Card/Deck Black Sheep

Eric Chan

Eric Chan

Hyalopterous Lemure
Staff member
I should try Crystal Ball again. I put it in for the exact same reasons as Goldenpineapple - in that it's far less annoying to use than everyone's favourite Divining Top - and gotten the exact same "really?" reactions, which prompted me to cut it.

I probably just need to force it one week and see for myself how good it actually is.
 
Diakonov

Diakonov

ahadabans said:
That should have been obvious. Duh. Lol

I've never run future sight long enough to get a feel for how broken it is. This card just seemed so fragile with the 3 toughness. I may try it though. Is this guy really solid in your meta or more fringe? The effect is stellar IMO if you get even two turns with it.
Click to expand...

There are several players in my group who naturally gravitate toward blue control decks, so Future Sight has seen quite a bit of play. I've only done a couple drafts since he became a creature, so I don't have much evidence yet on that aspect. It's worth noting, however, that it was the players who usually run Future Sight who were suggesting I switch it to Magus of the Future.
 
CML

CML

Contributor
Diakonov said:
There are several players in my group who naturally gravitate toward blue control decks, so Future Sight has seen quite a bit of play. I've only done a couple drafts since he became a creature, so I don't have much evidence yet on that aspect. It's worth noting, however, that it was the players who usually run Future Sight who were suggesting I switch it to Magus of the Future.
Click to expand...


yeah, i think printing those effects on creatures in TSP block foreshadowed some of the more successful elements of NWO designs.

i don't really like those cards because, well, you know the old joke about the guy whose first conventional cube play was deep analysis into discard, then future sight into discard. maybe opportunity on 6.
 
ahadabans

ahadabans

Diakonov said:
There are several players in my group who naturally gravitate toward blue control decks, so Future Sight has seen quite a bit of play. I've only done a couple drafts since he became a creature, so I don't have much evidence yet on that aspect. It's worth noting, however, that it was the players who usually run Future Sight who were suggesting I switch it to Magus of the Future.
Click to expand...

If you don't mind keeping us posted. I'm interested. I was planning on throwing Future Sight back into my next update, so when I saw the creature version being recommended it really made me curious.
 
Dom Harvey

Dom Harvey

Contributor
Safekeeper is good if you have the typical non-kosher creatures to protect it with. If you're guarding a Baneslayer with it, great; if it's next to an Acidic Slime, not so much.
 
CML

CML

Contributor
Dom Harvey said:
Safekeeper is good if you have the typical non-kosher creatures to protect it with. If you're guarding a Baneslayer with it, great; if it's next to an Acidic Slime, not so much.
Click to expand...


i think the problem is it sucks on 1 and you'd usually rather just make a big dude after that. it was quite good in my friend's legacy deck http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1117346 but that deck was based on GSZ / brainstorm and could, for example, lock Miracles with Teeg and Safekeeper. and we all thought that deck blew anyway (all the more impressive for his finishes)
 
ahadabans

ahadabans

Dom Harvey said:
Definitely tempted to revisit Harm's Way now.
Click to expand...

It's solid because it does so much for just 1 mana. And it is distinctly a white effect. It's in my top 5 for white one drops, maybe even top three (after Mother and Swords to Plowshare). It's just a fun card.

I tend to rate combat tricks highly though as I think they make things more interesting.
 
FlowerSunRain

FlowerSunRain

Contributor
Well, its like THE blue heroic enabler, so without that I think the stock drops considerably. However, its nice with wild growth/utopia sprawl/overgrowth and the red spells matter brothers. So, that's two decks it can go in. It'd be good with inspired too, but I'm not sure inspired is something we want. Even in my cube Hidden Strings one of those cards that is 95% of the time guaranteed to wheel to the player who wants it, so with less support its going to be pretty narrow. I'm not sure how much of a budget you have for narrow cards like this, but its certainly a much better card then it first seems.
 
ahadabans

ahadabans

Eric Chan said:
Would this card be any good, even without a heroic theme? I'm looking for more ways to support the likes of Young Pyromancer and Guttersnipe, without requiring decks to cram in the spell density that the same archetypes in Constructed typically would have.
Click to expand...

For what it's worth, I believe it is going to be really good even if you don't support heroic. Being able to tap and untap two of any permanent every turn will have a lot of value IMO. It combos with stuff like birthing pod, pain seer (if you run him), all kinds of ramp (this is two free mana a turn if you want it to be provided you have an instant, activated ability or flash dude to spend it on), etc. I think there are a lot of uses.

Maybe I'm overvaluing this effect, but it seems really strong to me. Definitely fringe and certainly somewhat narrow, but having a couple of those cards sparks creativity IMO. I'll be surprised in this doesn't end up being really awesome in a tempo deck somewhere.
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
ahadabans said:
If you don't mind keeping us posted. I'm interested. I was planning on throwing Future Sight back into my next update, so when I saw the creature version being recommended it really made me curious.
Click to expand...

Part of the issue I had with Future Sight was that you need the game to last a while past 5-mana to get more utility out of it than, say, Tidings. That's not always a great bet in my cube.
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
FlowerSunRain said:
Speaking of Nivmagus Elemental, can that card do anything in cube or is it purely the constructed thing it looks like?
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is a weird design spot. A hybrid 2/2 (Rakdos Cackler) is a cube staple, but a hybrid 1/2 with an upside just doesn't cut it. I tried to justify it in threads and maybe even set reviews before, but when I actually played with it, the card didn't really do much. Oh well. I wanted to like it.
 
ahadabans

ahadabans

Jason Waddell said:
Part of the issue I had with Future Sight was that you need the game to last a while past 5-mana to get more utility out of it than, say, Tidings. That's not always a great bet in my cube.
Click to expand...

That makes sense. This card's value skyrockets as the game goes on. As we play a lot of multi-player, I'll be surprised if this card doesn't justify it's slot in my cube.
 
CML

CML

Contributor


congrats Chapin

10358813_10201862471595104_1921639795_o.jpg
 
safra

safra

James Stevenson said:
I ran Toshiro Umezawa for ages but he wasn't all that impressive. Probably recurred a removal spell like twice. Has been good for you, Saf?
Click to expand...

He's a pet card but he pulls his weight. The body isn't very impressive, but sometimes people forget to account for Bushido. He sits back and dies - often - to a lot of removal, but usually he'll recur one or two spells before he eats it. It's dependent on how late you cast him, and sometimes he just generates these obscene chains of value (flashing back dark ritual into removal, flashback removal is a good one). The flashback value has outweighed the marginally weaker body enough that I think he'll stay in for a while yet. I'm happy to run him in any deck with 5+ instants, and though he hasn't been in a Collected Company build yet I have high hopes that it'll work.

maybe a 7/10, he could be better but he's certainly been fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top