I normally don't want to discourage innovation and using new cards, but there is almost 0 reason to run Ulcerate over Dismember. There are only 3 scenarios I can think of where Ulcerate should be in your deck. The first is if the extra 1 life from casting a Dismember for 1 isn't worth the -5/-5 effect, AND the versatility to cast it at 1B/-2 life or 1BB/-0 life. Given that this is such an extreme corner case, I can't imagine why anyone would use it there.
The second situation for using Ulcerate is if you are already running the full Dismember playset and need more black removal in the 1 CMC slot. But I can't think of a single deck that would want 4 Dismembers and 1+ Ulcerates that wouldn't just replace those cards with Victim of Night or Doom Blade or something similar.
Finally, Gifts decks might use Ulcerate as another Gifts option.
Outside of those corner cases (and probably a few others that are even more unlikely) there is absolutely no reason to be discussing this card seriously.
Ulcerate, what if it shocked you instead? or said, something like when this is cast, if the creature dies, it deals 3 to you. If it doesnt, no damage taken. then you can have the upside of snaping it to kill goyf for no damage.
I normally don't want to discourage innovation and using new cards, but there is almost 0 reason to run Ulcerate over Dismember. There are only 3 scenarios I can think of where Ulcerate should be in your deck. The first is if the extra 1 life from casting a Dismember for 1 isn't worth the -5/-5 effect, AND the versatility to cast it at 1B/-2 life or 1BB/-0 life. Given that this is such an extreme corner case, I can't imagine why anyone would use it there.
The second situation for using Ulcerate is if you are already running the full Dismember playset and need more black removal in the 1 CMC slot. But I can't think of a single deck that would want 4 Dismembers and 1+ Ulcerates that wouldn't just replace those cards with Victim of Night or Doom Blade or something similar.
Finally, Gifts decks might use Ulcerate as another Gifts option.
Outside of those corner cases (and probably a few others that are even more unlikely) there is absolutely no reason to be discussing this card seriously.
Yeah there is not much reason to run the card the way it is but my text was meant to say how good the card could have been. I mean without the "You lose 3 life" clause that would have been a really good spell that would have been Modern playable giving black its "standard" 1 cmc removal spell a la Lightning Bolt/Path to Exile.
Yeah there is not much reason to run the card the way it is but my text was meant to say how good the card could have been. I mean without the "You lose 3 life" clause that would have been a really good spell that would have been Modern playable giving black its "standard" 1 cmc removal spell a la Lightning Bolt/Path to Exile.
Yeah, I agree that it was definitely a missed opportunity. That said, it would have been hard for Wizards to make this spell without either totally outclassing Disfigure (which seems risky in Standard, especially given the prevalence of black in the format right now), or without having some kind of a drawback that makes the spell worse than Dismember. And the sad thing about this card is that it makes it all but impossible for Wizards to print a B Instant -3/-3 spell in the future, because that card would be better than BOTH Disfigure and the crappy Ulcerate.
I'm most excited for the other Souls in the set. I really like that you can exile them at instant speed, although I am worried that the effects won't be very powerful. Ultimately, the cards will probably be casual garbage, but I am currently holding out hope for the black one being some kind of reanimator effect.
Yeah there is not much reason to run the card the way it is but my text was meant to say how good the card could have been. I mean without the "You lose 3 life" clause that would have been a really good spell that would have been Modern playable giving black its "standard" 1 cmc removal spell a la Lightning Bolt/Path to Exile.
Yeah, I agree that it was definitely a missed opportunity. That said, it would have been hard for Wizards to make this spell without either totally outclassing Disfigure (which seems risky in Standard, especially given the prevalence of black in the format right now), or without having some kind of a drawback that makes the spell worse than Dismember. And the sad thing about this card is that it makes it all but impossible for Wizards to print a B Instant -3/-3 spell in the future, because that card would be better than BOTH Disfigure and the crappy Ulcerate.
I'm most excited for the other Souls in the set. I really like that you can exile them at instant speed, although I am worried that the effects won't be very powerful. Ultimately, the cards will probably be casual garbage, but I am currently holding out hope for the black one being some kind of reanimator effect.
Let's wallow together in mutual disappointment when Wizards doesn't give us that very effect.
Yeah there is not much reason to run the card the way it is but my text was meant to say how good the card could have been. I mean without the "You lose 3 life" clause that would have been a really good spell that would have been Modern playable giving black its "standard" 1 cmc removal spell a la Lightning Bolt/Path to Exile.
Yeah, I agree that it was definitely a missed opportunity. That said, it would have been hard for Wizards to make this spell without either totally outclassing Disfigure (which seems risky in Standard, especially given the prevalence of black in the format right now), or without having some kind of a drawback that makes the spell worse than Dismember. And the sad thing about this card is that it makes it all but impossible for Wizards to print a B Instant -3/-3 spell in the future, because that card would be better than BOTH Disfigure and the crappy Ulcerate.
I'm most excited for the other Souls in the set. I really like that you can exile them at instant speed, although I am worried that the effects won't be very powerful. Ultimately, the cards will probably be casual garbage, but I am currently holding out hope for the black one being some kind of reanimator effect.
Well maybe they do print Last Gasp for B in the future. I mean they did introduce Murder in M13 only to print a strictly better version with Hero's Downfall.
And the Soul should better have that effect. Black will probably the be Innistrad one and if that isn't something that reanimates stuff then I seriously don't know what to say.
Trying to compare Ulcerate to Dismember is a pretty poor comparison. Dismember is far over the curve and is represented by a mechanic that has been scapegoated by R&D as a mistake.
It makes more sense to compare Ulcerate to Disfigure. Not losing life on Disfigure is pretty huge, especially in a fetch/shockland format. Especially if you try to use Snapcaster to flashback Ulcerate. Can you say "ouch" anyone?
I think it's worth acknowledging Ulcerate is actually 1cmc by its printed mana cost vs Dismember's technically 3 mana despite behaving more like a 1cmc spell.
It's a small detail and normally not that relevant, but it's a difference in a game where cards that care about such distinctions do exist.
Trying to compare Ulcerate to Dismember is a pretty poor comparison. Dismember is far over the curve and is represented by a mechanic that has been scapegoated by R&D as a mistake.
Eh? When? Mark Rosewater gave Phyrexian mana a 5/10 on the Storm Scale, which seems awfully low for something they consider an out-and-out mistake.
Ya that rating went way up recently. Its like an 8 or a 9 i think.
It has been said it was a mistake. Especially Gut Shot/Git Probe/Dismember/Mental Misstep
A search for "storm scale phyrexian mana" doesn't turn up anything on his blog. Link for this, and for the statements it's a mistake? (closest thing I found is this, which only indicates that certain cards with it were possible mistakes, not the idea as a whole)
Ya that rating went way up recently. Its like an 8 or a 9 i think.
It has been said it was a mistake. Especially Gut Shot/Git Probe/Dismember/Mental Misstep
A search for "storm scale phyrexian mana" doesn't turn up anything on his blog. Link for this, and for the statements it's a mistake? (closest thing I found is this, which only indicates that certain cards with it were possible mistakes, not the idea as a whole)
Well I would bet that Dismember is most likely one of those cards mistakes. I mean I appreciate and respect the color pie and so does MaRo so I can't be only person that is bothered about it.
The card basically oozes black. The name is black, the -x/-x effect is black, the art is black and the entire flavor is black and yet every single deck in the game can use that spell. Gut Shot isnt really played, Mental Misstep is a clear mistake and banned and Gitaxian Probe is funnily enough only really used in blue decks. Its only Dismember that really breaks out of that and sees play in all kinds of decks.
Trying to compare Ulcerate to Dismember is a pretty poor comparison. Dismember is far over the curve and is represented by a mechanic that has been scapegoated by R&D as a mistake.
It makes more sense to compare Ulcerate to Disfigure. Not losing life on Disfigure is pretty huge, especially in a fetch/shockland format. Especially if you try to use Snapcaster to flashback Ulcerate. Can you say "ouch" anyone?
I agree that it's not fair to compare the two from an abstract design perspective. But from a Modern perspective, we should definitely compare the two both in terms of their relative playability (Dismember rocks, Ulcerate sucks), and in terms of its disappointing design (Wizards definitely didn't design this card with us in mind and if they did then they are hopelessly out of touch). Given that this is the Modern forum and that we are discussing the set in regards to Modern, I can't think of a better comparison for the card than Dismember.
That seems like a very real possibility. I would not be surprised at all if they reprinted it. I don't think it causes big problems in Standard, but then again I'm not super familiar with their metagame.
Trying to compare Ulcerate to Dismember is a pretty poor comparison. Dismember is far over the curve and is represented by a mechanic that has been scapegoated by R&D as a mistake.
It makes more sense to compare Ulcerate to Disfigure. Not losing life on Disfigure is pretty huge, especially in a fetch/shockland format. Especially if you try to use Snapcaster to flashback Ulcerate. Can you say "ouch" anyone?
I agree that it's not fair to compare the two from an abstract design perspective. But from a Modern perspective, we should definitely compare the two both in terms of their relative playability (Dismember rocks, Ulcerate sucks), and in terms of its disappointing design (Wizards definitely didn't design this card with us in mind and if they did then they are hopelessly out of touch). Given that this is the Modern forum and that we are discussing the set in regards to Modern, I can't think of a better comparison for the card than Dismember.
That seems like a very real possibility. I would not be surprised at all if they reprinted it. I don't think it causes big problems in Standard, but then again I'm not super familiar with their metagame.
Anything that's a decent card but can't slot into Monoblack Devotion can only improve the current Standard metagame.
I like Chasm Skulker. Lorescale Coatl was a decent creature, and this is flat out better with an awesome "dies" ability. I'm not sure how strong this is in modern without any cards similar to brainstorm that can abuse this, but it isn't terrible at the very minimum.
Goblin Rabblemaster seems pretty strong. I don't think you really would want it in an all-in hyper aggro goblin variant, but play it with Aether vial, Wardriver, Krenko, and Chieftan and you get a lot of strong tribal synergies going.
Quickling is probably too conditional to see much play, but can potentially see it in a blue and taxes style deck where it would be useful bouncing cards like Spellstutter Sprite, Snapcaster Mage, Mangara of Corondor, etc.
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So let's talk about Chasm Skulker. The first thing I notice with this thing is its mana cost. 2U is right in the questionable zone of playability for any deck that wants this card. 2 CMC would obviously have been insanely strong, and 4 would have been unplayable, which puts 3 in a very uncertain position. In most decks that want this (Ux Delver/Tempo style decks), this is coming down on turn 3. The decks that might accelerate it out on turn 2, using BoP or Hierarch, probably don't want this card over any other 2 or 3 drop. Maybe that's a bad assumption but it's the direction I'm leaning now. So if Skulker comes down on turn 3, then what happens?
Best case scenario is you can get off a Gitaxian Probe before the opponent kills the Skulker. If that happens, you are guaranteed to get some value from this dude. They kill the Skulker and you get your 1/1 islandwalking squid, and honestly, islandwalk is not to be underestimated in this format. That's an unblockable creature against UWR Control and Twin, which are 2 of the top 5 most played decks in the format. If Skulker lives until you untap, then he gets really scary, likely growing by at least 2 counters from a spell and your draw step. At that point, you got a bolt-proof critter who leaves you with a small army when it dies.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of issues I still see with the Skulker. In most cases he comes down as a 3 mana 1/1 who does absolutely nothing until the next turn. I'm not convinced that a deck like UR Delver wants to tap out on turn 3 to cast this card, especially in this format where a turn 3 or turn 4 play needs to be pretty big to compete with stuff like Affinity, Twin, Pod, etc. Also, Skulker itself has no evasion, and just isn't Goyf-sized enough to brawl into the combat zone alone. So you basically rely on equipping it with something scary, drawing a ton of cards (which probably wins you the game anyway), or having a stable enough board where he can swing uncontested. Unlike a card such as Snappy or Pyromancer, Skulker's value is entirely on the dying side. Snappy generates value when he arrives, Pyro generates it when he sticks around. Skulker is scariest when it blows up and, unlike Snappy, Pyromancer, or Delver, relies on synergies in your deck that aren't as common. Decks that would abuse Skulker have an abundance of instants and sorceries to use alongside Pyro/Delver/Snappy, but not enough reliable card draw to really abuse the Skulker itself.
Now, if Modern had a Brainstorm or just some better cantrips generally (Ponder and/or Preordain come to mind), then this card would probably be a lot better. But right now, I just don't think it makes the cut.
I think Skulker is unplayable. At 3 mana, the creature NEEDS to be capable of blocking as soon as it comes down, or be ready to attack one turn later. Skulker ETBs as a 1/1 and becomes a 2/2 with no evasion on your next turn. Absolutely puny.
Q: Suppose Skulker doesn't grow but ETBs at one particular size. How big does it have to be on ETB to be worth playing?
A: Probably 3/3 (meaning with 2 +1/+1 counters, so it makes 2 tokens on death). The implication is that IF you can consistently grow it to that size, then it is worth playing - any extra boosts are gravy. If you can't, then give it a miss. A good example is Experiment One: Zoo with 28 creatures can consistently make him a 2/2 or 3/3 for G, so he is worth playing in that deck.
Q: Do you think you can consistently make it that size WITHOUT building around it (i.e. using only draw steps and spells that you would be playing anyway, like Cryptics/Remands)?
A: Well, it takes 2 pumps to get to that size. That means two draw steps (too slow), or a draw step and a cantrip. Of course you're not always going to have a cantrip in hand, and some cantrips like Remand are reactive (they require your opponent to cast something first; if he doesn't do anything then Skulker just enters combat as a dinky 2/2), so no, you can't make it a 3/3 consistently.
Q: Do you think you consistently make it that size by building around it (e.g. Whispering Madness, Careful Consideration)?
A: Yes. But wouldn't you be better off just playing Twin instead? You get to win the game for a 3+4 CMC combo instead of merely getting a big guy and drawing some cards.
edit: There is one other way of building around it: play permanents with CMC 2 or less that draw cards afterwards. E.g. Howling Mine, Merfolk Looter, Magus of the Bazaar. I still don't see how you can make a good deck with those though.
Skulker's issue, for me, is its lackluster 1/1 starting body.
If it lives past that then it surely gets out of control and becomes a mess to interact with in a profitable fashion, but it suffers from being textbook Electrolyze bait.
Edit:
Aether Vial it?
...nah, there are better things to Vial in...
Skulker fails into modern. Why? Its a 1 mana more, harder to work pyromancer.
This thing gets 1/1+ for every draw spell, and when it dies it makes that many tokens.
Young pyromancer does that too. Every "spell" you play it gets 1/1 power. I mean its a token, but still. You gained 1 more point of power. and if pyro dies... you have all his 1/1 power as tokens.
Yes, clasm comes to mind, but young pyro makes more power off more things, and bonus, its the same things that make snapcaster and delver work.
Chasm gets a counter whenever you draw a card, not when you cast a spell that draws cards, it gets a counter every draw step and with Thirst for knowledge it gets 3 counters.
Im not saying that it is better thann pyromancer, but it is different and it can be tested.
I dont like Waste not, I wanted to test it, it sounds so nice at first, but then you start thinking about it and its just a bad card for 8rack, that deck wants his opponent to be hellbent as soon as possible, and then Waste not does nothing.
Yes, it can be awesome if you play it turn 2, but then you are not discarding cards on that turn and thats bad for the gameplan.
Im thinking about Chasm in Blue moon, that deck plays lots of cantrips (serum visions, remand, cryptic command, electrolyze and spreading seas), its a control deck so it dont need to just win on the spot, you can play it and protect it one or two turns, then it will be quite big and even if it dies you will get the tokens (wich cant be blocked if you play spreading seas).
The original lists played Master of Waves as win condition, I think that Chasm can be tested on his slots.
I dont like Waste not, I wanted to test it, it sounds so nice at first, but then you start thinking about it and its just a bad card for 8rack, that deck wants his opponent to be hellbent as soon as possible, and then Waste not does nothing.
Yes, it can be awesome if you play it turn 2, but then you are not discarding cards on that turn and thats bad for the gameplan.
Yes you want your opponent to be hellbent asap, but your opponent wants to hold cards in hand. Cards that can be discarded after you drop a few waste nots. I mean your opponent isn't going to play out their hand just to die to a couple of racks.
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The second situation for using Ulcerate is if you are already running the full Dismember playset and need more black removal in the 1 CMC slot. But I can't think of a single deck that would want 4 Dismembers and 1+ Ulcerates that wouldn't just replace those cards with Victim of Night or Doom Blade or something similar.
Finally, Gifts decks might use Ulcerate as another Gifts option.
Outside of those corner cases (and probably a few others that are even more unlikely) there is absolutely no reason to be discussing this card seriously.
Yeah there is not much reason to run the card the way it is but my text was meant to say how good the card could have been. I mean without the "You lose 3 life" clause that would have been a really good spell that would have been Modern playable giving black its "standard" 1 cmc removal spell a la Lightning Bolt/Path to Exile.
Yeah, I agree that it was definitely a missed opportunity. That said, it would have been hard for Wizards to make this spell without either totally outclassing Disfigure (which seems risky in Standard, especially given the prevalence of black in the format right now), or without having some kind of a drawback that makes the spell worse than Dismember. And the sad thing about this card is that it makes it all but impossible for Wizards to print a B Instant -3/-3 spell in the future, because that card would be better than BOTH Disfigure and the crappy Ulcerate.
I'm most excited for the other Souls in the set. I really like that you can exile them at instant speed, although I am worried that the effects won't be very powerful. Ultimately, the cards will probably be casual garbage, but I am currently holding out hope for the black one being some kind of reanimator effect.
Let's wallow together in mutual disappointment when Wizards doesn't give us that very effect.
Well maybe they do print Last Gasp for B in the future. I mean they did introduce Murder in M13 only to print a strictly better version with Hero's Downfall.
And the Soul should better have that effect. Black will probably the be Innistrad one and if that isn't something that reanimates stuff then I seriously don't know what to say.
If the lose life clause was just tacked on to make it worse with Snapcaster Mage then all can do is shake my head.
It makes more sense to compare Ulcerate to Disfigure. Not losing life on Disfigure is pretty huge, especially in a fetch/shockland format. Especially if you try to use Snapcaster to flashback Ulcerate. Can you say "ouch" anyone?
It's a small detail and normally not that relevant, but it's a difference in a game where cards that care about such distinctions do exist.
It has been said it was a mistake. Especially Gut Shot/Git Probe/Dismember/Mental Misstep
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Modern
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xRxAffinityxRx
Well I would bet that Dismember is most likely one of those cards mistakes. I mean I appreciate and respect the color pie and so does MaRo so I can't be only person that is bothered about it.
The card basically oozes black. The name is black, the -x/-x effect is black, the art is black and the entire flavor is black and yet every single deck in the game can use that spell.
Gut Shot isnt really played, Mental Misstep is a clear mistake and banned and Gitaxian Probe is funnily enough only really used in blue decks. Its only Dismember that really breaks out of that and sees play in all kinds of decks.
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 agree that it's not fair to compare the two from an abstract design perspective. But from a Modern perspective, we should definitely compare the two both in terms of their relative playability (Dismember rocks, Ulcerate sucks), and in terms of its disappointing design (Wizards definitely didn't design this card with us in mind and if they did then they are hopelessly out of touch). Given that this is the Modern forum and that we are discussing the set in regards to Modern, I can't think of a better comparison for the card than Dismember.
That seems like a very real possibility. I would not be surprised at all if they reprinted it. I don't think it causes big problems in Standard, but then again I'm not super familiar with their metagame.
Goblin Rabblemaster seems pretty strong. I don't think you really would want it in an all-in hyper aggro goblin variant, but play it with Aether vial, Wardriver, Krenko, and Chieftan and you get a lot of strong tribal synergies going.
Quickling is probably too conditional to see much play, but can potentially see it in a blue and taxes style deck where it would be useful bouncing cards like Spellstutter Sprite, Snapcaster Mage, Mangara of Corondor, etc.
Best case scenario is you can get off a Gitaxian Probe before the opponent kills the Skulker. If that happens, you are guaranteed to get some value from this dude. They kill the Skulker and you get your 1/1 islandwalking squid, and honestly, islandwalk is not to be underestimated in this format. That's an unblockable creature against UWR Control and Twin, which are 2 of the top 5 most played decks in the format. If Skulker lives until you untap, then he gets really scary, likely growing by at least 2 counters from a spell and your draw step. At that point, you got a bolt-proof critter who leaves you with a small army when it dies.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of issues I still see with the Skulker. In most cases he comes down as a 3 mana 1/1 who does absolutely nothing until the next turn. I'm not convinced that a deck like UR Delver wants to tap out on turn 3 to cast this card, especially in this format where a turn 3 or turn 4 play needs to be pretty big to compete with stuff like Affinity, Twin, Pod, etc. Also, Skulker itself has no evasion, and just isn't Goyf-sized enough to brawl into the combat zone alone. So you basically rely on equipping it with something scary, drawing a ton of cards (which probably wins you the game anyway), or having a stable enough board where he can swing uncontested. Unlike a card such as Snappy or Pyromancer, Skulker's value is entirely on the dying side. Snappy generates value when he arrives, Pyro generates it when he sticks around. Skulker is scariest when it blows up and, unlike Snappy, Pyromancer, or Delver, relies on synergies in your deck that aren't as common. Decks that would abuse Skulker have an abundance of instants and sorceries to use alongside Pyro/Delver/Snappy, but not enough reliable card draw to really abuse the Skulker itself.
Now, if Modern had a Brainstorm or just some better cantrips generally (Ponder and/or Preordain come to mind), then this card would probably be a lot better. But right now, I just don't think it makes the cut.
Q: Suppose Skulker doesn't grow but ETBs at one particular size. How big does it have to be on ETB to be worth playing?
A: Probably 3/3 (meaning with 2 +1/+1 counters, so it makes 2 tokens on death). The implication is that IF you can consistently grow it to that size, then it is worth playing - any extra boosts are gravy. If you can't, then give it a miss. A good example is Experiment One: Zoo with 28 creatures can consistently make him a 2/2 or 3/3 for G, so he is worth playing in that deck.
Q: Do you think you can consistently make it that size WITHOUT building around it (i.e. using only draw steps and spells that you would be playing anyway, like Cryptics/Remands)?
A: Well, it takes 2 pumps to get to that size. That means two draw steps (too slow), or a draw step and a cantrip. Of course you're not always going to have a cantrip in hand, and some cantrips like Remand are reactive (they require your opponent to cast something first; if he doesn't do anything then Skulker just enters combat as a dinky 2/2), so no, you can't make it a 3/3 consistently.
Q: Do you think you consistently make it that size by building around it (e.g. Whispering Madness, Careful Consideration)?
A: Yes. But wouldn't you be better off just playing Twin instead? You get to win the game for a 3+4 CMC combo instead of merely getting a big guy and drawing some cards.
edit: There is one other way of building around it: play permanents with CMC 2 or less that draw cards afterwards. E.g. Howling Mine, Merfolk Looter, Magus of the Bazaar. I still don't see how you can make a good deck with those though.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
If it lives past that then it surely gets out of control and becomes a mess to interact with in a profitable fashion, but it suffers from being textbook Electrolyze bait.
Edit:
Aether Vial it?
...nah, there are better things to Vial in...
This thing gets 1/1+ for every draw spell, and when it dies it makes that many tokens.
Young pyromancer does that too. Every "spell" you play it gets 1/1 power. I mean its a token, but still. You gained 1 more point of power. and if pyro dies... you have all his 1/1 power as tokens.
Yes, clasm comes to mind, but young pyro makes more power off more things, and bonus, its the same things that make snapcaster and delver work.
Im not saying that it is better thann pyromancer, but it is different and it can be tested.
Thoughtseize became "Discard a card, lose 2 life, get a 2/2 dude or draw a card"
I mean all you need is one round with Thoughtseize and you're back to even, anything after that is just pure value.
God. Imagine the sickness. Waste Not turn 2, Liliana turn 3? Get your 8racks folks.
Yes, it can be awesome if you play it turn 2, but then you are not discarding cards on that turn and thats bad for the gameplan.
Im thinking about Chasm in Blue moon, that deck plays lots of cantrips (serum visions, remand, cryptic command, electrolyze and spreading seas), its a control deck so it dont need to just win on the spot, you can play it and protect it one or two turns, then it will be quite big and even if it dies you will get the tokens (wich cant be blocked if you play spreading seas).
The original lists played Master of Waves as win condition, I think that Chasm can be tested on his slots.
Yes you want your opponent to be hellbent asap, but your opponent wants to hold cards in hand. Cards that can be discarded after you drop a few waste nots. I mean your opponent isn't going to play out their hand just to die to a couple of racks.
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring