I have always enjoyed this post but never have taken the time to comment. But as stated earlier cards like Nantuko Cultivator are very nice finds and I enjoy learning about them. I dont have a particular deck that it would fit into right now but i can see it being good in some of the new Lord Windgrace decks.
Wow, that is awful. At least that can save you a damage or two? I mean you at least know what you're getting with that. Of course it's still, wow that card is so bad. Like Zephyr Spirit bad.
Nothing holds a candle to Wood Elemental for bad cards. And it's on the reserved list.
Wow, that is awful. At least that can save you a damage or two? I mean you at least know what you're getting with that. Of course it's still, wow that card is so bad. Like Zephyr Spirit bad.
Nothing holds a candle to Wood Elemental for bad cards. And it's on the reserved list.
I'd contend that Wood Elemental is better than Zephyr Spirit since you could feasibly kill someone with it.
Wow, that is awful. At least that can save you a damage or two? I mean you at least know what you're getting with that. Of course it's still, wow that card is so bad. Like Zephyr Spirit bad.
Nothing holds a candle to Wood Elemental for bad cards. And it's on the reserved list.
I'd contend that Wood Elemental is better than Zephyr Spirit since you could feasibly kill someone with it.
Bunch of anthems, or some sort of big butt theme. Possibly something with Inexorable Tide. Is there better? Yes. I mean, in Arcades, you can use Wall of Denial. And the proliferate deck could just use Shrieking Drake.
$0.49 to buy a card arguably as bah-roken as Intruder Alarm? Sign me up. Just think of any card with something along the lines of "t: Create a whatever token (that shares a creature type with CARDNAME)." If there's a mana dork, you can use this.
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!
Pretty hard to combo this with fewer than 3 pieces. You need one to make tokens (ideally manalessly unless you add a mana-dork of the same creature type), this, and a repeatable sac outlet in most cases. So it's really hard for this to be a particularly good combo piece compared to intruder alarm that goes infinite with any tap: token creature.
Pretty hard to combo this with fewer than 3 pieces. You need one to make tokens (ideally manalessly unless you add a mana-dork of the same creature type), this, and a repeatable sac outlet in most cases. So it's really hard for this to be a particularly good combo piece compared to intruder alarm that goes infinite with any tap: token creature.
Fair, but Twin is probably the best option: Manaless tokens. All you need is a sac outlet. Obviously my choice is Goblin Bombardment or Blasting Station. Obviously not as good as Deceiver Exarch and friends, but it's there.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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!
I can see this being funny for killing someone out of nowhere with a card few people have heard of. Still, it's super specific and garbage in most circumstances. Can't imagine wanting to run it tbh.
Pretty hard to combo this with fewer than 3 pieces. You need one to make tokens (ideally manalessly unless you add a mana-dork of the same creature type), this, and a repeatable sac outlet in most cases. So it's really hard for this to be a particularly good combo piece compared to intruder alarm that goes infinite with any tap: token creature.
Fair, but Twin is probably the best option: Manaless tokens. All you need is a sac outlet. Obviously my choice is Goblin Bombardment or Blasting Station. Obviously not as good as Deceiver Exarch and friends, but it's there.
There are loads of things that product tokens for no mana.
elemental mastery and presence of gond need type-matching targets, but still. Quite a few options. Some of which don't require an existing creature on board.
Anyway, adding a third piece to a combo is a HUGE knock to any combos competitiveness. Afaik there are only 2 commanders that could help contribute as a combo piece with faces of the past - atogatog and grimgrin, corpse-born, both of which just turn it into a big creature and both of which are pretty weak. Really I'd say grimgrin is the only one with any potential, but he's also cut off from most of the token production stuff except for bloodline keeper and marrow gnawer, and gnawer obviously requires some effort.
So I don't see it as a card with much going on competitively.
I can see this being funny for killing someone out of nowhere with a card few people have heard of. Still, it's super specific and garbage in most circumstances. Can't imagine wanting to run it tbh.
Pretty hard to combo this with fewer than 3 pieces. You need one to make tokens (ideally manalessly unless you add a mana-dork of the same creature type), this, and a repeatable sac outlet in most cases. So it's really hard for this to be a particularly good combo piece compared to intruder alarm that goes infinite with any tap: token creature.
Fair, but Twin is probably the best option: Manaless tokens. All you need is a sac outlet. Obviously my choice is Goblin Bombardment or Blasting Station. Obviously not as good as Deceiver Exarch and friends, but it's there.
There are loads of things that product tokens for no mana.
elemental mastery and presence of gond need type-matching targets, but still. Quite a few options. Some of which don't require an existing creature on board.
Anyway, adding a third piece to a combo is a HUGE knock to any combos competitiveness. Afaik there are only 2 commanders that could help contribute as a combo piece with faces of the past - atogatog and grimgrin, corpse-born, both of which just turn it into a big creature and both of which are pretty weak. Really I'd say grimgrin is the only one with any potential, but he's also cut off from most of the token production stuff except for bloodline keeper and marrow gnawer, and gnawer obviously requires some effort.
So I don't see it as a card with much going on competitively.
Yes, but Twin lets any creature do it. (They have to have the same creature type. Though that does apply to Bloodline Keeper, and I guess Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker if you want to use Goblin Arsonist or similar.) Of course, why not just Intruder Alarm unless you have budget concerns?
Anyway, Soulshriek seems like a Berserk/Lhurgoyf combo. I like it. This definitely seems like a card you can put on the Stick, and just watch it grow. But it's also one opponents can just exile your graveyard and LOL.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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!
Sorry, dude. You'd go infinite too easily in my Zedruu.
I ran him in my Sydri build for degeneracy's purposes, and he worked pretty well in that respect. He's respectably good without being immediately broken.
That's a pretty sweet boardwipe for a big red deck.
I used it when I was pretty budget constrained. Its expensive. Absurdly so. It takes a ton of mana to make it work well as a sweeper. It does, however, have some niche uses that make it a good meta call at times. It's much more reasonable to cast when dealing with token armies or small creatures, and will boost the power on your fatties, making it occasionally double as and overrun and a one sided sweeper, which can be back breaking, even for 6 or 7 mana. Also importantly, this gives -X to toughness, so it deals with Gods and other indestructible dudes, as well as getting around damage prevention, both quite rare in red.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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!
Costs a bit, at least 3RR just for -1/-1, but it's a wipe that can take out all of an opponent's creatures, even indestructible creatures, creatures with the Inviolability ability, and creatures with relevant protection (all things red boardwipes have trouble with), and then your creatures can swoop in for the kill.
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!
How much worse than Decimate do you think this is in this format?
I dunno, it's a good answer to a Superfriends deck, since it targets permanents. But there are better options in each of those colors, perhaps cheaper overall. And if you pick a permanent that somehow becomes an illegal target...well, hope you weren't too attached to that 7 mana you wasted.
How much worse than Decimate do you think this is in this format?
Significantly. The upsides are that it hits planeswalkers, can hit multiple of the same permanent type, and is always on (sometimes there isn't an enchantment and thus you can't cast Decimate). The downsides are that its a 3 for 1 instead of a 4 for 1, it costs 7 instead of 4, its 3 color instead of 2, and its extremely color intensive. I'd say its color requirements and mana cost end up making it so you can't cast VU when you need to more often than occasionally not having one of the required targets makes it so you can't cast Decimate when you need to, even not counting the fact that you can play Decimate in non black decks. I'd say hitting 4 restricted targets vs 3 of anything is about equal, possibly leaning ever so slightly in favor of 3 of anything. Usually, your going to get more value out of Decimate while not missing anything that needs to die, but occasionally you'll have more than one creature, artifact, or enchantment that needs to die, sometimes a walker, and Decimate will miss it. Decimate's effect will usually be better, and when it is its decently better, but when its not its significantly worse. Basically, what it boils down to is that I'd slightly rather have Violent Ultimatum's effect at the same mana cost, though its not strictly better, but I'd MUCH rather have Decimate's mana cost.
All the Ultimatums are kinda crap in this format, because they are all 7 mana color intensive sorceries that don't win you the game or put you close, with the exception of Titanic Ultimatum, and that requires solid board presence and still sucks compared to Hoof and is beat out by other options. Even the fabled Cruel Ultimatum falls short because it only hits one player and the life swing isn't as important as it is in 60 card.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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!
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Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
I'd contend that Wood Elemental is better than Zephyr Spirit since you could feasibly kill someone with it.
Tribal hate or combo piece... you decide!
(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'
Bunch of anthems, or some sort of big butt theme. Possibly something with Inexorable Tide. Is there better? Yes. I mean, in Arcades, you can use Wall of Denial. And the proliferate deck could just use Shrieking Drake.
$0.49 to buy a card arguably as bah-roken as Intruder Alarm? Sign me up. Just think of any card with something along the lines of "t: Create a whatever token (that shares a creature type with CARDNAME)." If there's a mana dork, you can use this.
Or, you know, just Splinter Twin combo #108.
On phasing:
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Fair, but Twin is probably the best option: Manaless tokens. All you need is a sac outlet. Obviously my choice is Goblin Bombardment or Blasting Station. Obviously not as good as Deceiver Exarch and friends, but it's there.
On phasing:
Iname, Death Aspect win condition.
elemental mastery and presence of gond need type-matching targets, but still. Quite a few options. Some of which don't require an existing creature on board.
Anyway, adding a third piece to a combo is a HUGE knock to any combos competitiveness. Afaik there are only 2 commanders that could help contribute as a combo piece with faces of the past - atogatog and grimgrin, corpse-born, both of which just turn it into a big creature and both of which are pretty weak. Really I'd say grimgrin is the only one with any potential, but he's also cut off from most of the token production stuff except for bloodline keeper and marrow gnawer, and gnawer obviously requires some effort.
So I don't see it as a card with much going on competitively.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
If you play both, you can say "Test your might!" when you cast Soulshriek.
Yes, but Twin lets any creature do it. (They have to have the same creature type. Though that does apply to Bloodline Keeper, and I guess Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker if you want to use Goblin Arsonist or similar.) Of course, why not just Intruder Alarm unless you have budget concerns?
Anyway, Soulshriek seems like a Berserk/Lhurgoyf combo. I like it. This definitely seems like a card you can put on the Stick, and just watch it grow. But it's also one opponents can just exile your graveyard and LOL.
On phasing:
Sorry, dude. You'd go infinite too easily in my Zedruu.
I ran him in my Sydri build for degeneracy's purposes, and he worked pretty well in that respect. He's respectably good without being immediately broken.
That's a pretty sweet boardwipe for a big red deck.
I used it when I was pretty budget constrained. Its expensive. Absurdly so. It takes a ton of mana to make it work well as a sweeper. It does, however, have some niche uses that make it a good meta call at times. It's much more reasonable to cast when dealing with token armies or small creatures, and will boost the power on your fatties, making it occasionally double as and overrun and a one sided sweeper, which can be back breaking, even for 6 or 7 mana. Also importantly, this gives -X to toughness, so it deals with Gods and other indestructible dudes, as well as getting around damage prevention, both quite rare in red.
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!
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
And yes, it's tech for Kresh the Bloodbraided. Or any other "power matters" deck.
On phasing:
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
How much worse than Decimate do you think this is in this format?
I dunno, it's a good answer to a Superfriends deck, since it targets permanents. But there are better options in each of those colors, perhaps cheaper overall. And if you pick a permanent that somehow becomes an illegal target...well, hope you weren't too attached to that 7 mana you wasted.
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)
Significantly. The upsides are that it hits planeswalkers, can hit multiple of the same permanent type, and is always on (sometimes there isn't an enchantment and thus you can't cast Decimate). The downsides are that its a 3 for 1 instead of a 4 for 1, it costs 7 instead of 4, its 3 color instead of 2, and its extremely color intensive. I'd say its color requirements and mana cost end up making it so you can't cast VU when you need to more often than occasionally not having one of the required targets makes it so you can't cast Decimate when you need to, even not counting the fact that you can play Decimate in non black decks. I'd say hitting 4 restricted targets vs 3 of anything is about equal, possibly leaning ever so slightly in favor of 3 of anything. Usually, your going to get more value out of Decimate while not missing anything that needs to die, but occasionally you'll have more than one creature, artifact, or enchantment that needs to die, sometimes a walker, and Decimate will miss it. Decimate's effect will usually be better, and when it is its decently better, but when its not its significantly worse. Basically, what it boils down to is that I'd slightly rather have Violent Ultimatum's effect at the same mana cost, though its not strictly better, but I'd MUCH rather have Decimate's mana cost.
All the Ultimatums are kinda crap in this format, because they are all 7 mana color intensive sorceries that don't win you the game or put you close, with the exception of Titanic Ultimatum, and that requires solid board presence and still sucks compared to Hoof and is beat out by other options. Even the fabled Cruel Ultimatum falls short because it only hits one player and the life swing isn't as important as it is in 60 card.
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!