Generous gift isn't really worth it unless the walkers passive prevented creature tokens or something. Having to spend part of a card or loyalty doesn't seem worth it.
On winds of abandon I think you just want cheaper cards so you can cast the 3 cmc walkers on turn 4 and still interact or draw into interaction.
On thin ice seems great as a 1 or 2 of if only we had snow shocks.
It seems hard to fit Archmage charm in the current lists, but we'll see how modern horizons shakes up the current meta. Maybe the control magic part is really good.
I don't think it would be that better if we had Snow Shocks. Being enchantable on a Snow Basic only means that we don't bait ourselves into being Field of Ruined. This way it's way more difficult for people to get rid of the land and the enchant at the same time. Specially since there's a very slim amount of Ghost Quarters floating in the format.
For now, I strongly believe it's the best Path 5/6.
On Archmage... I just want it to be good. I started playing Esper somewhere in mid of 2016 (when it was really bad... and after Twin got banned) and casting Esper Charm to draw 2 was one of the best feelings ever. This new charm has so much potential... The control magic mode has some cool applications:
Against Humans:
- steal a Champion of the Parish to stop the bleeding
- steal a Vial to prevent them to do the crazy shenanigans
- steal a
Against Tron:
- steal a Map sounds good but it's inefficient
Against Phoenix:
- no crazy good effect that I recall
Against Dredge:
- I'd cut them here for sure
Against GDS:
- steal a DS to kill it or to win with it is amazing cool
Against Eldratron: - steal the Chalice of the Void is amazing!!!!(I'm an idiot)
Against Scales:
- steal many of their creatures to block and stop the bleeding
- steal the namesake card and make them way less threatening
Against Amulet:
- steal the amulet to prevent them from being super fast at developing their mana/board
I wasn't super exhaustive in the analysis but just to give a general idea.
I was really high on thin ice when it was first spoiled but I'm less excited now - being forced to fetch a snow plains as my first land is really unappealing. I didn't even consider ghost quarter - I know it doesn't see a lot of play, but still something to consider. I don't see a huge upside over Oust - sometimes the 'downside' of Oust is even an upside (forcing them to redraw a manadork or other subpar creature).
I don't think I agree with the assessment that if you can't reliably cast Archmage's Charm on turn 3 then you should just play more cryptics - a 1 mana discount will make the difference of being able to cast a second spell in a turn very often. It's also the case that being unable to cast charm reliably on turn 3 is not the same as never being able to cast charm on turn 3. Something like 60-65 percent of the time you will be able to cast it turn 3. This is not to say that Archmage's Charm is playable, just that saying 'why would you play it over cryptic?' isn't a strong argument against it.
Yeah I haven't been sold on On Thin Ice yet, I usually play an Oust and I've always been lukewarm to even that. Until I see some data on On Thin Ice I'll probably stick to Oust; I have all Unstable basics, and while the MH1 Snowlands are pretty, the borderless lands are breathtaking.
About fetching a Snow Plains it's not really needed actually. It's actually preferable to enchant an Island that a Plains just for the offchance of getting Ghost Quartered, since we don't have more than 2 Plains and in case we're also Blood Mooned.
With my current mana base which means 25 lands and 4 SV, which is 20 U sources (enough for 95% Cryptic Command on curve) it's 81.3% to cast Archmage's Charm on curve which is acceptable...
I share jayjay's view on charm, it's not the type of card that we'll just die if we don't cast on curve because the effects aren't that detrimental. If we think about it we don't always cast Cryptic on curve either.
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I agree that maybe fetching a snow basic instead of a shock first turn to deal with a creature might be a problem. I just think its the most interesting in the new possible options. Very possible oust or condemn are still just better.
I agree that maybe fetching a snow basic instead of a shock first turn to deal with a creature might be a problem. I just think its the most interesting in the new possible options. Very possible oust or condemn are still just better.
It's not just fetching a snow-basic turn 1, it's fetching a snow-plains - we want to cast logic knot on turn 2 and we have triple blue spells we'd like to cast on curve as well. By the time you factor in 4-5 colorless sources in the deck, you ideally don't want to be fetching plains in there first 4 turns unless you think your opponent is on blood moon.
I think it's better than Oust after turn 1 though, since you can fetch snow-island after having fetched your first shockland.
You also don't need Snow-Covered Plains for OTI, it goes on any snow land. You just need one of your early fetches to be a Snow-Covered Island, and to also have a white source to cast OTI.
This is all theoretical, I haven't had a chance to test out any spicy combinations with the new 3 mana 'Walkers yet.
I feel the same way with Puzzle Box as I do with Knowledge Pool - It's just a combo piece that does nothing constructive without the relevant Planeswalker. The benefit of Box over Pool is that it is only 4 mana, and it combos with Narset, who seems to be more useful as a 3- or 4-of than T3feri, so you'll actually get both out more often than T3feri (2-of, most likely) and Pool (6 drop).
The inherent downside of Puzzle Box is that, even with a Narset out, you are forced to Windfall every turn, whether you want to or not. Your hand of answers becomes a hand of lands and redundant 'Walkers. If you have Narset out, your opponent is forced to bottom their whole hand every turn, so this isn't such a super-bad thing, but they can still deal with Narset (no + abilities mean an instant-speed Bolt/Hero's Downfall effect break the lock) leaving the game much more up to chance. Meanwhile, T3feri and Pool is much more difficult to crack, as your opponent literally cannot cast spells under it, and they must remove either with solely on-board tricks or non-spell effects, of which there are not many, especially considering you get an extra 6 cards off the Pool (3 from you, 3 from your opponent). In raw power, Pool wins, but its cost and reliance on the lower-run 'Walker might even it out.
I would run neither, but if you want to be adventurous, take Pool if your meta is a little slower and gives you an opportunity to run a 6 drop, Puzzle Box if you really like 4-of Narset (I want to find a slot for the 4th myself) and have a slightly faster meta, where a Turn3-4 punch to soft lock your opponent is enough.
I really don't think current UW needs any kind of lock wincon. UW's endgame has such absurd card advantage currently that it might just as well be a lock, and you don't need to run any cards that are awful on their own like Knowledge Pool or Puzzle Box.
I think it's much more profitable right now to first see whether Archmage's Charm fits into the deck or not and then adjust to a meta that is first being shook by Modern Horizons and then the Lodnon Mulligan not short after.
I love the new Narset but sometimes having too many feels really bad specially against agressive decks. I was playing 3 and I dropped to 2. Maybe I should have dropped T3feri down to 1 before trimming on Narset because he's way less relevant than her. Anyway I like the split here and I'll see how it goes.
So far, I've been finding the combos with her way too cute. This "lock" is not really a great lock. However it's easier to setup and the Puzzle Box is a better magic card when compared to the Pool. I've tested the Knowledge Pool lock and although I liked it, when it was bad it was really bad so I ended up cutting it.
I'm currently playing 1 K4rn and I'm loving it. It's a 1 card combo. We are so "threat" dense now that people spend their bolts at all the walkers they see and this usually paves the way for a Karn 1, 2 punch KO. It's really easy to setup. By itself is a great card, in my case it's currently Wishing for the Lattice, a Gearhulk and a Wurmcoil. The slots are tight so I avoided overcomitting to more artifacts and elected a few that I would play regardless.
About we needing a lock or not... Theoretically we don't need one against everything besides Tron. We get so much card advantage (virtual and actual) by default that once we stabilize it's really difficult to lose. The problem sometimes is that not losing is not the same as winning and there are a lot of people out there that don't scoop when they know they can't win, locking someone out makes it more likely that they scoop while letting you turn the corner without fear. I've tied my fair share of matches over people not scooping and my colonnades/teferis/jaces were nowhere to be found... Against Tron though, it's not 100% guaranteed that we win the dragged down game, although they moved away from 15Emrakul which was what made them have the inevitability. Still if we have a lock it's the best way to make sure we win before they have a chance to win from the top of their deck. Besides it's super fun to win games when they try to Lattice lock you and you let their Lattice resolve and bounce their Karn, playing your own the following turn.
My latest favourite thing in Modern has been finding ways to screw Tron players and their overpowered colorless cards and Lattice locking them out with their own Lattice is amazing.
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You're running Karn, Great Creator main? Does that do anything other than grab a 6 drop for you in a blind matchup? Just seems worse than Narset or T3feri, imo.
As I said in the post I'm running Cataclysmic Gearhulk and Wurmcoil in the sideboard. I'm still figuring out what slots if any I can dedicate to artifacts. These two cards were ones I'd consider playing without K4rn anyway.
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It has been increasingly good now that Humans is increasing in popularity. It's another wipe that they have to "guess" on Meddling Mage and it's not taxable by Thalia.
I like it a lot. It has been off and on in my sideboard depending on the meta. It's specially good if we play more creatures on the sideboard and do a Midrange transformational approach with 2/3 Restoration Angels but I like it as is. Being Wishable by K4rn has been relevant a couple of times. It doesn't come up that often because I only run one K4rn at the moment.
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On winds of abandon I think you just want cheaper cards so you can cast the 3 cmc walkers on turn 4 and still interact or draw into interaction.
On thin ice seems great as a 1 or 2 of if only we had snow shocks.
It seems hard to fit Archmage charm in the current lists, but we'll see how modern horizons shakes up the current meta. Maybe the control magic part is really good.
For now, I strongly believe it's the best Path 5/6.
On Archmage... I just want it to be good. I started playing Esper somewhere in mid of 2016 (when it was really bad... and after Twin got banned) and casting Esper Charm to draw 2 was one of the best feelings ever. This new charm has so much potential... The control magic mode has some cool applications:
Against Humans:
- steal a Champion of the Parish to stop the bleeding
- steal a Vial to prevent them to do the crazy shenanigans
- steal a
Against Tron:
- steal a Map sounds good but it's inefficient
Against Phoenix:
- no crazy good effect that I recall
Against Dredge:
- I'd cut them here for sure
Against GDS:
- steal a DS to kill it or to win with it is amazing cool
Against Eldratron:
- steal the Chalice of the Void is amazing!!!!(I'm an idiot)Against Scales:
- steal many of their creatures to block and stop the bleeding
- steal the namesake card and make them way less threatening
Against Amulet:
- steal the amulet to prevent them from being super fast at developing their mana/board
I wasn't super exhaustive in the analysis but just to give a general idea.
WUMiracles ControlUW
RUBGrixis Death's ShadowBUR
WUMiracles ControlUW
RUBGrixis Death's ShadowBUR
I don't think I agree with the assessment that if you can't reliably cast Archmage's Charm on turn 3 then you should just play more cryptics - a 1 mana discount will make the difference of being able to cast a second spell in a turn very often. It's also the case that being unable to cast charm reliably on turn 3 is not the same as never being able to cast charm on turn 3. Something like 60-65 percent of the time you will be able to cast it turn 3. This is not to say that Archmage's Charm is playable, just that saying 'why would you play it over cryptic?' isn't a strong argument against it.
With my current mana base which means 25 lands and 4 SV, which is 20 U sources (enough for 95% Cryptic Command on curve) it's 81.3% to cast Archmage's Charm on curve which is acceptable...
I share jayjay's view on charm, it's not the type of card that we'll just die if we don't cast on curve because the effects aren't that detrimental. If we think about it we don't always cast Cryptic on curve either.
WUMiracles ControlUW
RUBGrixis Death's ShadowBUR
It's not just fetching a snow-basic turn 1, it's fetching a snow-plains - we want to cast logic knot on turn 2 and we have triple blue spells we'd like to cast on curve as well. By the time you factor in 4-5 colorless sources in the deck, you ideally don't want to be fetching plains in there first 4 turns unless you think your opponent is on blood moon.
I think it's better than Oust after turn 1 though, since you can fetch snow-island after having fetched your first shockland.
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I feel the same way with Puzzle Box as I do with Knowledge Pool - It's just a combo piece that does nothing constructive without the relevant Planeswalker. The benefit of Box over Pool is that it is only 4 mana, and it combos with Narset, who seems to be more useful as a 3- or 4-of than T3feri, so you'll actually get both out more often than T3feri (2-of, most likely) and Pool (6 drop).
The inherent downside of Puzzle Box is that, even with a Narset out, you are forced to Windfall every turn, whether you want to or not. Your hand of answers becomes a hand of lands and redundant 'Walkers. If you have Narset out, your opponent is forced to bottom their whole hand every turn, so this isn't such a super-bad thing, but they can still deal with Narset (no + abilities mean an instant-speed Bolt/Hero's Downfall effect break the lock) leaving the game much more up to chance. Meanwhile, T3feri and Pool is much more difficult to crack, as your opponent literally cannot cast spells under it, and they must remove either with solely on-board tricks or non-spell effects, of which there are not many, especially considering you get an extra 6 cards off the Pool (3 from you, 3 from your opponent). In raw power, Pool wins, but its cost and reliance on the lower-run 'Walker might even it out.
I would run neither, but if you want to be adventurous, take Pool if your meta is a little slower and gives you an opportunity to run a 6 drop, Puzzle Box if you really like 4-of Narset (I want to find a slot for the 4th myself) and have a slightly faster meta, where a Turn3-4 punch to soft lock your opponent is enough.
The thing with puzzle box is that if you cast it before narset, it helps you dig for narset to put the opponent in the soft lock.
McWinSauce posted a list with the puzzle box, 3 narsets and 1 Geier Reach Sanitarium. https://twitter.com/McWinSauce/status/1134957680194445312
I don't know how good it is, but it does seem fun locking people out.
I think it's much more profitable right now to first see whether Archmage's Charm fits into the deck or not and then adjust to a meta that is first being shook by Modern Horizons and then the Lodnon Mulligan not short after.
So far, I've been finding the combos with her way too cute. This "lock" is not really a great lock. However it's easier to setup and the Puzzle Box is a better magic card when compared to the Pool. I've tested the Knowledge Pool lock and although I liked it, when it was bad it was really bad so I ended up cutting it.
I'm currently playing 1 K4rn and I'm loving it. It's a 1 card combo. We are so "threat" dense now that people spend their bolts at all the walkers they see and this usually paves the way for a Karn 1, 2 punch KO. It's really easy to setup. By itself is a great card, in my case it's currently Wishing for the Lattice, a Gearhulk and a Wurmcoil. The slots are tight so I avoided overcomitting to more artifacts and elected a few that I would play regardless.
About we needing a lock or not... Theoretically we don't need one against everything besides Tron. We get so much card advantage (virtual and actual) by default that once we stabilize it's really difficult to lose. The problem sometimes is that not losing is not the same as winning and there are a lot of people out there that don't scoop when they know they can't win, locking someone out makes it more likely that they scoop while letting you turn the corner without fear. I've tied my fair share of matches over people not scooping and my colonnades/teferis/jaces were nowhere to be found... Against Tron though, it's not 100% guaranteed that we win the dragged down game, although they moved away from 15Emrakul which was what made them have the inevitability. Still if we have a lock it's the best way to make sure we win before they have a chance to win from the top of their deck. Besides it's super fun to win games when they try to Lattice lock you and you let their Lattice resolve and bounce their Karn, playing your own the following turn.
My latest favourite thing in Modern has been finding ways to screw Tron players and their overpowered colorless cards and Lattice locking them out with their own Lattice is amazing.
WUMiracles ControlUW
RUBGrixis Death's ShadowBUR
WUMiracles ControlUW
RUBGrixis Death's ShadowBUR
I like it a lot. It has been off and on in my sideboard depending on the meta. It's specially good if we play more creatures on the sideboard and do a Midrange transformational approach with 2/3 Restoration Angels but I like it as is. Being Wishable by K4rn has been relevant a couple of times. It doesn't come up that often because I only run one K4rn at the moment.
WUMiracles ControlUW
RUBGrixis Death's ShadowBUR