Here's what my honest review of this card. This should get published into an article sometime in the future, but for now I thought I'd share it on the message board. Just my thoughts and predictions
The first thing people notice about this card is that it has a unique picture in that the borders are see-through. People all over the net have been wondering if this is actually what the card will look like or if Wizards is just trying to be cool with their preview card. I am 100% positive that this is what the card will look like. Why? Well, based on the story, Eldrazi are creatures that are known throughout the multiverse, meaning that they are capable of planeswalking. Hmmm... planeswalking. What other cards are known to planeswalk? Well, of course, planeswalkers! And if you notice, planeswalker cards all have semi-transparent borders and textboxes just like this card. I feel that this is sufficient evidence to prove that the card will really look like this, and the other Eldrazi will as well.
Another interesting thing about this card is that it is colorless, and yet it is not an artifact creature. This was foreshadowed with Eye Of Ugin because it allows you to search your library for a colorless creature card. If the Eldrazi were going to be artifacts then Eye Of Ugin would most likely have specified that the creatures had to be artifacts. The other Eldrazi will be colorless nonartifact creatures as well. One thing I really like about this is that things like Tinker and other artifact related spells/abilities will not boost these cards or accelerate them.
This card has an ability that allows it to never be put into a graveyard. This prevents it from being put there by Entomb and then hit with a Reanimate. It also has the other benefits that this ability has granted cards from the past. It's an ability that isn't necessarily going to be on all the Eldrazi, but there is a good chance that it might.
When you play this card, you get to draw four cards. That's a really cool ability considering that by the time you have the mana to play this card, your hand will be running dry. Since the ability triggers when you play it, you still get four cards even if the card is countered. That's just nice. This ability does seem like it will be exclusive to this Eldrazi, so don't get your hopes up for more card drawing Eldrazi.
Finally, I want to talk about the new keyword ability appearing on this card. It's an ability that fits perfectly with the flavor of this card. It's called "Annihilator X". I assume there will be several other cards with this ability, all with varying numbers. This ability makes up for the fact that this card doesn't have an offensive ability like trample. I mean, it takes the fun out of having a 12/12 when a 1/1 can stop it, right? Well, this card destroys things every time it attacks because of Annihilator. What's even better is that it can get around cards with protection becausee they are sacrificed and not targeted. Of course, your opponent could just sacrifice four lands, but then you would have a huge lead in mana and they would be scrambling to play spells. This card is looking great on all fronts. I'm very excited.
Using This Card In Standard?
Now, before I start giving my opinion on this using this card in standard, I will say that I don't play tournaments and don't play standard. This is just the first thing I thought of when I saw this card. Feel free to tell me whether or not this is a good idea.
I feel that the best deck to build in standard with this card is perhaps blue and green. Why?
Green has the ability to pump up your mana fairly well. That's good when trying to play huge spells like Eldrazi. The second reason for green is that it has cards like Vines Of Vastwoodand Canopy Cover. Both give shroud and Canopy Cover makes your creature really hard to block. Great for a 12/12, right?
Blue has seemed weak in standard as of late, but I feel it's coming back strong. There's enough control spells to keep the board clear of anything too dangerous and best of all, you have things like Dispel and Spell Pierce. This Eldrazi's biggest threat is something like Doom Blade. However, will take care of that pesky instant in... an instant! Blue will also allow you to replenish your hand to keep from running out of cards to throw at your opponent in response to things. Also, Misty Rainforest should help fix your mana.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this sounds like a decent strategy. I don't play standard, so don't quote me on this, but blue/green Eldrazi deck sounds pretty good.
What To Expect Of Other Eldrazi And Rise Of The Eldrazi
Well, now that the first Eldrazi is out, we can speculate about the others with a lot more accuracy. Here's what I feel is 100% true about the next Eldrazi:
They will be colorless, legendary, nonartifact creatures
They will all have power and toughness of at least eight (Able to beat any creature in standard)
They will all cost more than seven mana
They will all have annihilator X
They will all be mythic
They will all have the same art style as Kozilek, Butcher Of Truth
Now that that's out of the way, I want to mention something that has a lot of people talking: Kozilek, Buthcer Of Truth's collector number. It's 6/248. Typically, artifacts/colorless cards come at the end of the collector numbers. People are wondering if the whole set will be colorless. I highly doubt this, as it is a large set meant to be drafted on its own. Some people think that this means the set will be all colorless but with colored mana costs (like Ghost Fire). There will most likely be some spells like this, but not the entire set. It would be far too much and would have a bizarre impact on the game as a whole.
What I think this number means is that in this set the colorless spells come first. The Eldrazi are the focus of the set, so why not mix it up? Changing the order of the collector numbers won't really matter in the grand scheme of things, it's just something the marketing department most likely came up with to make some buzz about the new set. It's working.
Also, remember Eldrazi Monument? It gives all your creatuers flying and indestructibility. I feel that at least one of the Eldrazi will have flying, and one will have indestructibility. Both abilities may appear on the same Eldrazi, but we can't be sure at this time. Reminds you of Marti Lage, doesn't it?
Well, since this is card six, that means there must be five other Eldrazi before this one! No, not quite. If you look at the art for the promotion of this set (see below) you will see three Eldrazi pictured. There have, to my knowledge, been no other Eldrazi pictured in art for this set except those three. One has already been revealed, meaning there will probably only be two more, which is good. Too much of a good thing is just, well, bad.
So, what are those other cards from 1-5? Well, maybe one is an Eldrazi, maybe not. The others are most likely a few colorless instants/sorceries and some of the "brood lineage". The "brood lineage" are the Eldrazi's minions. It can't be certain that they will be colorless, but there is a chance they will be. The collector numbers would help support this claim.
Well, now as I need to make a prediction on the set. I feel that green and black will specifically interact with the Eldrazi or at least have cards that target creatures with similar traits to the Eldrazi. This is because the storyline tells us that Sorin Markov want to lock the Eldrazi away and Nissa Revane wants to banish them from her plane. As for red, white, and blue, I'm not too sure. Although people may have been waiting for a white planeswalker from this set, it doesn't seem like it's going to happen. Perhaps we'll have a unique one in Magic 2011? Time will tell.
I suspect that low-cc Eldrazi will be few (though I'll be disappointed if there isn't at least one 2-drop in the bunch who can play Ornithopter with an Eye out).
The Eldrazi are supposed to be all powerful creatures that took the strength of planeswalkers to seal away, so I don't think there would be any acceptable 2-drop eldrazi's coming our way.
What To Expect Of Other Eldrazi And Rise Of The Eldrazi
Well, now that the first Eldrazi is out, we can speculate about the others with a lot more accuracy. Here's what I feel is 100% true about the next Eldrazi:
They will be colorless, legendary, nonartifact creatures
They will all have power and toughness of at least eight (Able to beat any creature in standard)
They will all cost more than seven mana
They will all have annihilator X
They will all be mythic
They will all have the same art style as Kozilek, Butcher Of Truth
Well according to Maro's cryptic preview paragraph (someone else has posted the link, I think), there are some Eldrazi at uncommon with the smaller P/T at 7/7.
Just heading in on Wizards to check Making Magic. Hey, of course theres the Arcana to. I'll check that. Ooooooh, Eye of Ugin flavor time. Always loved Ghostflame, used it all the time (on a side not, there was a Ghostflame sliver. Are we getting slivers back?). And I've allways looked forward to meeting the ghost dragon himself, even more so when Sarkhan Vol (the dragon fanatic) ventured down to his place. So what will be revealed today? (Clicks the picture.)
Mind blown. Totally forgot abot maro.
After finally recollecting myself, I must say that was probably one of the coolest ways to spoil a card. Really freaking cool. I looked over it quite a few times before deciding it was real. Even checked if it was April yet. Boom, from the middle of nowhere, long time before the set. And the card! Any one realises that it kills Darksteel Colosuss? On a side note, I once thought up a mechanic incredibly similar to Annihilator. I really can't wait for Rise of the Eldrazi now, not that I could before.
You are both rational and emotional. You value creation and discovery, and feel strongly about what I create. At best, you're innovative and intuitive. At worst, you're scattered and unpredictable.
For linking a card to Gatherer without writting the name of said card for readers, use the autocard brackets together with and equal sign and right the name of the real card. Then put the message you want inside the tags, like you would do with autocarding. Like this:
I like storm crow because I really like crows in real life, as an animal, and the card isn't terribly stupid, but packs a good deal of nostalgia and also a chunck of the game's history. So it's perhaps one of the cards I have most affection to, but not because "lol storm crow is bad hurr hurr durr".
Although I do assume you deliberately refer to them (DCI) as The Grand Imperial Convocation of Evil just for the purposes of making them sound like an ancient and terrible conspiracy.
Now, now. 1994 doesn't quite qualify as "ancient".
Oh, it's a brilliant plan. You see, Bolas was travelling through shadowmoor, causing trouble, when he saw a Wickerbough Elder with its stylin' dead scarecrow hat. Now, Bolas being Bolas took the awesome hat and he put it on his head, but even with all his titanic powers of magic he couldn't make it fit. He grabbed some more scarecrows, but then a little kithkin girl asked if he was trying to build a toupee. "BY ALL THE POWERS IN THE MULTIVERSE!" he roared, "I WILL HAVE A HAT WORTHY OF MY GLORY." and so he went through his Dark Lore of Doom (tm) looking for something he could make into a hat that would look as stylish on him as a scarecrow does on a treefolk. He thought about the Phyrexians, but they were covered in goopy oil that would make his nonexistant hair greasy. He Tried out angels for a while but they didn't sit quite right. Then, he looked under "e" (because in the Elder Draconic alphabet, "e" for Eldrazi is right next to "h" for Hat) in his Dark Lore of Doom and saw depictions of the Eldrazi, and all their forms. "THIS SHALL BE MY HAT!" he declared, poking a picture of Emrakul, "AND WITH IT I WILL USHER IN A NEW AGE OF DARKNESS -- ER, I MEAN A NEW AGE OF FASHION!"
And so Nicol Bolas masterminded the release of the Eldrazi.
The last couple days have been roughly every perverse fetish imaginable, but it only got "creepy" when speculation on Mother of Runes's mob affiliation came up?
I like to think up what I consider clever names for my decks, only later to be laughed at by my wife. It kills me a little on the inside, but thats what marriage is about.
Of course, the best use [of tolaria west ] is transmuting for the real Tolaria.
Absolutely. I used to loose to my buddy's Banding deck for ages, it was then that I found out about Tolaria , and I was finally able win my first game.
Browbeat is a card that is an appropriate deck choice when there's no better idea available. "No better idea available" was pretty much the running theme of Odyssey era.
Modern is like playing a new tournament every time : you build a deck, you win with it, don't bother keeping it. Just build another, its key pieces will get banned.
I always find it helpful when im angry to dress up in an owl costume and rub pennies all over my body in front of a full body mirror next to the window.
Dymecoar:
Playing Magic without Blue is like sleeping without any sheets or blankets. You can do it...but why?
Omega137:
Me: "I love the moment when a control deck stabilizes. It feels so... right." Omega137: "I like the life drop part until you get there, it's the MtG variant of bungee jumping"
Zigeif777:
Just do it like Yu-Gi-Oh or monkeys: throw all the crap you got at them and hope it works or else the by-standers (or opponents) just get dirty and pissed.
Normally it's difficult to pick up on your jokes/sarcasm. But this one's pretty much out there. Good progress. You have moved up to Humanoid. You'll be Human in no time.
If a player has tapped the same permanent at least twice this turn, you may play Eldrazi Preview for 0.
Search your library for a Legendary Eldrazi creature card and put it into play. Then shuffle your library. Exile all Kor creatures.
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Very awesome! Definately going to rare-draft at the Triple-Eldrazi drafts this Spring.
"People want balance but can't accept this homogenization that occurs as a result of that balance being implemented. then they complain that the fighter is weaker than the wizard ad nauseam.: - Teitan
Well, at least R&D has gotten a handle on the rampant power-creep we've seen recently.
Oh, they do have a handle on it. Only fatties creep. Not mana accel or stuff with low costs that could turn the game upside down on turn 2 or 3. After all, what does it matter how powerful a finisher is; you can't do more with a game than win it, right?
Coming up with weird ideas to make everyone happy since 2008! I have now started a blog as an appropriate place to put my crazy ideas.
does the text for the colorless cost reduction of eldrazi spells imply that there wil be colored ones as well?
I actually wondered this too. Considering the card numeration, it looks like there would only be around 10 Colourless Eldrazi. My guess is that the colourless ones are the "leaders", or most powerful Eldrazi, and the little spawnling Eldrazi will have colours. Also remember it is a large set, and is supposed to be focused on, you know, the Rise of the Eldrazi. It seems obvious that there would be more than just 10 Eldrazi spells. At least that is what common sense would tell you. A whole race is awakening, not just 10 big fat individuals.
Ahhh the joys of speculation, we will just have to wait and see.
98% of people use statistics in their sigs, or have used them in the past. If you are one of the 2% that haven't or don't, place this into your signature.
New Magic Forums, Im'a let you finish, but the old Magic Forums were one of the greatest boards of all time!
Definately going to rare-draft at the Triple-Eldrazi drafts this Spring.
