[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - North Star

[3drinks]

Sunday, May 1st, 2022; Asceticism

Good ol troll shroud, nothing beats that yep. How does ol faithful hold up in 2022?

[Igzex]

When I play beatdown, I almost always just use dragons so I prefer Steely Resolve obviously. Yet even then I haven't thought as highly of either card as I used to. The options for removal that all 3 of your opponents have far outweight the number of deck slots you'll be dedicating to protecting your threats. That, and with the flood of relatively lower curve dragon cards this year I'm just like, yeah maybe I'm better off running more threats than my opponents can hope to answer.

It still annoys me greatly when an opponent casts it though.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Careful with Steely Resolve if you like using things like Soul's Majesty.

Asceticism is nice. Not great, but nice. It does stop some boardwipes, which is always good.

The flip side is Privileged Position, which has benefits if I'm playing tokens, and the artifacts and enchantments (with triggers and such) are how I'm winning.

[Jemolk]

I run both this and Steely Resolve in my Karrthus dragons deck, and both again in Doran treefolk. Five mana is a lot, but both those decks ramp pretty obsessively, and regeneration is an excellent bonus, especially because of how many people play wraths that allow regen these days. I expect to get got by Farewell at some point even after leaving up regen mana, but that's probably a good thing for the game.

Since I've just sorta forgotten to check in here for a while, I'll say that Reality Ripple is one of my favorite cards ever. So much flexibility at instant speed. Shame on me for missing the day for that one, especially by so much.

[Dunharrow]

The funny thing is that the more new boardwipes come out, the less people play the ones that hose regeneration. So I guess this improves with time?
Heroic Intervention makes this look weak though.

[Sinis]

Sunday, May 1st, 2022; Asceticism

Good ol troll shroud, nothing beats that yep. How does ol faithful hold up in 2022?

It is very hard to play a 5-mana do-nothing* in today's environments.

*It's do-nothing in an immediate sense. It's just a massive tempo loss, and often if it isn't Overwhelming Stampede or something else that its going to progress the game towards victory, it isn't worth playing.

[wildfire393]

Ascetcism is strong in metas where there's a lot of targeted creature removal but not much targeted enchantment removal or non-destruction sweepers? And also where you can cast a five mana enchantment and not get run over before it matters.

I recall it being fairly strong in 2012 Commander but these days it's not quite holding the line. Especially when you have access to things like Archetype of Endurance, Avabruck Caretaker // Hollowhenge Huntmaster, and Dawnglade Regent. They might be more expensive, but they're green creatures which is "best seat in the house" status as far as random interactions go. And the Regent in particular draws you at least one card and is my pick for this kind of effect,

[RxPhantom]

The speed of the format has make Asceticism less desirable, but it can still be really useful. I'm looking to put it in a Surrak Dragonclaw deck, the overall theme of which is "control decks can eat it." I don't want this deck to be interacted with or interfered with at all.

[Mookie]

....I remember wanting Asceticism for my decks ages ago, but these days, I'm not sure if I would still run it. Granting your entire team hexproof can be good, but it is somewhat dependent on whether or not your creatures are actually worth spending spot removal on. If you're protecting a bunch of expensive fatties, then it will be great, but it's less exciting if you're protecting a bunch of cheap ETB creatures. I do appreciate that it doesn't give a window for opponents to interact though, unlike equipment like Lightning Greaves.

I'm less enthusiastic about the regeneration clause - again, if you have expensive creatures worth protecting, it will be more valuable than if you're regenerating something small. That said, I don't think it's feasible to protect more than 1-2 creatures with it - two mana per activation is a lot... and that's before we ignore the fact that so many board wipes are exile-based these days. On the plus side, Wrath of God and other regeneration-preventing board wipes have become less played over time, so the value of regeneration has gone up somewhat.

Overall, I'd say that I like Asceticism in slower, more battlecruisery metas - it was a solid staple years ago, but it has become clunkier relative to the format as time has gone on. These days, instant speed protection like Heroic Intervention seems more relevant.

[folding_music]

the slowness of Asceticism has made the speed of the format undesirable \o/

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Awesome card if you're playing in an insular meta where all the creatures just attack and block. Outside of kitchen table circa 2010, though, it gives your opponents way too much flexibility.

It's also some pretty weird flavor. Did all these college students…murder all their peers and promise each other to shut up about it?

I think they all promised not to come after the dude who just murdered everyone else they knew. "Okay mister, if you let us live we promise not to call the cops." Something like that.

And then later they decided to make it sound heroic. When they say "it's us against the world" they mean "it's us against the world...except the dude who murdered everyone, we gotta be loyal to him. Forever."

See, I thought it was a callback to the "I Know What You Did Last Summer" movies. The teens kill someone, then swear each other to secrecy in order not to ruin their young lives. Heck, I even think the flavor text is said verbatim in the first film.

[RedCheese]

A 5 mana cost card in green is too slow in Comamnder.....

What happened to our format? What Commander have become? This is really unsetling the direction a casual for fun battlecruiser friendly format have become....

[Sharpened]

A 5 mana cost card in green is too slow in Commander..

What happened to our format? What Commander have become? This is really unsetling the direction a casual for fun battlecruiser friendly format have become....

I don't think this card is evidence of anything. This card has always been slow, and probably too slow.

The cheaper (more limited) variant that people say they prefer is even older (Steely Resolve). Regeneration at a cost of has always been costly.

The card has never been "good". it wasn't back before the existence of Commander specific cards, and it isn't now. The real difference now is that there are a lot of new, better ways to protect your creatures (Heroic Intervention is a standout, but there's tons of single target effects, new shield counters, even Inspiring Call or other limited options) and the threats are both more resilient and generate more value even if removed.

Asceticism doesn't do anything fun. No one should mourn that it doesn't see play. And as I've said, nothing has really changed. It's playable, but not particularly strong. If it's really want you want, it's adequate. But its not particularly good, and it never has been.

[3drinks]

Monday, May 2nd, 2022; Mind's Eye

Talk about a blast from the past. Still ticking on today.

[Sinis]

Monday, May 2nd, 2022; Mind's Eye

Talk about a blast from the past. Still ticking on today.

Not even worth playing anymore, IMO. There are so many better ways to draw cards.

[Melua]

Monday, May 2nd, 2022; Mind's Eye

Talk about a blast from the past. Still ticking on today.

Not even worth playing anymore, IMO. There are so many better ways to draw cards.

White can still use it, but God it's expensive.

[Sinis]

Monday, May 2nd, 2022; Mind's Eye

Talk about a blast from the past. Still ticking on today.

Not even worth playing anymore, IMO. There are so many better ways to draw cards.

White can still use it, but God it's expensive.

Yeah, maybe. I feel like it comes down too late. The initial investment is really heavy, but I'd rather run something like Endless Atlas, Mazemind Tome, War Room etc. The very specific-to-white draw cards (like Mentor of the Meek) come down a lot faster than Mind's Eye.

I feel like Mind's Eye is held back by the initial investment, where the metagame has become quicker to the point where a 5 mv development card isn't worthwhile unless it is monumentally explosive.

[PrimevalCommander]

I still play Mind's Eye in Mono-Red artifacts. Would probably play it in Mono-White as well, but those are probably the only instances I would consider this card now. And I have used it to great effect years ago. Was one of the better ways for non-blue decks to draw cards. One will always have a spot in my Commander cube if nothing else because it is an original Mirrodin foil.

[Lifeless]

It's great in Godo, although a little clunky when you're focused on generating large amounts of mana all at the same time. Not every deck gets to draw for free and it's unlikely to draw artifact removal early so I think it still deserves a spot in various decks.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

This thing is still pretty good in mono-brown decks, which are usually ramp-focued enough to drop this early and recoup the lost value.

[Mookie]

Mind's Eye, like Asceticism, is a card whose stock has gone down over time... although for completely different reasons this time around. There are a ton of colorless card draw options these days, which means most decks can find something more efficient than Mind's Eye. It looked okay when the baseline was Jayemdae Tome, but comparing to Mazemind Tome makes it look a lot worse.

...I'll also call out that I have always felt Mind's Eye's timing to be a bit awkward - paying mana during your opponents' draw steps often means you won't have any mana open to interact, especially later in the turn cycle. It somehow feels like a sorcery speed activation in terms of convenience, but without the upside of actually being able to use those cards on your own turn. for a card is a bargain, but I'm willing to pay a premium for my card draw to be more convenient.

....I will call out that it works particularly well with Smothering Tithe though.

[RxPhantom]

I still run Mind's Eye in my Boros deck. It's fine. Red's impulse drawing is cool, but it doesn't always work out the way I want to.

[Jemolk]

Still love Mind's Eye as a continual draw engine. Slow, yes, and expensive, sure, but drawing, as a baseline no less, up to four cards per turn cycle shouldn't be a free roll. It takes a pretty specific type of deck to be worth the high cost over other options, but that is as it should be as well. Must-run-everywhere staples shouldn't be a thing in Commander.

[hyalopterouslemur]

White and red only. Everyone else has better. And Consecrated Sphinx flies circles around this.

[Igzex]

I'd say this used to be green's best draw engine but then WOTC was like what if green could just draw you a whole hand for the mana cost of just casting Mind's Eye, no need to pump extra mana on other's draw phases. Still not bad in like, a red deck full of artifact ramp.