Cool, yeah pretty solid. Being able to cast this for 3 makes this around par with damnation for me in power level. Would have to test.
I dig that you can very occasionally use this as finisher. Because it hits your opponent before it hits you, doing it for a large X value won’t draw the game like it would for rolling earthquake.
Black also more likely to take advantage of the self mill
Disagree about dig through time being a relic of the past.
It's gotten worse, as strategies that leverage it have gotten worse (and the average card in general has gotten better),
but there's a reason it's a "fair" card that is a staple in pioneer (no fetchlands) , banned in modern/legacy and restricted in vintage.
When a deck can generate a significant amount of graveyard fodder, the card is still messed up.
Before in cube, dig was a good card in decks that can only generate a little bit of graveyard fodder, that has changed significantly.
If you want non-creature based interactive decks to still be a draftable strategy, removing their marquee cards will near guarantee that strategy fails.
The power of DTT is sensitive to how you build your cube and what strategies you chose to support over others.
Modern era semi-reactive decks should be built with a ton of cheap efficient interaction, and dig through time is a premium payoff for doing just that.
If you don't have a high density of cheap interaction , cantrips, or ways to put cards in the graveyard, it'll be a lot worse.
I'll likely test this.
Blink interactions, stoneforge/equipment synergy, artifact synergy and a very "2024" style win con for blue decks.
Something that can trade/pressure early, but also scales well in the late game (as long as you don't deck yourself).
I think it'll be a lower-tier playable good stuff card, with good cube interactions.
The biggest downside and why I (barely) dismissed it on first appraisal is how stacked the slot is...
I run it and I like it. I'm not if confident it deserves a slot on power level (gun to my head, it doesnt), but I am confident it's 95-99% there.
The interactions and uniqueness push it over the top for me.
I've activated the second ability sacrificing a mox opal and it was a game winning play, felt pretty sweet.
The deeper I move into artifact support, the bigger fan I've been of nettlecyst. With clues, food and treasures being a mainstay of modern magic, I think this card will only get better.
I've been testing it for a few months in my own cube (low sample size) and played in MTGO vintage cube a lot and it keeps moving up higher in my pick order.
Aritfact decks can play to the battlefield in the early game in a way they never could before , nettlecyst belongs to a group of a few cards that help with exactly that goal.
It's an artifact.dec card primarily, but it also slots nicely into any midrange deck with a bunch of artifacts. Stoneforge etc.
I liked pact of negation a long time ago. It was in and out of my cube for a long time.
It's a decent card for archetypes that can ramp and very strong in some situations.
If you are desperate for more counter spells and support a lot of combo decks,
it's one of the better ones few people play.
As games are more and more decided in the early turns, the more harsh the cost is though.
It's a card I expect to get worse as the format gets more powerful and as time goes on.
FWIW Jar and time spiral are strong draw 7's in fastbond decks. The windfall mode of collective defiance has no synergy with fastbond, because it doesn't mitigate the card disadvantage of fastbond/exploration. It "digs" to fastbond, but that's not what you want to be doing when you are at 4 mana in a fastbond deck without resources. Fastbond combos often involve 3 cards so card advantage is more important than card selection.
Collective defiance underperformed relative to my expectations hard across multiple formats. I'm skeptical 7 years later , the format has changed so greatly in favor of a card I found to be too inefficient in it's time.
Red has shifted more combo, midrange and less agro favourable
The format has become more creature based favourable
The draw denial interactions are favorable
The poor mana efficiency of the removal/burn modes has shifted very unfavorably.
That being said, I haven't played it in a long time and a favourable review is something, so I wouldn't totally write it off. No harm in testing.
excited to see bombardiers in more action ngl, wouldnt be surprised if it was better gut.
I have played a lot with squee and rabblemaster though. I personally rank rabblemaster a small notch higher than squee (low confidence) and gut a clear tier above them both (mid-high confidence).
Powered/unpowered and how artifact decks are supported makes a difference in that evaluation.
Guts true power lies with 0 mana artifacts + pressure
Regardless of its relative rank in the red3s, I have it as a mid (high mid) pick in a MTGO vintage cube draft. It’s worth stretching that slot for even if you feel it’s over saturated.
Not for standard cubes (but not far off) due to tri-color and requiring elves to be great.
If you have a lot of elves in your cube, WOW is this card amazing. Ward 3 is huge on a card like this.
Wanted to put the awareness out there for anyone who focuses on tribal synergies
I dig that you can very occasionally use this as finisher. Because it hits your opponent before it hits you, doing it for a large X value won’t draw the game like it would for rolling earthquake.
Black also more likely to take advantage of the self mill
It's gotten worse, as strategies that leverage it have gotten worse (and the average card in general has gotten better),
but there's a reason it's a "fair" card that is a staple in pioneer (no fetchlands) , banned in modern/legacy and restricted in vintage.
When a deck can generate a significant amount of graveyard fodder, the card is still messed up.
Before in cube, dig was a good card in decks that can only generate a little bit of graveyard fodder, that has changed significantly.
If you want non-creature based interactive decks to still be a draftable strategy, removing their marquee cards will near guarantee that strategy fails.
The power of DTT is sensitive to how you build your cube and what strategies you chose to support over others.
Modern era semi-reactive decks should be built with a ton of cheap efficient interaction, and dig through time is a premium payoff for doing just that.
If you don't have a high density of cheap interaction , cantrips, or ways to put cards in the graveyard, it'll be a lot worse.
Staple. THE payoff for academy/cradle that also got a lot better when urzas saga was printed.
Glad I ignored my playgroup and kept testing it.
Blink interactions, stoneforge/equipment synergy, artifact synergy and a very "2024" style win con for blue decks.
Something that can trade/pressure early, but also scales well in the late game (as long as you don't deck yourself).
I think it'll be a lower-tier playable good stuff card, with good cube interactions.
The biggest downside and why I (barely) dismissed it on first appraisal is how stacked the slot is...
The interactions and uniqueness push it over the top for me.
I've activated the second ability sacrificing a mox opal and it was a game winning play, felt pretty sweet.
I've been testing it for a few months in my own cube (low sample size) and played in MTGO vintage cube a lot and it keeps moving up higher in my pick order.
Aritfact decks can play to the battlefield in the early game in a way they never could before , nettlecyst belongs to a group of a few cards that help with exactly that goal.
It's an artifact.dec card primarily, but it also slots nicely into any midrange deck with a bunch of artifacts. Stoneforge etc.
I enjoy manlands and they are important for lands style decks as a mana sink (can play 18+ lands).
if I didn’t care about that and was trying to support say, domain decks, I think replacing manlands with these are reasonable.
Might be underestimating that.
It's a decent card for archetypes that can ramp and very strong in some situations.
If you are desperate for more counter spells and support a lot of combo decks,
it's one of the better ones few people play.
As games are more and more decided in the early turns, the more harsh the cost is though.
It's a card I expect to get worse as the format gets more powerful and as time goes on.
Collective defiance underperformed relative to my expectations hard across multiple formats. I'm skeptical 7 years later , the format has changed so greatly in favor of a card I found to be too inefficient in it's time.
Red has shifted more combo, midrange and less agro favourable
The format has become more creature based favourable
The draw denial interactions are favorable
The poor mana efficiency of the removal/burn modes has shifted very unfavorably.
That being said, I haven't played it in a long time and a favourable review is something, so I wouldn't totally write it off. No harm in testing.
So many legends now to double loot, it has significant toughness and the backside is a legitimate threat.
I have played a lot with squee and rabblemaster though. I personally rank rabblemaster a small notch higher than squee (low confidence) and gut a clear tier above them both (mid-high confidence).
Powered/unpowered and how artifact decks are supported makes a difference in that evaluation.
Guts true power lies with 0 mana artifacts + pressure
Regardless of its relative rank in the red3s, I have it as a mid (high mid) pick in a MTGO vintage cube draft. It’s worth stretching that slot for even if you feel it’s over saturated.
A couple years will be a lot more revealing
Not for standard cubes (but not far off) due to tri-color and requiring elves to be great.
If you have a lot of elves in your cube, WOW is this card amazing. Ward 3 is huge on a card like this.
Wanted to put the awareness out there for anyone who focuses on tribal synergies
MKM is weak overall.
Slamming:
Carnage interpreter
Headliner scarlett
testing:
novice inspector
forensic gadgeteer (maybe)
kellan, inquisitive prodigy (maybe)
Unruly Krasis (CLU)(maybe)
a few cards I have my eye on as sleepers/roleplayers, but uninterested in testing at the moment.