I don't know that I've ever paid attention to this card. I think it could easily slot into a Sunforger package and be a neat piece of tech against a lot of common cards/strategies.
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!
One of the collection of planeswalkers that tries to be aggressive, which unfortunately clashes directly with the value over time nature of planeswalkers as a card type. That being said, both of the first two abilities could sneak in a player death under the right circumstances, and the ultimate is both instantaneous and terrifying with Doubling Season out.
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Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
One of the collection of planeswalkers that tries to be aggressive, which unfortunately clashes directly with the value over time nature of planeswalkers as a card type. That being said, both of the first two abilities could sneak in a player death under the right circumstances, and the ultimate is both instantaneous and terrifying with Doubling Season out.
Vital in my Yasova “cheap creatures” deck where the first two abilities support the overall theme.
Once upon a time I had a Legacy Kobold Storm deck, and one of the wincons was Sarkhan Vol and Garruk Wildspeaker bouncing each other with Cloudstone Curio, producing the needed mana with Gaea's Cradle+Taiga (untapping them with Garruk's +1). If I had 7+ creatures in play, it resulted in +arbitrary/+arbitrary and haste to my team. (Alternatively, a single +1 on Sarkhan after casting 20 Kobolds into Glimpse of Nature works, too.)
My friends and I got back into MTG during Shards. We bought a few boxes. Never pulled him. The two LGSs we frequented? Never had one. We were convinced this card did not exist.
Anyway, I eventually got one online and now also use it in Yasova.
He's okay. Basically a Fires of Yavimaya that can be attacked. If you have a sac outlet he can defend himself with the -2.
I played him in Karrthus, which was my first EDH deck. I remember feeling very proud when I killed someone by using this Sarkhan's ultimate and following it up with Sarkhan the Mad's. This was with the original version of the planeswalker uniqueness rule so I had to make sure Sarkhan Vol had exactly six counters for it to work.
Like all of his other multicolored planeswalker cards, Sarkhan Vol gets a lot of undeserved flack but he's absolutely disgusting with doubling season out. Most ults are "you're probably going to win". His is one of the few "Given the deck you're likely playing with this guy, you do win."
Still, he pales in comparison to his horrifically underrated Sarkhan the Mad card.
Like all of his other multicolored planeswalker cards, Sarkhan Vol gets a lot of undeserved flack but he's absolutely disgusting with doubling season out. Most ults are "you're probably going to win". His is one of the few "Given the deck you're likely playing with this guy, you do win."
Still, he pales in comparison to his horrifically underrated Sarkhan the Mad card.
If your running Jund Dragons, The Mad basically reads 3BR: Target Player loses the game. Create a planeswalker token with (first two abilities) and 3 loyalty.
Otherwise, I like Vol better. The Mad's problem with his first two abilities is that you rarely use both in tandem, so you tend to pick one or the other and stick with it. The Mad's second ability can be nice in a sac deck that makes tokens, or a steal deck. Upgrading bitterblossom fae into dragons and triggering sac triggers for a few turns is worth the card and the cost, but it's not an all star, while if you are stealing dudes turning them into dragons you don't have to give back is sweet. If you are using this ability, you are probably firing it every turn until he's at 1 loyalty, then firing his first ability until he hits a non land. If you are trying to use his first ability, you are probably committed to it (again, unless its after exhausting his second or using his ult in a dragon deck, at which point its just gravy). If you are using him primarily for his first ability, then he's an over-costed Phyrexian Arena, which is already an overrated card, and one that could very well not even last 3 turns. He could be one and done. Now, I have played him in dragons, and have had him last for 4 activations of his first ability (because he never draws an attack as he's liable to kill himself) after cracking his ult, so he can occasionally have an enormous impact, but he's finicky, and while I'm sure you can maybe draw 9 or 10 cards off him if you just use his first ability, that's simply not good enough to run period, let alone once you factor in the risk that he could off himself on the first try.
Vol, on the other hand, can't go in every deck but does yeoman's work wherever he does fit. Yasova is perfect for him as already mentioned above. He also is pretty great in any aggro G/R/x deck with a low curve, just as an anthem that also gives everything haste. In that deck, having the second ability as an option just adds value. He's good in superfriends that run G/R, because he's dope with Doubling Season. Why yes, I'll happily pay 4 to get 10 dragons and a walker that sticks around.
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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!
Those first two abilities are nice. The third is actually worth inverting the curve.
Synergy with Doubling Season: 8/10. It's a wincon, but the curve is inverted.
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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!
His ult isn't amazing even with Doubling Season - unless you've got a way to give haste, your opponents have a turn to kill the dragons. Which isn't particularly hard in EDH. Compared to dropping stuff like Tamiyo, Field Researcher or Jace, Architect of Thought with Doubling Season out, Sarkhan Vol isn't ridiculous.
The card overall though is pretty decent. Both the first two abilities are solid if not game breaking, and the ult isn't bad, just not close to being the best.
For the second straight random planeswalker of the day, we get Nissa, Worldwaker. Double plus abilities in always nice, but you sort of wish the animating part of the ultimate was optional.
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Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
She can tempo down when you have five mana as a pseudo-1 mana planeswalker and accelerates you into 10 mana on the following turn. Pretty solid. Easily the best artwork of Nissa as well.
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!
Making your lands extra vulnerable feels bad. The mana tempo on her second + ability is nice, but one nice ability doesn't make her worthwhile enough, especially at that CMC.
Better than Tibalt, which isn't too hard, I admit.
It only makes the lands you pull out from your deck into creatures though, so it's all upside.
Not when TWO of her abilities makes your lands extra vulnerable, especially for the rest of the game. If it was an 'until EOT' effect, that would be one thing...but she's effectively only got one good ability. The other are far too niche(unless you copy the hell out of stuff like Cascading Cataracts) and/or dangerous.
Good synergy in Omnath, Locus of Rage where sometimes you want to turn your lands into Elementals so you can sacrifice them to lightning bolt the board and close out a game. The ultimate does this while giving you an equal number of 5/5s to go with it. With a haste effect out the ultimate is game ending a lot of times, but usually this will just be played to untap forests with a mana doubler out if possible.
I've played with her a lot in cube, but she's a lot worse in a format where having a few 4/4 tramplers is unlikely to be enough to win. In EDH you're gonna lose your creatures (and hence your lands) eventually. It is worth noting, though, that how bad she is against board wipes depends on which board wipes: the flipside to having lands that die to Wrath of God is having creatures that survive Oblivion Stone.
+1: Animate land into a 4/4 with trample? I actually can see uses for this, but it's mostly "get in a Grave Pact or such". I suppose it is useful if you have Darksteel Citadel in your deck, or if you already have Eldrazi Monument out. Or, you know, Equinox to say "counter all boardwipes" (well, except for the ones that do damage or force sacrifice).
+1 Untap up to four forests. Now here's the good one. On its own, this ability does give you GGGG, and it can be used with Prismatic Omen to untap anything or mana doublers.
-7 Search your library for any number of basic lands and put them on the battlefield. Shuffle your library afterward. They become 4/4s with trample.
That -7 isn't as bad as it looks. It only animates she searches for, for instance. The downside is, unless you have something to give them haste, you can't attack with them or tap them for mana. I see it as a basic-specific Mana Severance with an upside. You're not going to combo out, but in an Armageddon-light meta, it can get rid of extra lands you don't need.
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!
Seize the Day I think is a pretty well liked card. Usually extra combats are appealing to decks that swing wide, but only untapping 1 creature means this card is different than a Relentless Assault, but with all the unique and powerful attack and combat damage triggers floating around these days, Seize the Day has plenty of homes to find.
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Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
Goes well in voltron type decks in general - outside of Finest Hour it's probably the best extra combat spell for the decks where you're only swinging with one creature.
Particular synergies with Xenagos, God of Revels (hit for 14x base damage) and Neheb, the Eternal (gives you increasing amount of mana each main phase, part of which can be used to pay for this) along with any mass vigilance enablers, which turn this into a flashbackable Relentless Assault.
If you could combine mass vigilance with Zada, Hedron Grinder, this would be disgusting, but off the top of my head I can't think of ways to do that in mono-red (Akroma's Memorial gives prot/red), so thats probably just for those odd General Tazri 5-colour Zada decks.
If you could combine mass vigilance with Zada, Hedron Grinder, this would be disgusting, but off the top of my head I can't think of ways to do that in mono-red (Akroma's Memorial gives prot/red), so thats probably just for those odd General Tazri 5-colour Zada decks.
On phasing:
One of the collection of planeswalkers that tries to be aggressive, which unfortunately clashes directly with the value over time nature of planeswalkers as a card type. That being said, both of the first two abilities could sneak in a player death under the right circumstances, and the ultimate is both instantaneous and terrifying with Doubling Season out.
Vital in my Yasova “cheap creatures” deck where the first two abilities support the overall theme.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
Anyway, I eventually got one online and now also use it in Yasova.
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
I played him in Karrthus, which was my first EDH deck. I remember feeling very proud when I killed someone by using this Sarkhan's ultimate and following it up with Sarkhan the Mad's. This was with the original version of the planeswalker uniqueness rule so I had to make sure Sarkhan Vol had exactly six counters for it to work.
Still, he pales in comparison to his horrifically underrated Sarkhan the Mad card.
If your running Jund Dragons, The Mad basically reads 3BR: Target Player loses the game. Create a planeswalker token with (first two abilities) and 3 loyalty.
Otherwise, I like Vol better. The Mad's problem with his first two abilities is that you rarely use both in tandem, so you tend to pick one or the other and stick with it. The Mad's second ability can be nice in a sac deck that makes tokens, or a steal deck. Upgrading bitterblossom fae into dragons and triggering sac triggers for a few turns is worth the card and the cost, but it's not an all star, while if you are stealing dudes turning them into dragons you don't have to give back is sweet. If you are using this ability, you are probably firing it every turn until he's at 1 loyalty, then firing his first ability until he hits a non land. If you are trying to use his first ability, you are probably committed to it (again, unless its after exhausting his second or using his ult in a dragon deck, at which point its just gravy). If you are using him primarily for his first ability, then he's an over-costed Phyrexian Arena, which is already an overrated card, and one that could very well not even last 3 turns. He could be one and done. Now, I have played him in dragons, and have had him last for 4 activations of his first ability (because he never draws an attack as he's liable to kill himself) after cracking his ult, so he can occasionally have an enormous impact, but he's finicky, and while I'm sure you can maybe draw 9 or 10 cards off him if you just use his first ability, that's simply not good enough to run period, let alone once you factor in the risk that he could off himself on the first try.
Vol, on the other hand, can't go in every deck but does yeoman's work wherever he does fit. Yasova is perfect for him as already mentioned above. He also is pretty great in any aggro G/R/x deck with a low curve, just as an anthem that also gives everything haste. In that deck, having the second ability as an option just adds value. He's good in superfriends that run G/R, because he's dope with Doubling Season. Why yes, I'll happily pay 4 to get 10 dragons and a walker that sticks around.
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!
Synergy with Doubling Season: 8/10. It's a wincon, but the curve is inverted.
On phasing:
The card overall though is pretty decent. Both the first two abilities are solid if not game breaking, and the ult isn't bad, just not close to being the best.
For the second straight random planeswalker of the day, we get Nissa, Worldwaker. Double plus abilities in always nice, but you sort of wish the animating part of the ultimate was optional.
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!
Better than Tibalt, which isn't too hard, I admit.
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)
It only makes the lands you pull out from your deck into creatures though, so it's all upside.
Not when TWO of her abilities makes your lands extra vulnerable, especially for the rest of the game. If it was an 'until EOT' effect, that would be one thing...but she's effectively only got one good ability. The other are far too niche(unless you copy the hell out of stuff like Cascading Cataracts) and/or dangerous.
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)
+1: Animate land into a 4/4 with trample? I actually can see uses for this, but it's mostly "get in a Grave Pact or such". I suppose it is useful if you have Darksteel Citadel in your deck, or if you already have Eldrazi Monument out. Or, you know, Equinox to say "counter all boardwipes" (well, except for the ones that do damage or force sacrifice).
+1 Untap up to four forests. Now here's the good one. On its own, this ability does give you GGGG, and it can be used with Prismatic Omen to untap anything or mana doublers.
-7 Search your library for any number of basic lands and put them on the battlefield. Shuffle your library afterward. They become 4/4s with trample.
That -7 isn't as bad as it looks. It only animates she searches for, for instance. The downside is, unless you have something to give them haste, you can't attack with them or tap them for mana. I see it as a basic-specific Mana Severance with an upside. You're not going to combo out, but in an Armageddon-light meta, it can get rid of extra lands you don't need.
Note, however, that her -7 doesn't trigger things like Aura Shards and Purphoros, God of the Forge. It does, however, trigger landfall. (And it'll trigger relevant abilities if you have Living Plane, Enchanted Evening, or Mycosynth Lattice out.)
GGGG/10
On phasing:
Seize the Day I think is a pretty well liked card. Usually extra combats are appealing to decks that swing wide, but only untapping 1 creature means this card is different than a Relentless Assault, but with all the unique and powerful attack and combat damage triggers floating around these days, Seize the Day has plenty of homes to find.
Particular synergies with Xenagos, God of Revels (hit for 14x base damage) and Neheb, the Eternal (gives you increasing amount of mana each main phase, part of which can be used to pay for this) along with any mass vigilance enablers, which turn this into a flashbackable Relentless Assault.
If you could combine mass vigilance with Zada, Hedron Grinder, this would be disgusting, but off the top of my head I can't think of ways to do that in mono-red (Akroma's Memorial gives prot/red), so thats probably just for those odd General Tazri 5-colour Zada decks.
Feeling risky?