creature could be we got this.
Thats right folks, you run five colors, you pay six mana and what do you get? a five five and a decent boost to your creatures, followed by your opponent getting the same devastating boost should they survive. A very dissapointing end to my favorite magic story of all time.
BongRipper420
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This card is really cool. It's also a game winner. if not for you, your opponent. I imagine this would be most interesting in large multiplayer games however.
My only real gripe with this card is that I personally feel like a being that came into existence due to Akroma, Angel of Wrath and Phage the Untouchable should do something a bit more epic. That's just my opinion though, and I completely understand why they went with the '5 color chaos' feel.
4/5 for flavor, concept, and art. Admittedly it's a card you have to build heavily around though.
Goatllama
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
"Let me explain the madness. Legions had two central iconic legendary creatures: Akroma and Phage. They essentially were the two villains of the story. And at the end of the Legions story they fight and end up merged as Karona. You know, the False God. (A quick aside – let me publicly apologize for Karona, False God. That card is an embarrassment to card design. I actually had zero to do with the card and I'm still embarrassed. We took two iconic beloved cool legends and combined them into a pile of, well a word I'm not allowed to use on this site. Of all the balls dropped with the design of legendary characters, this is one near the top of the list. My humblest apologies.)" – Mark Rosewater
twiddleman12
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My Beautiful EDH general only gets two stars? @MTGfreak: You have good taste.
Axelle
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
As crappy as she is, even she has her uses in group hug EDH.
the_nonaffiliated
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
SLIVERS
Bisento
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you fold it in half and run it through the washer a couple of times, it actually turns into a somewhat decent card.
Captain_Sisay_2591
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Jeska was RED Then she became Phage, who was BLACK Ixidor, who's BLUE, created Akroma, who was WHITE Kamahl, who's GREEN, was involved in the confrontation between Phage, Akroma, and Zagorka (who is not a card, perhaps she is COLORLESS?). Boom, Karona.
Claytoon
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A pity that such an epic being that took 3 sets to build up turns out to be a really crummy card.
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's an 8/8 with Conspiracy or if you name Avatar.. Vows work, as do enchantments that force her to attack each turn (in combination) (Furor of the Bitten) for multiplayer. 3-cards down but you get to have each opponent nail eachother with a 9/9 or bigger evasive beater in chaotic style as well! So do creatures that tap down other creatures (usually White or Blue)
FourEx
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i like group hug cards but...isn't this supposed to be a "big bad" in the magic multiverse? what a letdown.
EvilDarkVoid
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
For clarification this will never happen ever. But it would be awesome if it did.
player 1: The Karona, False God that I exiled a few turns ago with Jhoira of the Ghitu resolves. I cast a kicked Rite of Replication on it, then copy the Rite twice with my level 4 Echo Mage. None of the Karonas die thanks to my Mirror Gallery. I swing with all 16 Karonas, naming Avatar with each of them and turning them into 53/53s.
Use with Eon Hub. No upkeeps means that you get to keep her forever.
Barring Eon Hub and Vow of X shenanigans, you can think of her as a powerful finisher with a drawback if she doesn't finish, sort of like a multicolored Timbermare. +3/+3 to a tribe is nothing to scoff at. I'm thinking notably of Elves with Elvish Piper. Completely bypassing her restrictive mana cost, swing with her and your horde of elves, and drop Overrun while you're at it.
LeVaughnster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I just put prison term on her until I can land a "vow of" card. Simple enough in my mind and totally worth it. 4/5
NuclearRainboom
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@LordRandomness You are a genius. Everyone is saying she sucks, but she really doesn't. run her with cards like Runed Stalactite or Ego Erasure. I would love to build a commander deck around her irl.
Agent1103
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Yo momma is like Karona, False God in EDH, everybody gets a turn! OH SNAP!
Update: Karona with "detain" cards like Martial Law could hold potential if one could get around that pesky "opponent" clause...
SAUS3
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So my shadowborn apostle strategy got scrapped, and now my deck is basically voltron karona. There really aren't that many voltron cards in the deck, but that's because she is already strong the way she is. I run only 3 of the vows (5 was overkill and I was using them as pacifism which was inefficient).
Anyway, the deck is super awesome. If the setup is right, it's like a voltron commander with 4 combat steps per turn.
Grand melee + vow of wildness + elephant grass has been one of the most brutal things ever. I've also had lots of equipment thrown onto her as she goes by the voltron player's turn. He didn't mind getting all the jitte counters.
For funsies, I decided to try to include a ton of the charms from the ravnica block, alara block, and planeshift block. I have 13 in the deck. So many options! So much fun and so much chaos.
Mr.Freshness-Timmy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This thing is actually pretty good guys; in my edh, with finest hour, both its attack buff and the exalted trigger twice. First hit is for 9, the next hit is for 12- hey what do you know that equals 21. On turn 6. Or less. *shrug* also homeward path and just run it in slivers or a token deck when you need it
Zulutw0
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
They better errata this with the type God.
JarieSuicune
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Fun play: On each following turn in a four-man game, play a Karona; due to the new rulings, EVERYONE can have a Karona! >__< (Then enchant/equip one with something that makes that one a Hot Potato....)
Use with giving your creatures a shared type that none of your opponents have for a
@EvilDarkVoid: Go Kamigawa, twice over in that scenario!
RAT666
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
hey "Lordrandomness" said:
"No matter what your opponent picks when they attack with her, all your stuff gets the bonus. Find one that can conveniently block her without killing, and there you go."
So are you saying that if I cast the Karona but my opponent has control it I to get to choose what creature type gets the bonus? So basically I cast Karona, I attack with her, creatures of my chosen type get the bonus. So when an opponent attacks I get to choose the creature types as well as my opponent when they control her and attack.
Also I have an idea. is there an artifact, and preferably a cheap artifact to play that has an ability to untap a creature? Attack with Karona after casting her then then use said artifact to untap at end step. Repeat. Because if you realize this, each player (or your opponents) does not gain control of her if it's untapped. Is there a card like ring of gix or icy manipulator that untaps instead of tapping?
Also is there a card to play that says "attacking doesn't cause creatures you control to tap?" That way other players cannot gain control of her...
Additionally @ comment "player 1: The Karona, False God that I exiled a few turns ago with Jhoira of the Ghitu resolves. I cast a kicked Rite of Replication on it, then copy the Rite twice with my level 4 Echo Mage. None of the Karonas die thanks to my Mirror Gallery. I swing with all 16 Karonas, naming Avatar with each of them and turning them into 53/53s." Why not?! 5 or 6 islands, a high tide and a couple of cheap colorless mana producing artifacts like sol ring or some thing else (because you card snobs will comment about the legality of sol ring and I hope my mentioning it will *** you off) would make the combo playable possibly somewhat early on. Also, you don't need jhoira of the ghitu if you don't attack with karona, false god.
Mockingbird_UK
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@RAT666:
hey "Lordrandomness" said:
"No matter what your opponent picks when they attack with her, all your stuff gets the bonus. Find one that can conveniently block her without killing, and there you go."
So are you saying that if I cast the Karona but my opponent has control it I to get to choose what creature type gets the bonus? So basically I cast Karona, I attack with her, creatures of my chosen type get the bonus. So when an opponent attacks I get to choose the creature types as well as my opponent when they control her and attack.
No. Lordrandomness was suggesting a "changeling" tribal deck - changleing creatures have all creature types at all times.
So your opponent who controls Karona can choose whatever they like (it is the current controller who chooses the creature type) and all of YOUR creatures will also be affected, because they are all creature types at the same time.
Zinquox
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card should be a Legendary Creature - God now. Even though she is a "False God", it just means she has no power, but people still worship her like one.
Paleopaladin
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Wizards, I've fixed this card for you:
Karona, False God Legendary Creature - Avatar First strike, vigilance, trample, haste, deathtouch, protection from black and from red. At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player untaps Karona, False God and gains control of it. 10/10
(Mix of Akroma & Phage's abilities and sum of their P/T) ^^^Now doesn't THAT look more fun? :-) Epic, but still foiled by an Icy Manipulator!
I know they didn't have deathtouch back then, but still...
JmLyan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If only the red archetype gave and denied haste instead of trample...
lanimilbuS
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If this card were an actual god, like those from Theros block, it would actually be playable. Wonder what color(s) it would be though...
Comments (66)
And to that, Karona's card is barely useful. The designers themselves regretted it once they knew her importance.
*SPOILER!*
She is the combination of Akroma, Angel of Wrath, Phage the Untouchable, and some other chick.
her ability is the refference that she was a good guy, but then went insane
(Because Shes a god....Goddess....thingy 0.o)
i mean seriously they could have given her protection from everything, flying, trample, haste, vigilance, death touch, regen i mean seriously T.T next time they decide to name something a God actually make it ya know a GOD!
First, her color weight is huge, and her converted manna cost outweighs her stats, although her having hast is nice. I don't know... if she were a great deal cheaper than she might actually be sort of not garbage.
The only hope to use her well is either an odd combo based deck or as a last ditch effort to end the game.
So, without wasting any more time on her, her base rating: ***
color weight: -*
Power up trick: +*
side switcher: -**
combo? +*/2
Final: * */2
Actually, attacking and then sacrificing her would go well in any deck, but only sliver decks tend to run all five colors.
The difficulty is trying to assemble these colors, most creature decks only operate on two to three colors instead of five. The exception lies with Slivers and Allies.
Don't laugh, because a lot of people didn't anticipate certain minority players to play slivers with Karona to lead in the attack. I admit, she's not amazing at first sight, but true players know her potentials when it's conducted in combat.
Also, possibly my new myr general.
Karona, the false god 2.0
5,W,U,B,G,R
this card is considered to have all effects of cards in play
this cards power and toughness are equal to the number of cards in the graveyard
your life total is equal to the number of cards in your deck
if you would lose life discard that many cards
*/*
I made a pretty devastating token deck where all the tokens are mixed; saprolings, soldiers, thrulls etc. Once you have Eon Hub and Conspiracy out I slap out Karona and basically win at that point unless they have something to either counter her or kill me outright, maybe a stop all combat damage spell..
Overall, from her own set, she's garbage, but mix her with the above mentioned cards and she becomes epic for a token deck..
i wish i can see some phage ability and akroma in one card
Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?
Ideally, you will need a deck that:
Is tribal, most decks have better lords already as long as the tribe is of real size, with the new super lord Adaptive Automaton, it it less useful to use this temp +3/+3
Can remove the main disadvantage, even if they aren't playing a tribal deck, you'll be getting smashed for 8 (since they may choose Avatar), you will need some walls or health gain to resist it (since you don't want to trade or eat her)
Is probably EDH, increasing the ability to play it, otherwise you will have a deck devoted to it, and aren't playing it.
Here are some 5 color tribes
Elementals, you want to play Horde of Notions probably though.
Scarecrows, you want to play Reaper King probably though.
Slivers.... yeah you don't want to use Karona for that.
Atogs, you may want to use Atogatog instead, but you may prefer a semi +3/+3 instead.
Dragons, this is one of the better ones, you can eat Karona if you want, although there are an abundance of multicolored dragons, there is only 1 Legendary WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon, the +3/+3 may be better.
However, in something I feel is kinda ironic, Karona is PERFECT for an avatar tribe deck:
Acts as a permanent +3/+3 to your creatures (if the opponent wants to hit with Karona) or he can only use a different creature, which helps remove the drawback of getting hit for 8.
Anyway, that's the best use I can think of, she is great for avatar decks, just good luck with making one.
Nobody would have had control of her since the beginning of their turn. Sort of like if you mind control something an opponent played the turn before, you can't attack with it until YOUR next turn. And if they naturalize it on their turn, they have to wait once more. On Karona, it would never end as long as she kept getting passed around.
Anyways, I like where they were going with her, but I think the fell short. Granted, creatures in her time weren't as flashy as they are today. But she needed more of a boost to hold that 'false idol' feel. Something to tempt players to try and take advantage of her, yet to be betrayed in the end. The tribal battle cry is nice and all, but falls short of "Break me!" especially with that mana cost. I know she was behind all of the insanely powerful Decrees (Powerful, I didn't say mana efficient) but yet, this all she'll do for you?
No matter what your opponent picks when they attack with her, all your stuff gets the bonus. Find one that can conveniently block her without killing, and there you go.
She is a 5/5 for 6 mana, in 5 colors. Dragons can get 5/5 for 5 mana in one color on a good day these days, and even Blue had some pretty heavy flyers on the cheap EVEN back in the day when blue was supposed to have crappy creatues (they usually had drawbacks)
I don't remember how much power Phage had because it didn't matter. Akroma was a 6/6. I firmly believe that the first correction this card needs is to be made a 7/7 with flying, so that it can successfully block and kill Akroma if you have a card to remove her 'protection from...' abilities.
The second thing I suggest is that they actually use the mechanic they were thinking about putting on Akroma: ''Whenever this creature dies, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control." I also think that they should have keyworded it- and called it Immortal.
An Immortal 7/7 flier might be enough. After all, we are not trying to just make another Super Voltron. It would make Akroma less special. Karona wants to be short, elegant, and to the point with her abilities to have the most aesthetically pleasing contrast with Akroma and Phage; and being 5-colored is quite snazzy just on its own.
The third thing I suggest is this: Creatures you control get +1/+1. An Omni-Lord would feel fairly appropriate for a God-Spirit-Avatar-Incarnation of Mana. You also want to remember what this ends up looking like to a Designer FROM BACK THEN. They've changed so much about how they think since, that it would be flat out wrong to try to make Karona what she could have been if they'd designed her at the time they were making Commander or FTV: Legends.
Karona, the False God
Creature- Legend
Flying
Creatures you control get +1/+1
Immortal (Whenever this creature dies, return it to
the battlefield under its owner's control.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, target opponent
gains control of Karona, the False God.
7/7
This is a huge what-if. We will never know. But I like my 'fixed' Karona quite a bit,
since I think it keeps what is good and changes only what is not good about the original :)
Dragon Breath
Dragon Fangs
Dragon Scales
Dragon Shadow
Dragon Wings
Once you have all 5 in the yard, she enters and gains all of them, becoming a 9/8 Haste, Flying, Trample, Vigilance (will rarely matter though), Firebreathing, Fear creature that pumps a tribe by +3/+3 when it swings. Practical? Hell no. Cool to watch work out in casual? Of course. Just make sure you are able to deal with the mess you've made, since you'll be passing her around once the turn is over.
Bonus point if you grab them all with Conflux and give a long "by our powers combined" speech.
lol.
Should have costed
3.5 for being interesting and style finisher.
Thats right folks, you run five colors, you pay six mana and what do you get? a five five and a decent boost to your creatures, followed by your opponent getting the same devastating boost should they survive. A very dissapointing end to my favorite magic story of all time.
My only real gripe with this card is that I personally feel like a being that came into existence due to Akroma, Angel of Wrath and Phage the Untouchable should do something a bit more epic. That's just my opinion though, and I completely understand why they went with the '5 color chaos' feel.
4/5 for flavor, concept, and art. Admittedly it's a card you have to build heavily around though.
@MTGfreak: You have good taste.
Then she became Phage, who was BLACK
Ixidor, who's BLUE, created Akroma, who was WHITE
Kamahl, who's GREEN, was involved in the confrontation between Phage, Akroma, and Zagorka (who is not a card, perhaps she is COLORLESS?).
Boom, Karona.
Vows work, as do enchantments that force her to attack each turn (in combination) (Furor of the Bitten) for multiplayer. 3-cards down but you get to have each opponent nail eachother with a 9/9 or bigger evasive beater in chaotic style as well!
So do creatures that tap down other creatures (usually White or Blue)
player 1: The Karona, False God that I exiled a few turns ago with Jhoira of the Ghitu resolves. I cast a kicked Rite of Replication on it, then copy the Rite twice with my level 4 Echo Mage. None of the Karonas die thanks to my Mirror Gallery. I swing with all 16 Karonas, naming Avatar with each of them and turning them into 53/53s.
player 2: Time Stop. Where are your gods now?
Barring Eon Hub and Vow of X shenanigans, you can think of her as a powerful finisher with a drawback if she doesn't finish, sort of like a multicolored Timbermare. +3/+3 to a tribe is nothing to scoff at. I'm thinking notably of Elves with Elvish Piper. Completely bypassing her restrictive mana cost, swing with her and your horde of elves, and drop Overrun while you're at it.
4/5
You are a genius. Everyone is saying she sucks, but she really doesn't. run her with cards like Runed Stalactite or Ego Erasure. I would love to build a commander deck around her irl.
Update: Karona with "detain" cards like Martial Law could hold potential if one could get around that pesky "opponent" clause...
Anyway, the deck is super awesome. If the setup is right, it's like a voltron commander with 4 combat steps per turn.
Grand melee + vow of wildness + elephant grass has been one of the most brutal things ever. I've also had lots of equipment thrown onto her as she goes by the voltron player's turn. He didn't mind getting all the jitte counters.
For funsies, I decided to try to include a ton of the charms from the ravnica block, alara block, and planeshift block. I have 13 in the deck. So many options! So much fun and so much chaos.
*shrug*
also homeward path
and just run it in slivers or a token deck when you need it
Use with giving your creatures a shared type that none of your opponents have for a
@EvilDarkVoid: Go Kamigawa, twice over in that scenario!
"No matter what your opponent picks when they attack with her, all your stuff gets the bonus. Find one that can conveniently block her without killing, and there you go."
So are you saying that if I cast the Karona but my opponent has control it I to get to choose what creature type gets the bonus? So basically I cast Karona, I attack with her, creatures of my chosen type get the bonus. So when an opponent attacks I get to choose the creature types as well as my opponent when they control her and attack.
Also I have an idea. is there an artifact, and preferably a cheap artifact to play that has an ability to untap a creature? Attack with Karona after casting her then then use said artifact to untap at end step. Repeat.
Because if you realize this, each player (or your opponents) does not gain control of her if it's untapped.
Is there a card like ring of gix or icy manipulator that untaps instead of tapping?
Also is there a card to play that says "attacking doesn't cause creatures you control to tap?" That way other players cannot gain control of her...
Additionally @ comment "player 1: The Karona, False God that I exiled a few turns ago with Jhoira of the Ghitu resolves. I cast a kicked Rite of Replication on it, then copy the Rite twice with my level 4 Echo Mage. None of the Karonas die thanks to my Mirror Gallery. I swing with all 16 Karonas, naming Avatar with each of them and turning them into 53/53s." Why not?!
5 or 6 islands, a high tide and a couple of cheap colorless mana producing artifacts like sol ring or some thing else (because you card snobs will comment about the legality of sol ring and I hope my mentioning it will *** you off) would make the combo playable possibly somewhat early on. Also, you don't need jhoira of the ghitu if you don't attack with karona, false god.
hey "Lordrandomness" said:
"No matter what your opponent picks when they attack with her, all your stuff gets the bonus. Find one that can conveniently block her without killing, and there you go."
So are you saying that if I cast the Karona but my opponent has control it I to get to choose what creature type gets the bonus? So basically I cast Karona, I attack with her, creatures of my chosen type get the bonus. So when an opponent attacks I get to choose the creature types as well as my opponent when they control her and attack.
No. Lordrandomness was suggesting a "changeling" tribal deck - changleing creatures have all creature types at all times.
So your opponent who controls Karona can choose whatever they like (it is the current controller who chooses the creature type) and all of YOUR creatures will also be affected, because they are all creature types at the same time.
Karona, False God
Legendary Creature - Avatar
First strike, vigilance, trample, haste, deathtouch, protection from black and from red.
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player untaps Karona, False God and gains control of it.
10/10
(Mix of Akroma & Phage's abilities and sum of their P/T)
^^^Now doesn't THAT look more fun? :-) Epic, but still foiled by an Icy Manipulator!
I know they didn't have deathtouch back then, but still...
Wonder what color(s) it would be though...