Not bad. Seeing as how looters now cost 3 or more outside of baby Jace, this should see play. Blue also never seems to put out creatures that have power greater than their toughness so it has at least some ability to be played as aggro. Actually that might very well be the best way to play a guy like this. In a creature heavy deck with a lot of one drops that would be immediately upgraded by becoming 3/2's. And as to the skulk kinda sucks argument, having low power is the absolute best way to make skulk actually work, especially with all the Savannah lions in the format. Pretty good card.
Human Horror with art from Daarken - seems apropos.
Decent abilitites - how has everyone found skulk to be in standard ?
I'm lovin it in my BW Triskaidekaphobia budget build.
Skulk + combat tricks with lifelink & deathtouch chump blockers has been pretty hilarious against eldrazi fatties.
Can't speak to any expertise in blue but I can see counter spells & card draw substituting for the lifelink shell so long as you can find a way to win fairly early. Trampling werewolves flipping makes me poop my pants.
I don't like these Skulk cards, they're so friggin conditional. I mean, this card is either completely worthless or ridiculously overpowered depending on whether your opponent has a creature with 0 or 1 power. That doesn't feel like a good thing for the game to me.
Thankfully, Skulk is not evergreen. Set mechanics are allowed to, and, arguably, supposed to be more swingy.
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MTGSalvation; Where the whining is a time honored tradition, and enjoying the game is trolling.
A very solid card. The average cmc of 3/2 creatures is 3.16 so discarding creature cards, especially if they have madness, is positive value. The obvious choice for now is Sanitarium Skeleton.
This guy really looks to be great in standard. He's pooping card advantage left and right from a 2-drop, thats always a cause for alarm. Looting is pseudo-CA on its own, but 3/2 tokens are more to write home about. Now if this was innistrad 1.0 and every deck was running 1/1 spirit tokens left and right it might be different, but a 1/1 skulk is small enough to sneak under almost everything, and even if the enemy is running some kind of utility dork like a mirrored Worf, they'd just trade 1:1. But more notably yet is the fact this creature isn't dead in the water if the enemy has a thraben inspector- his second ability can still produce value from other discard outlets. Dying to removal has never been the bar for a 2-drop, so this thing should be big.
I think he is good too, but I don't see card advantage anywhere. Your discarding a card to get a token, that's an even trade. Loot is also not card advantage, your just filtering, not gaining cards.
My only issue with the playability of this card, is there aren't many creature cards played in standard that are strictly worse than a 3/2 vanilla token. So generally your always trading down. (Unless you have some sort of recursion a la gisa and geralf)
Discarding one, drawing one and getting a creature IS card advantage. What are you missing?
It's only card advantage if the tokens trade for your opponents cards. Token generators are not inherently card advantage.
Wow, a constructed-playable Skulk card. Not saying it will see play, as I think it will require a decent amount of help, but regularly making 3-powered tokens is nothing to sneeze at. Just have to ask if what you're discarding is worth it.
This guy really looks to be great in standard. He's pooping card advantage left and right from a 2-drop, thats always a cause for alarm. Looting is pseudo-CA on its own, but 3/2 tokens are more to write home about. Now if this was innistrad 1.0 and every deck was running 1/1 spirit tokens left and right it might be different, but a 1/1 skulk is small enough to sneak under almost everything, and even if the enemy is running some kind of utility dork like a mirrored Worf, they'd just trade 1:1. But more notably yet is the fact this creature isn't dead in the water if the enemy has a thraben inspector- his second ability can still produce value from other discard outlets. Dying to removal has never been the bar for a 2-drop, so this thing should be big.
I think he is good too, but I don't see card advantage anywhere. Your discarding a card to get a token, that's an even trade. Loot is also not card advantage, your just filtering, not gaining cards.
My only issue with the playability of this card, is there aren't many creature cards played in standard that are strictly worse than a 3/2 vanilla token. So generally your always trading down. (Unless you have some sort of recursion a la gisa and geralf)
Discarding one, drawing one and getting a creature IS card advantage. What are you missing?
It's only card advantage if the tokens trade for your opponents cards. Token generators are not inherently card advantage.
If you draw a card and discard it, it's not card advantage. If you draw a card, discard it, and make a creature, it's a 2 for 2 (which includes casting the infiltrator). Every repeat of that sequence becomes card advantage -- draw, discard, token is a 2 for 1. If it made 1/1s it would be a bit of a different story but the tokens are 3/2s which in combat trades with a lot of stuff.
Making a token from looting is literally +1 card advantage because you just made yourself a card from neutral change (draw one, discard one). Making a token from a pure discard is again, neutral change, a break even since you lost a card and then made one.
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"Pop in, find a dragon, roast a dragon."
-Chandra Nalaar
Why did I just get a mental image of a klingon doing the Mission Impossible drop?
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MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
How hasnt any one mentioned this guy with Black Self Discard Queen, Lilliana of the Veil or perhaps a revival of BU Madness? THis dude + Basking Rootwalla
Making a token from looting is literally +1 card advantage because you just made yourself a card from neutral change (draw one, discard one). Making a token from a pure discard is again, neutral change, a break even since you lost a card and then made one.
It is literally not card advantage because a token is not a card.
Tokens are only ever card advantage if they force your opponents to use more cards to deal with them than you spent to create them. Since this is situational and tokens are easier to deal with than creature cards, you can't say that a token generator is necessarily card advantage.
Wharf Infiltrator is an efficient but situational token generator. Not card advantage.
Super solid. A CMC any format can love. Good chance of being a money rare.
I respectfully disagree. I see it eating Dromoka's Commands all day. Maybe after that rotates. What kind of deck really wants this? Grixis Madness Vampires?
Making a token from looting is literally +1 card advantage because you just made yourself a card from neutral change (draw one, discard one). Making a token from a pure discard is again, neutral change, a break even since you lost a card and then made one.
It is literally not card advantage because a token is not a card.
Tokens are only ever card advantage if they force your opponents to use more cards to deal with them than you spent to create them. Since this is situational and tokens are easier to deal with than creature cards, you can't say that a token generator is necessarily card advantage.
Wharf Infiltrator is an efficient but situational token generator. Not card advantage.
Card advantage is quantitative, not qualitative.
A token is a creature on the field, a card that is impacting the state of the game. That creature in this case simply says that if it leaves the field, it leaves the game. If a card gives you more cards than the number of cards you are spending to play that card, said card is generating advantage regardless of the type of card it is giving you. This doesn't mean that the cards you are generating are always good. But that doesn't matter in respect to the hard math of card advantage.
Playing Divination and drawing two lands you don't need is still a +1.
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"Pop in, find a dragon, roast a dragon."
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Excellent choice. I also like spellshapers for this. Particularly Waterfront Bouncer, the #1 spellshaper for Commander.
And the skulk ability is really useful too.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Making a token from looting is literally +1 card advantage because you just made yourself a card from neutral change (draw one, discard one). Making a token from a pure discard is again, neutral change, a break even since you lost a card and then made one.
It is literally not card advantage because a token is not a card.
Tokens are only ever card advantage if they force your opponents to use more cards to deal with them than you spent to create them. Since this is situational and tokens are easier to deal with than creature cards, you can't say that a token generator is necessarily card advantage.
Wharf Infiltrator is an efficient but situational token generator. Not card advantage.
Card advantage is quantitative, not qualitative.
A token is a creature on the field, a card that is impacting the state of the game. That creature in this case simply says that if it leaves the field, it leaves the game. If a card gives you more cards than the number of cards you are spending to play that card, said card is generating advantage regardless of the type of card it is giving you. This doesn't mean that the cards you are generating are always good. But that doesn't matter in respect to the hard math of card advantage.
Playing Divination and drawing two lands you don't need is still a +1.
This is why advent of the wurm is literally garbage. You pay 4 mana to just -1 yourself. 5/5 flash trample, is good, but tokens don't count, duh.
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My favorite flavor text: Time of Heroes
Feel free to tell me yours!
Card advantage and card quality are two separate concepts. Looting is a "pseudo card advantage", in that its definitely not card advantage to have cards in your bin, but with the presence of recursion, its kind of like it, and definitely a positive. Gaining a token creature on the other hand is definitely card advantage, a token counts for board state, but how valuable that token is can vary wildly. A sprouting thrinax is only technically a "+3 card advantage", because 1/1 tokens are so pitiful they're not nearly as valuable as normal cards. But they can still be sacrificed or enchanted or counted for various effects.
A 3/2 creature is strong enough to be considered full blown card advantage. Its strong enough to impact the board state and be a serious threat, requiring spot removal or a trade in combat, in addition to being fuel for sac outlets or enchanted or equipped or whatever like a lowly goat token could.
So to some extent its subjective. But whats pretty definite about this card is that its a 2 cost card that develops your board state by a huge deal. Looting and damage like looter il-kor is strong enough on its own by developing your graveyard resource, then it develops your board by giving you very relevant aggro walls, self comboing and comboing with other cards and being possible to trigger multiple times per turn. If anything, its biggest restriction is the creature-type clause because modern blue decks might be light enough on creatures to either whiff or not want to bin them, meaning it plays better in standard with recurring threats like zombies. And its not just good with baby jace, its actually pretty competent looking compared to baby jace. Not many cards can make that claim. I'm comfortable calling this guy a shoe-in for constructed, but can't gauge how much impact it will have until I see the archetypes.
This card can turn cards that are not beneficial at the time into use. For instance, you have a second copy of this guy in your hand, a second one would not nearly net you as much value as the first, but chucking him to get a 3/2 is worth it. Have a Nihilist of the frost but few spells in hand? Dependong on the board state, chucking it for a token could be useful.
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This aint your girlfriends meta! This is a man's meta! TURBO META.
In a Standard defined by tokens and Thraben Inspectors, Skulk seems bad.
Slam first pick in limited though. Skulk's worked well enough in limited that I think I can compare this guy to Looter il-Kor, which is strong enough for cube, and on top of spewing 3/2s, this guy lives in a format with Madness and Delirium.
In a Standard defined by tokens and Thraben Inspectors, Skulk seems bad.
Slam first pick in limited though. Skulk's worked well enough in limited that I think I can compare this guy to Looter il-Kor, which is strong enough for cube, and on top of spewing 3/2s, this guy lives in a format with Madness and Delirium.
With the new set coming we should see some meta shifts, also it's not like every matchup is against tokens. It's a popular deck but it's not like you go into a tournament and face it 85% of the time. You also have to factor in that a lot of the tokens that deck makes are bigger than a 1/1, so in some cases they will not be able to block.
This guy is almost always a better Looter il-Kor for the limited format he's in, which is totally nuts. He's also EDH playable, in a grindy UBx graveyard focused deck. Maybe even Modern, with Shadow Guildmage and madness dudes.
Seems pretty good.
I'm lovin it in my BW Triskaidekaphobia budget build.
Skulk + combat tricks with lifelink & deathtouch chump blockers has been pretty hilarious against eldrazi fatties.
Can't speak to any expertise in blue but I can see counter spells & card draw substituting for the lifelink shell so long as you can find a way to win fairly early. Trampling werewolves flipping makes me poop my pants.
Thankfully, Skulk is not evergreen. Set mechanics are allowed to, and, arguably, supposed to be more swingy.
This doesn't work, his ability only triggers if you discard a creature card.
It's only card advantage if the tokens trade for your opponents cards. Token generators are not inherently card advantage.
If you draw a card and discard it, it's not card advantage. If you draw a card, discard it, and make a creature, it's a 2 for 2 (which includes casting the infiltrator). Every repeat of that sequence becomes card advantage -- draw, discard, token is a 2 for 1. If it made 1/1s it would be a bit of a different story but the tokens are 3/2s which in combat trades with a lot of stuff.
-Chandra Nalaar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXeh2SYAHuA
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
Oh, that's just Adorable...
It is literally not card advantage because a token is not a card.
Tokens are only ever card advantage if they force your opponents to use more cards to deal with them than you spent to create them. Since this is situational and tokens are easier to deal with than creature cards, you can't say that a token generator is necessarily card advantage.
Wharf Infiltrator is an efficient but situational token generator. Not card advantage.
I respectfully disagree. I see it eating Dromoka's Commands all day. Maybe after that rotates. What kind of deck really wants this? Grixis Madness Vampires?
A token is a creature on the field, a card that is impacting the state of the game. That creature in this case simply says that if it leaves the field, it leaves the game. If a card gives you more cards than the number of cards you are spending to play that card, said card is generating advantage regardless of the type of card it is giving you. This doesn't mean that the cards you are generating are always good. But that doesn't matter in respect to the hard math of card advantage.
Playing Divination and drawing two lands you don't need is still a +1.
-Chandra Nalaar
Excellent choice. I also like spellshapers for this. Particularly Waterfront Bouncer, the #1 spellshaper for Commander.
And the skulk ability is really useful too.
On phasing:
This is why advent of the wurm is literally garbage. You pay 4 mana to just -1 yourself. 5/5 flash trample, is good, but tokens don't count, duh.
Feel free to tell me yours!
A 3/2 creature is strong enough to be considered full blown card advantage. Its strong enough to impact the board state and be a serious threat, requiring spot removal or a trade in combat, in addition to being fuel for sac outlets or enchanted or equipped or whatever like a lowly goat token could.
So to some extent its subjective. But whats pretty definite about this card is that its a 2 cost card that develops your board state by a huge deal. Looting and damage like looter il-kor is strong enough on its own by developing your graveyard resource, then it develops your board by giving you very relevant aggro walls, self comboing and comboing with other cards and being possible to trigger multiple times per turn. If anything, its biggest restriction is the creature-type clause because modern blue decks might be light enough on creatures to either whiff or not want to bin them, meaning it plays better in standard with recurring threats like zombies. And its not just good with baby jace, its actually pretty competent looking compared to baby jace. Not many cards can make that claim. I'm comfortable calling this guy a shoe-in for constructed, but can't gauge how much impact it will have until I see the archetypes.
This card can turn cards that are not beneficial at the time into use. For instance, you have a second copy of this guy in your hand, a second one would not nearly net you as much value as the first, but chucking him to get a 3/2 is worth it. Have a Nihilist of the frost but few spells in hand? Dependong on the board state, chucking it for a token could be useful.
This aint your girlfriends meta! This is a man's meta! TURBO META.
Slam first pick in limited though. Skulk's worked well enough in limited that I think I can compare this guy to Looter il-Kor, which is strong enough for cube, and on top of spewing 3/2s, this guy lives in a format with Madness and Delirium.
Feel free to bid on my cards here!
So...in a vacuum...4cmc 5/5 trample flash is good, playable, right? But only if its on a creature card? Not a token? Why?
Seriph0 on cockatrice
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