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blacksmithy

i should note that it gets significantly harder to break in low-curve formats where you are not as likely to have 5-6 mana cards in your deck. can still be built around with delve and cyclers though
 
MilesOfficial

MilesOfficial

blacksmithy said:

Played with and against this in a LOTR paper draft the other day. I knew it was gonna be good in retail but it really overperformed for me and created a fun subgame. I am not sure it cuts it as-is in my own cube but would highly recommend this as a control engine/finisher. Definitely domed someone who didnt want to give me draws for 11 in one shot once.
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I feel vindicated because I was day 1 super hot on this card and my ~25x drafts of the format on Arena only validated it personally. It's a very fun card and worth the complexity creep. It can absolutely take over games if played on turn 3 but it also only maxes out as a better Phyrexian Arena and is susceptible to dozens of removal spells in my list.
 
Velrun

Velrun

I would like to add, simply to clarify if I didn’t make myself clear, I think the card is super fun, can be used as a build-around (But doesn’t have to) and is pretty damn sweet design. Especially because the scrying changes over time. But the card can also ‘ruin’ a game so easily if opponent doesn’t have a hyper aggro deck or an artifact removal like Embereth Shieldbreaker
 
Humpty_Dumpty

Humpty_Dumpty

Palantir is certainly very good in retail draft, though LotR is a relatively slow and low power format so that may not be transferable to many cubes. The landcyclers also increase the average mana value of cards to a modest effect. I think it’s definitely better than Phyrexian Arena because of triggering the turn it’s played, the scry and the easy casting cost. The mill is also good in cubes where the graveyard is an accessible resource. It‘s a bit fiddly and non-intuitive, though, and that makes me unwilling to run it.
 
TrainmasterGT

TrainmasterGT

Velrun said:
I am confident you have not played with or against the card if you say it is not far away from something like Phyrexian Arena.

Unless of course you mean it is the The Scarab God of Arenas.

What are your experiences with the card? @TrainmasterGT
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I've played with the card quite a bit on Arena, both in LOTR draft and in some different Constructed decks. It really does just play like a colorless Phyrexian Arena, just a better because it sets up your draws and you don't need to worry about losing life. It's more of a bomb than Phyrexian Arena, but mostly because it's colorless and doesn't have a drawback. Definitely not comparable to The Scarab God.
 
Velrun

Velrun

TrainmasterGT said:
I've played with the card quite a bit on Arena, both in LOTR draft and in some different Constructed decks. It really does just play like a colorless Phyrexian Arena, just a better because it sets up your draws and you don't need to worry about losing life. It's more of a bomb than Phyrexian Arena, but mostly because it's colorless and doesn't have a drawback. Definitely not comparable to The Scarab God.
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This surprises me a whole lot because it really does not play like a colorless Phyrexian Arena although I appreciate you changing your opinion a bit. Palantir deals a whole lot of damage to your opponent which Arena does not. It fills up your graveyard which the Arena does not. And it’s 1 turn better than Arena and can go into any deck. They are not very much alike. The first scry 2 gives you one card to the top which you like. Later in the game the scry 2 + draw is insanely strong and is much closer to draw 2 than draw 1. And finally Palantir is a few levels above Scarab God when it comes to raw power level. Which is not surprising when comparing a 2017 card printed to Standard with a 2023 card printed to skip Standard and go straight to Modern and Eternal (no pun intended) formats. An aggro player resolving Palantir is likely death unless we have an immediate answer. It’s simply too much damage.
 
TrainmasterGT

TrainmasterGT

Velrun said:
This surprises me a whole lot because it really does not play like a colorless Phyrexian Arena although I appreciate you changing your opinion a bit. Palantir deals a whole lot of damage to your opponent which Arena does not. It fills up your graveyard which the Arena does not. And it’s 1 turn better than Arena and can go into any deck. They are not very much alike. The first scry 2 gives you one card to the top which you like. Later in the game the scry 2 + draw is insanely strong and is much closer to draw 2 than draw 1. And finally Palantir is a few levels above Scarab God when it comes to raw power level. Which is not surprising when comparing a 2017 card printed to Standard with a 2023 card printed to skip Standard and go straight to Modern and Eternal (no pun intended) formats. An aggro player resolving Palantir is likely death unless we have an immediate answer. It’s simply too much damage.
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I think you might be misreading Palantir. You don't always get the damage, mill, and card draw. Your opponent chooses whether or not they want you to draw a card or mill. If they choose mill, they also take some amount of damage. The card is definitely not GRBS tier garbage like Scarab God (I'm honestly not even sure why that's your comparison point here, the cards are absolutely nothing alike from a play pattern perspective). Instead, it really feels like an updated Phyrexian arena. That's why I have held and continue to hold this position.
 
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Velrun

Velrun

I have neither misread or misunderstood the card. What a weird thing to say.

Yeah it is the classic GRBS. Please by all means test the card. You will be surprised.
 
Rusje

Rusje

Velrun said:
This surprises me a whole lot because it really does not play like a colorless Phyrexian Arena although I appreciate you changing your opinion a bit. Palantir deals a whole lot of damage to your opponent which Arena does not. It fills up your graveyard which the Arena does not. And it’s 1 turn better than Arena and can go into any deck. They are not very much alike. The first scry 2 gives you one card to the top which you like. Later in the game the scry 2 + draw is insanely strong and is much closer to draw 2 than draw 1. And finally Palantir is a few levels above Scarab God when it comes to raw power level. Which is not surprising when comparing a 2017 card printed to Standard with a 2023 card printed to skip Standard and go straight to Modern and Eternal (no pun intended) formats. An aggro player resolving Palantir is likely death unless we have an immediate answer. It’s simply too much damage.
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It definitely is on par with the scarab god due to costing 2 mana less, do something at the end of your turn as opposed to your upkeep, and having a higher floor.
The main goal is to get the opponent to 0 life (yes, fringe strategies win in another way). You use cards to do damage. You scry 2, and either do damage or get to draw a card (which does damage). It is much stronger than the arena due to scry 2 every time.
 
Velrun

Velrun

That’s still a great idea. I promise to not be as vindictive in that thread as I have been with Palantir.

FYI the only reason why I mentioned Scarab God was because we have previously established the Scarab God scale on this website as the card that is least likely to want a synergy based deck because it is powerful enough on its own. Not because they share a lot of similiar play patterns per se.
 
B

blacksmithy

i think palantir is actually REALLY fun. (and pretty strong). my understanding of GRBS is that it is what it stands for, which is game-ruining bullshit, which implies that GRBS cards are unfun
 
gaytransmulldrifter

gaytransmulldrifter


Wanted to put a little spotlight on scavenging dino here. I don't think I've seen it in a ton of lists and I've been pretty impressed with it in my budget fair stuff cube. I'm always looking for incidental graveyard hate for that cube since there's a big graveyard theme and I like people to be able to interact with that stuff without having to resort to pure sideboard cards, and this card has performed great in that role. It's extremely maindeckable in green midrange decks at this power level and I like that you're incentivized to swing in with it a lot. It does kinda shut down aggro pretty hard because of the repeated lifegain, so if that's a big concern in your environment it might not be a perfect fit, but I've enjoyed the play patterns of this guy and he's been a consistently high pick in my lower power environment. If you're a Scooze and Lion Sash fan I'd def recommend giving him a shot, similar to those cards he can be a graveyard hate piece or a payoff for putting a bunch of shit you don't need in your own graveyard.
 
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