[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Bloodthirster

[Ruiner]

Contagion Clasp feels like the better version of this, coming down for cheaper and activating quicker (although less proliferation) I don't know that I'd bother with either though even in a deck that wants the effect.

[Hawk]

Contagion Clasp feels like the better version of this, coming down for cheaper and activating quicker (although less proliferation) I don't know that I'd bother with either though even in a deck that wants the effect.

I'd say Karn's Bastion really killed it. Being able to run your "4 mana proliferate" in your land slot on a land that EtBs untapped makes running these clunky artifacts a lot less appealing, and it already wasn't super appealing.

[Lifeless]

I run it in Fynn, the Fangbearer and it really puckers some buttholes. Outside of infect (and non-U infect that at) I don't think it's worth the trouble.

[Treamayne]

I play Contagion Engine in a number of decks and enjoy it there. None of the decks have any counters for players of any kind, but with a counter-based mana suite it pays for itself. 4, T: two counters on any combination of City of Shadows, Pentad Prism, Everflowing Chalice, Gemstone Array, Empowered Autogenerator, Iceberg , Dreadship Reef (and other counter lands), etc. Having two sources breaks even, having three increases mana.
Great casual card (as long as noncasual things like infect are avoided).

[Igzex]

Definitely a product of a time when the Proliferate mechanic was just introduced and R&D at the time wanted to be really careful about it so they can save all their screwing up for Phyrexian Mana. Still, I absolutely adore the reminder text. I always mentally read the "Then do it again." part in Emperor Palpatine's voice.

[Mookie]

Contagion Engine is a card that feels too threatening to let live... but also too slow to be worth the attention it draws. I'll kill it aggressively if I see an opponent running it in a superfriends / infect deck because fast planeswalker ultimates / sudden poison kills are miserable... but ten mana to proliferate twice is incredibly clunky. In can do work in decks like Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons that can make use of the -1/-1 counters, but I otherwise don't see myself being interested in running it.

[3drinks]

Wednesday, September 13th, 2023; The Mirari Conjecture

[3drinks]

Contagion Clasp feels like the better version of this, coming down for cheaper and activating quicker (although less proliferation) I don't know that I'd bother with either though even in a deck that wants the effect.

The difference is this is still a wrath. I don't think you can lower the cost at all given the high ceiling to proliferate in general, let alone double proliferate. And being a wrath I don't think you can compare it to contagion clasp, they do different things. I'd agree that Karn's Bastion really killed Contagion Clasp|tsr, though Engine still is fairly unique in what it does being only replicated by Roalesk, Apex Hybrid which requires a death and thus more hoops to replicate.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Wednesday, September 13th, 2023; The Mirari Conjecture

I like this card a lot. Most of my experience with it is in Cube, but I don't think it's far-fetched to assume this is solid enough in a Spellslinger deck. The last chapter in particular is insane if it goes off.

[3drinks]

Wednesday, September 13th, 2023; The Mirari Conjecture

I like this card a lot. Most of my experience with it is in Cube, but I don't think it's far-fetched to assume this is solid enough in a Spellslinger deck. The last chapter in particular is insane if it goes off.

Yeah, I had not seen this card, buried in the Deluge of products for sure, but I quite like the value proposal. I guess it's weak if it gets disenchant|parled on 1 cause five is a lot for bad regrowth, but hitting act 2 is wild. Act 3 reads like a walker ultimate

[Dunadain]

Honestly surprised I've never seen it, looks pretty strong, especially because you get all your mana on the doubling turn (the catch for most spell doublers is that they are expensive, leaving you with little mana to cast the spells you actually want to copy).

But I'm also glad I've never seen it, because %$#% spell-slinging decks.

[yeti1069]

I run this in my Tameshi, Reality Architect Historic Brawl deck on Arena, and it's fantastic. Gets back a removal/counterspell on the first chapter, then a board wipe or extra turn on the second. The third chapter doubles up removal or extra turns, and Tameshi can bring it back to gain access to spells in the yard over and over again. I'd considered building a Tameshi deck for commander, but...all my ideas for it looked too mean to play more than a couple times.

[ironic gesture]

Contagion Clasp feels like the better version of this, coming down for cheaper and activating quicker (although less proliferation) I don't know that I'd bother with either though even in a deck that wants the effect.

The difference is this is still a wrath. I don't think you can lower the cost at all given the high ceiling to proliferate in general, let alone double proliferate. And being a wrath I don't think you can compare it to contagion clasp, they do different things. I'd agree that Karn's Bastion really killed Contagion Clasp|tsr, though Engine still is fairly unique in what it does being only replicated by Roalesk, Apex Hybrid which requires a death and thus more hoops to replicate.

If it were a true one-sided wrath it would probably see more play. 10 mana to give all your opponents creatures -4/-4 permanently is not a good rate but isn't horrendous but the fact that it only hits a single opponent makes it a hard sell.

[Mookie]

I like this card a lot. Most of my experience with it is in Cube, but I don't think it's far-fetched to assume this is solid enough in a Spellslinger deck. The last chapter in particular is insane if it goes off.

I will confirm that The Mirari Conjecture is strong in spellslinger. It also rates weirdly high on the 'actual threat vs perceived threat' spectrum - I've had chapter 3 to go off multiple times in Mizzix, and it almost always results in a win... but my opponents rarely disrupt or otherwise deal with it. I suppose threatening instants and sorceries are generally concealed information - if you recur an extra turn spell or something obviously threatening, your opponents will be more incentivized to try to deal with it than if you recur a cantrip and secretly have a splashy card in hand.

Anyway, assuming you're running a spellslinger deck, The Mirari Conjecture has a medium floor and a high ceiling. You're guaranteed an instant immediately, which is a fine but unexciting baseline - most of the time, I grab a cheap counterspell, which makes it awkward for opponents to throw removal at it. On the second turn, you get back a sorcery, which makes it an extra mana for a delayed Pull from the Deep. That is theoretically worse... but in practice, most sorceries worth recurring are going to cost a fair amount of mana anyway, which makes it challenging to to pay four extra mana to recur and cast in the same turn. If you get to the third chapter, you get a zero mana Bonus Round / Swarm Intelligence, which is nuts (particularly since you just recurred two spells to copy). Copying a big spell like Blatant Thievery or Epic Experiment can easily swing a game in your favor, and getting 3+ extra mana to spend on that spell is fantastic... and that's before accounting for storm stuff like Snap or Reality Spasm.

Overall, it's a very nice pile of value that also has a strong play pattern - each chapter leads nicely into the next. Obviously much weaker if you can't consistently get an instant and sorcery in your graveyard, but in the right deck it's a bomb.

[3drinks]

Thursday, September 14th, 2023; Call the Skybreaker

[Dunadain]

I love the retrace mechanic.

It's a powerful mechanic at face value, allowing you to trade extra lands for real spells, so it's certainly not a parasitic mechanic, but it can also go hog wild with just a little bit of synergy (Life from the Loam anyone? O.O).

So it gets a thumbs up from me. Though as far as retrace cards go, there are a lot of cooler options out there.

[Sinis]

I so badly want this to be good, but I've never really gotten it to work. 7 mana is a steep price for a 5/5 vanilla flier. I could see it working in something like Mizzix, but at that point, you could just be playing something that wins quicker.

[PrimevalCommander]

This has been one of the standout cards in my brother's Magnus the Red deck. He didn't get to go crazy with it last time we played, but the potential was definitely there. It doesn't have the same cost reduction power as Mizzix of the Izmagnus, but it synergies with all the spellslinger token makers to bring costs down. We are still working on the list, but for 5/5 Flyers is a much more attractive rate. He does not want to storm, so this is a much more tame payoff for a cost reduction, but it sure is funny. It also can become a self-supporting engine by making each cast cheaper when Magnus is out. This deck is the only time I actually thought this card was worth a spot in a deck, so props to Magnus for that.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

This card is a decent enough casual wincon, but good god, they've been printing this into precons since 2011. When will enough finally be enough?

[Venedrex]

This card is a decent enough casual wincon, but good god, they've been printing this into precons since 2011. When will enough finally be enough?

Well, how else will you block (once) Zetalpa, Primal Dawn?

[Mookie]

I love the synergies of retrace cards - they work well with land recursion, spellslinger cards, and decks interested in self mill or casting stuff from the graveyard. Unfortunately, time has not been kind to them - most of them have been power crept into oblivion, including Call the Skybreaker. Cards that provide slow inevitability have gone down in value over time - why spend seven mana for a beefy flyer when you can run Goro-Goro and Satoru and get them for free?

I think the retrace cards also suffer a bit in EDH from the fact that the theoretically-costed-for-constructed cycle is hybrid (Waves of Aggression, Call the Skybreaker, Worm Harvest, and Spitting Image - no Orzhov one, unless you count Evershrike). Waves of Aggression in particular would be awesome in mono-red or mono-white decks, but only being playable in Boros means less decks can run it. On the flip side, half of them would be color breaks in monocolor, so... yeah.

Still, I could see retrace returning someday. We've seen Throes of Chaos and Reality Scramble, so I wouldn't be surprised if it showed up again someday... although it may be a bit tricky to design for Standard constructed due to repetitiveness concerns. I suppose jump-start is a similar mechanic too.

As for Call the Skybreaker specifically... seven mana for a flyer is pretty inefficient compared to what we can get these days. Magnus the Red is a sweet use case though.

[3drinks]

Friday, September 15th, 2023; Pearl Lake Ancient

[BeneTleilax]

One of the classic control finishers. Outclassed of late by Nezahal, Primal Tide, but I've seen in obnoxious simic landfall piles to enable that.

[Dunharrow]

Bad finisher in multiplayer

[Dunadain]

Everything is a control finisher if you try hard enough, that's the point of control.

This bad.