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

[3drinks]

Sunday, November 5th, 2023; Infernal Tribute

[TheGildedGoose]

Chainer, Dementia Master + Gray Merchant of Asphodel all-star. 10 years ago.

[Dunadain]

A victim of its own flexibility.

If I'm planning on sacrificing creatures, I got Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, Ayara, First of Locthwain, etc.

If I'm planning on sacrificing artists, I also have a lot of options.

For lands/enchantments/planeswalkers, this becomes a lot more appealing, but, generally, it's a lot harder to make a bunch of expendable planeswalkers/enchantments/lands.

So you really only want this if you need to sac multiple different kinds of permanents. Cool option for any decks that do want that though.

[Mookie]

Infernal Tribute looks underwhelming - triple black, two mana to activate, can't sacrifice tokens. There is the niche use case of using it to sacrifice enchantments (like Demonic Pact), but otherwise I think there are better options for sacrificing creatures / artifacts.

[folding_music]

that's the problem with cards designed for modern rakdos sac - you start to think that the sacrifice half of the card is the point x3 this was a revelation when it was released and we read all the way to the end of the card

[3drinks]

Monday, November 6th, 2023; Winding Canyons

I never did like this. Paying a tax of 3 to cast creatures with flash just didn't make a lot of sense to me. Certainly I wouldn't want to spend $20 on it. Maaayyybbbeeee it's fine in Zhulodok, Void Gorger since the floor is a Wastes and the ceiling is....well, double cascade at flash speed in a big mana deck.

[Mookie]

I've seen Winding Canyons played in Omnath, Locus of Mana as a way to preserve mana if Omnath happens to die. I'm not sure what other decks would want it over other colorless utility lands. Flash is certainly nice to have - you can avoid sorcery-speed removal, surprise attackers, and dodge some countermgic.... but it's rarely worth spending a full card slot on. I feel like creatures don't get that much extra value from flash because their primary purpose - attacking and blocking - functions identically when played at sorcery speed. The only benefit you get is having a surprise blocker... and if you have on-board flash, it isn't as surprising anyway.

That said, I will note that I'm a fan of the more flexible Alchemist's Refuge, particularly in conjunction with Seedborn Muse as a build-your-own Prophet of Kruphix. Tapping out for a ramp spell or splashy enchantment can be a pretty high-variance play, since you can no longer hold open interaction. I've tapped out for Boundless Realms and other splashy stuff plenty of times, only to die before I untap. Using Alchemist's Refuge to hold open mana for interaction, and then flashing out a board wipe or other splashy spell is quite nice.

[Dunadain]

Emiel the Blessed likes it, when your deck is full of utility ETB creatures, AND you have a potent activated ability that you can activate multiple times in a turn, flash on your creatures becomes a lot more appealing.

On the flip side, as long as Emiel is out, you never have a totally free 3 to spend, as that's enough to get an additional activation out of Emiel.

All things considered, it still ends up being fairly relevant, you can hold up instant speed Cataclysmic Gearhulk or whatever, and if you don't need it, just pump that open mana into Emiel activations.

The other option is if you have some instant speed protection spell like Guardian of Faith, you can hold up Guardian of Faith forever and develop the board by flashing stuff in eot. Can still get blown out by instant speed wipes, but those are few and far between.

It's still not an all-star, but it's head and shoulders above most colorless utility lands in my experience.

[Hawk]

It's interesting to think about colorless utility lands. I tend to find I prefer nabbing Reliquary Tower (I love to draw and hate to discard), Arcane Lighthouse (a nice insurance policy), Scavenger Grounds (in 2023, you need to have a plan for GYs or your plan is to lose to GY decks) as generically strong utility lands available to any deck. It's a bit moot since I don't own a copy of Canyons, but I think generally it'd be down at least that far on the list and that's before we consider situationally great colorless lands like Deserted Temple (great in decks full of lands that tap for more than one), Roadside Reliquary (great for decks that fulfill the condition), Strip Mine/Wasteland/Ghost Quarter/Field of Ruin) (great in decks that can recur them), or Command Beacon (great in decks that have multiple commanders or that have expensive kill-on-sight commanders especially if those decks also have Lands synergy). For most even 2-color decks, it can be tough to afford more than 3-4 lands that don't make your colors, and that number goes down depending on how many colors you're running and how low-to-the ground your commander is.

I've been underwhelmed by Alchemist's Refuge too, so this just isn't something I'm high on for most decks. Folks have pointed out places where it is good, and monocolor creatureless decks in general can run this "for free" so it is not harmful to run and add. but it feels like a marginal land generally speaking.

[Igzex]

I'm not the biggest fan of Vedalken Orrery and I'd still run it over Winding Canyons. Besides, we're getting enough utility critters with built in flash as is anyways.

[Hawk]

I'm not the biggest fan of Vedalken Orrery and I'd still run it over Winding Canyons. Besides, we're getting enough utility critters with built in flash as is anyways.

This is a good point - I too find that effect a bit overrated. Once upon a time, Canyons was the "budget" alternative to Orrery but now Orrery is a $5 card thanks to Double Masters and Canyons is creeping us as a RL card.

[weltkrieg]

I honestly like winding canyons quite a lot. My meta is boardwipe heavy, so having a surprise creature with "haste" at the end of someone else's turn is excellent. I play it in addition to hall of the bandit lord which itself isn't that cheap though it has been reprinted. It works very well in green or white decks where flash may not always be on the creature you wish to play.

[Treamayne]

Winding Canyons is totally a Nostalgia Card. I remember being blown away in Mirage Block when they introduced "cast as an instant" and most of the chaff with the ability was . . . not stellar (*cough* Parapet *cough*). Then Weatherlight brought us this, and the world opened to all kinds of instant-speed shenanigans. Especially for control decks in the post-Necro "Black Winter" era of Type 2. Despite how it may (or may not) have aged for this specific format, it'll still pull a nostalgia-fueled grin whenever I see one on the table.

[NZB2323]

It's interesting to think about colorless utility lands. I tend to find I prefer nabbing Reliquary Tower (I love to draw and hate to discard), Arcane Lighthouse (a nice insurance policy), Scavenger Grounds (in 2023, you need to have a plan for GYs or your plan is to lose to GY decks) as generically strong utility lands available to any deck. It's a bit moot since I don't own a copy of Canyons, but I think generally it'd be down at least that far on the list and that's before we consider situationally great colorless lands like Deserted Temple (great in decks full of lands that tap for more than one), Roadside Reliquary (great for decks that fulfill the condition), Strip Mine/Wasteland/Ghost Quarter/Field of Ruin) (great in decks that can recur them), or Command Beacon (great in decks that have multiple commanders or that have expensive kill-on-sight commanders especially if those decks also have Lands synergy). For most even 2-color decks, it can be tough to afford more than 3-4 lands that don't make your colors, and that number goes down depending on how many colors you're running and how low-to-the ground your commander is.

I've been underwhelmed by Alchemist's Refuge too, so this just isn't something I'm high on for most decks. Folks have pointed out places where it is good, and monocolor creatureless decks in general can run this "for free" so it is not harmful to run and add. but it feels like a marginal land generally speaking.

Yeah, I've made the mistake of running too many colorless lands in a deck. If had to rank the colorless lands, I think it would be:

1.) Ancient Tomb
2.) Hall of Heliod's Generosity/Academy Ruins
3.) Kessig Wolf Run/Gavony Township/Vault of the Archangel
4.) Rogue's Passage
5.) Strip Mine/Demolition Field

After that, it becomes hard to justify. I mean, in my cleric tribal deck I run Starlit Sanctum and in Neheb, the Worthy I run
Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace and Geier Reach Sanitarium, but those are pretty niche.

[3drinks]

Tuesday, November 7th, 2023; Doom Whisperer

[TessaMTG]

Soul Snare is a lot less versatile, but at the same time is wayyyy cheaper. I'm personally not a big fan of Brittle Effigy.

[Hawk]

Tuesday, November 7th, 2023; Doom Whisperer

When this was previewed I remember my and many other player's heads exploding at the insane rate. I thought this would be a Standard all-star and I thought this would be an EDH Staple in every deck - such a huge body at the cost, and no drawback at all, just all upside. I was then equally surprised when it hovered around a few bucks, not making huge waves in standard and taking time to take off in EDH. I was in disbelief that this was closer to a Spiritmonger than a Titan in terms of impact.

It's not quite a staple, but now it is in a very respectable 25,237 decks on EDHRECs. It helps that many powerful synergy cards were printed shortly thereafter - folks like Greven, Predator Captain, Vilis, Broker of Blood, Willowdusk, Essence Seer, and newcomer Rowan, Scion of War that care about life loss which Doom Whisperer can make happen fairly fast, and commanders like Syr Konrad, the Grim and Sefris of the Hidden Ways that appreciate Whisperer's ability to quickly fill a 'yard out. We also have had a few shiny Demon and Nightmare tribal commanders printed which certainly helps. Shame I didn't pick this up sooner as its price is climbing, but I suspect a reprint will tank it down as it still just isn't that widely played.

[Mookie]

Doom Whisperer is niche but alright. Hawk has already covered most of what I would say - it was very hyped during preview season, but ended up being a bit of a miss. Still worth consideration for decks that specifically want to lose life or fill the graveyard... but if you're not using its activated ability, then it is just a french vanilla beater. It does have good stats, but I'd take something with weaker stats but a more useful upside any day. Bloodgift Demon, Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal // Temple of the Dead, Archpriest of Shadows, Massacre Girl.... black has a lot of excellent 5-drops.

I will call out that Caverns of Ixalan bumps up Doom Whisperer's stock a bit with all the descend stuff. The Ancient One, The Mycotyrant, Zoyowa Lava-Tongue, and plenty of other cards appreciate an easy way to repeatedly trigger descend.

[ISBPathfinder]

I think its still a very solid roleplayer in decks with heavy recursion elements and good paired with lifegain. It can also be used with some topdeck play type cards like Oracle of Mul Daya or Future Sight. I wouldn't say its a staple but I also haven't really been sad to see it in most decks.

[toctheyounger]

It's pretty underrated, to be honest. The body is great for a great rate, and the life for card filter ability is way better than you think it'll be. Most of the great synergies have already been mentioned, but I'll flick a nod to Bolas's Citadel as a great way to abuse the almighty christ out of this card. It's not so much about going infinite as it is just digging to the right cards when you need them, and that's actually pretty great.

Definitely one I'm hoping to see again in Ravnica Remastered early 2024.

[3drinks]

Wednesday, November 11th, 2023; Gift of Immortality

This is still good? I know in the day it was complained about as a part of many unbreakable loops. I don't really see it, but I have a fairly low opinion of auras in the first place. Maybe it was a key component of Geist of Saint Traft decks back then.

[Dunadain]

This is the kind of slow, durdly, inevitability that I love!

[Hermes_]

Wednesday, November 11th, 2023; Gift of Immortality

This is still good? I know in the day it was complained about as a part of many unbreakable loops. I don't really see it, but I have a fairly low opinion of auras in the first place. Maybe it was a key component of Geist of Saint Traft decks back then.

It works great in my Voltron deck

[Lifeless]

I'll take "Cards I always forget are in play until it's too late" for $500 Alex.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I remember this card being a lynchpin in a number of Boonweaver Giant combos and occasionally I see this in a Sigarda, Host of Herons voltron deck, but I've never seen it anywhere else