I was intending to post something similar
Well the real difference here is that one of these cards is good.
General Fight Club
- Thread starter Jason Waddell
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Well the real difference here is that one of these cards is good.
Grim Lavamancer has always been good. It can be a fun little minigame, paying attention to their graveyard.
Grillo_Parlante
Contributor
I was intending to post something similar
I like Cursed Scroll better as an artifact than a creature since I like to think that it's at least plausible that non-red decks would want to run it.
Because I imagine attacking with the magus would be pretty rare, being a creature seems to have little upside, but the setup/payoff of the effect isn't so powerful that it needs to be weakened. Setup for Elder is harder I think, but the upside is
I'll repeat what I said before, but spikeshot should be thought of as a lower power red control card, or at least a card for non-condensed formats. Most riptide environments are going to be too condensed for him to have the time to do anything, and they don't really support red control or voltron type interactions very well anyways. I've tried to run spikeshot in various iterations of my higher power environments, and he just never has the time to do anything. However, in the penny cube he has been excellent.
Grim, on the other hand, is efficent enough to operate anywhere, and while capable of funtioning as a red control card, can fit easily into the dumbest of red decks.
High power formats, or any condensed format really, just dosen't have the time to invest the mana in spikeshot, suit him up, and than sit there pouring mana into him. At that point you are so far behind you've lost the game.
So Grilled_Polenta, if you run it (spikeshot) in a control deck, what buffs are you using?
Grillo_Parlante
Contributor
I can do better than that, I can give you a sample deck from the Penny cube:
Ok, looking at it again this is operating on a different strategic axis than pure control--the spikeshot just warped my memory a bit I guess. You can see though that this is a slower midrange rampy deck (in a slower, more grindy format), and is more focused on leveraging powerful plays that it hopes are enough.
But yeah, once you suit that dude up, he can start picking off the board, or make huge damage plays by swinging in and than activating. Ramping up to six and getting multiple activations is devestating, and not really something a lot of decks can deal with. I kept on losing very close games to him because of the damn sledge on the spikeshot, being able to nail things for 8 damage and than swing in for 4.
Its slow, grindy, mana intensive, and dosen't impact the board right away, which is going to make it terrible in more velocity driven formats like a riptide cube. The only person ever high on it here was generic zero (his enviornment is low power), and I never understood why until I started running it with bouncelands.
I ran it in that low curve aristocrates deck the next week (with no way to pump it) and everyone was killing it on sight: even there its just a really good mana sink for when the game slows down.
GR/w Pants
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Ok, looking at it again this is operating on a different strategic axis than pure control--the spikeshot just warped my memory a bit I guess. You can see though that this is a slower midrange rampy deck (in a slower, more grindy format), and is more focused on leveraging powerful plays that it hopes are enough.
But yeah, once you suit that dude up, he can start picking off the board, or make huge damage plays by swinging in and than activating. Ramping up to six and getting multiple activations is devestating, and not really something a lot of decks can deal with. I kept on losing very close games to him because of the damn sledge on the spikeshot, being able to nail things for 8 damage and than swing in for 4.
Its slow, grindy, mana intensive, and dosen't impact the board right away, which is going to make it terrible in more velocity driven formats like a riptide cube. The only person ever high on it here was generic zero (his enviornment is low power), and I never understood why until I started running it with bouncelands.
I ran it in that low curve aristocrates deck the next week (with no way to pump it) and everyone was killing it on sight: even there its just a really good mana sink for when the game slows down.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
I was high on it!
Just don't think of it as Goblin Guide. It's not meant to be an aggressive 1-drop, it's a midrange card that always presents the threat of teaming up with equipment/pump/whatever and gunning down your board if you get sloppy.
Just don't think of it as Goblin Guide. It's not meant to be an aggressive 1-drop, it's a midrange card that always presents the threat of teaming up with equipment/pump/whatever and gunning down your board if you get sloppy.
I really like the reach both of these dudes offer, but Spikeshot always feels a bit underwhelming in practice, because he really, reeeeally wants equipment to be optimal and I personally avoid playing him unless I am running a way to juice him. Magus' effect risks missing, of course, but it provides some fun bluff potential and it's easy to play out your hand in most aggressive decks, anyway. Magus is also human, which is nice, but his potential to miss and the requirement to tap makes him perhaps a bit less flexible than Spikeshot, because Spikeshot can spikeshoot and then swing in. What do you folks think?
(Note that I realize Magus is just a Cursed Scroll on a stick; this is about adding to red's 1-drop section.)
Why you talkin' trash about my boy...
Watched out guys, stoned Frodo's no fun when he gets angry.
Goldmane is by far the best.
Grillo_Parlante
Contributor
For one moment there, I mistook your avatar for ahadabans, glanced over the comparison you were asking for, and promptly wondered if the world wasn't ending.
Than I registered it was your name in my mind, and everything made sense again.
Than I registered it was your name in my mind, and everything made sense again.
I'd choose Steadfast as well.
How about
I like Narset's whole "Domri Rade for spells" gimmick. But for cube, I just don't see her cutting it. Venser is just so much more interesting to me. I don't think I'm alone on this, either.
Edit: Steadfast is sooo much better than Goldmane. Seriously people.
I like Narset. As I've said before, I like venser a lot, but his -1 ends a lot of games out of the blue that were fun games.I'd choose Steadfast as well.
How about
Uhh he doesn't?
I'm looking for it, but I can't seem to find it. It must be the shrooms talking.
+2 target himself
I've been thinking of adding venser but this is one of my concerns. How often do we think this is an issue?
I don't think it is a big issue. U/W decks that aren't U/W control really need ways to push that last bit of damage through if they want to be justifiable as aggro strategies that aren't red. I mean sure, sometimes it'll feel bad. But I have never seen that issue come up with such frequency that Venser felt unfair/unfun.
I've cut Venserwalker in favor of Narset Transcendent awhile back and I am not looking back, but I think its largely a matter of taste.
I never cared for Venser's minus in cube and he doesn't have the high starting loyalty (5 vs 7) that keeps Narset alive. Venser can also be dealt with by creature removal, which can counter his plus and weaken his minus. I also feel like the extra CMC really hurts him because 5 drops have to be a lot more impactful than 4 drops and I'm not convinced he's impactful enough on average.
Every time an opponent plays Narset, plusses and I know that I can't do at least 6 damage to her next turn, which always seems to be the case, I'm praying to RNGsus my opponent's hand is terrible. If I can double bolt her, I probably will, which already makes her a 2 for 1 even if her plus whiffed. If she rebounds Dig Through Time or Time Warp that's basically GG, and even when she copies Truth or Tale or staples an extra turn to a wrath, the advantage gets overwhelming and she just takes over the game if not dealt with, which is something I like my 4 drops doing. My playgroup has had a lot of fun with her anyway and I think they enjoy the high loyalty as a form of protection, which I honestly hope Wizards does more of.
Flicker support still exists with stuff like Crystal Shard, but Narset does some sweet things that other cards just don't do, but I can see wanting Venser if you want to support flicker more or if you want UW decks to be more creature based and if you don't mind the minus being a little noninteractive.
I never cared for Venser's minus in cube and he doesn't have the high starting loyalty (5 vs 7) that keeps Narset alive. Venser can also be dealt with by creature removal, which can counter his plus and weaken his minus. I also feel like the extra CMC really hurts him because 5 drops have to be a lot more impactful than 4 drops and I'm not convinced he's impactful enough on average.
Every time an opponent plays Narset, plusses and I know that I can't do at least 6 damage to her next turn, which always seems to be the case, I'm praying to RNGsus my opponent's hand is terrible. If I can double bolt her, I probably will, which already makes her a 2 for 1 even if her plus whiffed. If she rebounds Dig Through Time or Time Warp that's basically GG, and even when she copies Truth or Tale or staples an extra turn to a wrath, the advantage gets overwhelming and she just takes over the game if not dealt with, which is something I like my 4 drops doing. My playgroup has had a lot of fun with her anyway and I think they enjoy the high loyalty as a form of protection, which I honestly hope Wizards does more of.
Flicker support still exists with stuff like Crystal Shard, but Narset does some sweet things that other cards just don't do, but I can see wanting Venser if you want to support flicker more or if you want UW decks to be more creature based and if you don't mind the minus being a little noninteractive.
Venser works better with creatures. There tend to be more creatures on cube. Also his ultimate makes me feel so dirty. Narset is probably better depending on how your cube is constructed, but from what I've seen narset has been a bit lackluster.
Steadfast all day
Steadfast all day