Arlin and Standard

Black Rabbit of Inle
Black Rabbit of Inle Posts: 4 Just Dropped In
in MtGPQ General Discussion
Soooo
Can i get a refund?
Seriously she is now pretty useless with the exception of that one skill that makes them.
As a mostly ftp player that's a lot to drop on a dual colour planeswalker that can't actually do a lot in the new system.
And yeah she can play non standard but I thought things were supposed to be balanced?
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Comments

  • Azerack
    Azerack Posts: 501 Critical Contributor
    edited May 2017
    Sadly, since I didn't get Ulrich when he was up for sale, I've found less and less use for Arlinn, myself. I have no idea (since i haven't kept up with paper Magic in ages) what's in store after this expansion, but yeah, it would be nice if werewolves showed up again to make HER useful again.
    Meanwhile she's taking a big back seat to the others. :p
  • Rogan_Josh
    Rogan_Josh Posts: 140 Tile Toppler
    Black Rabbit of Inle said:
    Soooo
    Can i get a refund?
    about as likely as you ever using Arlin again i'm afraid.
  • Black Rabbit of Inle
    Black Rabbit of Inle Posts: 4 Just Dropped In
    Sadly there are others that don't have "generic" abilities or affect creature types that always show up Lil is always gonna be happy. But without energiser creatures then Chandra is going to be pretty woeful in time as well... 
  • octal9
    octal9 Posts: 593 Critical Contributor
    I used Arlinn on green node for ToA. She went perfect for all objectives. 
  • Black Rabbit of Inle
    Black Rabbit of Inle Posts: 4 Just Dropped In
    I'm sure with good cards she can... as any planeswalker could. But I bet another generic skill planeswalker would have done it better? 
  • Waschecht
    Waschecht Posts: 76 Match Maker
    wereotter said:
    Azerack said:
    Sadly, since I didn't get Ulrich when he was up for sale, I've found less and less use for Arlinn, myself. I have no idea (since i haven't kept up with paper Magic in ages) what's in store after this expansion, but yeah, it would be nice if werewolves showed up again to make HER useful again.
    Meanwhile she's taking a big back seat to the others. :p
    Werewolves are a tribe that seems to only be on Innistrad, so it's unlikely we'll ever see more of them considering the state Emrakul left the plane in before sealing herself away in the plane's moon.

    Arlinn could have a full toolbox again if her skills that care about werewolves were expanded to wolves and humans too. 
    @wereotter: good suggestion with expanding the tribal relevance of Arlinn. Big like!!
  • James13
    James13 Posts: 665 Critical Contributor
    It's always surprising to me how much people can overlook.  If you prefer to ignore Arlinn so be it.  Others can take proper advantage.   :)
  • wereotter
    wereotter Posts: 2,070 Chairperson of the Boards
    James13 said:
    It's always surprising to me how much people can overlook.  If you prefer to ignore Arlinn so be it.  Others can take proper advantage.   :)
    I'm using her in Fate is Rarely Fair just to see how she does without werewolves. She's still not bad, but just feels lacking considering I now basically play her like the AI. I can't use her second ability since I have no werewolves in my deck, and I can't transform her with her third ability so I can' at least pop out werewolf tokens with her loyalty ability there since the ability fails to trigger if I have no werewolves on the field.

    She's still good, but it would be like playing Kiora without the ability to fetch creatures or pop out octopus tokens.
  • Yvendros
    Yvendros Posts: 202 Tile Toppler
    i used her in the last event.  the color combo is still very strong.  and her 1.1 ability is great as removal (even better with enraged mode).  

    If they made her last ability a little cheaper, and let her flip WITHOUT a werewolf on the board, she'd be perfect.  or at least let it trigger on wolves (i think triggering on humans would be a little too strong).  i'd hate to keep a token wolf in there, but that wouldn't be the worst.  
  • wereotter
    wereotter Posts: 2,070 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited May 2017
    Yvendros said:
    i used her in the last event.  the color combo is still very strong.  and her 1.1 ability is great as removal (even better with enraged mode).  

    If they made her last ability a little cheaper, and let her flip WITHOUT a werewolf on the board, she'd be perfect.  or at least let it trigger on wolves (i think triggering on humans would be a little too strong).  i'd hate to keep a token wolf in there, but that wouldn't be the worst.  
    Only problem with limiting it to wolves only I can see is that we're back to the same problem. You would have to have Somberwald Alpha or Timberpack Wolf in your deck if you want to use the ability as those are the only two wolves currently in standard. Humans have been in every block of Magic back to the beginning except the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block.
  • EDHdad
    EDHdad Posts: 609 Critical Contributor
    Humans are actually the most common tribe in the history of Magic.  Around 2003, Wizards revised thousands of creature cards, giving them errata which wasn't printed on the paper cards.  So hundreds of cards from the early set, even ones that didn't explicitly say 'human' officially have the Human subtype.  Most of these make sense (example, Prodigal Sorcerer).  Some of them not so much (Example, Pirate Ship).
  • wickedwitch74
    wickedwitch74 Posts: 267 Mover and Shaker
    While she is sub-optimal without werewolves, she does remain the only red/green planeswalker.

    There is usefulness there, and she enables card combinations and decks that no other walker can do.
  • PhoenixRisen
    PhoenixRisen Posts: 102 Tile Toppler
    octal9 said:
    I used Arlinn on green node for ToA. She went perfect for all objectives
    ^ This! Kudos to you. Even against three level 60 PWs, my level 40 Arlinn beasted them.
  • gruntface
    gruntface Posts: 161 Tile Toppler
    Good colour combo and solid first ability. Used her in the recent event and went pretty well. She is still viable but certainly ymmv 
  • Azerack
    Azerack Posts: 501 Critical Contributor
    edited May 2017
    I like this kind of conversation. And since I'm not THAT happy with either of the Nissa's at this moment, it sounds like I have something else to try out for Green.
    Sounds promising and I'm glad I kept watching this thread for replies. :)
  • Eglyntine
    Eglyntine Posts: 72 Match Maker
    I ran her on my husband's account this morning because he had not leveled up any other green PW except Kiora and I used her on blue. I was at first very discouraged because my first thought was, "How is this going to work when all of her abilities are for werewolves?", but I put together a deck that with the first ability of hers really rocked. Unfortunately, I don't have the same cards he does on my account so she flat out sucks but luckily I have Wonder Twin Nissa.

    She is very powerful with that first ability and the right cards. Her mana bonuses work well against the serious lack of mana cascades you are given vs the AI in these events so it makes it worth trying to play her if you have the right combo of standard cards. Which I don't because the dupe demon has been riding me like the tea cup ride at Disney World for the last 8 months. I'll just use her on the hubby's account.
  • octal9
    octal9 Posts: 593 Critical Contributor
    Something I feel people are missing here is that in Standard, the Red combo sets her ahead of other green planeswalkers (besides Kiora, perhaps). Her and AJ2 have the best spell-based removal available to Green walkers, and Arlinn gets the bonus of being able to use Demolish for the plethora of Hixus we're now seeing.
  • arNero
    arNero Posts: 358 Mover and Shaker
    edited May 2017
    I agree that Arlinn's problem right now is that she only has 1 usable ability, but I support the notion that the fact she's currently the ONLY red/green walker in town is a big bonus. Remember that in Standard, mono-green has ZERO direct removal spell (Scour From Existence was one, but it was taken out, and Great Aurora hurts you as well), so having things like Unlicensed Disintegration or Chandra's Ignition is an upside no matter what.

    Also, berserker+trample is a bloody scary combination with first strike; I imagine someone running her with Lightning Runner and moping the floor with that.
  • octal9
    octal9 Posts: 593 Critical Contributor
    edited May 2017
    [arNero] said:
    Also, berserker+trample is a bloody scary combination with first strike; I imagine someone running her with Lightning Runner and moping the floor with that.
    Yep. LR is in both my legacy & standard Arlinn decks. Legacy runs it with GRB/Ulrich, Standard with Metalwork Colossus and Rhonas. Both stomp.

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