Is Shatter as good as everyone thinks it is? I just did a draft where I could have had 6 or 7 shatters but after the first I took any artifact over it. I have run into the problem where I have to much removal and no way to activate my metalcraft. I took a Lifestaff over Shatter p2p1 and didn't regret it. How good is shatter? What deck wants it?
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Obviously shatter destroys artifacts, this set has many artifacts. So what other interactions are there?
Metalcraft: decks at 3 artifacts (cannot abuse metalcraft if 1R is up). Since most metalcraft decks are expensive, not being able to swing with Chrome Steed safely sucks an awful lot. Or if they do and you have it, ow.
Equipment: shatter a key piece of equipment off a creature, my favorite example (yes, still) was Slice in Twaining a Sylvok Lifestaff off a Ghalima's Warden that was blocking Alpha Tyrannofex - shatter works almost as well there Myr: Shatter them off a splash color or a key mana total Bombs:Mimic Vat, etc. Key artifacts: Myr Resevoir in a myr deck (don't laugh, I've seen that card and grimaced), Contagion Clasp in poison, etc.
Then there's the fact it just kills any artifact creature. I mean yes, obv, but really, that's fairly solid. I might take "R: Destroy target artifact creature" in this set. Hell, I might at 1R.
If this forum had Greasers, Phoenix, Commons and Semantics would be the leaders of the gang and every time they commented on something they would do a synchronized finger snap then smoke a cigarette.
I'm not sure I'd want 6 or 7 of them (that's a huge outlier in that draft by the way, the average draft has 2-3 copies of a common) but I'd definitely take 2-3. It's Doom Blade for Artifacts, in a set where counting up your Artifacts is really important. Even Infect decks have really important equipment that you want to blow up. Any deck playing Red wants Shatter, and it's something you splash for. I splashed for it in an Infect deck at the PR and did not regret it.
I'm happy first picking Shatter and not just from weak packs.
Of course, it's a bit tricky to describe how good it is because if I say "it's good" that's pretty obvious but if I say "it's very, very good" then it's not clear what that actually means. If I compare it with other cards then this early in the format it's hard to work out how other people value the things I'm comparing against.
Let's put it this way: if I'm already in Red but not playing Metalcraft there is no Common I'd take over it. If I am playing Metalcraft then Galvanic Blast is the only Common I'd take over it.
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I splashed two shatters and an arc trail in a UB deck once, and the shatters were better than the arc trail (more relevant when played late game). Obviously shatter is not arc trail, but there are a lot of situations where shatter is backbreaking if you can set it up correctly, and a lot where it is just doomblade.
I played w/g recently and between triple sylvok replica, double slice in twain and double shatter splash, I can definitely say that there is such a thing as too much artifact removal. I can't imagine that happens often, but man I can't tell you how many times that draft I wished one of my shatters or slices was an arrest to deal with the non-artifact creature bombs like Engulfing Slagwurm. I never boarded the extras out and I should have, so I suppose it's my fault for playing poorly there.
So yes, shatter is powerful, but if you have 6 pieces of artifact removal already, go with something more like turn to slag. Or just keep them all and sideboard properly, which I am admittedly still learning to do.
Was doomblade good in m11? Because given all the non-creature artifacts in the set it is pretty much comparable. I don't know what the limit is on doomblades but it's got to be a lot.
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I was playing a draft the second week up avacyn being out and i was constructing my deck when the guy across from me spilled his cherry kool-aid all over mine and his cards, he had a griselbrand and I had a cavern of souls.
I have drafted three decks where I had too many shatters. I never really had a chance to pick up artifacts because all I took was shatters and revokes and my metal craft cards just never got there. I realize it's good but in the deck I could have had a million I only maindecked 1 shatter (but that was because the deck was VERY focused) and never regretted it.
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Focussing on Shatter as the source of your problems may not be correct here!
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Yah, if you have 8-9 pieces of removal, I'd just go with efficient and large creatures rather than some weenie theme. That's why my favorite "DI removal" is basically GRw splashing for things like arrest and revoke off Horizon Spellbombs, then cleaning up with tanglewurms, tyrannofex, et al.
If people pass it to you. Okay, this doesn't happen often, but if it does, just play creatures that outclass other creatures without help.
If this forum had Greasers, Phoenix, Commons and Semantics would be the leaders of the gang and every time they commented on something they would do a synchronized finger snap then smoke a cigarette.
top common is different then "first picked alot". especially given how high quality the uncommons are in SoM.
this isn't to say its not real good, because it is. efficient removal is never bad. but its pretty common to run into tough situations like Darksteel Axe vs. Shatter or Myrsmith vs. Shatter. does Shatter get the call p1p1 vs. either of those cards? those are just two immediate examples, there are many similar situations.
I would always take Myrsmith and Darksteel Axe over Shatter. They just have way to much potential.
Brad Nelson also mentioned that he thinks that Tumble Magnet is the 4th best common removal (after Galv Blast, Arrest and Grasp of Darkness). At first I thought shatter was better, but more and more I am finding that to be true, that Shatter is sometimes dead and Magnet never is.
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In old Mirrodin, Shatter was first pick-able pretty much every single time.
In Scars, I'm finding that I would rather have Galvanic Blast or Grasp of Darkness or Arrest over Shatter. I attribute this to the inclusion of infect because it provides another viable archetype that does not lean on artifacts the way Affinity did.
edit: Another HUGE reason Shatter isn't as good in Scars is the exclusion of artifact lands.
Shatter is p1p1 in top 5 of commons. Bombs(HSD)> great uncommons(scrapmelter, razor hippogryph, darksteel axe)> cheap instant speed and catch all removal(Shatter/Blast/Arrest) It is much better in the control decks then the agressive ones. In metalcraft builds its starts to lose a chunk of value after you have 2 other destroy artifacts effects. Simply because you NEED to play 14+ artifacts.
"I have no idea what it's like not to be a straight white male, and the experiences of others are irrelevant." -Conservative Motto
Calling someone a Commie is flaming and must be stopped, but turning the word Conservative into a loaded pejorative and using it over and over again is perfectly acceptable.
I'm always happy to pick up Shatters, but I'm not always happy to play them. Let's put it this way, I will usually play 1 maindeck Shatter, and leave the others on the sideboard. The reason is simply this: success in SOM limited formats is fundamentally reliant on synergies between cards, and Shatter is not a synergistic card. Against some decks you will have nothing to point it at except for a spellbomb, mana myr, or a piece of equipment that gets eaten by a Barrage Ogre anyways.
That being said, it is extremely strong against R/W metalcraft, which is arguably the most powerful SOM limited archetype. And it's a perfect sideboard option to break your opponents' bombs.
I ran a deck last night with 3 shatters, 2 sylvok replicas, and a scrapmelter, and I thought, if someone runs a deck with colored creatures, I am completely screwed, which is in fact what happened match 1 when I lost to a guy running 4 blister grubs, dross hoppers, and an exsanguinate. I did win my next two matches, but running 3 shatters definitely does not lend itself to flexibility.
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Metalcraft: decks at 3 artifacts (cannot abuse metalcraft if 1R is up). Since most metalcraft decks are expensive, not being able to swing with Chrome Steed safely sucks an awful lot. Or if they do and you have it, ow.
Equipment: shatter a key piece of equipment off a creature, my favorite example (yes, still) was Slice in Twaining a Sylvok Lifestaff off a Ghalima's Warden that was blocking Alpha Tyrannofex - shatter works almost as well there
Myr: Shatter them off a splash color or a key mana total
Bombs: Mimic Vat, etc.
Key artifacts: Myr Resevoir in a myr deck (don't laugh, I've seen that card and grimaced), Contagion Clasp in poison, etc.
Then there's the fact it just kills any artifact creature. I mean yes, obv, but really, that's fairly solid. I might take "R: Destroy target artifact creature" in this set. Hell, I might at 1R.
See it as cheap removal that has a lot of tricks associated with it.
Of course, it's a bit tricky to describe how good it is because if I say "it's good" that's pretty obvious but if I say "it's very, very good" then it's not clear what that actually means. If I compare it with other cards then this early in the format it's hard to work out how other people value the things I'm comparing against.
Let's put it this way: if I'm already in Red but not playing Metalcraft there is no Common I'd take over it. If I am playing Metalcraft then Galvanic Blast is the only Common I'd take over it.
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
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So yes, shatter is powerful, but if you have 6 pieces of artifact removal already, go with something more like turn to slag. Or just keep them all and sideboard properly, which I am admittedly still learning to do.
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1800+ in Limited
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Focussing on Shatter as the source of your problems may not be correct here!
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
If people pass it to you. Okay, this doesn't happen often, but if it does, just play creatures that outclass other creatures without help.
this isn't to say its not real good, because it is. efficient removal is never bad. but its pretty common to run into tough situations like Darksteel Axe vs. Shatter or Myrsmith vs. Shatter. does Shatter get the call p1p1 vs. either of those cards? those are just two immediate examples, there are many similar situations.
Brad Nelson also mentioned that he thinks that Tumble Magnet is the 4th best common removal (after Galv Blast, Arrest and Grasp of Darkness). At first I thought shatter was better, but more and more I am finding that to be true, that Shatter is sometimes dead and Magnet never is.
1800+ in Limited
3-0ing after drafting 17 non-basics in Cube
In Scars, I'm finding that I would rather have Galvanic Blast or Grasp of Darkness or Arrest over Shatter. I attribute this to the inclusion of infect because it provides another viable archetype that does not lean on artifacts the way Affinity did.
edit: Another HUGE reason Shatter isn't as good in Scars is the exclusion of artifact lands.
Flame infraction. - Blinking Spirit
Calling someone a Commie is flaming and must be stopped, but turning the word Conservative into a loaded pejorative and using it over and over again is perfectly acceptable.
That being said, it is extremely strong against R/W metalcraft, which is arguably the most powerful SOM limited archetype. And it's a perfect sideboard option to break your opponents' bombs.