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

[3drinks]

Tuesday, June 15th, 2021; Swarm Intelligence

[materpillar]

Tuesday, June 15th, 2021; Swarm Intelligence

Untapping with this seems really good. I've never seen someone untap with this.

[duducrash]

A card thats way too good if you play with your friends in your kitchen and gets way too bad if you take it the shop

[EonAon]

Unless you cheat/ramp/luck this out its too expensive and comes out too late even for commander because you probably wont have enough instants or sorcery to get leverage.

[JWK]

I have run this in the past, most recently in Kalamax, but have always ended up cutting it because of the cost. By the time you can afford to cast it, there are almost always better things you can be doing with the mana, and there are enough cheaper options that, while not quite as strong, come online so much earlier and do good enough a job that this seems irrelevant.

[pokken]

I hate this spell and thousand year storm both with such a passion. Just emblematic of lazy ass design that creates boring gameplay

[Sinis]

Tuesday, June 15th, 2021; Swarm Intelligence

Magecraft triggers, I suppose. Costs 7; that's pretty steep.

[Mookie]

Untapping with this seems really good. I've never seen someone untap with this.

As a person that has untapped with Swarm Intelligence, I will confirm that untapping with it is quite good. Seven mana is obviously a lot, but doubling your spells is an extremely powerful ability - either you generate an absurd amount of value, or you use it to just win outright by storming off. Definitely a kill on sight card though, so you usually want to have 10+ mana available to either protect it or get some immediate value. Alternatively, just have a grindy gameplan and play it when your opponents are likely to be out of removal. I'm running it in Kess, and it's pretty solid there - the deck's mission is to cast as many Cruel Ultimatums as possible, and it has high enough threat density that opponents usually run out of removal. Triple-casting a Cruel Ultimatum is.... extremely satisfying. I'm also running it in Mizzix, but that deck taxes removal significantly less, so it tends to be more vulnerable there.

Anyway, as a seven-drop that doesn't generate immediate card advantage, this is usually going to be a casual card. It is quite fun though. There are cheaper alternatives out there that are worth consideration if you don't want to pay seven mana - Thousand-Year Storm has already been mentioned, but Bonus Round, The Mirari Conjecture, Double Vision, and Primal Amulet // Primal Wellspring are some other ways to copy spells for value.

[toctheyounger]

It's definitely a remove on sight permanent. Too highly costed to be an absolute lock, but strong if it does resolve.

I've tossed it up for Dralnu, Lich Lord before, but at 7 to cost it just isn't efficient enough. Primal Amulet // Primal Wellspring, Narset's Reversal and Twinning Staff are my go to copiers currently.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Like Hive Mind but nothing to justify the name..

I shplose I could mention spells that you can'f profit from copying ever (fogs, wraths, counterspells), but TBH, the biggest problem is the mana cost. If you have Replenish it's easy. Also easy? Mana ramp, you can even bolster your counterspells with guaranteed mana. Hard? $eriously considering white or green a "spell color".

If you let it hit the table, it is KOS.

[pokken]

I shplose I could mention spells that you can'f profit from copying ever (fogs, wraths, counterspells)

Copying counterspells effectively makes your counterspells uncounterable, which is great.

Copying wraths has niche uses but it gets persist/undying critters and other death effects that produce bodies, etc.

Fogs...yeah

[Mookie]

I shplose I could mention spells that you can'f profit from copying ever (fogs, wraths, counterspells)

Copying counterspells effectively makes your counterspells uncounterable, which is great.

Copying wraths has niche uses but it gets persist/undying critters and other death effects that produce bodies, etc.

Fogs...yeah

I was going to call out Inkshield and Batwing Brume, but they don't actually work very well when copied due to their templating. Arachnogenesis and Riot Control do though.

[3drinks]

Wednesday, June 16th, 2021; Raking Claws

Now at first glance this is the kind of card I'd reroll on. But I think we train ourselves to sleep on combat tricks. Giving out double strike is pretty saucy and having the ability to cycle it when you don't care about that is the icing on the cake. This is the kind of cycling card I'd want, you don't feel bad casting over costed removal because it has cycling, but you don't feel like you punted away a critical answer.

[JWK]

I think these sorts of combat tricks can be a lot better than many peope realize, especially if you don't confine yourself to playing them on your own creatures. Outside of decks like Feather or Zada, most EDH players don't expect these sorts of tricks, and abilities like double strike and trample are much more dangerous when people don't see them coming. I have straight-out killed people out of nowhere with Temur Battle Rage and Unleash Fury. I would probably run Temur Battle Rage ahead of this one, but the cycling option does make it a little more flexible, and which would be right - or whether you'd want to run both - might depend a lot on how much you are planning for combat/commander damage as a wincon.

[PrimevalCommander]

See Psychotic Fury as another one of these that cantrip. More limited to multicolor decks who want to target their commander. Can target other players commander in a pinch for "cycling", whether they are in combat or not.

[Dunharrow]

such high risk of 2 for 1

[Hawk]

I agree combat tricks can be underrated especially in Voltron-y decks. My wife killed someone with Titan's Strength targeting Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar the other day and it was neat - so combat tricks aren't just for Feather, the Redeemed and Anax and Cymede.

In terms of Raking Claws, it does find itself in competition with Temur Battle Rage (the best version of this effect) and Psychotic Fury (which is super attractive to Feather in particular because it cantrips), and Boros Charm (which is super versatile for decks that can support it). It's also awkward that it actually isn't typically awesome in cycling.dec since Gavi, Nest Warden, Zur the Enchanter, Zirda, the Dawnwaker, and other cycling commanders aren't generally mixing it up in the red zone - cycling is still nice, but it isn't getting extra inclusion points there.

I still think it's a great effect, since there's actually very few other ways to grant Double Strike at instant speed. The next best cards are Assault Strobe which lacks surprise value, Buccaneer's Bravado which only works in a Pirate Tribal list (but which might be a bit underrated in a deck like Breeches, Brazen Plunderer / Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator), and Uncaged Fury which comes with a power boost but is also 3 mana.

Ultimately though, it's a bit niche. I don't think I'd go out of my way to include combat tricks outside of Heroic-y commanders unless they had a significant Voltron aspect or a significant "power matters" aspect (like on Yasova Dragonclaw).

[Ruiner]

Hmm, I've never seen this card for whatever reason. I could easily consider running this in my Zurgo Helmsmasher deck although I don't know what I'd cut.

If you want a 2 mana instant effect like this . . .

Temur Battle Rage is better since it gives trample but cycling isn't bad if you already have a double strike source.

Unleash Fury is better since it stacks with double strike if you already have it.

I dunno, seems decent enough to try it at some point though.

[Mookie]

Raking Claws is certainly interesting, but I'd probably lean towards Temur Battle Rage as a 'surprise, you're dead' card - trample is pretty significant, since large/voltron generals tend to be chump blocked a lot. I guess cycling when it's not useful is a thing, but.... I would imagine that this sort of effect isn't useful the majority of the time already - you run this card with the intent of waiting for the perfect moment to use it. Plus, granting trample also makes TBR useful in more situations.

Anyway, it may be worth consideration if you want multiple instances of this effect, or your commander already has trample naturally. It might be interesting in cycling decks, but those tend to not be very voltron-focused... although suiting up a creature with Diviner's Wand sounds pretty hilarious. Otherwise, other options have already been mentioned - Psychotic Fury seems pretty solid, since most commanders are multicolor (also, Feather, the Redeemed is a thing).

[hyalopterouslemur]

Potato is good but it could be better. Bonus points for Mirtor-Wing Dragon turning this into Collective Unconscious for two mana. If it matters.

[Serenade]

Gonna be a few extra steps for Mirrorwing Dragon to do that with Psychotic Fury, no?

EDIT: I like this cycling card of the day.

[3drinks]

Potato is good but it could be better. Bonus points for Mirror-Wing Dragon turning this into Collective Unconscious for two mana. If it matters.

How are you casting this on a mono-coloured creature?

[hyalopterouslemur]

Missed that. But still useful for commanders.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Potato is good but it could be better. Bonus points for Mirtor-Wing Dragon turning this into Collective Unconscious for two mana. If it matters.

Why is it a potato? I see no spuds(?!!) and am confused. Am I somehow missing the starch?

[JWK]

Psychotic Fury has been useful in my Ruhan and Rakdos decks and Zurgo decks. I sometimes Sunforger for it in Ruhan, And yes, while combat tricks do carry a risk of losing 2 cards to an opponent's removal, the power they potentially offer some decks makes it worth the risk. About 1/3 of the instants in my Kalamax build are combat tricks, and I have found that adding double strike or a power doubler when you already have a fewcouple counters on the big dino produces pretty easy one-hit kills. Etali becomes a lot harder to deal with if he has double strike or trample. Zurgo is another commander who likes those surprise boosts.