General Revisiting Aristocrat Environments: Things that don't mind dying

Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
I feel a bit unsatisfied with parts of my current aristocrats implementation. Maybe Grillo's amazing Penny Pincher 2.0 is making me feel insecute (uh... leaving this typo), but I feel like there aren't enough cards in my environment that don't mind getting sac'd. Sure, I've got the standard assortment of red and black beaters that don't mind joining the dearly departed.

But is this then just a Mardu card?



Are we meant to sacrifice Thraben Inspector's clue? And what about defensive decks. Is Bygone Bishop too slow for a 6 on the Strix (scale)?

Is there room in an aggressive environment for the likes of:



Does Doomed Traveller need to come back home before it's too late?

Maybe just some more Kitchen Finks for all the synergies?

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Is Usher of the Fallen the Savannah Lions that was chosen? Is that even what we need?
 
sigh

sigh

Usher of the Fallen has played quite well in my trialing. I like that it leaves a non-attacking token, so you can get in for your damage but leave a blocker if needed, or just not have the token immediately self-destruct off a blocker. Pretty nice card.

If you are looking to be saccing all sorts of different permanent's I might recommend looking into

which reanimates any permanent, not just creatures.
 
Dom Harvey

Dom Harvey

Contributor
You have Epochrasite and Perilous Myr but how about:



There are some interesting glue cards in white:



If you don't mind the Companion clause, this is a tremendously powerful and flexible card that can let you buy back some sac fodder every turn (or deliberately sac something to get its ETB effect again etc):

 
japahn

japahn

I'm looking for a replacement for Helm of Possession as a colorless sacrifice outlet. It's a card that's pretty hard to beat, when someone actually takes the time to read it.

The thing is, I'm not sure any of the options are good enough for my cube. I'm looking at:



Other cards I've run, but were rarely used:
 
Dom Harvey

Dom Harvey

Contributor
Altar of Dementia is really good at a very specific task - either you don't want to run it or it's one of the lynchpins of your deck. I don't mind Witch's Oven if you have stuff that cares about artifacts/tokens

I'm quite partial to:



It's a free sacrifice outlet but you have to pay to get your item out, which is a nice way of splitting that difference. Its effect isn't conditional so you can gladly load it up in response to a sweeper and then use it to rebuild afterwards. If you have something that keys off creatures entering/leaving play, turning every creature into half of another creature lets you rack up those points quickly
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
To me it's just one of those Commander cards that came out without any quality control, and worse, without any inspiring design. I am not at all excited about winning because my 3-drop pooped out 5+ flying dorks on its death bed. I wouldn't begrudge anyone for running it, but to me it simply didn't "feel" right.
 
Erik Twice

Erik Twice

Hangarback Walker fills a dozen roles and helps countless archetypes but it's extremely strong. I ran it, then cut it because it was too strong and now I'm tempted to run it again. It's juast assured value. It goes withe very deck, can be played at any point in the curve and must be answered. If it gets blown up with 4 counters on them, you probably still win because there are not that many ways to get rid of flyers.
 
japahn

japahn

Why Hallowed Spiritkeeper feels fake:

1. No one has run it at tournaments or built around it because it wasn't in Standard, yet it's pushed. Like fake cards.
2. It lacks resonance. Why does it have a vigilance ability? Why does it make spirits when it dies, and not when it ETBs? Fake cards often lack resonance.
3. A 3/2 for 3 that might simply win the game when it dies a head scratcher. Isn't killing a creature supposed to be a good thing? Unless it has a drawback, or is costed appropriately. Fake cards are often unbalanced and almost always untested, so they create these strange play patterns too.
4. There is no lore (afaik), no flavor text, that explains what the concept is. It could be called "Spiritkeeper of Erebos" or say something like “You always were and you always will be free.” (which I just found online, it's from a book called The Infinite Spark of Being). Also, it could show the souls, instead of just someone (?) raising their hand. The art seems like a cutout from a bigger picture in deviant art without doing much research. Like bad fake cards.
 
Dom Harvey

Dom Harvey

Contributor
Hallowed Spiritkeeper is an incredibly powerful card that mostly does things that aren't hard to find elsewhere
 
James Stevenson

James Stevenson

Steamflogger Boss
Staff member
Me and Jason were discussing this guy the other day:


Seems perfect when you want to sacrifice things. What are people's thoughts? We worried that it's not impactful enough for 5 mana. People who run it, does it hold up?

Edit: what interesting things can you get back? Any sweet plays?
 
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Rasmus Källqvist

Rasmus Källqvist

James Stevenson said:
Me and Jason were discussing this guy the other day:


Seems perfect when you want to sacrifice things. What are people's thoughts? We worried that it's not impactful enough for 5 mana. People who run it, does it hold up?

Edit: what interesting things can you get back? Any sweet plays?
Click to expand...

Uh this card is pretty fucking good actually, getting back 2 creatures is really good, since there's plenty of creatures with 2 or less power that are pretty techy. Grabbing a sac outlet and blood artist for instance after your opponent has finally taken some damage to get that engine off the board.
 
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sigh

sigh

Reveillark is very good. The power play is of course with karmic guide, which I ran together with the 'lark in my previous cube. Currently deciding if I'm going to go with that again.

Looking at my cubecobra analysis, 118 creatures have power 2 or less, the lions share of all creatures for sure (~67% of creatures). Reveillark basically always has targets.
 
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Erik Twice

Erik Twice

Reveillark gives you massive "range". It's a threat on itself (4/3) flyer and if dealt with, it brings more threats. And if one of those is Eternal Witness, you can do it again. It's a beating.
 
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TrainmasterGT

TrainmasterGT

ravnic said:
I always though Reveillark was a max power cube staple. At least it was when I was hanging around mtgsalvation cube forum, before I ended up here, luckily.
Click to expand...
Reveillark is one of those cards people building powered cubes who don't understand format balance play. It doesn't really belong in high powered environments. It's neat in a lot of riptide cubes, though!
 
shamizy

shamizy

japahn said:
Why doesn't it belong in high powered environments?
Click to expand...


It just doesn't do enough on its own in a vacuum for many cubes. If you're in a format where everything is generating a ton of value left and right on ETBs, then Reveillark is kind of lackluster unless you're bringing back something busted from the get go. Even then, at 6 mana, you've probably got superior haymaker options available. I've gone back and forth with it over the years but eventually brought it back once Blink became a legit archetype in my cube in the last year.

It's a nice card in my cube, but it's definitely on the lower end of impact 5 drops on its own. I do love it if you're able to get it off after setting up a blink engine ala Soulherder or Thassa, Deep-Dwelling though. To me it's a quintessential Riptide style card; decent on its own, but its power is really unlocked if you draft your deck with it in mind.
 
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