Eventide really worked blue over (due to Faerie decks being rather overpowered at the time it was printed), and the blue enemy colors were largely weak or disappointing.
However, the hedge mages were pretty close to being incredibly cool creatures, on par with the Guildmage cycle from Ravnica, and this one is one of my favorite.
Both effects are pretty sweet for what they are. My sole, minor complaint is the red trigger ability only hitting players, I would rather it hit creatures as well. 3 mana for a shock and double twiddle on a creature, but with a rather nasty requirement (for non-green anyway)..I'd say it's fair.
Barring Steam Vents, there is no way to get both effects without four lands in Extended (valid as of this comment), so I seriously doubt it would be unbalanced in any real way.
Still, I like the semi-surreal nature of the "noggles" and this card in particular was one of the few bright spots that the Red+Blue combination got in Eventide, but it's a really cool cycle a... (see all)
Posted By:
Atmos
(2/18/2010 2:04:42 PM)
@OMFGrhombus; That sounds too much like a Kelpie, which was used as a different creature in the same set. Admittedly, the magic Kelpies are water dwellers but do not reflect the folklore they represent, so this should not have been a problem, since Noggle/Nuggle is the Orkney interpretation of the same shapeshifting creature.
Posted By:
Kryptnyt
(10/31/2010 2:03:24 PM)
This creature is versatile, especially when used in conjunction with a Boomerang-effect creature, like Shrieking Drake or Man-o'-War. If you have two mountains and two islands out, you can target two of your opponent's permanents to be Boomeranged AND do two points of damage. Return him to hand every turn with Capsize and you could leave the opponent beaten and weeping.
Posted By:
keeds4
(12/17/2010 7:42:29 AM)
I'd like to see some serious Noggles. I like the visual quality these guys have. A good blue and red cross-over creature.
Posted By:
ZEvilMustache
(2/8/2010 7:38:00 PM)
i'm not a big fan of the noggles, but this is one of the better hedge mages.
Posted By:
davidhuman
(2/26/2009 12:29:02 PM)
A decent card if played with the Ravnica dual land Steam Vents.
Posted By:
SavageBrain89
(6/7/2009 6:51:32 PM)
@ garbagegatherer
A noggle is a creature of British folklore. It is actually a horse, not a donkey, and wanders around the countryside wearing a saddle. As soon as someone gets on the saddle, it dashes to the nearest body of water where it jumps in, turns to steam, and generally inconveniences its victim. So, if it were to have a different creature type, it would be horse rather than donkey.
Posted By:
OMFGrhombus
(7/26/2010 11:51:36 PM)
Really dumb flavor, really good card. Not as good as Duergar Hedgemage.
Posted By:
blindthrall
(12/23/2009 8:57:10 PM)
Does anyone else think it's strange that Aven, Leonin, Loxodon and Rhox creatures are still their respective animals in the creature types while these noggles, on the other hand are not donkeys in their creature types. I think I know why.
Because they would be associated with donkeys from the unhinged set, and anyone would notice how stupid these things really are. It is strange to put donkeys in a fun-set, have a good laugh over it, and then put them in a real set as if it wasn't ajoke at all.
Posted By:
garbagegatherer
(11/8/2009 4:15:21 AM)
Another card that would have been phenomenal if not for the restriction of targeting players and not creatures with damage... Every time I read this Noggle is just ***es me off... Tap 2 permanents at sorcery speed with some kind of R/U deck which does nothing unless you support it with other cards... and then 2 damage to target player... wtf is damage vs player good for while trying to run any kind of blue control deck. The idea of the card is great... but the bounce was given to Selkie Hedge-Mage.... Sure selkyie needed something to compensate for the pitiful healing salve effect... but in doing so... both Noggle & Selkyie got seriously hosed... If bounce was on noggle that would compensate for damage only on the player... and I really feel that Selkie was just rushed... the green effect is that of a white effect? You serious...? The guys debating creation of selkie were like "Why not regeneration or ressurection... or maybe create a saporling token... ooh ... (see all)
Posted By:
Internet_decks_lame
(12/16/2010 4:17:53 PM)