You kind of have to pick your spots with this guy. Case in point: at the prerelease, my opponent dropped this while I had Bronzebeak Moa and Korozda Guildmage out. On my turn I was able to drop a Maze Glider, swing with the Moa and Guildmage, then sacrifice the Glider after he couldn't declare any blockers to get 5 more Moa triggers. Boom - 22 flying damage.
So try to be sure your opponent can't do something TOO ridiculous thanks to all that extra mana. If they have an empty board and you suspect their only card in hand is a land, go ahead. But if they have plenty of land, plus potentially comboable creatures and/or a full hand, proceed with caution.
Posted By:
nemokara
(5/6/2013 8:05:10 AM)
A 7/5 for 5 that Mana Flares? Sweet! Even better cuz there aren't any cards in standard that could punish you for tapping out and giving your opponent double mana on turn 5! Realistically, this guys a 7/5 cuz he's secretly a 6+ drop. Don't be throwing this guy down without at least a Negate for back up, but even then, guy on the play can cast a Revelation for 7 on his turn and have his own Negate up for yours. Even more nightmarish is the thought of them using all their extra mana to do crazy stuff on their turn before killing your Ancient and passing. This card is pretty risky in a format with Revelation as played as it is. I love the card but you better survey the situation well before firing this off, not something Gruul is really known for.
Posted By:
RedAtrocitus
(5/6/2013 10:15:58 AM)
"Kind of surprised it isn't an Overabundance effect, given other Gruul cards having similar "punish" mechanics."
@Nucleon Good point, i didn't think of that at all because despite the enormouness the artwork suggests,
Zhur-Taa Ancient looks like a sublime entity that provides its surroundings with calm, soothing and harmless ways of gathering more mana.
Then again, the flavor text suggests something else.
Posted By:
Mode
(5/6/2013 11:20:26 AM)
love this guy. played heedlessly in a rage deck, he's brutal--and played in a calculated move for a mana explosion, he's brutal. long live the ancient!
Posted By:
imperfectdude
(5/20/2013 12:19:53 PM)
Ok what to do with this ?
Surely flashing it at the end of the opponent's turn when he is a little tap is the best and guess what is comming in M14 :
Savage Summoning G
Instant
Savage Summoning can't be countered.
The next creature card you cast this turn can be cast as though it had flash. That spell can't be countered. That creature enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it.
Then this is twelve mana to spend in war and a 8/6 , the icing : uncounterable.
Posted By:
MojoVince
(5/24/2013 9:44:25 AM)
It is the most mana-rampy card
in the world.
I don't always mana ramp, but when i do, i let my opponents in on the fun.
Posted By:
SirLibraryEater
(5/25/2013 4:23:59 PM)
Your opponent's next turn is a risk, but next turn I just unload all my creatures onto the board and it doesn't take long after that. Or play Clan Defiance for a massive X. That's fun too.
Posted By:
AnonymousPerson
(5/31/2013 4:53:00 PM)
The art on this card is really well done. That thing looks massive. The ability it has is also noted as a drawback allowing for a nice power boost to the card. This is a well-designed card imo. The only problem is that it is probably still too weak for its drawback.
4/5
Posted By:
SAUS3
(6/7/2013 9:15:21 AM)
Saw this card and my initial read was that the effect was a counter to enchantments like Verdant Haven and Crypt Ghast, both of which have a parenthetical that explicitly states that the mana is in addition to the mana the land would normally produce. I still think that without the parenthetical this card limits the amount of mana produced to one mana and not an additional mana, but so far everyone has said differently. I guess until I hear differently I'll play it the way everyone says it works.
Posted By:
Agnol
(6/7/2013 6:21:03 PM)
While it does have the drawback of doubling everyone's mana, it can also be useful for X cards, such as Debt to the Deathless. My friends and I were bored, so we played a game with 60 life starting. I had 17 mana on the board, before playing it. Casting cost of 4 from now 34, doubled. my friend who's deck constantly gives him life survived. Barely. I finished that turn with nearly 200 life. It's a really good way to *** someone's day up if you have the right combo of cards.
Posted By:
Samfu
(7/5/2013 11:29:22 AM)