Ajani, Mentor of Heroes!
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on April 9, 2014, 12:03 a.m. by DrFunk27
Congrats. http://mythicspoiler.com/nyx/cards/ajanimentorofheroes.html
I feel like he's going to be good, and I want to talk about why, but I'm just stuck on his ultimate. Gain 100 life...seems totally fair.
April 9, 2014 12:06 a.m.
Hesjust so good because the abilities he has are great for the colours, two +1 abilities are cool, kind of one for the heroic aspect and one for the hexproof/aura aspect. And the ultimate is just nuts
April 9, 2014 12:08 a.m.
His +1's are ridiculously good. Three +1/+1 counters, or pulling a powerful creature/aura/planeswalker... Damn, Ajani. He's pretty impressive.
April 9, 2014 12:09 a.m.
the5ervant says... #8
Well. I guess it was about time for a new Jace, the Mind Sculptor . I'm betting $120 right off the bat.
April 9, 2014 12:10 a.m.
I'll say it, the +1's are both really good, but the -8 is ok. A lot of decks can really deal out damage by turn 9. I feel like by that time you will either win more or only stall out for a few turns more.
April 9, 2014 12:10 a.m.
The artwork is kind of lame, but the second +1 ability makes it Standard playable (the first one is good as well) and the ultimate makes it casual playable, so I'm very happy.
April 9, 2014 12:13 a.m.
If you think you can dish out 100 damage in 45 min you are sorely mistaken. That's a game winner.
April 9, 2014 12:13 a.m.
EKGwins - that ultimate is more so for use against control since they have really only one way to interact and kill you, AEtherling .
April 9, 2014 12:14 a.m.
Holy FREAKING crap. Why did I decide to stop playing my Bant lifegain deck? THIS IS GONNA BE SICK! Preordering 4 as we speak...........................
April 9, 2014 12:14 a.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #16
@ tman007 I disagree, the artwork is pretty cool in my opinion. Well, folks you wanted it, you got it. GW Ajani. Not exactly something I can get behind, but that's because I'm a B/U kinda guy.
April 9, 2014 12:17 a.m.
WizardInTheWoods says... #17
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes + Fleecemane Lion + Sunbond .
That sounds like GG.
April 9, 2014 12:20 a.m.
HAHAHA THAT WOULD BE CRAZY. Not to stray here though, since that's a 3 card combo, I play a deck with a similar 3 card combo in
Silence in the Library Playtest
Standard
SCORE: 41 | 35 COMMENTS | 5971 VIEWSApril 9, 2014 12:24 a.m.
NobodyPicksBulbasaur says... #23
+1: Turn a dork into a threat
+1: Scry 4, then draw a card
-8: Why is this written here? Nobody is going to use this.
Overall, good. He's not nearly the powerhouse that Garruk, Caller of Beasts is, but he does play well with smaller creatures, which Garruk isn't very adept at doing.
April 9, 2014 12:30 a.m.
He's not powerful enough to be broken, but he's Standard playable, and probably decent in EDH (Trostani, Sigarda, and Rhys would all love this guy). Since he costs five mana, he's not gonna start breaking formats apart, but he's good. I like it.
April 9, 2014 12:30 a.m.
unholycookies says... #26
@jwiley129 I resent that. I Psychic Spiral for the win also. And I believe most control decks can refresh their deck in some way.
April 9, 2014 1 a.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #27
Not what I expected. Was thinking he would be more along the lines of Domri Rade . Seems solid.
April 9, 2014 1:03 a.m.
CrazyLittleGuy says... #28
You might want to try dividing that number by 6. Comparing this to Jace, the Mind Sculptor is like comparing Lhurgoyf to Tarmogoyf .
April 9, 2014 1:07 a.m.
CrazyLittleGuy says... #29
Honestly, I see this walker being played just as much as Kiora, the Crashing Wave . That is to say, not a lot, but enough to keep its price tag above $15-20.
April 9, 2014 1:08 a.m.
unholycookies - there aren't many decks in my meta that use Psychic Spiral as a win condition, but prefer to win off of Sphinx's Revelation or AEtherling . Clearly you're different, but most of the decks I've seen don't run the spiral.
April 9, 2014 1:11 a.m.
I played against a Maze's end deck once, and game 3 after I practically milled him with Jace, Memory Adept , he ended up Psychic Spiral ing me twice :(
April 9, 2014 1:14 a.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #32
Elspeth, Sun's Champion makes the soldiers and Ajani tutors them.
April 9, 2014 1:39 a.m.
He seems okay, definitely not playable outside of standard. He doesn't defend himself, his first ability requires you to have creatures in play the ult is good but definitely doesn't quite end the game though it's pretty hard to ult him if you don't already have the board advantage. He'll probably see standard play but not that much, he'll be better after rotation.
April 9, 2014 2:32 a.m.
Hes kinda crappy honestly only because he pretty much only works in a heroid deck
April 9, 2014 2:43 a.m.
He doesn't do anything for Heroic other than cost too much mana
April 9, 2014 2:44 a.m.
megawurmple says... #39
Hmmm... I could swear I've seen the whole +1/+1/-8 thing somewhere else. Oh yeah, Elspeth, Knight-Errant , that's the one. Maybe she's the one mentoring him? Something to think about.
Anyway, I like the card. It's good enough to see play in Standard as both its +1 abilities are strong. Its -8 is very powerful, but will rarely go off. It's essentially a back up plan against control, which give Ajani nice versatility: he can help you race in the aggro match up, and he can give you longevity in the control match up. The art is fantastic as well, at least in my opinion.
April 9, 2014 4:47 a.m.
This Ajani does nothing for a bant walkers deck because it would be useless on all the creatures they have in the deck, and in that deck you already have Sphinx's Revelation to draw you a lot of cards.
April 9, 2014 7:13 a.m.
FNMgeek - You're missing the point. In Bant 'walkers Ajani tutors for a planeswalker, his first ability might as well not exist. Furthermore his ultimate just makes you even further out of reach. In Bant 'walkers you can T4 Kiora, the Crashing Wave , then T5 Ajani and tutor up say an Elspeth, Sun's Champion , and T6 Elspeth, make 3 dudes and then give each of them a +1/+1 counter from Ajani. I don't see how that isn't appealing to the Bant 'walker deck.
April 9, 2014 7:30 a.m.
In my GF's Trostani, Selesnya's Voice EDH deck with Doubling Season out...
Play this Ajani... Ultimate right away...
Play Ajani, Caller of the Pride
... Ultimate right away...
280 2/2 Cat tokens. :)
April 9, 2014 7:49 a.m.
I say the ultimate is just. . . meh. Any deck that is going to kill you with damage should be able to do it regardless of how much life you have. It just should just take and extra 2 or 3 turns. If it cannot, then you need to rethink your approach. Its the deck peel and draw that it going to make this card the bee's knees.
April 9, 2014 8:03 a.m.
Pygmy Giant + this + Mycosynth Lattice + March of the Machines = win.
April 9, 2014 8:30 a.m.
I can't wait for someone to pull of the ultimate, then have an opponent swing in with an Aqueous Form 'd Master of Cruelties , then cast a Cryptborn Horror .
April 9, 2014 8:44 a.m.
Rayenous, you need to throw in Concordant Crossroads into the mix so the tokens have haste :)
Oh, and maybe Craterhoof Behemoth
April 9, 2014 8:48 a.m.
Really? No one?
Corpsejack Menace and a Giant Cat in a color scheme called Junk. They will be best friends forever.
April 9, 2014 8:51 a.m.
Naya is now up to 8 (I think) walkers. And a few of them really good. Uh oh.
April 9, 2014 9:41 a.m.
NixTheThird says... #49
Ezrius You're a mad-person. A MAD-PERSON I SAY!
Also, if the RNG printing machines bestow upon me Ajani, I will pull that combo off. At least once. Then pull that deck apart and do something reasonable, like giant cat man + Fleecemane Lion + Unflinching Courage + Bow of Nylea . You know, a normal hexproof-indestructible-trample-lifelink-deathtouch 10/10 creature on turn 7. What, Doom Blade on turn 4? Never heard of it.
But you know one person is going to pull that off that silly winmore combo once and still just barely win the game. And they will never stop talking about it.
April 9, 2014 9:48 a.m.
I love how Elspeth, Sun's Champion , and Ajani work together.
T5 (or sooner with Ramp) - Play Ajani, dig for Elspeth.
T6 - Play Elspeth, get 3 Soldiers, and make all 3 bigger with Ajani.
... repeat.
Both Walkers Ultimate on the same turn, so you can Alpha Strike without worrying about getting killed if your attack fails, because you're at 100+ life.
Casino647 says... #2
Holy Ajani...GAIN ALL THE LIFE!!!!, soooo epic
April 9, 2014 12:05 a.m.