Im new to magic so I'm still learning a lot of the abilities cards can do. Last night Krosan Tusker came up and it doesn't seem to me like cycling this card has ny benefits. I just wanted to see what would be a situation in which I would want to cycle this cars (other that if I really need mana)?
It gives the card an extra option. Frankly, a 7 mana 6/5 isn't particularly good, but with the cycling option at last you can cash in on it early game to fix your mana if you need to.
A 7 mana card will be dead for long time if it happens to be in your hand early in the game. The Tusker gives you a cheaper option to use it, making it not dead and instead allowing you to further your game plan. You get a different card and a basic land of your choice by cycling it, thus replacing the card and fixing your mana at the same time. Furthermore, many decks stall at 3 lands for a turn or more, so if you don't have anything else to do on turn 3, you can smooth out your land plays to turn 4 and even turn 5. Which enables you to play more expensive cards earlier and put pressure on your opponent.
Consider the card Divination. For 3 mana and spending a card you draw 2 cards. Now Ccompare to the Tusker. For 3 mana and spending a card you get 2 cards, one of which is a basic land. This can be considered slightly less useful than Divination, but with the Tusker you also get the option of playing it for 7 mana as a 6/5 creature, a legitimate threat, if you get it later in the game. So the Tusker is basically a green Divination with a big body attached. And it is much harder to counter, since you are not casting a spell but activating an ability and setting off a triggered ability. (By the way, due to the nature of cycling triggers, you search first, then shuffle, then draw.)
Oh ok I see. So since this card requires high mana and would not be useful in the early game, the cycling ability is able to give it some versatility by allowing you you try and get something better. That makes sense. But am I able to use his ability without casting him first?
Cycling is done from hand, so you haven't cast it yet. Notice that part of the cost to cycle is "Discard this card," which can only be done from hand. So you either cycle it or cast it. Once it is in play, you cannot cycle it.
Cycling offers versatility (3 mana: get a land, draw a card; OR 7 mana: 6/5 creature), but it also offers a couple other options. By cycling a creature, it is now in your graveyard and can be reanimated or counted toward Delirium or Threshold. There are cycling pay-off cards like Astral Slide or the newly spoiled Drannith Stinger. Entire decks have been built around cycling. But it can also just be used on its own.
Consider the card Divination. For 3 mana and spending a card you draw 2 cards. Now Ccompare to the Tusker. For 3 mana and spending a card you get 2 cards, one of which is a basic land. This can be considered slightly less useful than Divination, but with the Tusker you also get the option of playing it for 7 mana as a 6/5 creature, a legitimate threat, if you get it later in the game. So the Tusker is basically a green Divination with a big body attached. And it is much harder to counter, since you are not casting a spell but activating an ability and setting off a triggered ability. (By the way, due to the nature of cycling triggers, you search first, then shuffle, then draw.)
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Cycling offers versatility (3 mana: get a land, draw a card; OR 7 mana: 6/5 creature), but it also offers a couple other options. By cycling a creature, it is now in your graveyard and can be reanimated or counted toward Delirium or Threshold. There are cycling pay-off cards like Astral Slide or the newly spoiled Drannith Stinger. Entire decks have been built around cycling. But it can also just be used on its own.
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
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