After a tightly contested vote, the piece by Bronzino has prevailed. Because of the concerns raised regarding the lack of clothing, Gabe has adjusted the cropping so this guy isn't much different than the red brigade Elhanan for example.
Without further ado, here is Rapha of Gath:
You might notice that he is a "Seasonal Promo" and you might be wondering what that's about. We are still working out all the details, but our plan is to start doing seasonal promos instead of local and district promos. For example, we might do 4 promos and each one would be available for tournaments in a three month period. Our goal is to encourage more tournaments year-round so hopefully making some awesome promos that are only available for a couple months each year will help in that regard. Stay tuned as we finalize more details!
As for Rapha, it's now your job to start playtesting him! Let us know how he's working and if anything might need to be adjusted. Is he the leader the Philistines need to become a top-tier option??? 8)
My prediction (without knowing if the upcoming set has more Philistine support or not) is that he isn't good enough to be worth the Unity cost, especially when I would have to give up War (to say nothing of Fire Foxes, Foreign Wives, and The Deceiver) to use him and War arguably does his job (Getting weapons out for free card advantage) better because it's guaranteed to go straight to hand, can recur spears, and gets initiative to use the battle winners. The territory protection is nice to have but IMO not worth the opportunity cost.
QuoteMy prediction (without knowing if the upcoming set has more Philistine support or not) is that he isn't good enough to be worth the Unity cost, especially when I would have to give up War (to say nothing of Fire Foxes, Foreign Wives, and The Deceiver) to use him and War arguably does his job (Getting weapons out for free card advantage) better because it's guaranteed to go straight to hand, can recur spears, and gets initiative to use the battle winners. The territory protection is nice to have but IMO not worth the opportunity cost.
C'mon now, when was the last time you actually blocked with Fire Foxes or The Deceiver from territory? ;)
In a deck that's based more on battle winners, I can see War being tough to give up, but in a deck based more around negates, I think you want the bigger dude (especially one who gets Philistine Chariot and Horses). This spoiler shouldn't surprise anyone, but Foreign Wives is going to be more of a liability with the new set. Philistines have such a wide range of situationally useful ECs that you can't fit them all in the main deck, but being able to fit 2 or 3 to be grabbed by Rapha/The Deceiver is going to come in handy. (Ishbibenob, 12FG, Philistine Diviners, Garrison and Delilah all come to mind).
Potential Philistine line-up:
Goliath
Rapha
Saph
Philistine Armorbearer
King Achish
Fire Foxes
The Deceiver
Reserve: (probably pick 3 of these depending on the rest of the deck)
Delilah
Ishbibenob
Philistine Diviners
Philistine Garrison
12FG
Philistines were one of the top defenses during Nats 2016. Have they really fallen so far that they aren't desirable anymore? Maybe...
It would seem like those certain promos would be available for 3 months one year then , most people would have to wait another 9 months or so just have a chance of getting that certain promo again....
Yeah, I don't know why Unity is put on there without it being agreed upon in voting. And then assuming "if blocking" means when this card is blocking that's a different reserve access ability than was voted upon.
^^ Time to start playtesting.
QuoteIt would seem like those certain promos would be available for 3 months one year then , most people would have to wait another 9 months or so just have a chance of getting that certain promo again....
1 tournament every 3 months shouldn't be too tough--remember, even Closed Local tournaments (i.e. invite only) get promos. And I'm pretty sure these will be available to buy or trade for on the secondary market (not everyone plays Philistines after all). 8)
"or take it" does that mean add it to hand?Yes.
"or take it" does that mean add it to hand?
"or take it" does that mean add it to hand?
I know “take it” is shorter than “add to hand” but for clarity’s sake, and because it’s only one more short word, I think “add to hand” is much clearer than “take it.” A take ability is usually associated with taking an opponent’s card, and adding to hand has been used time and again regarding a specific one of your card’s you’re targeting. The fact that someone already asked for clarification means it will be asked by someone else in tournament or casual play down the road.
"or take it" does that mean add it to hand?Yes.
"or take it" does that mean add it to hand?
I know “take it” is shorter than “add to hand” but for clarity’s sake, and because it’s only one more short word, I think “add to hand” is much clearer than “take it.” A take ability is usually associated with taking an opponent’s card, and adding to hand has been used time and again regarding a specific one of your card’s you’re targeting. The fact that someone already asked for clarification means it will be asked by someone else in tournament or casual play down the road.
A take ability is already defined as adding to hand by default and there are other cards that use take as a keyword that aren't nearly so easily rewritten.
"Add to hand" is being phased out. There is no entry in the REG for "add to hand."
Cards can be "taken," "drawn" or "returned" to a player's hand.
Also, "it" would still be needed.
"Search Reserve for a weapon and add it to hand."
vs
"Take a weapon from Reserve."
Yeah, I don't know why Unity is put on there without it being agreed upon in voting. And then assuming "if blocking" means when this card is blocking that's a different reserve access ability than was voted upon.
In the final vote "Reserve access" was what was voted on, there was no specifics on how that would be implemented.
black defenses are good because you have access to Canaanites, Sadducees, Greeks, etc So are people going to cut those characters or just not use Rapha? Probably not use Rapha.
Yeah, I don't know why Unity is put on there without it being agreed upon in voting. And then assuming "if blocking" means when this card is blocking that's a different reserve access ability than was voted upon.
In the final vote "Reserve access" was what was voted on, there was no specifics on how that would be implemented.
Well before specific abilities were voted on and then combinations were selected, so to me it looked like you'd just take from that pool. I didn't realize you were disregarding the abilities from the first vote.
I guess we can playtest it with unity, but it makes more sense to playtest it without and see if the ability is too powerful to be splashed. We'd still be going off intuition in deciding whether unity waters the card down too much or not otherwise. So I will save you the time and let you know that it does... black defenses are good because you have access to Canaanites, Sadducees, Greeks, etc So are people going to cut those characters or just not use Rapha? Probably not use Rapha.
If you're set on unity then I would cut the parenthesis and let him top deck weapons or philistines every time one blocks.
Cbn and an add to battle would justify unity here.
Cbn and an add to battle would justify unity here.
If Rapha gets CBN, he has to lose the protect ability. Way too strong if he can sit in territory w/ CBN protection and continue grabbing cards from Reserve and extending battles every time you are attacked.
I guess it depends on how you want the battle continuation to happen. Can he extend battles while he remains in territory? If so, no way can he get CBN, because he also protects himself and his pals in territory.
Can he extend a battle when he blocks? That's something different, but still, with CBN, he's a guaranteed battle extension (so basically cancels out opponent's AotL) every game. That's really strong, but he does have the Unity identifier...
How would his ability cancel out AotL? it only protects philistines in territory.
How would his ability cancel out AotL? it only protects philistines in territory.
For example, if Rapha said an additional ability of "If removed from battle, you may add your Philistine Giant to battle. CBN."
At least cbn protection justifies unity at the moment ..
Half the problem I have blocking in t1 is keeping ecs on the table.
If you're playing CoL or BoM you don't even have to.. in both cases you are even trying to get rid of your own ecs and in tgt it was the same gig. Just saying CoL is not the problem there when it comes to interactive battle phases and an ongoing issue for several years of blocking
If Rapha didn't protect himself, CBN is fine. If he protects himself, it isn't.
Nice! I don't like how it says "take it" in the ability... I realize "put into hand" or "take into hand" is longer but it also leaves nothing to the imagination as to what "take it" means.
If Rapha didn't protect himself, CBN is fine. If he protects himself, it isn't.
As mentioned in the "Fix a Card" thread, cards like Thaddeus and AutO are examples of abilities we want to move away from. And let's be real, CoL doesn't win battles...the stack of Fruits and Armors you can put on CoL are what wins battles. :P
Not if enough counters to those cards are printed as well.As mentioned in the "Fix a Card" thread, cards like Thaddeus and AutO are examples of abilities we want to move away from. And let's be real, CoL doesn't win battles...the stack of Fruits and Armors you can put on CoL are what wins battles. :P
I get that but isn't that moving in the opposite direction and actually empowering those cards more?
As mentioned in the "Fix a Card" thread, cards like Thaddeus and AutO are examples of abilities we want to move away from. And let's be real, CoL doesn't win battles...the stack of Fruits and Armors you can put on CoL are what wins battles. :P
What elements does a cbn Rapha have that oak, CoL, etc also have?
What elements does a cbn Rapha have that oak, CoL, etc also have?
The common element is that you want to do something about your opponent's Gideon/CoL/Rapha, but you can't, because of CBN protection. There's literally almost nothing you can do.
What elements does a cbn Rapha have that oak, CoL, etc also have?
The common element is that you want to do something about your opponent's Gideon/CoL/Rapha, but you can't, because of CBN protection. There's literally almost nothing you can do.
lol yeah you can't use your op cards like grail, aocp, Jephthah etc. ;) Creating territory protection that can be negated in the days of 3 woes, image of the beast, and burning censor, moses, etc is very mediocre and having him not protect himself would be the softest counter to territory destruction ever, because that very thing that the card is meant to counter, counters it. Play test away, but this is an average card right now that we didn't even vote on.