She's the second best reanimator target by a noteable margin, and the best target to get against creature based strategies.
I can't count how many creature decks I've played that simply cannot beat a resolved elesh norn.
Unfortunatly she doesn't get hard cast as much as i'd like in my cube. I'd estimate she sees play 80%+ in reanimator. Occasionally I'll get a BW midrange deck with some signets that she serves as an expensive but powerful curve topper, a GW ramp deck where she works very well with the lower part of the curve or as another creature in a Eureka type package.... she even occasionally makes a UW artifact deck when the creature count is higher than usual, or if the archtype is lacking playables.
I don't think she's necessary. Massacre wurm and Dragonlord atarka see more play outside of hard reanimator and can serve a very similar function in re-animator (albeit lower powered). However, she's one of the most powerful things a reanimator deck can be doing in all of magic and iconic so.... I guess i'd call that a slam dunk at small sizes.
If your cube has some number of ramp/reanimation/fatty-cheating/big-token decks and features decks that primarily win through the red zone, you should probably be playing Elesh Norn.
Elesh Norn gets hardcast here fairly often. Green splash White or just getting there with Thran Dynamo or Gilded Lotus. I do think Elesh Norn deserves a spot at any size.
Funny reading the comments on this cards at this time. Obviously still a slam dunk right?
Not to disparage the card but "7 mana creature hoser" isn't synonymous with "slam dunk"
Not a slam dunk in every deck, but I'd consider Elesh Norn to be a slam dunk in any cube since she dominates most board states.
- Any X/2 or less just dies
- Any creature with power 2 or less is suddenly useless
- Elesh Norn creates a +4/+4 differential to any of your opponent's surviving creatures to all other creatures you control (besides Elesh Norn)
- A creature would need 9 base power to break through Elesh Norn's toughness (which very few creatures have)
- Most creatures that have evasion or deathtouch to break Elesh Norn have 2 or less power.
Not to disparage the card but "7 mana creature hoser" isn't synonymous with "slam dunk"
I can't count how many creature decks I've played that simply cannot beat a resolved elesh norn.
Unfortunatly she doesn't get hard cast as much as i'd like in my cube. I'd estimate she sees play 80%+ in reanimator. Occasionally I'll get a BW midrange deck with some signets that she serves as an expensive but powerful curve topper, a GW ramp deck where she works very well with the lower part of the curve or as another creature in a Eureka type package.... she even occasionally makes a UW artifact deck when the creature count is higher than usual, or if the archtype is lacking playables.
I don't think she's necessary. Massacre wurm and Dragonlord atarka see more play outside of hard reanimator and can serve a very similar function in re-animator (albeit lower powered). However, she's one of the most powerful things a reanimator deck can be doing in all of magic and iconic so.... I guess i'd call that a slam dunk at small sizes.
Last Updated 02/07/24
Streaming Standard/Cube on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/heisenb3rg96
Strategy Twitter https://www.twitter.com/heisenb3rg
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
[180 classic cube]
The list on cube cobra
Read my blog on cube - Latest post June 2nd 2022
Not a slam dunk in every deck, but I'd consider Elesh Norn to be a slam dunk in any cube since she dominates most board states.
- Any X/2 or less just dies
- Any creature with power 2 or less is suddenly useless
- Elesh Norn creates a +4/+4 differential to any of your opponent's surviving creatures to all other creatures you control (besides Elesh Norn)
- A creature would need 9 base power to break through Elesh Norn's toughness (which very few creatures have)
- Most creatures that have evasion or deathtouch to break Elesh Norn have 2 or less power.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra