MTG Salvation

Rogue Refiner

I haven't played Standard in years, and I only casually follow the metagame. However, when cards are banned from any format (as Rogue Refiner just was two days ago in the 1/15/18 B&R Update) they get my attention. Of course, Rogue Refiner is a card that has been on my radar since its printing in Aether Revolt, but at the time I guess I considered it a "near miss" for an always-competitive guild slot. I figured that maybe it's time to give this card a second look, so I searched the Cube Forum for discussion on it and didn't even find a thread. There were a couple of posts in the This or That thread, but they only really resulted in people saying they preferred Shardless Agent over it (which I do as well).

Not to stray too far into broader discussion of the Simic Guild, but do you guys play Rogue Refiner, and if so where do you rank it? And is simply playing a "generous rate card" - as Ian Duke described it - worth it without the attached bonus (presumably) of "free" Energy mattering like it most certainly did in Standard? For that matter, is this even what Simic decks want to be doing? I mean, Simic in my cube is either ramp or tempo, and Rogue Refiner seems a bit midrangy imo.

Let me know what you think.

If you're playing an Energy subtheme, it's great. Otherwise, I think there are better options available at that slot.

Good card, but the competition for that specific mana cost at Simic is too big with Shardless Agent, Trygon Predator and Edric. I think it would stand a much better chance in some of the other guilds.

Phyrexian Rager isn't exactly appealing in two colors w/ +1 power.

Feels pretty bland for a guild slot unless energy is a playable archtype in your cube, I don't think very many people support it though. Tempo, big mana and general value decks all have better options in Simic.

Quote from Salmo »

Phyrexian Rager isn't exactly appealing in two colors w/ +1 power.

/\ /\/\ This

Cheers,
rant