Necron Deathmark is a card that I tested out of the blue alongside Royal Warden. I predicted Warden would test much better, but Necron Deathmark ended up vastly over performing my expectations and has been a huge hit in my playgroup. It's often a 3 for 1 in combat and can kill you really fast afterwards. It often feels like a mono black Fractured Identity with the added benefit of being a creature and an artifact.
On one hand, this is more versatile than Necron Deathmark since it's modal and can bin itself in the graveyard. On the other hand, it's a more narrow effect than Necron Deathmark and its symmetry means it can't just be shoved into any deck like Necron Deathmark can. Still, its ability to sweep away small creatures in combination with menace makes it a reliable stabilizer / win condition in the late game. Not being able to sweep away larger creatures isn't too much of an issue since black can already deal with any sized creatures / planeswalkers fairly reliable anyways.
Having slept on Necron Deathmark, I don't want to sleep on this one as well. It's definitely at least worth a test, especially since control could use some more help slowing the game down.
If it was "Your opponent's creatures", then I think this would be a very good card, but since its "all other creatures", then this make it a weak to unplayable option for toolbox decks, thus really limiting it.
This is more of a flexible card for control, not so much for a toolbox midrange card. Need to think of it like Wrath of God / Damnation and build around its symmetrical effects. I'm always looking to give control more options, so I might give this a test.
A new Shriekmaw variant that sweeps up small creatures. The flexibility is really nice, although the ETB trigger can be detrimental to you as well. This can be very matchup dependent and is pretty useless against a lot of combo decks, but it still has evasion and hits hard by itself. This is a good option if you're looking for more versatile removal / sweepers for control decks.
I'm always down for more beefy green 3 drops like Sentinel of the Nameless City / Cemetery Prowler. Going wide is always good for Gaea's Cradle and more artifacts is always nice to have.
Being able to activate this on turn 3 is really nice compared to something like Shelldock Isle. But then again those white weenie (and white in general) really aren't making the most of hideaway unless you're in a GWx Natural Order deck or something. Overall I think I'd rather just have Staff of the Storyteller, which actually puts a body on the board and is a better engine overall. White 2s are also getting ridiculously stacked now, especially with the new Ajani.
Not bad, but far from great, IMO. While this is technically a Mulldrifter with Baneslayer Angel stats, two food isn't exactly the most exciting ETB trigger and is mainly there for its attack trigger. There are so many great green 4s like Questing Beast / Undermountain Adventurer / Ulvenwald Oddity / Caldaia Guardian (which is really more of a 3), not to mention non creatures like Esika's Chariot / Garruk Relentless / Garruk Wildspeaker.
This compares more to Rabblemaster variants than it does to Sulfuric Vortex, you're just trading the persistence of the tokens for a more sturdy token generator. As a pure aggro card, I like Sulfuric Vortex better since it's harder to stop and can't be blocked. Also I know that you don't support initiative, which would otherwise make Sulfuric Vortex even more of a double-edged sword. Urabrask's Forge really doesn't do anything that differentiates it from a Rabblemaster, where Vortex does.
I just really wish this was able to sacrifice itself.
The original translation I read was wrong and said that it can only sacrifice itself, it made me think this was Bonecrusher Giant 2.0. That being said, this is still a pretty strong card. This pairs well especially with white. Thraben Inspectors / Staff of the Storyteller / Glimmerlens are cheap spells that make 2 game objects, and white can blink for more shocks. This also helps big ramp artifact decks being good in the early game and letting you cash your excessive mana rocks / treasures in the late game for bodies. Extra sacrifice fodder for Bombardiers / Gut is always nice, and this is another win condition for Worldgorger Dragon.
I think it's better in many more decks than three steps ahead, but three steps ahead has much higher upside (blue artifact ramp decks), so
I have trouble comparing them without seeing them in action.
Yeah, this has a better floor (probably more so than any Spree card since Quench is a very legitimate effect and this is on rate), but also a much lower ceiling. The deciding factor for me between this and Three Steps Ahead is that I'd cube Quench before I would cube Cancel / Catalog. This also does a mini Torrential Gearhulk impression at 5 mana which isn't awful, but definitely one of the lower ceilings for these spree cards.
Young Pyromancer is still fine, but it lost its uncuttable status a while ago. Young Pyromancer has always been an honorary Izzet card, and now plays second fiddle to Third Path Iconoclast. Power creep also means that games tend to end faster now, which isn't great for Young Pyromancer since it wants to grind over time. In a this or that situation, I'd pick Slickshot Show-Off over Young Pyromancer in my cube, no questions asked.
IMO, this ended up being the best card from WOE and is by far the most versatile 2-cmc red creature. It's great in basically any red deck from aggro / midrange / reanimator / artifacts / etc.
In the past 299 drafts since the release of NEO (early 2022), it already has 12 showings in my 3-0 archive despite it having been released in late 2023. To give some context on how widely it's played, it has the same number of reps as Orcish Bowmasters, which has a couple months head start of it in terms of release date in 2023.
This has a lot going for it and basically does everything white wants to be doing.
- As an aggro card, it's a 2/3 with flying that's resilient to Shocks, dividable burn, and beats a bunch of 2/1s in the air. Probably better than your typical Blade of the Sixth Pride.
- Midrange blink decks appreciate having this as a win condition later.
- Control can use this in the early game to block and challenge monarch / initiative. Later in the game this is a win condition that you'll always have mana open to protect it with counters.
This is probably fighting for the 3rd best Quench variant with Make Disappear (the top 2 being Miscalculation / Lose Focus). I actually like this more than Three Steps Ahead for my cube specifically since this is available on turn 2 is so important against all the insane 3-cmc cards there are these days and the spirit can contest monarch / initiative in a pinch. This would be a slam dunk for me if the spirit mode cost 1 less mana, even if it had to be downgraded to a 1/1 or something. As is though I think this is a pretty decent soft counter overall.
Generally speaking I find modal spells to be victims of power creep so I am not sure the hype is jutified here.
I have found that to be true about previous good modal/X spells. I think I may be over-rating the modal/X spells from this set simply because I like so many of them lol.
Typically with modal like charms, you're paying 1 extra mana for X effect. That's okay, but that extra 1 mana is worth a lot more the higher up in the curve you are. You're always overpaying for Izzet Charm, but that 1 extra mana doesn't feel so bad when I'm only paying 2 mana overall. Overpaying for Counterspell feels much worse than overpaying for Shock / Careful Study / Spell Pierce. Izzet Charm also has the benefit of being a very versatile roleplayer where most other spree cards don't have a great niche aside from Smuggler's Surprise.
Spree cards fall in between a rock and a hard place when comparing them to charms / commands / confluences / etc. Charms tend to be more mana efficient, but spree cards scale better in the late game. The commands / confluences are a good rate for what you're casting them for, but spree cards are more flexible and can usually be played earlier in a pinch. Right now the only spree card I feel good about is Smuggler's Surprise since the first mode is actually a decent value spell while contributing to a very specific niche.
On one hand, this is more versatile than Necron Deathmark since it's modal and can bin itself in the graveyard. On the other hand, it's a more narrow effect than Necron Deathmark and its symmetry means it can't just be shoved into any deck like Necron Deathmark can. Still, its ability to sweep away small creatures in combination with menace makes it a reliable stabilizer / win condition in the late game. Not being able to sweep away larger creatures isn't too much of an issue since black can already deal with any sized creatures / planeswalkers fairly reliable anyways.
Having slept on Necron Deathmark, I don't want to sleep on this one as well. It's definitely at least worth a test, especially since control could use some more help slowing the game down.
This is more of a flexible card for control, not so much for a toolbox midrange card. Need to think of it like Wrath of God / Damnation and build around its symmetrical effects. I'm always looking to give control more options, so I might give this a test.
A new Shriekmaw variant that sweeps up small creatures. The flexibility is really nice, although the ETB trigger can be detrimental to you as well. This can be very matchup dependent and is pretty useless against a lot of combo decks, but it still has evasion and hits hard by itself. This is a good option if you're looking for more versatile removal / sweepers for control decks.
While Urabrask's Forge is an artifact itself, it doesn't produce artifact creatures.
The original translation I read was wrong and said that it can only sacrifice itself, it made me think this was Bonecrusher Giant 2.0. That being said, this is still a pretty strong card. This pairs well especially with white. Thraben Inspectors / Staff of the Storyteller / Glimmerlens are cheap spells that make 2 game objects, and white can blink for more shocks. This also helps big ramp artifact decks being good in the early game and letting you cash your excessive mana rocks / treasures in the late game for bodies. Extra sacrifice fodder for Bombardiers / Gut is always nice, and this is another win condition for Worldgorger Dragon.
Yeah, this has a better floor (probably more so than any Spree card since Quench is a very legitimate effect and this is on rate), but also a much lower ceiling. The deciding factor for me between this and Three Steps Ahead is that I'd cube Quench before I would cube Cancel / Catalog. This also does a mini Torrential Gearhulk impression at 5 mana which isn't awful, but definitely one of the lower ceilings for these spree cards.
In the past 299 drafts since the release of NEO (early 2022), it already has 12 showings in my 3-0 archive despite it having been released in late 2023. To give some context on how widely it's played, it has the same number of reps as Orcish Bowmasters, which has a couple months head start of it in terms of release date in 2023.
Monster Manual: 12
Worldspine Wurm: 12
Tolarian Academy: 12
Treasure Cruise: 12
Swift Reconfiguration: 12
Wall of Roots: 12
Sakura-Tribe Elder: 12
Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance: 12
Mishra's Factory: 12
Incinerate: 12
Cathartic Pyre: 12
Charming Scoundrel: 12
Orcish Bowmasters: 12
Liliana, the Last Hope: 12
Collective Brutality: 12
Misery's Shadow: 12
Serum Visions: 12
Wandering Fumarole: 12
Third Path Iconoclast: 12
- As an aggro card, it's a 2/3 with flying that's resilient to Shocks, dividable burn, and beats a bunch of 2/1s in the air. Probably better than your typical Blade of the Sixth Pride.
- Midrange blink decks appreciate having this as a win condition later.
- Control can use this in the early game to block and challenge monarch / initiative. Later in the game this is a win condition that you'll always have mana open to protect it with counters.
This is probably fighting for the 3rd best Quench variant with Make Disappear (the top 2 being Miscalculation / Lose Focus). I actually like this more than Three Steps Ahead for my cube specifically since this is available on turn 2 is so important against all the insane 3-cmc cards there are these days and the spirit can contest monarch / initiative in a pinch. This would be a slam dunk for me if the spirit mode cost 1 less mana, even if it had to be downgraded to a 1/1 or something. As is though I think this is a pretty decent soft counter overall.
Typically with modal like charms, you're paying 1 extra mana for X effect. That's okay, but that extra 1 mana is worth a lot more the higher up in the curve you are. You're always overpaying for Izzet Charm, but that 1 extra mana doesn't feel so bad when I'm only paying 2 mana overall. Overpaying for Counterspell feels much worse than overpaying for Shock / Careful Study / Spell Pierce. Izzet Charm also has the benefit of being a very versatile roleplayer where most other spree cards don't have a great niche aside from Smuggler's Surprise.
Spree cards fall in between a rock and a hard place when comparing them to charms / commands / confluences / etc. Charms tend to be more mana efficient, but spree cards scale better in the late game. The commands / confluences are a good rate for what you're casting them for, but spree cards are more flexible and can usually be played earlier in a pinch. Right now the only spree card I feel good about is Smuggler's Surprise since the first mode is actually a decent value spell while contributing to a very specific niche.