So far looks like the best card in the set to me. Red 3s are still a bit shallow, and even if they weren’t I’d still play this card. One connection and you get a splashable sprouting thrinax, and anymore hits than that things get ridiculous. The trigger is also not triggered on death, so you will always collect you tokens.
In terms of the tokens produced, I currently don’t play any ways outside of Greater Gargadon and opposition/glare of subdual to take advantage of the tokens as the defending player.
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Not really Sprouting Thrinax, you will get nothing after a mass removal spell. Also, most cubes play Skullclamp, Smuggler's Copter, Braids, Flesh Carver, Purphoros and others. There will definitely be circumstances where attacking them with Varchild will be a huge favor.
Another minor yet relevant point against her is her weakness to Control Magic effects.
This is just a 3/3 with no abilities until it connects, which is unplayable in aggro compared to other options with haste and/or evasion.
Damn I forgot about Copter and Clamp, this thing stills seems incredible to me though. I don’t see how a 3/3 with an incredible ability “is unplayable in aggro”. 3/3 is a pretty large statline vs most cards around that cmc when being blocked, and with a single connection is often a 6/6 for 3 across 4 different bodies.
It has a high ceiling, but it needs to connect and has no evasion. I have a hard time believing that this would do more damage in the average game than a card like Sin Prodder or something.
I don't think it is better than Sin Prodder either. That guy has evasion and is an unreliable but at times significant source of damage or card advantage. I think a theoretical 3/2 hasty, menace or first striking version would be pretty tempting.
Her ability is a trigger too so if you connect they can trigger on the stack LB and trade 3 damage for 3 1/1's.
She just seems too mediocre in the worst to average case and in the best case where your opponent has no blockers, removal on turns 3/4 or a board wipe, red should just be winning anyway. Ahn Crop Crasher, Sin Prodder, Pia Nalar, Alesha, Ball Lightning, Chain Whirler, Borors Reckoner, even Lannery Storm I'd probably run first.
High ceiling, but a bit middling overall with no evasion. There’s also a lot of risk if your opponent has a sac outlet like Greater Gargadon / Skullclamp / Braids / vehicle / etc. Getting Varchild stolen is also a huge blowout. I don’t think she’s any better than other commonly played red 3-drops. Definitely no Rabblemaster / Hanweir Garrison, and I like Sin Prodder / Pia Nalaar / Rampaging Ferocidon / Najeela more.
Goblin Bombardment / Blood Artist does make her very interesting though. I probably would be more interested if I had a sacrifice / aristocrats theme going on.
Ice Age block is my favorite, and when I saw this art, I wanted it to be the best possible card for cube, I wanted to put it in my list no matter what. Back in high school I even had a Varchild's War-Riders deck!!
...but I don't think it's very good. I can fit it in my 720, but it'll be a strict downgrade. My red section increasingly cares about tokens, so it won't be completely unreasonable.......but I really don't imagine this being anything better than the 23rd card...ever.
I don't think it is better than Sin Prodder either. That guy has evasion and is an unreliable but at times significant source of damage or card advantage. I think a theoretical 3/2 hasty, menace or first striking version would be pretty tempting.
I don't really like sin prodder, and I like sin prodder much better than varchild
I also don't agree that red agro 3's are barren at the moment. We've gotten quite a few in recent sets.
I'd be currently happy to run,
Rabblemaster
Hanweir Garrison
Najeela, The blade Blossom
Goblin Chainwhirler
Rampaging ferocidon
Manic Vandal
Sin prodder, Pia nalaar not far off that.. Then there's utility 3 drops like Feldon, Imperial recuriter, Fire imp etc.
Sin Prodder is a bad card, while this is at least serviceable/decent, so to say sin prodder is better seems misinformed.
The more I think about this card the less I like it, but it’s important to mention that this is a red aggro card that helps vs rdw’s bad matchups, while the situations vs control decks stealing it hardly matter since you beat blue control decks almost every time anyways in unpowered.
Cards like Gargadon/Skullclamp/Braids aren’t actually very good vs this card, since vs aggro you win by stopping the bleeding and killing them before they draw their burn, while Gargadon and the others are not cards that do any of those things effectively. Red 3’s are getting better, but right now there are only 3 red 3s better than this card, and Ferocidon is also great synergy with this card.
Sin Prodder is a bad card, while this is at least serviceable/decent, so to say sin prodder is better seems misinformed.
The more I think about this card the less I like it, but it’s important to mention that this is a red aggro card that helps vs rdw’s bad matchups, while the situations vs control decks stealing it hardly matter since you beat blue control decks almost every time anyways in unpowered.
Cards like Gargadon/Skullclamp/Braids aren’t actually very good vs this card, since vs aggro you win by stopping the bleeding and killing them before they draw their burn, while Gargadon and the others are not cards that do any of those things effectively. Red 3’s are getting better, but right now there are only 3 red 3s better than this card, and Ferocidon is also great synergy with this card.
Sorry dude, but you are very wrong. A 3/3 for 3 creature that needs to connect to realize it's upside, who's only upside is you get some 1/1's (on death) if you do connect is very slow for red agro and way under par for cube.
Red's bad matchup is white and green, both of which present creatures that both outsize a 3/3 or can chump it for days. It's actually worse in it's bad matchups than it's good matchups.
That is simply not true, none of it is. But I won’t discuss it here anymore, I’ll test it out for myself, and report back with results. More useful than getting yelled at online.
Nobody is yelling ay you. He just doesn't agree with your assessment, that's all. I think the card is super cool, and it looks fun. If you think it'll plsy well for your playgroup, go for it! Nobody is saying YOU shouldn't play it. But we're providing reasons why WE don't think it's better than our current options.
I was really excited when I read this card, until I realized that the only way it was going to hit my opponent was if I was already dominating the game, or if my opponent wanted to get the tokens and then use them against me in one of the many ways already mentioned. I love the card's flavor but it needs a little extra nudge (3/2 for two mana, haste, menace, afflict... something).
That is simply not true, none of it is. But I won’t discuss it here anymore, I’ll test it out for myself, and report back with results. More useful than getting yelled at online.
Sorry, I was being (too) blunt in my analysis of your analysis and the degree to which I disagreed with it. Could have worded it better.
It wasn’t meant as a personal attack, or to convey an emotional intensity equivalent of a yell.
Encourage you to test it , draw your conclusions and report your findings.
So far looks like the best card in the set to me. Red 3s are still a bit shallow, and even if they weren’t I’d still play this card. One connection and you get a splashable sprouting thrinax, and anymore hits than that things get ridiculous. The trigger is also not triggered on death, so you will always collect you tokens.
In terms of the tokens produced, I currently don’t play any ways outside of Greater Gargadon and opposition/glare of subdual to take advantage of the tokens as the defending player.
Another minor yet relevant point against her is her weakness to Control Magic effects.
This is just a 3/3 with no abilities until it connects, which is unplayable in aggro compared to other options with haste and/or evasion.
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On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
She just seems too mediocre in the worst to average case and in the best case where your opponent has no blockers, removal on turns 3/4 or a board wipe, red should just be winning anyway. Ahn Crop Crasher, Sin Prodder, Pia Nalar, Alesha, Ball Lightning, Chain Whirler, Borors Reckoner, even Lannery Storm I'd probably run first.
Goblin Bombardment / Blood Artist does make her very interesting though. I probably would be more interested if I had a sacrifice / aristocrats theme going on.
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Wow, that's a super good point, I missed that. Given that they have at least a turn to see it coming, that is a very relevant drawback.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
...but I don't think it's very good. I can fit it in my 720, but it'll be a strict downgrade. My red section increasingly cares about tokens, so it won't be completely unreasonable.......but I really don't imagine this being anything better than the 23rd card...ever.
I don't really like sin prodder, and I like sin prodder much better than varchild
I also don't agree that red agro 3's are barren at the moment. We've gotten quite a few in recent sets.
I'd be currently happy to run,
Rabblemaster
Hanweir Garrison
Najeela, The blade Blossom
Goblin Chainwhirler
Rampaging ferocidon
Manic Vandal
Sin prodder, Pia nalaar not far off that.. Then there's utility 3 drops like Feldon, Imperial recuriter, Fire imp etc.
Last Updated 02/07/24
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Sin Prodder is the closest, and I think it's more consistent damage, plus it often gets used to hilarious effect sneak attack decks in our meta.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
The more I think about this card the less I like it, but it’s important to mention that this is a red aggro card that helps vs rdw’s bad matchups, while the situations vs control decks stealing it hardly matter since you beat blue control decks almost every time anyways in unpowered.
Cards like Gargadon/Skullclamp/Braids aren’t actually very good vs this card, since vs aggro you win by stopping the bleeding and killing them before they draw their burn, while Gargadon and the others are not cards that do any of those things effectively. Red 3’s are getting better, but right now there are only 3 red 3s better than this card, and Ferocidon is also great synergy with this card.
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Sorry dude, but you are very wrong. A 3/3 for 3 creature that needs to connect to realize it's upside, who's only upside is you get some 1/1's (on death) if you do connect is very slow for red agro and way under par for cube.
Red's bad matchup is white and green, both of which present creatures that both outsize a 3/3 or can chump it for days. It's actually worse in it's bad matchups than it's good matchups.
Last Updated 02/07/24
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All the best. Cheers, and happy cubing!
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My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Sorry, I was being (too) blunt in my analysis of your analysis and the degree to which I disagreed with it. Could have worded it better.
It wasn’t meant as a personal attack, or to convey an emotional intensity equivalent of a yell.
Encourage you to test it , draw your conclusions and report your findings.
Last Updated 02/07/24
Streaming Standard/Cube on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/heisenb3rg96
Strategy Twitter https://www.twitter.com/heisenb3rg