[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Howling Mine

[Toshi]

I'm running it in my Lazav, the Multifarious deck, where it puts in some decent work filling my own yard. But i can totally see myself cutting it for a good untapped land just as well.

[Hawk]

I'm more and more down on tap lands every day. I used to think they were more acceptable in a higher-MV deck, but have actually swung back around that they're just as bad if not worse than taplands in lower-MV decks, as having a tapland on turn 6 when you already haven't done much of anything this game is fatal. They're a necessary evil for sure especially at my budget level for fixing, but I have gone from slipping random manlands and cycling lands into every list to being extremely choosy.

This card is indeed great in The Gitrog Monster, but I don't know if I'd play it hardly anywhere else these days.

[materpillar]

This card is really good in my Progenitus 5c dredge deck. One of the big upsides is that it can constantly recur itself for Worm Harvest late game. Having another dredge card that's stapled to a land slot is really high. Having the option to hit a land drop whenever you want is pretty good too. Not an amazing card but a really solid utility land for me.

[toctheyounger]

This is the utility land that 9 out of 10 Frog Horrors recommend.

[3drinks]

Tuesday, October 10th, 2023; Quicksilver Elemental

[Dunadain]

Probably a bunch of combos.


Back-up effect for Experiment Kraj probably?

[TheGildedGoose]

All-star in Mairsil, the Pretender.

[3drinks]

Wednesday, October 11th, 2023; Forbidden Crypt

How about that, a card that turns Ground Seal/Silent Gravestone into an actual win con rather than a virtual win con.

[Dunadain]

I had an old Kokusho, the Evening Star list that played Lich's Mastery, Lich, and Nefarious Lich.

You actually lose to these effects much less often than you might think, and as you said @3drinks, gy hate already KOs gy-based decks, so might as well lean in and get paid for taking the risk of playing a gy-based deck I say, I could see a deck built around tutoring out this and/or Out of the Tombs.

[Hermes_]

That artwork is creepy imo

[TheGildedGoose]

gy hate already KOs gy-based decks

I don't completely disagree, but newer graveyard enthusiasts have a tendency to overcommit operating under the illusion that their 'yard is safe. When combined with an inhospitable meta that has evolved to feature graveyard hate in a lot of decks, Karador, Ghost Chieftain, Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, and the other incremental graveyard commanders perpetuate this idea. I think Nethroi, Apex of Death and ol' The Mimeoplasm tend to be more effective because they don't use they graveyard as a second hand so much as a layover on the way to the battlefield.

This card is one of those really cool black enchantments that we used to see back in the day. Unfortunately most graveyard decks tend to be creature-centric and there are less dangerous and more efficient ways of recurring them. For something like Golgari or Sultai spellslinger? This could be an interesting late game card if you're feeling saucy.

[3drinks]

I had an old Kokusho, the Evening Star list that played Lich's Mastery, Lich, and Nefarious Lich.

You actually lose to these effects much less often than you might think, and as you said @3drinks, gy hate already KOs gy-based decks, so might as well lean in and get paid for taking the risk of playing a gy-based deck I say, I could see a deck built around tutoring out this and/or Out of the Tombs.

I meant that ground seal actually kills you because forbidden crypt is targeted and cards having shroud means you can't fulfill the crypt's condition.

[Mookie]

How about that, a card that turns Ground Seal/Silent Gravestone into an actual win con rather than a virtual win con.

I'll note that Forbidden Crypt's Oracle text is slightly different from the printed text - it reads as a triggered ability, but it has been errata'd to a replacement effect and no longer targets. As a result, those cards don't actually affect it, and you can't stop its controller from recurring a card by exiling whichever card they choose.

Forbidden Crypt seems pretty underwhelming to me. Theoretically, if you've been able to dump your entire deck into your graveyard with a Morality Shift effect, then this lets you Demonic Tutor up the perfect card every turn... but for the same cost, you could also just Living Death and win immediately (or use any other source of recursion). It's also vulnerable to grave hate, as others have mentioned, and the fact that it acts as a personal Leyline of the Void limits future value. I think it's somewhat telling that the top (and pretty much only) commander that runs this on EDHREC is Blim, Comedic Genius.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I'm not big on cards with lose conditions, but I do like this more than alternatives like Immortal Coil.

[Moxnix]

This is the kind of bad card I like to try and break but I feel like anything I come up with has so much setup anything could win. Most people it seems just want to donate it. It puts the cards in hand and getting them to gy for the cheat part is normally part of the work hmm. You cant just repitch the cards either they get exiled and as mentioned living death or yawgwin just wins in this state. 5 mana consulation for oracle seems jank hmm.not so great at being food chain either. Ill think about it but it seems like alot of work and not so good.

[NZB2323]

I feel like Oversold Cemetery is just better.

-cost 3 less mana.
-doesn't replace your draw.
-won't make you lose the game.

I guess you could use Harmless Offering to give this to an opponent though.

[3drinks]

Thursday, October 12th, 2023; Jace's Sanctum

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I'm not a huge fan of expensive cost reducers. You need to cast 5 instants/sorceries to get proper ROI on this thing, assuming no direct scrying synergies. If it cost 3 I could get behind it, but 4 cmc is a bridge too far imho.

[Serenade]

In spellslinger, every non-instant/sorcery has to provide great value to make the cut. I like the effect stapled to a creature instead since at least they can block.

[Dunadain]

Spell-slinging garbage

[Lifeless]

Nothing wrong with this in general but I think it's too low impact.

[folding_music]

Forbidden Crypt's a classic late-stage minigame in blue-black-x where you bet your bombs against the whole table, it used to be such a cool design. Yawgmoth's Agenda also rules in spirit
I don't think this works in a grave-paranoid format where everyone can crypt you four different ways; this card catches strays which are the fault of various broken commanders as well as various Replenishes and Renaissances, as well as the Loam junk you expect to see from at least one player every time. also five is now too much for the effect
god I love the sedentary old version of this game where you could flop a paradigm breaking enchantment on to the table after exhausting yr hand and start Phase Two of the game, there's no longer time for anything like that

[Mookie]

Jace's Sanctum is alright, but a bit clunky - four mana is a lot for just one mana of cost reduction when Sapphire Medallion, Baral, Chief of Compliance, and other alternatives exist. It does have the upside of providing some card filtering via the scry... but honestly, while that is a strict upside, I find it sort of annoying due to how much it slows the game down. I'm currently running Mindsplice Apparatus in my Mizzix deck instead, and I've run Primal Amulet // Primal Wellspring in the past. Not sure which of those two is actually better though.

More broadly, if you're doing a spellslinger strategy, every non-instant/sorcery card comes at a high opportunity cost - finding a turn to tap out and play an expensive enchantment with no immediate board impact can be difficult. It's good if you do have the chance to drop it, but does it beat Double Vision / Aetherflux Reservoir / etc?

[3drinks]

Friday, October 13th, 2023; Kaya the Inexorable

[Serenade]

The "from exile" on that first ability has bit me before. I always felt the cost was a lot for a reactive card. My buddy had success with it in Kethis, the Hidden Hand.