Card/Deck Single Card Spotlight
- Thread starter Dom Harvey
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I actually quite like this card. I think I may be paraphrasing from LSV here, but I remember him talking on-stream about the problem with counterspells in limited, namely the tempo loss it gets you if you don't wind up able to use them. This card does a good job of making that more of a 'corner-case,' as you can usually find -something- to use this bad boy on. It's not quite -perfect,- as if your opponent has a board-state advantage it is possible for them to simply play nothing, attack and gain tempo, but dealing with -that- would require vapor snag to be one of the modes and that... well, that would obviously be incredible, wouldn't it?
Holy crap this card is a blowout in KLD limited... if your opponent has two of them.... in a row.... against your two Revoke Privileges/salt
Would indeed be incredible.
But in the interest of actually contributing discussion, this card does seem sweet. Ignoring tempo, an expensive 1-for-1 counterspell, and at best a huge blowout countering a removal spell and redirecting it at your opponent's board.
Seems really, really good with Gearhulk, but then again what isn't?
I guess it depends on how bomb-y your spells are and how viably you can hold up 4 mana as to how good this thing really is.
So my most recent pet brew for standard is a Mono U splash B combo-control deck that uses Rise from the Tides as a wincon, and this card... is better than I expected. By quite a bit. Firstly, didn't remember that its X + 1, and then the bigger X's really start approaching lose-lose for your opponent pretty fast.
Might have to reconsider this card. I know I have a massive blind spot for FoF, but this might be getting there for me...
So my most recent pet brew for standard is a Mono U splash B combo-control deck that uses Rise from the Tides as a wincon, and this card... is better than I expected. By quite a bit. Firstly, didn't remember that its X + 1, and then the bigger X's really start approaching lose-lose for your opponent pretty fast.
Might have to reconsider this card. I know I have a massive blind spot for FoF, but this might be getting there for me...
I replaced FoF with that too, it's kinda better to be on the receiving end of as you only have to make a single binary decision as opposed to working through all the permutations to see which is least bad. Also does heavy lifting for self-mill feat. Labman & Tog.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I replaced Fact or Fiction with Fortune's Favor, which is a good card drawing spell with hilarious gameplay too it 
I like Fortune's favor a lot too, but I think epiphany has a couple of legs up on it, to be honest. For the same cost you see the same number of cards, with a much higher ceiling available. And what Ossa said about the easier decision for the opponent rings true to me too. You know your deck, so putting the burden of the choice on you makes a lot more sense.I replaced Fact or Fiction with Fortune's Favor, which is a good card drawing spell with hilarious gameplay too it
Both are cool, but I definitely find myself more tempted by Epiphany after testing.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
That depends a bit on the size of your cube I'ld say. And your themes as well. Glimmer of Genius certainly is a card as well and sits in the same
instant card draw slot. As does Gifts Ungiven by the way!Basically exactly what Onderzeeboot said. Power level also plays a role of course, wherein I have deep analysis as one of my 4cc draw spells.
Speaking of toned down power level draw spells, I recently saw this card somewhere, and it seems perfect for my environment:
Speaking of toned down power level draw spells, I recently saw this card somewhere, and it seems perfect for my environment:
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Has anyone tried him out? How annoying/good/fair was he?
Has anyone tried him out? How annoying/good/fair was he?
I don't know from personal experience, but I would assume he's pretty strong 1v1. I don't imagine that you end up ulting it very often, but why would you bother with that when alternating the +1 and -1 could virtually lock out your opponent of relevant threats. Not to mention that combining it alongside any artifact creatures or other removal spells just becomes obnoxious. He's obviously pushed for a format where you can expect 2+ other opponents on the table, I think he might just be downright oppressive.
Has anyone tried him out? How annoying/good/fair was he?
He's been strong for me. Any walker that puts out tokens and is 3cmc or under can potentially be very good. The fact that his best ability requires a high density of artifacts (limiting it's potentially brutally spammy nature) but at the same time synergizes with himself makes evaluating him a bit weird, but I think w/o a bunch of artifact synergies, he's strong but not broken. In the right deck, though, he can be devastating for an opponent who tries to play a 'value curve' of creatures.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
The fact that he's 3 mana with such a strong minus ability worries me a bit. At four mana he would likely have been fine, but you're hardly giving your opponent the time to mount an offense to get him on the table. He looks pretty oppressive with value 2-drop artifacts as well. I do like that he's an artifact matters card in {r/b} though, and he definitely pulls you into those colors.
Also...
Also...
The more I think about it, the more I'm interested in the new Crystalline Crawler from C16.
Let's say the average case scenario is being able to Converge at 3 on T4, usually in some Grixis or Sultai deck. Assuming you hit your 5th land drop, on T5 you have the option of tapping to put one more counter on it (a fine Coalition Relic impression), removing them all to add 4 mana of any color combination to mana pool, then having your 5 lands already there to help cast whatever giant threats you might have. That's 9 possible mana on turn 5, and making that 4/4 on Turn 4 isn't a shabby blocker at all. Now, say you had played a dork on T1 or a rock on T2 or T3. You're at a virtual ten mana by this point allowing for actual hardcasting of giant finishers like Dragonlord Atarka or Kozilek, Butcher of Truth or maybe even Emrakul, the Promised End if you've gotten lucky off of a Satyr Wayfinder + Fetches for card types.
This works especially well with the EMN Emerge Eldrazi at 4cc, lets you cast earlier Cruel Ultimatums with easier access to the color requirements, and it's also an Artifact Creature for any Delirium or UB Tezz shenanigans. I kind of glanced over it the first time it was mentioned in the spoiler thread and forgot about it till I drafted this on cubetutor:
Wouldn't the Crawler just be insane here? I'm playing some crappy three drops just to have emerge bodies for the Deep Fiend and to buy time, but the Crawler would let me just jump ahead of the curve and completely take over. I could also play the Distended Mindbender that I left in the sideboard. Maybe even pull off sick value plays like emerging out of TWO creatures with the Fiend and Mindbender and bringing back the Vengevine. I'll give it a try the next time I get to cube.
Let's say the average case scenario is being able to Converge at 3 on T4, usually in some Grixis or Sultai deck. Assuming you hit your 5th land drop, on T5 you have the option of tapping to put one more counter on it (a fine Coalition Relic impression), removing them all to add 4 mana of any color combination to mana pool, then having your 5 lands already there to help cast whatever giant threats you might have. That's 9 possible mana on turn 5, and making that 4/4 on Turn 4 isn't a shabby blocker at all. Now, say you had played a dork on T1 or a rock on T2 or T3. You're at a virtual ten mana by this point allowing for actual hardcasting of giant finishers like Dragonlord Atarka or Kozilek, Butcher of Truth or maybe even Emrakul, the Promised End if you've gotten lucky off of a Satyr Wayfinder + Fetches for card types.
This works especially well with the EMN Emerge Eldrazi at 4cc, lets you cast earlier Cruel Ultimatums with easier access to the color requirements, and it's also an Artifact Creature for any Delirium or UB Tezz shenanigans. I kind of glanced over it the first time it was mentioned in the spoiler thread and forgot about it till I drafted this on cubetutor:
Temurdrazi from CubeTutor.com
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Wouldn't the Crawler just be insane here? I'm playing some crappy three drops just to have emerge bodies for the Deep Fiend and to buy time, but the Crawler would let me just jump ahead of the curve and completely take over. I could also play the Distended Mindbender that I left in the sideboard. Maybe even pull off sick value plays like emerging out of TWO creatures with the Fiend and Mindbender and bringing back the Vengevine. I'll give it a try the next time I get to cube.
I think Crystalline Crawler is great. I'll probably be swapping out thought-knot seer for it, tbh. The duality of it being both a mana dork and a growing threat is neato. Think it even works well in control because it can come down as a reasonable blocker/threat, and still leave up its mana for counter magic (and then stores/charges mana turn after turn, which control loves)
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I think Crawler is comparable in power to Basalt Monolith, which brings it into GRBS territory for many cubes here.
There's some pretty major differences between it and Monolith, though. It only becomes super broken in a 3+ colour deck, after you use it the first time it takes much longer to turn back on, and being a creature is a relevant drawback. On the other hand it does make coloured mana and you can use it in increments, which is a benefit. I think it's closer to something like Gilded Lotus or Hedron Archive than Basalt Monolith.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
And it can beat down when you don't need the mana. Don't forget that. This is possibly a 5/5 for 4 after all.
But to get it to a 5/5, you really need to have picked up all of the fixing you could possibly get your hands on. There's a cost there sequencing and fetch-wise to really maximize this card versus Monolith which is just a free 3 mana boost with no hoops to jump through. I've found that more of my drafters have become aware of the importance of fixing ever since I increased the cube from 360 to 405 and then 420 around a year back. At 360, you could reasonably expect some relevant fixing land to come your way at some point without really trying since there was such a density of it. Now you really have a choice between an on-color dual versus another sweet card which is some nice draft tension.
If this were just an artifact I'd probably ignore it, but being a creature makes it so much more interactive. I could see it being busted in your cube with ample fixing, but I think it's just solid in most of the rest of our lists.
If this were just an artifact I'd probably ignore it, but being a creature makes it so much more interactive. I could see it being busted in your cube with ample fixing, but I think it's just solid in most of the rest of our lists.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Is she secretly annoying because of her +1? I love the two minus abilities, but the 5/5 haste has been very stronk...
Is she secretly annoying because of her +1? I love the two minus abilities, but the 5/5 haste has been very stronk...
I just bought a foil because she's underrated AF. She's 'fixed' in several ways that make her strong but not broken.
First, the lands remain creatures until your next turn. This can be both good and bad, as she does protect herself... but they get hit by sorcery-speed removal.
Second, she can only Regrowth permanents. It helps her stick with the beatdown decks that really want her, and keeps her from getting gobbled up by the Simic decks that just want to regrowth Fact or Fiction value.
Third, her ultimate is great, but not game-ending.
She's just... solid. I really do like her. She's very 'fair-but-powerful.' I rate her in the same class as chandra, flamecaller. She's not obscenely pushed, but she gives you great, solid value for the CMC. I think she's one of the best fair planeswalkers we've had in a long time.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I always found voice of zendikar to be extremely hard to kill.