Easily the best card printed since Griselbrand... and it's just a fixed City of Brass. Go figure!
@at0micpickle: Do people play the shocklands in Legacy and Vintage? No. But they sure do play City of Brass.
Posted By:
Continue
(4/24/2014 5:07:57 PM)
Basically why people care is suddenly we might have a metagame with multicolor aggro again. By which I mean a two whole colors instead of a splash in a one color devotion deck. No other decks want it, but that doesn't change that it is the most likely card to change the metagame.
Posted By:
casualhorror
(4/25/2014 7:33:51 AM)
At first glance it looks strictly better than City of Brass. While this card may be a better overall choice, remember that you can't pay life you don't have and that life loss can't be prevented like damage can. Overall a great land and a much-needed upgrade to an old favorite.
Posted By:
LunarAvenger
(4/27/2014 2:25:38 AM)
That awkward moment when the most anticipated card by competitive players from a new set is just a retooled City of Brass.
Posted By:
MrBarrelRoll
(4/24/2014 2:29:24 PM)
@Continue
In Vintage you're playing a four color deck that plans on winning in less turns than you have fingers on one hand.
In the current standard, games are slower, and mana bases are much less wild. If I'm playing WU control, I know a Hallowed Fountain is going to, in an average game, hurt me less than this and be just as useful. In a tricolor you can utilize three shocklands, and use of this card is really up to how aggro you're going.
Nonetheless, there are a few archetypes that need this bad: two color aggro decks. See, shocklands were the only dual color lands in standard that can enter the battlefield untapped. Aggro decks need their mana as fast as possible, before the other guy can stabilize. Confluence is untapped, and will only deal marginally more damage than a shockland in all goes as planned. In a tricolor deck though, you can utilize three shocklands.
So all in all, a card is only as good as it's environment say it is.
Posted By:
DaLucaray
(4/24/2014 5:46:29 PM)
Why the "meh" response? It's a City of Brass that your opponent can't use to hurt you. Why is this a bad thing?
Posted By:
RedJaron
(4/25/2014 3:58:46 PM)
Hey, that's some gorgeous art! I bet that'll look downright purty on a foil.
Posted By:
car2n
(4/24/2014 4:43:12 PM)
The five rivers refer to the five rivers of Hades in Greek mythology.
Acheron - the river to get into the underworld - White
Lethe - the river of forgetting - Blue
Styx - the forsaken marsh - Black
Phlegethon - the river of fire - Red
Cocytus - the river of sorrow - Green
Posted By:
BorosGreengrocer
(4/25/2014 2:10:08 AM)
Paying 1 life to tap this is irrelevant, when you have a deck that you know can win on turn 3-4 when it does it's thing. Being stuck with lands that can't pay for the cards in your hand is one of the worst things in the game. This land is insurance that you will always have the mana you need to get rolling, and believe me, in vintage/legacy, speed is everything.
I believe pretty much any of those formats, with decks that run 4 copies of City of Brass, they will run 4 copies of this too. Perhaps 4x Reflecting Pool also, to take advantage of lands that can produce any color, like this one.
Posted By:
MechaKraken
(4/27/2014 12:50:00 PM)
This is currently the highest rated card on Gatherer. Hm.
Posted By:
RapSnitchKnishes
(4/24/2014 3:50:12 PM)