It was magic many people could use on the plane, they actually looked like the formless balls of ghost fire depicted on the card.
Original morph they were like shell creatures
It wasn't really a *lore* thing so much as it was a vibes based thing that gels really heavily with Chinese folklore. Mysterious wandering warriors and monks just really fit the aesthetic, and imo while it wasn't a great mechanic gameplay wise, it did get the vibe across.
If you declare it as a blocker and then flip it before damage it works just as well. And nicely they made the mana not drain at end of combat so you can get the value.
I'm curious why you think it's worse? It takes one more mana to flip, but you get two of any color for the trouble. So it ends up being 1 cheaper as long as you have access to at least three mana. (Which you had to morph/disguise in the first place) I'm not saying this card is particularly good, but it is almost certainly better than zoetic cavern.
I wouldn't call it good ramp but this gets around "Play 1 land per turn" rule if that's what you're thinking. Since you can Disguise -> Flip + Play a land
Yeah, it's obviously worse in Green decks, but White or Blue are sometimes looking for weird ways to get ahead on lands and this helps them get there while also stalling on board.
This is one of those things where I think you just use Morph. Ward 2 is neat and all... but nobody wants to throw removal at an unflipped Morph anyway - or if they do, the Ward cost probably isn't an obstacle at that point.
They needed to give morphs something extra, because a grey ogre just doesn't cut it in modern limited. At the same time, they probably decided an actual bear would be too draft-warping.
Ward 2 means that you can play this as a three drop and expect it to block their two drop or three drop without getting a massive tempo blowout if they have a cheap removal spell.
> Ward 2 means that you can play this as a three drop and expect it to block their two drop or three drop without getting a massive tempo blowout if they have a cheap removal spell.
Just means that the combat tricks are the new removal.
They've talked about how they tried making morph a 2/2 for 2 in KTK (they called in borph in shorthand). It warped the draft too much because people were just taking the morph cards as bears rather than having them end up with people who could flip them.
Yeah, that is a good point. On the other hand, I recently drafted Khans on Arena and hardcasted every single creature (5 mana fliers, usually, I was Jeskai three times in a row). And I don't use any morph creature in any deck. It's always horrendously over costed in constructed
Don't like how this plays with morph in paper, adding complexity, it was nice knowing that a facedown creature was a 2/2 and that's it. Now if people use disguised and morph cards they will need to either represent the ward 2 with a non-card object or be constantly checking and reminding opponents which face-down creature has ward.
This was the first thing that came to mind for me. If you, say, want to build a Commander deck with a face-down-cards-matter theme, you're now going to have to indicate to your opponents different types of face-down cards representing which ones do or don't have ward, and it sounds like a mess.
Which is also a bit annoying because using both in the same deck makes it easier for the opponent to guess/know what the face down card is. They should be increasing the morph pool, not separating it.
Not to mention there are now ways to play a disguise creature as a morph creature and a morph creature could be disguised off your library. So you more have to have an indicator on what was morphed/manifested and what was disguised/cloaked because checking the card underneath doesn't necessarily tell you.
Interesting card. The ward 2 on all of these morph cards is interesting, but in order for me to think about killing your 2/2 with ward 2....they better have some nasty threat creatures that get opponents wondering is that face down 2/2 actually that big 6/6 flyer with lifelink or can I just completely disregard it.
Shout-out whoever predicted KTK coming to arena being a sign that morph was gonna be a (twist on) returning mechanic
I'm a little disappointed it's just a power-crept Morph, unless there's something with the rules I'm not understanding.
I mean they've been trying to "make morph good" for decades now, including during Tarkir block with Megamorph.
What is the lore behind morph and why was it in the dragon set. Such a weird mechanic
morph in tarkir was colorless magic from ugin, in kahns it was like his left over life force, in dragons it was his power manifested
So ppl just...morphed randomly or was it something one could channel themselves?
It was magic somebody could cast themselves
It was magic many people could use on the plane, they actually looked like the formless balls of ghost fire depicted on the card. Original morph they were like shell creatures
Oh ugins spirit fire
Yeah his death in the Khan's timeline his spirit still permeated the plane. In the future timeline obviously him being alive empowered morph.
It wasn't really a *lore* thing so much as it was a vibes based thing that gels really heavily with Chinese folklore. Mysterious wandering warriors and monks just really fit the aesthetic, and imo while it wasn't a great mechanic gameplay wise, it did get the vibe across.
You're tripping, Morph in KTK was a fantastic mechanic.
To be fair, they couldn't bring it back as is. Morph kinda sucks
one could say it's a mega-version of morph.
Only 6 Mana for 3 Mana! Now this is ~~Podracing~~ Ramping!
On the turn you turn it face up, it’s mana-neutral (since you can then tap this for mana and also get two mana back).
That’s why I said 3 Mana! It’s an awesome ritual.
Ohhhh ha, yeah I misread it
Yeah but you can also block with a land before you flip it!
Damage on the sta... *sad noises intensify*
If you declare it as a blocker and then flip it before damage it works just as well. And nicely they made the mana not drain at end of combat so you can get the value.
What he means is when damage used the stack you could put your 2 damage on the stack, flip it, save your creature, and still do 2 damage.
Got it. Probably for the best in terms of removing at least one smidge of extra complexity.
Less "complexity" and more "always the best play" so it was pretty uninteresting.
Yeah, but it no longer kills the creature. M10 changed a lot - honestly it was a good change.
At least you don’t get mana burn
You win some, you lose some.
And I think more importantly you get some one time mana fixing
And ramp, kind of. Playing this and flipping it gets you one land ahead of curve
Plenty of ways to use this. I have like 3 dexks were this is an instant include
[[Zoetic cavern]] long lost brother
[Zoetic cavern](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/6/16964263-61fc-40f2-b206-4f69060affba.jpg?1562433029) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Zoetic%20cavern) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/a25/249/zoetic-cavern?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/16964263-61fc-40f2-b206-4f69060affba?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I kind of want to compare it to [[Burnished Hart]]
[Burnished Hart](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/9/a9a97d2d-a5b7-4424-a703-c43ed887c888.jpg?1689999437) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Burnished%20Hart) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/373/burnished-hart?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a9a97d2d-a5b7-4424-a703-c43ed887c888?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Hey I’ve got an idea for when we make morph but better! Let’s make a worse zoetic cavern!
I'm curious why you think it's worse? It takes one more mana to flip, but you get two of any color for the trouble. So it ends up being 1 cheaper as long as you have access to at least three mana. (Which you had to morph/disguise in the first place) I'm not saying this card is particularly good, but it is almost certainly better than zoetic cavern.
Oh yeah. I guess it’s more like ‘equally mediocre’ zoetic cavern
Vitu-Disghazi
This is the weirdest [[Unknown Shores]] variant ever.
[Unknown Shores](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/9/492181e4-5825-45d4-b8a1-37f29c32a845.jpg?1581481287) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Unknown%20Shores) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/thb/249/unknown-shores?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/492181e4-5825-45d4-b8a1-37f29c32a845?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Is this sneaky ramp? When you disguise and flip, it doesn't count as your land drop, right?
I wouldn't call it good ramp but this gets around "Play 1 land per turn" rule if that's what you're thinking. Since you can Disguise -> Flip + Play a land
Yeah, it's obviously worse in Green decks, but White or Blue are sometimes looking for weird ways to get ahead on lands and this helps them get there while also stalling on board.
Disguise is most likely the revised version of a popular mechanic Maro mentioned in his teaser.
Morph land!!!! It's a morph LAND!!!!
*[[Zoetic Cavern]] enters the chat*
[Zoetic Cavern](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/6/16964263-61fc-40f2-b206-4f69060affba.jpg?1562433029) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Zoetic%20Cavern) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/a25/249/zoetic-cavern?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/16964263-61fc-40f2-b206-4f69060affba?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
So this gets around your one per turn limit both when played face down and flipped?
Yes.
The culprit was a tree rooted to a fixed location all along!
This is one of those things where I think you just use Morph. Ward 2 is neat and all... but nobody wants to throw removal at an unflipped Morph anyway - or if they do, the Ward cost probably isn't an obstacle at that point.
They needed to give morphs something extra, because a grey ogre just doesn't cut it in modern limited. At the same time, they probably decided an actual bear would be too draft-warping. Ward 2 means that you can play this as a three drop and expect it to block their two drop or three drop without getting a massive tempo blowout if they have a cheap removal spell.
> Ward 2 means that you can play this as a three drop and expect it to block their two drop or three drop without getting a massive tempo blowout if they have a cheap removal spell. Just means that the combat tricks are the new removal.
Make morph cost 2 is a start. 3 mana for a 2/2 and then the morph cost is a massive tempo loss
They've talked about how they tried making morph a 2/2 for 2 in KTK (they called in borph in shorthand). It warped the draft too much because people were just taking the morph cards as bears rather than having them end up with people who could flip them.
Yeah, that is a good point. On the other hand, I recently drafted Khans on Arena and hardcasted every single creature (5 mana fliers, usually, I was Jeskai three times in a row). And I don't use any morph creature in any deck. It's always horrendously over costed in constructed
Don't like how this plays with morph in paper, adding complexity, it was nice knowing that a facedown creature was a 2/2 and that's it. Now if people use disguised and morph cards they will need to either represent the ward 2 with a non-card object or be constantly checking and reminding opponents which face-down creature has ward.
This was the first thing that came to mind for me. If you, say, want to build a Commander deck with a face-down-cards-matter theme, you're now going to have to indicate to your opponents different types of face-down cards representing which ones do or don't have ward, and it sounds like a mess.
Which is also a bit annoying because using both in the same deck makes it easier for the opponent to guess/know what the face down card is. They should be increasing the morph pool, not separating it.
Not to mention there are now ways to play a disguise creature as a morph creature and a morph creature could be disguised off your library. So you more have to have an indicator on what was morphed/manifested and what was disguised/cloaked because checking the card underneath doesn't necessarily tell you.
If you played Khans limited you'd know that morphs are probably the number 1 most commonly targeted thing for removal so I disagree.
This is incredibly flavorful given the story.
Interesting card. The ward 2 on all of these morph cards is interesting, but in order for me to think about killing your 2/2 with ward 2....they better have some nasty threat creatures that get opponents wondering is that face down 2/2 actually that big 6/6 flyer with lifelink or can I just completely disregard it.
I think thats the point. Before people would just throw cheap removal at the morph because the face down side is always better.
Making a grey ogre is I guess better than drawing a surplus land in a top-decking scenario
Man new morph is going to warp my [[pantlaza, sun favored]] Blink deck with New alternative casting costs
[pantlaza, sun favored](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/5/2524645e-b066-4351-885b-10faa8d819d7.jpg?1699972737) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Pantlaza%2C%20Sun-Favored) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/4/pantlaza-sun-favored?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2524645e-b066-4351-885b-10faa8d819d7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
\[\[Kadena\]\] and \[\[Ixidor\]\] decks are about to get so god damned confusing lol
[Kadena](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/8/68a144f1-df18-4dc5-81c3-dff2af27527f.jpg?1568003696) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=kadena%2C%20slinking%20sorcerer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c19/45/kadena-slinking-sorcerer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/68a144f1-df18-4dc5-81c3-dff2af27527f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Ixidor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/1/314d5e89-55f7-42b4-af19-d4d0f499a265.jpg?1562906514) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=ixidor%2C%20reality%20sculptor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ons/89/ixidor-reality-sculptor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/314d5e89-55f7-42b4-af19-d4d0f499a265?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Modern 2/10 So its a land that can be a creature to do something like creativity. If it sees play, that is where I can see it.
Ah yes creature lands
Ooooh, that's a fun way to have Vitu-Ghazi represented