[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Runechanter's Pike

[vandertroll]

I'd like that more if you had to return one island.. Ach..

[CalebLost]

I'd like that more if you had to return one island.. Ach..

I think I got something in my eyes and I'm reading this wrong... Are you trying to BUFF one of the most BUSTED and BROKEN draw spells in the game, currently banned in 2 format (Legacy and Pauper) and restricted in another (Vintage)?

[Mookie]

Gush is a card I don't see played that often. It's powerful enough to be banned or restricted in every format, but I suppose many people are either turned off by needing to bounce two lands, or aren't running enough Islands. Gush is a card that gets better the better your manabase is - fantastic in a fetch/shock/dual manabase, unplayable in a guildgate/refuge/karoo one.

Looking at my own blue decks... most of them aren't running enough Islands to consistently cast it for free. Of the ones that are, Brago prefers playing ETB creatures, while Mizzix is playing High Tide and doesn't want to bounce any Islands. I could maybe test Gush in Thada, but I think I would add a different card draw spell first.

Speaking more broadly, there are a massive number of card draw spells available in the format, including all of the one mana cantrips. It's hard for me to say that Gush's alternate casting mode is better than just running a one mana cantrip like Preordain. If you're playing a long enough game to be able to bounce two Islands, then you should have time to cast a bigger card draw spell like Fact or Fiction.

There are reasons to run Gush though. If you have some way to accelerate replaying the bounced lands, such as Terrain Generator. Alternatively, if you care about landfall triggers, such as Tatyova, Benthic Druid. Alternatively, if you plan to discard excess lands to Faithless Looting. Probably the simplest reason is if you expect the game to end before being down two lands matters. The two most commonly paired sorceries on EDHRec are Demonic Tutor and Doomsday, so I'll leave that to your imagination....

Snap include in Patron of the Moon.

[Toshi]

Gush, Ensnare, Thwart and Foil are among those pseudo "free" spells, i have laying around that could find their way into Talrand, Sky Summoner somewhen in the future. 3/4 are exceptionally strong, provided you play them correctly. And even Ensnare can be gross as a way to stay alive.
But that deck is already strong enough to manhandle most decks in my meta. No need to overdo it.

Force of Negation is on that list, too. But i'm not going to spend 35€ on it (right now).

One thing is for sure, once i see an opponent casting a spell among these lines, i'll be damned not to be careful!

[3drinks]

One of the best draw spells when I still played Talrand. Not just for the draw, but the other applications - such as saving a couple lands to rebuild post-geddon, saving lands from targeted removal effects. It's got such a high ceiling of power it's incredible.

[DirkGently]

I think this is one of those spells that can be very powerful in high-powered metas, and pretty underwhelming in low-powered ones. Setting yourself back 2 lands is a pretty huge deal in a fair meta, and considering there's lots of pretty efficient draw lying around, gush doesn't make it into many (or any) of my decks.

On the other hand, it seems like it'd happily find a place in storm. I think that's why it's been banned/restricted so much? If you're planning on letting the game continue beyond this turn or the next, it's pretty hard to see bouncing two lands for +1 card being particularly great. Although it's a lot better if you were going to miss a land drop otherwise - it basically gives you an extra mana in that case, which is nice for those extremely land-light legacy and vintage decks.

[vandertroll]

I'd like that more if you had to return one island.. Ach..

I think I got something in my eyes and I'm reading this wrong... Are you trying to BUFF one of the most BUSTED and BROKEN draw spells in the game, currently banned in 2 format (Legacy and Pauper) and restricted in another (Vintage)?

Forgot to add the /s at the end of the post

[CalebLost]

I'd like that more if you had to return one island.. Ach..

I think I got something in my eyes and I'm reading this wrong... Are you trying to BUFF one of the most BUSTED and BROKEN draw spells in the game, currently banned in 2 format (Legacy and Pauper) and restricted in another (Vintage)?

Forgot to add the /s at the end of the post

ok :laugh:
I'm always a bit slow to get sarcasm on forums, where sometimes people come out with the most insane things

[3drinks]

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019; Arjun, the Shifting Flame

[Serpent_Steve]

Ha! I remember my first iteration of my chaos deck being built around this guy. Throwing an assault suit on him to force people to change their hands consistently led to very complex games (as did having devices like Hive Mind and Eye of the Storm with the ever ubiquitious fun of Possibility Storm) that made me drop him in the end.

Now it runs under Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire and is more interactive to play against. Not to mention I now have some measure of control over it.

[rujasu]

Arjun seems to me like it would be a huge headache to play, but I'm sure a few people enjoy that sort of thing.

[3drinks]

I like having commanders that enable me to hand cycle my deck every game.

[Sinis]

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019; Arjun, the Shifting Flame

I always felt that Arjun was a depthless commander. You basically get to play with Jace's Erasure, its variants (Sphinx's Tutelage, Psychic Corrosion, and Psychosis Crawler.

The details (like the filler spells that let you trigger Arjun with the least cost investment, like Gitaxian Probe) are pretty irrelevant. I feel like there isn't anything more interesting here, and at 5/5 for 4UR, it just doesn't thrill me.

[tstorm823]

People don't properly evaluate Mindmoil. The card selection you get from an effect like this is akin to perpetual tutoring.

[Mookie]

Arjun, the Shifting Flame is an interesting commander. Also the only red Sphinx. A 5/5 flier for 6 mana is a fair price, but the main reason you would play him is the Mindmoil ability.

There are three ways I see to take advantage of Arjun's ability. The first is to play a bunch of cards that benefit from card draw - The Locust God, Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind, Toothy, Imaginary Friend, and other, similar cards. There are also some other options that indirectly benefit, such as Thought Reflection and Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar. Fill your deck with cheap cantrips and things that benefit from card draw, then self-wheel a bunch with Arjun.

The second way is to take advantage of the fact that you'll be churning through your deck so fast to find specific cards, either combos or silver bullets. Laboratory Maniac seems like a pretty easy thing to pull off alongside Thought Reflection. Unlike many other Izzet commanders, Arjun doesn't work particularly well with spell-based combo, such as Mana Geyser + Reiterate, since you can't really do hand sculpting. You could also just run situational cards like Shattering Pulse or Pithing Needle and wheel them away when they aren't useful, or dig for them when they are.

The third way is to benefit from the fact that Arjun's trigger is mandatory, and use that to mess with your opponents. Assault Suit is probably the best option for sharing Arjun, but Donate and Harmless Offering also work. After that, play a prison piece such as Narset, Parter of Veils, Omen Machine, or Possessed Portal. A bit needlessly complicated though.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Actually, the last two cards are kind of thematic: Sure, Gush bounces lands, but sometimes that's a good thing. (Also landfall and wisdom.)

With that in mind, we must note that like all chaos cards, Arjun depends on your ability to make use of it. Obvious benefit in The Locust God is obvious. You can also use Alhammarret's Archive to double your hand. But remember, Alms Collector is KOS.

[toctheyounger]

People don't properly evaluate Mindmoil. The card selection you get from an effect like this is akin to perpetual tutoring.

100% agree. It's been great wherever I've used it. It means you need not worry about mana screw, you're seeing more of your deck than anyone else at the table, and you always have momentum.

It does get a bit chaotic even trying to plan your lines of play, but that's fine in a good stuff or chaos deck. The only other reason I can think you'd not want it is turns taking longer. I could totally make use of Arjun in my Grixis jank superfriends nonsense deck to be honest.

[3drinks]

Wednesday, September 4th. 2019; Tamiyo, Field Researcher

[Serpent_Steve]

Normally I don't mind Planeswalkers on tables. People like them. I even run a deck with them. However I'd probably rank Tamiyo, Field Researcher amongst the most dangerous. Being an Omniscience emblem for an ult is much scarier than most people think on the surface. She's also a great card draw engine for your chumps.

[3drinks]

Normally I don't mind Planeswalkers on tables. People like them. I even run a [sym=WUBRG) deck with them. However I'd probably rank Tamiyo, Field Researcher amongst the most dangerous. Being an Omniscience emblem for an ult is much scarier than most people think on the surface. She's also a great card draw engine for your chumps.

At least it takes four turns to get there. If you got that off, congrats because you earned that.

[Serpent_Steve]

Normally I don't mind Planeswalkers on tables. People like them. I even run a [sym=WUBRG) deck with them. However I'd probably rank Tamiyo, Field Researcher amongst the most dangerous. Being an Omniscience emblem for an ult is much scarier than most people think on the surface. She's also a great card draw engine for your chumps.

At least it takes four turns to get there. If you got that off, congrats because you earned that.

Then you've been lucky enough to constantly see it plop down after a doubling season then lol.

[Dunharrow]

Perfect for my most recent build (basically bant Edric helmed by Sidar Kondo and Kydele).

This card is a great example of a card that would be banned should planeswalkers be legal as commanders.

[Sinis]

Wednesday, September 4th. 2019; Tamiyo, Field Researcher

Among my favourite Tomatoes.

I like how her +1 can target your opponent's creatures, and you can get draws out of them. I also like that you don't have to connect with players; all they need to do is not die in first strike damage, or not get fogged. -2 is playable, ult is obviously great.

And yet, I rarely play Bant, or a deck that wants this, so my copy gathers dust.

[SocorroTortoise]

And yet, I rarely play Bant, or a deck that wants this, so my copy gathers dust.

Pretty much where I sit on the card. I like it a lot and almost never run a deck where it would fit. I'll put together bant tokens or something someday, mostly to try and force this and Huatli, Radiant Champion. Maybe Chulane, Teller of Tales once ELD drops would be a good fit?

[hyalopterouslemur]

With a little bit of work, the +1 is basically Divination every turn. If you have things with double strike, it can be Opportunity. But let's be clear, you're not playing her in Bant exalted. You might play her in other things. I've had good experiences in Derevi Stax.

The big problem is, the existence of the Ancestral Recall/Omniscience emblem makes people target her, or target you, whichever is easier.