Glad I can cut Dimensional Infiltrator for this card. Nice for blue to get access to the on-demand discard, always liked Oona's Prowler and now I can get a better version in my favorite color.
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I think this card needed non-conditional evasion to make it in my list. Black has enough discard outlets and blue has enough looters to fill that role for reanimator lists in my cube.
In reanimator decks, this will on average be better than a looter. They can remove your looter while it's summoning sick, but with this guy you get as many guaranteed discards as you want when it resolves. Also hits for 2, so it's like an upgraded Looter Il Kor with upside.
Edit: not quite Looter Il Kor because of the upkeep activation cost. Still a great card though and I will be running it
It is a very cool card but not for me. I have moved a lot of my graveyard support to red, because I found blue too crowed to use slots for 'supporting' the black deck, and it has spiced up red.
Cool Card, Not big and splashy, but I think this guy can play a solid role in a lot of different decks. I think i might try cutting Enclave cryptologist for this guy. I might need to reevaluate blue to see if blue tempo can be more of a thing. I think the density for that deck is there for my cube now. Blue just get's pulled in every direction it seems like in my cube
This card does a lot of stuff, but how many decks can make use of the different abilities at the same time?
Tempo decks don't want discard for this to be unblockable, nor does it want to pay 2 mana to draw a card - paying to draw is the opposite of tempo. I feel like this will be a vanilla 2/1 too often while you curve out. True it gains value later in the game for the tempo deck, but I don't think it is worth the early weakness.
For reanimator decks, I think I would rather have a looter that lets me dig for reanimation pieces while also discarding. I don't value the 2 unblockable damage that highly.
I think the best comparison is to Waterfeont Bouncer. A card I don’t often see in cubes anymore. Yes the discard on this is free and repeatable, but Bouncer bounces a creature. Both have pros and cons of course.
In reanimator decks, this will on average be better than a looter. They can remove your looter while it's summoning sick, but with this guy you get as many guaranteed discards as you want when it resolves. Also hits for 2, so it's like an upgraded Looter Il Kor with upside.
Edit: not quite Looter Il Kor because of the upkeep activation cost. Still a great card though and I will be running it
Yeah but why play this when reanimator already has access to oona's prowler, heir of falkenrath plus all the spell based discard like collective brutality. I Might even prefer Wharf Infiltrator to this. I just think if you are supporting reanimator this card is extra and not worth a slot unless you are at a way bigger size. Other looters are better because they fit into archetypes outside of reanimator.
Yeah but why play this when reanimator already has access to oona's prowler, heir of falkenrath plus all the spell based discard like collective brutality.
Because maybe those cards didn't show up in the draft. Or because you might not draw those cards during the game. And maybe you draft and draw this card and can play it to execute your gameplan.
Yeah but why play this when reanimator already has access to oona's prowler, heir of falkenrath plus all the spell based discard like collective brutality.
Because maybe those cards didn't show up in the draft. Or because you might not draw those cards during the game. And maybe you draft and draw this card and can play it to execute your gameplan.
Ooooooh. I see. Going to have to run Lava Axe in my cube in case bolt doesn't show up in the draft and I need burn to execute my game plan.
Sorry that was a bit tongue in cheek, but in all seriousness, I feel like this is so far down the totem pole compared to other options that are available that I just can't see it making it in to a lot of lists. Maybe it will play better than I seem to think. At 360 I don't have a problem with density for this type of effect or the issue of having it not show up in the draft so maybe this is one of the better options for larger cubes?
And I don't think it's far down the totem pole at all. There aren't very many discard outlets you can use that aren't vulnerable to removal interrupting your ability to discard. Not to mention ones that are also able to attack for 2 (sometimes with evasion) and only cost 2 mana. That can also generate card advantage. That also punish the opponent casting spells from non-hand zones.
I think this can be a very attractive option for cubes where you play both tempo in blue and support graveyard decks with blue. It's not better than the best cards in any one role, but as far as I can brainstorm, it's the only one that touches that many different roles and can be reasonably effective at all of them.
I think the long and short of it is that these are all effects that certain decks want more of in most Cubes and it is all packed into a single card in a prominent color. Are all modes relevant for all decks? Of course not, but they are all good enough to cherry pick from to fit your needs and help flesh out various different decks a bit more.
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This is good. I'm not sure if I can find room, but I like it. Blue plays fairly well in the reanimator deck and Ux tempo decks frequently tear it up in our drafts. Not looking forward to finding a cut, especially because I need to find room for Barrin too.
I think i like this more than the cryptolgist, even though they have some overlapping roles, This is better in reanimator / graveyard centric decks since it's not susceptable to being killed before you get to discard, and I am very rarely getting cryptologist up to the point where he is drawing cards and I think to myself..... that's what i won the game. At that point, i am usually so far ahead, it's just going through the motions to clsoe the game out. I don't run spellskite or azcanta at my cube, and i would bring the enchantment in before spellskite I think.
I think the card this most directly competes against is Looter il-Kor. It's close, but given that the second ability is mostly flavor text and paying 2 to get the draw is not insignificant, I think I still prefer Looter. That being said, I could see this being better in pure tempo / aggressive blue strategies that care a lot about the 2 power.
I think the card this most directly competes against is Looter il-Kor. It's close, but given that the second ability is mostly flavor text and paying 2 to get the draw is not insignificant, I think I still prefer Looter. That being said, I could see this being better in pure tempo / aggressive blue strategies that care a lot about the 2 power.
I don't see why this has to compete against Looter il-Kor. Depending on the size of the cube, having access to two similar effects can be good.
The second effect won't come up often at all, but it doesn't really factor into the costing/evaluation of the card for me. On the rare occasion it's relevant, it'll be cool, though.
Turns out there are slightly more cases than I initially thought - 33 cards in my 630. I'd expect that it'll come up once or twice every cube session where it ends up drafted. Note that some of these are less likely to result in relevant interactions than others (I doubt the Wrenn and Six player would ultimate the card in general, and very unlikely to do so without picking this off on the way).
This ignores any weird multi-card nonsense like Falkenrath Gorger, a discard outlet, and one of the other 11 Vampires in the cube, since that seems like a stretch at best.
This is a card I would have thought was great three or four years ago, but I dont think it can compete with the power creep of the last couple years. Two mana is a lot to repeatedly pay and it's kinda meh for decks that dont have graveyard synergies.
While not perfect comps, Wharf Infiltrator and Pain Seer were both disappointments for reasons that could be applied to this card. This card also shares some similarities with Heir of Falkenrath. These types of 2-drops all became disappointments for various reasons over time, and for those reasons I’m inclined to stay away from Pilferer.
Like ThatOneNinja said, this may have been playable three or four years ago, but this type of marginal value upside discard outlet creature took a huge hit in the past couple years.
What? Slam dunk for me at 540 unpowered. 2 mana discard outlet for reanimator with all kinds of value attached!
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Edit: not quite Looter Il Kor because of the upkeep activation cost. Still a great card though and I will be running it
Tempo decks don't want discard for this to be unblockable, nor does it want to pay 2 mana to draw a card - paying to draw is the opposite of tempo. I feel like this will be a vanilla 2/1 too often while you curve out. True it gains value later in the game for the tempo deck, but I don't think it is worth the early weakness.
For reanimator decks, I think I would rather have a looter that lets me dig for reanimation pieces while also discarding. I don't value the 2 unblockable damage that highly.
Yeah but why play this when reanimator already has access to oona's prowler, heir of falkenrath plus all the spell based discard like collective brutality. I Might even prefer Wharf Infiltrator to this. I just think if you are supporting reanimator this card is extra and not worth a slot unless you are at a way bigger size. Other looters are better because they fit into archetypes outside of reanimator.
The only reason I would consider this card is to play with Rielle, the everwise
Because maybe those cards didn't show up in the draft. Or because you might not draw those cards during the game. And maybe you draft and draw this card and can play it to execute your gameplan.
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Ooooooh. I see. Going to have to run Lava Axe in my cube in case bolt doesn't show up in the draft and I need burn to execute my game plan.
Sorry that was a bit tongue in cheek, but in all seriousness, I feel like this is so far down the totem pole compared to other options that are available that I just can't see it making it in to a lot of lists. Maybe it will play better than I seem to think. At 360 I don't have a problem with density for this type of effect or the issue of having it not show up in the draft so maybe this is one of the better options for larger cubes?
And I don't think it's far down the totem pole at all. There aren't very many discard outlets you can use that aren't vulnerable to removal interrupting your ability to discard. Not to mention ones that are also able to attack for 2 (sometimes with evasion) and only cost 2 mana. That can also generate card advantage. That also punish the opponent casting spells from non-hand zones.
I think this can be a very attractive option for cubes where you play both tempo in blue and support graveyard decks with blue. It's not better than the best cards in any one role, but as far as I can brainstorm, it's the only one that touches that many different roles and can be reasonably effective at all of them.
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How do we rate this vs Enclave Cryptologist? Spellskite? Search for Azcanta?
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The second effect won't come up often at all, but it doesn't really factor into the costing/evaluation of the card for me. On the rare occasion it's relevant, it'll be cool, though.
Turns out there are slightly more cases than I initially thought - 33 cards in my 630. I'd expect that it'll come up once or twice every cube session where it ends up drafted. Note that some of these are less likely to result in relevant interactions than others (I doubt the Wrenn and Six player would ultimate the card in general, and very unlikely to do so without picking this off on the way).
Sevinne's Reclamation
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
Brazen Borrower
Snapcaster Mage
Urza, High Lord Artificer
Torrential Gearhulk
Ancestral Vision
Deep Analysis
Murderous Rider
Woe Strider
Greater Gargadon
Abbot of Keral Keep
Dire Fleet Daredevil
Embereth Shieldbreaker
Robber of the Rich
Bonecrusher Giant
Chandra, Acolyte of Flame
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Faithless Looting
Firebolt
Light Up the Stage
Experimental Frenzy
Vivien, Monsters' Advocate
Beanstalk Giant
Hostage Taker
Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger
Wrenn and Six
Bloodbraid Elf
Lingering Souls
Lurrus of the Dream-Den
Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign
Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
This ignores any weird multi-card nonsense like Falkenrath Gorger, a discard outlet, and one of the other 11 Vampires in the cube, since that seems like a stretch at best.
EDIT: Added Woe Strider.
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Other potential notables depending on cube composition include any hideaway lands and jump-start (if anyone is playing something like Risk Factor).
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Like ThatOneNinja said, this may have been playable three or four years ago, but this type of marginal value upside discard outlet creature took a huge hit in the past couple years.