Oh wow, I just noticed you can put the counters on anything and not just itself just like Channeler Initiate, that makes this card much better than I thought. Still unsure if it's something that can fit into my green section though, Tarmogoyf and Sylvan Advocate is a tough crowd to beat.
Reminds me an awful lot of Vinelasher Kudzu which is still playable in larger cubes. Sylvan Advocate is better overall, but this ain't bad for a filler green aggro card in large lists.
Interesting design. A Utopia Tree variant that can turn into a reasonable creature over time and late game you can just shoot an elf / token for a 3/4. Not sure if I'm in the market for this, but mana dorks are always useful.
I think people seriously overestimate the need to build around this. I'd even say, that if it turns out you need to build around it, it will not be cubeable. Luckily, getting to one card hands in aggro is quite trivial, and a 5/4 haste indestructible that gives infinite reach is a big deal. What would control decks do once you have this on the table? They have not really stabilized until it is gone, and it is hard to remove.
I like this more than Purphoros. Purphoros very often does nothing the turn you cast it. You can build around it to impressive results, but it is not an aggro card. In red aggro decks, you will not topdeck a creature even every other turn. I have not seen Purphoros animated in cube yet.
Hazoret and Purphoros are two completely different cards though. Purphoros is a tokens signpost / payoff card, NOT an aggro card and typically doesn't want or need to be animated. Hazoret seems like it'll play best in aggro / stax shells and is possibly playable in a few other archetypes too.
A much cheaper Reassembling Skeleton variant. It can only recur once, but it's cheaper and random lifelink works well with equipment, plus it's a cat zombie! Not sure if I'm in the market for it, but perhaps it has some legs to stand on in Stax / Aristocrats (assuming it plays white, I dunno).
Purphoros>>>>>>this card in all the archetypes mentioned in this thread.
I think it's the exact opposite actually, Hazoret is straight up better in aggro and most other archetypes besides tokens (not that Hazoret is any great in most of those archetypes), but Hazoret doesn't have the archetype appeal that Purphoros has. Although Purphoros only really shines in a heavy token deck, it's a big reason to go into that archetype in the first place.
Oh, I'm not saying that red Wild Mongrel is all it will take, but it's a step in the right direction and it would fit into this set. I'd slam red mongrel in my cube pretty fast.
Not exactly a card I'm looking to cube with at the moment, but I believe it's a worthy consideration if / when aggro loam type strategies become more viable. 1/2 menace means it holds equipment quite well and it's able to mooch off of Wild Mongel type cards, not to mention Wheel of Fortune.
Magical Christmas land scenario, hopefully my math isn't wrong:
T1: Land / adept (5-6 cards in hand)
T2: Land / swing / cast Mongrel (4-5 cards in hand, 1 damage)
T3: Land / pitch 3-4 cards to Mongrel, cast Wheel of Fortune. Potential 23-24 damage on board if new hand is discarded.
Ya, I think with Koth, Hellrider, Hero and Cruiser, I have enough redundancy at the 4cc aggro creature slot to try something more unique/interesting. Of course, this is assuming that Hazoret plays well in testing. It might not even be good enough. But if it is, I feel like I'd rather remove a more redundant tool than something with a less replaceable effect.
I forgot about considering Koth / Cruiser, that does make Hero / Hellrider a more appealing cut.
I like Avalanche Riders quite a bit, because the effect is pretty unique. It's one of the few remaining answers to problematic lands (and there's a lot of them now) and it also has synergy with the Alesha/Feldon/Recruiter/Vat/'Lark shells that are breaking 2-power ETB triggers. If Hazoret makes it in, it'll be over one of the more redundant aggro curve-toppers.
I agree with this, but I'm not convinced yet that Hazoret can be a straight up replacement Hellrider / Hero. If it turns out that it can, then I'll probably cut Hellrider, but if Hazoret ends up being "decent imitation equipped with more versatility" then I can see Rider getting the cut.
Or maybe I'll just cut Searing Spear or something and make room for ALL the 4 drops!
If any Rider gets cut, it'll probably be of the Avalanche variety. Redundancy aside, I can't see myself cutting Hero / Hellrider before cutting Avalanche Riders.
Reminds me an awful lot of Vinelasher Kudzu which is still playable in larger cubes. Sylvan Advocate is better overall, but this ain't bad for a filler green aggro card in large lists.
Interesting design. A Utopia Tree variant that can turn into a reasonable creature over time and late game you can just shoot an elf / token for a 3/4. Not sure if I'm in the market for this, but mana dorks are always useful.
Hazoret and Purphoros are two completely different cards though. Purphoros is a tokens signpost / payoff card, NOT an aggro card and typically doesn't want or need to be animated. Hazoret seems like it'll play best in aggro / stax shells and is possibly playable in a few other archetypes too.
A much cheaper Reassembling Skeleton variant. It can only recur once, but it's cheaper and random lifelink works well with equipment, plus it's a cat zombie! Not sure if I'm in the market for it, but perhaps it has some legs to stand on in Stax / Aristocrats (assuming it plays white, I dunno).
Also, these embalmed tokens are creepy.
I think it's the exact opposite actually, Hazoret is straight up better in aggro and most other archetypes besides tokens (not that Hazoret is any great in most of those archetypes), but Hazoret doesn't have the archetype appeal that Purphoros has. Although Purphoros only really shines in a heavy token deck, it's a big reason to go into that archetype in the first place.
Flametongue is super solid, FTK all day.
I like Heelcutter more, Exert makes the ability less effective.
MongrelJackal this set."It's a jackal!"
Not exactly a card I'm looking to cube with at the moment, but I believe it's a worthy consideration if / when aggro loam type strategies become more viable. 1/2 menace means it holds equipment quite well and it's able to mooch off of Wild Mongel type cards, not to mention Wheel of Fortune.
Magical Christmas land scenario, hopefully my math isn't wrong:
T1: Land / adept (5-6 cards in hand)
T2: Land / swing / cast Mongrel (4-5 cards in hand, 1 damage)
T3: Land / pitch 3-4 cards to Mongrel, cast Wheel of Fortune. Potential 23-24 damage on board if new hand is discarded.
I forgot about considering Koth / Cruiser, that does make Hero / Hellrider a more appealing cut.
I agree with this, but I'm not convinced yet that Hazoret can be a straight up replacement Hellrider / Hero. If it turns out that it can, then I'll probably cut Hellrider, but if Hazoret ends up being "decent imitation equipped with more versatility" then I can see Rider getting the cut.
Or maybe I'll just cut Searing Spear or something and make room for ALL the 4 drops!