No way Phantasmal Dreadmaw gets staple. Cubable sure. But a 4 drop that dies to 1 drops (gideon's lawkeeper and friends, fume spitter, friendzied goblin, goblin motivator) and extra effects (kor hookmaster, territorial hammerskull, man_o_war, pestermite, fervent cathar and tons more) cannot be staple.
It's borderline at best. I get the M12 reference, but the design is just so punishing and I like the modern Illusion ability of only dying to spells way more.
i also wonder how often lagac doesnt grant 2 counters because you lack the targets.
I think, that the worst case of a Bound in Silence is still ok, but the best case of having 2 dudes (not magical christmas land) is just incredibly good. It's not like you slam every removal exactly on the turn, where you have the needed mana, but rather a few turns later.
Storm God seems just awful. Sure its a bolt, but on opponents terms at some random point in the game.
Sure it's not good if they have an empty board and Lightning Bolt turns into Lava Spike, but when your opponent has no board at all, that might be an advantageous position for you. As long as they have board there are barely any good ways to deal with it. Usually the Pacifism-argument would count, but since it can sack itself, that doesn't really count.
Familiars are exactly the same as the goblin, as long as you play the matching guild. Did you even read the cards man
They aren't the same, because they can never reduce their own color. Also they have widely different bodies. Nightscape Familiar is by far the best. Btw. aren't you the one, that always complains about 1 toughness, so Thornscape Familiar shouldn't really be your suggested replacement. Sure in a true 3 color deck a Familiar would reduce about 2/3 of the cards (still not 100%), but 2 color decks are the standard, while 3 color decks are more rare. Often you have a 2 color decks, which splashes 1-2 cards from another color and I wouldn't really splash any of the familiars, just to get the same effect, that Goblin Anarchomancer provides for RG.
What do people think of Disciple of the Sun? A 3/3 life link that returns the best 3cmc creature/artifact/enchantment removal from your yard seems decent. And it can be blinked for value.
I don't think it's good enough. If it weren't restricted with the cmc or could return non-permanents it might be more interesting.
I think the set is pretty decent for us. Quick summary of the cards, which are relevant IMO: Captured by Lagacs: Auto include. Removal with an useful effect attached are often very strong. Drey Keeper: It's not quite Beetleback Chief, but BG is somewhat lacking and I like the activated ability. Goblin Anarchomancer: Auto include. I always thought Goblin Electromancer was decent, but this makes the ELectromancer look extremely weak. Hard Evidence: Even though it can't be flickered, I do still quite like it as a blue 1 drop. Gargadon: Very similar to Errant Ephemeron. Lose Focus: The best common Counterspell since 17 years. Ornithopter of Paradise: Super Myr. Sinister Starfish: Black hasn't the best 2 drops. This is decent for more controlish decks. Skophos Reaver: Auto include. Good creature as it is, with Madness, because why not. Bannerhide Krushok: Rock solid with enough edit to push it over the edge. Tragic Fall: Last Gasp 2.0. Wavesifter: Auto include. It's not quite Mulldrifter, but the closest to a fixed version of that overpower card we can realisticly expect to get. I wasn't too happy with the current UG choices anyway. Storm God's Oracle: A flexible creature, that will very like be 2 for 1. Might be an auto include, but I'm a little bit conservative, with that.
Mostly relevant for my black sac theme: Vermin Gorger: Probably going in. Loathsome Curator: Definitely going in. Glimmer Bairn: Porbably not going to make the cut, but an intersting design.
Some Madness/Discard cards:
I will keep these to the other threat, as they are mostly interesting in the context of the archetype.
mtgs is such a crappy site tbh. it will take days until they update their cardlibrary. so ive no idea what cards youre talking about al
They've actually gotten a lot faster, but as always the last spoilers come in bulk, which takes a while. In hindsight, I should linked pictures, but for now you can look em up here: http://mythicspoiler.com/newspoilers.html
So full spoiler is out. Other interesting card from the last wave: Storm God's Oracle: Decent body and pretty hard to get a good trade for the opponent. Even against Pacifism you can simply pay 3 and still deal 3 damage. Bannerhide Krushok: A 4/4 trample for 4 is already really good and Reinforce and Scavenge on top certainly doesn't hurt. Tragic Fall: A stricly better Last Gasp.
For Sacrifce: Loathsome Curator: A lot better than Silumgar Butcher. Vermin Gorger: Draining 2 per creature token you have lying around or in response to removal is quite a decent swing.
For Madness: Hell Mongrel: A Madness creature, that is also a free discard outlet. Pretty decent. Revolutionist: A 3/3 Salvager of Secrets for 4 is a pretty decent card. Terminal Agony: It's definitely very good if you discard it for value, but hard casting it feels a whole lot worse.
Sinister Starfish: Blacks 2 drops aren't it's strength. I think this colorshifted version is quite decent in black.
Hard Evidence: Kind of similar to Thraben Inspector. I do definitely like it. Blue doesn't have much to do on turn 1 and geting an 0/3 that early can save you quite a decent amount of life points from incoming 2/Xs.
I don't think this is good enough, but I like the fact that we will get multicolor cards at common.
Basically just a better Skyscanner, which Sleight of Hands instead of simply drawing. Certainly not unplayable, but I'm uncertain, that it outclasses any of the existing UW cards.
I think Vampire Hounds and also Erstwhile Trooper are too much of a one trick pony for me. How many Madness creatures do you need in your deck, to activate this ability for value more than once? Your opponent can always put a 2/2 in front of these and they will always trade for a creature, either on board or in hand. I think they would be broken if they could discard any card, but with the creature-only clause they are too weak, IMO.
agree, focus is probably the best counter of the past 10?years
The last common non reprint blue Counterspell, that made it into my cube is Condescend, which is from 5th Dawn, 17 years ago... The last time Mana Leak was reprinted in a regular draft set was M12.
Sure it's not good if they have an empty board and Lightning Bolt turns into Lava Spike, but when your opponent has no board at all, that might be an advantageous position for you. As long as they have board there are barely any good ways to deal with it. Usually the Pacifism-argument would count, but since it can sack itself, that doesn't really count.
They aren't the same, because they can never reduce their own color. Also they have widely different bodies. Nightscape Familiar is by far the best. Btw. aren't you the one, that always complains about 1 toughness, so Thornscape Familiar shouldn't really be your suggested replacement. Sure in a true 3 color deck a Familiar would reduce about 2/3 of the cards (still not 100%), but 2 color decks are the standard, while 3 color decks are more rare. Often you have a 2 color decks, which splashes 1-2 cards from another color and I wouldn't really splash any of the familiars, just to get the same effect, that Goblin Anarchomancer provides for RG.
@Humphrey:
There is no such thing as a value trap. Captured by Lagacs and Storm God's Oracle are really good examples of that. You pay 1 extra to get an effect, that is definitely worth 1 additional mana, aka Lead by Example and Lightning Bolt. Pillory of the Sleepless has always been great for me since the included Curse of the Piercing Heart is worth the 1 mana. At the end of the day Mulldrifter is nothing else than Silverbeak Griffin + Divination. Would you not play Electrolyze if it were common, because it would be a value trap?
My point is getting 2 cards in one for only a small extra fee is usually worth it.
The Familiars make at most 50% of your cards cost 1 less, just like Goblin Electromancer. The point about Goblin Anarchomancer is, that it's worth 2 familiars.
Goblin Anarchomancer might be even better than Burning-Tree Emissary. It's a 2/2 that can attack why also making literally every spell in your deck cheaper. It's basically 3 cards, Emerald Medallion/Ruby Medallion attached to a Grizzly Bears. I would easily cut Colossal Might from your cube in exhange.
I really do like Frostburn Weird, but I'm probably going to cut it for Storm God's Oracle. Having a Lightning Bolt for 1 extra mana sound like a great deal to me. It's usually worth it to pay 1 additional mana for having an addtional card attached to another. I mean compare Twin Bolt and Electrolyze. It's technically the same card, except Electrolyze has a Reach Through Mists attached to it.
Wavesifter makes Beetleform Mage obsolete.
Captured by Lagacs: Auto include. Removal with an useful effect attached are often very strong.
Drey Keeper: It's not quite Beetleback Chief, but BG is somewhat lacking and I like the activated ability.
Goblin Anarchomancer: Auto include. I always thought Goblin Electromancer was decent, but this makes the ELectromancer look extremely weak.
Hard Evidence: Even though it can't be flickered, I do still quite like it as a blue 1 drop.
Gargadon: Very similar to Errant Ephemeron.
Lose Focus: The best common Counterspell since 17 years.
Ornithopter of Paradise: Super Myr.
Sinister Starfish: Black hasn't the best 2 drops. This is decent for more controlish decks.
Skophos Reaver: Auto include. Good creature as it is, with Madness, because why not.
Bannerhide Krushok: Rock solid with enough edit to push it over the edge.
Tragic Fall: Last Gasp 2.0.
Wavesifter: Auto include. It's not quite Mulldrifter, but the closest to a fixed version of that overpower card we can realisticly expect to get. I wasn't too happy with the current UG choices anyway.
Storm God's Oracle: A flexible creature, that will very like be 2 for 1. Might be an auto include, but I'm a little bit conservative, with that.
Mostly relevant for my black sac theme:
Vermin Gorger: Probably going in.
Loathsome Curator: Definitely going in.
Glimmer Bairn: Porbably not going to make the cut, but an intersting design.
Some Madness/Discard cards:
I will keep these to the other threat, as they are mostly interesting in the context of the archetype.
Storm God's Oracle: Decent body and pretty hard to get a good trade for the opponent. Even against Pacifism you can simply pay 3 and still deal 3 damage.
Bannerhide Krushok: A 4/4 trample for 4 is already really good and Reinforce and Scavenge on top certainly doesn't hurt.
Tragic Fall: A stricly better Last Gasp.
For Sacrifce:
Loathsome Curator: A lot better than Silumgar Butcher.
Vermin Gorger: Draining 2 per creature token you have lying around or in response to removal is quite a decent swing.
For Madness:
Hell Mongrel: A Madness creature, that is also a free discard outlet. Pretty decent.
Revolutionist: A 3/3 Salvager of Secrets for 4 is a pretty decent card.
Terminal Agony: It's definitely very good if you discard it for value, but hard casting it feels a whole lot worse.
Captured by Lagacs: So this is Pacifism with half a Travel Preparations for 1 additional mana. Count me in.
Hard Evidence: Kind of similar to Thraben Inspector. I do definitely like it. Blue doesn't have much to do on turn 1 and geting an 0/3 that early can save you quite a decent amount of life points from incoming 2/Xs.
I love the base stats of Breathless Knight, sadly apart from Unearth I curretnly have no way to get advantage of it's ability.
Ornithopter of Paradise is also a very decent mana fixer, that can fit into any deck.
I do support Swarm in green, so there definitly are decks having a bunch of tokens lying around. I'm not completely sold, but it does interest me.
Btw. we already got Drey Keeper for BG.