[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Spinal Embrace

[Serenade]

I always wanted to use it with Kulrath Knight.

[hyalopterouslemur]

I feel like the idea of this card was to pair it with the Lorwyn block cards that could remove -1/-1 counters to activate abilities.

Or other things like devour, bloodthirst, and allies. This card is really good with Cathars' Crusade or things with undying or morbid.

You can also just use it for the triggers.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

This card is so %$#% cool. The RFK art is brutal and awesome, the name is a clever twist on a classic phrase, and the flavor text is deeply unnerving. I love this %$#% card, man. I can't imagine I'll ever play it in anything, but I've got mad respect for anyone who can find a good enough reason to do so.

[3drinks]

Whoa I musta been not fully awake this morning because I did not see "each player" on it.

...and the ones that count everyone's these days tend to be bigger (Dreadhound, Syr Konrad, the Grim) so won't die to this so you need more pieces to make it work.

I missed dreadhound, I was just looking for an on-type syr konrad effect for zenith Kaalia so there's an easy search for this week.

[toctheyounger]

I've used it before in Varina. It's pretty good, and the artwork is top notch RKF, always loved his style. Great with something like Mikaeus, the Unhallowed.

[Mookie]

I love mass reanimation, but I'm not currently running Pyrrhic Revival in any decks. Maybe I should? Hmmm.... six mana is a bit more than I would like to pay for the effect, given that Living Death usually does the job better (assuming have a sac outlet). The -1/-1 counters killing Blood Artist / Zulaport Cutthroat also make it a bit awkward in aristocrats strategies. On the other hand, if I ever get around to building Tayam, Luminous Enigma, throwing counters on all my dead creatures could be sweet (assuming they aren't cancelling out +1/+1 counters).

[3drinks]

Friday, April 1st, 2022; Greven, Predator Captain

[TheAmericanSpirit]

He'd be waaay cooler if he was obtainable in nonfoil!

[vandertroll]

Yet another command in my long list of "I want to build him but oops I found something cooler''

[Mookie]

I like Greven, Predator Captain, but Chainer, Nightmare Adept is the more interesting option from that precon, IMO. Greven feels a bit too easy to solve, at least from a deckbuilding perspective - ways to pay life, ways to grant lifelink, and topheavy creatures like Ball Lightning. Still, certainly a unique option for a voltron commander, and I can never really be mad about someone embracing their Hatred.

[Serenade]

Here's the thing: Greven 2.0 is a wall general. =P

Here's the other thing: Menace is kinda weak.

Here's one last thing: Chainer 2.0 got a non-foil reprint, which is so very nice!

[3drinks]

Saturday, April 2nd, 2022; Catacomb Sifter

[3drinks]

I like Greven, Predator Captain, but Chainer, Nightmare Adept is the more interesting option from that precon, IMO. Greven feels a bit too easy to solve, at least from a deckbuilding perspective - ways to pay life, ways to grant lifelink, and topheavy creatures like Ball Lightning. Still, certainly a unique option for a voltron commander, and I can never really be mad about someone embracing their Hatred.

I agree. He's a cool deck but also incredibly linear. Once you play it twice, you're ready to take it apart and do something else.

[Serenade]

Compare/contrast with…

Shadows of the Past
Warteye Witch
Reaper of the Wilds

But you probably just wish it drew or surveiled instead.

[hyalopterouslemur]

I always liked Reaper of the Wilds and Shadows of the Past. This is more vulnerable (devoid so it can be Bladed, no hexproof, etc. on the one hand, and it's a creature on the other), so this is an option for Aristocrats.

Note that this (and Warteye Witch) add the "you control" clause.

[wildfire393]

I like death trigger dudes that come with their own sac fodder, and double especially when that sac fodder has a built-in way to sac itself for value. Like, this isn't a 10/10 staple windmill slam in every BGx deck, but it's an extremely solid self-contained package and likely more overlooked than it should be. I can definitely see running this in something like Korvold, Fae-Cursed King, Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest, Chatterfang, Squirrel General, Grismold, the Dreadsower, etc. Just a lot of value in a little package, which is the kind of card I really enjoy.

[3drinks]

Sunday, April 3rd, 2022; Ignition Team

#ReasonsToPlayReveillark

[onering]

That could be huge. That could also be a very expensive, very mean combo with Blasphemous Act.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Man, if Prophecy's "tapped lands matter" theme had been like this, it probably wouldn't have been universally panned.

As it is, on the other side of "mana burn don't real", this card is surprisingly easy to break. Like, it's almost certain to be at least a 7/7.

[wildfire393]

It's part of an interesting, quirky cycle of Conspiracy cards: Custodi Soulbinders, Academy Elite, Drakestown Forgotten, Ignition Team, Realm Seekers.

I'm most fond of Realm Seekers since it's often huge, especially in UG type decks where you have tons of draw, and it can find any type of land for setting up land combos like Gaea's Cradle + Field of the Dead or Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth + Cabal Coffers . Custodi Soulbinders is pretty decent as well.

Ignition Team is an interesting one. Odds are it'll be minimum 7/7 if you tap 7 of your own lands to cast it, and in a later casual game, especially with any ramp deck, it could end up much larger. The activated ability is pretty niche, but it can translate into some bonus damage or Kamahl, Fist of Krosa-style wrath deterrence. I dunno where I'd run it, but it's a card that's likely slightly underrated given it's only in 435 decks (0%) on EDHRec. Grenzo, Dungeon Warden and Alesha, Who Smiles at Death are the two that are most likely to run it right now, which makes some sense given they can cheat it in since it's a 0/0 in the graveyard. A few Krenko, Mob Boss lists run it too, I guess just because it's a gobbo.

[Mookie]

....I've cast Mana Geyser enough times to recognize that Ignition Team could be a 20/20 or bigger without that much difficulty, especially considering that it counts your lands as well. On the other hand, a seven mana vanilla beater is... pretty hard to justify including, no matter how big it is. Maybe in Alesha, Who Smiles at Death?

The second ability - animating lands - is interesting, but seems situational. However, I will note that it is an ability that usually shows up in other colors, particularly green. Embodiment of Fury and Koth of the Hammer look to be the only other repeatable sources of this effect, and they only really work once per turn by default. As a result, I don't hate the idea of using Ignition Team to turn on some untap shenanigans in mono-red. Maybe alongside Aggravated Assault? At three mana per land, it is incredibly inefficient to get started though, so not something I would recommend building around.

[tstorm823]

I've considered it as an interesting cross-section of comboing with Jeskai Ascendancy while also board wiping with Mirrorweave, but 7 is just a lot of mana.

[3drinks]

Monday, April 4th, 2022; Shadows' Verdict

[Guardman]

Shadows' Verdict is one of those cards that has such high variance. I've seen games where it just crushed two or three opponents because they were playing some combination of tokens, go wide with small creatures (ala Elves), or wanted a bunch of small creatures in the graveyard. I've also seen games were this card would do almost nothing. Because of that, unless its a good meta-call I would probably play something else.

[Mookie]

Shadows' Verdict looks backbreaking against some decks, but it definitely seems like a meta call. It's not a particularly powerful board wipe compared to Toxic Deluge / Damnation. It's also not a particularly powerful source of grave hate, especially given that one of the primary use cases for grave hate is to stop big things from being reanimated. As a result, I don't really see myself ever running it over more flexible options - five mana is a lot for something so narrow.

....on the other hand, it totally hoses my Teysa, Orzhov Scion deck, so I'm going to hope that no one in my meta decides to ever run it.