Sword-Point Diplomacy2B
Sorcery (R)
Reveal the top three cards of your library. For each of those cards, put that card into your hand unless any opponent pays 3 life. Then exile the rest.
Its a better variant on browbeat, but its still generally much worse than painful truths
Browbeat had the issue where the two options were too inequal: Drawing 3 cards is much better than dealing 5 damage in most circumstances, so it was unevenly weighted, and punisher cards are as bad as their worst option. Browbeat 2.0 here solves that by making the card draw side significantly worse, but the damage side significantly better, but at the same time gives your opponent much more choice and less ability for that choice to be manipulated, the other two bad things about punishers
overall a resounding meh
Remember Vexing Devil? Just copy paste that discussion again
Eh, this card doesn't even have Vexing Devil's best characteristic, namely the low CMC that at least encouraged some players to try it. I don't think anybody would mistake sword-point diplomacy as a good card. Then again, there are players who still have trouble identifying these types of punisher cards as win-more trash.
It'll be used in Limited, certainly, but then again, most things are.
What other draw does Black have at its disposal right now in Standard? Razaketh, notably, and Painful Lesson. It could possibly be better than Painful Lesson, since the outcomes of using it are:
(Unlikely) Take no cards, exile all, opponent loses 9 life for 3 mana.
Take 1 card, exile two, opponent loses 6 life for 3 mana.
Take 2 cards, exile one, opponent loses 3 life for 3 mana.
Take 3 cards, exile none, opponent loses no life for 3 mana.
Limited/Sealed/Draft: ...You got 1 card per 1 mana carddraw. You run with it. Unless you got super lucky and have better carddraw, even then you still might want this. Because there are always players that see a T5-T6 bomb flip over and go 'I want nothing to do with that' and bolt themselves when if they thought about it, they could just dome your face for two turns and keep you away from that play.
Standard - Control: If you're in Blue you can do better. You might be able to do better in green or black too. So you probably don't need it.
Standard - Midrange: ...That's probably a no from me. It does speed you up (a difference from browbeat) but I don't think any of the choices will be as equal.
Standard - Aggro: See here's where you might want this. The important step up from Browbeat isn't the damage. Well, not just the damage. it's the advancement of your deck. Because you're moving past 3 more cards, and they're probably not going to turn lands into lightning bolts, you're speeding up your aggro build no matter what. Even if they choose the generally optimal 'you draw all three cards.' (Generally optimal because Aggro decks are going to mostly be less damage per card than bolt, occasionally equal damage.) You win more than you lose on playing this, but it still isn't a good card in any other deck or format.
This has one of the best punisher mechanics I've ever seen--if your opponent wants to throw out all 3 cards (like I'm tempted to do), they have to be prepared to rip out very nearly half their life total. (Ignore that previous statement if you're playing EDH--it's bad there.)
Unfortunately, control definitely doesn't want this because all their opponents will pay 9 life, and midrange likely doesn't want this because opponents may be happy paying 6 life to let them lousily cantrip for 3 mana. Looks like its best homes are tempo and aggro.
You know how in Looney Tunes a character starts out sounding all tough and threatening ("And if you're listening to this, Rocky, remember..."), but then suddenly switches to whimpy and pleading ("...please don't hurt the boid!")? That's how I read this flavor text.
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Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
If this forced them to allow or deny all three cards, it would be decent,
but this will rarely net more than 3 damage (and two cards you don't really need).
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary Melek, Izzet Paragon Oona, Queen of the Fae Bruna, Light of Alabaster Gisela, Blade of Goldnight Rhys the Redeemed Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord Sen Triplets The Mimeoplasm WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
I don't think it's fair to compare Vexing Devil to this. The devil costs just R and is a permanent. The other is 3cmc. Not saying it's a great card, but it gives possible options to Black/X aggro decks. This could be a decent curve topper.
I would probably run this if it said "put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order" instead of "exile the rest". Seems a bit of a risk if you draw into something good that is supposed to help you win the game.
I would probably run this if it said "put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order" instead of "exile the rest". Seems a bit of a risk if you draw into something good that is supposed to help you win the game.
If it was 'put into your graveyard' that would be even better, since it would enable graveyard shenanigans.
Aggressive decks may want this. Reminds me of Browbeat, cept it's better.
It's worse than Browbeat, and Browbeat is unplayable. Browbeat at least has the potential for you to sneak a good draw, with this the opponent gets to pick exactly what they're denying you with knowledge beforehand
Sword-Point Diplomacy 2B
Sorcery (R)
Reveal the top three cards of your library. For each of those cards, put that card into your hand unless any opponent pays 3 life. Then exile the rest.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
Browbeat had the issue where the two options were too inequal: Drawing 3 cards is much better than dealing 5 damage in most circumstances, so it was unevenly weighted, and punisher cards are as bad as their worst option. Browbeat 2.0 here solves that by making the card draw side significantly worse, but the damage side significantly better, but at the same time gives your opponent much more choice and less ability for that choice to be manipulated, the other two bad things about punishers
overall a resounding meh
Eh, this card doesn't even have Vexing Devil's best characteristic, namely the low CMC that at least encouraged some players to try it. I don't think anybody would mistake sword-point diplomacy as a good card. Then again, there are players who still have trouble identifying these types of punisher cards as win-more trash.
What other draw does Black have at its disposal right now in Standard? Razaketh, notably, and Painful Lesson. It could possibly be better than Painful Lesson, since the outcomes of using it are:
(Unlikely) Take no cards, exile all, opponent loses 9 life for 3 mana.
Take 1 card, exile two, opponent loses 6 life for 3 mana.
Take 2 cards, exile one, opponent loses 3 life for 3 mana.
Take 3 cards, exile none, opponent loses no life for 3 mana.
Limited/Sealed/Draft: ...You got 1 card per 1 mana carddraw. You run with it. Unless you got super lucky and have better carddraw, even then you still might want this. Because there are always players that see a T5-T6 bomb flip over and go 'I want nothing to do with that' and bolt themselves when if they thought about it, they could just dome your face for two turns and keep you away from that play.
Standard - Control: If you're in Blue you can do better. You might be able to do better in green or black too. So you probably don't need it.
Standard - Midrange: ...That's probably a no from me. It does speed you up (a difference from browbeat) but I don't think any of the choices will be as equal.
Standard - Aggro: See here's where you might want this. The important step up from Browbeat isn't the damage. Well, not just the damage. it's the advancement of your deck. Because you're moving past 3 more cards, and they're probably not going to turn lands into lightning bolts, you're speeding up your aggro build no matter what. Even if they choose the generally optimal 'you draw all three cards.' (Generally optimal because Aggro decks are going to mostly be less damage per card than bolt, occasionally equal damage.) You win more than you lose on playing this, but it still isn't a good card in any other deck or format.
Speaking of...
Modern: No.
Vintage/Legacy: Gross bitter laughter.
Commander/Highlander: Definitely no.
Unfortunately, control definitely doesn't want this because all their opponents will pay 9 life, and midrange likely doesn't want this because opponents may be happy paying 6 life to let them lousily cantrip for 3 mana. Looks like its best homes are tempo and aggro.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
but this will rarely net more than 3 damage (and two cards you don't really need).
Reprint Stasis!
Control needs more love.
EDH:
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/13649 - My all foil cube.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
If it was 'put into your graveyard' that would be even better, since it would enable graveyard shenanigans.
Yep, like so many cards that never make it to standard, all they had to do was make the exile clause, "graveyard".
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Standard Deck:
BUPirates
Modern Deck:
B8-Rack
It's worse than Browbeat, and Browbeat is unplayable. Browbeat at least has the potential for you to sneak a good draw, with this the opponent gets to pick exactly what they're denying you with knowledge beforehand
They will gladly pay the 3 to exile a card that will give the win for them.
Commander 9 life loss is a joke.
If the cards were face down then we would be talking.