In this standard format no one is ever going to pay the tribute, because there just aren't enough strong spells anymore. A two-mana discount on your Lightning Strike or Magma Jet is hardly busted, Burning Tree can already do that and it's fine.
^ Also, I'd assume most of the cost from the remaining 25k lies in beta/alpha duals and power, right? That's simply just a cost you have to eat: they'll never get any cheaper than they are, and they go up at a decently steady rate.
Magic cards are expensive, and unnecessary "pimp" is even more so. You didn't pick a hobby that was cheap, my friend! Unfortunately I think that your way is the best way to go, with one exception: easily obtainable promos like GP and FNM promos usually dip quite a bit before they spike, so there's that to consider. Otherwise your points are solid and logically sound, it's just a matter of making the investment.
I think it's fine. It's an interesting lord variation and it does still allow for other pump effects on top. So it's good with cat tokens and stuff. Eot White Sun's for 5 and then play this and beat face!
I think they're all really unplayable except for Xenagos. Mogis's clock is way too slow, two damage a turn is nothing in this metagame. All the others are obviously terrible.
^Talks about "competitive format," is terrified of unbans on clearly safe cards. Who's being unreasonable again?
Honestly I stand by the opinion that most of the banlist can come off. The fact that this glass-cannon Griselbrand deck can't even make tier 1 despite being explosive as all hell means that the format can adapt for fast, fragile combo. So why are the dredge pieces and Chrome Mox banned? No combo deck with those pieces would be any faster or more consistent than the stupid griselbrand deck, especially since Chrome Mox by definition leads to inconsistency, because not all Chrome Mox hands are keepable. Play with the card before you pull out your pitchforks. It's fine.
The GSZ/Nacatl bans were supposed to "diversify aggro archetypes." Aggro is basically nonexistent outside of affinity. So why not throw G/x a bone and make a viable Zoo deck that people actually have to worry about? The format has changed a ton, and now there are actual decks that can run Wrath effects maindeck to punish Zoo, where before that wasn't the case, since control was killed with the initial banlist and took forever to really start to emerge.
Punishing Fire is the fairest magic you can possibly play. In Legacy Punishing Jund/Maverick are the definition of fair. All it does is kill creatures. It does it well, yes, but it's inefficient and wastes time to keep recurring and firing every turn. Plus a lot of things dodge Fires as it is, and Scavenging Ooze and Deathrite have been printed since the ban and prey on that card naturally. So why not let essentially fair decks have an engine that isn't a planeswalker? Sword of the Meek is an engine too: it's not a combo, it doesn't win the game when assembled, it merely lets you efficiently turn open mana into resources. It comes on too late to really stall aggro and it's easily countered by control. It's not hard to die after ThopterSword is assembled, any combo deck ignores it, so the only thing it really blanks completely is creature-based midrange with no disruption or reach. And doesn't that deck deserve a predator?
Jitte is rough in that the new legend rule made it harder to unban. Essentially every creature deck will want to play it, but BGx will have the most answers to it in the form of Decay and Pulse, and therefore will win most Jitte mirrors and cement the deck even further as the best archetype. Before you could just play your own Jitte and legend rule them, but now since each one has to be removed the whole idea just isn't worth it for what benefit it would give to the format. The same reasoning applies to Jace: it's not too good or unfair or anything, in fact it's weaker in this format than in Legacy, but the fact that matchups will come down to landing Jace AND answering the opponents means it causes too many headaches.
Loxodon Smiter was a mid-power rare from a high-powered set with cards for all formats, so tons of packs were opened and the value of the set concentrated to the best cards (Decay, Deathrite, Jace, Rev, Shocks) and Smiter just isn't that good. This set meanwhile looks to be an absolute bust in terms of expected value after the first few weeks, so a card like this might actually have to pull some weight for the set.
I'd expect this to follow a similar trajectory to Thalia, past the similarities on the design level: they both go in similar decks, both are fringe standard but role players in eternal, both were from small 2nd sets with barely any other playable rares and a few really solid uncommons leeching pack value, and thus it's likely both will be relatively underhyped during presale-launch period and climb slowly thereafter.
It will never hit $100. They can reprint it all they want in casual products, not to mention we still have at least one more guaranteed Commander reprint on the way to stores. Plus by power creep standards it'll probably be strictly outclassed by a standard rare in a few years
^No, as long as you never actually draw a card you can dredge a million times in your turn with no repercussions. Once you've actually drawn a card electing not to dredge then you're done for that turn and can no longer draw or dredge.
Anyone who's played the matchup knows it's not that simple. Grim Lavamancer absolutely owns, but failing that you still have ~20 burn spells for their 8 soul sisters, assuming they draw about 6ish between natural draws, Ranger, and Proclamation. Granted it's still lopsided but it's definitely not 95-5 or anything like that. The bob versions actually have a shot.
The color choice for effervescence is really odd. Black technically gains life but only by draining others, so this makes far more sense as just GW. Maybe even GGWW to make it a little tough to cast.
I'm starting to be glad I have played enchantress this last little while now. I am curious more so now how this may effect all the cantrip based decks. What will be the new face of X_delver.dec?
Not at all? It'll just get removed. it's not like people stopped playing cantrip cores when Thalia ran rampant, this card isn't much different. It's a nuisance but not a backbreaker.
Eh, it just means that combo has to run more interactive spells, which was a good idea to begin with. High Tide is just as hosed by Thalia if not moreso than this, and you just need to counter it or find a bounce spell at an opportune time.
Honestly I stand by the opinion that most of the banlist can come off. The fact that this glass-cannon Griselbrand deck can't even make tier 1 despite being explosive as all hell means that the format can adapt for fast, fragile combo. So why are the dredge pieces and Chrome Mox banned? No combo deck with those pieces would be any faster or more consistent than the stupid griselbrand deck, especially since Chrome Mox by definition leads to inconsistency, because not all Chrome Mox hands are keepable. Play with the card before you pull out your pitchforks. It's fine.
The GSZ/Nacatl bans were supposed to "diversify aggro archetypes." Aggro is basically nonexistent outside of affinity. So why not throw G/x a bone and make a viable Zoo deck that people actually have to worry about? The format has changed a ton, and now there are actual decks that can run Wrath effects maindeck to punish Zoo, where before that wasn't the case, since control was killed with the initial banlist and took forever to really start to emerge.
Punishing Fire is the fairest magic you can possibly play. In Legacy Punishing Jund/Maverick are the definition of fair. All it does is kill creatures. It does it well, yes, but it's inefficient and wastes time to keep recurring and firing every turn. Plus a lot of things dodge Fires as it is, and Scavenging Ooze and Deathrite have been printed since the ban and prey on that card naturally. So why not let essentially fair decks have an engine that isn't a planeswalker? Sword of the Meek is an engine too: it's not a combo, it doesn't win the game when assembled, it merely lets you efficiently turn open mana into resources. It comes on too late to really stall aggro and it's easily countered by control. It's not hard to die after ThopterSword is assembled, any combo deck ignores it, so the only thing it really blanks completely is creature-based midrange with no disruption or reach. And doesn't that deck deserve a predator?
Jitte is rough in that the new legend rule made it harder to unban. Essentially every creature deck will want to play it, but BGx will have the most answers to it in the form of Decay and Pulse, and therefore will win most Jitte mirrors and cement the deck even further as the best archetype. Before you could just play your own Jitte and legend rule them, but now since each one has to be removed the whole idea just isn't worth it for what benefit it would give to the format. The same reasoning applies to Jace: it's not too good or unfair or anything, in fact it's weaker in this format than in Legacy, but the fact that matchups will come down to landing Jace AND answering the opponents means it causes too many headaches.
I'd expect this to follow a similar trajectory to Thalia, past the similarities on the design level: they both go in similar decks, both are fringe standard but role players in eternal, both were from small 2nd sets with barely any other playable rares and a few really solid uncommons leeching pack value, and thus it's likely both will be relatively underhyped during presale-launch period and climb slowly thereafter.
Not at all? It'll just get removed. it's not like people stopped playing cantrip cores when Thalia ran rampant, this card isn't much different. It's a nuisance but not a backbreaker.
Definitely a staple. This goes a long way towards making aggro better and hosing blue not-so-subtly.