[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Samwise the Stouthearted

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pokken
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Post by pokken » 4 years ago

3drinks wrote:
4 years ago
hyalopterouslemur wrote:
4 years ago
PROTIP: You should fetch other lands before fetching an original dual, since these enter tapped already. Generally, the order is cycling lands first
While generally speaking I agree, I don't think it's correct to fetch the bicycles first as they lose the whole draw to playing them (cycling) that makes them stronger late game when you can trade them for a business spell. So, mostly, I think if it's far more correct to fetch a shock or a tango land with farseek as such. 😎
On the flipside, getting the cycle card out of your deck prevents you from drawing a tapped land later, so I sometimes let that enter into my thinking as well.

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Post by DirkGently » 4 years ago

Don't forget you can karoo your cycling land and then cycle it for maximum value!

I don't really play farseek much tbh, but if you've got a 4/6+ drop green commander it's pretty good, or depending what your curve is. I'm not huge on the general-purpose-ramp plan, I usually want to have something specific I'm pushing towards.
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Post by Dunharrow » 4 years ago

I actually cut Farseek and Rampant Growth from a few decks. Someone told me they didn't run them because they do not offer card advantage and I thought it was interesting. I swapped them for Cultivate and Kodama's reach and never looked back.
Obviously deck-dependant but it made me think a bit.
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Post by pokken » 4 years ago

Dunharrow wrote:
4 years ago
I actually cut Farseek and Rampant Growth from a few decks. Someone told me they didn't run them because they do not offer card advantage and I thought it was interesting. I swapped them for Cultivate and Kodama's reach and never looked back.
Obviously deck-dependant but it made me think a bit.
That mighta been me :P I'm pretty loud about it. As general purpose ramp cards, the 3 CMC ones that offer card advantage (cultivate, kodama's reach, nissa's pilgrimage, and sometimes far wanderings) are generally superior.

If your ramp strategy really wants you to ramp on 2, it's awesome to have these, but if you're just wanting to play early sometimes it's pretty great to get some CA and hit another turn's land drop.

I'd really love to see some more iterations of the 3 CMC ramp 1 +1 CA -- something like a scaled up growth spiral even would probably be fine (1UG sorcery draw 2 play an additional land).

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Post by 3drinks » 4 years ago

pokken wrote:
4 years ago
3drinks wrote:
4 years ago
hyalopterouslemur wrote:
4 years ago
PROTIP: You should fetch other lands before fetching an original dual, since these enter tapped already. Generally, the order is cycling lands first
While generally speaking I agree, I don't think it's correct to fetch the bicycles first as they lose the whole draw to playing them (cycling) that makes them stronger late game when you can trade them for a business spell. So, mostly, I think if it's far more correct to fetch a shock or a tango land with farseek as such. 😎
On the flipside, getting the cycle card out of your deck prevents you from drawing a tapped land later, so I sometimes let that enter into my thinking as well.
That's kinda the point. If you're being forced into playing these on t4/t5, that's typically a sign of not running enough lands in your deck (lack of play options) and by upping the land count, you can solve this issue. Drawing one latre isn't a huge issue because you can pitch it for a fresh card. While if you don't want to cycle, then playing that eighth land tapped isn't a hugely mitigating experience unless you're on seven drop tribal or some junk (don't laugh, my half brother's Esper was like that...it was horribly ineffective as you'd imagine).

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Post by 3drinks » 4 years ago

Monday, November 18th, 2019; Mages' Contest



You gotta ask yourself, do ya feel lucky, punk? Do ya? Did I fire seven shots, or just one?

I just want this card in a modern frame honestly. Such a cool effect.

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Post by Mookie » 4 years ago

Mage's Contest is a pretty odd card. It's sort of a punisher card like Browbeat or Book Burning, in that it gives Red access to something it doesn't traditionally have unless an opponent pays up - in this case, countermagic. Better if you have a sizable life advantage. Alternatively, rig the game with Platinum Emperion. Note that this is life loss and not damage, so it won't work with Firesong and Sunspeaker.

Overall... I think I would usually prefer a more consistent card, but there aren't a lot of alternatives in red. Could potentially make sense in a burn deck capable of putting a lot of pressure on its opponents' life totals. I don't think I'd play it elsewhere though - Cancel with downside seems not great, even if it is unique. If I wanted to interact on the stack in Red, I'd use Reverberate or Wild Ricochet.

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Post by 3drinks » 4 years ago

^I'm not sure this interacts with platinum emperion since you can't pay life with the latter out. Suppose it's worth taking a trip over to rulings though for the confirmation.

Your assertion to reverberate or wild ricochet, like, sometimes copying a spell isn't the answer. Like If I'm gonna demonic tutor for my combo, then you copying that likely doesn't stop it, pending what my combo actually is. Meanwhile putting the pressure on them pending how important that spell is they were relying on, this card can tell you how important that spell is. And if they do go...All In...on keeping the spell, well, you are in the colour of Lightning Bolt anyway.

Speaking of, having killed someone with a Bolt in this format? The feeling is fantastic. 10/10, would heartily recommend.

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Post by materpillar » 4 years ago

I had a foil Mage's Contest for the longest time and always wanted to play it in something because it's so cool. I never did though. A bad cancel is still a bad cancel and even red doesn't want that.
3drinks wrote:
4 years ago
Speaking of, having killed someone with a Bolt in this format? The feeling is fantastic. 10/10, would heartily recommend.

I've also had experienced the joy of killing someone with lightning bolt. It's quite a delightful feeling but lightning bolt kills are just the gateway drug of inefficient burn damage kills. I strongly recommend killing someone with gut shot while tapped out.

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Post by Sharpened » 4 years ago

Platinum Emperion should work fine, as you aren't paying the life. You are bidding and then if you win, Mages' Contest makes you lose the life.

I think this is a card that seems neat, but plays much less neat in practice. While you can mentally concoct interesting scenarios, in reality, the situations you use this card in tend to be far less interesting. And then you realize the payoff is generally a 3 mana counterspell that costs you some amount of life. Sure, it's a RED counterspell, but I'm not sure that makes it worth it. And any attempts to leverage the damage aspect of it fall into the same problem as "punisher" cards, in that your opponent has a say in the effect, and will likely not choose the one you most want.

It's unfortunate, but this card is not as good or as fun as it appears at first glance.

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Post by Dunharrow » 4 years ago

pokken wrote:
4 years ago
Dunharrow wrote:
4 years ago
I actually cut Farseek and Rampant Growth from a few decks. Someone told me they didn't run them because they do not offer card advantage and I thought it was interesting. I swapped them for Cultivate and Kodama's reach and never looked back.
Obviously deck-dependant but it made me think a bit.
That mighta been me :P I'm pretty loud about it. As general purpose ramp cards, the 3 CMC ones that offer card advantage (cultivate, kodama's reach, nissa's pilgrimage, and sometimes far wanderings) are generally superior.

If your ramp strategy really wants you to ramp on 2, it's awesome to have these, but if you're just wanting to play early sometimes it's pretty great to get some CA and hit another turn's land drop.

I'd really love to see some more iterations of the 3 CMC ramp 1 +1 CA -- something like a scaled up growth spiral even would probably be fine (1UG sorcery draw 2 play an additional land).
While I do know that you have written about this, it was actually someone I met in-store. He also had a Maelstrom Wanderer deck and when we dueled them he mentioned to me that he didn't play 2-CMC ramp spells because he wanted card advantage. He also actually didn't play artifact ramp, but there are too many positive interactions for me to cut out those cards.
3drinks wrote:
4 years ago
Monday, November 18th, 2019; Mages' Contest

mages' contest

You gotta ask yourself, do ya feel lucky, punk? Do ya? Did I fire seven shots, or just one?

I just want this card in a modern frame honestly. Such a cool effect.
I guess the argument for playing this card in red is that your opponents should have less life than you. I could see it being worth it in some decks, but generally speaking can't imagine it is worth it. Could be interesting in Wort, The Raidmother where you get two chances to counter the spell.
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Post by pokken » 4 years ago

Dunharrow wrote:
4 years ago
While I do know that you have written about this, it was actually someone I met in-store. He also had a Maelstrom Wanderer deck and when we dueled them he mentioned to me that he didn't play 2-CMC ramp spells because he wanted card advantage. He also actually didn't play artifact ramp, but there are too many positive interactions for me to cut out those cards.
Yeah, with MW hitting your land drops is super important because it's quite feasible to stall. I do run nature's lore for fixing personally

mage's contest Feels pretty good in Greven.

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Post by hyalopterouslemur » 4 years ago

3drinks wrote:
4 years ago
^I'm not sure this interacts with platinum emperion since you can't pay life with the latter out.
But this says losing life. Basically, you can still bid life, but you won't lose it. Mages' Contest is pretty broken in team play as well. However, if you just ping pong it back and forth (instead of simply bidding "one million" or something similar) that's considered slow play, especially if both players have Platinum Emperion/Platinum Angel/Phyrexian Unlife/whatever out.
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Post by onering » 4 years ago

3drinks wrote:
4 years ago
Monday, November 18th, 2019; Mages' Contest



You gotta ask yourself, do ya feel lucky, punk? Do ya? Did I fire seven shots, or just one?

I just want this card in a modern frame honestly. Such a cool effect.
I'd rather have special edition prints of modern cards I old frames. Old frames > everything else. At least they could drop in some planar chaos frame treatments if they're worried about readability.

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Post by 3drinks » 4 years ago

onering wrote:
4 years ago

I'd rather have special edition prints of modern cards I old frames. Old frames > everything else. At least they could drop in some planar chaos frame treatments if they're worried about readability.
I definitely like me some old frames...as evidenced by my crucible and two swords in DCI foil, haha.

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Post by DirkGently » 4 years ago

I mean, it's usually just a weaker cancel. So...real bad. I guess at least it's more surprising, being red.

On the plus side, it pairs well with mindslaver. Which itself pairs perfectly with being a jerk, and not playing with me again (jk but only kinda).
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Post by schweinefett » 4 years ago

is word of command legal in EDH? could combo well with it (as long as they have it in their hand).

I think a counterspell in red is pretty freaking cool. Takes people's expectations and poops all over it. I think it can be worth a slot, though i've never actually seen it played before. I think there's space in my rakdos deck, but it's a very proactive deck... no real space for control elements.

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Post by 3drinks » 4 years ago

Tuesday, November 19th, 2019; Instill Energy


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Post by hyalopterouslemur » 4 years ago

This is kinda cool because it's not just vigilance; it's pseudo-vigilance. (And you can say they're not terminating today) You can, unfortunately, only use its ability once each turn, but on Marwyn, the Nurturer, Elvish Archdruid, Gyre Sage, or similar, or just something like Elvish Aberration or Fyndhorn Elder or Voyaging Satyr, that can be ridic in terms of mana.

Should be noted it's not haste. It's "This creature can attack as though it had haste."
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Post by toctheyounger » 4 years ago

I kind of like it for a well costed boost that isn't broken as all hell. I'd much rather see this down the other end of the table than say Intruder Alarm or what have you. Still a powerful effect if used well, but not combo material.
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Post by void_nothing » 4 years ago

A great combo piece for giving you extra value, not taking over or outright winning the game. I use it when I can (fun to put it on Arcanis when you drop him in a Tatyova deck!), and I like to see it used.
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Post by Mookie » 4 years ago

Instill Energy is a little narrow, but it's not a bad choice if you really care about haste and untapping your commander - I could see it in something like Captain Sisay or Marwyn, the Nurturer. Not a ton of other ways in green to grant haste, but they are out there - Concordant Crossroads and Surrak, the Hunt Caller are the first ones that come to mind.

I think that Instill Energy's main competition will be from equipment though - Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots are both pretty widely used, and are a bit more convenient than auras usually are. Still, worth consideration if you really care about enchantments, untaps, or raw mana efficiency.

....I've considered it for my Samut (tap ability tribal) deck, but I already have haste in the command zone, and I prefer something a bit sturdier than an aura for my untap sources.

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Post by lyonhaert » 4 years ago

I see it as pseudo-vigilance for one creature. You're right that this wouldn't be great in Samut, as Reconnaissance would be a superior pseudo-vigilance option there.
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Post by 3drinks » 4 years ago

Wednesday, November 20th, 2019; Ruination



The fairest of fair. I was brought up on the rule of "perfect mana is a priviledge, not a right."

What a harsh lesson for people to have to learn that basic lands are a good thing.

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Post by plushpenguin » 4 years ago

Cards like these would encourage me to fetch basics when getting duals is not strictly necessary.... just in case.

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