MTG Salvation

Can't really remember the last time the latest spoilers were that good. What a surprise.

Quote from Patrunkenphat7 »

I want to second what Calibretto said - I spend a lot of time reading and re-reading your content.

Random question if you see this... How has Eldrazi Displacer been? Does the average deck have enough colorless sources to support it? Considering adding it in our next update.

Thanks!

Thanks for your support!
One of our players really likes Eldrazi Displacer. It is seldom played by others. Displacer requires some building around but 2-3 sources are enough. Sometimes a Wastes is added, but I have not seen the use of more than a single one in a long time. The rest of the sources are usually from (of-color) painlands, signets, utility lands etc. Displacer was rarely left in the sideboard when it was drafted, it is fairly easy to accommodate.
I'd say Displacer is a fun build-around. It is not a powerhouse. I don't think I'd play it unless the group showed interest, but I don't think it is underpowered or parasitic either.

I am skeptical how often will it be a companion. You can legitimately not have enough playables to finish your maindeck if you treat all expensive creatures as dead picks. This is probably a risk worth taking early, but in later packs it is likely impossible.

How good is it as a normal card? Unlike Sun Titan you cannot recur fetches with it. On the bad side, on turn three it probably recurs nothing, and on turn four you would almost never have a one drop ready to be recurred. In order to generate immediate value it is at least a four drop, most likely a five drop. The body is quite bad, and dies in combat to one drops. I believe very often you will not want to engage in combat with it, on offense or defense, if you care about the engine. Additionally Churros won't survive any burn spell.
There are merits too though. It helps with recovery after a mass removal. It is a hybrid card, so the threshold for inclusion is lower. It has a very high ceiling with cards like Black Lotus. It is also a piece of life gain for black, which is always welcomed. Lifelink makes this card still useful when you are under pressure and don't have time to try and assemble a recursion.

I'm testing, but unsure if it is a permanent addition.

Quote from Nikeyeia »

Stromkirk Noble vs Jackal Pup vs Bomat Courier?

Courier > Noble > Pup. Courier is a one drop that draws spot removals more than others, is the best topdeck of the three and is playable in artifact decks. Noble usually grows to respectable sizes. Pup is the worst blocker of the three.

Quote from armando.zuffi »

1 - Shredded Sails vs Shenanigans vs Manic Vandal ? What order ?

2 - Ritual of Soot vs Mass Extinction ?

3 - Mythos of Vadrok vs Magmatic Sinkhole ?

I am planning on trying Purphuros's Intervention over Magmatic Sinkhole, and I like it more than Mythos. It can kill a mana dork turn two, or a titan turn four, not to mention killing opponents.
For us Embereth Shieldbreaker was by far the best Manic Vandal variant.

Quote from Patrunkenphat7 »

Spoiler season has me hooked on Cube list tweaking, so necro’ing a card I’ve been looking at.


As KMAYER noted, this creature ended up being more powerful and playable than anyone expected in other formats. I played multiple copies at a Standard Pro Tour, and see him all the time in Vintage, for example. I also see him in some of the popular lists on Cube Cobra. Have people here tried him? Curious what the Cube mana calculations look like for casting him consistently (how many Izzet duals and/or Izzet rocks).

Edit: btw the thread title is spelled wrong, so it was tough to find with the search function.

We tried him and thought he would be also a serviceable reanimation target. Reanimation decks do not bother with it, they want something with more survivability and/or immediate impact. This made the card too narrow for us, it frequently tabled and rarely saw play.

Quote from Patrunkenphat7 »

Necroooooo

How much does Storm affect Baral's value? Would you run Baral in a large Cube without Storm support?

Tried and cut him a long time ago at 720. It was found out that any mana rock is preferable.

This requires a lot of synergies to make it to the maindeck. I don't see this card getting enough play to be worth a slot.

Quote from Patrunkenphat7 »

This or that, Vivien or Whisperwood Elemental? I'm going Vivien.

Whisperwood was pretty poor over here so I'd also pick Vivien

This is a card worth ramping into. The removal ability is rare in green and guarantees value. A fine target for Natural Order and other cheatery too.

This card could be made significantly worse and still see play. I am so happy it was printed in a weak guild. Its main pitfall is being repetitive, but due to its open-endedness and varying power by deck I hope it would get otter this hurdle.

Quote from BlackWaltz3 »

Scarring Scoundrels R
Creature - Goblin Warrior (R)
When Scarring Scoundrels enter the battlefield they deal 3 damage to any other target creature, player, or planeswalker of target opponent's choice.
3/2

Would you take a bolt to anything else of your opponent's choice in exchange for a 3/2 red 1 drop? Only thing they can't target is this creature.

This is an extremely polar card. On turn one it is great, besides maybe in the mirror where it is just good. But in most turns after that the card is dead in hand. I guess if the only creatures you have on board are one drops/tokens, you control no planeswalkers, and have a decently high life total, it will upgrade them (with some damage if they are Jackal Pup or Firedrinker Satyr). Better in multiplayer though.

I'd also like redundancy to Purphoros. Unlike most go-wide cards, he not benefit a wide board nor creates one - he is all about future token production. He feels unnecessary in most go wide decks. With access to several copies of this effect it would be worth it to truly build around and get closer to its ceiling. Especially so since the effects stack. I plan on cutting Purphoros in the next update.

I've enjoyed it. I like that it gives answers to permanent types that are otherwise hard to answer, especially planeswalkers and enchantments. It can answer an Opposition lock, Moat or Sulfuric Vortex. It answered a True-Name Nemesis wielding a Sword of Fire and Ice better than most cards in cube could.
It is weaker than my early evaluation. Only control decks truly like it, and only permission decks really love it. Even then, you don't activate it very often. It is too slow for many threats. Usually when it is activated it is to either kill an otherwise unanswerable game-winning card out of necessity or to generate card advantage (usually killing two two-drops). A lot of the value is hidden - your opponent will keep his third one drop in hand etc.

One of the worst in the cycle, which is still quite good. It is also able to attack into four-toughness blockers, which are sometimes a problem for aggro decks. I still think Sunbaked Canyon is significantly better though.

Isareth by quite a bit