Post by Sigarda on Jan 20, 2015 10:48:48 GMT
Whilst there is already a planeswalker thread I thought I'd take the opportunity to properly draw attention to these two 'walkers.
Ugin, of course, came out in the current Standard block of Khan's of Takir and the incoming set of Fate Reforged. Nicol bolas has had a couple of printings, most recently in M13.
It is reasonably apparent that the Ugin has drawn some inspiration from his old enemy. Whilst Bolas's first 2 abilities are very solidly Black and Blue (in line with his Grixis colors) they are somewhat paralleled by Ugin's abilities.
The 3 damage that Ugin deals as his +2 will kill a good proportion of creatures in standard at the moment and his -x whilst not actually gaining you a creature does do the same job of depriving an opponent of resources. In fact it's actually slightly stronger as - assuming you have built around it and are prepared to loose a permanent or two - you can all but wipe your opponents field if you've ticked him up enough.Note that the wording is 'Converted Mana cost X or less' so Genesis Hydra, Mistcutter Hydra etc count as 3 mana - even if you sank a truckload into casting them.
The ultimates though are the clearest parallel between the two and both can be game winning. Bolas's can destroy your mana base (bear in mind that Mutilate was also a thing when M13 was running - ultimate bolas and destroy 7 lands then mutilate their creatures... nasty) whereas Ugin's can drop some nasty stuff out. Assuming he'll be used in green decks (to ramp into him) as well as artifact decks you could potentially find yourself dropping everything from dragons to polukranos.
Outside of standard I would actually say Ugin gets better whilst Bolas just stays strong if you intend to build round him. Doubling Season and then Ugin lets you ultimate the turn he arrives - giving you a massive boost, especially in Commander where you could have almost anything in your hand - craterhoof behemoth, progenitus... Aurelia / Gisela.... you name it.
So there we are. The only question now is 'will they reprint Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in Dragons of Takir or will they make a new version for that set?'
Personally I hope for a reprint and may take the opportunity to grab a couple whilst they are around £5 - and if they don't reprint him? Well then I've got some excuse to make a Grixis Stax deck for EDH.
It is reasonably apparent that the Ugin has drawn some inspiration from his old enemy. Whilst Bolas's first 2 abilities are very solidly Black and Blue (in line with his Grixis colors) they are somewhat paralleled by Ugin's abilities.
The 3 damage that Ugin deals as his +2 will kill a good proportion of creatures in standard at the moment and his -x whilst not actually gaining you a creature does do the same job of depriving an opponent of resources. In fact it's actually slightly stronger as - assuming you have built around it and are prepared to loose a permanent or two - you can all but wipe your opponents field if you've ticked him up enough.Note that the wording is 'Converted Mana cost X or less' so Genesis Hydra, Mistcutter Hydra etc count as 3 mana - even if you sank a truckload into casting them.
The ultimates though are the clearest parallel between the two and both can be game winning. Bolas's can destroy your mana base (bear in mind that Mutilate was also a thing when M13 was running - ultimate bolas and destroy 7 lands then mutilate their creatures... nasty) whereas Ugin's can drop some nasty stuff out. Assuming he'll be used in green decks (to ramp into him) as well as artifact decks you could potentially find yourself dropping everything from dragons to polukranos.
Outside of standard I would actually say Ugin gets better whilst Bolas just stays strong if you intend to build round him. Doubling Season and then Ugin lets you ultimate the turn he arrives - giving you a massive boost, especially in Commander where you could have almost anything in your hand - craterhoof behemoth, progenitus... Aurelia / Gisela.... you name it.
So there we are. The only question now is 'will they reprint Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in Dragons of Takir or will they make a new version for that set?'
Personally I hope for a reprint and may take the opportunity to grab a couple whilst they are around £5 - and if they don't reprint him? Well then I've got some excuse to make a Grixis Stax deck for EDH.
