Card/Deck Single Card Spotlight

A certain mechanic became taboo because of... reasons.

I like him better than Fabled Hero or Arashin Foremost, but cut him for being too good for too little work.
 
I bring him in my cube from time to time then cut him after a while. Silverblade is completely fine if you're some BW or RW aggro deck, but it's when he gets paired with any big green dude that it gets stupid.
 

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
A certain mechanic became taboo because of... reasons.

I like him better than Fabled Hero or Arashin Foremost, but cut him for being too good for too little work.

Eh, I still think white aggro is one of the weakest parts of a cube, power-level wise, and needs all the help it can get. That may be a function of the other colors being so pushed.
 
Eh, I still think white aggro is one of the weakest parts of a cube, power-level wise, and needs all the help it can get. That may be a function of the other colors being so pushed.

I agree with this, and I think it's because it's got lacklustre one-drops :(

Like, Black gets recurisive 2/1s and Red gets hasty dudes (Swiftspear, Guide, etc). What does white get? Guys with 0 power or guys dependent on certain two drops...
 

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
I agree with this, and I think it's because it's got lacklustre one-drops :(

Like, Black gets recurisive 2/1s and Red gets hasty dudes (Swiftspear, Guide, etc). What does white get? Guys with 0 power or guys dependent on certain two drops...

Yeah, or vanilla 2/1s that don't do anything extra. Maybe we just need to go multi-Kytheon.
 

Aoret

Developer
If you're somewhat seriously considering the lands thing, steppe lynx aggro gets a lottttt better.

As for Silverblade, he feels too swingy for me so I cut him for a second Fabled Hero. I'm a lot more okay with people getting killed by heroes that became immense than I am with people dying to silverblade + sublime archangel or any giant dumb green guy
 

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
If you're somewhat seriously considering the lands thing, steppe lynx aggro gets a lottttt better.

As for Silverblade, he feels too swingy for me so I cut him for a second Fabled Hero. I'm a lot more okay with people getting killed by heroes that became immense than I am with people dying to silverblade + sublime archangel or any giant dumb green guy

The problem with the lands thing is that I would want to test it before, but I can't test it on MODO without dropping like $400 more on lands. I run 25 fetch + 2 in the ULD currently, which is about 3.5 fetches per drafter. How many fetches per drafter are you guys using?
 
Isn't giving fat green dudes double strike exactly what Silverblade is made to do? That's not really some corner-case horror-story scenario. That's what you ought to be looking to do whenever you draft Paladin.
IMO anyway.
P.S. Silverblade Paladin and Wolfir Silverheart were not only in the same Standard, they both have Silver in their names. But if you're going to cut one, cut Silverheart cuz he's a lot less fun to go nuts with.
 

Aoret

Developer
Jason, I'm working on getting a RL draft together for sunday. I'll take numbers then and get back to you. Do you still RL draft? If so I'd say proxy up and take some numbers of your own just incase my playgroup isn't representative

Blacksmithy, I agree, it's what he's for. But I think it's also a GRBS horror story, which is why I've cut him. People may disagree though. I know we also have some folks who run splinter twin combo, which would never fly with my group either. FWIW, I cut silverblade after winning a draft with it, so it wasn't like a kneejerk reaction to a loss or anything dumb like that.
 
Re: GRBS cards, I feel like my perspective is warped because we play sooo many matches each draft here, but I've never found Silverblade Paladin remotely scary. After an early showing of the Paladin, players adapt here to save their removal for him if he's a key threat in later matches. He sets a real low bar for removal, too, since he burns out easily and is nonblack and nonartifact. My perspective is if players didn't draft a way to react to him, then, well, it's a learning experience: draft some removal, kid, or get real aggro/stompy/something. You could argue that "well if your players save removal for him, he must be bad for your format", but I think that cutting him would just lead to the next creature in line getting the same designation of "save a removal spell for this guy!"

I mean, I can see it for Wolfir (not every deck has instant-speed removal for that Birds of Paradise about to turn gigantic and swing in for the kill, fair enough), but Silverblade seems so safe to me, and he's such a fun card that can be disrupted on so many levels. But again, I'm wondering if us playing a dozen or so rounds impacts my perspective, since players adapt to their opponent's deck over the course of several matches here and figure out how to maximize their own strategy through trial and error; maybe if you're doing standard 2-out-of-3, that adaption period isn't really there and so Silverblade comes out and steals 1 of the 2 games necessary for a match win. That's just my guess, anyway.
 
Ive had a similar experience. Players respect silverblade here, but he's a known quantity rather than a boogeyman.
Silverheart, on the other hand, tends towards much less fun scenarios, and is also super boring. You can build around double strike and feel smart, but you cant really (and dont have to) build around 8 free power.
 

Aoret

Developer
It's definitely possible that I'm just wrong on this. When I called the card swingy I guess I wasn't being completely accurate. He isn't swingy in the way wolfir silverheart is, it's more that his best case is a little better than I like and his worst case (I have no other creatures) feels really shitty. As I'm thinking back through it, I guess the other reason I don't like the card is that it doesn't really ask anything of me as a player-all I need to do is have creatures. Fabled Hero has a pretty great best case too, but I have to work a little harder for it, which I appreciate, and his worst case is that he's still a 2/2 double strike dude.

Possible that it's just a taste thing, but I've been happier since cutting SP for a second hero.
 

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
Jason, I'm working on getting a RL draft together for sunday. I'll take numbers then and get back to you. Do you still RL draft? If so I'd say proxy up and take some numbers of your own just incase my playgroup isn't representative

Blacksmithy, I agree, it's what he's for. But I think it's also a GRBS horror story, which is why I've cut him. People may disagree though. I know we also have some folks who run splinter twin combo, which would never fly with my group either. FWIW, I cut silverblade after winning a draft with it, so it wasn't like a kneejerk reaction to a loss or anything dumb like that.

Nope, only doing MODO drafts these days.
 

FlowerSunRain

Contributor
Fabled Hero is definitely my hero. Silverblade is cool too. Any card that makes playing against White/Green more tense is ok by me. Usually its just a question of what runs out first the W/G decks threats or the other decks answers. Cards that change the equation midturn are cool. I also like Overrun and Dictate of Heliod though which I know aren't that popular here so take that into consideration.
 
I need to try Fabled Hero. I have a totally irrational love of Double Strike. It doubles your strikes!
open-bowling-strike.jpg
 

Chris Taylor

Contributor
I think one of the other reasons people don't like Silverblade Paladin is he's just grey ogre if your board is empty.
Also instant speed blowouts are far more likely to happen on a 2/2 then on silverheart with fucking 8 toughness

I've found my warrior count to be surprisingly low, and also WRB centered, whereas paladin was more of a GW card. Fabled hero was also fine, but I didn't like telling my drafters to start their game plan on turn 3, hope that creature lives and then really get things going on turn 4. I know he's fine on his own but people still saw the signal.

Man, you know what I want? 2/2 double strike persist
 
What's everyone's fave UG cards or cards that go in UG decks that cannot be described largely with ramp?
Like if you wana say temporal spring and venser I'll accept that because it goes into the mana denial ramp deck but don't just go on to me about your remand + sky swallower deck.
 
Top