I have a night's worth of testing in with Ashiok and I think it's more than good enough. In about 5 games, its kill count sits at two. It ramps up very quickly in colors that are able to protect it. Even against an aggressive draw, the minus ability is very doable and still allows your PW to stick around. I definitely expect this to pop up in more lists.
Sphinx was pretty good. My opponent tried to remove it several times to snag a card out of my hand, but the fact that I had already seen 8-10 cards and pushed them to the bottom to find my bombs offset that. The ability to bin a card is also no joke. I set up some fun plays with Reanimate/Whip. I don't have enough data to say for sure, but I'm at least willing to keep it in for a while.
Just posting to say this was absurd in my U/B tempoish deck last night. The lifelink was completely nuts at that cost. Black just doesn't get a lot of opportunities to offset the life loss its known for. In my deck with fetches, shocks, Sign in Blood effects, Bitterblossom, and a lack of an early game, the whip never felt dead.
I was able to fling in a Grave Titan, a couple value guys, and even just randomly grabbing a 2/2 was good. I had a few opportunities to fling a Myr Battlesphere as well, but I opted to leave the bigger stuff in my SB in favor of boarding into Ankh and some other aggressive stuff.
Anyway, Whip has my full attention and I expect it to stick around for a while.
True, but I'm trying to think of when it would be relevant...when you attacked with it and then they draw the removal on their turn? Otherwise, the function might as well be the same, right?
-AA
That's a pretty likely scenario. It also matters if your opponent has multiple removal spells.
The fact that you have to discard AND tap it to give hexproof is a HUGE turnoff for me. I'll be passing on this; I like Sphinx of Lost Truths better as incidental discard at the same point on the curve (and same size body). SoLT also has a pretty big upside, although Scry 3 is no joke.
-AA
The tap is not part of the activation.
Scry 3 is kind of nuts. Other blue options at 5 are generally pretty lukewarm. I'll be testing for sure.
I can't imagine how big my cube would need to be to cube this card. Probably at least 900 cards.
900, man. Tell us how you really feel.
This card has some interesting scenarios that have me pretty excited to test it. It also happens to be a planeswalker which are notoriously difficult to evaluate which means that 100% of them are tested regardless of public opinion. I am optimistic that this does more than just gain some life and mill a few cards.
This card is better in smaller cubes, not the other way around. More ready access to creature engines like Bitterblossom, Skeleton, Ghast, etc.
I'll be testing it. It's a mid-to-late game card that presents a very difficult to deal with kill condition that just happens to be a reasonable 2-drop. If this card could hit creatures it would be absurd. Let's not be greedy
Happy 4th of July, all! Sorry I haven't been around lately. I'm fairly deep into the home buying process and it is literally sucked every last ounce of my free time. I've also been working on building up cube the forums/content over at Riptidelab.com. I still get to check the Salvation threads over lunch, but posting from my phone is painful. Aaaaaanyway.
The latest episode of Joy of Cubing is up! This week I am joined by Adam Prosak to discuss supporting combo. We discuss various builds, support cards, and archetypes. Enjoy!
Good morning, all! I've been on a short hiatus as I transitioned into my new job. I am now settled in and will be back to regular episodes every 2-4 weeks. The latest episode is up over at Gathering Magic -
I added this a few months ago, but have yet to see it actually do anything yet. I don't want to cut it just yet just because I can't remember seeing it in the draft pool, but I'm not exactly optimistic it'll survive.
Had Lavinia in a draft last night and was thoroughly impressed. I was surprised how useful shutting off non-creature permanents was. I set up a soft-lock a few times with Karakas and imagine it'd be equally easy to set up with something like Venser, the Sojourner. She bought time in situations I needed to get additional mana or cards.
I could definitely see Lavinia being better than Grand Arbiter. I look forward to more testing.
On my long commutes, I like that I have a 1.5-2 hour conversational podcast. Keeps my drive light and I like that I can focus on one thing the entire time. When I have a shorter commute or less time to listen, the conversational podcasts just don't work for me and I'd rather listen to something shorter or more structured or music. Maybe I'm just impatient?
I think both have their merits and I don't think either format is better. FWIW, I think this format works for you both because you guys have good radio chemistry, so I wouldn't try to change it up.
I was able to fling in a Grave Titan, a couple value guys, and even just randomly grabbing a 2/2 was good. I had a few opportunities to fling a Myr Battlesphere as well, but I opted to leave the bigger stuff in my SB in favor of boarding into Ankh and some other aggressive stuff.
Anyway, Whip has my full attention and I expect it to stick around for a while.
Scry 3 is kind of nuts. Other blue options at 5 are generally pretty lukewarm. I'll be testing for sure.
This card has some interesting scenarios that have me pretty excited to test it. It also happens to be a planeswalker which are notoriously difficult to evaluate which means that 100% of them are tested regardless of public opinion. I am optimistic that this does more than just gain some life and mill a few cards.
I'll be testing it. It's a mid-to-late game card that presents a very difficult to deal with kill condition that just happens to be a reasonable 2-drop. If this card could hit creatures it would be absurd. Let's not be greedy
The latest episode of Joy of Cubing is up! This week I am joined by Adam Prosak to discuss supporting combo. We discuss various builds, support cards, and archetypes. Enjoy!
Joy of Cubing - Supporting Combo
http://www.gatheringmagic.com/return-to-ravnica-block-retrospective/
Enjoy
I'll address any thread comments and emails at that time as well. Thanks for your support and patience!
I could definitely see Lavinia being better than Grand Arbiter. I look forward to more testing.
I think both have their merits and I don't think either format is better. FWIW, I think this format works for you both because you guys have good radio chemistry, so I wouldn't try to change it up.
I have nothing further to add to this discussion.