I see this card as a 3.5cc drop. It's on the fence as a true 3 drop (it's natural cost) because it can be very advantageous to play it for 4 mana, avoiding cube sorceries like sweepers. All of this has been addressed. I think the card is ultimately a thematic flex. Mardu adds to the mass of powerful "tokens/sacrifice matters" in black Gravecrawler, Bloodghast, Reassembling Skeleton, Smallpox, Mardu Strike Leader, Ophiomancer, Pox, Liliana of the Veil, Braids, Cabal Minion, Smokestack, etc (I'm sure I'm forgetting several others).
The aforementioned cards work best as a package deal. There will probably be a bias against Mardu if you're evaluating it in isolation. I think you need to pick what you want black as a cube-color to do first. Mardu either plays to that role or it slips to a tier 1.5/2. If you're looking for just "black goodstuff at 3cc" I am not sure he makes the cut. It's a damn good card though.
This is not a new trend, but you're seeing select cards interact with the "removed from game" zone. We've had it since Arabian Nights' Ring of Ma'rûf -- so let's put that into perspective. The Judgment "wish" cycle changed how powerful/consistent "removed from game" zone can be. Recently, we've had the blue flyer who combos with Food Chain. That dude is particularly annoying and so is this new card (assuming it's real) because their recursion is infinite. I disapprove of this particular "even if it's removed from the game it can just come back" design space...but let's not look at "cards can come from RFG zone" as "new".
I like this guy in tandem with Karn. I've never been an All is Dust guy. No idea what to cut within smaller cubes (40-50 colorless). This guy is a top colorless option. His ceiling is ridiculous
In cube organization, I slot everything in "as plays". So Spectral Procession and Call of the Herd are both in my creatures section. X spells (and other spells with variable costs like Tombstalker) should probably all be voted together. The same for color aligned lands.
I agree with the spirit of what you describe. Procession and Call are "creatures" just like Sarcomancy. However, how do you classify phyrexian metamorph or Porcelain Legionnaire? I am assuming you say the phyrexian mana = the -2 life option? Does this make them all colorless? What about Exalted Angel (one of my favorite cards of all time)? Is she 3cc, 4cc for her morph, or 6cc? These questions are important for the project IMHO.
I think there are too many sacrifice and RFG effects in cube, which push the effects of this card down. If you ran a lower power-level cube, this starts gaining steam IMHO. Had this come out a few years ago, we may have had a different argument. I really like the flexibility of [removal] or [protection]...but cubes pack cards "just better" than this.
How are you classifying Noble Hierarch and those "could be a hybrid/gold" cards? This would heavily play into my T10 for green. I understand the loam lion/kird ape thing. Same for @willdice mentioning Sarcomancy as a "creature" (since we can all agree it functionally is)
I have pondered about Chord in Maverick but there are 2 big obstacles in the way:
1. Does Chord > card you cut make Maverick better? I usually stop here.
2. How well does Chord interact with Maverick's actual board-states?
Anecdotal evidence has me thinking I land 3 creatures table by turn 4. On rare occasion, said creatures are 2x knights + another strong beater. Sometimes it's 3x dorks. It's more common to have a mix of dorks and beaters. Turn 4 is when Maverick really "turns on" and either turns the table or delivers the killing blow. It's also a realistic turn for Chord to come online for anything substantial. I wouldn't want to sacrifice turns of beating down on the opponent to convoke-cast Chord. Additionally, I win half my games thanks to [Thalia + Wasteland]. That winning duo works against Chord because I'm inflating casting costs.
I've seen one of chord do wonders in elves. But elves doesn't really have any "hidden" tricks so it might just be how surprising it is to have something happen from the opponent's hand instead of cards in play.
I think you're missing the points I'm emphasizing. Elves is a different animal...not to mention it doesn't rely on the Thalia + Wasteland combo. Elves.dec is all about churning out a handful of dorks and convert that to a game-winning bomb creature. For elves, a single Chord makes sense, as their team taps for mana anyways (plus they can also untap each other).
I have pondered about Chord in Maverick but there are 2 big obstacles in the way:
1. Does Chord > card you cut make Maverick better? I usually stop here.
2. How well does Chord interact with Maverick's actual board-states?
Anecdotal evidence has me thinking I land 3 creatures table by turn 4. On rare occasion, said creatures are 2x knights + another strong beater. Sometimes it's 3x dorks. It's more common to have a mix of dorks and beaters. Turn 4 is when Maverick really "turns on" and either turns the table or delivers the killing blow. It's also a realistic turn for Chord to come online for anything substantial. I wouldn't want to sacrifice turns of beating down on the opponent to convoke-cast Chord. Additionally, I win half my games thanks to [Thalia + Wasteland]. That winning duo works against Chord because I'm inflating casting costs.
...As always any opinions/critique/etc would be so helpful right now as I start to learn about this format!
Please post your list in some sort of [creature/spell/lands] composition, as alphabetical is not what the internet (or MTGS) does.
After that, I'd run 4x GSZ because the card is essential.
So, how is everyone faring against these UWR Blade decks? I have been having a little bit of trouble with the matchup.
Short Answer: I very rarely lose to Jeskai Delver.
Longer Answer: I'd need to know both your deck list and your play style.
For example, I run only six basics, 4 fetches, and Noble Hierarchs. This gives me very strong resiliency to Stifles, Wastelands, and Daze effects. When realize that this is his game plan I favor using Green Sun's to search for Heirarchs and relying on topdecks for fatties. But if he's more aggressive in his plan A and relies on Delvers and True-Names, then I become a very equipment focused deck relying heavily on evasion + equipment. I also run the Dark Depths combo allowing me to, with minor preparation, win games I out to have lost.
But a large part of it is to read your opponent's playstyle, and then emphasize your deck's options to break their crux. I rely on having 4 Stoneforge + 4 Green Sun to adapt my playstyle with DD combo as my plan B in case I fall behind.
Again, it depends upon the UWR build. Fighting against stifles, swords, and wastelands = not a good DD situation. Nevertheless, the card can singlehandedly win as it flies over TNN & co. If they have delver, you have some extra pre-requisites.
Depends upon their build. If they are slow/grindy, I pull Thalia's out (shocker) for Armageddon + sweepers/removal. They all need mana to function. If they are banking on TNN you can profit from ZP and Toxic. If they are banking on SFM, you know QPM alongside kgrips/decays works well. If they are fast like patriot delver with SFM a thrown in, you need to stabilize more than anything. Mom + QPM + large KotR/Scooze tend to race them. Spot removal can handle anything they throw at you except TNN. Ethersworn Canonist is also a strong card (better than Thalia) as their deck durdles a lot. Oh, and remember to run out Sylvan Library as fast as possible.
Herzog's shell is the real deal. I've done well with it at SCG Syracuse and GPNJ (check out my grinder winner). I don't agree with everything he says but his sentiments of Maverick holding its own in the meta is certainly true
I am really disappointed in what SCG is doing -- especially after attending GPNJ. 4000+ sat down to play a 2-day legacy event. That's such an accomplishment in the history of Magic, let alone Legacy. To turn around and heavily reduce exposure of Legacy moving forward bothers me. I also like watching the legacy stream from time to time.
As a player who really plays only competitive legacy, I'm very upset. I enjoy the format immensely. I don't like where the game is going (as a whole). I also despise 2-day events. I do not want to see 15-rounders being the "new normal". I hope the bigger shops around me fill in the void for 5 to 9 round legacy events. Mini GPs for a SCG just isn't worth it. If this situation doesn't change, I'd cash out for good.
The larger issue comes back to how all these cards interact together/how the format plays. Thank you for pointing this out to others who think Brainstorm is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back.
The aforementioned cards work best as a package deal. There will probably be a bias against Mardu if you're evaluating it in isolation. I think you need to pick what you want black as a cube-color to do first. Mardu either plays to that role or it slips to a tier 1.5/2. If you're looking for just "black goodstuff at 3cc" I am not sure he makes the cut. It's a damn good card though.
I agree with the spirit of what you describe. Procession and Call are "creatures" just like Sarcomancy. However, how do you classify phyrexian metamorph or Porcelain Legionnaire? I am assuming you say the phyrexian mana = the -2 life option? Does this make them all colorless? What about Exalted Angel (one of my favorite cards of all time)? Is she 3cc, 4cc for her morph, or 6cc? These questions are important for the project IMHO.
I think you're missing the points I'm emphasizing. Elves is a different animal...not to mention it doesn't rely on the Thalia + Wasteland combo. Elves.dec is all about churning out a handful of dorks and convert that to a game-winning bomb creature. For elves, a single Chord makes sense, as their team taps for mana anyways (plus they can also untap each other).
1. Does Chord > card you cut make Maverick better? I usually stop here.
2. How well does Chord interact with Maverick's actual board-states?
Anecdotal evidence has me thinking I land 3 creatures table by turn 4. On rare occasion, said creatures are 2x knights + another strong beater. Sometimes it's 3x dorks. It's more common to have a mix of dorks and beaters. Turn 4 is when Maverick really "turns on" and either turns the table or delivers the killing blow. It's also a realistic turn for Chord to come online for anything substantial. I wouldn't want to sacrifice turns of beating down on the opponent to convoke-cast Chord. Additionally, I win half my games thanks to [Thalia + Wasteland]. That winning duo works against Chord because I'm inflating casting costs.
Please post your list in some sort of [creature/spell/lands] composition, as alphabetical is not what the internet (or MTGS) does.
After that, I'd run 4x GSZ because the card is essential.
Again, it depends upon the UWR build. Fighting against stifles, swords, and wastelands = not a good DD situation. Nevertheless, the card can singlehandedly win as it flies over TNN & co. If they have delver, you have some extra pre-requisites.
As a player who really plays only competitive legacy, I'm very upset. I enjoy the format immensely. I don't like where the game is going (as a whole). I also despise 2-day events. I do not want to see 15-rounders being the "new normal". I hope the bigger shops around me fill in the void for 5 to 9 round legacy events. Mini GPs for a SCG just isn't worth it. If this situation doesn't change, I'd cash out for good.
Nail on the head. Thank you!
The larger issue comes back to how all these cards interact together/how the format plays. Thank you for pointing this out to others who think Brainstorm is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back.