The Best and Worst of Khans of Tarkir

Slycne

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Feb 19, 2006
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The Best and Worst of Khans of Tarkir

Josh and Justin share some thoughts about Khans of Tarkir.

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Slycne

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Feb 19, 2006
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Whether you're being buried in 1/1 tokens from [mtg_card=Elspeth, Sun's Champion] or trying desperately to fend off a [mtg_card=Garruk, Apex Predator], [mtg_card=Clever Impersonator] will help you get the drop on your opponent.
I would like to point out that as someone that's played the [mtg_card=Elspeth, Sun's Champion] mirror a lot, baring other factors, not having the first [mtg_card=Elspeth, Sun's Champion] in play is a huge disadvantage. This came up at the block constructed Pro Tour a lot as well. That fight is all about who gets to ultimate first, and usually the best you can do is mitigate by forcing them to trade tokens by attacking their [mtg_card=Elspeth, Sun's Champion]. They will still enough up with 9 power worth to flyers though.

It's better than nothing, but [mtg_card=Clever Impersonator] isn't going to help you much in that specific situation.
 

Draconalis

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Sep 11, 2008
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Slycne said:
He's sort of Gravecrawler, except you don't have to pay to get him back into play.
You have to pay 2 to get him back into play. He's like a Gravecrawler, except you pay double to get him out. Or more accurately, a Reassembling Skeleton you can only bring back once you've attacked with a creature.
 

2xDouble

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Hey, fun facts:

did you know that [mtg_card=End Hostilities] kills equipment too? That's not so relevant in the current Standard (yet), but is absolutely nuts in Commander and possibly Modern. It could be argued that the card should destroy counters as well, in the case of [mtg_card=Skullbriar, the Walking Grave].

[mtg_card=Deflecting Palm] has no targets, so it gets around Protection, as does [mtg_card=Crackling Doom], which sacrifices instead of destroys, so it can even remove Indestructible dudes like [mtg_card=Emrakul, the Aeons Torn] and Hexproof guys like [mtg_card=Uril, the Miststalker].

[mtg_card=Clever Impersonator] can copy Enchantments and Artifacts (and possibly Emblems) as well as Creatures and Planeswalkers. It's almost a direct upgrade of [mtg_card=Phyrexian Metamorph]. Granted, you'll almost certainly want to copy [mtg_card=Garruk, Apex Predator] (and +1 him to immediately kill the original) or [mtg_card=Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker], but you could be doing other things as well...

[mtg_card=Narset, Enlightened Master] lets you "cast" Enchantments, Planeswalkers, and Lands she finds, as well as Instants and Sorceries, and if she does draw Instants, you can cast them immediately, before blockers are declared.

If you have the board set up properly, if any creature dies, you will have an 8/5 [mtg_card=Zurgo Helmsmasher] with not only Haste and Indestructible, but also First Strike, Trample, Lifellink, and Deathtouch.
 

CounterAttack

A Writer With Many Faces
Dec 25, 2008
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2xDouble said:
[mtg_card=Clever Impersonator] can copy Enchantments and Artifacts (and possibly Emblems) as well as Creatures and Planeswalkers. It's almost a direct upgrade of [mtg_card=Phyrexian Metamorph]. Granted, you'll almost certainly want to copy [mtg_card=Garruk, Apex Predator] (and +1 him to immediately kill the original) or [mtg_card=Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker], but you could be doing other things as well...
Emblems aren't permanents, so they can't be affected by anything. Although, that's purely because there hasn't been a card printed that does anything to emblems, other than the Planeswalkers that produce them.

Speaking of Planeswalkers: At my Khans prerelease this morning I opened Sarkhan, having picked Temur. First time opening a planeswalker at a prerelease, got to use him to beat face several times. But then, Sarkhan wasn't enough to earn any early-match victories. Four-round event: two losses, a draw and a win, in that order.

On the upside, I scored myself two fetchlands and a [mtg_card=Rattleclaw Mystic]. I'm hoping to trade one of the fetchlands for a [mtg_card=Surrak Dragonclaw], so I can (try to) build a Commander deck around him.
 

GeneralFungi

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CounterAttack said:
On the upside, I scored myself two fetchlands and a [mtg_card=Rattleclaw Mystic]. I'm hoping to trade one of the fetchlands for a [mtg_card=Surrak Dragonclaw], so I can (try to) build a Commander deck around him.
I'm actually going to try to build a commander deck around [mtg_card=Narset, Enlightened Master] that only has one creature. Narset herself. I'd throw in all kinds of equipment and enchantments like [mtg_card=Loxodon Warhammer] and [mtg_card=Indestructability] and go to town, using an impossible to stop kung fu master to beat people to death. Then you throw in cards like [mtg_card=Relentless Assault] and [mtg_card=Beacon of Tomorrows] and I will have all of my fantasies about bad martial arts movies come completely true.
 

Stomperchomper

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2xDouble said:
[mtg_card=Narset, Enlightened Master] lets you "cast" Enchantments, Planeswalkers, and Lands she finds, as well as Instants and Sorceries, and if she does draw Instants, you can cast them immediately, before blockers are declared.
You don't cast lands though, so she won't let you make use of the ones you come across. The wording needs to be "you may play" for that to be the case.
 

2xDouble

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Stomperchomper said:
2xDouble said:
[mtg_card=Narset, Enlightened Master] lets you "cast" Enchantments, Planeswalkers, and Lands she finds, as well as Instants and Sorceries, and if she does draw Instants, you can cast them immediately, before blockers are declared.
You don't cast lands though, so she won't let you make use of the ones you come across. The wording needs to be "you may play" for that to be the case.
Right, but the Narset also specifically says "Cards", not "Spells". I'm not saying she would let you play extra lands, but if you hadn't played a land for the turn, you should be able to play one drawn by her ability.
 

Slycne

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Feb 19, 2006
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You can't play any land cards exiled with Narset.
That's straight from the Khans release notes [http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/release-notes-2014-09-18]. The stumbling block is the specific use of 'cast'. A land is played as a special action, not cast.
 

RaikuFA

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No love for Highspire Mantis?

Also, while Wingmate Roc is pricey, it won me my first two duels(had to bail after the 2nd, brother got called in to work earlier, would've kept me there till 11 at night if I stayed).
 

Slycne

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RaikuFA said:
No love for Highspire Mantis?

Also, while Wingmate Roc is pricey, it won me my first two duels(had to bail after the 2nd, brother got called in to work earlier, would've kept me there till 11 at night if I stayed).
I had [mtg_card=Highspire Mantis] in my pool, unfortunately I only got to prerelease once since I was judging a bunch of them. It was fine for me, I don't think a 3/3 flyer for four is ever getting cut in sealed or draft. I did find the trample, and thus the extra color requirement, to be pretty incidental though. Flyers are generally just going to race past each other, and there are not any 1/1 spirit tokens in the set where chump blocking would be considered.

[mtg_card=Wingmate Roc] seems pretty bomby in limited. I had a similar experience with [mtg_card=Ashcloud Phoenix].
 

RaikuFA

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Slycne said:
RaikuFA said:
No love for Highspire Mantis?

Also, while Wingmate Roc is pricey, it won me my first two duels(had to bail after the 2nd, brother got called in to work earlier, would've kept me there till 11 at night if I stayed).
I had [mtg_card=Highspire Mantis] in my pool, unfortunately I only got to prerelease once since I was judging a bunch of them. It was fine for me, I don't think a 3/3 flyer for four is ever getting cut in sealed or draft. I did find the trample, and thus the extra color requirement, to be pretty incidental though. Flyers are generally just going to race past each other, and there are not any 1/1 spirit tokens in the set where chump blocking would be considered.

[mtg_card=Wingmate Roc] seems pretty bomby in limited. I had a similar experience with [mtg_card=Ashcloud Phoenix].
I wanted a HSM. I do admit he is good. Not as good as rider but both work in EDH.
 

regalphantom

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Feb 10, 2011
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2xDouble said:
Hey, fun facts:

did you know that [mtg_card=End Hostilities] kills equipment too? That's not so relevant in the current Standard (yet), but is absolutely nuts in Commander and possibly Modern. It could be argued that the card should destroy counters as well, in the case of [mtg_card=Skullbriar, the Walking Grave].
Just to nip this in the bud, no, [mtg_card=End Hostilities] DOES NOT remove counters from [mtg_card=Skullbriar, the Walking Grave] since counters aren't permanents, but just 'are'. Its one of the weird oddities of the rules that makes much more sense when you actually get deep into the master rulebook.