Careful Study on a stick that can Eternalize for Careful Consideration Value. Eternalize is a bit pricey, but ETB Careful Study is no joke. Seems good in a Recurring Nightmare shell, a traditional reanimator deck would probably want Frantic Search more.
Sea gate Oracle sets the bar for this type of card for me. If it were draw 2 keep one I would be ok with a 2/1 instead of a 1/3 becasue of the externalize value. Or if it had flash.
I think it is close, and for bigger cubes I might be in, but tapping our on turn 3 in blue is meh when most of the time I rould rather hold up a counterspell. I could see this seeing play in the more combo centeric ramp reanimator types of decks
ugh, cool design, if only the eternalize side was more competitively costed.
As is, the base side is way too fair outside of a reanimator shell, and it's not strong enough to deserve a slot specifically for reanimator (though it would see play in that kind of archetype).
The eternalize side does give it some long term card advantage, but 7 mana is just too expensive for it to be relevant often enough.
I'd slam it at 5, and consider testing it at 6.
Ugh. What's with these overcosted eternalize cards? Cool design just way too much mana. I hate it when a new mechanic is spoiled and the first card turns out to be the best. And it's not like Adorned Pouncer is setting the bar that high.
I really want to like this card, but I wish the Eternalize trigger was more affordable. Either that, or a draw 2 discard 1 trigger would've made it instantly playable. As it is, I'm not sold on it yet. As a discard outlet, a regular Looter will get cards into my graveyard faster and cheaper...
Aw shucks, if Eternalize had been a little better, this would have been a great card. Feeding your graveyard as well as working from it is a potent combination. As is, this is vaguely playable, but no more so than a truck load of other wonky looters.
Yeah, just a smidge away from playability. It's probably not embarrassing or anything in Reanimator decks, but needing 7 mana and this in your graveyard to reap any card advantage does this in anywhere else.
Very interesting. This is a bit of a Sea Gate Oracle at first being a 2 manas worth vanilla body plus a one mana card quality effect. Lumengrid Warden plus Sleight of Hand is a good deal for the more defensive decks but it is quite a low impact card. Champion of Wits threatens to be much more relevant in combat with its extra power. Defensively it will trade with more and offensively it will be twice as relevant. Careful Study isn't as rounded as Sleight of Hand but it is far more powerful and far more synergic. The card disadvantage of the Careful Study is a problem for it in when not offering a lot of synergy however the 2/1 body on Champion of Wits may well be enough to make it playable in any old place. This is great when you have any graveyard synergies going on. Three mana is pretty slow for some combo lists but still totally fine. Cards like Liliana are commonly used as discard outlets and so I am sure Champion will too. Having a slightly slower outlet is better than not having one at all.
So, just as a 3 mana 2/1 that did a Careful Study I think this would be cube worthy but the Champion is rather more card than that. State based pump and I believe instant pump effects will enable you to draw bonus cards from the EtB ability. Assuming the latter works you can turn a Mutagenic Growth into a free Night's Whisper. While this won't happen loads it is a pretty big deal when it does. Something that can turn a Giant Growth into an Ancestral Recall is rather the eye opener. That is quite the upgrade in power which will see to a number of cards massively gaining incentive to be run when you have the Champion.
The eternalize is probably less relevant in cube than the fact that you can turn this into a card advantage tool with pump. That being said, the eternalize is very powerful as a second half of a card. If you look at card advantage creatures they are not actually that much better cost than this. Mul Drifter is the best of the bunch and it is only 2 cheaper. a 2/2 flier is generally worse than a 4/4 and draw two is a lot worse than draw 4 discard 2. It is the comparison to Phyrexian Gargantuan that really makes the eternalize on Champion of Wits seem impressive. This is so much card that it should almost automatically win any late game. If neither of you have much going on or are in a board stalemate digging for ways to break it then drawing 4 cards deep and getting a 4/4 body extra is just such a huge swing. Odds on they need to deal with the 4/4 and you will have totally refilled on gas. Just on its own this card is a 4 for 1 and a huge amount of card quality. For such insane value it has an incredibly suitable front end. It is a good way to gain card quality and potentially enable things without falling behind in tempo or cards. The front end also really supports your odds of getting to the eternalize. Having so much card quality and board presence for the mana combined into one card is the perfect way to ensure you win sooner or survive longer regardless of the matchup. The momentum you carry forwards into the late game from card quality (assuming you do it right) is pretty massive and makes that seven mana eternalize rather more realistic.
This card is plenty good when it is at the absolute floor of its capacity. It is still likely better than Sea Gate Oracle. The upsides on this card however blow most things out of the water. This has synergies all over the place and all sorts of late game action. Very much the new front runner for best card in the set. Lovely design and a welcome addition to cube. A very nice way to offer lots of power without being an oppressive card.
Tend to agree with this. Card initially went under our radar. Pretty nice piece of discard. Also has some nice interections with some OG cube cards as well. Reveillark, Recurring Nightmare, Imperial Recruiter, Crystal Shard, etc.
I don't think this makes Giant Growth cubeable. The synergies are good there, but outside of this guy it's just a trick which is dangerous in cube. There are a number of logic leaps here in that article, like Liliana being used as a discard outlet making this OK when in reality a lot of the strength comes from the 'symmetrical' nature of the discarding for Lili, and that a 2/1 for 2U is serviceable on offense/defense when in reality it's not great in both while discrediting the importance of Sea Gate having 3 toughness for defense, or having this as a discard outlet is better than nothing when that has never been a real problem for me as I feel like I have plenty of discard outlets at this point, or that Mulldrifter 'only' being two cheaper isn't a relevant point when in reality 5->7 is a fairly big leap, or that the eternalize will almost automatically win games...there's a lot I don't agree with in that wall of text.
A lot of folks do cube with Mutagenic Growth. Still, that's not really the point here. The author is just referring to the fact that pump/anthem effects do make it better.
A lot of folks do cube with Mutagenic Growth. Still, that's not really the point here. The author is just referring to the fact that pump/anthem effects do make it better.
Yeah Growth isn't bad, I guess my eyes don't get as open by those synergies as the OP's does.
I think Sea Gate Oracle is quite a bit better then Champion of Witts. It is straight up card advantage (plus filtering) on a bigger butt. Sure you can get cute with the champion but that won't be nearly as often as that write up makes it seem. I think a lot of us like the design, it's just that eternalize cost. Yeesh. It's just too much mana to get to reliably. And even if you do eventually eternalize him, you're not ending the game or anything. You're probably just tapping out to get a 4/4 and two cards. You could easily lose before you untap again.
I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. But i just don't think I want to pay 3 mana to faithlessly loot.
Disecting the value of the Eternalize piece by piece was what made me double take and reconsider this. 7 mana gets you a 4/4 and you draw 4, discard 2. As a late game option that sits in your grave, that's kinda sweet. And on top of that decentness, you get a 2/1 + Faithless Looting early on, which is definitely playable, just not as exciting as I'd like. Hell, it ain't even card parity like Sea Gate Oracle. But I fall head over heels with multiple-mode cards and dual-early/late game applications, so if I ever go past... let's say 450, this guy will tickle my fancy.
Metallic Mimic and Adaptive Automaton. You're welcome. Naga tribal at it's finest.
I will probably put it in my cube for a short time to humor my group with:
-summoner's bond with metallic mimic
-elesh norn
-walkers like gideon bfz
-instant speed equip
PS: don't take me seriously on any of these.
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I took 3rd in a prerelease today and this was the only rare I was able to include in my deck. Seeing it in action has caused me to lean towards testing it over Nimble Obstructionist. When I was able to drop this on curve I was almost always able to increase the quality of cards in my hand and smooth out my curve for the next couple turns. Sometimes it got in for a few points of damage, sometimes it chumped and died, and sometimes (unexpectedly) my opponent refused to attack into it because they wanted to keep the Naga out of my yard for fear of the bigger body and giving me card advantage. 7 mana is a lot but if I ever got to the stage of the game where I wanted to bring this back it was GREAT. Even in cube games often don't go the way you plan and this is one heck of a backup plan, not to mention all he added graveyard synergy that my cube has over the AKH/HOU limited environment. I think this could be a bit of a sleeper.
While the conclusion of the article could be correct, I wasn't a fan of the analysis.
While I think this could be a sleeper,
(higher floor than predicted and higher ceiling of the eternalize)
I have a pet peeve when people mention interactions between cards that don't remotely belong in the same deck together.
Sure, mutagenic growth maybe cubebable, but in no reality would I ever want to run giant mutagenic growth and this card in the same deck.
Same with anthems etc.
IE Hornet queen synergies with hellrider, but the interaction is irrelevant.
While the conclusion of the article could be correct, I wasn't a fan of the analysis.
While I think this could be a sleeper,
(higher floor than predicted and higher ceiling of the eternalize)
I have a pet peeve when people mention interactions between cards that don't remotely belong in the same deck together.
Sure, mutagenic growth maybe cubebable, but in no reality would I ever want to run giant mutagenic growth and this card in the same deck.
Same with anthems etc.
IE Hornet queen synergies with hellrider, but the interaction is irrelevant.
Your IE indicates you don't support G/R midrange tokens which is a shame but I get your point.
I have a pet peeve when people mention interactions between cards that don't remotely belong in the same deck together.
Sure, mutagenic growth maybe cubebable, but in no reality would I ever want to run giant mutagenic growth and this card in the same deck.
Same with anthems etc.
Mutagenic Growth is very good in UR spells matter. You are pretty happy to pay 2 life to basically be a shock at worst and with prowess/young p/etc could be bolt plus a token or other damage trigger. Champion of Wits will be good in that deck too, fueling your treasure cruise delve with the looting and ensuring you have the right mix of lands/non-lands to curve out properly and not run out of gas on the finish.
There could be a UW/Esper tempo midrangy thing that wants looting for Karmic Guide or discard lingering souls of whatever plus anthems. Maybe not a thing in most MTGS cubes anymore (or ever), but there's definitely design space there.
Not sure I'm running this, but it's definitely a sweet design.
I used to run Owl Familiar like a year ago, and he got positive feedback for his support in reanimator and decks that included delve. Obviously not a great card, but a little bit of cheap card selection with graveyard support on a body that can block, get sac'd, or carry equipment isn't bad.
I think this guy will be just fine in UB and UR decks.
Careful Study on a stick that can Eternalize for Careful Consideration Value. Eternalize is a bit pricey, but ETB Careful Study is no joke. Seems good in a Recurring Nightmare shell, a traditional reanimator deck would probably want Frantic Search more.
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I don't remember the last time Mulldrifter got played in my cube, and this card seems like a nice fuel for graveyard decks...
I hope this is a joke.
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I think it is close, and for bigger cubes I might be in, but tapping our on turn 3 in blue is meh when most of the time I rould rather hold up a counterspell. I could see this seeing play in the more combo centeric ramp reanimator types of decks
As is, the base side is way too fair outside of a reanimator shell, and it's not strong enough to deserve a slot specifically for reanimator (though it would see play in that kind of archetype).
The eternalize side does give it some long term card advantage, but 7 mana is just too expensive for it to be relevant often enough.
I'd slam it at 5, and consider testing it at 6.
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So, just as a 3 mana 2/1 that did a Careful Study I think this would be cube worthy but the Champion is rather more card than that. State based pump and I believe instant pump effects will enable you to draw bonus cards from the EtB ability. Assuming the latter works you can turn a Mutagenic Growth into a free Night's Whisper. While this won't happen loads it is a pretty big deal when it does. Something that can turn a Giant Growth into an Ancestral Recall is rather the eye opener. That is quite the upgrade in power which will see to a number of cards massively gaining incentive to be run when you have the Champion.
The eternalize is probably less relevant in cube than the fact that you can turn this into a card advantage tool with pump. That being said, the eternalize is very powerful as a second half of a card. If you look at card advantage creatures they are not actually that much better cost than this. Mul Drifter is the best of the bunch and it is only 2 cheaper. a 2/2 flier is generally worse than a 4/4 and draw two is a lot worse than draw 4 discard 2. It is the comparison to Phyrexian Gargantuan that really makes the eternalize on Champion of Wits seem impressive. This is so much card that it should almost automatically win any late game. If neither of you have much going on or are in a board stalemate digging for ways to break it then drawing 4 cards deep and getting a 4/4 body extra is just such a huge swing. Odds on they need to deal with the 4/4 and you will have totally refilled on gas. Just on its own this card is a 4 for 1 and a huge amount of card quality. For such insane value it has an incredibly suitable front end. It is a good way to gain card quality and potentially enable things without falling behind in tempo or cards. The front end also really supports your odds of getting to the eternalize. Having so much card quality and board presence for the mana combined into one card is the perfect way to ensure you win sooner or survive longer regardless of the matchup. The momentum you carry forwards into the late game from card quality (assuming you do it right) is pretty massive and makes that seven mana eternalize rather more realistic.
This card is plenty good when it is at the absolute floor of its capacity. It is still likely better than Sea Gate Oracle. The upsides on this card however blow most things out of the water. This has synergies all over the place and all sorts of late game action. Very much the new front runner for best card in the set. Lovely design and a welcome addition to cube. A very nice way to offer lots of power without being an oppressive card.
Source : http://mtgcube.blogspot.ca/2017/06/hour-of-devastation-initial-review-part_26.html
Tend to agree with this. Card initially went under our radar. Pretty nice piece of discard. Also has some nice interections with some OG cube cards as well. Reveillark, Recurring Nightmare, Imperial Recruiter, Crystal Shard, etc.
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Yeah Growth isn't bad, I guess my eyes don't get as open by those synergies as the OP's does.
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I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. But i just don't think I want to pay 3 mana to faithlessly loot.
This is still the best place for high-power-level cube chat & debate.
Here's to many more years at MTGS *clink*
I will probably put it in my cube for a short time to humor my group with:
-summoner's bond with metallic mimic
-elesh norn
-walkers like gideon bfz
-instant speed equip
PS: don't take me seriously on any of these.
Cube Tutor: Here
Utility Lands: Here
While I think this could be a sleeper,
(higher floor than predicted and higher ceiling of the eternalize)
I have a pet peeve when people mention interactions between cards that don't remotely belong in the same deck together.
Sure, mutagenic growth maybe cubebable, but in no reality would I ever want to run giant mutagenic growth and this card in the same deck.
Same with anthems etc.
IE Hornet queen synergies with hellrider, but the interaction is irrelevant.
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Your IE indicates you don't support G/R midrange tokens which is a shame but I get your point.
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Mutagenic Growth is very good in UR spells matter. You are pretty happy to pay 2 life to basically be a shock at worst and with prowess/young p/etc could be bolt plus a token or other damage trigger. Champion of Wits will be good in that deck too, fueling your treasure cruise delve with the looting and ensuring you have the right mix of lands/non-lands to curve out properly and not run out of gas on the finish.
There could be a UW/Esper tempo midrangy thing that wants looting for Karmic Guide or discard lingering souls of whatever plus anthems. Maybe not a thing in most MTGS cubes anymore (or ever), but there's definitely design space there.
Not sure I'm running this, but it's definitely a sweet design.
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
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I think this guy will be just fine in UB and UR decks.