I have enjoyed him a fair bit; it's an aggressively statted, recurable creature. I consider him a black creature for balance purposes.
It's interesting that in the graveyard it essentially has flash, him not being able to block is a pain but it doesn't take to much thought to find ways to get value out of an instant speed body. It also lets you keep mana open during your opponents turn as well as keeping it safe from any sorcery speed removal.
I have ran him in plenty of non-black aggressive decks especially if my mama isn't great or I have Hymn of the Wilds. Remember at the end of the day it's still a 2 mana 3/2 and red plays those all the time. (I actually had something else typed before remembering it's a 3/2, for some reason I always assume it's a 3/1).
"Non-black" is a term I am sometimes a bit loose with though; if my deck can make black mana and has somewhere to put it, is it still a non-black deck? I would probably consider my Izzet artifact deck non-black if I had scrapheap scrounger and a few 5 colour lands, it's mainly there as an artifact based threat but technically I have access to its black ability.
He is good in any deck that is interested in a colourless agro beater or an artifact, and really shines in decks that can get value from recurring it.
Yea the instant speed recursion is the weird part, I guess they just figured "Yea you can get it at instant speed, but it can't block so who cares?"
Some fun tech with it is is protecting your own graveyard. Since there is no restrictions on when or how often you can activate it, if an opponent trys to reanimate something from your graveyard you can put his ability on the stack multiple times in response to exile the reanimation targets.
It's absolutely a black card. If I'm playing this thing in my deck without access to black mana, something has gone terribly wrong in my draft.
Love Scrounger, and I also list it in my black section. But I'd be willing to play this card in a deck with Tolarian Academy and/or Tinker, or a Boros/Izzet aggro deck lacking in two-drops, even if I couldn't produce black mana. That said... the presence of this card would lean me towards trying to fit in 1-2 sources just in case.
I wouldn't say something went wrong if I'm playing this in a deck without recursion, more so I'm in a specific deck that would play the card without the recursion.
If my deck would play a gorehouse chainwalker, this is that, and if that deck was multicolored like Boros aggro then it's a lot better there since I can cast it off WW. Not the best without black Mana, sure, but it is a 3/2 for 2 which I know I'm personally still playing those. Even then, once I have the scrounger I could prioritize City of Brass/etc to at least have the option.
Thank you, TheGroglord for posting a picture of yesterday's card! I'm sure UPS will deliver the modem I ordered to my new apartment eventually... Until then, today's card!
Read the bones is good, I cant remember what I cut for it but I could see it making it way back in some day. 4 deep, keeping 2 is a decent amount of card filtering/advantage and unless I'm facing agro the life payment usually isn't too bad. I just really wish it was an instant but that might have been a bit pushed for other formats.
I don't believe in any fortune telling etc. it all seems a bit silly to me.
Read the Bones is solid and is definitely one of the better black draw spells. However, Black has access to the best tutors in the game and can get is draws / extra tutors from other colors, so RTB isn’t very necessary unless your cube is lower powered and / or huge.
This is a card I don't think I ever considered for my cube, but I am currently running Painful Truths, and thus doesn't seem much worse than that, while being better in many cases.
I think there are a lot of powerful lands in this format that need answering, and Riders is still one of the better ways to do that. More importantly, it's an abusable 2-power ETB trigger creature for the 'Lark/Recruiter/Feldon/Vat shenanigans, and it's a powerful target for those kinds of effects.
LD as a strategy was a little linear and parasitic in this format. But it's certainly powerful. Both in cube and in the Old School format(s) if that kind of deck is what you're looking to do.
I think that for smaller cubes, there are enough great red four drop creatures now that Avalanche Riders doesn't quite make the cut anymore, although its one of the more brutal cheap creatures to blink or recur a couple of times, since it can put you so far ahead of your opponent.
I have no problem with mass land destruction as a way to close out a game, such as Wildfire, Upheaval, or Armageddon. I don't run dedicated LD cards like Stone Rain because they seem too narrow on their own, like cards that do nothing but mill your opponent. We've found that even aggro decks would rather have another threat or burn spell, or just pay one more mana for Armageddon.
I always liked the look of him but haven't included him.
I like land destruction but it needs to be precise or bring the game to a close pretty soon or it can be more of a pain. I recently got wastelanded 3 time on a turn (Wasteland, play Sun Titan returning Wasteland, reveal immediate action to attack with Sun Titan and get back Wasteland) in a 3-man game, it was pretty miserable and didn't bring the game to a close. I worry Avalanche Riders would be a bit too easy to recur in the same way.
I used to run Stone Rain or similar cards in an early iteration of my cube. I have considered adding Pillage again, it is probably my favorite of the LD spells.
I enjoyed it a lot in one of the Duels of the Planeswalkers games, it was solid and usually got about 3 or 4 birds. I guess in a format with fetches she gets better but its not something I currently run.
Bird stories? So I was a bar once and this bird come up to me, had the biggest pair of... Wait I think I misunderstood the question. I like birds; I don't have any great stories about them but I often stair and pidgins etc. if I'm waiting on the train, they are kind weird to observe.
A friend has run it for a while, along with a lot of MODO cubes, and it's alright. Sometimes it makes a ton of fliers, other times you stop drawing lands or it dies since you can't just do nothing on t4. It's definitely worse than the top tier options, but totally acceptable and can be real great too.
Emeria Angel seems cool as a way to keep your land draws relevant, even later in the game when you start running out of spells. The birds having evasion is great for picking up equipment and keeping the pressure on while flooding out, also. Outclassed due to how good white's other options are, not because she's not good enough on her own necessarily.
Don't really have any bird stories of my own, although there was this one time when I was stuck in traffic that a bird flew into my windshield, crash landing in the lane next to me. After a second, it just stood up and walked to the side of the road, strutting its stuff like nothing had happened.
It's fine, probably would've been played more many years ago but we do not lack for stellar Izzet options now.
As long as they're not snow storms...the appeal of snow quickly diminishes when you're shoveling at an hour you should be sleeping at as you still need to get to work.
Mage is a filler creature for a spells-matters tempo deck. And I'd only pick it if I was already in that archetype. Not something I want from a gold card in this format.
I have enjoyed him a fair bit; it's an aggressively statted, recurable creature. I consider him a black creature for balance purposes.
It's interesting that in the graveyard it essentially has flash, him not being able to block is a pain but it doesn't take to much thought to find ways to get value out of an instant speed body. It also lets you keep mana open during your opponents turn as well as keeping it safe from any sorcery speed removal.
I have ran him in plenty of non-black aggressive decks especially if my mama isn't great or I have Hymn of the Wilds. Remember at the end of the day it's still a 2 mana 3/2 and red plays those all the time. (I actually had something else typed before remembering it's a 3/2, for some reason I always assume it's a 3/1).
"Non-black" is a term I am sometimes a bit loose with though; if my deck can make black mana and has somewhere to put it, is it still a non-black deck? I would probably consider my Izzet artifact deck non-black if I had scrapheap scrounger and a few 5 colour lands, it's mainly there as an artifact based threat but technically I have access to its black ability.
He is good in any deck that is interested in a colourless agro beater or an artifact, and really shines in decks that can get value from recurring it.
Some fun tech with it is is protecting your own graveyard. Since there is no restrictions on when or how often you can activate it, if an opponent trys to reanimate something from your graveyard you can put his ability on the stack multiple times in response to exile the reanimation targets.
A friend once drafted an agressive deck with Immediate Action naming Scrapheap Scrounger, it was a nightmare that wouldn't stop coming.
It's absolutely a black card. If I'm playing this thing in my deck without access to black mana, something has gone terribly wrong in my draft.
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Love Scrounger, and I also list it in my black section. But I'd be willing to play this card in a deck with Tolarian Academy and/or Tinker, or a Boros/Izzet aggro deck lacking in two-drops, even if I couldn't produce black mana. That said... the presence of this card would lean me towards trying to fit in 1-2 sources just in case.
If my deck would play a gorehouse chainwalker, this is that, and if that deck was multicolored like Boros aggro then it's a lot better there since I can cast it off WW. Not the best without black Mana, sure, but it is a 3/2 for 2 which I know I'm personally still playing those. Even then, once I have the scrounger I could prioritize City of Brass/etc to at least have the option.
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I put this in black section but would't mind putting it in a non black aggro deck.
Read the Bones
Have you had any experiences with fortune telling, divination or horoscopes that made you give them a second thought?
Read the bones is good, I cant remember what I cut for it but I could see it making it way back in some day. 4 deep, keeping 2 is a decent amount of card filtering/advantage and unless I'm facing agro the life payment usually isn't too bad. I just really wish it was an instant but that might have been a bit pushed for other formats.
I don't believe in any fortune telling etc. it all seems a bit silly to me.
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How do you guys rank the small black draw spells? Read the Bones vs. Painful Truths vs. Night's Whisper. Do you like one more than another?
Avalanche Riders
What are your thoughts on land destruction/mana denial as a supported strategy in cube? What about in other formats?
LD as a strategy was a little linear and parasitic in this format. But it's certainly powerful. Both in cube and in the Old School format(s) if that kind of deck is what you're looking to do.
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I have no problem with mass land destruction as a way to close out a game, such as Wildfire, Upheaval, or Armageddon. I don't run dedicated LD cards like Stone Rain because they seem too narrow on their own, like cards that do nothing but mill your opponent. We've found that even aggro decks would rather have another threat or burn spell, or just pay one more mana for Armageddon.
I always liked the look of him but haven't included him.
I like land destruction but it needs to be precise or bring the game to a close pretty soon or it can be more of a pain. I recently got wastelanded 3 time on a turn (Wasteland, play Sun Titan returning Wasteland, reveal immediate action to attack with Sun Titan and get back Wasteland) in a 3-man game, it was pretty miserable and didn't bring the game to a close. I worry Avalanche Riders would be a bit too easy to recur in the same way.
I used to run Stone Rain or similar cards in an early iteration of my cube. I have considered adding Pillage again, it is probably my favorite of the LD spells.
Emeria Angel
What's your best bird story?
I enjoyed it a lot in one of the Duels of the Planeswalkers games, it was solid and usually got about 3 or 4 birds. I guess in a format with fetches she gets better but its not something I currently run.
Bird stories? So I was a bar once and this bird come up to me, had the biggest pair of... Wait I think I misunderstood the question. I like birds; I don't have any great stories about them but I often stair and pidgins etc. if I'm waiting on the train, they are kind weird to observe.
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Don't really have any bird stories of my own, although there was this one time when I was stuck in traffic that a bird flew into my windshield, crash landing in the lane next to me. After a second, it just stood up and walked to the side of the road, strutting its stuff like nothing had happened.
Stormchaser Mage
How do you feel about storms? Do you like them or no?
As long as they're not snow storms...the appeal of snow quickly diminishes when you're shoveling at an hour you should be sleeping at as you still need to get to work.
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I love storms, and rain in general.
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