[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - North Star

[3drinks]

I want to agree, but a Mind Funeral on damage is pretty obnoxious if that's what you're trying to do. Think I'd just as soon go back to jamming Wrexial, the Risen Deep though. Just let my giant sea monster swim over and cast your cantrips, this is fine

[TheGildedGoose]

Man Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker - what a flashback. that's the kinda trash we used to build back in the day

He's almost unplayable now. People play removal.

I never understood why he got so much disrespect back in the day. Sure, Oona, Queen of the Fae was around, but she was always heavily associated with combo so who realistically were you going to use at the helm of a mill deck?

If some Swordsed my Mirko Vosk I would consider it a net positive.

[pokken]

If some Swordsed my Mirko Vosk I would consider it a net positive.

I...would not.

Also the odds are extremely in favor of some number of opponents benefitting significantly from the milling lol.

[TheGildedGoose]

I...would not.

Well, two life and an opponent being down a card are more useful to me than Mirko.

Also the odds are extremely in favor of some number of opponents benefitting significantly from the milling lol.

Right, but I'm talking about Mirko, not mill as a strategy.

The real answer to m yquestion was Dralnu, Lich Lord to cast Mind Grind twice.

[pokken]

Well, two life and an opponent being down a card are more useful to me than Mirko.

:lollerskates:

[TheAmericanSpirit]

The thing I remember most about Mirko was how disappointed everyone was when he was spoiled. Back in the day, there was another dimension to the "Boros only gets combat legends" phenomenon; the lesser known but equally maligned "Dimir only gets mill legends" debacle. Because the pool of legends was comparitively bad and small to today's environment and tuck was around, people gravitated toward whatever was closest to generic goodstuff as possible and lemme tell you, Mirko was NOT it.

[Mookie]

Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker was bad even when he first came out (I think he compares poorly to Szadek, Lord of Secrets), but at least he was better than Emmara Tandris.

....Dragon's Maze was a pretty mediocre set. My friends and I preordered a box of it to draft, but when we opened three Emmaras (and zero shocks, which were allegedly in the land drop slot occasionally), we decided against buying boxes in the future.

[TheGildedGoose]

I think he compares poorly to Szadek, Lord of Secrets

Huh? We'll assume the average casual EDG deck runs 40% lands, so that's approximately 10 cards milled per Mirko trigger. Szadek costs two more, has rougher color requirements, and is an even bigger removal magnet. Vosk is trash, but Szadek is King Trash.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I think he compares poorly to Szadek, Lord of Secrets

Huh? We'll assume the average casual EDG deck runs 40% lands, so that's approximately 10 cards milled per Mirko trigger. Szadek costs two more, has rougher color requirements, and is an even bigger removal magnet. Vosk is trash, but Szadek is King Trash.

At least King Trash scales up over time though assuming he survives. God Emperor Trashington von Garbo of the XII Dumpster Fire Dynasty over here can only ever hit for 4 lands and whatever's between them. Worse still, he gets randomly nerfed by landfall/lands decks which will mill next to nothing and then dominate anyway.

I know it's splitting hairs, but Mirko is definitely worse. Mirko isn't even worth the removal spell imo. Szadek actually has to be dealt with, and offers a way better clock if left alone.

[Mookie]

I think he compares poorly to Szadek, Lord of Secrets

Huh? We'll assume the average casual EDG deck runs 40% lands, so that's approximately 10 cards milled per Mirko trigger. Szadek costs two more, has rougher color requirements, and is an even bigger removal magnet. Vosk is trash, but Szadek is King Trash.

At least King Trash scales up over time though assuming he survives. God Emperor Trashington von Garbo of the XII Dumpster Fire Dynasty over here can only ever hit for 4 lands and whatever's between them. Worse still, he gets randomly nerfed by landfall/lands decks which will mill next to nothing and then dominate anyway.

I know it's splitting hairs, but Mirko is definitely worse. Mirko isn't even worth the removal spell imo. Szadek actually has to be dealt with, and offers a way better clock if left alone.

Yeah, pretty much this. Szadek allows for the Timmy dream of growing massive if he sticks around, but Mirko is always underwhelming. I'll also note that I'm judging Szadek by 2013 standards (when DGM was released), at which time 7-drop commanders were still playable. Not good, obviously, but at least worth consideration.

[Venedrex]

All we need to do is give him Ward half his mana cost and make his effect trigger whenever a creature you control deals damage, aka, change him completely. I do like the name a lot though.

[3drinks]

Saturday, June 3rd, 2023; Order of Whiteclay

Man, that Q really was a busted mechanic, wasn't it...

[3drinks]

God Emperor Trashington von Garbo of the XII Dumpster Fire Dynasty

idk how, or for what, but I'ma make this into a sig or meme of some sort. It's way too good to just be a throwaway comment on an internet message board.

[BeneTleilax]

More like Order of Whiteclaw amirite

[TheAmericanSpirit]

God Emperor Trashington von Garbo of the XII Dumpster Fire Dynasty

idk how, or for what, but I'ma make this into a sig or meme of some sort. It's way too good to just be a throwaway comment on an internet message board.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I had fun writing it. Goose always brings out my best lines for some reason.

[Guardman]

I always liked this card. I don't have a deck to play it in, but I have thought about making an Emmara, Soul of the Accord Vehicle deck and a couple of the untap cards seem like good fits.

The issue with untap (other than the slightly confusing symbol for less experienced players) and Inspired were that they were created before Vehicles were a thing (and to a lesser extent Convoke since it was there but not very good outside of a few very specific cards). I think both untap and inspired would be neat to see come back in Vehicle or Convoke precon since the biggest problem was that the best way to tap them back then was to attack with them. I guess there was also conspire, but that is mostly a limited mechanic outside of maybe Mine Excavation.

[Mookie]

I like the idea of Order of Whiteclay, but it has always looked a bit awkward in comparison to Sun Titan and other white recursion. It's not great at attacking (1/4 statline is easy to block and kill), and you also need to pay three additional mana. If I were looking to recur small creatures, I'd usually go with Sun Titan / Reveillark / Patch Up / Sevinne's Reclamation instead.

...that said, I could see it being good in a deck built to tap its own creatures, like Emmara, Soul of the Accord or Kasla, the Broken Halo. It's also reasonable with vehicles, although having only one power means it isn't great at crewing.

...now I sort of want to find a deck for Crackleburr.

[Hermes_]

More like Order of Whiteclaw amirite

Now I want to play it ounce just to make that terrible pun

[Igzex]

Oh no not the Shadowmoor Kithkin. Forget demons, horrors, and phyrexians. The Shadowmoor Kithkin are what true nightmares are made of.

[DirkGently]

Order of Whiteclay is one of those cards that could be interesting in the command zone but it's too many qualifiers to realistically fit anywhere. You need a way to tap it plus good targets plus a way to get them in the grave? That's a lot of setup for some random card in the 99. Still fun design though.

The thing I remember most about Mirko was how disappointed everyone was when he was spoiled. Back in the day, there was another dimension to the "Boros only gets combat legends" phenomenon; the lesser known but equally maligned "Dimir only gets mill legends" debacle. Because the pool of legends was comparitively bad and small to today's environment and tuck was around, people gravitated toward whatever was closest to generic goodstuff as possible and lemme tell you, Mirko was NOT it.

Hoo yeah, I remember people getting quite mad about Mirko/God Emperor Trashington when he was spoiled (I may have been one of them tbh, I don't recall). Back in the day when 10 was a crazy number of legends for a single set, and cause for excitement rather than fatigue. I think some people saw Lazav, Dimir Mastermind as a mill legend as well, although he plays just fine in a normal control deck imo.

In retrospect I think a lot of that anger was unwarranted tbh. Yes, Ravnica produced pretty weak legends for Dimir, but Dralnu, Lich Lord, Oona, Queen of the Fae, Sygg, River Cutthroat, and Wrexial, the Risen Deep are all solid options. I daresay wotc took the criticism to heart, though, we haven't seen a real UB mill legend since Phenax, God of Deception (who is unequivocally the strongest one imo, though he garnered even more nerd rage since he followed Mirko).

The silly thing about Mirko in the CZ is that he'll probably almost kill them with commander damage before he mills them out if he doesn't have support, especially if you equip him with something to get him through combat (a 2-power flyer for 5 getting profitably blocked? inconceivable!). Szadek will at least "do the thing", and if he somehow survives long enough to mill someone out, the next target should only take 1 hit. You're talking about 4-5 attacks for the first kill (4 with equipment or if they draw a lot), and then 1 per hit for everyone else. At least you're in blue for protection. Mirko takes much much longer to kill BUT he's a lot faster and less likely to get targeted if your goal is to get cards into graves for some other purpose. So I think they've both kinda got a place, though realistically they are both very bad by modern standards ofc.

What you really need to do is convince your opponents to commit to the Land Tax/Endless Horizons deck thinning plan. Then you can mill their whole library in one shot. @Cyberium is just playing the long game over here. Game recognize game.

[onering]

Order is one of the few cards that rez weenies that is also a weenie himself, and it covers both the mana value 3 or less condition (which he uses) as well as the power 2 or less condition (which is another common condition for weenie reanimation). And he's repeatable.

I feel like one day white weenie reanimator will be a deck, and this guy will be a star. Until then...

[Ruiner]

6 mana across two turns for that effect plus jumping through the tap/untap hoop is a bit much for me just to get 1 creature back.

I have a Kotori, Pilot Prodigy vehicles deck and I wouldn't even consider this for that deck where everything has Crew 2.

[3drinks]

Sunday, June 4th, 2023; Roalesk, Apex Hybrid

The "cheapest" way to get a double proliferate with only one card, though it does require dying to do so. Probably worth a look if you care about proliferate. Hmm, Simic infect I guess since you care about putting counters on those bodies and then can burn people out with the commander at the end?

[pokken]

The obvious answer is to Phantasmal Image it I guess yay. Clones!

[3drinks]

The obvious answer is to Phantasmal Image it I guess yay. Clones!

Man, I remember when this card was chase. Now it's not even the price of a draft pack (and it'll take ~1.75 of them to equal a set pack). Sheesh.