MTG Salvation

Quote from BlackWaltz3 »

I noticed a lot of lists have cut Geist of Saint Traft. My guess is a lot of people are finding that he runs into a blocker more often then not and without additional support the two toughness is a big liability. I'm contemplating Spell Queller in its place, but I'm not sure if this is right. If I were to run two Azorious PW's it would probably be big Teferi (which I also missed) and Dovin. I think standard can capitalize on this card better than cube, but look forward to hearing others results.

I cut it b/c, while it might be the most hyper-efficnient aggro 'stats-monsters' option available for , I would rather not run that type of card becuase it feels completely opposite of what I want to do as a guild.

I was happy to replace it. (Apparently my group feels the same--never seen it in a single game.)

I'm probably going to wind up testing this to see how it does. Not 100% sure if it'll stick over one of the other options, but it's probably too good to not at least give it a chance to prove itself in this format.

I got in a couple cubes playtesting it last week, but didn't get to see it in action. Decided to test it based on it's constructed results.

It should be worse in cube than standard. The aggressive decks are faster and lower to the ground in cube, which means repulse is weaker in those matchups. There are less decks trying to interact at instant speed in cube than in standard. In standard you have wilderness reclamation decks, sideboard negate wars, esper is the strongest "good stuff" shard which has access to a lot of great instant speed effects.

That being said, I think the floor on the card is great, considering how high the ceiling is in certain matchups. The only matchup where I'd be actively wanting to board teferri out would be against agro and even then, it's far from a dead card... (IE Karn vs Red agro, Skinrender vs creatureless-Control)

What I think hasn't been appreciated is that teferi is still solid against cheaty decks and artifact decks, specially if your deck can leverage tempo, velocity or traction. Bouncing back a signet in certain situations can act like a mini time walk... It's not great against all cheated in creatures, but against some it is (Tinker -> Blightsteel).

I do think it's better suited to standard, but I'm curious to see how good it will be in cube. I expect it to fall short to the 3-mana creatures for me, but I'm not confident in that. (maybe more powerful, but less interesting interactions).

Where are we with Baby-Teferi? I've been a bit less impressed with Dovin Baan, wonder if I should give him a whirl?

Thanks, steve_man. My section is exactly like yours plus the Dovin; I don't run Irrigated Farmland and talismans/signets. Anyone with some experience running him, preferably in a powered environment?

I would venture, though, that not *every* 3-cmc Azorius card is worth running...

He’s been good for me. A repulse in tempo decks and a super annoying blue leyline esque effect that turns on combat step wrath’s in control. I’m really happy with him.

How is this faring in your cube. it's definitely strong but does make for un-fun games? or too strong of a hoser for control?

Quote from CubeEngineer »

How is this faring in your cube. it's definitely strong but does make for un-fun games? or too strong of a hoser for control?

There are enough ways to handle the walker that it hasn't felt problematic at all. When it feels bad, sure it feels bad, but so do A LOT of cube cards given how incredibly powerful they are. I don't see myself cutting this card anytime soon, especially because I love there being a quicken in my cube.

I think the's a stronger in eternal formats because of his defense grid static ability. I'm not too thrilled about him, but then again, UW is so stacked with good cards I think we need to pick and choose.

My section is this:

Supreme Verdict
Detention Sphere
Fractured Identity

Reflector Mage
Spell Queller
Geist of Saint Traft

SoulHerder
Brago, King Eternal

In honestly, someone could make an argument that Sphinx's Revelation, big/ Small Teferi, Deputy of Detention, Ojutai's Command, Dragonlord Ojutai, Grand Arbiter could be in my cube and I would prob agree with them.

My main reason for not playing either Big Teferi was more because of curve reasons - I can easily find another good 5 drop to play in a Control deck. I just don't feel small teferi really help to support any archetype and was the big reason why I didn't test him.

I see that 3feri is quite popular, but I currently rate him lower than most Azorius options. I think our drafters would pick and play him often because of constructed biasing their valuation of the card, but in Cube I’m not seeing how he shines in any matchup other than a control mirror, and even in that matchup his value depends on how many counters the opponent plays.

Just putting this out there because I’ve been reviewing the Azorius section and am open to having my mind changed.

The floor is great, and the ceiling is absurd. Card should be in every cube, IMO.

It's an extremely good card I would play even in the smallest lists. It's clearly better than Reflector Mage for example.

The absolute floor of bouncing a thing and drawing a card for 3 Mana is not bad

Geez alright looks like I’m going to add it.

Quote from IMorphling89 »

The absolute floor of bouncing a thing and drawing a card for 3 Mana is not bad

I just want to add the floor usually involves gaining 1-2 life on top of all that. Card is powerful.