- Point their burn at their face / creatures / planeswalkers
You usually can't make them burn their own planeswalkers, because most burn spells don't target planeswalkers and the redirection rule only works for sources controlled by opponents.
- De-level Warden of the First Tree / Figure of Destiny
You can make Warden stop being a Spirit, so it can't get further +1/+1 counters without spending 4 mana again, but you can't shrink it or make it lose trample/lifelink.
- Mirror Entity is also a good one to wipe their board.
- A lot of card draw can be wasted or targeted at you.
Usman just mentioned on Twitter that he saw somebody use Emrakul to make the opposing player kill himself with Toxic Deluge. My first reaction was "huh, I'm surprised I haven't thought of that in EDH." My second thought was that I should make a comprehensive list of possible lines of plays to do during the Mindslaver turn.
- stuff
I looked at the deck the guy drafted, here's some others I thought of:
-Cast Hangarback Walker or any other X spell for 0.
-Entomb for something that wouldn't want to be in the graveyard (a Jace, the Mind Sculptor)
-Use "may" triggers poorly.
-Vendilion Clique yourself and put the card that the opponent could cast on their Emrakul turn on the bottom.
-Play Mana Crypt when the opponent has a lot of mana already and doesn't really need the mana (and where the clock on Crypt is relevant.)
-Go Hawaii 5-0 on a Fact or Fiction (if it's the opponent's or yours.)
I asked the guy who drafted it if he cast it any other time than the Toxic Deluge time. He said no, but I glanced at the board state when it happened and it looked like the cost reduction helped with making it cheaper by a decent margin (it didn't look like the opponent had a glut of mana.)
Aside from that I haven't gotten many reps with it, but it was a good first impression.
Somewhat related, there's an article here talking about someone testing it for Modern. Although outsourcing to other formats has its limitations and drawbacks, I thought this was some interesting early data on it.
Lol. Just last night I cracked an evolving wilds for a white source, forgetting that I had already binned my only plains (lots of non-basic white sources) off a looting effect =X
- Spellskite also works as a good "life sink" assuming you have a target
Something unintuitive that some of my players did not know is that you can use Spellskite on any spell, even those that don't have a target. It was just an interesting trivia before now -at least in Cube- but it may be useful in the future.
Great least, btw. Can't wait to test this card
Interesting, that'll be useful for those testing this Mindslavering spaghetti monstrosity.
Lol. Just last night I cracked an evolving wilds for a white source, forgetting that I had already binned my only plains (lots of non-basic white sources) off a looting effect =X
This EXACT same thing just happened to me tonight. I was playing a Grixis Reanimator deck and only had 3 basics (one of each swamp / mountain / island). I looted away my Swamp and cracked my Marshflats only to realize that I just binned my only basic swamp and already had my Underground Sea in play : /
First round of testing for newrakul very positive. Card is gooooood.
It was cast four times and won the game four times.
The highlight was being almost dead on board, running the opponents inferno titan into emrakul, killing a mana elf and a refellos with the inferno titan trigger.. Casting a freshly drawn Garruk Relentless, fighting emrakul with it. It Cost 8 mana that game. It was even more devastating than a hardcast ulamog, the ceaseless hunger would have been.
Another game, got to empty my opponents hand (phantasmal image + trinket mage) -9 my opponents ugin who was 1 turn away from ultimating, erasing his board of bitter blossom + a couple tokens and the cards he had in hand. Cast the opponents magma jet targeting himself, ensuring that the cards he drew couldn't deal with emrakul.
The key insight is how good it is in reanimator decks. In decks that loot or self-mill getting him down to 7-8 mana is a very real possibility and at that mana cost he is busted. It's hard to imagine, but I underestimated how powerful a 13/13 flying,trample protection from instants is
Every keyword is relevant for putting your opponent on a consistent 1-2 turn clock.
It's also hella fun of a puzzle figuring out how to screw them over the most and maximize your chance of winning.
Early testing is positive here too. The mindslaver effect is really powerful, it's been hardcastable in both midrange/ramp and control shells, and a 13/13 flying, trample, protection from instants is no slouch if reanimated/cheated into play.
I think Kozilek, Butcher of Truth and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre come after those three because they don't work with the most common cheat effects: Reanimation. Oh, and unless you run pretty much all non-reanimation cheat effects in a smallish cube, I don't consider Emrakul, the Aeons Torn cubable.
Bottom line: This is a pretty cool and flavorful card and a very good and organic design. I think my 600 cards cube is going to have a fifth Eldrazi titan.
I found that the mill is often a 1-turn clock, a lot of opponent aren't willing to show you half their deck especially if they don't think they can win/not die in that next turn or in the ensuing X amount of turns. (x=number of cards in their deck)
Difference between mill and exile is that if you kill newlamog after he swings you can't stabilize, you have to go for the win immediately, if he had trample you could stabilize at say 9 life or something. It's a lot more powerful than trample imo.
I've also had cases where he only gets to swing once, and then is dealt with. They still have time to recover after that, whereas with the additional damage, my other creatures can kill them. I think it's better than trample because it's a 2-turn clock even with blockers, but if it had a few more points of power and trample it would be pretty comparable.
I think if it had a few more points of power and trample it would be busted beyond all belief. As it is Em is a beast that is kicking her original version out of the cube upon release.
Amusingly enough this weekend the "reshuffle" clause of old Em actually saved a player's butt by putting their Entomb and Exhume back in their library. It was pretty slick to see.
That story above from Usman makes me want to really play Emrakul.
I have been unsure about it as I took out the new Eldrazi that you could reanimate (yes, I know that makes them more playable) but found it pretty boring after the first few times have them reanimated against you on Turn 2 so unsure about a 13/13 flier with built in semi protection. Still, the cast trigger is pretty great.
At this point, I'm pretty sure it's better than new Kozilek. Not sure on if it's better than new Ulamog, but new Emrakul already has 2 3-0 drafts under her belt, which is about as much as the other eldrazi titans have gotten at this point.
At this point, I'm pretty sure it's better than new Kozilek. Not sure on if it's better than new Ulamog, but new Emrakul already has 2 3-0 drafts under her belt, which is about as much as the other eldrazi titans have gotten at this point.
I currently believe it's the best eldrazi titan, period! Though it shines in slightly different decks and supports different archetypes than the others, so it's difficult to evaluate what constitutes "best".
My sample isn't enormous, so possibly biased by a strong initial impression and it's current dominance in standard.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
You can make Warden stop being a Spirit, so it can't get further +1/+1 counters without spending 4 mana again, but you can't shrink it or make it lose trample/lifelink.
- Mirror Entity is also a good one to wipe their board.
- A lot of card draw can be wasted or targeted at you.
true lol.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
I looked at the deck the guy drafted, here's some others I thought of:
-Cast Hangarback Walker or any other X spell for 0.
-Entomb for something that wouldn't want to be in the graveyard (a Jace, the Mind Sculptor)
-Use "may" triggers poorly.
-Vendilion Clique yourself and put the card that the opponent could cast on their Emrakul turn on the bottom.
-Play Mana Crypt when the opponent has a lot of mana already and doesn't really need the mana (and where the clock on Crypt is relevant.)
-Go Hawaii 5-0 on a Fact or Fiction (if it's the opponent's or yours.)
I asked the guy who drafted it if he cast it any other time than the Toxic Deluge time. He said no, but I glanced at the board state when it happened and it looked like the cost reduction helped with making it cheaper by a decent margin (it didn't look like the opponent had a glut of mana.)
Aside from that I haven't gotten many reps with it, but it was a good first impression.
Somewhat related, there's an article here talking about someone testing it for Modern. Although outsourcing to other formats has its limitations and drawbacks, I thought this was some interesting early data on it.
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
I don't need to be Emrakul'd to do that.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Lol. Just last night I cracked an evolving wilds for a white source, forgetting that I had already binned my only plains (lots of non-basic white sources) off a looting effect =X
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Interesting, that'll be useful for those testing this Mindslavering spaghetti monstrosity.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
This EXACT same thing just happened to me tonight. I was playing a Grixis Reanimator deck and only had 3 basics (one of each swamp / mountain / island). I looted away my Swamp and cracked my Marshflats only to realize that I just binned my only basic swamp and already had my Underground Sea in play : /
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
It was cast four times and won the game four times.
The highlight was being almost dead on board, running the opponents inferno titan into emrakul, killing a mana elf and a refellos with the inferno titan trigger.. Casting a freshly drawn Garruk Relentless, fighting emrakul with it. It Cost 8 mana that game. It was even more devastating than a hardcast ulamog, the ceaseless hunger would have been.
Another game, got to empty my opponents hand (phantasmal image + trinket mage) -9 my opponents ugin who was 1 turn away from ultimating, erasing his board of bitter blossom + a couple tokens and the cards he had in hand. Cast the opponents magma jet targeting himself, ensuring that the cards he drew couldn't deal with emrakul.
The key insight is how good it is in reanimator decks. In decks that loot or self-mill getting him down to 7-8 mana is a very real possibility and at that mana cost he is busted. It's hard to imagine, but I underestimated how powerful a 13/13 flying,trample protection from instants is
Every keyword is relevant for putting your opponent on a consistent 1-2 turn clock.
It's also hella fun of a puzzle figuring out how to screw them over the most and maximize your chance of winning.
What a great card
Last Updated 02/07/24
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I think Kozilek, Butcher of Truth and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre come after those three because they don't work with the most common cheat effects: Reanimation. Oh, and unless you run pretty much all non-reanimation cheat effects in a smallish cube, I don't consider Emrakul, the Aeons Torn cubable.
Bottom line: This is a pretty cool and flavorful card and a very good and organic design. I think my 600 cards cube is going to have a fifth Eldrazi titan.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
My 630 Card Powered Cube
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My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
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Also hilariously terrible in 2hg prerelease.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=484979
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!
Amusingly enough this weekend the "reshuffle" clause of old Em actually saved a player's butt by putting their Entomb and Exhume back in their library. It was pretty slick to see.
Check out the Cube Discord channel here
I saw this in the last draft I had, someone playing some kind of 4C zoo-ish deck vs GB midrange (who had new Emrakul.)
GB plays Emrakul. Steals opponent's turn.
Uses Garruk, the Veil-Cursed's -1 ability (with 1 loyalty, so it died) to sacrifice new Thalia (that had a Rancor) to get a Qasali Pridemage, to kill their own Batterskull.
Rancor enchanted Emrakul.
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
This is a good example of "who gives a ***** about the extra turn they get when they've already been completely ****ed up?"
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
I have been unsure about it as I took out the new Eldrazi that you could reanimate (yes, I know that makes them more playable) but found it pretty boring after the first few times have them reanimated against you on Turn 2 so unsure about a 13/13 flier with built in semi protection. Still, the cast trigger is pretty great.
Modern: Jund
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
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!
I currently believe it's the best eldrazi titan, period! Though it shines in slightly different decks and supports different archetypes than the others, so it's difficult to evaluate what constitutes "best".
My sample isn't enormous, so possibly biased by a strong initial impression and it's current dominance in standard.
Last Updated 02/07/24
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