I find it pretty funny that Medomai's second
ability stops her from attacking during ALL
extra turns, not just the ones that her first
ability gives you. That means that she's a
non-combo with things like Time Stretch. This
makes her an... interesting choice for a
Commander-- that format doesn't explicitly ban
extra turns, but most "extra turn" cards will
earn the table's animosity, since they tend to
be the pieces fo some very annoying infinite
combos that don't actually end the game, but
rather stretch it out infinitely long. Medomai,
however, can't be used to generate an infinite
turn combo, since she can only grant one extra
turn for every "real" turn you take. The best
you could hope for is to play something like
Relentless Assault and get two triggers during
your "real" turn, but a Medomai Commander deck
can't run Relentless Assault or any other card
that grants such an effect. And since Medomai
clashes with any such other extra turn effect,
you can run her and take extra turns and still
argue that you're not an infinite-turn deck
(whether or not you actually ARE is another
question).
In non-casual formats she's pretty much your
standard win condition for Azorius control
decks, and I'm not even sure she's the best
choice. She's definitely a fun choice, but lack
of hexproof means most control decks probably
aren't interested. I'd love to see a Modern deck
try comboing her with Waves of Aggression, but I
suspect that's too slow to work.
So, did anybody look at Time Walk (or even
the not patently ridiculous Time Warp or Time
Stretch, for that matter) and go "You know, this
is a good card, but if I don't have any creature
or anything to attack with, it doesn't feel as
good"? No. They didn't. Because if you're taking
extra turns by any means, you're pulling ahead.
And if your opponent/s don't kill Medomai,
you'll be getting two turns for every one turn
they have. For ever. The fact that he can't
attack during extra turns is completely
irrelevant as a drawback - if you're taking an
extra turn, presumably it's because he already
dealt four damage in the previous turn. That's a
position that we Magic players sometimes call
"winning handily".
Today's card of the day is Medomai the Ageless
which is a six mana White and Blue 4/4 Legendary
with Flying that gives you an extra turn when it
deals combat damage to a player, though it can't
attack during extra turns. Aside from obvious
combinations to make it unblockable, gain
additional attacks or Double Strike, or effects
that force it to attack this is a solid threat
by itself. Having some evasion and the potential
to add an additional turn makes this a game
winner if not answered quickly. The mana cost is
a little high, but in a Blue and White control
deck that is not as much of a concern and this
is a finisher well suited to that design.
Overall this will likely see play in multiple
formats with Commander probably the setting
where it will be most popular.
In Limited this is strong first pick despite
the two color casting cost and even one
successful attack can provide a huge advantage.
It isn't the best topdeck and requires other
cards and preferably a decent draw to take
advantage of the second turn, but there is no
real drawback aside from the two colors. In
Sealed this is well worth splashing a color for
provided the other is strong enough to run in
the deck. In Booster it forces at least a splash
of a second color, but being able to choose
which color in later picks helps somewhat.
Medomai the Ageless is one of those mythic rare
cards that either makes you say OMG or meh…
Personally, I snagged a playset when I noticed
the price at $1.50 per. Don’t worry; you are not
the only player out there that is overlooking
Medomai the Ageless. The ability to take an
extra turn with a creature seems super amazing!
I can’t wait for somebody to break this goofy
looking sphinx. How quickly can you get Medomai
the Ageless on the board? Should you give it
haste? What kind of evasion spells can help?
These are some questions that you should be
asking by now. Medomai the Ageless can be fun in
any format, but casual is calling for his
dominance. Imagine this creature with Sneak
Attack! Ugghh… the horror!
