[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Jetfire, Ingenious Scientist

[3drinks]

The last time I played against MLD, it came out of a "budget" Kaalia deck on T5. I was playing Henzie "Toolbox" Torre I think. That deck was like 80% removal and thankfully I was playing like 41 lands, so I rebuilt faster and punched the Kaalia players teeth in for like 40 minutes afterwards (clearly that guy needed to read drinks' primer, he would have known one Rune-Scarred Demon wouldn't be enough to get there). Anyway, my point is that if you're gonna try to wreck my real estate, you better have a plan to kill me fast because I will remember such an environmental catastrophe and retaliate with extreme prejudice.

Man, I'm sorry and I hate this for you. Irresponsible MLD players make the responsible MLD players get a bad rap. And unfortunately, this happens more often than I'd like to see in young Kaalia players, who then wonder why their deck didn't work.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

soul shatter with burn upside is still a 3 for one. Four mana though is a lot for removal that only represents value rather than specific problem solving, especial when you can have a few wraths for the same price

[Serenade]

Instant speed! Exile! No targeting!

Spot removal or wraths provide more flexibility and power, respectively. Nope, I am not running this card unless I have some crazy synergies.

[DirkGently]

This card is more of a board-based value card than removal. It's too expensive to hold up and it's not reliable at solving problems. But I think it makes fine sense with the corresponding Gandalf, for example, to just fire off for some board control and burn. Outside of that, nah. It's not a real 3-for-1, just a 1-for-1 that scales for multiplayer

[Toshi]

When was the last time you thought Crackling Doom should cost more mana?

More often than not, pesky smol creatures are my major concern on board, not my enemies french vanillas or else.

[ironic gesture]

I just ordered one of these for General Ferrous Rokiric as it checks a lot of boxes for that deck (instant speed removal that's 2 colors) and it even has free damage tacked on which matters to such a hyper aggressive deck. That being said, 4 mana is a lot so I'm not sure it will make the cut.

[Lifeless]

Worth considering in a Sunforger package where it has some blowout potential. I'll keep it in mind next time I tinker with one of those.

[Sinis]

It's cards like this that make Voltron a non-viable strategy. I don't think it's terrible, but, my group definitely doesn't make me want to play it.

[RxPhantom]

I just ordered one of these for General Ferrous Rokiric as it checks a lot of boxes for that deck (instant speed removal that's 2 colors) and it even has free damage tacked on which matters to such a hyper aggressive deck. That being said, 4 mana is a lot so I'm not sure it will make the cut.

I run a Ferrous deck too, but I don't think this is good enough. The 4+ MV spots are pretty tight, at least in my list.

[NZB2323]

It's cards like this that make Voltron a non-viable strategy. I don't think it's terrible, but, my group definitely doesn't make me want to play it.

Do people really run cards like this that much? And it doesn't seem like much of an issue if you're running counterspells, totem armor, or Sigarda, Host of Herons.

[DirkGently]

Do people really run cards like this that much? And it doesn't seem like much of an issue if you're running counterspells, totem armor, or Sigarda, Host of Herons.

Totem armor doesn't help FYI.

But yeah the presence of some narrow answers for your archetype doesn't make it bad. Voltron is just bad because it's bad in the normal way, by being slow, inefficient, and obvious.

Which is what's fun about it, tbf.

[3drinks]

Monday, November 13th, 2023; Paradoxical Outcome|tsr

What a reasonable, well costed draw spell, surely this is just a fine little value spell and -- ....just don't look at Vintage

[3drinks]

It's cards like this that make Voltron a non-viable strategy. I don't think it's terrible, but, my group definitely doesn't make me want to play it.

I think what made voltron unplayable, is the dearth of cheap and efficient answers moreso than a Crackling Doom effect. Though more and better edicts like Sheoldred's Edict certainly don't help the case. You invest all this mana and resources into your guy and lose all the tempo and have to recast for +2 and spend more time suiting up just because I held up r and Unholy Heat. Pretty rough tempo swing there.

But maybe if you had Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer to come down early and generate value to let you suit up over time, maybe it's okay (it's not). Or the old Finest Hour-Progenitus combo decks because you can't interact with it in a non-sweeper way (and it's easy enough to play around the odd edict)

[yeti1069]

Monday, November 13th, 2023; Paradoxical Outcome|tsr

What a reasonable, well costed draw spell, surely this is just a fine little value spell and -- ....just don't look at Vintage

I play this in Kadena as both board protection and a huge draw spell that then provides additional draw and value as I get to recast all of the morphs I picked up.

[kirkusjones]

I run Paradoxical Outcome in Talion, the Kindly Lord to reset the numbers on the clones. It's nice boost in the mid-late game.

[3drinks]

Tuesday, November 14th, 2023; Wayta, Trainer Prodigy

I had wondered why I never saw this before. Then I looked to the right and read the set. Wow, what a card, Ulvenwald Tracker eat your heart out. This would actually get me to come back into Naya I think, dang. What a fantastic stax commander with removal in the zone and no need to wait a turn.

[Toshi]

Grothama, All-Devouring's best friend.

[Dunadain]

Which part of this card says "stax" on it?

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Tuesday, November 14th, 2023; Wayta, Trainer Prodigy

I had wondered why I never saw this before. Then I looked to the right and read the set. Wow, what a card, Ulvenwald Tracker eat your heart out. This would actually get me to come back into Naya I think, dang. What a fantastic stax commander with removal in the zone and no need to wait a turn.

I'm not seeing what you're seeing. This looks like an enrage enabler first and foremost. I can't see this playing well in a stax list for a few reasons:

1. It must tap to use its ability, which makes it a nonbo with stasis effects
2. It requires 3 whole mana to use the fight ability as removal, which stinks when your mana is probably choked.
3. Without some other support a 1/5 isn't winning many fights, so the utility of the ability requires probably even more investment to even do anything
4. Unless you're getting into Lightmine Field shenanigans, the third ability does nothing for a stax build.

The platonic ideal of a stax commander imo is Zur the Enchanter. It gives awesome colors and breaks parity with consistency and ease. This thing is so far removed from any of those upsides that it may as well be on another planet.

[Mookie]

Wayta, Trainer Prodigy seems like a solid enrage commander. The first Ixalan block had a solid commander for dinosaur decks in the form of Gishath, Sun's Avatar, but it unfortunately lacked a commander for enrage decks. Wayta both acts as an enabler by letting your creatures fight and doubles any triggers you get. She also works with stuff like Boros Reckoner and Stuffy Doll... or you can build something more fight-focused with creatures like Rhonas the Indomitable.

That said, I wouldn't run her outside dinosaur / enrage decks - three mana to fight is a bit expensive if you don't care about the other text.

[3drinks]

Wednesday, November 15th, 2023; Hallowed Burial

Man. This is still like the gold standard of wipes right? I Still play this and it's ever-reliable, at least. Hard to argue with I'd say.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Wednesday, November 15th, 2023; Hallowed Burial

Man. This is still like the gold standard of wipes right? I Still play this and it's ever-reliable, at least. Hard to argue with I'd say.

Even with tuck long dead, HB is still pretty good. Gets around indestructible and throws a wrench into graveyard strategies. I dig it.

EDIT: I do think it's 2nd to Terminus though. I'm willing to pay extra for the chance at a big discount

[BeneTleilax]

This has definitely fallen since the tuck rule change, but it's still solid. I think Farewell is the new gold standard now though.

[TheGildedGoose]

This has definitely fallen since the tuck rule change, but it's still solid. I think Farewell is the new gold standard now though.

Agreed. Farewell is definitely The Bar now, but I think dodging graveyard strategies and indestructible on a five mana wipe is okay. It's a meta call if it's better than, say, Rout or Cleansing Nova or other B tier wipes.

[Dunadain]

Great card that usually juuust misses the cut for me.