Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh 2UU
Legendary Planeswalker - Tezzeret (M)
The first activated ability of an artifact you activate each turn costs 2 less to activate.
+1: Draw two cards, then discard two cards unless you discard an artifact card.
-2: Target artifact becomes an artifact creature. If it isn't a Vehicle, it has base power and toughness 4/4.
-6: You get an emblem with "Whenever an artifact you control becomes tapped, draw a card."
4 starting loyalty
Probably only worth it for artifact-heavy cubes, but it provides card advantage and can situationally protect itself.
I think this is a good alternative to Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas since they both essentially do the same thing. This only being mono blue, higher loyalty, and a much better / less narrow +1 ability puts this above Agent of Bolas for me. Being an extra discard outlet for reanimator is also nice. Personally I don't think I have a need for this since I'm not currently running Agent of Bolas, but this is pretty serviceable by itself.
I think this is fairy good - Works well with the hyper ramp, reanimator, artifact midrange variants.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Obviously good in an artifact cube, but all Tezzerets are. I still like Seeker and Artifice Master better, but this is 4cc. Will probably wait for the post rotation price drop before trying.
I think that each of Betrayer of Flesh's activated abilities compare unfavorably to Agent of Bolas, and I don't think the static ability is useful enough to pick up the slack. Also, the {+1} ability just doesn't quite mesh with the rest of the card. Why am I being incentivized to discard artifacts when every other ability rewards me for having them on the field? It's like they took half of Daretti and half of Tezzeret AoB to create BoF, but those two halves don't actually make sense with one another.
I think that each of Betrayer of Flesh's activated abilities compare unfavorably to Agent of Bolas
Agent of Bolas definitely has a better minus ability, but I heavily disagree on Impulsing for artifacts being better than looting, which is extremely narrow and constricts deckbuilding. I'd much rather filter through my cards and fill the graveyard than only being able to hit an artifact (or just completely whiff).
I don't think the static ability is useful enough to pick up the slack.
I think this ability is stronger than it looks, there's a lot of use cases for this:
- Lets Grim / Basalt Monolith ramp harder
- A lot of discounted / free activations: equipment / Sensei's Divining Top / Retrofitter Foundry / Walking Ballista / Hangarback Walker / etc.
I have whiffed badly before with Agent of Bolas, I agree that this guy is probably better. We might have to reevaluate this Tezzeret after Brother's War. Remind me in 9 months. LOL
This is a worthy consideration if you support artifact-heavy decks. Maybe slightly worse in some dedicated artifact.dec builds then Agent of Bolas, but this card works in decks with slightly fewer artifacts, and it also can discard robots to your 'yard to grab with Welders and Feldon. Cool card.
In cubes that run all the signets, tezzeret's passive will 80%+ net 1 mana the following turn and may set up a double spell situation where you can use the mana immediatly. Planes walkers that immediately discount mana have always proven to outperform expectation.
Turn 2 island + island grim monlith -> tezzeret -> untap grim monlith is a real nice sequence
The -2 can be situationally very powerful and the +1 is awesome in an artifact deck.
Good card, but not sure if It makes the cut for me due to it's narrowness. Seems comparable to the other 5 mana tezzerets in power
2UU
Legendary Planeswalker - Tezzeret (M)
The first activated ability of an artifact you activate each turn costs 2 less to activate.
+1: Draw two cards, then discard two cards unless you discard an artifact card.
-2: Target artifact becomes an artifact creature. If it isn't a Vehicle, it has base power and toughness 4/4.
-6: You get an emblem with "Whenever an artifact you control becomes tapped, draw a card."
4 starting loyalty
Probably only worth it for artifact-heavy cubes, but it provides card advantage and can situationally protect itself.
Check out my competitive Ezuri, Claw of Progress primer!
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
StaffMy High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
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
540 Version: https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/zza
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
StaffAgent of Bolas definitely has a better minus ability, but I heavily disagree on Impulsing for artifacts being better than looting, which is extremely narrow and constricts deckbuilding. I'd much rather filter through my cards and fill the graveyard than only being able to hit an artifact (or just completely whiff).
I think this ability is stronger than it looks, there's a lot of use cases for this:
- Lets Grim / Basalt Monolith ramp harder
- A lot of discounted / free activations: equipment / Sensei's Divining Top / Retrofitter Foundry / Walking Ballista / Hangarback Walker / etc.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
StaffMy High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
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!
Turn 2 island + island grim monlith -> tezzeret -> untap grim monlith is a real nice sequence
The -2 can be situationally very powerful and the +1 is awesome in an artifact deck.
Good card, but not sure if It makes the cut for me due to it's narrowness. Seems comparable to the other 5 mana tezzerets in power
Last Updated 02/07/24
Streaming Standard/Cube on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/heisenb3rg96
Strategy Twitter https://www.twitter.com/heisenb3rg