Doubt all you want, I'm referencing Bubo from the original Clash of the Titans. And, as multiple people have already pointed out, Strix was the old greek term for Owl, and is present in greek mythology.
Because we all know that Rome contributed a heck of a lot to Ancient Greece. Maybe what this block really needs is a Roman Time Machine artifact, so the Romans can properly go back in time ~1000 years to share their culture.
Try actually reading the link. The references to Strix are present in greek mythology.
Secondly, colored artifacts already exist in Theros. The only valid argument against him seeing print in Theros block is the issue of potential power level.
I would almost always rather have a Qasali Pridemage than a Fleecemane for modern. Pridemage has a game against affinity, gives your goyf the edge in goyf wars, and stops the random twin deck/tron ramp. The only upside I could see with fleecemane is against pyroclasms from tron and efficiently blocking a confidant/GoST. Not insignificant, but honestly fleecemane doesn't have a significant upside against the field over alternatives.
If you have the time (1-2 hours spread across 3-5 days), ebay is still the best option. You can check what completed listings are going for, get a feel for what a bargain price would be, and get something that is 10-15% below retail.
With that said, TCGplayer is getting quite good at keeping the variance from ebay at a minimum. There are even some cards that are worth buying on TCGplayer over ebay if you plan on hoarding before a price spike, i.e. Jace AoT a couple months ago, or deathrite shaman right now.
It's not necessarily a greek mythical trope, but a clockwork owl seems like a perfectly reasonable "clash of the titans" reference within the world of Theros, and seems like a reasonable inclusion into standard/modern, following the heels of scavenging ooze.
Call me a cynic, but the "experimentation" of non-legacy Sundays wasn't even testing the true alternative to legacy - Modern. I know SCG is reluctant to get into supporting modern (for whatever reason, it's really not that important), but it seems like they are aware that once they open the door to modern Opens, there's no shutting it off.
It's suffering from the same problem that esper is suffering from, which is really 2 things.
1. Certain matchups require specific answers that aren't necessarily good across the field. The biggst example is reliable lifegain against aggro decks. We don't have lone missionary or tribute to hunger, so it's extremely important to be able to stymy an aggro deck before they are able to amass 6-10 power on the board. Add in blowout cards like peak eruption, rootborn defenses, or boros charm, and you simply have to have proactive cards against those matchups that are often unusable in other matchups.
2. Really, really good hate cards against the color or archetype. Glare of Heresy and peak eruption are the stand-outs right now, but there are plenty of other cards that can simply determine the game if they resolve regardless of your gameplan. This is simply a consequence of the small card pool right now.
More Naya lists are doing well at the latest SCG Open. The aggro list in the top 8 has an abomination for a manabase, and plays more like a GW aggro list splashing red for domri/rampager/sideboard options.
Of the 2 actual midrange lists in the top 16, one ran manadorks (mystics AND caryatids), while the other went for threat density. Just goes to show that lists are still tuning, though a core is certainly emerging -
Just about everything else has been going in and out of the lists. Rampager is continuing to be a solid way to deal with opposing reckoners, and Domri has proven to be the walker with the widest range of playability in standard right now.
Not just them, but MonoGreen and G/W seems to have done pretty well against them in Cleveland.
Agreed, mono-green is not the best option in my mind, simply because the deck is helped so much more by cutting certain cards for a red splash, but most of the aggro lists are able to swarm esper before they can stabilize. God help the esper deck that can't stick a verdict on turn 4, despite how dead it becomes in the mirror.
Esper is simply stretched too thin. Cards that it NEEDS against RDW/GW aggro are often weak or downright terrible against the rest of the field, but there's simply too much RDW in the field to try to sneak through 8-12 rounds of play without seeing a couple of the aggro lists.
Until the card pool gives esper something like Disfigure, Lone Missionary, or Inquisition of Kozilek (the lifeloss from thoughtseize is incredibly relevant right now), I don't see esper having a lot of success against a field of tuned decks.
We aren't even seeing the midrange decks run skullcrack, which would indicate most players are comfortable with "getting there" against a revelation.
To be honest, we shouldn't be weak to bruning earth regardless of the manabase. Against any deck running burning earth I'm usually putting in unflinching courage and keeping warleader helix in, so between that and ooze triggers it's not difficult to blank the output from burning earth significantly.
How often was he successfully casting turn 3 reckoners with 3 forests and 12 lands that ETB tapped? How often was he casting cards on a good curve generally?
How often did Stormbreath Dragon go monstrous?
How did Polukranos perform for him? Was the monstrosity ability ever useful?
Want to test this deck. Why no copies of Xenagos? Seems perfect for enabling you to cast those big creatures and their monstrous abilities to break the midrange battle. Pumps out tokens against control every turn. The ultimate ability will actually do something, unlike Chandra.
Polukranos is actually the mana-dork eater, not the world eater. Regardless of monstrous, he's a 4cmc dude that dodges mortars, which is already enough to run him. The fact that he's BFFs with unflinching courage in the aggro/midrange matchup is why he's auto-include for naya over deadbridge goliath, especially when the biggest threat to natural 5/5s is Selesnya Charm, which exiles (and therefore removes the only upside to deadbridge).
Xenagos isn't bad, but he's bad enough in the aggro matchup that there are better alternatives to maindeck. I do think he's gonna see more sideboard play in the future, but the decklists at the SCG tourney honestly went overboard on things like destructive revelry and Ruric Thar.
The part about the naya midrange lists that are truly boggling is the lack of boros charm. I think you will start to see some of them worm their way into lists as the meta develops, simply because it answers a lot of problems in a subtle manner.
Not really awful. Most of our guys outclass the ww/gw aggro decks. We have domri fight and mizzium mortars. Stormbreath dragon and brickwall those decks pretty hard. And then game 2-3 become a LOT better. I dont like unflinching courage that much in the mainboard especially with as much esper as there is. Its begging to be 2 for 1'd and isnt that strong against them to begin with unless you are geared more like a GW list with aggressive 1 drops.
Im curious to find out if world eater is better than deadbridge goliath though. unless you play xenagos deadbridge could likely be better. But I suppose world eater can take out some little chump blocker and get in for more than deadbridge.
It's not the optimal maindeck configuration against aggro, that at least you can agree with. Any time you are forced to stop an aggro player's offense by "sticking" a smiter or reckoner and hope they don't have a blowout response, it's not a good spot to be in. I'd rather have a maindeck answer to phoenix or soldier of the pantheon than simply hoping to see mizzium mortars in my opening hand every single game 1.
I would even go so far as to theorize that the naya lists from the SCG event all suffered from trying to have a "solid" matchup against every archetype game 1. I'm fine with maindecking courage and magma jet (even though they are niche spells) because they are blowouts in certain matchups while still being relevant against control.
Either way, it's nice to see some lists being competitive right off the bat, and at this point it's going to come down to tuning the deck to handle the shifting meta.
Nightveil specter, cloudfin raptor, judges familiar, galerider sliver, mutavault with sliver active, sometimes vaporkin. Plenty of targets.
Doubt all you want, I'm referencing Bubo from the original Clash of the Titans. And, as multiple people have already pointed out, Strix was the old greek term for Owl, and is present in greek mythology.
Try actually reading the link. The references to Strix are present in greek mythology.
Secondly, colored artifacts already exist in Theros. The only valid argument against him seeing print in Theros block is the issue of potential power level.
With that said, TCGplayer is getting quite good at keeping the variance from ebay at a minimum. There are even some cards that are worth buying on TCGplayer over ebay if you plan on hoarding before a price spike, i.e. Jace AoT a couple months ago, or deathrite shaman right now.
1. Certain matchups require specific answers that aren't necessarily good across the field. The biggst example is reliable lifegain against aggro decks. We don't have lone missionary or tribute to hunger, so it's extremely important to be able to stymy an aggro deck before they are able to amass 6-10 power on the board. Add in blowout cards like peak eruption, rootborn defenses, or boros charm, and you simply have to have proactive cards against those matchups that are often unusable in other matchups.
2. Really, really good hate cards against the color or archetype. Glare of Heresy and peak eruption are the stand-outs right now, but there are plenty of other cards that can simply determine the game if they resolve regardless of your gameplan. This is simply a consequence of the small card pool right now.
Of the 2 actual midrange lists in the top 16, one ran manadorks (mystics AND caryatids), while the other went for threat density. Just goes to show that lists are still tuning, though a core is certainly emerging -
Smiter
Stormbreath
Domri
Mortars
Selesnya Charm
Rampager
Just about everything else has been going in and out of the lists. Rampager is continuing to be a solid way to deal with opposing reckoners, and Domri has proven to be the walker with the widest range of playability in standard right now.
Agreed, mono-green is not the best option in my mind, simply because the deck is helped so much more by cutting certain cards for a red splash, but most of the aggro lists are able to swarm esper before they can stabilize. God help the esper deck that can't stick a verdict on turn 4, despite how dead it becomes in the mirror.
Until the card pool gives esper something like Disfigure, Lone Missionary, or Inquisition of Kozilek (the lifeloss from thoughtseize is incredibly relevant right now), I don't see esper having a lot of success against a field of tuned decks.
We aren't even seeing the midrange decks run skullcrack, which would indicate most players are comfortable with "getting there" against a revelation.
Polukranos is actually the mana-dork eater, not the world eater. Regardless of monstrous, he's a 4cmc dude that dodges mortars, which is already enough to run him. The fact that he's BFFs with unflinching courage in the aggro/midrange matchup is why he's auto-include for naya over deadbridge goliath, especially when the biggest threat to natural 5/5s is Selesnya Charm, which exiles (and therefore removes the only upside to deadbridge).
Xenagos isn't bad, but he's bad enough in the aggro matchup that there are better alternatives to maindeck. I do think he's gonna see more sideboard play in the future, but the decklists at the SCG tourney honestly went overboard on things like destructive revelry and Ruric Thar.
The part about the naya midrange lists that are truly boggling is the lack of boros charm. I think you will start to see some of them worm their way into lists as the meta develops, simply because it answers a lot of problems in a subtle manner.
It's not the optimal maindeck configuration against aggro, that at least you can agree with. Any time you are forced to stop an aggro player's offense by "sticking" a smiter or reckoner and hope they don't have a blowout response, it's not a good spot to be in. I'd rather have a maindeck answer to phoenix or soldier of the pantheon than simply hoping to see mizzium mortars in my opening hand every single game 1.
I would even go so far as to theorize that the naya lists from the SCG event all suffered from trying to have a "solid" matchup against every archetype game 1. I'm fine with maindecking courage and magma jet (even though they are niche spells) because they are blowouts in certain matchups while still being relevant against control.
Either way, it's nice to see some lists being competitive right off the bat, and at this point it's going to come down to tuning the deck to handle the shifting meta.