I salute the developers of the set... just when I thought there are no more cards needed to buy... they create assassin's trophy! Take this Karn and Ugin.
The card reminds my of a combination of path and abrupt decay. The "your opponent controls" clause seems very deliberate. Why would that be? I wonder why.
I have used Path several times to ramp or fix or force landfall triggers.
Although there are some decks I don't want to use this against... scary to give Burn decks extra untapped land. Another downside is it helps an opponent who is short on mana.
Everyones hype for Assassin's Trophy seems pretty warranted. It obviously enormously helps any BG deck, but I'm kinda wondering if it can help innovate some less-played things. GW Value Town has been going through some changes by Todd Stevens to keep it relevant. He has been trying Blue for more of a Jace-Midrange deck, but I am wondering about Abzan now. With this, Path to Exile, and Ghost Quarter effects you can probably run the opponent out of basics really fast. Even something like an Abzan Gitrog Monster deck could work as it was causing some ripples with Heartless Summonings before.
I wonder if it'll see play alonside Leonin Arbiter. BGW hatebears or something?
unlikely. 3 color mana bases without fetches or shocks are gross. for example BW eldrazi and taxes has horrid mana. green lets you move into cards like teeg, but even still i dont think the payoff is high enough.
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
I wonder if it'll see play alonside Leonin Arbiter. BGW hatebears or something?
unlikely. 3 color mana bases without fetches or shocks are gross. for example BW eldrazi and taxes has horrid mana. green lets you move into cards like teeg, but even still i dont think the payoff is high enough.
green also lets you play mana dorks like birds of paradise to make that 3 color problem go away.
Everyones hype for Assassin's Trophy seems pretty warranted. It obviously enormously helps any BG deck, but I'm kinda wondering if it can help innovate some less-played things. GW Value Town has been going through some changes by Todd Stevens to keep it relevant. He has been trying Blue for more of a Jace-Midrange deck, but I am wondering about Abzan now. With this, Path to Exile, and Ghost Quarter effects you can probably run the opponent out of basics really fast. Even something like an Abzan Gitrog Monster deck could work as it was causing some ripples with Heartless Summonings before.
We're already talking about it in the Valuetown facebook group. This definitely helps you go even harder into stripmine.dec.
Well, geez. Who would be silly enough to print something this good? 2 CMC and can kill anything. Jesus. BGx is back in the meta, boys. At least it can be countered.
On an unrelated note: Hypothesizzle is an awesome name for a card.
Although I don't have many posts on here, I've been playing modern since RTR and am a very excited midrange player! Here's my take on Assassin's Trophy:
Winners:
BG(x) midrange: for obvious reasons... It needed a catch-all removal spell, just what the doctor ordered!
Humans: BG(x) midrange is not strong against Humans and AT doesn't do much more than Abrupt Decay in this matchup. Therefore, not boosting the matchup much. However, BG(x) could knock off some decks that Humans might not be as strong with.
Lingering Souls: The biggest way to counter this card is with spells that create more than one permanent. Souls is also strong against Midrange decks in general, so it's stock definitely got a boost. Planeswalkers that create creature tokens, Goblin Rabblemaster, and Legion Warboss all win here.
Spell based combo decks: Storm and Scapeshift benefit from winning the game by not having to use many permanents. Therefore, are not affect as much as other decks by AT.
Affinity/Harden Scales Modular: One of the biggest strengths for Affinity in the midrange matchup is their ability to dump +1/+1 tokens on their man-lands when midrange destroys their creatures. That strategy is now vulnerable. Etched Champion becomes pivotal
UW(x) Control: Tapping out for Teferi, JtMS, and Celestial Colonnade just became a lot riskier. AT forces all decks to run a few more basics which makes Path, Field of Ruin, and Ghost Quarter not as strong as before. GoST will be in every sideboard.
Prediction:
The meta will adjust to this card with more going wide strategies. I suspect Lingering Souls (especially in Abzan and Pyromancer midrange) to have incredible value in this AT-filled meta. Big Mana strategies like Urza-tron and Ponza may be suppressed. Humans will continue to flourish. I've been working on a 4-color (non-white) midrange Traverse the Ulvenwald deck, and AT definitely justifies not going white for Path to Exile. I think it may break out in this meta, but we'll see haha.
Bold Prediction:
Go-wide strategies result in Grim Flayer completely replacing Tarmogoyf in BG(x) strategies because evasion matters in the Go-Wide meta.
The card reminds my of a combination of path and abrupt decay. The "your opponent controls" clause seems very deliberate. Why would that be? I wonder why.
I have used Path several times to ramp or fix or force landfall triggers.
I think that otherwise giving you the ability to ramp yourself and colour fix--especially in response to removal--is precisely why. I've hit my own Snapcaster on occasion with Path to Exile in response to opposing Blood Moon. Guess Wizards didn't want to give BGx Midrange that additional edge.
The card reminds my of a combination of path and abrupt decay. The "your opponent controls" clause seems very deliberate. Why would that be? I wonder why.
I have used Path several times to ramp or fix or force landfall triggers.
I think that otherwise giving you the ability to ramp yourself and colour fix--especially in response to removal--is precisely why. I've hit my own Snapcaster on occasion with Path to Exile in response to opposing Blood Moon. Guess Wizards didn't want to give BGx Midrange that additional edge.
That may be true but I would wager it is way more likely that clause is there for the same reason it is on a number of other cards: Magic Online (and Arena I suppose). Misclicks happen all the time so they are trying to cut down on someone clicking the card, then clicking their land to pay for it, without realizing they just chose the target and end up destroying their own land instead of the thing they wanted to destroy.
I don’t know if I want to run Junk or Jund with Assassin’s Trophy. Lingering souls is so good if my opponent is playing one but Bloodbraid Elf words so well with AT because I will always have a target.
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Modern
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB
Need two playsets of this...
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
people wanted more jund in the format. well you are gonna get it.
brb sleeving up my full set of Spell Snares
edit: RIP tron players. just cant catch a break.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Greetings,
Kathal
Modern/Legacy
either funpolice (Delver, Deathcloud, UW Control) or the fun decks (especially those ft. Griselbrand)
I have used Path several times to ramp or fix or force landfall triggers.
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
CG
Yeah, whats the the release date, I'll need to remember to put in Snares by then. MTGO will be rampant amounts of BGx.
Spirits
Makes BGx great again! ^__^
Although there are some decks I don't want to use this against... scary to give Burn decks extra untapped land. Another downside is it helps an opponent who is short on mana.
Nexus MTG News // Nexus - Magic Art Gallery // MTG Dual Land Color Ratios Analyzer // MTG Card Drawing Odds Calculator
Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
i think that level of excitement is warranted. its a complete game changer. im simultaneously appalled, jealous, and hopeful.
i believe the last weekend of september. literally no other card could be modern playable, and the BG influx is going to be enormous.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Spirits
MTGO/MTGA: Tyclone
My Primers ~ GWx Vizier Company ~ Knightfall ~ RG Eldrazi ~ Green's Sun's Zenith
More Brews ~ Modern Four Horsemen ~ Gitrog Dredge
Find (of Find//Finality) could get really grindy with Eternal Witness, much like Snapcaster Mage and Kolaghan's Command. There's probably an engine here waiting to be discovered. All I have so far is Satyr Wayfinder, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Eternal Witness, and Find // Finality, which could work in a green Devotion deck or something.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
BG Rock
Modern:
RW Sun & Moon
RBG Dredge
RWG Burn
Legacy:
W Death & Taxes
unlikely. 3 color mana bases without fetches or shocks are gross. for example BW eldrazi and taxes has horrid mana. green lets you move into cards like teeg, but even still i dont think the payoff is high enough.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Sure, with 4 of Trophy, 4 Path, 4 Arbiter, 4 Bird thing that did the Similar?
Junk Taxes.
Spirits
green also lets you play mana dorks like birds of paradise to make that 3 color problem go away.
BG Rock
Modern:
RW Sun & Moon
RBG Dredge
RWG Burn
Legacy:
W Death & Taxes
We're already talking about it in the Valuetown facebook group. This definitely helps you go even harder into stripmine.dec.
On an unrelated note: Hypothesizzle is an awesome name for a card.
Winners:
BG(x) midrange: for obvious reasons... It needed a catch-all removal spell, just what the doctor ordered!
Humans: BG(x) midrange is not strong against Humans and AT doesn't do much more than Abrupt Decay in this matchup. Therefore, not boosting the matchup much. However, BG(x) could knock off some decks that Humans might not be as strong with.
Lingering Souls: The biggest way to counter this card is with spells that create more than one permanent. Souls is also strong against Midrange decks in general, so it's stock definitely got a boost. Planeswalkers that create creature tokens, Goblin Rabblemaster, and Legion Warboss all win here.
Spell based combo decks: Storm and Scapeshift benefit from winning the game by not having to use many permanents. Therefore, are not affect as much as other decks by AT.
Hexproof and protection: Geist of Saint Traft and Etched Champion still don't get hit by AT
Sultai Control: Is a UBg control deck now possible with AT and Vraska, Relic Seeker? Time will tell.
Losers:
Urzatron: Turn 2 Assassin's Trophy on an urza land speaks for itself, follow that up with turn 3 Rabblemaster, and the game looks bleak for Urzatron.
Permanent based combo decks: Phyrexian Unlife, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, and Collected Company Combo, and KCI decks do not like AT at all.
Affinity/Harden Scales Modular: One of the biggest strengths for Affinity in the midrange matchup is their ability to dump +1/+1 tokens on their man-lands when midrange destroys their creatures. That strategy is now vulnerable. Etched Champion becomes pivotal
UW(x) Control: Tapping out for Teferi, JtMS, and Celestial Colonnade just became a lot riskier. AT forces all decks to run a few more basics which makes Path, Field of Ruin, and Ghost Quarter not as strong as before. GoST will be in every sideboard.
Prediction:
The meta will adjust to this card with more going wide strategies. I suspect Lingering Souls (especially in Abzan and Pyromancer midrange) to have incredible value in this AT-filled meta. Big Mana strategies like Urza-tron and Ponza may be suppressed. Humans will continue to flourish. I've been working on a 4-color (non-white) midrange Traverse the Ulvenwald deck, and AT definitely justifies not going white for Path to Exile. I think it may break out in this meta, but we'll see haha.
Bold Prediction:
Go-wide strategies result in Grim Flayer completely replacing Tarmogoyf in BG(x) strategies because evasion matters in the Go-Wide meta.
Happy brewing to all!
UWRUWR MidrangeUWR
BUGSultai MidrangeBUG
BUGRTraverse MidrangeBUGR (currently brewing)
UB Wight Phantasm
RB Burn
UR Faerie Rites of Initiation
Legacy:
R Burn
CG-Post
I think that otherwise giving you the ability to ramp yourself and colour fix--especially in response to removal--is precisely why. I've hit my own Snapcaster on occasion with Path to Exile in response to opposing Blood Moon. Guess Wizards didn't want to give BGx Midrange that additional edge.
I find it funny though that this is just fine for GB...but a 2 CMC unconditional counter is simply too good and just isn't fair.
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB
$5 says that if that counterspell is ever printed...it will be green.