MTG Salvation

Modal Pegasus/Gravedigger anyone? Get in my cube!

I really hate this adventure bit.

First some cards appear to have the reminder text that it can be cast as a creature later and some don't THEN to make matters even worse, when exactly later is isn't specified on the card. Can you cast this later the same turn from exile per the usual timing restrictions? I thought I read someone say the creature part of adventure can't be cast until your next turn as the creature is "on an adventure".
Why is Wizards shorthanding so much in this set? Oko makes food tokens, but there's no explanation as to what that is on the card itself....I'm really not loving how much you just have to know by heart. Kind of a barrier to access for some I believe.

As to this card. I'm not sure what I would cut for it at 450. Black's 2 drops are surprisingly solid. Asylum Visitor is probably the weakest link and I'm not sure this beats that. It's very close.

Probably slots over Graveyard Marshal for me at 720. Very flexible skill-tester.

@BlackWaltz3: The storybook frames don't have reminder text, but the pack versions do.

Great that helps in part. Am I understanding adventure right in that you can't cast the creature in the same turn as you cast the sorcery? Or do I have that wrong? If you can in fact cast the creature "later" in the same turn then I had this wrong and there isn't an issue. If adventure requires you to wait until the following turn, I think that is problematic.

Quote from BlackWaltz3 »

Great that helps in part. Am I understanding adventure right in that you can't cast the creature in the same turn as you cast the sorcery? Or do I have that wrong? If you can in fact cast the creature "later" in the same turn then I had this wrong and there isn't an issue. If adventure requires you to wait until the following turn, I think that is problematic.

I think you can cast them both in the same turn.

I think this narrowly misses most powered cubes. A 2/2 flyer for 2 is a fine rate but boring on its own and I think the 2BB mana cost is too steep for an aggro deck. If it could block I could it being played in a midrange shell but since it can only attack I don't think it actually belongs in midrange. And when judged strictly an aggressive card, I feel there are better aggro cards out there. That being said, I wouldn't fault anyone for testing this and I bet it sticks in a lot of lower powered or larger cubes.

Certainly not a bad card, but probably not as good as the 2-drops I already run at 360powered, close though!

I think this is close. That's a lot of value. A 2/2 flyer for the decks that want it, a gravedigger for the decks that want that. I think the no blocking clause makes it not good enough for the midrange decks, so I think it misses, but it's a very cool card.

My first guess is a hard no.
However, I'm not 100% confident in that appraisal.

A 2/2 flyer for 2 that can't block is quite bad in anything but an aggressive deck. In an aggressive deck it's notably below rate.

The value of the card is contingent upon casting the raise dead side first. However a 2 mana raise dead is very bad in an aggressive deck until the late game. At that point, the value of the flier should drop off considerably.
Each mode is mana ineffecient, this needs to be made up for by potential card advantage and situation versatility.
I see it as challenging to get two cards worth of value out of in a faster format.

It is nice that the card is serviceable at nearly any stage of the game. This can't be said about the majority of cheap aggressive creatures. However, in a format like high powered cube, generally non-agressive decks are doing infinitely more powerful things than aggressive decks by the point of the game that raise dead is relevant.

The card gets proportionally worse as the format gets more powerful. This card wants formats with a lot of resource trading and a format where a 2/2 flyer can't block for 2 is a solid card. I don't think my cube falls into either of those categories.

I expect to first pick this card in it's native limited format for example

I'm really tempted because I love the storybook art on this card, but I don't think it makes it.

One thing I have going for me w/ regards to cubing this card is I no longer run discard support among my black 2 drops (Pack Rat, Falkenrath, Prowler) so I have a bit more wiggle room.

But seriously, this card is incredible. It's an evasive aggro beater that has significant upside and is totally modal. It's like a better split card combined with fuse and aftermath. Don't underrate the flexibility here.

EDIT: I misunderstood the ability at first, thinking you use it on from the battlefield. Whoops. This isn't nearly as good as I thought. It's still decent though, and it is still worthy of a home in both my cubes.

The floor here is great. But since it's not repeatable, it's not nuts.

I think it'll be pretty rare that the Raise Dead half of the card is relevant on curve. Which means this'll get cast in its creature mode more often than a lot of the other adventure cards will. Which is a bummer, because the creature side of this card is pretty underwhelming. It's a decent Gravedigger variant, but by the time it has targets to snag, it'll play almost identically to a Gravedigger. If this was a 2-mana Duress or something, it'd be perfect. But as a Raise Dead, I think the deck that wants that kind of creature the most (like an Abzan or Jundy midrange build or something) won't care much for the body that can't block or be abused.

I'm lukewarm on this card to say the least. Which is too bad, because the storybook art for this card is spectacular.