[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Rishkar, Peema Renegade

[Hawk]

Thursday, September 3rd, 2020; Krond the Dawn-Clad

How often is this super restrictive mana cost worth it? I mean obviously it is very powerful once you manage to stick it, but whew, for double the difficulty of Necropotence in terms of castability, and then needing aura support on a non-hexproof body. Idk, have you ever felt the urge to make it work? Have you seen it be worthwhile with regularity?

I hate this card because it's gatekept by dollar-value on the manabase. You can build a manabase in w/g that totally allows for Krond to be played consistently, but it will probably cost you more than a 2-colour manabase should.

That said, people do play Eerie Ultimatum and similar, so I can't say I'm too put out. Maybe this is the time for that Chromatic Lantern that so many people didn't like?

I'm not sure that's needed - for under 2 bucks each, a Krond mana base can include Command Tower, Canopy Vista, Selesnya Signet, and Sungrass Prairie as potentially untapped duallands, plus Temple of Plenty and Krosan Verge. Green is also just really good at fixing, so one should be able to "get there" with just the usual green suspects. I'd be more inclined to look at Chromatic Lantern in a deck like Niv-Mizzet, Parun that doesn't have the luxury of Rampant Growth into Explosive Vegetation (or any number of these card's redundant partners) and has about half as many budget EtB untapped lands for the perfect color ratios on a relative budget (and this coming from someone who was willing to go to blows to defend Lanterns honor the other day).

I am pretty hard on Commanders of 6 CMC+; they really need to generate near-instant value or win the game extremely quickly since they are often removal-magnets and just dying once or twice can make their return unfeasible. They also make decks run more awkwardly; a cheaper Commander leads to more "keepable" hands (since I also hate to Mulligan with a 99 card deck to shuffle and cut), wheras a 6-drop Commander demands a very well-built deck and demands strong mulliganing decisions. I think Krond is very interesting but generally not where I'd want to be, Back in the day, he was sort of the only game in town for GW Enchantress and I had friends run him, but that was 11 years ago at the "Dawn of Commander". Since then, Sigarda, Host of Herons has stolen his thunder as a Voltron commander while Karametra, God of Harvests and more recently Siona, Captain of the Pyleas have taken the helm as enchantress/"bogles" commanders - and that's just in Selesnya! We got a whole Bant Auras deck and I'd look at Kestia, the Cultivator, Tuvasa the Sunlit, and Estrid, the Masked over him too.

He is in the "Commander Cube" my brothers gifted me that I've never played and am preserving intact until I get to play it, so that's something - and I suspect once I do test it, I will find that even in a "Cube" he's aged too poorly, and he'll be replaced by Siona or Karametra.

[ISBPathfinder]

Krond is cool, its just horribly projected what you are going to do and being a 6 costed legend, its hard to cast and protect him. Most opponents don't want to see him get suited up so my issue was usually that he trips over opponent interaction kind of hard.

GW auras is a reasonable archetype, I just think that Krond is a little too projected on what the deck is going to do and everyone wants to keep you off of that. I would say that you should expect that your first attempt to suit him up will fail and it just takes a lot of setup to do recast him and then suit him up.

[toctheyounger]

I've never played against him, not even once. But I like the flavour of it. A knight flying a lion is pretty rad.

The colour restriction is a bit rough. Perhaps you go for mana doublers to make it happen? Things like Utopia Sprawl and Fertile Ground and all of those variants could probably get him in play pretty quick. I'm also not super sure the payoff is worth it though. Exile is great and all, but one attack is one permanent, so you're probably wanting to play some slow down stuff too, and adding that to either bogle style auras or reusable auras a lá Gift of Immortality and Rancor and you're stretching yourself in quite a few directions to make the payoff work. Not saying it couldn't, but I've seen how horrendously good a Karametra, God of Harvests enchantment deck can be and it feels like this wouldn't hold a candle (seeing Melissa De Tora tear the guys on The Command Zone a new one with Karametra was pretty hilarious - she just did not miss a beat and was never not in control). And then there's Sigarda, Host of Herons too, which is probably just a better bogle-aura general, in general.

Not that being super busted is everything, sometimes you just want a lion-flying knight as your general, dammit.

[schweinefett]

Ive never seen him in the wild.

But just off the top of my head, i imagine some sort of GW control-ish deck using the general as a finisher. That could be something. GGGWWW isn't that hard to do i think; the deck has white in it. even if you use a relatively budget manabase. Some number of into the north, harrow, cultivate, kodamas reach, and so on, and you're there!

I guess the hardest part is getting an aura to stick and then swinging with it.

[Peterhausenn]

i had a buddy run him way back in the day. i remember being worried about him at first but he didnt really do anything scary. sure exiling your best permanent is not something you want to happen but its entirely possible krond will take out a problem card of another opponent. even without dealing with krond immediately he was usually only on board for a couple turns before there was a board wipe or he was outclassed.

[3drinks]

Friday, September 4th, 2020; The Khans Block Sieges

So we know how good the red one is. Let's look at the others, specifically frontier. I don't see this at all but I can't help but think it's a mistake. This card is very good whether giving you free fights or acting as a one way Eladamri's Vineyard, and it deserves way, way more attention than it receives.

[The_Hittite]

I've never played against him, not even once. But I like the flavour of it. A knight flying a lion is pretty rad.

Funny thing about Archons, according to Plane Shift Zendikar both the rider and the mount are all one creature. Hence why the "human" part almost always has a blindfold.

[not-a-cube]

Friday, September 4th, 2020; The Khans Block Sieges

So we know how good the red one is. Let's look at the others, specifically frontier. I don't see this at all but I can't help but think it's a mistake. This card is very good whether giving you free fights or acting as a one way Eladamri's Vineyard, and it deserves way, way more attention than it receives.

Never played with or against any of them. I know they exist, red one seems great CA in mono red, but I have absolutely no experience with them. And indeed, green one seems like it could be bonkers.

[Mookie]

My first experience playing against the Sieges was in the Fate Reforged prerelease. FRF was... an extremely bomb-heavy format - pretty much every rare and most of the uncommons were massive limited bombs, to the point that Temur Sabertooth and friends added 'mythic uncommon' to the common lexicon. In other words, there was a loose cycle of uncommons that were arguably stronger than most mythics are in other sets.

Anyway, of all the bombs in the set, Citadel Siege was possibly the strongest. It turns out that just growing one of your creatures for free every turn is pretty hard for most decks to overcome. In EDH, it's a lot less impressive - creatures are naturally bigger and there is more removal flying around. Tapping things down is fine, but also not super exciting. I'd consider it for a deck if I had a lot of +1/+1 counter synergies, but I suspect there are better ways to get counters on my creatures.

Outpost Siege is likely the Siege that has seen the most play elsewhere - it functions as a relatively clean personal Howling Mine variant. Unlike some instances, it also lets you play lands, which is pretty nice. Additionally, if you're playing a token / sacrifice deck like Korvold, Fae-Cursed King or Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, the Dragons mode is also capable of burning opponents out (or just providing board control).

I haven't seen many other people run it, but I'm actually a big fan of Frontier Siege in my Tasigur deck. Note that it gives mana on both of your main phases, which makes it a Skyshroud Claim on the turn you play it, and even better on future turns. It can be a little awkward to only have the mana available on your own turn (and broken up into chunks), but if you're doing a lot of stuff at sorcery speed (or have a mana sink to activate), that isn't really an issue. The fight side can also be a potent removal engine, although it's somewhat awkward due to green's lack of fliers.
...I do understand why people don't run it - green has a bunch of land synergies, and there is a ton of competition for ramp - but I really do think more people should give it a shot, given how much mana it generates. Or are people just put off by the dragon half being hard to take advantage of? Hmm.... EDHREC puts it at 5k decks compared to Explosive Vegetation 34k, which is really a shame.

I've considered Palace Siege before, but haven't run it myself. Raise Dead every turn is fine, but five mana is sort of expensive. The drain mode is fine to close out a close game when your opponents have low life totals, but otherwise is sort of slow.

I've never really been impressed by Monastery Siege. Looting every turn is fine, but blue has a lot of redundancy for this effect (and you can run cards that just generate card advantage directly). Making your stuff more expensive to target is also fine, but I don't know that I would be willing to spend an entire card on it. Hmmm...

Anyway, to rank, I'd probably say Outpost > Frontier > Palace > Monastery > Citadel, but it really depends on what your deck is doing.

[BeneTleilax]

Green has very few good fliers to take advantage of the fight, and just has better (and less vulnerable) ramp options than the Khans mode. If you have the fliers to make use of its modality, it's a good addition, but those are a small percentage of green decks.

[ZenN]

I've played Frontier Siege in Maelstrom Wanderer for a long time, purely for the ramp ability. Getting the GG on both main phases has been relevant more than a few times, especially like when I tap out for Wanderer and then cascade into Selvala, Heart of the Wilds.

I've played Outpost Siege a few times in Aristocrats style decks. It's all around solid.

I could see playing Monastery Siege in something that actively wants to loot, like a reanimator deck.

Pretty sure the other two are not worth playing, though.

[Serenade]

I always wanted to Frontier Siege into a Hornet Queen. Just haven't done it yet. I don't think it's bad, but I keep not putting it into enchantress and instead trying out stuff like Into the Wilds or Wilderness Reclamation or From Beyond. In Surrak I have Guardian Project...the 4cmc green enchantment spot is tight!

Red good, black too expensive, white too limited. I had read once either here or on Salvation, and I apologize for forgetting who noted it, that Monastery Siege did work in Brago, King Eternal since it can filter early and flicker into late protection. I've only tried it once, in the most casual of decks, with a minor GY theme, and it was fine.

[Outcryqq]

I really love Outpost Siege, I've played Monastery Siege, and the others to me are more fringe.

[Dragoon]

I always wanted to Frontier Siege into a Hornet Queen. Just haven't done it yet. I don't think it's bad, but I keep not putting it into enchantress and instead trying out stuff like Into the Wilds or Wilderness Reclamation or From Beyond. In Surrak I have Guardian Project...the 4cmc green enchantment spot is tight!

Red good, black too expensive, white too limited. I had read once either here or on Salvation, and I apologize for forgetting who noted it, that Monastery Siege did work in Brago, King Eternal since it can filter early and flicker into late protection. I've only tried it once, in the most casual of decks, with a minor GY theme, and it was fine.

Unless your deck is heavy on top deck manipulation, I think you can safely switch Into the Wilds for Frontier Siege.

[Hermes_]

The U,B, and G are the only one I run because they were the only ones in the dragon precon lol

When i drop Frontier Siege my choice depends on my current board state mainly,how i'm vomiting out dragons.

[Sinis]

Friday, September 4th, 2020; The Khans Block Sieges

Hell's yeah!

These cards are pretty dope, except for the black one; the green and red ones are my favourites, on sheer power, but the blue one is cool, too. The white one really requires the right deck, IMO, though it's an acceptable pseudo-Detain on every upkeep.

[plushpenguin]

I have won tons of games off of the mana generated by Frontier Siege. I tend to get full value out of each main phase on each turn.

Sometimes I've had it generate 10 mana in a single turn (gotta abuse those extra combats to get there)

[DirkGently]

I'd say:

Frontier Siege >> Palace Siege >= Outpost Siege >= Citadel Siege >>>>> Monastery Siege

Frontier siege would be much stronger in another color, but 4 mana every turn is pretty insane for 4 mana so long as you can capitalize. fight mode is unlikely to be worthwhile in mono-green but can be useful in multicolor.

Palace siege finds its way into a decent number of my decks. If you've got a commander that's planning to sacrifice himself (Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed, Kagemaro, First to Suffer, etc) then it's great value. The lifedrain mode can be ok but it's pretty slow, backup plan at best. You need to have a plan to exploit it but it can definitely be worthwhile.

Outpost is a fine card that usually gets cut for not being efficient or synergistic enough. You're probably only ever considering it for mono-red, and a lot of the better mono-red commanders have built-in CA that renders mediocre CA like outpost siege unnecessary. I could see including it in plenty of decks hypothetically, but I've never really felt the need in anything I've built. Even in decks that don't have better CA built in, it's pretty slow, and needing to play the card that turn can be a significant downside relative to straight draw. The other mode is pretty niche, only for massive token decks.

Citadel I have in 4th...but I still think it's pretty solid. I think it has maybe the best balance between both modes. 2 extra p/t every turn that splits your value across an enchantment and potentially multiple creatures, and gives value right away, is a solid mode - if they kill the creature, you've got the enchantment, if they kill the enchantment you've still got whatever counters you already placed. The tapdown mode is also strong and synergizes a bit with board wipes by forcing your opponents to go wide. In theory, at least. The more powerful and less combat-oriented a meta becomes, the weaker that mode becomes. It's still decent for clearing out blockers, though. Overall, while I think it's weaker than palace or outpost, it's honestly really close between those three.

Monastery is the runt of the litter. Looting for 3 is pretty pitiful considering how many blue cards give you a draw without a discard on 4. Looting is also an effect that gets worse every time, since your hand gets more and more sculpted and you have to throw away better stuff each time. The targeting mode seems even worse, since it stands a fair chance to do absolutely nothing. Board wipes are unaffected, abilities are unaffected, and the spells that are affected are often very cheap and usually a last-resort answer anyway, so they will probably find the mana without too much difficulty. There are loads of far more effective and reliable ways to prevent your opponents messing with you.

[abel88]

Outpost Siege is great in my Krenko, Mob Boss deck. It acts as a source of card advantage when i need it too or it can be a combo finisher.

[3drinks]

Saturday, September 5th, 2020; Trostani's Summoner|pdgm

"For when Bestial Menace isn't enough."

[Peterhausenn]

seven mana for a small army isnt too bad. unfortunately the army it gives doesnt pose much a threat without some other assistance. im sure this plays ok in a token matters build especially if you have some blink effects. id rate it a 4 out of 10.

[Dunharrow]

Ok with Reveillark (but that's a bad metric to use)

[Serenade]

Maybe in a Naya/+ Pandemonium-type focused deck. Add some anthems, so Avenger's tokens will do someone with Pand. Fires or other options for haste. Super casual card.

[Mookie]

Ah, yes, Greater Cone of Critters. Trostani's Summoner is an amusing card, and I like its design. It works well with blink effects, and any effects that care about tokens or going wide in general. Unfortunately, once you move out of pauper/peasant cards, it compares pretty poorly to the other token producers available - stuff like Rampaging Baloths and Avenger of Zendikar can go both bigger and wider.

I suppose the one unique feature of Summoner is that is is a 1/1 at its base, which makes it interact well with stuff like Reveillark, Recruiter of the Guard, and Wild Pair. It's also an elf, which means you can fetch it with Skyshroud Poacher. Could be interesting for a Rhys the Redeemed elf/token tribal deck.

[3drinks]

Thursday, September 6th, 2020; Furnace Celebration|som

I remember this thing defining a whole limited archetype around it in SOM draft. I suspect it's still quite playable here given our penchant for sacrificing things. Least I wouldn't bat an eye if I saw it turn up in, say, a Korvold or Prossh deck. Or even Shattergang Bros since that's literally what they do. Looks like a fair cog piece to me. Lyzolda would clock you quite fast with it, albeit mana intensive.