[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Argothian Enchantress

[Lifeless]

Having played during the original Kamigawa block I find myself not liking these designs very much because they feel quite fair compared to the Shoal cycle that wasn't even that great in the first place.

At any rate, the blue and white strike me as the best for EDH. Ultimately I'm not sure why I would run any of these instead of format staples.

[Ruiner]

I'm a fan of March of Swirling Mist. It's pretty flexible. Protect your own stuff, remove blockers or attackers, temporarily deal with a creature based combo. It's rarely a dead card.

I haven't tried any of the others but I'm not impressed by them very much for commander other than the red one which feels decent.

[PrimevalCommander]

March of Swirling Mist being by far the highest price of the cycle would say it has the widest appeal. Phasing is incredibly useful, and phasing out multiple creatures in blue for a low cost is still relatively rare. Also being able to phase out opponent's creatures as well as ours gives even more flexibility to the spell on offense and defense. Solid card even if you have to invest some mana into it. Really saving your best 2-3 creatures from a wipe should be worth the card and mana to help you rebuild quickly.

For another option also see Change of Plans with some additional filtering, but lacking the cost reduction clause.

In today's commander, where almost every archetype has several options for asymmetric board wipes, keeping a few things around becomes all the more necessary to not get blown out by a Damning Verdict or Farewell, or Kindred Dominance

[yeti1069]

Friday, January 5th, 2024; Swooping Pteranodon

This looks fun, although there aren't many other dinosaurs with flying that are worth playing. If I ever make a dino deck in these colors, I'll certainly include this.

[yeti1069]

Saturday, January 6th, 2024; Sycorax Commander

Giving your opponent the option to take the most favorable choice for them has me unexcited for this card. Too often it's going to just deal 1-3 damage. Without a repeating trigger, I'm actually not sure how much damage would make it feel worthwhile. Maybe 4?

Sunday, Monday 7th, 2024; Curiosity Crafter

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.

Yeah...you have to have a pretty narrow focus for this to be the card you turn to for this effect.

Monday, January 8th, 2024; Shivan Harvest

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

I don't think I've ever seen this card. If I were playing in a meta with more must-kill lands, I'd consider running this. If I'd known about this some years ago, I would have absolutely jammed it in a few decks vs a couple of opponents who ran Glacial Chasm regularly. Otherwise, it's pretty rare I care that much about blowing up a land, let alone the ability to blow up multiples.

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

Demolition Field is the newest of the bunch, which is why it gets fewer mentions. I've been trying to replace all the Field of Ruins I have been running with Demos. I have been preferring Demo to Strip Mine simply because it keeps me at land parity, while also providing an opportunity to secure my colors when needed. Too often, I haven't used Strip Mine because going down a land was going to delay other plans too much.

Tuesday, January 9th, 2024; The March Cycle

Burgeoning Life - I've considered it in Smeagol for fetching Ringwraiths, but it still feels too narrow for this format.

Otherworldly Light - I really favor removal that hits multiple card types. This hitting 3, at instant speed, and being exile rather than destroy means that I've slotted it into a couple decks, despite it's sometimes cumbersome mana cost.

Reckless Joy - Eh. Too often I've found myself bristling at only being able to cast 2 of the exiled spells. I'm happy to pay one more for Commune with Lava most of the time, and rarely found myself exercising the ability to pay for some/all of X with cards in hand.

Swirling Mist - Such a flexible card! I've enjoyed playing with this, but have few decks outside of cEDH Yuriko where I could find a slot to even try it. It can be used offensively, defensively, and politically. It can deal with multiple creatures seemingly from out of nowhere for just . It can (temporarily) remove creatures without triggering ETB or LTB effects, gets around indestructible, and can keep a commander off the board without allowing it to be recast for a turn.

Wretched Sorrow - Eh. Black has many options for single target removal, and the life gain that comes on this is almost always just an afterthought. I don't think black needs to stoop to relying on damage for its removal, even if it does have a second use as emergency grave hate.

[DirkGently]

White is solid removal. I like removal that can be efficient at a steep long-term cost in a dire situation, or expensive when you've got more time. That said, white removal is really good so this still rarely makes the cut.

Blue is flexible but pretty low-impact. Galadriel's Dismissal is the way stronger version of the similar effect. Though being able to discard to reduce the cost is nice. Not a bad card but seems hard to make the cut.

Black is just a mediocre removal spell. Trades white's target flexibility and exile for lifegain, but not enough lifegain to matter so yeah, not good enough outside of limited.

Red is worse than other impulse draw options imo. Maybe makes the cut in dedicated exile-based decks like Laelia, the Blade Reforged?

Green is epically bad. Costing strictly less means that, even for rare decks that actually have a target, you're paying a 2-mana (or 1 card) premium for the privilege of having an extra copy of your creature that you already have multiple copies of. Ringwraiths might be the only target that makes any sense at all since any Relentless Rats deck would just play more of the same card, and nobody is playing Seven Dwarves (I know some people are, but those people are insane). But there's no way a ringwrath is worth 5 mana, especially when it can get you 2-for-1ed when the target gets killed in response. Incredibly bad in every format.

Wretched Sorrow - Eh. Black has many options for single target removal, and the life gain that comes on this is almost always just an afterthought. I don't think black needs to stoop to relying on damage for its removal, even if it does have a second use as emergency grave hate.

How is it grave hate? Are you thinking of Erebos's Intervention?

[Hermes_]

first thought I didn't know March of the Machines was part of a cycle

Second thought: OH, totally different

[yeti1069]

Wretched Sorrow - Eh. Black has many options for single target removal, and the life gain that comes on this is almost always just an afterthought. I don't think black needs to stoop to relying on damage for its removal, even if it does have a second use as emergency grave hate.

How is it grave hate? Are you thinking of Erebos's Intervention?

Yup. Brain fart confusing one removal for another.

[yeti1069]

Blue is flexible but pretty low-impact. Galadriel's Dismissal is the way stronger version of the similar effect. Though being able to discard to reduce the cost is nice. Not a bad card but seems hard to make the cut.

I don't fully agree with this assessment. For many applications, yes, GD is a stronger card, but, for instance, March can phase out a dangerous creature for each opponent, or can phase out a couple of your creatures and a creature you want to stick around for an opponent. I've done this to keep my board along with someone else's Drannith Magistrate in response to a board wipe that was seeking to get out from under Drannith.

[toctheyounger]

The Jeskai marches are all really good in my opinion. Swirling Mist is excellent utility, Otherworldly Light is good removal and Reckless Joy just lets you get a good dig on your topdeck at the cost of a card or two you didn't want to play anyway. They all have their limitations, but they all sort of make up for it with flexibility in casting cost and utility.

[onering]

Green: Not actually useless, but you have to be in a meta where you are certain you'll see opponents run certain creatures you also run. Honestly would have been reasonable in 2020 when there were a lot of commonly run value creatures and this would probably fire off reliably.

White: Can be cheap removal, but I feel like it's only worth the card disadvantage if you're in a very cut throat meta. I feel like it just sucks compared to similar cards if you aren't planning to have it cost W.

Red: Actually really good. It's an instant, and it's effect lasts until the end of your next turn. Just firing it off as an end of turn mana sink before you untap is a big play, I've happily hard cast it for X=4 end of turn and then played the best cards on my turn. Pitching cards to it is very strong, you can pitch just two cards you'd happily cycle away to get impulse draw 4 for just R. I wouldn't ever exile more than two cards, but the card selection is worth the minor card disadvantage especially if the two you pitch aren't useful. Great card.

Black: there are much better removal spells in mono black. It does gain you life, which can be relevant, but getting cute usually isn't worth the sheer inefficiency of this card.

Blue: Phasing creatures out can be a strong way to have your board survive a wipe out to clear a path for attacks, and both uses can make it worth it to pitch cards from your hand to get two more targets. Like the red one, it's very reasonable to just hard cast this without any pitching for a few mana and have it put in good work. Solid B.

[Mookie]

I think the March cycle is alright, but not really designed for EDH. The ability to trade card advantage for tempo is good in faster formats, but less exciting in slower formats. Looking at them individually....

• March of Otherworldly Light is a flexible removal spell, which is nice... but it will also either cost a lot of mana or a lot of cards. I'd lean towards something like Generous Gift or Stroke of Midnight most of the time instead, unless I really valued being able to answer stuff for a single mana.
• March of Swirling Mist seems pretty good if you have a go-wide blue deck. Saving multiple creatures from a board wipe without countering it can be quite nice, or you can remove blockers/attackers for a turn. Somewhat niche, but also somewhat unique, and I would happily trade a card to save two more creatures.
• March of Wretched Sorrow is a removal spell. Black has a lot of options at two mana though, so unless I really valued the lifegain I would pass. Could be interesting if you have Necropotence or some other way to draw an absurd number of cards though.
• March of Reckless Joy is impulsive draw. Not a bad mana sink, and while I'm not excited by the idea of going down on cards just for extra card selection, it can be useful in a pinch. Exiling one card for a one mana impulsive Tormenting Voice isn't bad, at least. It's also good with any 'exile matters' commanders.
• March of Burgeoning Life is generally bad due to singleton. It's 'less than X', which means you need to pay two extra mana... and if you're fetching a 2-3 mana creature, that feels like a poor rate. Maybe in Sméagol, Helpful Guide Nazgûl.dec, but that's a stretch.

I think there are generally better options than this cycle. Blue is the only one I could see throwing into a random deck without synergy. White, red, and black are niche but may make the cut if you have some synergy. Green is bad.

[Ardeyn]

The March cycle is quite flexible and I've been surprised every time I've seen one used in game. The cost reduction is great if you have cards to spare.

• March of Otherworldly Light is definitely worth a second look as is any removal spell that can get rid of that cursed The One Ring. The exiling of multiple card types is what makes it strong.
• March of Swirling Mist is the most flexible of the cycle. Protect your own creatures from removal, get rid of blockers or hate bears for a turn. It always has a strong impact.
• March of Wretched Sorrow is mediocre removal in a color that has plenty of really good removal. So not really worth consideration.
• March of Reckless Joy is nice card selection/advantage at instant speed in a color that usually does only get access to the top one or two cards per spell. So it's nice if you're looking for specific cards.
• March of Burgeoning Life is niche. Getting Nazgûl seems to be the best use in EDH. Being instant speed definitely helps. It gets better if you also get to search your own copies of commonly run value creatures that your opponents played before you, e.g. Dockside Extortionist if your Nazgul Deck somehow includes red.

So: the W, U and R ones are good cards to include, while the other two have rather niche appeal.

Ardeyn

[3drinks]

Wednesday, January 10th, 2024; Volcanic Torrent

I think this is sneaky good. It's floor is pyroclasm + free spell that also hits walkers, but it's one-sided. The fact that it can scale up, i.e. imagine doing some inspiring statuary|brr shenanigans to make this certifiably insane.

[Dunadain]

I dread the day this thing makes it to MTGO and I have to face it in Mississippi River.

I think it's pretty bad (in EDH) if you aren't built around casting a bunch of spells in a turn, which means spell-slinger, which means it gets a thumbs down from me.

[yeti1069]

Wednesday, January 10th, 2024; Volcanic Torrent

I think this is sneaky good. It's floor is pyroclasm + free spell that also hits walkers, but it's one-sided. The fact that it can scale up, i.e. imagine doing some inspiring statuary|brr shenanigans to make this certifiably insane.

I really enjoy this in Prosper, Tome-Bound, and routinely get it to 5+ damage. Sometimes it takes a little setup, like putting Sensei's Divining Top onto my library before I draw for the turn to have a cheap spell to push the count up. I don't think I've been disappointed to see this more than a couple of times (vs stuff too big, or indestructible), but the biggest I've ever gotten this was 12 damage to take out something really big.

Also, it has only come up once so far, but since the cascade is a cast trigger, you can act between resolving the cascade and Torrent resolving. I had one instance where I hit another impulse draw spell that turned up an instant, and was able to cast that to increase the Torrent damage.

[Guardman]

Volcanic Torrent is one of my favorite sweepers in any deck that cares about casting from exile. The worst case is a two damage one-sided board sweep with a few spell attached for 5 mana, which while not great, is a pretty good floor. The best case, I've flipped it off of Etali, Primal Storm and done 5 damage to the rest of the table, which pretty much won me the game on the spot.

I've said it before when talking about Organic Extinction, but one sided board wipes, even if they are a bit overcosted, are seriously undervalued. Especially when you can play multiples in a deck with stuff like Delayed Blast Fireball or Impending Flux as additional copies. Unless up against a noncreature combo deck, casting two one-side wraiths is usually enough to win the game.

As an aside, and while I was thinking about red one sided wraiths, has anyone tried or seen Fear, Fire, Foes! yet?

[yeti1069]

Volcanic Torrent is one of my favorite sweepers in any deck that cares about casting from exile. The worst case is a two damage one-sided board sweep with a few spell attached for 5 mana, which while not great, is a pretty good floor. The best case, I've flipped it off of Etali, Primal Storm and done 5 damage to the rest of the table, which pretty much won me the game on the spot.

I've said it before when talking about Organic Extinction, but one sided board wipes, even if they are a bit overcosted, are seriously undervalued. Especially when you can play multiples in a deck with stuff like Delayed Blast Fireball or Impending Flux as additional copies. Unless up against a noncreature combo deck, casting two one-side wraiths is usually enough to win the game.

As an aside, and while I was thinking about red one sided wraiths, has anyone tried or seen Fear, Fire, Foes! yet?

Haven't really paid much attention to Dr Who, but Impending Flux looks pretty good for Prosper. Not sure I'd go to the trouble of acquiring it, and it requiring spells cast not from hand is an additional hurdle to hitting big numbers, but its foretell cost is low enough that getting it to 3 or 4 for 3 mana looks pretty reasonable.

Fear, Fire, Foes! Just looks unimpressive and inefficient: it's a sweeper for weenies, but there are other options for that, at a similar cost, which come with more upside--2 to everything is so much more relevant, for example. The single target shot could be decent for removing bigger stuff, but then I don't know that I'd want to be spending a lot of mana on a removal spell. How often will it be killing more than a couple other creatures? I think Finale of Eternity is a much stronger version of this effect, if you care about the big butt removal, and if it's the sweeper, I think there are plenty of other options.

[Serenade]

I've only hit a Tithe with it in Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival so far, but I want to keep trying it. That deck never casts so many spells in a turn that it would rival a from-exile Delayed Blast Fireball, but I do value spitting out more tokens whenever I can.

[Hawk]

I've never played this but probably underrate it - was playing with the Doctor Who decks recently and got totally blown the eff out by Impending Flux as well as watched someone draw a ton of cards off of Surge of Brilliance. I find these cards related in that my normal read on them is that they're wildly unplayable because the base rate is so poor for the mana value so you have to do a ton of work to make these cards worth it, but the conditions are less crazy than you'd think. As decks have gotten leaner and meaner, increasingly I find 3-4 damage wipes are enough to do good work and generate card advantage, and for this even 2 damage + a cascade isn't the worst fail state.

[Serenade]

Has anyone tried Call Forth the Tempest? Seems like overkill, but it is in the same vein.

[DirkGently]

Doesn't hit players, and a pyroclasm is pretty small ball even with the cascade. Even for decks that can cast a lot of spells in one turn, they want to win off storm or something, not merely wipe the board (plus their cascade hits are probably pretty low-impact on average). So I think you've gotta be excited about some other synergy element for this to make sense.

Niche but playable.

[yeti1069]

Has anyone tried Call Forth the Tempest? Seems like overkill, but it is in the same vein.

I looked at this, but it's SO expensive to cast, and has a fail case of cascading into 2 mana worth of spells, which is just not worth the cost.

[3drinks]

Thursday, January 11th, 2024; Thorn of Amethyst|brr

[TheGildedGoose]

Hell yeah. I am pro-stax, to be sure, but at least this one is one of the less egregious pieces.