[BNG] Prerelease Promo Cards

Silent Sentinel, Arbiter of the Ideal, Eater of Hope, Forgestoker Dragon, and Nessian Wilds Ravager have been known for a bit while now, and the mothership has now officially unveiled their prerelease versions. I'm still not impressed at all at both the ability and the artwork for Silent Sentinel. Sure, riding some sort of flying chimera and being able to get back some enchanment cards into the battlefield might sound good, but they can also be done in better and cheaper ways. This cards needs a lot of support to see any serious play.

Silent Sentinel (image from WOTC)

Moving on, Arbiter of the Ideal is an interesting card. For me, it is normal to have a 4UU 4/5 flyer for blue, since it would certainly have some useful ability in the long run. Having an inspired mechanic and with the Theros block pushing the possibilities of tapping and untapping permanents, we could witness some experimental decks that would run this card. Remember, those that get to be put onto the battlefield by this sphinx also become enchantments.

Arbiter of the Ideal (image from WOTC)

While the name seems average, Eater of Hope has a really great artwork. It might suck for having only four toughness, but it has two abilities which make it either hard to kill or clear the battlefield of some enemy creatures, respectively. Look at that nice little flavor text too. The card also reminds me of Eater of Days simply because of the name.

Eater of Hope (image from WOTC)

The red one, Forgestoker Dragon, is a great card to have in limited. It can easily be the great red finisher of the deck, with its 5/4 power and toughness for a sensible 4RR, not to mention it can force the opponent to have no blockers at all. This means that the ability can be used so that not only the dragon will be unblocked, but also your other creatures in the battlefield.

Forgestoker Dragon (image from WOTC)

Finally, perhaps Timmy would be delighted to hear about Nessian Wilds Ravager. It's a possible for 12/12 for a mere 6 mana. This means that it can probably enter the play in the fourth turn or so, given that green decks specialize in mana acceleration. However, the downside is that if the opponent has no creatures, he/she can still choose to not pay the tribute, and the hydra will remain a 6/6 with no abilities and no creature to battle against as it comes onto the battlefield.

Nessian Wilds Ravager (image from WOTC)

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[BNG] Spoiler: Nessian Wilds Ravager and Forgestoker Dragon

The official English versions of the Spanish ones we've seen going around the internet has now been unveiled by the Oracle of Theros. The first one, Nessian Wilds Ravager, introduces us with the 'tribute' ability. While it seems pretty strong, it probably won't see some serious play soon. If it does become a 12/12, it does not have trample, which means it needs some aura or equipment of some sort to at least be a threat to opponent. If it does not have any form of evasion, it can simply be blocked by 1/1 tokens. Moreover, it the opponent does not have any creatures at all, he/she can still opt to not pay the tribute cost and keep the hydra a 6/6 for six.

Nessian Wilds Ravager (image from Oracle of Theros)

Moving on, Forgestoker Dragon is a pretty good card. If its ability could have been activated even if it is not attacking, then it would be a useful card in the late aggro game. Perhaps in the aggro versus aggro situation. While it is only a 5/4 flyer for six, its ability to kill off some tokens and prevent some creature bigger than it to block during that combat phase could help a lot. Let's see how it works out for this dragon.

Forgestoker Dragon (Image from Oracle of Theros)

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