[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Journeyer's Kite

[Dunadain]

I feel like the last sentence (having a land deal the damage) is trying too hard to be clever, it makes sense flavorfully, but no sense mechanically (as in it's not cohesive, the mechanic works obviously).

Compare that to one of the best mechanic-that-doubles-as-flavor-text in Welcome to . . . // Jurassic Park which is from the same set.


"Each dinosaur card in your graveyard has escape"

Brilliant.

[DirkGently]

Swooping Pteranodon + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Bazaar Trader + Abeyance + Anointed Procession + Illusionist's Bracers

First you kill everyone, then kiki-jiki gets to acquaint himself with every square inch of land on earth, one at a time, at high velocity.

[3drinks]

Saturday, January 6th, 2024; Sycorax Commander

[Dunadain]

First time reading this card.

On the one hand, 4/2 with first strike and haste for 4 is already off to a great start. On the other hand, the etb isn't all that powerful and Rakdos isn't known for its ability to blink/bounce.

I can't even see it in a Nekusar, the Mindrazer deck, cause the draw is optional.

It would be way cooler if it was an on-attack trigger.

[onering]

Damn, two cards in a row from non mtg properties. UB just keeps getting worse.

[DirkGently]

I can't even see it in a Nekusar, the Mindrazer deck, cause the draw is optional.

True but if you're playing nekusar they probably have a lot of cards in hand and low life, so either option is painful.

I think it's okay in specifically that deck. Otherwise meh.

[3drinks]

Sunday, Monday 7th, 2024; Curiosity Crafter

[Dunadain]

Kinda nutty in the right deck, blue isn't known for token production, but where is good, it's great.

[folding_music]

Homarid Spawning Bed reference!!!

[Serenade]

Coastal Piracy
Bident of Thassa
Reconnaissance Mission
The Indomitable

Unless I have a bird or wizard token deck, I probably am running all of these cards ahead of it. The body and no-max-hand-size is very nice, but usually I prefer that this effect does not get wiped with the rest of my critters.

[Toshi]

Perfect match for Talrand, Sky Summoner and the likes.

...speaking of which, I need a few The Indomitables...

[Mookie]

Curiosity Crafter looks reasonable. It's not as versatile as other Coastal Piracy effects, but it's manageable if you're playing a deck like Talrand, Sky Summoner or Alandra, Sky Dreamer that has a lot of creature tokens. The baseline of a 3/3 flyer is also nice, particularly since any deck playing this effect will probably also have other synergies for going wide. That said, I do agree that putting this ability on a creature can be awkward in the face of board wipes.

[3drinks]

Monday, January 8th, 2024; Shivan Harvest

An under rated sac outlet. Yeah it's not free, but turning bodies into Wastelands is savage.

[TheGildedGoose]

Viashino Heretic is a cool throwback. Both are pretty playable, though Shivan Harvest is uncouth land destruction.

[PrimevalCommander]

Shivan Harvest is a playable card, but it never made the cut for me. Even now when there are more non-basics that need destroying it is not as attractive as it once was.

If I want this as a sac outlet, I don't want to pay 2 per activation, nor do I want it drawing the attention of the table like this. Also it is capped by the number of non-basics at the table, but my opponents are probably dead by the time I run out of targets.

If I want land destruction, this is a much better spot, but I don't find myself creating spots exclusively for that effect. Namely because I'm usually the one with the most offensive lands. . Otherwise this is a big target, and if your opponents cannot deal with the enchantment, they will probably look to deal with your life total before you get too many activations out of it. If we want to destroy lands, Ruination rips off the band-aid for less investment. If you want to pop random non-basics to slow down opponents, Demolition Field, Tectonic Edge, and Ghost Quarter are probably what you want so they make some mana. Or Fulminator Mage and Ravenous Baboons have some creature synergies to exploit without freaking your opponents out immediately.

In conclusion, one of the rare cards where I like each part individually, but together I don't find the card near as attractive. Walks a fine line between either not very good, or too mean for casual, with not much in between to fit into my preferred play style.

Viashino Heretic is much more attractive since the repeatable effect is more broadly useful, and doesn't draw near as much ire from the table. Though slower and more vulnerable. I'm sleeve it up before, but not for years. Sorcery speed artifact hate has so many great options that can mow down several artifacts for modest investment.

[Dunadain]

I feel like @PrimevalCommander is spot on, too inefficient as a sac outlet, too limiting as non-basic hate. Too casual for cut throat groups, too mean for casual groups.

In a vacuum, the card is pretty sweet, but cards aren't played in a vacuum and I struggle to identify a place where this card could shine

[Hawk]

Yeah hard to add more - I too have had this on the maybeboard for a few decks like Kresh the Bloodbraided or Korvold, Fae-Cursed King aristocrats, but it has all those issues. The rate is mostly good, but...

- If I care about a sac outlet, I typically need those to be 0-mana and this loses out to Goblin Bombardment. Spawning Pit, Ashnod's Altar, Phyrexian Altar, and possibly Skirk Prospector, Skullclamp, or Tooth and Claw depending on the deck - and that's just in mono-red. Having tried my darndest to give a fair shake to cards like Vampiric Rites and Carnage Altar it's just too hard to hold up 2+ mana to sacrifice a card most of the time.
- I rarely run land destruction unless it's just incidental because a card like, say, Chaos Warp can hit lands. There's a sharp casual format contract to not blow up lands especially in my playgroup. Frequently, a card that can blow any permanent is enough to stop a Cabal Coffers from running amok anyhow.
- And if you want to be serious about land destruction, it's tough to not run staple lands that do this for you like Wasteland, Strip Mine, Field of Ruin, etc.

Combine those three things into one stew and you have a card that reads great but just doesn't have a whole lot of homes.

[PrimevalCommander]

Side note, I see people mention Field of Ruin all the time, but that card just looks terrible to me compared to Demolition Field and Tectonic Edge. Yes, Field of Ruin replaces the land you sac and the land you kill, but it also ramps the other 2 players an extra land for free. Now they are up a land on you two just for being present. I just don't see a reason for me to run Field of Ruin and I see it mentioned regularly.

Tectonic Edge doesn't replace either land, but if I'm activating Tec Edge, I'm actively aware of my loss of the land and can adjust my plans accordingly. Same reason why we play Strip Mine and Wasteland on the more expensive end. So while I'm down a land, my premeditated decision to activate the land helps mitigate the loss of the mana. Giving opponents free permanent resources is not worth the cost of admission in my opinion.

Demolition Field solves both issues by replacing only the lands that leave play so the entire table is at parity. Probably the best version of this effect. Get them while their hot

[Dunadain]

Demo field is definitely cream of the crop.

[3drinks]

Oh darn I thought I had a pic of my alter. I'll share it after work since I use this in Alesha because I also use Stony silence so ashnods and dementia are less attractive.

[Lifeless]

From a sportsmanship perspective, not to mention having a set group of friends I play with, I keep my nonbasic hate modest and single use. That being said I'm surprised I don't see this more in goblins lists and such. It's pretty darn reasonable can could lock certain strategies out pretty quickly.

[folding_music]

I had this in an enchantressy Chishiro but mmm
it creates a dynamic where, unless you're being ultra-cutthroat, you mostly end up using it to remove a single land and then people start staring at you, wondering why you aren't killing their duals etc. and making the game miserable

[3drinks]

Tuesday, January 9th, 2024; The March Cycle

[3drinks]

Oh darn I thought I had a pic of my alter. I'll share it after work since I use this in Alesha because I also use Stony silence so ashnods and dementia are less attractive.

There's the alter I had commissioned. So when people ask why I have such a "cutthroat" card, it's because I paid to have this dang thing done. I wanna show it off! Anyway hope y'all like it.

SPOILER

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[Dunadain]

S-tier:
A-tier:
B-tier:
March of Otherworldly Light: it's always inefficient, but it's instant speed removal that gets the big three permanent types, and in an emergency can do so for w. Sure you'll have to throw away a good chunk of your hand to do it, but it's better than dying.

March of Reckless Joy: This might be too high of a rating, simply because there is a lot of competition in R for this effect. But the flexibility is there. r for a Tormenting Voice with timing restrictions.2r is an overpriced Reckless Impulse, and any further mana makes it a digging tool.

C-tier:
March of Swirling Mist: all it does is buy you time, but it's a pretty great rate for what it does.

March of Wretched Sorrow: suffers from all the same problems as every other damage based removal spell in EDH.

D-tier:

F-tier:

March of Burgeoning Life: no real surprise considering it doesn't work well in a singleton format. It's pretty bad in other formats too however. Sometimes, green DOESN'T get the best toys.


Edit: my dumbass forgot March of Swirling Mist can protect your own stuff as well, so move it to B-tier.