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

[3drinks]

Tuesday, June 13th, 2023; Murderous Spoils

Kinda like Debt of Loyalty in that it doesn't actually need to kill to get all those equips, although decidedly less useful than perma-stealing your creature in w for three mv.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

This doesn't even seem to be good in MIR block constructed and that says a lot imo. If it let you auto equip all the things you stole, then we'd be talking.

Great name and flavor though. It does exactly as advertised on the box.

[Hawk]

As has been said ad nauseam - removal really wants to be 3 MV or less in most metas. Every point of mana you go over 3, the card needs to generate explosively more value or have insane synergy with your deck. For value, even that isn't enough anymore - your Mystic Confluences, your Hexs,, your Decimates and Casualties of Wars etc. aren't the staples they once were. Synergy picks tend to be fun more than good, too - I am still fond of Noxious Gearhulk, for instance, but the card is already showing its age even in dedicated artifact decks.

I'll also note this has the same drawbacks Fumble has that we discussed weeks ago (oh and look how bad Fumble makes this jank look) - a lot of the top equipment in the meta either turns this off (Swiftfoot Boots, Lightning Greaves, Sword of Feast and Famine, Whispersilk Cloak) or won't reliably get stolen since they have ways to "fall off" (Skullclamp, Sunforger). Just a lot of reasons this is wildly unplayable.

[Igzex]

There is no realistic payoff that any single target removal spell could possibly have to be worth 6 mana. And this card still manages to disappoint anyway.

[3drinks]

Wednesday, June 14th, 2023; Fateful Handoff

There's gotta be something cool to do with this. Beyond using trash like Lich's Tomb. Definitely a roleplayer in Blim, Comedic Genius for sure.

[Hawk]

For one more than Donate or Harmless Offering, you also get to draw cards? Seems legit. I hadn't seen this card before and am surprised I haven't seen more buzz? I guess not being in the right colors for Zedruu the Greathearted hurts but black has way more garbage to give away. Seems like it should be a staple in Blim, Comedic Genius and Jon Irenicus, Shattered One.

[TheGildedGoose]

Finally, time for Scornful Egotist to shine!

[3drinks]

Thursday, June 15th, 2023; Shadow of the Enemy

Huh. Well thanks, LotR, I guess. Sick.

[TheGildedGoose]

Take that, Living Death.dec!

[Mookie]

I was initially high on Shadow of the Enemy as an upgrade over Hedonist's Trove, but I missed that it only hits creature cards. It seems alright, but a bit narrow - it could be good if you're playing mill or otherwise expect a lot of creatures in your opponent's graveyard. If you're only getting 2-3 creatures with it, it seems a bit clunky, and I would lean towards just running Animate Dead or another reanimation effect directly. Or go bigger and run Rise of the Dark Realms / Sepulchral Primordial.

Beyond it being a meta call, I could see running it on its own merits in a few decks. The two that come to mind are exile-based decks like Prosper, Tome-Bound and theft-based decks running cards like Brainstealer Dragon.

edit: looks like I misread this yet again, and missed it can also hit your graveyard. >.> Outclassed by Creeping Renaissance, but it is some nice extra versatility.

[Ruiner]

I like this card and just need to find the right deck for it. This could be pretty solid in a number of creatures heavy decks. It's a 6 mana Raise Dead essentially, but with enough creatures in your grave I think it could be worth it.

[DirkGently]

Y'all realise it can hit your own grave right? It's like an expensive yawgmoth's will that is creature only, but doesn't exile stuff and doesn't end eot.

I guess it can be used on enemies but that seems less likely to be good.

[3drinks]

I was initially high on Shadow of the Enemy as an upgrade over Hedonist's Trove, but I missed that it only hits creature cards. It seems alright, but a bit narrow - it could be good if you're playing mill or otherwise expect a lot of creatures in your opponent's graveyard. If you're only getting 2-3 creatures with it, it seems a bit clunky, and I would lean towards just running Animate Dead or another reanimation effect directly. Or go bigger and run Rise of the Dark Realms / Sepulchral Primordial.

Beyond it being a meta call, I could see running it on its own merits in a few decks. The two that come to mind are exile-based decks like Prosper, Tome-Bound and theft-based decks running cards like Brainstealer Dragon.

edit: looks like I misread this yet again, and missed it can also hit your graveyard. >.> Outclassed by Creeping Renaissance, but it is some nice extra versatility.

It's not a reanimation tool, it's Yard hate. Looking at it next to animate dead will obviously make it look poor because it's not the designed purpose.

[DirkGently]

It's not a reanimation tool, it's Yard hate. Looking at it next to animate dead will obviously make it look poor because it's not the designed purpose.

If you just want to hate on graves, let me introduce you to Tormod's Crypt. It costs 0 instead of 6, exiles noncreatures, and can be activated at instant speed, plus it's available to all colours. If you're running this it's almost certainly because you're planning to hit your own. The only other justification I can see is the prosper route, but even there it seems pretty weak.

[3drinks]

Friday, June 16th, 2023; Trove Warden

[3drinks]

It's not a reanimation tool, it's Yard hate. Looking at it next to animate dead will obviously make it look poor because it's not the designed purpose.

If you just want to hate on graves, let me introduce you to Tormod's Crypt. It costs 0 instead of 6, exiles noncreatures, and can be activated at instant speed, plus it's available to all colours. If you're running this it's almost certainly because you're planning to hit your own. The only other justification I can see is the prosper route, but even there it seems pretty weak.

Sure. Tormod's is good at one thing, and this isn't as good as that, though it does do other things. A classic example of being good at a couple things but excellent at neither. Personally I prefer more design like this rather than cards that are overtly hyper efficient at the one thing they do. It makes for more interesting deck building that way. More An Offer You Can't Refuse, less Fierce Guardianship, so to speak.

[PrimevalCommander]

I have not gotten to do much testing with Trove Warden, but it strikes me as a pretty decent card. My brother has it in an Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor deck, but honestly I have not seen it in action much. It did do quite well for him in storing Cabaretti Courtyard Evolving Wilds and Myriad Landscape. Once it died he had 5 landfall triggers all proc with Field of the Dead in play. I think that may be one of the better things to do with it. As it becomes a very strong ramp + landfall engine once you store 2+ lands under it. Weak to exile removal, but generally it becomes a good blocker since you don't care if it dies and can run some basic sac outlets for protection. But the ceiling is pretty good for this in the right place.

[Mookie]

Trove Warden is a sweet engine card - recurring lands or other small permanents can represent a lot of value. I would generally prefer Sun Titan or Emeria Shepherd (or possibly Guardian Scalelord) in a vacuum, but they all cost more mana than Trove Warden - four mana is a nice sweet spot where you can potentially ramp into it off a signet and start getting value early. It also goes up in value if you have a landfall theme (or sac outlets to claim its treasure trove on demand).

...that said, while I like the design of Trove Warden, I find it a little awkward to use due to the delayed value. It's a card that has a lot of inherent tension - you can try to sacrifice it early for a burst of value, or you wait longer for maximum value and lose out on the tempo gain of having an early value engine. I suppose there is a point at which it represents a decent rattlesnake to ward off board wipes... but it's also very telegraphed, which makes it weak to exile and bounce effects... or even Stifle. Is it better than a more upfront value engine like Court of Grace or Welcoming Vampire? Hard to say.

[3drinks]

Saturday, June 17th, 2023; Phelddagrif

I saw this come up and I knew I had to do it. But screw this stupid, obnoxious, ugly purple hippo and every damn player that claims "i'M HeLpInG!" when they play this deck. No, you're not. You're kingmaking. Just stop with this grouphug nonsense bullcrap deck.

raises flame shield

[Mookie]

Broadly speaking, there are three things that I would say contribute to winning a 1v1 game of magic: skill, deck composition, and luck. All else being equal, a good player will beat a bad player, a good deck will beat a bad deck, and a good draw will beat a bad draw. Multiplayer adds another component to this: politics. It's possible for a weak deck to triumph over stronger decks by pitting them against one another and remaining out of the fray. Ideally, you'll prop up the weakest players juuuuust enough for them to cancel out your other opponents... but if you're even slightly off, your fragile house of cards will come tumbling down.

...anyway, I think the format has sped up significantly since Phelddagrif was worth consideration. I won't say a diplomancy-based strategy is impossible, but faster games mean fewer interaction points to alter the direction of the game. Plus, I think Phelddagrif leans towards kingmaking, which is... not a particularly fun play pattern. If you really want to do group hug, go with Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis or some other group hug commander instead.

That said, if you haven't ever played a diplomacy-based deck, I'll recommend trying it out at least once - it's a pretty unique experience, and it really helps understand multiplayer politics.

[TheGildedGoose]

I saw this come up and I knew I had to do it. But screw this stupid, obnoxious, ugly purple hippo and every damn player that claims "i'M HeLpInG!" when they play this deck. No, you're not. You're kingmaking. Just stop with this grouphug nonsense bullcrap deck.

raises flame shield

AT
DIRK
GENT
LY

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Saturday, June 17th, 2023; Phelddagrif

I saw this come up and I knew I had to do it. But screw this stupid, obnoxious, ugly purple hippo and every damn player that claims "i'M HeLpInG!" when they play this deck. No, you're not. You're kingmaking. Just stop with this grouphug nonsense bullcrap deck.

raises flame shield

@DirkGently! Captain, we've taken damage to the main hull. Radar shows a mardu star destroyer on our six armed with a misunderstanding of common politics and a grudge against cetaceans. Permission to return fire?

[DirkGently]

Lmao, ofc this would happen on prerelease weekend when I have horrendous sleep debt. Please stand by…

[Hermes_]

Lmao, ofc this would happen on prerelease weekend when I have horrendous sleep debt. Please stand by…

*stands by* all i will say is cute hippo is cute

[Hawk]

The traditional and stereotypical Phelddagrif is terrible, ponderous kingmaking at its worst and is also more or less obsoleted by Gluntch, the Bestower and Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis if you want to play group hug. But the @DirkGently Special is beautiful and terrible to behold. Folks get so held up on the weirdness of this card or the "group hug" rep that they miss what makes Phelddy so special - he is the only commander in the game that allows you to pay people, at will and at instant speed, for their cooperation. The diplomacy the hippo opens up is super cool. I'll let the Leader of the Cult of the Hippo expound when he can.