It's a mirran crusader with higher variance, if things go right it should do stupid things but it can easily go the other way around and end up being a gray ogre, in the right deck i think it should be good enough, but i don't expect it to do many waves, even if it seems cool in doran there are a lot of things that happen to be cool in that deck but we all know that situations like that don't happen often.
I think you definitely want to play this guy in decks that actively want cards like qasali pridemage and bloodbraid elf, to me those are the biggest selling points when you compare it to other 3 drops. I could see it being busted in decks that play squadron hawk and or vengevine, simply because then we are talking of it being always effectively a double striker with upside for other creature. I think it is worth exploring and it certainly isn't just a somewhat worse mirran crusader, i'd say in the right deck it could definitely pull it's weight and be a great roleplayer.
I hate to throw a wet blanket on the hoopla surround this guy but...
You are aware that if the other guy gets hit with any form of removal this is a 2/2 for a restrictive 3 mana? There are way to many ways to kill a dude in this format to make keeping 2 dudes alive worth the time. Aegis Angel is very similar and it sees zero play.
This card isn't traditionally bad, but at the same time, he's really not any better than the current 3 drops available in the colors he would be played in.
Lets see the list here...
Better than Geist of Saint Traft? No. Not even close.
Better than Knight of the Reliquary? he *might* be on rare occasions where you need damage immediatley, but all other occasions, Knight is a bolt-proof creature that also grabs you utility lands, is a hate card for storm combo and tron if you untap with him, and also gives you an extra mana every turn. The utility Knight gives is just exponentially better, and is also less high variance.
Better than Kitchen Finks? This depends, but the decks that play Kitchen Finks get tons of value off finks, and it's a critical part to their deck, whereas this creature would be relatively useless. Finks is a huge cog against any aggro deck, whereas this ends up playing the role of a relatively generic beater.
Better than Mirran Crusader? This is relatively even, although the protection crusader has is occasionally relevant. Even then, very few play crusader in modern, so this is a bit moot.
Overall, it's a card that can deal damage slightly faster, but also comes at a higher variance and isn't good by itself. It promotes overextending. Is he playable? sure. Is he going to make any deck relevant by himself? Absolutely not.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find me online - I'm on Cockatrice * Tag - Badd B - Or on MTGO - Tag - Cbus05
Both geist and knight of the reliquary are more consistent - they don't need other cards to be good. This paladin has the possibility to be great, but is only great if you have something else. If you already have geist or an active knight of the reliquary on the table you are probably already in a good position or a position in which the paladin probably won't help more. He also does not interact with exalted really well, which is a big disadvantage.
The most interesting interaction is with an opening of mana dark - geist - paladin, but even then most of the time I would rather have elsepth which doesn't die to all removal like the paladin and is thus more resilient.
Both geist and knight of the reliquary are more consistent - they don't need other cards to be good. This paladin has the possibility to be great, but is only great if you have something else. If you already have geist or an active knight of the reliquary on the table you are probably already in a good position or a position in which the paladin probably won't help more. He also does not interact with exalted really well, which is a big disadvantage.
The most interesting interaction is with an opening of mana dark - geist - paladin, but even then most of the time I would rather have elsepth which doesn't die to removal.
I wasn't aware Elspeth had Shroud or Hexproof; she dies to burn, O-ring, Needle, and Pulse just like how other permanents can be answered. I guess you could've phrased it like "The amount of removal for Elspeth is more narrow". But Elspeth doesn't give two creatures double strike (which creates an interesting interaction with swords); She's also higher in the curve.
I'd rather play Silverblade Paladin MD over Mirran Crusader; He's good. He makes your other creatures more valuable and more efficient when he's on the board. He's a must answer threat.
Whether or not he finds a deck to have a home in is up to the meta; (Mirran Crusader isn't popular in Modern, so i'm not sure that this guy will be). But, that doesn't mean he's not a good card.
There's plenty of other cards that exist in MTG that 'need other cards to be good'. Like, the Swords. Or Jitte. They require a creature on the board to be good. But, the latter is banned because it's too good and the former sees plenty of play. If you think of him as an equipment card as opposed to a 2/2 body you might like him a little bit more.
I wasn't aware Elspeth had Shroud or Hexproof; she dies to burn, O-ring, Needle, and Pulse just like how other permanents can be answered. I guess you could've phrased it like "The amount of removal for Elspeth is more narrow". But Elspeth doesn't give two creatures double strike (which creates an interesting interaction with swords); She's also higher in the curve.
Got look at the lists throughout this forum, those cards are in far fewer regularity than Bolt, Lightning Helix, and Path. Elspeth can pump out free dude, give evasion, and her ultimate is easy to reach and very good. She's one higher, which in the deck that would play knight is not hard, because most of those decks run mana dorks.
I'd rather play Silverblade Paladin MD over Mirran Crusader; He's good. He makes your other creatures more valuable and more efficient when he's on the board. He's a must answer threat.
That sounds bad though. Crusader dodges most of the removal in the format and is a house against Goyf and Jund. Paladin would only mak e a lot of those games that much longer. Going long against Jund is a bad idea in my experience.
Whether or not he finds a deck to have a home in is up to the meta; (Mirran Crusader isn't popular in Modern, so i'm not sure that this guy will be). But, that doesn't mean he's not a good card.
I've seen Crusader used as a SB option against Jund or other G/B decks. He quite often wrecks those decks, he doesn't fit the MD, because in those same decks KotR and Geist is usually better.
There's plenty of other cards that exist in MTG that 'need other cards to be good'. Like, the Swords. Or Jitte. They require a creature on the board to be good. But, the latter is banned because it's too good and the former sees plenty of play. If you think of him as an equipment card as opposed to a 2/2 body you might like him a little bit more.
This is why Elspeth is better than Paladin. She pumps out free dudes with the equipment. You can't think of the guy as equipment, because he isn't. If this guy is sitting on board with a KotR, they will kill the knight and swing through this guy. If he's on board with Geist, they will kill this guy and block Geist. This guy and Geist do not survive Volcanic Fall-out which is a commonly played sweeper. This is why only decks that can land Geist fast enough, or have the ability to pressure the opponent before 3 mana are able to play him. He acts as a finisher in those decks, and those decks plan on spamming Geist until they win.
I don't understand why comparing Elspeth and and Silverblade is even worth a discussion. Not because one is demonstrably better than the other; I just don't see how they're competing for slots.
You guys are silly. You are arguing that the knight can compete with a geist and tarmogoyf. It can't. The reason being that Geist and Goyf are perfectly good top decks all alone. The knight needs a buddy. So it will only be good in extremely heavy creature based decks. Even then I only see it being the nuts when you are playing two creature decks against each other because otherwise they just kill your threat.
If you happen to have more creatures, they will just destroy one and the soulbound is over. If you have 3 or more, they will destroy the knight. If you have 2, they'll probably destroy the soulbounded guy and leave you with an spectacular 2/2.
True.
So many decks have easy, cheap removal. Creatures that can't make a stand on their own have no real use in modern.
So many decks have easy, cheap removal. Creatures that can't make a stand on their own have no real use in modern.
Not to mention that if your opponent is running paladin, your removal can get really nasty. They might attack with their pair of double strikers and then be left very sad when you bolt one and make an unexpected block on the other. This also works when you are on the offensive and they are blocking. Your removal gets extra value vs. paladin.
That said, I still think paladin can be quite good in a deck with many creatures. KotR is a much better 3-drop in general, but paladin definitely isn't a bad card. I wouldn't be surprised to see a deck putting up results with a few of these in the 75. It definitely isn't any sort of a staple, though, and I'm personally not a fan.
I think you definitely want to play this guy in decks that actively want cards like qasali pridemage and bloodbraid elf, to me those are the biggest selling points when you compare it to other 3 drops. I could see it being busted in decks that play squadron hawk and or vengevine, simply because then we are talking of it being always effectively a double striker with upside for other creature. I think it is worth exploring and it certainly isn't just a somewhat worse mirran crusader, i'd say in the right deck it could definitely pull it's weight and be a great roleplayer.
this is a terrible example, lmao.
This card isn't traditionally bad, but at the same time, he's really not any better than the current 3 drops available in the colors he would be played in.
Lets see the list here...
Better than Geist of Saint Traft? No. Not even close.
Better than Knight of the Reliquary? he *might* be on rare occasions where you need damage immediatley, but all other occasions, Knight is a bolt-proof creature that also grabs you utility lands, is a hate card for storm combo and tron if you untap with him, and also gives you an extra mana every turn. The utility Knight gives is just exponentially better, and is also less high variance.
Better than Kitchen Finks? This depends, but the decks that play Kitchen Finks get tons of value off finks, and it's a critical part to their deck, whereas this creature would be relatively useless. Finks is a huge cog against any aggro deck, whereas this ends up playing the role of a relatively generic beater.
Better than Mirran Crusader? This is relatively even, although the protection crusader has is occasionally relevant. Even then, very few play crusader in modern, so this is a bit moot.
Overall, it's a card that can deal damage slightly faster, but also comes at a higher variance and isn't good by itself. It promotes overextending. Is he playable? sure. Is he going to make any deck relevant by himself? Absolutely not.
The most interesting interaction is with an opening of mana dark - geist - paladin, but even then most of the time I would rather have elsepth which doesn't die to all removal like the paladin and is thus more resilient.
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
I wasn't aware Elspeth had Shroud or Hexproof; she dies to burn, O-ring, Needle, and Pulse just like how other permanents can be answered. I guess you could've phrased it like "The amount of removal for Elspeth is more narrow". But Elspeth doesn't give two creatures double strike (which creates an interesting interaction with swords); She's also higher in the curve.
I'd rather play Silverblade Paladin MD over Mirran Crusader; He's good. He makes your other creatures more valuable and more efficient when he's on the board. He's a must answer threat.
Whether or not he finds a deck to have a home in is up to the meta; (Mirran Crusader isn't popular in Modern, so i'm not sure that this guy will be). But, that doesn't mean he's not a good card.
There's plenty of other cards that exist in MTG that 'need other cards to be good'. Like, the Swords. Or Jitte. They require a creature on the board to be good. But, the latter is banned because it's too good and the former sees plenty of play. If you think of him as an equipment card as opposed to a 2/2 body you might like him a little bit more.
Sig courtesy of DOLZero
[82/360] Custom Cube
Blog about the Custom Cube
Got look at the lists throughout this forum, those cards are in far fewer regularity than Bolt, Lightning Helix, and Path. Elspeth can pump out free dude, give evasion, and her ultimate is easy to reach and very good. She's one higher, which in the deck that would play knight is not hard, because most of those decks run mana dorks.
That sounds bad though. Crusader dodges most of the removal in the format and is a house against Goyf and Jund. Paladin would only mak e a lot of those games that much longer. Going long against Jund is a bad idea in my experience.
I've seen Crusader used as a SB option against Jund or other G/B decks. He quite often wrecks those decks, he doesn't fit the MD, because in those same decks KotR and Geist is usually better.
This is why Elspeth is better than Paladin. She pumps out free dudes with the equipment. You can't think of the guy as equipment, because he isn't. If this guy is sitting on board with a KotR, they will kill the knight and swing through this guy. If he's on board with Geist, they will kill this guy and block Geist. This guy and Geist do not survive Volcanic Fall-out which is a commonly played sweeper. This is why only decks that can land Geist fast enough, or have the ability to pressure the opponent before 3 mana are able to play him. He acts as a finisher in those decks, and those decks plan on spamming Geist until they win.
~~~~~~~~~
Too many to list efficiently. Find me online with the same SN if you want to play, or message me here to set up a time to play.
Modern
~~~~~~~~~
Whatever pile of 75 I throw together the night before without testing. Usually: :symb::symu::symg:
True.
So many decks have easy, cheap removal. Creatures that can't make a stand on their own have no real use in modern.
Modern Junk Primer
Legacy ANT Primer
L1 Judge
Not to mention that if your opponent is running paladin, your removal can get really nasty. They might attack with their pair of double strikers and then be left very sad when you bolt one and make an unexpected block on the other. This also works when you are on the offensive and they are blocking. Your removal gets extra value vs. paladin.
That said, I still think paladin can be quite good in a deck with many creatures. KotR is a much better 3-drop in general, but paladin definitely isn't a bad card. I wouldn't be surprised to see a deck putting up results with a few of these in the 75. It definitely isn't any sort of a staple, though, and I'm personally not a fan.
-Tom