Very happy to play up to 2 of these. Excellent filter. Strictly better Foresee.
It's good, I like it especially in sealed, it's not a strictly better Foresee (besides the 2 life, if you hit 3 or 4 lands you can ship them all with Foresee, if you hit 4 good cards you can keep some on top to draw later).
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My Decks: EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn Modern: Polytokes IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
This card, more than any other, has gone up significantly in my estimation since the beginning of the format. I considered it bad filler until playing for a while and realizing how important evasion is... not to mention that tied to a Piker's body, there's a wonderful little synergy. Opposing morphs will probably not attack into it (or if they do, you're either fine to trade or have bigger plans for the Master,) slowing down the game enough so that you have time to turn it from an early defender (if needed) to a late game chisel, chipping away like control/grindy decks do. Also, the importance of two-drops has become apparent.
Good in aggro and grindy/control, passable 2-drop in mid-range.
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My Decks: EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn Modern: Polytokes IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
I like it a lot. If I'm not running white I hope to have slightly better two-drops, but sometimes it makes the cut. If I have white mana I'm fine with running several of them.
I haven't had to activate the ability all that often, but it's the kind of thing that can keep an early drop relevant in the late game to a certain extent.
I like this card because it is a relevant 2-drop in red (the only other common 2-drop is the already discussed Valley Dasher) and it gives me something to do with my mana when flooding out or getting in the last few points of damage over top of a stalled ground game. I've closed out a couple of games with him and Arrow Storm.
This card does not leap out to me as a good card. Out of the 2/1s, it is only slightly better than the Wetland Sambar. I file this under the "good when situations are not great", meaning it is good when things are are going wrong or went wrong. Like when the draft went bad or you are flooding out.
This card does not leap out to me as a good card. Out of the 2/1s, it is only slightly better than the Wetland Sambar. I file this under the "good when situations are not great", meaning it is good when things are are going wrong or went wrong. Like when the draft went bad or you are flooding out.
I too am a big fan of Aang. He just yells "JESKAI!" as he flying kicks you in the face.
But, he is indeed a solid card in this format. 2-drops come at something of a premium here and he trades very well with morphs. As noted, there really is a dearth of flying and reach too in this format, so he can help finish out some of the very common board stalls in here. He may even be marginally better in Mardu than Jeskai because he helps with Mardu's aggression, isn't as important for Jeskai because Jeskai already has evasive creatures, and he helps Mardu close out games when it may not otherwise.
I think a prowess variant would have been kind of nifty though. Something similar to Seeker of the Way where he gains flying on the non-creature spells? I guess that would have been a little weird in red. Maybe make the controller pay W to gain the flying off of a non-creature spell?
This card does not leap out to me as a good card. Out of the 2/1s, it is only slightly better than the Wetland Sambar. I file this under the "good when situations are not great", meaning it is good when things are are going wrong or went wrong. Like when the draft went bad or you are flooding out.
It's a question of the format. There are a lot of times that a 2/1 for two, even with conditional evasion, wouldn't be that great. In a format where lots of creatures are 2/2 even out to turn 4 or 5 and there isn't much evasion available it's quite solid.
Leaping Master is solid. As has already been said, 2-drops are better than they look in this format as they trade with morphs, and the flying ability is more relevant since there aren't many flyers and lots of board stalls. He's not a high pick, but if I'm in base red with any chance of activating him I'm happy to run as many as I have.
Mana flooding tends to happen a lot in this set too, I've found. 18 lands is almost always correct (since it's very important to hit 3 and 5 lands on time), but 18 lands also means you have too many lands more often. Stuff like Leaping Master that gives you something to do when flooded is really nice.
2-drops are in an interesting place in this format. There are enough aggressive decks and strong tempo plays that you can get severely punished for building a deck where your first play is a face-down morph. At the same time, the format is still relatively slow with lots of powerful late game action in most decks, which means your assorted grizzly bears and goblin pikers spend a significant percentage of their time being lousy draws.
For those reasons, 2-drops that do something in the late game are really important, and that's a property this guy shares with Archer's Parapet and Ainok Bond-Kin.
In my view Leaping Master is okay, but I am okay with keeping it in the sideboard. My bias is that I do not like quick aggressive decks, where this would best fit. It does not profitably block tokens, unlike Smoke Teller which stonewalls them (but is otherwise a mediocre card) or Archer's Parapet which is a somewhat good card overall in a green-black deck, but Leaping Master is not dead in the late game (as some other two-drops are) so that is a plus. I could take it or leave it.
Simply put, I think this is one of the best charms ever.
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My Decks: EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn Modern: Polytokes IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
Yeah it's awesome. I'm not sure there's a ton to say about it. It's the best of the charms, and I'd be willing to first pick it out of a moderate pack on the chance that those colors are open. I wouldn't take it over very strong single-color cards though.
I think that might be a place where we could have some interesting discussion on Abzan Charm (which I think we'll universally agree is really good).
What monocolor cards are good enough to take over Abzan Charm? Absurd bombs like Wingmate Roc and High Sentinels, of course, but which monocolor cards are less good than Abzan Charm, but close enough that the increased consistency makes them a better P1P1?
I guess the same question could be asked for 2-color gold cards as well.
For non-rares, I'm at least taking Murderous Cut, Arc Lightning and Suspension Field. Maybe Mardu Heart-Piercer, Abzan Falconer and Incremental Growth as well.
For two-color, I'd take Icefeather Aven over it, and it over Mindswipe (I actually quite like Mindswipe in this set.) For mono, I'd take Arc Lightning/Mardu Heartpiercer over it and take it over Bellowing Saddlebrute or Mystic of the Hidden Way.
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My Decks: EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn Modern: Polytokes IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
You really just need to embrace the rage. I keep a small colony of hamsters next to my computer and every time I lose a match to mana screw I throw one against the wall.
I would not want to first pick a charm, even this very good one Abzan Charm. Even though they cost 3 mana, they usually aren't cast-able on turn 3 because of the color requirement. It's still a very good card despite that, but I want to avoid a 3-color card with P1P1.
Without any color commitments? I think the 2 most often used modes on Abzan Charm are better than any of the modes on either of those charms, but I suppose I could be wrong. I have played with Mardu Charm a lot, and it's been very good.
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Modern RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH UFblthpU BRXantchaRB BGVarolzGB URWZedruuWRU
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It's good, I like it especially in sealed, it's not a strictly better Foresee (besides the 2 life, if you hit 3 or 4 lands you can ship them all with Foresee, if you hit 4 good cards you can keep some on top to draw later).
This should be fun.
My Decks:
EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn
Modern: Polytokes
IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
Just a friendly reminder that I will drive this car off a bridge
Good in aggro and grindy/control, passable 2-drop in mid-range.
My Decks:
EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn
Modern: Polytokes
IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
Just a friendly reminder that I will drive this car off a bridge
I haven't had to activate the ability all that often, but it's the kind of thing that can keep an early drop relevant in the late game to a certain extent.
RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH
UFblthpU
BRXantchaRB
BGVarolzGB
URWZedruuWRU
It's much better than Wetland Sambar and better than Smoke Teller IMO.
RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH
UFblthpU
BRXantchaRB
BGVarolzGB
URWZedruuWRU
But, he is indeed a solid card in this format. 2-drops come at something of a premium here and he trades very well with morphs. As noted, there really is a dearth of flying and reach too in this format, so he can help finish out some of the very common board stalls in here. He may even be marginally better in Mardu than Jeskai because he helps with Mardu's aggression, isn't as important for Jeskai because Jeskai already has evasive creatures, and he helps Mardu close out games when it may not otherwise.
I think a prowess variant would have been kind of nifty though. Something similar to Seeker of the Way where he gains flying on the non-creature spells? I guess that would have been a little weird in red. Maybe make the controller pay W to gain the flying off of a non-creature spell?
It's a question of the format. There are a lot of times that a 2/1 for two, even with conditional evasion, wouldn't be that great. In a format where lots of creatures are 2/2 even out to turn 4 or 5 and there isn't much evasion available it's quite solid.
Mana flooding tends to happen a lot in this set too, I've found. 18 lands is almost always correct (since it's very important to hit 3 and 5 lands on time), but 18 lands also means you have too many lands more often. Stuff like Leaping Master that gives you something to do when flooded is really nice.
For those reasons, 2-drops that do something in the late game are really important, and that's a property this guy shares with Archer's Parapet and Ainok Bond-Kin.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
Simply put, I think this is one of the best charms ever.
My Decks:
EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn
Modern: Polytokes
IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
Just a friendly reminder that I will drive this car off a bridge
What monocolor cards are good enough to take over Abzan Charm? Absurd bombs like Wingmate Roc and High Sentinels, of course, but which monocolor cards are less good than Abzan Charm, but close enough that the increased consistency makes them a better P1P1?
I guess the same question could be asked for 2-color gold cards as well.
My Decks:
EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn
Modern: Polytokes
IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
Just a friendly reminder that I will drive this car off a bridge
For you, is that choice about clan preference, or have you found the Jeskai and Mardu charms to be more powerful outright?
Without any color commitments? I think the 2 most often used modes on Abzan Charm are better than any of the modes on either of those charms, but I suppose I could be wrong. I have played with Mardu Charm a lot, and it's been very good.
RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH
UFblthpU
BRXantchaRB
BGVarolzGB
URWZedruuWRU