In my opinion this is one of the most overrated cards in EDH.
It's an overcosted mana ramp spell with an irrelevant body and an irrelevant cantrip.
If you're sacrificing or copying creatures, there are much more exciting things you can get than rampant growths.
The cantrip is nothing to get excited about. You don't have to cram as much card advantage as possible into your deck. Let your card advantage spells and tutors do their job. You should actually get tempo out of your tempo cards.
It's by no means a bad card, but I think a better card exists that could take solemn's place in any EDH deck that runs it. I haven't put solemn in a deck in a long time and I don't regret it.
What do you think?
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There are colors and combinations of colors that don't generally have access to that sort of effect. Everything but G appreciates land ramp, R and W both appreciate card draw. Any one of it's features wouldn't be worthwhile, but putting everything together makes it a very solid creature.
It does get crammed into decks that don't really need it because of it's reputation, but I disagree that "a better card exists that could take solemn's place in any EDH deck that runs it." It's just a solid support card.
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It's very usable, has a home in most decks, but isn't obscenely powerful and I've never been impressed by it. In Karador, I almost always wish it was Yamaivya Elder
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In my opinion this is one of the most overrated cards in EDH.
It's an overcosted mana ramp spell with an irrelevant body and an irrelevant cantrip.
If you're sacrificing or copying creatures, there are much more exciting things you can get than rampant growths.
The cantrip is nothing to get excited about. You don't have to cram as much card advantage as possible into your deck. Let your card advantage spells and tutors do their job. You should actually get tempo out of your tempo cards.
It's by no means a bad card, but I think a better card exists that could take solemn's place in any EDH deck that runs it. I haven't put solemn in a deck in a long time and I don't regret it.
What do you think?
In a deck that's 3+ colors, I'd rarely find room for it unless there was a designated strategy for it (like Sac Fodder).
In a Mono-Anything-Besides-Green deck, the ramp IS essential. There are very few options that provide ramp in Monored, Monowhite, Monoblack, or Monoblue. In a two-colored deck that doesn't run green, it's also pretty essential. Once you hit three, even without green, you get enough Signets and Talismans and etc that you don't strictly need it.
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I play it in my competitive French 1 vs 1 Olivia deck as it is a nice value creature in two colors which don't have too many similar effects, while also providing an extra land to help break the symmetry of spells like wildfire and blood moon. Its never amazing but its never bad either, even in the lategame a 2/2 body, filtering a basic land and cantripping when it dies is solid enough.
That said, I would never run it in any deck with green or decks like u/b which don't really need the card advantage. But in RW/BW/RB its a nice card.
The fact that it's an artifact and able to hold a Sword gives it gas in Blue decks.
Almost all green decks don't need it...except Glissa, and only because she can keep bringing it back and it can throw itself into dorks to hit her death trigger.
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Mindlessly shoving it into any deck that can use it, is simply wrong.
But it is a great and powerful card, perhaps one of the most deceptively powerful cards ever printed. Jens did a remarkable job creating it.
If your goal is to come blazing out of the gates, then this card isn't what you want to be doing. But often in Commander, that's not the goal. The goal is to set up for your late game haymakers. And the robot does exactly that. It's a way to develop your board state, provide defense, and not lose any value at all. It is not an underpowered ramp spell. Green can do better with its ramp, but none of the other colors can. It can also provide real mana fixing, which is very nice in a colorless spell.
Think about what you want to do on turn 4. If you want to put your opponents on the defensive, this is not the card to play. But if your goal is to protect/setup/not fall behind, this card is exceptional.
I think it's a great card. I even use it in green decks if they use birthing pod. It's great in mono decks like red and black. Some of my more competitive decks like Damia and Teferi do not use it though.
I feel like he does everything you could ever want. He ramps, he chump blocks, and he cantrips, all for 4 mana. I don't think there is a situation in which I'd be unhappy to have him in my opening hand. Even in my GRWRith, the Awakener deck I use him in addition to all my other ramp spells because the body is nice and card draw is something I can't get easily. I <3 Solemn
A lot of people who doesn't think this is good undervalues ramp in edh. Heck, I run mono green, and I still run this in addition to all my 3-drop creature ramp. Creature ramp is good because you're not playing a spell and getting a land; you get a blocker, and in multiplayer, blockers are huge, especially ones that threaten to get its card back.
I run this in mono-green also because it's the second best 4-drop creature ramp (first being oracle), and 4-drop's an important pod step with few good targets.
Agreed with everyone else's comments. It's really, really good in a mono white deck, like disgustingly good. Something like Sactum Gargoyle is best buds with this sad robot. It's like smiling robot and sad robot, the team of awesome.
The fact that it's an artifact and able to hold a Sword gives it gas in Blue decks.
I'm sorry to make you look bad on this, that's a really poor example. The fact that any creature can hold swords is one thing, but don't you kinda want SS to die or something?
He's solid and synergizes well with a lot of different kinds of cards. Holds sweet equipment, recurs with either stuff like Academy Ruins or Haunted Crossroads, can be used again and again with Mistmeadow Witch, etc, etc. In a tightly tuned build he might not be right, but he's rarely obviously wrong.
I'm not grasping the "holds equipment" thing. Can't any creature hold equipment good? He's merely a 2/2. Is the point I'm missing that you can attack into things and not care because you'll draw if he dies?
I play him in my sekkuar, but I don't have perfect lands (none of the expensive ones basically... I naturally owned a lot of the less good ones, I just went in and out of playing at the wrong times I guess, heh). Granted he is green and has a good deal of ramp... The game plan is to sac dudes repeatedly/for benefit, and I feel like he does a good job. Sure, he ramps in a color that has ramp, but he also draws, and recurring him early on can set you up really well (in our group you don't want to be too threatening too early on imo, and ramping is deceiving to people not paying close attention, and even if they are he has to be exiled with the right engine).
All that aside, seeing people say he's good except in good was a shock. I'll probably go over and examine him some more. I think I still like him... I mean, I'm playing a farhaven elf atm...
I'm not grasping the "holds equipment" thing. Can't any creature hold equipment good? He's merely a 2/2. Is the point I'm missing that you can attack into things and not care because you'll draw if he dies?
Not just any creature can hold equipment. Ever try giving Simic Sky Swallower a sword? Or offer a bow and arrow to an Inkwell Leviathan? One might say it's because they don't have arms, but what about Multani, Maro-Sorcerer? No, it takes wit to wield a bow.
Armed combat is a gentleman's game, and it takes a gentleman to wield arms. Solemn Simulacrum is a gentleman.
I'm not grasping the "holds equipment" thing. Can't any creature hold equipment good? He's merely a 2/2. Is the point I'm missing that you can attack into things and not care because you'll draw if he dies?
It's that it wold be better than a sorcery equivalent of rampant growth+cantrip. It is a body that you do a million other useful things with. It's why I like Sakura-Tribe Elder more than Rampant Growth.
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Not just any creature can hold equipment. Ever try giving Simic Sky Swallower a sword? Or offer a bow and arrow to an Inkwell Leviathan? One might say it's because they don't have arms, but what about Multani, Maro-Sorcerer? No, it takes wit to wield a bow.
Armed combat is a gentleman's game, and it takes a gentleman to wield arms. Solemn Simulacrum is a gentleman.
I feel like most of the points people are making/reiterating in favor of solemn are... not very good.
First of all, maybe I'm in the minority here but I do not consider a four-mana spell to be "cheap." For me a spell that feels cheap is one where I can cast another good spell with leftover mana in the same turn. I can rarely cast two four-mana spells in one turn. And when I already have four mana I'm not really looking for a rampant growth. When I have four mana I want to cast a real spell that does something. When I can cast two spells that cost four mana, I'm certainly not looking for solemn.
"holds auras and equipment:" how many auras and equipment actually exist that are actually good? To me there is a grand total of maybe two that are legitimately exciting outside of niche uses: feast and famine, and if I'm being generous, fire and ice.
chump blocks: lol really? how much is "target attacking creature without evasion or trample becomes blocked" worth?
cantrip: playing a clumsy version of a spell for a cantrip is a bad idea!
etc
The point about some W/R/B decks seems good though. I agree that the rampant growth effect is a great boon for them. I would still carefully consider the plethora of other cool cards I could be playing instead though.
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I don't think that most people would play him for just one or two of his effects. The fact that he ramps, draws a card and is a body means that you're gaining card advantage no matter what (unless he gets countered). I will agree that an optimized mono green or Gx deck should almost never run him. I still run him in my Ghave and Mimeoplasm decks, though I would by no means call those optimized.
This guy basically means you're playing a 98 card deck instead.
You play him early, he filters a land into play.
You block with him to take less damage, and he replaces himself with another card.
It really is a win/win/win scenario.
And if you have combo shenanigans with him, it can get out of hand...
In my opinion this is one of the most overrated cards in EDH.
It's an overcosted mana ramp spell with an irrelevant body and an irrelevant cantrip.
If you're sacrificing or copying creatures, there are much more exciting things you can get than rampant growths.
The cantrip is nothing to get excited about. You don't have to cram as much card advantage as possible into your deck. Let your card advantage spells and tutors do their job. You should actually get tempo out of your tempo cards.
It's by no means a bad card, but I think a better card exists that could take solemn's place in any EDH deck that runs it. I haven't put solemn in a deck in a long time and I don't regret it.
What do you think?
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It's also a good way to bounce back after a sweeper.
It does get crammed into decks that don't really need it because of it's reputation, but I disagree that "a better card exists that could take solemn's place in any EDH deck that runs it." It's just a solid support card.
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In a deck that's 3+ colors, I'd rarely find room for it unless there was a designated strategy for it (like Sac Fodder).
In a Mono-Anything-Besides-Green deck, the ramp IS essential. There are very few options that provide ramp in Monored, Monowhite, Monoblack, or Monoblue. In a two-colored deck that doesn't run green, it's also pretty essential. Once you hit three, even without green, you get enough Signets and Talismans and etc that you don't strictly need it.
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That said, I would never run it in any deck with green or decks like u/b which don't really need the card advantage. But in RW/BW/RB its a nice card.
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Almost all green decks don't need it...except Glissa, and only because she can keep bringing it back and it can throw itself into dorks to hit her death trigger.
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But it is a great and powerful card, perhaps one of the most deceptively powerful cards ever printed. Jens did a remarkable job creating it.
If your goal is to come blazing out of the gates, then this card isn't what you want to be doing. But often in Commander, that's not the goal. The goal is to set up for your late game haymakers. And the robot does exactly that. It's a way to develop your board state, provide defense, and not lose any value at all. It is not an underpowered ramp spell. Green can do better with its ramp, but none of the other colors can. It can also provide real mana fixing, which is very nice in a colorless spell.
Think about what you want to do on turn 4. If you want to put your opponents on the defensive, this is not the card to play. But if your goal is to protect/setup/not fall behind, this card is exceptional.
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I run this in mono-green also because it's the second best 4-drop creature ramp (first being oracle), and 4-drop's an important pod step with few good targets.
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Sticking it in every deck that uses mana is stupid though, and it is sometimes overrated.
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I'm sorry to make you look bad on this, that's a really poor example. The fact that any creature can hold swords is one thing, but don't you kinda want SS to die or something?
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All that aside, seeing people say he's good except in good was a shock. I'll probably go over and examine him some more. I think I still like him... I mean, I'm playing a farhaven elf atm...
Not just any creature can hold equipment. Ever try giving Simic Sky Swallower a sword? Or offer a bow and arrow to an Inkwell Leviathan? One might say it's because they don't have arms, but what about Multani, Maro-Sorcerer? No, it takes wit to wield a bow.
Armed combat is a gentleman's game, and it takes a gentleman to wield arms. Solemn Simulacrum is a gentleman.
Glissa, the Traitor, Ulasht, the Hate Seed, The Mimeoplasm
It's that it wold be better than a sorcery equivalent of rampant growth+cantrip. It is a body that you do a million other useful things with. It's why I like Sakura-Tribe Elder more than Rampant Growth.
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First of all, maybe I'm in the minority here but I do not consider a four-mana spell to be "cheap." For me a spell that feels cheap is one where I can cast another good spell with leftover mana in the same turn. I can rarely cast two four-mana spells in one turn. And when I already have four mana I'm not really looking for a rampant growth. When I have four mana I want to cast a real spell that does something. When I can cast two spells that cost four mana, I'm certainly not looking for solemn.
"holds auras and equipment:" how many auras and equipment actually exist that are actually good? To me there is a grand total of maybe two that are legitimately exciting outside of niche uses: feast and famine, and if I'm being generous, fire and ice.
chump blocks: lol really? how much is "target attacking creature without evasion or trample becomes blocked" worth?
cantrip: playing a clumsy version of a spell for a cantrip is a bad idea!
etc
The point about some W/R/B decks seems good though. I agree that the rampant growth effect is a great boon for them. I would still carefully consider the plethora of other cool cards I could be playing instead though.
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You play him early, he filters a land into play.
You block with him to take less damage, and he replaces himself with another card.
It really is a win/win/win scenario.
And if you have combo shenanigans with him, it can get out of hand...
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