Cool Card Design of the Day2/3/2012 - I posited about the printability of a 4/4 for 2GG in common a few weeks ago on Twitter. Dark Ascension's Hollowhenge Beast (alongside Gnarled Mass) confirms that it's reasonable, at least in a small set that affords efficient fatties.
If you just read the Green Design Review of Dark Ascension, skip this, but I wanted it on this page for future reference:I'm excited to see Hollowhenge Beast, because it confirms my suspicion that a 4/4 for 2GG can be printed at common. It's also fascinating to see how power-toughness thresholds vary at different mana thresholds. For a long time, you could get an X/X for X at three mana or less or at seven mana and above, but not between (rares excepted). I'm not surprised that 5/5 for 5 came before 4/4 for 4 because the jump between reliability of 5cc spells versus 4 is greater than between 4cc and 3. That said, if we can have Hollowhenge Beast and Trained Armodon, we can have Owlbear.
Two things to note about Hollowhenge Beast: It dies to all of the first pick removal spells in limited (Bonds, Victim, Brimstone) and it gets blocked by the "dedicated blockers" in blue (Crab and Headless Skab). That's not to say that it isn't a very good card, just that it's designed in the context of its environment to be weaker than it would be in other sets.
ReplyDeleteYup. Context is always relevant and you certainly couldn't print Hollowhenge Beast or Owlbear in just any set.
DeleteWhy isn't Owlbear's type "Bear Bird"?
ReplyDelete