Split Cards?

Split Cards?

  • Burn them all except 2 and then give the remaining 2 away in a prerelease.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Burn them all, then burn a plastic dollar store chair ontop of the ashes.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Give them to the Salvation Army so that lil kids in third world countries can gaze in awe at the art

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0
D

Darkstar

Guest
Are they not just gold cards with two sepreate abilities? What is their purpose? Why have they been created? How were they created? When were they created?

I think we need some answers here people!

My conclusion is that WOTC just wanted to try a new strategy in making some money cuz their sales were down from the Masques Block Set? Maybey, maybey not.
 
I

Istanbul

Guest
Split cards are two cards in one ability. For example, let's take Spite/Malice.

You can treat it as a black card, pay the black cost, and get a black spell.
Or you can treat it as a blue card, pay the blue cost, and get a blue spell.

Gold cards require *both* kinds of mana to cast. Split cards only require one, and you choose which one.
 
D

Darkstar

Guest
Yeah but the abilities of splitz are just copied from other cards.
 
H

Hetemti

Guest
The idea is that you get two abilities in one card slot in polychromatic decks, but it's still useable if you only have one of it's colors.

I don't mind them, they just aren't that great except for Wax-N-Wane, Life-N-Death, and Order-N-Chaos; which are at least playable.

Remember, the first round of gold cards sucked too. They are using these to test the waters. We'll probably see more someday. And they'll be better.
 
L

lilpinhead

Guest
i kinda like 'em...most all of them have found their way into a few of my decks...
 
S

Slug man

Guest
For me the split cards really emphasise what Invasion etc are all about: choices. THe dragon charms, the split cards, kicker are all cards that require you to decide what version to play. That is what makes the block so good is that there are rarely 'dead' cards, if one version is no good you can use the other. I think the split cards are great and I hope they make more. Even the multi-coloured things make you make a choice about what colours, because you have to think what their allied colours will give you, and which allied colour to use.
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
They are more like the MiViLite Charms than gold cards. Think of them as extra-powerful Charms.
 
Z

Zadok001

Guest
Extra powerful Charms sans one ability with higher costs. :)
 
S

Slug man

Guest
The split cards are very different from the charms, in that they require different coloured mana. I even know people who use Fire/ Ice in mono red decks, because the Fire half is so good. The different casting costs makes them so good, and instead of having the option to do 3 things in flavor of that colour, the split cards let you do one thing in flavor from 2 colours, which is more useful.
 
D

Darkstar

Guest
ah, and a gold card is considered two sources of color. and a split is either one or the other, you choose. thx all for your inputs.
 
F

FoundationOfRancor

Guest
Why isnt there a voting option for liking the split cards.
Sure, many of them arent useful, and Wotc is probablly running out of ideas, but they look so cool!
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
I can, but I tend to only edit the polls if they're foul or out of line. This was the way Darkstar wanted them to be, so I don't really want to fool around with it.
 
D

Darkstar

Guest
Your right, i wa way to biased on this one. I assumed mor people would take my side, and look where it got me. Oh well, your typical screwed up rant by none other than its creator. Sorry, next time ill be a bit more gratitous on the voting.
 
I

Istanbul

Guest
They offer great options, IMHO.

GOOD:
Wax/Wane
Assault/Battery
Spite/Malice
Order/Chaos
Life/Death
Fire/Ice

BAD:
Stand/Deliver
Pain/Suffering
Night/Day
Illusion/Reality

So slightly over half of them are worthy of inclusion in decks.
 
D

Dune Echo

Guest
Just because I want to, I'm going to break these down and examine each half of each card on it's own merits to see if it's worth by itself or as a whole.
Assault/Battery (Assault)
R, Sorcery, Invasion Uncommon
Assault deals 2 damage to target creature or player.

Assault/Battery (Battery)
3G, Sorcery, Invasion Uncommon
Put a 3/3 green Elephant creature token into play.
Assault is not bad really. It's no worse compared to Shock than Chain Lightning was to Lightning Bolt. Decent card overall.

Battery is a green Hill Giant card. Good in Limited. Not horrible overall as a creature, especially if you can recycle it somehow.

Pain/Suffering (Pain)
B, Sorcery, Invasion Uncommon
Target player discards a card from his or her hand.

Pain/Suffering (Suffering)
3R, Sorcery, Invasion Uncommon
Destroy target land.
Pain is not great compared alone to such cards as Duress, Funeral Charm, and Hymn to Tourach (yes, not as cheap, but THE discard card). Could be a nice first turn play, I'd hate to top deck this card.

Suffering is an expensive Stone Rain. ONLY neccessary if you need land destruction redundancy. Dwarven Landslide and Flowstone Flood serve such purposes much better.

Spite/Malice (Spite)
3U, Instant, Invasion Uncommon
Counter target noncreature spell.

Spite/Malice (Malice)
3B, Instant, Invasion Uncommon
Destroy target nonblack creature. It can’t be regenerated.
Spite is the opposite of Remove Soul. Presumably this card is over costed by about 2 or should cost UU by itself because something that would be SO close to Counterspell is just too good at 1U. Is this card good though? Compare to Dismiss, Foil, Quash, Rewind, and Thwart. It really depends on what field you're playing in. It is pretty decent in 5-Color due to the single colored mana in the casting cost.

Malice is not efficient at all. There are many better alternatives: Agonizing Demise, Slaughter, and Snuff Out. There's also the obvious original: Dark Banishing or Seal of Doom. Can be decent in 5-Color though.

Stand/Deliver (Stand)
W, Instant, Invasion Uncommon
Prevent the next 2 damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn.

Stand/Deliver (Deliver)
2U, Instant, Invasion Uncommon
Return target permanent to its owner’s hand.
Stand... {sigh} There is no reason to play this outside of Limited.

Deliver... Depends entirely on what you're playing. Okay in Limited, or unless you are worried about the "Single Colored Mana Rule" as you would be in 5-Color. Still, there are many better alternatives.

[Wax/Wane (Wax)
G, Instant, Invasion Uncommon
Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.

Wax/Wane (Wane)
W, Instant, Invasion Uncommon
Destroy target enchantment.[/quote]

Wax is not that bad, no worse than Deepwood Drummer or Explosive Growth. Certainly not a horrible addition to green beatdown decks.

Wane would not normally be considered by itself unless it was present in VERY heavy enchantment based field. Look at how often Erase was used though against Replenish decks when Harmonic Convergence was available.

Fire/Ice (Fire)
1R, Instant, Apocalypse Uncommon
Fire deals 2 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players.

Fire/Ice (Ice)
1U, Instant, Apocalypse Uncommon
Tap target permanent. Draw a card.
Fire is quite simply a good burn spell in Type 2. Not bad elsewhere either. The only comparable spell is Arc Lightning, except it's one less mana, one less damage, and it's instant. Arc Mage caused 2R to activate.

Ice... I think it was Gizmo that said it best and I wish I could quote him, but this card essentially reads:
"Ice 0
Instant
Cycling 1U and tap target permanent (Yes! ANY PERMANENT, as in that Soltari Priest with Empyrial Armor on it that Fire is not helping with... And guess what! Your Capsize is up next!)"
The reminder text is subject to change though... ;) This card is not great, but not bad either It's strictly better than Enervate and happens to be paired with Fire.

Illusion
U, Instant, Apocalypse Uncommon
Target spell or permanent becomes the color of your choice until end of turn.

Reality
2G, Instant, Apocalypse Uncommon
Destroy target artifact.
Illusion... Hmm... Outside of IBC Limited, I don't think I'd touch this with a ten foot pole when so many other options are really available that can be used repeatedly or for permanent effects.

Reality could have been better if they had just dropped the casting cost to 1G. Crumble was a GREAT green spell. I think one of the whole themes behind Antiquities was nature breaking down artifice.

Life
G, Sorcery, Apocalypse Uncommon
Until end of turn, all lands you control are 1/1 creatures that are still lands.

Death
1B, Sorcery, Apocalypse Uncommon
Return target creature card from your graveyard to play. You lose life equal to its converted mana cost.
Life is not horrible for doing that final rush, but no one really used Jolrael, Empress of Beasts outside of Limited a whole lot did they (she's still a cool Legend though)? Could be good in a 5-Color deck or a 15CH deck.

Death is 1 mana more than Reanimate. That wasn't used much was it when Exhume is much more easily obtained financially, and works well in team games, right? No one likes recurring when it can kill you.

Night
B, Instant, Apocalypse Uncommon
Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.

Day
2W, Instant, Apocalypse Uncommon
Creatures target player controls get +1/+1 until end of turn.
Night is just okay. No worse than Sicken or Plague Witch if you're killing off a Birds or Elf. Otherwise, there are better options.

Day is no worse than Warrior's Honor.

Order
3W, Instant, Apocalypse Uncommon
Remove target attacking creature from the game.

Chaos
2R, Instant, Apocalypse Uncommon
Creatures can't block this turn.
Order is expensive white creature removal. What else is new? At least it removes the creature from the game instead of Smite.

Chaos is a single shot spell. If you want to keep your opponent from blocking long term, go for Goblin War Drums or War Cadence.
 
L

LlanowarGoblin

Guest
I have used some of these outside of sealed or booster draft. I have used Death for a first turn Spiritmonger. Dark Ritual, Funeral Charm (discard monger) Death (lose 5 life and have a 6/6)

In booster draft or sealed sealed deck they are even better.
 
Top