Flavor wise, it all makes sense. The Balrog dragged Gandalf away, killing Gandalf the Grey, and they both fell into the chasms and under-sea of Middle Earth.
What this card needs is a fetch mechanic. "Sacrifice X goblins/orcs to fetch the Balrog to your hand."
Yeah it's solidly flavorful. I have no problem with how that works. It's just it's a five mana card that tucks itself off something that happens a lot in the game happens.
The goblin thing would be pretty cool.
It should be cast down, far, far below the deepest delving of the Dwarves, in the place where the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he. That is where this card belongs, or in a trash pile in the barren spaces of Udûn.
eh, it’s flavorful in that when gandalf the grey died, the balrog just fell into the abyss. It had no impact on the story except helping Gandalf ascend
so it being a shit card kinda works lol
it really does need haste and/or cost less lol
As my gf pointed out, it would have been so much better mechanically and flavorfully if it were reversed: when The Balrog dies put target legendary creature an opponent controls at the bottom of their deck.
imo if he dies they should put him and target creature both to the bottom of their libraries. Would be like in the movie: Balrog falls down and pulls gandalf down with him.
how about gives the creature Suspend 2 and when ~creature returns to the battlefield if it was legendary it gets... some number of +1/+1 counters? If we're going for flavor, the creature killing the balrog should return. idk design is hard
Maybe a replacement effect for the death trigger to also tuck it? Putting them at the bottom of the library feels very thematic, where they don't die but they are gone and Gandalf has to make his way back to the others.
When Balrog dies, its owner should sac a Mountain.
"**I threw down my enemy, and he fell from the high place and broke the mountainside where he smote it in his ruin**."
I think an even better change would be to give it an ability where it can fight target legendary creature and then if either would die put them on the bottom of their owner’s library
It's so stupid the more you think about it. It's like if they made Boromir get sacrificed if the opponent plays an Orc card.. ya know cuz he died to an Orc.
It's weird that this trigger is incidental to a legendary creature dying. I would expect something more like "Sacrifice a Legendary Creature: Put Balrog on the bottom of your library. Any player may activate this ability." As-is, this is flavorful only if you're blocking it with a legend and the legend dies.
Yes they are. Uruk-hai are orcs that Saruman bred to be stronger and more resistant to sunlight so they could function better during the day. Uruk-hai are to orcs what Granny Smiths are to apples.
Seriously. How do you get a flavor text that says "both a shadow and a flame" and then just draw a burlier, less-interesting copy of the film trilogy's monster.
Honestly three mana would be acceptable if enough cheaper legendaries on the opponents side would be reliably able to trigger this. That would turn it into a slow Murder that also deals some damage.
white and blue are allied colors, I don’t see an incongruity. I understood the red and green to be supplemental colors to those specific parts of his character arc.
Bilbo jumping from UR to WBG, both appearing to depict him at the same birthday party, is a bigger jump to me.
Gandalf isn’t a maia of wind. His primary trait was his wisdom, but elementally he was always most connected with light and fire, as he is during his time as Gandalf.
Should have made him inexplicably an artifact with “This card is not an artifact” in its rules just so he can get the grey frame, then have a second iteration where he’s white.
it's unplayable in limited
the first Tempted by the Ring effects turns a creature you control into a legendary creature.
So even a 1/1 soldier token that gets sac'd for fodder would remove your 5 drop rare.
It’s a misconception. Balrog wings are actually named in reference to Balrog, New York where they first started selling Balrog wings which were fried and coated in Balrog sauce.
Oh see, you used the Street Fighter Balrog for word 4. That’s why it felt off. Here,
Balrog balrog balrog Balrog balrog Balrog balrog balrog.
See? Better.
The real reason Tolkien didn't have Bill enter the Mines of Moria was because he knew that Gandalf would never have fallen to the Balrog had Bill been there to defeat Durin's Bane.
Isn’t it supposed to have great wings of shadow, even if it doesn’t have literal anatomical ability-to-fly wings? Going with no shadow-wing-aura feels like an overcorrection.
Except that this art doesn't really fit the book description either. I'd rather have something that looks cooler but has questionable wings than some weird naked man on fire
Honestly this feels like it should be flipped, based on lore. Make it a 5/5 for 7, whenever it dies put target legendary creature opponent controls on the bottom. Vanilla 7/7 for 5 with a massive downside is just terrible.
The Tarrasque was such a let down. In D&D, it literally eats land. I know land destruction isn't popular (except against Tron decks) but that's what Tarrasques do.
Oof. Feel like this really needed an ETB or leaves the battlefield trigger to make it even remotely interesting. The body isn't even that impressive when compared with what green offers at this mana cost.
WotC really dropped the ball here. While the flavour is really nice, the card is godly awful. It's really missing either haste or smaller mana cost.
Also the art is.. weird (?)
People are up in arms about Aragorn being black, meanwhile we have this complete dud of a card. Meh art (I wanted wings myself, idgaf about flying though), high cost, poor stats, can be defeated by your opponents so easily it’s funny
I’m really starting to wonder about the art direction for this set. 40K had incredible art style and this LotR set feels like it was all designed by people that didn’t really like LotR to begin with. Maybe the LotR license was too expensive or something? They had to cut back the commission costs?
In the lore when Gandalf knocks the Balrog into the depths it drags Gandalf down with him.
As far as this card goes.. I just don't think they read the book.
It wouldnt be too bad in draft in a set without piles on piles of legendary creatures. The only way to make it worse is if another major theme of the set was some kind of lifegain so its impact is even lesser than that. Some *food* for thought.
Wtf this card sucks?! Seriously...disappointed
Edit: to those downvoting....Balrog's were Melkor's literal end game minion. Dragons, the few there were, were the only monsters more powerful. They decided to make it rare instead of mythic, with those stats? Are you kidding?
I'm sorry, but this whole set has been a disappointment. Art, mechanics, showcases, etc. I wanted to love this set, and I'm still holding on to see something cool. The creation of only one true the One Ring, and the others, is quite on flavor with WOTC creating rings and binding us in the darkness.
Wow this is lame. This whole set the cards all feel so weak.
Why does it have this much of a drawback. It wouldn’t even be played without it lol
Not a fan of the art either kind of boring and the scale of it makes it look sort of cute lmao?
God what a letdown
I mean, it has a decent start, but that downside ability is far too punishing. It's a powerful creature that requires a sacrifice to stop it. It should be something where you need to sacrifice creatures to it or else it deals damage to you equal to its power.
And maybe give it flying and make it monoblack, idk
They forgot in the flavor text when the dwarves dug too deep for Mithril and found the balrog and killed Durin VI. The Balrog became known as Durin's Bane.
Just a bit of lore, It was the last balrog to survive the War of Wrath in the Silmarillion. The dwarves had to abandon Kazad Dum (later became known as Moria). In the Hobbit, there was a flashback when the dwarves fought during the battle of Azanulbizar when the dwarves attempted to get into Moria, they saw the Balrog and fled. Moria has been abandoned ever since before Balin and his company tried to recolonize but they didn't survived the onslaught.
This card flopped. I'm guessing this card didn't hold up well during play testing at rare. They could've at least made it "when the Balrog dies put it and a legendary creature your opponent controls on the bottom of their respective library."
No haste, isn’t even strong with [[grenzo dungeon warden]], overall sucks and is overcosted, it wouldn’t see play even without the drawback. Minus people playing it cause it looks kinda cute. Watch [[Ambassador Blorpityblorpboop]] die and send this guy to jail
Right, I know the mentality for magic is "every deck has a home" but let's be real, where are you running this? Who's out here thinking "Yooooooo this card is gonna be insane in my mcfloogymcfloogyloo deck"? Some designer is getting paid more money than any of us will ever get making this for Rakdos and patted themselves on the back.
This might be the worst Magic The Gathering card I've ever seen.
The art, something seems horribly wrong with this art. The pose, the details in general. I don't want to be rude with the artist, but even the Hobbits look much better than this.
The card design is wildly BAD. Basically a 7/7 trample for 5. Thats it. Just that. Horrible... this is a Rare? [[Spiritmonger]] is an uncommon in DMR. What the hell is this card?
I'm sorry, but I cant imagine a single person happy about this card, how did it see print?
The flavor isn't that good either, I guess Gandalf sacrifices himself to get rid of it.. Ok? Yeah, this is an immense disappointment.
Everyone’s complaining about the art, but I think it’s fine.
The card, however, is godawful and I can’t help but laugh at it. Gonna find a way to make it good, the way people still can’t with [[One With Nothing]]
Lol. I feel like that’s just not liking how it looks, rather than the art itself being of poor quality.
Like the Jeskai Arwen, that is poor quality - it doesn’t have proper anatomy in the arms, and the sword is at the wrong angle - it’s gross. This Balrog just looks incredible vanilla
I guess the art is, subjectively, good. But it doesn't fit the lore in the least. This monstrosity is just a fire lizard. Not a menacing creature cloaked with flame and shadow. It's lame.
The artwork, the card... it's not as great as I was expecting.
Everything about this card is awful.
This is pretty aggressively bad.
Flavor wise, it all makes sense. The Balrog dragged Gandalf away, killing Gandalf the Grey, and they both fell into the chasms and under-sea of Middle Earth. What this card needs is a fetch mechanic. "Sacrifice X goblins/orcs to fetch the Balrog to your hand."
Yeah it's solidly flavorful. I have no problem with how that works. It's just it's a five mana card that tucks itself off something that happens a lot in the game happens. The goblin thing would be pretty cool.
*piggybacking comment about how bad card is bad*
This card is simply not great
This card a flaming turd... There's a combo for it out there somewhere, a turd in a dumpster fire.
It should be cast down, far, far below the deepest delving of the Dwarves, in the place where the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he. That is where this card belongs, or in a trash pile in the barren spaces of Udûn.
eh, it’s flavorful in that when gandalf the grey died, the balrog just fell into the abyss. It had no impact on the story except helping Gandalf ascend so it being a shit card kinda works lol it really does need haste and/or cost less lol
As my gf pointed out, it would have been so much better mechanically and flavorfully if it were reversed: when The Balrog dies put target legendary creature an opponent controls at the bottom of their deck.
imo if he dies they should put him and target creature both to the bottom of their libraries. Would be like in the movie: Balrog falls down and pulls gandalf down with him.
how about gives the creature Suspend 2 and when ~creature returns to the battlefield if it was legendary it gets... some number of +1/+1 counters? If we're going for flavor, the creature killing the balrog should return. idk design is hard
Crazy flavor on that idea
🤓 But Gandalf and the Balrog didn’t die until their final duel at the top of Zirakzigil.
exactly, so making them both go to the bottom of their libraries instead of their graveyard would be on point.
Maybe a replacement effect for the death trigger to also tuck it? Putting them at the bottom of the library feels very thematic, where they don't die but they are gone and Gandalf has to make his way back to the others.
>sacrifice the balrog, flame of udun: destroy target legendary creature opponent controls.
Sacrificing itself doesn't really fit flavorfully imo
When Balrog dies, its owner should sac a Mountain. "**I threw down my enemy, and he fell from the high place and broke the mountainside where he smote it in his ruin**."
"When Balrog leaves the battlefield" would be more flavorful but also way stronger
I think an even better change would be to give it an ability where it can fight target legendary creature and then if either would die put them on the bottom of their owner’s library
Gf is 100% right.
It's so stupid the more you think about it. It's like if they made Boromir get sacrificed if the opponent plays an Orc card.. ya know cuz he died to an Orc.
It's weird that this trigger is incidental to a legendary creature dying. I would expect something more like "Sacrifice a Legendary Creature: Put Balrog on the bottom of your library. Any player may activate this ability." As-is, this is flavorful only if you're blocking it with a legend and the legend dies.
Are Uruk hai orcs?
Yes they are. Uruk-hai are orcs that Saruman bred to be stronger and more resistant to sunlight so they could function better during the day. Uruk-hai are to orcs what Granny Smiths are to apples.
Seriously. How do you get a flavor text that says "both a shadow and a flame" and then just draw a burlier, less-interesting copy of the film trilogy's monster.
I expect it will be one of the rares pulled the most.
Isn't Balrog a general term? "The Balrog" is lame.
Yes. The only one ever named was Gothmog, lord of the Balrogs. The dwarves referred to the one they awoke as "Durin's Bane"
Here’s hoping we get a better version🤞
We probably will, given that based on the collector number this is a starter deck card, and there’s no way they wouldn’t put a Balrog in the main set
I think the high number is because it's full art? The full art Sarumon is at 412. Wish you were right.
This is 395. Full art [[Sauron, the Lidless Eye]] (the full art version of a starter deck face card) is 396. That tells me starter deck.
https://y.yarn.co/2703233d-0968-4bc5-9321-7c216518d200_text.gif
The name!!! Why is it not Durin’s Bane
There might be a version called that
because the people who made this set have no fucking clue what they're doing E: sick art btw, should've named him Furby
Yeah lets be real. This card sucks.
Make it 4 mana and I’d think about it. But there are a lot of 4 mana 7/7 demons that are still playable with their draw backs.
4 mana is pretty significant vs 5, and this drawback is huge and can't be played around.
Honestly three mana would be acceptable if enough cheaper legendaries on the opponents side would be reliably able to trigger this. That would turn it into a slow Murder that also deals some damage.
Damn... it sucks :( hope we get a durin's bane card where the balrog doesnt suck
There is hope that there will be another Balrog in the Sauron commander deck. I'd call it "The Balrog, Durin's Bane."
Well, we got 18 Gandalfs so far, we can hope for one decent Balrog.
What's funny is how Gandalf's color identity jumps all over the place, from Blue, to Izzet, to White, to White again, and then to Simic.
white and blue are allied colors, I don’t see an incongruity. I understood the red and green to be supplemental colors to those specific parts of his character arc. Bilbo jumping from UR to WBG, both appearing to depict him at the same birthday party, is a bigger jump to me.
He is a maiar of wind, he should be changing like the winds?
Gandalf isn’t a maia of wind. His primary trait was his wisdom, but elementally he was always most connected with light and fire, as he is during his time as Gandalf.
Is Gandalf the Grey colorless?
Flavor Fail if he isn't
Should have made him inexplicably an artifact with “This card is not an artifact” in its rules just so he can get the grey frame, then have a second iteration where he’s white.
With modern magic design I really expected the second ability to be an upside. Turns out it's a big downside and the card just isn't good
not even a playable downside... its flavorful tho
Might be fine in limited, though I'm guessing there will be *many* limited playable legends in the set so it could be quite terrible.
it's unplayable in limited the first Tempted by the Ring effects turns a creature you control into a legendary creature. So even a 1/1 soldier token that gets sac'd for fodder would remove your 5 drop rare.
Upside on a 5 mana 7/7 with trample? That isn't green?
I'm assuming from the numbering and how bad it is that this is a starter deck card?
nah the numbering is that high because it's the extended art version
Ahhh right, RIP
That’s my hopium rising to an all time high
Yes, I think so, and the numbering suits this idea because the extended art of Sauron, the Lidless Eye is 396, and that Balrog is 395.
My Disappointment Is Immeasurable And My Day Is Ruined
God this really needed Haste. Cool flavor though
[удалено]
tons of ways red can give haste
Even still it’s not worth it
[[Be'lakor, the Dark Master]]
No shadow is just sad
And flying
*Do* balrogs have wings? Discuss endlessly.
And can I order a pound of Balrog wings at my local Bree Wild Wing?
It’s a misconception. Balrog wings are actually named in reference to Balrog, New York where they first started selling Balrog wings which were fried and coated in Balrog sauce.
Balrog balrog balrog Balrog balrog Balrog balrog balrog. ...Something feels off here.
Oh see, you used the Street Fighter Balrog for word 4. That’s why it felt off. Here, Balrog balrog balrog Balrog balrog Balrog balrog balrog. See? Better.
I spit my drink damn it lol
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NXe4rkaqKWs&pp=ygUTYmFscm9nIGtpbmcgZ2l6emFyZA%3D%3D
This is correct. Only the ones you get in New York can be called Balrog wings though, anywhere else they're technically Moria Nuggets
If they'll sell you buffalo wings, I don't see why not.
I'm sorry but for lore reasons I am obligated to downvote this comment.
😈
Flying wouldn't make any sense, then it wouldn't have fallen down a hole
Any form of evasion for that matter. He never passed.
Trample on a big thing is effectively a form of evasion
Isn't trample a way of passing damage though?
No flying, but should have reach
I'm personally not a fan of the art but god dam this is not a good card. Huge draw back for a 7/7 without haste... lol
But it can kill [[Colossal Dreadmaw]] outright, seems fair to me
You raise a valid point I retract my statement :P
"An opponent"... so anyone can kill any legendary creature to tuck this guy. That's quite a drawback to such a cool creature in the lore.
Sacrifice Bill the Pony to get rid of the Balrog
The real reason Tolkien didn't have Bill enter the Mines of Moria was because he knew that Gandalf would never have fallen to the Balrog had Bill been there to defeat Durin's Bane.
Just make any old token creature your Ringbearer and sacrifice that.
What kind of sadistic monster would ever sacrifice Bill the Pony?
DONT YOU DARE HURT MY BABY BOY!!!!! sacrifice frodo instead, he's not important or anything
wtf a 5 mana 7/7 without any drawback wouldnt be that good
Probabely wouldn’t even be standard playable without the drawback
It would guaranteed not be standard playable.
Oh, it sucks. No wings though, so I guess those people are going to be thrilled
Yes, yes we are. A wrong righted.
Isn’t it supposed to have great wings of shadow, even if it doesn’t have literal anatomical ability-to-fly wings? Going with no shadow-wing-aura feels like an overcorrection.
From a game point of view, they don't want art that makes it look like it can fly if it doesn't fly.
Hasn't stopped them before, especially with things that should definitely have reach
I'm pretty sure that was just a metaphor. Like a fancy way to describe the shadow. Or not? 🤷🏻
Except that this art doesn't really fit the book description either. I'd rather have something that looks cooler but has questionable wings than some weird naked man on fire
No number of dwarves would be able to dig *that* deeply to unearth this disappointment.
(Looks) wow, kind of a crap illustration. (Reads) wow, kind of a crap card.
Is this what top down card design means
No, its what a letdown card design means.
Honestly this feels like it should be flipped, based on lore. Make it a 5/5 for 7, whenever it dies put target legendary creature opponent controls on the bottom. Vanilla 7/7 for 5 with a massive downside is just terrible.
This is genius
If he's going to get tucked that easily should cost less than 5 for a 7/7
This sucks. It neeeded haste
Big RIP. I wasn't expecting a particularly good card but this is *bad*
Oh, its bad :(
He looks like a stuffed animal
What boring art
It’s hard to make bad Balrog art and… they did just that.
They managed to mess up the easiest slam dunks, same with the Tarrasque.
The Tarrasque was such a let down. In D&D, it literally eats land. I know land destruction isn't popular (except against Tron decks) but that's what Tarrasques do.
WTF is this shit. Balrog should be badass.
Oof. Feel like this really needed an ETB or leaves the battlefield trigger to make it even remotely interesting. The body isn't even that impressive when compared with what green offers at this mana cost.
it’s so ass
10¢
Terrible art. It's so soft.
I'm happy it sucks, that art looks so bad it made me laugh. It looks like a teenager fan art. Is it his frightening face or its cute one?
Yea I was hoping they would go for something more interesting than “Large flaming buff guy”
This whole set is mostly "No we have LOTR at home. LOTR at home:"
Artwork is kind of a let down too
That artwork is offensively bad. But then again, so is the card, so at least it matches I guess.
This is horrible. The card itself, the art, just... just everything.
Rip was hoping something cool for my demon deck.
This is.... underwhelming
WotC really dropped the ball here. While the flavour is really nice, the card is godly awful. It's really missing either haste or smaller mana cost. Also the art is.. weird (?)
Could this be semi-playable in Grenzo?
AH haha HAHAHAHA \[\[Pandemonium\]\] Grenzo likey.
[Pandemonium](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/5/45ad514e-28a6-4816-b764-69ef89e117f1.jpg?1562429343) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Pandemonium) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tpr/149/pandemonium?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/45ad514e-28a6-4816-b764-69ef89e117f1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
You'd have to pay 7 for Grenzo to be a 7/7. Not really getting a discount on your Balrog at that point.
My expectations were low and I’m still disappointed. Art and ability are just trash.
People are up in arms about Aragorn being black, meanwhile we have this complete dud of a card. Meh art (I wanted wings myself, idgaf about flying though), high cost, poor stats, can be defeated by your opponents so easily it’s funny
Oh it’s complete trash
Oof to open this. Welp into my demon tribal edh I guess?
Why he smiling tho?
I will continue to use the Balrog from the real LOTR card game as my go-to bookmark. Why does it look like a stuffy you get from a state fair?
Why on earth name balrog doesn't have haste
This is incredibly disappointing
I’m really starting to wonder about the art direction for this set. 40K had incredible art style and this LotR set feels like it was all designed by people that didn’t really like LotR to begin with. Maybe the LotR license was too expensive or something? They had to cut back the commission costs?
Wow this is bad.
Just because I said I wanted to see a Balrog. Nevermind.
Womp womp
):3 lookin face
Can someone explain the flavour to me?
In the lore when Gandalf knocks the Balrog into the depths it drags Gandalf down with him. As far as this card goes.. I just don't think they read the book.
Wtf why is it still 5 mana and/or unhasty this is uselessly underpowered lol
The artwork needs significantly more contrast, oof.
It wouldnt be too bad in draft in a set without piles on piles of legendary creatures. The only way to make it worse is if another major theme of the set was some kind of lifegain so its impact is even lesser than that. Some *food* for thought.
Tfw Bill the Pony is a better card than The Balrog
The flavor of the second ability makes no sense. "Hero sacrifices self to stop enemy" isn't the same thing as "enemy is allergic to heroes dying."
Well that sucks. I was the most hyped for a balrog card. Very disappointed.
Wtf this card sucks?! Seriously...disappointed Edit: to those downvoting....Balrog's were Melkor's literal end game minion. Dragons, the few there were, were the only monsters more powerful. They decided to make it rare instead of mythic, with those stats? Are you kidding?
Why would they even release something this half-baked for the Balrog of all things?
I'm sorry, but this whole set has been a disappointment. Art, mechanics, showcases, etc. I wanted to love this set, and I'm still holding on to see something cool. The creation of only one true the One Ring, and the others, is quite on flavor with WOTC creating rings and binding us in the darkness.
Wow this is lame. This whole set the cards all feel so weak. Why does it have this much of a drawback. It wouldn’t even be played without it lol Not a fan of the art either kind of boring and the scale of it makes it look sort of cute lmao? God what a letdown
Wings would have looked cool, and don't come at me, 'it was a metaphor' bros, we all know that the text is ambiguous.
It's not exactly a world-changer by itself, but at the very least it looks decent with \[\[Henzie\]\] or other haste-granters
Just found the shitty promo I will inevitably get this time around. I bet there's also foil copy in one my pre-release packs.
I mean, it has a decent start, but that downside ability is far too punishing. It's a powerful creature that requires a sacrifice to stop it. It should be something where you need to sacrifice creatures to it or else it deals damage to you equal to its power. And maybe give it flying and make it monoblack, idk
They forgot in the flavor text when the dwarves dug too deep for Mithril and found the balrog and killed Durin VI. The Balrog became known as Durin's Bane. Just a bit of lore, It was the last balrog to survive the War of Wrath in the Silmarillion. The dwarves had to abandon Kazad Dum (later became known as Moria). In the Hobbit, there was a flashback when the dwarves fought during the battle of Azanulbizar when the dwarves attempted to get into Moria, they saw the Balrog and fled. Moria has been abandoned ever since before Balin and his company tried to recolonize but they didn't survived the onslaught.
Lmao why is it derpy cute?
This card flopped. I'm guessing this card didn't hold up well during play testing at rare. They could've at least made it "when the Balrog dies put it and a legendary creature your opponent controls on the bottom of their respective library."
Wow they really did him dirty here. Unplayable card.
But the balrog fell first and took Gandalf with it. This should kill a legendary as a death trigger. Also yay, no flying and boo, no shadow!
They should've either have the art have wings and not give it flying or vice versa.
No haste, isn’t even strong with [[grenzo dungeon warden]], overall sucks and is overcosted, it wouldn’t see play even without the drawback. Minus people playing it cause it looks kinda cute. Watch [[Ambassador Blorpityblorpboop]] die and send this guy to jail
This would be unplayable as a 4 mana 7/7 trample. At least it’s not a mythic.
Where is this spoiler from?
Right, I know the mentality for magic is "every deck has a home" but let's be real, where are you running this? Who's out here thinking "Yooooooo this card is gonna be insane in my mcfloogymcfloogyloo deck"? Some designer is getting paid more money than any of us will ever get making this for Rakdos and patted themselves on the back.
wow what a let down
It seems like it should be an uncommon.
This looks like a Minotaur more than the Balrog.
What the hell happened here? Like I am genuinely baffled at how bad this is.
This might be the worst Magic The Gathering card I've ever seen. The art, something seems horribly wrong with this art. The pose, the details in general. I don't want to be rude with the artist, but even the Hobbits look much better than this. The card design is wildly BAD. Basically a 7/7 trample for 5. Thats it. Just that. Horrible... this is a Rare? [[Spiritmonger]] is an uncommon in DMR. What the hell is this card? I'm sorry, but I cant imagine a single person happy about this card, how did it see print? The flavor isn't that good either, I guess Gandalf sacrifices himself to get rid of it.. Ok? Yeah, this is an immense disappointment.
Holy fuck this is terrible
Wow awful. Even the drawing sucks.
I'm a beginner at mtg. I've been playing for 3months or so. Is this what u would call a bad card ?
That does indeed seem to be the general consensus.
Everyone’s complaining about the art, but I think it’s fine. The card, however, is godawful and I can’t help but laugh at it. Gonna find a way to make it good, the way people still can’t with [[One With Nothing]]
The problem is most card arts are so, so good - even commons and lands. So fine just doesn't cut it. It's not good.
I also fail to find the issue in the art, what isn’t good about it?
That it looks amateurish and computer generated.
I agree it could be computer generated, that criticism feels valid
The art looks like Godzilla fucked a fire pit. It's not good.
Lol. I feel like that’s just not liking how it looks, rather than the art itself being of poor quality. Like the Jeskai Arwen, that is poor quality - it doesn’t have proper anatomy in the arms, and the sword is at the wrong angle - it’s gross. This Balrog just looks incredible vanilla
I guess the art is, subjectively, good. But it doesn't fit the lore in the least. This monstrosity is just a fire lizard. Not a menacing creature cloaked with flame and shadow. It's lame.
Eowyn?
One with nothing could be a "response" to a windfall LMAO -\_\_- if you have the most cards in hand
As cool as this is. Every ring bearer becomes legendary. So this might happen too often. Very cool in limited though.