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How strong are these? Both fit well in my format, but I'm kind of worried they're going to be too aggressive.
It's all dependent on how quickly your players can develop in the early game. A T1 Parish in my cube is usually up to around a 3/3 or 4/4 before it becomes a must answer on the other side and that's mostly due to the density of cheap humans that are available in W/B Aggro in my cube. Perished will probably be slower since cheap zombies aren't as plentiful, but it might end up being more explosive in the later parts of the game if you have cards that can produce multiple zombies ala tokens. Parish can slot into more decks in a typical cube due to how common human is as a type across W/R/G, but I'm not sure if that's as applicable in your environment.

They are both aggressive one drops with high ceilings and low floors; excellent when deployed early and can benefit from a curve out, kind of ass in the later game when you're topdecking a 1/1 that needs help to be a threat. I think they're worth the inclusion simply because they introduce a new dimension of sequencing to aggressive decks that usually just end up caring more about stats than individual cards. The way I see it, the litmus test for an aggressive 1 drop is whether it can deal 3-4 damage throughout a game. If I can get that damage output before the one drop bites the dust, then it's been successful.

With the potential vertical growth you get from deploying either on T1, I'd say that they're well worth trying out due to the unique angle they provide for aggressive decks.
 
Perished is not because it’s almost strictly black cards that buff it.
Bro. Look who posted!

I'm at 25 Zombies pre-MID with 4-5 more coming from MID. I could also pick up several more if I made an effort to add some Zombies. Must be more in Vow, I'd think. I expect them to be similarly powered for me, once you consider many of the Zombies are recursive.
Champion of the Parish is a strong card but it's just a 1-drop beater

I would give them a try and see if they are too efficient for you. But you are not going to have an overpowered deck or anything.
It might be too good of a one drop, but that has a pretty limited potential to ruin any games.
With the potential vertical growth you get from deploying either on T1, I'd say that they're well worth trying out due to the unique angle they provide for aggressive decks.
This is the most appealing part, to me. They're unique and they offer a bit of an angle to focus on during the draft. Both of those are upsides.

I have a Parish somewhere around here. Let's hope Zombie casuals don't keep Perished's price up. Might as well give 'em a spin. Thanks, all.
 
I was totally sold on this trick when Strixhaven was spoiled. I haven't seen it played yet because it never made a deck. That's a pretty bad omen, right?

What are your thoughts on it so far?

 
I was totally sold on this trick when Strixhaven was spoiled. I haven't seen it played yet because it never made a deck. That's a pretty bad omen, right?

What are your thoughts on it so far?

i tend to use the counter more than the fight, but it’s pretty OK. quite nice for protecting a magecraft creature from removal
 
It was good in STX draft but mostly because there were so many noncreature spells. In most cubes you have the issue of being blow out easily when casting the Pounce mode. Whether it's playable will depend on your power level. At mine it would be decent in aggressive UG decks, but probably bad in more controllish ones, especially against aggro.

I like the modal nature and the flexibility in timing of the Pounce. I don't like the genericness of the flavor and the disconnect between the two abilities. Seems like a "dry" card with no soul.
 
I ran Velrun Velomachus Lorehold for a bit and yeah, he gets things done. However, seven mana is a lot and also more often than not he suffers from what I call Swole Lad Syndrome in that the 5/5 flying haste body is often far more relevant than anything else he brings to the table. I've switched over to Adult Gold Dragon as a curve-topped for aggro decks and been happier overall, even though it's a less interesting card per se if only because it's so hard to get to seven mana.

Also, consider what spells Velomachus is likely to be casting. 9 times out of 10, you're going to choose a single-target removal spell, making him kind of like a hasty version of Drakuseth, Maw of Flames. If that sounds like fun, though, go for it!

Edit: as Blacksmithy points out, Velomachus is a much more reasonable include if you support reanimation. I do, but only at 4+ mana, which makes him a reasonable target. The reason I don't run this card is that I have a limited budget for designated game-ending chungi in my cube and I don't like using a gold slot on them because they are so limited. Also, as I said before, once you game out what his ability is likely to target it becomes a lot less exciting seeing that it's probably either a removal spell or something situational and therefore useless. Unless you support, like, Jeskai Taking Turns, in which case this would be very cool.
 
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notably, a lot of the constructed decks that used Velomachus were cheating him out in order to cheat other stuff out. very much a bad fair card, but a cool unfair card. like zoss said, seven mana is a LOT
 
I ran Velrun Velomachus Lorehold for a bit and yeah, he gets things done. However, seven mana is a lot and also more often than not he suffers from what I call Swole Lad Syndrome.
I am a big boy. And I’m so happy they got the word ‘Lore’ in my name, wuhuu!
 

Is this too slow and/or fragile? An absolute beating at two devours, but also potentially a beating to get removed at that point.


???? Green 3 I know.... It might be able to get an open slot if I tweak Thrashing Brontodon to be foundation breaker or wickerbough elder or something....

Trying to do some maintenance on my +1/+1 theme and checking over options.

I already added in nils, discipline enforcer and contortionist troupe as luminarch asiprant proxies that doesn't begin popping off right away (a good thing for me). Not a fan of how clunky the text on Nils is, but it's serviceable.
 
Rishkar is very good. I do often worry that it's so good that it appears to have synergy with a counters deck but actually just has synergy with being good. With my addition of katilda, dawnheart prime though, it might be a good time to meld some big mana with big counters.



This is looking more and more attractive the more I look at it. Combined with landfall/land shenanigans and it could be pretty strong.
 
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I really tried to shoehorn an "elf-ball" style ramp deck with counter creatures at one point. Even ran:



and



It was a little janky. Katilda seems like it would make that archetype a lot more intuitive.
 
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Titanoth Rex can always step in as a turboramp finisher for a deck if needed. I do like how straightforward Katilda lays out the plan of the deck (and it uses a tribe that's actually common in cubes).

Finale of Devastation plays a good Chord, and can recur Katilda et al from the grave too.

Edit: now that I mention the fact that Katilda is Human Tribal, has anyone had luck with
?
 
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Edit: now that I mention the fact that Katilda is Human Tribal, has anyone had luck with
?
To add onto what Erik mentioned above, it's definitely a key card for any W/x Humans archetype. You get the base mode of being a 2nd copy of Champion of the Parish, but the real play comes from sandbagging it as an anthem like effect to push through more damage after developing your board further. Having 2/1s turn into 3/2s can sometimes be just enough of a boost to really put your opponent on the backfoot and in the danger zone if you develop quickly enough. It creates tougher blocking scenarios for your opponent and might cause them to re-evaluate whether or not they can afford to hold off until wrathing or if they really should be utilizing spot removal to pick off these 1 and 2 mana creatures that are suddenly a MUCH bigger threat.

With how common humans are in white, I'm actually surprised that more cubes don't run this pair. It's super easy to generate a non-parasitic humans angle to W/x Aggro with just these two and something like Bloodsoaked Champion which has become a staple for most cubes.
 


Is this a little too much to run as an incentive for delve/reanimation decks?
I think the card doesn’t go into a reanimator/delve deck. Both decks tend to have a higher mana value in average than most other decks which means they’ll hurt more from Keen Duelist.

I also don’t think reanimator/delve decks are especially in need of more 2 mana 2/2’s. And the ability doesn’t seem to benefit reanimator/delve strategies particular.
 
I agree that it doesn't really fit into a reanimator/delve type strategy, but note that the other player loses life from your reveal. So if you flip a Griselbrand you opponent takes 8.
 
yeah, i don’t think this card is good. you’re giving your opponent cards and chunking both players life down, which, if you have a lower curve than them and are trying to be aggressive, you’ll be hurting them less, and if you have a higher curve and are controlling, you don’t want to be chunking your own life down.
 
Pretty good. I like that it doesn't say "other goblins", so at the very worst you can fire-breathe Battle Cry Goblin itself (which puts you closer to that 6 power)
 
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