[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Spinal Embrace

[DirkGently]

I mean, if you're playing games that you don't expect to last more than a couple turns, the damage is probably negligible and it's an untapped rainbow land. Some decks (Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence) want to deal themselves damage. It's a rainbow land that can also generate colorless for eldrazi costs. And it is nice to be able to generate painless colorless when you don't need the fixing. So even if the game does go long, I don't think the ultimate damage is probably much worse than city of brass.

It has its uses. Can't say I've ever played my copy but it's not bad, idk why people are hating on it except that the price is kinda inflated.

[3drinks]

Monday, February 12th, 2024; Heroic Intervention

[3drinks]

Just as a general 5 color lands it's very mediocre. Comparing it to City of Brass, the benefit is that you don't actually have to take damage from it unless you use it for colored mana, but you have to be tapping it every turn and for colorless 2/3s of the time for it to be equal to City of Brass in terms of damage. I could definitely see it costing less life over the course of the game, but not nearly enough to risk needing it for colored mana 2/3s of the time because the damage will add up quick. It's definitely the ability to produce colorless to pay for relevant costs plus using the damage as a bonus rather than a cost that makes it useful.

City of Brass may have been a poor comparison, but certainly Grand Coliseum is more apt. You gain the ability to use it for c pain free, is a very fraction of the cost (even mana confluence is $35 now, yikes) and while it does EBT, it is very bulk (yikes this is $5 for either print now) compared to City's $15.

Grand Coliseum, Command Tower, Reflecting Pool, Path of Ancestry, how many rainbows do you need? At some point it becomes more cost efficient to get into Joiner Adept/Chromatic Lantern/Dryad of the Ilysian Grove/Prismatic Omen territory than some of these rainbow lands.

[Dunadain]

Arguably the best protection spell available, I always want my protection spells to provide both hexproof and indestructible. In my experience, having only one or the other doesn't cover enough bases to be relied upon. At 2 mana, Heroic Intervention can protect your entire team. Though it's cheap enough that I'm more than happy to spend it to save a single creature if that's what the situation calls for.

White has, imo, finally taken over green as the best color for protection spells if only due to sheer volume, but I still think Heroic Intervention is the cream of the crop. A lot of the recent white protection spells phase your creatures out, which is even more thorough then hexproof + indestructible, but also means you can't use it without fogging your own attack or leaving you without blockers.

👍👍

[DirkGently]

City of Brass may have been a poor comparison, but certainly Grand Coliseum is more apt. You gain the ability to use it for c pain free, is a very fraction of the cost (even mana confluence is $35 now, yikes) and while it does EBT, it is very bulk (yikes this is $5 for either print now) compared to City's $15.

I think we're all experienced enough to acknowledge that etbt can be a major downside in fast metas, exactly the place where paying the extra life is less relevant. Coliseum is fine in a casual meta, but if I'm building for high power it's clearly much worse than citadel.

Grand Coliseum, Command Tower, Reflecting Pool, Path of Ancestry, how many rainbows do you need? At some point it becomes more cost efficient to get into Joiner Adept/Chromatic Lantern/Dryad of the Ilysian Grove/Prismatic Omen territory than some of these rainbow lands.

Grand coliseum and path of ancestry etbt, and reflecting pool is only a rainbow land if you already have the rainbow. Better examples that others mentioned were CoB and mana confluence, and realistically fetches are going to function as nearly-rainbow lands, which does give quite a few in total...but it's a 100 card singleton format. 10% of your deck being rainbow lands is still far from a guarantee that you'll hit one in the first couple turns, and you might want multiple to cast some of your spells.

It's already been discussed to death, but "your lands tap for any color" cards are a trap. You can't run enough of them to reliably get one, so your fixing needs to be functional without them anyway, making them redundant. Dryad and, to a lesser extent, lantern have utility in their own right so they're not awful, but running joiner adept is a huge mistake imo, and prismatic omen as well (unless you're doing some domain-related shenanigans). Run better lands and your deck will be more consistent and you'll save yourself a slot that does nothing.

[onering]

God I love that Phasing came back. Thank you white. Anyway Heroic is the gold standard, possibly surpassed only by Teferi's Intervention (though depending on your use Heroic is better, for instance you can cast it then wipe the board to alpha strike).

[Mookie]

Heroic Intervention is quite good, but I have some mixed feelings about the current state of the board wipe vs protection arms race. Wrath of God loses to Heroic Intervention, but Heroic Intervention loses to Toxic Deluge / Farewell / Exterminatus, and those lose to Teferi's Protection / Clever Concealment. That's currently where things stop - there currently aren't any cards that can get rid of stuff that is phased out, so I guess we'll see a 'everything phases in, then destroy all creatures' card next? Ideologically, I think counterplay is important, and I feel like the anti-protection tech is currently lacking.

Of course, Heroic Intervention has some additional relevant text - it hits all of your permanents, which gives it additional utility against Armageddon and Bane of Progress effects (both your own and opponents'). Hexproof can also be relevant against spot removal. Two mana is also cheaper than most other protection effects, although Flawless Maneuver and Clever Concealment can be cast for free.

More broadly, Heroic Intervention is a bit of an anomaly - it is the only green instant that grants mass indestructible, as far as I can tell. There are a few cards that regenerate all your creatures, and a few ways to prevent damage, but most of green's indestructible / hexproof effects are single-target. Most recent mass protection spells have been white, so I'm not sure if it is still in green's slice of the color pie. Hmmm... stuff like Tyvar's Stand, Silkguard, and Legolas's Quick Reflexes show green can have some very strong single-target protection though.

[Cyberium]

Monday, February 12th, 2024; Heroic Intervention

Given white is the color of defense and protection, I half-expected this to protect creatures only, with white getting a version that protects everything. Then again, Teferi's Protection protects more and Akroma's Will can end games where HI cannot.

[3drinks]

City of Brass may have been a poor comparison, but certainly Grand Coliseum is more apt. You gain the ability to use it for c pain free, is a very fraction of the cost (even mana confluence is $35 now, yikes) and while it does EBT, it is very bulk (yikes this is $5 for either print now) compared to City's $15.

I think we're all experienced enough to acknowledge that etbt can be a major downside in fast metas, exactly the place where paying the extra life is less relevant. Coliseum is fine in a casual meta, but if I'm building for high power it's clearly much worse than citadel.

Grand Coliseum, Command Tower, Reflecting Pool, Path of Ancestry, how many rainbows do you need? At some point it becomes more cost efficient to get into Joiner Adept/Chromatic Lantern/Dryad of the Ilysian Grove/Prismatic Omen territory than some of these rainbow lands.

Think you're focused on the wrong point I'm making here. My point is there's too many options at far lower price points to justify buying this singular $30 ODY land. Not whether pool is online or not, not whether ebt is an automatic deterrent (which is case by case, path of ancestry is pretty sick in dedicated tribe decks, but I digress), and we're not talking about that lands tap for any colour gimmick (which isn't onr will it be good enough but again, I digress).

If someone wants to spend $30 on bolt land just to have fixing, fine go nuts it's not my money. There's just reasonable options out there if you're not aiming for tip top play or are willing to jump through a few hoops to save dollars. Ebt isn't the end of the world anyway; I still run Thawing Glaciers to-date and you talk about tap, well holy %$#%. It gets the job done. That's what matters.

[DirkGently]

Think you're focused on the wrong point I'm making here. My point is there's too many options at far lower price points to justify buying this singular $30 ODY land.

I just don't think that logic holds up, at all, though. Fixing is something most decks need in their starting hand in order to reliably function. That means very deep redundancy is desirable. We're not talking about, say, Craterhoof Behemoth-type finishers that you only want to draw once per game. How does listing off 5 debatably-equivalent cards make citadel unnecessary?

I also don't really get the emphasis being placed on the price tag. You've got ABU duals and a bloody Mishra's Workshop in your kaalia list (which, charitably, I would say seems like an unnecessary expense, considering it can only be used to cast 13 cards in the deck by my count - and some of those are 1 mana). You're really going to fret so much about $30?

Not whether pool is online or not, not whether ebt is an automatic deterrent (which is case by case, path of ancestry is pretty sick in dedicated tribe decks, but I digress), and we're not talking about that lands tap for any colour gimmick (which isn't onr will it be good enough but again, I digress).

Different lands for different applications. If you want perfect, fast, fixing and don't care much about the long-term costs - i.e. basically every cEDH and cEDH-adjacent build - citadel makes plenty of sense. On top of decks that want to cast eldrazi or damage themselves (where citadel has no equal).

If someone wants to spend $30 on bolt land just to have fixing, fine go nuts it's not my money. There's just reasonable options out there if you're not aiming for tip top play or are willing to jump through a few hoops to save dollars.

Brooooo you are running 3 ABU duals what are you taaaaaalking about???

Ebt isn't the end of the world anyway; I still run Thawing Glaciers to-date and you talk about tap, well holy %$#%. It gets the job done. That's what matters.

Different lands for different needs. Thawing glaciers isn't a "I need fast reliable fixing" land, it's a "I want to hit land drops for the whole game" land. The long-term value proposition is what makes it interesting, not the fact that it's the world's slowest, most overpriced Evolving Wilds. (incidentally I'm pretty sure it was around $30 at one point, though currently it's half that much)

[3drinks]

I mean yeah, I was messing around with Workshop (and Tabernacle prior to), in Kaalia. I wanted to stick 3sphere on t1 for totally fair, reasonable Magic. I'd never expect nor suggest someone else buy those cards though. Same with abu duals. When I speak, I don't make assumptions that people have these kinds of power cards lying around because most people (understandably) don't have these cards lying around. I'm speaking to the greater more global person than the super enfranchised player that travels to play the one sanctioned Vintage event/year. I'd have thought that was fairly obvious based on my tone.

[DirkGently]

I mean yeah, I was messing around with Workshop (and Tabernacle prior to), in Kaalia. I wanted to stick 3sphere on t1 for totally fair, reasonable Magic. I'd never expect nor suggest someone else buy those cards though. Same with abu duals. When I speak, I don't make assumptions that people have these kinds of power cards lying around because most people (understandably) don't have these cards lying around. I'm speaking to the greater more global person than the super enfranchised player that travels to play the one sanctioned Vintage event/year. I'd have thought that was fairly obvious based on my tone.

I don't think budget players are buying some obscure 23-year-old land (especially one that reads badly to new players who usually overvalue life and undervalue fixing). And anyone who was planning to buy a citadel probably already knows about similar cards, and are probably already running the ones that are comparable. So I'm not sure who your advice is for?

Also suggesting anyone should play Joiner Adept in order to fix their mana rather than having good fixing lands is magic-advice malpractice

[pokken]

I really like Heroic Intervention as a card. Stuff that rattlesnakes sweeper decks (turning their sweeper into a wincon for you) are a really fun play pattern overall.

I find it a little unfortunate that they tend to reward counterspells as a control mechanic, but such is life.

[tstorm823]

I really like Heroic Intervention as a card. Stuff that rattlesnakes sweeper decks (turning their sweeper into a wincon for you) are a really fun play pattern overall.

I find it a little unfortunate that they tend to reward counterspells as a control mechanic, but such is life.

Imma be picky here, but that's definitely not what a rattlesnake is. It's kinda the opposite. A rattlesnake is something that makes it's presence known, it's the rattle of the snake saying "I will bite you if you don't go away", with the goal being preventing an action in the first place. Waiting silently til they get too close and then just biting them without warning is definitely a different kind of snake.

If someone knows more about snakes here, I think we need a snake related term for blowing people out with hidden information.

[Dunadain]

I think we just call that a blow-out.

[3drinks]

Tuesday, February 13th, 2024; Fulminator Mage

I like a wasteland I can get back with Sun Tits that can also pick up a blade tbh.

[3drinks]

I really like Heroic Intervention as a card. Stuff that rattlesnakes sweeper decks (turning their sweeper into a wincon for you) are a really fun play pattern overall.

I find it a little unfortunate that they tend to reward counterspells as a control mechanic, but such is life.

Imma be picky here, but that's definitely not what a rattlesnake is. It's kinda the opposite. A rattlesnake is something that makes it's presence known, it's the rattle of the snake saying "I will bite you if you don't go away", with the goal being preventing an action in the first place. Waiting silently til they get too close and then just biting them without warning is definitely a different kind of snake.

If someone knows more about snakes here, I think we need a snake related term for blowing people out with hidden information.

You mean like a viper that's coiled and ready to strike?

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Tuesday, February 13th, 2024; Fulminator Mage

I like a wasteland I can get back with Sun Tits that can also pick up a blade tbh.

Oh I love this card. It was a powerhouse in Standard against 5c control decks and even in EDH I don't think the rate is terrible. It is a bit niche due to CI but I think I'd play it in a meta suffice with enough scary lands.

[Dunadain]

In a vacuum I don't think it's particularly playable, at this point in time we have a wealth of tech lands that function as targeted non-basic hate, and when you don't need the non-basic hate, a Wastes is generally better than a 3 mana 2/2. Sure when you do need the land destruction they cost you a land drop, but to be honest, a land drop and 3 mana are roughly equivalent anyways.

However, there are decks that care about creatures, this guy can set up some land destruction loops, he can be tutored, and there are even rakdos aggro decks out there that appreciate him for his ability to go into the red zone, Garna, Bloodfist of Keld probably appreciates him.

👍

[DirkGently]

Wasteland can also be recurred by sun titan, plus it has other utility in producing mana whereas fulminator mage's other utility (or lack thereof) is that it's a Goblin Hero.

I could see playing it in a deck that can repeatedly loop creatures. Marchesa, the Black Rose might be the best fit. Alesha, Who Smiles at Death is okay-ish but since the trigger is generally only happening once per turn (plus you're paying for it) I would hope to have better targets. Of course if you primarily play 1v1 this sort of effect becomes a lot more effective.

Not completely unplayable but certainly very niche, and pretty borderline. At least he's cheap, I think he used to be $20+. Also I kinda dig the art, that's a plus.

@tstorm823 Sidewinders? They bury themselves in the sand to hide so they can ambush prey.

[tstorm823]

@tstorm823 Sidewinders? They bury themselves in the sand to hide so they can ambush prey.

I like it!

[Mookie]

Fulminator Mage seems alright in decks that are heavy on creature recursion like Alesha, Who Smiles at Death and Chainer, Nightmare Adept. I think it is generally outclassed by Obsidian Charmaw and Krenko's Buzzcrusher though - it's fine if you plan to loop it, but otherwise it's just a Gray Ogre. There's also the question of how valuable it is to remove utility lands in your meta - do you really need a reusable version of this effect, or will Demolition Field / Tectonic Edge be sufficient? You could also run Anathemancer, Price of Progress, or another, more proactive hate card if you want to punish opponents for playing lots of nonbasics in general.

[SaintRumpterfrabble]

I really like Heroic Intervention as a card. Stuff that rattlesnakes sweeper decks (turning their sweeper into a wincon for you) are a really fun play pattern overall.

I find it a little unfortunate that they tend to reward counterspells as a control mechanic, but such is life.

Imma be picky here, but that's definitely not what a rattlesnake is. It's kinda the opposite. A rattlesnake is something that makes it's presence known, it's the rattle of the snake saying "I will bite you if you don't go away", with the goal being preventing an action in the first place. Waiting silently til they get too close and then just biting them without warning is definitely a different kind of snake.

If someone knows more about snakes here, I think we need a snake related term for blowing people out with hidden information.

That would be a spider! : D

[yeti1069]

I'd strongly considered picking up a Fulminator for my Black Rose deck years ago, but it was too expensive at the time. Since then, I've moved, and no longer play with people regularly dropping Cradle and Glacial Chasm game after game, so it hasn't been something I've considered now that the price has tanked.

[Dunadain]

I really like Heroic Intervention as a card. Stuff that rattlesnakes sweeper decks (turning their sweeper into a wincon for you) are a really fun play pattern overall.

I find it a little unfortunate that they tend to reward counterspells as a control mechanic, but such is life.

Imma be picky here, but that's definitely not what a rattlesnake is. It's kinda the opposite. A rattlesnake is something that makes it's presence known, it's the rattle of the snake saying "I will bite you if you don't go away", with the goal being preventing an action in the first place. Waiting silently til they get too close and then just biting them without warning is definitely a different kind of snake.

If someone knows more about snakes here, I think we need a snake related term for blowing people out with hidden information.

That would be a spider! : D

Idk, I feel like it should be a true ambush predator, most spiders make traps. I suppose you could say it's a crab spider, but there are thousands of ambush predators out there to choose from, why pick the class that only a select few species within operate as ambush predators?

Plus, spider already means something in magic, a body with reach and greater toughness than power.