ok i have some questions for you guys about these cards

[magicman_moe]

whats the big deal about
squee
ball lightning
rootwater theives
powder jegs i want one and i know the ability but why that one when a lava mins does the samething?
phyrexian negator
rhox
reflecting pools
city of brass i think thats all the questions i have oh and one more thing do you guys think that trading a armageddon for 2 time elementals and a red and black mana battery all of them for one card i just want to know your opinion thanks

 

[arhar]

Allright, let's see here...


Squee: two words: CARD ADVANTAGE. It's like you're drawing two cards in your turn! Amazing.

Ball Lighting: 6 damage for 3 mana + surprise factor. Nuff said

Rootwater Thief: Hmm.. So this is a combo deck and what's the kill card? Oh, Blaze.. I think I'll remove that one.....

Powder Keg: gives you complete control on WHAT permanents you want to destroy

Negator: 5/5 trampler FIRST TURN>?!?!?!

Rhox: Well, if Green gets past the blockers, it wins. And Rhox lets you do exactly that.

Reflecting Pool: If you're playing a Rainbow Deck, imagine a City of Brass with no tapping...

City of Brass: Well.. So you're playing a rainbow deck....

Hope I helped! Oh and that trade you talked about: Time elementals really suck, Tradewind Riders are much better, but they're expensive. So go for Temporal Adepts. Mana Batteries - it depends on your personal choice - you may like em and may not. So if you think you would find a good use for those card, why not do the trade?

 

[Zadok001]

Arhar just about nailed it. So all I'm gonna do is restate what he said, but here goes...

Squee: The ability to return to you hand makes him basically discard fodder. The guy isn't designed to hit play at all, if he does, he's being used wrong. By dropping a Squee instead of another card (land, for example), you can keep whatever you drew that turn, and still activate whatever required the discard... Comprende?

Ball Lightning: It's the suprise! Before making a move, most players calculate what their opponent can do in response to it. You don't usually attack if your opponent can kill you on the next turn with their attack. But Ball Lightning throws off that math, often winning the game in one fell swoop.

Rootwater Thief: This guy's not too bad, but I personally don't think he's all that either. He might single-handed revive Type 2 Fish decks, though. Both cost-efficient and fairly powerful, he makes a neat attacker, especially if you have a Lord out.

Powder Keg: An anti-rush tactic. Blue uses this card like a revised Disk, knocking out all the threats running towards them, or at least the vast majority. The fact that it's so selective is a blessing and a curse; a well timed Keg doesn't hit your stuff, but a poorly timed Keg will!

Phyrexian Negator: He's a 5/5 trampler with a drawback that's completely irrelevant against a lot of decks out there. For 3 mana. THAT'S a threat.

Rhox: An almost guaranteed four turn clock for the other guy is a good deal at only 7 mana. At 6, it's pretty damn sweet. The high regeneration cost is irrelevant, since you generally don't need to cast many more spells once this guy is up and running.

Reflecting Pool and City of Brass: These things are basically the best five-color land producers. They help let players splash extra colors into decks, basically letting you run Shock as creature removal in your blue deck, or Rancor and Giant Growth to back up suicide black.

 

[magicman_moe]

cool thanks i needed the info i wasnt sure what those cards really did and wanst sure what the big deal but now i really want a powder keg which would be really usefullnow that i know i just wasnt sure how the direct damage was distributed but now that i know thats good oh and i just thought 4 for 1 is still a good trade but how many times do you get to use a time elementals ability thanks

 

[Wizard2000]

Time elemental isn't that great. I think he's a 0/2 that has the ability to return a permanent to owner's hand for 2UU. If I remember... he can't attack or block or you lose 5 life. Not that great at all.

 

[Gryphonclaw]

You're right wizard, here's the full version:

Time Elemental 2U
Summon elemental 0/2
2UU T:Return target non-enchanted permanent to owners hand.
If time elemental attacks or blocks bury it and take 5 damage.

I think that's right. And might I add that in its original set it was an excellent card, it just got edged out.

As for the cards here's my take:

Squee: Squee is, was, and always will be one of the best characters Wotc has come up with. Making him into a card, especially one with an ability that reflects his personality was cool. He can also be found on call of the wild and redwood treefolk.

Ball lightning: Fast, furious, 6 damage for 3 mana is very good, like three shocks rolled into one card. The fact that it's a creature is a drawback, (it can be killed before damage is dealt) and an advantage, (bring it back with shallow grave, corpse dance, etc.)

Rootwater thief: Okay, this'll just kill any combo deck if brought out early, basically a one card cap for three mana, (grant it flying, pay for ability) that has potential to be re-used. Jesters cap was bad enough, now you can search and destroy virtually limitlessly.

Powder keg: Specific yet massive removal, especially early in the game. Also almost gauranteed card advantage. Has anyone else noticed that the counterplacement is optional? The fact that it is an untargeted, damageless, colorless source doesn't hurt.

Phyrexian negator: First turn beatdown is great, expecially for black as the drawback can be 'negated' by any of a number of sacrifice cards, especially parallax dementia.

Rhox: You now have x turns to kill me, where x is equal to your life total divided by 5. This guy'll only be stopped by direct removal as featured in black or white. Admittedly other colors can handle him, but it's much tougher.

Reflecting pools + city of brass: Any land that provides mana of any sort is useful, since it gives the flexibility of at least one other color in your deck with no sacrifice to your primary color.

 

[Duel]

Squee: Survival of the fittest, masticore, spellshapers.

Ball lightning: Look, a red deck's final turn should go like this: Ball lightning, blood frenzy, blood lust, attack, fling.

Rootwater theives: ever want to shut down a combo deck? This even gets rid of the gravetard return policy.

Powder kegs: Token creatures go boom. Goblin decks go boom, you pay a total of three. What's not to like?

phyrexian negator: First turn, ritual/negator. If they are playing a deck with few creatures/burn they are royally screwed.

Rhox: Attack, it's essentially unblockable. Because if they block it, they damage goes through and the creature can't die. Or you can deal the damage to the blocker. It's damn hard to stop or kill. Plus it's cheap.

Reflecting pools: 5 color green w/ city of brass.

City of brass: 5 color green

 

[Apollo]

Well, everyone else has done an excellent job summing up the cards, so I'll just give my take on the trade:

Armageddon is a good card that is worth a fair amount of money. Time Elemental is not a very good card, with many similar cards being vastly superior to it. By the time you have the four mana for the batteries, the ability to add mana isn't all that useful anymore. Plus, they're slow to build up. In short, I wouldn't do the trade, but that's just my opinion.

Apollo