IMO, it's only a decent kill spell and a decent pump spell strapped together, and it sees way more cube play than its power deserves. However, it's an iconic and sweet card so I don't really blame people for playing it.
Even supporting green aggro I can easily live without it. It's a fun card, but it's hardly necessary. In fact, aggro won't have too many creatures in the deck that would get more from this than Giant Growth, so... aggro isn't where I think this card is good. It's a mid-range card that you use to get in for surprising damage out of nowhere with your curve-topper.
Even supporting green aggro I can easily live without it. It's a fun card, but it's hardly necessary. In fact, aggro won't have too many creatures in the deck that would get more from this than Giant Growth, so... aggro isn't where I think this card is good. It's a mid-range card that you use to get in for surprising damage out of nowhere with your curve-topper.
This is my viewpoint exactly.
The only way that I can see this being truly great in aggro is if your cube supports lots of Giant Growth type spells. I don't think I've ever seen a green section have a "growth" archetype, and I'm not sure how viable such an archetype would be.
I'm a fan of this card and would include it in my cube if I owned one, but I don't find it interesting enough to go out of my way and acquire.
Look at it this way really, if the creature has four power or less, you can basically view it as an awkward Dismember for G instead of one. However, it can also be a card that screws up combat math, or simply wins the game by adding that extra bit of damage.
Mostly I'm going to guess it's used to kill things like Shadowmage Infiltrator, where the damage isn't the important thing but the creature being alive is.
Have won way too many games off the back of this card to cut it. It's sort of like a burn finisher for green decks.
You don't need to run giant growth effects in your cube to support this in aggro. Any good aggro deck would be drafting swords or other equipment so berserk still shines. Doubling a creature with a loxodon warhammer or sword is pretty sick when you have the early game advantage and just needed that final push against a blocker.
At 68 green cards I still run Berserk, but it's really at the bottom of my list in terms of power. I'm not going to be sorry to replace it. In fact, I think I just found the card to cut to test Ulvenwald Tracker.
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." -Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
I actually disagree that this is an "aggro only" card, if aggro creatures are defined as one-, two-, and three-drops. Since Berserk scales to the power of the creature it targets, I think it's best on mid-range dudes like Chameleon Colossus rather than classic green aggro cards like Pouncing Jaguar or Albino Troll...
It may be coming back in as a green removal spell (functioning in the early game as a green Dismember of sorts against Dark Confidants and Soltaris and the like). In addition to randomly making mid-sized creatures bash for 10+ out of nowhere. Somberwald Sage hasn't been pulling its weight since the group stopped letting it do it's thing uncontested, and we'd be happy to try this fun and iconic spell out for a while to see if it can do some cool stuff for us.
Any new thoughts on this card? As a pump spell for a green section that doesn't have aggro it seems blah. But as a pseudo green dismember it seems ok. Any heavy green ramp supporters out there running this?
I just picked up a collectors edition one, and it is as awesome as I remember it. Kills small attacking stuff which is fine, but it is one of the combat tricks that I think is getting better. I keep trying to up my double strike in the cube and this goes great with that. Last night I had it in a g/w deck with armada wurm silver blade paladin, and an assortment of mid range. Berserk was a house. Instant trample is nice by the way.
It's intriguing. I am in the process of revamping the green section of my cube and pulling out some of the pump effects I have. I'm sorely tempted to replace Giant Growth with Berserk since it has that removal clause.
It's intriguing. I am in the process of revamping the green section of my cube and pulling out some of the pump effects I have. I'm sorely tempted to replace Giant Growth with Berserk since it has that removal clause.
At minimum Berserk is a much more interesting card than Giant Growth.
I like berserk a lot. It's a removal spell where you pay some life for it, a pump spell (which is very rare in cube as most aren't good enough), and a card that can steal games. I think it's on the edge of being good enough, but because of how unique it is I'll always advocate for it to be in lists.
I tried a double strike/pump package in my cube for a month or so..
Wolfir silverheart, rafiq of the many, ghor clan rampager, berserk, vines of the vastwood, mutagenic growth, silverblade paladin, ajani caller of the pride, boon satyr.
It was a good deck when I forced it, but too many of the cards ended up sitting in sideboards too often, and the archetype was literally only drafted by me.
I left berserk in by itself for a while... too often it sat in side boards and I ended up cutting it.
With the right creature configuration it's a good card, but many cubes don't have that configuration IMO.
You really want high powered midrange creatures.. Surrak hunt caller, wolfir silverheart, Chameleon colosus, Polukranos etc.
Also in the same breath is Hatred. While not as easy to cast, it can act as more of a fireball and is pretty cool like that. Definitely underpowered, but a fun card that can lead to some fun games. (Well...fun for the person casting hatred if it resolves and hit, fun for the other if it doesn't.)
I have used Berserk a lot as green removal, albeit at the cost of some life. Gives green additional options in removal, especially in UG decks. Plus I like to have some combat tricks in the cube. It's not for all decks, but it's decent in midrange.
My love of this card means it's in my cube no matter what you guys say, but how have you found it?
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This is my viewpoint exactly.
The only way that I can see this being truly great in aggro is if your cube supports lots of Giant Growth type spells. I don't think I've ever seen a green section have a "growth" archetype, and I'm not sure how viable such an archetype would be.
Look at it this way really, if the creature has four power or less, you can basically view it as an awkward Dismember for G instead of one. However, it can also be a card that screws up combat math, or simply wins the game by adding that extra bit of damage.
Mostly I'm going to guess it's used to kill things like Shadowmage Infiltrator, where the damage isn't the important thing but the creature being alive is.
Oh, and I absolutely love the art.
You don't need to run giant growth effects in your cube to support this in aggro. Any good aggro deck would be drafting swords or other equipment so berserk still shines. Doubling a creature with a loxodon warhammer or sword is pretty sick when you have the early game advantage and just needed that final push against a blocker.
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People forget that you can use it as a green creature removal spell as well, if you don't mind taking double damage from something.
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other than that, it's a trick that i always find myself wanting when i am green. being able to have that ace in the hole is very important.
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Wolfir silverheart, rafiq of the many, ghor clan rampager, berserk, vines of the vastwood, mutagenic growth, silverblade paladin, ajani caller of the pride, boon satyr.
It was a good deck when I forced it, but too many of the cards ended up sitting in sideboards too often, and the archetype was literally only drafted by me.
I left berserk in by itself for a while... too often it sat in side boards and I ended up cutting it.
With the right creature configuration it's a good card, but many cubes don't have that configuration IMO.
You really want high powered midrange creatures.. Surrak hunt caller, wolfir silverheart, Chameleon colosus, Polukranos etc.
Last Updated 02/07/24
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