So this is basically Pauper's Tarmogoyf (although -1/-1 short of being a true one). It's cheap, splashy, monocolor, rewards you for playing a normal game of Magic, passes the Lightning Bolt test, multiples in hand aren't dead, and even if you don't meet Delirium it still serves as a good roadblock that will stop cold a good portion of the metagame until it can trade with them and start swinging.
I'd be shocked if this didn't find a home in Pauper since all it's counterparts suffer some kind of liability: Werebear needs a total of seven cards in the grave, Hooting Mandrills can rarely be played on turn 2 and multiples in hand are difficult to chain, Horned Kavu requires setup and perfect fixing in order to be played on curve and Putrid Leech is two-colored and requires 2 life per activation. It also doesn't require to run bad cards like Thought Scour and Mental Note like Gurmag Angler does.
So what decks could possibly want this? First and foremost, Tempo decks. This guy is to Pauper's Green what Delver of Secrets is to Pauper's Blue (okay, not THAT powerful, but it comes close). It's a cheap threat that presents a good clock and that it's turned on by virtue of playing a normal game of Magic. Comparing to Delver himself, the "face" cards are not pretty great on their own: A 1/1 for U vs a 0/4 for 1G. Both seem pretty lackluster, and each has it's advantages: Delver can be played on turn 1, while Scavenger survives Bolt and all those pesky 1 damage spells we've beengettinglately. We all know Insectile Aberration though: a pretty good darn clock with evasion itself. Scavenger's "flip" card is a 3/4, offering the same clock. While it lacks evasion, a lot of the meta is flying nowadays, and it compensates by having a good butt that tanks the Firebolts, Lightning Bolts and Aerial Volleys that fly around lately. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's better than Delver. I'm saying that it might make a great partner for it, and I wouldn't be surprised if this duo starts to tag team often.
Secondly, Green based Midrange decks. Midrange decks are basically goodstuff, and what better than a cheap splashable critter with no drawbacks? It gets to stall the board early game against Aggro and their conditional removal, then it starts beating face later on. Golgari can easily pair it with Putrid Leech for a solid pair of beaters and also has a pretty easy time enabling Delirium. On the other hand, Jund and Abzan decks gain a solid wall of meat to hide behind without compromising their mana with multiple colors early on. And finally, Zoo decks gain yet another valuable tool to pair with Wild Nacatl, Kird Ape and Horned Kavu.
Now comes the question: how to enable Delirium easily without running setup cards like Commune with the Gods or Thought Scour? For each color it varies, but a common denominator would be the fetchlands: Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse. Blue has easy time with Cantrips like Ponder and Preordain coupled with some Instants like Counterspell or Vapor Snag. Red and Black decks can easily diversify their removal including things like Flame Slash + Lightning Bolt or Disfigure + Chainer's Edict. Green has help too in the form of Edge of Autumn, which is a pretty good card by itself: ramp early, card advantage later. It's cycle mode provides two of the card types needed for Delirium: Sorcery and Land, and through uncountereable means to boot. White has the newly spoiled Angelic Purge, which also provides two types of permanents to work with. Red has Kuldotha Rebirth. And all these cards have further synergy with Artifact Lands, enabling 3/4 of Delirium by themselves.
What are your thoughts and what decks do you think it will be best at? Post your thoughts!
I think self-mill, dredge and other ways to get Delirium won't be necessary in most scenarios. Any deck with a balanced number of Creatures, instants and sorceries will eventually get there. The problem is the fourth type.
I think Fetch Lands will be the answer in most scenarios. Artifact Creatures would also be great, if there are any worth running in a given deck.
How well placed is a vanilla 3/4 in the metagame, anyways? The top-end creatures are 5/5s, and are seen often and early. I think it would be important to analyse why Tarmogoyf is so good in Modern and Legacy, and see if these reasons and scenarios are really comparable with Pauper.
I'm not saying this card can't be good, but it does have some bearing on how a deck will need to be built in order to use it, and it's usefulness will really depend on the decks in the meta.
I think another really good comparison is Carapace Forger in Affinity.
How well placed is a vanilla 3/4 in the metagame, anyways?
That's the questions I asked myself that led to me thinking this card won't be high-impact. A lot of decks can crap out 4/4s by the time this thing will be ready to go. Basically pauper is a format where aggressive decks aims to put out a few 4/4s and start swinging on turn 3-4, or they want to weenie spam. A 3/4 deals poorly with both.
The biggest difference between Tarmogoyf and this card is that it uses only your own graveyard. It's going to come online much later in the game than Tarmogoyf, maybe late enough so that a 3/4 is no longer relevant to the board. I think Hooting Mandrills is better for most situations.
The main strength of Tarmogoyf in Legacy and Modern is that it's a cheap, efficient and splashable big beater. This is not as big (4/5 would probably mean it becomes an instant staple, only being dealt with Angler, Fangren Marauder and hard removal), but it's efficient, cheap and splashable nonetheless. I don't know if any of you were playing by then or have heard the anecdote, but initially there was a time when Goyf was first spoiled where people dismissed him as bad and you could buy them from bulk binders for less than 3$ because "you had to jump through a lot of hoops". That said, it's true that it only feeds of your own graveyard, so it will be more difficult to enable, but I still think it has a lot of potential, as has any cheap and efficient card that rewards you for playing a normal game of Magic, and I think that even with the 4/4's it's early to dismiss him as weak, specially when we have ways to efficiently dealwiththem
Maybe a RUG non-affinity deck powered by Artifact lands? With some form of dropping them to the yard like Kuldotha Rebirth they add two types for Delirium at once, and you could even add the aforementioned Carapace Forger and other Artifact-related goodies. Something like this:
Fill in with some form of fixing in the landbase (Fetchlands + Basics probably), some artifacts that are good on their own to power up Metalcraft / Affinity, and counterspells and it might be a deck.
You could even reduce it to straight up UG and you retain the entire threat suite, but you miss on Galvanic Blast and Lightning Bolt which are a fantastic addition, plus Kuldotha Rebirth to pop up your own lands.
I see a lot of Best Case Scenario Mentality being applied to delirium. It is by no means automatic. For instance, that Temur Artifact Tempo deck is going to have to draw exactly Great Furnace + Kuldotha Rebirth or it just isn't going to get delirium.
I think the example also includes running 8 fetchlands but going down to fewer than 12 artifact lands.
Creature + Instant + Sorcery + Land is definitely the easiest way to go.
Although Kuldotha + Artifact is creative, which only requires two more types to get online. That deck would require Chromatics too I think.
I think this and goyf are too very different cards for very different decks. Goyf is a fast, cheap threat. Pretty much always a 2/3 when it drops t2 and a 3/4 or possibly 4/5 when attacking on turn 3.
Scavenger OTOH is a 0/4 when it drops. Then, some time most likely after turn 5, it will gain +3 power in one swoop. So it seems like it would be good in a deck that doesn't care about early pressure, but does care about surviving in the early turns, and tries to overwhelm the opponent with lots of meat and sauce in the mid to late game. To me, that screams TortEx. I can't really see it played in any other shell.
Delirium is a terrible mechanic for gaining raw power fast, compared to metalcraft, delve or what have you. OTOH if you:
a) have need for an early 0/4 wall
b) run a fair diversity of card types already
c) have a graveyard development mechanic already
d) can make good use of undercosted threats in the mid game
then this card can be for you.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A series of seven articles using Magic to explore the very stuff of the Universe! "At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted." [Click here for the articles!]
The only problem with comparing this fungus to the goyf is that Goyf is never a 0 power creature, unless your graveyard is completely barren. This guy requires a bit of input to get any swinging power. Goyf can be a 1/2 or 2/3 and still swing, where this guy will doof around as a 0/4 until he's suddenly a 3/4.
I see your comparison, but I don't think he's that good.
The only problem with comparing this fungus to the goyf is that Goyf is never a 0 power creature, unless your graveyard is completely barren. This guy requires a bit of input to get any swinging power. Goyf can be a 1/2 or 2/3 and still swing, where this guy will doof around as a 0/4 until he's suddenly a 3/4.
I see your comparison, but I don't think he's that good.
Goyf is also a Rare/Mythic and this is a common. It shouldn't be as powerful as Goyf but the format is also not doing anything as powerful as formats like Vintage and Legacy are.
My biggest argument for this guy is that, no, he isn't Goyf but this also isn't Modern. You can compare him to Goyf the same way you can compare Pauper to Legacy. So, is he good enough for Pauper? I think so in most cases. A 4/4 is better against things like Gary (MBC) and Affinity. But what about other matchups? Is there anywhere else where a 3/4 suffers where a 4/4 wouldn't? Those are the only matchups I can think of where that is relevant and I don't think that's really that big of a deal.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The following link is an invitation to join Pucatrade (card trading service though similar to TCGPLayer). If you follow the link then it awards me with tokens to exchange for actual cards. Thanks! https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/86097
Has anyone actually tried this guy now that he's available? I have. Gotta say I'm impressed. Feels a lot like Goyf. Comes online a little slow unless you are dedicated to making it happen. In a slower, grindy mid-range kind of strategy though, that's totally fine. I'm running him in a Jund list with Vessel of Nascency and Necrogen Spellbomb as my 1-drops. Being 3-color often means that the deck is slow enough that a 2cmc 0/4 usually is a 2cmc 3/4 by the time I'm even ready to cast it anyway. Not having to spend 2 life to pump it to 4 toughness is key. I actually do really like it. It does really suck against GY hate though because a 2cmc 0/4 is not worth playing. Right now I will say it is a better option than Leech and probably Kavu especially for how easy it is to cast but it depends on how the meta shifts.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The following link is an invitation to join Pucatrade (card trading service though similar to TCGPLayer). If you follow the link then it awards me with tokens to exchange for actual cards. Thanks! https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/86097
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So this is basically Pauper's Tarmogoyf (although -1/-1 short of being a true one). It's cheap, splashy, monocolor, rewards you for playing a normal game of Magic, passes the Lightning Bolt test, multiples in hand aren't dead, and even if you don't meet Delirium it still serves as a good roadblock that will stop cold a good portion of the metagame until it can trade with them and start swinging.
I'd be shocked if this didn't find a home in Pauper since all it's counterparts suffer some kind of liability: Werebear needs a total of seven cards in the grave, Hooting Mandrills can rarely be played on turn 2 and multiples in hand are difficult to chain, Horned Kavu requires setup and perfect fixing in order to be played on curve and Putrid Leech is two-colored and requires 2 life per activation. It also doesn't require to run bad cards like Thought Scour and Mental Note like Gurmag Angler does.
So what decks could possibly want this? First and foremost, Tempo decks. This guy is to Pauper's Green what Delver of Secrets is to Pauper's Blue (okay, not THAT powerful, but it comes close). It's a cheap threat that presents a good clock and that it's turned on by virtue of playing a normal game of Magic. Comparing to Delver himself, the "face" cards are not pretty great on their own: A 1/1 for U vs a 0/4 for 1G. Both seem pretty lackluster, and each has it's advantages: Delver can be played on turn 1, while Scavenger survives Bolt and all those pesky 1 damage spells we've been getting lately. We all know Insectile Aberration though: a pretty good darn clock with evasion itself. Scavenger's "flip" card is a 3/4, offering the same clock. While it lacks evasion, a lot of the meta is flying nowadays, and it compensates by having a good butt that tanks the Firebolts, Lightning Bolts and Aerial Volleys that fly around lately. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's better than Delver. I'm saying that it might make a great partner for it, and I wouldn't be surprised if this duo starts to tag team often.
Secondly, Green based Midrange decks. Midrange decks are basically goodstuff, and what better than a cheap splashable critter with no drawbacks? It gets to stall the board early game against Aggro and their conditional removal, then it starts beating face later on. Golgari can easily pair it with Putrid Leech for a solid pair of beaters and also has a pretty easy time enabling Delirium. On the other hand, Jund and Abzan decks gain a solid wall of meat to hide behind without compromising their mana with multiple colors early on. And finally, Zoo decks gain yet another valuable tool to pair with Wild Nacatl, Kird Ape and Horned Kavu.
Now comes the question: how to enable Delirium easily without running setup cards like Commune with the Gods or Thought Scour? For each color it varies, but a common denominator would be the fetchlands: Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse. Blue has easy time with Cantrips like Ponder and Preordain coupled with some Instants like Counterspell or Vapor Snag. Red and Black decks can easily diversify their removal including things like Flame Slash + Lightning Bolt or Disfigure + Chainer's Edict. Green has help too in the form of Edge of Autumn, which is a pretty good card by itself: ramp early, card advantage later. It's cycle mode provides two of the card types needed for Delirium: Sorcery and Land, and through uncountereable means to boot. White has the newly spoiled Angelic Purge, which also provides two types of permanents to work with. Red has Kuldotha Rebirth. And all these cards have further synergy with Artifact Lands, enabling 3/4 of Delirium by themselves.
What are your thoughts and what decks do you think it will be best at? Post your thoughts!
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
I think Fetch Lands will be the answer in most scenarios. Artifact Creatures would also be great, if there are any worth running in a given deck.
How well placed is a vanilla 3/4 in the metagame, anyways? The top-end creatures are 5/5s, and are seen often and early. I think it would be important to analyse why Tarmogoyf is so good in Modern and Legacy, and see if these reasons and scenarios are really comparable with Pauper.
I'm not saying this card can't be good, but it does have some bearing on how a deck will need to be built in order to use it, and it's usefulness will really depend on the decks in the meta.
I think another really good comparison is Carapace Forger in Affinity.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
Maybe a RUG non-affinity deck powered by Artifact lands? With some form of dropping them to the yard like Kuldotha Rebirth they add two types for Delirium at once, and you could even add the aforementioned Carapace Forger and other Artifact-related goodies. Something like this:
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Moldgraf Scavenger
4 Carapace Forger
4 Somber Hoverguard
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
4 Thoughtcast
4 Ponder
Instant (8)
4 Galvanic Blast
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Tree of Tales
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
Fill in with some form of fixing in the landbase (Fetchlands + Basics probably), some artifacts that are good on their own to power up Metalcraft / Affinity, and counterspells and it might be a deck.
You could even reduce it to straight up UG and you retain the entire threat suite, but you miss on Galvanic Blast and Lightning Bolt which are a fantastic addition, plus Kuldotha Rebirth to pop up your own lands.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
I think the example also includes running 8 fetchlands but going down to fewer than 12 artifact lands.
Creature + Instant + Sorcery + Land is definitely the easiest way to go.
Although Kuldotha + Artifact is creative, which only requires two more types to get online. That deck would require Chromatics too I think.
I think any deck that plays Moldgraf Scavenger wants fetch lands.
Scavenger OTOH is a 0/4 when it drops. Then, some time most likely after turn 5, it will gain +3 power in one swoop. So it seems like it would be good in a deck that doesn't care about early pressure, but does care about surviving in the early turns, and tries to overwhelm the opponent with lots of meat and sauce in the mid to late game. To me, that screams TortEx. I can't really see it played in any other shell.
Delirium is a terrible mechanic for gaining raw power fast, compared to metalcraft, delve or what have you. OTOH if you:
a) have need for an early 0/4 wall
b) run a fair diversity of card types already
c) have a graveyard development mechanic already
d) can make good use of undercosted threats in the mid game
then this card can be for you.
A series of seven articles using Magic to explore the very stuff of the Universe!
"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
[Click here for the articles!]
I see your comparison, but I don't think he's that good.
Goyf is also a Rare/Mythic and this is a common. It shouldn't be as powerful as Goyf but the format is also not doing anything as powerful as formats like Vintage and Legacy are.
My biggest argument for this guy is that, no, he isn't Goyf but this also isn't Modern. You can compare him to Goyf the same way you can compare Pauper to Legacy. So, is he good enough for Pauper? I think so in most cases. A 4/4 is better against things like Gary (MBC) and Affinity. But what about other matchups? Is there anywhere else where a 3/4 suffers where a 4/4 wouldn't? Those are the only matchups I can think of where that is relevant and I don't think that's really that big of a deal.
https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/86097
https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/86097