[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - North Star

[PrimevalCommander]

Not a fan of this type of effect. The additional turn you get is peanuts compared to having someone do as much damage as possible to your hand, field, and life. By the time you get your extra turn you may not have much left to do but tap out for your commander if you still have one. This may be the most tame version of this effect, except it gives your opponent a 13/13 Flample blocker with relevant protection to beat you over the head with after he ran all your blockers into enemy defenses. Sure you can untap and attempt to recover, but after your removal is spent, blockers are wiped, commander killed, and hand diminished, your probably looking at the other two players and pleading them to take pity on you for a couple turns.

Recently I saw an Emrakul cast and I was playing Yawgmoth, Thran Physician with an engine almost online with an undying creature and Sifter of Skulls in play, but no Yawg. By all counts I was in a great spot. My buddy cast emrakul and instead of simply making me loose the game, he took the Korvold players turn. After his turn both Korvold and I were down for about 2-3 turns afterward to rebuild and by that time it was too late. I only mildly complained about it, but the salt was there. Later that night we had some MLD played in two separate games, and no one complained. So I try not to be overly sensitive.

Emrakul is an expensive spell, and expensive spells need to do powerful things. I just think taking other players' turns is one of the least fun things you can do. I have a Karador deck, which would be a devastating commander with Emrakul in the grave, but I choose not to play it because, while taking 1 turn is somewhat forgivable, taking several players turns with recursive Mindslavers is just trolling in a casual setting.

[3drinks]

Ugh Mindslaver effects top my list for most miserable parts of the game. Partly because they punish you for building a responsible deck. If all you've got is a bunch of threats, your opponent often can't do that much to screw you up besides make a couple suicide attacks (although graveyarding your commander can be rough). But if you're being a responsible citizen and playing answers, they can absolutely obliterate you by using your answers on your own stuff.

If they never print another mindslaver effect, I'd be happy about it.

I like to just wait for their full investment into the slaver targeting me, concede, then rally the rest to just dumpster the guy now out {10} and a card. 😂

[materpillar]

Ugh Mindslaver effects top my list for most miserable parts of the game. Partly because they punish you for building a responsible deck. If all you've got is a bunch of threats, your opponent often can't do that much to screw you up besides make a couple suicide attacks (although graveyarding your commander can be rough). But if you're being a responsible citizen and playing answers, they can absolutely obliterate you by using your answers on your own stuff.

If they never print another mindslaver effect, I'd be happy about it.

I like to just wait for their full investment into the slaver targeting me, concede, then rally the rest to just dumpster the guy now out {10} and a card. 😂

To be fair 10: Target player loses is still pretty fine

[pokken]

In Gitrog i'd typically be paying 8 or so for Emrakul, and put him on a loop with Phyrexian Tower and Volrath's Stronghold.

[Mookie]

I despise Mindslaver effects, and Emrakul, the Promised End is no exception. The Emrakul decks I've played against have consistently been miserable, with zero exceptions. It's possible to build a deck to be more resistant to this sort of effect, but I generally don't.... and all it takes is one sacrifice outlet or discard effect for your entire gameplan to fall apart with no chance of recovery. Of course, that's before we get into all the additional nastiness - Ugin's Nexus is a particularly obnoxious one, but bouncing Emrakul and recasting it is also pretty brutal. Not to mention the simple line of dumping all the removal in the victim's hand, then swinging with a 13/13 evasive body for commander damage.

....it's a pity too, since I like Emrakul as a character, but refuse to play this sort of effect on principle.

[3drinks]

Ugh Mindslaver effects top my list for most miserable parts of the game. Partly because they punish you for building a responsible deck. If all you've got is a bunch of threats, your opponent often can't do that much to screw you up besides make a couple suicide attacks (although graveyarding your commander can be rough). But if you're being a responsible citizen and playing answers, they can absolutely obliterate you by using your answers on your own stuff.

If they never print another mindslaver effect, I'd be happy about it.

I like to just wait for their full investment into the slaver targeting me, concede, then rally the rest to just dumpster the guy now out {10} and a card. 😂

To be fair 10: Target player loses is still pretty fine

Still better than some cheetos-dusted neckbeard fingers groping my deck. 10/10 would do again.

[toctheyounger]

Yeah, it's strong, and yeah, it's not a lot of fun. Mindslaver effects are pretty gross, and this is about as fair as it gets. It...still doesn't feel great. I've had times where I've burnt my own board to the ground so the Emrakul player had nothing to use on my turn, which isn't the worst idea if you can recover from it, but it still feels like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I've run it myself in decks before, but I'd be happy not to see it ever again.

Nonetheless, you have to say, the flavour of the card is absolutely pitch perfect given the lore of Eldritch Moon and how Em fits into it.

[Sinis]

Wednesday, November 4th, 2020; Emrakul, the Promised End

As a rule, I'm usually anti mindslaver effects as the one thing that's a bit far in a unsanctioned event with nothing on the line, as someone that's gotten slaver'd more than a couple times. It's so not fair, it leaves you feeling powerless, helpless. Lastly it always brings about RL feelings of Spite // Malice.

But this is different. Kinda. What do we think of it?

I really like this Mindslaver edition because it gives them a grace turn with an untap after (unless you combo it with Stranglehold or Ugin's Nexus). It's not getting slavered and then having absolutely no turn after. I also believe the redeeming feature of mindslaver effects is that they punish stuff like Necropotence, or the other most powerful pay-life effects where you can just pay to 0.

I play it on and off; last in Ishkanah delirium tokens. I will certainly sleeve it up in the future.

[3drinks]

Thursday, November 5th, 2020; kudzu|sum

Enchant land

When enchanted land becomes tapped, destroy it. That land's controller may attach Kudzu to a land of their choice.

So what deck does this really go into? Or is it a chaos card? I've always been intrigued by it but never with the cajones to sleeve it up.

[Dunharrow]

I guess you play it in your Azusa, Lost but Seeking deck that plays Crucible of Worlds and Ancient Greenwarden.
Maybe you play tax effects so opponents need to tap out.

Could also fit The Gitrog Monster

I just think Wasteland effects will be stronger.

[The_Hittite]

Yeah, that sounds like an accurate representation of kudzu.

[Sinis]

Thursday, November 5th, 2020; kudzu

So what deck does this really go into? Or is it a chaos card? I've always been intrigued by it but never with the cajones to sleeve it up.

I think this basically always turns back on its owner. Everyone loves seeing players hoist by their own petard, and I'm pretty sure that every time it triggers, every opponent will elect to put it on one of your lands.

The only alternative is that the player just never taps that land, and if you're forcing them to tap it, they'll send it back to you (as above), but, when you send it back to them, they stall with it again (unless you're tapping their land with something like Icy Manipulator).

Basically, I think this card is never worth running. That said, I have a copy, and will eventually sleeve it up alongside ever Ice Storm analogue ever printed.

[3drinks]

I'd guess in a dork + rock heavy deck where you're not hindered at the loss as they are.

So, derevi stax I guess.

[Serenade]

All right, so you use Simic Guildmage's second ability to move it to Flagstones of Trokair to get a plains.....no, wait, just don't run this. I do not see if being worth three mana for very specific removal, and if someone it's on a creature-land with vigilance, it won't even destroy it when it attacks! No, I always skip this card and use Wasteland instead.

I do want to try out Wellspring as a different take on it, though.

[Mookie]

Kudzu is... a hybrid of Stone Rain and Armageddon. Theoretically, an opponent could just never tap the enchanted land again, at which point it's just a land destruction spell. Alternatively, it could get passed around the table a bunch, until no one has any lands anymore. In practice, I would expect it to be somewhere in between. Hard to evaluate in a vacuum though. There's also the whole 'people will be annoyed' thing, which means I suspect a majority of the time, it would be thrown on the lands of its caster, which seems like a significant downside. I suppose you could work around it by running a lot of nonland mana sources (or lots of land recursion), but.... that still seems like a lot of effort for a fancy Stone Rain.

If you have a way to force taps and are playing 1v1 (where multiplayer politics don't matter), this looks a bit more interesting.... although still sort of needlessly complicated.

[Dunharrow]

Wait what about Living Lands and Archetype of Endurance?

[illakunsaa]

Doesnt work. Kudzu doesnt target. Avacyn making your lands indestructible on the other hand...

[3drinks]

Friday, November 6th, 2020; Delirium Skeins

Sometimes you just need to slow everyone the hell down, I guess. Bonus points if you need to get stuff in the yard too.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I actually really like this card. It is card disadvantage is the short run, but most decks also can't deal with having their opening 7 shredded either. Slam dunk into Nath if I played Nath, but as a collective discard 9(!) from all opponents, that should see play elsewhere too.

But let's be honest, it's not Skull Rend and that is its biggest failure.

[Outcryqq]

Delirium Skeins
I run this in my Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen discard deck and it's a beating. Obviously I try to use it when I have something like Waste Not out.

[Toshi]

Back in the day i saw an opponent starting the game - Dralnu, Lich Lord at the helm - with Swamp into Dark Ritual, then Delirium Skeins.

We tried to play through it, but once Dralnu, Lich Lord hit the board things went south quickly. Good times.

[RxPhantom]

Only tangentially related to Commander, but I do run Delirium Skeins in my Horde deck and it's pretty devastating.

[Mookie]

Hmmm.... in a vacuum, I wouldn't be that big of a fan of Delirium Skeins due to it being card disadvantage. It could be good if you can get hellbent easily, or if you have discard synergies like Tinybones, Trinket Thief or Nath of the Gilt-Leaf. However, the mention of Dralnu, Lich Lord makes me think of my own Kess, Dissident Mage, which is similarly capable of just playing out of its graveyard. I could see myself testing Delirium Skeins there. I'm already running Sire of Insanity, after all. Hmmmm....

I'll call out Mindslicer as another option with sacrifice and recursion synergies.

[Ginuqu]

Posting from the Ragamuffyn and Squee, the Immortal fanclub: Delirium Skeins rules!
I love having an empty hand, it makes the game quicker, and Delirium Skeins punishes folks who play a single permanent and then sit on removal and counters and stuff. I characterize myself as Rakdos cos I either put my cards on the board or in the graveyard so I play cards exactly like these and think Dissension is the best set ever, etc.

[onering]

Great card, just a total beating/value play in the right deck. Its not card disadvantage unless you're 1v1, because its a 4 for 3n (n= number of opponents). 3 mana to net, in a 4 player game, card advantage of 5 cards, which is a nice rate. Further, if you cast it with fewer than 3 other cards in hand then your rate is even better. Nothing sweeter than playing out your hand early off of fast mana then dropping this with 1 or no cards in hand. If you have ANY discard synergy its just sick.