MTG Salvation

Quote from dschumm

I think this is the card that finally has me excited about aggro green. The thought of landing him on 1 followed by geist on 2 is just juicy. I wonder if the undying trigger will hit before the evolve check. If so E1 could get a bump from the same creature twice. Awesome. I also love how droping walls(brambles, roots, utopia tree, etc) make this guy more aggresive .

AFAIK, it enters the battlefield with the counter, so it ETB as a 3/2 which would trigger evolve.

If we get one or two more good green aggro cards from this set I'm definitely going to think hard about revamping my green section to support aggro. This guy seems totally absurd.

Quote from Usman

AFAIK, it enters the battlefield with the counter, so it ETB as a 3/2 which would trigger evolve.

So turn 1 E1, turn 2 Geist hit for 4. Turn three use my flames of the firebrand or some such killing oponents blocker and pinging my geist, hit for 6. Yadda yadda yadda silly.

He is so good in R/G. Hellspark elemental, BBE, Thragtusk. Basically everything you want to be playing anyway.

Also a lot of pseudo-creatures/burn like Hellspark Elemental/Keldon Marauders and spell-creatures like FTK/Viridian Shaman trigger it as well in that archetype (also in archetypes like UG with stuff like Aether Adept, etc.)

Quote from Usman

Also a lot of pseudo-creatures/burn like Hellspark Elemental/Keldon Marauders and spell-creatures like FTK/Viridian Shaman trigger it as well in that archetype (also in archetypes like UG with stuff like Aether Adept, etc.)

I love the fact that both green Walls trigger him as well. They won't see much play together, though maybe this guy could be useful in a WG blink deck.

I seeded all 5 GTC cards I'm testing into an 8-man draft last night. I forced GW aggro & my deck was awesome. Light on removal but heavy on 1-drops. I had never actually drafted that archetype in my Cube before. Experiment One was nuts. It was at *worst* a 2/2. One time in 4 games it even became a 4/4 (thanks Hero of Bladehold!). I even got to live the dream of:

T-1 Experiment One
T-2 Sacred Foundry, cast Dryad Militant & Nacatl then swing 3 w/EO

Just awesome

Quote from kingneb

I seeded all 5 GTC cards I'm testing into an 8-man draft last night. I forced GW aggro & my deck was awesome. Light on removal but heavy on 1-drops. I had never actually drafted that archetype in my Cube before. Experiment One was nuts. It was at *worst* a 2/2. One time in 4 games it even became a 4/4 (thanks Hero of Bladehold!). I even got to live the dream of:

T-1 Experiment One
T-2 Sacred Foundry, cast Dryad Militant & Nacatl then swing 3 w/EO

Just awesome

Mind = Blown. Ouch.

Wolf-bitten Captive drew rave reviews when it was spoiled but now almost no one plays it. I forsee a similar path for Experiment One.

Not a slight on this creature because I intend to play it in my Cube but I doubt it will show up much.

People who play green aggro support play Wolfbitten Captive, and will play this too. They are both great aggro cards. The reason some cut Captive is because they felt that there weren't enough good aggro support cards in green and played some more ramp instead.

Well, I'm a fan of Wolf-Bitten Captive. It's one of the best green aggro one drops.

Quote from Sylar teh evil

Well, I'm a fan of Wolf-Bitten Captive. It's one of the best green aggro one drops.

Same here. It flips early and often and doesn't suck when it doesn't flip.

I'll play 'em both even though I don't play loads of green aggro guys - they're so good that they slot into any aggro deck running green for its two drops and gold cards.

Quote from KBH

Wolf-bitten Captive drew rave reviews when it was spoiled but now almost no one plays it. I forsee a similar path for Experiment One.

Not a slight on this creature because I intend to play it in my Cube but I doubt it will show up much.

I think this all depends on if you support green aggro (which has become increasingly likely with the extra support over the last year). I was happy when Captive was printed but I was never excited for it like I am for Experiment One. I like EO better than any other green one-drop for aggro...even Wild Nacatl.

I cut captive at 360. In aggro I want it to be more likely to attack for 2+ on turn 2 without skipping my second turn. EO should satisfy that requirement, although you do need to keep an eye on the number of two drop creatures in your deck.

Captive flips all the time for us on the opponent's turn after you play it. It's a great one drop.

Quote from Blimpy

Captive flips all the time for us on the opponent's turn after you play it. It's a great one drop.

Sure about that? I love all the playable one drops. And captive is only in my cube bc he is ok if not flipped. On the other hand, Reckless Waif is bad when not flipped, so I left it out from my list. Here you say the werewolf one drop flips all the time. In your cube thread (talking about reckless waif) you say pretty much the opposite.

It's been very hit-or-miss, and honestly probably mostly miss. A lot of our players actually really like him, and it's nice to have the extra 1-power guy for Ranger of Eos and just for very aggressive decks. I think he's actually going to stay, even though he doesn't flip often. He's very high risk / high reward, and we probably tend to like those cards more than other playgroups, especially if they're aggressive. It's really hard for us to cut one drops too.

What is your average flipping rate of the one drop werewolfes in the opponents following turn? For us it was not enough to justify the inclusions of werewolves that are bad when unflipped.

Back on topic. Experiment One seems to be a pretty reliable 2 power attacker on turn two. In an agressive deck, basically every creature triggers evolve at least once. So the question is how often do you have a second one or two drop in your opening hand next to Experiment one. And this should pretty often be the case.

I love Wolfbitten Captive. It's a great aggro creature and a fun Rootwalla variant. I expect people that like the Captive to also enjoy Experiment One, as they go in similar decks.

Quote from Don D

Sure about that? I love all the playable one drops. And captive is only in my cube bc he is ok if not flipped. On the other hand, Reckless Waif is bad when not flipped, so I left it out from my list. Here you say the werewolf one drop flips all the time. In your cube thread (talking about reckless waif) you say pretty much the opposite.

That was at 360, we're at 720 now and it this and Reckless Waif flip much more often (less one drops overall).

Quote from Blimpy

That was at 360, we're at 720 now and it this and Reckless Waif flip much more often (less one drops overall).

OK. Then I understand. Thanks. I got confused by the two different statements. Your 360 cube was always a useful list to compare with (similar design philosophies and same size).

Quote from Don D

OK. Then I understand. Thanks. I got confused by the two different statements. Your 360 cube was always a useful list to compare with (similar design philosophies and same size).

Yeah, I haven't updated it in a long time. The 720 list is still getting set in stone for the most part, we change it every time we play so it's hard to figure out what's in and out and my friend has it atm, so I can't even type up what's in it.

Ran him today, was great. Got to regenerate him but best of all follow him up with a Strangleroot Geist then Edric. I still didn't have the disruption or removal that the best aggro decks have but I was happy to see a very playable one drop.

Necro-ing this up.

For those of you not anywhere near green aggro, is this still worth it? He's severely underdrafted for me and I think I'd rather like another mana dork in his slot, like Avacyn's Pilgrim or Elves of the Deep Shadow.

If you're not playing any green aggro, you don't need Experiment One. Just like you wouldn't play an aggro creature in any color you don't support aggro in.

That said, green aggro is good, and I'd rather give E1 some buddies rather than cut it.

Quote from hopefulhawkeye »

Why would you diminish an effective ramp suite to bring in a haphazard aggro suite?

Because ramp easily has more than its critical mass of support cards. Ramp decks are still what green does primarily, and it does it amazingly well. I don't need to add in superfluous ramp/midrange green support at the cost of removing an entire theater of play from green.

So the question is, why would I remove an entire suite of decks from green just to reinforce a deck that already has more support than it needs to function?

Quote from hopefulhawkeye »

...make me question how it can remain consistent outside of being a secondary color.

It is a secondary color. I don't play mono-green aggro, but I do want to play green aggro decks. In order to do that, you need green aggro cards.

YMMV, of course, but I already found the point where I had more than enough ramp support long ago. The diversity in deckbuilding options by having green support aggro/tempo decks in all of its potential color combinations has been invaluable to both the draft experience and the health/balance of the cube. Similar to red, it becomes much more interesting and versatile color when it does more than just one thing.

I can't tell you how to build your cube; I can only share the experiences that have worked well/poorly for me.