@SpectrumGirl
It was tempting, but the shapeshifters of Lorwyn and Kaldheim are very different creatures compared to Chrysalis. Much more enigmatic curiosity than self-defeating rage.
Yeah, looking back at this years later as an often janky EDH player, still no. Even with more targets to put gene counters on in a 4 player game, creatures die far more commonly, so you have to hope that no one kills, exiles, bounces, flickers, or in any other way interacts with 4 specific creatures in a format where boardwipes are common.
Even if you have four indestructible creatures to stay on the field as to let her transform, you’re still need to wait a turn cycle (or invest in a haste enabler in UB) to re-transform her. And even if you do, the end result is meh. I’d rather run Sisters of Stone Death, which does more or less the same thing, but clunkier.
@FanOfMostEverything
I had failed to consider that she could tap your creatures (including herself), so it’s not quite as bad as I first thought. Still feels like a huge target, though.
• No one said you had to tap your opponent’s creatures. Throwing gene counters on your own stuff is an option, and once Chrysalis transforms, it can act as quasi-flickering.
• Untap effects are a thing. Freed from the Real, Thousand-Year Elixir, Puppeteer, and so forth can drastically increase the rate of counter production.
But yes, this is very much a inefficient but flashy card to represent an inefficient but flashy plan. I even make fun of it in the blog with a Murder variant called Expedient Solution, reflecting Clone Twilight channeling Scott Evil.
Yeah, so you need this thing to survive until turn 7 (it doesn’t have haste, so it’s a minimum of 5 turns (outside of tapping shenanigans, I suppose)to get this ability off four times), and have your opponent not only cast four creatures, but have three of them plus one extra one so you can put a gene counter on survive until turn 7 without any defensive abilities and 1 toughness? I’m gonna pass on this one.
I mean, unless your opponent runs zero removal and you have enough blockers to survive the 3-4 creatures that you need to them play, this is never gonna happen. Maybe in a UB prison deck, but it’s just too big of a target to ever have the reverse see the playing field. Heck, now that I think about it, unless your opponent is in a go wide token deck, they will very likely have less than 4 creatures on the field when this drops. Why would they ever play a fourth creature for you to infect? Add to the fact that you can only hit a creature without a gene counter means that you only get one tap so any evasive creature can still hit you in the face.
It was tempting, but the shapeshifters of Lorwyn and Kaldheim are very different creatures compared to Chrysalis. Much more enigmatic curiosity than self-defeating rage.
Fair enough. I stand by my design, but I freely acknowledge that a nonzero amount of playtesting could definitely help.
I had failed to consider that she could tap your creatures (including herself), so it’s not quite as bad as I first thought. Still feels like a huge target, though.
Two notes:
• No one said you had to tap your opponent’s creatures. Throwing gene counters on your own stuff is an option, and once Chrysalis transforms, it can act as quasi-flickering.
• Untap effects are a thing. Freed from the Real, Thousand-Year Elixir, Puppeteer, and so forth can drastically increase the rate of counter production.
But yes, this is very much a inefficient but flashy card to represent an inefficient but flashy plan. I even make fun of it in the blog with a Murder variant called Expedient Solution, reflecting Clone Twilight channeling Scott Evil.
I mean, unless your opponent runs zero removal and you have enough blockers to survive the 3-4 creatures that you need to them play, this is never gonna happen. Maybe in a UB prison deck, but it’s just too big of a target to ever have the reverse see the playing field. Heck, now that I think about it, unless your opponent is in a go wide token deck, they will very likely have less than 4 creatures on the field when this drops. Why would they ever play a fourth creature for you to infect? Add to the fact that you can only hit a creature without a gene counter means that you only get one tap so any evasive creature can still hit you in the face.
Edited