[ELD] Throne of Eldraine Modern Discussion

User avatar
Bearscape
Posts: 233
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by Bearscape » 4 years ago

The Royal Scions look strong but have high competition in that cmc3 PW slot. They seem real sweet in a Jeskai shell though; turn your Snapcasters into real threats, rummage through your deck, and start at 6 loyalty? And the -8 is nothing to scoff at for how early you can fire it

User avatar
ktkenshinx
Posts: 571
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: West Coast
Contact:

Post by ktkenshinx » 4 years ago

Best card so far is Once Upon a Time. It fits multiple benchmarks of Modern playability: cost reduction/free mechanic, instant speed, powerful handsculpting T1 play, etc. Not sure where it will find a home but between green big mana decks, green Eldrazi decks, Elves, Druid, Neobrand, etc. it should see play somewhere.
Over-Extended/Modern Since 2010

izzetmage
Posts: 22
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by izzetmage » 4 years ago

Once Upon a Time is amazing. Feels almost like a Leyline. Mana dork decks have the problem of T1 mana dork being their best play, but they never want to draw mana dorks late game; Once Upon a Time solves that by letting you cut dorks for it so you still have good odds for the T1 dork, but in the late-game, instead of drawing dorks, you're drawing 2-mana dig spells. Overcosted, maybe, but better than 0/1 chump blockers. It also gives a bit of insurance for those risky 1 land 1 dork hands where you have to hope you either draw a second land or they don't kill your dork.

Druid+Vizier seems like the best deck for it, since they use mana dorks and all their combo pieces are creatures. I'm not so sure Neobrand will want it, since it doesn't dig for Neoform/Evolution. Griselbrand can't be counted as a hit for it either, since you need Griselbrand in the library to search out and not have it be in your hand. While it can grab Autochthon Wurm in preparation for Nourishing Shoal during the combo, there's also the possibility that you run low on cards and have to pitch Wurm to Allosaurus Rider prematurely, increasing your fizzle rate since you now only have 1 Wurm in the deck. (If you hadn't played Once Upon a Time and pitched it to Rider instead of the found Wurm, you'd have 2 Wurms in the deck.)

SaberTooth
Posts: 7
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by SaberTooth » 4 years ago

Maybe they want to print this card to ban stirrings

worldsaverinc
Posts: 18
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by worldsaverinc » 4 years ago

Once Upon a Time feels interesting as it could have a lot of applications, The few decks that I am more familar with.

Elves - I think GB Elves wants more Elves than this so probably not replacing CoCo/Lead. GW Elves may want this. They like Devoted Devestation need to get the combo going up and running. Unlike Devoted Devotion, they are still a critical mass deck rather than just a few pieces. The combo is an immediate I win position from little. There is still the plan B beat down plan and for that they need Elves and generally enough of them. I can't see this replace the current package of company and chord/finale for a spot. Maybe as a one-of, but room is tight in these lists.

Ponza-like - I could easily see Ponza running this. They could dig for a threat for RG Monsters or help smooth out the land curve. I know when I was playing Ponza, the inconsistency of the 3 basic strategies hurt (lock, ramp, and winners). Even modern lists with Karn/Hate Rocks or RG Monsters could use this. I would mulligan frequently and not just have enough lands to do anything. This would also work for the fringe Mono-Green Control.

Other Fringe Tribal Decks -

I can't see a non-heavy green tribal deck running this. This provides a consistency tool, but not that much advantage. It has the same issues as Commune with Nature save that it can get a land. I played Dinosaurs in standard and Commune with Dinosaurs was a great card to have in the deck. It helped find threats or in the beginning making sure you have lands. However, it helps to be roughly in the same colors.

I don't think Spirits wants these as instant speed interaction is where it wants to be and company/vial is that. Humans doesn't have the reliable mana-base to cast it. Simic Merfolk could, but rather probably just have better action or counters. Slivers depending on the build could use this (Fast or Poisonous variety), but it wouldn't serve the builds that could use it like the more midrange Traditional Bowman-esque list. Shamans - might use it over company or nothing really. They are more of a combo deck with Rageforger plus maybe Judith if jund now.

User avatar
The Fluff
Le fou, c'est moi
Posts: 2398
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Gradius Home World
Contact:

Post by The Fluff » 4 years ago

AvalonAurora wrote:
4 years ago
The Fluff wrote:
4 years ago
don't have much of a wishlist. For serious play, maybe something like another iteration of torpor orb? because sfm decks are plentiful right now. For fun play, I'm still hoping for the 2 cmc cat lord. :)
Maybe something playing on the Puss in Boots theme? Or some kind of witch's familiar that leads and commands over normal cats? Or some kind of lord of the cait sith who is a cat and fairy subtype pair? Or some kind of heraldic lion beast or lion forest 'god'-ish forest king type being? Those seem like possible appropriate flavors for such a set to get a cat lord.
those are good ideas. ^__^

__________________________

on cards spoiled so far. Once upon a time looks strong. Provides consistency.
nzvTcrP.png
Image
AnimEVO 2020 - EFZ Tournament (english commentary) // Clearing 4 domain with Qiqi
want to play a uw control deck in modern, but don't have Jace or snapcaster? please come visit us at the Emeria thread

User avatar
ktkenshinx
Posts: 571
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: West Coast
Contact:

Post by ktkenshinx » 4 years ago

SaberTooth wrote:
4 years ago
Maybe they want to print this card to ban stirrings
Please no more ban speculation or tangents in this thread (you or others). That's not appropriate in this setting and doesn't even reflect the design/development cycle by all available info we have about that process. The amount of tangential and anecdotal ban talk in Modern right now is too damn high. Let's just analyze previews and cards in their own merits.

Regarding the card itself, this thing seems amazing in so many decks. I want to try it in Amulet, Infect, Druid, and, of course, FOREST BELCHER. Hopefully it's part of a cycle.
Over-Extended/Modern Since 2010

User avatar
Bearscape
Posts: 233
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by Bearscape » 4 years ago

robberoftherich.jpg
Robin Hood looks pretty nuts. Comparable to Dark Confidant on first sight but on second look, that's a lot of "ifs"
-defending player has more cards than you (kind of limits the kind of deck this can go in)
-you have to attack with it (making this card significantly worse the later you draw it)
-you get one of their cards (which might not add much to your gameplan)
-you need to attack with a rogue to actually play the card (so attack, survive and have mana left or find some playable rogues)
-you can't get lands with this (so it has about a 33% miss rate on top of all the above)

User avatar
The Fluff
Le fou, c'est moi
Posts: 2398
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Gradius Home World
Contact:

Post by The Fluff » 4 years ago

prince.jpg
Did not expect it, but charming Prince is an upgrade to lone missionary in my uw.
Ok, I guess will be spending a little money on this set after all. :)
Image
AnimEVO 2020 - EFZ Tournament (english commentary) // Clearing 4 domain with Qiqi
want to play a uw control deck in modern, but don't have Jace or snapcaster? please come visit us at the Emeria thread

User avatar
Bearscape
Posts: 233
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by Bearscape » 4 years ago

Getting a blink effect on a 2-drop is really huge for a bunch of decks

Also, not only did they give Reid Duke this card as a preview, Charming Prince also functions like a charm-spell like Izzet Charm. Very clever WotC

User avatar
Simto
Posts: 396
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Simto » 4 years ago

Any chance Wildborn preserver could see play? I think it looks rad and I always get hype when I see good green creatures.
I've been trying to build a "budget FNM level" B/G or Sultai midrange deck and cards like this could be really good for that.
It doesn't have trample, but it's still at pretty nice mana sink and shouldn't have a problem attacking in given the amount of removal B/G runs.

User avatar
The Fluff
Le fou, c'est moi
Posts: 2398
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Gradius Home World
Contact:

Post by The Fluff » 4 years ago

[mention]Bearscape[/mention]

yeah, 2 cmc makes him arrive fast enough. Also the three choices makes the prince a versatile card for certain situations. Will be trying to get at least three copies. The deck I'm putting him in also has soulherder, so there's going to be a lot of blinking. I just hope the card does not get hyped too much that the price go up.

______________________

[mention]Simto[/mention]

the flash + reach makes it decent enough. Maybe you can surprise block flyers like inkmoth nexus, ice fang coatl, etc? The question is what decks are usually present in your fnm, would including wildborn preserver help against those decks?
Image
AnimEVO 2020 - EFZ Tournament (english commentary) // Clearing 4 domain with Qiqi
want to play a uw control deck in modern, but don't have Jace or snapcaster? please come visit us at the Emeria thread

User avatar
Simto
Posts: 396
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Simto » 4 years ago

[mention]The Fluff[/mention] I don't think the reach will have a big impact, so there's probably other cards I can use that are way better, I just think it looks like it's got some great potential. I think the reach can be a surprise sometimes though and can often be a very relevant keyword.
My local FNM is luckily pretty casual with a lot of homebrews and midrange stuff. I hate using the term "Fair magic" but the meta there is kinda focused on that style. Not that many top tier / hardcore decks so it's a good place to play "crap" decks and still have fun hehe.

User avatar
RedCheese
Posts: 372
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by RedCheese » 4 years ago

Charming Prince. Seems good in Humans right? Scry to dig stuff in the late game, the life gain agaisnt burn and the blink for blink your TL and Reflector Mages. also Aeartehr vial him to blink a target from removal. The amount of utility will give it a a chance in humans, even tough the deck is tight atm.

izzetmage
Posts: 22
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by izzetmage » 4 years ago

Don't think Wildborn Preserver will see any play, Scavenging Ooze is a better mana sink bear.

Charming Prince seems like a card that flicker decks would like, since it can be flickered for value while also flickering other creatures. I'm thinking of decks like Astral Drift or Oketra's Monument. Scry 2 is also useful in those decks because they usually have at most 4 copies of their powerful engine cards, and it can be hard to find them otherwise.

User avatar
The Fluff
Le fou, c'est moi
Posts: 2398
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Gradius Home World
Contact:

Post by The Fluff » 4 years ago

ZEYfsB6.png
Fervent Champion feels like it can be Puresteel Paladin 5-8 in decks that want more pureseteel.
___________________________________________
ptMH6Vh.jpg
at last, they give us a 2 cmc black removal that exiles.
Image
AnimEVO 2020 - EFZ Tournament (english commentary) // Clearing 4 domain with Qiqi
want to play a uw control deck in modern, but don't have Jace or snapcaster? please come visit us at the Emeria thread

nawillih
Posts: 6
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by nawillih » 4 years ago

The Fluff wrote:
4 years ago
Fervent Champion feels like it can be Puresteel Paladin 5-8 in decks that want more pureseteel.
And Puresteel is a Knight, so there's even synergy with the first ability!

User avatar
The Fluff
Le fou, c'est moi
Posts: 2398
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Gradius Home World
Contact:

Post by The Fluff » 4 years ago

JDMfKWc.jpg
The Magic Mirror somehow reminds me of the banned card treasure cruise.. both have high cmc that can be reduced, and the effect is drawing cards.
Image
AnimEVO 2020 - EFZ Tournament (english commentary) // Clearing 4 domain with Qiqi
want to play a uw control deck in modern, but don't have Jace or snapcaster? please come visit us at the Emeria thread

User avatar
Bearscape
Posts: 233
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by Bearscape » 4 years ago

It's probably a few too many hoops to jump through but drawing all of the cards in some UW build off Magic Mirror seems like a ton of fun

Meanwhile, Irencrag Feat is a new Seething Song with a pretty negligible downside; just make your last spell after this Dragonstorm.

izzetmage
Posts: 22
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by izzetmage » 4 years ago

Irencrag Feat is to rituals what Day's Undoing is to wheels: throw on an additional clause to make it unusable in storm decks. 7 mana is exactly what you need to cast & activate Goblin Charbelcher, but a good number of wins also come from Empty the Warrens (if you have 4 mana to cast Feat, you have 4 mana to cast Empty, so all Feat does is add 1 to storm count) and Hazoret's Undying Fury (obviously, you wouldn't be able to cast the spells exiled with Fury after ritualing into it).

Grumgully, the Generous means there's an all-Goblin Melira combo: Skirk Prospector + Grumgully, the Generous + Murderous Redcap. (Alternatively, Putrid Goblin can sub in for Murderous Redcap, but you only get infinite mana, not damage.) Being a Goblin and not Metallic Mimic means Goblin Matron and Goblin Ringleader can find all of the pieces.

iTaLenTZ
Posts: 252
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by iTaLenTZ » 4 years ago

I have been testing Charming Prince over Phantasmal Image and my conclusion is that Image is much better. Copying your Lieutenant, Mantis Rider or any enemy creatures is much better than having to wait until the end step to get your creature back. If the effect was like Eldrazi Displacer then I could see Charming Prince be played in Humans but as of now its a NO.

However in BW Eldrazi/Death and Taxes I could see it replacing Flickerwisp. The huge upside to Charming Prince is that its also useful on your second turn or when you don't have any other creatures in play. The scry ability isn't amazing but it does streamlines the deck since its always in topdeck mode. It also improves the burn matchup by a lot, something very useful now that Burn is so popular. Flickerwisp usually sits in your hand doing nothing when you don't have Aether Vial in play.

User avatar
ktkenshinx
Posts: 571
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: West Coast
Contact:

Post by ktkenshinx » 4 years ago

So far, my Modern playables/maybes are as follows:

Charming Prince: Versatile, on-curve creature with relevant modes. 2 CMC flicker is gas in a bunch of strategies. Standout decks include Soulherder variants, Humans, and D&T variants.

Deafening Silence: XTREME cheap Rule of Law/Eidolon/Canonist. There are metagames where this is an SB card and there are combo decks (Possibility Storm! Knowledge Pool!) that want it.

Glass Casket: Whirable, Urza-synergizing removal. Maybe a bullet in some decks.

Emry, Lurker of the Loch: Talked about to death. Effective CMC 1 grindy threat/value machine that slots into existing Whir/Thopter/Sword shells.

The Magic Mirror: Not totally sure about this. On the one hand, it's a huge upside for UUU. On the other hand, instant/sorcery-based cost reductions aren't nearly as broken as delve, and the card can a little win-morey if you've already churned through 7+ cards in the GY. Probably a bust but has potential.

Rankle, Master of Pranks: The only reason I give this a shot is haste, but it's a longshot. If the abilities triggered on attack, that would be much better. But triggering on damage is bleh: can't hit PWs and can get chumped.

Wishclaw Talisman: Seems strong in A+B combo decks, even if there aren't many around. Play this T2 and then T3 wish for your card and profit.

Ironcreg Feat: Don't have time to do the math now, but my guess is there's a pretty decent chance of SSG+Rituals+Feat+Payoff leading to some nasty T2-T3 lines in Modern. SSG/Ritual+Feat is 7 mana on T3 which is just Karn (obviously, Tron can already do that, but Tron can't also play Blood Moon). SSG+Ritual+Feat is 7 mana on T2, which is really scary. All In Red variants may use this. Also, DRAGONSTORM PLIZ

Once Upon a Time: Format-defining. Full stop. Already wrote about it and many others have done the same.

Questing Beast: As with Rankle, haste is what gives this a shot. Unlike with Rankle, this explicitly solves the problem of hitting PWs or players. This lets you clock a player while also eliminating walkers, which is normally a tension that makes it so hard to deal with PWs. Also as with Rankle, this probably isn't good.

Grumgully, the Generous: 3-card Melira combo in Goblins is good enough to see play in a mediocre deck.

Oko, Thief of Crowns: Food tokens are nice (as anyone who played that MTGA Brawl event learned), but the real winner here is the ability to hit artifacts. Notably, Oko turns off Bridge, Amulet, and O-Stone on curve. 3 CMC value PWs typically suck because they can't do anything against big mana decks or prison artifact decks, but Oko addresses both. That's on top of all the other value this card brings, and casting it T2 off the Hierarch/Birds you got from your 0 mana OUT.

Stonecoil Serpent: This gets zany with Hardened Scales and is not chumpable.

Witch's Cottage lands: All of these will probably be playable in some deck as a 1 or 2-of, especially two-colored strategies.

Then there's the cards I'm having trouble evaluating which include The Royal Scions (high loyalty, great utility, no board impact), Robber of the Rich (2 CMC haste value engine, most Confidant variants suck), Fires of Invention (free is broken, this doesn't cheat things too well), lots of adventure cards (2 for 1s often good, these effects mostly weak), and food tokens (incidental value good, anti-aggro life gain good, tokens super terrible when behind in many matchups).
Over-Extended/Modern Since 2010

izzetmage
Posts: 22
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by izzetmage » 4 years ago

Fires of Invention feels like a bad version of Wilderness Reclamation. Pay 4 mana for an enchantment to double your mana, except one plays well with instants and the other locks you out of casting spells on your opponent's turn.

User avatar
Ym1r
Posts: 153
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Ym1r » 4 years ago

izzetmage wrote:
4 years ago
Fires of Invention feels like a bad version of Wilderness Reclamation. Pay 4 mana for an enchantment to double your mana, except one plays well with instants and the other locks you out of casting spells on your opponent's turn.
I mean, I agree that it's not great, but it gives you the ability to cast 2 spells AND use any mana hungry activated abilities, which in theory might triple your mana.
Counter, draw a card.

User avatar
The Fluff
Le fou, c'est moi
Posts: 2398
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Gradius Home World
Contact:

Post by The Fluff » 4 years ago

the blue and black castles feel like they would be decent as a mid-late game mana sink. Adding a single castle land to a deck that can support it feels not bad at all.
Image
AnimEVO 2020 - EFZ Tournament (english commentary) // Clearing 4 domain with Qiqi
want to play a uw control deck in modern, but don't have Jace or snapcaster? please come visit us at the Emeria thread

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic

Return to “Modern”