Odyssey: Any Blue For You?

Do you BROADLY agree with this account of ODyssey cards?

  • I think the blue cards are generally better.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I generally agree.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I think the blue cards are generally worse.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Dont know/care

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0
  • Poll closed .
G

Gizmo

Guest
Ill be using the novel ratings system of:
:'( - Its so bad it makes me cry
:-( - Its poor
:-| - Its servicable. Might see some play
:) - Its actually pretty good, should see extensive use.
:D - Wa-Hey! I like this guy.

and also

:-? - Dunno how good this will be.
:eek: - OMG! This looks like it could be a problem card.

All ratings are given for standard without paying more than 3 seconds thought to what the card does. Cards might be good in other formats and I might mention that, but mainly Im talking about standard.


Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor (rare) :-(
4UU
Creature - Cephalid Legend
Tap an untapped Cephalid you control: Tap target permanent.
UUU: Tap all creatures without flying.
3/3

For UU4 feels like he should fly

Aboshan’s Desire :-(

Æther Burst :-|

Amugaba :'(

Aura Graft :'(

Aven Fisher :-(

Aven Smokeweaver :-|

Aven Windreader :-(

Balshan Beguiler :-(

Balshan Griffin :'(

Bamboozle :-(

Battle of Wits :'( (but Im crying with laughter :))

Careful Study :'(

Cephalid Broker :-(

Cephalid Looter :-(

Cephalid Retainer :-(

Cephalid Scout :'(

Cephalid Shrine :'(

Chamber of Manipulation :-|

Cognivore :'(

Concentrate :-(

Cultural Exchange :-(

Deluge 2U :-(

Dematerialize :'(

Divert :)

Dreamwinder :-|

Escape Artist (common) :'(
1U
Creature - Wizard
Escape Artist is unblockable.
U, discard a card from your hand: Return Escape Artist to its owner's hand.
1/1

Half Darting Merfolk, half Homunculus. Thats two halves of two bad cards. Making this? A bad card.

Extract :'(

Fervent Denial (uncommon) :-(
3UU
Instant
Counter target spell.
Flashback - 5UU

I think overcosted.

Immobilizing Ink :-(

Laquatus’s Creativity :'(

Patron Wizard (rare) :)
UUU
Creature - Wizard
Tap an untapped Wizard you control: Counter target spell unless its controller pays 1.
2/2

I like him because you can use him the turn he comes into play as its not a 'Tap:' effect, and hes 2/2 not 1/1, making him actually extremely good

Pedantic Learning :'(

Peek :-(

Phantom Whelp :-(

Persuasion :-|

Predict :-(

Psionic Gift :-(

Pulsating Illusion :-|

Puppeteer :-|

Repel :'(

Rites of Refusal :'(

Scrivener :-|

Shifty Doppelganger (rare) :'(
2U
Creature - Shapeshifter.
1/1
3U, Remove Shifty Doppelganger from the game: Put a creature card from your hand into play. That creature gains haste until end of turn. At the end of turn, sacrifice that creature. If you do, return Shifty Doppelganger to play.

OMG thats SO much worse than Sneak Attack I can barely breath from my disbelief!

Standstill (uncommon) :-?
1U
Enchantment
When a player plays a spell, sacrifice Standstill. If you do, then each of that player's opponents draws three cards.

I have no idea at all. My gut instincts are that its playable, but my gut instincts are also that the drawback is VERY acute and so might not be even a 1-star card. Think Indentured Djinn - should be good, is actually terrible.

Syncopate (common) :-|
XU
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays X. If that spell is countered this way, remove it from the game instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard.

Worse than Power Sink (doesnt empty their mana pool/tap them out), perfectly usable in T2 though.

Think Tank :-|

Thought Devourer (rare) :)
2UU
Creature - Beast
Flying
Your maximum hand size is reduced by four.
4/4

A good lump of meat this card is awful in control matchups though. But if you expect to run a blue mana curved deck this is the 4cc card of choice

Thought Eater :-|

Thought Nibler :-(

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: dont get carried away by Thought cards, their maximum hand size limitation is cumulative!

Time Stretch :'(

Touch of Invisibility :'(

Traumatize (rare) :-? :eek:
3UU
Sorcery
Target player puts the top half of his or her library, rounded down, into his or her graveyard.

GOD KNOWS! For UU3 Sorcery you want something good, and this card doesnt even affect the board in any way. But the effect is so game altering that it could be used to devastating effect with some other card or other. Haunting Echoes the obvious one, but if your opponent can play a deck based around two 5cc Sorceries and beat you, you deserve to get beaten.

Treetop Sentinel :-(

Unifying Theory :-(

Upheaval (rare) :eek:
4UU
Sorcery
Return all permanents to their owners’ hands.

Dont think it`ll get played, just like Sunder and Evacuation never got played. Or Jokulhaups never got played for 4 years for that matter. But keep an eye on it anyway, it`ll always be there waiting for the right (or wrong) card to get printed

Words of Wisdom :-(


Blue seemed to get very little, but there are a couple of interesting guys in there. What we were all looking for (or me, at least) was a new card engine to supplement Fact Or Fiction, as without it control decks cant really survive. There wasnt one. :eek:
 
I

Istanbul

Guest
Originally posted by Gizmo
Standstill (uncommon) :-?
1U
Enchantment
When a player plays a spell, sacrifice Standstill. If you do, then each of that player's opponents draws three cards.

I have no idea at all. My gut instincts are that its playable, but my gut instincts are also that the drawback is VERY acute and so might not be even a 1-star card. Think Indentured Djinn - should be good, is actually terrible.
Drawback?

I pay 1U, automatically counter the next spell you cast, and draw three cards when you try. Sure, it can trigger off of spells you play...which is why you play this when you aren't in imminent danger of death.
 
O

olwen

Guest
Correction, Standstill does nothing but makes players draw cards, there is no counterspell in Standstill.

It's basically a delayed ancestral recall. I think it's good :)
 
A

Apollo

Guest
A delayed Ancestrall Recall? Yeah, but if you play the spell, then they draw the cards. Not good. Of course, if you have board control and a clock out, so they have to play something, then this will be a good card. So if you're playing something agressive, it's nice. But then again, it's blue, not exactly the color of agression. Merfolk, maybe?
 
A

Apollo

Guest
Exactly one blue card that wasn't a rare got a :) from Gizmo. None got a :D. Now, I haven't read the entire spoiler yet, but Gizmo is usually pretty close with his assessments. If he's right this time, this really bothers me.
 
Z

Zadok001

Guest
I keep thinking Pendantic Learning HAS to have a point...
 
D

Duel

Guest
It does. Turbo-land, with oath..... *grins*

I like Standstill. It's aggro-control. Drop a threat on turn 1 or two, then a standstill before they can play their own threat, and watch them stuggle under your clock or under massive card disadvantage.
 
I

Istanbul

Guest
Leave it to me to totally misread a card...
Oh well. It's still an Ancestral Recall for 1U. That makes it directly superior to most other card-drawing...I'd go so far as to say that it's better than Fact or Fiction.

Half the mana cost.
Three cards (what you get off of a good FoF) with nothing dumped into the graveyard.
And, short of countermagic, nothing your opponent can do will stop it. Disenchant it? Watch it trigger!

Still, part of my previous statement sticks: just play it when you're not in imminent danger. Remember that it triggers when someone PLAYS something...not when it resolves. So you play a spell, I sac Standstill, and I draw three cards. I might very well find a counterspell, mightn't I?
 
D

DÛke

Guest
...I disagree about your view of Standstill, Istanbul.

It can't be better than Fact or Fiction for one simple reason: it doesn't reach up to 5 cards, like FoF does. FoF may not get you 3 cards, but out of 5 cards, it is sure to get you what you want. Standstill, however, will only reach to 3 cards. Sure you take everything there, but when it comes to getting exactly what you want, FoF can guarantee that more. Additionally, and to a lesser extent, FoF is better now because it could fill your graveyard for Threshold.

Also, Fact or Fiction is playable in both, control and aggressive decks. Standstill can't really see much play in control, because it's an enchantment that costs 2. You mostly want your mana open. With Blue having more options for control than for aggressive, and with the environment generally being into a very slow 4 and 5 costing cards, Standstill is less likely to see play...
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
Im not sure about that Duke.

I think if Standstill IS better than utter trash, its because the blue control decks WANT to tap out turn 2 and play this spell. Im fairly sure that if you are taking the first turn this is your ideal turn 2 drop, but if you are going second then Im not sure its good, in fact I think its awful.
 
F

FoundationOfRancor

Guest
I think the 3/3 Super Icy Manipulator deserves better than "It needs flying"

I still think Concentrate has potential, and alot of it.

Cultural Exchange is just plain fun, I love it! Best picture in the set, too.
 
H

Hetemti

Guest
My friend (who usually plays green) cast Standstill. I had a creature, he had none. He figured out why that was a poor choice three turns later...

Manipulation Chamber would have been good in my sealed deck, had I ever drawn it. But it's mediocure in constructed.

Traumatize is a wildcard. Remember, with no deck manipulation, the top half of the deck's the same as the bottom half, so unless you are actually doing something gamewinning to their/your deck (Living death for you, Millstone for them...) it doesn't matter.

The Thought Gobblers aren't too bad if you have something that nixes your discard step...spellbook, Anvil of Bogardan, Library of Leng, if I remember right...

Over all: :-|
 
T

terzarima

Guest
I think blue is pretty hardcore this set, lots of good cards are appearing and will work well with other cards and yeah... blue seems semi-quasi-goodish.
 
M

Mikeymike

Guest
I'm glad blue got crapped on in this set, its too often the best color in any environment. Control blue doesn't allow the really cool decks to be constructed.

Upheaval - This card I absolutely love and as Gizmo said it should be playable in any format. Warped Devotion/Megrim/Upheaval.

Thought Devourer - Good with Threshold or Spellbook, cute card.

Cephalid Broker - Much better than you give it credit for. It is expensive, but its graveyard/threshold machine once it gets going.

Syncopate - Necessary for all the recursible spells in the new enviro.

Time Stretch - Sucks in standard, very nice with Temporal Aperature and/or Dream Halls in Casual games. I will build a stupid deck with this card and as many Winds as possible. 10CC spells rock!

Gizmo, I get the impression you are sick of FoF.
 
D

Duel

Guest
I dunno. I agree with Gizmo, we're all looking for something to replace Accumulated Knowledge, and this set just doesn't have anything. Don't expect alot of u/w control to be played in t2 soon, because it NEEDS 8 good card drawers....
 
Top