Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I'm so glad I don't play Arena, so I don't have to care about WotC using the same art for two cards that are mechanically miles apart, have different mana costs, and different power/toughness, because I hate it.
General Fight Club
- Thread starter Jason Waddell
- Start date
Chris Taylor
Contributor
The Arena A is fast becoming the Acorn stamp but less cool in my eyes
Suggestion: the digital-only sets should be exclusively brought up in either the Arena thread or the custom cards thread... because those are really the only two contexts where it makes sense to talk about them.
"But they aren't custom cards!"... except that anyone who tries to do anything with them in paper has to make their own customs.
"But they aren't custom cards!"... except that anyone who tries to do anything with them in paper has to make their own customs.
counter suggestion: discuss custom cards in every thread
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I thought about that when I started the topic. I chose to write very briefly in the Fight Club thread and link to a more extensive comment in the Alchemy thread.
Also, proxies aren’t custom cards.
I mean, the thing is that a lot of the digital-only cards feel like candidates for Why MTG Cardsmith, so that's probably where they belong.
More seriously: most of the digital-only cards that are actually conceptually interesting enough to try out in paper need a few tweaks before they work properly. Or they require you to proxy an ungodly number of cards for the benefit of a single slot in your cube.
EDIT: You'll also have to essentially remake the cards so that their layout isn't ugly as sin. Exhibit A:
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I feel like these latest designs have been more egregious as well, compared to earlier Alchemy cards. Something like Absorb Energy is easy to grok. It's a clean design that really only works online. This newest set has a few of those designs, but it also has stuff like
In short, I devoted too much time to writing a diatribe on a design that I loathe, because I luckily never have to see them as an offline-only player!
- Arcane Archery (which would work just as well in paper, really the only problem with it is memory issues, but those could be solved with the appropriate token card (or boon card))
- Ancient Brass Dragon (i.e. straight up reprints from paper that feel out of place in a set that (being an Alchemy set) you'ld expect to exclusively feature online only designs and rebalanced standard cards)
- Imoen, Trickster Friend (that art belongs to a blue 2/3 with ward {2}, dungeon synergy, and the background ability, it certainly doesn't belong to a dumpster fire, novel-length design with instant/sorcery and graveyard synergy, like seriously, how many words is this thing?)
In short, I devoted too much time to writing a diatribe on a design that I loathe, because I luckily never have to see them as an offline-only player!
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Which partner?I have a Toggo deck. All those rocks are great with stuff like Inspiring Statuary
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Armix, Filigree Thrashed, it's a budget deck
I want a budget, medium powered list for work and I was eyeing Kydele. Green for landfall and blue for artifacts. This color combo also gets to utilize all the Capenna gain-fetches or whatever you wanna call em.
A lot of the games at work seem to come down to whoever plays the biggest card last and Toggo with a lot of Rocks out has quite a few strong finishes.
waker has a more impactful body and a cheaper “cycling” cost
Hot take alert, but I don't think they compete for the same slot at all. Sure, yes, you can reanimate both of them relatively easily, but apart from that I think you can include both and be completely fine. For example, the Crab is perfectly fine as a Disallow variant alone; being able to counter abilities is shockingly relevant.
That is to say, I run both and think you should too.
That is to say, I run both and think you should too.
I know I can include both and they would fulfill different roles, but I was specifically searching for a blue ramp target that could fit in a variety of decks and my cube have very limited space (180 cards) so I think there is only room for one of them.
Oh, if you're at 180 then that changes things! This makes total sense, my bad for not looking up your cube before answering. Still, I'd argue that the Crab is a counterspell first that also happens to support reanimation/ramp and should be viewed as such rather than seeing it as a reanimation/ramp target that can occasionally counter things. Even in a ramp deck, it's probably correct to use the counter mode 70+% of the time.
In your particular case, I think the question is whether these slower decks need more ability to dig towards their action or whether they just need a higher density of action. The body on Waker is much better, but a 5/7 ward 3 will definitely end the game.
In your particular case, I think the question is whether these slower decks need more ability to dig towards their action or whether they just need a higher density of action. The body on Waker is much better, but a 5/7 ward 3 will definitely end the game.
I haven't played with Crab, but the ability on Waker is really strong and as a 7-drop I would be underwhelmed to get just a 5/7 with ward - it doesn't help much with stabilizing when under pressure, and the counterspell mode might not be something you can hold up while underpressure either.
Unless you're aiming for a pretty low power level, I think Waker is the right choice for playability. Waker may kind of auto-piloted, though (want a 7-drop? Then cast it. Not now? Cycle it.) even though it feels like it provides lots of agency it's more of an Opt.
Unless you're aiming for a pretty low power level, I think Waker is the right choice for playability. Waker may kind of auto-piloted, though (want a 7-drop? Then cast it. Not now? Cycle it.) even though it feels like it provides lots of agency it's more of an Opt.
I like Mirrorshell Crab for being a lower variance reanimation target. It doesn't dominate the game as much when you get it into play, but you also don't get hosed as hard by removal spells.
Plus I personally kind of struggle to find counterspells I want to cube and crab helps shore up blue's identity in that regard more than waker who has to compete with all the cantrips where I'm realistically looking for cuts instead. Probably not as much of a problem in 180 though.
Plus I personally kind of struggle to find counterspells I want to cube and crab helps shore up blue's identity in that regard more than waker who has to compete with all the cantrips where I'm realistically looking for cuts instead. Probably not as much of a problem in 180 though.
VS
I need a green 2-drop that helps with token/sacrifice and since I don't use planeswalkers I don't want to include Verdant Command.
VS
I need a green 2-drop that helps with token/sacrifice and since I don't use planeswalkers I don't want to include Verdant Command.
Thallid is very slow (T5 before you see another body in the best-case scenario) and is a hard stop to aggro by being an 0/5 for 2. If you are okay with that it can definitely be powerful in that role--heck, many midrange decks will struggle to punch through that without spending removal--but I'm not convinced that most people want something that negates aggro quite so effectively.
Put another way, an 0/5 for 2 is essentially a Pacifism you can move to any flightless creature with power 4 or less and I expect that the thallid will see play more for that than for its token-generating ability.
Put another way, an 0/5 for 2 is essentially a Pacifism you can move to any flightless creature with power 4 or less and I expect that the thallid will see play more for that than for its token-generating ability.
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Yeah I can see that to be a problem.
I really like this card but it is a bit too expensive for me to consider it.
EDIT: What about this guy?
Well, you could always print it… that one also works. The issue with both is that they easily die and only yield a saproling after several turns…Yeah I can see that to be a problem.
I really like this card but it is a bit too expensive for me to consider it.
EDIT: What about this guy?
If your cube is kicker heavy then you could try: (also triggers on your opponents)