[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Bloodthirster

[BeneTleilax]

Yeah, this has enough potential to set up combos I will absolutely try to kill it before the turn cycles, and most people I play with agree. Repeatable tutors are spooky.

[Dunadain]

It fits in an awkward spot, where it doesn't actually become good into you've tapped it twice, but then it starts to get REALLY good.

[Mookie]

Oriq Loremage seems strong in theory, but I haven't seen it live a full turn cycle yet... and then you need reanimation or some other way to get value from the Entomb effect. As a result, I would usually lean towards Buried Alive or some other immediate effect instead.

[Toshi]

I'm pretty sure this could be disgusting in a toolboxy Lazav, the Multifarious build, Sedris, the Traitor King or The Scarab God.
Sure enough four mana does hold it back aka keep it in check. Idk if three mana would've broken it, but they did play it safe, I guess.

[NZB2323]

He's great with Ghen, Arcanum Weaver. At instant speed you can put Stranglehold, Overwhelming Splendor, or Captive Audience from your library onto the battlefield.

[Igzex]

Gonna need Greaves and a prayer for this one but if you can make it...Hoo boy!

I love the bonus for dumping an instant or sorcery. Like, sure you could just set up an Archon of Cruelty or a Razaketh, the Foulblooded but hear me out! You could get a whole +1/+1 counter if you picked a Chainer's Edict instead! That said, Life from the Loam would still be a darn good non-creature choice.

[3drinks]

Friday, September 22nd, 2023; Ertai's Meddling

Delay, I hardly knew thee.

[Mookie]

Ertai's Meddling seems okay. There are a lot of spells that become less relevant when cast a turn or two later, plus there are some cards (like counterspells and X spells) that get negated entirely. I'm not a fan of running Memory Lapse as a tempo play, but the fact that Ertai's Meddling doesn't give the spell's owner control over when it gets recast makes it a bit better. It can also hit spells that can't be countered, which is nice. That said, I do think it is generally outclassed by the more-efficient Delay. Plus there's the question of 'why not just use Counterspell?'

...anyway, it seems weak but interesting, and a reasonable choice if you're looking for something weird to spice up your countermagic suite. It can also have some political implications if you can suspend something scary and rally the table against someone.

[Dunadain]

1 mana counter against other counters.

[WizardMN]

plus there are some cards (like counterspells and X spells) that get negated entirely.

While it basically does negate counterspells, it doesn't do as much to X spells. This is because it doesn't have them recast the spell. It puts it onto the stack as a copy of the original spell. And X is copied in those cases.

I agree that it is fairly niche in its uses overall that you really need to be digging deep past a few much better counterspells before getting to this as a viable option.

[3drinks]

1 mana counter against other counters.

Two. X can't be 0.

[onering]

Great in Mizzix. Legit costs U to exile a spell for like 7 turns pretty easily. Once you get over a certain numbers of counters, it's basically exiling a spell for the rest of the game. Absolutely needs cost reducers but becomes one of the best counters with them, and exiling makes it worth it vs other X to counter spells.

Tech move is to counter your own spell for 1U to save (or get two cast triggers).

[DirkGently]

Tech move is to counter your own spell for 1U to save (or get two cast triggers).

I don't believe you'll get a second cast trigger.

[Dunadain]

1 mana counter against other counters.

Two. X can't be 0.

RTFC strikes again.

I'm off it then, too much competition in at 2MV.

[3drinks]

Saturday, September 23rd, 2023; Shallow Grave

[Ruiner]

I miss playing Legacy in general and this was so great for Legacy Reanimator to reanimate things that shuffle themselves back in like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.

For commander though, I honestly just don't want to be bothered with caring about my graveyard order due to a 1 of card.

[3drinks]

Sunday, September 24th, 2023; Reckoner Bankbuster

[3drinks]

I miss playing Legacy in general and this was so great for Legacy Reanimator to reanimate things that shuffle themselves back in like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.

For commander though, I honestly just don't want to be bothered with caring about my graveyard order due to a 1 of card.

Would you settle for me making everyone maintain graveyard order because I brought Bone Dancer and Phyrexian Furnace?

[Mookie]

re: Shallow Grave - this is why we can't have nice things.

Reckoner Bankbuster is a reasonable colorless draw engine. In Ye Olde Dayse, there weren't many options for card draw in red or white, which meant a reliance on stuff like Mind's Eye. These days, every color has access to card draw, which makes colorless draw engines less necessary... but Bankbuster and stuff like Mazemind Tome, Endless Atlas, and Tome of Legends are all significant improvements over Mind's Eye and Jayemdae Tome, so they still see plenty of play.

Bankbuster is at its best in decks that can proliferate or that care about vehicles, but it's a fine draw engine pretty much anywhere. You will run out of card draw eventually, but being left with a 4/4 body isn't bad. Three cards for eight mana is a pretty mediocre rate, but it's not a bad mana sink if you have some spare mana available... and if you do need something more efficient (or more card draw in general), there are other options.

[Dunadain]

The most competitive draw engines cost $1 or 0 mana to activate. So costing to, but additionally providing you with some bodies in the late game is probably a fair trade-off.

[3drinks]

Monday, September 25th, 2023; Mistbind Clique

[3drinks]

re: Shallow Grave - this is why we can't have nice things.

Reckoner Bankbuster is a reasonable colorless draw engine. In Ye Olde Dayse, there weren't many options for card draw in red or white, which meant a reliance on stuff like Mind's Eye. These days, every color has access to card draw, which makes colorless draw engines less necessary... but Bankbuster and stuff like Mazemind Tome, Endless Atlas, and Tome of Legends are all significant improvements over Mind's Eye and Jayemdae Tome, so they still see plenty of play.

Bankbuster is at its best in decks that can proliferate or that care about vehicles, but it's a fine draw engine pretty much anywhere. You will run out of card draw eventually, but being left with a 4/4 body isn't bad. Three cards for eight mana is a pretty mediocre rate, but it's not a bad mana sink if you have some spare mana available... and if you do need something more efficient (or more card draw in general), there are other options.

Drawing an extra card/turn in colourless is a pretty good rate, and that it pivots to providing mana and bodies after further adds to it's potency. The fact it also offers a sizable body (and a self-contained way to power it) is gravy on the biscuit. There's a reason this thing was such a terror in it's standard season.

And if you really want more draw, you can loop it with goblin engineer|h1r because it's an artifact and costs under 3. Tbh, this should be the kind of ubiquity that features in all decks.

[benjameenbear]

Monday, September 25th, 2023; Mistbind Clique

I HATED this card back when Faeries was legal. It was a Time Walk with a body attached to it. And if you ever got Clique'd on back-to-back turns, it was probably an auto-loss. Too bad it doesn't scale very well in Commander.

[Dunadain]

I suppose it's probably a serviceable protection spell if your commander is a fairy.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Monday, September 25th, 2023; Mistbind Clique

I HATED this card back when Faeries was legal. It was a Time Walk with a body attached to it. And if you ever got Clique'd on back-to-back turns, it was probably an auto-loss. Too bad it doesn't scale very well in Commander.

I feel your pain. I remember so many games of getting Faeries down to 5 life or so, only to have this thing drop in, swallow a Bitterblossom, and completely flip the script of the game.