as you can see in the link the title is 'Sphinx of Foresight is Busted'. i was wary with such a hyperbolic/clickbait title, but he brought up some interesting notions on the card. in summary it is something like:
-free effects, especially on turn 0, are good
-its awesome in limited (not relevant)
-combo decks and the like that can reasonably cast it can leverage it to put whatever enabler/payoff pieces together, and the floor on a 4/4 flying beater for 4 is acceptable consolation.
-other blue decks can cut land(s) for the effect
-helps find sideboard haymakers in the early turns when you need em
he gives some example deck lists but he cites dredge and grixis death's shadow.
ben friedman is a top tier player, and he writes pretty good articles peddling his insight into GDS, which he is notorious for piloting to great effect. that said he also said jace would snap modern in half, which is so off-base in hindsight its comical. other than that i am not aware of any other card evaluations he has done.
hyperbole aside, is he just blowing smoke, or has anyone else seen the card in this light?
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I think Friedman's blowing some amount of smoke--we've already learned from the Chancellors that free effects on Turn 0 aren't that good. Granted, Sphinx of Foresight is less of a dead draw than the average Chancellor...but so is Curator of Mysteries, which I cycle more than half the time.
Personally I am more excited for Wilderness Reclamation then any other card in this set. I think it has the potential to have a major impact in both Modern and Standard.
Its going to be annoying in Modern for sure. I dont know if it will be good enough to promote the shells it will be in to top tier, but games against it have the potential to be really annoying like most any game I had against Prophet of Kruphix.
My immediate thought was that it will make nexus good enough to see a UG Taking Turns, and could put the already annoying Best of One deck, Bant Nexus, into dangerous territory in Standard.
as you can see in the link the title is 'Sphinx of Foresight is Busted'. i was wary with such a hyperbolic/clickbait title, but he brought up some interesting notions on the card. in summary it is something like:
-free effects, especially on turn 0, are good
-its awesome in limited (not relevant)
-combo decks and the like that can reasonably cast it can leverage it to put whatever enabler/payoff pieces together, and the floor on a 4/4 flying beater for 4 is acceptable consolation.
-other blue decks can cut land(s) for the effect
-helps find sideboard haymakers in the early turns when you need em
he gives some example deck lists but he cites dredge and grixis death's shadow.
ben friedman is a top tier player, and he writes pretty good articles peddling his insight into GDS, which he is notorious for piloting to great effect. that said he also said jace would snap modern in half, which is so off-base in hindsight its comical. other than that i am not aware of any other card evaluations he has done.
hyperbole aside, is he just blowing smoke, or has anyone else seen the card in this light?
I think the card is okay?
Assuming I have 1 in my opener, what are the chances cards 11-13 are my most powerful card when the other 57 are not. That's the only time it'll matter when digging for sideboard reaction cards. Instead of running what would normally be some utility card in that slot I'd imagine. So then you also have to consider what are you replacing for the sphinx and boarding out to bring that sideboard card in. Was it even worth it? You can run the analysis assuming a certain number of draws but basically what are you gaining percentage wise for seeing that much further.
T1-2 fetches, especially for a deck like GDS, make the math very wonky.
What I find more interesting is that glass cannon decks get a very serious shot in the arm imho. Think about something like grishoalbrand. Yes life is a commodity to the deck so the mana will be wonky if you ever want to cast it, but scry 3 gets you that much closer to your missing piece for a T1-2 kill. At that point it doesn't matter if you can't cast it because you're trying to assemble a very specific set of 6ish cards for a kill.
I could see mono U turns wanting some. It's a finisher, smoothes out the game for early interaction,l in opener, and is half a mine when it's doing its thing. That's a lot of niches checked for one slot in that deck. Not great at anything in particular but good enough at all of them for a full package. The deck runs little to no fetchlands usually, so the scry will likely stay.
Also not sure how the math is on multiple of these in your opener. That is a lot of scrying if the effects stack, especially if you mulligan.
Personally I am more excited for Wilderness Reclamation then any other card in this set. I think it has the potential to have a major impact in both Modern and Standard.
Yeah, a (midrange-)control deck being able to play sorcery-speed stuff and still hold up answers has to be useful somewhere. I'm just not quite sure where.
In the meantime, I've found out that, as long as you have enough Forests (have only one Forest? Don't use your land drop for the turn yet!), Prime Speaker Vannifar & arbitrary 1-drop kills:
A corollary is that both Vannifar & Scryb Ranger and Vannifar & Chord of Calling also kill.
Heck, Vannifar & 3-drop also kill--turn 3-drop into Ranger of Eos tutoring for 1-drop and Teardrop Kami, cast both 1-drops, sac Kami to untap Vannifar, then proceed as above. Man, 2 more slots eats up quite a lot, though. (I guess waiting a turn and turning the 3-drop into Murderous Redcap, then turning the Redcap into Zealous Conscripts (untapping Vannifar) and Kiki-Jiki uses up just as many deck slots, though.) Eternal Witness recurring Scryb Ranger and hardcasting the Ranger again can do in a pinch.
For better ability to kill through Rakdos Charm, stick Breaching Hippocamp in your deck and add more steps.
If you have 2GW to spare, Vannifar & Forest fetch also kills:
Fetch for Dryad Arbor
Turn Dryad Arbor into Seedcradle Witch, untap Vannifar
Turn Seedcradle Witch into Scryb Ranger, proceed as above
Turn Voice of Resurgence into Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Voice token into Seedcradle Witch, untap Vannifar
Turn Seedcradle Witch into Phantasmal Image copying Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Image into Resto, blink Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Resto into Kiki-Jiki, combo off
I wonder if Sphinx of Foresight is playable in Bogles? That deck really only cares about slamming the same three cards together, over and over again.
Problem - the curve on that deck is low enough that hard-casting Sphinx will be difficult. But on the other hand it helps with Bogles' biggest problem by making more opening hands potentially keepable.
Intruder Alarm won't work with Vannifar because Alarm is bad in Modern no matter what. We'd need an Alarm on a creature, or a creature that tutors enchantments.
What I dislike with Vannifar is how slow she is. You spend 4 mana in your turn and do nothing. It only works in non-competitive formats. Yes she does powerful things on turn 5, but the game is over by then in most games of Modern : Tron eats your board, Titi bounces her, Queller and Path exile her, you're already dead to Nexuses, Storm, Primetime or Conflagrate, etc...
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So electrodominance is just nuts, right? UR counterburn might actually be a thing now. Can also be used to cheat out: Louts Bloom, Restore Balance, Living End ect.
Warning issued for image leeching. --CavalryWolfPack
it doesnt say 'this turn', so im assuming it ignores timing restrictions. the 'or less' clause means it should be able to cast suspend cards for just RR right? if so that would be pretty crazy.
edit: yeah im pretty sure it does all that. let the crazy ensue.
Rampage of the Clans is a nice Johnny card. At first I read the first line and thought "oh, that's a Fracturing Gust variant", but reading the remaining text made it clear that it was more of a Paradoxical Outcome variant. It's on-color for KCI and can blow up opposing Stony Silence (in case they deal with your Centaurs and you need to combo off again). It can also blow up Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void, but any other artifacts you have at the time will be exiled. However, you (and your opponent) will still get the Centaur tokens.
Electrodominance is another Johnny card. It can cast 0 mana spells, so go nuts with Living End and the rest of the suspend cycle. Here is a sample mono-red Living End deck.
The fun part about Electrodominance is that it can kill that hate bear in the way and cheat out your combo piece.
Oh yeah, I figured out a way to turn Prime Speaker Vannifar and an arbitrary 2-drop into a one-turn kill assuming you have enough resources:
Turn 2-drop into Deceiver Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Exarch into Ranger of Eos, search for Seedcradle Witch (if you have 2GW open) or 1-drop & Teardrop Kami (for the mana-strapped), play all 1-drops, untap Vannifar
Turn 1-drop into Scryb Ranger, bounce a Forest and untap Vannifar
Turn Scryb Ranger into Renegade Rallier, recur Scryb Ranger, bounce a Forest and untap Vannifar
Turn Renegade Rallier into Restoration Angel, blink Scryb Ranger, bounce a Forest and untap Vannifar
Turn Ranger of Eos into Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, combo off
The fun part about Electrodominance is that it can kill that hate bear in the way and cheat out your combo piece.
It depends on the hatebear, though. Being damage-based removal means Electrodominance will try to cast the free spell while the damaged creature is still on the battlefield, so it doesn't get around Lavinia, Azorius Renegade or Eidolon of Rhetoric.
it doesnt say 'this turn', so im assuming it ignores timing restrictions
I doubt that. I think it implies you may cast the card only when Electrodominance resolves. When there's no added clause like "as long as the card is in exile" or "this turn", it means you can only have the effect available on resolution of the spell which allows it.
See Sram's Expertise.
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it doesnt say 'this turn', so im assuming it ignores timing restrictions
I doubt that. I think it implies you may cast the card only when Electrodominance resolves. When there's no added clause like "as long as the card is in exile" or "this turn", it means you can only have the effect available on resolution of the spell which allows it.
See Sram's Expertise.
I think the bit about ignoring timing restrictions had to do with casting sorceries and permanent spells outside of one's own main phases, which it does do.
What do people think of Rhythm of the Savages or whatever the name ends up being? I can't seem to ignore that it goes infinite with persist and a sac outlet and got thinking about how it could work right away. I don't think trying to build a deck around the combo itself with tutors etc. would be very effective. Rather, I've thought about trying to implement it into a current deck that has had some success. I've seen a couple of gruul aggro decks do well and took idea from them and added black to come up with this semi combo/aggro Jund list of cards:
If you're unfamiliar with the new enchantment:
1RG
Creature spells you control can't be countered
Nontoken creatures you control have riot (They ETB with your choice of haste or a +1/+1 counter)
Maybe turn the deck into more of a combo deck with a couple of Summoner's Pact?
My thinking is that you'd want to get the enchantment out on turn 2 if possible by ramping on turn one. You could potentially go infinite on turn 3 by playing Viscera Seer and Kitchen Finks. Or go infinite on turn 4 with Seer and Murderous Redcap
Melira acts as a second way to assemble our combo and I just thought of one or two copies of spawning pit also being worth it to ensure you have a free sac outlet.
Rabblemaster and Warboss seem really good with the enchantment in play making them another way to put a lot of pressure on opponents.
Bloodbraid Elf hits every creature you'd play and can hit a combo piece you need out of nowhere.
Edit: For some reason I was thinking that Bloodbraid hit Redcap when I wrote this, but that's not true. Maybe Bloodbraid wouldn't be the way to go.
The main thing I lost from the gruul aggro lists is Blood Moon which could honestly make the deck significantly weaker to the point where it isn't doable, but I'm not sure. Obviously, you could use them in the sideboard and board them in against certain matchups to make a bit more of a classic gruul aggro deck.
What do you guys think? Does this combo or enchantment have a place in modern and is this list of cards worth trying or would it make for a far too glass cannon of a deck?
Hasn't been really discussed, but Teysa Karlov seems like the funnest card to try and build a deck out of.
Nice, so she's back. And this time 4 toughness, I guess she wore some additional armor to be bolt proof. Tempting to build a BW tokens deck with her in it.
Still quite a bit of cards to go but from the stuff we have seen so far it looks like RNA seems to be a weaker set than GRN. But obviously some pearls will be among them.
I think Electrodominance is the number 1 card right now and don't know if there is something in there that could top this card. This is like the definition of pushed and looks to be pretty much the Assassin's Trophy of this set and the amount of things and plays this enables is crazy. Im not talking exclusively about Modern here but I imagine we will have to keep this card on our radar from now on. In the worst case scenario it's still a removal spell or something to close the game with.
So, I've been thinking about Sphinx of Foresight, and where to best fit it. I feel like it might actually push Heartless Summoning from a fringe deck to an actual contender. It helps find the enchantment for you to ensure your combo goes off, and then it can come down as a 3/3 flyer with more free scry triggers for two mana if you have nothing better to do.
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as you can see in the link the title is 'Sphinx of Foresight is Busted'. i was wary with such a hyperbolic/clickbait title, but he brought up some interesting notions on the card. in summary it is something like:
-free effects, especially on turn 0, are good
-its awesome in limited (not relevant)
-combo decks and the like that can reasonably cast it can leverage it to put whatever enabler/payoff pieces together, and the floor on a 4/4 flying beater for 4 is acceptable consolation.
-other blue decks can cut land(s) for the effect
-helps find sideboard haymakers in the early turns when you need em
he gives some example deck lists but he cites dredge and grixis death's shadow.
ben friedman is a top tier player, and he writes pretty good articles peddling his insight into GDS, which he is notorious for piloting to great effect. that said he also said jace would snap modern in half, which is so off-base in hindsight its comical. other than that i am not aware of any other card evaluations he has done.
hyperbole aside, is he just blowing smoke, or has anyone else seen the card in this light?
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)I just found another card that untaps Prime Speaker Vannifar but not Birthing Pod: Scryb Ranger. Notably, you can now combo off with Vannifar/1-drop/1-drop:
Vannifar/1-drop/1-drop:
Turn 1-drop into Scryb Ranger, untap Vannifar
Turn Scryb Ranger into Deceiver Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn 1-drop into Phantasmal Image copying Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Phantasmal Image copying Exarch into Restoration Angel, blink Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Restoration Angel into Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, combo off
Skip as many steps as necessary if you have Vannifar/1-drop/2+-drop instead.
My immediate thought was that it will make nexus good enough to see a UG Taking Turns, and could put the already annoying Best of One deck, Bant Nexus, into dangerous territory in Standard.
Spirits
I think the card is okay?
Assuming I have 1 in my opener, what are the chances cards 11-13 are my most powerful card when the other 57 are not. That's the only time it'll matter when digging for sideboard reaction cards. Instead of running what would normally be some utility card in that slot I'd imagine. So then you also have to consider what are you replacing for the sphinx and boarding out to bring that sideboard card in. Was it even worth it? You can run the analysis assuming a certain number of draws but basically what are you gaining percentage wise for seeing that much further.
T1-2 fetches, especially for a deck like GDS, make the math very wonky.
What I find more interesting is that glass cannon decks get a very serious shot in the arm imho. Think about something like grishoalbrand. Yes life is a commodity to the deck so the mana will be wonky if you ever want to cast it, but scry 3 gets you that much closer to your missing piece for a T1-2 kill. At that point it doesn't matter if you can't cast it because you're trying to assemble a very specific set of 6ish cards for a kill.
I could see mono U turns wanting some. It's a finisher, smoothes out the game for early interaction,l in opener, and is half a mine when it's doing its thing. That's a lot of niches checked for one slot in that deck. Not great at anything in particular but good enough at all of them for a full package. The deck runs little to no fetchlands usually, so the scry will likely stay.
Also not sure how the math is on multiple of these in your opener. That is a lot of scrying if the effects stack, especially if you mulligan.
Yeah, a (midrange-)control deck being able to play sorcery-speed stuff and still hold up answers has to be useful somewhere. I'm just not quite sure where.
In the meantime, I've found out that, as long as you have enough Forests (have only one Forest? Don't use your land drop for the turn yet!), Prime Speaker Vannifar & arbitrary 1-drop kills:
Turn 1-drop into Scryb Ranger, untap Vannifar
Turn Scryb Ranger into Renegade Rallier, recur Scryb Ranger, untap Vannifar
Turn Scryb Ranger into Deceiver Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Renegade Rallier into Restoration Angel, blink Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Resto into Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, combo off
A corollary is that both Vannifar & Scryb Ranger and Vannifar & Chord of Calling also kill.
Heck, Vannifar & 3-drop also kill--turn 3-drop into Ranger of Eos tutoring for 1-drop and Teardrop Kami, cast both 1-drops, sac Kami to untap Vannifar, then proceed as above. Man, 2 more slots eats up quite a lot, though. (I guess waiting a turn and turning the 3-drop into Murderous Redcap, then turning the Redcap into Zealous Conscripts (untapping Vannifar) and Kiki-Jiki uses up just as many deck slots, though.)
Eternal Witness recurring Scryb Ranger and hardcasting the Ranger again can do in a pinch.
For better ability to kill through Rakdos Charm, stick Breaching Hippocamp in your deck and add more steps.
If you have 2GW to spare, Vannifar & Forest fetch also kills:
Fetch for Dryad Arbor
Turn Dryad Arbor into Seedcradle Witch, untap Vannifar
Turn Seedcradle Witch into Scryb Ranger, proceed as above
So does Vannifar & Voice of Resurgence if you have that mana:
Turn Voice of Resurgence into Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Voice token into Seedcradle Witch, untap Vannifar
Turn Seedcradle Witch into Phantasmal Image copying Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Image into Resto, blink Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Resto into Kiki-Jiki, combo off
Man, where's my Quirion Ranger?
Interesting possibilities come up if you have Captivating Crew and you can steal opposing creatures with it.
Legacy: UW RiP/Helm, UR Sneak and Show
Spirits
Hmm, the only question here now is... how long before Vannifar get's banned in Modern?
EDIT: Or maybe it won't get banned at all. Fauna Shaman is Survival of the Fittest on legs, and it never got banned. So I guess Vannifar is safe.
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Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
Problem - the curve on that deck is low enough that hard-casting Sphinx will be difficult. But on the other hand it helps with Bogles' biggest problem by making more opening hands potentially keepable.
looks like RNA has some Mystic Snake action goin on:
Frilled Mystic
GGUU
Creature - Elf Lizard Wizard
Flash
When Frilled Mystic enters the battlefield, you may counter target spell.
3/2
no idea how good it is because UG, outside of infect, is nonexistent!
the RG 2 drop really showcases how flat (but still decent) the riot mechanic is:
Zhur-Taa Goblin
RG
Creature - Goblin Berserker
Riot (This creature enters the bsttlefield with your choice of a +1/+1 counter or haste.)
2/2
just jam a bunch of efficient RG creatures and youre good to go. not that i think this is particularly playable in anything right now.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)The new goblin can be a Rip-Clan Crasher or a Watchwolf. It has a little versatility, but not really good enough for modern.
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What I dislike with Vannifar is how slow she is. You spend 4 mana in your turn and do nothing. It only works in non-competitive formats. Yes she does powerful things on turn 5, but the game is over by then in most games of Modern : Tron eats your board, Titi bounces her, Queller and Path exile her, you're already dead to Nexuses, Storm, Primetime or Conflagrate, etc...
Warning issued for image leeching. --CavalryWolfPack
it doesnt say 'this turn', so im assuming it ignores timing restrictions. the 'or less' clause means it should be able to cast suspend cards for just RR right? if so that would be pretty crazy.
edit: yeah im pretty sure it does all that. let the crazy ensue.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Electrodominance is another Johnny card. It can cast 0 mana spells, so go nuts with Living End and the rest of the suspend cycle. Here is a sample mono-red Living End deck.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
Oh yeah, I figured out a way to turn Prime Speaker Vannifar and an arbitrary 2-drop into a one-turn kill assuming you have enough resources:
Turn 2-drop into Deceiver Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Exarch into Ranger of Eos, search for Seedcradle Witch (if you have 2GW open) or 1-drop & Teardrop Kami (for the mana-strapped), play all 1-drops, untap Vannifar
Turn 1-drop into Scryb Ranger, bounce a Forest and untap Vannifar
Turn Scryb Ranger into Renegade Rallier, recur Scryb Ranger, bounce a Forest and untap Vannifar
Turn Renegade Rallier into Restoration Angel, blink Scryb Ranger, bounce a Forest and untap Vannifar
Turn Ranger of Eos into Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, combo off
It depends on the hatebear, though. Being damage-based removal means Electrodominance will try to cast the free spell while the damaged creature is still on the battlefield, so it doesn't get around Lavinia, Azorius Renegade or Eidolon of Rhetoric.
I doubt that. I think it implies you may cast the card only when Electrodominance resolves. When there's no added clause like "as long as the card is in exile" or "this turn", it means you can only have the effect available on resolution of the spell which allows it.
See Sram's Expertise.
I think the bit about ignoring timing restrictions had to do with casting sorceries and permanent spells outside of one's own main phases, which it does do.
If you're unfamiliar with the new enchantment:
1RG
Creature spells you control can't be countered
Nontoken creatures you control have riot (They ETB with your choice of haste or a +1/+1 counter)
ETB/infinite life or damage
Kitchen Finks
Murderous Redcap
Ramp
Birds of Paradise
Utopia Sprawl
Good creatures especially with haste:
Goblin Rabblemaster
Legion Warboss
Alternate way to get advantage or combo out of nowhere:
Bloodbraid Elf
Combo Enablers:
Melira, Sylvok Outcast
Viscera Seer
Spawning Pit
Rhythm of the Savages
Removal:
Lightning Bolt
Assassin's Trophy
Advantage/to get combo pieces:
Faithless Looting
Maybe turn the deck into more of a combo deck with a couple of Summoner's Pact?
My thinking is that you'd want to get the enchantment out on turn 2 if possible by ramping on turn one. You could potentially go infinite on turn 3 by playing Viscera Seer and Kitchen Finks. Or go infinite on turn 4 with Seer and Murderous Redcap
Melira acts as a second way to assemble our combo and I just thought of one or two copies of spawning pit also being worth it to ensure you have a free sac outlet.
Rabblemaster and Warboss seem really good with the enchantment in play making them another way to put a lot of pressure on opponents.
Bloodbraid Elf hits every creature you'd play and can hit a combo piece you need out of nowhere.
Edit: For some reason I was thinking that Bloodbraid hit Redcap when I wrote this, but that's not true. Maybe Bloodbraid wouldn't be the way to go.
The main thing I lost from the gruul aggro lists is Blood Moon which could honestly make the deck significantly weaker to the point where it isn't doable, but I'm not sure. Obviously, you could use them in the sideboard and board them in against certain matchups to make a bit more of a classic gruul aggro deck.
What do you guys think? Does this combo or enchantment have a place in modern and is this list of cards worth trying or would it make for a far too glass cannon of a deck?
Nice, so she's back. And this time 4 toughness, I guess she wore some additional armor to be bolt proof. Tempting to build a BW tokens deck with her in it.
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
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I think Electrodominance is the number 1 card right now and don't know if there is something in there that could top this card. This is like the definition of pushed and looks to be pretty much the Assassin's Trophy of this set and the amount of things and plays this enables is crazy. Im not talking exclusively about Modern here but I imagine we will have to keep this card on our radar from now on. In the worst case scenario it's still a removal spell or something to close the game with.