I actually didn’t pick up a copy yet, if at all. I see it less as a mana sink and more as an accelerator/graveyard filler personally, but mostly my updates were dependent on pulls. My wife likes to get a box rather singles - I know it’s not as reliable as singles, but it is more fun, and I like to keep her engaged in the game. So yeah, Arkbow just didn’t come up. That being said, I get how it’d be a little conditional. There’s bound to be like an upper limit to its reliability, and an optimal number of mana to throw at it before you see diminishing returns. Maybe I’ll see playtest it online before I pick up a copy and see how it plays out. I suspect I won’t ever have the mana floating to make it do what it’s designed to do, but I guess I’ll find out one way or another.
My wife likes to get a box rather singles - I know it’s not as reliable as singles, but it is more fun, and I like to keep her engaged in the game.
Ah right. Well, it's good to have some measure of self-constraint while expanding a collection, and it is good to point out how you get cards to put card suggestions in perspective. Ugin's a rare though, so I suppose it isn't too hard to trade for (personally I don't like to put time in trading, which makes buying a box a dumb investment). I don't like planeswalkers as a card type, but WotS got me a bit excited to do something with them. I think I'm going up to four PW in the deck now, and at that point something like Contagion Engine is worth consideration. But only if you happen to have an Engine I do, but right now I think Animation Module will do the job just fine.
So yeah, Arkbow just didn’t come up. That being said, I get how it’d be a little conditional. There’s bound to be like an upper limit to its reliability, and an optimal number of mana to throw at it before you see diminishing returns. Maybe I’ll see playtest it online before I pick up a copy and see how it plays out. I suspect I won’t ever have the mana floating to make it do what it’s designed to do, but I guess I’ll find out one way or another. [/quote]
I see it less as a mana sink and more as an accelerator/graveyard filler personally
My thoughts on it:
- the discard can be nice if you have a strong reanimator suite (which I don't have)
- discarding artifacts is fine, as you can just get the artifact back with Glissa eventually (but that trigger is then competing with all the other artifacts you might rather have in your hand)
- without top deck manipulation there's a big chance to whiff if you have little mana available (so imagine a turn two play and an activition for 3 mana on turn 3: the odds you get something decent out of that are pretty slim, but by then you are down to cards (arkbow and the discard) and five mana)
But to put that in perspective, the card slot it was competing with had Survival of the Fittest in it. If that had been an artifact it'd have been the perfect card (and one of my all-time favorites), but I've sidelined it now in my quest to cut down on tutors.
Oh yeah, Survival is no doubt a more solid pick than Arkbow. Arkbow seems like it'd fit well in something like Selvala Brostorm, where you can sink a LOT of mana reliably and hit straight up monsters turn by turn. While there's a high creature count here, it's better served by Birthing Pod for specificity.
In terms of other considerations at present, I picked up a copy of Finale of Eternity the other day. I think it could fit well in here, but I honestly can't find a good cut for it. Aside from that, found a copy of Bojuka Bog in my collection, so that was an easy swap in for a basic swamp.
I dropped reliquary tower because of the comments people were making in the main section about it and Burnished Hart because I frequently run out of basics to abuse it.
I hope getting featured on the front page/main section helped you a whole lot.
There are a couple of bits I’m tossing up, although I don’t have a huge pile of money to throw at anything right now. I’m tossing up Deep Forest Hermit (9 mana for 3GG is decent), and depending on price come release Yawgmoth, Thran Physician possibly. Not sure if Yawg is perfect here, but I'd like a copy nonetheless and it's worth seeing how it plays out. I hadn’t really looked at Scrapyard Recombiner but it’s not at all bad.
Reliquary Tower is a funny one. It’s easy enough to drop in, but you don’t often realize how rarely it’s actually relevant. I definitely support reluctant usage of it.
The feedback did give me some food for thought. I’m going to try a Salvaging Station package again and see how it goes. I think the issue previously was having so few eggs that actually cantripped meant the engine sort of just didn’t pick up momentum. Add in the fact that most of them only ramped to my hand and it made for a slow engine indeed. I'll try with more spellbombs and such and see how it plays out.
The other area I’m looking at that came up as a suggestion is Protean Hulk. I’d run it as a value add, but even without combo it’s a solid add. With Pod in play it’d be great to sac it for some board presence and chain End-Raze Forerunners in to swing for impact. If I do add this it’d be good to add a few value ETB adds like Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Phyrexian Delver and the aforementioned Deep Forest Hermit. I’ve also got a couple of good stuff adds I’ve been considering like Eldritch Evolution and Diabolic Intent.
Having said all of this there’s only so much room in the deck so again I find myself in the position of not knowing where to make cuts. If you’ve any suggestions I’d be glad to hear them.
Oh! Also, I got to try out Massacre Girl over the weekend. She’s devastating in terms of clearing house. Really solid board wipe if you can drop her into the right place.
Ah right. Well, it's good to have some measure of self-constraint while expanding a collection, and it is good to point out how you get cards to put card suggestions in perspective. Ugin's a rare though, so I suppose it isn't too hard to trade for (personally I don't like to put time in trading, which makes buying a box a dumb investment). I don't like planeswalkers as a card type, but WotS got me a bit excited to do something with them. I think I'm going up to four PW in the deck now, and at that point something like Contagion Engine is worth consideration. But only if you happen to have an Engine I do, but right now I think Animation Module will do the job just fine.
So yeah, Arkbow just didn’t come up. That being said, I get how it’d be a little conditional. There’s bound to be like an upper limit to its reliability, and an optimal number of mana to throw at it before you see diminishing returns. Maybe I’ll see playtest it online before I pick up a copy and see how it plays out. I suspect I won’t ever have the mana floating to make it do what it’s designed to do, but I guess I’ll find out one way or another. [/quote]
About Arkbow:
My thoughts on it:
- the discard can be nice if you have a strong reanimator suite (which I don't have)
- discarding artifacts is fine, as you can just get the artifact back with Glissa eventually (but that trigger is then competing with all the other artifacts you might rather have in your hand)
- without top deck manipulation there's a big chance to whiff if you have little mana available (so imagine a turn two play and an activition for 3 mana on turn 3: the odds you get something decent out of that are pretty slim, but by then you are down to cards (arkbow and the discard) and five mana)
But to put that in perspective, the card slot it was competing with had Survival of the Fittest in it. If that had been an artifact it'd have been the perfect card (and one of my all-time favorites), but I've sidelined it now in my quest to cut down on tutors.
In terms of other considerations at present, I picked up a copy of Finale of Eternity the other day. I think it could fit well in here, but I honestly can't find a good cut for it. Aside from that, found a copy of Bojuka Bog in my collection, so that was an easy swap in for a basic swamp.
In:
Grave Titan
Ashnod's Altar
Out:
Executioner's Capsule
Expedition Map
I had one draft and got both Nurturing Peatland and Scrapyard Recombiner. I wanted. The recombiner hits the gearhulks, Hangarback walker, (walking ballista) and Myr Battlesphere. For 3 mana its a kind of back up birthing pod.
I dropped reliquary tower because of the comments people were making in the main section about it and Burnished Hart because I frequently run out of basics to abuse it.
I hope getting featured on the front page/main section helped you a whole lot.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Reliquary Tower is a funny one. It’s easy enough to drop in, but you don’t often realize how rarely it’s actually relevant. I definitely support reluctant usage of it.
The feedback did give me some food for thought. I’m going to try a Salvaging Station package again and see how it goes. I think the issue previously was having so few eggs that actually cantripped meant the engine sort of just didn’t pick up momentum. Add in the fact that most of them only ramped to my hand and it made for a slow engine indeed. I'll try with more spellbombs and such and see how it plays out.
The other area I’m looking at that came up as a suggestion is Protean Hulk. I’d run it as a value add, but even without combo it’s a solid add. With Pod in play it’d be great to sac it for some board presence and chain End-Raze Forerunners in to swing for impact. If I do add this it’d be good to add a few value ETB adds like Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Phyrexian Delver and the aforementioned Deep Forest Hermit. I’ve also got a couple of good stuff adds I’ve been considering like Eldritch Evolution and Diabolic Intent.
Having said all of this there’s only so much room in the deck so again I find myself in the position of not knowing where to make cuts. If you’ve any suggestions I’d be glad to hear them.
Oh! Also, I got to try out Massacre Girl over the weekend. She’s devastating in terms of clearing house. Really solid board wipe if you can drop her into the right place.