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
A decent benchmark is how many 0-1 power creatures are in your list?
I think for me it's:
Wall of Omens/Blossoms
Auger of Bolas
Sakura Tribe Elder
Mother of Runes
Lingering Souls tokens
Mana elves in general
The world's saddest Carrion Feeder/Stromkirk Noble/Champion of the Parish/Rackdos Cackler
That list is decently long, but given how many creatures have caveots on them (Mother either won't want to trade or would blank anything anyways, mana elves don't want to trade early and can be killed late, STE won't trade and the walls being frustrating is hardly his fault) Wouldn't be the first time I ran a card that matched up poorly against tokens, since there's a million 3/1's for 2 I've ran, who were all fine.
To me, that means that a lot of the time, he'll be Mistral Charger, and he might kill something by flipping up.
As with stratus dancer, the base body is solid, and so the morph ability is just upside in my eyes.
I look at this and think of it as a reversed version of Shriekmaw: for 4B it's a 3/2 with evasion that kills something when it comes into play, while for 1B it's a creature but loses the removal effect (Shriekmaw for 1B is a Terror without a surviving creature).
The differences are: the evasion is generally worse, but it can get past small black or artifact creatures. There's no format that immediately comes to mind where I'm worried about power 1-3 black or artifact creatures blocking me, save dredge decks running Stinkweed Imp, so points here go to Shriekmaw. It's relevant to the current Standard that it evades Sylvan Caryatid and, with the counter, Courser of Kruphix.
The removal also hits black and artifact creatures, but misses anything large. There is some scope here - it hits Mardu Strike Leader in Standard, and Dark Confidant, Doran and Stinkweed Imp in older formats (bearing in mind that Shriekmaw is a relevant card in some Legacy decks). In terms of cards available in Standard, there are relevant targets also in Goblin Rabblemaster, Courser of Kruphix, and a range of two-drops. Most of these are however cards that can be more than 2-for-1ed with common answers like Bile Blight and Drown in Sorrow.
The removal comes with a price in the case of the Assassin, while Shriekmaw is a straight 187 effect. This is all downside unless you have a way of exploiting sacrifice effects or creatures in the yard.
Lastly, and most damningly for the Assassin, a Terror for 1B is a useful, efficient thing to have. A 1B 2/1 with pseudoevasion is unplayable in any competitive format.
Shriekmaw saw Standard play in its day - I think there is some chance this will despite the downside, and even a very slim possibility that it could have a minor role in older formats.
I stand by what I said. Playtesting will reveal whether he's relevant in practice.
"Creatures with power > 2 can't block it"...that is the weak point. @noshadowkick shows how this is relevant. It's not "greater than or equal to".
The upside is his removal-when-morphed situation: "When Silumgar's Assassin is turned face up, destroy target creature with power 3 or less an opponent controls."
For my white creature section atm, that eats everything except Baneslayer, Reveillark, and Sun Titan. It kills half my blue creatures (Kira and TNN have added protection, so they don't get targeted). It kills everything in my black except Bloodgift Demon, Grave Titan, 'Maw (if on the table), and Tombstalker. It kills all the sub-4 red and green creatures. Gold it's hit or miss.
I can't tell you if this guy kicks ass more than it dies to stuff that can block it.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
That which nourishes me, destroys me
10th at SCG: Syracuse (2014), GP:NJ Last-Chance Grinder Winner (2014):: Former Legacy Mod
I mean, hell, we're all on a forum for something that most people would describe as a "children's card game"...do what makes you happy. You are never too old to enjoy yourself.
Dangit, you guys are right, savannah lions can block him
This loses a lot of the appeal for me, since what I really wanted here was a slight downgrade on dauthi horror that could block, with options. If 2/1s can block him, thats practically ever 1-2 drop ever.
Yeah, the evasion is pretty weak. That's the main reason why I am not more excited about this card. Still, the ability makes sure that the Assassin will at least trade with the blocker in most cases. That's not as good as getting through unblocked in the first place, but it is still something.
Now that people have had a year to try Silumgar Assassin, and the black 2-drop slot is a bit more competitive, how well has this creature held up? From what I've seen, it usually unmorphs to kill something before getting in a hit or 2 then trading off. That's not bad, but it does end up playing as a 3-drop way more often than not. It's nice to have the option to run it out on Turn 2 as a Furtive Homunculus, but that option never seems appealing if you have any other play.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Interesting. I think I saw the best case scenario for it a bit more often than most - kill something and get a hit in before trading off. I've decided that I really need to view this as a 3-drop instead of a 2-drop because its hardcast mode is pretty bad, and it really doesn't compete with any of the black 3s. You guys have convinced me to cut this instead of Nezumi Graverobber. Thanks for the feedback!
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
A decent benchmark is how many 0-1 power creatures are in your list?
I think for me it's:
Wall of Omens/Blossoms
Auger of Bolas
Sakura Tribe Elder
Mother of Runes
Lingering Souls tokens
Mana elves in general
The world's saddest Carrion Feeder/Stromkirk Noble/Champion of the Parish/Rackdos Cackler
That list is decently long, but given how many creatures have caveots on them (Mother either won't want to trade or would blank anything anyways, mana elves don't want to trade early and can be killed late, STE won't trade and the walls being frustrating is hardly his fault) Wouldn't be the first time I ran a card that matched up poorly against tokens, since there's a million 3/1's for 2 I've ran, who were all fine.
To me, that means that a lot of the time, he'll be Mistral Charger, and he might kill something by flipping up.
As with stratus dancer, the base body is solid, and so the morph ability is just upside in my eyes.
The differences are: the evasion is generally worse, but it can get past small black or artifact creatures. There's no format that immediately comes to mind where I'm worried about power 1-3 black or artifact creatures blocking me, save dredge decks running Stinkweed Imp, so points here go to Shriekmaw. It's relevant to the current Standard that it evades Sylvan Caryatid and, with the counter, Courser of Kruphix.
The removal also hits black and artifact creatures, but misses anything large. There is some scope here - it hits Mardu Strike Leader in Standard, and Dark Confidant, Doran and Stinkweed Imp in older formats (bearing in mind that Shriekmaw is a relevant card in some Legacy decks). In terms of cards available in Standard, there are relevant targets also in Goblin Rabblemaster, Courser of Kruphix, and a range of two-drops. Most of these are however cards that can be more than 2-for-1ed with common answers like Bile Blight and Drown in Sorrow.
The removal comes with a price in the case of the Assassin, while Shriekmaw is a straight 187 effect. This is all downside unless you have a way of exploiting sacrifice effects or creatures in the yard.
Lastly, and most damningly for the Assassin, a Terror for 1B is a useful, efficient thing to have. A 1B 2/1 with pseudoevasion is unplayable in any competitive format.
Shriekmaw saw Standard play in its day - I think there is some chance this will despite the downside, and even a very slim possibility that it could have a minor role in older formats.
"Creatures with power > 2 can't block it"...that is the weak point. @noshadowkick shows how this is relevant. It's not "greater than or equal to".
The upside is his removal-when-morphed situation: "When Silumgar's Assassin is turned face up, destroy target creature with power 3 or less an opponent controls."
For my white creature section atm, that eats everything except Baneslayer, Reveillark, and Sun Titan. It kills half my blue creatures (Kira and TNN have added protection, so they don't get targeted). It kills everything in my black except Bloodgift Demon, Grave Titan, 'Maw (if on the table), and Tombstalker. It kills all the sub-4 red and green creatures. Gold it's hit or miss.
I can't tell you if this guy kicks ass more than it dies to stuff that can block it.
10th at SCG: Syracuse (2014), GP:NJ Last-Chance Grinder Winner (2014):: Former Legacy Mod
This loses a lot of the appeal for me, since what I really wanted here was a slight downgrade on dauthi horror that could block, with options. If 2/1s can block him, thats practically ever 1-2 drop ever.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
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!
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/3pq
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
My Eternal Cube on CubeTutor| |My Reject Rare Cube on CubeTutor| |My Peasant Cube on CubeTutor
I used to write for MTGS, including Cranial Insertion and cube articles. Good on you if you can find those after the upgrade.