Silumgar's Assassin
1B
Creature - Human Assassin
Creatures with power greater than Silumgar's Assassin's power can't block it.
Megamorph 2B (You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up at any time for its megamorph cost and put a +1/+1 counter on it.)
When Silumgar's Assassin is turned face up, destroy target creature with power 3 or less an opponent controls.
Between this and stratus dancer, I am tempted to add a morph package again. hoping for a solid playable red morph in this set...
This guy and Stratus Dancer are going in the "i'll look at these again if we get a critical mass of morph cards" category for me. Ideally I'd love to have 2 per color with a few multicolor options... so we'll see.
This thing beats the hell out of Skinthinner, providing a better post-morph body, evasion, a significantly cheaper flip up, and only a slightly more conditional trigger.
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I like this guy. The evasion is relevant, and so is the removal, and not necessarily against the same decks. It's another card that I would definitely consider if Morph as a subtheme made a reappearance in the cube (which I really hope it does).
This guy and Stratus Dancer are going in the "i'll look at these again if we get a critical mass of morph cards" category for me. Ideally I'd love to have 2 per color with a few multicolor options... so we'll see.
Stratus dancer would be a fine creature with no morph at all, FWIW. Mistral Charger is solid, and blue needs the help at that CMC way more than white does.
I'm similarly impressed with this guy. Even if it only gets cast facedown like 10% of the time, it's rare to see an evasive black 2 drop that can block (I'm looking at you dauthi slayer) and the ability to kill something is a nice upside.
Especially given how horrible black's 2 drops are, I'm trying this guy. (Seriously, it's like Bob, Blood Artist, Bloodghast, and terrible terrible cards. Oona's Prowler is okay, but it almost can't block due to how horrible it is in combat)
Black evasive 2 drops aren't actually that commonplace, Dauthi Horror probably being the best one. But this card has still decent evasion, and quite a nice alternative mode. I can see us keeping it in mind given the lack of creatures like this at 2 CMC. The removal mode is certainly clunky but it hits a huge number of creatures, and I probably prefer its trigger to Skinthinner's. Another one for the Morph-maybeboard, I would say.
I like this guy. The evasion is relevant, and so is the removal, and not necessarily against the same decks. It's another card that I would definitely consider if Morph as a subtheme made a reappearance in the cube (which I really hope it does).
I think I'm one white morph away from being able to put 2 non-embarrassing morphs in each color (as Whipcorder is real meh.)
I'll give this guy a shot, I think the 1B 2/1 mode is pretty decent which is surprising, plus it gets through annoying big dumb blockers.
Another one for the testing pile. I like that he has game against creatures of any size; he's probably at his weakest against tokens, although even there he isn't awful.
It is rather awkward that his cheaper mode is worse against cheaper creatures, and vice versa. Still, he's not horrendously far off even just as an evasive 2/1 that can grow.
I am actually looking for another black evasive 2-drop. The evasion is pretty meh, but Megamorph + removal trigger give the assassin a nice alternative play mode. Plus, it is another cheap human for Champion of the Parish.
Black's 2-drops aren't exactly stellar, so I think I'll find a cut to test this card.
I still run Dauthi Horror, so if I do decide to run morph creatures this will be an easy include. Fingers crossed for good megamorphs in the other colors!
My thoughts exactly. I think it's fair consider the Assasin areverse (and worse) Shriekmaw. Both have creature and removal modes. Assasin is more expensive to get both modes than Shriekmaw, and has worse evasion and (arguably) worse removal. But seeing as Shriekmaw is one of the best black creatures in cube I think the comparability is a positive when considering the Assassin for cube.
This being a not too terrible 2-drop, in a color that has so few good ones, makes this a decent option even in medium size cubes. The morph option then becomes a nice extra.
I doubt this card will remain cube material for a very long time though - I hope it won't.
I don't like this guy at all. I wouldn't count this evasion as much at all, 2 power 2 drops are mostly meh to me. Unless you're nuts about morph this I see this about on the level of spiteful returned.
The evasion is a big deal. The fate of many 2/1 beaters is getting walled by 3/3 Beast tokens and the like. The chance of trading with your blocker is pretty high, with a few exceptions like the Walls and the likes of Courser of Kruphix. Spiteful Returned gets walled by a 2/2 without trading, which is really an issue. And that's before thinking about the removal mode! I think it's better than you're giving it credit for, and fills a needed position for black's curve, which is blessed with ridiculous 1, 3 and 4 drops but lacking depth at 2.
It is a weak type of evasion. Flying or intimidate would be better. Still, it is certainly not irrelevant. I mean, I am currently playing Thrill-Kill Assassin as a pseudo-evasive 2-drop, simply because the amount of good aggressive 2-drops is just so low in black. And while deathtouch helps against the walls and 1/3s that Silumgar's Assassin is weak against, the new assassin's evasion will matter more often than deathtouch.
In my cube, there are only nine creatures that can block and kill Silumgar's Assassin without dying themselves, including the small first strikers. By contrast there are twelve fliers that can block and kill a 2/1 flier for no loss, not including things like Bitterblossom that make flying tokens. The chances of Silumgar's Assassin trading with a blocker are increased with this evasion, and that's OK to me.
In my cube, there are only nine creatures that can block and kill Silumgar's Assassin without dying themselves, including the small first strikers. By contrast there are twelve fliers that can block and kill a 2/1 flier for no loss, not including things like Bitterblossom that make flying tokens. The chances of Silumgar's Assassin trading with a blocker are increased with this evasion, and that's OK to me.
I guess I am focused much more on this trading with tokens or part of a dividable burn spell. And while I admit that black's 2 drops are weak, I get 2 power out of the one drops. I usually feel like I am better off running more of those in my black decks, backed by true removal. This guy may get past the 3/3 beast but he is not racing anybody. I can see this thing getting past the first midrange blocker but the next turn they just trade off their elf now that they used up it's acceleration usefulness. I would like this guy so much better if it had 2 toughness.
As for his morph powers I would just rather run bone shredder, it will kill more things faster.
For me the era of 2 drops representing 2 damage a turn is not enough for an aggressive cube card. Maybe I am greedy but I feel like the bar has been raised for creatures at the 1,3,4,5 slot so high I expect more. Red now has a suite of 2 drops that can beat for 3 or bring even more (young pyromancer). If it is something wizards just says black can't do, fine, I will take diruptive/recussive 2 ddrosp and beat down with my above the curve 1 and 3 drops.
It's a fair statement, but three power 2 drops are still really scarce, particularly ones which do something other than just be a 3/1 or 3/2. I also hope for more of those in the future.
I'm all over the blue Stratus morph dude. This guy not so much. He needs testing because I can't eyeball whether he is relevant in games or not. On paper we can argue either way. I would need to see how he plays out. The interesting thing is that his morph ability is relevant for a large % of cube creatures (especially with more cube staples being powerful bears). I am not going to slam or reject this guy. He needs testing and anecdotal evidence IMHO
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1B
Creature - Human Assassin
Creatures with power greater than Silumgar's Assassin's power can't block it.
Megamorph 2B (You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up at any time for its megamorph cost and put a +1/+1 counter on it.)
When Silumgar's Assassin is turned face up, destroy target creature with power 3 or less an opponent controls.
Between this and stratus dancer, I am tempted to add a morph package again. hoping for a solid playable red morph in this set...
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Stratus dancer would be a fine creature with no morph at all, FWIW. Mistral Charger is solid, and blue needs the help at that CMC way more than white does.
I'm similarly impressed with this guy. Even if it only gets cast facedown like 10% of the time, it's rare to see an evasive black 2 drop that can block (I'm looking at you dauthi slayer) and the ability to kill something is a nice upside.
Especially given how horrible black's 2 drops are, I'm trying this guy. (Seriously, it's like Bob, Blood Artist, Bloodghast, and terrible terrible cards. Oona's Prowler is okay, but it almost can't block due to how horrible it is in combat)
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
I think I'm one white morph away from being able to put 2 non-embarrassing morphs in each color (as Whipcorder is real meh.)
I'll give this guy a shot, I think the 1B 2/1 mode is pretty decent which is surprising, plus it gets through annoying big dumb blockers.
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It is rather awkward that his cheaper mode is worse against cheaper creatures, and vice versa. Still, he's not horrendously far off even just as an evasive 2/1 that can grow.
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Black's 2-drops aren't exactly stellar, so I think I'll find a cut to test this card.
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I doubt this card will remain cube material for a very long time though - I hope it won't.
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On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
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On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
I guess I am focused much more on this trading with tokens or part of a dividable burn spell. And while I admit that black's 2 drops are weak, I get 2 power out of the one drops. I usually feel like I am better off running more of those in my black decks, backed by true removal. This guy may get past the 3/3 beast but he is not racing anybody. I can see this thing getting past the first midrange blocker but the next turn they just trade off their elf now that they used up it's acceleration usefulness. I would like this guy so much better if it had 2 toughness.
As for his morph powers I would just rather run bone shredder, it will kill more things faster.
For me the era of 2 drops representing 2 damage a turn is not enough for an aggressive cube card. Maybe I am greedy but I feel like the bar has been raised for creatures at the 1,3,4,5 slot so high I expect more. Red now has a suite of 2 drops that can beat for 3 or bring even more (young pyromancer). If it is something wizards just says black can't do, fine, I will take diruptive/recussive 2 ddrosp and beat down with my above the curve 1 and 3 drops.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
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