I wondered if it was possible to use Paladin of Atonement in modern and figured it should slot in with Death's Shadow?
Problem is it was white so only death shadow deck I thought of was Esper Death's Shadow, but it just felt wrong in that deck. So I started toying around with Abzan Death's Shadow, using cards like Noxious Revival and Tarmogoyf. I figured if I was going to use the goyf, I should prolly use Mishra's Bauble and Warren Weirding to pump him/her.
Has anyone had any success using Paladin?
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Oath of the Gatewatch in a nutshell;
"Earth!" shouts Nissa
"Fire!" shouts Chandra
"Wind!" shouts Jace
"Water!" shouts Kiora
"Heart!" shouts Gideon
"Go Multiverse!" shouts everyone combined
"By your powers combined, I am Captain Multiverse!" shouts Captain Multiverse
There are a couple obstacles to Paladin of Atonement being usable in modern. The first is that it's sloooow. It needs to trigger two or three times to be worth its mana cost, which, without a dedicated life loss outlet, requires multiple discrete life loss events. This makes it downright glacial compared to the likes of Gurmag Angler and the other secondary threats that accompany Death's Shadow while also being vulnerable to all of the format's most popular removal spells.
The second problem is that the sacrifice ability, the paladin's other big draw, is utterly at odds with what DS decks try to do, unless it's being used to nuke Bridge from Below. See, the vampire life loss mechanics in Ixalan block were designed so that life could be gained back via the various lifegain effects and lifelink that the vampires had. In contrast, DS decks try to maintain their life totals at low levels to leverage their signature creature to the maximum extent possible. In such a deck, the sacrifice ability would be an "oops" button in situation where either a loss is imminent anyways, disruption would be preferable, or the DS would be better off pushing for a win.
Paladin of atonement needs constant life loss in order to be good. Note that it doesn't get +1/+1 counters equal to life loss, only if you lost life. I would think black white tokens is the best place because it is a natural fit with bitterblossom.
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Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
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Problem is it was white so only death shadow deck I thought of was Esper Death's Shadow, but it just felt wrong in that deck. So I started toying around with Abzan Death's Shadow, using cards like Noxious Revival and Tarmogoyf. I figured if I was going to use the goyf, I should prolly use Mishra's Bauble and Warren Weirding to pump him/her.
Has anyone had any success using Paladin?
"Earth!" shouts Nissa
"Fire!" shouts Chandra
"Wind!" shouts Jace
"Water!" shouts Kiora
"Heart!" shouts Gideon
"Go Multiverse!" shouts everyone combined
"By your powers combined, I am Captain Multiverse!" shouts Captain Multiverse
The second problem is that the sacrifice ability, the paladin's other big draw, is utterly at odds with what DS decks try to do, unless it's being used to nuke Bridge from Below. See, the vampire life loss mechanics in Ixalan block were designed so that life could be gained back via the various lifegain effects and lifelink that the vampires had. In contrast, DS decks try to maintain their life totals at low levels to leverage their signature creature to the maximum extent possible. In such a deck, the sacrifice ability would be an "oops" button in situation where either a loss is imminent anyways, disruption would be preferable, or the DS would be better off pushing for a win.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!