I just don't think the current cards are good enough. I remember cards Like Vesuvan Shapeshifter and Brine Elemental aka pickle lock seeing play years ago but besides that very few morph cards saw play.
I would be surprised if morph didn't make somewhat of an appearance in standard somewhere. Not the toolbox you speak of, but morph has always been standard playable. It was strong when pickles was a thing. It was strong when aether sliding a morph was a thing and it was good when the red akroma could come down before counter magic was online. Really only a few cards make the cut. I don't see any glaring ones right now that do that though.
I would be surprised if morph didn't make somewhat of an appearance in standard somewhere. Not the toolbox you speak of, but morph has always been standard playable. It was strong when pickles was a thing. It was strong when aether sliding a morph was a thing and it was good when the red akroma could come down before counter magic was online. Really only a few cards make the cut. I don't see any glaring ones right now that do that though.
If your worried about your Akroma, angel of fury being countered morphing it isnt the best idea
I think there's potential for a pretty good deck there.
That's what I thought haha! I placed like 1 Mountain, 1 Swamp, and 1 Plains just because I can seek 'em out with Trail of Mystery. It's funny when they see your UG manabase then you suddenly cast different clan'd Charms
They overcosted all the morphs. Everybody knows that you need 5 for a decent effect making everything really predictable.
Icefeather Aven and Rattleclaw Mystic say hi. And Sagu Mauler at a unmorph cost of 4 would be insane. But apart from those, I can't really think of any other Morphs that would be playable in Standard, let alone anywhere else, maybe Hooded Hydra?
I think that also the lack of flickering effects have a huge impact on it.
Most of ever-playable morphers, did see play because of flickering.
Also there are not many big morphers around with cost reduction morphs. The only decent one is Sagu Mauler, but his colors don't help.
For morph to be at last playble, it would be need more creatures with big butts such as Akroma, Angel of Fury or Exalted Angel spread in different colors (that way, even if a color combo is not strong to be home of one the other might see play)
Or cards with strong face up effects, but not overcosted morph cost, such as Bane of the Living
Also, "free" morphers that actually get bigger, such as Putrid Raptor and Zombie Cutthroat.
And an Eldrazi Temple and Eye of Ugin for morphers.
But in a world where Tribal Forcemage becomes Master of Pearls, i don't think morph will be very playable, the only morphers that might see play are Ashcloud Phoenix (already see play because of the return to battlefield clause, rarely will be played facedown for 3), Sagu Mauler (6/6 trample hexproof for 6 is good, it just need a shell that can take advantage of it) and Rattleclaw Mystic (manadork that can punch)
2/2 for 3 is never going to be playable in a meta of 3/3 for 2 and 4/4 for 3.
Zero chance.
Also, those 3/3s and 4/4s have some powerful abilities. And don't forget the 4/5 Tremple life swing for 4 or the 5/4 flying, vigilance/haste/lifelink for 4. It's really hard to see the morph creatures having any real value when you have to pay for them twice to get any real results. The only one I'm in any way interested in is Ashcloud Phoenix since it's so hard to kill if they don't have an exile spell.
I play with Sagu Mauler and I don't ever find my self playing it Morphed down. Why would I since doing so would open it to removal. Mauler has hexproof so you are better off just playing it straight up. If your playing green your probably speeding it out anyways.
From there you can tweak the numbers quite a lott. I am not shure if it is any good but you have the most cost-efective morphs and all the morph synergy.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have dyslexia, no I am not going to spell check for you, yes you have to live with the horrors of it.
Hornet queen is a late game winner those deathtouchers are worth their in gold. Worst case scenario you run 2 hornet nest and 1 hornet queen to drop your curve a bit
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
~"Life is to short to drink bad wine!" -Ching chai
~"Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils."
-Louis Hector Berlioz
I play with Sagu Mauler and I don't ever find my self playing it Morphed down. Why would I since doing so would open it to removal. Mauler has hexproof so you are better off just playing it straight up. If your playing green your probably speeding it out anyways.
If they have a resolved Elspeth, it can dodge Elspeth's downtick and attack into her.
I've honestly only played it face down once or twice, and that was due to knowing my mana was going to be very tight for several turns and didn't necessarily require it to win. So I risked getting it destroyed for potential gain the next turn. Which paid off over all.
At the end of the day, a fully fledged morph deck just isn't going to see play at the highest levels of competition:
A) Because it's two slow. If you are playing a morph turn 3, you are getting completely outclassed by turn 2 Goblin Rabblemasters that will be able to straight up trade for it while generating multiple Goblin tokens. Even if you are looking to block a 1/2 Prowess (Swiftspear) or 2/2 Prowess (Seeker) creature, there really isn't a good way to profitably block those guys and those creatures cost less.
B) Not explosive enough. A turn 3 2/2 is going to be smaller than basically all other turn 3 or turn 4 plays. So there isn't really a good way to attack into these creatures.
Now, there is potentially a way to use morph as a bluffing tool. Rageclaw Shaman and Sagu Mauler who both have morph. On turn 3 or turn 4 morphing one of those guys could force your opponent to make a decision when it comes to removal, since a turn 5 Sagu Mauler unmorphed is tough to deal with. So if your opponent hits it with a burn spell or removal and it turns out to be the Shaman instead of the Mauler, then you win that exchange because you are forcing them to use removal on your mana dork. And also, if you untap with 5 mana, you could actually attack with a 2/2 Rageclaw Shaman morphed and they probably aren't going to block fearing a Mauler flip.
Rattleclaw Mystic and Sagu Mauler are the only morph cars possible to see constructed play. It has nothing with either of them having morph either.
Well, Sagu Mauler's morph potentially lets it come into play a turn earlier (you risk it getting hit by removal). Shaman's morph lets it accelerate an extra mana compared to playing it normally (but this would be on turn 4 you get the extra mana normally).
Rattleclaw Mystic and Sagu Mauler are the only morph cars possible to see constructed play. It has nothing with either of them having morph either.
Well, Sagu Mauler's morph potentially lets it come into play a turn earlier (you risk it getting hit by removal). Shaman's morph lets it accelerate an extra mana compared to playing it normally (but this would be on turn 4 you get the extra mana normally).
Morphing mystic disrupts your 4 drop that you would have accelerated into without the morph. If you do morph to get to your 6 drops there is even more incentive to shoot it. Either you are catching the mystic stalling the 6 drop or you hit the 6 drop you just morphed down. Either way it isn't good for you.
Sagu Mauler is played for his big body, trample, and hexproof. The card might as well not even have morph on it. Same for rattleclaw as well. These are limited play angles not constructed.
Morphing mystic disrupts your 4 drop that you would have accelerated into without the morph. If you do morph to get to your 6 drops there is even more incentive to shoot it. Either you are catching the mystic stalling the 6 drop or you hit the 6 drop you just morphed down. Either way it isn't good for you.
Sagu Mauler is played for his big body, trample, and hexproof. The card might as well not even have morph on it. Same for rattleclaw as well. These are limited play angles not constructed.
I agree. But I dispute the logic that either of them might as well not have morph. Certainly you are going to just play them face up the majority of the time, but to act like there won't be significant percentages (say around 10%) of the time where you want to play them face down.
With Rattleclaw you lose the ability to play your 4 drop on turn 3. But maybe you don't have a 4 drop in your hand. Or maybe you are playing against aggro and you played another 2 CMC card on turn 2... on turn 3 your decision is either play Shaman for 2 or morph it for 3. Obviously against aggro in this scenario being able to block a 1/1 token and survive is relevant (while still leaving open the possibility to unflip it turn 4 and drop something for 6. I could see the majority of times you play him as a morph having more to do with the fact you have the 1 mana open anyway, so might as well play him face down.
With Sagu Mauler playing him face down means he's an easy target to shoot down. So I actually don't you want to be morphing him turn 4 so that turn 5 you can flip him up so that he'd be in play a turn earlier. Seems like it's too risky just to walk into a removal spell when you don't have to. That being said, there are some matchups where that's a safe proposition. And there are some matchups where you just need dudes on the table. If it's turn 5, playing Shaman face up and Sagu Mauler face down is a play you might have to make if you are trying to stem the tide against aggro.
This might all be a moot point because Mauler is looking like it's not making the cut in Temur anyways.
This is wrong. You are not going to play them morphed 10%, or even 1% of the time in constructed. If you are you're not familiar enough with the cards to understand their uses.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
EDH DECKS
[to be updated
OTHER DECKS
I think there's potential for a pretty good deck there.
If your worried about your Akroma, angel of fury being countered morphing it isnt the best idea
That's what I thought haha! I placed like 1 Mountain, 1 Swamp, and 1 Plains just because I can seek 'em out with Trail of Mystery. It's funny when they see your UG manabase then you suddenly cast different clan'd Charms
EDH DECKS
[to be updated
OTHER DECKS
Icefeather Aven and Rattleclaw Mystic say hi. And Sagu Mauler at a unmorph cost of 4 would be insane. But apart from those, I can't really think of any other Morphs that would be playable in Standard, let alone anywhere else, maybe Hooded Hydra?
Zero chance.
Bouncing my creature for net 6 mana? Yeah ok you do that.
Most of ever-playable morphers, did see play because of flickering.
Also there are not many big morphers around with cost reduction morphs. The only decent one is Sagu Mauler, but his colors don't help.
For morph to be at last playble, it would be need more creatures with big butts such as Akroma, Angel of Fury or Exalted Angel spread in different colors (that way, even if a color combo is not strong to be home of one the other might see play)
Or cards with strong face up effects, but not overcosted morph cost, such as Bane of the Living
Also, "free" morphers that actually get bigger, such as Putrid Raptor and Zombie Cutthroat.
And an Eldrazi Temple and Eye of Ugin for morphers.
But in a world where Tribal Forcemage becomes Master of Pearls, i don't think morph will be very playable, the only morphers that might see play are Ashcloud Phoenix (already see play because of the return to battlefield clause, rarely will be played facedown for 3), Sagu Mauler (6/6 trample hexproof for 6 is good, it just need a shell that can take advantage of it) and Rattleclaw Mystic (manadork that can punch)
Also, those 3/3s and 4/4s have some powerful abilities. And don't forget the 4/5 Tremple life swing for 4 or the 5/4 flying, vigilance/haste/lifelink for 4. It's really hard to see the morph creatures having any real value when you have to pay for them twice to get any real results. The only one I'm in any way interested in is Ashcloud Phoenix since it's so hard to kill if they don't have an exile spell.
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate
I'll post the deck list for you.
4x Dragon's Eye Savants
4x Elvish Mystic
3x Hornet Queen
4x Icefeather Aven
2x Kheru Spellsnatcher
4x Rattleclaw Mystic
4x Sagu Mauler
4x Temur Charger
7x Forest
6x Island
4x Temple of Mystery
4x Yavimaya Coast
Enchantment (8)
4x Secret Plans
4x Trail of Mystery
2x Ghostfire Blade
This looks like a solid deck and could be a lot of fun.
~"Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils."
-Louis Hector Berlioz
4x Ghostfire Blade
4x Trail of Mysteri
4x Secret Plans
4x Grim Haruspex
4x Sagu Mauler
4x Ruthless Ripper
4x Temur Charger
4x Heroes Downfall
4x Elvis Mysthic
From there you can tweak the numbers quite a lott. I am not shure if it is any good but you have the most cost-efective morphs and all the morph synergy.
~"Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils."
-Louis Hector Berlioz
If they have a resolved Elspeth, it can dodge Elspeth's downtick and attack into her.
I've honestly only played it face down once or twice, and that was due to knowing my mana was going to be very tight for several turns and didn't necessarily require it to win. So I risked getting it destroyed for potential gain the next turn. Which paid off over all.
A) Because it's two slow. If you are playing a morph turn 3, you are getting completely outclassed by turn 2 Goblin Rabblemasters that will be able to straight up trade for it while generating multiple Goblin tokens. Even if you are looking to block a 1/2 Prowess (Swiftspear) or 2/2 Prowess (Seeker) creature, there really isn't a good way to profitably block those guys and those creatures cost less.
B) Not explosive enough. A turn 3 2/2 is going to be smaller than basically all other turn 3 or turn 4 plays. So there isn't really a good way to attack into these creatures.
Now, there is potentially a way to use morph as a bluffing tool. Rageclaw Shaman and Sagu Mauler who both have morph. On turn 3 or turn 4 morphing one of those guys could force your opponent to make a decision when it comes to removal, since a turn 5 Sagu Mauler unmorphed is tough to deal with. So if your opponent hits it with a burn spell or removal and it turns out to be the Shaman instead of the Mauler, then you win that exchange because you are forcing them to use removal on your mana dork. And also, if you untap with 5 mana, you could actually attack with a 2/2 Rageclaw Shaman morphed and they probably aren't going to block fearing a Mauler flip.
The only card that does have morph that matters is Ashcloud Phoenix.
Well, Sagu Mauler's morph potentially lets it come into play a turn earlier (you risk it getting hit by removal). Shaman's morph lets it accelerate an extra mana compared to playing it normally (but this would be on turn 4 you get the extra mana normally).
Morphing mystic disrupts your 4 drop that you would have accelerated into without the morph. If you do morph to get to your 6 drops there is even more incentive to shoot it. Either you are catching the mystic stalling the 6 drop or you hit the 6 drop you just morphed down. Either way it isn't good for you.
Sagu Mauler is played for his big body, trample, and hexproof. The card might as well not even have morph on it. Same for rattleclaw as well. These are limited play angles not constructed.
I agree. But I dispute the logic that either of them might as well not have morph. Certainly you are going to just play them face up the majority of the time, but to act like there won't be significant percentages (say around 10%) of the time where you want to play them face down.
With Rattleclaw you lose the ability to play your 4 drop on turn 3. But maybe you don't have a 4 drop in your hand. Or maybe you are playing against aggro and you played another 2 CMC card on turn 2... on turn 3 your decision is either play Shaman for 2 or morph it for 3. Obviously against aggro in this scenario being able to block a 1/1 token and survive is relevant (while still leaving open the possibility to unflip it turn 4 and drop something for 6. I could see the majority of times you play him as a morph having more to do with the fact you have the 1 mana open anyway, so might as well play him face down.
With Sagu Mauler playing him face down means he's an easy target to shoot down. So I actually don't you want to be morphing him turn 4 so that turn 5 you can flip him up so that he'd be in play a turn earlier. Seems like it's too risky just to walk into a removal spell when you don't have to. That being said, there are some matchups where that's a safe proposition. And there are some matchups where you just need dudes on the table. If it's turn 5, playing Shaman face up and Sagu Mauler face down is a play you might have to make if you are trying to stem the tide against aggro.
This might all be a moot point because Mauler is looking like it's not making the cut in Temur anyways.