I agree with Pascal Maynard's comments about this card on channelfireball dot com today. In my view Alchemist's Greeting is good if you have at least a chance to madness it, but in a deck without any madness enabler it should probably be left in the sideboard unless the deck is lacking in removal and has a spot open at 5 mana, or it's a sorcery/instant-matters deck with a spot open at 5.
I've played way worse cards than 5 mana for 4 damage and been happy with them. I agree with Pascal that it isn't a windmill slam, but I'll still take it early and hope that some enablers show up.
It's basically a slightly worse Reduce to Ash in the majority of decks. The difference between 4 and 5 toughness isn't that big of a deal considering the common creatures of the format, so I wouldn't consider this card that much worse without madness (maybe .25/5 weaker) Obviously if you can live the Olivia's Dragoon madness dream then this card goes way high up in pick order, but that basically makes its madness cost BR, as red has literally 0 playable madness enablers in EDM at common, and exactly 1 at uncommon meaning that if you aren't black, this isn't going to be a thing. I would rate this much closer to Reduce to Ash than the 2 mana: 4 damage spell that it aspires to be, and as such, wouldn't take this earlier than maybe pick 4+ like Reduce to Ash unless it is a very weak pack.
A 4 toughness creature with a scry every upkeep? Count me in. 4 toughness blocks a lot of stuff in this format of 3/2s. I'm not happy that it lacks even 1 power, but I'm sure some decks like it just fine. Watched a game where the guy was doing Thermo-Alchemist.dec and had two out to block favorably and keep the gas flowing.
In my view Geist of the Archives is one of the ten best uncommons in EMN. It does not fit in a focused aggression deck, but in my view it fits in every other type of blue deck. I would not splash for it, though.
Such a great card. My favorite time with it was when I declined to block my opponent's 2/2, and they cast the combat trick they were holding anyway, because their life had lost all meaning.
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I've taken/played this card a few times, and when it's good it's really good, but when it's bad, it's a 6 mana 4/3 flier which is a fairly mediocre body for the cost. The 3 toughness is a liability when you're trying to stabilize as you can't use this to block the common 3 power creatures in the format, and when you are behind on board, the tap effect obviously doesn't do anything. I think you specifically need to draft around aggro or high power low toughness creatures in order for this card to be good, and the only consistent color combination involving white for that is RW. I could see maybe a BW Campaign of Vengeance deck utilizing this card as well, but from my experience UW and GW don't really want this card as much. This card is probably closer to a 2.5 in pick order for me now: I don't think I'd take it over just solid cards like Galvanic Bombardment anymore, but this rises to a 3.5 if I know I'm in RW aggro.
In my view Subjugator Angel is one of the ten best uncommons in EMN, though probably not top 5. It can just completely win the game on its own out of nowhere or get in a few times as a 4-power flyer for the win. When behind it is not good but it is not bad either because a 4/3 flyer can at least trade with a large majority of attackers; of course I would rather have something else for defense but it’s not anything close to a dead card as long as I have the mana to cast it, and 6 is not that much in this somewhat slower format.
In my view the upside is huge and the downside is not that down. Overall thumbs way up and I would be okay with this as a first pick.
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In my view Subjugator Angel is one of the ten best uncommons in EMN, though probably not top 5. It can just completely win the game on its own out of nowhere or get in a few times as a 4-power flyer for the win. When behind it is not good but it is not bad either because a 4/3 flyer can at least trade with a large majority of attackers; of course I would rather have something else for defense but it’s not anything close to a dead card as long as I have the mana to cast it, and 6 is not that much in this somewhat slower format.
In my view the upside is huge and the downside is not that down. Overall thumbs way up and I would be okay with this as a first pick.
That's where I'm at. A bomb in aggressive leaning white decks, good in the midrangy builds, and a little subpar in more defensive decks (although still playable). As you pointed out, even the worst case just isn't that bad, as you are only overpaying for the 4/3 flyer by about 1 mana. And I agree that 6-mana isn't as scary as it sometimes is, as the format feels pretty slow.
I think the fact that this is considered a top 3 uncommon in the set goes to show you the sad state of affairs for limited removal and power levels. Obviously a great card, but I remember when Terminate was nowhere near close to the best uncommons in that set (Behemoth Sledge, Bituminous Blast, etc). These days we do not see many broken 2 for 1s anymore =(.
Strong, although I've heard some overrate it. Marshall on LR gave it an "A", which is usually reserved for bombs, a grade I disagree with. Other unconditional removal getting less efficient doesn't make this significantly more powerful. It is still usually a 1-for-1 and not a massive tempo swing.
A great first pick thanks to its versatility, gonna be good in any black deck. But there are more powerful uncommons.
That card is terrifying, so easy to flip via pump or incidental lifegain and basically forces you to have the right removal or lose because you aren't racing it or beating it in combat if they flip it quickly.
To me the question is not whether or not Lone Rider is good or if it can be enabled easily enough, for me the question is whether or not I would have to include in the deck too many cards which are sub-par in order to make my one copy of Lone Rider worth playing. I don’t know the answer to this yet. I have seen it wreck opponents (including me in one match) but I don’t know how many times I have seen sub-par cards being played in an effort to make this worth playing.
I am leaning towards the idea of taking this early and somewhat building around it, but so far out of 5 drafts I have not yet been given the opportunity.
I think that Lone Rider can be called a bomb. There are a significant amount of good pump spells, a handful of decent auras (though I'm not a fan of auras as a rule of thumb), a few cards that add incidental lifegain, and a couple decent equipment that can really push this over the edge. Drafted 2 of these and 2 true-faith censers in a G/W human deck and it wasn't uncommon to have him flipped by the end of turn 4. You need removal for this guy quickly or he will take over the game by himself. Just don't draft/play Chaplain's Blessing for it.
The card is powerful, but I've generally shied away from it so far. I wonder what number of enablers you want before this becomes good. I don't like the idea of it in a deck with one combat trick and one piece of equipment, which is where a lot of the decks I draft end up.
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In my view the upside is huge and the downside is not that down. Overall thumbs way up and I would be okay with this as a first pick.
My Decks:
EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn
Modern: Polytokes
IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
Just a friendly reminder that I will drive this car off a bridge
That's where I'm at. A bomb in aggressive leaning white decks, good in the midrangy builds, and a little subpar in more defensive decks (although still playable). As you pointed out, even the worst case just isn't that bad, as you are only overpaying for the 4/3 flyer by about 1 mana. And I agree that 6-mana isn't as scary as it sometimes is, as the format feels pretty slow.
I would kill for good card like this in my pool.
A great first pick thanks to its versatility, gonna be good in any black deck. But there are more powerful uncommons.
I am not alone in calling this just short of a bomb.
I am leaning towards the idea of taking this early and somewhat building around it, but so far out of 5 drafts I have not yet been given the opportunity.
This card is a real champion in GW humans.
Only problem is G/W humans is a pretty weak archetype...