MTG Salvation

I included this guy when I first starting supporting the "artifact deck", but so far he's been pretty underwhelming. He can tutor up some awesome things, but I just haven't seen him pulling his weight. Am I just experiencing my cube playgroup not building around him well, or is he actually a little underwhelming in a cube environment, even with the artifact deck supported?

I'm always on the lookout for blue cards that aren't pulling their weight, and he seems like he might be one of them. On the other hand, as I look at his card right now, he seems utterly bonkers, so clearly I'm just doing it wrong.

He is better with fast mana and big artifact mana, so you get some good use out of his +1 (stuff like Grim Monolith). He is also good with Cubes that play stuff like Time Vault. Since I don't play much stuff like that, he wasn't very impressive in my Cube. I have, however, been very happy with his UB incarnation.

-AA

I experienced something similar with Tezzeret the Seeker: I included him, he never saw play, I was about to cut him, then, during his last draft before the cut, he wound up in a deck were he was pretty awesome. He is a bit like Venser, the Sojourner: One draft he does nothing, the next one he is ok, during the third he does something really cool and awesome. So, his average performance might not be so good, but I like presenting my drafters with such build-around-me cards that get really good if the deck is properly build.

I run Tezzeret and love him. He typically comes into play and either tutors up a mana rock or starts untapping them like a blue Garruk 1.0. I have also just dropped him and removed all counters to get a Masticore when I needed a creature to win the game with. I just love him because while he is ramping you he is also able to tutor up your equipment, little creatures, utility artifacts, etc. Also, his ultimate isn't anything to laugh at. I love turning signets into 5/5s but its also good with any artifact creature smaller than a 5/5 for the extra pump.

Someone once had him in a deck with Mimic Vat, Vedalken Shackles and a single Signet as the only artifacts and he was great. Getting one of the first two at will made the deck really consistend. Using Mimic Vat twice a turn resulted in instant concessions.

He's pretty fantastic in the artifact deck, but also decent in any deck that runs >3 artifacts. With any fast mana artifacts, he can be broken. He rarely goes ultimate, but his first two abilities can be enough to seal the game. I once had him untapping Ring of Gix every turn until I built up counters to fetch Myr Battlesphere and survive. That was good times.

Cheers,
rant

His ultimate reminds me of what some people were saying about Venser's -2 ability the other day in that it often gets ignored and people can sometimes not realize they would win the game with it since it almost never comes up.

Quote from Star Slayer

I experienced something similar with Tezzeret the Seeker: I included him, he never saw play, I was about to cut him, then, during his last draft before the cut, he wound up in a deck were he was pretty awesome. He is a bit like Venser, the Sojourner: One draft he does nothing, the next one he is ok, during the third he does something really cool and awesome. So, his average performance might not be so good, but I like presenting my drafters with such build-around-me cards that get really good if the deck is properly build.

^This is exactly my Tezzeret experience. I will leave him in for a while because I like having a balance of narrow, but powerful-in-the-right-deck cards while also having many versatile cards that are just good in a lot of strategies.

He's a solid card I include for the artifact deck, if I didn't support it I'd most assuredly cut him. But so far he hasn't been terrible (He was insane when I was powered though).

I cut him a while back and haven't missed him.

I support the artifact deck and he's amazing.

Yup, I've been thinking about reintroducing him since going down to 320, as the density of good artifacts is so high at that level. That might mean putting Tolarian Academy back in, although it's an inconsistent card. I'd be sorely tempted to go Tezz 2.0/Baleful Strix in U/B as well for the sake of synergy. If you want to support the artifact deck, he's a no-brainer.

Thing is, the artifact deck doesn't actually need him. I support it quite well in my Cube without him, and it does very well. I also have been finding that I like the UB Tezz better in the artifact deck than I ever did with Tezz 1.

-AA

Quote from Antknee42

Thing is, the artifact deck doesn't actually need him. I support it quite well in my Cube without him, and it does very well. I also have been finding that I like the UB Tezz better in the artifact deck than I ever did with Tezz 1.

-AA

That's pretty much exactly where I am now. The artifact deck is awesome without him, and U/B tezz is usually more of what I want in a walker in that deck. I'm trying to gauge whether he is actually worth the slot or not.

I think he definitely is. Just because the archetype can function without him doesn't mean that extra tools for the deck are a bad thing. If I can't have Tezz 2 in every deck, I'm glad to have Tezz 1 available. And even so, I'd much rather play both in any artifact themed build anyways.

Well, he was lackluster at best for my Cube because of the lack of multiple-mana mana rocks. And I still maintain that 'need' is too strong a word, since the deck doesn't 'need' it like humans 'need' water.

If I played things like Grim Monolith, Mana Vault/Crypt, or things like Time Vault, I would definitely play it. I don't, so I stopped because it wasn't the level of impact I wanted from a five mana PW.

-AA

I don't think I'm cutting him any time soon, I just haven't seen him hit the table much lately, so I figured I'd get some opinions and see where people stood. I'll probably try to build the artifact deck next time I get a good opportunity to do so, and give him a whirl.

Quote from Antknee42

Well, he was lackluster at best for my Cube because of the lack of multiple-mana mana rocks. And I still maintain that 'need' is too strong a word, since the deck doesn't 'need' it like humans 'need' water.

If I played things like Grim Monolith, Mana Vault/Crypt, or things like Time Vault, I would definitely play it. I don't, so I stopped because it wasn't the level of impact I wanted from a five mana PW.

-AA

In unpowered lists, he's significantly less impressive, for sure.

I think that there's room for a certain number of narrow 'build around' cards. Tezzeret is one of them for me.

I like his power level, and I like how narrow he is. That is a weird thing to say, but blue is just too full of stuff that is good in any deck.

Since switching to grid drafting for 2 players, I've recently been able to attempt to draft more streamlined archetypes, since you see a higher percentage of the cube in each draft than a Winston. I run both Tezzerets, and the artifact Tezz deck never really came together, but I've been trying to force it when I can recently. I've now been able to build what I thought was a pretty good artifact deck three times now, and each time it has simply rolled over to everything. I don't have Tolarian Academy or Moxes, and recently cut Sol Ring for power level, but I do run six signets, Grim Monolith, Mana Vault, Everflowing Chalice, Lotus Bloom and the standard suite of mana rocks.

And the deck's simply been bad. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but playing a five mana tutor/ramp dude who can't protect himself seems absolutely not worth building your deck around. (Venser, on the other hand, has worked quite well to build around.)

If I cut the Tezzes, I can happily cut a couple more signets and marginal artifacts I keep in for this deck (Black Vise and Pithing Needle), and make room for more widely used cards.

I never thought I'd cut a planeswalker in my cube, but it's getting tempting.

I was just about to post about how amazing Tezz was in our last draft. The card's super ridiculous. There was no power in the deck either.

And as a caveat, Pithing Needle is a god in the cube.

I still like both tezzeret's in my cube, fun build around me cards are always nice. I never feel like I need power to make them good.

Quote from wtwlf123

And as a caveat, Pithing Needle is a god in the cube.

I agree

Quote from wtwlf123

I was just about to post about how amazing Tezz was in our last draft. The card's super ridiculous. There was no power in the deck either.

And as a caveat, Pithing Needle is a god in the cube.

Do you have the decklist? I love to see it.

Part of the issue, I think, is that I'm not doing 8-man drafts, but 2-person drafts. I now get to choose from a greater range of cards, which makes narrower archetypes stronger, but it's still not the same as a real draft...

I find myself cutting Pithing Needle a lot, unless I know the opponent has 3+ planeswalkers. But everytime I run it, it seems to shut something crucial down.

Quote from tomchaps »

Do you have the decklist? I love to see it.

I wish I did. Next time I draft a Tezzeret deck, I'll post it for you dude.

Quote from tomchaps »

I find myself cutting Pithing Needle a lot, unless I know the opponent has 3+ planeswalkers. But everytime I run it, it seems to shut something crucial down.

It's a tempting card to be the 41st card because it's so reactive. But the bolded part of that statement is why it shouldn't be. Maindeck Needle every day.