I'll either cut Izzet Charm (similar spell but Prismari does more) or 4-mana Saheeli for this. Hard to decide and we've still got a lot of cards to see before I need to choose.
I'll either cut Izzet Charm (similar spell but Prismari does more) or 4-mana Saheeli for this. Hard to decide and we've still got a lot of cards to see before I need to choose.
Cheers,
rant
Saheeli the Gifted feels too slow to be effective. I cut Saheeli for the Royal Scion. She's incredibly in the UR artifact deck (discard outlet for Welder, very hard to remove, pumps the creature) in addition to being strong in UR tempo decks.
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Good card, but I'm not convinced I like it over Fire/Ice yet. I'll be watching it to see how it performs for others before deciding if I want to make the swap.
Feels much better than fire//ice as it's so much easier to get a 2-for-1 with this than it is with fire (and ice is only ever a cantrip with a minor effect in cube). And even when it is just a 1-for-1 killing a 2 toughness creature, you also get additional value from the double loot or a treasure.
My reservations with this card are: I find a 1-for-1 more palatable at 2 mana than 3 mana. Especially since Fire/Ice only requires one color, so it can be cast if color-screwed. Since I want a 3 mana multicolor spell to 2-for-1, the only way to do that with this card is shock + shatter. Compared to K. Command, where any combination of 2 modes is a 2-for-1 (ignoring shock to the face).
The 2 combinations of modes that have me most excited for this card are:
-shock a creature + shatter
-Careful Study + create a treasure with Goblin Welder in play
But both those are pretty narrow. I won't always be able to have 2 targets for that first combination, and won't always be playing the Goblin Welder deck, or have Goblin Welder in play if I am playing that deck.
I feel like Fire/Ice might still be more versatile when considering that. Fire can kill one or two early threats from an Aggro deck, or Ice a creature put into play with Sneak Attack, or Ice a land for a tempo play, or kill a utility creature.
I think this card's good, but Izzet is stacked. I'm interested in seeing how it plays, and could see it overperforming just as K. Command does, but some of those aspects have me cautious about being too optimistic about this one.
Well this is never really a 1-for-1 though. Even when you have no shatter targets, you're still getting like a 1.5 for 1 (I'd consider double loot worth a little more than 1/2 a card in a deck that can't take advantage of the yard in any way, while the treasure is way less than 1/2 a card, but will also never be used unless you really need the mana or artifact, in which case it's worth a LOT). So I think because it's SO much easier to get the full 2-for-1 out of this card, and cause it's always more value than a 1-for-1, it's worth the extra mana this will always cost.
Which is too bad, because I actually really like fire//ice as a card.
WotC seems to have learned their lesson with KCommand. The balance problem with KCommand is that it's nearly impossible *not* to achieve a 2-for-1 trade, especially since you can cast it in your opponent's draw step. With Prismari Command, the Lotus Petal mode and the Careful Study mode are worth a card only under narrow circumstances. You don't just automatically score a 2-for-1 --- you need to be playing a deck that (a) cares about having a Lotus Petal, (b) cares about casting Careful Study, or (c) uses can't-draw (Hullbreacher etc.) effects to feel sure you'll get as much value as KCommand.
Fortunately for Prismari Command, most powered cubes have an artifact theme, a graveyard theme, and a minor can't-draw theme. I can see why a lot of people are excited to use it in the cube, especially for powered cubes.
you need to be playing a deck that (a) cares about having a Lotus Petal, (b) cares about casting Careful Study
What deck UR(x) deck (or any deck really) wouldn't care about mana ramp / fixing and card filtering? I'm confused to see people say things like "needs a deck that cares about the graveyard for Careful Study". They're looking too much into the graveyard aspect but completely overlooking the fact that it's also just card filtering.
you need to be playing a deck that (a) cares about having a Lotus Petal, (b) cares about casting Careful Study
What deck UR(x) deck (or any deck really) wouldn't care about mana ramp / fixing and card filtering? I'm confused to see people say things like "needs a deck that cares about the graveyard for Careful Study". They're looking too much into the graveyard aspect but completely overlooking the fact that it's also just card filtering.
It's not that having a Treasure or having access to card filtering is ever bad. It's that if you use Prismari Command to burn a small creature and make a Treasure, you're not getting a 2-for-1 the same way you'd be getting a 2-for-1 if you used KCommand to burn a small creature and make your opponent discard a card. You're getting a 1.5-for-1. I'm saying that Prismari Command was more cautiously designed than KCommand, and that it won't be as much of a no-brainer across all formats, not that it's worse in cube; cube is the one format where the two cards are similarly powerful and flexible because it's exactly in powered cube that you see a lot of mana rocks, use a lot of graveyard tricks, and run opponent-can't-draw effects.
Edit: I was being unclear/misleading when I wrote "narrow circumstances." I meant something more like "specific circumstances, which are more likely to arise in powered cube than in nearly any other format."
There are a lot of decks that would love to have access to Prismari Command that don't want to play Careful Study. Dedicating a slot in your deck to Study is a big ask, and decks won't play that effect unless they care about the 'yard. Stapling a Study effect to your spell that's also killing a creature or shattering an artifact is a much different thing. That effect is pretty much always awesome.
While there are less combinations of effects that add up to card advantage, I think the Petal effect and the Study effect are valuable in more situations, and often have higher ceilings in the situations where they shine.
It does have a "failure state" where you don't have an artifact to destroy and you don't have a creature that Shock kills. If you're on Careful Study + Lotus Petal, or Shock face + Lotus Petal, your 3cmc spell is putting you behind a card. It redeems itself by accelerating you to a five drop and fixing your mana for it, so it's not a bad card, but it's going to shine the most I think in cubes with lots of artifacts, the same way Dack Fayden does (And these two cards overlap quite a bit; Dack loots and 'removes' artifacts.)
Cheers,
rant
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Saheeli the Gifted feels too slow to be effective. I cut Saheeli for the Royal Scion. She's incredibly in the UR artifact deck (discard outlet for Welder, very hard to remove, pumps the creature) in addition to being strong in UR tempo decks.
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3. Improving White Archetypes
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Well this is never really a 1-for-1 though. Even when you have no shatter targets, you're still getting like a 1.5 for 1 (I'd consider double loot worth a little more than 1/2 a card in a deck that can't take advantage of the yard in any way, while the treasure is way less than 1/2 a card, but will also never be used unless you really need the mana or artifact, in which case it's worth a LOT). So I think because it's SO much easier to get the full 2-for-1 out of this card, and cause it's always more value than a 1-for-1, it's worth the extra mana this will always cost.
Which is too bad, because I actually really like fire//ice as a card.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Fortunately for Prismari Command, most powered cubes have an artifact theme, a graveyard theme, and a minor can't-draw theme. I can see why a lot of people are excited to use it in the cube, especially for powered cubes.
What deck UR(x) deck (or any deck really) wouldn't care about mana ramp / fixing and card filtering? I'm confused to see people say things like "needs a deck that cares about the graveyard for Careful Study". They're looking too much into the graveyard aspect but completely overlooking the fact that it's also just card filtering.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
It's not that having a Treasure or having access to card filtering is ever bad. It's that if you use Prismari Command to burn a small creature and make a Treasure, you're not getting a 2-for-1 the same way you'd be getting a 2-for-1 if you used KCommand to burn a small creature and make your opponent discard a card. You're getting a 1.5-for-1. I'm saying that Prismari Command was more cautiously designed than KCommand, and that it won't be as much of a no-brainer across all formats, not that it's worse in cube; cube is the one format where the two cards are similarly powerful and flexible because it's exactly in powered cube that you see a lot of mana rocks, use a lot of graveyard tricks, and run opponent-can't-draw effects.
Edit: I was being unclear/misleading when I wrote "narrow circumstances." I meant something more like "specific circumstances, which are more likely to arise in powered cube than in nearly any other format."
While there are less combinations of effects that add up to card advantage, I think the Petal effect and the Study effect are valuable in more situations, and often have higher ceilings in the situations where they shine.
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I think this does good work and pushes The Royal Scions out.