Which do you like more?

[TheGildedGoose]

Gilded Goose. Obviously.

or

[Yatsufusa]

I have a 1-of rule across all my decks, so I do run both in the same utility in different decks.

That being said, I prefer Confluence. It's a meta thing for me, but at 4-5 mana I'm hardly using them as counterspells because counterspell wars easily erupt where I play, so the add-ons are just incentives. 5 mana draw 3 is usually a better deal than 4 mana bounce 1 draw 1 in a completely neutral scenario. Cryptic does save better against wide attacks (and hexproof), but I'd still consider the neutral payoff better. Color Intensity also chalks off 1 minor point of Cryptic.

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I considered pitting in Eater of Days, but I think that one is a hard loss to both of the above (multiplayer taken into account) and the two make for a fairer comparison.

[JovialJovian]

Cards like these tend to feature only in combos that want to take advantage of their downside, or abuse their high p/t to cost ratio. With that in mind, I pick Leveler, since the evasion on Sky Swallower is irrelevant.

I actually think Eater of Days has more non-combo applications than either of these two, but hey, he's not in the contest.

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[toctheyounger]

Troll. Trample and haste is no joke, the card depicts its story perfectly, and in multiplayer there's lots of scope to work around the downside of three billy goats gruff. That's not to mention that the downside still gains you life and draws you a card. That beats the pants off of adding a +1 counter to a creature you can't attack with. (Slightly biased response as I'm trailing it in a Glissa build as an early beater - but also Desecration just sucks)

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[hyalopterouslemur]

You do realize those cards are played very differently. Ad Nauseam has Frank to win the game (provided your life total is greater than the number of cards in your deck or—as indicated by the flavor text—you find some way to be undead). Necropotence is straight-up card draw (without actually drawing cards, getting around Underworld Dreams) which is usually useful (exceptions being for three-color or more and reanimator, just to name a couple).

I'd say Necro, most of the time.

[materpillar]

You do realize those cards are played very differently. Ad Nauseam has Frank to win the game (provided your life total is greater than the number of cards in your deck or—as indicated by the flavor text—you find some way to be undead). Necropotence is straight-up card draw (without actually drawing cards, getting around Underworld Dreams) which is usually useful (exceptions being for three-color or more and reanimator, just to name a couple).

I'd say Necro, most of the time.

I haven't played with either but I go with Hushbringer since I think hosing die triggers, lifelink, and 1CC less are more relevant than flash.

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As a commander or in the 99

[toctheyounger]

I'd go with Zacama for general, and Gishath for 99. They're VERY different, while both being stupendously good. Gishath seems more good times, Zacama more combo-y and that's not my jam.

You do realize those cards are played very differently. Ad Nauseam has Frank to win the game (provided your life total is greater than the number of cards in your deck or—as indicated by the flavor text—you find some way to be undead). Necropotence is straight-up card draw (without actually drawing cards, getting around Underworld Dreams) which is usually useful (exceptions being for three-color or more and reanimator, just to name a couple).

I know, the comparison was more around two of the strongest black draw spells rather than what abstract things they're used for, and more 'which downside do you prefer - no GY interaction or a one off draw with significant life loss?' The lab man thing didn't occur to me because I think it's one of the lamest win conditions that's around, and it bums me out to see it.

Moving on...

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So, Signets vs Talismans.

[Mookie]

Depends on the deck, but Talisman in a vacuum - needing to pay a mana to filter can make signets awkward. Also sometimes causes wasted mana.

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[Sinis]

Slam dunk on Shards. Scars Elspeth is so underwhelming, even if you can kind of disk the turn after.

- OR -

[toctheyounger]

Lighthouse. Shroud isn't common but it's here and there. Greaves is a format staple after all.

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[Myllior]

Korvold requires thought and build-around, but rewards you for doing so; I find him the more interesting commander and expect decks with him at the helm to have greater depth.

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[plushpenguin]

Edric is stronger but Bident I like more IMO because it can fit into more decks.

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[Rumpy5897]

I'm gonna go against the grain here and go with Recurring Insight. The top-up from this is often ridiculous, while drawing a small fraction of the attention of ConSphinx. The beauty of being the poster child for battlecruiser haymakers.

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[Myllior]

The Extortionist as treasure generation on ETB gives it a much higher ceiling.

Bonus Round: In addition to comparing the cards themselves, which flavor text do you like more?

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[Morganelefay]

I feel we've seen this exact comparison before and again I'll say Beguiler as that one takes much less work and is permanent. As for the flavortext, the sheer arrogance dripping off of Willbreaker nudges that one over the top for me.

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[Myllior]

I feel we've seen this exact comparison before

I don't believe we have. Since we've had so many comparisons, I use the search function to check my choices before posting; the past comparisons I found were Beguiler vs. Rootwater Matriarch and Willbreaker vs. Sower of Temptation.

The comparison of Zendikar Resurgent vs. The Great Henge is one we've had before. I went for Zendikar Resurgent then and I still do now. While The Great Henge can be used as a combo piece for Persist shenanigans, its ramp, life gain and cost reduction still pale in comparison to a mana doubler.

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[RxPhantom]

Speaking of exact comparisons we've seen before...

Zendikar Rising by a smidge. I like them both but the power of mana doubling can't be overstated. Ninja'd.

Dictate. That whole cycle is awesome since they mitigate the downside of giving everyone a boost by letting you get first crack at the bounty.

It should be noted that Mana Web has received errata similar to that of Aura of Silence, meaning that it affects all opponents, not just one.

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[JoeyB11223]

These cards are quite different, but for me I'll go with Mana Web as it's one sided and incredibly disruptive, also punishes for relying on rainbow lands. Only downside is if the control player has a lot of colored artifact mana etc.

Not really the same thing but anyhow...

VS.

[MeowZeDung]

I'm going to go with Dauthi Embrace here, which could be cute in a mono black voltron build like Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis or some such. Blue has too many better options imo, but I could see Flood being a piece in some tap/untap combo shenanigans.

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[JovialJovian]

Gotta stick with the Sanitarium. Decks that want more of this effect are (in my experience) out of blue-red. In blue-red I feel like I could get enough more efficient versions of the effect elsewhere. Plus the ability to get discard triggers off of your opponents from a land is neato.

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[Sinis]

They're both good, but I've found Oketra to be better in non-enchantress/monowhite decks. Doublestrike is no joke, and Oketra can often easily find herself in combat with a couple of other creatures, while the devotion mechanic means that instant-speed removal can sometimes evaporate Heliod's ability to fight.

- OR -

[toctheyounger]

Oh, I have to go with Yawgmoth. He's got the legacy of a long and storied tale behind him, and frankly he's absolutely crazy in the command zone. Super quick, super savage, and just an explosive winner.

While we're on the legacy legends vs new legends game...

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[Rorseph]

Gotta go with Urza. He's one of my favorite characters because I love how flawed he is. I think I'd rather have Emry in the Command Zone, though.

or

[Morganelefay]

Great Aurora. It's a somewhat fairer version to work with and doesn't entirely deprive the spellslinger from resources, while still putting the caster in a very powerful position.

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[MeowZeDung]

Chronarch. Wizards are a relevant Izzet tribe, and getting the target instant/sorcery to hand rather than top of the library is worth the additional mana cost, especially since you should be planning to get this etb trigger multiple times. Bloodwater Entity is just too narrow and really only goes in a focused aggro/prowess deck.

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