I love the flexibility of having removal and a threat on a single card. That said, the fight mechanic has never really succeeded as a stand along effect in cube and I don't see this card being much different. You want your removal to always be able to do it's job.
That said, the hybrid cost makes this card very playable in G/x decks that tend to have lots of beefy creatures. I definitely wouldn't fault anyone for running this but I don't see myself including it.
I personally like this card less than Ghor-Clan Rampager, although maybe I’m underestimating the value of mono-green getting a way to fight planeswalkers. Either way this isn’t the Gruul ace we’ve been looking for.
I love the flexibility of having removal and a threat on a single card. That said, the fight mechanic has never really succeeded as a stand along effect in cube and I don't see this card being much different. You want your removal to always be able to do it's job.
That said, the hybrid cost makes this card very playable in G/x decks that tend to have lots of beefy creatures. I definitely wouldn't fault anyone for running this but I don't see myself including it.
Well, it's not fight, it's rabid bite, which is a lot better. Especially with this being instant, meaning you can do it in response to removal or when your opponent taps out at your EOT.
All that being said, I think this probably isn't good enough for a guild slot, even though I do love the idea of an instant-speed PW answer in green.
I think this card has a shot to be good in cube. Instant speed Rabid Bite that hit planeswalkers is not something we see very often. Being hybrid is also important at evaluating this part of the card. Seems pretty push to me. And a 4/4 trample for 4 is not a bad floor either. I like it pretty much in fact. I think it may be on par with some of the commonly seen top 5 to top 7 gruul cards.
I like this enough to test it out. Having access to planeswalker removal in a color that doesn't traditionally have it makes this worth taking for a spin, and I think I do like this more than Ghor-Clan Rampager, although it's roughly as good. I'm going to try cutting Bloodbraid Elf for this, I guess, since I refuse to cut or reassign Tattermunge Maniac.
I love the design of these cards and the archetype flexibility of them.
When the weaker mode has sideboard applications in literally all G or R decks, I'm willing to test it as a pseudo hybrid card.
A couple of these type of cards were slept on during last season (Expansion//Explosion is in my izzet top 3 at the moment) , so I was planning to test them agressively... but nothing has stood out to me until this one.
While I'm not excited by this card, it has potential to be ok in just about every gruul deck. One direction fight is the best fight mechanic, and the ability to hit planes-walkers is new/interesting.
Eh, this is fine. I'll play it if I get it, and if it's under a dollar, I might even buy it. It's nothing super special, but it is flexible. I wouldn't do something crazy like cut Bloodbraid Elf for it, though. That card is sweet.
The rampager comparison is very apt, I think. I don't think the rabid bite effect is more valuable than the pump spell.
I kinda think it is. Especially because the pump effect is only available to attacking creatures. Both effects basically need a creature to be functional. The pump effect is a little more valuable if your creature is smaller than their creature, but you're also playing Gruul so why is that happening? Rabid Bite at instant speed can let you take out an equally-sized or smaller threat without having to rely on your opponent using the card as a blocker... and as noted above, you can pop a defended PW with this in a pinch as well.
All that said, Ghor-Clan Rampager was on the fringes of my cube to start with at 720. This is an ever-so-slight upgrade, was definitely hoping for a clearer one.
I don't think this gets there. I liked Ghor-Clan Rampager when we tried to support an Atarka Red style deck with cards like Berserk, Become Immense, and Temur Battlerage alongside the green aggro package. It was surprisingly good, but overall too parasitic to keep since zero other decks would play the cards. If this card could deal damage to players, I'd be inclined to add it and try that archetype again since other archetypes may play this card too. As is I'm going to pass.
I don't think this gets there. I liked Ghor-Clan Rampager when we tried to support an Atarka Red style deck with cards like Berserk, Become Immense, and Temur Battlerage alongside the green aggro package. It was surprisingly good, but overall too parasitic to keep since zero other decks would play the cards. If this card could deal damage to players, I'd be inclined to add it and try that archetype again since other archetypes may play this card too. As is I'm going to pass.
Yeah, I had the same experience with the "pump" archetype. It was pretty good, but no other decks wanted the cards... and it wasn't necessarily better than straight agro. There was very few optimal draft archs that would take you down the pump spell route.. you almost had to force it, or wind up with a bunch of them organically via wheeling in early packs.
I think Ghor-clan is a more powerful card than Thrash//Threat, but it's less versatile, and less good in GR ramp (which is a more common archetype).
The other thing when comparing the two, is that ghor-clan's alternate mode has a significant advantage against bounce spells and cards like engineered explosives. From my experiences with Rite of Belzenok, bounce spells being hard answers to a big monster is a pretty big downside.
The more I think about this card, the less I think it'll be good enough, but ... its so close , and I love the design space.
I am certainly interested in this card. Rapid Bite is often awkward because it does nothing if you have no relevant creatures on the board. Having the ability to create a 4/4 trampler when Rapid Bite (that also kills PWs) isn't effective seems great.
Could this be a viable Gruul replacement? I'd envision this mostly as removal, with the occasional random beater as a backup mode.
That said, the hybrid cost makes this card very playable in G/x decks that tend to have lots of beefy creatures. I definitely wouldn't fault anyone for running this but I don't see myself including it.
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Well, it's not fight, it's rabid bite, which is a lot better. Especially with this being instant, meaning you can do it in response to removal or when your opponent taps out at your EOT.
All that being said, I think this probably isn't good enough for a guild slot, even though I do love the idea of an instant-speed PW answer in green.
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Same. Either this or the 6cmc wurm are going to get a test run. Not sure which yet.
When the weaker mode has sideboard applications in literally all G or R decks, I'm willing to test it as a pseudo hybrid card.
A couple of these type of cards were slept on during last season (Expansion//Explosion is in my izzet top 3 at the moment) , so I was planning to test them agressively... but nothing has stood out to me until this one.
While I'm not excited by this card, it has potential to be ok in just about every gruul deck. One direction fight is the best fight mechanic, and the ability to hit planes-walkers is new/interesting.
Probably a bust, but I may test.
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I kinda think it is. Especially because the pump effect is only available to attacking creatures. Both effects basically need a creature to be functional. The pump effect is a little more valuable if your creature is smaller than their creature, but you're also playing Gruul so why is that happening? Rabid Bite at instant speed can let you take out an equally-sized or smaller threat without having to rely on your opponent using the card as a blocker... and as noted above, you can pop a defended PW with this in a pinch as well.
All that said, Ghor-Clan Rampager was on the fringes of my cube to start with at 720. This is an ever-so-slight upgrade, was definitely hoping for a clearer one.
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Yeah, I had the same experience with the "pump" archetype. It was pretty good, but no other decks wanted the cards... and it wasn't necessarily better than straight agro. There was very few optimal draft archs that would take you down the pump spell route.. you almost had to force it, or wind up with a bunch of them organically via wheeling in early packs.
I think Ghor-clan is a more powerful card than Thrash//Threat, but it's less versatile, and less good in GR ramp (which is a more common archetype).
The other thing when comparing the two, is that ghor-clan's alternate mode has a significant advantage against bounce spells and cards like engineered explosives. From my experiences with Rite of Belzenok, bounce spells being hard answers to a big monster is a pretty big downside.
The more I think about this card, the less I think it'll be good enough, but ... its so close , and I love the design space.
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I think this can replace either Arlinn Kord or Atarka's Command in my list.