MTG Salvation

Interesting. UG “Tempo” seems to specifically benefit from flash creatures, whereas I’d argue that Edric is a bomb in pretty much any UG deck that plays mana dorks and medium to high creature density. Edric is usually best in our UG Opposition archetype. Edric isn’t really a tempo play at all - he’s a sorcery-speed 2/2 for 3 that generates massive amounts of card advantage.

Edric is good in both the go-wide Opposition/Token type decks and in tempo decks; decks with cheap cost-efficient creatures backed up by bounce, draw and countermagic. Edric is perfectly suited to be in decks applying early pressure that keep the board clear with bounce spells and evasive creatures. He represents more card advantage in those shells than in lighter-creature midrange builds. In our experience, Edric sees more play in tempo decks and token decks than anywhere else.

If I was providing players with examples of cards that are ideally suited for Simic tempo strategies, I would immediately discuss Edric ...but Bounding Krasis/Mystic Snake would never be mentioned by name. They might make the cut as a random 22nd or 23rd playable in a tempo shell, but Edric is a windmill slam after my first few picks are Hexdrinkers, Rancors, Looter il-Kors and Mana Leaks.

Bounding Krasis is there to support Temur Twin. And occasionally it'll make the cut in a random Bant flash deck with Nightpack Ambusher and kin. Mystic Snake is there to be abused by my Mimic Vats and Feldons and Shards and Portals; being a solid backup playable in Bant Flash or some kind of Sultai control shell. Even as a midrange goodstuff card it's pretty decent; card advantage, counters a critical card and trades off with a bear. But tempo play is kinda a footnote for those two cards. Maybe playable by necessity, but not something I'd take for my tempo deck from a pack unless the pack was dry of other playables.

Makes sense. I certainly wouldn’t want those cards in any Cube deck I’d play other than niche combo archetypes that aren’t in my Cube, so it sounds like we somewhat agree haha.

Anyways, Oko is a good magic card.

Cracked a foil Oko recently. Guess I have to play him and cut Mystic Snake. Sigh. My fondness for the Snake is great and it's been in my cube since the very beginning.

Cheers,
rant

Planeswalker evaluation has always been tricky, and I've always thought Oko seemed terrible. That said, months of relentless internet complaints about Oko (plus his apparent popularity in every other format beyond standard) has gotten me to come around and acknowledge that he must actually be insane.

So my question now is... is he bad for a healthy cube environment? Does he make games too repetitive? Does he seem too back-breaking at 3 mana? Compared to UG Nissa, he seems...not "fun."

Quote from guyincorporated »

Planeswalker evaluation has always been tricky, and I've always thought Oko seemed terrible. That said, months of relentless internet complaints about Oko (plus his apparent popularity in every other format beyond standard) has gotten me to come around and acknowledge that he must actually be insane.

So my question now is... is he bad for a healthy cube environment? Does he make games too repetitive? Does he seem too back-breaking at 3 mana? Compared to UG Nissa, he seems...not "fun."

I actually think Oko is a pretty interesting card. You have lots of decisions with his abilities that aren't obvious what is better.
Obviously doesn't feel fun when your Emrakul gets turned into an elk.. Or when you play against Oko every single game in constructed... etc.

While I think it's excellent in cube, it's a notch higher in power level in constructed. This is because you often have 4x gilded goose in your deck in constructed. The food synergies don't define the card, but certainly kicks it up in power.

Think it's a totally fair cube card, and doubt it's too unfun.

Thanks. Guess I'll pick one up when he gets banned on the 20th.

Oko ia a first-pickable bomb. I think it was a huge miss on these forums, as it was pegged as an "OK, playable Simic card that you don't necessarily need to add to your Cube." Now people are asking if it's too powerful which is a better question than if it should be in the Cube at all...

I don't think we were the only ones to miss it - it was pretty cheap for quite a while after the set came out. I picked it up for something like £10, and I wasn't fast out the gate.

Quote from skecr8r »

I don't think we were the only ones to miss it - it was pretty cheap for quite a while after the set came out. I picked it up for something like £10, and I wasn't fast out the gate.

wouldn’t really call it a true miss either, seems like the forum was split on the card more than anything.

In murderous rider thread I predicted it to be the most powerful card from the set..

Oko, Thief of Crowns

I'm starting to absolutely hate this card right now.

- Its in green, making it ideal with mana dorks and could come down early.
- It can go up to 6 loyalty, making it really difficult to remove, even for haste or damage based answers like Thundermaw Hellkite or Magmatic Sinkhole
- Great answer to Swords/ problematic artifacts
- Could be used to slow down the opponent's ramp by removing mana dorks/ mana rocks
- Good against Reanimator decks/ fatty cheat
- Food is great for Urza/ Tolarian Academy/ Stax decks
- Good in your own creature decks etc.
- Good in Control decks etc.

What I really hate about this card right now is any deck that is in Blue or Green should pretty much auto pick him up and he's pretty much a good playable against pretty much any archetype.

Unlike cards like Channel, Skullclamp, Recurring Nightmare, Time Spiral etc. that are really strong but require some deck building constraints, this dude could literally be put into any deck with one of these two colors.

The only other card that I think is similar in this category is Kolaghan's Command and that card is only a one time effect and is more situational.

Does anyone else have the same frustrations with this guy?

Oko, Thief of Joy

Yeah, my group kinda hates it too, but it hasn't been so dominant as to be a problem. Thank god for singleton!

I think I picked up an Oko at, like, the end of february. I haven't even gotten to cube with it yet.

Quote from mblieb »

Yeah, my group kinda hates it too, but it hasn't been so dominant as to be a problem. Thank god for singleton!

Its been pretty frustrating. I have a rule with my cube is that anything and everything flies, conspiracy test cards, silver border etc. As long as they don't cause logistic nightmares (Now I Know My ABC's) - clocknapper, mirrored lotus are all fine additions.

The cards I have banned for power reasons:
- Blacker Lotus
- Contract from Below
- Power Play

Cards I thought about banning:
- Channel
- Black Lotus
- Oko, Thief of Crowns

Sometimes I cannot believe Oko is actually on this list ...