Sea Gate Stormcaller1U
Creature - Human Wizard (M)
Kicker 4U
When Sea Gate Stormcaller enters the battlefield, copy the next instant or sorcery spell with converted mana cost 2 or less you cast this turn when you cast it. If Sea Gate Stormcaller was kicked, copy that spell twice instead. You may choose new targets for the copies.
2/1
This seems like a neat value creature. The kicker is largely going to be irrelevant, but is nice for late game flood insurance. It's definitely no Snapcaster, but paying 1UR for a double-bolt or 1UU to double-Preordain still seems good. Will definitely be testing.
Yeah 1UR for a 2/1 and double bolt is good, 2UR for any of the lightning strike variants, 2UB for various removal spells, draw spells are of course great, etc etc.
Might be just too clunky and too bad on its own, but the ceiling is definitely there.
I'm not a fan of this. Unlike Snapcaster Mage, this can't be used reactively for counters, and is a much worse topdeck late game where you've probably already used up your cheap spells.
Lutri is good, and this has a pretty similar effect (although at a third of the cost but starts in your deck), and I don't think this is remotely good enough. If that kicker cost was like or something this would be sweet, but as is the floor is too weak and the ceiling isn't especially exciting. Card is just too inconsistent imo
This is a contender. 2UU for double Time Walk and a 2/1 seems stupid. 2UB for double Demonic Tutor and 2/1 is gross. 1WU for double Path to Exile and a 2/1. So many disgusting things to do with this in a Powered cube. It may not make the cut, but it merits testing.
This card does seem sweet. Like Thieving Skydiver, it's busted in a busted cube, and still great in a weaker cube without being broken. I can see doing a lot of fun stuff with this without even considering the kicker.
I always thought dualcaster mage might be worth it as a fork variant in cube if it only cast 1 less. This is much worse as it does not have flash and has a cmc limit.
I added this in for testing too. While it's certainly no Snapcaster Mage, it does have the potential for some broken lines, and since the copied spell is played for free, the net cost of playing 2 spells and a 2-power creature is overall lower than Snappy's is. Worth a test in powered where the ceiling is pretty damn high.
IMO this card is a red herring due to its resemblance of Snapcaster Mage and the potential broken plays this can enable on turn 3-4 with Ancestral Recall / Time Walk / Demonic Tutor / etc. While that's certainly a powerful line, we could've been doing this all along with Fork / Twincast, but have WAY more options such as:
- Being able to counter ANY instant / sorcery regardless of CMC or owner. This is huge against your opponent's big spells like Mind Twist / Fractured Identity / Fiery Confluence / Plow Under / etc. Hell, just being able to copy your opponent's Swords to Plowshares can be big game.
- Can actually be reactive. Part of what makes Snapcaster Mage great is that it can re-use a counterspell. While there are plenty of 1-2 cmc spells Sea Gate Stormcaller can copy, a good amount of them are counterpspells / cards that are more optimal at instant speed. Fork / Twincast can act as counterspells in any counter war.
I honestly don't think the 2/1 body / kicker is worth the trade for instant speed / ability to hit ANY instant / sorcery. I'm not saying Sea Gate Stormcaller is bad since it has a decent floor and a high ceiling, but that Fork / Twincast may need to be re-evaluated if people do start liking Sea Gate Stormcaller, especially in a powered setting.
...But I'm interested in Stormcaller for all the reasons I don't like Twincast. It's splashable, provides a body, and intrinsically generates card advantage. Twincast has more targets, but the floor is so much lower that I'm just not interested.
It's probably closer to Dualcaster Mage than Twincast, but hitting the ceiling for a lower mana investment (and a more splashable cost) when targeting your own spells is worth exploring, IMO. A big part of what is interesting players in the Stormcaller is the value it has on T3 when copying a 1cc target ...and that's just not something that Dualcaster can do.
It's definitely better than Dualcaster Mage but much worse than Snapcaster Mage.
If this had flash instead of kicker, it would be way more powerful - almost on par with Snapcaster at that point
I think it's probably a 540+ or maybe even a 450+ card, but definitely would not play at 360 though.
Unfortunately she doesn't work with twinflame ... or else this, DualCaster, Sea Gate Stormcaller and Ssublime epiphany would have been perfect ...
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Sea Gate Stormcaller 1U
Creature - Human Wizard (M)
Kicker 4U
When Sea Gate Stormcaller enters the battlefield, copy the next instant or sorcery spell with converted mana cost 2 or less you cast this turn when you cast it. If Sea Gate Stormcaller was kicked, copy that spell twice instead. You may choose new targets for the copies.
2/1
This seems like a neat value creature. The kicker is largely going to be irrelevant, but is nice for late game flood insurance. It's definitely no Snapcaster, but paying 1UR for a double-bolt or 1UU to double-Preordain still seems good. Will definitely be testing.
EDIT: Or paying 1UBB to double-Hymn...:D
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Might be just too clunky and too bad on its own, but the ceiling is definitely there.
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The potential is there for sure.
Gonna test
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Staff- Being able to counter ANY instant / sorcery regardless of CMC or owner. This is huge against your opponent's big spells like Mind Twist / Fractured Identity / Fiery Confluence / Plow Under / etc. Hell, just being able to copy your opponent's Swords to Plowshares can be big game.
- Can actually be reactive. Part of what makes Snapcaster Mage great is that it can re-use a counterspell. While there are plenty of 1-2 cmc spells Sea Gate Stormcaller can copy, a good amount of them are counterpspells / cards that are more optimal at instant speed. Fork / Twincast can act as counterspells in any counter war.
I honestly don't think the 2/1 body / kicker is worth the trade for instant speed / ability to hit ANY instant / sorcery. I'm not saying Sea Gate Stormcaller is bad since it has a decent floor and a high ceiling, but that Fork / Twincast may need to be re-evaluated if people do start liking Sea Gate Stormcaller, especially in a powered setting.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
It's probably closer to Dualcaster Mage than Twincast, but hitting the ceiling for a lower mana investment (and a more splashable cost) when targeting your own spells is worth exploring, IMO. A big part of what is interesting players in the Stormcaller is the value it has on T3 when copying a 1cc target ...and that's just not something that Dualcaster can do.
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!
If this had flash instead of kicker, it would be way more powerful - almost on par with Snapcaster at that point
I think it's probably a 540+ or maybe even a 450+ card, but definitely would not play at 360 though.
Cool card.
360 card powered Chicago cube:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/e7r
2020 Numerical Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/817969-2020-numerical-cube-power-rankings
2018 CubeTutor Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/803301-cubetutor-power-rankings-2018-by-color-and-cmc
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i