[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Archfiend of Depravity

[Sinis]

Friday, June 19th, 2020; Horobi, Death's Wail

This was one of my first generals! He was also the subject of my very first article.

The deck started out trying to keep Horobi on the table, but eventually devolved into cast/reanimate Horobi->cast a thing that takes advantage of Horobi->without passing priority, sacrifice Horobi.

Obligatory Touch of Darkness technology mention.

[3drinks]

Friday, June 19th, 2020; Horobi, Death's Wail

This was one of my first generals! He was also the subject of my very first article.

The deck started out trying to keep Horobi on the table, but eventually devolved into cast/reanimate Horobi->cast a thing that takes advantage of Horobi->without passing priority, sacrifice Horobi.

Obligatory Touch of Darkness technology mention.

Sweet old tech! These cards are soooooo bad, but like my flying carpet, they just work here. I love to see it!

[Sinis]

Sweet old tech! These cards are soooooo bad, but like my flying carpet, they just work here. I love to see it!

I re-read my article, and cannot believe I deigned to run Ebony Charm. Wow. This was also the deck that set me onto playing Cauldron of Souls in other decks, too.

I remember buying OG Urborg for this deck, but, back in 2011, it was nickles and dimes. What an innocent time we lived in.

[onering]

Horobi is one of my all time favs. He makes so many bad cards good. I've had Ghosts of the Damned countered. My version is built with repeatable effects and plenty of recursion, so I can get Horobi back easily. It also has a minor spirit tribal subtheme.

It can be annoying, but it also can be a lot of fun. Its a pretty political deck. You don't have to try to keep the board totally clear until your ready to turn the corner and start closing out the game. If you show you're willing to hold back and not just constantly clear the board, Horobi is able to keep some of the more annoying commanders in check and it's surprising how often your opponents will want him to stick around. He serves as an impressive rattlesnake, and you can rent out his services to opponents in exchange for deals. He's one of my all time favorite commanders.

[Mookie]

Horobi, Death's Wail is pretty sweet. As others have mentioned, it turns a lot of random cards into really efficient removal spells, while also shutting down a lot of decks (especially anything equipment-based). I've never actually seen a Horobi deck in action though. It feels like the sort of commander that most players would want to keep off the table - both because it's a scary effect and because it feels like a deck that would sort of fall apart without its commander. It also has the downside of not really being a proactive card - you can slow down the game by killing all of your opponents' stuff, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to actually close the game out. Hmmm....

As for a card in the 99... could be somewhat interesting, but, again, Horobi feels like too much of a build-around. Could be sweet with Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter or other commanders with targeted abilities. However, I wouldn't run it to justify the inclusion of Touch of Darkness or other dead cards. Black already has a ton of access to good removal spells, so running a card to get access to slightly better ones doesn't really feel worth it.

[onering]

Horobi, Death's Wail is pretty sweet. As others have mentioned, it turns a lot of random cards into really efficient removal spells, while also shutting down a lot of decks (especially anything equipment-based). I've never actually seen a Horobi deck in action though. It feels like the sort of commander that most players would want to keep off the table - both because it's a scary effect and because it feels like a deck that would sort of fall apart without its commander. It also has the downside of not really being a proactive card - you can slow down the game by killing all of your opponents' stuff, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to actually close the game out. Hmmm....

As for a card in the 99... could be somewhat interesting, but, again, Horobi feels like too much of a build-around. Could be sweet with Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter or other commanders with targeted abilities. However, I wouldn't run it to justify the inclusion of Touch of Darkness or other dead cards. Black already has a ton of access to good removal spells, so running a card to get access to slightly better ones doesn't really feel worth it.

It can definitely drive some people to try to keep it off the field, but generally one person is going to benefit most from it not being around so the rest of the table lets it stick, so long as the Horobi player isn't reckless and just killing things without a plan. It doesn't just make it harder for opponents to do their thing, it makes it harder for THEIR opponents to do their thing, which can make people who can kill it leave it around.

It's necessary to build it with a lot of recursion and way to find the recursion, so that Horobi can die a lot without getting commander taxed to oblivion. It's also important to ensure that not everything is there just to target creatures so you have ways to kill people. Fortunately, plenty of things are available in mono black that don't get hurt by Horobi and can kill players. He works well with PWs for instance because he protects them from attacks. Horobi himself is an efficiently costed 4/4 flier, so it is possible to get to a point where you control the board and just start swinging out with creatures. My deck will mostly win by allowing creatures to live so long as they attack other people, and getting some chip damage in with my creatures including Horobi when I get chances to do so, and then finishing people off with exsanguinate style cards. Eventually you draw or tutor up urborg coffers and can drop 20 Mana into it. I love Profane Command in it because it can finish off a player while taking out a bunch of creatures. Hell, I've even won off of just repeatedly dumping a bunch of Mana into Banshee while whip of erebos was on my field, just burning out a couple guys over a few turns.

Playing it well requires good threat assessment and political skill. Occasionally you'll just get a good draw and nobody will be able to do anything about it and you'll run away with the game, but usually you're going to have to be the guy that solves problems and hangs back until the right moment.

[3drinks]

Saturday, June 20th, 2020; Yavimaya Elder

Do how does the once ol faithful stand the test of time in today's era? I'm really tempted to add Krosan Tusker to today as well because they ARE remarkably similar, but...ehh. I guess we can save that discussion for another time.

[plushpenguin]

This card used to be playable back when green didn't have so many solid card advantage engines.

These days, green can go nuts with drawing cards, so this by comparison is far too inefficient.

[Mookie]

I used to run Yavimaya Elder in a bunch of green decks for the sweet, sweet vaaaalue. These days though, I'm not running it in any decks. I'd say my main complaint with it at the moment is that it feels too slow - I much prefer to have my ramp and card draw immediately. I also feel like the value of putting extra lands into hand has gone down over time. That's partially because the options for card draw have gotten better over time, which means it's easier to hit land drops every turn by just drawing cards. However, there have also been more options for hitting land drops every turn directly - Ramunap Excavator and Courser of Kruphix are both options for hitting land drops from other zones.

I don't think Yavimaya Elder is necessarily bad, but I do feel like you need to have some other way to benefit from getting extra lands into hand. And, ideally, some way to benefit from the sacrifice synergy. Otherwise you're just playing an inefficient Harmonize. May be worth consideration for Azusa, Lost but Seeking or other decks that can consistently hit those extra land drops. Alternatively, throw it in Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest to pump the team (or just provide an expendable body). I could also see it in Lord Windgrace to provide lands to loot away.

[3drinks]

This card used to be playable back when green didn't have so many solid card advantage engines.

These days, green can go nuts with drawing cards, so this by comparison is far too inefficient.

Sad days 😥. RIP Yavielder, power creep claims another.

[onering]

This is basically a draw 3 for 5 mana, where two are going to be lands, so based on that alone it compares unfavorably to Harmonize. Being able to split the Mana over two turns, and being a creature, made it generally better than Harmonize, but both have been outclassed.

I do still like it in BGx decks based on creatures dying. It is Mana fixing, but you need to lean green for it to be relevant because of the double green cost. In BG the Mana fixing is less relevant but easier to hit than in 3 color, but it does help you hit the triple black costs like necro and grave pact. The key is it's a self sacrificing creature that provides solid value on its own in a deck that is built to provide additional value from creatures dying. You need to be getting a decent amount out of it beyond what's on the card for it to be worth it. Notably, it's also pretty decent when you aren't sacrificing it to its own ability, and often best in those sort of decks when you sac it to something else, because you still get the two land but instead of paying another two Mana to draw a card you get to get whatever value from the other sac outlet instead, which is often more significant.

[ZenN]

Even when Yavimaya Elder was still "good" I've never cared for it. It's too slow and doesn't do enough. Green has had decent draw for years and years, with Sylvan Library, Harmonize, Collective Unconscious, Glimpse of Nature, Soul of the Harvest, Garruk, Primal Hunter, Momentous Fall, Regal Force, Primordial Sage, Enchantress's Presence, Verduran Enchantress, Argothian Enchantress, etc., etc., etc.. Plus, solid colourless sources of draw, like Skullclamp.

I've seen so many people cite Yavimaya Elder as ramp over the years, which it very definitely is not. The only decks Elder has a place in, or ever did in my opinion, are decks where something that sacrifices itself is beneficial. It doesn't make the cut in my Korvold, Fae-Cursed King list, but I've seen others do it, and I'm sure it's fine. I've also seen people put it into Muldrotha, the Gravetide lists.

[Inkeyes22]

I run this in my Karador deck, thinning for three cards is pretty sweet. I did have it in Meren before I added W to remake Karador. I agree it doesn't go in every G deck any more though.

[Outcryqq]

Depending on the build, Yavimaya Elder could make it into a The Gitrog Monster list.

[pokken]

I do like this card a lot though it gets cut a bit more often for me these days. Everyone probably knows how highly I value land drops by now eh

[3drinks]

Sunday, June 21st, 2020; Baneslayer Angel

I'm a fan...but i may be biased. Just a lilbit 👀

[Mookie]

Baneslayer Angel is a cool card, but EDH isn't really the place for french vanilla beaters. Baneslayer is certainly a respectable beater, but it also doesn't really generate any card advantage or enable any synergies in a vacuum. As the saying goes, it dies to Doom Blade.

That said, there are a few spots I could see it being played. The most obvious spot is any sort of angel tribal deck. A lot of the strongest angels are more expensive, but Baneslayer is very castable at 5 mana. Not a terrible inclusion for Kaalia of the Vast as a beater that you don't always have to cheat out. Alternatively, throw on some Swords of X & Y or other equipment - flying and lifelink provide a very solid base of keywords to suit up, and five power of lifelink is pretty tough to race. Also a very nice suite of keywords for Odric, Lunarch Marshal.

I'll also call out the incidental protections - demons and dragons aren't the most common creature type, but they do show up reasonably often. Could be an interesting tech card if there are a lot of demon / dragon commanders in your meta. On the other hand, if the protections aren't relevant, I'll call out Lyra Dawnbringer as an alternative - mostly the same creature, but also has legend synergies and pumps any other angels you may be running. Meanwhile, Gisela, the Broken Blade is a slightly smaller version with some incidental upside if you ever meld her.

....looking a bit deeper, I'm not sure what other beaters I would run over Baneslayer, assuming I'm in the market for a beater in the first place. Not really a topic I've done much research on. Maybe Sunscorch Regent? Plus Gisela and Lyra, as mentioned. Hmmm...

[3drinks]

I'll also call out the incidental protections - demons and dragons aren't the most common creature type, but they do show up reasonably often.

I like that the only creature that is both a demon and a dragon can kill Baneslayer.

Poor Halo Hunter getting utterly embarrassed coming out right after BSA's print. 😂

[materpillar]

Sunday, June 21st, 2020; Baneslayer Angel

I'm a fan...but i may be biased. Just a lilbit 👀

I'm still a fan. I've found baneslayer to still be very strong in the later stages of the game if the table is somewhat combat and not combo focused. She can hold off massive creature boardstates almost singlehandedly.

[onering]

Don't sleep on baneslayer. She dies to removal but do people really want to spend removal on her instead of a combo piece? What she does isn't enough to be a huge threat to any single player at the table, so there is usually a better target either on the board or potentially coming down the line so holding your removal until you actually need to kill her is the right move, but she's more impactful to the person running her as she gets in for chip damage (5 to the face is chip damage in commander) while gaining incidental life, and when you spread her attacks out based on opportunity you tend to gain enough life to be relevant while not doing enough damage to any one player to be super relevant to them. She plays defense like a champ, wears equipment well, is good at closing games, has protection from some relevant commanders and commonly included creatures, and gets extra value in angel tribal, keyword soup, flying matters, and life gain decks.

She's not the Boogeyman she was in standard, but she's better than most French vanilla beaters in this format. Hell, if all you do is immediately stick boots on her and start swinging she's going to have an impact in most metas. I wouldn't stick her in just any deck, but if I'm white and in the market for a beater, she's a good choice, and if anything else about her matters she's always in.

[Hermes_]

I still want to own one

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I still want to own one

It's not really a walletslayer anymore. Stupid thing was like 50 clams when it first hit standard way back when.

[Hermes_]

I still want to own one

It's not really a walletslayer anymore. Stupid thing was like 50 clams when it first hit standard way back when.

it's mainly I keep forgetting/spending money on other things lol

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I still want to own one

It's not really a walletslayer anymore. Stupid thing was like 50 clams when it first hit standard way back when.

it's mainly I keep forgetting/spending money on other things lol

Word. Part of me just wanted to write "walletslayer" one last time before this card is another 8 buck wonder for the rest of whenever.

[3drinks]

Monday, June 22nd, 2020; iMPACT Resonance

What a Sunforger'able trick. And you're pretty OK hardcasting it too, at that cost I think.