[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - North Star

[Hawk]

Don't know why you'd run this over Sakashima the Impostor, but it's a clone for clone tribal, and can protect/reset itself if you're in the habit of leaving 4 mana open.

1) Even after appearing on "Da List" and getting sort of strictly-bettered by his Partner Incarnation, Sakashima the Impostor is still like $9 - not bank-breaking, but a significant jump from the $0.30 of Pretender.

2) Sakashima's return ability is at end of turn - it can't save him from removal and is strictly for "resetting" his disguise.

All that said - this card isn't great. In terms of Clones the last decade has been good to the card type, and I'd say I'm looking at all the below ahead of this most of the time:

Send in the Clones

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

1 Spark Double

2 Glasspool Mimic

3 Mirror Image

4 Stunt Double

5 Phyrexian Metamorph

6 Clever Impersonator

7 Sakashima the Impostor

8 Phantasmal Image

9 Vizier of Many Faces

10 Mirrorhall Mimic

Approximate Total Cost:

All of the above come in for less mana than Pretender (5 isn't where you want Clones to be when so many are at 4 CMC and there's a handful at 3 and 2) and can either target more card types, target legendary creatures, or have some sort of recursion ability that feels better than holding up 4 to bounce. And that's all just in mono-blue and creatures - it discounts Rite of Replication, Cackling Counterpart, Quasiduplicate, or simic stuff like Progenitor Mimic and Moritte of the Frost.

Even in dedicated Clone tribal, I'd question if one extra mana for the option to pay a bajillion mana to bounce him is worth it over the next-best stuff like OG Clone, Gigantoplasm, Wall of Stolen Identity, Vesuvan Shapeshifter (looks like 5 but Morph lets you do it as early as turn 4 with mana up), and Sakashima's Student (expensive...). So yeah - I guess this is top 20 best Clones? And it is budget friendly, since several of these cards are in the $9-$12 range and Student is a stupefying $75.

[DirkGently]

I guess it lets you go infinite with Great Whale if you've got a couple karoos or high tide or whatever, sakashima can't do that. Even easier with Zacama, Primal Calamity .

[Mookie]

Mercurial Pretender seems... pretty bad. The ability to bounce itself can certainly be relevant, but four mana is somewhat expensive to do so. More importantly, it can only copy your own creatures.... which means that the point of comparison is the three-mana Mirror Image instead of the default four mana Clone. Would I pay two extra mana for the ability to protect my copy effect? Usually not. I don't entirely hate the idea of copying a Mulldrifter and bouncing it repeatedly... but nine mana is just too much to want to do so repeatedly.

I'll note that it was one of the M15 prerelease promos, alongside Resolute Archangel, Indulgent Tormentor, Siege Dragon, and Phytotitan. Of these, I would say that Resolute Archangel is the most interesting from an EDH perspective - gaining 20-30 life can be pretty relevant in some situations. Phytotitan is somewhat interesting if you have Life's Legacy / Greater Good to use with it. Indulgent Tormentor is largely outclassed by the more consistent Bloodgift Demon, and Siege Dragon is outclassed by many other dragons unless you're in a meta containing Arcades, the Strategist.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Self-bounce is already pretty strong, but a clone, it means you can change what it is.

[Jemolk]

I cut this from clone tribal because only being able to clone your own stuff is really clunky when all your creatures are clones. And outside of clone tribal, where do you really want a 5 mana clone with a self-bounce ability and nothing else? Maybe if I were running Biovisionary as a wincon in Clone Tribal it would be worth it, but I'm not.

[3drinks]

5 mana for a self-only clone is an awful lot these days when you've got stuff like Mirror Image and especially Glasspool Mimic // Glasspool Shore and the sheer amount of bonus you can get on a 4 mana clone. The self-bounce is interesting, especially as it's faster than Sakashima the Impostor's EOT bounce, but I doubt it's worth the trouble at this cost.

...yeah, I did not see "you control" this morning when the random wheel stopped on this.

[vandertroll]

If the ability and the cmc cost were one mana cheaper this card would have been more useful

[3drinks]

Friday, February 11th, 2022; Master of Cruelties

Hello darkness my old friend.

[Sinis]

Friday, February 11th, 2022; Master of Cruelties


Hello darkness my old friend.

I have a copy I have literally never played. I think it's just too tall an order unless you're dabbing on someone with Kaalia of the Vast, where it's like "Okay, I guess I lose?"

[vandertroll]

It would be nice if we could see a reworked version of this card as a Rakdos legend.

[Mookie]

The last time I remember seeing Master of Cruelties played, it was out of a Kaalia of the Vast deck that was planning to one-shot me from infinite life. So.... yeah. I think I ended up dying to commander damage from another deck instead, but still an awkward situation.

Other than Kaalia, I'm not sure what other decks would want it. It might be okay if you have a source of haste to surprise someone, but if you need to wait a full turn cycle, I would expect most decks to be able to come up with either a blocker or some removal.

[3drinks]

The last time I remember seeing Master of Cruelties played, it was out of a Kaalia of the Vast deck that was planning to one-shot me from infinite life. So.... yeah. I think I ended up dying to commander damage from another deck instead, but still an awkward situation.

Other than Kaalia, I'm not sure what other decks would want it. It might be okay if you have a source of haste to surprise someone, but if you need to wait a full turn cycle, I would expect most decks to be able to come up with either a blocker or some removal.

Worth noting, Alesha, Who Smiles at Death can also utilize this in the same way. I used to do this with Contamination as my sac and lock of choice. Routinely ran tables as they quite literally couldn't stop it.

[onering]

Pretty gross for a Timmy card. I hate that it either just kills a player or does nothing. It flat out sucks unless you cheat it out or give it haste, in which case its a cheesy feel bad for whoever gets hit.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Pretty gross for a Timmy card. I hate that it either just kills a player or does nothing. It flat out sucks unless you cheat it out or give it haste, in which case its a cheesy feel bad for whoever gets hit.

Or give it something like Whispersilk Cloak.

Not helping my case, I know. Yeah, this card is probably the next Kaalia nuke to be banned. But at least it's easier to deal with than Iona. I mean, not really, but if you have some way to prevent damage, or first strike and at least 4 power, or first strike and deathtouch, you can answer it.

[kirkusjones]

The last time I remember seeing Master of Cruelties played, it was out of a Kaalia of the Vast deck that was planning to one-shot me from infinite life. So.... yeah. I think I ended up dying to commander damage from another deck instead, but still an awkward situation.

Other than Kaalia, I'm not sure what other decks would want it. It might be okay if you have a source of haste to surprise someone, but if you need to wait a full turn cycle, I would expect most decks to be able to come up with either a blocker or some removal.

Worth noting, Alesha, Who Smiles at Death can also utilize this in the same way. I used to do this with Contamination as my sac and lock of choice. Routinely ran tables as they quite literally couldn't stop it.

You're a bad, bad man. And dammit do I respect you for it.

Or give it something like Whispersilk Cloak.

Not helping my case, I know. Yeah, this card is probably the next Kaalia nuke to be banned. But at least it's easier to deal with than Iona. I mean, not really, but if you have some way to prevent damage, or first strike and at least 4 power, or first strike and deathtouch, you can answer it.

If this ever gets banned, I'll eat that one user's cat's ass from the new and unreleased cards thread.

[plushpenguin]

Effectively a one-shot in certain decks, but I am no stranger to cards that are so synergistic in a particular deck that they can one-shot with ease.

This one being ineffective against people with ground blockers makes it much more fair than it would look. The holy grail of one-shotting creatures of course is those with innate and reliable evasion.

[The_Hittite]

Break Through the Line

[FoxHybrid]

I run Master of Cruelties in my Alesha, Who Smiles at Death deck and it has put in some work, whether that has been breaking through a singular giant creature by forcing blocks or by one shotting someone with it and Alesha or it and Goblin Bombardment. It's a good card in Kaalia and Alesha, no doubt but my biggest question with this card is about its price. Does this card really deserve to be in the 8 dollar mythic range? I can't really seem to wrap my head around it.

[Serenade]

I think it was featured on one of the popular EDH group videos (hence price). My buddy watched something and immediately wanted to house-ban it….despite none of us owning a copy.

It has no evasion, haste, or protection/hexproof. It's fair game in my mind.

[3drinks]

Saturday, February 12th, 2022; The Depletion Lands

[3drinks]

I think it was featured on one of the popular EDH group videos (hence price). My buddy watched something and immediately wanted to house-ban it….despite none of us owning a copy.

It has no evasion, haste, or protection/hexproof. It's fair game in my mind.

Right, yeah, it's a very fair card, especially by commander standards.

[pokken]

I enjoyed these in Atraxa counters-land tribal, but they had some awkward problems of making double color pips. Still fun. I might rebuild that deck if they ever make a 5c proliferate lands commander...wait I think he's banned already.

[Serenade]

I have good memories of them because of nostalgia as a Masques guy, but I would never use these cards now. At least storage lands let you build them up...these just work their way down until they die. Not a good pick for CIPT lands. MAAAAAYBE if there's a mono-colored, 1-drop, Amulet of Vigor white legend, which seems unlikely.

I do adore that art on Remote Farm, though. I love a desolate, quiet rural landscape. I also love pumpkins, so I grabbed a bunch of these Plains: cards/innistrad-midnight-hunt/67968-plains.

[Mookie]

I've brewed a few things with the depletion lands - usually all-in, glass cannon combo nonsense that can't play normal ramp spells. If you really, truly want to hit 4-5 mana as fast as possible, they're a valid choice. If you're looking to build an actual deck, I would usually skip them. Over the course of a long game, they'll produce four mana, which is probably less than what you'll get from a basic.

Of course, it's a different story if you have relevant synergies - these seem like solid inclusions in decks like Titania, Protector of Argoth and The Gitrog Monster. I could also see them going in Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, although they don't quite curve into her very well. I would generally want to back them up with a Life from the Loam package.

[Sinis]

They're fair 'sol lands', I rarely play my copies. They're good in decks that want to go (somewhat) fast, or are totally okay just losing lands (Titania, maybe Windgrace).