That depends on the environment of course. It gets better if you have a lot of good 1 or 2 mana spells. Then it usually only costs 2 blue or even one.
But I also run the super broken Tolarian Academy, so there might be a correlation…
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- Thread starter Jason Waddell
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But I also run the super broken Tolarian Academy, so there might be a correlation…
I like both of these, as they're each great top-end finishers for low-curving spell-heavy decks. I would be playing both if Murktide Regent wasn't 20 dollars.
As others have eluded to, each of these cards plays a slightly different role. Murktide Regent is a flying hammer à la Tombstalker, while Ethereal Forager is more of a long-term value engine. I think if your "cheap spell" decks are trying to win as quickly as possible, Murktide Regent is the superior option. If your "cheap spell" decks are a little more tempo/control oriented, Ethereal Forager is better. If you have multiple cheap spell decks at the table and they partake in both types of gameplay I just outlined, playing both is worth the slots. These cards don't do the same thing even though they want similar support, so I don't think choosing one over the other is entirely fair unless your Cube skews heavily in favor of one's playstyle.
Agreed on this assessment of Murktide's text, but I still replaced the Forager with it because I didn't like my premiere finisher for blue getting easily blasted by Bolts.
I do like the Forager quite a bit and would be appreciative if anyone has advice on what blue creatures I should cut for it, I think I can handle one more delve card in the color.
Tempo-2-drop with some graveyard synergies attached ... who wins?
I like the Sprite's constant mill/card selection
I like the ninjutsu/blink Hook-Haunt Drifter possibilities
I like the Sprite's constant mill/card selection
I like the ninjutsu/blink Hook-Haunt Drifter possibilities
angler is really low impact compared to other Disturb cards, and a repeatable surveil is kinda sorta DRC ish
I run 2 copies of Ninja of the Deep Hours and a singleton each of Mistblade Shinobi and Moonblade Shinobi, but am anticipating adding more from Kamigawa 2. My U section is also angled towards tempo. Do people have clear favorites between these two or do they mostly differ in flavor/texture/mouthfeel? I also have plenty of graveyard synergies, and each of these cards seem to lean into that to about the same degree, just in different directions.
On a slightly different topic, I'm debating the inclusion of Okiba-Gang Shibnobi and Throat Slitter if only for the problems they present with 1-drop fliers. They're not actually any different than playing a slightly overcosted Mind Rot or Doom Blade, and they do ask the player to jump through quite a few hoops, but I'm worried about player perception that they're a huge beating. Do I just need to git gud here, or is there a good reason to feel that these creatures are actually a bigger problem than the equivalent spells?
Faerie Seer is a little too strong for my taste, unfortunately, so that leaves me with a choice of birds for enabling Ninjutsu. Both feel a little anemic, but how many artifacts do you think you'd want to run before you were comfortable playing the assistant over the raven? I feel like it would be a lot, maybe 7 or 8, to reliably get the two triggers that would make assistant better. Or are they just bad enablers? Lantern Bearer puts both to shame, tbh, as it draws a (mediocre) card on its death or milling.
I don't think any number of artifacts would make me pick Assistant over Raven unless I otherwise have no other artifact synergies, since the Raven can at least do work as a mana dork for affinity cards, a +1 for plating, density for crane, or whatever artifact synergies you have. I wouldn't be thrilled to play either of them outside of a ninjutsu/curiosity deck though.
faerie seer is not really very strong, but between those two i’ll pick the one that scrys on ETB. still quite narrow to ninjas or curiosity decks like mown said
You don't think that any blue 1-drops are strong enough for your cube, right? I feel like I remember you mentioning that you only have cantrips on one. No offense, but I think we're operating under entirely different assumptions. I'm also actively looking to support those ninjas/curiosity decks, so I need a certain density of these effects regardless of how good they are if they're going to function at all. Thanks for confirming that the required density of artifacts to make the organic bird worthwhile would be too high to realistically support!
That's an interesting one. I had the same fight somewhat recently and I went with the Assistant. He also triggers on legends and sagas, which does matter. I have 130/680 cards in my cube that trigger it, so the chance of coming close to 1 trigger per turn seemed more promising to me, and I think he'll grt multiple triggers in most blue decks anyway, if he doesn't get killed.
That being said I haven't played a lot with either, sadly, due to busy/pandemic times. So I might very well be wrong.
But what I want to second is, that Faerie Seer doesn't seem too powerful even for a retail level cube. It will be good, but it's not exactly broken to scry 2. I'd add Seer and Lantern Bearer first here for sure and see how it goes.
That being said I haven't played a lot with either, sadly, due to busy/pandemic times. So I might very well be wrong.
But what I want to second is, that Faerie Seer doesn't seem too powerful even for a retail level cube. It will be good, but it's not exactly broken to scry 2. I'd add Seer and Lantern Bearer first here for sure and see how it goes.
if you wanna support ninja decks, you might take a page from the Pauper Faeries/Ninjas deck and do a Faerie Miscreant squadron pick. faerie seer is just not very good regardless of whether you’re in legacy or retail. the body has nigh-zero impact on the board
Oh, I do think 1/1 fliers can be pretty relevant in the right environment, which is one with lower power level and good aggro support. They can easily represent 4-5 points of damage, carry equipment very well and efficiently, and they come with upside these days. It is also not true that they aren't good in retail, Battlefield Raptor is an example of a strong role player within it's format. Some other Flying Men+ I like:
not saying it’s gonna be bad, just confused why it would be “too good”
Gotta love that Michael Bay-inspired artwork!
Artist name is even close too if one is drunk
vs I am currently running Judith as an aristocrat payoff, but also a card that plays well in most aggressive decks. However, the Sacrifice Lures thread had me thinking that maybe the Devil is a better fit for my environment.
The biggest selling points are:
- Triggers off any type of permanent (2 sets of fetchlands in my cube + artifact baubles)
- Triggers off any player sacrificing (2-3 opponents)
The biggest downside is that the card is more narrow (or is that my perception?).
Do any of you have thoughts or decks using the Devil that isn't sacrificing creatures?
My favourites
I am currently running Judith as an aristocrat payoff, but also a card that plays well in most aggressive decks. However, the Sacrifice Lures thread had me thinking that maybe the Devil is a better fit for my environment.
The biggest selling points are:
- Triggers off any type of permanent (2 sets of fetchlands in my cube + artifact baubles)
- Triggers off any player sacrificing (2-3 opponents)
The biggest downside is that the card is more narrow (or is that my perception?).
Do any of you have thoughts or decks using the Devil that isn't sacrificing creatures?
or variants. Or pox like stuff...
I find the devil has a wider range of applications. Judith is better at the aristocrats strategy, but the Devil also counts what your opponent does...so there's a punisher quality.
I love Devil in my Rakdos section, because there's a lot of land sacrifice and welder shenanigans going on in addition to aristocrats. It is functional in all those contexts:
Devil + Smokestack is pretty filthy as is sending 10 to the dome of your opponent via Gargadon. There's just a lot of fun and funky plays.
It works off of treasure, food, clue, and blood tokens as well.
That's a very convincing argument. I also have Korvold, Fae-Cursed King doing good work with lands + artifacts too so it would help reinforce the strategy.