[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - North Star

[Dunharrow]

about 9 years ago I tried building Damia, Sage of Stone and put this in.
Deck was too slow and Damia would never make it around the table.

[TheGildedGoose]

I had a Search for Blex list that used Cadaverous Bloom and Skirge Familiar in combination with Harness Infinity to generate boatloads of mana to pump into Torment of Hailfire. I could see it doing work in a Sultai storm list, too. It's a very niche card, but in the right circumstances it's very strong.

[hyalopterouslemur]

about 9 years ago I tried building Damia, Sage of Stone and put this in.
Deck was too slow and Damia would never make it around the table.

Damia costs seven mana. You might get her once or twice, but seven mana is a lot. And you definitely need more mana dorks/rocks/ramp to bring her out/keep her out.

Anyway, yeah, you know how this card works. It's made a lot worse by the one-of rule: You can only get one Bloom, but you can also only get one Prosperity, one Stroke of Genius, one Braingeyser, one Damnable Pact, etc. (Greed can actually do some of the heavy lifting here.) On the plus side, we now have draw doublers. On the minus side, white has plenty of ways to hose this.

[materpillar]

Are you doing degenerate things? This card is for you!
Are you doing fair things? Shop elsewhere.

This card is one of the best enablers for my elf-ball, tendrils storm deck. It enables the magical-christmas land T2 kill of
T1- land → Magus of the Vineyard
T2- land → Sol Ring → Cadaverous Bloom → Ad Nauseam → table kill

[Mookie]

I've considered Cadaverous Bloom for Tasigur in the past. Golgari has a few ways to put a massive number of cards into hand, like Peer into the Abyss and Praetor's Counsel, and converting those cards directly into mana is a pretty absurd ability. Even without those effects, I don't hate the idea of activating Tasigur a bunch of times on my opponents' turns, then exiling a bunch of expendable cards to fuel a massive Genesis Wave / Exsanguinate. Not necessarily the strongest plan, but certainly an interesting angle.

I'll note that Skirge Familiar and Titans' Nest function somewhat similarly, but turning your cards into mana at a 1:2 rate instead of a 1:1 rate is a pretty massive upgrade.

[UnfulfilledDesires]

I'll note that Skirge Familiar and Titans' Nest function somewhat similarly, but turning your cards into mana at a 1:2 rate instead of a 1:1 rate is a pretty massive upgrade.

There's also Mind Over Matter, which can be an even better rate but isn't by default.

[folding_music]

broken card. Have innocently used it to set up Gibbering Descent with a bunch of cumulative upkeep stuff on the board :)))))))) but people will rightfully groan when you play it even with the silliest of intentions

[3drinks]

Thursday, january 13th, 2022; Wakedancer

I know this doesn't look like a bomb or anything, but it's still a three mana value body with a very relevant typeline that "phones a friend" in a trivially easy condition. Looks like a great "grease" style card to me. Three for four power across two bodies, works with sun titties and a host of other things. Hits all the buttons from where I'm sitting.

[Sinis]

Thursday, january 13th, 2022; Wakedancer

Was okay in limited. Feels bad now.

I know this doesn't look like a bomb or anything, but it's still a three mana value body with a very relevant typeline that "phones a friend" in a trivially easy condition. Looks like a great "grease" style card to me. Three for four power across two bodies

Ehhhh. Morbid is too conditional for something sorcery speed, or not a powerful trigger. It's not just a 4/4 across 2 bodies for . For strict body count, we could just play Woe Strider, Jerren, Corrupted Bishop // Ormendahl, the Corrupter, Weaponcraft Enthusiast, Callous Bloodmage. Callous Bloodmage, Jerren and Woe Strider all have good other pluses, as well.

, works with sun titties and a host of other things. Hits all the buttons from where I'm sitting.

NGL, I have been struggling with Sun Titan lately. It just never feels good enough unless I'm securing/looping it with Angelic Renewal|WTH, or I'm already winning by making it indestructible (with Avacyn) or something. It just feels... fragile and overcosted nowadays. I don't know if it's because card quality has just skyrocketed in the last 10 years or so, or if it's because white finally has (a couple) of good cards, but it just... doesn't feel all that hot anymore?

"Passes the Sun Titan test" is no longer a criterion I instantly think about anymore for new cards; when I wrote about Callous Bloodmage above, I realize that I had not applied that thought to it, which signals that Sun Titan is no longer the staple/Good Thing™ that it used to be (for me, at least). Has it been working out for you? Maybe I'm doing something wrong with it.

[Hawk]

If Wakedancer was itself a Zombie, it might have a spot in a Zombie tribal deck. Here for Zombies I find it inferior to Lazotep Reaver (a card I'd consider replacement-level for most Zombie decks anyways). Sure Reaver is "only" 2/3 of stats compared to 4/4, but being 2 mana value, having both bodies be zombies, and being guaranteed to be a two-for-one body without any set-up required puts it way ahead.

And if typeline is no object, for say an aristocrat deck - this is still losing out to Reaver as well as the aforementioned Callous Bloodmage (more versatile) and Woe Strider (has Escape and is its own Sac outlet).

It's important to note in terms of curve that the 3 mana value slot is really crowded in both Zombie and Aristocrat decks too, which makes me look with scrutiny on 3-drops for those decks. Curve matters, and a whole deck of 3 CMC cards can lead to awkward openers imo.

- Zombies have most of their lords at 3 CMC (Lord of the Accursed, Death Baron, Lord of the Undead, Cemetery Reaper, etc, etc.) 3 CMC is also the mana value of Diregraf Colossus, Headless Rider, Midnight Reaper, Liliana's Standard Bearer, and Plague Belcher.

- For aristocrat.dec strategies, there's some of the above that are of interest and 3 CMC is also the slot for Ashnod's Altar, Phyrexian Altar, Grim Haruspex, Bastion of Remembrance, Pawn of Ulamog, and Yahenni, Undying Partisan as well as most of the good Plaguecrafter -type effects.

And that's all in monoblack, so if we are adding White for some Sun Titan shenanigans - Sun Titan would be fixing to recur any and all of the above and we also add in many powerful White and Orzhov sacrifice outlets or payoffs.

[BeneTleilax]

It's fine, but I would rather Ophiomancer.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Two 2/2s for 2b is good, but not really EDH good. She's great in limited, maybe passable (but still trounced by Delver) in the Standard of the time.

There's a reason that when I use morbid so heavily in Ghave or Mikaeus or Meren or Mazirek or Jarad or Kresh or Savra or Lyzolda or Teysa, she 100% never makes the cut.

I can play Gravetiller Wurm with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed out, then sac it to something, and just get a cheap 10/10 trampler.
I can use Ulvenvald Bear or Hunger of the Howlpack to give something +1/+1 counters.
Tragic Slip kills nearly everything. I get another kill out of Reaper from the Abyss.
Deathreap Ritual is a cheap Baleful Force.
Skirsdag High Priest gives me big tokens (and a pretty funny Intruder Alarm combo).
Brimstone Volley is still not as good as Goblin Grenade but acceptable. Caravan Vigil is basically a free Rampant Growth. Predator's Howl costs one more, but does better (barring Panharmonicon, but it's much better with Parallel Lives). In fact, it's an instant too, so there are so many ways it's better, it's just not funny.
Vengeful Devil is a cheap hasty Tim. Malicious Affliction is card advantage.
Even Somberwald Spider can go toe to toe with Sigarda, Host of Herons (and kill her with a boost, provided she isn't Voltron'd up with indestructible) in Ghave.

This? This is just two 2/2s that aren't even of the same tribe just in case you wanted to use Lord of the Undead and friends to make more of this. I mean, that is two threats, so, card advantage, but there's a lot better.

[Lifeless]

I'm happy to fill in my curve in our Conspiracy cube with a couple of these guys, but otherwise I don't think this should be seeing play.

[Dunharrow]

I still love Sun Titan, but ETB make a 2/2 is not near good enough for commander. I would rather draw cards or make interact with opponents.
I also think that there are better cards than this at putting 4 power on board.. Are you playing this over Blade Splicer ?

[3drinks]

But that art though. It's beautiful.

NGL, I have been struggling with Sun Titan lately. It just never feels good enough unless I'm securing/looping it with Angelic Renewal|WTH, or I'm already winning by making it indestructible (with Avacyn) or something. It just feels... fragile and overcosted nowadays. I don't know if it's because card quality has just skyrocketed in the last 10 years or so, or if it's because white finally has (a couple) of good cards, but it just... doesn't feel all that hot anymore?

"Passes the Sun Titan test" is no longer a criterion I instantly think about anymore for new cards; when I wrote about Callous Bloodmage above, I realize that I had not applied that thought to it, which signals that Sun Titan is no longer the staple/Good Thing™ that it used to be (for me, at least). Has it been working out for you? Maybe I'm doing something wrong with it.

I'm not sure. I mean, I've noticed myself putting it into fewer and fewer 99s, but I assumed it was because I'm always on Kaalia (types matter), or Alesha (size matters). I'd imagine I'd still play it in something more generically built, say, a Ghen, Arcanum Weaver or Trynn, Champion of Freedom & Silvar, Devourer of the Free. In fact in the latter partners as well as General Kudro of Drannith, wakedancer does appear to pull some extra weight, but I suppose that's more on the type and humans are a very good tribe. This halfway works with Jirina Kudro though I guess the token doesn't get the buff.

These styles of decks aren't in favor these days I suppose, what with everyone's new fangdangled dockside loops and incidental wombo combos that accidentally the whole game. Guess another case of me being left behind™. Man I am really struggling with that concept. Twenty-five years in and now I'm losing touch smh.

If Wakedancer was itself a Zombie, it might have a spot in a Zombie tribal deck. Here for Zombies I find it inferior to Lazotep Reaver (a card I'd consider replacement-level for most Zombie decks anyways). Sure Reaver is "only" 2/3 of stats compared to 4/4, but being 2 mana value, having both bodies be zombies, and being guaranteed to be a two-for-one body without any set-up required puts it way ahead.

And if typeline is no object, for say an aristocrat deck - this is still losing out to Reaver as well as the aforementioned Callous Bloodmage (more versatile) and Woe Strider (has Escape and is its own Sac outlet).

It's important to note in terms of curve that the 3 mana value slot is really crowded in both Zombie and Aristocrat decks too, which makes me look with scrutiny on 3-drops for those decks. Curve matters, and a whole deck of 3 CMC cards can lead to awkward openers imo.

- Zombies have most of their lords at 3 CMC (Lord of the Accursed, Death Baron, Lord of the Undead, Cemetery Reaper, etc, etc.) 3 CMC is also the mana value of Diregraf Colossus, Headless Rider, Midnight Reaper, Liliana's Standard Bearer, and Plague Belcher.

- For aristocrat.dec strategies, there's some of the above that are of interest and 3 CMC is also the slot for Ashnod's Altar, Phyrexian Altar, Grim Haruspex, Bastion of Remembrance, Pawn of Ulamog, and Yahenni, Undying Partisan as well as most of the good Plaguecrafter -type effects.

And that's all in monoblack, so if we are adding White for some Sun Titan shenanigans - Sun Titan would be fixing to recur any and all of the above and we also add in many powerful White and Orzhov sacrifice outlets or payoffs.

Hmm. I think alongside Rotlung Reanimator and Xathrid Necromancer, Wakedancer does make the most sense. As you allude to, it's not the gold medal as much as it is the participation ribbon I suppose. Idk, I'd put it in such a hypothesized ninety-nine as suggested here.

[hyalopterouslemur]

I just realized my Mikaeus trick with morbid also works with Somberwald Spider, so if you do that, it's now a 6/8 with reach. In fact, Wakedancer and Woodland Sleuth are the only humans with morbid entry triggers, i.e. the only creatures with morbid you can't exploit with Mikaeus in some way.. (Bonus: Exploiting evoke.)

I mean, Rotlung Reanimator and Xathrid Necromancer are more tribal. In a cleric or human deck respectively, they make sense.

The Sun Titan test works if you remember, entry triggers, death triggers, and especially activated abilities that require a sac. You're looking for card advantage, not trying to be fancy. (Auras, especially Lure, are acceptable, however. As are creatures with the Lure ability, and creatures that tap to fight.)

And Blade Splicer blows all three out of the water if you don't care about creature type.

[Mookie]

As others have noted, Wakedancer is sort of meh. In my Teysa deck, I'm running stuff like Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia, Ophiomancer, and Chittering Witch, all of which can make more tokens. Woe Strider brings a friend and also doubles as a sac outlet. Liliana, Heretical Healer // Liliana, Defiant Necromancer flips into a reanimation spell to generate even more bodies.... and that's not even mentioning any of the white token producers I have access to. I won't say that a pair of 2/2s for three mana is bad, but I also can't think of a situation where I would want it over all the other options - the card pool for aristocrats / token strategies is extremely deep.

Re: Sun Titan - I still run it in most of my white decks, largely due to synergies - Teysa likes to combo it with Fiend Hunter, Brago flickers it for value, and Samut gets to double-dip on it immediately due to haste. It's certainly still a solid value creature, IMO, and comparable to other staples like Mulldrifter and Wood Elves. On the other hand, I've never really understood 'the Sun Titan test' - recurring stuff noncreature permanents is a fairly unique effect in white, so there aren't other cards to take advantage of the fact that a particular card is cheap. Simultaneously, I find it to be pretty rare for me to tutor for Sun Titan... if only because white has extremely few (if any) tutors capable of doing so. I suspect the Sun Titan test's actual value is in encouraging players to lower their curve and play cheap permanents instead of more expensive ones.

[3drinks]

Friday, January 14th, 2022; Mirrorworks

I love this card, but I also hate that initial 5 investment before you can get anything. Still, I'll always try to force it into places where it doesn't belong because I have an artifact "problem". They say it's s problem, pfft, I say I can "quit any time" 🙄😂

[Toshi]

I think 4 would've been fine. Though i never ran it, it's still a cool card.

Goes infinite with Mana Vault, Grim Monolith, Basalt Monolith, Thran Dynamo, Gilded Lotus, Coveted Jewel and Dreamstone Hedron.

[Dunharrow]

I think it's a narrow card that looks very open-ended. Other than artifact creatures with ETBs, there are very few uses I see that are worth it's inclusion... and if you have an ETB deck wouldn't Panharmonicon and flicker effect be better?

[Wallycaine]

I think 4 would've been fine. Though i never ran it, it's still a cool card.

Goes infinite with Mana Vault, Grim Monolith, Basalt Monolith, Thran Dynamo, Gilded Lotus, Coveted Jewel and Dreamstone Hedron.

It doesn't go infinite with any of those cards, though it does synergizes strongly. Mirrorworks specifies "non-token", so it won't trigger again off the token copies of those cards, meaning you only get 1 extra copy.

[materpillar]

Friday, January 14th, 2022; Mirrorworks

I love this card, but I also hate that initial 5 investment before you can get anything. Still, I'll always try to force it into places where it doesn't belong because I have an artifact "problem". They say it's s problem, pfft, I say I can "quit any time" 🙄😂

I run this in my artifact matters deck Chromium deck. Getting an extra Sword of X and Y is pretty solid for 2 mana if your meta game is actually about chip damage.

My fondest memory was using this with Master Transmuter to make Darksteel Colossus for 2u a pop.

[Mookie]

Mirrorworks is sweet, and a very powerful engine in artifact-based decks. At the very least, copying your mana rocks can provide a lot of ramp - and because it's an ETB effect and not actual kicker, you can use the mana rocks themselves to pay for the copying. There is the minor issue of the fact that you probably will have already played most of your mana rocks before you hit five mana, but... if you're playing an artifact-based deck, you'll probably draw more stuff to copy soon enough. The fact that the tokens stay around make it a significant upgrade over Minion Reflector and Flameshadow Conjuring. It's not quite as efficient as Phyrexian Metamorph or Sculpting Steel if you're only copying a single thing, but the more things you copy, the better the rate becomes.

Anyway, the combo you're actually looking for is Mirrorworks + Sharuum the Hegemon + Krark-Clan Ironworks - that yields infinite mana and infinite token copies of most of your artifacts (including any you have in your graveyard). I often use that in my build, using either Codex Shredder or Staff of Nin as the actual finisher.... mostly because milling people out with Codex Shredder amuses me greatly.

Obviously not great in decks that aren't running many artifacts - Phyrexian Metamorph and Sculpting Steel (or even Mirage Mirror) are much better if you're only planning to copy one or two things. However, definitely worth consideration in the decks that have a lot of them, particularly if they're looking to durdle.

[hyalopterouslemur]

"nontoken" people!

It's a fine card for when you absolutely want more from your triggered abilities, activated abilities with a t or sac, and certain static abilities. And, well, artifact creatures. You can also do weird stuff. Like, Ichor Wellspring, pay an additional 2, then sac both to Krark-Clan Ironworks, and you draw four cards and get your mana back. Or you can use Su-Chi, pay 2, and now you have access to eight colorless mana if you want it.

At a bare minimum, you can use it to double your mana rocks.

[Hermes_]

I wonder if i would killed if i played with with Omen Machine