I’m actually a big fan of all the recurrable black 1 drops except gravecrawler. That will be my cut for sure.
This card is sick also. Probably my favorite card from the set, but I like black aggro a lot. The interaction with bombardment and bombardiers particularly gross, gut too to a lesser extent. B/r sac is one of my favorite flavors of aggro and this I’m sure will be some of the best sac fodder.
On a slightly tangential note though, I have really been missing the persist package recently and would like to re add it or something similar. It took up too much real estate to be optimal but having a creature combo deck (and a combo deck in white in general) really added to the environment in my opinion. I’m keeping my eyes on this (and other enablers + sac outlets) in case the density of cube-able ever gets there.
I agree with all the pro triome sentiment here. I haven’t tested the surveil lands, but triomes are just such good fixing I can’t imagine cutting them outside of wanting to neuter 5c decks. Also I feel the need to limit come into play tapped lands, so unless I plan on cutting manlands (which I also value quite highly) I unfortunately don’t see myself playing these at 540.
The main thing I wanted to point out is that this card isn’t card disadvantage like every other “free” spell we’ve seen before, and that is something worth considering.
Obviously I don’t know the rest of the cycle, but I’m guessing they will take the path of retaining card parity with this cycle which may be strong in its own unique way. Here sacking an elf for a land isn’t really a downgrade /loss of tempo or card advantage and trading a card in hand (flare of cultivation) for a land isn’t either. So to me it seems like there is little/no “cost” to the alternative cost but you do get a benefit (color fixing). While it’s not a huge benefit, it is a benefit at no cost which is still powerful imo.
I think this card and cycle will be stronger than we might be giving it credit for. Free spells are strong, and this is a free spell that doesn’t create card disadvantage unlike every other free spell we have.
Turning an elf into the correct color of mana + turning the flare of cultivation into another correct color of mana for free is a net positive at no mana or card advantage cost. Additionally, it can also be hardcast which gives another option for card advantage if desired.
I think the effect of this card is pretty minor, but the cost is basically non existent. I probably won’t run it, but could definitely see it being stronger than it looks. If it is a full cycle I’m pretty interested in the rest of the cycle.
Damn this is a sweet card I never knew about. I might test it out. That being said I think those 3 wheels you aren’t playing are super strong, are usually very high picks for me, and almost certainly better than this. Not refilling your own hand with a draw 7 seems way worse when those options are available, plus they will give you more draw triggers.
I just wanted to follow up a bit here. The brain freeze / breech plan has been playing out really well for us, definitely recommend others testing it out if they want to add a minimal storm package (and would also recommend testing out the other cards I mentioned above).
Also, I added the time vault combo due to Steve’s request, and it is indeed busted, likely more so than brain freeze. It not as fun to play, but it’s so efficient to assemble, and the keys themselves are actually quite useful, mostly with mana rocks, but also the one ring and to a lesser extend mystic forge. Mirage mirror also acts as a third combo with vault (and also works with depths). I would definitely recommend the time vault combo as well for anyone trying to bolster their combo section.
I saw you went up to 630 cards and am stoked to look more closely at the changes + get your feedback on a lot of the cards you’re trying. A lot of the stuff you added was stuff I recently added around 540 or am thinking of adding. I’m curious how the “combo” cards play out for you. I didn’t add as many but have been liking how they have been playing out.
I agree with basically all of this. I also added it when I added saga, and it really shines against any sort of “fair” deck (which is generally 50%+ of the decks we draft). In “aggro” mirrors it is absolutely backbreaking in the same way jitte is. Normally, I like high variance cards which are best in a proactive setting (e.x. entomb), and not those which are only good against x% of decks, but aggro/fair decks are a huge percentage of our field, and also the fact that it is colorless (just like jitte) and playable in most decks is actually a pretty big boon imo. This means that basically any deck can pick it up, play it, and side it in/out if necessary. The fact that it doesn’t have a color restriction makes its play percentage much higher than something like timely reinforcements (that cards probably super dated by now, but is just an example), which not only is only brought in in fair matchups, but also must be played in a white deck. Also, the “threat” of equipping and swinging can often change the state of the game just as much as actually doing so, so just playing it out for 1, and not equipping, can have a real impact for a low cost. It’s not the best equipment of all time, but it’s one that I like and think is worth playing l, especially if you support aggro in at least 3 colors.
This card is sick also. Probably my favorite card from the set, but I like black aggro a lot. The interaction with bombardment and bombardiers particularly gross, gut too to a lesser extent. B/r sac is one of my favorite flavors of aggro and this I’m sure will be some of the best sac fodder.
On a slightly tangential note though, I have really been missing the persist package recently and would like to re add it or something similar. It took up too much real estate to be optimal but having a creature combo deck (and a combo deck in white in general) really added to the environment in my opinion. I’m keeping my eyes on this (and other enablers + sac outlets) in case the density of cube-able ever gets there.
Obviously I don’t know the rest of the cycle, but I’m guessing they will take the path of retaining card parity with this cycle which may be strong in its own unique way. Here sacking an elf for a land isn’t really a downgrade /loss of tempo or card advantage and trading a card in hand (flare of cultivation) for a land isn’t either. So to me it seems like there is little/no “cost” to the alternative cost but you do get a benefit (color fixing). While it’s not a huge benefit, it is a benefit at no cost which is still powerful imo.
Turning an elf into the correct color of mana + turning the flare of cultivation into another correct color of mana for free is a net positive at no mana or card advantage cost. Additionally, it can also be hardcast which gives another option for card advantage if desired.
I think the effect of this card is pretty minor, but the cost is basically non existent. I probably won’t run it, but could definitely see it being stronger than it looks. If it is a full cycle I’m pretty interested in the rest of the cycle.
Also, I added the time vault combo due to Steve’s request, and it is indeed busted, likely more so than brain freeze. It not as fun to play, but it’s so efficient to assemble, and the keys themselves are actually quite useful, mostly with mana rocks, but also the one ring and to a lesser extend mystic forge. Mirage mirror also acts as a third combo with vault (and also works with depths). I would definitely recommend the time vault combo as well for anyone trying to bolster their combo section.