I have been slightly fascinated by Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded recently. I know he has been the laughingstock of the planeswalkers but I was wondering if there is a combination of cards that would synergize well enough with him to make a legitimate deck. Lets go over the possibilities.
+1 Draw a card, Discard a card at random - This is the primary reason he is so bad, so let's find a way to make this not SO bad. What if every card in your deck
wants or at least doesn't care if it goes into the graveyard so the discard doesn't matter.I'll be mostly trying to stick to red black and blue since, I believe are the colors that Pair best with Tibalt. cards like Faithless Looting, Deep Analysis, Mystic Retrieval etc... venturing into creature cards like Skaab Ruinator,Firewing Phoenix, Flamewake Phoenix, Bloodfire Phoenix and Demigod of revenge I'm sure there are many better options than the ones I have put forth (especially in black) but the point is to negate the bad of his +1. Lets move on to ability number 2.
-6 Gain control of all creatures until the end of the turn, they gain haste until the end of the turn -Exhume seems like such a natural synergy with Tibalt and this ability as well, revive a strong creature from your own graveyard give it haste as well as take control of a creature in your opponents graveyard. also cards that give opponents creatures such as Hunted Dragon or Forbidden Orchard would work very well with this ability.
I know I am not very good at writing this type of thing but hopefully I can inspire someone to give Tibalt a second chance and make something truly playable out of him even if he isn't the primary component I feel like Tibalt could really shine in the proper deck. he may not ever be playable in Modern but perhaps in competitive casual play he may be viable.
(there was a lot more I wanted to add to this I just don't have a whole lot of time)
Believe it or not, people do play Tibalt. The problem with him is that he's a card than you have to build around, and even then is less than stellar. Usually once the deck is finished you realize that pulling him out and replacing with another cantrip is just better.
I've always dreamt of using Insurrection and other temp creature stealing spells are meant and enable mass sacrifice.
Think about how to use Tibalt's +1 ability- fill your graveyard with creatures. with cards like Champion of Stray Souls, you sacrifice all the opposing creatures to revive yours.
His -4 ability is moot unless you can force draw.
as Kumlekar said, Tibalt would be hard to build around. not neccessarily good, but you have to think about ways to make him useful.
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SELVAXRI! King of Misfortune & Master of Rocket Launchers "Do ya feel lucky? Because you'd better start runnin' while you still can." 375 Misfortune {+3 signed AP's} & 104 Rocket Launcher (41 AQ/ 63 Rev) Edgar Rice Burroughs, forgotten legend of the word.
Any one thought about Experimental Frenzy it lets you see what your getting before you draw it.This way when you draw something but wont it into your grave yard you can at least have a chance to get it there with his discard.Filter your cards before they go into your hand and then get them out as you can.
+1 Draw a card, Discard a card at random - This is the primary reason he is so bad, so let's find a way to make this not SO bad. What if every card in your deck
wants or at least doesn't care if it goes into the graveyard so the discard doesn't matter.I'll be mostly trying to stick to red black and blue since, I believe are the colors that Pair best with Tibalt. cards like Faithless Looting, Deep Analysis,
Mystic Retrieval etc... venturing into creature cards like Skaab Ruinator,Firewing Phoenix, Flamewake Phoenix, Bloodfire Phoenix and Demigod of revenge I'm sure there are many better options than the ones I have put forth (especially in black) but the point is to negate the bad of his +1. Lets move on to ability number 2.
-4 Tibalt deals damage to target player equal to the number of cards in their hand - Why not give both players unlimited hand size and force them to overdraw to max the potential of this ability cards like Keeper of the Tome, Naturally I should mention Price of knowledge expensive, but worth the synergy. Force the opponent to draw with Sign in Blood or Painful LessonandDamnable Pact. other good synergies with this ability include Spiteful Visions, Magus of the wheel, collective defiance, wheel of fate and burning inquiry
-6 Gain control of all creatures until the end of the turn, they gain haste until the end of the turn - Exhume seems like such a natural synergy with Tibalt and this ability as well, revive a strong creature from your own graveyard give it haste as well as take control of a creature in your opponents graveyard. also cards that give opponents creatures such as Hunted Dragon or Forbidden Orchard would work very well with this ability.
I know I am not very good at writing this type of thing but hopefully I can inspire someone to give Tibalt a second chance and make something truly playable out of him even if he isn't the primary component I feel like Tibalt could really shine in the proper deck. he may not ever be playable in Modern but perhaps in competitive casual play he may be viable.
(there was a lot more I wanted to add to this I just don't have a whole lot of time)
Think about how to use Tibalt's +1 ability- fill your graveyard with creatures. with cards like Champion of Stray Souls, you sacrifice all the opposing creatures to revive yours.
His -4 ability is moot unless you can force draw.
as Kumlekar said, Tibalt would be hard to build around. not neccessarily good, but you have to think about ways to make him useful.
King of Misfortune & Master of Rocket Launchers
"Do ya feel lucky? Because you'd better start runnin' while you still can."
375 Misfortune {+3 signed AP's} & 104 Rocket Launcher (41 AQ/ 63 Rev)
Edgar Rice Burroughs, forgotten legend of the word.
3 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Reckless Wurm
4 Avatar of Discord
24 Mountain
Instant
4 Fiery Temper
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Conflagrate
4 Wild Guess
4 Cathartic Reunion
4 Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded
But it is not a good deck. Too weak, too inconsistent.
These are the decks that I have constructed, and are ready to play:
01. Ankh Sligh to be exact.
4 Flameblade Adept
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Arclight Phoenix
4 Hollow One
2 Bloodghast
4 Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded
//Spells: 20
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Fiery Temper
4 Faithless Looting
4 Burning Inquiry
4 Goblin Lore
4 Barbarian Ring
14 Mountain
Another idea is to play a prison-style Black Vise deck where Tibalt's -4 is very valuable.
4 Galvanic Blast
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
4 Into the Roil
1 Library of Leng
4 Black Vise
4 Ankh of Mishra
4 Winter Orb
//Enchantments: 3
3 Propaganda
4 Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded
//Lands: 20
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
2 Mountain
2 Island