Think about it. It stops enter the battlefield triggers; notably hoses Pod and Splinter Twin decks. Also has splash damage against Snapcaster but I doubt you would board it in against UWR.
Torpor Orb has a broad range of decks it weakens or cripples. Splinter Twin, Pod, Faeries, Soul Sisters, some builds of RDW or Elves, anything overly dependent on Snapcaster Mage tricks...it's handy against all of them and more.
It's less powerful against Jund, Rock, UWR Midrange or Control (again, unless they play Tiago a lot), Affinty, and most builds of Tron though, so if your meta/scene has a lot more of these kinds of decks, fewer Orbs would make sense.
I'm not sure what sideboards you are looking at.....
Pithing Needle is by far the more common card if people are sideboarding cheap colorless hate.
Torpor Orb is definitely way more common. Pithing Needle isn't common in modern since it's very rarely useful as a proactive move. Where as Torpor Orb simply shuts down so many decks that the decks it isn't useful against run 2-4. Affinity, Tron, Burn, RDW, some fish decks.
Another deck that's been overlooked that it can be good against is Death and Tax's. Stopping Kitchen Finks, Phyrexian Revoker, Fiend Hunter and Flickerwisp triggers can really change how a game plays out in your favour.
In Burn decks it also doubles as making Vexing Devil a 4/3 for R
(EDIT: It may not stop Revoker once I re-read the card. I'll have to look that up/)
(Edit 2: does not stop Revoker. Thanks JPoJohnson)
Another deck that's been overlooked that it can be good against is Death and Tax's. Stopping Kitchen Finks, Phyrexian Revoker, Fiend Hunter and Flickerwisp triggers can really change how a game plays out in your favour.
In Burn decks it also doubles as making Vexing Devil a 4/3 for R
(EDIT: It may not stop Revoker once I re-read the card. I'll have to look that up/)
Torpor Orb does not stop clone effects or "as this enters" effects.
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Current Decks:
Modern
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Legacy
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
Orb is basically the best answer to Twin in the format. Not only does it stop all four permutations of the Twin combo (Twin/Mite, Twin/Exarch, Kiki/Mite, Kiki/Exarch), but it also shuts down Clique and Snapcaster. Sure, Twin can deal with it, but until they draw their Grudge/Boomerang/Command their deck is totally offline. That's not to say that Twin, as a deck, folds to Orb. But if you want an answer to Twin, then Orb is the way to go. It helps that Orb is a beating against Pod as well.
I'm not sure what sideboards you are looking at.....
Pithing Needle is by far the more common card if people are sideboarding cheap colorless hate.
I would like to think that I keep a sharp eye on the meta and cards used by decks in Daily Events or in tournaments which post deck lists and Pithing Needle rarely shows up. It has recently been in a few UWR Control main boards (but I think it's been a few postings by the same player on different days), other than that, I don't see it very much at all.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=339129
Standard: UWG Bant Control
EDH: UArcum Dagsson
Modern: Affinity
Vintage: BUR Grixis Control
Legacy: W Mono-White : U Merfolk : BUG Esper Stoneblade : RBG Punishing Jund : B Reanimator : RU Sneak and Show : GB Infect : RG Red/Green Devotion : RUG RUG Delver
It's less powerful against Jund, Rock, UWR Midrange or Control (again, unless they play Tiago a lot), Affinty, and most builds of Tron though, so if your meta/scene has a lot more of these kinds of decks, fewer Orbs would make sense.
I'm not sure what sideboards you are looking at.....
Pithing Needle is by far the more common card if people are sideboarding cheap colorless hate.
Modern
xWBreakfast at Urza'sxW
UWGBantUWG
GWRNaya ZooRWG
Torpor Orb is definitely way more common. Pithing Needle isn't common in modern since it's very rarely useful as a proactive move. Where as Torpor Orb simply shuts down so many decks that the decks it isn't useful against run 2-4. Affinity, Tron, Burn, RDW, some fish decks.
Twin primarily, but value critters are secondary hits that Torpor Orb can take care of.
In Burn decks it also doubles as making Vexing Devil a 4/3 for R
(EDIT: It may not stop Revoker once I re-read the card. I'll have to look that up/)
(Edit 2: does not stop Revoker. Thanks JPoJohnson)
Torpor Orb does not stop clone effects or "as this enters" effects.
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
I would like to think that I keep a sharp eye on the meta and cards used by decks in Daily Events or in tournaments which post deck lists and Pithing Needle rarely shows up. It has recently been in a few UWR Control main boards (but I think it's been a few postings by the same player on different days), other than that, I don't see it very much at all.
Thanks! When I retread the card I though I was wrong since it wasn't short handed the same as a trigger. Thanks for clearing that up)
Sooooooo, can Vexing Devil come in as an unconditional 4/3?
Yes it can.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate