I'm pretty floored that you can call Voice of Resurgence as "just as 2 mana 2/2" and Ruric Thar a "really fancy type of Craw Wurm", while Renegade Krasis gets a free pass for being a Gorilla Warrior and considered a "Staple".
I don't think it's as good as you say it is. The main selling points are that it's a faster clock than most Control deck win conditions and that it is hard to kill. Its drawbacks include its mana cost and the fact that it doesn't really do anything to help stabilize.
IMO, it goes beyond that. The current meta has three main types of control, each representing the different three-color combinations that contain white and blue. In Bant, the deck plays beefy, mana-efficient creatures with lifegain to remain stable, and while Kessig Wolf Run turns them into finishers. Its defense becomes its offense. In UWR, the traditional win con is Boros Reckoner which is difficult to interact with in combat and can be pretty explosive on offense. Lately, UWR has been using Assemble the Legion, which provides an increasing number of chump blockers, it's difficult to deal with because there isn't a lot of enchantment destruction in the meta, and it provides inevitability. As for Esper, it is a deck that typically wants to run very few win conditions and focuses on keeping the board stable until it can win with Nephalia Drownyard and/or Planeswalkers.
As you can see, Control is a little bit crowded when it comes to win conditions right now. The different Control decks demand different things from their win cons but a faster clock is low priority for control. Its best home is probably UWR, since it's the only deck that can really use a win con with a faster clock, but I still feel that Ætherling isn't any better than its current options.
While my analysis focuses on the Control decks of the present, Ætherling is still a really good card and might have a home in Theros Standard. In the meantime, I don't think it'll see much play.
First of all, Wolfir Avenger doesn't see play anymore, so I don't think that's a noteworthy comparison. Loxodon Smiter usually plays a defensive role in the decks that carry it. The 4/4 frame keeps it out of Searing Spear range, and allows it to block many 3-power threats... Liliana of the Veil and Rakdos' Return are still strong, so the anti-discard is relevant. Its counterspell immunity is also relevant. As a defensive creature, Loxodon Smiter beats it cleanly.
The green 3-drops that you should really be comparing Renegade Krasis to are Flinthoof Boar and Dreg Mangler, two hasty 3/3 threats. The Boar has the upside that it doubles as a 2-drop and Dreg Mangler has Scavenge. Meanwhile, Renegade Krasis does not have Haste, and only has 2-toughness. It has Evolve, but Evolve demands for you to have a lot of creatures that are bigger than it. Aggro decks usually top out at 3/4 mana, so Renegade Krasis won't do a whole lot of Evolving.
Basically, green aggro decks prefer Flinthoof Boar and Dreg Mangler because they're Hasty and therefore more aggressive. Green midrange decks prefer Loxodon Smiter's bigger frame and discard/countermagic hate. Renegade Krasis is completely outclassed by these cards and won't see any significant play.
I think it's a Role Player. A fancy "Craw Wurm" is an unfair assessment. Having both Vigilance and Reach is massive. It puts aggro decks on a clock while fending off their attacks, making it excellent in racing situations. Unlike many six-mana midrange threats, it has game against control decks. As long as it's protected by Caverns of Souls, it is almost guaranteed six damage.
Any midrange threat that is spectacular against aggro and doesn't fold to Murder or Supreme Verdict is going to be a strong card. It's very difficult to interact with. The only thing that can prevent Ruric Thar from seeing significant play is if Naya Midrange or Gruul Domri aren't competitive.
Just a 2-mana 2/2, hey? Like I said, I find it strange that you can say that (and call Ruric Thar a Craw Wurm), and at the same time you can call 3-mana 3/2 a "Staple". And that card has even less "fancy rules text" than Voice of Resurgence.
Voice of Resurgence is a 2-mana 2/2 that deters the opponent from playing spells on your turn, and spawns a Crusader of Odric upon death. Any aggressive cards that can give you resilience against board sweepers is gonna be strong. Forcing your opponent to play removal spells on their own turn is also huge for aggro decks. Anyway, this card won't redefine the format but it is really good and deserves the hype it gets.
This is misleading. Lightning Bolt is good because it can target creatures.
Anyway, some people only know how to evaluate cards based on their best-case scenarios, and are unable to see their worst-case and average-case scenarios. These are the same people who thought Vexing Devil (and Temporal Mastery) would be good in Standard.
Will not see play until iether Dissipate or junk decks are out.
Just a bad card.
My thoughts exactly.
I don't think people understand how limited the Silence effect really is.
You have to ask yourself:
How many situations does your opponent attempt to cast two spells in one turn in which case neither of them are Instant speed?
Of those situations, in how many of them are you facing decks where you actually want to carry a three-mana counterspell against?
Then, compare those to situations where Dissipate are better. Exiling the countered spell is especially strong against Reanimator decks, cards with flashback, etc...
Factor in the fact that Render Silent requires white mana. Usually, this isn't a big deal because Blue decks that play three-mana countermagic will likely also play White. However, even in those decks, 1UU is still easier to cast than WUU.
I don't think Render Silent is bad. I just don't see a reason to play it instead of Dissipate.
Sideboard tech against control, disgusting in rites decks.
I actually think it's better against aggro decks than it is against control. If my plan was to sideboard this against control, I think I'd just maindeck it.
One of the first cards announced, and it seems like everyone has forgotten about it. I think it has the potential to become one of the most influential cards in Standard to come out of Dragon's Maze.
Cards like Thragtusk and Boros Reckoner are strong because it is very difficult to favorably interact with them. Ruric Thar seems to fall under the same category for me.
Vigilance and Reach on a 6/6 body absolutely dominates combat. If you don't have a Boros Reckoner or a creature with Deathtouch, the best you can hope for is chump or trade two-for-one.
Against control, midrange threats are usually weak. When you're spending six mana on a creature and they spend 2-3 mana to deal with it, it's just a matter of time before you run out of gas. With Ruric Thar, it'll cost them six life to do it. Even if you don't get to attack with it, a six damage nuke and a removal spell from their hand for six mana is pretty damn good. If protected against countermagic by a Caverns of Souls, Ruric Thar can be very dangerous in this matchup.
Now, Midrange decks usually run Planeswalkers like Domri or Garruk to give them game against slower controlly decks. However, those cards are weak against aggressive decks. Ruric Thar has game against both.
I think the only thing stopping Ruric Thar from making a big splash is that the types of decks he can fit in is very narrow. He needs to be in a GRx Midrange deck, but Jund and RUG carry too many non-creature spells.
However, Naya might be a better fit. It typically runs Farseeks, Bonfires and Planeswalkers as their only non-creature spells. Ruric Thar can potentially take the place of the Walkers. He also synergises with Restoration Angel. If the opponent feels like taking six to kill Ruric Thar, the Angel can save him. Remember, the six damage triggers when a spell is cast, not when it successfully resolves. Naya also typically runs Caverns of Souls and Ruric Thar shares a creature type with Boros Reckoner.
Another potential home is Gruul Aggro/Midrange, in the mould of Tomaharu Saito's version featuring Gyre Sage. The premise of that deck is to be aggressive enough to beat Control but while being able to get big enough to beat other creature decks. Ruric Thar fits perfectly there. The deck typically runs Domri Rade and Increasing Savagery as the only non-creature spells.
Anyway, I think everyone is sleeping on this card. It might be one of the breakout rares in the set.
Everyone's saying it's so great in Sphinx's Revelation mirrors. I don't even think that's the case.
So, you tap four mana on your own turn to cast Council of the Absolute. Here are the plays you've left yourself wide open to...
1) I counter it. You're in trouble because you've tapped four mana on your turn. You're already down four mana so you're more likely to lose the ensuing counter war. Having all your lands tapped on your own turn is not a place where Control decks want to be.
2) At the end of your turn, I kill it. It's the same situation as before. You're tapped out on your own turn, and even if you have countermagic for my removal, I may have countermagic for your countermagic. Whatever the case, I have the advantage in the counter war because you've tapped four mana...on your turn.
3) With Council on the stack, I cast Sphinx's Revelation. If it resolves, I untap on my turn with a full grip of cards, probably including a means to kill your Council (if I even need to).
Even if you win the counter wars and successfully resolve Council of the Absolute, you're tapped out when I untap. I can still take this opportunity to kill your Council, and we're back to square one.
While I agree that it's a must-counter in the control mirror, the deal-breaker is that it's four mana at sorcery speed that can also be beat by removal, unlike the cards that you SHOULD be sideboarding in the UWx mirror: Dispel, Negate, and Duress.
Hate to break it to you but look at your colors again. GWU Arc GBR Arc RBU Arc WBG Wedge URW Wedge
While it makes some sense mechanically I really have a hard time believing that the Rakdos and Dimir would be able to work together for very long and Selesnya and Orzhov hits me wrong as well ( I think there was some mention of controlling the world spirit or something but I still have issue with it.).
It's also kind of a random way to pair the colors and not really fair to either Arcs or Wedges. While I'm sure we will see colors overlap on a few cards I don't think we will see any kind of major theme.
You might notice that each pairing is a RTR Guild & GTC guild.
It makes the most sense because the booster draft order is DGM, GTC, RTR. The format encourages you to choose one of the five "alliances". You draft that "alliance" in DGM, then one of the guilds in GTC and then the other guild in RTR.
I fully expect to see some future spoilers further solidifying this two-guild pairing.
Aid WG // Abet WB
Cease W // Desist U
Dusk B // Dawn W
Form WR // Function UR
Hearth W // Home G
Live G // Learn U
Sickness B/ // Health G
Sink B // Swim U
Nah. I think Toil // Trouble sounds more Black and Red. The Black (Toil) would probably allow for you to draw 2 cards at the expense of 2 life. The Red (Trouble) would deal damage to the opponent equal to how many cards he has in his hand.
That's my hunch anyway. Probably a longshot. A huge stretch.
I'm pretty floored that you can call Voice of Resurgence as "just as 2 mana 2/2" and Ruric Thar a "really fancy type of Craw Wurm", while Renegade Krasis gets a free pass for being a Gorilla Warrior and considered a "Staple".
Anyway, here are a few that I disagree with:
Ætherling
I don't think it's as good as you say it is. The main selling points are that it's a faster clock than most Control deck win conditions and that it is hard to kill. Its drawbacks include its mana cost and the fact that it doesn't really do anything to help stabilize.
IMO, it goes beyond that. The current meta has three main types of control, each representing the different three-color combinations that contain white and blue. In Bant, the deck plays beefy, mana-efficient creatures with lifegain to remain stable, and while Kessig Wolf Run turns them into finishers. Its defense becomes its offense. In UWR, the traditional win con is Boros Reckoner which is difficult to interact with in combat and can be pretty explosive on offense. Lately, UWR has been using Assemble the Legion, which provides an increasing number of chump blockers, it's difficult to deal with because there isn't a lot of enchantment destruction in the meta, and it provides inevitability. As for Esper, it is a deck that typically wants to run very few win conditions and focuses on keeping the board stable until it can win with Nephalia Drownyard and/or Planeswalkers.
As you can see, Control is a little bit crowded when it comes to win conditions right now. The different Control decks demand different things from their win cons but a faster clock is low priority for control. Its best home is probably UWR, since it's the only deck that can really use a win con with a faster clock, but I still feel that Ætherling isn't any better than its current options.
While my analysis focuses on the Control decks of the present, Ætherling is still a really good card and might have a home in Theros Standard. In the meantime, I don't think it'll see much play.
Renegade Krasis
First of all, Wolfir Avenger doesn't see play anymore, so I don't think that's a noteworthy comparison. Loxodon Smiter usually plays a defensive role in the decks that carry it. The 4/4 frame keeps it out of Searing Spear range, and allows it to block many 3-power threats... Liliana of the Veil and Rakdos' Return are still strong, so the anti-discard is relevant. Its counterspell immunity is also relevant. As a defensive creature, Loxodon Smiter beats it cleanly.
The green 3-drops that you should really be comparing Renegade Krasis to are Flinthoof Boar and Dreg Mangler, two hasty 3/3 threats. The Boar has the upside that it doubles as a 2-drop and Dreg Mangler has Scavenge. Meanwhile, Renegade Krasis does not have Haste, and only has 2-toughness. It has Evolve, but Evolve demands for you to have a lot of creatures that are bigger than it. Aggro decks usually top out at 3/4 mana, so Renegade Krasis won't do a whole lot of Evolving.
Basically, green aggro decks prefer Flinthoof Boar and Dreg Mangler because they're Hasty and therefore more aggressive. Green midrange decks prefer Loxodon Smiter's bigger frame and discard/countermagic hate. Renegade Krasis is completely outclassed by these cards and won't see any significant play.
Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
I think it's a Role Player. A fancy "Craw Wurm" is an unfair assessment. Having both Vigilance and Reach is massive. It puts aggro decks on a clock while fending off their attacks, making it excellent in racing situations. Unlike many six-mana midrange threats, it has game against control decks. As long as it's protected by Caverns of Souls, it is almost guaranteed six damage.
Any midrange threat that is spectacular against aggro and doesn't fold to Murder or Supreme Verdict is going to be a strong card. It's very difficult to interact with. The only thing that can prevent Ruric Thar from seeing significant play is if Naya Midrange or Gruul Domri aren't competitive.
Voice of Resurgence
Just a 2-mana 2/2, hey? Like I said, I find it strange that you can say that (and call Ruric Thar a Craw Wurm), and at the same time you can call 3-mana 3/2 a "Staple". And that card has even less "fancy rules text" than Voice of Resurgence.
Voice of Resurgence is a 2-mana 2/2 that deters the opponent from playing spells on your turn, and spawns a Crusader of Odric upon death. Any aggressive cards that can give you resilience against board sweepers is gonna be strong. Forcing your opponent to play removal spells on their own turn is also huge for aggro decks. Anyway, this card won't redefine the format but it is really good and deserves the hype it gets.
This is misleading. Lightning Bolt is good because it can target creatures.
Anyway, some people only know how to evaluate cards based on their best-case scenarios, and are unable to see their worst-case and average-case scenarios. These are the same people who thought Vexing Devil (and Temporal Mastery) would be good in Standard.
My thoughts exactly.
I don't think people understand how limited the Silence effect really is.
You have to ask yourself:
- How many situations does your opponent attempt to cast two spells in one turn in which case neither of them are Instant speed?
- Of those situations, in how many of them are you facing decks where you actually want to carry a three-mana counterspell against?
Then, compare those to situations where Dissipate are better. Exiling the countered spell is especially strong against Reanimator decks, cards with flashback, etc...Factor in the fact that Render Silent requires white mana. Usually, this isn't a big deal because Blue decks that play three-mana countermagic will likely also play White. However, even in those decks, 1UU is still easier to cast than WUU.
I don't think Render Silent is bad. I just don't see a reason to play it instead of Dissipate.
I actually think it's better against aggro decks than it is against control. If my plan was to sideboard this against control, I think I'd just maindeck it.
One of the first cards announced, and it seems like everyone has forgotten about it. I think it has the potential to become one of the most influential cards in Standard to come out of Dragon's Maze.
Cards like Thragtusk and Boros Reckoner are strong because it is very difficult to favorably interact with them. Ruric Thar seems to fall under the same category for me.
Vigilance and Reach on a 6/6 body absolutely dominates combat. If you don't have a Boros Reckoner or a creature with Deathtouch, the best you can hope for is chump or trade two-for-one.
Against control, midrange threats are usually weak. When you're spending six mana on a creature and they spend 2-3 mana to deal with it, it's just a matter of time before you run out of gas. With Ruric Thar, it'll cost them six life to do it. Even if you don't get to attack with it, a six damage nuke and a removal spell from their hand for six mana is pretty damn good. If protected against countermagic by a Caverns of Souls, Ruric Thar can be very dangerous in this matchup.
Now, Midrange decks usually run Planeswalkers like Domri or Garruk to give them game against slower controlly decks. However, those cards are weak against aggressive decks. Ruric Thar has game against both.
I think the only thing stopping Ruric Thar from making a big splash is that the types of decks he can fit in is very narrow. He needs to be in a GRx Midrange deck, but Jund and RUG carry too many non-creature spells.
However, Naya might be a better fit. It typically runs Farseeks, Bonfires and Planeswalkers as their only non-creature spells. Ruric Thar can potentially take the place of the Walkers. He also synergises with Restoration Angel. If the opponent feels like taking six to kill Ruric Thar, the Angel can save him. Remember, the six damage triggers when a spell is cast, not when it successfully resolves. Naya also typically runs Caverns of Souls and Ruric Thar shares a creature type with Boros Reckoner.
Another potential home is Gruul Aggro/Midrange, in the mould of Tomaharu Saito's version featuring Gyre Sage. The premise of that deck is to be aggressive enough to beat Control but while being able to get big enough to beat other creature decks. Ruric Thar fits perfectly there. The deck typically runs Domri Rade and Increasing Savagery as the only non-creature spells.
Anyway, I think everyone is sleeping on this card. It might be one of the breakout rares in the set.
What are your thoughts?
I don't think it's far from bad, but my threshold for a card to be considered "bad" is very low.
As far as using it with Rewind, that's too convoluted and clunky for Modern.
Everyone's saying it's so great in Sphinx's Revelation mirrors. I don't even think that's the case.
So, you tap four mana on your own turn to cast Council of the Absolute. Here are the plays you've left yourself wide open to...
1) I counter it. You're in trouble because you've tapped four mana on your turn. You're already down four mana so you're more likely to lose the ensuing counter war. Having all your lands tapped on your own turn is not a place where Control decks want to be.
2) At the end of your turn, I kill it. It's the same situation as before. You're tapped out on your own turn, and even if you have countermagic for my removal, I may have countermagic for your countermagic. Whatever the case, I have the advantage in the counter war because you've tapped four mana...on your turn.
3) With Council on the stack, I cast Sphinx's Revelation. If it resolves, I untap on my turn with a full grip of cards, probably including a means to kill your Council (if I even need to).
Even if you win the counter wars and successfully resolve Council of the Absolute, you're tapped out when I untap. I can still take this opportunity to kill your Council, and we're back to square one.
While I agree that it's a must-counter in the control mirror, the deal-breaker is that it's four mana at sorcery speed that can also be beat by removal, unlike the cards that you SHOULD be sideboarding in the UWx mirror: Dispel, Negate, and Duress.
TL;DR: Dis card sux.
I didn't pair the colors this way. Wizards did.
Azorius/Simic
Golgari/Gruul
Rakdos/Dimir
Selesnya/Orzhov
Izzet/Boros
You might notice that each pairing is a RTR Guild & GTC guild.
It makes the most sense because the booster draft order is DGM, GTC, RTR. The format encourages you to choose one of the five "alliances". You draft that "alliance" in DGM, then one of the guilds in GTC and then the other guild in RTR.
I fully expect to see some future spoilers further solidifying this two-guild pairing.
Aid WG // Abet WB
Cease W // Desist U
Dusk B // Dawn W
Form WR // Function UR
Hearth W // Home G
Live G // Learn U
Sickness B/ // Health G
Sink B // Swim U
Target Human gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
Target Tiger gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Nah. I think Toil // Trouble sounds more Black and Red. The Black (Toil) would probably allow for you to draw 2 cards at the expense of 2 life. The Red (Trouble) would deal damage to the opponent equal to how many cards he has in his hand.
That's my hunch anyway. Probably a longshot. A huge stretch.
White + Green: Hale/Hearty or Hearth/Home
Blue + Green: Live/Learn
Selesnya + Orzhov: Religion/Politics
Selesnya + Boros: Vim/Vigor
Izzet + Dimir: Smoke/Mirrors
Rakdos + Gruul: Blood/Gore