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

[Treamayne]

It's good in places where having the creature deal the damage and/or killing <something> matters.

For that reason, I use it in my Garza Zol Vampire deck, that runs all of the, actual and honorary, Sengirs (Vampires gaining counters for killing a creature/damaging a dying creature); along with the other, previously mentioned, alternatives (and useful interactions like Dizzying Gaze).

That deck doesn't like fight mechanics, but loves these effects (Vamps don't like prey to fight back).

[Dragoon]

(Vamps don't like prey to fight back).

Vein Drinker begs to differ.

[3drinks]

Monday, December 27th, 2021; Archaeomancer's Map

So it's been awhile. How has this card held up and is it the card every w player needs?

[lyonhaert]

Hahahaha - I still haven't put this in a deck and tried it yet. I just don't jump on "hot new staple" cards at all. I think I'm about to try it while rebuilding Breena, the Demagogue, though, and also finally got a Esper Sentinel for that, too. I just figure all the players I know who acknowledge its utility probably aren't wrong, even if I don't think of it as a must-run card.

As for getting its potential, I'm personally happy with getting two basic plains to hand for 2w, but the second ability definitely depends on having enough draw/CA to have lands in hand so you don't whiff on the trigger for lack of a land to drop. I've also seen in pokken's Breena deck that he runs ways to reduce his land count, like Lotus Field.

[hyalopterouslemur]

It's okay. It has a lot of obvious potential against green. Otherwise, the problem with cards like these remains the same: If you're playing a deck that needs mana, you probably put more lands in anyway.

[Mookie]

It annoys me slightly that Archaeomancer's Map is white, when Archaeomancer is blue. On the other hand, looking at Daring Archaeologist and Mystic Archaeologist, it appears that archeology in general is blue-white, so I suppose that it could go either way. Hmm....

Anyway, I've heard good things about Archaeomancer's Map, but I'm not entirely convinced yet that it deserves the hype. I suppose it compares favorably to Cultivate, which is already a mega-staple - if you're on the draw and play it on turn 3, then get a trigger out of it, you have effectively gotten the same effect (one land to hand, one to battlefield). If you have ways to manipulate your land count to get more triggers or to make use of the artifact for value (by either sacrificing or flickering it), Archaeomancer's Map can look even better. On the other hand, if your deck is already usually hitting all its land drops and Map isn't triggering, then Worn Powerstone or another mana rock will generally be better.

Still, it is a somewhat unique effect, so certainly worth consideration.

[pokken]

I've had a lot of good luck with Archaeomancer's Map - I wish it got non-basic Plains, or any basic, so it had a little more functionality, but it's a very solid card nonetheless.

It's outperformed Worn Powerstone every single time I've played it - one game it ramped me *7* (don't cast Scapeshift into this unless you're actually going to win ).

I've lost a lot of games after sticking it but I think the worst I ever ramped was 1 land, and typically a lot more since there's always one dude on Exploration or Cultivate.

[toctheyounger]

In my experience, it's not as amazing as it could be. Limiting the Burgeoning effect really hurts. That said the basement being fetch two plains isn't nothing, and that being unconditional is nice.

I should say I've not had the opportunity to play it against 'big Green ramp' or 'Simic value', and I think it would pull more weight there, but in any game where resources are relatively balanced it gets hard to reliably get extra value from. It means that your build gets somewhere between basic heavy to pick up the extras from that ETB and value lands to hit the trigger. Which I guess isn't a bad spot.

Card is good, but not often great.

[3drinks]

Tuesdsy, December 28th, 2021; Saryth, the Viper's Fang

[Rumpy5897]

Since I picked up EDH, there have been three legends that came out where I was committed to building the deck by the time I was done reading the card. Saryth is one of them, along Daxos the Returned and Feather, the Redeemed. She's just the perfect legend to lead a big dumb trampling fat mono green pile, evocative of my initial MTG deck from when I got into the game in 2005. The deck is far from powerful, but it's awesome to get to cast Rootbreaker Wurm again.

The design is actually rather cool, there's a bunch of stuff the legend does that makes the deck quite interesting to put together. You can have some tap abilities, you can have some big lands and aura ramp. You can consider some voltron elements on your trampling fat due to the hexproof shielding. Also the choice of fat is oddly relevant - if you swing in Nyxbloom Ancient, people are going to block it down. Just stick to big french vanillas? Makes me wonder how many recent legends actually offer more depth than a simple reading of them offers.

As a piece in the 99, I'd imagine this mostly goes in decks which do what this is good at aiding - tramplers, tap abilities, big lands. Seems like it would be sensible in Ghired, Conclave Exile, for example.

[Mookie]

Saryth, the Viper's Fang is one of the more amusing snap-includes printed for my Samut deck recently - as a deck built around tap abilities, it is capable of making fantastic use of every part of Saryth's text box. Giving pingers deathtouch, using Saryth / Samut to protect creatures from spot removal by untapping them, untapping both creatures and utility lands like Thawing Glaciers.... tons of good stuff, to the point that I wonder if anyone at WotC has a similar deck. Saryth's printing actually resulted in a partial revamp of the deck - having another source of deathtouch made it a lot easier to justify including a larger pinger package.

I'll call out Yisan, the Wanderer Bard and Captain Sisay as two particularly degenerate synergy pieces if you're looking to make use of tap abilities. Alternatively, you could use Saryth with trampling fatties.

[Melua]

Tuesdsy, December 28th, 2021; Saryth, the Viper's Fang

This card makes me sad that I can't have Vraska, Swarm's Eminence as my commander without Rule 0 talk.

[Lifeless]

I initially thought this was a snap include for Fynn, the Fangbearer but quickly realized that most of your kit already has deathtouch anyway. On the other hand the hexproof and ability to protect creatures and untap utility lands gives it an interesting flexibility. It also got me thinking about an infect\trample focused version of the deck that used Saryth to pile on even more poison.

[hyalopterouslemur]

The "tapped matters" is unusual. I know we saw it in Future Sight. But that last ability has many more applications, just untapping mana dorks or creatures that produce two or more mana. To say nothing of my favorite Illusionist's Bracers.

[Dunharrow]

Probably fun in a deck with a lot of first strike

[3drinks]

Wednesday, December 29th, 2021; Deathsprout

[Dunharrow]

Deathsprout is a really nice design. However, in practice I think it underperforms. Sometimes you need the land so you have to target something you would never waste a removal spell on because there are no other targets. 4 mana removal is also kinda bad unless you are recurring it (like Ravenous Chupacabra that keeps getting flickered).
It is good in a multicolor matters type of deck, but aside from that I would not consider it.

[Ruiner]

It isn't bad but it isn't fantastic. I mainly play this an excuse to use a card with awesome artwork.

[Melua]

Wednesday, December 29th, 2021; Deathsprout

If it costed BBG we might be talking, but that would have been insane for Standard.

[DirkGently]

@Dunharrow is right on the money. Having value stapled onto an answer sounds great in theory, but in practice you'll often end up wasting half the card.

Considering this is rampant growth stapled onto murder for 1 mana and one card cheaper, the rate is really good, but it's still just decent.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Lets you search for a land as an instant tho. That's worth a little. (Maybe it's just me and my tendency to throw Rule of Law and/or Arcane Laboratory in practically every deck I run.)

But you know, I also like Reap and Sow, Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, and Frenzied Tilling. Though Reap and Sow cannot be compared to any of them due to it grabbing any land.

You know, we need an easy way to look for "removal that also gives you land".

[Mookie]

I like Deathsprout, but you're definitely paying a premium for your spot removal. Four mana to kill a creature is a lot, even at instant speed, and adding Rampant Growth isn't necessarily what you want at that point in the game. I'll also call out that if the creature is sacrificed and the spell fizzles, you don't get the land either.

I'll call out Binding the Old Gods as a similar card that I actually do think to be worth running. It is slower - sorcery speed, only fetches Forests (although it can get nonbasics), and the ramp is delayed a turn... but tacking one mana onto Maelstrom Pulse is a lot more acceptable than adding two to Doom Blade. I also generally value the versatility - my BG deck (Tasigur) has plenty of board wipes to deal with creatures, so it likes its spot removal to be able to deal with noncreatures.

[onering]

As removal, it's too expensive. As ramp, it's too expensive. If you put this in a removal slot, I could see it working in decks that care about value. I actually like it better in a ramp slot where you intend to fire it off asap as mediocre ramp that kills something as value but which retains value as an extra removal spell when drawn late.

[Igzex]

It's a card I'm still not entirely sure on. It's card advantage but I struggle to slot it in any deck I could run it in because I have plenty of excellent ramp and removal options that aren't as likely to brick in my hand...

[3drinks]

Thursday, December 30th, 2021; Celestial Gatekeeper

Idk.....cleric sure is a helluva tribe for this......

It was like a second victimize in Alesha bird💩 though. That deck was wildly uhh, lol but not too over powered. Mardu birds, who the hell plays mardu birds 😂.