Card/Deck Single Card Spotlight
- Thread starter Dom Harvey
- Start date
Yeah, I'm starting to think that actually going for Skaven Rat tribal directly involves dredging the bottom of the barrel. It might be better to use it as a way of giving a Mono-Black Control archetype some extra quirkiness, since a lot of rats make people discard.
Maybe Piper + Slumlord, in conjunction with a few of the nicer rats, might be enough? Man, I wish Slumlord and Ratcatcher weren't so expensive...
Maybe Piper + Slumlord, in conjunction with a few of the nicer rats, might be enough? Man, I wish Slumlord and Ratcatcher weren't so expensive...
Don't sleep on this one though, it's actually quite solid if you include some tribal synergies and/or ninja's and/or bloodthirst in your cube.
And raid!
Some examples that go well with the rats
Talking with one of my drafters, he mentioned he really didn't like Jace, Wielder of Mysteries since it didn't protect itself and costs triple blue. I can see that especially in a MP setting where 2-3 people are attacking you. Laboratory Maniac was too fragile for us, so enter:
I like the card as a signpost that you should be milling yourself for value or a spicy win. I also think the opportunity cost is pretty low (1 cube slot) for what it enables.
My question is, do you think a single Thassa's Oracle is a trap in a cube that still encourages self-mill in blue?
I like the card as a signpost that you should be milling yourself for value or a spicy win. I also think the opportunity cost is pretty low (1 cube slot) for what it enables.
My question is, do you think a single Thassa's Oracle is a trap in a cube that still encourages self-mill in blue?
I think that depends.
If you have other clear payoffs in Blue, then Thassa's Oracle is primarily just one of those "archetype in a can" cards (where the deck goes from a "self-mill" deck to a "Thassa's Oracle" deck). If you mostly have incidental self-mill or the payoffs are kinda meh, then I wouldn't bother. Despite it being a Blue devotion card, I think you'd be better off going with making that archetype GU or UB, since you don't want to accidentally mill your only copy of Thassa's Oracle.
If you have other clear payoffs in Blue, then Thassa's Oracle is primarily just one of those "archetype in a can" cards (where the deck goes from a "self-mill" deck to a "Thassa's Oracle" deck). If you mostly have incidental self-mill or the payoffs are kinda meh, then I wouldn't bother. Despite it being a Blue devotion card, I think you'd be better off going with making that archetype GU or UB, since you don't want to accidentally mill your only copy of Thassa's Oracle.
Haven't been able to test Thassa's Oracle yet, but there are many things I really like in theory about it:
- How its ETB is what wins the game, so it's resilient to removal
- Because self-mill and reanimator go hand in hand, it's a split card (endgame reanimator target / defense against aggro).
- Animate Deads are effectively redundancy for it
- In a control deck, it's defense against aggro / occasionally a win condition.
- Blinking it repeatedly is relatively weak, but always useful.
- You don't open yourself so much to dying to Doom Blade like with Laboratory Maniac
- Wizard
Omenspeaker is a decent card. Other than the UU cost, there's no real downside to it. I was going to use it as part of a Doomsday package, but never got a chance thanks to COVID and my redesign likely won't include something that complex, but that's an option as well.
I wouldn't do a one-for-one swap here. Although Jace, Wielder of Mysteries can't protect itself, it doesn't matter as long as there are only 2 cards left in your deck. Jace can mill you for two, then draw a card and win. Jace effectively plays the same role as Thassa's Oracle in the "mill yourself" strategy. While Thassa's Oracle is a superior card to Jace, Wielder of Mysteries in multiplayer, only having one copy of this effect available at a draft table means that the self-mill deck is going to be a greater risk to draft and have a higher rate of failure in an average game.Talking with one of my drafters, he mentioned he really didn't like Jace, Wielder of Mysteries since it didn't protect itself and costs triple blue. I can see that especially in a MP setting where 2-3 people are attacking you. Laboratory Maniac was too fragile for us, so enter:
I like the card as a signpost that you should be milling yourself for value or a spicy win. I also think the opportunity cost is pretty low (1 cube slot) for what it enables.
My question is, do you think a single Thassa's Oracle is a trap in a cube that still encourages self-mill in blue?
I'd recommend not cutting Jace but still finding a place to include Thassa's Oracle.
I've been mulling this over for a long time now, but I think evolving wilds is finally of the power level to be worth running in every cube.
I have compiled a long list of reasons for why Evolving Wilds is actually the best fetch land and why everyone should be playing it:
#1. It has Bob Ross art now.
I have compiled a long list of reasons for why Evolving Wilds is actually the best fetch land and why everyone should be playing it:
#1. It has Bob Ross art now.
Well done!
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
That Bob Ross art is such a great fit too!
Which Wildfire do you guys run?
https://scryfall.com/search?as=grid&order=released&q=!"Wildfire"&unique=prints
Dom Harvey
Contributor
I love the Saga art! The 7th one that nobody knows about conveys the theme of the card well but doesn't pop in the same way. The volcano on the Portal one looks good in the old border too
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I run the Modern Masters 2015 version. Portal art in the new border. Would trade for the Saga art (and flavor text) in the new border in the wink of an eye.
How low-powered is this?
Pretty low-powered. A 1/4 isn't a bad defensive body, but the majority of time it's a 5 mana investment to put two basic lands in your hand. This was a decent card in limited to slow aggro, make sure you hit land drops, and also put two card types into the grave for Delirium, but it's probably not going to be as useful in many cubes.