[SoM] Myr Battlesphere

[FlyFlySideOfFry]

Myr Battlesphere   -  
Artifact Creature - Myr Construct  
When Myr Battlesphere enters the battlefield, put four 1/1 colorless Myr artifact creature tokens onto the battlefield.

Whenever Myr Battlesphere attacks, you may tap X untapped Myr you control. If you do, Myr Battlespherre gets +X/+0 until end of turn and deals X damage to defending player.
Illus. Franz Vohwinkel #180/249
4/7

This card seems surprisingly good in my opinion. It wins the game in 2 attacks and dominates the permanent war once it resolves. Even if your opponent kills it or Jaces it they still have to deal with the non-negligable 4 1/1s. Its an amazing clock with great effects and surprisingly easy to cast, thoughts?

[TheWhiteDragon]

If 7 is incredibly easy to cast, then I would say sundering titan for 8 would be much better.  It's also going to win the permanent war by obliterating lands, but also hinders your opponent's ability to play spells.  It also is devastating when killed and is a 3 turn win if unblocked like battlesphere.

[FlyFlySideOfFry]

If 7 is incredibly easy to cast, then I would say sundering titan for 8 would be much better.  It's also going to win the permanent war by obliterating lands, but also hinders your opponent's ability to play spells.  It also is devastating when killed and is a 3 turn win if unblocked like battlesphere.

I said surprisingly not incredibly and one mana makes a big difference. All colorless creatures capable of clocking this fast cost way more mana. This card is better than DSC in a lot of situations especially against Shops that rely on Smokestack and Tangle Wire (and even Sculpting Steel) to tame Tinker targets or when stuck in your hand. This is coming from a guy who has a nerd hardon for DSC.

[LotusHead]

This kills Jace The Format Warper the second it hits play.

Perhaps more playable Myr would make this more playable.  

Oldschool River's Affinity played 4 Myr Servitor and 4 Skullclamp for tons of fun.

[Wagner]

It also does stupid stupid things with Welder and is basically a better Pentavus to get mass permanents or recursion, packs more of a punch too.

[serracollector]

With cards like this, the reprint of slaver, and that new red planeswalker that doubles your mana for a turn, all they need to do is reprint welder (or a similiar type card), and a deck is born in t2.

[vassago]

This card artwork reminds me of the "Critters" movies... 

[BruiZar]

This card artwork reminds me of the "Critters" movies...  

Reminds me of Starcraft 2. I think someone in RND was in the beta or something. Mix between Protoss and Zerg?

With cards like this, the reprint of slaver, and that new red planeswalker that doubles your mana for a turn, all they need to do is reprint welder (or a similiar type card), and a deck is born in t2.

Playing it, then blinking it with Venser, then attacking next turn for 20 sounds like a good alternative too.

[Wagner]

This card artwork reminds me of the "Critters" movies...  

Reminds me of Starcraft 2. I think someone in RND was in the beta or something. Mix between Protoss and Zerg?

Really, I don't really see the connection, care to elaborate?

It also reminded me of critters, here is the pic for those fortunate enough to not know of this franchise.

[vassago]

... for those fortunate enough to not know of this...

LOL

[Diakonov]

Reminds me of Starcraft 2. I think someone in RND was in the beta or something. Mix between Protoss and Zerg?

Really, I don't really see the connection, care to elaborate?

Although, if you worked in WotC Marketing and Sales, wouldn't you do the same?

[Wagner]

Oooooooh, yeah, that is similar...

I thought we were talking about the Battlesphere, I don'T see the resemblance with it.

[Delha]

@Diakonov: I can definitely see the similarities, but they don't feel close enough for me to believe one was inspired by the other. Plague Stinger feels like a generic bug monster to me, Thrummingbird feels like what it's presumably meant to be (hummingbird + bee), and Memnarch was printed long before SC2 got announced. I'm leaning towards this being coincidence.

[Razvan]

First, and most importantly, this is as close to a Borg thing that I can remember. This card is badass.

This is also better than Pentavus, except for the little Myrs not flying. Otherwise, this thing's so good. I am starting to really love this set, even if it would turn out to be a dud. For those that know me, this set is what's going to result in my "triumphant" entrance into the scary and unwashed world of "Standard".

[MaximumCDawg]

Clever (and irritating) how WotC made sure that the Esper Shard from Shards and Mirrodin do not coexist in standard.  That could have been a powerhouse.

[Diakonov]

@Diakonov: I can definitely see the similarities, but they don't feel close enough for me to believe one was inspired by the other. Plague Stinger feels like a generic bug monster to me, Thrummingbird feels like what it's presumably meant to be (hummingbird + bee), and Memnarch was printed long before SC2 got announced. I'm leaning towards this being coincidence.

I agree that it could be a coincidence, but I would bet money that someone in Sales said, "hey, Starcraft 2 will be all the rage when Scars comes out, we should capitalize, tell the artists."  It just seems like a very reasonable move.

[TopSecret]

@Diakonov: I can definitely see the similarities, but they don't feel close enough for me to believe one was inspired by the other. Plague Stinger feels like a generic bug monster to me, Thrummingbird feels like what it's presumably meant to be (hummingbird + bee), and Memnarch was printed long before SC2 got announced. I'm leaning towards this being coincidence.

I agree that it could be a coincidence, but I would bet money that someone in Sales said, "hey, Starcraft 2 will be all the rage when Scars comes out, we should capitalize, tell the artists."  It just seems like a very reasonable move.

lol Kind of like how Vampires were suddenly a tribe once Twilight came out?

[Delha]

@Diakonov: I can definitely see the similarities, but they don't feel close enough for me to believe one was inspired by the other. Plague Stinger feels like a generic bug monster to me, Thrummingbird feels like what it's presumably meant to be (hummingbird + bee), and Memnarch was printed long before SC2 got announced. I'm leaning towards this being coincidence.

I agree that it could be a coincidence, but I would bet money that someone in Sales said, "hey, Starcraft 2 will be all the rage when Scars comes out, we should capitalize, tell the artists."  It just seems like a very reasonable move.

lol Kind of like how Vampires were suddenly a tribe once Twilight came out?

People are quick to find connections, even where they don't truly exist. I'm going to call Agree to Disagree on this.

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya,

Ignoring all the off-topic stuff about Starcraft and vampires above, this card deserves some more serious discussion.  Several different threads have mentioned it as a legit Tinker target.  Having played first against then with it, I have several observations about Myr Battlesphere:

Pro's:

1. It puts 5 permanents into play immediately.
2. It can have up to 8 Power giving it a three turn clock which is better than Sphinx, equal to Inker, but slower than DSC.
3. It gives you 5 potential blockers and/or attackers.
4. It can be hard cast with only a moderate ammount of difficulty in a Shop or Storm deck unlike the three targets I mentioned in #2.
5. No one knows quite how to play against it yet.

Con's

1. It's destructable and targetable so Claim and Grudge and still affect it.
2. It's no less vulnerable to Hurkyl's or Rebuild and more vulnerable to Energy Flux.
3. It has no evasion and no trample.
4. It'll eventually lose the creature fight to Razormane Masticore.

My Conclusion:

This card seems excellent against Agro decks.  Fish and Beatz decks will have a hard time coping with all the 1/1 blockers.  They'll have a tough time killing something with a 7 toughness.  Same goes for MUD decks.  Battlesphere can block and kill Trike, Juggs, and Golem.  It might even be able to put enough guys on the board to hold off a zombie attack from Dredge.  I haven't seen it in action vs. Dredge yet, so I can't say for sure.  

I feel Myr Battlesphere is an excellent sideboard card.  Maindeck, I think Inkwell Leviathan and Sphinx are better Tinker targets and Steel Hellkite is a better creature in Shop.  But against Fishy decks, Battlesphere is the way to go.

Peace,

-Troy

[rologa]

It can attack for 12, not only for 8 (+4/+0 for taped myrs and 4 more damage to defending player). So if unblocked can be faster than Colossus.

[Troy_Costisick]

It can attack for 12, not only for 8 (+4/+0 for taped myrs and 4 more damage to defending player). So if unblocked can be faster than Colossus.

Right, good point.  I should have mentioned that.  It doesn't make it faster, but it does give it a psuedo-trample effect.

[vassago]

I feel Myr Battlesphere is an excellent sideboard card.  

I disagree. This is probably my favorite tinker target they have printed, not that that should go any distance in the way of persuasion. There are a few things you may not have pointed out, or thought of:

Spot removal x doesn't remove the threat entirely. I haven't seen a razormane in a while, so I'm inclined to say "shit dont phase." Since the only removal cards capable of taking out the entire threat, i.e. rebuild effects, also deal with the others exactly the same, I think I like having the left over guys on the board in the instances of the aforementioned removal. This is actually a big deal, more so understood through application than read on paper I think. Like a good example of it's usefulness would be Big Jace. They bounce the battlesphere, and you can still kill it with tokens. They kind of have to bounce the battlesphere right? It's that or take eight and still loose jace...anyway, I am getting side tracked. I think the board position is its relevant strengths, and its coincidental that the best deck currently is using that has it's approach to victory.

Even if the MUD decks were to fade away form the spot light again, I still think this duder will be the way to go.

[Sextiger]

The fact that it only costs seven mana is the real kicker, he is so much easier to cast than the other targets, plus he's the lightest flip to confidant.

[LotusHead]

Potato used this in his Frantic Search/Control Slaver build, and got a Mindslaver lock quickly with it.

[nineisnoone]

This card seems excellent against Agro decks.  Fish and Beatz decks will have a hard time coping with all the 1/1 blockers.  They'll have a tough time killing something with a 7 toughness.  Same goes for MUD decks.  Battlesphere can block and kill Trike, Juggs, and Golem.  It might even be able to put enough guys on the board to hold off a zombie attack from Dredge.  I haven't seen it in action vs. Dredge yet, so I can't say for sure.

I'm actually not so sure it is great against aggro.  No evasion means they can chump block it, and they'll likely be stacked with artifact removal.  I'd rather have something they'll have trouble blocking then being blockable or having blockers of my own. Sure, it can kill quickly but most Tinker targets will anyways. 

To me, the card has a very Inkwell Leviathan feel to it in that it's very safe.  The four 1/1's give it similar degree of resiliency to removal as Inkwell, and being castable is a comparable bonus utility to being able to be pitchable to force. It's a solid choice overall. I'm not sure if it'd be my pick though.

[Odd mutation]

The only thing that's a pity, is that you cannot use the tokens to 'ping' creatures or players...

Robrecht

[sassfactor4]

This is excellent against aggro decks.  Ryan (potato) resolved one against me with an all aggro goblins build and it was effectively game at that point.  I think he chose it as the tinker target just to show it off, and would have won regardless, but it is very resilient.  Sure I can ancient grudge it, but he still has 4 blockers after that.

[vassago]

I'm actually not so sure it is great against aggro. 

I think this is sweet against aggro. This is the only bot I can think of that will let you untap four more times after the first spot removal.  Loosely put, if tinker can buy me four turns of set up, then thats pretty amazing. That is of course assuming that they are only attacking with one dude per turn.

[MULocke]

Sphinx is already the nuts when it comes to aggro and racing, however.  Yes, he dies to swords but that's it.  He just wins the race, period.  Battlesphere just makes some chumps.  I'm not saying Battlesphere's bad, but if we're talking about how good it is against aggro, Robot Akroma doesn't lose races.

[Tha Gunslinga]

Sphinx is already the nuts when it comes to aggro and racing, however.  Yes, he dies to swords but that's it. 

Also Duplicant, Hurkyl's/Rebuild, Sculpting Steel, Echoing Truth, Edict...