[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Garna, Bloodfist of Keld

[toctheyounger]

I'm not gonna add anything that anyone else hasn't said, because it's all true. Deathtouch is valuable and justifies the CMC. This hitting lands is pretty important, too.

I just wanna say I hate the SL art, personally.

[Hawk]

It's just an easy default, for all the reasons mentioned - Deathtouch + Hitting a land. I personally have targeted a land only once, out here in carebear land, but it was a Coffers and did lead to me winning that game. It will only matter 1 in 20 games, but it's a consideration for sure.

Reclamation Sage is great too, but the body is often irrelevant. Sage is better in a tribal deck (Elf and Shaman) or a blink deck. Acidic Slime is arguably better in more beatdown-y or midrange value decks. If you're some sort of creature toolbox, graveyard manipulation, or go-wide deck deck you likely want both.

The next closest competitors all fall short:
- Viridian Zealot and Caustic Caterpillar are probably the next best cards, but they have even less relevant bodies, and I'd only really be excited to run them in sacrifice-themed decks or tribal lists.
- Bane of Progress is very strong, but since it is symmetrical it isn't an auto-include in the same way as Sage and Slime. The extra mana is also considerable, and he's "just" a big dumb beatstick unless you're a +1/+1 counter synergy deck. There's also budget concerns - Bane's cost can be pretty high for a casual player.
- Wickerbough Elder and Steelbane Hydra have some fun synergies in theory but are clunky in practice. I've tested both and generally found myself cutting these for slime or an instant. I'd need to explicitly be building a casual Treefolk or Hydra tribal deck to run these two nowadays.
- The same is true but even more so of Qasali Slingers, Indrik Stomphowler, and Conclave Naturalists. On paper these have comparable stats, but in practice Deathtouch is just better than more numbers outside of super narrow tribal decks.
- I'd say the real competition these days are instants (specifically and most notably, Return to Nature, Nature's Claim, Krosan Grip, and Force of Vigor). If you are a green deck that doesn't necessarily "need" the bodies (as is the case for my Pir//Toothy and Pheldagriff decks) these can crowd out slime in the modern search for maximum efficiency and flexibility, but the vast majority of Gx decks like a high creature count and, again, the format is big enough to allow for running Slime for the 2-for-1 AND running Claim or Return for instant-speed interaction.

[Mookie]

Acidic Slime is sweet, but I've found myself cutting it from decks over time. It has two significant draws over Reclamation Sage: deathtouch, and the ability to kill lands. The former is quite useful, allowing it to ward off attacks and wield Viridian Longbow with confidence... but given that the former can also be done by pretty much any giant green creature and the latter is... rare, I wouldn't value that particularly highly unless I were building around it. In a fight-focused deck like Neyith of the Dire Hunt or Rhonas the Indomitable, I could see it being more relevant. That said, I do value deathtouch over the larger body of Indrik Stomphowler, but below Qasali Slingers' reach.

As for killing lands... definitely a valuable ability, but it will depend somewhat on your meta. If you're playing against a bunch of Golos, Tireless Pilgrim or Cabal Coffers / Gaea's Cradle decks, the ability to blow up lands is quite valuable. On the other hand, I rarely find myself lacking a target for Reclamation Sage, so the additional flexibility may not be necessary - the marginal utility of having 2.5 good targets on average compared to just 2 good targets is low, since you can still only blow up one of those targets. This does become more interesting if you have ways to flicker Acidic Slime and lock people out of the game though - I've run it alongside Deadeye Navigator in the past. Otherwise, the difference in costing five mana instead of two is pretty significant.

I'll also note that there are many other options for land destruction if you so choose - Wave of Vitriol, Wasteland, etc.

[FenrirRex]

It's a great utility card, no question, and yet another card that can be an innocuous win-condition when you have graveyard loops in your deck. Tied together, this makes it a real work horse of a card that still merits inclusion despite power levels slowly outstripping any singular element of its utility. Bonus points that ooze tribal is slowly becoming a thing.

[3drinks]

...that ooze tribal is slowly becoming a thing.

Pun intended? 😂👀

[3drinks]

Thursday, November 19th, 2020; Bonecrusher Giant // Stomp|eld

Well I'm a fan. Break your damage shield, then serve as undercosted fat latre - with upside, even. What's not to love?

[DirkGently]

An overcosted shock is not an awful first half, but I think the weakness of this card is the second half. A 4/3 for 3 is very...meh for commander. The vast majority of decks that could aren't even playing Serra Ascendant, and that's many times more efficient as a beater. Nobody is going to waste targeted removal on it, so the ability is basically nil. I could see it being good for a giant tribal deck, or if you had some other reason to want a 3 drop or a relatively-efficiently-powered creature. Maybe if you have a bunch of ferocious cards or something, or a good reason to want to swing on turn 4 (maybe Rakdos, Lord of Riots?)

[Serenade]

I think this card will gain more use over time...for the no-damage prevention piece. Black is getting more damage-instead-of-life-loss cards, and I cannot wait for the day when someone uses Stomp to counter my Command the Dreadhorde/Righteous Aura combo.

[Sinis]

Thursday, November 19th, 2020; Bonecrusher Giant // Stomp

Well I'm a fan. Break your damage shield, then serve as undercosted fat latre - with upside, even. What's not to love?

It seems like it should be good. It gets to do both its things, and Stomp shouldn't be underrated when it bonks most little commanders (especially ones with the word "Partner") on them.

Yet, I don't find myself playing it often, perhaps because I don't play red often.

[Lifeless]

I've never used this guy but shutting off prevention at instant speed (particularly Fogs) can't be underestimated for red decks. I'll definitely be considering it moving forward.

[ISBPathfinder]

I like the design but 1R shock even with it breaking protections and prevention is usually not a good effect in this format. The body on him is also a bit lackluster. The things that make him good and efficient in most 1v1 formats generally don't follow to multiplayer commander. Even if you can find a use for his removal his body just isn't relevant enough for this format often making him not very useful.

He reminds me a bit of like, a red Snapcaster Mage. If you have ever seen snapcaster when he was in standard or played in modern he was great for chip damage, trading, and just generating value. You could often get in for some serious damage by removing their creatures and just pushing that two damage a turn. Bonecrusher Giant is very similar in nature being a potential 2 for 1 sort of card but a 4/3 for 3 just isn't nearly as relevant in multiplayer commander. I would actually say that the combination of a 2 mana shock and a 3 mana irrelevant body really add up to two underwhelming turns in my mind. The card advantage of this card as well as the pressure and power of his answer all end up as sort of underwhelming actions.

[Hawk]

He's at closing in on 1000 decks which feels about right. He's not amazing or a staple, but he's a solid roleplayer if you're a R/x burny sort of deck. He's at his best in low-to-the-ground non-Goblin monored decks and it looks like his popularity is definitely being buoyed by the fact that Torbran, Thane of Red Fell is the 2nd most played mono-red Commander and he's amazing there. But he also is reasonable in Neheb, the Eternal (fifth most popular commander) and several other more niche mono-red decks (like Chandra, Anax, and Heartless Hidetstugu) - if you're interested in doing chunks of small damage and having a midrange body, Bonecrusher is a nice add. He's also a giant that doesn't cost a billion mana and doubles as early "removal" so he's a slam dunk in any Giant Tribal deck. And there's some aggro Rakdos decks that I don't hate him in, as he's an out against some effects that those colors might otherwise just fold to. But outside of those things, 2 damage isn't a ton and I don't feel like fogs protection and indestructibility are so common that it warrants including this dork in tons of decks.

[3drinks]

Friday, November 20th, 2020; Avenger of Zendikar

I see a bit of talk about this being a relic of days gone by, but idk it looks like the gold standard of finishers to me even in these days. What's your take?

[Dunharrow]

I have never played Avenger. To me it is a combo card for T&N to search up.
I have a land-oriented Mina and Denn, Wildborn deck but it is more about activating Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx 3-4 times per turn than landfall per se. Never considered Avenger of Zendikar over something like Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger or Deus of Calamity or Ruric Thar, the Unbowed or Gruul Ragebeast...
To me a bunch of plants are just not doing enough to win the game.

[JWK]

If you have a haste enabler and any sort of pump effect or way to drop multiple lands after playing the Avenger, it can end games on the spot. It's a solid card, as it should be for CMC 7, but nothing broken, I don't see it as a relic at all, and if anything, the new landfall options have made it stronger. It's been an all-star in my Omn4th deck for sure.

[PrimevalCommander]

Avenger is still one of the best bulk token makers right now. I run him in anything with a go-wide, token, or sacrifice strategy. It just makes tons of tokens, and if you wait until you have a land drop ready, those tokens become something much more useful. Great card and unlikely to be obsolete for years to come due to the efficiency at making a board full of dudes.

[Rumpy5897]

It's one of the strongest cards in my wildly suboptimal simic pile, and is a common occurrence in my mid-power group. It's a board in a can, simple as that. One of those old-time cards that still do a thing in the current EDH climate, outside higher power realms.

[FenrirRex]

Still one of my favorite finishers- there are only so many ways to get a reliably wide board state in a game full of wraths and haymakers, so this kind of army-in-a-can card is perfect for keeping any Overrun or Craterhoof Behemoth cards relevant where they might otherwise fall off. Beyond that, sometimes you just really need a lot of chump blockers.

[Outcryqq]

I've been on the giving and receiving end of Avenger of Zendikar probably in the neighborhood of 100 times, and it's still a beating in the right context. And I think with more landfall cards being printed, I think this card stays quite relevant.

[Sinis]

Friday, November 20th, 2020; Avenger of Zendikar

I see a bit of talk about this being a relic of days gone by, but idk it looks like the gold standard of finishers to me even in these days. What's your take?

I think this card is still really good.

I would say its staying power in the format is from three salient factors:
1. It can win the game on its own. If unanswered, Avenger and plants will just kill players.
2. It improves card parity. It pays out on your ramp and land topdecks. If you aren't drawing land or ramp, you're drawing removal or gas.
3. It dovetails with other popular strategies: ramp, tokens, +1/+1 counters. It's a surefire way to power up Gaea's Cradle, make non-trivial use of an Explosive Vegetation, and is pretty wild with Hardened Scales.

Anyone wanting to use almost any creature-based strategy in green will probably find this one working out.

[Mookie]

Avenger of Zendikar is a card that has aged very gracefully. One part of that is that it has a ton of synergies - it makes a ton of tokens, works well with landfall, generates a bunch of +1/+1 counters, works well with flicker effects... There are other creatures capable of generating multiple tokens, but very few capable of competing with Avenger in terms of sheer number of tokens generated. Throw in the ability to trivially pump those tokens into a massive army with a fetchland or ramp spell and you have a creature that often forces removal while still leaving behind a ton of value. Works great with stuff like Skullclamp, Gaea's Cradle, and Ashnod's Altar. Alternatively, throw in Craterhoof Behemoth or Thunderfoot Baloth to Overrun your opponents into oblivion.

....I really wish WotC would stop reprinting Rampaging Baloths into the ground, and start reprinting Avenger more often instead. Ah, well.

[Wallycaine]

....I really wish WotC would stop reprinting Rampaging Baloths into the ground, and start reprinting Avenger more often instead. Ah, well.

I think it's a lot of little things that keep Avenger of Zendikar from showing up in Precons more often (which is where most of the Rampaging Baloths got printed. One is the tokens: non-square statted tokens are considered more complex than square stats (power and toughness equal), because figuring out what happens in combat ahead of time with a bunch of 2/2's is a lot easier than 2/3's. Another aspect is Avenger having a non-intuitive strategy to playing it. Most players can understand that you want to wait to play avenger until you can immediately drop a land, but it's an easy mistake to make when you're learning the game. And that can lead to poor experiences if Avenger gets removed before they make a land drop and they're left with a bunch of 0/1's for their 7 mana investment. There's a couple other small things (variable number of tokens, tension between wanting to maximize token production and wanting to ensure landfall), and while I don't think any one of these would disqualify him for inclusion in a Precon, he's definitely on the more complex end of what they want to put in there, and probably eats up some space they'd prefer to use on the newer cards. Where Baloths is a lot simpler of a card that fulfills a similar role.

[JWK]

Avenger is in the new Simic precon.

[3drinks]

Saturday, November 21st, 2020; swords to plowshare|sld

I can't imagine anyone disliking this card or finding some kind of a legitimate exclusion to utilizing the sheer effectiveness of it, so I'm just going to assume that today is a Swords to Plowshares appreciation topic.

Also Happy Yargle Day. Which is now the Magic equivalent of Rusev Day. (it's a WWE thing. Work with me here 🤔)

[DirkGently]

Absolutely a great removal spell, but I'm shocked how little appreciation people have for the comparable removal spells Pongify and Rapid Hybridization, which are also 1-mana instant creature removal spells with mostly negligible downsides. One thing I love about cheap interaction is that its power is proportional to the power of the meta. In a meta where people are playing scary combo creatures, it solves the problem. In a meta where people are beating down with big dumb battlecruisers, it solves the problem.

I don't expect I'll cut any of them from Phelddagrif ever. 1 mana to solve a creature is just so reliable.