I would never even consider Recycle personally. Too many hoops to jump through, too slow, and it's not really worth it at all. Beast Whisperer, on the other hand, is just generically good and rewards you for doing things you're already going to be doing in a midrange-y green deck. I'd rather go with the card that has more playability across decks and in this case it's not really close.
General Fight Club
- Thread starter Jason Waddell
- Start date
vs Which one do you like better? Tutoring two 1drops is something I really like with quite some of them in my list. Also, having 2 toughness is pretty relevant and something I like. The Ranger-Captain has built in protection for aggro decks which is something I find very interesting.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Ranger of Eos is one of the few true (and playable) card advantage tools white has. I don't see myself sidegrading to Ranger-Captain of Eos.
I'm actually on the opposite side of this debate, I think Ranger-Captain is better that the original. Unless you have variable 1 cost creatures you can pick up and deploy later like Walking Ballista or Mikaeus, the Lunarch, Ranger feels a little lackluster tutoring up 1 drops in the latter portions of a game. That's likely more a function of my environment with the majority of 1 drops leaning towards aggressive strategies where a 1 drop isn't quite as impactful on T5 (Unless it's Mother of Runes or Giver of Runes I suppose). I've found in the majority of cases that I usually only have one target I really want to pick up at that point in the game anyway.
I feel like Ranger-Captain is better in a greater variety of decks. It's 1 cheaper to deploy, tutors up one thing to your hand, and that sacrifice ability actually helps branch an aggressive deck into the later game and can fade that T4 Wrath to give you the opening to close out the game. If I had to choose one, I'd go with the Ranger-Captain, but like Onder mentioned white doesn't get a whole lot of card advantage tools. I'd play both in your list if you have the space.
I feel like Ranger-Captain is better in a greater variety of decks. It's 1 cheaper to deploy, tutors up one thing to your hand, and that sacrifice ability actually helps branch an aggressive deck into the later game and can fade that T4 Wrath to give you the opening to close out the game. If I had to choose one, I'd go with the Ranger-Captain, but like Onder mentioned white doesn't get a whole lot of card advantage tools. I'd play both in your list if you have the space.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Yeah, I run multiple "1"-drops that are still relevant in the late game.
Speaking of..
vs.
In a lower powered environment. Giver still looks too strong (as Mother definitely is) while I'm not sure if the Caretaker is good enough?
vs. In a lower powered environment. Giver still looks too strong (as Mother definitely is) while I'm not sure if the Caretaker is good enough?
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I'm sure that Caretaker isn't good enough. Are you really going to Force Spike yourself for the rest of the game to keep conditional protection up?
Which one do you think is more generally useful both as a curve topper, a big red creature and in a Wildfire deck?
Skarrgan, definitely.
They kind of serve the same role but in my opinion Thundermaw is stronger and Skarrgan is more interesting (Choices to be made + a mana sink)
My vote goes to Skarrgan Hellkite
My vote goes to Skarrgan Hellkite
same artist, lulz
Skarrgan, makes you think more!
I'm on Thundermaw here. It deals spirit tokens and faerie tokens cleanly and it always gets in for the first hit. Plus, I just think the card is a classic. I have a soft spot for it. Every pushed hasty dragon is a Thundermaw reprint in my mind.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Even though the text is a little wordy there's something memorable about Thundermaw for me - as Velrun alluded to it was the first 'oh shit there's a sock full of pennies headed in my direction' dragon in that mould and was terrifying to face down during its time in Standard. In my environment there are a lot of tokens too so it's nice to have something that can clean up those cluttered boards
But what the fuck, it's clearing up those boards AND is a hasty 5/5 flyer for 5! what the hell is wrong with that design, it's just ridiculous and fucked up.
Trying to be a bit more constructive, my problem with threats like Thundermaw Hellkite is they are only reasonable in an environment where either:
- Doom Blades are plentiful, but plentiful Doom Blades invalidate a lot of creatures. Even then, removal checks as pretty uninteresting.
- Unfair decks are faster than turn 5, which invalidates many archetypes and cards that are unplayable in such an environment.
- 5/5 fliers are the norm (Battlecruise Magic), but that again invalidates many archetypes.
I'm going to run Skarrgan. It's true that it's one of those creatures that get answered and make you lose the game, but I don't like Thundermaw cleaning up the board. What I like is that it's a large, versatile dragon that is easy to understand.
Ok, here's a harder one. Which one and why? And which do you think works better in a controllish, midrange archetype?
Ok, here's a harder one. Which one and why? And which do you think works better in a controllish, midrange archetype?
I like Prophet because it reads a lot better. It also has a pretty big butt for blocking if you have any instans.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Hey, nice, this fight is relevant for my cube. I was looking for a cut to add Burning Prophet, and I currently run Dire Fleet Daredevil 
A note: Something I do dislike about Dire Fleet Daredevil (and actually also about Abbot of Keral Keep) is that it's not a "real" two-drops. As in, you need mana to use their abilities so they don't actually allow to curve out or stabillize on the first few turns. Besides being quite fun in draft, it's one of the reasons I'm looking into it for cube. Having a 1/3 body that provides value over time is pretty comfortable.
I've actually slotted Snapcaster in as a 4-drop in my lists before because of this very reason!
I'll be the dissenting vote and say big ups to Daredevil. it's actually a fine two-drop because of the first strike - it wins a lot of combats in my cube and is a much better blocker than some x/3. In a spellslingers type deck, Burning Prophet is an awful top-deck, but Daredevil is exactly what you're looking for - a guy, a spell trigger, and value. I think the ability for Daredevil to be relevant early or late is way more valuable than the scry.
I just love both these cards and would find a different cut to run both.
Edit -
I like both of these way better than Abbot of Keral Keep, for instance.
Edit -
I like both of these way better than Abbot of Keral Keep, for instance.