Maverick is in an interesting position. Its arch nemesis is Miracles, which continues to be "the deck" of big events. If you face a room full of delver.dec and SFM.dec, Maverick is very capable of taking them on. However, Miracles is just a nightmare. Fast combo like Storm and Omni-Tell are winnable but difficult without dedicated SB materials. The rest of the meta is a toss-up (including reanimator, regular show-tell, DnT, burn, elves, etc). To be competitive in the metagame, Maverick needs 3 colors. I think the pure GW lists are impossible to win events nowadays.
3 players from my neck of the woods in the top 8. Glad to see Bryant and Jeremy doing so well. Never saw a deck tech spend so much time ogling over the literal cards on the table. Then again, if you know Bryant, you understand his 75 is a work of art.
I like that he enables your 5+ drops to also attack immediately, so I definitely think he's worth testing. For now, I'm going to try replacing Vengevine, but I still think Vengevine is the better card.
I guess I differ from the Hivehind a bit. I think this card is 'meh' and doesn't compare to the 4 listed in the quote. He's got upside against every Baloth and Blastoderm but IHMO the ability doesn't hit the same power level as the above 4.
Tossing my hat into the ring on this one.
The general consensus from WotC (namely MaRo) is that counterspell isn't where the game should travel back towards. It represents a playstyle and philosophy that, for one reason or another, the company doesn't want to visit. They have enough marketing metrics that probably show players preferring permanents (creatures and walkers) over spells/counterspells.
Personally, I would grow more interested in Modern if it included the original Counterspell. The card is incredibly tame. If UU for "counter target spell" is deemed 'too good' while some of the bestcreatureseverprintedareallowed, there's simply a bias favoring permanents over spells. For those fearing decks running 12-16x counters, that's been a core philosophy of MTG since its inception (blue-based control). I don't see that being "bad" for the format. Counterspell just gives you another playable card in a not-so-traveled corner of deck design.
The best compromises in design space would be arcane denial and memory lapse (stated by others) or daze. With Daze, you have a tempo force-spike. Despite my legacy bias, I am not suggesting Force of Will follow. I think Daze by itself could be interesting to introduce as an alternative.
I really dig everything about this Liliana. I love the concept of creature --> PWer. I love the DFC/flipping. I love the art. I think her costs to powerlevel is great. LOVE IT. Let's hope she is an indicator for the rest of the product.
She does seem well balanced and the flavor for her flip trigger is pretty awesome. She'll play great with zombie Sidisi and any other good Exploit cards that get printed in DTK, too.
Yea, she oozes with flavor and synergizes in-set. Again, I hope she is telling of how good the entire product line will be. Do we have confirmation of Origins pushing mono color? Could she team up with BW or BR or will she be mono-B?
I really dig everything about this Liliana. I love the concept of creature --> PWer. I love the DFC/flipping. I love the art. I think her costs to powerlevel is great. LOVE IT. Let's hope she is an indicator for the rest of the product.
The most appealing aspect of this card is how lackluster the deeper options for white 4cc creatures is. There's Hero of Bladehold, Restoration Angel and Exalted Angel (if you classify it as a 4-drop). Then there's some okay utility creatures like Kor Sanctifiers and maybe Academy Rector, depending on your needs. But the true tier-2 guys like Jazal Goldmane, Sublime Archangel and Ranger of Eos were never super impressive to me, so I could see this guy seeing more testing than he would if there was a grip of better options.
This is kinda where I was going. I'd rather have a 2/3/5 drop --- where "second tier" cards of those costs are more appealing than this 4-drop
I stand by what I said. Playtesting will reveal whether he's relevant in practice.
"Creatures with power > 2 can't block it"...that is the weak point. @noshadowkick shows how this is relevant. It's not "greater than or equal to".
The upside is his removal-when-morphed situation: "When Silumgar's Assassin is turned face up, destroy target creature with power 3 or less an opponent controls."
For my white creature section atm, that eats everything except Baneslayer, Reveillark, and Sun Titan. It kills half my blue creatures (Kira and TNN have added protection, so they don't get targeted). It kills everything in my black except Bloodgift Demon, Grave Titan, 'Maw (if on the table), and Tombstalker. It kills all the sub-4 red and green creatures. Gold it's hit or miss.
I can't tell you if this guy kicks ass more than it dies to stuff that can block it.
This is no Sigarda or Armada Wurm, IMO. Looks like a multicolor 6-drop that just dies to every relevant piece of removal. If WG control is a big thing for your group (which would be rare) and you want an additional control-specific finisher to accompany Sigarda, this would be a fine choice. But it's a reasonable way for non-blue control decks to get an edge against blue control.
Word. Sigarda's Hexproof and more aggressive cc = GG for many opponents. This just is just a big fat dragon. Dies to tons of removal and IMHO has no relevant/significant effects a backbreaking 6 drop needs. Even the Titans do something considerable if they bite the bullet immediately. Sigarda is the premier GW beater. wtwlf123 has great points on why you'd want to include this dragon thing in addition to Sigarda, but it doesn't dethrone her.
I'm not sold. I'd rather have another 2, 3, or 5 drop. To "protect" this guy once he comes out is conditional and requires the 5th mana anyway. He's really a functional 5 drop unless you're ahead.
I probably am underselling the instant speed graveyard recursion and lifegain options, and it might take some testing to be sure, but do you think Ojutai's Command ranks above any of the following five Azorius cards?
Whether my multi-color non-lands are top 3, top 4, or top 5....they all rank ahead of this new O-Command. I still think Verdict is the best card for either color. #2 / 3 / 4 are preference with what you want that color to do. Geist is the never-bad beater. Sphere and Venser are great accents to what U and/or W want. Revelation caters to the UW control playstyle. All of these cards do a much better job for [Blue splashing White], [White splashing blue], and [Blue and White.dec] in most cubes than O-Command IMHO.
I like Ghor-Clan Rampager a lot better than this spell.
It's a toss-up. Both can give RG the ability to race. If anything, this card opens up routes for Naya (GWR) -- something I've been looking to do. I could see Naya aggro being a thing with this card + 2 [non-4 drop Gruul cards].
The larger issue is whether you want RG to be represented by mid-rangey shenanigans like Bloodbraid, Domri, Huntmaster, etc or "kill things with an aggressive curve". Red 1 and 2 drops are, by default, aggro. Green 1 and 2 drops are mana dorks or aggressive 2/x things, scooze, and goyf.
Auto-include. My section for R 1-drops is getting crowded. I will need to consult the "This or That" thread once Zurgo comes out. I feel we have a critical mass....and I'm only running Modern Face cards.
I'm all over the blue Stratus morph dude. This guy not so much. He needs testing because I can't eyeball whether he is relevant in games or not. On paper we can argue either way. I would need to see how he plays out. The interesting thing is that his morph ability is relevant for a large % of cube creatures (especially with more cube staples being powerful bears). I am not going to slam or reject this guy. He needs testing and anecdotal evidence IMHO
I guess I differ from the Hivehind a bit. I think this card is 'meh' and doesn't compare to the 4 listed in the quote. He's got upside against every Baloth and Blastoderm but IHMO the ability doesn't hit the same power level as the above 4.
The general consensus from WotC (namely MaRo) is that counterspell isn't where the game should travel back towards. It represents a playstyle and philosophy that, for one reason or another, the company doesn't want to visit. They have enough marketing metrics that probably show players preferring permanents (creatures and walkers) over spells/counterspells.
Personally, I would grow more interested in Modern if it included the original Counterspell. The card is incredibly tame. If UU for "counter target spell" is deemed 'too good' while some of the best creatures ever printed are allowed, there's simply a bias favoring permanents over spells. For those fearing decks running 12-16x counters, that's been a core philosophy of MTG since its inception (blue-based control). I don't see that being "bad" for the format. Counterspell just gives you another playable card in a not-so-traveled corner of deck design.
The best compromises in design space would be arcane denial and memory lapse (stated by others) or daze. With Daze, you have a tempo force-spike. Despite my legacy bias, I am not suggesting Force of Will follow. I think Daze by itself could be interesting to introduce as an alternative.
Yea, she oozes with flavor and synergizes in-set. Again, I hope she is telling of how good the entire product line will be. Do we have confirmation of Origins pushing mono color? Could she team up with BW or BR or will she be mono-B?
This is kinda where I was going. I'd rather have a 2/3/5 drop --- where "second tier" cards of those costs are more appealing than this 4-drop
"Creatures with power > 2 can't block it"...that is the weak point. @noshadowkick shows how this is relevant. It's not "greater than or equal to".
The upside is his removal-when-morphed situation: "When Silumgar's Assassin is turned face up, destroy target creature with power 3 or less an opponent controls."
For my white creature section atm, that eats everything except Baneslayer, Reveillark, and Sun Titan. It kills half my blue creatures (Kira and TNN have added protection, so they don't get targeted). It kills everything in my black except Bloodgift Demon, Grave Titan, 'Maw (if on the table), and Tombstalker. It kills all the sub-4 red and green creatures. Gold it's hit or miss.
I can't tell you if this guy kicks ass more than it dies to stuff that can block it.
Word. Sigarda's Hexproof and more aggressive cc = GG for many opponents. This just is just a big fat dragon. Dies to tons of removal and IMHO has no relevant/significant effects a backbreaking 6 drop needs. Even the Titans do something considerable if they bite the bullet immediately. Sigarda is the premier GW beater. wtwlf123 has great points on why you'd want to include this dragon thing in addition to Sigarda, but it doesn't dethrone her.
Whether my multi-color non-lands are top 3, top 4, or top 5....they all rank ahead of this new O-Command. I still think Verdict is the best card for either color. #2 / 3 / 4 are preference with what you want that color to do. Geist is the never-bad beater. Sphere and Venser are great accents to what U and/or W want. Revelation caters to the UW control playstyle. All of these cards do a much better job for [Blue splashing White], [White splashing blue], and [Blue and White.dec] in most cubes than O-Command IMHO.
It's a toss-up. Both can give RG the ability to race. If anything, this card opens up routes for Naya (GWR) -- something I've been looking to do. I could see Naya aggro being a thing with this card + 2 [non-4 drop Gruul cards].
The larger issue is whether you want RG to be represented by mid-rangey shenanigans like Bloodbraid, Domri, Huntmaster, etc or "kill things with an aggressive curve". Red 1 and 2 drops are, by default, aggro. Green 1 and 2 drops are mana dorks or aggressive 2/x things, scooze, and goyf.