I mean, in limited it's a 2/3 in your supported type đ¤ˇââď¸. That's not an awful floor, and you'll probably end up with elves in your graveyard pretty quickly if you're in golgari elves, since that is their whole deal this set.
If elves are good, I'd draft this, right? We love a two drop.
It'll be a reasonable 2 drop if you are Elf heavy. That puts it at like a build around C+. You don't cut it from Elf decks but it's not a reason to be in Elves. At Uncommon that's fine.
Nah, pretty easy if you play a dedicated elf deck. You play Llanowar Elves on turn 1. They kill it. You play this on turn two revealing any other elf. Boom, active.
Oh I agree, sorry if that wasn't clear. This is a garbage tier card IMO, even in limited it should be viewed as a 2/3 for 2 with like a once every 10 games limited upside.
But at what point? If it taps for two mana on turn 5 when you can already cast everything and are down to 1 card in hand.....that's not an upside worth noting.
If you are talking constructed.....that's way too slow. Casual, sure. But not remotely competitive.
If you are talking limited, you'd looking at best, spending turn 2 self milling, hoping to hit an elf, then cast this on turn 3, only to get to tap it on turn 4 if it survives. So, yeah, I think saying 1 in 10 games for limited upside in limited seems about right.
Keep in mind that Changelings still make this active. Still situational, yes, but it may fit into a few more archetypes than we might have guessed initially based solely on face-value.
Then exactly that. That's how behold works; you need to satisfy the requirement of having a thing in hand or in play. Don't confuse the new Champion cycle with how behold works in general.
Dang they really went out of their way to make this card as situational as possible
Gains bands with homarids if you have less than 5 life remaining
Snow-covered wastewalk as well
Fateful Homarid --
Playable in Duel of the Fates typal
Its a lot of "if this, but then only if this"
it's a good follow up to the turn 1 llanowar elf that got killed the moment it touched the board
Yeah yeah yeah, elf kindred, whatever
They're giving away the good feet pics for free in this set?!?!
No toes though, only hoofs đ
Yes, that's why I said GOOD feet pics. Keep up.
From what I've seen of ECL Elves, most of them are leaning heavily on Golgari decks, right?
Yes, lorwyn/shadowmoor elves are golgari by their nature.
They were BG in Lorwyn and GW in Shadowmoor
Still kinda upset we didnât get an [[elves of deep shadow]] or a functional reprint of it
I assume the main reason is that two 1 mana manadork elves in standard might be too consistent at ramping ahead.
Though original Lorwyn block did notably have [[Blightsoil Druid]] as a sorta reverse downgraded elves of deep shadow
Blightsoil Druid - (G) (SF) (txt)
FAQ
Yeah but you gotta agree it wouldâve been on point flavor wise right?
elves of deep shadow - (G) (SF) (txt)
FAQ
I believe in og lorwyn elves where GW and on shadowmoor they are GB
The other way around
Well, my Llanowar Elf always gets sniped immediately, so atleast this is a fine-ish follow-up.
Unless it gets sworded.
2 to 5 is a huge jump, but this is a lot of work to make happen on the turn it matters the most.
I kind of suspect this will always feel like you got the worst aspect of it, but the payoff is there if you somehow can really make it work.
I mean, in limited it's a 2/3 in your supported type đ¤ˇââď¸. That's not an awful floor, and you'll probably end up with elves in your graveyard pretty quickly if you're in golgari elves, since that is their whole deal this set.
If elves are good, I'd draft this, right? We love a two drop.
It'll be a reasonable 2 drop if you are Elf heavy. That puts it at like a build around C+. You don't cut it from Elf decks but it's not a reason to be in Elves. At Uncommon that's fine.
I think it's too much work to even consider it a 2 to 5 jump. It'll probably be closer to 3 or 4 to 6 or 7.
Nah, pretty easy if you play a dedicated elf deck. You play Llanowar Elves on turn 1. They kill it. You play this on turn two revealing any other elf. Boom, active.
Or you blight an elf that just has a ETB on turn 3-4 and unlock 2 mana for the rest of the game.
A strategy that relies on your opponent making a specific play is not a reliable strategy. If we are talking magic Christmaland, sure.
I mean, the downside of "your opponent does not kill your llannowar elf" is still "i get the extra mana from my llanowar elf."
Well, the downside there is playing a two drop that probably won't do anything.
Yeah, but those are worse jumps. 2-5 is when jumping through all these hoops is worth sacrificing your whole deck to get.
Oh I agree, sorry if that wasn't clear. This is a garbage tier card IMO, even in limited it should be viewed as a 2/3 for 2 with like a once every 10 games limited upside.
This is going to tap for mana a lot more than once out of every ten games.
But at what point? If it taps for two mana on turn 5 when you can already cast everything and are down to 1 card in hand.....that's not an upside worth noting.
You know that self mill exists right? Getting and elf in the yard isn't going to be that hard.
If you are talking constructed.....that's way too slow. Casual, sure. But not remotely competitive.
If you are talking limited, you'd looking at best, spending turn 2 self milling, hoping to hit an elf, then cast this on turn 3, only to get to tap it on turn 4 if it survives. So, yeah, I think saying 1 in 10 games for limited upside in limited seems about right.
Cast the critter on turn two, turn three self mill and get an elf in the yard with some other effect. Turn 4 cast a six drop.
That's going to come into play far more than ten percent of the time.
self mill exists right?
You could cast this on two, get an effect of some sort with an elf in the bin, and then ramp to 6 on turn 4.
You can, but ramping to 6 on turn 4 means a lot less than 5 on turn 3. When it comes to ramp the earlier you get it the better.
Yes, but in limited there is a huge difference in casting your 6 drop on 4 vs. 6.
a 2/3 for two is playable even with a minor upside.
A 2/3 that could ramp you for not much work via self mill or what not isn't that bad.
If I behold a changling does it count as beholding an elf? Or any other creature for that matter? Same thing for a changling in my graveyard
Yep
Yes. Creatures with "Changeling" are every creature type wherever they are, not just on the battlefield.
Not only creatures. The reminder text says "elf card". So it would also work with Kindred elf or changeling cards.
Notably (for Golgari draft decks): [[Nameless Inversion]] turns this on.
Nameless Inversion - (G) (SF) (txt)
FAQ
Yes
Most these behold cards are garbage
they all canât be winners
It's funny how different of a meaning that has than "they can't all be winners."
Shame that none of the tribal archetypes seem like they'll be relevant in standard
This card is a free vacation you can receive by âjustâ listening to a timeshare pitch
I don't think this is that hard to pull off. All you need is to do is be an elf deck and mill and elf.
Guess I'm making a golgari elf deck
Letâs be CLEAR. Turn one is [[Llanowar Elves]]. Now how do we get an elf in the graveyard turn two? Block/trade with llanowar?
Llanowar Elves - (G) (SF) (txt)
FAQ
Keep in mind that Changelings still make this active. Still situational, yes, but it may fit into a few more archetypes than we might have guessed initially based solely on face-value.
yeah not very good
things my elf deck wants: [[heritage druid]], [[nettle sentinel]], [[glimpse of nature]]
things my elf deck doesn't want: this.
All cards
heritage druid - (G) (SF) (txt)
nettle sentinel - (G) (SF) (txt)
glimpse of nature - (G) (SF) (txt)
FAQ
I wish this had flavor textÂ
do not shock the dork I guess?
Turn 1 granny, Turn 2 play this and discard an elf, Turn 3 tap it or something I donât know
Do I understand "behold" correctly that you just point at your Llanowar Elf in play and say "Behold! My Llanowar Elf!" and the behold costs are payed?
Lisan al Gaib
Can't wait to put this in my advisor tribal deck
"...choose an Elf you control..." Then what??? Tap it or if one already exists, you point at it and ta-da?
You do indeed point at it and say, tada. It is magic syntax for "you can only play this card if you control an elf or show an elf in your hand."
It's not even new, we already had behold a dragon in dragonstorm.
Thanks!
Then exactly that. That's how behold works; you need to satisfy the requirement of having a thing in hand or in play. Don't confuse the new Champion cycle with how behold works in general.
That is some laughably bad art. Seems so random how wotc commissions art for cards.
I mean if it's the Heather Hudson - it's a rare miss!
Artist: Heather Hudson, 187 cards | Magic: The Gathering
To each their own, I really like the art on the card.
Golgari Elves are back baby. Watch Lathril Blade of Elves soar in price soon.
Lathrill was reprinted in Foundations and will continue to be printed because of that. Her price is not going to be "soaring" anytime soon.