So anyone who has played Innistrad Limited knew how devastating Falkenrath Noble could be. Some of the appeal was in the 2/2 flying body though. As such, when Blood Artist was spoiled, I know many were skeptical, a 0/1 ground guy is a much less relevant body. His performance in AVR limited and standard constructed however has continued to hammer the point home: this ability is SO STRONG that even on an 0/1 it can cause serious problems.
So the question of the hour: is this guy good enough for Cube? I'm really starting to think the answer is yes. There is no question that by himself he does nothing but, in conjunction with an aggressive suite, it makes trades miserable for your opponent. Black has been getting more and more dudes that love to trade and keep coming back for more (Gravecrawler, Bloodghast, Geralf's Messenger , etc.), this card provides the perfect complement. The card is equally good in aggro mirrors/race situations or those situations where a slower deck tries to trade early + often. The card punishes mass removal hard; how often have you seen constructed matches where one play straight up loses if they sweep? The card is easy to splash so it slips into aggro decks of any black color combo. You are often saccing creatures for profit in black and this works great with that. "Tokens" is becoming an increasingly supported archetype; they are another subset of expendable creatures. He adds a free "drain 1" kicker to all your removal spells and we all know black has plenty of those. Just think about it, even with zero power, how much damage is this guy pushing through in an average match? I think you'd be surprised. IMO this gives black aggro a unique and powerful angle of attack. Has anyone else tried him out in the context of Cube?
I like the card and he seems like fun, but I don't know that he makes the cut in cube. On his own he is a dead card and exerts no pressure. The local card shop occasionally does a format called tribal singleton where you take the current core set and then chose any two blocks to make a singleton deck with the limitation that you must play 20 of the same creature type. In that format I think he will be amazing.
Maybe in a C/U cube. Otherwise, I can't imagine wanting to spend 2 mana on a 0/1 that doesn't do something pretty broken. This card does very little without help from other cards.
FWIW, I've asked someone who runs it what the average life loss/gain is from Blood Artist is and he said about 3-5. I'm testing it to see if my data mirrors those results and to see that's worth it (and I'm hoping to get a lot of data this weekend at the STL SCG Open.)
Seems like a card that needs to be tested and endorsed by a fair amount of the community. I can actually see a card like this being pretty decent, but it can't just be thrown into every deck.
I like cards that are powerful in the right deck because they encourage good drafting/wheeling. This guy in the Braids/Stax deck seems pretty good, but I personally am not gonna try him out until I get a lot of support from the community on him, so I'm glad this thread exists.
Well, I hadn't even considered this card before, so props for the thread. As it stands though, I can't really see myself running him as a 0/1. I think he has to be a 2/1 to be considered widely playable in cube, as he just does very little against control and nothing with no other creatures in play. Three creatures have to leave play for him to even hit for three damage, so a lot has to go right for him.
This guy seemed good to me in other formats, but he's been surpassing my expectations. In cube, what I like most about him is that his effect is useful in almost all decks, though you probably don't want to drop him on curve in aggro. I also like his combo potential in stax. In the end though, I am not sure he will get over the bar in cube, cards have to be more than just pretty good to make it in it seems.
So, has anybody some test results to communicate about Blood Artist ? I've not played a lot recently, and I will probably soon search for some cards trading now holidays ends, so is it worth looking for/playing ?
In Justin Parnell's last article, he tried several different packages to improve black as a color. Blood Artist was in the most successful iteration of that.
I lost hardcore to this thing in a casual legacy event. I didn't review the card and appropriately died when several of them stacked against me. In a cube there are several situations that play out different than constructed, but I really like the card. I'm biased towards small cubes, but it's interesting enough that it hits several of my criteria:
1 - Interesting....because you need this for cube cards imo
2 - Can affect gamestates when it enters play
3 - Similar to *above*, you can generate pseudo-board advantage. Prevents the table from being wrathed immediately/opponents second-guess what to do + could draw out removal
4 - It fits within black. This is paramount. I'm sure not everyone would agree but BA compliments black-based aggro/weenie/midrange/removal and even splashed support
5 - Plays nice with other colors: from copy effects via metamorph to burn spells or straight up weenie rushing into oblivion, this guy influences the game big time. Every time anything dies (tokens too), you're looking at +1 life and -1 for the opponent. Nothing to scoff at, especially for ballsy BR aggro or BW token-aggro.
The concern atm is what to cut. In my small cube 2cc cards for black are like dark confidant and nantuko shade. Bob > BA by a longshot. But don't underestimate the power this little nugget makes.
There are arguments that in isolation, BA doesn't do anything but act as a 0/1 durdle. True, but he's there as support. I wish he was a B costing dude but that'd be broken beyond belief. As a 2cc drop, don't underestimate his effect.
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I mean, hell, we're all on a forum for something that most people would describe as a "children's card game"...do what makes you happy. You are never too old to enjoy yourself.
Like Shrine of Burning Rage, I think this is one of those cards that is much better in testing than it looks on paper. Not sure if that means it's cubable, however.
I think Blood Artist could extremely solid in C/U, where it is less about bomby spells and more similar to normal limited.
Will be included in my next update once i get a copy.
Not 100% sold on regular cube, (<= 500). He might make it in as the last 2CMC creature if ya like to try out.
I think it could be playable at 720+. Like Rant said, doesnt do a lot by itself.
From what I've seen, the people who rate blood artist highly are people who played a lot of AVR and play a lot of standard. I think he's one of the best black 2 drops based on what he does to board states. He's a little worse in cube than in constructed since you can only ever have one, but if you run a largeish number of clones, I would not hesitate to run him at 450.
We've run Blood Artist for a while now and it's been pretty darn good. He regularly does more burn to face + Lifegain than a Lightning Helix to the dome does. It has provided great reach in BA and helps it alot in the aggro mirror where black is usually in trouble. I've seen one game where it's did more than Sorin's Vengance for only 2cmc (vs. G/W tokens). It draws removal quick lately, which is fine since he puts you ahead as it's card parity, often mana parity and a 2 point life swing in your favor (except against white Exile stuff, which is still parity). And as always, he can carry a sword. Dark Confidant, Bloodghast, and Dauthi Horror are better at the 2 spot, but after that it's pretty debatable here.
I don't really think Blood Artist is better than any of those, except potentially Graverobber, where I think it's close. I think Graverobber has a higher upside, but lower average performance. Of course a cut could come from somewhere else. I would consider cutting Sarcomancy for Blood Artist. Both are cards that help aggro, the damage output is probably comparable, and the downside to Sarcomancy can hurt when racing other aggro decks or if you want to play other life-payment cards. Blood Artist on the other hand can help to off-set life loss from Confidant or Phyrexian Arena.
I don't really think Blood Artist is better than any of those, except potentially Graverobber, where I think it's close. I think Graverobber has a higher upside, but lower average performance. Of course a cut could come from somewhere else. I would consider cutting Sarcomancy for Blood Artist. Both are cards that help aggro, the damage output is probably comparable, and the downside to Sarcomancy can hurt when racing other aggro decks or if you want to play other life-payment cards. Blood Artist on the other hand can help to off-set life loss from Confidant or Phyrexian Arena.
While that list is fine, I'd cut graverobber for him. His average case is better. He is no slouch for a 0 power guy, often doing 3-5 life drain. Nobody wants to waste removal on him, but it's almost always the right play, as a 2/2 can be blocked to stop bleeding, but he is not dealt with that easily. I'm not saying he's awesome but honestly he is a work horse in black aggro decks.
I rank Graverobber as one of the better black 2cc cards. He's such a beating. Maindeckable GY hate that can usually bash for 4 on T3, and then repeatedly reanimate creatures out of both yards in the late game? He's a cube monster.
I rank Graverobber as one of the better black 2cc cards. He's such a beating. Maindeckable GY hate that can usually bash for 4 on T3, and then repeatedly reanimate creatures out of both yards in the late game? He's a cube monster.
Yeah Graverobber is the real deal. I don't know what 2 drop I would cut from that list. If your dead set on fitting him in I would swap him for sarcomancy since you have the best justifications for that swap. Then just see how it plays out.
Yeah, on second thought, I think Graverobber has both a higher upside and better average case. I also am just not excited enough by Blood Artist to cut Sarcomancy, but if I did want to test it, that would be the cut.
Any updates on this guy? I am thinking of adding him to my 360. How much damage does he typically do? What decks are he worst in? How good is he compared to other black two drops?
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
Some people love it. It was bad for us. WAY too low impact and inconsistent. Even if it resolves early, there's no guarantee it'll outpace the impact I'd expect from a cube 2-drop.
We've been playing him for a while he's one of the biggest lightning rods out there.
First of all he's a tonne of fun to craft a board state around. He often drains for 5 or more if he's not bolted in which case it eats a removal spell for you guys that actually put on the beats.
I think you want both a) reusable bodies and b) sacrifice outlets before you consider this guy. As just a random dork in an aggro or midrange deck, he probably won't do anything of note. But if you set him up alongside the likes of Gravecrawler, Bloodghast, or Reassembling Skeleton, and then pair that with the likes of Blasting Station or Greater Gargadon, then he starts to sizzle. For us, we found the key to making him relevant was being able to trigger the life drain at will.
So that makes him more of an archetype card rather than a two-drop beater. Though, even left to his own devices, he's a pretty good anti-Wrath measure with any half decent board presence.
So anyone who has played Innistrad Limited knew how devastating Falkenrath Noble could be. Some of the appeal was in the 2/2 flying body though. As such, when Blood Artist was spoiled, I know many were skeptical, a 0/1 ground guy is a much less relevant body. His performance in AVR limited and standard constructed however has continued to hammer the point home: this ability is SO STRONG that even on an 0/1 it can cause serious problems.
So the question of the hour: is this guy good enough for Cube? I'm really starting to think the answer is yes. There is no question that by himself he does nothing but, in conjunction with an aggressive suite, it makes trades miserable for your opponent. Black has been getting more and more dudes that love to trade and keep coming back for more (Gravecrawler, Bloodghast, Geralf's Messenger , etc.), this card provides the perfect complement. The card is equally good in aggro mirrors/race situations or those situations where a slower deck tries to trade early + often. The card punishes mass removal hard; how often have you seen constructed matches where one play straight up loses if they sweep? The card is easy to splash so it slips into aggro decks of any black color combo. You are often saccing creatures for profit in black and this works great with that. "Tokens" is becoming an increasingly supported archetype; they are another subset of expendable creatures. He adds a free "drain 1" kicker to all your removal spells and we all know black has plenty of those. Just think about it, even with zero power, how much damage is this guy pushing through in an average match? I think you'd be surprised. IMO this gives black aggro a unique and powerful angle of attack. Has anyone else tried him out in the context of Cube?
Cheers,
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I like cards that are powerful in the right deck because they encourage good drafting/wheeling. This guy in the Braids/Stax deck seems pretty good, but I personally am not gonna try him out until I get a lot of support from the community on him, so I'm glad this thread exists.
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On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
1 - Interesting....because you need this for cube cards imo
2 - Can affect gamestates when it enters play
3 - Similar to *above*, you can generate pseudo-board advantage. Prevents the table from being wrathed immediately/opponents second-guess what to do + could draw out removal
4 - It fits within black. This is paramount. I'm sure not everyone would agree but BA compliments black-based aggro/weenie/midrange/removal and even splashed support
5 - Plays nice with other colors: from copy effects via metamorph to burn spells or straight up weenie rushing into oblivion, this guy influences the game big time. Every time anything dies (tokens too), you're looking at +1 life and -1 for the opponent. Nothing to scoff at, especially for ballsy BR aggro or BW token-aggro.
The concern atm is what to cut. In my small cube 2cc cards for black are like dark confidant and nantuko shade. Bob > BA by a longshot. But don't underestimate the power this little nugget makes.
There are arguments that in isolation, BA doesn't do anything but act as a 0/1 durdle. True, but he's there as support. I wish he was a B costing dude but that'd be broken beyond belief. As a 2cc drop, don't underestimate his effect.
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Will be included in my next update once i get a copy.
Not 100% sold on regular cube, (<= 500). He might make it in as the last 2CMC creature if ya like to try out.
I think it could be playable at 720+. Like Rant said, doesnt do a lot by itself.
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I don't really think Blood Artist is better than any of those, except potentially Graverobber, where I think it's close. I think Graverobber has a higher upside, but lower average performance. Of course a cut could come from somewhere else. I would consider cutting Sarcomancy for Blood Artist. Both are cards that help aggro, the damage output is probably comparable, and the downside to Sarcomancy can hurt when racing other aggro decks or if you want to play other life-payment cards. Blood Artist on the other hand can help to off-set life loss from Confidant or Phyrexian Arena.
While that list is fine, I'd cut graverobber for him. His average case is better. He is no slouch for a 0 power guy, often doing 3-5 life drain. Nobody wants to waste removal on him, but it's almost always the right play, as a 2/2 can be blocked to stop bleeding, but he is not dealt with that easily. I'm not saying he's awesome but honestly he is a work horse in black aggro decks.
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Yeah Graverobber is the real deal. I don't know what 2 drop I would cut from that list. If your dead set on fitting him in I would swap him for sarcomancy since you have the best justifications for that swap. Then just see how it plays out.
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First of all he's a tonne of fun to craft a board state around. He often drains for 5 or more if he's not bolted in which case it eats a removal spell for you guys that actually put on the beats.
So that makes him more of an archetype card rather than a two-drop beater. Though, even left to his own devices, he's a pretty good anti-Wrath measure with any half decent board presence.