Reusable Polymorph that cares about more than just creatures
I have a pretty heavy graveyard, topdeck manipulation and token theme throughout my cube, and Mass Polymorph is already a deck, so this looks pretty attractive to me. To others, it could be a non-reanimator Fatty Cheat effect. I don't know how good this would be if you don't already have a Polymorphdeck or at least the non-creature 'creature' density in order to have it reliably pay off, but it's pretty cool that you can reroll off lands.
There may also be shenanigans for cheating in other permanent types - red doesn't really run enchantments other than Sneak Attack, for example. I can imagine could grab that as a plan A, then later if Sneak Attack is already around it can just polymorph creatures directly.
I don't see this ever getting an Omniscience or an (insert huge artifact here), but it totally could if you wanted to build that way. Seems versatile and fun.
You can use this as a pseudo-Oath of Druids in a creature-light deck. Four mana to rotate between a small number of value creatures in a Grixis or Jeskai shell might be fun. That said, it's hard to see this being worth a spot for a relatively niche use.
So here's a thought I had.
Yes, if you build your deck right, this card plays as a Polymorph. However, I think that the card type clause is quite significant, and I believe it can be abused with proper cube crafting and deck building.
The thing is that if you target an artifact (token) that ISN'T a creature, while your deck has no artifacts, this card is kind of like a pseudo-Tinker.
The most common types of this type of token existing are Treasures, Clues, and Food tokens. And while the latter two aren't really a thing in red, we've just gotten two consecutive sets filled with red treasures from cards like Professional Face-Breaker and Fable of the Mirror Breaker, so it could be a good basis. Not to mention the great cards that red has which incidentally produce Treasures. Prismari Command, Goldspan Dragon, and of course Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer.
So while this kind of interaction would definitely not be enough for a solo archetype of an entire cube, I think it could be a great compliment to other cheat decks or artifact matters archetypes. It feels like it might be at home in the same type of decks as Goblin Welder and Daretti, Scrap Savant.
Plus, if the deck is in a pinch, the card could also do a decent Polymorph impression.
I would not recommend supporting the Polymorph archetype in your deck (with 5-6 all-in enablers).
- The archetype itself is fairly parasitic and doesn't overlap well with the Welder, Green Ramp, Reanimator shells.
- It also requires a lot of setup and is much more all-in than the traditional reanimator/ sneak attack. shell. This requires the deck to be very dedicated with 3-4 Polymorph Setups + Oath/ Sneak Attack/ Show and tell to effectively function. This is both difficult to draft + easy to disrupt
- The creatures themselves are also highly vulnerable to unconditional removal - Teferi, Oblivion Ring, Oko etc.
I didn't feel the deck was worth it.
However, during the experiment, I learned that Ilharg, the Raze-Boar, Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast were fairly good enablers in pretty much any fatty cheat deck - they were great in the Polymorph deck but were also decent backup win cons for the other reanimator style strategies while providing some redundancy/ value against aggro/ midrange decks respectively.
I've found that Show and Tell, Incarnation Technique, Sneak Attack to be the best for the fatty cheat enablers. Sneak Attack can win on the spot + can slot into any shell - Welder, Reanimator, Ramp, Eldrazi etc. Show and Tell/ Incarnation Technique on the other hand are risky and are almost never 10/10 enablers, but their flexibility with any fatty (including Eldrazi) makes them strong backup options for any reanimator deck scrambling for enablers. (Oath/ Eureka/ Reanimator decks are often looking for their 4th or 5th playoff to be consistent).
My thoughts on Reality Scramble is I think it can play the Show and Tell role somewhat well - especially with the retrace. I would recommend playing this in a Jund Lands, Black-Red Reanimator deck, Welder deck to cycle excess tokens/ discard outlets into potentially strong enablers as a back-up option rather than as the primary game plan.
I would not recommend adding the Polymorph archetype into your cube.
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Reusable Polymorph that cares about more than just creatures
I have a pretty heavy graveyard, topdeck manipulation and token theme throughout my cube, and Mass Polymorph is already a deck, so this looks pretty attractive to me. To others, it could be a non-reanimator Fatty Cheat effect. I don't know how good this would be if you don't already have a Polymorphdeck or at least the non-creature 'creature' density in order to have it reliably pay off, but it's pretty cool that you can reroll off lands.
There may also be shenanigans for cheating in other permanent types - red doesn't really run enchantments other than Sneak Attack, for example. I can imagine could grab that as a plan A, then later if Sneak Attack is already around it can just polymorph creatures directly.
I don't see this ever getting an Omniscience or an (insert huge artifact here), but it totally could if you wanted to build that way. Seems versatile and fun.
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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!
Yes, if you build your deck right, this card plays as a Polymorph. However, I think that the card type clause is quite significant, and I believe it can be abused with proper cube crafting and deck building.
The thing is that if you target an artifact (token) that ISN'T a creature, while your deck has no artifacts, this card is kind of like a pseudo-Tinker.
The most common types of this type of token existing are Treasures, Clues, and Food tokens. And while the latter two aren't really a thing in red, we've just gotten two consecutive sets filled with red treasures from cards like Professional Face-Breaker and Fable of the Mirror Breaker, so it could be a good basis. Not to mention the great cards that red has which incidentally produce Treasures. Prismari Command, Goldspan Dragon, and of course Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer.
Out of color there are less treasures, but then the other tokens become more relevant. Blue has Hard Evidence, but green has a lot, with Tireless Tracker, Gilded Goose, Briarbridge Tracker, Oko, Thief of Crowns and more.
So while this kind of interaction would definitely not be enough for a solo archetype of an entire cube, I think it could be a great compliment to other cheat decks or artifact matters archetypes. It feels like it might be at home in the same type of decks as Goblin Welder and Daretti, Scrap Savant.
Plus, if the deck is in a pinch, the card could also do a decent Polymorph impression.
What do you guys think?
I would not recommend supporting the Polymorph archetype in your deck (with 5-6 all-in enablers).
- The archetype itself is fairly parasitic and doesn't overlap well with the Welder, Green Ramp, Reanimator shells.
- It also requires a lot of setup and is much more all-in than the traditional reanimator/ sneak attack. shell. This requires the deck to be very dedicated with 3-4 Polymorph Setups + Oath/ Sneak Attack/ Show and tell to effectively function. This is both difficult to draft + easy to disrupt
- The creatures themselves are also highly vulnerable to unconditional removal - Teferi, Oblivion Ring, Oko etc.
I didn't feel the deck was worth it.
However, during the experiment, I learned that Ilharg, the Raze-Boar, Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast were fairly good enablers in pretty much any fatty cheat deck - they were great in the Polymorph deck but were also decent backup win cons for the other reanimator style strategies while providing some redundancy/ value against aggro/ midrange decks respectively.
I've found that Show and Tell, Incarnation Technique, Sneak Attack to be the best for the fatty cheat enablers. Sneak Attack can win on the spot + can slot into any shell - Welder, Reanimator, Ramp, Eldrazi etc. Show and Tell/ Incarnation Technique on the other hand are risky and are almost never 10/10 enablers, but their flexibility with any fatty (including Eldrazi) makes them strong backup options for any reanimator deck scrambling for enablers. (Oath/ Eureka/ Reanimator decks are often looking for their 4th or 5th playoff to be consistent).
My thoughts on Reality Scramble is I think it can play the Show and Tell role somewhat well - especially with the retrace. I would recommend playing this in a Jund Lands, Black-Red Reanimator deck, Welder deck to cycle excess tokens/ discard outlets into potentially strong enablers as a back-up option rather than as the primary game plan.
I would not recommend adding the Polymorph archetype into your cube.
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i