Man, this thing will be nuts in slower cubes.
What do the 1vs1 guys think of it? Too fragile?
Still, a mana stone early, Turn 3 Ghast, Turn 4 Griselbrand...
I like this card. Getting access to double mana at that price point seems to me more relevant than similar, more expensive cards, particularly as the Ghast also comes with a built-in sink for that extra mana. I'm not sure it has many uses in the average cube but it could be interesting in those Stax decks, allowing you to make up for sacrificed lands.
The more I think about it, the more I like it. At the very least it gives your spells free extort. It ramps to 6-8 the next turn. It's a midrange only card though, and I wish it was a 3/3.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
903.4. The Commander variant uses color identity to determine what cards can be in a deck with a certain commander. The color identity of a card is the color or colors of any mana symbols in that card’s mana cost or rules text, plus any colors defined by its characteristic-defining abilities (see rule 604.3) or color indicator (see rule 204).
903.4b Reminder text is ignored when determining a card’s color identity. See rule 207.2.
While the Ghast is a sure inclusion in that Commander deck, I probably won't put one into my cube. I recently put some mono/heavy-black support cards into it, but all of those (Gatekeeper of Malakir, Geralf's Messenger, Lashwrithe, Necropotence and Liliana of the Dark Realms) work both in aggressive and in slower decks. The Ghast however is a midrange card that adds nothing that an aggro deck would want to such a deck.
I also didn't realize they could be played in mono-color EDH decks. This makes them much more interesting for me, though I was only planning to play a couple in my Selenia, Dark Angel life-themed deck anyway.
On topic, I've got too many options at 4 mana in my cube, and this guy also isn't a zombie, so it doesn't encourage me at all to include it.
Well, if they truly were concerned about power creep, then maybe WotC would stop printing multiple 2/xs for 1 mana per set. It's starting to piss me off to see every set getting at least one new Wild Nacatl type card, while control players have to play Divination and Cancel. :/
They are also making a concerted effort to make creatures the focus of the game. The days of draw-go are gone forever.
Well, if they truly were concerned about power creep, then maybe WotC would stop printing multiple 2/xs for 1 mana per set. It's starting to piss me off to see every set getting at least one new Wild Nacatl type card, while control players have to play Divination and Cancel. :/
Since control has plenty of tools available for cube and aggro doesn't have enough, I can't really agree here. I wish they would be less conservative about disruption but in general I'm pleased with what they've been doing.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
I like this in a deck that casts necropotence. Both want heavy black, one helps you draw a ton of cards and the other helps you cast them all. Could be nice.
If it were 3 I'd be seriously considering it. At 4, I'm going to wait and hear what other people's experiences are.
I really would like more lifegain in black to make some of the lifecosting black cards better, but I am not sure that this card fits the bill. Still hoping for a more powerful extortion card. The mechanic is much wanted in my cube.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
how is it more fragile than oracle of mul daya? it's exactly the same size but dodges a small amount of removal by being black.
If Oracle flips a land or two, if it dies before you untap with it, you still got some value. With Ghast, if you drop it on 4 and it dies immediately, you got no lasting value. That's all I meant.
They are also making a concerted effort to make creatures the focus of the game. The days of draw-go are gone forever.
Not to go on too much of a tangent in this thread but they always talk about how they design Magic as a pendulum that is constantly swinging back and forth so certain aspects of the game wax and wane over time. I'd like to think that creatures vs. spells is one of the larger and slower pendulums that will eventually swing back someday in the other direction. I don't think they would do it for a long time but it could happen.
I like this guy, I will probably test him at 540, we rarely see mana ramp and a place to spend that ramp all in one place; plus, my cube has 8 dual/shocks that count as swamps and another 4 that can fetch swamps. It can help out if you're playing pox or stax and if they don't answer immediately it can break the game wide open, yes it dies to everything, but it is a must answer card and I think cube games like that.
Man, this thing will be nuts in slower cubes.
What do the 1vs1 guys think of it? Too fragile?
Still, a mana stone early, Turn 3 Ghast, Turn 4 Griselbrand...
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I was afraid that I couldn't play Crypt Ghast in my Maga, Traitor to Mortals deck, but under the current rules, that would actually be legal:
While the Ghast is a sure inclusion in that Commander deck, I probably won't put one into my cube. I recently put some mono/heavy-black support cards into it, but all of those (Gatekeeper of Malakir, Geralf's Messenger, Lashwrithe, Necropotence and Liliana of the Dark Realms) work both in aggressive and in slower decks. The Ghast however is a midrange card that adds nothing that an aggro deck would want to such a deck.
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On topic, I've got too many options at 4 mana in my cube, and this guy also isn't a zombie, so it doesn't encourage me at all to include it.
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Mine too. It's pretty close to a black Oracle in terms of ramping power, and the extort ability is a nice added bonus.
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They are also making a concerted effort to make creatures the focus of the game. The days of draw-go are gone forever.
Since control has plenty of tools available for cube and aggro doesn't have enough, I can't really agree here. I wish they would be less conservative about disruption but in general I'm pleased with what they've been doing.
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I would, at that size. It's a strong card.
If it were 3 I'd be seriously considering it. At 4, I'm going to wait and hear what other people's experiences are.
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how is it more fragile than oracle of mul daya? it's exactly the same size but dodges a small amount of removal by being black.
If Oracle flips a land or two, if it dies before you untap with it, you still got some value. With Ghast, if you drop it on 4 and it dies immediately, you got no lasting value. That's all I meant.
Not to go on too much of a tangent in this thread but they always talk about how they design Magic as a pendulum that is constantly swinging back and forth so certain aspects of the game wax and wane over time. I'd like to think that creatures vs. spells is one of the larger and slower pendulums that will eventually swing back someday in the other direction. I don't think they would do it for a long time but it could happen.
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