[RAV] a bunch of W/G guild information

[rancored_elf]

Good morning...
/me rubs his face and yawns *
This is information from the same source as the "giant growth variant". They gave me this info a few days ago and asked that I wait until we had at least 10 more cards on the spoiler before posting it. With all of yesterday's leaks, I think it's time to let this stuff fly.

(A note to anyone who is thinking of criticizing me for "withholding" information, just remember that if you screw your sources, they likely won't be back. I respect people's wishes because I'm selfish and want them to keep giving me information! Not to mention I know that some peoples' jobs depend on them not being discovered leaking rumor info.)

The info:

The giant growth variant's "alternate casting cost" is actually misinterpreted because the card only costs one mana. The ability is actually a keyword for the green/white guild (I deduced that part myself using the information we got yesterday). Tapping a creature when playing a spell with that keyword drops the casting cost by one mana of that creature's colour. In the giant growth variant's case, it only costs one mana which is why it appears to be a "free" mechanic. A better example of the keyword is:

Something Phalanx -
Creature - Human Soldier (U)
Keyword
When Something Phalanx comes into play, you gain 1 life for each creature you control.
2/4

So if you cast a second turn Raise the Alarm, third turn you can tap both Soldier tokens to reduce the cost by , and pay for the "Something Phalanx". This keyword will appear on green spells, white spells, and green/white spells.

Some white common filler:

Gate Hound -
Creature - Hound (C)
Creatures you control have vigilance as long as Gate Hound is enchanted.
1/1

There's a rare enchantment that costs 2(g/w)(g/w)(g/w).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's all the info he sent. I'm not sure why it's green and white focussed but whatever, it's info! The Hound is complete junk, IMO, but the Phalanx seems to be a house in limited, where he will often be free or very cheap, and will gain you some life and hold off 3/3s all day long.

Also, 2(g/w)(g/w)(g/w) seems like a very sweet mana cost for a card. My guess is it's a big meaty version of Glorious Anthem - maybe all your creatures get +3/+3 or something. Whoa, okay maybe that's broken.

[Flamebuster]

But this doesn't make sense, given the supposed "weakening" of green after its strong showing for two- maybe three-consecutive blocks in a row. Now they're making G/W potent again too? Gah.

Looks interesting. I like that concept of reducing mana costs with mana symbols rather than strictly generic mana a la Sapphire Medallion.

Wonder if there'll be any giant, pissed off DRAGONS to deal with in this set Maybe each guild will have a pet lizard to call its own

'buster :dance2:

[Zombie Carl]

If we see a few decent local enchantments, I don't see why the Hound isn't decent, at least.

Giving all your creatures vigilance can make the difference to whether you win or lose.

[Poonagi]

phalanx - solid but unspectacular limited card. even in limited you don't often want to tap 2-3 of your creatures to cast this guy (they'll usually be tapped to attack, or untapped to block). probably most often a 2/4 for 4.

hound - horrible

[darkdragoon]

Perhaps each guild has its own keyword?

EDIT:just read the other thread.

[Phyrre56]

Compare the Hound to Serra's Blessing and you'll realize how awful it is.

2-mana enchantment vs. 2-card combo that costs at least 4 and involves wasting an Aura on a vanilla 1/1

[belannaer]

Are you really sure about this alternative cost? It would make sense if it only allowed tapping one creature to reduce one mana. Allowing to tap more than one is just insane. Lots of free creatures... can't.. stop... drooling...

The phalanx is nice if you can tap more than one creature, otherwise it's okayish. Gate hound is nice also. Vigilance for everyone but it'd be nice if it was one mana cheaper.

EDIT:
Ok, it's not that nice when you compare it to the blessing.

[fbi_boy]

woot for G/W guild being sweet so far!!! i wonder what the enchantment will be....too bad we didnt get one small little piece of info about it, so we could start speculating!!!

[Xenphire]

Originally Posted by Flamebuster

But this doesn't make sense, given the supposed "weakening" of green after its strong showing for two- maybe three-consecutive blocks in a row. Now they're making G/W potent again too? Gah.

Looks interesting. I like that concept of reducing mana costs with mana symbols rather than strictly generic mana a la Sapphire Medallion.

Wonder if there'll be any giant, pissed off DRAGONS to deal with in this set Maybe each guild will have a pet lizard to call its own

'buster :dance2:

Personally I don't think we have enough info yet to state whether or not green is going to remain potent.

[Poonagi]

Originally Posted by Zombie Carl

If we see a few decent local enchantments, I don't see why the Hound isn't decent, at least.

Giving all your creatures vigilance can make the difference to whether you win or lose.

the ability is strong but the card is weak. in limited you don't usually have room for 3-4 creature enchantments AT MOST. given that you usually play 23 cards, 16 creatures, 3-4 removal spells, 3-4 tricks/enchantments.

so you'd have to play a 1/1 3-drop, then draw an enchantment for it, then risk having him easily removed... it's just not worth it. the hound is definitely a filler.

[Masked_Rider]

This just seems like a weird mechanic....Or just a clever way for R&D to print "overcosted" creatures with mediocre stats with a "fixed" version of affinity :slant:

[magicianofthought]

Do all of the G W and (G/W) items have the keword? if it dose it seemes pretty broken.

[VestDan]

Originally Posted by rancored_elf

...Tapping a creature when playing a spell with that keyword drops the casting cost by one mana of that creature's colour. In the giant growth variant's case, it only costs one mana which is why it appears to be a "free" mechanic. A better example of the keyword is:

Something Phalanx -
Creature - Human Soldier (U)
Keyword
When Something Phalanx comes into play, you gain 1 life for each creature you control.
2/4

So if you cast a second turn Raise the Alarm, third turn you can tap both Soldier tokens to reduce the cost by , and pay for the "Something Phalanx".

Sorry, not quite. Reducing by W gets rid of the one colored mana symbol; reducing by further colored mana does nothing. Tapping the creatures doesn't ADD MANA, it REDUCES the cost by a specific amount, which often act the same but are not interchangable.

[NavyJoe]

*cough*Intruder Alarm*cough*. I tap my 4 creatures to play this creature for free. Oh all my creatures untap. I shall now continue to kick some butt.

[RickCorgan]

@VestDan - I'm pretty sure reducing a creature's colored mana reduces its colored mana OR colorless mana. Colorless mana can be paid with W, so reducing the cost by W DOES reduce colored mana.

Anyway, nice info. So this is the "provoke" they were talking about.