So Gurmag Swiftwing is on of my favorite aggressive 2-drops in this format, and I was wondering what everyone thought of him. From what I've seen people don't seem to like him too much. I've seen him go pretty late and almost never see him on-board. What's not to like about a hasty 2 drop evasive creature that works really well with tricks? Putting any counters on him makes him ridiculous, and I've had him do a lot of work to put someone into the defensive seat.
The problem I have with this card is that by itself, it doesn't do much. A hasty 2 drop is fine in theory, but with 1 power it puts little pressure on your opponent. Even against one toughness fliers, they're happy to race the Swiftwing, so the best option ends up being leaving him back to deter attacks. Yes, with some counters or auras, he can get a little scary, but I usually consider cards that rely on other cards to be mediocre at best.
I do not like it, since it only has one power and so is not much pressure at all on its own. In my view there are not nearly as many combat tricks in KTK as there were in THS block, and even so just clearing the way for a 1 power creature is not something I care much about. I think it works fine in a deck which has several other cards adding +1/+1 counters, such as Incremental Growth and Feat of Resistance, but even then I would not prioritize drafting Gurmag Swiftwing unless I had a lot of those +1/+1 counters to spread around.
I'm not a fan of the Swiftwing either. I think he was printed a block too late. Would have been a much better card in Theros with all of the bestow cards. I think he's similar but mostly inferior to Daggerdrome Imp, and that's not a place you want to be.
If Raid were difficult to trigger, he might have a purpose. But I've never been in a situation where I thought "I really wish I had a 1-power flier to get this Raid going." Just play an aggressive curve and you'll have viable attackers.
I don't think he's that great. All of his abilities are made almost non-useful by his measly 1 power. If you can boost his power though, he can become quite a force.
Speaking of, I've gotten killed by a guy who managed to get double Molting Snakeskin onto one of these. It's up there along with "T2 Ensoul Artifact an Ornithopter" and "Play my 5th Mind Sculpt" in "strategies that aren't good, but you'll probably lose to at least once"
It's an acceptable card in aggressive decks that needs an extra two drop. I'm not jazzed about playing it, but there are decks where it will be better than terrible. It's also a little better in aggressive decks that plan to win with trumpet blast. Evasion is a pretty big plus in this set. I'd never take one before like pick 8 in a pack, but I wouldn't hate myself for picking one up for the right deck.
The problem with him is that unless he is buffed, he can be safely ignored. This guy would have been really good in Theros, but in Khans... he's one of the less powerful uncommons.
There's a few cards that the Swiftwing can eat thanks to the first strike: Jeskai Windscout, Mistfire Weaver, Temur Charger, Wetland Sambar, Highland Game, Ruthless Assassin, Mardu Hateblade, Kin-Tree Warden, Mardu Skullhunter, War-Name Aspirant (no raid) ... That's off the the top of my head, there might be more. Not saying this makes it a good card, but it's worth keeping in mind.
It has uses. If you can pump it it can run off with a game itself. If you badly need a way to trigger raid (your deck is probably losing anyway)... and I do believe it is possible to create a Sultai tempo deck, I like sultai flyers as a deck.
Its not a high pick but you will take it and play it in some circumstances.
I never see this card in draft so someone must be taking it highly or nobody is opening them. At 1 power it just doesn't seem worth it outside of Abzan or Sultai with combat tricks or ways to give counters. Flying is very important in this set though, so with enough tricks I could see it being a fairly high pick in pack 3 and sometimes pack 2.
There's a few cards that the Swiftwing can eat thanks to the first strike:
I feel like we need to define "eat" because in my mind it has a very specific meaning but I see it used different ways.
Gurmag Swiftwing can BLOCK all of those creatures with 1 power. Swiftwing does not have Flash (not so swift, eh?) so your opponent would have to voluntarily attack into it and no one is going to do that without a plan.
I think of "eat" as blocking and killing a creature, and surviving, and your opponent can't see it coming either due to Flash or Morph. Everything else is just normal blocking dynamics. Glacial Stalker can eat a 2/1. Pearl Lake Ancient can eat a 2/1. Gurmag Swiftwing can block a 2/1.
There's a few cards that the Swiftwing can eat thanks to the first strike: Jeskai Windscout, Mistfire Weaver, Temur Charger, Wetland Sambar, Highland Game, Ruthless Assassin, Mardu Hateblade, Kin-Tree Warden, Mardu Skullhunter, War-Name Aspirant (no raid) ... That's off the the top of my head, there might be more. Not saying this makes it a good card, but it's worth keeping in mind.
Swiftwing munching on Windscout seems rather optimistic. If your opponent is bashing with Windscout into your Swiftwing, are you really going to block? I mean, you could, but then you could also see the opposition using Throttle on your other dork before damage. Which seems like it'd be quite unfortunate.
Swiftwing is a card I hope to avoid playing at all during the duration of Khans limited, but it could serve a purpose as a sideboard card against very specific decks.
There's a few cards that the Swiftwing can eat thanks to the first strike: Jeskai Windscout, Mistfire Weaver, Temur Charger, Wetland Sambar, Highland Game, Ruthless Assassin, Mardu Hateblade, Kin-Tree Warden, Mardu Skullhunter, War-Name Aspirant (no raid) ... That's off the the top of my head, there might be more. Not saying this makes it a good card, but it's worth keeping in mind.
Casting aside the fact that 4 of those are Morph creatures which the Swiftwing can't even trade with, the fact that text printed on War-Name Aspirant prevents it from being blocked by the Swiftwing, and the fact that you would never block a Swiftwing on a Jeskai Scout... the only creature on your list that can't be just as profitably blocked by Sage-Eye Harrier are the Deathtouch guys.
So maybe the best thing we can say about the Swiftwing is that it rarely but sometimes blocks better than a Sage-Eye Harrier.
I liked Seacoast Drake, and I disagree with that statement. My Seacoast Drake could block 2/2s all day. Also, context is important. I did not like Concordia Pegasus in RtR, but I liked Seacoast Drake in M14; with blue your objective was to just stay alive so you could win with counterspells and card advantage.
I don't necessarily agree with his pick order totally (seems hardly possible), but I agree that the Swiftwing belongs in this group of decent, but unexciting sideboard cards and borderline unplayable cards.
I still won the match because his deck was garbage, but his entire plan seemed to be Swiftwing + Auras. I also saw Molting Snakeskin.
I suppose there's potential there since he did steal one game from me. However, it was only because I didn't have a spell to interact with him. Like 1 copy of Force Away would have been an insta-kill.
Swiftwing seems to be the ultimate griefer card of the set. It's juuusssssttt dangerous enough with Auras that you'll lose to it at some point and feel some rage.
Swiftwing seems to be the ultimate griefer card of the set. It's juuusssssttt dangerous enough with Auras that you'll lose to it at some point and feel some rage.
thank you for pointing this out to me! i didn't actually realize this from the discussion until you made it explicit.
i friggin' LOVE to grief. if i win a game through griefing like this (and lose the other two), i consider this a successful draft.
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some of my favourite flavour text:
Wayward Soul "no home no heart no hope"
—Stronghold graffito
Raging Goblin He raged at the world, at his family, at his life. But mostly he just raged.
It's a shame it isn't better, because black creatures with haste are rare on their own, let alone evaders, let alone at 1B without some drawback like having to sacrifice something. But watch, somebody out there is building a hysterical Modern bat tribal deck.
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What does everyone here think?
Speaking of, I've gotten killed by a guy who managed to get double Molting Snakeskin onto one of these. It's up there along with "T2 Ensoul Artifact an Ornithopter" and "Play my 5th Mind Sculpt" in "strategies that aren't good, but you'll probably lose to at least once"
R Norin the Wary: I've Got a Bad Feeling About This
UG Thrasios & Kydele: Knowledge is Power
RG Borborygmos Enraged: The Breaking of the World
BG The Gitrog Monster: All Glory to the Hypnotoad
WUR Zedruu the Greathearted: Endless Possibilities, One Outcome
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain: What's Dead May Never Die
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RBGLiving EndRBG
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Its not a high pick but you will take it and play it in some circumstances.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
I feel like we need to define "eat" because in my mind it has a very specific meaning but I see it used different ways.
Gurmag Swiftwing can BLOCK all of those creatures with 1 power. Swiftwing does not have Flash (not so swift, eh?) so your opponent would have to voluntarily attack into it and no one is going to do that without a plan.
I think of "eat" as blocking and killing a creature, and surviving, and your opponent can't see it coming either due to Flash or Morph. Everything else is just normal blocking dynamics. Glacial Stalker can eat a 2/1. Pearl Lake Ancient can eat a 2/1. Gurmag Swiftwing can block a 2/1.
Swiftwing munching on Windscout seems rather optimistic. If your opponent is bashing with Windscout into your Swiftwing, are you really going to block? I mean, you could, but then you could also see the opposition using Throttle on your other dork before damage. Which seems like it'd be quite unfortunate.
Swiftwing is a card I hope to avoid playing at all during the duration of Khans limited, but it could serve a purpose as a sideboard card against very specific decks.
Casting aside the fact that 4 of those are Morph creatures which the Swiftwing can't even trade with, the fact that text printed on War-Name Aspirant prevents it from being blocked by the Swiftwing, and the fact that you would never block a Swiftwing on a Jeskai Scout... the only creature on your list that can't be just as profitably blocked by Sage-Eye Harrier are the Deathtouch guys.
So maybe the best thing we can say about the Swiftwing is that it rarely but sometimes blocks better than a Sage-Eye Harrier.
RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH
UFblthpU
BRXantchaRB
BGVarolzGB
URWZedruuWRU
Before:
Kin-Tree Warden, Valley Dasher, Cancel, Tusked Colossodon
After:
Rakshasa's Secret, Swift Kick, Rotting Mastodon, Mindswipe
I don't necessarily agree with his pick order totally (seems hardly possible), but I agree that the Swiftwing belongs in this group of decent, but unexciting sideboard cards and borderline unplayable cards.
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Turn 2: Gurmag Swiftwing
Turn 3: Dragon Grip
Turn 4: Siegecraft
I still won the match because his deck was garbage, but his entire plan seemed to be Swiftwing + Auras. I also saw Molting Snakeskin.
I suppose there's potential there since he did steal one game from me. However, it was only because I didn't have a spell to interact with him. Like 1 copy of Force Away would have been an insta-kill.
Swiftwing seems to be the ultimate griefer card of the set. It's juuusssssttt dangerous enough with Auras that you'll lose to it at some point and feel some rage.
thank you for pointing this out to me! i didn't actually realize this from the discussion until you made it explicit.
i friggin' LOVE to grief. if i win a game through griefing like this (and lose the other two), i consider this a successful draft.
Goblins have poor impulse control. Don't click this link!!
some of my favourite flavour text:
Wayward Soul
"no home no heart no hope"
—Stronghold graffito
Raging Goblin
He raged at the world, at his family, at his life. But mostly he just raged.
RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH
UFblthpU
BRXantchaRB
BGVarolzGB
URWZedruuWRU