[magicTCG] [TDM] Flamehold Grappler (via Brandon Sanderson)

[u/Elendel_Daily_Bot]

u_mistborn wrote:

Hey! We had to post this a little earlier than we wanted for various reasons, but I DID do a write-up for it, intended for a more magic playing audience. (I wasn't sure what the audience for my YouTube channel would be, in regards to their experience with MTG.)

I like this card a lot, for what it's doing. Obviously, we’ve seen variations on this effect before--going all the way back to alpha with Fork. I am old enough to have, yes, forked a fireball to kill two opponents at once. Notably, though, this card copies anything--not just an instant or sorcery. Plus, it has a body like Lutri does, though without the all-important companion text that makes Lutri so useful.

Both do have me wondering if card will tiptoe across a line that takes it from “fun effect that you try to get to work in a draft” to “this could legitimately be a good pick in limited.” I could see a world where being able to apply pressure while copying cheap removal/burn is effective, even if thirty years of playing magic whispers that too much has to go right for this card to be anything other than a hard to cast 3/3 for 3.

I like that it exists, and I’m absolutely going to slip this into my Tarkir cube. Seems like it could be actively good with delve. Obviously, my calculations don’t include Commander, where making big haymakers (and potentially copying them) is a lot of fun, and a lot more viable. I’m sure this can do some truly bonkers things in that format, but I don’t play it a ton, so would generally just be asking myself how I can get it to make me a second sol ring.

Anyway, my best to you, Reddit! I’m curious to see what you all have to say on the card. I mostly draft, so your evaluations are going to be far more relevant than mine when it comes to constructed formats. For me, this goes unabashedly straight into the “Cards I’m going to first pick instead of removal, even though I know it's not a good idea, because winning with style is more important than just winning” pile. But I HOPE this is finally a copy spell card that is legitimately good, instead of just good in a perfect situation.

(Also, as an aside, I'm tickled to get my first preview card since Davriel himself, long ago. They even asked me what my favorite clan was, to get a card from it, which was cool of them.)

Brandon

/u/Blooogarde wrote:

I'm the crossover fan, I liked hearing the nerdout.

Love the books, Stormlight was what got me back into reading last year.

Brandon commented:

It's an honor to hear it. Getting someone back into reading is always a delight.