[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - North Star

[NZB2323]

Did this even happen in the story? I can't remember Crovax wading into combat. I thought he was running everything from Rath, but I might be wrong.

A reprint probably would not have this art, which is awesome, anyway.

This definitely did happen. Rath was overlaid with Dominaria during planeshift. The Kavu were undefeated in battle until Yawgmoth showed up as a god, They were kind of like the Eagles in Lord of the Rings, showing up to win the battle.

[3drinks]

Sunday, December 24th, 2023; Goblin Vandal

This little guy is so unassuming then you realize it prevents others from leading with the early rock. A lotta power was had in the one drop that forces opponents to change their play pattern. Oh, and it's also a rogue if ever that mattered.

[OneAndOnly]

Works well with Dwarven Warriors ... perhaps the first and last time those two have ever worked together!

[Dunadain]

Another card I've never seen before, generally, I don't like to tie my effects with getting into the red zone, even if it has the potential to be triggered more times because of it. I'm actually noticing a lot of similarities to Cartographer's Hawk, and like the hawk, I don't think it's that good as a standalone, but it's probably sweet in tribal decks.

[3drinks]

December 25th, 2023; Naughty // Nice

I'm a simple guy, when I roll mulldrifter|tsr I run with it because I can't fathom a world where mulldrifter is ever not good (must be my inner-Chapin lmao), but tis the season after all. So let's talk about who's naughty and nice and what we can do with either card.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I love these stupid holiday promos. This card seems like a perfect card for an Un-Cube.

[Wallycaine]

Naughty's use case is pretty obvious: Have the ability to make any color mana, and use it as a mildly worse Praetor's Grasp. Nice is the weird one to try and wrap my head around. The typical abuse case for donate effects is to give the opponent something that has a drawback as a downside and stick them with the restriction. Nice puts it in their hand, so they can just choose not to cast it in that case. I can't really think of any cards that hurt you while in the hand, or that have a particularly nasty drawback when cast from the hand (hence possibly making it worth it to try and combo with something that can force them to cast it such as Word of Command), so you'd have to be really desperate for a donate effect to run it for that reason. So I guess the next best option is to focus on it "as intended", and use it as a tutor for an answer out of your own deck. Sort of a janky way to have a split Play of the Game/Bring Down .

[3drinks]

I love these stupid holiday promos. This card seems like a perfect card for an Un-Cube.

I know I liked having Stocking Tiger and Booster Tutor in my cube when that was still around. It was fun times (the "pack(s)" were made from the cards that remained undrafted.)

[DirkGently]

Combo with X? I think that should work with un rules.

That's all I got.

[Dunadain]

In a 1v1, Nice combos with X and that's about it.

In a game with multiplayer dynamics, however, there are tons of situations where Nice becomes a good card, still probably not enough to be a standalone card, but enough to make the modality not a ribbon feature.

[OneAndOnly]

Combos with the various team-up cards ("your teammates can help pay for X"), as well as general sweepers / global effects where it doesn't matter who cast it. More widely, usable in games that implement range, so if you're one of the generals, you can pass something on to a lieutenant so they can blast the other general with it,

Niche case for screwing over the player with the hellbent deck. There's a religious pun in there, somewhere....

[materpillar]

The best use for Naughty // Nice is to tutor up a game winning card that your opponent religiously rails against being "in the spirit of the game" and then seeing if their morals hold up to not actually casting it in that spot.

IE giving someone who hates MLD an Armageddon when it would clearly murder the table.

[Dunadain]

The best use for Naughty // Nice is to tutor up a game winning card that your opponent religiously rails against being "in the spirit of the game" and then seeing if their morals hold up to not actually casting it in that spot.

IE giving someone who hates MLD an Armageddon when it would clearly murder the table.

As funny as that is, I didn't put the card in my deck, my conscience is clear.

*Windmill slams Armageddon*

[3drinks]

Tuesday, December 26th, 2023; Walking Ballista

...

[Dunadain]

The perfect infinite mana sink. Useful even before you have infinite mana, can be cast or pumped up later to ridiculous values, can swing if opponent has hexproof somehow, is colorless so can go in any deck, as a 0mv artifact it is easily tutored, and/or recurred.

Which is all very boring, putting ballista in a big, not infinite, mana list is more interesting, though, even then it's a pretty unfun play pattern, you can pick off creatures at instant speed, but it's a limited resource, so your encouraged to threaten people with it, without actually pulling the trigger unless your threats aren't respected. However, your opponents kind of have to call your bluff because it will just get more out of hand the longer it is out.

It's the same problem with Borborygmos Enraged, though the 4 per damage makes it much less likely to run away with the game if left alone.

[Lifeless]

Triskelion if it was designed with no other purpose than to sell packs.

[Mookie]

Walking Ballista is a strong card, but its strengths don't really play to the nature of EDH. It's colorless, so it can go in any deck... but EDH has a massive card pool and most decks don't need another generic card. It's a lategame mana sink... but often weaker than what you may be putting in your command zone or 99. It's capable of controlling the board... but most creatures in the format are too big for it to efficiently take down. This means it is often more narrow than threats like Myr Battlesphere and Wurmcoil Engine that can provide immediate impact more in-line with the nature of the format.

Ballista is good in some decks though - it's an infinite combo with Heliod, Sun-Crowned, which gives it some use in lifegain decks. It's also generally strong in +1/+1 counter decks that are capable of piling counters on it - is pretty expensive for a counter, but if you're dumping counters on it with Cathars' Crusade or Arcbound Ravager it looks much more impressive. It's also quite strong if you can generate infinite mana... or infinite cost reduction with Animar, Soul of Elements.

Beyond that, I'll note it is quite solid in cube, as is its sibling Hangarback Walker. I also like Stonecoil Serpent as a scaling colorless threat.

[Igzex]

Yeah the moment you see this card hit the table you know exactly what you're in for...

[3drinks]

Wednesday, December 27th, 2023; Vanishing Verse

I would play this. Efficient, hits any permanent type, just can't hit most commanders.

[3drinks]

Yeah the moment you see this card hit the table you know exactly what you're in for...

"Oh boy, Walking Ballista! Well let's see what that does..." - says no one ever

[Dunadain]

Vanishing Verse has always been a stellar performer for me.

Notably, I play decks with a lot of removal usually. If you have <5 removal spells, you probably want to make sure that they are as flexible as possible, and missing most commanders is a pretty big deal, if you are running 5+ removal spells, then as long as the restrictions are spread out, the spells can cover each others gaps.

[Mookie]

I was underwhelmed by Vanishing Verse when I tested it - missing most commanders is a pretty significant weakness. Orzhov has an incredibly deep card pool for removal spells, so I prefer more flexible spells like Anguished Unmaking and Generous Gift.

[yeti1069]

Vanishing Verse has always been a stellar performer for me.

Notably, I play decks with a lot of removal usually. If you have <5 removal spells, you probably want to make sure that they are as flexible as possible, and missing most commanders is a pretty big deal, if you are running 5+ removal spells, then as long as the restrictions are spread out, the spells can cover each others gaps.

I'd say that's a fair assessment, although I think you may need to be deeper than 5 removal spells for this to come in. It's efficient, at 2 mana. I think this most closely competes with Despark, which feels like its restriction is less limiting, but notably doesn't hit many stax or engine pieces. Vanishing Verse misses a lot of those as well (artifacts), which is as big, or bigger, downside than missing most commanders.

[Lifeless]

I like this a lot but have to admit that the lower cost doesn't seem terrible relevant outside of perhaps CEDH. Particularly in this color combo you have a number of best in class options that are nearly the same efficiency.

[Dunadain]

I feel like Mana efficiency matters a lot more with removal/interaction than most cards in edh as I almost always want to doublespell the turn I play a piece of removal, spending a card to remove a card is a raw deal in commander, but often necessary, spending a card AND a turn to remove a card is brutal.

Not to mention, with instant speed interaction, you'll want to leave up the mana for the spell as often as possible, which is a lot more doable at 1 or 2 mana.