New Card : Ward of Bones

[Burntgerbil]

WARD OF BONES 6 (R)
Artifact
Each opponent who controls more creatures than you can't play creature cards. The same is true for artifacts, enchantments and lands.
Mages dare not attempt magic in its grotesque presence.
174/180 David Martin

This reminds me of a combination of Balance and Land equilibrium - it looks like the card was made for type one. Once played, there are not a whole lot of ways out of it - instants being the primary one I see. Exactly how abusable is this card ? My first thoughts were if something like this would be good in Belcher. Perhaps a custom deck with tinker, welder and other mana accelerators like dark rituals and spirit guides that dodge this card.

However after thinking it over for a bit, It might not stop enough of ichorid or without blanket removal, it might not be relevant late game. I just see a power that blatantly strong and can't help to think how much it would suck to be on the other side of one.

I think that in order for this to be successful, you will need to power it out early or have a devastating board sweeping effect right before you play it - like upheaval.

Do any of you have some thoughts ?

[BC]

My first impressions of this card are 1) it is overcosted, and 2) the effect (although kind of good) is not nearly good enough to include in a Vintage deck. 

1) Going on the assumption that the most logical fit for this card is in a Stax deck, 6 mana is a ridiculous casting cost for a lock piece.  CCs of 3-4 are Stax's wheelhouse. 

2) If the ability was "each opponent who controls the same number or more creatures than you..." then we might be on to something.  As it is, the opponent will most likely be able to play a minimum of 2-3 lands, an artifact, a creature, and as many sorcerys and instants as they want.  Seems poor.

[Burntgerbil]

after soaking it up for a bit, I agree. Pity, though - vintage was probably the only place for it.

[The Boy Noodle]

With a cost of 6, and the only real way of playing it would be shops it seems counter productive to run it in claw/ aggro shops . . .and stax, which seems like the only POSSIBLE way or running it, is pretty bad in the current meta so sadly it seems not so good. . .but that may just be for now

[Troy_Costisick]

It's got a cool effect, but the cost is ridiculous an building a deck around it isn't easy.  It'd work very well if you had a Zuran Orb and an Atog in play, but all that is just too much for a lock.  Vintage is the ideal format for such an effect, but this card is just a little to weak as it is.

Peace,

-Troy

[Tha Gunslinga]

Possessed Portal saw play.  I suspect this will too.

[Bill Copes]

This card could be amusing with greater gargadon, but by the time you effectively cast both, the opponent would already have you overwhelmed with actual viable threats/answers.

[Anusien]

This doesn't restrict your ability to play Hurkyl's Recall, which is already a problem for Stax and Staxlike decks.  I suppose it restricts their ability to play basics, but doesn't Mana Vortex do that too?  I'd rather have Vampiric Tutor and Crop Rotation than this.

[meadbert]

Best case scenarios:
1)  You have Shop and Lotus and dump this guy.
  A)  Control Slaver may now only play 2 lands, 2 artifacts and 1 Welder.  They may play Ancestral, Thirst, Yawg and whatever else they want.  They have Drain Mana up.  They may Weld in Fatties.
  B)  Drain Tendrils can still TInker for DSC, can still play Yawg, Rebuild, win and still has its entire draw engine intact and still has Drain mana on line.
  C)  Bomberman cannot play both Trinket Mage and Salvagers which is annoying, but if it draws into Lotus or Spellbomb then it is in the clear.  Bomberman's draw engine and counter magic are still intact.
  D)  Dredge is unaffected.
  E)  Long can only have 2 artifacts in play and can no longer use Necro or Bargain.

The effects on Slaver, Drain Tendrils and Dredge are negligible.  Bomberman is definitely effected.  Long is slightly effected, but a 6 casting cost artifact is too slow for Long anyway.

[Anusien]

Great analysis meadbert.  I'd add one thing: this only affects "playing" spells, but does not change putting certain permanents (Darksteel Colossus, Ichorid, Mindslaver) into play.

[Burntgerbil]

I suppose that the above goes the same for the ideal play of  of lotus, petal, eureka, ward too...

[xycsoscyx]

Consider the situation of this and Trinisphere out, then sac your lands to something (Zuran Orb, Wasteland your own lands, etc).  Your opponent now can't play any more lands and must pay 3 for all spells, doesn't seem too bad.  I think it would need a new type of deck (you couldn't simply add it to Stax, for instance) to really make use of it, though.  It would have to focus a bit more on cleanup once this is down (getting rid of your and your opponents lands primarily, Dust Bowl perhaps?), but could be quite viable.

[TopSecret]

That's a good point.
This card can create a soft lock or a situational hard lock with stax lock pieces.
Chalice of the Void @ 0 + Spheres + Ward of Bones can be a hard lock,
and leading up to that point it's pretty inconveniencing.

Also, stuff to sack lands to isn't really necessary, since you can use Wasteland on your own lands.

I have to say, though, that a combo style deck designed to get this into play ASAP, like Belcher,
would be pretty hilarious. I don't play Belcher, so I have no idea if it would be a good addition to it,
but it could be fun with Goblin Welder.

[Hi-Val]

The best potential I can see for this is in Legacy, using Squandered Resources to power it out on the third turn.

In Vintage, not so much; it doesn't effect permanents in play, like Portal does.

[TopSecret]

I don't think the comparison with Portal is that useful for analysis,
since Portal often requires some type of specific card synergy, like Goblin Welder or Squee,
in order to be good.

Portal is also two mana more than Ward of Bones,
and the cards have two completely different effects.

Also, if you cast Ward of Bones on the first turn, it's the best thing ever.
This card could enable the best deck since Turbo-Shared Fate!

[GrandpaBelcher]

I'm not entirely sure why this card is being mentioned in conjunction with Belcher.  Sure, it's likely that your opponent wouldn't be able to play many permanents once this is in play, but it's not like they'd really have to.  You'd have likely expended your entire hand getting this into play.  For one more mana you could have played Belcher and activated it!  For two fewer mana you could have played Belcher or Empty the Warrens, either of which is likely to kill your opponent rather than just slow him down.

So, sure you could put this into a Belcher shell and probably play it turn one a few times, but why would you want to?  If this card is going to work in Vintage, it will likely be in some completely new archetype, similar to Stax, but with a lot more focus on this card because it's so mana and strategy intensive.

[koboldwhat???]

foxy its seth its been a while   ...So what do u think   bob tendrils   or    U/W/G fish.... i cant decide all of this work i do so i can collect cards and i cant figure out which will be better for the ridiculous amount of slaver ive been seeing... id play ichorid but there is so much yard hate that i cant handle ... but on the other hand no more brainstorm ... or maybe i should play kobolds wins and pone with goblins  R/G i think REBs, Blasts, & GR in board it would be funny anyway.
i have nearly all the cards for bob but fish might make it now, i mean rich shay is playing slaver now, ollie is playing salvager paint which looks sick... i guess stax is gunna have a hard time comin' back from this one. anywho id like to hear from you ... unfortunatly i cant make the july tourny but i WILL be at the august one i hope You are there ... if you are still home from school and you need a ride to the august tourny i can give you a ride.

Hello, and welcome to The Mana Drain.  While we appreciate new users offering their perspectives on the new Vintage metagame, we ask that messages directed to one specific user be sent via PM instead of being posted to the boards.  Also, we ask that users make some effort to ensure that their posts conform to the rules of English grammar.  Moreover, we expect users to narrow their posts to issues which are relevant to the thread they are posting in; here, proper posts would be relevant to the merits of the new card, Ward of Bones, which you did not address.  Please review the site rules to avoid these problems in the future.  We look forward to your future contributions.  -DA

[MeddlingMageGR]

my opinion is quite clear. Its a great overpowered card. Extremely useful in control decks.
If you criticize it alone, yes its overcosted (not only this, any card with 6cc), and its vulnerable to instants and sorceries.
So, the only environment I could imagine it, in an artifact deck (not Stax), with only creatures 4 Metalworkers, dual-mana lands like Ancient Tomb & City of Traitors, and why not Locus lands. 8 of them, Cloudpost and Glimmerpost. Especially Cloudpost can easily transformed into Mishra's Workshop.
Spell control with Chalice of the Void, Trinishpere, and Null Brooch, and creature control with Ensnaring Bridge
For win condition... Helm of the Obedience / Leyline of the Void.

[Ozymandias]