Negative Energy Cone — Whenever an attacking creature you control or a blocking creature an opponent controls dies, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
{5}{B}: Return Death Tyrant from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
Currently this AFC card looks very interesting for 5 drop in large cubes IMO, probaly better than God-Eternal Bontu and maybe better than Doom Whisperer too. Thoughts ?
I find this creature interesting but I'm not sure it quite gets there. Black 5-drops are still a little sparse but I'm not sure I need more and I'm not sure this is good enough.
This card has several positives in its favor.
1. Plays well with self-mill and discard as it can revive itself and it is resilient against most kill spells.
2. The attacking or blocking creature need not die from combat damage to leave a token. You can sac a doomed attacker to a sac outlet or aim a kill spell at a blocker that would survive to make a token, which is pretty cool. Also note that an attacking death tyrant can leave behind a token.
3. Attacking zombie tokens that die leave behind zombie tokens, meaning that there is essentially minimal cost to attacking with your zombie army each turn. This card really works well with other token strategies for this reason. Especially as...
4. The zombie tokens enter untapped. If your opponent blocks an attacking zombie, you get a new untapped zombie that can block.
Honestly, I think that what really attracts me to this card is the critical mass of 1-drop 2/1s that self-animate in black. This card adds serious late-game value to dread wanderer and gravecrawler and gutterbones and the like as repeatedly attacking into your opponent with these 2/1s ends up netting you a growing number of zombies over time.
I think it's interesting as a beefed up Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet.
If you're playing that card, it might be reasonable to make this swap, although 5 mana is a lot more than 4.
That being said, I'm not playing Kalitas, so I think this is just a watch rather than a test for me.
The best true black 5 cmc creature (i.e. disregarding Shriekmaw) is probably Custodi Lich, which I think is better than this card. Next best is probably Doom Whisperer - not sure if this is better or worse than Doom Whisperer, but I think it's certainly a more interesting card so I think that's a reasonable swap.
For non-creature 5 cmc spells, is it better than Liliana, Death's Majesty and The Eldest Reborn? Hard to know, since it plays so differently than those cards. I think they are both more mana efficient / immediately impactful, and both those cards provide you ETB value the turn they come into play, so it really comes down to how strong the last line of text is (recursion for 6 mana). Overall, I would guess this card is slightly worse than both of those cards, but it is close.
Overall, I still think Kalitas is the closest cube-worthy comparison to this card, as it also has no ETB value and makes zombie tokens, but Death Tyrant is a reasonably unique card. Doom Whisperer is another fair comparison as it's reasonably Baneslayer Angel like given that the ETB surveil value is not as high as drawing a card.
I have refined my view on this card a bit and... I think this card is odd.
I don't think that a comparison to Kalitas is appropriate here. I think that getting tokens from blocking enemy creatures is secondary to making untapped tokens from your attacking creature... including attacking zombie tokens. Like, it isn't remotely close.
This card is unique in that it allows normally fast archetypes to pivot into an inevitability engine in the late-game if the opponent stabilizes.
It turns black cards that reanimate themselves (like gravecrawler), normally used for hyper aggro decks, into improvised token generators that should keep attacking even if your opponents have big blockers.
It effectively increases the resilience of token generators like bitterblossom or goblin rabblemaster as this thing will allow you to dependably attack with at least 1 token this turn, 2 next turn, 3 the turn after, and so forth even if your opponent blocks (For example, an opponent with a 3/3 blocker could normally block your Rabblemaster token ad nauseum without building up your board. With this card, however, your opponent is attacked by a goblin this turn, 2 goblins or a goblin and a zombie next turn, a combination of three zombies and/or goblins the next turn, and so forth).
This card works well with aristocrats effects as it allows your hordes to replenish themselves by attacking and because you can sacrifice attacking creatures (possibly after dealing damage, as with reconnaissance) to use your outlets and get your death triggers.
Finally, while this card is expensive, it is not color intensive and has a good amount of resilience that allows it to work with self-mill and discard outlets.
Between all of those factors, I definitely think that this card is worth testing, at least in mid-sized cubes.
This needs testing i think. My cube in black 5s amare custodi lich and shriekmaw which i think are better. but this is a card than can find homes in lots of different decks though.
If fails the vindicate test on an empty board, but also can return or provide value if you have some way to abuse its text the turn you play it so it only 1/2 fails? My cube is a vitage cube but i more heavily support legacy style decks and fairish strategies so it might be worth a few test runs. If this seems to overperdorm it might make it.
I think the main problem with this card is that it doesn't have any ETB and provides no immediate value the turn it comes down.
It's more Baneslayer Angel than Mulldrifter. So when your opponent spends 1 mana to Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile this creature it's gonna be a blowout, especially if you were counting on the trigger ability during combat.
Even if they just Heartless Act it, paying 6 mana the next turn to get it back is a massive tempo loss.
I think that by itself is enough to hold this card down to a fringe cube card rather than slam dunk / staple.
I put it behind our current favorite 5s but I think it's a super cool card for slower and larger cubes. How many creatures are there that can just return to the battlefield with just a simple (if high) mana cost? How many of them have evasion, and an ability that can generate value? I think Rosy Dumplings outlines a lot of cool aspects of this card that make it worth testing in cubes where there are midrange battles and aggressive decks actually can reach the 6 mana to return it when needed.
Creature — Beholder Skeleton
Menace
Negative Energy Cone — Whenever an attacking creature you control or a blocking creature an opponent controls dies, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
{5}{B}: Return Death Tyrant from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
4/6
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Currently this AFC card looks very interesting for 5 drop in large cubes IMO, probaly better than God-Eternal Bontu and maybe better than Doom Whisperer too. Thoughts ?
Here's a pic.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
1. Plays well with self-mill and discard as it can revive itself and it is resilient against most kill spells.
2. The attacking or blocking creature need not die from combat damage to leave a token. You can sac a doomed attacker to a sac outlet or aim a kill spell at a blocker that would survive to make a token, which is pretty cool. Also note that an attacking death tyrant can leave behind a token.
3. Attacking zombie tokens that die leave behind zombie tokens, meaning that there is essentially minimal cost to attacking with your zombie army each turn. This card really works well with other token strategies for this reason. Especially as...
4. The zombie tokens enter untapped. If your opponent blocks an attacking zombie, you get a new untapped zombie that can block.
Honestly, I think that what really attracts me to this card is the critical mass of 1-drop 2/1s that self-animate in black. This card adds serious late-game value to dread wanderer and gravecrawler and gutterbones and the like as repeatedly attacking into your opponent with these 2/1s ends up netting you a growing number of zombies over time.
If you're playing that card, it might be reasonable to make this swap, although 5 mana is a lot more than 4.
That being said, I'm not playing Kalitas, so I think this is just a watch rather than a test for me.
The best true black 5 cmc creature (i.e. disregarding Shriekmaw) is probably Custodi Lich, which I think is better than this card. Next best is probably Doom Whisperer - not sure if this is better or worse than Doom Whisperer, but I think it's certainly a more interesting card so I think that's a reasonable swap.
For non-creature 5 cmc spells, is it better than Liliana, Death's Majesty and The Eldest Reborn? Hard to know, since it plays so differently than those cards. I think they are both more mana efficient / immediately impactful, and both those cards provide you ETB value the turn they come into play, so it really comes down to how strong the last line of text is (recursion for 6 mana). Overall, I would guess this card is slightly worse than both of those cards, but it is close.
Overall, I still think Kalitas is the closest cube-worthy comparison to this card, as it also has no ETB value and makes zombie tokens, but Death Tyrant is a reasonably unique card. Doom Whisperer is another fair comparison as it's reasonably Baneslayer Angel like given that the ETB surveil value is not as high as drawing a card.
360 card powered Chicago cube:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/e7r
2020 Numerical Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/817969-2020-numerical-cube-power-rankings
2018 CubeTutor Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/803301-cubetutor-power-rankings-2018-by-color-and-cmc
I don't think that a comparison to Kalitas is appropriate here. I think that getting tokens from blocking enemy creatures is secondary to making untapped tokens from your attacking creature... including attacking zombie tokens. Like, it isn't remotely close.
This card is unique in that it allows normally fast archetypes to pivot into an inevitability engine in the late-game if the opponent stabilizes.
Between all of those factors, I definitely think that this card is worth testing, at least in mid-sized cubes.
If I'm crazy, feel free to inform me.
If fails the vindicate test on an empty board, but also can return or provide value if you have some way to abuse its text the turn you play it so it only 1/2 fails? My cube is a vitage cube but i more heavily support legacy style decks and fairish strategies so it might be worth a few test runs. If this seems to overperdorm it might make it.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
It's more Baneslayer Angel than Mulldrifter. So when your opponent spends 1 mana to Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile this creature it's gonna be a blowout, especially if you were counting on the trigger ability during combat.
Even if they just Heartless Act it, paying 6 mana the next turn to get it back is a massive tempo loss.
I think that by itself is enough to hold this card down to a fringe cube card rather than slam dunk / staple.
The advantage of top end cards like Grave Titan, Custodi Lich or Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger is that they have immediate ETB value. Like Custodi Lich will kill a creature and draw you a card when you play it, so when they Swords to Plowshares it, you got a 3 for 1, and killing their creature also means you probably had no tempo loss.
360 card powered Chicago cube:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/e7r
2020 Numerical Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/817969-2020-numerical-cube-power-rankings
2018 CubeTutor Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/803301-cubetutor-power-rankings-2018-by-color-and-cmc