These are both designed to be pushed. Depredate is more for Standard while Defile would probably be better suited for Modern and Legacy. Depredate is supposed to essentially be a Rakdos removal spell with a power level around Utter End. Defile is supposed to be a Dimir removal spell with a power level similar to Abrupt Decay.
Depredate2BR
Sorcery [R]
Destroy target nonenchantment permanent. Depredate deals 3 damage to that permanent's controller.
DefileUB
Instant [R]
Choose one —
• Put target creature into its owner's library second from the top.
• Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
It is literally stupidly powerful the second effect is useless compared to the first at 2 mana instant speed this would push Grixis probably to T1, That card hurts, pod, twin, junk, jund, very very hard. I feel at this is better than decay.
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Ophelia Le Doux (R/B)
Creature - Vampire Assassin
Haste First Strike
1/1
It's good, and I understand it's instant, but I don't think it's broken. Keep in mind that Oust doesn't see any play. Ultimately this card is still vulnerable to Thoughtseize and Spell Snare (the latter Abrupt Decay is immune from).
I don't think this would be substantially better than Abrupt Decay in Modern, if better at all. Again, look at Oust. This would be a good creature removal spell, especially in a format with fetches, but it wouldn't be broken.
It seems kinda weird to have a modal spell that costs 2, where one of its effects is worth 1 and [card"Chronostutter"]the other[/card] is worth... apparently, 6. Okay, so Chronostutter is overpriced, but still, it's worth far more than one mana.
I'd make it just Disfigure/Unsummon. That way it's still got the same "kill small stuff"/"delay big stuff" dynamic going, it's nice and symmetrical, and you don't have the issue of one of the modes being significantly better than the other.
Also, any deck that can play Oust would rather have the insanely good Path to Exile. Blue generally struggles to get permanent answers, as well.
I'd agree that it's not necessarily better than Decay in modern, but it's still pretty good. Creatures area almost required to be able to survive Bolt or give some additional value to be good in Modern. In Standard, where creatures with 4 or more CMC see play, it might be stronger than Decay.
I thought about making Depredate Mardu colors, but I wanted a card that could fit into more deck types, so a three color restriction I found pretty limiting.
How big of an issue is it that it is a two mana instant? This on an Isochron Scepter would be obnoxious. I have to agree with others before anyway that Chronostutter is not a two mana effect. And it doesn't need to be on a modal spell with the other mode being another kill spell. If you are going gold, you could probably do it as a nonmodal instant for 1WU. It is a little bit better in a few ways than both Excommunicate and Time Ebb, so that cost still feels a little pushed.
I disagree. A lot of stuff on Isochron Scepter is already obnoxious and better than this (Remand, Silence, etc.). Excommunicate and Time Ebb are heavily overcosted (like Chronostutter) and don't see any serious play. Oust is more fairly costed and it's not busted. If it was a nonmodal instant for 3, this would see no play. Hero's Downfall costs 3 and it's one color and is much better than instant speed Oust.
Hero's Downfall costs 3 and it's one color and is much better than instant speed Oust.
Hero's Downfall is only played in Standard, and it can hit planeswalkers. Oust isn't standard-legal and can't hit planeswalkers (and any deck that wants it already has a busted removal spell).
Silvercut is saying that "Put target creature into its owner's library second from the top." is too powerful at CMC 2, even at multicolored and as a nonmodal spell. I mentioned Hero's Downfall by saying it's much better than "Put target creature into its owner's library second from the top." and it costs 3, and it's only 1 color, so if "Put target creature into its owner's library second from the top." cost 3 mana and two colors, it would be a crappy card that sees no serious play. The reason I keep mentioning Oust, is because "Put target creature into its owner's library second from the top." is an ability that hasn't been used much, so people feel the CMC should be higher, but Oust isn't even that good and it only cost CMC 1. Thus, I don't feel this card is pushed, or at least any more than Abrupt Decay.
Because I want the card to be UB and the first mode of Defile is just blue. The second mode is black. It's supposed to be a really powerful removal spell, again, like Abrupt Decay.
Oust is a sorcery, which is a big difference, and at only one mana it is heavily pushed for the small additional drawback of 3 life. Abrupt Decay is very versatile, but it can only hit small things. And it only destroys the permanent. Putting a creature back on top of a library delays the creature, forces your opponent to pay for it again, and stops your opponent from drawing a new card. These are all big advantages that are not directly comparable to Abrupt Decay. Chronostutter may very well be an effect that hasn't been used much, but the very similar Griptide has been seen a lot more. It usually is three mana for sorcery and four mana for instant. I would expect about the same for an appropriately costed Chronostutter.
To add to this, Abrupt Decay is mostly played in Modern, where most permanents that are played cost 3 or less. The speed of Modern basically cancels out the card's downside.
Defile hits Junk harder than Decay since it hits the graveyard a d fuels gorf and Liliana can at least activate one of her abilities making her relevant to the board as a whole regardless.
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Ophelia Le Doux (R/B)
Creature - Vampire Assassin
Haste First Strike
1/1
Depredate 2BR
Sorcery [R]
Destroy target nonenchantment permanent. Depredate deals 3 damage to that permanent's controller.
Defile UB
Instant [R]
Choose one —
• Put target creature into its owner's library second from the top.
• Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Ophelia Le Doux (R/B)
Creature - Vampire Assassin
Haste First Strike
1/1
Gold: 0
Inventory: Clothes
Abilities:
Traits: Speed
Experience: 6/20
Mana: R
Odula Besa (U/B)
Creature - Vampire Artificer
T: Target artifact creature gets your choice of -1/-0 or +1/+0 until end of turn.
1/1
Gold: 41
Inventory: Adventurer's Clothes, Basic Artificer Toolkit, 3 pounds of Basic metal.
Abilities: N/A
Current Goals:
Experience: 1/20
Mana: 2(U/B)(U/B)
Custom Card / Set Reviewer
When reviewing custom cards / sets, I look for (a) flavour, (b) function, and (c) cohesiveness, generally through a risk focus.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Ophelia Le Doux (R/B)
Creature - Vampire Assassin
Haste First Strike
1/1
Gold: 0
Inventory: Clothes
Abilities:
Traits: Speed
Experience: 6/20
Mana: R
Odula Besa (U/B)
Creature - Vampire Artificer
T: Target artifact creature gets your choice of -1/-0 or +1/+0 until end of turn.
1/1
Gold: 41
Inventory: Adventurer's Clothes, Basic Artificer Toolkit, 3 pounds of Basic metal.
Abilities: N/A
Current Goals:
Experience: 1/20
Mana: 2(U/B)(U/B)
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Ophelia Le Doux (R/B)
Creature - Vampire Assassin
Haste First Strike
1/1
Gold: 0
Inventory: Clothes
Abilities:
Traits: Speed
Experience: 6/20
Mana: R
Odula Besa (U/B)
Creature - Vampire Artificer
T: Target artifact creature gets your choice of -1/-0 or +1/+0 until end of turn.
1/1
Gold: 41
Inventory: Adventurer's Clothes, Basic Artificer Toolkit, 3 pounds of Basic metal.
Abilities: N/A
Current Goals:
Experience: 1/20
Mana: 2(U/B)(U/B)
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
I'd make it just Disfigure/Unsummon. That way it's still got the same "kill small stuff"/"delay big stuff" dynamic going, it's nice and symmetrical, and you don't have the issue of one of the modes being significantly better than the other.
Also, any deck that can play Oust would rather have the insanely good Path to Exile. Blue generally struggles to get permanent answers, as well.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
I'd agree that it's not necessarily better than Decay in modern, but it's still pretty good. Creatures area almost required to be able to survive Bolt or give some additional value to be good in Modern. In Standard, where creatures with 4 or more CMC see play, it might be stronger than Decay.
I thought about making Depredate Mardu colors, but I wanted a card that could fit into more deck types, so a three color restriction I found pretty limiting.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Ophelia Le Doux (R/B)
Creature - Vampire Assassin
Haste First Strike
1/1
Gold: 0
Inventory: Clothes
Abilities:
Traits: Speed
Experience: 6/20
Mana: R
Odula Besa (U/B)
Creature - Vampire Artificer
T: Target artifact creature gets your choice of -1/-0 or +1/+0 until end of turn.
1/1
Gold: 41
Inventory: Adventurer's Clothes, Basic Artificer Toolkit, 3 pounds of Basic metal.
Abilities: N/A
Current Goals:
Experience: 1/20
Mana: 2(U/B)(U/B)
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Ophelia Le Doux (R/B)
Creature - Vampire Assassin
Haste First Strike
1/1
Gold: 0
Inventory: Clothes
Abilities:
Traits: Speed
Experience: 6/20
Mana: R
Odula Besa (U/B)
Creature - Vampire Artificer
T: Target artifact creature gets your choice of -1/-0 or +1/+0 until end of turn.
1/1
Gold: 41
Inventory: Adventurer's Clothes, Basic Artificer Toolkit, 3 pounds of Basic metal.
Abilities: N/A
Current Goals:
Experience: 1/20
Mana: 2(U/B)(U/B)
If anything, I'd be more concerned about Depredate in the current slow standard, than Defile in the current Modern.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate