Main Menu

Oath of the Gatewatch - Top 10 Cards

Started by tonytahiti, 10-01-2016, 02:31:48 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

tonytahiti

While we are all impatiently waiting for Tiggupirus Set Review (btw, tiggu, credit given to you for calling painful truths a great card, i believe it's gonna be a highlander staple for a long while).

That said, in no particular order, my highly anticipated top10 cards of OGW for HL (excluding manlands, i think they are all pretty good, though not amazing):

Stormchaser Mage
Reflector Mage
Goblin Dark Dwellers
Void Grafter
Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
Warping Wail
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Eldrazi Obligator
Bearer of Silence
Reality Smasher

Most overrated Cards already:

Oath of Nissa
Matter Reshaper

Both walkers seem fine, but not like hl staples.
Winner - Pro HL Cup, Prague 2002
Winner - Highlander Regional Masters, Phuket 2006
Winner - Sunrise Trophy Run, Hawaii 2006
Winner - North Dakota HL Championships 2007
Winner - Tahiti "One And Only"-Cup #3, 2009
Winner - Gio di Gio Seria, Florenz, 2016
Winner - Jail or be Jailed, Berlin, 2017

GoblinPiledriver

#1
Here is my set review with the top 30 cards, which I think could see play.

All the cards with the $ ($ represents colorless mana.), look unplayable right now in normal decks. Most decks have a maximum of 5 lands which produces colorless mana, so without a huge cardswap these cards look too unconventional right now, but maybe there will be other cards in the future for this.




5: Clear Highlander Staple                   ( e.g. Swords to Plowshares, Brainstorm, Demonic Tutor, Lightning Bolt, Tarmogoyf, Eladamri's Call, Wasteland)

4: Staple for several Archetypes             ( e.g. Restoration Angel, Counterspell, Bitterblossom, Young Pyromancer, Eternal Witness, Lightning Helix, Maze of Ith)

3: Cards for only a few Archetypes           ( e.g. Porcelain Legionnaire, Order of Succession, Raven's Crime, Bloodhall Ooze, Rancor, Mantis Rider, Mishra's Factory)

2: Interesting Card Choice                   ( e.g. Wall of Omens, Into the Roil, Diabolic Intent, Ember Hauler, Skinshifter, Sprouting Thrinax, Gargoyle Castle)

1: Worth Mentioning but more or less bad     ( e.g. Kor Skyfisher, Anticipate, Chain of Smog, Mogg Flunkies, Sylvan Ranger, Silumgar's Command, Evolving Wilds)

0: unplayable in normal cases                ( e.g. Benevolent Bodyguard, Hidden Strings, Reassembling Skeleton, Threaten, Prey Upon, Gruul Charm, Arena)


Oath of Jace             4/5
Hissing Quagmire         4/5
Oath of Nissa            4/5
Nissa, Voice of Zendikar 4/5

Chandra, Flamecaller     3/5
Reality Smasher          3/5
Jori En, Ruin Diver      3/5
Wandering Fumarole       3/5
Elemental Uprising       3/5
Stormchaser Mage         3/5
Pulse of Murasa          3/5
Crush of Tentacles       3/5
 
Needle Spires            2/5
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet 2/5
Mirrorpool               2/5  
Goblin Dark-Dwellers     2/5
Goblin Freerunner        2/5
Bearer of Silence        2/5
Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim    2/5
Dimensional Infiltrator  2/5
Matter Reshaper          2/5
Vile Redeemer            2/5
Remorseless Punishment   2/5
   
Oath of Gideon           1/5
Oath of Chandra          1/5
Holdout Settlement       1/5
Reckless Bushwhacker     1/5
Sphinx of the Final Word 1/5
Reflector Mage           1/5
Sea Gate Wreckage        1/5
Throw enough goblins at any problem and it should go away. At the very least, there'll be fewer goblins.

GoblinPiledriver

#2

Oath of Jace              2U
Legendary Enchantment
When Oath of Jace enters the battlefield, draw three cards, then discard two cards.
At the beginning of your upkeep, scry X where X is the number of planeswalkers you control.
// Compulsive Research + the main effect of Thasa, this sounds extremly promising
// Will see play in UR,UW and so on.



Hissing Quagmire
Land
Hissing Quagmire enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add B or G to your mana pool.
1BG: Hissing Quagmire becomes a 2/2 black and green Elemental creature with deathtouch until end of turn. It's still a land.
// Shambling Vent has seen play so this will also see play. This is better against creatures(especially in a defensive way) as the Vent plus it has the colors which 4C Blood need.
// Will definetly see play in our 'all player favorite' 4C Blood deck.


http://mythicspoiler.com/ogw/cards/oathofnissa.html
Oath of Nissa             G
Legendary Enchantment
When Oath of Nissa enters the battlefield, look at the top three cards of your library. You may reveal a creature, land, or planeswalker card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast planeswaker spells.
// A green Ponder for 75% of all 4C Blood cards, which later helps casting Planeswalkers.
// Even if I don't see the space for it in 4C Blood this will see play there


http://mythicspoiler.com/ogw/cards/nissavoiceofzendikar.jpg
Nissa, Voice of Zendikar   1GG
Planeswalker - Nissa
[+1]: Put a 0/1 green Plant creature token onto the battlefield.
[-2]: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
[-7]: You gain X life and draw X cards, where X is the number of lands you control.
[3]
// This card reminds me of Sorin, Lord of Innistrad in all 3 abilities. A cheap and very protective 3 mana planeswalker with an card advantage ultimate, the cheaper a planeswalker is the easier accesable becomes the ultimate.
// This card is made for Token Highlander, even if they are played seldom. This card would also fit in defensive green highlander or as a cheap substitute for Sorin in a 4C-Blood Deck.


http://www.mythicspoiler.com/ogw/cards/chandraflamecaller.jpg
Chandra, Flamecaller      4RR
Planeswalker - Chandra
[+1]: Put two 3/1 red Elemental creature tokens with haste onto the battlefield. Exile them at the beginning of the next end step.
  • : Discard all the cards in your hand, then draw that many cards plus one.
    [-X]: Chandra, Flamecaller deals X damage to each creature.
    [4]
    // This card has all abilitys that you want, it destroys creatures, makes direct damage and generates card advantage. On the first look it appears weaker than Elspeth, Sun's Champion(for not handling big creatures) but if you search for an true allrounder and you can pay 6 mana than this card looks perfect.
    // Made for controllish Izzet or Jeskai


    http://www.mythicspoiler.com/ogw/cards/realitysmasher.html
    Reality Smasher         4$
    Creature - Eldrazi
    Trample, haste
    Whenever Reality Smasher becomes the target of a spell an opponent controls, counter that spell unless its controller discards a card.
    5/5
    // This card looks tempting, playing mono blue or else lacks a haster which deals efficiently with Planeswalker, also every removal becomes a 2-1 swap. The problem is the $ in it's mana cost, I just can't imagine that decks add more colorless lands, or that five lands are enough for casting this Eldrazi.


    http://www.mythicspoiler.com/ogw/cards/jorienruindiver.html
    Jori En, Ruin Diver    1UR
    Legendary Creature - Merfolk Wizard
    Whenever you cast your second spell each turn, draw a card.
    2/3
    // Limited to Izzet Burn where you really play Carddraw into Burnspells.


    http://www.mythicspoiler.com/ogw/cards/wanderingfumarole.html
    Wandering Fumarole
    Land
    Wandering Fumarole enters the battlefield tapped.
    T: Add U or R to your mana pool.
    2UR: Until end of turn, Wandering Fumarole becomes a 1/4 blue and red Elemental creature with "0: Switch this creatures's power and toughness until end of turn." It's still a land.
    // This card is extremely dissapointing and only efficient against decks with much burn spells, where you can swith power and thoughness more than once. This card will see play in Izzet, because Izzet is just lacking manafixing with a manland.
    // A pure Izzet card

    http://www.mythicspoiler.com/ogw/cards/elementaluprising.html
    Elemental Uprising       1G
    Instant
    Target land you control becomes a 4/4 Elemental creature with haste until end of turn. It's still a land. It must be blocked this turn if able.
    // This common looks interesting it's a suprise removal against planeswalker and against medium sized creatures.
    // Strictly limited removal weak green decks.


    http://www.mythicspoiler.com/ogw/cards/stormchasermage.html
    Stormchaser Mage      UR
    Creature - Human Wizard
    Flying, haste
    Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
    1/3
    // A flying Monastery Swiftspear for an Izzet Aggro Control, the same deck which plays Kiln Fiend and Wee Dragonauts.


    http://www.mythicspoiler.com/ogw/cards/pulseofmurasa.html
    Pulse of Murasa          2G
    Instant
    Return target creature or land card from a graveyard to its owner's hand. You gain 6 life.
    // This card is the combination of Eternal Witness and Kitchen Finks both had seen extensive play so I expect this card to see play too.


    http://mythicspoiler.com/ogw/cards/crushoftentacles.html
    Crush of Tentacles        4UU
    Sorcery
    Surge 3UU (You may cast this spell for its surge cost if you or a teammate has cast another spell this turn.)
    Return all nonland permanents to their owners' hands. If Crush of Tentacle's surge cost was paid, put an 8/8 blue Octopus creature token onto the battlefield.
    // A card which cleans the whole board and let you begin with a 8/8 Kraken. The only problem is you definetly need a 1 mana cardfor this combo or it will be just too expensive
    // Strictly limited to blue+x control decks.
Throw enough goblins at any problem and it should go away. At the very least, there'll be fewer goblins.

Tiggupiru

I submitted today the first part. Do not know when it will get published. The whole article was over 9000 words at that point. The final count is probably going to be over 10k. When did these start get so massive?

Tiggupiru

As foreshadowed, here is the first part.

Turns out Poromagia had some issues with their blog as they changed the layout recently. Seems like they got it fixed.

I could have used this time to actually playtest a lot of the cards, but schoolwork piled up, so lot of this is a bit too theoretical for my liking. At this rate, I hope I have time to write for the next set.

GoblinPiledriver

#5
Here is Tiggupiru's second part: https://poromagia.com/en/blog/21/
So now we have his complete set review.

The Highlights of the set are:

Format Staple:
Matter Reshaper  
Warping Wail
Goblin Dark-Dwellers
Oath of Nissa
Hissing Quagmire
Needle Spires
Wandering Fumarole

Archetype Staple:
Oath of Gideon
Eldrazi Displacer
Crush of Tentacles
Bearer of Silence
Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
Jori En, Ruin Diver
Reflector Mage
Sea Gate Wreckage


The cards which fall of from grace:

Niche:
Reality Smasher
Oath of Jace

Unplayable:
Chandra, Flamecaller
Throw enough goblins at any problem and it should go away. At the very least, there'll be fewer goblins.