Regisaur Alpha is on a whole other level compared to those Gruul offerings. It's like an aggressive Thragtusk-y variant. 7 power for 5 mana is no joke.
General Fight Club
- Thread starter Jason Waddell
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If you get to curve out with him in IXN draft, it's really dumb to play against because it just dumps so much power on board at once. If you're ahead and they don't have the answer in hand, you should be able to wrap up that game in a turn or two. If you're already behind in IXN draft, it's probably not as good, but that's more a consequence of that format being aggressive and very punishing.
In cube it's just incredibly solid. A 4/4 base body means that it outpaces a lot of the common, cheaper burn spells (most of the 4 damage spells are at 3cmc+, thus forcing opponent to take a turn to answer your threat). Even then, it leaves behind a 3/3 trample buddy and previous experiences with Garruk Wildspeaker have shown me that that sized token is more than serviceable. It's not a must-answer bomb like finishers at 6+ cmc might be in most environments, but it branches into the late game VERY well by just providing you with a ton of power in one shot. It's just a midrange beast, everything you'd want from a deck trying to play big creature offerings ahead of the curve.
Being able to play the Alpha a turn earlier with any form of ramp gives you a massive boost in tempo and the 3/3 and 4/4 bodies are sizeable enough to trade off with most creatures that show up around the same time in most cube environments. If you have means of clearing the way by picking off troublesome blockers in your RG deck, you can bash in for damage real easily or force life-preserving blocks.
Probably fine in an environment featuring those two? I don't know your exact list and was just working off the Gruul cards you listed. In comparison to those gold cards, I think the Alpha is definitely stronger than your current offerings.
In cube it's just incredibly solid. A 4/4 base body means that it outpaces a lot of the common, cheaper burn spells (most of the 4 damage spells are at 3cmc+, thus forcing opponent to take a turn to answer your threat). Even then, it leaves behind a 3/3 trample buddy and previous experiences with Garruk Wildspeaker have shown me that that sized token is more than serviceable. It's not a must-answer bomb like finishers at 6+ cmc might be in most environments, but it branches into the late game VERY well by just providing you with a ton of power in one shot. It's just a midrange beast, everything you'd want from a deck trying to play big creature offerings ahead of the curve.
Being able to play the Alpha a turn earlier with any form of ramp gives you a massive boost in tempo and the 3/3 and 4/4 bodies are sizeable enough to trade off with most creatures that show up around the same time in most cube environments. If you have means of clearing the way by picking off troublesome blockers in your RG deck, you can bash in for damage real easily or force life-preserving blocks.
Probably fine in an environment featuring those two? I don't know your exact list and was just working off the Gruul cards you listed. In comparison to those gold cards, I think the Alpha is definitely stronger than your current offerings.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Any UR deck can use Fevered Visions, but it’s best in a deck that can cast the extra cards it draws (i.e. runs cheap spells or artifact mana) and that can pressure the opponent so the life loss matters. Honestly it’s a card you should try out a few times to get a feel for. It plays nothing like it reads. That said, this also means it will be passed a lot because people consistently underestimate the card. That’s probably also why you don’t see it in the last 10 UR lists. Even if I had a list where it was included, you would still probably be like: “But wouldn’t this deck just be better if Fevered Visions was Electrolyze?”, and that evaluation is hard to change if you’ve never seen it do its thing.
Edit: Come to think of it, the reason why people misevaluate this card is probably because they judge it as an overpriced Howling Mine, but there’s two reasons why that comparison is misleading. First, this triggers on the end step, meaning you get to see and (usually) play the extra card first. Second, Fevered Visions can easily deal 6 to 8 damage over the course of a game when played early, which is an insane amount for three mana.
Regisaur Alpha has been fine in my lower powered environment. It does exactly what RG wants, i.e. add a lot of attacking power to the board, but it does so in a way that’s easier to deal with than Verdant Gearhulk and Wolfir Silverheart while being two colors as well. I really liked it actually!
What. It triggers on the END STEP? I played it wrong the entire last draft!
Also, my vote would be for both Rampager and the dinosaur. Both look like good cards both for a midrange deck as well as curve toppers for aggro.
I'd say your format is at MINIMUM "mid-powered", Onder
As for Regisaur Alpha, I guess it depends a lot on your removal power level and how it stacks up to mono-c 5-drops? But if you're running things like Siege-Gang Commander, I'd say it's probably a notch above where I'd want my
multicolor cards to be even at mid-power because it's just kind of generic to me, unless you feel a strong need to give the pair a heavy push to get people into it. But even at that power level, I'd rather have Ghor-Clan Rampager, Huntmaster of the Fells, or Bloodbraid Elf, which are all a little more stylish than dumping a bunch of stats on the board imho
I just don't like Regisaur Alpha because it signals dinosaur synergies that probably aren't there. Also, Huntmaster of the Fells is roughly the same power level, does close to the same thing, and is about 1,000x cooler.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Hence “lower” powered and not “low” poweredI'd say your format is at MINIMUM "mid-powered", Onder
As for Regisaur Alpha, I guess it depends a lot on your removal power level and how it stacks up to mono-c 5-drops? But if you're running things like Siege-Gang Commander, I'd say it's probably a notch above where I'd want my
Y’all aren’t thinking like Gruul players by the way. Smashing with dinosaurs is awesome! Also, Regisaur Alpha is only a tribal card in the loosest sense. It’s more like a self-contained synergy card. The only other dinosaurs in my cube are Ranging Raptors and Ripjaw Raptor, and the Alpha still plays fine without throwing people off because of the dinosaur rider. Not saying that you shouldn’t use it as an excuse, I’ve cut cards from my cube because they were the only instance of a keyword in my cube, which I found aesthetically displeasing, but it’s probably not something that’ll trip up your players.
Also, it’s a good five that advances GR’s game plan. Gruul has plenty of good fours, but not a lot of good fives that do that.
Hence “lower” powered and not “low” powered
Y’all aren’t thinking like Gruul players by the way. Smashing with dinosaurs is awesome!
Oh, I agree! But I'm running Khenra Charioteer, Mina and Denn, Wildborn, and Raging Swordtooth to bring the dino smashing.
You make a good point about the fives being slimmer pickings than the fours, though; this is certainly a constant problem of both green AND red.Hence “lower” powered and not “low” powered
Y’all aren’t thinking like Gruul players by the way. Smashing with dinosaurs is awesome! Also, Regisaur Alpha is only a tribal card in the loosest sense. It’s more like a self-contained synergy card. The only other dinosaurs in my cube are Ranging Raptors and Ripjaw Raptor, and the Alpha still plays fine without throwing people off because of the dinosaur rider. Not saying that you shouldn’t use it as an excuse, I’ve cut cards from my cube because they were the only instance of a keyword in my cube, which I found aesthetically displeasing, but it’s probably not something that’ll trip up your players.
Also, it’s a good five that advances GR’s game plan. Gruul has plenty of good fours, but not a lot of good fives that do that.
Yeah, but didn't we have a whole thread where we turned R/G into this cool control guild that does all these cool engine things? And now I'm vaguely dissatisfied with every R/G card that's not Stormbind and it's all your fault.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Hahaha
Well, for what it’s worth, Stormbind was in one of the winning deck lists in my last draft!
vs. 
I think I prefer Battle Screech. Devotion feels more midrangey, so if you want to use it that way, I could see it, but I like the flying bodies in the more "velocity" decks, and "free" flashback is sweet. Beast on curve after Monastery Mentor
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I think I might be in a "Why not both?" situation here
Battle screech doesn't look like a strictly low power card to me. It's four bodies in one card akin to lingering souls, albeit not as easy to cast to a degree (depends if you can afford to tap down your creatures a turn). Wish one of my stores had one.
I run Battle Screech in my lower powered list, and it is strong but absolutely fine there.
I think the evasion makes Battle Screech also a little better than Devotion. You could obviously run both, but white has so many good token producers, it is pretty hard to include them all if you want different white decks to be a thing
Also, Screech is aviable in old frame, which is a huge upside!
I think the evasion makes Battle Screech also a little better than Devotion. You could obviously run both, but white has so many good token producers, it is pretty hard to include them all if you want different white decks to be a thing
Also, Screech is aviable in old frame, which is a huge upside!
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Heh. For me it's a downside that it isn't available in the new border. Different strokes for different folks, I guess
. I do like Battle Screech quite a bit more than than Increasing Devotion, because it sits at a better spot on the curve, and because the tokens have evasion.I'm guessing you're looking for a flashback token creator in white, but if not, here's another option to consider:
Spectral Procession, Lingering Souls, and Midnight Haunting are all already in there (there's a minor spirit subtheme with Mausoleum Wanderer, Rattlechains, and Nebelgast Herald). I was specifically weighing the two flashback spells against each other.
It's also possible I have too many token makers, but no one's complained yet. Well, that's not true. The guy who drafted Braids and Smokestack complained but that just made me take out Braids and Smokestack.
It's also possible I have too many token makers, but no one's complained yet. Well, that's not true. The guy who drafted Braids and Smokestack complained but that just made me take out Braids and Smokestack.
Does no one here like Sram's Expertise? Or the rest of the expertise cycle for that matter. I've been wondering for a while now whether their absence from riptide lists is due to being too powerful for low powered environments or just too much inconsistency.
Even with such a minor spirit theme, I feel like both, Screech and Devotion are better cards than Midnight Haunting on a pure power level ... level. That card was pretty weak when I tested it. This would certainly change with heavier tribal support though.
I'd rather have Sram's Expertise costed like Spectral Procession and drop the free spell rider, personally; the idea that some portion of the time it's essentially 1 mana for 3 bodies (assuming you cast a free 3-drop off of it) just makes it look like a very blunt and uncreative instrument to me. I'm thinking of testing Kari Zev's Expertise in a flex slot I have, but I'm not really interested in the others, and I'm not very confident that the red one will stick around.
Black and green are my secondary aggro colors, both come with 6 One-Drops, that are playable in such a deck. In Green I'm running Jungle Lion, Wild Dogs, Young Wolf, Scythe Leopard, Wolfbitten Captive and currently this guy:
But I'm not super happy with him, as he is best played on turn 3 alongside a 2-drop. So I considered this guy:
I have a few aggro playable discard outlets and I could imagine playing this in a midrange deck with some looters and such, but I wonder if he is any good as an actual 1-drop? Is he at least on a power level comparable to Pouncing Jaguar? I love giving my aggro slots more flexible options, but not for the price of quality in aggro decks.
But I'm not super happy with him, as he is best played on turn 3 alongside a 2-drop. So I considered this guy:
I have a few aggro playable discard outlets and I could imagine playing this in a midrange deck with some looters and such, but I wonder if he is any good as an actual 1-drop? Is he at least on a power level comparable to Pouncing Jaguar? I love giving my aggro slots more flexible options, but not for the price of quality in aggro decks.
Really puts Rishkar's expertise into perspective a little... some fraction of the time 1 mana draw, 3, 4... 7? That cycle is good.
I'm trying Sram's expertise right now alongside Battle Screech, Lingering souls, and Secure the Wastes. Battle Screech is definitely one of my favorites. Two spells is just good, and I enjoy thay synergy with "spells" decks. Also absolutely slamming with Jeskai Ascendancy
Other than that, goods synergy with fetches (and bouncelands actually)
I'm trying Sram's expertise right now alongside Battle Screech, Lingering souls, and Secure the Wastes. Battle Screech is definitely one of my favorites. Two spells is just good, and I enjoy thay synergy with "spells" decks. Also absolutely slamming with Jeskai Ascendancy
Unless you have some aversion to flip cards, one of the most straightforward green aggro cards isBlack and green are my secondary aggro colors, both come with 6 One-Drops, that are playable in such a deck. In Green I'm running Jungle Lion, Wild Dogs, Young Wolf, Scythe Leopard, Wolfbitten Captive and currently this guy:
But I'm not super happy with him, as he is best played on turn 3 alongside a 2-drop. So I considered this guy:
I have a few aggro playable discard outlets and I could imagine playing this in a midrange deck with some looters and such, but I wonder if he is any good as an actual 1-drop? Is he at least on a power level comparable to Pouncing Jaguar? I love giving my aggro slots more flexible options, but not for the price of quality in aggro decks.
Other than that, goods synergy with fetches (and bouncelands actually)