I'm new to magic, just got in when m12 released. Never played in a FNM because I want to at least get the rulings of my cards down. I came from YuGiOh about 6 years ago I quit, but one dominant thing about any game is card advantage. I know magic has more strategies than others, but for a white deck, Doomed Traveler seems like one of the most solid 1 drops in the game (I say one drop because I also played vs system, but I mean 1 converted mana cost). He is a 1/1 which is about average for a CMC 1. He dies, then you get a 1/1 with flying. (I'm still getting used to timing, so I understand that the timing of when you get the token may not be as useful as getting it right away)
This guy just get's better, He's a human (huge bonus for the new human deck-type) He's solid on stats, and get's flying after blocking or dying...
This seems like a great deal of advantage for me. I know you want to start with something great, and there are cards like champion of the parish, and elite vanguard's stats are slightly better-but will never get flight.
Doomed traveler is a card you could fight with or just have him killed easily for Morbid effect cards.
This guys to me seems good
so why is it that he isn't going to get used more?
There are a few cards too many people are ignoring from INN. Doomed Traveler is one of them. OP is right about card advantage. ShadowFenril is right about the 1/1 being good against Liliana of the Veil. This guy is just good all around. I'm using him in a B/W deck with Village Cannibals.
He's pretty fine in Standard. Not winning any awards for aggression or utility, but at least he survives board wipes and can chump block twice.
Unfortunately, there are better 1-mana White options in Modern and beyond. Mother of Runes just tilts all sorts of match-ups in your favour in Legacy, for example.
He's pretty fine in Standard. Not winning any awards for aggression or utility, but at least he survives board wipes and can chump block twice.
Unfortunately, there are better 1-mana White options in Modern and beyond. Mother of Runes just tilts all sorts of match-ups in your favour in Legacy, for example.
I'm sure the other formats have better.
I just got into magic for the standard, I figured that it would be the cheapest as far as me being competative in tournaments because the older cards other people have are usually expenseive, (standard isn't cheap either)
I really like this guy, I think a token deck used him to some success already. Not sure how competitive it would be, but I really want to start a deck with 4x of this guy and 4x of the instant, sac a creature draw two cards. I forget the name.
I'm running a GW Tokens deck that uses him gleefully, along with Myr Sire, his lesser artifact critter cousin. I like him because in my deck, it isn't just wrath resistant - I run my own wrath effects :D. Also saccing him to Culling Dais is amusing, building it up to draw later.
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I think that the only 1-mana-pure-white contestant that is around to compete with him is Champion of the Parish, which is pretty tough competition to face. Otherwise though, I absolutely agree with you, especially if you're not running full-out humans he is pretty good, to say the least.
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I'd have to agree with the OP for this topic, the traveler is by far the best 1 drop white creature printed in a fall set yet, blocks ok sure i get another 1/1, sure play Intangible Virtue next turn swing for 2 with vigilance nuts.
The problem with guys like this right now in Standard is that six drops are just soooooo much better. Doomed Traveler might gain you some small amount of value early in the game, but he doesn't clock the opponent much, so they can easily drop something like a Grave Titan, and just win the game.
The problem with guys like this right now in Standard is that six drops are just soooooo much better. Doomed Traveler might gain you some small amount of value early in the game, but he doesn't clock the opponent much, so they can easily drop something like a Grave Titan, and just win the game.
And this is why no decks in standard play anything before turn 6.
if you're running low cost, rushing creatures, then countering a titan or removing one should already be prepared for.
save your 6 mana and use the transforming human/werewolves the turn before. have removal cards in hand or counter cards.
no spells played, so on opponents upkeep werewolf becomes uber strong, they pull out their stronger titan, you counter it, then somehow block it, you remove it and you'll still have an available land or two to tap for something else
there aren't many human worth casting around turn 5/6 anyways (Always could cast gideon and just block their attack and remove the titan with gideon)
Also, there are flashback cards now at your disposal.
The problem with guys like this right now in Standard is that six drops are just soooooo much better. Doomed Traveler might gain you some small amount of value early in the game, but he doesn't clock the opponent much, so they can easily drop something like a Grave Titan, and just win the game.
I'm sorry, but that reasoning just doesn't make sense. If it's a question of which would i rather have on the field, Grave Titan or Doomed Traveler', then yes, I'd rather be playing Grave Titan. But this guy isn't supposed to win you the game. it's supposed to help you along. Compare him to Champion of the Parish or Elite Vanguard, cards that serve similar purposes and are also in the SAME COLOR, unlike Grave Titan who is not competing for the space in the mana curve, and is in an entirely different color. Unless you're playing some sort of format where you sit around and stare blankly into space until turn 6 when you can drop any finisher you like and go to town.
On the actual subject, after having to face him down, he's definitely better than I thought he was, though only in token-centric decks.
He's basically two creatures for one card - that's called card advantage, and one reason why the then-standard Jund/Cascade decks of Alara were so powerful. It fits the one-drop slot perfectly for token and WW decks.
The problem with guys like this right now in Standard is that six drops are just soooooo much better. Doomed Traveler might gain you some small amount of value early in the game, but he doesn't clock the opponent much, so they can easily drop something like a Grave Titan, and just win the game.
This guy is right, that is why my current standard deck is
on a more serious note, I think the fact aggro white isn't seeing play right now is why he isn't. He's arguably better than elite vanguard due to the sword metagame and I think the same could easily apply to arguing he's better than parish. Maybe if ww or boros makes an appearance he'll see play.
He seems solid in WW Humans, pumping Champion of the Parish and giving you two chances to draw off of Mentor of the Meek. Against other aggro decks he blocks for free once and then gets through with evasion, against control he gives the deck better survivability against board wipe. Not blocking Stromkirk Noble in his first life does hurt him a bit though.
In Swords decks he does an ok Squadron Hawk impression, although he doesn't get evasion until his second life. Doomed Traveler still serves as an early chump blocker and a flying sword carrier at the same time, which seems like something those decks need.
Overall, Doomed Traveler is playable. He packs enough value into a one-mana package that he'll likely see play in something during his stay in Type 2.
Good 1-drop is good. There's a lot of good cards that are not getting immediate attention, but that's nothing new.
What's great about Doomed Traveler is the synergy it has with several different cards and tactics. You've got token-enabling, sacrifice effects, resilience against sacrifice-spells, and being able to get in early or chump twice / trade and get a 1/1 flier.
Whether or not it worked does not validate the play. That's hindsight probability. Let's say I offered you a bet -- I'm going to flip a coin and if it's heads, I'll give you 1 dollar but if it's tails, you'll give me 2 dollars. This is obviously a terrible bet for you. Accepting it is a bad decision. You can't justify it afterwards by arguing that you won the flip, therefore you made the right decision.
I'm still on the fence about doomed traveler. I play him in my UW spirit deck, and he works well against everything I've played against so far except for Solar Flare. He never dies when I play against that deck since theres nothing for him to block or be blocked by until the 6 drop bombs drop, which is what i want since i play intangible virtue, and wurmcoil kind of makes him useless even if i get a token.
I do ocassionally go 1)doomed traveler 2)mindshreiker 3)pump mindshreiker for 3 or 4 or play another if they killed it and doomed traveler 4) pump intanglible virtue
This usually wins since the two tokens are enough to finish them after ***
So I'm in the fence. It's good against aggro, not as much against counters and other control
The problem with guys like this right now in Standard is that six drops are just soooooo much better. Doomed Traveler might gain you some small amount of value early in the game, but he doesn't clock the opponent much, so they can easily drop something like a Grave Titan, and just win the game.
I think I understand what you are saying but you just worded it wrong.
I believe he is saying that in order to avoid getting smashed by 6 drops, you need to have powerful 1/2 drops to in order to try and finish them before they drop their titan. Does this guy do enough to help that? I don't think so, but that doesn't mean he isn't good.
I think Doomed Traveler is a great card. It's not in my UW deck, but that's because I'm running more of a planeswalker control strategy...so small creatures don't make much sense (outside of Snapcaster Mage).
But yeah, in WW humans, or I can even see in Birthing Pod this card is a pretty solid choice.
Doomed Traveler is pretty good, I've actually tested him along with Culling Dais and Mentor of the Meek. Toss a couple Sun Titans in there and you got some nutty card draw in white.
Here's the deck I was playing them in
Weenie Advantage by LeoninKha:
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Fiend Hunter
4 Mausoleum Guard
3 Mentor of the Meek
4 Selfless Cathar
3 Sun Titan
4 Ichor Wellspring
2 Elspeth Tirel
1 True Conviction
3 Culling Dais
3 Day of Judgment
1 Elixir of Immortality
2 Ghost Quarter
3 Phyrexia's Core
19 Plains
It's kinda a control deck but with a ton of creatures which you use to draw a ton of cards while leaving a lot of Spirit Tokens which can be pumped via Selfless Cathar or True Conviction for the win.
Since it's not really advisable to rely on just one card to draw through the deck I put several methods for doing so; 3 Mentor of the Meek draw you cards almost off everything you play here, just think about this Mausoleum Guard > pay 1... sac Mausoleum Guard to Culling Dais, pay 2, and then you'd have 2 spirit tokens that you can also sac to Culling Dais for even more cards... that's 6 cards that you can draw off of a single creature (and a ton of chump blocks). And there's also the wellspring package which is pretty good if you don't get a Mentor, but trust me, you will get them with all the card draw in here.
That totals 10 card draw engines in the deck.
Fiend Hunter + Culling Dais means you can exile any creature permanently as long as you can target it and you can do this repeatedly thanks to Sun Titan.
Elspeth Tirel with Mentor of the Meek is nuts, and she does everything in this deck, either providing chump blockers, extra life, drawing you cards with mentor and even blowing up the board to clear it from Oblivion Rings or any other trouble permanent.
I believe he is saying that in order to avoid getting smashed by 6 drops, you need to have powerful 1/2 drops to in order to try and finish them before they drop their titan. Does this guy do enough to help that? I don't think so, but that doesn't mean he isn't good.
I would agrue he does. Effectively blocking two creatures for 1 white mana.
He's great, but honestly I don't know if he's tournament worthy YET.
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This guy just get's better, He's a human (huge bonus for the new human deck-type) He's solid on stats, and get's flying after blocking or dying...
This seems like a great deal of advantage for me. I know you want to start with something great, and there are cards like champion of the parish, and elite vanguard's stats are slightly better-but will never get flight.
Doomed traveler is a card you could fight with or just have him killed easily for Morbid effect cards.
This guys to me seems good
so why is it that he isn't going to get used more?
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Unfortunately, there are better 1-mana White options in Modern and beyond. Mother of Runes just tilts all sorts of match-ups in your favour in Legacy, for example.
I'm sure the other formats have better.
I just got into magic for the standard, I figured that it would be the cheapest as far as me being competative in tournaments because the older cards other people have are usually expenseive, (standard isn't cheap either)
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And this is why no decks in standard play anything before turn 6.
save your 6 mana and use the transforming human/werewolves the turn before. have removal cards in hand or counter cards.
no spells played, so on opponents upkeep werewolf becomes uber strong, they pull out their stronger titan, you counter it, then somehow block it, you remove it and you'll still have an available land or two to tap for something else
there aren't many human worth casting around turn 5/6 anyways (Always could cast gideon and just block their attack and remove the titan with gideon)
Also, there are flashback cards now at your disposal.
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I'm sorry, but that reasoning just doesn't make sense. If it's a question of which would i rather have on the field, Grave Titan or Doomed Traveler', then yes, I'd rather be playing Grave Titan. But this guy isn't supposed to win you the game. it's supposed to help you along. Compare him to Champion of the Parish or Elite Vanguard, cards that serve similar purposes and are also in the SAME COLOR, unlike Grave Titan who is not competing for the space in the mana curve, and is in an entirely different color. Unless you're playing some sort of format where you sit around and stare blankly into space until turn 6 when you can drop any finisher you like and go to town.
On the actual subject, after having to face him down, he's definitely better than I thought he was, though only in token-centric decks.
This guy is right, that is why my current standard deck is
6 Island
6 Swamp
6 Mountain
6 Forest
4 Frost titan
4 Grave titan
4 Inferno titan
4 Primeval titan
4 Wurmcoil engine
4 ponder
2 forbidden alchemy
on a more serious note, I think the fact aggro white isn't seeing play right now is why he isn't. He's arguably better than elite vanguard due to the sword metagame and I think the same could easily apply to arguing he's better than parish. Maybe if ww or boros makes an appearance he'll see play.
In Swords decks he does an ok Squadron Hawk impression, although he doesn't get evasion until his second life. Doomed Traveler still serves as an early chump blocker and a flying sword carrier at the same time, which seems like something those decks need.
Overall, Doomed Traveler is playable. He packs enough value into a one-mana package that he'll likely see play in something during his stay in Type 2.
What's great about Doomed Traveler is the synergy it has with several different cards and tactics. You've got token-enabling, sacrifice effects, resilience against sacrifice-spells, and being able to get in early or chump twice / trade and get a 1/1 flier.
If it were an uncommon, more people would care.
I do ocassionally go 1)doomed traveler 2)mindshreiker 3)pump mindshreiker for 3 or 4 or play another if they killed it and doomed traveler 4) pump intanglible virtue
This usually wins since the two tokens are enough to finish them after ***
So I'm in the fence. It's good against aggro, not as much against counters and other control
I think I understand what you are saying but you just worded it wrong.
I believe he is saying that in order to avoid getting smashed by 6 drops, you need to have powerful 1/2 drops to in order to try and finish them before they drop their titan. Does this guy do enough to help that? I don't think so, but that doesn't mean he isn't good.
But yeah, in WW humans, or I can even see in Birthing Pod this card is a pretty solid choice.
Here's the deck I was playing them in
Weenie Advantage by LeoninKha:
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Fiend Hunter
4 Mausoleum Guard
3 Mentor of the Meek
4 Selfless Cathar
3 Sun Titan
4 Ichor Wellspring
2 Elspeth Tirel
1 True Conviction
3 Culling Dais
3 Day of Judgment
1 Elixir of Immortality
2 Ghost Quarter
3 Phyrexia's Core
19 Plains
It's kinda a control deck but with a ton of creatures which you use to draw a ton of cards while leaving a lot of Spirit Tokens which can be pumped via Selfless Cathar or True Conviction for the win.
Since it's not really advisable to rely on just one card to draw through the deck I put several methods for doing so; 3 Mentor of the Meek draw you cards almost off everything you play here, just think about this Mausoleum Guard > pay 1... sac Mausoleum Guard to Culling Dais, pay 2, and then you'd have 2 spirit tokens that you can also sac to Culling Dais for even more cards... that's 6 cards that you can draw off of a single creature (and a ton of chump blocks). And there's also the wellspring package which is pretty good if you don't get a Mentor, but trust me, you will get them with all the card draw in here.
That totals 10 card draw engines in the deck.
Fiend Hunter + Culling Dais means you can exile any creature permanently as long as you can target it and you can do this repeatedly thanks to Sun Titan.
Elspeth Tirel with Mentor of the Meek is nuts, and she does everything in this deck, either providing chump blockers, extra life, drawing you cards with mentor and even blowing up the board to clear it from Oblivion Rings or any other trouble permanent.
I would agrue he does. Effectively blocking two creatures for 1 white mana.
He's great, but honestly I don't know if he's tournament worthy YET.
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