Seems like a really solid early aggressive threat. It's cool that you can hit all three options. Not sure what the cut is, but I would like to try this dude!
I like this guy. The threat of beibg able to pump to 4 damage and take down 4 toughness stuff / wall of omens and the like is a big deal, and makes chump blocking woth random 1/1 tokens and the like difficult as well.
Pretty good Blade of the Sixth Pride variant for red. To me this compares most to Stormblood Berserker and the other 2 drops that scale more in the late game like Dire Fleet Daredevil. It's better on curve than Dare Devil in most scenarios, and can still gain extra value at any point in the game. This doesn't unseat the higher red 2-drops for me like Kari Zev / Young Pyromancer / Goblin Cratermaker / etc, but this is probably around the top of the pack for the tier 2 ones.
I think I'd play Dire Fleet Daredevil, Earthshaker Khenra, Eidolon of the Great Revel, Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, Lightning Mauler, and Young Pyromancer before this card, not to mention a few others. It's a fantastic aggro 2 drop, but I don't think it scales well enough into the late game to make it good in midrange decks too, but I could be mistaken. Most of the time I think you'll mostly just be activating the ability that makes him unblockable by a specific creature until eot to get in for 3 or to get a sword activation off, and although sometimes he'll make another creature you control unblockable as well, I don't think the upside sneaks him into any cubes below like 450 or 540. Cool card, just not that exciting for me unfortunately.
Think he's quite good.
Not a high pick or anything, but definitely competes with the middle of the pack red 2 drops.
Bonus points for warrior synergy and cowards can't block warriors text.
I look forward to turning emrakul into the coward it knows it really is on the inside.
seems OK. I feel like it's probably wrong to activate any of the abilities on earlier turns, where you just wanna keep curving out. There, it's any old 2-drop. But, getting a little bonus evasion to keep the pressure on into later turns is nice. Worth a shot.
It's definitely good, and I think I'll probably cube it, but it's definitely a borderline card in the 360-450 range.
Anyone 540+ should slam it.
I like the white 2 drop (Luminarch Aspirant) more.
Yes, paying mana every turn to gain access to those abilities will hurt. As the baseline is serviceable even if you do not activate the ability, this becomes interesting. I predict it will play worse than in reads, like Nadir Kraken.
Looking forward to hearing how it plays in testing. I see many say they will cut Stormblood Berserker but my gut-feeling likes the Berserker more.
If we pretend for a second the Stormblood is always active, I definitely like the 3/3 Menace more than having to pay mana to keep blockers at bay or pumping. Of course, the Stormblood has a much lower floor, as it isn't always active, but in my experience, it is quite rare for this to happen in an aggressive deck.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Cubing in Oslo, Norway --- contact me if you want to join in!
This is a very strong 2 drop for red and I think it will perform better than most expect it to. Abbot and Dire Fleet are worse in my opinion for what I want in a red 2 drop catered towards aggro.
This guy has really been over performing for me and has became a fairly high pick for any red decks looking to beat down.
It just has so many abilities and they all have their uses; the pump let's him smash in or trade up well in combat, making a creature a coward can help him (or other warriors) slip past a specific blocker, and granting trample to any single warrior helps force though damage over chump blockers.
Threat of activation is a big deal on the pump and trample abilities. I've been on the defence against him before, and having to plan around all 3 abilities is a real pain on alot of boards.
He does pretty well outside of agro too. Midrange can use it as an early drop to get under control and has more spare mana to pay his abilities.
He has really earned his spot in my cube and I recommend him very highly. He has done alot more work than the other cards it's being compared to in the thread like Abbot or Direfleet Daredevil.
Yeah I'm still cubing this one. Really liked the design and it's still good to me. It's tough for new red cards to earn a spot in my cube now and I'm pretty sure I would cut another 2 drops before this one.
Agreed, he would be one of the last red 2 drops I'd cut from my current line-up.
Not a perfect comparison, but he reminds me a little of Deathrite Shaman in that he is a flexible creature with multiple relevant abilities. At least one thing he does is good in most match-ups.
One thing I didn't touch on; making creatures cowards is just kinda fun, I personally like to berate the creature first and then my opponent for fielding such a cowardly creature.
There's a lot of competition for red 2-cmc creatures, and this is one of the more respectable ones, IMO. I don't currently play it, but I wouldn't bat an eye if it randomly appeared in my cube over another 2-cmc red creature. As a pure beater, I do think this falls short compared to the 2 powered haste creatures for 1R like Earthshaker Khenra / Robber of the Rich / Bloodthirsty Adversary / Ardoz, Cobbler of War / etc. Those are very strong in the early game and have abilities that scale as the game goes on. Kargan Intimidator is generally less efficient since it's more reliant on pumping mana onto it and is more prone to blowouts via removal. Haste is also much more important when dealing with monarch / initiative or catching a planeswalker off guard.
There's a lot of competition for red 2-cmc creatures, and this is one of the more respectable ones, IMO. I don't currently play it, but I wouldn't bat an eye if it randomly appeared in my cube over another 2-cmc red creature. As a pure beater, I do think this falls short compared to the 2 powered haste creatures for 1R like Earthshaker Khenra / Robber of the Rich / Bloodthirsty Adversary / Ardoz, Cobbler of War / etc. Those are very strong in the early game and have abilities that scale as the game goes on. Kargan Intimidator is generally less efficient since it's more reliant on pumping mana onto it and is more prone to blowouts via removal. Haste is also much more important when dealing with monarch / initiative or catching a planeswalker off guard.
I second this.
I've also learned that a 1-drop is incredibly important for aggressive decks to get the beats going, however, having a 2 mana haste 80% of the time can be a fine substitute.
Seems like a really solid early aggressive threat. It's cool that you can hit all three options. Not sure what the cut is, but I would like to try this dude!
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
StaffMy High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
I agree. The floor on this card is much better.
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!
Draft my cube! (630 cards)
Not a high pick or anything, but definitely competes with the middle of the pack red 2 drops.
Bonus points for warrior synergy and cowards can't block warriors text.
I look forward to turning emrakul into the coward it knows it really is on the inside.
Last Updated 02/07/24
Streaming Standard/Cube on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/heisenb3rg96
Strategy Twitter https://www.twitter.com/heisenb3rg
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
Anyone 540+ should slam it.
I like the white 2 drop (Luminarch Aspirant) more.
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
The list on cube cobra
Read my blog on cube - Latest post June 2nd 2022
If we pretend for a second the Stormblood is always active, I definitely like the 3/3 Menace more than having to pay mana to keep blockers at bay or pumping. Of course, the Stormblood has a much lower floor, as it isn't always active, but in my experience, it is quite rare for this to happen in an aggressive deck.
It just has so many abilities and they all have their uses; the pump let's him smash in or trade up well in combat, making a creature a coward can help him (or other warriors) slip past a specific blocker, and granting trample to any single warrior helps force though damage over chump blockers.
Threat of activation is a big deal on the pump and trample abilities. I've been on the defence against him before, and having to plan around all 3 abilities is a real pain on alot of boards.
He does pretty well outside of agro too. Midrange can use it as an early drop to get under control and has more spare mana to pay his abilities.
He has really earned his spot in my cube and I recommend him very highly. He has done alot more work than the other cards it's being compared to in the thread like Abbot or Direfleet Daredevil.
Not a perfect comparison, but he reminds me a little of Deathrite Shaman in that he is a flexible creature with multiple relevant abilities. At least one thing he does is good in most match-ups.
One thing I didn't touch on; making creatures cowards is just kinda fun, I personally like to berate the creature first and then my opponent for fielding such a cowardly creature.
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
StaffMy High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
I second this.
I've also learned that a 1-drop is incredibly important for aggressive decks to get the beats going, however, having a 2 mana haste 80% of the time can be a fine substitute.
My bar for non-haste aggressive 2 drops is Tarmogoyf / Luminarch Aspirant / Porcelain Legionnaire etc.