Card/Deck Single Card Spotlight

B

blacksmithy

My one experience with the Broodmaster was me getting rekt by it in 2HG prerelease for my wife and I's only loss, so I probably have a false positive on it.
I'll probably try the new 6-drop instead—I just hope he's not crazy expen$ive.
 
Eric Chan

Eric Chan

Hyalopterous Lemure
Staff member
Jason Waddell said:
Of the five mechanical attributes of the card (ignoring the ridiculousness of it being a Legendary Enchantment Artifact), only one seems remotely bow like. Maybe you could make a case for deathtouch being bow-like, buuuuut.

I could have this card in my cube for a decade, and every time my opponent played it I would still have to turn it around and read the text. Then later in the same game they would activate it and my response would be "wait, it can do that?".
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Having run Bow for a few months now, I still have no idea what it does, and regularly am surprised by it. It's also kinda hilarious to see it in play in the game next to you, and watch it get misplayed every other turn. When they said that Lorwyn limited had too much on-board complexity, because of stuff like Silvergill Douser, and then they had to create NWO because of that... man, Silvergill Douser ain't got shit on Bow of Nylea.
 
Diakonov

Diakonov

Eric Chan said:
I ran Hydra Broodmaster for a while, and was really high on him in the beginning, because in a game where you're not too far behind and aren't in danger of dying, he can plop an impressive amount of power onto the board. However, he's lacklustre in most other scenarios; he has a huge 'echo' cost, takes a while before he can stabilize the board, doesn't block flyers, doesn't himself have evasion, and isn't Wrath-proof. There were a lot of games we played where its owner just didn't have time nor space to pay for monstrosity, and a vanilla 7/7 for six isn't the best rate in the world.

Having said all that, green is pretty thin on cubeable six-drops, so I would encourage you to try him out yourself if you're at all curious!
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If you're willing to try squadroning cards, Arachnus Spinner with a squad of two Arachnus Webs is one of my favorite green 6-drops. It creates an interesting little mini-game of how and when to use the webs.
 
vennythekid

vennythekid

Alright, so quick question: what decks (theoretically) want to be casting Angel of Serenity? She's been in my list for quite a while and I'm not sure if I've ever seen her played in a deck.
You likely don't get to 7 mana versus aggro decks (nor do you want her in aggro), midrange is centered on 4-5 drops primarily, topping out at a Titan (typically). I guess I could see her in a control shell?

Basically, I want to jam this grill, and don't know where to jam her. Decklists would be jammin'
 
Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor

Contributor
vennythekid said:
Alright, so quick question: what decks (theoretically) want to be casting Angel of Serenity? She's been in my list for quite a while and I'm not sure if I've ever seen her played in a deck.
You likely don't get to 7 mana versus aggro decks (nor do you want her in aggro), midrange is centered on 4-5 drops primarily, topping out at a Titan (typically). I guess I could see her in a control shell?

Basically, I want to jam this grill, and don't know where to jam her. Decklists would be jammin'
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You ever run Elesh Norn?
Those
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
Angel has resolved a lot over here. It's kind of a top-end in a removal heavy UW or Esper control deck most of the time. But ideally one that also plays stuff like Baneslayer Angel and other creatures so that when Serenity hits the board you'll have already soaked up their removal spells.
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
People are bitching about how Curse of Predation is too good over in the Return to Zendikar thread, but I have always liked the card. Am I turning a blind eye to how oppressively powerful it can be? Please rank the cards below from strong to ehm... less strong, so I can judge how good this card is.

 
FlowerSunRain

FlowerSunRain

Contributor
Curse is #2 after Opposition. Its not super agnostic value like Finks or slam dunk in every deck that goes to 6 black like Titan, but it is a wrecking ball in decks that make dudes, particularly if you support +1/+1 counters. Its not "Jitte supporting Pridemates" bad, but I'm starting to wonder if it is over the line. I'm currently on the "play it" side of the fence, but I am having doubts if its the right side.
 
ahadabans

ahadabans

I don't think curse is that high. I put Grave Titan, Opposition, and Ophiomancer above it.

My main issue is that it's multi-player unfriendly because the player that gets cursed becomes a target. That was unfun.

If we did zero multi-player, I think it would be OK as long as you ran a decent amount of removal. It's really strong though, especially with +1/+1 counter support. So I don't know honestly. It's certainly borderline.
 
FlowerSunRain

FlowerSunRain

Contributor
A 100% flat power curve isn't going to happen without making indefensible sacrifices somewhere in your design. Its mainly a question of where you want to put your power. I'm starting to wonder if Curse of Predation is the right place. Someone yesturday was questioning Dictate of Heliod for similar reasons and while I personally came out defending that card, in structuring that defense I was forced to think about when the card would be undesirable. Curse of Predation is similar: its also anthem! I'm wondering if the same argument holds (decks that make dudes need cards like this) when you add in the emergent +1/+1 counter syngergies or if the combination is overkill.

Now that I think of it, I should be asking the same question about wildfire.
 
B

blacksmithy

The interesting thing you've done with your selection of cards to rank is that Curse of Predation goes really well in the same deck as pretty much every other card on your list. Bravo.
My opinion on the card is that it's hella good, but not nearly as oppressive as others are saying. (My cube power level is pretty high so YMMV)
I started with it in Peasant Cube, where it was, indeed, oppressive. In my current, more traditional, Cube, it's pretty much as good as "pitch to Force" cards get, but it's not oppressing any archetypes or causing my drafters to complain. In fact they somewhat underrate it because it was in the Peasant Cube and made the initial crossover alongside schlock like Sprout Swarm.
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Alfonzo Bonzo said:
I'm not sure that's a useful a approach. Wouldn't say they were 'bitching' either!

If it helps, I'm only playing the two white cards above and I love me a pitches to force theme.
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They weren't really bitching, but it's a nice mood-setter for the question, right? :D I dig the answers. I always play mono-player matches, so that helps with Curse feeling less unfun I suppose. I cut Grave Titan and Opposition from my cube for power/interaction reasons, but I run the other five. Off all the cards in my cube, I do think it's the easiest way to reset Kitchen Finks. I can't figure out though if the real culprit in that scenario is Finks or Curse, and indeed if this two-card "combo" is even a problem.
 
FlowerSunRain

FlowerSunRain

Contributor
The problem with finks "combos" is that putting finks into your deck has almost zero opportunity cost. I suppose that could be considered a good thing, but it seems completely unnecessary.
 
B

blacksmithy

Well, it all depends on power level and whether your drafters like combos, really. Muzzio's Preparations + Finks is probably too powerful for most Riptide lists. On the other hand, if your combo requires you to attack or bolster or whatever to reset your Finks, that's probably not a problem unless you're running at Peasant-ish levels.
 
Eric Chan

Eric Chan

Hyalopterous Lemure
Staff member
Curse of Predation is probably the strongest anthem in my cube, but I like it quite a bit - it single-handedly makes green aggro more viable, is a three mana anthem that doesn't suck, encourages attacking rather than sitting back or generating a board stall (as Dictate of Heliod is wont to do), and lets all of your other creatures pitch to force. There's a big difference between "strong card that fits in a lot of decks" and "oppressive, unfun game-breaker", and Curse sits in the former category for me.
 
Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor

Contributor
My evaluation of curse goes like this:
Losing: Bad. To be expected, it's not a creature or removal, and requires you to attack.
Even Board: Very Good. Anthems typically make your attacks better, and assuming any of your creatures live, they're going to get bigger again. Your opponent needs to either run you out of creatures or kill curse asap
Winning: Same as even board, except my opponent concedes.
Developing: Still quite strong. Your 2 drop gets a counter, starts growing, and you get to keep adding pressure to the board. God forbid that 2 drop was nest invader or something that synergises with curse.

I know the losing camp and the developing camp are the more important ones, but the middle two were so strong it felt unfair.
 
Lucre

Lucre

I got to game with a sweet BW aggro/value deck while cubing this weekend and I'm really falling back in love with mesmeric fiend and tidehallow Sculler but moreover this guy has made a huge impression on me despite being hella clunky



I think the turn I realized it was after having curved from Doomed Traveler, into Sculler and then into Carver and I got to attack for six on turn 4 with my intimidate carver but honestly I was already wondering if I shoulda saved my sculler for turn 4 when I coulda just played it as a 4 mana sorcery for coercion and +2/+2. It wasn't as if I couldn't play the confidant turn 2 but I guess I'm super shy of arc lightning type spells since playing chris' cube last week.

PS - Playing Xathrid on turn 3 before combat with a Loyal Cathar out is one of the simple pleasures that makes the world go round.
 
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