Rukh Egg variant in Onslaught?

[Chaos Turtle]

Here's a copy of my post on an MTGnews.com thread, where some images of Onslaught products were posted.

...

Okay... here's what I want you to do:

First, go to Multani'sAcolyte's site (CLICK HERE) and get a load of that HUGE pic of the blue Pre-Con ("Bait and Switch, 4th pic down).

I'm serious. Go. I'll wait.

Okay, now CLICK HERE to bring up one of those nifty card pics that WotC provides on their site. It's the card Rukh Egg.

Do you see what I see? Look closely; ignore the egg, focus on the creature inside the Egg....

Well?

Okay, Okay. I know that Rukhs are red, and that the pictured Pre-Con is blue. But then again, good flyers are blue, and Faeries used to be green.

So, what do you think now? Will there be a new version of the Rukh in Onslaught?

 

[Jigglypuff]

You know CT, that guy on the Bait and Switch box does look like a more matured version of the thing inside the Rukh Egg. I think it'd be extremely neat if we saw a new Rukh Egg in Onslaught.

By the way, those pics were huge.

(- Steve -)

 

[rkoelsch]

That would be so cool. and I really think that they could put that in blue.

 

[Mikeymike]

Holy schmoly, that would be freaking huge - any variant as far as I'm concerned, I love the egg. Nice catch CT.

Also, Onslaught is supposed to be red heavy if I remember correctly so a revival would make sense. But if he's blue now maybe a 'fixed' Ruhk is more in flavor with blue now, or maybe he's multi-colored RU? Nah, couldn't be RU, 'Bait and Switch' is a UB deck.

Nice to see Kev Walker representing on the cover art also. And Wizards went all high-tech contemporary with the box design - I like the new styly a lot but it doesn't seem to fit the genre of a fantasy game. Oh well, all things much adapt if they are to survive.

EDIT - Speaking of Onslaught, anyone know a good site besides Wizards to get the skinny on it, like themes and ideas, etc.

 

[Chaos Turtle]

Heh.
Maybe I am crazy. No one at MTGnews who's replied sees it.

A note on the look of the packaging. It's been speculated by a few people that some of them are mock-ups of the proposed design, so they're not 100% final. Evidence being the digital-looking picture on the "djinn(?)" pack and the fact that the Fat Pack deck has the same picture as one of the pre-cons, there not being any pictures of tournament packs.

Oh, well, thanks for replying. It's nice to know that not everything thinks I'm nuts.

 

[Mikeymike]

It's nice to know that not everyone thinks I'm nuts.

Hey CT, we might think you are on to something here, but no one said you weren't nuts

 

[EricBess]

Originally posted by Chaos Turtle
A note on the look of the packaging. It's been speculated by a few people that some of them are mock-ups of the proposed design, so they're not 100% final. Evidence being the digital-looking picture on the "djinn(?)" pack and the fact that the Fat Pack deck has the same picture as one of the pre-cons, there not being any pictures of tournament packs.

Actually, I disagree. I'd suggest that there is a good chance that these are accurate.

-First of all, the digital-looking picture of the djinn(?)
Did you notice that this particular "booster" image is larger than the other booster images? That would account for the graininess if the image were enlarged.

-Fat Pack deck has the same picture as one of the pre-cons, there not being any pictures of the tournament packs.
I disagree. I think that is a tournament pack. There appear to be three pre-constructed decks, "Bait-and-Switch", "Devestation", and "Ivory Doom". The picture with the knight is none of these three. That particular "box" isn't shown closeup and could very well be the tournament pack.

The fact that it appears to be a UW deck based on the bubbles above the box seem to indicate that it is a theme deck, but it is not in the box with the other theme decks. Perhaps they have decided to put the forth theme deck with the fat pack instead.

 

[Chaos Turtle]

Those a good points. I didn't catch the size difference on the Djinn pic, though now that you've pointed it out it seems obvious.

I think you may be right about the 4th theme deck being in the Fat Pack instead of in the dipsplay box, and in lieu of a tournament pack. It's definitely a theme deck, a UW one called "Celestial Assault." The deck is pictured lying in front of the Fat Pack.

 

[Purple_jester]

I love the new artworks. hopefully they won't join the huge list of cards with great art but crappy effects.

However, I'd like to give my condolences on the Rukh Egg idea. While I'd love to play another Rukh, A close inspection of my own Rukh Egg through a magnifying lens points to two differences between the Rukh Egg and the picture on the precon.

1. The Rukh has dragon-like (bat-type) wings. The precon creature does not.

2. The blue precon creature has a distinct beak, meaning that it's probably an Aven. A really good Aven, hopefully. The Rukh curled up inside the egg has no beak. In fact, I think the artist got the Rukh there wrong. It looks more like a baby dragon than a bird.

Still, I could be wrong.

 

[Mikeymike]

Aven's probably won't be in Onslaught, as I'm pretty sure its an Ody block specific creature - but I'm splitting hairs. Beyond that, we don't know if it has wings or not, we can only see half of the whole box, which is probably only 50% of the full pic anyway.

But I could definitely believe they'd bring the Rukh back, if there is one thing Wizards has learned to do well is recycle popular cards and themes. They are constantly fixing themes, and they've already brought back probably

Can you tell that I'm hoping it comes back?

-----
Now I want to start a whole new discussion

Looking at the Rukh Egg as it, is I'd say it would be fully balanced if it were to be reprinted in today's environment. I think of it as a 4/4 flyer for 3R with a drawback. Granted its more complicated than that simple description, but its far from broken - especially with all the token hate out there.

Compare it to Fledgling Dragon which is arguably stronger with a lesser drawback. The Rukh requires another card to make it truly strong while the Dragon can simply fit into a lot of different deck styles.

Still, I love its Brushhopper like CIP timing.

Hey, they made what many consider to be a better Juzam Djinn already with the Scuta, why not the Egg?

 

[Jigglypuff]

I absolutely love the Egg. I think of it exactly the same way you do, Mikey. There are just so many ways to use the Egg to hatch the flyer dude. I still have my Rukh Egg/Death Pit Offering deck. Maybe I'll post that one again with all the changes I made since I first posted it a while ago.

EDIT: To Purple_jester: It's possible that the wings and the beak don't form on the Rukh until they become more mature, just like the guy on the Bait and Switch box.

(- Steve -)

 

[Sammy Dead-O]

a new Rukh Egg + Obliterate with a long future in Type 2 = fun

 

[train]

They could re-print the egg since it isn't a rare - Arabian didn't have any - so they just might put the egg in red, and the "hatchling" in blue...

 

[Thallid Ice Cream Man]

And even if it is an Aven they could make an Aven egg...

 

[train]

From my new thread - Onslaught should be $3.00....

 

[FoundationOfRancor]

I think one of the biggest supporting thing for the Rukh egg idea is that the precon is called "Bait and Switch"....thats exactly what Rukh Egg is all about! It's bait, and it switches. Plus, with this new morph mechanic being in Onslaught, I would think it's very, very possible that that IS a new sort of Rukh Egg. Heck, maybe its even a reprint.

 

[FoundationOfRancor]

My god, can I kill a conversation or what?

 

[Sammy Dead-O]

Hey, everybody! Don't respond to this so FoR will have the last two posts, and they'll both be unanswered! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[Spiderman]

Gotta respond...

I think the picture on the pre-con looks more like a Giant Turtle But it's be cool if Rukh's were coming back... (and people complain about seeing re-hashed cards...)

 

[rkoelsch]

Just think if they count the Ruhk as a bird. wouldn't that make sense. I sense a theme deck coming on.