MTG Salvation

Ya, a tribrid Tarmogoyf that says 4: Draw gas.

It's really really hard to ignore a 1cmc, sometimes 2cmc 4/5 that dodges most removal, and even has an upside.

It very often sees play as a simple gurmag angler in my cube, which is still pretty darn good. I really like that it only costs 1 black mana, which to me makes him better than something like tombstalker even without using his ability.

Tasigur won't be leaving my 480 any time soon for similar reasons - he's solid as a cheap beater and the ability is just gravy.

With how good this guy is, is anyone trying any more delve cards? Hooting Mandrils, Gurmag Angler, or Soulflayer?

I'm sure Tasigur is the best but elve is even taster when there are so few of them.

Quote from dschumm »

With how good this guy is, is anyone trying any more delve cards? Hooting Mandrils, Gurmag Angler, or Soulflayer?

I'm sure Tasigur is the best but elve is even taster when there are so few of them.

Well, Tombstalker is still very playable.

I guess so, and not to run tombstalker down, but it is a little old news. I have enjoyed Tasigur so much that I am giving soulflayer a run (I also noticed my keyword count in black has grown quite a bit)

I still like Tombstalker quite a bit. 5/5 flying is still a strong body.

In terms of delve cards, what do you guys think of Murderous Cut? Better or worse than Slaughter Pact? My cube group wants another doom blade in my clone of wtwlf's 450 list and I'm having a hard time choosing the right one.

Quote from Bigmanaplays.com »

In terms of delve cards, what do you guys think of Murderous Cut? Better or worse than Slaughter Pact? My cube group wants another doom blade in my clone of wtwlf's 450 list and I'm having a hard time choosing the right one.

So you have a clone of wtwlf's list, but he doesn't play doom blade, even at 540. Are you playing Doom Blade in addition to his list, and you also want another Doom Blade?

I recommend Malicious Affliction over Murderous Cut, personally. Also, I like Bone Shredder quite a bit too.

I also suggest you consider Disfigure. Sure, it's no Doom Blade, but it kills a pretty big proportion of creatures in the cube for just one mana at instant speed.

I have 148 creatures in my 500 cube that have two or less toughness. If you then discount the clones, hexproof guys, Zegana, Wild Mongrel etc, we are down to the 130-140 ballpark. I think it's pretty good for one mana.

Anyway, back to Tasigur.

I like it more than the Pact, but I don't like Pact much. GftT, Blade, Affliction and Price are all better, IMO.

Even as a monoblack card, Tasigur is roughly on the same level as Tombstalker. Losing 1 power and flying is an acceptable trade for costing 1B less. Once you start factoring in his activated ability, the khan becomes pretty good.

I think Tombstalker is significantly better if you don't have the colored mana to activate Tasigur. Losing the power and the flying loses everything that makes it good, so I don't consider it an acceptable trade at all.

Flying is a very important ability, but you can't seriously argue that going from 5 to 4 power is equally important. Or that having "only" 4 power makes a card bad. Costing 1B less is a significant cost reduction. You basically trade flying for a whooping 2 mana and a single point of power for both splashability and the ability to cast the card for a single mana.

Now, to clarify: I wouldn't cube with Tasigur if he didn't have the activated ability. However, he would still be strong enough to make it into some decks that don't run blue or green. Without the ability, he would be just like Tombstalker: Mediocre, but playable.

Tombstalker is not that good. It is pretty mediocre. Just as Tasigur would be without his ability. With his ability, Tasigur is clearly better.

Gurmag Angler doesn't make it into cubes because it costs one mana more than Tasigur. One mana more is significant. Now, Tombstalker costs two mana more than Tasigur. And is more color intensive. Think about that for a moment.

The loss of flying and one power for 1B is fine by me, before abilities (or lack thereof in Tombstalker's case) are taken into account. I wouldn't cube Tasigur without his card drawing ability, and I would cube Tombstalker if it had something else relevant. It got cut a long way back, actually. However, I don't know that they'd be in direct competition anyway, since they do something different for different decks.

Tombstalker costs a little too much to be impactful. There're a few other 5/5 flying demons (or other black beasties) or bigger that lifts abit more weight than said card. The fact that Tasigur has his activated ability puts himself straight in the "A" range, and above Tombstalker, flying or not.

Nobody's saying that Tombstalker's better than Tasigur. But if I can't activate Tasigur, the 5th point of power and the evasion puts Tombstalker ahead of Tasigur if all you're playing it for is the body.

And the extra 1 mana on Angler isn't the reason I don't play it. It's also because without evasion, a big vanilla guy just isn't very good in this format. 'Goyf has the advantage of being able to scale as the game progresses (so you always at least have a body of some kind) and always being 2 mana. If it lost the static cost and had to be delved out, it would be WAY worse than it is now.

That's the rub with all of these new tribid guys, especially for those of us who are slotting them in into their mono color sections. The variance of Tasigur's value between a B/R aggro deck and a BUG control list is wider than most other cards we evaluate. I think he's obviously powerful and fun so I'm playing him, but I won't question when he's a last pick because of the nature of his value. Someone else, who values cards NOT being routinely last picked may evaluate differently...

1-2 mana is huge. I don't think in monoblack Tombstalker is that much better. 1 black mana is easy to have open while still playing other stuff on turn 4-5-6, 2 is less so.

how has this card held up in your cube at 2019?

Card is still good. It's currently on the outside looking in, but that's more to do with competition in that multicolor slot and less to do with Tasigur itself.

I play him as a black card