An absolute beast of a card, but the mana cost is very harsh. You're probably going to have to choose between the playset of field of ruin and this since it requires 23 blue sources to cast on curve
I think in a Force of Negation world UW shouldn't be running Terminus over Verdict anymore (both because decks like GDS or Merfolk can employ it and because you can pitch it against Tron and stuff essentially negating the card disadvantage
Problem is, Verdict requires double white. *IF* we want to use Charm profictably, we'd better go on the Terminus train. Merfolk isn't a deck since three years ago, in Modern, anyway. And GDS isn't at the peak of its popularity (Stubb is good against half of our deck, and they're not going to use FoN by the way, it's terrible there).
if you look at the mana base there are 6 / 24(5) Lands that don't make blue and this is not a card UW will be casting on T3 that often anyway.
The deck has no issues running 3+ Cryptic commands anyway.
I think if this card necessitates significant deckbuilding concessions then it probably dosn't make the cut but i doubt the tripple U casting cost is as prohibitive as it looks to start out
My thoughts on Generous Gift is that you often are letting creatures resolve and using countermagic for noncreature permanents in order to maximize returns on wrath effects. So while you can just bounce the token with Teferi, Time Raveler, I think you are better off just ignoring this card. It appears to do what you want it to do, but it does not really feed into how games usually play out. I may be wrong, but I doubt it. Decks that played Beast Within played it out of necessity and the lack of ways to interact with the opponent otherwise.
For Archmage's Charm, it seems pretty powerful. The UUU is relevant, mainly if you ware wanting to use it on curve with a high level of frequency. But I don't think this card would ever be a 4-of, and not because of the casting cost, but because we have better things to do on turn 3 now days. As something like a 2-of, the mana cost becomes less important because the fewer you put in the deck, the less you are wanting to have it in an opening to cast on curve anyways. I will say that as powerful as Fact or Fiction can be... I like Archmage's Charm more. Personally, I use Gideon of the Trials, so I won't likely be using this card and will default to Fact or Fiction. But I will certainly test charm out in a different shell.
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I feel like the 3 mana slot needs to be ways to interact, not necessarily a creature. The hurdle the deck faces is that turn 3-4 phase. I don't think Mentor really helps that much, it just means your turn 4 is potentially stronger than it normally would be. I don't think that is really necessary.
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I do think we will have to make some concessions in order to run it, but I don't think dropping Verdict for Terminus is one of them - if you want to keep verdict just drop the plains in favor of more duals (fortress, mystic gate, etc).
The concession we have to make is the number of basic plains and the number of colorless lands; as good as Field of Ruin is it may be necessary to shave some of those numbers to have access to the new counterspells since the countermagic is so good against Tron anyways.
The question for me is: is Charm better than Hieroglyphic Illumination? In essence: is the flexibility of having more counters later on better than the flexibility of smoothing out land drops?
Besides the last effect, new charm doesn't really offer anything "new". We already had powerful card draw and a strong counter spell (cryptic).
This card at triple U is hard to cast and competes with 3 mana walkers slots. If you ask me, I'll take Narset over it any day.
What I think we needed was a strong straight answer at 2 mana. However, because Wizards wanted to push their cute 3 mana counter, we were denied Counterspell once more.
Tl;dr: draw 2 for 3 mana is meh and counter a spell for 3 mana is too slow.
Honestly, Archmage's Charm is better than having Counterspell. I don't know if it will fit the current iterations of UW Control (which became more and more of a Tap-Out strategy), but flexibility is the key. By the way, draw 2 ISTANT SPEED for three mana is good. Counter a spell (any spell) for three mana is decent. Taking Control of cc1 permanents is very useful in any stage of the game.
Have to agree with Rabbit - draw 2 for 3cmc at instant speed is great. If this card was 1UU, instant and only had the draw 2 cards mode it would see play.
The other two modes are awful for 3cmc but it's the overall flexibility that makes this card very good. It's just a matter of consistency; how tough is UUU? Because other than that the card is phenomenal.
Well we know 1uuu is possible, so maybe we just have to imagine this card as a turn 4 card that sometimes can be cast on turn 3. To me, I think that means we can't play too many copies and it competes with Cryptic Command rather than competing with the 3drop walkers despite only having a cmc of 3.
My thoughts on Generous Gift is that you often are letting creatures resolve and using countermagic for noncreature permanents in order to maximize returns on wrath effects. So while you can just bounce the token with Teferi, Time Raveler, I think you are better off just ignoring this card. It appears to do what you want it to do, but it does not really feed into how games usually play out. I may be wrong, but I doubt it. Decks that played Beast Within played it out of necessity and the lack of ways to interact with the opponent otherwise.
For Archmage's Charm, it seems pretty powerful. The UUU is relevant, mainly if you ware wanting to use it on curve with a high level of frequency. But I don't think this card would ever be a 4-of, and not because of the casting cost, but because we have better things to do on turn 3 now days. As something like a 2-of, the mana cost becomes less important because the fewer you put in the deck, the less you are wanting to have it in an opening to cast on curve anyways. I will say that as powerful as Fact or Fiction can be... I like Archmage's Charm more. Personally, I use Gideon of the Trials, so I won't likely be using this card and will default to Fact or Fiction. But I will certainly test charm out in a different shell.
I have to disagree completely on your assessment of Generous Gift, I think its exactly what UW needed. Being able to kill a resolved threat at instant speed while also proving a myriad of other tricks you can do with it lend to the far more likely side of seeing mainboard play. I will take this card over Archmage's Charm and Detention Sphere in my 3CMC spot and I'm personally going to play 2 copies main.
Generous gift is like 4th pick draft chaff. It's completely unplayable in modern. The vast majority of threats in modern provide value on ETB meaning you're going to be down 3 cards when using a Jace or Tef5 minus and down 4 cards when you path it. I don't think this card is playable in UW control even if it has split second and cost a single white Mana.
Mystic Gate also helps.
The deck has no issues running 3+ Cryptic commands anyway.
I think if this card necessitates significant deckbuilding concessions then it probably dosn't make the cut but i doubt the tripple U casting cost is as prohibitive as it looks to start out
For Archmage's Charm, it seems pretty powerful. The UUU is relevant, mainly if you ware wanting to use it on curve with a high level of frequency. But I don't think this card would ever be a 4-of, and not because of the casting cost, but because we have better things to do on turn 3 now days. As something like a 2-of, the mana cost becomes less important because the fewer you put in the deck, the less you are wanting to have it in an opening to cast on curve anyways. I will say that as powerful as Fact or Fiction can be... I like Archmage's Charm more. Personally, I use Gideon of the Trials, so I won't likely be using this card and will default to Fact or Fiction. But I will certainly test charm out in a different shell.
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I do think we will have to make some concessions in order to run it, but I don't think dropping Verdict for Terminus is one of them - if you want to keep verdict just drop the plains in favor of more duals (fortress, mystic gate, etc).
The concession we have to make is the number of basic plains and the number of colorless lands; as good as Field of Ruin is it may be necessary to shave some of those numbers to have access to the new counterspells since the countermagic is so good against Tron anyways.
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
GW Copycat
Jund Loam
This card at triple U is hard to cast and competes with 3 mana walkers slots. If you ask me, I'll take Narset over it any day.
What I think we needed was a strong straight answer at 2 mana. However, because Wizards wanted to push their cute 3 mana counter, we were denied Counterspell once more.
Tl;dr: draw 2 for 3 mana is meh and counter a spell for 3 mana is too slow.
RBUGrixis ControlUBR
GUSimic MerfolkUG
WUUW ControlUW
RBUGrixis ControlUBR
BUUB MillUB
Colorless Eldrazi Tron
WRBurnRW
GUSimic MerfolkUG
UMono U TurnsU
WGGenesis Wave EnchantressGW
Maybe people forgot WHY Cryptic Command is so good.
The other two modes are awful for 3cmc but it's the overall flexibility that makes this card very good. It's just a matter of consistency; how tough is UUU? Because other than that the card is phenomenal.
Well we know 1uuu is possible, so maybe we just have to imagine this card as a turn 4 card that sometimes can be cast on turn 3. To me, I think that means we can't play too many copies and it competes with Cryptic Command rather than competing with the 3drop walkers despite only having a cmc of 3.
I have to disagree completely on your assessment of Generous Gift, I think its exactly what UW needed. Being able to kill a resolved threat at instant speed while also proving a myriad of other tricks you can do with it lend to the far more likely side of seeing mainboard play. I will take this card over Archmage's Charm and Detention Sphere in my 3CMC spot and I'm personally going to play 2 copies main.