[ALA] TCGPlayer preview: Exuberant Firestoker

[zesty234]

TEAM,

In this set, this card is a Cycle of 3 fitting into the (R)(G)(W) shard.

He does 2 damage as you've seen.

The Green one who also makes mana and cost (G)2 lets you draw a card at EOT if you have a Creature 5 or Greater. And the White one, same thing.... but instead of a card you gain 2 life.

They are all pretty good if you are drafting that shard because "5 or Greater" is the mechanic of that Shard there is no keyword.

Riddler

[hamtastic]

Originally Posted by zesty234

TEAM,

In this set, this card is a Cycle of 3 fitting into the (R)(G)(W) shard.

He does 2 damage as you've seen.

The Green one who also makes mana and cost (G)2 lets you draw a card at EOT if you have a Creature 5 or Greater. And the White one, same thing.... but instead of a card you gain 2 life.

They are all pretty good if you are drafting that shard because "5 or Greater" is the mechanic of that Shard there is no keyword.

Riddler

As usual, thank you Senior Zestico!

I just came here to comment that I like this guy. He's not awesome. Not a tournament staple. But he's casual gold.

Mono Red Accelerator.
Constant damage stream.
Silly in multiples.

Yeah, he's not going to be the lynchpin of Firestoker.dek as piloted by Flores or anything, but he should see some decent play at kitchen tables which is more than a lot of cards get.

And wow, the green card of the cycle is really nice.

[BladderMan]

It's kind of a shame that Ball Lightning and Groundbreaker aren't in standard right now. They'd have some nice synnergy with this guy.

[Valonus88]

Originally Posted by zesty234

TEAM,

In this set, this card is a Cycle of 3 fitting into the (R)(G)(W) shard.

He does 2 damage as you've seen.

The Green one who also makes mana and cost (G)2 lets you draw a card at EOT if you have a Creature 5 or Greater. And the White one, same thing.... but instead of a card you gain 2 life.

They are all pretty good if you are drafting that shard because "5 or Greater" is the mechanic of that Shard there is no keyword.

Riddler

Honestly... I kinda like them... its not that hard to accelerate into a big creature on turn 2, then one of these guys on turn 3. The green provides a constant stream of cards in your hand, the white provides life that you are prolly gonna need, and the red provides extra damage (arguably the worst of the 3 because your'r gonna be swinging away with your big creature(s) anyway. The reason why I think that these guys are good is because if you are going to be swinging with your'e beaters every turn, then you need blockers as well, because your opponents gonna be playing creatures as well, and if he is just as fast as you, then you need something to protect you life points, and these guys do it. They also have really nice synergy with pump spells and equipment. I wish they were 2/2's, because then I'd just put a Warhammer on one of them and wouldn't really need a big creature to help out.

All I'm saying is that THEY ARN'T THAT BAD.

[Gloom Princess]

Well, it fits in thematically with what Naya is all about. Too bad three mana for something that produces only colorless, has a not so hot body and an ability that doesn't seem very Constructed worthy all make this card unimpressive. It's unimpressive in my mind at the least.

[Octosquid]

Exuberant Firestalker: B. You smash face once your ramp is complete each turn. Nevertheless, a 1/1 for 3.

[ArKaiN]

Originally Posted by zesty234

TEAM,

In this set, this card is a Cycle of 3 fitting into the (R)(G)(W) shard.

He does 2 damage as you've seen.

The Green one who also makes mana and cost (G)2 lets you draw a card at EOT if you have a Creature 5 or Greater. And the White one, same thing.... but instead of a card you gain 2 life.

They are all pretty good if you are drafting that shard because "5 or Greater" is the mechanic of that Shard there is no keyword.

Riddler

Someone should smack the dude that decided that 2dmg=1card=2life in the mouth.

[dcartist]

Originally Posted by zkornz

That one is "meh".
If it was "creature or player" it could have been decent and probably not overpowered.

No. It if was "creature or player", it would be absolutely insane in limited, especially in green-red.

2 damage to target creature or player every turn, if you put a 5 power creature in play?

With no other accelerators in play, he accelerates your mana the turn after he comes into play, so you can get a 5 power creature in play turn 4.

Then at the end of turn 4, you shock a creature for free?

And get a free shock every turn?

Just the 2 damage a turn to the head already makes him very good.



As he currently is, just by dealing 2 to the player, he's as good as or better than cinder pyromancer in the right deck.

[ArKaiN]

If you're dropping a 5 power critter in limited every turn and you can't win you're a complete moron. The shocks will make little or no difference.

[Nau]

Originally Posted by ArKaiN

Someone should smack the dude that decided that 2dmg=1card=2life in the mouth.

I have to agree with this.... a lot. Hell a lot of the set makes me want to smack the persons that were responsible for the design/development of the cards. There are too many cards that would be completely fine if their cost and/or that of their ability got 1 mana cheaper (note not overpowered, just fine) and that is bad. Not to mention the fillers seem recycled too, they can not even come up with innovative crap anymore. Oh yeah here is a random large creature to set of Naya's theme..... oh let's add cycling to a fattie totally new. Seriously did they outsource the development to get to this level of crap ? Rush before the deadline for the whole set, what ?

And I am usually the type of person that likes to wait for the whole set in order to make judgments but they make it really freaking hard.

[genyusguy]

Originally Posted by ArKaiN

If you're dropping a 5 power critter in limited every turn and you can't win you're a complete moron. The shocks will make little or no difference.

Who says you need to keep dropping 5-power creatures? You only need one out.
Edit: 1 is easily blocked btw.

[Skander]

Originally Posted by ArKaiN

If you're dropping a 5 power critter in limited every turn and you can't win you're a complete moron. The shocks will make little or no difference.

You only need one to activate this. In a tight board position this could be the difference between the win or loss.

I think people are underestimating this card. If you've got a 5 power creature (and Exuberant let's you get there faster) you're getting in 2 damage for free, period. It's not a win-more card, it's a card that brings the win closer. Also in multiples it can be pretty deadly.

Depending on the playability of the white exuberant, I'll probably make a deck with 4 each of the exuberants. Toss in some enablers like Woolly Thoctar and a finisher like Godsire and it could be a solid mid-game deck. White exuberant keeps you alive, green keeps you stocked with threats, and red whittles away so all you have to do is swing once. If white is this could be playable but if its more I may need some manabirds or something so I don't die before I have 3 exuberants and a Power 5 creature.


EDIT:

I wish they were 2/2's, because then I'd just put a Warhammer on one of them and wouldn't really need a big creature to help out.

Isn't the green one a 2/2?

[ArKaiN]

Originally Posted by Skander

You only need one to activate this. In a tight board position this could be the difference between the win or loss.

I think people are underestimating this card. If you've got a 5 power creature (and Exuberant let's you get there faster) you're getting in 2 damage for free, period. It's not a win-more card, it's a card that brings the win closer. Also in multiples it can be pretty deadly.

Depending on the playability of the white exuberant, I'll probably make a deck with 4 each of the exuberants. Toss in some enablers like Woolly Thoctar and a finisher like Godsire and it could be a solid mid-game deck. White exuberant keeps you alive, green keeps you stocked with threats, and red whittles away so all you have to do is swing once. If white is this could be playable but if its more I may need some manabirds or something so I don't die before I have 3 exuberants and a Power 5 creature.

Guess I need to RTFC.
But still, the white one gaining two life is an insult. Lightning Bolt isn't as good as Healing Salve, this became clear shortly after alpha was released. It should gain like 5 life a turn to be balanced with the others.

[Nau]

Originally Posted by ArKaiN

Guess I need to RTFC.
But still, the white one gaining two life is an insult. Lightning Bolt isn't as good as Healing Salve, this became clear shortly after alpha was released. It should gain like 5 life a turn to be balanced with the others.

Or better screw the life gain/damage cycle. How about this for the white one: "at the end of your turn if you control a creature with 5 or more power you may tap target permanent and it does not untap during it's controllers next untap phase". Or if that is too good for a limited common (I think it is just good not too great) they can skip the tap part. There you go a card that supports the 5 powered creature theme one hell of a lot better than a 2 point life gain. Also for a final touch make the red one a 2/1 and the white one 1/2. And off we go, limited filler that is still filler, but a lot less crap (heck the white one could now be a pretty high pick for a Naya deck) and it might even see play in casual. But what do I know there might be a deadly Naya deck dominating with these powerhouse cards or something , no we should make totally crappy cards for limited just to be safe.

Newsflash wizards: even in limited cards do not exist in a vacuum. If a card is good in limited you can freaking consider upping the power level of the other filler instead of dumbing a card down just because it is a common.

[RickCorgan]

Originally Posted by ArKaiN

If you're dropping a 5 power critter in limited every turn and you can't win you're a complete moron. The shocks will make little or no difference.

You only need one creature. And if you have only one 5-power creature, the shocks WILL make a difference.