Could have been monowhite without issue. Not sure why it's red.
That's an Apocalypse thing. Major enemy color theme, slight wedge theme. It's supposed to represent all of Dominaria putting aside their differences. Besides this guy andhisfourkin, you had three more wedge cycles:
I do like the disciples (and the apprentices/masters/guildmages) just because I tend to make a lot of Stax decks and one of my favorite cards is Rule of Law, which prevents a lot of combos and gives everyone plenty of time to answer the rest. (Planeswalkers and things like Trading Post and spellshapers are also useful with Rule of Law.) But I wouldn't run them in just any deck.
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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!
Dega disciple is legit. That card is a serious limited powerhouse. Ana disciple is also pretty solid. Raka disciple sucks by comparison to those two, though it's better than necra. Not sure between raka and ceta. The mana ability on ceta is obviously trash but +2/+0 is pretty solid.
Fun cycle, wish they made more like them. I mean, they have, but like...even more please. Maybe balance the power level a bit better though.
Classy guy. Far from an all-star, but if you are looking to pad up your number of 1-drops in Red or in Vampire tribal, he's certainly no bad choice. Has a few obvious synergies but won't ever be truly high-impact.
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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 card. Enables GY strats, digs for more relevant cards late, evasion ability means it can carry equips with some success, vampire typing has some support (and a lot more in a week). It's a good 1-drop for the format that's not going to fit in every deck.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
Man I wish there was a variant of this guy in abzan colors. He would be amazing.
Abzan has a few cantrip and "cycle from play" creatures which are usually better unless you're in reanimator or something.
He reminds me of Harker from Dracula: Dead and Loving It!
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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!
Solid card. Enables GY strats, digs for more relevant cards late, evasion ability means it can carry equips with some success, vampire typing has some support (and a lot more in a week). It's a good 1-drop for the format that's not going to fit in every deck.
I feel so silly that for the longest time I didn't even think of this card when modifying my Alesha deck (that has a minor equipment theme on top of it)... and I even opened a foil one from boosters to boot. I haven't actually tested him out in practice (mainly due to a lack of playing EDH entirely), but I'm quite confident of both his utility and flexibility that I felt so silly the moment I flipped through my binder and saw the card.
Discard outlet for other targets, comes with evasion for equipment and most importantly can provide filtering opportunities repeatedly if needed (because to be honest once it successfully set-up better reanimation targets for Alesha, it's probably not coming back already, so the equipment point is a bit of a moot, which was why I initially overlooked the card). It wasn't until I realized I needed the filtering quite badly (it's in Mardu after all) that I realized how badly I overlooked the card's most important aspect.
Good in decks where +1+1 counters matter. Horrid everywhere else.
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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.
In a dedicated +1/+1 counters matter deck, this is basically a better Shamanic Revelation since you cast it at instant speed and it protects from most conventional wraths. I have it in my wife's Jenara Doubling Season deck and it's decent. I don't even consider it in must-play territory though, as most "Counters Matter" decks have access to Blue or Black (Jenara, Asura of War, Varolz, the Scar-striped, Ghave, Guru of Spores, Daghatar the Adamant, Animar, Soul of Elements, Experiment Kraaj, and a wide variety of other Abzan, Simic, and Golgari folks), and thus can run card draw spells that are more reliable and castable in the early game to smooth draws or in the late game to recover from a wipe. This card is only good when you already have a board, although to be fair you only need 2 or 3 creatures for it to pay for itself and it can get silly and draw a full hand.
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Sufferer of EDHD
Commander - Currently Playing: RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G) RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B) WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
I don't know, in Ghave, it can be ridic, considering Cathars' Crusade basically makes this a better Shamanic Revelation. Not as good as Skullclamp, but still... Plus, indestructible is always nice, and if you already have vigilance, it makes attacking almost completely painless.
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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!
Really, its the indestructible clause that would make me run this over other options that are better as card draw. Its flexibility, and the rare sort of flexibility where instead of having to choose between A or B, you choose between getting A now or waiting to get A until B is also relevant. Given that many +1/+1 matters decks also have a tokens theme, as Ghave promotes it as does Doubling Season and Cathar's Crusade, this card is especially relevant there, as protecting against wraths matters more when you are going wide, and of course you'll draw more cards.
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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!
Obvious great value in Ezuri, Claw of Progress. I usually end up playing it more to save creatures than to draw cards due to my access to blue but it's still a very fun card to play.
There are a few decks that use +1/+1 counters where I wouldn't use it. But mostly those are ones like Vorosh where the +1/+1 counters are just to Voltron or whatever; I'm sure there's a "Target creature is indestructible until EOT, cantrip." card out there for less.
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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!
Clearly a riff on Phyrexian Dreadnought, this is one hell of a powerful engine...but it requires almost as much power as it brings to get online. As it only costs 1 mana it makes it easy to trigger something like Sram, Senior Edificer though, and you can have it hang out in the backlines until you want to smash something but your army doesn't have haste or something. Things like zombies from Grave Titan also work really well.
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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.
I am surprised we don't see this more often - it's an interesting Trinket Mage target at the very least. A must-play in any Depala, Pilot Exemplar decks (since they are likely to run cheats like Siege Modification and Peacewalker Colossus) or Sram, Senior Edificer decks (since it's a cheap draw spell that can bust heads late-game), but I could see it sneaking in for certain other lists.
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Sufferer of EDHD
Commander - Currently Playing: RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G) RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B) WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
Hardly. The only vehicle I've found worth running in Depala that has a crew cost above 3 is Peacewalker Colossus, and that only because it can crew other vehicles for mana. Always being able to tap Depala to crew a vehicle is far more important than having a hyper cheap vehicle.
The only reason to run vehicles is if you want the effect vehicle has and/or want to tap your creatures.
Consulate dreadnought is the worst vehicle because 1) It is just a vanilla beater and it's not even good at beating down. 2) It's really hard to pay for the crew cost.
The only reason to run vehicles is if you want the effect vehicle has and/or want to tap your creatures.
Consulate dreadnought is the worst vehicle because 1) It is just a vanilla beater and it's not even good at beating down. 2) It's really hard to pay for the crew cost.
Sometimes you have a better chance at getting through with one large creature than small dudes stone walled by a Trained Armodon though. Not that I'm saying Dreadnought is good for that...but the case does exist.
I'd go as far as saying the Copter and the Skysovereign are currently the only two widely applicable vehicles, with Bomat Bazaar Barge as a distant third.
Anyway, as is tradition on my birthday (A tradition started last year...), today's card is not random but a personal favorite of mine.
Selvala is what I like to call the "good version of group hug." It's the kind of card that gives everyone resources, but two important distinctions from the bad ones; you get the bigger profit from it, and you decide the timing. On top of that, Selvala's effect is powerful. She sits at a great place on the curve allowing any T1 manadork to power her out on T2, and from that point on you usually get 2 or 3 mana a turn out of her in your average 4 player game. And you can use some cards to stack the deck in your favor, but it's not necessary. After that, you can do whatever you want. Play big threats or go combo? Selvala can do either. Amazing general.
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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.
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That's an Apocalypse thing. Major enemy color theme, slight wedge theme. It's supposed to represent all of Dominaria putting aside their differences. Besides this guy and his four kin, you had three more wedge cycles:
Rakavolver, Anavolver, Degavolver, Cetavolver, Necravolver
Raka Sanctuary, Ana Sanctuary, Dega Sanctuary, Ceta Sanctuary, Necra Sanctuary
Lightning Angel, Fungal Shambler, Fervent Charge, Guided Passage, Overgrown Estate
I do like the disciples (and the apprentices/masters/guildmages) just because I tend to make a lot of Stax decks and one of my favorite cards is Rule of Law, which prevents a lot of combos and gives everyone plenty of time to answer the rest. (Planeswalkers and things like Trading Post and spellshapers are also useful with Rule of Law.) But I wouldn't run them in just any deck.
On phasing:
Fun cycle, wish they made more like them. I mean, they have, but like...even more please. Maybe balance the power level a bit better though.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
My point was that you can't ramp up past the number of snowamps you control and pesty the board the way you can with Pestilence.
Raka Disciple was the only 1 mana Minotaur for a long time.
Classy guy. Far from an all-star, but if you are looking to pad up your number of 1-drops in Red or in Vampire tribal, he's certainly no bad choice. Has a few obvious synergies but won't ever be truly high-impact.
Abzan has a few cantrip and "cycle from play" creatures which are usually better unless you're in reanimator or something.
He reminds me of Harker from Dracula: Dead and Loving It!
On phasing:
There is actually nothing even remotely close to this in functionality in abzan.
I feel so silly that for the longest time I didn't even think of this card when modifying my Alesha deck (that has a minor equipment theme on top of it)... and I even opened a foil one from boosters to boot. I haven't actually tested him out in practice (mainly due to a lack of playing EDH entirely), but I'm quite confident of both his utility and flexibility that I felt so silly the moment I flipped through my binder and saw the card.
Discard outlet for other targets, comes with evasion for equipment and most importantly can provide filtering opportunities repeatedly if needed (because to be honest once it successfully set-up better reanimation targets for Alesha, it's probably not coming back already, so the equipment point is a bit of a moot, which was why I initially overlooked the card). It wasn't until I realized I needed the filtering quite badly (it's in Mardu after all) that I realized how badly I overlooked the card's most important aspect.
If what you're interested in is pitching fatties to reanimate: Mindlash Sliver, Nezumi Bone-Reader, Overeager Apprentice, Thrull Surgeon are options.
You're right that there isn't anything in Abzan that does both, though.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
Good in decks where +1+1 counters matter. Horrid everywhere else.
RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR
WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG
GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG
GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G)
RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW
UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B)
WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
On phasing:
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!
There are a few decks that use +1/+1 counters where I wouldn't use it. But mostly those are ones like Vorosh where the +1/+1 counters are just to Voltron or whatever; I'm sure there's a "Target creature is indestructible until EOT, cantrip." card out there for less.
On phasing:
Doesn't seem to be. Closest I can find is Survive the Night or maybe Without Weakness.
Clearly a riff on Phyrexian Dreadnought, this is one hell of a powerful engine...but it requires almost as much power as it brings to get online. As it only costs 1 mana it makes it easy to trigger something like Sram, Senior Edificer though, and you can have it hang out in the backlines until you want to smash something but your army doesn't have haste or something. Things like zombies from Grave Titan also work really well.
RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR
WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG
GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG
GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G)
RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW
UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B)
WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
Hardly. The only vehicle I've found worth running in Depala that has a crew cost above 3 is Peacewalker Colossus, and that only because it can crew other vehicles for mana. Always being able to tap Depala to crew a vehicle is far more important than having a hyper cheap vehicle.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Consulate dreadnought is the worst vehicle because 1) It is just a vanilla beater and it's not even good at beating down. 2) It's really hard to pay for the crew cost.
This isn't very good for that, though.
Sometimes you have a better chance at getting through with one large creature than small dudes stone walled by a Trained Armodon though. Not that I'm saying Dreadnought is good for that...but the case does exist.
You've not used Smuggler's Copter or Skysovereign, Consul Flagship in cmdr? You're truly missing out...
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Anyway, as is tradition on my birthday (A tradition started last year...), today's card is not random but a personal favorite of mine.
Selvala, Explorer Returned
Selvala is what I like to call the "good version of group hug." It's the kind of card that gives everyone resources, but two important distinctions from the bad ones; you get the bigger profit from it, and you decide the timing. On top of that, Selvala's effect is powerful. She sits at a great place on the curve allowing any T1 manadork to power her out on T2, and from that point on you usually get 2 or 3 mana a turn out of her in your average 4 player game. And you can use some cards to stack the deck in your favor, but it's not necessary. After that, you can do whatever you want. Play big threats or go combo? Selvala can do either. Amazing general.