[SCD] Rod of Absorption

[RowanKeltizar]

I never get any discussion on my decklist threads ( ), so I'm just going to post this here.

Rod of Absorption is a card I completely missed when this set was released. I just stumbled upon it on Scryfall while looking for something else.

Anyone have success with this? I'm thinking of throwing it in my Artifacts only Atraxa build since I don't run any instants or sorceries of my own. Being an artifact, I have ways to recur it and reduce it's cost. Letting this stack up a fair number of spells seems pretty strong, but even a single removal spell or a board wipe might make this worthwhile.

It can even act as a bit of stax piece for spellslinger decks that want those instants and sorceries in their graveyard instead of in exile XD

[PrimevalCommander]

Generally relying on your opponents spells to get value out of your own cards is less interesting now with the high synergy building style that is popular today. Especially if you have zero value to add to this card from your own deck, I'm not sure it will be worth a whole card slot. Now in a more spell heavy deck, where you can load this up with draw spells and rituals, now you're getting somewhere.

I say that as a staunch supporter of Puppeteer Clique, but even that just got replaced for Junji, the Midnight Sky since I value the creatures in my gy more than whatever my opponents might be doing.

[RowanKeltizar]

IDK, this is one of those cards I'm just going to have to buy and play with to make an actual assessment. Naturally it's going to be better against some decks than others.

My playgroup tends to have a ton of good instants and sorceries played. Spot removal, board wipes, tutors, land ramp. All the things I would love to have in my Atraxa deck. The mana cost seems very manageable for a card with a high upside. If it sits there and does nothing for a few turns, whatever. Then someone plays a tutor or a removal, and suddenly the card has returned on its mana investment.

[Legend]

I never get any discussion on my decklist threads ( ),

Maybe you'll get some hits if they were li led in your sig?

[RowanKeltizar]

Maybe you'll get some hits if they were li led in your sig?

Are you being sarcastic....orrrrr??? All my main decks are linked in my sig. Currently working on some budget starter decks which aren't linked yet though.

And it's not views I care about, it's actual critiques, criticism, and discussion I want. I would keeps things more up to date and write up another primer if I felt like anyone cared. As it is, anytime I post in my threads, it feels like I'm just talking to myself...

Finally got a guy who actually purchased my primer deck looking for guidance. That was pretty cool and inspired me to go back and update some stuff - flesh out some sections.

[Legend]

Maybe you'll get some hits if they were li led in your sig?

Are you being sarcastic....orrrrr??? All my main decks are linked in my sig..

Oh they are, aren't they . . . LOL, I wasn't being sarcastic.. On my phone, all I see is your banner unless I scroll down, which I didn't notice I could do until just now.

[RowanKeltizar]

Ok, no problem.

Yeah, I don't know what it is. Thought maybe my choice of commanders or archetypes/cards wasn't interesting to people but I have a fair number of different styles of decks posted.

I was sure I would get some interest in the budget decks. I know people get tired of seeing all the staples. But just crickets so far...

Anyhow, the artifacts only deck has been really interesting and challenging to build and it's been doing pretty well. Only downside is that I've spent a ton of money on it due to all of the good artifacts being high dollar staples or reserve list cards. It's REALLY fun to play though and I'm always looking for new things to try out in it.

[ISBPathfinder]

My general issue with this style of card is that if you draw it off curve it can feel very underwhelming how long it takes to get a return from it. Like, it could be amazing and maybe opponents leave it be and you cash it in for some sweet value but in almost every situation I can think of you need to draw this sort of effect quite early in the game. Metas have been speeding up more and more and this card doesn't really do anything immediately it just hopes it cashes in later. I generally like value upfront when I go to do things rather than promises that if they live and get played early that they might be great.

In a lot of ways I feel like I can compare it to Phyrexian Arena in that if you curve it and it gets left alone it seems completely reasonable. The Rod probably has a faster spin up time but its also prone to having different results depending on what your opponents are playing and your local meta playgroup as a whole. Its probably fine, I just don't find it all that exciting to hope that my opponents fill it up with generally useful things for me so for me at least I would probably only run it in an artificer or spellslinger setup myself and even then, I am not all that excited about it.

[Gentle Giant]

To me, it's these kinds of cards that EDH is meant for: slow, no immediate payoff, and requiring you to put in some thought/effort for an interesting payoff. It can create unforeseen situations due to you suddenly having the option to combine everyone's instants and sorceries.
Although I haven't put it in a deck yet, I'd probably put it in a deck that can at least fill it with spells of their own. Playing a couple of low cost instants/sorceries and piling them under this to be able to reuse them again seems pretty nice. Plus it triggers all the non-creature/prowess effects.
But, like others have stated, it's quite a vulnerable card, making it hard to set such a thing up without everyone knowing what you're up to.

Ooh, something just popped up in my head: Mairsil, the Pretender can use this with other cards that enable him to exile stuff. Obviously jank to the max, but I might add it to my Mairsil deck...

[RowanKeltizar]

Waiting for value isn't great I agree. But I would disagree with there being no immediate payoff. There's the unseen advantage of forcing your opponents to possibly misplay their cards. Would you cast a Demonic Tutor with this on the table? I would certainly think twice. Not to mention, when this pops, all the exiled cards remain exiled.

I guess the main thing about it that I don't like is that I don't have any of my own spells to exiled with it. Very valid point.

Part of what my artifacts Atraxa deck does is slow down the game. Ensnaring Bridge has in some cases lingered on the field for3-4 turn cycles freezing all combat until someone finds removal for it. In one game someone COUNTERED by own Krark-Clan Ironworks so I couldn't sac it. Point is, games in my meta tend to go longer than normal I think. Consistent combo is frowned upon.

3cmc is on the higher end for a piece like this but I can fairly reliably get that to 2cmc with the deck in question.

Because it ignores timing restrictions, I can always pop it in response to removal.

My group doesn't tend to have spot removal for artifacts. Board wipes for creatures, DEFINITELY. Occasionally, I'll get blown out by a Vandalblast or Bane of Progress though.

Anyhow, it needs testing but my gut feeling is that it is an underrated card in the right meta.