Iroas, god of victory card image released!
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on April 7, 2014, 5:25 p.m. by Aelenium
i don't know about you all, (this might be old news) but i recently found this:
http://sales.starcitygames.com/carddisplay.php?product=551324
yeah.
all I have to say is Iroas looks really strong, and i only hope that Pharika looks as good if not better
April 7, 2014 5:38 p.m.
I don't know. There aren't a lot of people using creatures against aggro right now, so Iroas won't really matter when your opponent is just killing off your creatures with removal spells.
He's better than Karametra, but not by much.
April 7, 2014 5:43 p.m.
Just to make the point, although the image is having problems, Iroas, God of Victory is already on the site. (In case someone was planning on using him somewhere.)
As for how playable he is it will depend on if there are more creatures that are worth playing and if decks other than Mono-B and Esper see big play. He will certainly help with the traditional weenie problem of 'everything with 3 toughness beats me' and he curves nicely off of Precinct Captain -> Brimaz, King of Oreskos . Still, we shall see where the metagame falls soon.
April 7, 2014 6:37 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #9
Not sure why everyone is focused on a W/r build. He will be much better in a R/w aggro build that hits fast and then can use Iroas's abilities to push the last little bit of damage through in conjunction with burn. Peeps just want to use their Brimaz, King of Oreskos ...
April 7, 2014 6:58 p.m.
Here is a very real curve for an Iroas deck: T1 Soldier of the Pantheon , T2 Ash Zealot , T3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos , T4 Iroas, T5 swing for 16?
April 7, 2014 7:02 p.m.
While I agree that he will work fine in R/w aggro I disagree that he will be 'much better' than in W/r aggro. In the mostly red version I feel like Fanatic of Mogis will typically push damage through pretty well (and more directly) whereas the W/r version has less explosive damage and needs the incrementalization and such that Precinct Captain and Brimaz, King of Oreskos help to provide which Iroas, God of Victory goes a long way to enabling, IMO.
April 7, 2014 7:17 p.m.
I'm actually pretty disappointed with Iroas, God of Victory .
It does nothing without a boardstate of creatures.
It's basically a dead card against control and only promotes the race in the aggro mirror. Making it largely only useful in the midrange match-ups.
I'm not a fan of how it's abilities seemingly work against each other. It pushes through a little extra damage in theory, but it's an odd combination that one hinders blocking and the other protects you once you've blocked.
It's a complete and utter blow-out if your opponent has any way to remove this in combat after you've declared attacks. Unravel the Aether might as well say "You win the game."
Maybe I'm just continuing to wish it was more aggressively costed and that Thassa, God of the Sea wasn't still the best aggro god.
April 7, 2014 7:51 p.m.
Your points are definitely valid and I too wish he were more aggressively costed, but, considering that in color you have Brave the Elements , Boros Charm and Legion's Initiative on top of Frontline Medic it seems like it won't be too terribly damning to have him bounced or similar. Obviously each of these things are varying degrees of playable and some are more situational than others but I think he compliments more than hinders. Partially I feel like it helps make things like Banisher Priest and party less 'removal with a creature' and more of a 'creature with removal' if you follow my meaning.
Also, I feel like he is pretty snazzy as a combination of Dolmen Gate and a variation on Gruul War Chant plus being a 7/4 Indestructible dude some of the time.
April 7, 2014 8:18 p.m.
@Slycne You're third point is invalid his two abilities actually work really well together if they don't have spot removal such as Ultimate Price and the like it actually means they have to double block your bigger threats and have no chance of killing it since ATTACKING creatures are dealt no damage. So it's all my guys have Madcap Skills with no counters and their personal Fog when they attack.
April 7, 2014 8:43 p.m.
Excrempus Maybe I'm reaching on that, but I do find something inherently awkward about them being together, you're almost not getting the full effect on either one since they sort of devalue each other.
I actually suspect that the second ability was an afterthought or recently changed. It was probably attacking creatures are Indestructible until they remember that Boros Reckoner was going to be Iroas, God of Victory 's #1 enabler, which would be really powerful if your start basically forcing your opponent to double block Boros Reckoner . This would just extend out those boardstates that happen where you can no longer block Boros Reckoner without dying.
Speaking of which, Iroas, God of Victory makes its best enabler card basically a 3/3 for 3. Granted with Boros Reckoner on the table you have a good chance of getting the upside of turning on Iroas, God of Victory , but it's still a big drawback to turn off its best ability when attacking.
April 7, 2014 9:02 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #16
I feel like Iroas, God of Victory is on par with Xenagos, God of Revels in terms of power. Below Erebos, God of the Dead and Thassa, God of the Sea .
April 7, 2014 9:36 p.m.
WizardInTheWoods says... #17
Boros Reckoner + Iroas, God of Victory is a 2-turn timer.
Setup: Boros Reckoner into Iroas, God of Victory . Utilize Gods Willing and/or Brave the Elements , and Boros Charm ..
- Attack with Iroas and Boros Charm for 14
- Attack with Iroas for 7.
Notice Boros Reckoner didn't attack. He stays back to block. He makes an amazing blocker.
Combat trick: Should it look advantageous to allow Boros Reckoner to attack and not be "broken" by Iroas, simply cast Skullcrack after blockers are declared and lat the ugly wizard do it's thing.
April 7, 2014 11:40 p.m.
Yeah... No. Boros Reckoner by itself will not turn on Iroas. Perhaps you should read up on how Devotion works with hybrid cards.
And is someone really trying to say Iroas is broken? lol
He's underwhelming, if anything. I can see how his two abilities kind of do the same thing, making his overall value lower. Both abilities deter the opponent from blocking at all, instead of one deterring and one doing something else.
April 8, 2014 2:11 a.m.
WizardInTheWoods says... #19
@zandl Boros Reckoner has 3 white/red hybrid mana symbols. Iroas, God of Victory has W and R.
It takes 7 symbols in order to make Iroas a creature. Boros Reckoner supplies six all by himself: 3 red devotion AND 3 white devotion.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-questions/devotion-mana-symbols-like-boros-reckonerburning-tree-emasarry/
http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Devotion
I am not sure why you think otherwise. Perhaps you could link me to the information you suggested I read?
April 8, 2014 3:05 a.m.
You can chose to have either red or white as the chosen color towards devotion for Iroas if you have say Boros Reckoner out, just because he has red/white hybrid symbols does not mean he provides six devotion, otherwise a Nightveil Specter would devote Phenax, God of Deception which would be broke as frak.
Your understanding of how devotion works is incorrect j_cofer.
April 8, 2014 3:12 a.m.
athuruntin says... #21
For reference
http://blogs.magicjudges.org/rulestips/2014/02/devotion-to-two-colors-and-hybrid-symbols/
As mentioned, your understanding of how the hybrid symbol works in wrong. j_cofer
April 8, 2014 3:21 a.m.
WizardInTheWoods says... #22
I've been wrong before. Perhaps I am again. I am finding a lot of contradictory info on this topic.
I'm still looking for a ruling. I'll use Nightveil and Phenax as the the examples in my search. Thanks for naming them.
April 8, 2014 3:22 a.m.
athuruntin says... #23
zandl, I wouldn't say its broken, but it isn't half bad.
It will ensure the turn 4 attack hits and certain can be a decider in an agg vs agg deck but personally feel its weak against control. Supreme Verdict will still hit all your creatures and this card will become useless
April 8, 2014 3:23 a.m.
r/g monsters mixed with iroas, god of victory could become very dangerous.
April 8, 2014 3:25 a.m.
@Bobby.D That'd make it Naya Monster's, which seems a little too slow in the current meta, what would be the ideal game plan?;
then Iroas, god of victoy?
at some point you need to pump out Polukranos, World Eater and Stormbreath Dragon but you won't be able to if your 4th and 5th land drops are being gummed up by extra copies of a boros god that effectively 'wins-more' by providing a Madcap Skills effect.
April 8, 2014 3:28 a.m.
WizardInTheWoods says... #26
@ athuruntin, Behgz and zandl-
Having found rulings about Nightveil Specter and Phenax, God of Deception I would agree that my understanding of how hybrid mana symbols are counted when checking devotion was incorrect.
Special thanks to athuruntin for the link.
April 8, 2014 3:38 a.m.
@Behgz That's why you test play to find the kinks and work them out. There is always a way to make idea come to life, but most just take the easy way out. Also the meta is very chaotic, i have seen so much fluctuation of aggro, mid-range, and control it is crazy.
April 8, 2014 3:42 a.m.
I was making an educated assumption, as a person who has deck-built for a while now, and studied the current meta through it's entirety since Innistrad rotated out, I can most definitely say that simply jamming Iroas into a G/R monster's shell would not be very good, at all.
Sorry if it came of harsh, I'm just a very competitive standard player and as such I have a very critical eye on the subject.
April 8, 2014 3:47 a.m.
To me, playtesting that would be a waste of time, in my opinion, as I could deduce it would not be very viable, however if your into playing magic 'for fun' I could see the appeal of testing it out in that way. I play to win, in general at least.
April 8, 2014 3:50 a.m.
@Behgz There was no sign of being has, it is that i was not aware of a different style of deck building that is all. I go through all of these motions because I like to be thorough, of what a deck can and cannot do. I am sorry if i came off, like i was mad.
April 8, 2014 4:05 a.m.
@Behgz There was no sign of being harsh, it is that i was not aware of a different style of deck building that is all. I go through all of these motions because I like to be thorough, of what a deck can and cannot do. I am sorry if i came off, like i was mad.
April 8, 2014 4:05 a.m.
it's cool, I'm just very competitive, and I like to share my opinion if I feel it will help another player.
April 8, 2014 4:06 a.m.
binarysecond says... #33
Lawyered. But seriously that is a very important point about Devotion.
April 8, 2014 6:30 a.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #34
Naya Monsters > Jund Monsters
I know from experience. People will be making the switch soon.
Iroas would be pointless since Monsters has access to trample. Elspeth, Sun's Champion and Chained to the Rocks are why you splash white.
April 8, 2014 8:16 a.m.
Named_Tawyny says... #35
Yup. Wow. First thoughts, it'll combine beautifully with Brimaz and Satyr Nyx-Smith , plus a bunch of inspired and/or enchantmentfall creatures.
All those 1 toughness inspired creatures just got a lot safer to play.
April 8, 2014 9:48 a.m.
I do like the wording on the damage prevention portion...
"Prevent all damage...", rather than "Prevent all combat damage..."
The difference is subtle, but can be huge.
- In a Naya deck, you can attack with Polukranos, World Eater
, then use it's ability to pump it, kill things, and not worry about the damage from it's targets.
- Any instant speed "fight" effects become a Fall of the Hammer
.
- A Boros Reckoner
blocking your creature can hit the creature with it's ability.
- etc...
I can definitely see Skullcrack becoming a more common sideboard card.
April 8, 2014 10:53 a.m.
oops... that was supposed to say, "A Boros Reckoner blocking your creature can't hit the creature with it's ability."
April 8, 2014 10:55 a.m.
I'm with everyone else, reckoner turns on 3 devotion NOT 6. Enjoy your Boros shenanigans and give me a broken Golgari.
notamardybum says... #2
the images for all the gods were officially released a week ago
April 7, 2014 5:28 p.m.