Was an absolute beast in my first Mono-G build, helmed by Nylea, God of the Hunt. It was heavy on ramp, obviously. This was routinely dropped as a 5/5 or 6/6 on turn 3. Follow up with Nylea and you can start taking players out of the game quickly. I didn't own a Craterhoof Behemoth at the time, so most of the time I was winning off resolving Primal Surge and getting this and Akroma's Memorial on the field to eliminate 2 players with this card alone(30+ power on 2 bodies? Yeah.)
These are the "All-Stars" in what I envision as typical commander games. Sadly, it's deemed to be too low impact.
This guy is in my single mono-green deck, Mirri, Queen of the Jungle. He and the token get big on their own and can be pretty devastating when combined with trample effects. I usually focus on voltroning Mirri to take out one opponent while using beaters like this to focus on the other players. I might switch this out to try some other huge beater, such as Aetherwind Basker or one of the big boys from the Commander 2016 sets, next time I update that deck, but honestly, it's done okay so far, so I might also just leave it in, especially since it's not likely to see play in any other deck.
This dude is cool. That's all there is to it. For any decks with a decent amount of token copying effects and forests *cough*Trostani*cough* this is a card that just starts your chain of generating big, scaling tokens.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Pop in, find a dragon, roast a dragon."
-Chandra Nalaar
Funny how this card came up. Today, SCG put out their weekly Commander VS. video and this week their decks consist of only core set cards. Justin Parnell even made sure to mention that Kalonian Twingrove was in his deck.
Armillary Sphere is a card that occasionally sees use in budget multicolour builds, and this guy is a riff on that. You pay 1 mana more and get a 1/4 defender in exchange with it, with a slightly relevant creature type (Reaper King is a thing) which can be used to intercept an early attack and then get popped for those two lands. However, for 1 mana more on activation you get Burnished Hart. Make of that whatever you want.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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 run Armillary Sphere in Jaya, which is a far cry from both budget and multicolor. In that list hitting land drops is important, having cards in hand to discard is important, and red has decent artifact support so it's a solid role player. I picked up a Scarecrow to test when it came out but still haven't gotten around to it.
I like it a lot in theory despite never having played it. It's an easily recurrable—if expensive—source of card advantage and mana fixing. It could fill a niche, even outside of budget builds.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
I'm a big fan of colorless fixing/ramp and with experience of both Burnished Hart, Armillary Sphere and this card I can definitely say it's the third best of the trio. (Outside Reaper King.) That said, there isn't much colorless ramp that nets you two basic lands, so it may be worth it in the builds that can't use Sphere for being a noncreature.
This and the Sphere do, however, have use in decks that run Armageddon, filling your hand up with land. Or the Land Tax/Scroll Rack combo.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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!
Its a card that is good for certain decks. For my needs however, I would 10 times out of 10 take a Burnished Hart over this as I want my lands on the board than in my hand.
Considering the fact that I do not believe Burnished Hart is good enough for most EDH decks, I doubt I will ever try to squeeze this into a deck. In Glissa, the Traitor, mentioned above, I can definitely see including Burnished Hart, but I think there are a lot more artifacts to consider before Wild-Field Scarecrow.
I would play Metalspinner's Puzzleknot before this. If I want to hit land drops (and not ramp), I would rather play cards that draw extra cards, and cards that can be played with 2 mana, rather than 3-mana spells that only get me lands in the late game.
Most games of EDH, I think I'm fine as long as I can hit 3 mana. I want my mycosynth wellspring to cost 2 mana so I can hit that third land.
I just can't see spending turns 3 and 4 on putting lands into my hand as worthwhile.
With a recursion engine, ramping with Burnished hart gets you somewhere. This just loads your hand with lands.
Eh, maybe decent. As others have mentioned I already run Sphere, Hart, plus Solemn Simulacrum and Pilgrim's Eye in the average colorless land-fetch package, by which time I'm starting to fill too many slots with land tutor durdling. And if I need more there's still Expedition Map, for fetching any land I please. So this is OK, but it's got some competition and even in builds where you're desperate for land tutors, there's only so many basic lands you even want in a deck.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
This signature holds priority until end of comment.
I'm not well-versed enough in Boros to know this card's worth, but it seems like it could be fun for sudden aggro pushes? As part of a Genesis Wave in Naya?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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've always liked that this card seems like a straightforward aggro pawn, but in reality its a combo piece. Boros watermark, but it was all about the Golgari's keyword. If you are going to be able to throw a ton of critters down in one turn, he's better than Fires at turning them sideways, because he buffs them and is easier to cheat onto the field, often riding the same effect that put the rest of your creatures on the field. Also, he's got 2 power, so Alesha brings him back from the yard, for a less combo centric use.
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!
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
These are the "All-Stars" in what I envision as typical commander games. Sadly, it's deemed to be too low impact.
-Chandra Nalaar
On to today's card:
Wild-Field Scarecrow
Armillary Sphere is a card that occasionally sees use in budget multicolour builds, and this guy is a riff on that. You pay 1 mana more and get a 1/4 defender in exchange with it, with a slightly relevant creature type (Reaper King is a thing) which can be used to intercept an early attack and then get popped for those two lands. However, for 1 mana more on activation you get Burnished Hart. Make of that whatever you want.
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 like it a lot in theory despite never having played it. It's an easily recurrable—if expensive—source of card advantage and mana fixing. It could fill a niche, even outside of budget builds.
But seriously, this has value in Glissa, the Traitor, Hanna, Ship's Navigator, and Alesha, Who Smiles at Death for the same reason as Burnished Hart. Not to mention any Sun Titan package. It's still pretty low on my list; I generally prefer the Hart or even Armillary Sphere.
This and the Sphere do, however, have use in decks that run Armageddon, filling your hand up with land. Or the Land Tax/Scroll Rack combo.
On phasing:
I would play Metalspinner's Puzzleknot before this. If I want to hit land drops (and not ramp), I would rather play cards that draw extra cards, and cards that can be played with 2 mana, rather than 3-mana spells that only get me lands in the late game.
Most games of EDH, I think I'm fine as long as I can hit 3 mana. I want my mycosynth wellspring to cost 2 mana so I can hit that third land.
I just can't see spending turns 3 and 4 on putting lands into my hand as worthwhile.
With a recursion engine, ramping with Burnished hart gets you somewhere. This just loads your hand with lands.
I guess I could consider it in Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker.
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
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
WBRG Saskia the Unyielding
WUB Sharuum the Hegemon
RWU Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest
RG Wort, the Raidmother
WU Brago, King Eternal
B Chainer, Dementia Master
I'm not well-versed enough in Boros to know this card's worth, but it seems like it could be fun for sudden aggro pushes? As part of a Genesis Wave in Naya?
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!
Omg I love this
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect