Odric, Lunarch Marshall

shteev

Odric costs too much, doesn't he? For 24 mana you get a single creature that can be killed by a wide variety of spells, some of them costing as little as 5 mana, that doesn't do anything until after your opponent has had a chance to kill him.

Compare this to a Mythic, like, say.... ooh, just to pull a random name out of a hat, Crush of Tentacles. It gives you a creature that's twice as big, and destroys your opponent's board. I know, I know, maybe it'll bounce your own creatures too, but honestly if you were 16 points of power and toughness ahead of your opponent before you cast it, you were going to win anyway. And if you weren't going to win anyway, then now you're 16 points of power and toughness ahead of your opponent, and he's got no creatures on the board. And you can choose which situation is better for you. *And* you can use all your creatures which have triggered effects when they enter play again, like Conclave Naturalists, and Harbinger of the Tides.

It concerns me that MPQ is getting to be a very hostile environment for creatures that are 'just good', what with the printing of the new Thing in the Ice, Engulf the Shores, and Descend Upon the Sinful. A similar thing happened in paper MTG in it's early years, and it took a considerable amount of time for the balance of power to swing back so that creatures were as good as spells.

Mcjordan

My issue with the card is not so much the cost, because I think it is fairly strong; I just hate that when your opponent has no creatures, there is no combat phase (and your own creatures don't heal 2). If your board healed without your opponent having a creature out during their turn, it would be a much better card.

Coconut99

Mcjordan wrote:

My issue with the card is not so much the cost, because I think it is fairly strong; I just hate that when your opponent has no creatures, there is no combat phase (and your own creatures don't heal 2). If your board healed without your opponent having a creature out during their turn, it would be a much better card.

I agree with this. Just because nothing is happening in the phase doesn't/shouldn't mean that the phase isn't occurring at all, it's just being passed through without any event.

shteev

Agreed! I still don't like the way that Prism Array got a buff because people didn't like the way it didn't draw if there were no creatures in play, and Prism Array is *way* better than any creature will ever be.

shteev

And...


Odric is REALLY BORING to play with. Couldn't you make all those abilities spawn at the same time rather than one by one???

Morphis

The main problem is not the cost in itself but the fact it does not being anything valuable with his presence UNLESS you already have a board.

This makes it even slower.
Any card that is based on board presense(be it support or creatures) just do not work if it also needs something played beforehand to be valuable.

Mikeymike

I agree with your general point about Odric, though I am not worried about this particular concern:

shteev wrote:

It concerns me that MPQ is getting to be a very hostile environment for creatures that are 'just good', what with the printing of the new Thing in the Ice, Engulf the Shores, and Descend Upon the Sinful. A similar thing happened in paper MTG in it's early years, and it took a considerable amount of time for the balance of power to swing back so that creatures were as good as spells.

First is that I think it is OK for sets to vary between pointing the power needle towards different card types, much like how OGW's creatures were totally insane. It helps gives each set it's own personality and play style, which helps makes the set-centric events more interesting.

Second, some mythics/rares are going to be stinkers (like in real magic), with others being OP. I was fortunate enough to get Wolf of Devil's Breach on Day 1 of the SOI release and that dude is bananas, and I am dying to get me e-hands on Startled Awake.

Finally, I don't think this game will ever reach a state where one type of card becomes over/under powered because being a digital format they have the ability to make sweeping balance changes when necessary fairly quickly, and the development team has already shown a willingness to do so.

Xakarath

I dread the day that creatures are more efficient than the removal used to kill them. Creatures have an inherent advantage in that they can remove other creatures and win the game. Creature removal cannot win the game, therefore it needs to be more efficient, else no one would use them over creatures.

That being said, this guy is poorly designed. His original form was a 3/3 for 3, His PQ could be 4/4 for 8-10. He requires a full board to be of any use. In his current form His cost should be ~18

Ertai Planeswalker

Xakarath wrote:

I dread the day that creatures are more efficient than the removal used to kill them. Creatures have an inherent advantage in that they can remove other creatures and win the game. Creature removal cannot win the game, therefore it needs to be more efficient, else no one would use them over creatures.

That being said, this guy is poorly designed. His original form was a 3/3 for 3, His PQ could be 4/4 for 8-10. He requires a full board to be of any use. In his current form His cost should be ~18

Amen. I still play him because I love the card but I often need to swap him out for something cheaper if I encounter a true challenge.

Also, the ability is more important than his own P/T. I'd suggest making him a 6/6 for 15.

bk1234

Preach!!!!