With Origins being standard legal for the next year, you can buy or sell right now pretty well. Most of the Origins cards are pretty established price-wise and getting a reserve list card for him isn't a bad choice. More than likely Jace should settle somewhat.
As far as modern decks using him you can check various sites that have decklists showing him being played, like this one: http://www.mtgstocks.com/decks/formats/Modern/card/16901 to show that he is being played and having some success.
I had an opportunity to play Modern again so my youngest and I sleeved up last Thursday. I switched a couple of cards out to see how well they would work in comparison. Here’s the deck:
I took out the three Restoration Angels and replaced them with two Deputy of Acquittals and a third Qasali Pridemage. I also put the two Fiend Hunters in the sideboard and replaced them with two Kytheon, Hero of Akros. The intent was to bring the mana cost down and still have a way to protect anything already on the board, and increase the human contingent. As an example, if I had six lands in play and I just played a Siege Rhino I would have to wait a turn to protect him with the Angel where I could protect him right there with the Deputy. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to utilize the Deputy that much, so it may be moot and having a flying Angel with upside might be more important. Not sure, but I’m going to put two of the angels in the sideboard. I did like having the third Pridemage though. It helped increase the frequency to be able to deal with those pesky artifacts and enchantments.
The Fiend Hunter and Kytheon switch wasn’t warranted though. I wasn’t able to play Kytheon that often, but when I did he never got to transform and in most of the sideboarded games I pulled him out and put the Hunters back in, so bye-bye to the Hero.
I ended up 3-0-1, splitting in the finals (fortunately with my son who was playing Grixis Delver).
Match play:
Round 1: versus Mike with Naya Company (2-1)
First game I mulled all the way down to 4. I still held out for a bit, to see what he was playing, but after his first Wild Nacatl and with me showing no way to pull out of it I scooped. The next game we battled back and forth. A buffed up Champion of the Parish with Lyev Skyknight detaining the right blockers helped get him into Rhino range. It was close, since he would have likely won on the next turn. I was able to put a good deal of pressure on him in the third game with a turn one Champion of the Parish and another one on turn two in addition to a Noble Hierarch. He played a defensive Collected Company for two creatures a couple of turns later where I was able to remove one of them with a Fiend Hunter to keep him on the back foot. He tried to play another CoCo and I Mystic Snaked it and attacked for the win.
Round 2: versus Roman with Burn (2-0)
He got out a quick Goblin Guide and Eidolon of the Great Revel and was happily whittling away my life total, but I was able to stop any Lightning Bolt Shenanigans with Meddling Mage (after the game he told me he drew his first Bolt right after I named it). Fortunately he didn’t get another direct damage spell too soon before I was able to play a Rhino and regain some life and stave off some hits. He then ran into a glut of land which gave me the time to proceed with the Rhino beatdown.
The second game started on a humorous note when I played a second turn Meddling Mage naming Lightning Bolt again. He then suspended a Rift Bolt. I then played another Meddling Mage naming Rift Bolt (for those that don’t know since he’s unable to cast Rift Bolt it will stay exiled). We laughed and on his upkeep, in response to the Rift Bolt trigger he cast Path to Exile on my Mage that named Rift Bolt, which in turn targeted the Mage naming Lightning Bolt. I sort of lost on the whole, but that damage didn’t come at me so I got some needed breathing room to play my other creatures and not take the damage to the face. I played a Champion and Sin Collector next turn (taking a Searing Blaze), and saw two Lightning Helix, EotGR, Grim Lavamancer, and a Lightning Bolt. He sided in a lot of direct damage. Fortunately for me he was stuck on two lands for way too long. The final turn came with him trying to stay alive against my Rhino and a smaller creature (I don’t recall what it was offhand). He used the Lavamancer’s ability on the Rhino and then tried to Lightning Helix him, but a sneaky Mystic Snake struck to save the day (again).
Round 3: versus Kyle with B/W Tokens (2-0)
In our first game I was able to proceed at a good pace with some quick beats. He wasn’t able to make his spirits and faeries larger or remove my guys fast enough, so I ran over him without much effort. In the second game I started with 2 land, CotP, 2 Meddling Mage, a Fiend Hunter and a Mystic Snake. On his first turn he plays Inquisition of Kozilek trying to decide whether to take a mage or the champion and finally decides on the mage. I play the Champion and on his second turn he takes the other mage (these guys really pull their weight). He plays Spectral Procession followed by an Intangible Virtue and smacks me for 6. Next turn I pull one of my Pridemages and remove that problem. Nevertheless, the game goes on and I get him into single digits with various creatures, but he’s holding his own with his spirits and a Vault of the Archangel. The longer the game goes the more chance he has to get back into it, so losing a few creatures to get some damage through is worth it. Finally I deplete him of his spirits and we go to his turn. He draws his card and says, “That’s a good one.” He taps three white producing lands and plays another Spectral Procession (with enough mana up to activate the Vault). Fortunately that Mystic Snake I had from the beginning saved the game and I won on the next swing (he had forgotten I had it).
I knew that Kytheon and the Deputies weren’t staying so I had to think of what I wanted to replace them with. The Fiend Hunters are going back in for the time being since they do have their place (until something better comes along). There are still two more slots that I want to change and I’m not sure what would be good (too bad Mother of Runes isn’t Modern legal). I think for now I’ll put the Eternal Witnesses in, but here are a few others that I’ve thought of:
Along with that I’m going to put in one Forest and one Plains. I’ve had Path to Exile used on me enough without being able to search for anything so hopefully it’ll balance out. Being able to have more resiliency against Blood Moon won’t be a bad thing either. My least desirable land is Pillar of the Paruns and since I can’t use them for a third of the deck it shouldn’t be a problem to remove a couple of them. Here’s the current rendition:
Hopefully you've already gotten your card, but for reference, you can probably pick any of the well known online stores (SCG, ChannelFireball, TCG, Coolstuff, etc.). I'm sure they'd be able to help.
I just did a quick check on Google for "Canadian MTG stores" and Wizard's Tower looks pretty close to you:
Here are a few that I dealt with getting my "around the world" Foil Nykthos set:
Chinese: MTGMintCard. One of the largest sellers of Simplified Chinese cards (last I knew they didn't deal with Traditional Chinese). Dealt with once and worked fine. They have a comprehensive online buylist.
Japanese: Saito's card shop. Used them once with no problems. TokyoMTG. I have dealt with them twice with good experiences.
European: Magic Bazaar (France). Dealt with once with no problems. Not sure if they have an English translation for their website, but Google Chrome should be able to translate most of it. Decent online buylist. Miracle Games (Germany). Haven't dealt with them, but did speak with them a few times and seemed decent.
Of course there is always (MCM) Magic Card Market, If you know of anyone across the pond they could probably help you there.
That's all that I've dealt with personally, but I'm sure there are more if you look hard enough. For example, I found a small shop in Taiwan for the Traditional Chinese card I needed, but I ended up going through one of my contacts on a different trading site that helped me, so I didn't actually utilize them.
Jace represents 4 cards to help dig, for a total of 22 including Tutelage. Mainly, it taps once, loots, flips, and flashes back one of 12 Sorcery draw spells to draw a second time that turn. It also is a target for removal so if it doesn't help draw it at least reduces damage.
Anybody not running Jace has a hard time replacing him. Monastery Siege offers similar draw power -harder to kill but also less explosive than flashbacking Treasure Cruise. A card like Dragons Eye Savants offers no draw power but hopes to reduce damage more. I suppose the rest of the deck would need adjusting to properly balance (more controlling cards?) for a longer game. I expect the plan is less effective, but who knows?
Is Taigam's Scheming worth 4x to accelerate finding those Tutelages? What does it replace?
I agree that Jace should be in there. I tried it without any Jaces this past Game Day (only had one at the time). The one interesting situation that came into play was with Erebos's Titan. Since I didn't have any creatures the only way I was able to stabilize against him was with Send to Sleep, Whelming Wave, or the side-boarded Disperse. Unfortunately, none came in time except for the un-useable Roast I had in hand.
I ran 4 Faerie Miscreant in a 8 man draft this past weekend and they worked really well. It was a U/B deck with Nantuko Husk, Macabre Waltz, Separatist Voidmage, and Throwing Knife for some of the cards I had (I did pull some rares, but ended up not playing any). I drew a good deal of extra cards from them (I'm guessing off hand that I probably got an extra dozen or so cards over the first 6 games I played).
They get in there early for a few points and staved off some big beats. In the 2nd round, 3rd game I had 3 in play, blocked with 2 to prevent about 7 damage, and played Macabre Waltz next turn to get them back to rinse and repeat. Funny thing was that I got all 4 in the last 7-8 cards of the draft.
Just wondering if anyone else has had good results with these guys?
A dozen extra cards drawn over 6 games? So you were averaging 2 extra cards per game on only 4 faeries? Magical Christmasland! On a serious note the card can be good with equipment.
Yea, I was surprised myself. Mind you, I did have an Artificer's Epiphany and Read the Bones in my 40 as well, so that helped. I drew at least 4 extra cards off of them in 2 of the games (in different rounds) with Macabre Waltz. There was one game I only drew one card and the other 3 games I drew a couple each time.
I agree with what everyone is saying though. I didn't think they would be that beneficial either, (obviously since they were in the back half of pack 3) but they were. Have to try it again someday to confirm the fluke.
I ran 4 Faerie Miscreant in a 8 man draft this past weekend and they worked really well. It was a U/B deck with Nantuko Husk, Macabre Waltz, Separatist Voidmage, and Throwing Knife for some of the cards I had (I did pull some rares, but ended up not playing any). I drew a good deal of extra cards from them (I'm guessing off hand that I probably got an extra dozen or so cards over the first 6 games I played).
They get in there early for a few points and staved off some big beats. In the 2nd round, 3rd game I had 3 in play, blocked with 2 to prevent about 7 damage, and played Macabre Waltz next turn to get them back to rinse and repeat. Funny thing was that I got all 4 in the last 7-8 cards of the draft.
Just wondering if anyone else has had good results with these guys?
It looks like SCG recently stopped providing the top 8 tournament reports. Is this a new development or something they've said was coming (I actually enjoyed reading them).
I've ordered a couple of times from them with no issues. They also honor their orders (ordered 4 Den Protectors when they were at $2.50. They spiked to $6 within the next couple of days and I still got them).
I've put together a G/W squirrel deck with Trostani, Selesnya's Voice as the commander for my son. She's a decent lifegain option (especially with Earthcraft/Squirrel Nest). I've listed an older version of the deck in this forum awhile back, but some of the nice cards I thought to add into the deck are:
As far as modern decks using him you can check various sites that have decklists showing him being played, like this one: http://www.mtgstocks.com/decks/formats/Modern/card/16901 to show that he is being played and having some success.
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Mantis Rider
4 Siege Rhino
4 Meddling Mage
3 Mystic Snake
3 Qasali Pridemage
3 Lyev Skyknight
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Deputy of Acquittals
2 Anafenza, the Foremost
2 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4 Ancient Ziggurat
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Horizon Canopy
4 Pillar of the Paruns
2 Reflecting Pool
1 Copperline Gorge
2 Darkslick Shores
3 Seachrome Coast
2 Sin Collector
2 Eternal Witness
2 Izzet Staticaster
2 Lavinia of the Tenth
2 Spellskite
2 Manic Vandal
2 Fiend Hunter
1 Saffi Eriksdotter
I took out the three Restoration Angels and replaced them with two Deputy of Acquittals and a third Qasali Pridemage. I also put the two Fiend Hunters in the sideboard and replaced them with two Kytheon, Hero of Akros. The intent was to bring the mana cost down and still have a way to protect anything already on the board, and increase the human contingent. As an example, if I had six lands in play and I just played a Siege Rhino I would have to wait a turn to protect him with the Angel where I could protect him right there with the Deputy. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to utilize the Deputy that much, so it may be moot and having a flying Angel with upside might be more important. Not sure, but I’m going to put two of the angels in the sideboard. I did like having the third Pridemage though. It helped increase the frequency to be able to deal with those pesky artifacts and enchantments.
The Fiend Hunter and Kytheon switch wasn’t warranted though. I wasn’t able to play Kytheon that often, but when I did he never got to transform and in most of the sideboarded games I pulled him out and put the Hunters back in, so bye-bye to the Hero.
I ended up 3-0-1, splitting in the finals (fortunately with my son who was playing Grixis Delver).
Match play:
Round 1: versus Mike with Naya Company (2-1)
First game I mulled all the way down to 4. I still held out for a bit, to see what he was playing, but after his first Wild Nacatl and with me showing no way to pull out of it I scooped. The next game we battled back and forth. A buffed up Champion of the Parish with Lyev Skyknight detaining the right blockers helped get him into Rhino range. It was close, since he would have likely won on the next turn. I was able to put a good deal of pressure on him in the third game with a turn one Champion of the Parish and another one on turn two in addition to a Noble Hierarch. He played a defensive Collected Company for two creatures a couple of turns later where I was able to remove one of them with a Fiend Hunter to keep him on the back foot. He tried to play another CoCo and I Mystic Snaked it and attacked for the win.
Round 2: versus Roman with Burn (2-0)
He got out a quick Goblin Guide and Eidolon of the Great Revel and was happily whittling away my life total, but I was able to stop any Lightning Bolt Shenanigans with Meddling Mage (after the game he told me he drew his first Bolt right after I named it). Fortunately he didn’t get another direct damage spell too soon before I was able to play a Rhino and regain some life and stave off some hits. He then ran into a glut of land which gave me the time to proceed with the Rhino beatdown.
The second game started on a humorous note when I played a second turn Meddling Mage naming Lightning Bolt again. He then suspended a Rift Bolt. I then played another Meddling Mage naming Rift Bolt (for those that don’t know since he’s unable to cast Rift Bolt it will stay exiled). We laughed and on his upkeep, in response to the Rift Bolt trigger he cast Path to Exile on my Mage that named Rift Bolt, which in turn targeted the Mage naming Lightning Bolt. I sort of lost on the whole, but that damage didn’t come at me so I got some needed breathing room to play my other creatures and not take the damage to the face. I played a Champion and Sin Collector next turn (taking a Searing Blaze), and saw two Lightning Helix, EotGR, Grim Lavamancer, and a Lightning Bolt. He sided in a lot of direct damage. Fortunately for me he was stuck on two lands for way too long. The final turn came with him trying to stay alive against my Rhino and a smaller creature (I don’t recall what it was offhand). He used the Lavamancer’s ability on the Rhino and then tried to Lightning Helix him, but a sneaky Mystic Snake struck to save the day (again).
Round 3: versus Kyle with B/W Tokens (2-0)
In our first game I was able to proceed at a good pace with some quick beats. He wasn’t able to make his spirits and faeries larger or remove my guys fast enough, so I ran over him without much effort. In the second game I started with 2 land, CotP, 2 Meddling Mage, a Fiend Hunter and a Mystic Snake. On his first turn he plays Inquisition of Kozilek trying to decide whether to take a mage or the champion and finally decides on the mage. I play the Champion and on his second turn he takes the other mage (these guys really pull their weight). He plays Spectral Procession followed by an Intangible Virtue and smacks me for 6. Next turn I pull one of my Pridemages and remove that problem. Nevertheless, the game goes on and I get him into single digits with various creatures, but he’s holding his own with his spirits and a Vault of the Archangel. The longer the game goes the more chance he has to get back into it, so losing a few creatures to get some damage through is worth it. Finally I deplete him of his spirits and we go to his turn. He draws his card and says, “That’s a good one.” He taps three white producing lands and plays another Spectral Procession (with enough mana up to activate the Vault). Fortunately that Mystic Snake I had from the beginning saved the game and I won on the next swing (he had forgotten I had it).
I knew that Kytheon and the Deputies weren’t staying so I had to think of what I wanted to replace them with. The Fiend Hunters are going back in for the time being since they do have their place (until something better comes along). There are still two more slots that I want to change and I’m not sure what would be good (too bad Mother of Runes isn’t Modern legal). I think for now I’ll put the Eternal Witnesses in, but here are a few others that I’ve thought of:
Along with that I’m going to put in one Forest and one Plains. I’ve had Path to Exile used on me enough without being able to search for anything so hopefully it’ll balance out. Being able to have more resiliency against Blood Moon won’t be a bad thing either. My least desirable land is Pillar of the Paruns and since I can’t use them for a third of the deck it shouldn’t be a problem to remove a couple of them. Here’s the current rendition:
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Mantis Rider
4 Siege Rhino
4 Meddling Mage
3 Mystic Snake
3 Qasali Pridemage
3 Lyev Skyknight
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Fiend Hunter
2 Anafenza, the Foremost
2 Eternal Witness
4 Ancient Ziggurat
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Horizon Canopy
2 Pillar of the Paruns
2 Reflecting Pool
1 Copperline Gorge
2 Darkslick Shores
3 Seachrome Coast
1 Forest
1 Plains
2 Sin Collector
2 Yasova Dragonclaw
2 Izzet Staticaster
2 Lavinia of the Tenth
2 Spellskite
2 Manic Vandal
2 Restoration Angel
1 Orzhov Pontiff
Have fun.
I just did a quick check on Google for "Canadian MTG stores" and Wizard's Tower looks pretty close to you:
http://www.kanatacg.com/
and they have an Enthralling Victor for 0.90 CAD.
Hope this helps.
Eidolon of the Great Revel
Bloodstained Mire
Dragonlord Dromoka
Torrent Elemental
Pile B:
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
Thanks.
Chinese:
MTGMintCard. One of the largest sellers of Simplified Chinese cards (last I knew they didn't deal with Traditional Chinese). Dealt with once and worked fine. They have a comprehensive online buylist.
Japanese:
Saito's card shop. Used them once with no problems.
TokyoMTG. I have dealt with them twice with good experiences.
European:
Magic Bazaar (France). Dealt with once with no problems. Not sure if they have an English translation for their website, but Google Chrome should be able to translate most of it. Decent online buylist.
Miracle Games (Germany). Haven't dealt with them, but did speak with them a few times and seemed decent.
Of course there is always (MCM) Magic Card Market, If you know of anyone across the pond they could probably help you there.
That's all that I've dealt with personally, but I'm sure there are more if you look hard enough. For example, I found a small shop in Taiwan for the Traditional Chinese card I needed, but I ended up going through one of my contacts on a different trading site that helped me, so I didn't actually utilize them.
I agree that Jace should be in there. I tried it without any Jaces this past Game Day (only had one at the time). The one interesting situation that came into play was with Erebos's Titan. Since I didn't have any creatures the only way I was able to stabilize against him was with Send to Sleep, Whelming Wave, or the side-boarded Disperse. Unfortunately, none came in time except for the un-useable Roast I had in hand.
Yea, I was surprised myself. Mind you, I did have an Artificer's Epiphany and Read the Bones in my 40 as well, so that helped. I drew at least 4 extra cards off of them in 2 of the games (in different rounds) with Macabre Waltz. There was one game I only drew one card and the other 3 games I drew a couple each time.
I agree with what everyone is saying though. I didn't think they would be that beneficial either, (obviously since they were in the back half of pack 3) but they were. Have to try it again someday to confirm the fluke.
They get in there early for a few points and staved off some big beats. In the 2nd round, 3rd game I had 3 in play, blocked with 2 to prevent about 7 damage, and played Macabre Waltz next turn to get them back to rinse and repeat. Funny thing was that I got all 4 in the last 7-8 cards of the draft.
Just wondering if anyone else has had good results with these guys?
Soul Foundry (great with Hermit of course)
Helm of Possession
Mentor of the Meek
Vigor
Aura Shards
Glare of Subdual (could go with Opposition if you're blue)
Worship
Hour of Reckoning
Beastmaster Ascension (next thing you know you have 11 7/7 squirrels taking the board down....like he did to me and his younger brother !)
Good luck!