How many gates does one need to sucessfully use the gatekeepers?
I loved all of them in triple DGM, but in block draft they seem very underwhelming.
Think of them as Pillarfield Oxen with potential upside if you have 2x Gates, but to have any reliability of triggering them you need 4-5 or ways to search for them.
The Blue, Black and White gatekeepers all go early enough that you generally have to take them before you know you'll have enough guildgates to make them good. With four gates I'd always want to find room for as many of them as possible. The important thing is not to be tricked into waiting for gates to come along during play. If you have to cast without the bonus then just get on with it.
The Green and Red gatekeepers I'm not such a fan of. I've run both, but they're filler, so whether I include them or not doesn't vary all that much with my gate count.
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<Limited Clan>
The red one is a traitouros instinct on a stick, I don't see how that can be bad?
The obvious answer to that is "whenever traitorous instinct is bad". ie whenever you aren't racing. Which in this format seems to be most of the time, especially if you have pillarfield ox and a bunch of lands that etb tapped in your deck.
I think it's probably W>B>U>GR in terms of power, though I don't care which of green or red is better since I'll never want both in the same deck so it's not a one or the other decision.
I suspect the "better than foot soldiers" break point is at about 4 gates and the "I can rely on this effect" point is at around 6, but that's purely anecdotal and I haven't bothered to do the math.
Right around 5 Gates you can start expecting to fire them off reliably. Less than that and you're treating the ability like a happy but unlikely bonus.
5 Gates is pretty hard to draft, especially without cramming in a couple that don't really support your colors well. I think I've heard it quoted that there are less than 3 Gates per player in the average draft pool.
Something that might be important to note here is that the green Gatekeeper greatly benefits from having Gatecreeper Vine in the block. If you're running a slower deck (say, Junk), you will have:
1) The right kind of deck for the Gatekeepers (other than Red).
2) The tools (like Vine) to make them fire more regularly.
I had five in my draft tonight although I ended up not playing 1 because it was halfthe wrong colour perhaps I should of. I was running 3 gatekeepers and an orge jail breaker.
I had 3x gates in 3 of 6 games though with 4 gates.
I loved all of them in triple DGM, but in block draft they seem very underwhelming.
Think of them as Pillarfield Oxen with potential upside if you have 2x Gates, but to have any reliability of triggering them you need 4-5 or ways to search for them.
The Green and Red gatekeepers I'm not such a fan of. I've run both, but they're filler, so whether I include them or not doesn't vary all that much with my gate count.
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
The green one has won me games.
The red one is a traitouros instinct on a stick, I don't see how that can be bad?
The obvious answer to that is "whenever traitorous instinct is bad". ie whenever you aren't racing. Which in this format seems to be most of the time, especially if you have pillarfield ox and a bunch of lands that etb tapped in your deck.
I think it's probably W>B>U>GR in terms of power, though I don't care which of green or red is better since I'll never want both in the same deck so it's not a one or the other decision.
I suspect the "better than foot soldiers" break point is at about 4 gates and the "I can rely on this effect" point is at around 6, but that's purely anecdotal and I haven't bothered to do the math.
5 Gates is pretty hard to draft, especially without cramming in a couple that don't really support your colors well. I think I've heard it quoted that there are less than 3 Gates per player in the average draft pool.
1) The right kind of deck for the Gatekeepers (other than Red).
2) The tools (like Vine) to make them fire more regularly.
I had five in my draft tonight although I ended up not playing 1 because it was halfthe wrong colour perhaps I should of. I was running 3 gatekeepers and an orge jail breaker.
I had 3x gates in 3 of 6 games though with 4 gates.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Agreed x2, I think he's definitely the best of the 5. In limited, 7 life and an x/4 for 4 mana is value city.
You know whats really silly? Progenitor mimic on that dude. My opponent conceded once I hit 60 life.
Standard:
RW Boros devotion/Purphoros combo
RGB Jund Midrange
Modern:
WB Martyr.proc
Doesn't give +2/+0. Cant target your own creature. Been a few situations where I would of loved to do that.
I still value the red one over the white one.
How you should approach every game of Magic.
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