MTG Salvation

Quote from SCDL »

Quote from JudgeWill »

IMO is a filler promo GP card. Outside the US, EDH is not significant for the players.

I think WotC is giving too many EDH cards between Judge's Promo and now this one. Batterskull and the ones that came before were very good and playable GP cards, this is not...

This is so absurdly backwards that I'm actually laughing. (Not at you, but the hilarious circumstance.)

Griselbanned is Griselbanned in EDH and has been since just after his release. The fact that the card is still at 20-30$ should tell you that the assessment of it being unplayable is wrong. (Also, EDH has never contributed to a price tag that high outside of maybe Kukusho's.) If you're curious what it's actually playable in, it's a staple in reanimation and otherwise a reasonable choice in any deck that wouldn't be casting it. (Show and Tell, for instance.)

Quote from Lantern

4 e1 or 0. if your thinking of running less, things like steppe lynx or loam lion are more stable.

Quote from Titus0

Well, vs. Shardless BUG:
Their discards hurt, but not impossible. Try to Spell Pierce/Counterspell their Hymns, cuz those do a number on you. Try to Sword their turn 1 DRS, as that leading into a turn 2 Liliana is really hard for to deal with. Otherwise, DRS isn't that bad of a card against us IMO. Yes, it weakens Snapcaster, and yes, it can start hurting our life totals. But I'm in the mindset that you can play around DRS with Snapcaster, and that if you can hit lategame, you're fine vs. the deck.

Which leads to my next point: Batterskull is great here. At least, once resolved and with enough mana to recast/re-vial with Stoneforge. They don't have a way to actually kill the equipment outside of FoW and maybe Sideboard tech.

Shardless Agent gets raw value, but don't be too scared of the body. That, and a lot of what they cascade into isn't all that amazing IMO. :/ It's a pain if they do cascade into Visions or Tarmo (STP target; usually easily dealt with, but sometimes a pain if it lands too early and gets too big too fast).

Strix has Deathtouch. Don't forget that. Other than that, it's a laughable clock. It's ok off of an Agent cascade, but I'm more relieved seeing them cascade that than anything else. Sometimes they cascade into whiffed Decay.

Notion Thief is amazing against them. I like to try and dig for it games 2 and 3 with my draw spells. If they suspend visions turn 1, and you can get Notion Thief within the time the suspend hits 0, you should actually have enough mana to cast Thief. Interesting sidenote. I know it's a little crazy to think about Thief like this, but it's actually very strong against them -- and I've done just this multiple times. Do pay attention to Golgari Charm and Marsh Casualties (because of TNN being played more... :/).

Everything I said about Thief, I can say about Venser, Shaper Savant too. Idk, I think it's good in long, attrition-based matches. Having a remand/Boomerang is pretty nice. Can do a lot of things including screwing over Visions, while killing planeswalkers and providing a clock.
...fine fine...I like jank-esque cards. Sue me. But yeah, it's...interesting to note, even if you elect not to use the card.

Game 1 against them is kinda lame. Much like game 1 against Sneak and Show. Usually they just kill you via grinding out. Games 2 and 3, with appropriate sideboarding makes the match bearable, and fairly fun. Lean towards siding some of your FoW's out. They're an attrition-based deck. But they're also the kind of deck that doesn't have a lot of power-punching card. Like, DRS, Agent, Strix, and Tarmo are nice creatures, but 2-3 of those aren't really that threatening. Idk how it's like now. I think maybe a few more TNN's. :/

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UWR Delver: Not too much experience vs. this deck. But very similar to RUG Delver in that the long game favors you. Well...only slightly more. Their own Stoneforge package and TNN's mirror your own. But they have more counter-based disruption along with Bolts which can clock you or kill creatures. Idk...try to get to late game. And Supreme Verdict is your friend.

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Reanimator, SnS, TES, ANT: Game one usually won't go well for you. If ever. Games 2 and 3, depending on what you have in the side, can wreck them.

Vs. Reanimator, get out the grave-hate. Then counter their Show and Tell. Key here is balance between having a clock against them and having counters/discard. Try not to tap out, but definitely don't let them durdle their way to victory.

Same for all the combo decks, really. Discard spell on their combo pieces. Sometimes better to hit LED or their draw spells. Idk. Depends. Spell Pierce, Flusterstorm, FoW, Counterspell, etc....amazing here. Do try to keep mana open for that. But if you can't, then my god...you better dig for them and/or provide a fast enough clock to finish them.

Geist is good here. I really like it vs. any of the combo decks. Very fast clock, especially since most like to hurt themselves, so a 2-3 turn clock is near imminent. Also, the Hexproof is good because it prevents bull**** like Chain of Vapors, Echoing Truth, Sapphire Charm, etc. from screwing you (looking at you Batterskull >.>).

Batterskull's ok here, but it's slightly slow, and it doesn't disrupt them enough. 4-5 swings is a little slow to finish them, though the lifelink is nice...? And being able to sac twice in the face of Emrakul annihilator is cool some of the times (sac Skull, sac Token). Though to be honest, if Emmy swung in, it's more or less done.

TNN is kinda trash here. Much like Batterskull, IMO. :/ Just...a step shy of being good here.

Vclique is alright. IMO it only delays the inevitable, which is why I like Geist better, but Vclique disrupts generally pretty well.

Probably one of the best options here in terms of creatures though, is Stoneforge Mystic --> Sword of Feast and Famine. That's actually the killer in most of these match-ups. Well, runner up is this card: Meddling Mage.

Meddling Mage is quite nice. Combos really well with discard spells, and even calling blind the combo pieces is usually enough to deter them. Do be mindful of Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast.

Ethersworn Canonist is quite good too. Makes you win just about every counter war -- wonderful against all the combo-esque decks (LOL Storm decks). But it's not perfect; TES has ways around it like Wish for Abrupt Decay. Do try to counter their Wish and you'll be fine. Playing with Discard is interesting when this guy is on the field...like, usually you'll be able to go 1-1 against their hand regardless of whether they counter or not; however Misdirection mega-dicks you over, since you can't counter the Misdirection back. That's like...the only real downside though.

Notion Thief is also pretty good. Flash in and deal 3 per turn, while shutting off their cantrips. Kinda forces them to counter or REB it.

Venser is nice against Show and Tell. Most of the time you want Show and Tell to resolve as that lets you get Venser out for free. Though...be careful if they're running Omniscience; Omniscience --> Cunning Wish --> Trickbind is gg Venser. In those cases, it might be better to "hardcast" the Venser and basically "Remand" the card. Though, try to win/discard that Show and Tell soon.

Creatures are your friend in these match-ups (well, Jace is aight too, but he's insurance, rather than actually the guy who gets you to late-game).

DnT: Ugh, you really gotta play this match-up by ear, as a lot of things change and it affects what you "should" and shouldn't do vs. them. For starters, Mother of Runes and Thalia are the big threats. Then second biggest threat is Stoneforge. And then Mindcensor/Flickerwisp. Mangara combo is mean as fk, but if you deal with Mother first and can kill Mangara before he can combo with Karakas, you'll be fine.

Usually kill Mother on-sight, as it makes it harder to kill stuff later. Thalia...try to kill her, as she is annoying but not super bad. Stoneforge try to discard her or discard the equipment.

You want a resolved Stoneforge and searching up Jitte does wonders -- if you can get counters on it (Thalia and First Strike makes it hella hard to get counters on). I think it's better than 'Skull most of the time. But if they stumble, then get Skull into play, as it ignores most of their stuff while gaining you life, while beating them down. Again, Mom prevents you from getting hits in. That's why kill on sight.

Supreme Verdict and Zealous Persecution is king here. Moreso Zealous as it can be played earlier. Just...try to best utilize your mana here. You don't have much, and they can wasteland your **** so easily...while porting you down, while forcing you to pay extra. Really just work with what you have and maximize each of your plays...idk what else to tell ya. It's a very winnable match-up. If you can get mid-late game, you have a solid shot at winning. If you fetch wrong or you get ported/Taxed to death too early, then GG you...lol or Mangara-Karakas comboed till no lands.


Tl;dr: TNN. Dude equipped with Sword can't be blocked by TNN. And it can race a TNN without equipment reasonably well.

I think a lot of lists run both swords. Feast and Famine in the sideboard mainly. Fire and Ice is a little more volatile; sometimes main, sometimes none, occasionally sided...but usually not.

Quote from EasyLover

Wow, I DEFINATELY would play this card !

+2 is . . . well. R card-advantage.
But would it be fair to turn this ability into:

+1 Draw 2 cards then discard 1 card.

The 0 though looks very strong. I wouldnt change anything here

But I really dislike that Emblem. Does nothing immediately & very lil after.
Would change it into a Flashback-enabler, to synergize with the looting-ability.

Final should only cause: Target players life-total becomes 1.
No spell-recovery, cause this would immediately win tje game.

I like your ideas alot, especially the Final