MTG Salvation

I have seen discussion regarding blue tempo, but nothing regarding the Bounce archetype afaik.

I know a lot of Cubers run Man o' War, Aether Adept, Into the Roil, Repeal etc as tempo blue cards, but as far as catch-all bounce spells are concerned, I usually only see Venser, Shaper Savant and Capsize

Why hasn't anyone considered the evergreen Boomerang, which does not see print now due to essentially being a two mana Stone Rain or Time Walk in BCSs, and a solid bounce spell in WCSs. How about its Sorcery counterpart in Eye of Nowhere, or the many 3 mana variations?

Kojiro's podcast take on Blue led me to wonder about aggressively promoting the bounce strategy in my Cube, since it plays into the tempo aspect of blue

Thoughts? Is it a good idea?

I was considering adding Repulse.Thoughts?

Repulse is actually a decent option because it cantrips. It's no bounce-on-a-stick, but it's the next best thing. The one shot bounce effects that couldn't recover the card disadvantage never played out well for us.

Quote from wtwlf123

Repulse is actually a decent option because it cantrips. It's no bounce-on-a-stick, but it's the next best thing. The one shot bounce effects that couldn't recover the card disadvantage never played out well for us.

But it does provide tempo advantage, does it not? I'm just wondering if the ability to bounce lands is worth the card disadvantage

I think the land-bouncing spells could conceivably see play as part of a broader Grixis mana-denial tempo archetype, provided that you also support land destruction effects in red and black. Spreading Seas gets an honorable mention here too for being a color-screw cantrip.

But it's kind of a niche archetype, to be honest. Kind of like trying to draft mill or storm: if you don't pick up enough of the right cards in that archetype, the cards you did pick up will probably not be all that great within the more conventional archetype that you would have had to transition into during the later stages of the draft. In this respect catch-all bounce spells aren't quite as bad off as land destruction spells, which typically get relegated to the sideboard, but spells like Boomerang and Regress are still less powerful outside of their niche than comparable spells like Into the Roil or Repulse.

I'm fine with a fair amount of land destruction in the cube, but I don't want mana denial to really be a strategy outside of stax. I think the tempo gain from bouncing a land in an ordinary tempo deck (not a mana denial deck) is not worth a card, and I think there's enough better bounce spells (like Into the Roil) already for the ordinary tempo decks.

Edit: though I think Repulse is next on the list.

Quote from daedalusaf

But it does provide tempo advantage, does it not? I'm just wondering if the ability to bounce lands is worth the card disadvantage

It is, but I want to be either recovering the card disadvantage or advancing my board at the same time. That's why the cantrips and the bounce creatures are so much better in the cube.

e: beaten

Temporal Spring is awesome for this archetype and it can essentially give you a Time Walk if you play it early and bounce a land to the top of their library. Late game it's also fine, as not only does it bounce anything, but it also makes it so they don't draw a card next turn.