Necron Deathmark turned out to be a sleeper, it's quite popular in our playgroup. I really didn't have any expectations for it and thought things like Sheoldred / Royal Warden would take off, but pretty much the exact opposite happened. This having flash and being a decent closer makes this feel closer to Chaos Defiler than it is to Ravenous Chupacabra / Custodi Lich / etc.
In 110 drafts since the release of LTR, it's currently one of the most represented cards in my 3-0 archive
Raw data - https://pastebin.com/raw/SJuraKDy
- The only mono black cards currently ahead of it in this data set are Dismember / Thoughtseize / Grief / Mind Twist / Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- Is currently 1 card ahead of other mono black stalwarts like Demonic Tutor / Reanimate / Baleful Mastery
Chrome Mox: 18
Bonecrusher Giant: 17
Grist, the Hunger Tide: 16
Dismember: 16
Thoughtseize: 16
Grief: 16
Chaos Defiler: 16
Mind Twist: 15
Force of Will: 14
Urza's Saga: 14
Karakas: 14
Fury: 14
Seasoned Pyromancer: 14
Remand: 14
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse: 14
Hymn to Tourach: 14
Pest Infestation: 14
Currency Converter: 13
Caves of Chaos Adventurer: 13
Necron Deathmark: 13
From the Catacombs: 13
Strip Mine: 13
Kolaghan's Command: 13
Bayou: 12
Mana Leak: 12
Occult Epiphany: 12
Archon of Cruelty: 12
Delayed Blast Fireball: 12
Forth Eorlingas!: 12
Dark Confidant: 12
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy: 12
Ertai Resurrected: 12
Reanimate: 12
Demonic Tutor: 12
Mawloc: 12
Palantir of Orthanc: 12
Baleful Mastery: 12
Ledger Shredder: 11
Gitaxian Probe: 11
Mana Drain: 11
Questing Beast: 11
Esika's Chariot: 11
Elvish Mystic: 11
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker: 11
Kari Zev, Skyship Raider: 11
Orcish Bowmasters: 11
Atraxa, Grand Unifier: 11
Baleful Strix: 11
Bitter Triumph: 11
Ignoble Hierarch: 11
Stomping Ground: 11
Undermountain Adventurer: 11
Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes: 11
Talisman of Unity: 10
Thraben Inspector: 10
Palace Jailer: 10
Retrofitter Foundry: 10
Force Spike: 10
Swords to Plowshares: 10
Llanowar Elves: 10
Hullbreacher: 10
Mox Diamond: 10
Noble Hierarch: 10
Lightning Bolt: 10
Chain Lightning: 10
Fiery Confluence: 10
Chrome Host Seedshark: 10
Bloodchief's Thirst: 10
Lose Focus: 10
Daze: 10
Wheel of Fortune: 10
Glorybringer: 10
I'm not surprised about this one. Flash is hell of an effect. I'm really not a fan of Shriekmaw personally, I'm probably going to cut Shriekmaw for this.
I will speak from experience is that there were several times where I went to time and I would like to run to the facilities OR grab a quick drink before the next round. There were also several times where I misreported tournament results.
My thoughts are I'm sorry you had a bit of a bad pre-release experience, stuff like this happens.
That's basically the only good matchup for Braids, and initiative can already do the same thing. I've found slower decks in general are on the back foot anyways and I really shouldn't go out of my way to punish them. That's part of the reason why I don't play things like Thrun, the Last Troll / Carnage Tyrant anymore. Braids has basically been reduced to a "gotcha" card, but again it's much harder to lock opponents down when 2-3 cmc creatures are so efficient now and flood the board with creature / artifact tokens.
I've found there are several cases where if I don't get a stax effect ASAP, i lose on the following turn.
While you can can still cheese an opponent with an early Braids / Smokestack, I feel like this is more of the exception in scenarios where you have an extremely good hand against an opponent having a poor hand. Even then, any initiative enabler will probably be just as good if not better in those exact same scenarios. At this point Braids is pretty much completely outclassed / obsolete in comparison to any initiative enabler, not to mention Sheoldred / Rankle. The only reason I'd consider justifying Smokestack today would be for critical mass for Mishra's Workshop, but even that's a stretch for me given today's options.
I can see what you're saying about SmokeStack but definitely not Braids. I had several games where I was able to get her out on turn 3 from an aggro/ creature toolbox deck where she was essentially a recurring Avalanche Riders.
I've found Braids is often the best tool a creature toolbox deck tool has against slower control/ combo strategies. I couldn't touch this until I see a better 4 CMC option.
Phantom Interference would be a coin toss for me, but Pact of Negation is something I would only consider if I was really desperate something like Storm / Worldgorger Dragon / etc to have a counterspell to protect their combo.
I'd much rather play Delay over any 3-cmc like Three Steps Ahead. IMO Delay compares well with a lot of tier 2 counterspells:
- Negate
- Spell Pierce
- Phantom Interference
- Dress Down (not technically a counterspell, but plays in the same space)
Three Steps Ahead isn't the best card ever, but having a hard 3 CMC counter spell AND a blue card that scales well into the late game for artifact/ control decks has been good. It's one of those cards that wouldn't have 2+ in your cube but having 1 has been great.
Pact of Negation is a card I really liked during the Arena cube and I'm a sucker for Amonkhet Invocation foils, which has tipped it. Again, having a card that can protect your combo AND be a good counterspell in the late game to protect your 6 drop can be great. I'm actively trying to find a slot for it.
Yah, my opinion of Decay is incredibly negative TBH because I once countered a Primeval Titan and it came down after 3 turns with haste and was essentially a suspend 2.
- You can make a strong argument for Delay over the two new spree cards or something like Negate / Spell Pierce / etc. I think the game has gotten to a point where Delay is more favorable than ever since timing / tempo are more important than ever. Games are decided more by speed / tempo than they are grinding out the most card advantage. Timing is especially crucial vs monarch / initiative, breaking up a combo like Demonic Consultation + Thassa's Oracle, or protecting your Worldgorger Dragon. This also completely blanks scaleable spells like Pest Infestation / Occult Epiphany / Forth Eorlingas (although your opponent can still become the monarch with Forth)
There are two counterspells not in my cube right now that I would rank higher than this:
I think Delay is worth revisiting in 2024. Cards like Soul Partition have been doing well for me because tempo is more important than ever now. There are a lot of reasons why I think Delay has appreciated over time.
- Delay wasn't very favorable back in the day since games were much grindier, but games are generally faster now.
- Delay is especially good vs pitch spells, which there are much more of now.
- Protecting your threats from removal is more key now since they hit harder and faster than ever (especially with initiative).
- Things like monarch / initiative can be very timing dependent. Delaying them means your opponent might be forced into a position later where it would be unfavorable for them to cast their monarch / initiative enabler.
- Teferi, Time Raveler shuts down casting spells via suspsend. The newly printed Aven Interrupter also provides a small speed bump. It's also pretty funny to just hit your opponent's suspend card with Remand / Reprieve.
The problem is the creature has haste - which essentially makes this a suspend 2. But then again, we have two good counterspells printed recently, I could barely find room for 1. I'm surprised this is brought up now.
I'm wondering if Aether Vial is playble given the enormous number of strong white 2-3 drops. I've seen this described as "the best white 1-drop in constructed". In addition to all the points there, I think the mana fixing from Aether Vial can be incredibly important:
- I'm seeing more 3c decks, especially ones playing Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker struggling with hitting the correct mana.
- I think with all the artifact/ looting effects, in particular Broadside Bombardiers / Legion Extruder, I think the downside of drawing this in the late game isn't that bad.
I'm considering adding this into my cube and literally adding this as a White 1-drop.
I'm going to revisit this card. There is so much more counters support now and probably most importantly abilities that passively add counters that this is going to pump out servos.
I'm surprised you rate Duelist of the Mind so high. I thought the card is good, but outside draw 7 decks it doesn't hit that hard, and regardless of deck it isn't spectacular on defense, which kinda sucks when some of its best synergies cost you life (Sylvan Library) or need you to protect them (Jace, the Mind Sculptor). Also surprised by Sandstorm Salvager being so far down the list, that was one of the headliners for me this set.
It's not hard to trigger Duelist of the Mind off normal cantrips or its crime trigger. Its value goes up substantially in a cube that heavily supports draw 7s and monarch / initiative. I think its average case scenario will be far above most 2-cmc creatures, especially given its insane ceiling. Also, you don't have to pay life for Sylvan Library to draw more cards, you pay life to keep them.
Sandstorm Salvager is pretty much where I'd put Blade Splicer today. And I'd argue that Blade Splicer is better in white than Salvager is in green due to its blink synergies.
+1 to Duelist. I'ved played Ledger Shredder for years and its been an incredible card for spells-matters archetype. I would anticipate Duelist to be much better/ flexible given that commit a crime is much easier to trigger.
I've played half a year of UR Ledger Shredder Splinter Twin in Legacy and I can attest that the card's ability to attack/ block and filter makes it ideal for tempo and combo decks.
I'm not surprised about this one. Flash is hell of an effect. I'm really not a fan of Shriekmaw personally, I'm probably going to cut Shriekmaw for this.
My thoughts are I'm sorry you had a bit of a bad pre-release experience, stuff like this happens.
There were so many good cards in this set, but I just couldn't find room for them!
Sandstorm Salvager / Blue counterspells are three examples!
I've found there are several cases where if I don't get a stax effect ASAP, i lose on the following turn.
I can see what you're saying about SmokeStack but definitely not Braids. I had several games where I was able to get her out on turn 3 from an aggro/ creature toolbox deck where she was essentially a recurring Avalanche Riders.
I've found Braids is often the best tool a creature toolbox deck tool has against slower control/ combo strategies. I couldn't touch this until I see a better 4 CMC option.
Three Steps Ahead isn't the best card ever, but having a hard 3 CMC counter spell AND a blue card that scales well into the late game for artifact/ control decks has been good. It's one of those cards that wouldn't have 2+ in your cube but having 1 has been great.
Pact of Negation is a card I really liked during the Arena cube and I'm a sucker for Amonkhet Invocation foils, which has tipped it. Again, having a card that can protect your combo AND be a good counterspell in the late game to protect your 6 drop can be great. I'm actively trying to find a slot for it.
Yah, my opinion of Decay is incredibly negative TBH because I once countered a Primeval Titan and it came down after 3 turns with haste and was essentially a suspend 2.
There are two counterspells not in my cube right now that I would rank higher than this:
- Pact of Negation
- Phantom Interference
I think Phantom is a much safer pick than this.
The problem is the creature has haste - which essentially makes this a suspend 2. But then again, we have two good counterspells printed recently, I could barely find room for 1. I'm surprised this is brought up now.
- I'm seeing more 3c decks, especially ones playing Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker struggling with hitting the correct mana.
- I think with all the artifact/ looting effects, in particular Broadside Bombardiers / Legion Extruder, I think the downside of drawing this in the late game isn't that bad.
I'm considering adding this into my cube and literally adding this as a White 1-drop.
I feel this is just Finale of Devastation with a more restrictive cost.
I'm struggling to find room for the majority of the cards from the new set, let alone a potential Hardened Scales archetype.
+1 to Duelist. I'ved played Ledger Shredder for years and its been an incredible card for spells-matters archetype. I would anticipate Duelist to be much better/ flexible given that commit a crime is much easier to trigger.
I've played half a year of UR Ledger Shredder Splinter Twin in Legacy and I can attest that the card's ability to attack/ block and filter makes it ideal for tempo and combo decks.
There are just WAYY to many good options nowadays and I find I need someone to summarize it for us with recommendations. I didn't realized there were:
- Thunderclap Drake
- Elemental Eruption
I been waiting for another Baral, Chief of Compliance for a long time.
Oh damn. I didn't see that either! This seems like a godsend for persist.