Why is Plunge Into Darkness not A Thing in Modern? The second mode seems like it would be really good for Black decks (not running blue obvs) which struggle for card selection, on a 2 mana instant no less! Is the life cost just too much to ever be worth it, or is there some other factor I'm missing?
Also, I think there is a non-zero number number of occasions to use the first effect, or perhaps more preferably the Entwine effect, particularly in WB[G] Tokens builds. I for one will test it in place of Night's Whisper for my planned rogue WB control build
Some build of Cheeri0s ran it, but this card is just not good with Burn in the format. Same for Spoils of the Vault. You end up paying too much life to find what you need, leaving yourself open to nearly all of the aggro decks, with Infect being the outlier. It's better to run more redundant 5-8 style cards, and run blue for dig. While doing this may slow you down a turn or two, it doesn't have the ability to kill you.
Sick tech in a Near-Death Experience combo deck (that really hopes to avoid instant burn), but other than that, Spoils of the Vault will perform better in Ad Nauseam, and Nauseam itself is part of the combo. I can't really think of many other black combo decks (few other decks care about digging that deep).
Why is Plunge Into Darkness not A Thing in Modern? The second mode seems like it would be really good for Black decks (not running blue obvs) which struggle for card selection, on a 2 mana instant no less! Is the life cost just too much to ever be worth it, or is there some other factor I'm missing?
Also, I think there is a non-zero number number of occasions to use the first effect, or perhaps more preferably the Entwine effect, particularly in WB[G] Tokens builds. I for one will test it in place of Night's Whisper for my planned rogue WB control build
Thoughts, everyone?
If you're playing a fair deck, play Dark Confidant. If you're playing a combo deck, add blue for cantrips.
Yes, the life loss is almost always too much. A card like Grisly Salvage or Peer Through Depths lets you look at 5 cards and pick one. Now with Plunge Into Darkness, you're either going to:
1) cast it with X <= 5, meaning you pay more life and/or look at fewer cards than those other options.
2) cast it with X > 5 and die to beats. Your opponent doesn't even have to be an aggro deck for that to happen. Yes, Bob can also take off 6+ life, but he's a 2/1 that can attack, so that evens the score.
The first mode is pretty useless. Token decks convert their tokens into a win by playing anthems and attacking, not saccing them for some life.
So basically, the top and bottom of it is that it's too expensive (in life) and too slow to work in the current (global) meta?
If I have a very slow local meta (only really looking to play local), would it be a good budget replacement for Bob, or is it just so slow/expensive that I may as well just not bother?
Finally, is Night's Whisper always a better play if I need a draw/selection slot (and no blue mana)? My list is definitely going to run 2 Phyrexian Arena, but I'm looking for more draw power. Plunge drew me in by being the only(?) instant speed 'draw'(more cantrip really) in B or W.
Depending on how many colors you are running, Night's Whisper is probably the best for that style of draw card. Painful Truths is better if you are in 3 colors, and Read the Bones is better if you need card selection more so than card draw. You could also look into a card like Ob Nixilis Reignited for a bit more utility in a B/W Control list, but ultimately it will depend on how your deck plays, its curve, and how much life you are willing to pay for these type of effects.
Finally, is Night's Whisper always a better play if I need a draw/selection slot (and no blue mana)? My list is definitely going to run 2 Phyrexian Arena, but I'm looking for more draw power. Plunge drew me in by being the only(?) instant speed 'draw'(more cantrip really) in B or W.
Sign in Blood is usually used over whisper in mono-black. You can in a pinch use it to do the last 2 damage to someone. I have a casual Vampire aggro deck that uses both blood and whispers as card draw and it works well.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Faeries Discord
LEGACY: WDeath & TaxesW, GWEnchantressGW, BPoxB
MODERN: UBFaeriesUB Faerie Christmas to All, and to All a Good Fight.
Sign in Blood is usually used over whisper in mono-black. You can in a pinch use it to do the last 2 damage to someone. I have a casual Vampire aggro deck that uses both blood and whispers as card draw and it works well.
The deck will be WB or WBg so I prefer the ease of casting Whisper
Also, I think there is a non-zero number number of occasions to use the first effect, or perhaps more preferably the Entwine effect, particularly in WB[G] Tokens builds. I for one will test it in place of Night's Whisper for my planned rogue WB control build
Thoughts, everyone?
Cheeri0sXWU
Reid Duke's Level One
Who's the Beatdown
Alt+0198=Æ
Yes, the life loss is almost always too much. A card like Grisly Salvage or Peer Through Depths lets you look at 5 cards and pick one. Now with Plunge Into Darkness, you're either going to:
1) cast it with X <= 5, meaning you pay more life and/or look at fewer cards than those other options.
2) cast it with X > 5 and die to beats. Your opponent doesn't even have to be an aggro deck for that to happen. Yes, Bob can also take off 6+ life, but he's a 2/1 that can attack, so that evens the score.
The first mode is pretty useless. Token decks convert their tokens into a win by playing anthems and attacking, not saccing them for some life.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
So basically, the top and bottom of it is that it's too expensive (in life) and too slow to work in the current (global) meta?
If I have a very slow local meta (only really looking to play local), would it be a good budget replacement for Bob, or is it just so slow/expensive that I may as well just not bother?
Finally, is Night's Whisper always a better play if I need a draw/selection slot (and no blue mana)? My list is definitely going to run 2 Phyrexian Arena, but I'm looking for more draw power. Plunge drew me in by being the only(?) instant speed 'draw'(more cantrip really) in B or W.
Sign in Blood is usually used over whisper in mono-black. You can in a pinch use it to do the last 2 damage to someone. I have a casual Vampire aggro deck that uses both blood and whispers as card draw and it works well.
LEGACY:
W Death & Taxes W, GW Enchantress GW, B Pox B
MODERN:
UB Faeries UB
Faerie Christmas to All, and to All a Good Fight.
The deck will be WB or WBg so I prefer the ease of casting Whisper
That said, Suicide Shadow decks are probably better off doing whatever it is they are doing right now.
A B/W deck that also things like faith's shield and Angel's Grace
Draft My Cube!