How do ya'll think this ranks in terms of equipment?
Indestructable line possibly flavour text, but how good is +1/+1 trample and lifelink on a relatively cheap cost?
The new Heliod, the old Purporos, and both Thassas are cubeable, so removing indestructible can be relevant. Hazoret, too. Also let's you disenchant a Blightsteel Colossus, kill Kytheon/animated Gideon, or Wrath through a Selfless Spirit. I like it, but equip 2 is a little expensive.
I'd hardly call this a weak sideboard card. It's a baby Loxodon Warhammer with Trusty Machete costs. This card is actually gross, and I'll not play it because I think it'll be just as unfun as other Behemoth Sledge type cards. Anything holding this is a frustrating life-gain engine.
All that said, I don't know that this is actually stronger than Basilisk Collar, which I don't think sees a lot of play. Still the card is powerful, even if it's not small cube material.
Yeah, Basilisk Collar is the only equipment that gives you lifelink for such a cheap cost. The collar is nice if you have a pinger to exploit the deathtouch, but I was otherwise never satisfied with it because I also wanted some kind of power boost.
I think the +1/+1 and trample actually make this a nice piece of equipment. Creatures like Thrun, the Last Troll gain a lot from using this; might also be useful against him!
I've got my eye on this card, but I think it's going to be not quite good enough in my cube. I wouldn't fault any cubist for running it, especially if the Swords of X and Y are outside of your budget.
Im not a fan of the swords so im always on the look out for cubeable equipment. Loxidon Warhammer was good in the early days of my cube and I think midrange decks will like access to 2 relivent keywords.
The activated ability feels like trinket text for the most part though so I feel like this lacks the extra oomph to make it 8n most cubes but if I happen across one I may try it out.
Im not a fan of the swords so im always on the look out for cubeable equipment. Loxidon Warhammer was good in the early days of my cube and I think midrange decks will like access to 2 relivent keywords.
The activated ability feels like trinket text for the most part though so I feel like this lacks the extra oomph to make it 8n most cubes but if I happen across one I may try it out.
I have thought a lot about benching the swords. When the new ones came out I found I had little interest in them because they already take up a lot of slots in a 360 cube. Play with them is great but highly variable because of protections. And frankly I got rid of all the other protection cads in cube for the same reason.
To the OP. My biggest need for equipment is in lightweight aggro and tempo decks so the eqiup cost of one and two is almost a must. This card will certainly give red deck fits and be a huge boon to green and other fatty decks trying to get though tokens.
I'm considering adding Urza's Saga to my cube, so I'm taking a look at playable 0-1 mana artifacts. This one has seen play with Urza's Saga in constructed, but how has it worked in Cube to those who have experience with it?
I ended up cutting it when I cut my lifegain.dec package, but it was definitely solid. Weak against control, but MVP in aggro and mid-range mirrors. This and Basilisk Collar are the two cheapest equipment to grant lifelink, which makes it a pretty unique card.
I ran it to good effect since THB came out. It's cheap and effective. Trample and lifelink are great abilities in many matchups. I kept it over a couple of Swords that I recently cut, in fact. Swords can be quite slow and I wanted more variety in the cost of equipment.
I added this to my cube when urza’s saga was printed. I shifted my artifact deck from artifact ramp spells to cheap utility artifacts and creatures that worked well with artifacts.
Shadowspear was one of the standouts of that batch of adds.
In my cube , karnstrucs or nettlecyst can be really massive, and giving those trample and lifelink is key for going over the top of aggressive decks. Artifact decks can’t play much removal , so being able to gain large amounts of life and outchonk other creature decks is huge.
Plays really well with kappa cannonier another card that way over performed.
Also a solid card in a stoneforge deck or a Green X deck with a few chonkers or any creature deck with urzas saga.
Been a high pick since inclusion in my cube. It's lifelink has flipped so many races for me, and it's deathtough has forced removal to be used on bodies that could otherwise be attacked through.
Moving it about is mana intensive but giving a big dude lifelink then swapping it to a small body for the death touch just makes any kind of profitable attack impossible on many boards.
I agree with basically all of this. I also added it when I added saga, and it really shines against any sort of “fair” deck (which is generally 50%+ of the decks we draft). In “aggro” mirrors it is absolutely backbreaking in the same way jitte is. Normally, I like high variance cards which are best in a proactive setting (e.x. entomb), and not those which are only good against x% of decks, but aggro/fair decks are a huge percentage of our field, and also the fact that it is colorless (just like jitte) and playable in most decks is actually a pretty big boon imo. This means that basically any deck can pick it up, play it, and side it in/out if necessary. The fact that it doesn’t have a color restriction makes its play percentage much higher than something like timely reinforcements (that cards probably super dated by now, but is just an example), which not only is only brought in in fair matchups, but also must be played in a white deck. Also, the “threat” of equipping and swinging can often change the state of the game just as much as actually doing so, so just playing it out for 1, and not equipping, can have a real impact for a low cost. It’s not the best equipment of all time, but it’s one that I like and think is worth playing l, especially if you support aggro in at least 3 colors.
How do ya'll think this ranks in terms of equipment?
Indestructable line possibly flavour text, but how good is +1/+1 trample and lifelink on a relatively cheap cost?
Last Updated 02/07/24
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All that said, I don't know that this is actually stronger than Basilisk Collar, which I don't think sees a lot of play. Still the card is powerful, even if it's not small cube material.
This is not better than Bonesplitter, but it's proper competition is Bloodforged Battle-Axe, and Basilisk Collar. I think there's a solid argument for each.
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I think the +1/+1 and trample actually make this a nice piece of equipment. Creatures like Thrun, the Last Troll gain a lot from using this; might also be useful against him!
Yeah, I'm gonna give it a shot.
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The activated ability feels like trinket text for the most part though so I feel like this lacks the extra oomph to make it 8n most cubes but if I happen across one I may try it out.
I have thought a lot about benching the swords. When the new ones came out I found I had little interest in them because they already take up a lot of slots in a 360 cube. Play with them is great but highly variable because of protections. And frankly I got rid of all the other protection cads in cube for the same reason.
To the OP. My biggest need for equipment is in lightweight aggro and tempo decks so the eqiup cost of one and two is almost a must. This card will certainly give red deck fits and be a huge boon to green and other fatty decks trying to get though tokens.
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Shadowspear was one of the standouts of that batch of adds.
In my cube , karnstrucs or nettlecyst can be really massive, and giving those trample and lifelink is key for going over the top of aggressive decks. Artifact decks can’t play much removal , so being able to gain large amounts of life and outchonk other creature decks is huge.
Plays really well with kappa cannonier another card that way over performed.
Also a solid card in a stoneforge deck or a Green X deck with a few chonkers or any creature deck with urzas saga.
Last Updated 02/07/24
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Moving it about is mana intensive but giving a big dude lifelink then swapping it to a small body for the death touch just makes any kind of profitable attack impossible on many boards.