Received a pretty solid boost once the mana rules were changed to slowed adding of off-foot mana to your pool. Sunburst and Converge cards became viable in their respective decks if you choose to run them.
The only time where this is truly a bad card is if you get to start and your hand is this + sol ring + 5 other cards.
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
A lot of cards look good on theory and then we run into problems when running it.
This card though often runs into the theory that we won't get correct color when we need it (for 5C decks at least) and hence it looks less attractive on paper, but in practice you'll probably have so much other mana fixing that the problem never really arises. If you have it first you know what colors it can provide and your fetches will tune accordingly anyway. Even if you have it later you know its in your deck so it doesn't even matter - your fetching might be affected by it depending on the specifics. In that aspect it's even better than its inverse counterpart.
I love the card as while it may not always get you the mana you need (like playing ghave and eachopponent is playing bant decks. It still provide 2 colors In most cases it's a tti-land that does not ETB tapped.
I love the card as while it may not always get you the mana you need (like playing ghave and eachopponent is playing bant decks. It still provide 2 colors In most cases it's a tti-land that does not ETB tapped.
Even then, your opponent could have their own Exotic Orchard, or a City of Brass, or a vivid land, or a Chromatic Lantern, any of the lands that make any color circumstantially.
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Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
In my experience, not having the right colors to cast spells I need makes me lose more than the incidental damage from City of Brass.
City of brass adds up to 5-6 damage over a game easily, which is a very significant amount. If you're playing a super cut-throat combo kill meta then yeah it's worse, but in metas where dying to fair combat is a real threat it's way better. I've only once or twice had a problem with not having the right color, as opposed to the many, many games I've won with 5 or less life remaining and this on the field.
Worst case scenario, you can use this to fulfill the colorless component of spells. That's really not much of a worst case scenario. Cheap as chips, too.
You can't tap this without a colored land across the table. You can only add a color their lands could produce, and colorless isn't a color.
Aggro: WUBRGHorde of Notions Goodstuff, RUBCheesy Aggro, GR Xenagod Gruul Goodstuff
Control: GWBGhave, Guru of Adaptability, UBWrexial, Milling Deep UAzami, Lady of No Infinite Combos GWU Derevi, Tempo Beats
Other: URGRiku of Too Much Mana, WUBRG Sliver Queen Enchantress
I'd put it at 7/10, a lot like Fellwar Stone. Depends a bit on your meta, though if you're playing multiple colors, it's generally pretty good, plus a lot of 3+ color decks will run City of Brass/Mana Confluence. Decks running a lot of creatures will run Ancient Ziggurat and Cavern of Souls (and possibly Primal Beyond in elemental tribal?). And five-color lands (and other mana sources) have been given a new role with sunburst thanks to how the Commander rules changed to accommodate C. (Admittedly, it's doubtful RW was just waiting to toss in Etched Oracle the way green decks were, but still...)
A few things to keep in mind:
Exotic Orchard and Reflecting Pool only care about the color, not any other quality of the mana. So, you can't use either to pay S even if an opponent has a Snow-Covered Island. Similarly, you can use them to produce mana of any color if an opponent has Cavern of Souls, and you can use it to cast any spell, not just creatures of the proper creature type, but you don't get the "can't be countered" benefit either.
Colorless isn't a color. If you're facing down Karn, Silver Golem, Kozilek, the Great Distortion, and Hope of Ghirapur, this could be a problem. It's rare, but not impossible.
Two Exotic Orchards or Reflecting Pools in a vacuum produce nothing, even if, say, those two Exotic Orchards were the last survivors of a Catastrophe, and the previous lands produced all five colors.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
See, when I saw the Blade of Selves topic, I immediately thought of how Balan does nothing with BoS except create tokens...that likely get sacced on the spot.
Part of the 99 in my wife's Mirri Cat Tribal deck, and every time he comes down he has proven instantly lethal if not answered. Turns out, paying two to suddenly get +4/+4, trample, lifelink, Protection from Green and Black, Hexproof and Haste plus his own doublestrike and the triggers of the sword is, in a word, completely stupid.
I added Balan, Wandering Knight to my SunforgerFiresong and Sunspeaker deck, which you can check out in my signature. He acts like a boss in that deck. I can keep reattaching the Sunforger at instant speed, and God help anybody trying to disrupt me then.
8/10 Not broken (I mean, he is with Stoneforge Mystic, but SFM was busted even without him; he just removes the last barrier to Argentum Armor because a double striking 9/9 really needed a Vindicate every turn?), but still playable.
Looking at how much that art looks like Theros, I assume Balan is short for Balanos, Greek for "acorn", right?
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Ah, Goblin Recuiter. Solid tribal card with low cmc, basically a precursor to that Harbinger cycle from Lorwyn block. A must play in mono-red Goblin decks. Still alright in multicolor decks, but usually you'd have access to better tutors.
I'd honestly still run this in multicolor, because setting up several draws with gas is great. Red black especially has plenty of ways to draw everything he tutors quickly and he goes very well with impulse draw effects. I especially like him with that new 2 drop goblin that lets you sac a creature to impulse draw, because recruiter sets up the top of the library and provides his body as sac fodder.
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The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Mm, I mean you're not wrong. I've seen Recruiter played a number of times myself but I'm not partial to tribal personally. If you've got a draw spell waiting in the wings, then this becomes essentially "tutor X goblins".
Even just tutoring one goblin is pretty decent value, as a goblin matron minus one mana and one card advantage. You can also play him alongside Primal Surge as a way to get that card to work without eschewing non-permanents in your deck.
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Great land is great. Solid, if unspectacular.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Or when all your opponents are playing colourless decks....
hey man, don't diss city of brass... i've managed to combo-kill the table on 1 life with the 1 damage trigger on the stack.
...that being said, yes, many times, it's a 5c land.
Legacy - Solidarity - mono U aggro - burn - Imperial Painter - Strawberry Shortcake - Bluuzards - bom
This card though often runs into the theory that we won't get correct color when we need it (for 5C decks at least) and hence it looks less attractive on paper, but in practice you'll probably have so much other mana fixing that the problem never really arises. If you have it first you know what colors it can provide and your fetches will tune accordingly anyway. Even if you have it later you know its in your deck so it doesn't even matter - your fetching might be affected by it depending on the specifics. In that aspect it's even better than its inverse counterpart.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
Even then, your opponent could have their own Exotic Orchard, or a City of Brass, or a vivid land, or a Chromatic Lantern, any of the lands that make any color circumstantially.
City of brass adds up to 5-6 damage over a game easily, which is a very significant amount. If you're playing a super cut-throat combo kill meta then yeah it's worse, but in metas where dying to fair combat is a real threat it's way better. I've only once or twice had a problem with not having the right color, as opposed to the many, many games I've won with 5 or less life remaining and this on the field.
You can't tap this without a colored land across the table. You can only add a color their lands could produce, and colorless isn't a color.
Then again if you're playing against Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Kozilek, the Great Distortion, and Karn, Silver Golem I suggest you assume the position.
Aggro: WUBRGHorde of Notions Goodstuff, RUB Cheesy Aggro, GR Xenagod Gruul Goodstuff
Control: GWBGhave, Guru of Adaptability, UBWrexial, Milling Deep UAzami, Lady of No Infinite Combos GWU Derevi, Tempo Beats
Other: URGRiku of Too Much Mana, WUBRG Sliver Queen Enchantress
A few things to keep in mind:
Exotic Orchard and Reflecting Pool only care about the color, not any other quality of the mana. So, you can't use either to pay S even if an opponent has a Snow-Covered Island. Similarly, you can use them to produce mana of any color if an opponent has Cavern of Souls, and you can use it to cast any spell, not just creatures of the proper creature type, but you don't get the "can't be countered" benefit either.
Colorless isn't a color. If you're facing down Karn, Silver Golem, Kozilek, the Great Distortion, and Hope of Ghirapur, this could be a problem. It's rare, but not impossible.
Two Exotic Orchards or Reflecting Pools in a vacuum produce nothing, even if, say, those two Exotic Orchards were the last survivors of a Catastrophe, and the previous lands produced all five colors.
On phasing:
I feel like this got overlooked cause of the big green/white cats that came with it, but that equip all at instant speed is pretty darn powerful.
As such, I think less of BoS.
Anyway, he gets around equip coats. I like him.
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
I imagine he's every bit as good in any deck with a significant amount of equipment and seeing him in only a smattering of Sram, Senior Edificer, Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer, and Nahiri, the Lithomancer decks feels like a mistake. He's definitely underrated.
RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR
WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG
GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG
GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G)
RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW
UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B)
WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
How about GUN?
Balan is on my list of generals that I'd like to make a deck for.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Also Blinding Powder. And you can use Diviner's Wand to also circumvent one of white's big traditional weaknesses. And the usual Basilisk Collar and Thornbite Staff combo.
8/10 Not broken (I mean, he is with Stoneforge Mystic, but SFM was busted even without him; he just removes the last barrier to Argentum Armor because a double striking 9/9 really needed a Vindicate every turn?), but still playable.
Looking at how much that art looks like Theros, I assume Balan is short for Balanos, Greek for "acorn", right?
On phasing:
Now it all makes sense. We have to ban Painter's Servant because it's a two card combo with Grindstone, and we need Grindstone to turn our Goblin Recruiter into Iname, Death Aspect.
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!