[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Rishkar, Peema Renegade

[3drinks]

Monday, August 17th, 2020; Huntmaster of the Fells // Ravager of the Fells

The one werewolf worth a damn, tbh. One you're pretty okay with flipping back and forth. A reasonable midrange drop, when's the last time you sleeved this up? I always enjoyed t3ing this in Radha, Heir to Keld.

[Mookie]

Huntmaster of the Fells // Ravager of the Fells is sweet. One of the few werewolfs that has a trigger both when it transforms and when it transforms back, which makes it significantly more useful than most other werewolves. Indeed, the only other creature with that attribute is the other mythic werewolf, Ulrich of the Krallenhorde // Ulrich, Uncontested Alpha. I guess it's too strong for limited? Hmmmm.... Obviously not as impactful in EDH as it is elsewhere - a 2/2 token, 2 damage, and 2 life are all pretty minor here - but still a reasonable little package of value.

....still though, I don't think it slots that easily into random decks. Flipping it is pretty inconsistent - I find it somewhat rare for a turn to pass without anyone casting a spell. It's possible for you to just pass your own turn and not do anything, but that does entail a pretty hefty cost unless you have something else to spend your mana on. Plus it's possible for any opponent to foil that plan by casting any instant. As a result, I think the majority of the time, you're going to want to be playing Huntmaster for the front half, and consider the back half as gravy.

Analyzing the front half... it's not the most efficient token producers, but a 2/2 body and a 2/2 token isn't terrible for a deck that wants to go wide. Most Gruul decks tend to want to go tall (see Xenagos, God of Revels), but token decks like Rith, the Awakener, Ghired, Conclave Exile, or Ulasht, the Hate Seed can appreciate it. Alternatively, if you can get it down early enough, then it may be more likely to actually flip, which makes it somewhat interesting for a more aggressive deck.

[folding_music]

I've never been able to make a Gruul deck that didn't immediately go Hellbent. four drops just aren't my thing in green red, I want the midrange stuff to refill my hand, not offer miscellaneous advantages even when they add up to really good value.

2. i wish the werewolves had been slightly sexier. half of horror is camp vampy naughty horror and you put these feral urge-filled beasts into the game with the single theme "they'll kill you"???
i don't want them to kill me ;P

[DirkGently]

Design-wise, I dig it. Solid immediate and repeatable value, but not in a way that can ever really get out of hand. Repeated shocks and bear-sized tokens...not really the sort of value that usually becomes OP in a game of commander. And it's fun to get bonuses when your opponents do, or don't, do things, and you're never really punished since any flip is a good flip. Most of the werewolves are either on or off, and when they're off they suuuuuck. So he's looking good on that department.

On the other hand, seems like kind of a pain to keep track of. You've gotta be paying attention every turn, since it's both repeated and inconsistent. So I suspect it's the sort of card that I'd put into a deck with great enthusiasm, then remove later with great enthusiasm.

But so far it's mostly sat in the box...I may have run it once or twice a long time ago. It's pretty good-stuffy, tbh. If you want tokens, there's way more reliable of options. wolf/werewolf tribal is pretty much nonexistent. I guess you could give it deathtouch with the ping? But there are so many more reliable pingers. Not to mention, most turns involve somebody casting a spell, so he'll probably stay human-side-up for a long time unless you can afford to pass your turn.

So you want a draw-go ping + token synergy deck before he starts to be an ideal card...maybe with some werewolf tribal elements. In gruul. So he's just a tad restrictive.

Alternately, he's a decent goodstuff card, but if we're being honest there are so many stronger candidates, especially with what the format looks like these days.

That said, I do occasionally think about doing a werewolf tribal deck. I know it'd be terrible, but something draws me to it anyway. Maybe if I go heavy instants and flash...

(Sidebar, but I think people give ulrich too much flak for being a non-tribal werewolf commander. He benefits from the same thing a lot of werewolves do, namely the ability to pass your turn so that they flip for value. So he doesn't benefit your other werewolves directly, but by being a strong incentive to build a deck that they're also good in.)

[Hawk]

I'm highly dubious of the ability of any werewolf to flip ever in EDH - it's unusual for a turn to happen with no spells cast. So if we look at this in a worst-case scenario, the front side alone forever, it's a totally average card, only marginally better than Ambassador Oak which sees play nowhere.

Obviously a deck with Flash might be able to engineer situations where this flips, Lunges, and then almost assuredly inevitably flips back and at that point you are in for deep value although still noting too crazy. It can also be very good if ramped into, as it's more likely that someone will miss their Turn 2 or Turn 3 than their Turn 4 or Turn 8 (when you topdeck this). Still, it's a "merely okay" card in Commander which is a format that rewards excessively powerful. All of those triggers were devastating in Standard and Limited for its era (hence its Mythic Rare status), but are pretty average in EDH.

I think in any sort of RGx go-wide deck, I'd tend to take Wolfbriar Elemental, Arasta of the Endless Web, or Bramble Sovereign over this - none of those start with a token but they all start with 8 points of "Stats" out just like this and they all scale a lot better into the late game. A go-wide deck would also be interested in Hellrider and possibly Krenko, Mob Boss and Beetleback Chief depending on the strategy. And as noted, it's odd to have a GRx "Go-wide" build; most often those decks are looking at stuff like Surrak, the Hunt Caller and Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion and Polukranos, World Eater as part of a "go tall" strategy. Even more commonly, one tends to want the four-slot to still be "incremental value" instead of "value in a can" and would be more inclined to run Oracle of Mul Daya, Vizier of the Menagerie, Beast Whisperer, World Shaper, and/or Forgotten Ancient as scaling power.

I don't think I'd be seriously inclined to run this outside of Werewolf Tribal.

[Serenade]

Makes me wonder why y'all aren't playing Ambassador Oak in your warrior decks.

[Hawk]

Makes me wonder why y'all aren't playing Ambassador Oak in your warrior decks.

Ya know, I posted my snarky comparison and was like "I bet someone is going to call me on this"...yeah, for RG Warriors (maybe with Grand Warlord Radha at the helm) Ambassador Oak is sorta reasonable actually. It interacts very positively with Sosuke, Son of Seshiro, Bramblewood Paragon, Champion of Lambholt, Lovisa Coldeyes, and Radha herself. I think if we bump up to Naya warriors it's still reasonable since it also interacts so well with Cathars' Crusade and Aura Shards. But so many warrior decks are 5C Warriors with Najeela and this feels like it's just a bit not good enough.

[3drinks]

That said, I do occasionally think about doing a werewolf tribal deck. I know it'd be terrible, but something draws me to it anyway. Maybe if I go heavy instants and flash...

(Sidebar, but I think people give ulrich too much flak for being a non-tribal werewolf commander. He benefits from the same thing a lot of werewolves do, namely the ability to pass your turn so that they flip for value. So he doesn't benefit your other werewolves directly, but by being a strong incentive to build a deck that they're also good in.)

.....so what I'm hearing here, is Surrak Dragonclaw werewolves m i right? 👀👀 #askingforafriend

[Serenade]

I had the exact same thoughts! Paragon, Fires, this is...an okay warrior start. You're playing it for the theme anyway.


I always liked RCOTD but never got one. So much to pay attention to with werewolves.

[Hawk]

That said, I do occasionally think about doing a werewolf tribal deck. I know it'd be terrible, but something draws me to it anyway. Maybe if I go heavy instants and flash...

(Sidebar, but I think people give ulrich too much flak for being a non-tribal werewolf commander. He benefits from the same thing a lot of werewolves do, namely the ability to pass your turn so that they flip for value. So he doesn't benefit your other werewolves directly, but by being a strong incentive to build a deck that they're also good in.)

.....so what I'm hearing here, is Surrak Dragonclaw werewolves m i right? 👀👀 #askingforafriend

Seems really good to me. Lets you supplement Yeva and Viven and Orrery with Leyline of Anticipation and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. Also Isochron Scepter is really good with Moonmist and this also lets you run power plays like Counterspell and Dramatic Reversal. Sounds like a real deck to me! I'd do Temur Werewolves all day if I were to build EDH Werewolves.

[Treamayne]

Huntmaster of the Fells // Ravager of the Fells was the Werewolf legend we should have had, if only WotC hadn't been afraid of making a legendary flip card the first time on Innistrad. He performs very well in Tribal Garou. He likes flicker effects, especially once Immerwolf is on the table and protected.

That said, I do occasionally think about doing a werewolf tribal deck. I know it'd be terrible, but something draws me to it anyway. Maybe if I go heavy instants and flash...

(Sidebar, but I think people give ulrich too much flak for being a non-tribal werewolf commander. He benefits from the same thing a lot of werewolves do, namely the ability to pass your turn so that they flip for value. So he doesn't benefit your other werewolves directly, but by being a strong incentive to build a deck that they're also good in.)

.....so what I'm hearing here, is Surrak Dragonclaw werewolves am i right? #askingforafriend

Seems really good to me. Lets you supplement Yeva and Viven and Orrery with Leyline of Anticipation and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. Also Isochron Scepter is really good with Moonmist and this also lets you run power plays like Counterspell and Dramatic Reversal. Sounds like a real deck to me! I'd do Temur Werewolves all day if I were to build EDH Werewolves.

I've had a few werewolf tribal decks. Before SoI, I was using Jacques le Vert for one deck and Riku of Two Reflections for the other deck (which changed to Surrak Dragonclaw after Khans). I've had two primary versions of Ulrich of the Krallenhorde // Ulrich, Uncontested Alpha since he was released. Honestly, I liked the Jacques version the best, for two reasons.

• - Rule of Law and similar effects really help this type of tribal build (U does have Arcane Laboratory, which is why I tried that wedge - but white has more hatebear/griefer effects)
  - Most of the werewolf stuff is "wolf and werewolf" and W/GW has wolves that RG and URG don't

Dirk - I am one of those that was very disappointed in Ulrich. I still am. When you look at the unfinished cycle from INN, the legendary tribal leaders all enabled or affected their tribe (Olivia, GrimGrin, etc.) Ulrich is (was?) good stuff. It felt like Wizards really just said "you want a legendary werewolf - here you go" without ever actually listening to what people really wanted. Go back and look at the articles from the times of INN and SoI. They come out and say that; yet Ulrich meets none of the criteria fans wanted for years - except being a legend that can inhabit the command zone. It really felt like more of a slap in the face than any attempt to rectify the mistake (though they repeatedly said "hey, we hear you and we a re fixing the mistake" in every article about SoI).

What we (those really longing for werewolf tribal to be viable and fun) really need is a RGX non-flip legendary werewolf (probably a supplemental product) that has an effect that can transform other werewolves. I don't care if it has "lord abilities" or buffs or whatever.

As a Tribal EDH specialist (*self-proclaimed) I would posit that most good tribal generals don't have lord abilities in the classic sense. They enable the tribe's (or a subsection of the larger ones) mechanics a/o strategy, letting you leave the buff and lord abilities in the 99 (e.g. Gahiji, Honored One).

[duducrash]

That said, I do occasionally think about doing a werewolf tribal deck. I know it'd be terrible, but something draws me to it anyway. Maybe if I go heavy instants and flash...

(Sidebar, but I think people give ulrich too much flak for being a non-tribal werewolf commander. He benefits from the same thing a lot of werewolves do, namely the ability to pass your turn so that they flip for value. So he doesn't benefit your other werewolves directly, but by being a strong incentive to build a deck that they're also good in.)

.....so what I'm hearing here, is Surrak Dragonclaw werewolves m i right? 👀👀 #askingforafriend

Seems really good to me. Lets you supplement Yeva and Viven and Orrery with Leyline of Anticipation and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. Also Isochron Scepter is really good with Moonmist and this also lets you run power plays like Counterspell and Dramatic Reversal. Sounds like a real deck to me! I'd do Temur Werewolves all day if I were to build EDH Werewolves.

This is too good of an idea holy...

Savor the Moment will ramp, grant attack phase and give the option to transform everyone.

[Serenade]

Optimus Prime, Inspiring Leader needed to be Gruul and probably have a few more restrictions on that ability.

[3drinks]

Tuesday, August 18th, 2020; chromatic lantern

So, I've been waiting for this for awhile. I don't like it. As a rock in terms of cost, it's on par with Manalith and the rest of the modern era power level, which is underwhelming. That brings us to the other part, which I think people not only vastly over-value, but they also use it to justify a sloppily created manabase. Look, it's not hard to create a good, reliable, sturdy manabase, and with responsible, judicious play and thought, you can fetch and search for the colours you need. This makes the second clause on your fancy manalith of dubious value.

Yeah, i said it.

[not-a-cube]

I agree, 3 cmc mana rocks just aren't great, I'll make an exception in a Jodah, Archmage Eternal deck, because you need to go every time, but everywhere else, a decent manabase should suffice.

[Treamayne]

While I agree somewhat that some players may over-value Chromatic Lantern (and Prismatic Omen), they do have their uses. Sunburst decks may still want one or both of these in the 99 (Domain decks would only want the Omen), and decks heavy/themed on activated abilities (such as Cromat) may also want these. - if only because the color requirements turn-by-turn can change wildly.

Personally, I use both in my Progenitus Hydra deck (but only Omen in my Horde of Notions Domain Man-land deck).

[MeowZeDung]

I won't disagree with the claim that folks overestimate the fixing, but don't underestimate it either. I've had the lantern be consistently good in my 3+ color decks. Making your Strip Mines and other utility lands into tri-lands really smooths things out. I've found lantern to be especially great in Kykar where u/w mana in the mid/late game is so essential for instant speed interaction. Being able to treat all my red source lands as UW duals and just rely on spirits for R is big game and really opens up lines that wouldn't exist without it, even with a well built mana base and judicious play.

Manalith sucks, but adding literally the best color fixing in the game onto it makes it worth it for many decks.

[duducrash]

Its not an auto inclusion for me but its a rock I happily run in 2 decks. I feel like the filtering justifies the 1 more I pay. Not only it fixes, it turns on utility lands

That said, its in 18% of decks according to EDH rec. Its crazy high imho considering how many 1 color/ heavily 1 color decks there are

[Mookie]

I think Chromatic Lantern is a perfectly reasonable inclusion. It's not necessarily the strongest mana rock, but there are plenty of decks that have strict color requirements, especially those with lots of activated abilities or cost reduction. For example, when Mizzix and Animar have enough experience / +1/+1 counters, you no longer need to pay the generic mana costs for your spells.... which means that having your lands generate the correct color is pretty important. Alternatively, if you're trying to cast Progenitus, Cruel Ultimatum, or other spells with strict color requirements.... or just activate Pyrohemia (or another activated ability) a bunch of times in a deck that isn't mono-red.

I'll also call out that it can be useful for commanders like Sen Triplets and Thada Adel, Acquisitor that plan to cast their opponents' spells and thus need the ability to generate off-color mana. It can also be useful for allowing non-mana-producing lands like Maze of Ith and Glacial Chasm to produce mana. Even just letting colorless utility lands produce colored mana can also feel good.

That said, I will agree that it doesn't go in every deck. Most decks don't have that strict of color requirements. If more than half of your mana expenditure is on generic mana, this probably won't do anything. But if you want to run every Ultimatum in the same deck, this is going to feel pretty necessary.

I'll call out Chromatic Orrery as a bigger version of this effect. Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is also similar.

[Serenade]

I only use it in the color-hungriest, three-plus color decks these days. Sure helps you Increasing Vengeance your Cruel Ultimatum!

[Myllior]

It's a great piece in Sisay to repeatedly have access to wubrg while holding up whatever colours are needed for interaction, and I'm sure it'll perform similarly well in Sliver Queen (once built) due to the heavy colour requirements many of them have. I tend to favour it over green fixers like Joiner Adept|5DN, Prismatic Omen or Dryad of the Ilysian Grove because it ramps by itself and also because it provides fixing when green mana is unavailable.

[3drinks]

If it were just to let non mana lands a la Tabernacle or restricted lands a la Workshop produce mana normally, @Mookie, I'd just as soon run an Urborg, ToY instead. Which is also absent of colour identity and can go in every deck.

The looks i get for dropping Urborg in Kari Zev...haha.

[Dunharrow]

I play it in my 4 and 5 color decks. Neither of them are tuned for mana bases - I don't have all the fetches and I don't have ABUR duals in them.

I play it in Marchesa, the Black Rose, but this is an exception as I don't have it in any other 3 color decks. The reason it is in here is because the deck has Magus of the Moon and a lot of triple black spells (as well as double red and double blue). I do not have ABUR duals in this deck, but I consider the manabase optimized anyway (I believe ABUR duals are worse than shocklands in this deck due to dethrone).

So I will say if you play blood moon in a 3+ color deck, it is a good option.

Otherwise, I agree that it is overplayed.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Overrated, overplayed. At three cmc, you can play coalition relic or worn powerstone or basalt monolith, and aside from 5 color, all of those are superior to the lantern imo.

[DirkGently]

Yay, this card! I can't wait to talk about it!

I %$#% hate it.

If you're playing this card, one of two things are true:

-your manabase works fine without it. Congrats you're playing a glorified manalith that ensures you don't have to think as hard.

-your manabase does not work fine without it. Congrats you have a deck that sucks 90% of the time.

I mean, fine, this is a little simplistic, probably most decks fit somewhere in the middle where this helps without being a total crutch, but for my money, I'd rather play a more efficient mana rock. I mean, how badly color screwed could you realistically be if you replaced this with, say, Coalition Relic? Except relic also has other advantages, where this does not.