Etali was one of my first mythic from rix. At that time I was using him a lot. Before the card limit nerf he was so fun (so many fully loaded cards at hand…). With current implementation he is really far from being overpowered. First of all - usually he provides only one card - he is number 1 target. He does not give you cards if your or ai hand is full. Cards given are placed on last position in your hand and castable on the following turn, so it’s prone to discard. Also - it’s random what you get. I admit, when he’s on board on ai side I get nervous but there are many other cards which scare me more (especially when I play against Teferi)
Etali does not need a nerf. Sure, he is very powerful when working properly (1 free card per turn is nice).
Its the randomness of the card that gets pulled that keeps him balanced. You know how many Nissa’s Pilgrimage I pull as Bolas? Completely useless. Sure sometimes I get lucky and get some epic mythic, but most of the time its just another card to exile on my turn.
That’s why I only really use Etaly in ToTP now, since there every card in every deck is busted beyond belief.
The only real change he needs is take away his haste. It’s kind of ridiculous that there’s only one card currently in standard that can answer him and keep your opponent from taking your stuff. Give people an opportunity to answer him before that happens.
When the opponents hand is full, the card stolen by etali is added on top of the players library and will be drawn next turn (without mana) - >you’ll most likely not see any card of your own deck if Greg cloggs up his hand.
I’ve never ever not once lost to Etali — so I don’t support this. Just because a card makes your game harder doesn’t mean it should be nerfed. Just wait until GRN comes out and you’re
dealing with this all over the place:
Being one of the “Etali” club, myself, it’s either going to be a kill card followed by a discard so the AI can’t use the card they just acquired, or kill him asap and deal with the fallout.
I can honestly say Etali is not usually what gives the AI the upper hand as much as the obnoxious cascades Greg is prone to.
Fix the 7-card “fix” and leave Etali alone…
Etali has the same bug that affects chaos wand when opponent hand is full. It negatively messed the deck very badly. For this reason I don’t use any if the cards in competitive play.
The size limit is unecessary and have to removed. Hand going past 6 was doable and never considered a bug since hybernum.
Ignoring the bugs which absolutely need fixing first…
I’ve always felt he was just slightly too powerful, not at the top of the list of things needing adjustment but definitely on the list. Losing haste would be perfect really.
Although a lot of the newer similar cards seem to very deliberately put only “half” the mana on things.
You have pay the mana for that, Etalis totally better
I have Etali, and that’s why I almost never lose — so I do support this If you never lose to Etali, then, maybe, a few more cards need a NERF! I bet you have BSZ B)
IMO, he doesn’t need a nerf even if we go back to the height of his power, but I suppose it also wouldn’t be the end of the world if they added a little kickback as he is a very powerful card (maybe something like you lose 1-2 life each card he grabs or they gain life or you lose a mana or 2 [not as a requirement for the effect]). He only ever gives 1 card per turn, and he’s decently expensive that it hurts if he gets popped next turn.
However, if they want to keep on this 6 card limit train, they should implement it in a way that you can go over 6 until the end of your turn, at which time you have to exile cards (of your choosing) until you have 6. This check is only at end of your turn, and your draw step will only draw cards if you have less than 6.
Or they could just set him up to NOT pull a card if you don’t have space in your hand for it, kinda like draw effects like from Dragon’s Hoard. Personally, I know I’d rather lose the extra card rather than lose out on drawing from my deck during my draw phase, especially considering the cards coming in without any mana.