Yes it costs more than Young Pyromancer but it triggers off any non-creature spell. YP doesn't necessarily go in every red deck but I think this card will go in most white decks. Even in control decks if it lives you'll be able to build an army with all the non-creature spells that will be cast. I wasn't too excited when this was spoiled but after seeing it in action the other night I'm definitely sold on its potential.
I played against it in the perfect deck for it...white weenie. My opponent played it T-2 off a Mox then played a T-3 anthem to make a dude and he would have made more dudes if I didn't kill it right there. Really excited to see how it again plays with shadow dudes & anthem effects because the first deck I saw it in was very impressive.
I had this listed as the #4 card in the set so far behind Soulfire Grand Master, Yasova Dragonclaw and Ugin but of the cards spoiled so far I now think this will be fighting with Soulfire for the best card in the set. I love it when I undervalue a card
I run a powered 540 but I now think that this should be tested in all Cubes.
Our white weenie decks are usually packed with creatures. There aren't any noncreature anthem effects in my cube and I don't run Spectral Procession so that makes a difference in my evaluation of this card.
I'm looking forward to curving this guy into Battle Screech. It has overperformed for me so far. I am also still rocking dictate of Helios. Talrand is another favorite of mine. I'm rocking so many army in a can cards Jeskai Ascendency and storm are starting to look tasty.
Cubed again, last night, was played in a UW control deck. Slow rolled to 5 mana,'opponent horded a mox too get a trigger.
Played a mana rock the next turn, countered my oblivion ring with forbid. 3 guys.
Then played preordain, into the roil my blocker and force spike his own into the roil, to make 3 guys Hitting me for 17 and killing me.
For sure. The presence of this, Jeskai Ascendancy, Stoke the Flames and Delve-powered draw all in the same format is going to be a shock to the system, and Modern might be an even better home for it with plenty of tailor-made decks.
Not to get too far off topic from cube discussion, but the the last time a small-set mythic had such cross-format implications was probably Voice of Resurgence, and we saw how that card blew up. Don't expect that SCG price to go down anytime soon.
I don't even play Standard, but I can't see how this card and Jeskai Ascendancy will NOT break the format, especially with 5-mana Wraths and no 1-mana spot removal. Predicting that Ascendancy will be banned at some point. Goblin Rabblemaster is a beast of a card, but it looks downright embarrassing in comparison to the Mentor (at least in Ascendancy decks).
Cube is not that format, though. It's obviously good, and better the more Tokens/Anthems-oriented your White section is, but it does require quite a bit of work to really be better than Brimaz & Blade Splicer. Keep in mind that in normal circumstances the Tokens won't be attacking until turn 5 at the earliest.
Cubed again, last night, was played in a UW control deck. Slow rolled to 5 mana,'opponent horded a mox too get a trigger.
Played a mana rock the next turn, countered my oblivion ring with forbid. 3 guys.
Then played preordain, into the roil my blocker and force spike his own into the roil, to make 3 guys Hitting me for 17 and killing me.
He was laughing "this card is so busted"
Okay that does sound pretty intense. On top of control, our tempo and burn heavy decks would be interested...
Cubed again, last night, was played in a UW control deck. Slow rolled to 5 mana,'opponent horded a mox too get a trigger.
Played a mana rock the next turn, countered my oblivion ring with forbid. 3 guys.
Then played preordain, into the roil my blocker and force spike his own into the roil, to make 3 guys Hitting me for 17 and killing me.
He was laughing "this card is so busted"
I have been on the fence for the past few days thinking about this guy, but you just sold me. Done!
Cubed again, last night, was played in a UW control deck. Slow rolled to 5 mana,'opponent horded a mox too get a trigger.
Played a mana rock the next turn, countered my oblivion ring with forbid. 3 guys.
Then played preordain, into the roil my blocker and force spike his own into the roil, to make 3 guys Hitting me for 17 and killing me.
He was laughing "this card is so busted"
The crazy part about this card is that if you had been fortunate enough to have a couple removal spells, there was 3 more guys ready to pounce the next turn. Unlike Kiln Fiend type cards this does not punish you for going all in.
Hopefully bumping this thread isn't a problem. I've read through all 3 pages of this and I'm still on the fence. With the price being so high, I want to be sure he's not a flameout, or on the chopping block 3 months from now.
He's high variance, that much is for sure. Reminds me of Pack Rat in how it plays; there are plenty of games where it just sits there innocuously, maybe makes a token, and dies... and then there are games when you take 20 the turn after this gets played from an empty boardstate.
That kind of tension brings an element to the white 3-drop slot that I've been pleased with. He's not as downright solid as something like Brimaz or Blade Splicer and would be better if in blue or red, but he's just powerful enough to justify the break with the usual weenie gameplan.
I still have yet to play with him, but I'm becoming sold that this guy will be worthy at least, with the potential to be stellar in cubes that support storm, tokens, or are highly powered. That said I'm in no hurry to add him.
I cannot wait to find a copy of this guy at my LGS. Boros could use another archetype in my Cube, and this guy plus Grandmaster opens up Boros as a legit color combo for Guttersnipe-esque Prowess decks, IMO.
When it's good, it's very good indeed. Comparable value to a Siege-Gang Commander or Hero of Bladehold in those instances, which is well above curve for a three drop. However, as was predicted by just about everyone, it's not really something to toss into any old deck. I was running some mock drafts and built a white deck where I really wouldn't have picked or played MonMent at all, despite a bit of a gap at three. It happens that I'm really pleased to have some cards with a higher variance in power level and which are not auto-plays. He/she's been best in control in fact, where it's just totally mean when backed up by countermagic. I dropped it turn three with a hand of Mental Misstep and Force of Will... bases covered!
I think best three drop ever printed is way off the mark, as there are better three drops (at least more universally good ones) just in white, but it's a particularly interesting card and I would recommend testing it if your group is OK with high variance cards. We really like it a lot.
Edited my post for clarity's sake. I don't agree that this is a high variance card, for the record. Even the most aggressive decks have enough non-creature spells to push Mentor into 'insane' territory.
Even the most aggressive decks have enough non-creature spells to push Mentor into 'insane' territory.
Not all of them. Monastery Mentor is an amazing card in the right deck, but it's garbage in an 18 creature aggro deck. You can build a hard aggro deck that has enough spells for Mentor to be good, but not every hard aggro deck will have enough non-creature spells for him to shine ...unless you build the deck with him in mind.
Even the most aggressive decks have enough non-creature spells to push Mentor into 'insane' territory.
Not all of them. Monastery Mentor is an amazing card in the right deck, but it's garbage in an 18 creature aggro deck. You can build a hard aggro deck that has enough spells for Mentor to be good, but not every hard aggro deck will have enough non-creature spells for him to shine ...unless you build the deck with him in mind.
Yeah, in many decks he has a high chance of not producing a token on the next turn, if you are interested in curving out properly (which you should be, since that is more important than a 1/1 and a +1/+1 in most cases). There have been a couple of decks I drafted already where I wouldn't have included it. You have to work for the ceiling, which I like about it.
Ok, so you might not want to run it in an 18 creature aggro deck *shrug*
This card is great in the majority of decks without any effort whatsoever. And if you do play it in a truly spell-heavy deck, he's utterly ridiculous - I've seen him win the game within 2 turns of coming down, just by attacking with him and tokens.
I love Blade Splicer but Mentor is the best white 3-drop creature & IMO it's not even close. He takes over games just by playing spells. I've run him in aggro, midrange & control and he's consistently a monster of a card.
Not sure what the price is but if you want the best white 3-drop creature (and easily a top 5 white creature) then get it.
In a recent draft Monastery Mentor went into a U/W deck running Master of the Waves, Brimaz, Geist, Clique, Spear of Heliod and about 11 spells to trigger Prowess on the Mentor. I didnt get to play against this opponent but the deck looked solid creature wise, however, had too many reactive spells to really get the most out of Mentor. Deck was drafted by a new player though. Still, getting a token off a Remand in your opponents turn and getting Spear of Heliod to trigger it again in your turn is pretty good. Brimaz is more reliable but Mentor is potentially more exciting for those who dare to dream. I cant see this card leaving my Cube for a long time. 3's are stacked but the single white and potential of this card cant be ignored.
Mentor is potentially more exciting for those who dare to dream.
Thanks for sharing the experiences, all. I enjoy high-reward cards that generate fun Cube stories when they work, and I'm willing to have the card fizzle a few times just to see it go off just once. Plus, I still run Isochron Scepter (a pet card), and even if it's too cute to work, I dream of one day seeing some sort of Boros or Jeskai deck with Young Pyromancer, Isochron Scepter, and this guy. Talk about daring to dream.
I played against it in the perfect deck for it...white weenie. My opponent played it T-2 off a Mox then played a T-3 anthem to make a dude and he would have made more dudes if I didn't kill it right there. Really excited to see how it again plays with shadow dudes & anthem effects because the first deck I saw it in was very impressive.
I had this listed as the #4 card in the set so far behind Soulfire Grand Master, Yasova Dragonclaw and Ugin but of the cards spoiled so far I now think this will be fighting with Soulfire for the best card in the set. I love it when I undervalue a card
I run a powered 540 but I now think that this should be tested in all Cubes.
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
Played a mana rock the next turn, countered my oblivion ring with forbid. 3 guys.
Then played preordain, into the roil my blocker and force spike his own into the roil, to make 3 guys Hitting me for 17 and killing me.
He was laughing "this card is so busted"
Last Updated 02/07/24
Streaming Standard/Cube on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/heisenb3rg96
Strategy Twitter https://www.twitter.com/heisenb3rg
For sure. The presence of this, Jeskai Ascendancy, Stoke the Flames and Delve-powered draw all in the same format is going to be a shock to the system, and Modern might be an even better home for it with plenty of tailor-made decks.
Not to get too far off topic from cube discussion, but the the last time a small-set mythic had such cross-format implications was probably Voice of Resurgence, and we saw how that card blew up. Don't expect that SCG price to go down anytime soon.
Cubetutor Link
Cube is not that format, though. It's obviously good, and better the more Tokens/Anthems-oriented your White section is, but it does require quite a bit of work to really be better than Brimaz & Blade Splicer. Keep in mind that in normal circumstances the Tokens won't be attacking until turn 5 at the earliest.
A Comprehensive list of Cube Archetypes
Okay that does sound pretty intense. On top of control, our tempo and burn heavy decks would be interested...
I have been on the fence for the past few days thinking about this guy, but you just sold me. Done!
Twitter
Youtube Channel
Cube Podcast
Draft my Cube!
The crazy part about this card is that if you had been fortunate enough to have a couple removal spells, there was 3 more guys ready to pounce the next turn. Unlike Kiln Fiend type cards this does not punish you for going all in.
Has anyone solidified their opinion on him?
That kind of tension brings an element to the white 3-drop slot that I've been pleased with. He's not as downright solid as something like Brimaz or Blade Splicer and would be better if in blue or red, but he's just powerful enough to justify the break with the usual weenie gameplan.
Cubetutor Link
http://cubetutor.com/cubeblog/993
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/23690
Squad Goals Cube: http://www.cubetutor.com/draft/39847
PowerSquad Cube: http://www.cubetutor.com/draft/39911
Edit- I actually meant one of the best white 3-drops.
When it's good, it's very good indeed. Comparable value to a Siege-Gang Commander or Hero of Bladehold in those instances, which is well above curve for a three drop. However, as was predicted by just about everyone, it's not really something to toss into any old deck. I was running some mock drafts and built a white deck where I really wouldn't have picked or played MonMent at all, despite a bit of a gap at three. It happens that I'm really pleased to have some cards with a higher variance in power level and which are not auto-plays. He/she's been best in control in fact, where it's just totally mean when backed up by countermagic. I dropped it turn three with a hand of Mental Misstep and Force of Will... bases covered!
I think best three drop ever printed is way off the mark, as there are better three drops (at least more universally good ones) just in white, but it's a particularly interesting card and I would recommend testing it if your group is OK with high variance cards. We really like it a lot.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Not all of them. Monastery Mentor is an amazing card in the right deck, but it's garbage in an 18 creature aggro deck. You can build a hard aggro deck that has enough spells for Mentor to be good, but not every hard aggro deck will have enough non-creature spells for him to shine ...unless you build the deck with him in mind.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Yeah, in many decks he has a high chance of not producing a token on the next turn, if you are interested in curving out properly (which you should be, since that is more important than a 1/1 and a +1/+1 in most cases). There have been a couple of decks I drafted already where I wouldn't have included it. You have to work for the ceiling, which I like about it.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
This card is great in the majority of decks without any effort whatsoever. And if you do play it in a truly spell-heavy deck, he's utterly ridiculous - I've seen him win the game within 2 turns of coming down, just by attacking with him and tokens.
Not sure what the price is but if you want the best white 3-drop creature (and easily a top 5 white creature) then get it.
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Modern: Jund