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Skeleton

CardName: Ambush Cost: 1R Type: Instant Pow/Tgh: / Rules Text: The next creature card you cast this turn can be played as though it had flash. That creature has haste until end of turn. Draw a card. Flavour Text: Set/Rarity: Core Essentials Rare

Ambush
{1}{r}
 
 R 
Instant
The next creature card you cast this turn can be played as though it had flash. That creature has haste until end of turn.
Draw a card.
Updated on 10 Dec 2012 by DrugsForRobots

History: [-]

2012-12-06 18:27:31: DrugsForRobots created the card Ambush
2012-12-06 18:27:37: DrugsForRobots edited Ambush
2012-12-10 05:47:46: DrugsForRobots edited Ambush

Hmm. At first, haste feels like a natural thing to add onto Scout's Warning. But actually, haste and flash really don't go very well together. Those of us crusty enough to have played with Raging Kavu (the Invasion prerelease version, even) remember that you basically only ever wanted one half or the other. So this will basically only ever be Scout's Warning costing 1 more mana, apart from some very unlikely situations.

Well yeah; it's haste when you need it to be haste; flash when you need it to be flash - and cantrip in either case.

It seems an obvious utility charm to me - it's rare you want either half; but I could be tempted into using a utility slot on something this flexible.

It is a real shame you can't flash it into the attack usefully though. You'd need to give the comprules a serious malletting to allow it though. ("After blockers are declared, before combat damage, if any creatures with both haste and flash are summoned; they may choose to attack . Doing so begin a new round of selecting blockers - only creatures not currently blocking may be selected to block the new creature(s)"? Yeah, let's not go there.

Ah... the old Ranger en-Vec problem. I'm just going to sidestep around that argument to point out the card name, Ambush has already been taken. Everyone Forgets Homelands...

I'll bite. What's the problem with Ranger en-Vec?

It has two abilities that make it more likely to survive combat; however, they don't complement each other. See Mistake #2 in MaRo's column Design 101.

Not much, as far as I'm concerned. A number of players back in the day, however, would despair that, if you have regeneration, then you don't need first strike. There's, like, twenty reasons for why you would want both, but the idea really rankles some people. Why? Well, I'm guessing it has something to do with some sort of 'conservation of power level' maxim. The fact that this has first strike means it doesn't have +1 power, or lifelink, or vigilance... all abilities that would have worked much better with regeneration.

I follow the argument. I don't really agree with it, but it does influence my design (and my game reviews) since I know that it really ticks some people off.

By the by, Ranger en-Vec is an excellent dividing lines to figure out if you're more Melvin or Vorthos. Melvin gets in a kerfuffle over the repetition of defensive mechanics, while Vorthos understands that the creature gets both first strike and regeneration because he's a Ranger, and those are both abilities Rangers have.

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