This card is secretly a lava axe/cruel edict punisher card. Your deck has to be pretty aggressive to use this, because tapping out and swinging can be a liability if you're behind or on the defensive. there are times where they'll just soak the hit and be happy you tapped blockers
the real problem i have with the card is why is it not a split card. Mischief // Mayhem would have been an awesome Izzet // Grull or Rakdos card
In White and maybe Red, that would be closer to, but still unplayable. Blue creatures don't really change size when targeted, so it's unlikely to act as a combat trick. How playable was Boon of Erebos, which is considerably stronger than Hypothetical Card.
Wave Crash Triton and Retraction Helix seems like an awesome combo, so I understand why people are jazzed about it, but honestly, Helix seems closer to a fringe playable, archetype enabler than to 'best blue common in the set.'
Anyone whose played with convoke can tell you, tapping a creature as a cost is not free. You don't just have extra dudes lying around always, and this card is pretty weak during the early turns against an aggressive start. you probably aren't going to be able to stop your opponents heroic horse on turn 4 with this card.
Also, I really don't know how happy I am with an unsummon that actually 'dies to removal.' Getting your creature murdered in response to this can actually be back breaking.
This is a card I'd be happy to play if I had a plethora of tough heroic guys. Even the inspire dudes don't inspire me to play this. Unlike heroic, most inspired creatures want to be tapped repeatedly (because tapping is much easier to do than target), so you are hardly getting close to a cards worth of value tapping your inspired creature. sure, the common thieving magpie does draw you a card when it untaps, but it's also a 2 power flier, so the preferred method of tapping it is swinging for 2.
Again, this card isn't unplayable, but it's archetype dependent, and should never be picked above the cards required to turn it on. It's also quite unsynergistic with any of the aggressive heroic creatures.
Surprised how much excitement people have over this card. 'Scaling' manaleaks, historically have all been terrible. Manaleak is strong enough early game to justify it's inclusion in decks that don't mind it being dead late game. This card is bad to useless early game, mediocre midgame, and then back to quite bad late game.
the only decks that run this, don't want a counterspell on turn 2: they want to be dropping things on the board. this means you're banking on a conditional counterspell turn 3 or 4, in a deck that wants to tap out the first 4 turns of the game?
if your hand contains this, but no 1 drop, you might have to just mulligan. if that 1 drop is a creature with evolve, then this card is also still sitting in your hand. if your opponent has instant speed removal, they can just lower your devotion in response to your casting this, nulifying it. basically this card makes you work really hard to get, what? a 1for1 counter.
i'm going to ruffle some feathers and say: counterspell is not a broken card. it's very strong, sure. i'd argue it isn't even as strong as lightning bolt. a conditional counterspell that you have to jump through hoops for is not a winning proposition.
I also wouldn't run 4 doomblade, as it's dead in the monoblack mirror (which comes up). Ultimate Price won't do what you always want but is probably has targets against every deck. The problem with out running thoughtseize and hero"s downfall is you"re going to be quite weak to walkers and there aren't really any other cards that shore up that weakness... maybe pithing needle
rather than try for complete analogs, you can try run more pack rats, or even an abhoration overlord (requires shrines, i assume). The black devotion aggro deck isn't great, but is cheaper than the control option, and functions without hero's downfall decently (has much fewer spells lots)
yeah. ratchet bomb is an awesome answer to pack rats, because it kills the rat and all tokens the rat could produce. and, unlike pithing needle, you can get rid of it if you draw your own rats. also, if you already have rats in play, it's okay because ratchet bomb is a split card. it's a suspend vindicate AND it's a 2B rat lord.
Running 2 Nykthos for no reason (and nothing to ramp to), running Ratchet Bombs AND Pack Rats
While I'm not defending the deck in question (the sideboard and white being more than questionable), you're going to have to explain your logic here. Wether or not nykthos is correct, there are ways of using 7-10 mana without having any 7-10 mana spells in your deck: pack rats and underworld connections being the two most obvious culprits
secondly, i don't see why pack rats and rachet bomb, are at odds with each other. can you explain that to me? are you worried that you'll top deck a ratchet bomb with pack rats in play?
I away saw PR as a filler card in Mono B because it didn't have any better 2 drops.
It's not. Pack rat single handily defeats several decks, and is the strongest card in the monoblack mirror (underworld connections and nightveil spectre being second and 3rd). Honestly, last standard and this standard have nothing in common. In last standard, half the creatures played had 'enters the battlefield' abilities, making single target removal suboptimal. black removal cost 3 mana, and was useless against thragtusk, resto angel, and tiago chan. suddenly, we're back to magic, where you no longer get free 2 for 1s, and 3 for 1s, tacked onto permanents. if you want card advantage, you have to tap out for the turn, and spend mana on something that only nets you cards (underworld connections, divination, read the bones). there are also almost no cards that generate multiple permanents in one card.
desecration demon, for instance, was completely useless in last standard because all that he was was a big creature. he didn't give you life, draw you cards, flash, create werewolves, or boost the power of your humans. there's no longer lingering souls to keep him tapped down for 40 years, or thragtusk to race and obsolete him.
in this environment, rats are great. you can't beat rats with 1for1 removal because you probably only have 10 or so removal spells in your deck, where as your opponent has 50+ pack rats. eventually, you'll run out, and you'll get eaten by rats. that's what they do. if your opponent can't race you, wrath you, or d-sphere you, rats are good. honestly, monoblack functions perfectly well without 2 drops. it runs, typically, 6 2 mana removal spells and it has mutavaults. it doesn't need a clock at all. it runs the rats because they are great top decks, virtually never bad, and just give you a lot of free wins.
try not to be so defamatory toward the OP, especially when you, yourself, seem not understand the context of the current format.
hey search the city is 5/5 creature with opalescence and sorrow's path triggers landfall.
neither being in standard. it does provide 1 blue for devotion though (on a hard to destroy permanent type), and increases the power of a creature with ethreal armor on it...
While I don't disagree with maindecking 4 pack rats, I don't think you need to make a 'pack rat' deck. Pack rat has the fun property that, if you have one, your deck is a 'pack rat' deck, seeing as all your cards are suddenly pack rats. Trying to make your deck rely on pack rat more seems unnecessary. afterall, what if you don't draw one
if you do want to be the 'best' pack rat deck, then you want to be running:
4+ 1 mana discard spells. Thoughtseize and duress are the best cards to play
before pack rat.
Underworld connections, Nyk, and/or Nightveil spectre: underworld connections and nightveil spectre both let you play cards in addition to your rats, or, more rats. nyk lets rat 4+ count as swamps, which is nice. of course, at that point you're either winning, or you'll get your rats answered
3-4 mutavaults: for obvious reasons
also, any graveyard synergy wouldn't hurt. whip of erebos and pack rat are pretty close friends, as you well know.
2 pages in, and no one has mentioned Search the City?
I'd play a 0/2 flyer with no abilities for 3, or an aura that pumps a creature by 3 (and technically is semidecent with burning-tree emissary) long before i'd spend 5 mana on an enchantment that does absolutely nothing. Search is worse than trait doctoring (which repeatedly triggers heroic). Trait doctoring is probably #2, and search warrant definitely deserves a shout out.
Honestly, this deck seems extremely hard for monoblack to beat. Monoblack actually has quite a slow clock, and has a particularly hard time against planeswalkers, even with hero's downfall. Assemble the legion basically blanks desecration demons, and, short of ratchet bomb, monoblack can't answer them. Pack rat is also pretty weak to anger of the gods.
The two cards are very similar, but despite being slightly more expensive I'd rate Hythonia as stronger.
I think the argument is: if either becomes monstrous, you most likely win the game, so pick the cheaper one. 8 is 2 or 3 turns slower than 7, reducing the likelihood you'll get there, as many games end Hythonia gets a chance to go super saiyin
opponent having discard and card draw spells are the two best reasons to play out all your lands. pack rats, or other cards that use lands in hand as fuel are a great reason not to
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the real problem i have with the card is why is it not a split card. Mischief // Mayhem would have been an awesome Izzet // Grull or Rakdos card
In White and maybe Red, that would be closer to, but still unplayable. Blue creatures don't really change size when targeted, so it's unlikely to act as a combat trick. How playable was Boon of Erebos, which is considerably stronger than Hypothetical Card.
Anyone whose played with convoke can tell you, tapping a creature as a cost is not free. You don't just have extra dudes lying around always, and this card is pretty weak during the early turns against an aggressive start. you probably aren't going to be able to stop your opponents heroic horse on turn 4 with this card.
Also, I really don't know how happy I am with an unsummon that actually 'dies to removal.' Getting your creature murdered in response to this can actually be back breaking.
This is a card I'd be happy to play if I had a plethora of tough heroic guys. Even the inspire dudes don't inspire me to play this. Unlike heroic, most inspired creatures want to be tapped repeatedly (because tapping is much easier to do than target), so you are hardly getting close to a cards worth of value tapping your inspired creature. sure, the common thieving magpie does draw you a card when it untaps, but it's also a 2 power flier, so the preferred method of tapping it is swinging for 2.
Again, this card isn't unplayable, but it's archetype dependent, and should never be picked above the cards required to turn it on. It's also quite unsynergistic with any of the aggressive heroic creatures.
the only decks that run this, don't want a counterspell on turn 2: they want to be dropping things on the board. this means you're banking on a conditional counterspell turn 3 or 4, in a deck that wants to tap out the first 4 turns of the game?
if your hand contains this, but no 1 drop, you might have to just mulligan. if that 1 drop is a creature with evolve, then this card is also still sitting in your hand. if your opponent has instant speed removal, they can just lower your devotion in response to your casting this, nulifying it. basically this card makes you work really hard to get, what? a 1for1 counter.
i'm going to ruffle some feathers and say: counterspell is not a broken card. it's very strong, sure. i'd argue it isn't even as strong as lightning bolt. a conditional counterspell that you have to jump through hoops for is not a winning proposition.
I also wouldn't run 4 doomblade, as it's dead in the monoblack mirror (which comes up). Ultimate Price won't do what you always want but is probably has targets against every deck. The problem with out running thoughtseize and hero"s downfall is you"re going to be quite weak to walkers and there aren't really any other cards that shore up that weakness... maybe pithing needle
rather than try for complete analogs, you can try run more pack rats, or even an abhoration overlord (requires shrines, i assume). The black devotion aggro deck isn't great, but is cheaper than the control option, and functions without hero's downfall decently (has much fewer spells lots)
I find desecration demon pretty underwhelming in the mirror. I'd much rather have more rats and rat answers there. still, a fair answer
yeah. ratchet bomb is an awesome answer to pack rats, because it kills the rat and all tokens the rat could produce. and, unlike pithing needle, you can get rid of it if you draw your own rats. also, if you already have rats in play, it's okay because ratchet bomb is a split card. it's a suspend vindicate AND it's a 2B rat lord.
While I'm not defending the deck in question (the sideboard and white being more than questionable), you're going to have to explain your logic here. Wether or not nykthos is correct, there are ways of using 7-10 mana without having any 7-10 mana spells in your deck: pack rats and underworld connections being the two most obvious culprits
secondly, i don't see why pack rats and rachet bomb, are at odds with each other. can you explain that to me? are you worried that you'll top deck a ratchet bomb with pack rats in play?
It's not. Pack rat single handily defeats several decks, and is the strongest card in the monoblack mirror (underworld connections and nightveil spectre being second and 3rd). Honestly, last standard and this standard have nothing in common. In last standard, half the creatures played had 'enters the battlefield' abilities, making single target removal suboptimal. black removal cost 3 mana, and was useless against thragtusk, resto angel, and tiago chan. suddenly, we're back to magic, where you no longer get free 2 for 1s, and 3 for 1s, tacked onto permanents. if you want card advantage, you have to tap out for the turn, and spend mana on something that only nets you cards (underworld connections, divination, read the bones). there are also almost no cards that generate multiple permanents in one card.
desecration demon, for instance, was completely useless in last standard because all that he was was a big creature. he didn't give you life, draw you cards, flash, create werewolves, or boost the power of your humans. there's no longer lingering souls to keep him tapped down for 40 years, or thragtusk to race and obsolete him.
in this environment, rats are great. you can't beat rats with 1for1 removal because you probably only have 10 or so removal spells in your deck, where as your opponent has 50+ pack rats. eventually, you'll run out, and you'll get eaten by rats. that's what they do. if your opponent can't race you, wrath you, or d-sphere you, rats are good. honestly, monoblack functions perfectly well without 2 drops. it runs, typically, 6 2 mana removal spells and it has mutavaults. it doesn't need a clock at all. it runs the rats because they are great top decks, virtually never bad, and just give you a lot of free wins.
try not to be so defamatory toward the OP, especially when you, yourself, seem not understand the context of the current format.
neither being in standard. it does provide 1 blue for devotion though (on a hard to destroy permanent type), and increases the power of a creature with ethreal armor on it...
if you do want to be the 'best' pack rat deck, then you want to be running:
4+ 1 mana discard spells. Thoughtseize and duress are the best cards to play
before pack rat.
Underworld connections, Nyk, and/or Nightveil spectre: underworld connections and nightveil spectre both let you play cards in addition to your rats, or, more rats. nyk lets rat 4+ count as swamps, which is nice. of course, at that point you're either winning, or you'll get your rats answered
3-4 mutavaults: for obvious reasons
also, any graveyard synergy wouldn't hurt. whip of erebos and pack rat are pretty close friends, as you well know.
I'd play a 0/2 flyer with no abilities for 3, or an aura that pumps a creature by 3 (and technically is semidecent with burning-tree emissary) long before i'd spend 5 mana on an enchantment that does absolutely nothing. Search is worse than trait doctoring (which repeatedly triggers heroic). Trait doctoring is probably #2, and search warrant definitely deserves a shout out.
I think the argument is: if either becomes monstrous, you most likely win the game, so pick the cheaper one. 8 is 2 or 3 turns slower than 7, reducing the likelihood you'll get there, as many games end Hythonia gets a chance to go super saiyin