[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - North Star

[3drinks]

Oh, crap, that activation costs 4. Dang. Had i read that correct then I'd have thrown it back to the random machine for being utter garbage.

[KMA_Again]

Oh, crap, that activation costs 4. Dang. Had i read that correct then I'd have thrown it back to the random machine for being utter garbage.

People have still tried to make a deck around her, crazily enough. Her tap ability is not what's powerful about her, it's repeatedly reusing her EtB. Blinking, bouncing, reanimating, etc, over and over again. It ends up being repetitive as you continually bring back the most powerful historic card, but, it's something. Sagas, enchantments, are something both U and B don't interact with in the graveyard much either, and whenever more playable sagas come out it will grow even more potent.

[ilovesaprolings]

Her tap ability is not what's powerful about her, it's repeatedly reusing her EtB. Blinking, bouncing, reanimating, etc, over and over again.

If you do it, don't you lose the card exiled with the "previous" Rona?

[KMA_Again]

Her tap ability is not what's powerful about her, it's repeatedly reusing her EtB. Blinking, bouncing, reanimating, etc, over and over again.

If you do it, don't you lose the card exiled with the "previous" Rona?

You cast what you reobtained via exile first and then do it. She also can bring back such pieces again too, like Crystal Shard, if they get destroyed.

[Sinis]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2020; Rona, Disciple of Gix

My [bad] joke aside, I do kinda feel like there's something here. Not sure what or how deep, but I suspect there's an avenue to explore.

I played Rona as a general for a while in a historic-themed deck. Thran temporal gateway, sagas, oaths, that kind of stuff. It was fun, but some of the tools in the deck felt heavy handed by the end (like using hex parasite and phyrexian scriptures to wipe the board of creatures every turn).

Edit: yeah, the activated ability is a trap unless you're really desperate. Just pretend she's a legendary u/b eternal witness in the command zone for a specific subset of cards.

[3drinks]

Monday, May (the fourth be with you), 2020; the Fallen Empires "sol" lands;

Ha. Bet you never expected an FE card (let alone a cycle!) not named High Tide to make CotD. So, I've actually seen these come up before and i threw them back, citing to myself "not that interesting" but I've started wondering if maybe there is some discussion to be had. Obviously, there is some play here with Titania and Windgrace, and probably Git Gud Frog as well.

And we can't really compare these to the InVasion lands here since those require a 3c deck. So different ideals and all.

[Mookie]

Fallen Empires? Now that's a sign of quality. /s

Anyway, I think they're fairly weak for most decks - a one-shot boost of mana doesn't feel worth it, especially given that the land enters tapped. I'd favor Crystal Vein, and even then, still doesn't seem great. I suppose colored mana is good, but still.... depends on the exact makeup of the deck, and how many color requirements there are.

Titania, Protector of Argoth is the one deck where I could see them being played, since that deck specifically wants lands that sacrifice themselves. There are also a few other commanders that care - Korvold, Fae-Cursed King and Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest, for example - but I don't think those decks need to dig quite as deep for sac-lands due to being multicolor.

The other spot I'd consider them is if you have a commander that you really, really want to get out a turn faster... but Lotus Petal or another cheap mana rock seems preferable. On the other hand, I've noticed that getting Thada Adel, Acquisitor out on turn 2 is really strong, so maybe I should consider Svyelunite Temple for that deck? Hmmm... feels like I'm going a bit too deep there, but maybe. Being down a land would really hurt though, even if it did let me get an actual Sol Ring a turn faster.

Somewhat interesting to compare Saprazzan Skerry and the other depletion lands. Not really a fan of those either, but they do give an extra burst of mana.

[Outcryqq]

I use Havenwood Battleground in The Gitrog Monster, it's OK there, wouldn't consider it in many decks.

[Hawk]

I'd have a hard time justifying them even in Gitrog Frog. I already end up running a fair number of taplands since the deck wants every cycling land it can muster as well as Dakmor Salvage and Bojuka Bog - obviously ideally you never "play" Salvage or cycling lands but stuff happens. Taplands are rough because missing even a single land drop after you have Frog is dangerous, and taplands can feel an awful lot like missing a land drop.

For lands that sac themselves, after the obvious fetchland inclusions I have found myself enjoying and preferring Myriad Landscape and Blighted Woodland since they actually permanently ramp us instead of one-shot ramping (and woodland even EtBs untapped!). I am running Terramorphic Expanse though, and I can see an argument for these over that - but even then, the thing is is that the Gitrog Frog can sometimes struggle to keep enough lands on the table even with 45 in the deck, especially if I fail to find an early Excavator or Loam, so lands that permanently put me down a land on the table for a short-term gain are a really tough sell. I could see if it one's Gitrog deck was more combo-oriented and less about beating down with Splinterfright though.

[onering]

They are the epitome of OK. Their effect is reasonable but not great. They are role players in a few builds and decent inclusions if you're on a budget.

[Hermes_]

Would need Amulet of Vigor to really take advantage

[3drinks]

Tuesday, May 5th, 2020; Lightning Coils

Wow. Talk about a blast from the past, I haven't seen this card in over a decade. How has it held up in today's standards?

[Mookie]

Lightning Coils is a bit of an odd card. It doesn't do anything by itself - in a vacuum, you need five creatures to die, and your reward for doing so is five Spark Elementals on your next turn, which isn't something I find particularly exciting given the amount of work that goes into it. I'd say that Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper is generally going to be a superior effect - it gives you the creatures immediately, which makes it a lot easier to use alongside sacrifice outlets or other combo pieces. Giving the tokens in bulk on upkeep is... much harder to abuse, and also has the downside of not happening at all if it gets removed. You could conceivably use it as a 'fair' combo piece - kill off a ton of creatures (or have them die in a wrath, or in a non-lethal alpha strike), then spawn an army of tokens on the next turn.

I suppose one upside it has over other cards that convert deaths into tokens is that it does so indirectly via charge counters. This means you get four times as many tokens if you have Doubling Season out. Alternatively, double the counters with Gilder Bairn, or add them directly with Surge Node. Still though, wiping out all the counters on upkeep makes it hard to reach absurd numbers, since you're unlikely to be able to double it that many times.

Anyway, not a fan - feels like it requires too much investment before you can get any payoff.

[Serenade]

A deck that wants at least five nontoken creatures to die each go-around (and can repeat that engine).

So...Garna?

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Really brutal in Shirei decks, never seen it elsewhere ever.

[Sinis]

Tuesday, May 5th, 2020; Lightning Coils

I've never seen it played anywhere, but I bet it goes places with Doubling Season and/or Vorel of the Hull Clade.

Maybe in decks that want the same nontoken-died trigger? Sek'kuar? Judith? Anax?

[3drinks]

Tuesday, May 5th, 2020; Lightning Coils

I've never seen it played anywhere, but I bet it goes places with Doubling Season and/or Vorel of the Hull Clade.

Maybe in decks that want the same nontoken-died trigger? Sek'kuar? Judith? Anax?

Teysa Karlov, I'd imagine would be best at this.

[Sinis]

Teysa Karlov, I'd imagine would be best at this.

While the lifelink is nice (Vigilance being irrelevant), my only objection is that Teysa can't play Doubling Season.

Dub season doubles the number of charge counters, and then doubles the number of Elementals. Two creatures dying would amount to 6 Elementals. If you managed to kill 5, you'd have twenty (20!!!) 3/1s. Surely enough to kill players.

[3drinks]

Teysa Karlov, I'd imagine would be best at this.

While the lifelink is nice (Vigilance being irrelevant), my only objection is that Teysa can't play Doubling Season.

Dub season doubles the number of charge counters, and then doubles the number of Elementals. Two creatures dying would amount to 6 Elementals. If you managed to kill 5, you'd have twenty (20!!!) 3/1s. Surely enough to kill players.

Right. I'm referring to the often overlooked first line of text. Suddenly one bloodghast becomes two counters.

[Sinis]

Right. I'm referring to the often overlooked first line of text. Suddenly one bloodghast becomes two counters.

Oh, certainly. It definitely inches it towards playable.

[Hawk]

I think I played this in Kresh the Bloodbraided, one of my very first Commander decks all the way back in 2011, where it was...fine. It's a lot of moving parts and as noted I think you need a bit of cheese by either doubling the token production, doubling the counter production, or doubling the death triggers. I do salivate at the thought of this in Teysa Karlov with an Anointed Procession out as well as some sort of sacrifice outlet - three things die, get six counters, next turn make twelve tokens, swing for 36 (lifelink!), sac after combat to a whatever, get twelve counters...

Still, actually seems like something of a hidden gem.

EDIT: Missed that it can't fuel itself, which admittedly makes it a lot less exciting.

[3drinks]

Wednesday, May 6th, 2020; Command Beacon

This ought to be a good day. I expect to see a good degree of back and forth on the merits and demerits of this polarizing card.

[Serenade]

Maybe I'll get one when they reprint it. Not worth $20 to me right now.

[cheonice]

Phage the Untouchable and Haakon, Stromgald Scourge love this. It's a cute little addition to commanders like Gonti, Lord of Luxury, but yeah... needs a reprint.

[Mookie]

I'm not really a fan of Crystal Vein. It's fine if you have land sacrifice synergies, but permanently giving up a land for a small burst of mana is a pretty significant cost. I suppose it can be good if you cheat out something strong a few turns early, but...

Wait, we're discussing Command Beacon? I can't really tell the difference. The sacrifice ability's mana only applies to command tax. Which can, admittedly, make it better if the tax gets high... but not being relevant until lategame is also a downside. I'm sure that there are some people that swear by it, but I'd generally favor a different colorless utility land in its slot. Not worth it for most decks unless your commander both dies a ton and is critical for your gameplan. Plus there's also the option of just running recursion to get back a dead commander, which is significantly more flexible.

Still, there are a few places I could see its inclusion. 'Being in hand matters' cards like Tetzimoc, Primal Death and 'can't cast from command zone' cards like Haakon, Stromgald Scourge and Phage the Untouchable. Other than that... Muldrotha, the Gravetide is an easy source of recursion for it (and also tend to attract a lot of removal), Honestly, I expect Muldrotha to singlehandedly be driving the price up - I recall it spiking when Muldrotha was revealed, and hasn't really gone down since then.