Quote from Humphrey »i think even maro said most players usually go for value
Maro did say this, but he also said that was wrong. In the example he gave, he's referring to Kavu Titan and specifically says that it was often wrong to not just run it out as a bear. And he talks about how players evaluate cards incorrectly based on extra text without looking at how valuable the base mode actually is. To n00b1n8R's point, curving out wins games. If you have something better to do each turn before you get the mana to cast the card for full value, then it's probably correct to wait. If not and casting the card in its base mode will affect the board somehow, then it's normally going to be correct to just run it out and keep the game flowing.
The Maro story can be found in this article from 2007.
Specifically this piece:
This story isn't really about design but it's become such a classic story (and it involves kicker) that I felt obliged to tell it once again. (And yes, I know I told it during my Invasion Week article, Body Snatchers of the Invasion.) During Invasion development I played frequently in the FFL (the Future Future League, where we play many months ahead to try and figure out what the future environment will be like). Because I wasn't the best of deck builders (at least a Spike deck builder; I could hold my own in a Johnny world), I usually got decks from other developers. Randy Buehler was running the FFL at the time, and he gave me a red-green deck to play. In it were four Grizzly Bears. I didn't think anything of it at the time. I then went on to go 4-0 that week. I was the only person with an undefeated record.
During my last match, Randy watched. At some point late in one of the games, I played my Grizzly Bears. After the match was over, Randy informed me that the Grizzly Bears weren't actually Grizzly Bears. They were proxies for Kavu Titan. Armed with this information, the next week I went 2-2. Suffice to say that the R&D guys thought this was the funniest thing ever. The lesson I learned was the importance of using the Kavu Titans as 2/2s. When I was aggressive with Kavu Titan, my deck performed much better. When I waited to maximize the Kavu Titans as 5/5 creatures, I lost much of the aggression of my deck and thus some of its power. Week 3, I went 4-0 again.
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Sage's Row Savant works for me because I don't play Welking Tern variants so I don't have that many options for blue 2-cmc tempo creatures. I guess most of you will not even consider it, though.
Ill-Gotten Inheritance is interesting, but too slow I think. We have Monarch in black for that kind of grindy win condition.
Plague Wight is fine. Black 2-drops are not that strong.
Undercity Scavenger is ok, but as it gives Scry instead of Surveil I think is a pass.
Lawmage's Binding is good, I have a big guild slot so maybe I will find a place for this.
Everything else is bad.
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No, there is nothing wrong. The list is objectively perfect.
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3 life bleeded would've been enough maybe.
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That said, Angel of Mercy and Spire Monitor are bad for that CMC. Look for better cards, you will find them.
Disclaimer: If you happen to look at my cube, you won't find functional copies at all, but that is a design choice, not a contradiction with what I said here.