Karakas is another. Show and Tell decks run Karakas to blow up opponents' Karakases (Karakii?). I'm not sure if this change hurts SnT decks or helps them more.
It has to hurt them. A single Show and Tell can't beat a Karakas. You now have to have real LD, or run two creatures out on Sneak Attack at once.
The fact you can board in Emrakul against Show and Tell and potentially get to attack first with it doesn't help either.
Wouldn't break Limited.. It really should be in MM at rare. It's the best discard spell available, but nothing about it screams mythic, except the price tag. So of course it'll be mythic.
For planeswalkers, I'd argue, it makes PERFECT flavor sense (at least for some). Take Nicol Bolas. Can't you imagine Nicol Bolas helping both sides in a conflict and playing them both for fools?
"Gideon/Vraska/Bolas/Ajani, become a creature/-3/+2/-2 and kill yourself!" does not make any flavor sense.
Same applies for creatures attacking/blocking themselves.
Total % of people that play said deck is far more important to determining top 8's 16's then how good the deck is.
The 'hot' decks of the format at the time always do better by default, because they make up the largest portions of the field. Yes I agree, those decks are at the least very good, but Legacy is filled to the brim with great decks. Being a great pilot of a deck is far more important to Legacy then just playing the supposed best deck.
I played in a 40ish person Legacy side event at GP Seattle about a year ago where the top prize was a mox pearl. I made top 8 with solitaire enchantress in that tournament where Delver and Stoneblade were basically everywhere. I did that partly due to some good luck in draws/pairings but also due to how much I have played the deck.
D&T (and every other fringe deck) can sneak up on people at times, but that doesn't mean they're as good a choice to play with as consistent T8 decks.
I agree that the pilot is more important than the deck, but a great player playing a great deck (Stoneblade) has a much better chance to place than a great player playing a good deck (D&T).
Actually, wrong! It won an SCG open, top 4d another one... Among other things. Now compare that to RUG delver. How many SCG events has it won this year? Exactly.
When? Not in this calendar year. I really don't like looking like an idiot, so before I sent my first post I searched every relevant D&T card in SCG/TCGPlayer's deck databases. There was nothing. Maybe they were missing like 1 event, but even so, 1 extra T8 is still ~15 less than 3-5 other decks. If you can link me the win result, I'll happily concede that to you, but not that D&T is a better deck than RUG.
I think there is something people are ignoring to make Chandra good, 2 + abilities (a la Elspeth, Knight-Errant) and a minus Ultimate.
1RR Loyality 3
+1 Deal 2 damage to target Creature and Deal 1 Damage to target player
+1 Deal 3 Damage to target Creature or Player, if a creature dies this way, exile it instead
-6 Each opponent sacrifices all lands, creatures and artifacts they control.
(Pushed to the point where Red mages would love)
*Looks at Ral Zarek*
-2: Lightning Bolt
*looks at your Chandra* +1: Lightning Bolt, w/ exile clause
Infinite free Bolts. And asymmetrical Obliterate on turn 6, which you will hit, because you're bolting every creature your opponent plays. Seems good.
Why not make it 1R, and give Red it's entry in the OP two drop spot? Wouldn't be a creature, but I'd take it! You could even drop the first and last ability and that'd be good enough.
EDIT: Not lightning bolt. Volcanic Hammer. w/e. It's still too good.
You can't have a preview card in a set of "cards that have been in winning decklists". Unless there's time travel involved.
Unless that card is so insanely pushed that we'll have no choice but to play it en masse at every event for every format next year. Wouldn't that be fun?
Gaze of granite will see play when people can't get pernicious deed, but is not nearly as strong
I don't know about that.. is it even better than Punishment? I guess you get walkers as well, but I don't see that as worth the extra mana, considering there are 2-4 walkers that see play in the format.
Wow. The 4 mana is hard, but this absolutely ruins Brainstorm/Jace decks. You get to draw their cards, and they still have to lock the top of their deck. This is absolutely legacy testable.
Nothing like having to Spell Pierce your own Brainstorm.
Well, I was looking for a finisher for my Standard Pillow Fort deck that wasn't shut down by Witchbane Orb. This is that. Easily my favorite card of this set, even if it's not the greatest for Constructed.
There are no replacements for Goyf. Otherwise those would be played alongside Goyf. If you don't have Goyfs, play a different deck until you can get Goyfs.
QFT. I tried using Skinshifter, Putrid Leech, Quirion Dryad, etc. as Goyf replacements. They don't cut it.
You could try Putrid Leech though. It does beat for a lot, until your opponent plays a real Tarmogoyf.
It has to hurt them. A single Show and Tell can't beat a Karakas. You now have to have real LD, or run two creatures out on Sneak Attack at once.
The fact you can board in Emrakul against Show and Tell and potentially get to attack first with it doesn't help either.
"Gideon/Vraska/Bolas/Ajani, become a creature/-3/+2/-2 and kill yourself!" does not make any flavor sense.
Same applies for creatures attacking/blocking themselves.
D&T (and every other fringe deck) can sneak up on people at times, but that doesn't mean they're as good a choice to play with as consistent T8 decks.
I agree that the pilot is more important than the deck, but a great player playing a great deck (Stoneblade) has a much better chance to place than a great player playing a good deck (D&T).
When? Not in this calendar year. I really don't like looking like an idiot, so before I sent my first post I searched every relevant D&T card in SCG/TCGPlayer's deck databases. There was nothing. Maybe they were missing like 1 event, but even so, 1 extra T8 is still ~15 less than 3-5 other decks. If you can link me the win result, I'll happily concede that to you, but not that D&T is a better deck than RUG.
*Looks at Ral Zarek*
-2: Lightning Bolt
*looks at your Chandra*
+1: Lightning Bolt, w/ exile clause
Infinite free Bolts. And asymmetrical Obliterate on turn 6, which you will hit, because you're bolting every creature your opponent plays. Seems good.
Why not make it 1R, and give Red it's entry in the OP two drop spot? Wouldn't be a creature, but I'd take it! You could even drop the first and last ability and that'd be good enough.
EDIT: Not lightning bolt. Volcanic Hammer. w/e. It's still too good.
Meaning what? How many D&T's were there in every other GP/SCG event top 16 this year? Oh, zero? Cool.
One GP win doesn't put it on par with Sneak/Show, Stoneblade, Jund, and everything else that has outperformed it this season.
Unless that card is so insanely pushed that we'll have no choice but to play it en masse at every event for every format next year. Wouldn't that be fun?
No, I agree. I like the Deed effect. Crime/Punishment does it for 1 less though. It just doesn't hit walkers like the new one does.
I don't know about that.. is it even better than Punishment? I guess you get walkers as well, but I don't see that as worth the extra mana, considering there are 2-4 walkers that see play in the format.
Nothing like having to Spell Pierce your own Brainstorm.
QFT. I tried using Skinshifter, Putrid Leech, Quirion Dryad, etc. as Goyf replacements. They don't cut it.
You could try Putrid Leech though. It does beat for a lot, until your opponent plays a real Tarmogoyf.
A Pro Tour in Dublin is nice though. Looks like I'll be going all out that PTQ season. Would love to take a trip back home.