MTG Salvation

Sagu Mauler {4}{G}{U}

Creature - Beast (Rare)

Trample, hexproof

Morph {3}{G}{U} (You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for {3}. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)

6/6



I'm guessing this will be a cube card. It will be stronger the more morphs you run but it's almost playable even without morph. The body is pretty scary for a reasonable cost and it can be Natural Ordered and in a pinch, Green Sun's Zenithed (yes, those are verbs). Seems better than Simic Sky Swallower to me.

Will you run this card?

Simic Sky Swallower has flying though which means it often needs no help to actually kill an opponent. 6/6 trample is great but it still has to get through an often clogged ground. The mana reduction (morph + normal cost) is nice but I dunno if it makes up for actual flying.

Why isn't this card mono-Green? Could easily have been the case (Green has almost double the number of hexproof creatures Blue has), and I would snap-include that version.

As it is, I agree that it's better than SSS, but that doesn't make it good enough for a 3-card Simic section. I'd put it at 5th in the guild, after Kiora, Edric, Trygon Predator and Mystic Snake (not necessarily in that order).

Since Green and Blue are (arguably) the best/deepest colors for Morphs (even though Exalted Angel is the single best one), one thing you might consider is making Morph a mini-theme in those two colors (instead of the more traditional way of putting the same number in each color). In such a list, this could be a good addition.

On the plus side this has Hexproof instead of Shroud so that's pretty nice. Still not sure if I'd run it over SSS but I do like it.

Now look at this! Haven't cubers been asking for a green 6 mana 6/6 trample hexproof for years? Only... we actually wanted it to be monogreen. Damn, so close. Speaking of close: Yes, this guy is pretty close to Simic Sky Swallower. He lacks the defensive capability of blocking fliers and is quite a bit easier to kill with blockers. However, he costs a full mana less, can be equipped and even has a morph option that allows him to attack even earlier. I really like SSS, but I will probably replace the flyer with this guy if we get a few more cubable morph guys.

If there is something that my cube seriously lacks it's potent six drops. Apart from the Titan cycle, there really isn't much. Am I crazy to be considering running SSS and this card? I really like Kiora but that would be what I cut for this. My 4 card Simic section would include Trygon, Edric, SSS, and the Mauler. I'm trying to limit the number of walkers and am always looking to support ramp targets. Thoughts/Opinions??

I think this creature is pretty good. It loses the flying, but still has evasion in comparison to SSS. It's also a full mana cheaper, and has a Morph option. And upgrades shroud to hexproof. It should've been 4GG, but it's still a decent card, probably my #5 Simic card.

Not bad, but my cube is too tight for this.

I just strait up like this card. One of my many knocks against morph is the vulnerability of the option. This could potentially really ruin someone's day(Though I don't think anyone will wait until I have 5 mana open before trying to kill it)

Wizards I am really tired of ?!#k:!@ gold sets. I love gold cards but too much. We now have had Armada Wurm, Ruric Tar, and this guy which are all my dreamed of green 6 drops. The mere existence of this guy in the block makes another pushed mono G 6 drop unlikely. Add that to another Orzhov Sorin ruiing my hopes for another good mono-black walker.....


As far as this card, he is super solid even if you never read the morph section. But the mere existence of that give you a way to maybe gamble him out turn 2-3 and swing with it as a fatty on turn 3-5 on the early side. Natural order target, increased density of morphs without sacrificing anything powerwise(I put it on par with SSS). Easy splash out of green or blue. Not much to dislike here.

On another note I would argue that being one mana fewer(and the morph) than SSS makes this guy a much better finisher out of control decks(U/g). A green mana is easy to find late, and losing flying is not bad as they would need to have a scary board presence on the ground to stop this guy.

Remember that having flying prevents most decks from blocking (and killing) SSS, since 6 toughness in the air is a LOT.

This does not have the same luxury, even though hexproof is an upgrade from shroud. There are plenty of games where this creature wouldn't have won the game that SSS did, as a strict comparison.

I think it's interesting, and I want to like it, but I'm going to wait and see what other morphs we get before trying to find room for him. As of right now, he isn't supplanting SSS in my Cube.

-AA

Quote from Antknee42 »

Remember that having flying prevents most decks from blocking (and killing) SSS, since 6 toughness in the air is a LOT.

This does not have the same luxury, even though hexproof is an upgrade from shroud. There are plenty of games where this creature wouldn't have won the game that SSS did, as a strict comparison.

I think it's interesting, and I want to like it, but I'm going to wait and see what other morphs we get before trying to find room for him. As of right now, he isn't supplanting SSS in my Cube.

-AA

To be fair there are plenty of games where this guy would've started killing earlier than SSS, getting in there in time where SSS would still be in your hand. Also being able to put equipment on this dude is huge.

Counterpoint: It's vulnerable as a morph, so it can only reliably attack one turn earlier 'safely'. And I'm not really sure what difference one turn makes as far as them having blockers to kill it on the ground, when those turns are 6-7ish. Even so, there are a LOT more creatures that can block and kill this dude to be played on turns 6-8 than can do the same to SSS.

The equipment thing is certainly a big deal, however, and one of the reasons I could consider this card.

-AA

Quote from Antknee42 »

Remember that having flying prevents most decks from blocking (and killing) SSS, since 6 toughness in the air is a LOT.

This does not have the same luxury, even though hexproof is an upgrade from shroud. There are plenty of games where this creature wouldn't have won the game that SSS did, as a strict comparison.

I think it's interesting, and I want to like it, but I'm going to wait and see what other morphs we get before trying to find room for him. As of right now, he isn't supplanting SSS in my Cube.

-AA

I agree with your point. But I think for my group this guy offers the same thing in most decks but SSS was such a groan card(not in a good way). This guy might achieve the same ends but feel a little better, trading the evasion and lack of interactivity for potential faster play. That said hexproof guys are always a groan test.

Quote from dschumm »

Quote from Antknee42 »

Remember that having flying prevents most decks from blocking (and killing) SSS, since 6 toughness in the air is a LOT.

This does not have the same luxury, even though hexproof is an upgrade from shroud. There are plenty of games where this creature wouldn't have won the game that SSS did, as a strict comparison.

I think it's interesting, and I want to like it, but I'm going to wait and see what other morphs we get before trying to find room for him. As of right now, he isn't supplanting SSS in my Cube.

-AA

I agree with your point. But I think for my group this guy offers the same thing in most decks but SSS was such a groan card(not in a good way). This guy might achieve the same ends but feel a little better, trading the evasion and lack of interactivity for potential faster play. That said hexproof guys are always a groan test.

Turn up the TV or music so you can't hear the groans.

I like this creature a ton. My Simic section is currently occupied by Snake, Kiora and Edric. Depending on the number of new morph playables, I will seriously consider this creature for inclusion; both green and blue are in the market for another 6 drop, and the Morph is (really good) gravy.

I think this guy is slightly better than SSS.

He's probably still worse than any card you value over SSS in your Simic Section, though.

He might be on par with SSS, but I cut SSS awhile back and haven't missed him. This is a pass for me.

It's better than Simic Sky Swallower, flying was the most redundant part about that card anyways. Getting in one turn, potentially two whole turns earlier? Being able to target it? That's power creep for ya.

Does anyone have any results playing Sagu Mauler over SSS?
SSS is my #5 simic of 5. It only gets played in control deck. Mauler seems like it see play in some tempo decks and still fill that control role. Note: I expanded from 480 to 512 with my khans update and added a bunch of morph. I've like the Morph so far and wouldn't mind supporting it more.

Sagu Mauler has been fantastic for me. I would never run SSS over him. He fits into many more roles and works in any deck that wants to play all the other simic playables.

Agreed. Sagu Mauler has been awesome for us in comparison to SSS.

He's up with Kiora, Mystic Snake, Edric, and Trygon Predator at the very top of Simic for us. He gives you 90% of SSS's power level with a far more attractive cost, frequently getting him dropped into play T4 off a Worn Powerstone or the like, and he has the bonus of being a key card for supporting morph. I'd say he ends up in 9 out of 10 main decks when he's on-color.

Yea. I think it has been mentioned in other threads. I've been pushing for Sagu Mauler whereever I can. It's a flexible card and some might say it's secretly a white card. lol

When I had my hands on the foil one, SSS was the snap cut.

I dont love Hexproof as a mechanic, I dont like how uninteractive it is. Not that everything needs answers but not much can answer this guy. He makes all the premium removal useless. Again, this is my preference but I have taken all Hexproof out but Geist of St Traft, he stays in, he can be chumped pretty easily, yes, he wears pants well, but a lot more things can deal with him, even a Pyroclasm knocks him out.

Well, I would say it's less oppressive/interactive than fast mana or reanimator for sure.

I would say Wizards have done a decent job printing out some deathtouchers. Perhaps you might wanna explore a few of them to put in cube? I run quite a fair bit. I feel that every cube card should have its kryptonite. Hexproof is no different.