I'd probably run both to maximize odds of being able to wreck somebodies hand when you really need to. No argument that Black cat is the superior version, but I like a little redundancy in my decks.
It does have synergy with some commanders such as Karlov of the Ghost Council, but whether they want a land that enters the battlefield tapped and doesn't grant two colours of mana is a different matter altogether.
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
There is a slight difference here. First, I can't think of a monowhite Commander that would actually want lifegain, while everyone can use some scry. Most decks based around lifegain are WB, Oloro, or Treva.
tl;dr: I could see playing this in a WB lifegain deck, maybe. Or perhaps a mono-W lifegain deck that doesn't yet exist.
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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!
Probably one of the weakest reasons for a mono-colored land to ETBT is gaining two life. As others note here, I've tried this in BW Lifegain triggers for generals like Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim. It works OK, every little bit helps. But even then, I tend to keep a BW lifegain shenanigans deck together for about a week, tops. Even when they work, they're annoying to run.
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These lands are similar to one mana cantrip spells in value magnitude, but compare poorly to them in lategame because it's like drawing a land every time with your cantrip. In a monowhite deck you can't really afford to run this because Emeria, the sky ruin is so useful. You have to limit the nonplains in your deck to a few cards to get mileage out of it. But if for some reason you want to run a Ruin Ghost package, I guess this is alright.
I run both in my Karlov of the Ghost Council Lifegain/Aggro deck. The CIPT clause is rarely an issue, as the deck revolves around the 2cmc number. I often tutor for this with Weatherd Wayfarer, it really is that potent. Today's card, along with Radiant Fountain, are the main reason I can usually swing in for 8+ turn 3.
Obviously made for Limited to give Vehicles.dec some reach, it does have low CMC and hits all opponents meaning there might be some niche interactions with it in burn-based decks.
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
3 CMC 3/2 with no evasion isn't tapping much outside of a deck with ways to enable that, which I suspect doesn't describe most burn-based decks. I don't think I've ever seen Pulse Tracker show up in a list and that's generally much more efficient.
In something like a vehicles deck that can reliably tap this guy, I could see him performing a little better. I don't think it's a particularly good option, even in a deck like that, but it's readily available and thematically appropriate.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
There are a handful of infinites that let this guy get a table kill, and if you're running combo I always recommend more or less innocuous creatures to be your combo piece so they don't just immediately get hated off the table. I do actually like this guy in a deck built around tapping creatures as a cost, and in a multiplayer format the whole "each opponent" line is not irrelevant.
One of my old EDH decks was based around creatures with abilities, ways to graft abilities onto creatures, ways to untap creatures, creatures that could untap themselves, inspired creatures, and activated ability copying. He'd be right at home! Paradise Mantle + Freed from the Real or Pemmin's Aura on this guy is a winning combo, and he can also be a finisher for the Jeskai Ascendancy + Banishing Knack/Retraction Helix combos the deck sometimes assembles.
All I can add to the discussion is that it's very relevant that this guy looks innocious as part of a combo deck. And he really looks like an aggro creature.
Without Paradise Mantle, he's still a very decent damage dealer with Freed from the Real, giving 1 damage to each opponent for every 2 blue mana you have. It's not too bad.
If you are playing Exarch Twin: The Redundancy, you can use him, Splinter Twin, and Intruder Alarm to get around cards like Lightmine Field and Propaganda
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The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
No time for insightful post. New Shantae downloading. Speak later.
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Solid way to give flying to your team in a counters matter deck. In college we nicknamed it Cytheria.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
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EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
It does have synergy with some commanders such as Karlov of the Ghost Council, but whether they want a land that enters the battlefield tapped and doesn't grant two colours of mana is a different matter altogether.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Archangel of Thune & friends!
Maybe worth the slot over a plains.
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Follow me on Twitter: @generalspeak
In most cases I think I'd prefer New Benalia or Mistveil Plains as far as Mono-W ETB-tapped lands go.
There is a slight difference here. First, I can't think of a monowhite Commander that would actually want lifegain, while everyone can use some scry. Most decks based around lifegain are WB, Oloro, or Treva.
This means first that this was largely obsoleted by the very same set it came in. Sejiri Refuge, Jwar Isle Refuge, Akoum Refuge, Kazandu Refuge, and Graypelt Refuge only give you 1 life, but they give you two colors. Tarkir made a whole cycle of it: Tranquil Cove, Dismal Backwater, Bloodfell Caves, Rugged Highlands, Blossoming Sands, Scoured Barrens, Swiftwater Cliffs, Jungle Hollow, Wind-Scarred Crag, Thornwood Falls.
tl;dr: I could see playing this in a WB lifegain deck, maybe. Or perhaps a mono-W lifegain deck that doesn't yet exist.
On phasing:
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
Obviously made for Limited to give Vehicles.dec some reach, it does have low CMC and hits all opponents meaning there might be some niche interactions with it in burn-based decks.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
In something like a vehicles deck that can reliably tap this guy, I could see him performing a little better. I don't think it's a particularly good option, even in a deck like that, but it's readily available and thematically appropriate.
Without Paradise Mantle, he's still a very decent damage dealer with Freed from the Real, giving 1 damage to each opponent for every 2 blue mana you have. It's not too bad.
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
No time for insightful post. New Shantae downloading. Speak later.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!