Darn it- I've realized that this set is amazing. I know this because of how many doofy casual decks I'm compelled to make because of the new cards. So far, I have to make Vamps (man I already have a lot of good vamps sitting in the binder doing nothing), Zombies, considering madness, werewolves is getting a boost, and now, I'm ashamed to say----- Devils. They actually have a lot of decent cards. This devil is the apple of that deck's eye.
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My favorite flavor text: Time of Heroes
Feel free to tell me yours!
See, if I still played Standard, what I'd wanna do is make a MonoRed deck that tops out at CMC4 with as many burn spells as I can manage in the deck.
And run Sin Poker Player alongside Harness the Storm and then make binning my bolt-like cards (unless we get real lucky and Bolt finds its way back to Standard sometime before Fall 2017) come back around on them.
I love Tireless Tracker, but it's kinda sad that I'm getting just as many toys for my Titania in SOI as I got in BfZ block, the one that was supposed to be land-centric.
I knew as soon as I saw the devil that it was going to get misevaluated: not only is it a punisher card, it also has self mill.
Things to remember: assuming your deck is actually random (which it should be, and you probably aren't running scry in the same decks that want this guy), MILLING FROM THE TOP IS IDENTICAL TO MILLING FROM THE BOTTOM OF YOUR LIBRARY. Yes, there might sometimes be "feel bad" moments where you are forced to mill something you were looking for, but these are canceled out by the fact that every time you don't mill that card, you are digging closer to it (this is fairly simple probability, but the actual math has been done plenty of times).
Self-mill can only be a downside in three circumstances:
1) Your opponent has a card that cares about your graveyard. I can't think of anything in standard this applies to, and the only Modern application is if they have Tarmogoyfs and you don't. Most current graveyard cards only really care about your graveyard.
2) You are running a card that allows you to search your deck along with singletons to search for. Again, nothing comes to mind in current standard (though this happens enough that it could occur sometime in the next two years). While there are several playable Modern cards with this effect, it is quite unlikely to show up in the type of all-in aggro decks that Sin Prodder would fit in.
3) There is a chance that the game will be ended by you being completely milled out. The chances of this happening are virtually zero unless the opponent is playing a dedicated mill deck. While Sphinx's Tutelage is an example of mill being good fairly recently, unless the format changes this shouldn't be a concern (especially in an aggro deck), and even if it is, Prodder's trigger is MUCH more likely to help you win the aggro vs mill race than lose it.
On the other hand, self mill can often be a good thing. In this set, delirium is the best example, but there could easily be other cards that care as well. The important thing here is that Prodder's trigger will NEVER be a downside. There is NO case in which having the trigger would be worse than not having it. The absolute WORST case scenario is that you mill a land, which (aside from helping trigger delirium, which may be helpful) has zero effect.
Punisher cards are strictly worse than either of their modes, but a card with a punisher effect is still strictly better than the card without that effect. The closer the two modes are, the less of a downside giving the opponent the choice is. In this case, Prodder is strictly better than a 2R 3/2 menace. That's not a bad baseline, pretty close to playable depending on the removal and small board wipes in the format. In an aggro deck, the two modes are quite similar (take damage or give me a card that will be used to do damage), and a non-punisher card with either mode would be insane. Prodder is a very good card, with a decent baseline and an ability that has no downside but tons of potential upside.
However, as good as Prodder is in a vacuum, it's still possible it won't see much play. RB Madness Vampires (or even Werewolves, though thqt seems less likely) could end up being the best red aggro deck, and not play Prodder because it isn't in the tribe. Or the format could end up being hostile to x/2s that cost more than 2 cmc (perhaps due to a pyroclasm effect, the existence of a bunch of 2-power first strikers, or because Shock is getting a lot of play). Even if it doesn't see tons of immediate play, Prodder is too good to not get played for at least part of its time in standard.
Tireless Tracker seems potentially playable in a green midrange deck even without human or investigate synergy. The body isn't great, but it only takes one clue sacrifice to get him to be on-curve, and later it can get much bigger. Offering protection against flooding, a mana sink, and the ability to grow to be a significant threat in the late game, he has upside, but might just be too slow to do anything. With human synergy or more investigate cards, he could get much better. Without any more help, he is worth considering, but far from a certainty.
The pokey devil looks maybe Standard-playable if a burn-heavy deck emerges, while a 3/2 with menace isn't bad, the punisher effect is only worth it if you have cards likeReality Hemorrhage Touch of the Void ie. cards that have a one-shot damage effect equal to its mana cost, else you'll end up losing out since the opponent will probably send small creatures or lands to the graveyard. Playing this in Modern Burn is out of the question of course.
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Feel free to tell me yours!
Guess we'll find out.
And run Sin Poker Player alongside Harness the Storm and then make binning my bolt-like cards (unless we get real lucky and Bolt finds its way back to Standard sometime before Fall 2017) come back around on them.
Things to remember: assuming your deck is actually random (which it should be, and you probably aren't running scry in the same decks that want this guy), MILLING FROM THE TOP IS IDENTICAL TO MILLING FROM THE BOTTOM OF YOUR LIBRARY. Yes, there might sometimes be "feel bad" moments where you are forced to mill something you were looking for, but these are canceled out by the fact that every time you don't mill that card, you are digging closer to it (this is fairly simple probability, but the actual math has been done plenty of times).
Self-mill can only be a downside in three circumstances:
1) Your opponent has a card that cares about your graveyard. I can't think of anything in standard this applies to, and the only Modern application is if they have Tarmogoyfs and you don't. Most current graveyard cards only really care about your graveyard.
2) You are running a card that allows you to search your deck along with singletons to search for. Again, nothing comes to mind in current standard (though this happens enough that it could occur sometime in the next two years). While there are several playable Modern cards with this effect, it is quite unlikely to show up in the type of all-in aggro decks that Sin Prodder would fit in.
3) There is a chance that the game will be ended by you being completely milled out. The chances of this happening are virtually zero unless the opponent is playing a dedicated mill deck. While Sphinx's Tutelage is an example of mill being good fairly recently, unless the format changes this shouldn't be a concern (especially in an aggro deck), and even if it is, Prodder's trigger is MUCH more likely to help you win the aggro vs mill race than lose it.
On the other hand, self mill can often be a good thing. In this set, delirium is the best example, but there could easily be other cards that care as well. The important thing here is that Prodder's trigger will NEVER be a downside. There is NO case in which having the trigger would be worse than not having it. The absolute WORST case scenario is that you mill a land, which (aside from helping trigger delirium, which may be helpful) has zero effect.
Punisher cards are strictly worse than either of their modes, but a card with a punisher effect is still strictly better than the card without that effect. The closer the two modes are, the less of a downside giving the opponent the choice is. In this case, Prodder is strictly better than a 2R 3/2 menace. That's not a bad baseline, pretty close to playable depending on the removal and small board wipes in the format. In an aggro deck, the two modes are quite similar (take damage or give me a card that will be used to do damage), and a non-punisher card with either mode would be insane. Prodder is a very good card, with a decent baseline and an ability that has no downside but tons of potential upside.
However, as good as Prodder is in a vacuum, it's still possible it won't see much play. RB Madness Vampires (or even Werewolves, though thqt seems less likely) could end up being the best red aggro deck, and not play Prodder because it isn't in the tribe. Or the format could end up being hostile to x/2s that cost more than 2 cmc (perhaps due to a pyroclasm effect, the existence of a bunch of 2-power first strikers, or because Shock is getting a lot of play). Even if it doesn't see tons of immediate play, Prodder is too good to not get played for at least part of its time in standard.
Tireless Tracker seems potentially playable in a green midrange deck even without human or investigate synergy. The body isn't great, but it only takes one clue sacrifice to get him to be on-curve, and later it can get much bigger. Offering protection against flooding, a mana sink, and the ability to grow to be a significant threat in the late game, he has upside, but might just be too slow to do anything. With human synergy or more investigate cards, he could get much better. Without any more help, he is worth considering, but far from a certainty.
Pretty sure we will see the same lands in EMO at night with moon in the sky.