[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Karametra's Acolyte

[Dunharrow]

I don't find colorless manlands to be very interesting in Commander.
I suppose if you have a deck built around Silumgar, the Drifting Death or something it is an extra Mutavault.

But I don't see playing this over something like Bonders' Enclave or Strip Mine.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Absolutely NOT a phylactery

[Serenade]

Are there tribes that care about snow? I would use this in snow snakes Kaseto, Orochi Archmage.

[materpillar]

The three snow mana activation is pretty brutal. You want to be tribal and snow which is pretty niche. I think if you want this affect you'll probably just roll with Mutavault.

[3drinks]

Thursday, July 22nd, 2021; Halvar, God of Battle // Sword of the Realms

Well that looks pretty fun. Easy way to play your Argentum Armors and Megaton Hammers........... the epitome of a linear gimmick, but a fun gimmick nonetheless.

[Sinis]

Thursday, July 22nd, 2021; Halvar, God of Battle // Sword of the Realms

I have yet to play my copy, but, I think this is generally a good card for decks that are interested in equipment. Basically, being modal of "sword" or "something that carries a sword" is a good or-proposition for equipment decks where you might draw too many of one and none of the other.

Second, Sword of the Realms itself could be a potential combo piece. I'm sure there are combos available with Puresteel Paladin.

Easy way to play your Argentum Armors and Megaton Hammers........... the epitome of a linear gimmick, but a fun gimmick nonetheless.

Does this really work? It already has to be attached to something, and Halvar just lets you redistribute, I think. I don't believe you ever really get to cheat the initial equipment cost with Halvar.

[Lifeless]

I originally fancied him as a commander but I think he has more value in the 99 than I originally considered. Anything that can attach a Sunforger for free is playable in my book.

[DirkGently]

Lol everyone is misreading him. Sinis has it right. You can't get free equips. I guess it's sorta free with a living weapon?

Bit trickier to get value out of that clause. Theoretically you could redistribute to better strategize around blockers, but that's not super exciting in commander. Best thing I can think of is to get equipment on a cheap creature early, then drop a fatty and get them suited up right away for protection/haste/whatever.

[pokken]

The sword side is a lot better but also kinda...played out landscape I imagine it would be fun to play with Angel of the Dire Hour and just threaten to do that once or twice a turn cycle forever.

[3drinks]

Easy way to play your Argentum Armors and Megaton Hammers........... the epitome of a linear gimmick, but a fun gimmick nonetheless.

Does this really work? It already has to be attached to something, and Halvar just lets you redistribute, I think. I don't believe you ever really get to cheat the initial equipment cost with Halvar.

That's why you never leave home without your Kuriboh duh.

[Dunharrow]

1. Double strike on all your creatures carrying swords is kinda nuts
2. The combo Sinis asked for :
Puresteel Paladin
Deathrender
Halvar, God of Battle // Sword of the Realms
Sac outlet to go infinite.

Or, rather than Puresteel Paladin, you can use Phyrexian Altar and something that makes tokens or brings friends.

You can also make use of Pitiless Plunderer
Nim Deathmantle also works with many of these pieces.

Do you also dream of infinite Yosei, the Morning Star death triggers?

Edit - Sidebar
It makes me laugh with glee to see Pitiless Plunderer and Nim Deathmantle are worth more than Grave Titan.

[Sinis]

2. The combo Sinis asked for :

I mean, Sword, Puresteel, Phyrexian Altar and any other artifact makes infinite mana.
Or, Sword, Puresteel, Blasting Station plus one artifact.

Honestly, once Puresteel Paladin is involved, it could even accidentally break.

That's why you never leave home without your Kuriboh duh.

But, why have Halvar move something to a creature when Brass Squire could have moved it there in the first place? I'm just saying it's not really source of free equips. Halvar doesn't just spare you mana like Brass Squire, Puresteel Paladin or Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist does.

[Ruiner]

I've got this in my Nahiri, the Lithomancer deck and I haven't drawn it since putting it in the deck. In theory, it should be doing great things. Nahiri making a token that then equips anything not yet equipped that Halvar can then move to whatever seems decent as another free equipping redundancy. Double-strike for all equipped creatures is not shabby at all either.

[hyalopterouslemur]

I call this semilinear. Yeah, it wants lots of auras and equipment, but there are a ton of those.

The other prong of this fork is an antilinear mechanic like delve, which get noticeably worse as you put more cards with that mechanic.

And then you have modular, which can be used in just about anything: We all need mana, cards, and removal, right? Most of us have use for combat tricks.

[Mookie]

...I think one of the issues with Halvar is actually that majority of his text box is taken up by the less-exciting equipment-moving ability. Moving around already-equipped equipment isn't that exciting when you compare him to Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist or Balan, Wandering Knight, who actually cheat on costs. On the other hand, if you focus on the double strike and consider the ability to make Sword of Feast and Famine or Colossus Hammer have twice value, he seems a lot more exciting. Double strike is one of the strongest keywords to combo with equipment, but it doesn't show up on that many creatures (or many pieces of equipment). Could be interesting to use with something like Whispersilk Cloak to power up saboteur creatures too.

On the flip side, Sword of the Realms reads a bit more exciting - it combos with a sac outlet to let you recur a creature repeatedly, sort of like a janky Phyrexian Reclamation. You can also just use it to protect a particular creature. Still not amazing, but if you have free equips (such as from Puresteel Paladin) it looks a lot better. Still, I'd usually go with Lightning Greaves if I wanted to protect a particular creature - I can't think of many decks that both want to do both equipment and creature looping with sacrifice effects.

[Dunharrow]

2. The combo Sinis asked for :

I mean, Sword, Puresteel, Phyrexian Altar and any other artifact makes infinite mana.
Or, Sword, Puresteel, Blasting Station plus one artifact.

Honestly, once Puresteel Paladin is involved, it could even accidentally break.

I guess with a 1 drop sure.
I just like sword + deathrender because it means you can sac any creature and return it right back to play.

[3drinks]

Friday, July 23rd, 2021; Ruin Grinder

Probably the best of this effect. I like I can fetch a xr dual and then weld into it latre. or dig it out of the trash, if you prefer.

[tstorm823]

It's been a great fit in Olivia, Mobilized for War. Discards itself, gets me to my 3rd mana for Olivia. Reanimate it after as a 8/5 haste menace, which is generally big enough to demand an answer, and then when it dies it draws me into more reanimation.

[Hawk]

I bought the Osigir precon and reshaped it into Quintorius, Field Historian, but this stuck around for testing since my deck does still have a few pieces that synergize with it (Bag of Holding, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Feldon of the Third Path). I think some of those pieces may be on their way out, but this is still just a decent value dude who is likely to stick around for a few more iterations and upgrades. A 7/4 Menace is a real body and clock, the death trigger is gas for most R/x decks, and it even cycles itself for fixing in the early-midgame.

Modern Commander has moved away from good value dudes (this dude would have been an auto-include 6 years ago), but he's an artifact creature which means great synergy with all red's Goblin Welder-type cards which gives this a great home in popular commander decks lead by Osgir, the Reconstructor, Breya, Etherium Shaper. Daretti, Scrap Savant. or Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain. And cycling means this is also a great fit in the recent crop of Madness/Cycling/discard R/x decks with Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar, Gavi, Nest Warden, and Anje Falkenrath and whatnot. I suspect we'll see more and more of this guy as time goes on.

[cheonice]

He's a real workhorse in my Purphoros the Bronzeblooded. Fetches a mountain, deals some damage, refills my hand. Really solid card.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Goblin Welder just loves this guy. So does any deck that benefits from you or your opponents drawing cards, so The Locust God, Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind, Nekusar, the Mindrazer.

But I must also draw your attention to the 7 power for 6 mana. You can have it fight as a way to sac it and take out a decent-sized fatty. You can use it to take out a chunk of opp's life total with Fling or Warstorm Surge. Have some real fun (without anyone crying about infinite combos) with Splinter Twin and friends. (Sac outlet required.)

And of course Feldon of the Third Path exists, kids. Also, just out of curiosity, has there been a Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker deck in recent times?

[3drinks]

Saturday, July 24th, 2021; Sanctum Prelate

[Igzex]

That's one way for a hexproof'd Gaddock Teeg lockdown to deal with Cyclonic Rift.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Oh! You can hate out so much disruption by simply choosing 2! It's less effective against permanents because Sun Titan.

[Hermes_]

the very first you can't even lol