Cards such as braingeyser and Stroke of Genius have been synonymous with two decks: control and combo. Is it possible, and if so how, to break Invoke the Firemind in todays standard environment? Are there combo decks just waiting to be made with this extra oomph of power?
Invoke the Firemind - :xmana::symu::symr:
Sorcery (R)
Choose one - Draw X cards; or Invoke the Firemind deals X damage to target creature or player.
Tidings does the same thing, only it nets you an extra card for nearly the same price. For this reason, I would guess no. Sorcery speed card draw needs to be pretty cheap to be decent.
Braingeyser and Stroke were used almost entirely for their ability to deck an opponent. If you want to make a deck that runs ItF, it needs 1)ways to shut down large portions of the opponents deck at once (the blue leyline, maybe?), and 2)serious mana accel.
It's an impressive card, but I don't think it will fit very well into any of the decks we have now. If it's going to find a place to work, a new deck will have to form around it.
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IMHO the sorcery speed kills this sucker. Any sorcery speed X spell has to be a win and there are better X spells that can be used to win than this.
Are you nuts? First of all, it fits right into the South African UR "Hattori Honzo" Tron deck quite well. Second, the spell can be a win with enough mana, and can also be a way to find a win.
In Limited its a bomb due to its ability to help you either recover massive card advantage or just kill your opponent. In Constructed its a versatile card that is just made better since most Draw cards in Standard right now are becoming sorceries anyhow......
Sure, it can't mill your opponent, but it can burn them to death with enough mana anyhow! Besides, play UB if you want to mill in current Standard.
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I think this is a case card where we should look in legacy or vintage for this to be broken where the versatility might prove better than just running stroke which is instant.
It's designed so well that people don't even realize how awful it is. Would you run a Blaze that cost :xmana::symr::symr:? Would you run a Braingeyser that couldn't target your opponents? Would you run two colors just to get a choice between these two effects? The answer is "no" on all three counts.
This card cannot be broken. It doesn't have the power to be. It might find a home in a deck that was already good without it, but only if it replaces other fairly weak cards in that deck.
It's designed so well that people don't even realize how awful it is. Would you run a Blaze that cost :xmana::symr::symr:? Would you run a Braingeyser that couldn't target your opponents? Would you run two colors just to get a choice between these two effects? The answer is "no" on all three counts.
This card cannot be broken. It doesn't have the power to be. It might find a home in a deck that was already good without it, but only if it replaces other fairly weak cards in that deck.
I think most people, at least the people that actually would answer no to your first two questions, recognize that it isn't very good. But the fact remains that it does something in Standard that no other card can do: turn an arbitrary amount of mana into cards. It even does this while still remaining a threat card in the deck.
It IS a limited bomb, and while its place in Constructed is pretty questionable, there may well come a time when a deck needs a total late game swinger like this to stay in the game consistently, and this may be run as a two-of. Or a one of, if they run Muddle the Mixture, I guess. In any case, I wouldn't totally discount it.
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This card is decent in constructed. It works well in UR tron, and seething song it pertty awesome with it. It recoupes cards or blazes your opponent. Its versatile, but not extremely good. It will go in UR tron, possible heartbeat.
I'd say it's alright. The only thing that makes it "okay" is the versatility - it gets cards or it burns stuff out. Probably, though, there's better options, and you'll end up just using it to draw more burn.
I believe Invoke is a card-drawer at heart - a card-drawer that doubles as spot removal or deals the last few points of damage you need to win.
That said, U/R 'Tron will play it without thinking, and it'll probably find its way into counter-burn decks as well.
On another note, the name is delightful, and if the art is anywhere near as delightful, I'm getting a playset.
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Am I missing something? This card is like Braingeyser (which is a good card), except instead of being able to mill your opponent, you get to burn them out instead. And since it typically requires less mana to burn your opponent out rather than mill him, that would make this a better card than Braingeyser, aside, of course, from the color considerations.
Am I missing something? This card is like Braingeyser (which is a good card), except instead of being able to mill your opponent, you get to burn them out instead. And since it typically requires less mana to burn your opponent out rather than mill him, that would make this a better card than Braingeyser, aside, of course, from the color considerations.
Except, if you're going to use it as a kill spell, Blaze costs U less. The extra mana when compared to some other cards in the format is what makes it a slightly slower. 'Tron doesn't really care, but other decks might.
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I think most people, at least the people that actually would answer no to your first two questions, recognize that it isn't very good. But the fact remains that it does something in Standard that no other card can do: turn an arbitrary amount of mana into cards. It even does this while still remaining a threat card in the deck.
It IS a limited bomb, and while its place in Constructed is pretty questionable, there may well come a time when a deck needs a total late game swinger like this to stay in the game consistently, and this may be run as a two-of. Or a one of, if they run Muddle the Mixture, I guess. In any case, I wouldn't totally discount it.
Well said. It isn't very good, but there isn't another card in Standard that has this type of effect (the draw x) and, whether it ever sees play or not (Hatori Hanzo Tron), at least having the option of a Draw X spell is good.
Am I missing something? This card is like Braingeyser (which is a good card), except instead of being able to mill your opponent, you get to burn them out instead. And since it typically requires less mana to burn your opponent out rather than mill him, that would make this a better card than Braingeyser, aside, of course, from the color considerations.
For the correct deck, yes. For your typical UR or splash deck, no. This isn't a card you would want to run in a fair deck that just puts basic lands into play. For the types of decks that could abuse cards like Braingeyser in T2, this would be a very good card and why it's a natural fit for the UR Tron deck. You have the option of drawing many cards or burning your opponent out instead of just the Blaze option that the deck uses now.
Heck, its the only card in Extended that does what it does, though arguably if you've got enough mana to use it, you can use Mind's Desire, which is a bit more broken.
More importantly, though, I think it is powerful because it allows a UR tron deck to have a draw X card AND to function as burn in the same slot, possibly opening up other slots. I've already thought of a tricolor control deck that uses this card with a bunch of board clearers to let you build up mana, then draw a bunch of cards (including board clearers) allowing you to win.
I think it is a very good card that will see play in a few decks, but which is pretty useless to a lot of other decks.
Sooner or later, you'll see it our way
Tidings does the same thing, only it nets you an extra card for nearly the same price. For this reason, I would guess no. Sorcery speed card draw needs to be pretty cheap to be decent.
It's an impressive card, but I don't think it will fit very well into any of the decks we have now. If it's going to find a place to work, a new deck will have to form around it.
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Are you nuts? First of all, it fits right into the South African UR "Hattori Honzo" Tron deck quite well. Second, the spell can be a win with enough mana, and can also be a way to find a win.
In Limited its a bomb due to its ability to help you either recover massive card advantage or just kill your opponent. In Constructed its a versatile card that is just made better since most Draw cards in Standard right now are becoming sorceries anyhow......
Sure, it can't mill your opponent, but it can burn them to death with enough mana anyhow! Besides, play UB if you want to mill in current Standard.
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It's designed so well that people don't even realize how awful it is. Would you run a Blaze that cost :xmana::symr::symr:? Would you run a Braingeyser that couldn't target your opponents? Would you run two colors just to get a choice between these two effects? The answer is "no" on all three counts.
This card cannot be broken. It doesn't have the power to be. It might find a home in a deck that was already good without it, but only if it replaces other fairly weak cards in that deck.
Turn 5 draw 7 sounds good
I think most people, at least the people that actually would answer no to your first two questions, recognize that it isn't very good. But the fact remains that it does something in Standard that no other card can do: turn an arbitrary amount of mana into cards. It even does this while still remaining a threat card in the deck.
It IS a limited bomb, and while its place in Constructed is pretty questionable, there may well come a time when a deck needs a total late game swinger like this to stay in the game consistently, and this may be run as a two-of. Or a one of, if they run Muddle the Mixture, I guess. In any case, I wouldn't totally discount it.
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Sure, it's definitely not playable in every deck, but it goes very well in 2 decks that have been proven to be good already: Heartbeat and UR Tron.
I've already had success in my playgroup with a UR Tron deck that just drops the 2 tidings and 2 blaze for 4 of this badboy.
And as for heartbeat, it's just as good as blaze, as you'll always have the mana. Plus, it draws cards in a pinch.
That said, U/R 'Tron will play it without thinking, and it'll probably find its way into counter-burn decks as well.
On another note, the name is delightful, and if the art is anywhere near as delightful, I'm getting a playset.
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Except, if you're going to use it as a kill spell, Blaze costs U less. The extra mana when compared to some other cards in the format is what makes it a slightly slower. 'Tron doesn't really care, but other decks might.
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Yea, it's ridiculous in limited, that probably why it's a rare. It's blaze with U tacked on, at the very, very least.
Well said. It isn't very good, but there isn't another card in Standard that has this type of effect (the draw x) and, whether it ever sees play or not (Hatori Hanzo Tron), at least having the option of a Draw X spell is good.
For the correct deck, yes. For your typical UR or splash deck, no. This isn't a card you would want to run in a fair deck that just puts basic lands into play. For the types of decks that could abuse cards like Braingeyser in T2, this would be a very good card and why it's a natural fit for the UR Tron deck. You have the option of drawing many cards or burning your opponent out instead of just the Blaze option that the deck uses now.
I'm not sure... because if it can be copied... this is a house!
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No, it can't. 8^)
About the only thing that deck does reliably is generate raw mana, without heartbeat schenanigans.
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More importantly, though, I think it is powerful because it allows a UR tron deck to have a draw X card AND to function as burn in the same slot, possibly opening up other slots. I've already thought of a tricolor control deck that uses this card with a bunch of board clearers to let you build up mana, then draw a bunch of cards (including board clearers) allowing you to win.
I think it is a very good card that will see play in a few decks, but which is pretty useless to a lot of other decks.
technically speaking, it can, but you would have to cast if for x = 0... which is pretty pointless.