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

[Sinis]

Monday, May 23rd, 2022; Component Pouch

Kinda like a more bankable Coalition Relic. And a dice enabler. I like it. Aannndddd I think we're seeing that I look at cards in a vastly different light and that's probably what my problem has been.

This card was excellent in my Farideh dice roller. Roughly equivalent to Worn Powerstone for the next turn, but the free die roll was definitely the main draw.

I'm kind of looking forward to rebuilding Izzet dice again with Wyll, Blade of Frontiers and whatever blue background strikes my fancy. Or, maybe a new colour combo, depending on what dice cards appear (though, blue/red has the deepest pool of dice cards by a huge margin).

[Dragoon]

Another random card! It's surprisingly more effective than it looked at first glance. It gives me strong Coalition Relic vibes. It is less flexible since Coalition Relic can tap for just one mana each turn, instead of forcing you to recharge. However, the pouch can potentially give you two mana twice in a row which can be quite powerful.

I'm kind of looking forward to rebuilding Izzet dice again with Wyll, Blade of Frontiers and whatever blue background strikes my fancy. Or, maybe a new colour combo, depending on what dice cards appear (though, blue/red has the deepest pool of dice cards by a huge margin).

I'm crossing my fingers for a Temur legend that has something to do with dice (bonus points if it's a dragon).

[Hermes_]

something something Doubling Season

[Guardman]

I like it. I have a few non-green decks that want to play six drops on turn 4 consistently and this adds some nice redundancy in the three mana ramp two mana slot without having to pay an arm and a leg. The mana being colored is nice, but usually not needed.

[Hawk]

On its face, I think this is a bit worse than Coalition Relic although it is more bankable if you are just saving for one explosive turn with a 7+ CMC Commander. It also seems worse than Worn Powerstone if you just want a 3CMC rock that adds +2 mana.

It shines in any place where the counters matter (like several of the new Brokers commanders, any deck with Doubling Season, any deck with a meaningful amount of proliferate), any place where the ability to pull a Firemind Vessel and double-fix mattes (many 6+ CMC 4+ color commanders), and any place where the dice rolling matters (like newcomer Wyll, Blade of Frontiers). And while I think it's worse than those aforementioned two, it isn't strictly so and it is budget friendly. I should pick up a copy or two for sure.

[Sinis]

I'm kind of looking forward to rebuilding Izzet dice again with Wyll, Blade of Frontiers and whatever blue background strikes my fancy. Or, maybe a new colour combo, depending on what dice cards appear (though, blue/red has the deepest pool of dice cards by a huge margin).

I'm crossing my fingers for a Temur legend that has something to do with dice (bonus points if it's a dragon).

That's a tall order, and pretty specific.

If you're okay giving up blue and aren't interested in Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients, you can easily play Wyll, Blade of Frontiers + Acolyte of Bahamut.

Sidenote: This is what I love about Partners and now Backgrounds; you can just... kind of build whatever weird idea is floating around in your brain.

[hyalopterouslemur]

I mean, I prefer Coalition Relic, for the same reason I prefer Time Spiral storage lands over older storage lands. But if you're doing something with dice and somehow specifically using the dice as a wincon, it becomes more useful.

[Dragoon]

I'm kind of looking forward to rebuilding Izzet dice again with Wyll, Blade of Frontiers and whatever blue background strikes my fancy. Or, maybe a new colour combo, depending on what dice cards appear (though, blue/red has the deepest pool of dice cards by a huge margin).

I'm crossing my fingers for a Temur legend that has something to do with dice (bonus points if it's a dragon).

That's a tall order, and pretty specific.

If you're okay giving up blue and aren't interested in Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients, you can easily play Wyll, Blade of Frontiers + Acolyte of Bahamut.

Oh the dragon part is just for style, I don't intend to build it with a dragon tribal theme. I just want a dice rolling legend that's not limited to two colours! (I also want one for coin flipping but that sounds even more like a pipe dream).

[PrimevalCommander]

Been playing this in budget Sefris of the Hidden Ways for the dice rolling and DND flavor. Has been decent so far and will likely maintain its spot for a while. Though most of the time it will need to recharge quite quickly, and you may need the mana when you have no counters left. Overall one of the better flavorful mana rocks I can play while still being good enough to pull it's weight. Dungeon Map is still better for the deck since I care more about dungeons than dice.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I dig it. It's not a perfect card, but the rule of cool dictates that efficiency is not necessary. Being 9 cents is very cool too.

[3drinks]

Tuesday, May 24th, 2022; Amareth, the Lustrous

[PrimevalCommander]

Pretty cool card, but it just seems a little too fair for a 6 mv Dragon in the Command Zone. If it put it into play ala Kodama of the East Tree but with lesser mana value only, then you might have something. Though then we are approaching Chulane, Teller of Tales levels of grief. Keeping lands from triggering would go a long way in limiting its power, but still be worth playing as a cost cheater commander. You don't want Sensei's Divining Top putting itself into play.

As written, there are better ways to draw cards or interact with permanents ETB at 6 mv. Great art though. Maybe if you wanted a Bant ALL Creatures, or ALL Enchantments it would be a fun value engine. Bantchantress probably one of the better ways to build this with the small 1mv enchantments and the enchantresses.

[Dragoon]

Another card I play in my random deck (and in my dragons pile for The Ur-Dragon). It's an okayish effect stapled to a good body. As @PrimevalCommander said, he shines best in decks that tend to go all-in on one permanent type. The fact that he can trigger on tokens is not negligible as well. Also, although I haven't tested it because of theme restrictions, his interaction with Sensei's Divining Top sounds very good: cast top, then in response to Amareth's trigger, put it back on top and redraw it.

[Serenade]

I'd have played the crap out of it if it existed in earlier EDH days. Feels too slow now.

[Igzex]

She does some serious work in my The Ur-Dragon whenever I have its lands engine going. Alright card.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Six mana seems a bit much considering it just goes to your hand. But a ton of decks can use her: Enchantress, Affinity, Eggs, creature-heavy decks of all stripes, ramp and lands.dec, Superfriends...

[Cyberium]

Tuesday, May 24th, 2022; Amareth, the Lustrous

Versatile for multiple themes, as most commanders should be.

[3drinks]

Wednesday, May 25th, 2022; Fracturing Gust

[TheAmericanSpirit]

This card seems strong, but I've never seen anyone play it. I imagine it's pretty good these days with all the artifact tokens flying around. I can't recall a midgame boardstate in recent memory where this would fail to gain at least 10 life.

[Mookie]

Fracturing Gust is an incredibly impactful card against some decks - if you're playing against an enchantress or artifact deck, it represents a board wipe and a bunch of life gain at instant speed. However, despite its power, I don't think I have ever seen it cast... and the reason for that is its color combination - Selesnya has an absurd number of options for artifact and enchantment removal, and it's hard to think of a situation where Fracturing Gust is better than the alternatives. For one, the color combination doesn't really have any synergies with instants, while it does have creature synergies, which make stuff like Bane of Progress and Knight of Autumn more attractive. Plus, Selesnya also has flexible options like Farewell and Cleansing Nova... or you could play the asymmetric Aura Shards.

....anyway, certainly a powerful card, but a bit too narrow in practice to beat out more flexible / synergistic options.

[Dragoon]

Fracturing Gust is an incredibly impactful card against some decks - if you're playing against an enchantress or artifact deck, it represents a board wipe and a bunch of life gain at instant speed. However, despite its power, I don't think I have ever seen it cast... and the reason for that is its color combination - Selesnya has an absurd number of options for artifact and enchantment removal, and it's hard to think of a situation where Fracturing Gust is better than the alternatives. For one, the color combination doesn't really have any synergies with instants, while it does have creature synergies, which make stuff like Bane of Progress and Knight of Autumn more attractive. Plus, Selesnya also has flexible options like Farewell and Cleansing Nova... or you could play the asymmetric Aura Shards.

....anyway, certainly a powerful card, but a bit too narrow in practice to beat out more flexible / synergistic options.

I played it in GW lifegain decks (it was quite a while ago though). It was good and on theme.

[hyalopterouslemur]

This card seems strong, but I've never seen anyone play it. I imagine it's pretty good these days with all the artifact tokens flying around. I can't recall a midgame boardstate in recent memory where this would fail to gain at least 10 life.

It's also a rule of thumb that (tokens, Voltron, Stax) will have plenty of artifacts and enchantments.

I can tell you, when I play tokens, I generally don't fear a wrath. Sure, I have to start over building my tokens up, but I got some death triggers in; in fact, entry and death triggers, tapping, sacrificing, attacking, and counting creatures are a bigger part of the deck than alpha strikes. I do fear a Back to Nature, Creeping Corrosion, and the like. Or just an Austere Command.

[Sinis]

I think it's hard to justify Fracturing Gust|SLD over something like Cleansing Nova or Austere Command (or, now, Farewell). It was probably really good once, but I think outside particular themes, it's not flexible enough.

I guess I would (maybe) play it in Niv-Mizzet Reborn, since it's guild-coloured, or in a lifegain deck (sadly a nonbo with Nykthos Paragon).

[Hawk]

This card ends up in the maybeboard a lot, but it's sunk by a few things:

- As noted this competes with Cleansing Nova, Austere Command, and Farewell which are all a lot more flexible. Hour of Revelation and Akroma's Vengeance also accomplish a lot of what this wants to do.
- It's also competing with Bane of Progress which is this on a more aggressive stick for 1 more.
- As a 5MV instant, this isn't where most GWx decks want to live. As creature-centric colors, usually Aura Shards scalpel is so much better than Fracturing Gust's sledgehammer.
- More broadly, even in an age of treasures, blowing up ALL artifacts and enchantments is total overkill and likely to engender a bunch of bad blood and poor will when you nuke everyone's signets and rings to get at that one player's Rhystic Study or Necropotence - it's just politically more expedient to rely on more focused answers like Nature's Claim, Return to Nature, Cathar Commando, Reclamation Sage, Beast Within/Generous Gift, etc.

As a result I've never played this. I think it'd probably get a harder look at Niv-Mizzet Reborn for value or in a GWx lifegain deck with Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn or whatever where the color or lifegain mattered more.

[NZB2323]

Fracturing Gust is a good card, but I'd have a hard time justifying it over:

• Cleansing Nova
• Austere Command
• Nature's claim
• Return to nature
• Boseiju, who endures
• Aura Shards
• Bane of progress
• Knight of Autumn
• Collector ouphe
• Kataki, war's wage
• Generous gift
• Beast within