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

[3drinks]

Saturday, September 11th, 2021; Catacomb Sifter

[hyalopterouslemur]

There are four versions of this effect, and they each have their own advantages.

Shadows of the Past is cheapest and more survivable as an enchantment.

Reaper of the Wilds has the biggest body and can gain deathtouch or hexproof.

Catacomb Sifter brings a second body (which can sac itself!) with it.

To be candid, Warteye Witch has little other than being a goblin.

[3drinks]

Sunday, Septeber 12th, 2021; Double Major

[hyalopterouslemur]

Some potential with things like Mulldrifter. Entry triggers are what you're looking for here, mostly, though it does let Wolfir Silverheart make two 12/12s if you care. But it does the same for Primalcrux...

[Mookie]

Double Major is an interesting Clone effect. Two mana is pretty cheap for a clone - the only other two mana clone is Phantasmal Image, which has a pretty significant downside. It also lets you have multiple copies of a legendary creature, which is pretty sweet. On the other hand, it also only copies your own creatures, and you have to have an extra GU at the time of casting the spell, which can get pretty expensive.

I'd consider it for decks that particularly care about copy tokens - populating a copy of your commander or another sweet creature seems strong. I'll note that cards like Cackling Counterpart can do something similar. On the other hand, it gets a lot worse if you find yourself regularly constrained on mana.

[3drinks]

Monday, September 13th, 2021; Saheeli's Artistry

[Serenade]

Pretty sure the one time I used it, I copied Sword of the Animist and some creature…and only later realized Sword is legendary!

It's a super fun casual card.

[Sinis]

Monday, September 13th, 2021; Saheeli's Artistry

The math checks out on this card's actual output to mana cost ratio, but I never seem to even want to play it.

[hyalopterouslemur]

It's usually worth it if you have a lot of nonlegendary artifacts and creatures. Normally a clone effect is four without significant upside. This is significant upside.

[Mookie]

Saheeli's Artistry is cool. I almost hit one with Chancellor of the Spires once, but was foiled by Dig Through Time delving it away. *shakes fist*

Outside that situation, two clones for six mana is a pretty good deal, especially if you care about exotic types of clones. It's not difficult to have good targets for it either. Six mana is a little expensive in a vacuum, but clones tend to scale pretty well to any point in the game.

[Treamayne]

I've have Saheeli's Artistry in my Sydri Vehicle deck, and have really liked it there. I like that the target for each can be the same if it is an artifact (or animated) creature. Nothing like making two copies of an animated Spine of Ish Sah...Though the more common targets (Cloud Key, Jhoira's Familiar, Chief of the Foundry, Master Transmuter, etc.) are just as worth it.

[3drinks]

Tuesday, September 14th, 2021; Animation Module

[EonAon]

Animation Module is one of those tech cards I like the idea of but hate in practice. While the pay one ability is actually not badly priced in the grand scheme of things I REALLY hate adding extra to any casting costs I play. The fact that it needs four mana to gain a creature and a counter is a fairly bad total cost since the creature it creates is such a minor speed bump in commander. Proliferate cards at least allow for all your counters to be plused rather than on a single card.

[Hawk]

This is a card I've meant to test out in a variety of decks that always feels a bit too expensive and too cute in practice.

- In theory, this + Heliod + a soul sister is "create as many 1/1 dorks and +1/+1 counters as you have mana", and that should be good...but it hasn't felt worth it in Heliod.
- In theory I should be into a proliferation engine in Daretti...but I have so few +1/+1 counter cards that it doesn't feel worthwhile. Ditto my short-lived Sai Modular Aggro deck.
- It missed the cut in Pir & Toothy too despite the fact it ought to trigger every turn, because it just felt like it was less powerful than everything else that deck was doing.

I imagine it is a must-run in Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp?

[BeneTleilax]

I imagine it is a must-run in Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp?

It's not a must-run by any means, but it's a strong token engine. The second ability still honks, but I tend to leave mana up for activated abilities and trickery generally, so I can often find a time to pay for this trigger. People ignore the tokens until I dump a dozen counters on one and swing. I think a deck needs to have artifact, sacrifice and counter synergies for it to be good, and that's a fairly narrow overlap.

[Sinis]

Tuesday, September 14th, 2021; Animation Module

This card. A buddy of mine runs it in his Mazirek deck, and it just churns out Servos. Also, combos reasonably well with Path of Discovery. I think this card is really solid in any +1/+1 counter deck, given that it's .

[Mookie]

Obligatory callout: Decoction Module, Fabrication Module.

Animation Module is a card that seems most at home in a combo deck. There are a lot of ways to turn creatures into +1/+1 counters - Juniper Order Druid, Cathars' Crusade, etc. Combine that with Animation Module and you can produce as many tokens as you have mana. However, in my experience, paying to make X 1/1 tokens isn't quite enough to win by itself - it takes too long to chew through opposing life totals, and you'll usually be disrupted before then. It's certainly possible to present lethal if you can buff the tokens in some way (in this case, they're probably at least 2/2s), but the easiest way is often to throw in a third combo piece (such as Krark-Clan Ironworks) to make it actually infinite.

If you aren't planning to combo with it, Animation Module still seems fine as a token producer, assuming you have sufficient +1/+1 counter generation - for a 1/1 token is a pretty efficient rate. It can be a pain to tack extra mana onto the cost of other effects though.

I'll also call out Animation Module's second ability, which acts as a single-target proliferate effect, which can be useful if you're pumping up a planeswalker / poison counters / etc. Less efficient than actually proliferating, but not a bad ability to be tacked on.

[hyalopterouslemur]

It's an "as much as you have mana" combo, those three, but can easily be made infinite. The single-target proliferate is nice, though for 1 more, I can activate my Contagion Clasp. Or Contagion Engine, but it costs a lot more.

I could see this in any deck that cares about tokens or counters.

[3drinks]

Wednesday, September 15th, 2021; Basri's Lieutenant

[Serenade]

This guy…feels like he can provide a decent amount of value with a counters or vigilance deck and would work well with our new coven mechanic.

Certainly a more casual card, but I never knew this guy existed.

[Sinis]

Wednesday, September 15th, 2021; Basri's Lieutenant

Good in +1/+1 counters, but not spectacular anywhere else. Protection from Multicoloured is very good, especially when glued together with Vigilance. The death trigger(s) can be a real boon.

[Dunharrow]

Umm, you guys are missing how easy it is to go infinite with him. Basri's Lieutenant + Cathars' Crusade/Master Biomancer/Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest/whatever + sac outlet = infinite.

I put him in Reyhan, Last of the Abzan, which can also pinch hit to make this go infinite (with two creatures with +1/+1 counters)

[Mookie]

Basri's Lieutenant is an interesting card - as others have mentioned, it's pretty easy to convert creatures into +1/+1 counters, which makes it a solid combo piece. Unlike yesterday's Animation Module, Basri's Lieutenant converts +1/+1 counters into creatures for free, which makes it easier to combo with. You do need a sacrifice outlet or some other way to make your creatures die though.

I'll call out that Basri's Lieutenant also happens to have an excellent statline - 4/5 vigilance + protection from multicolored for 4 mana is well above the curve. I could see it being played in knight tribal decks just as a body.

[hyalopterouslemur]

At worst he's a 4/5 with vigilance and pro-multicolored who makes a bear when he dies. The pro-multicolored is a double-edged sword, however, since Ghave, Reyhan, Roon, and Marath are very interested in him. A slight downside.

Wacky combo time: Basri's Lieutenant + Cathars' Crusade + Blasting Station

[pokken]

I enjoy this card quite a bit from a design perspective. The fast that it triggers off other token creatures is dope. You can create some really cool engines.

It's very very high on my list of "I'd play it if I ran Ephara, God of the Polis as a +1/+1 counter commander"

Because boyohboy putting counters on my tokens and saccing them all the time to make more tokens and draw cards with Ephara sounds fun as heck

Wacky combo time: Basri's Lieutenant + Cathars' Crusade + Blasting Station

stop building my deck for me

Any time you can combo with all pretty good cards it's something to think seriously about though, and there're lots of similar effects to crusade - stuff like Juniper Order Ranger