MTGNexus

I'm a huge fan of Sun Titan type effects, but being in two colors (especially with the second color being green, which doesn't need this kind of help nearly as much as mono-white does) definitely restricts the usefulness of it. I can't even remember the last time I built a deck with both white and green in it, but if I did this would likely be in consideration at the very least.

It's cheaper, for cEDH. But it loses a ton. Like things like the replica cycles and Seal of Doom. And you only trigger once, if a permanent you control left the battlefield. But hey, that's what you pay for half price, even in two colors.

It's worthy to note that Revolt also works with bounce and blink, which means Renegade Rallier can be a good fit in decks like Emiel the Blessed.

Free activation every turn with Conjurer's Closet.

Saturday, February 19th, 2022; Ranger of Eos

There are some good targets. sac outlets, disenchants, card draw...
I have never played it though.

Its a very good tech card in the decks that want need him but otherwise just not very impressive in the scheme of things commander.

I have considered Ranger of Eos for my Teysa deck many times, but it has never quite made the cut - I'm just not running enough 1-drops. If I were to run it, I would obviously need a minimum of two targets... but more realistically, I would want around four or so to have some additional flexibility, and it is difficult to fit that many 1-drop creatures in the decks I play. There certainly are strong options out there for a toolbox - Mother of Runes, Viscera Seer, and Thraben Inspector all come to mind - but it is hard to justify dedicating that many deck slots to what is a fairly low-impact card most of the time. It is a card that I would run in a deck that already incidentally supports it, but would generally not build my deck around.

Of course, if you have a bunch of targets, it goes up in value. I could see running Ranger in a deck like Karador, Ghost Chieftain that also has stuff like Caustic Caterpillar and Spore Frog to fetch up. Alternatively, it could fit in a deck running a bunch of Glimpse of Nature effects as a way to fetch up cheap creatures.

I'll call out Ranger-Captain of Eos as a version of this effect that is a bit easier to fit in decks - you won't need to be running quite as many targets to fetch, and it also has some very relevant additional upsides.

He's a tutor for a lot of utility. Beyond that, there really isn't much to say.

Un-bonus: He has a 3, a 2, and a 1 on his card. Unfortunately, he's not in the right colors for a Baron Von Count deck.

He's great, just not an auto include. Grabbing a mother of runes and serra ascendant is still strong, and borderline worth inclusion just for that in many metas. To make him truly worth it, having 3 or 4 one drops is a must, but that really isn't hard for a lot of color combos. 4 mana is a solid price for tutoring 2 good and cheap creatures and getting a 3/2 body for your trouble.

I have played a lot of ranger, really like it. Much much better with Esper Sentinel available now as a default borderline autoinclude level 1 cmc powerhouse, to combine with Weathered Wayfarer.

3 was always the magic number for it to be good for me. in Ephara I used to run this package:
I don't remember ever drawing two of them and then drawing Ranger.

Its overcostes for todays standards. But it does fetch sac outlets in Viscera Seer and Carrion Feeder

Ranger-Captain of Eos has largely outclassed this by coming down one mana cheaper (in Sun Titan range) with a better body and an emergency Silence button for when you want to combo off or stop someone from comboing off. Sure, it only finds one card instead of two, but it's rare that you really need both. Either you're finding a specific threat/combo piece like Serra Ascendant or Carrion Feeder/Viscera Seer, or you're finding a specific answer to something. I can't think of any combos that need two specific one mana creatures besides the classic Heritage Druid/Nettle Sentinel elf chain.

I think that any card that is up to 4cmc and tutors should at least be considered when deckbuilding.

Although Ranger-Captain of Eos is better, there's sufficient selection of targets now to make Ranger of Eos a good include in various creature focused mono white and Boros decks. Aside from the good targets already mentioned, in Boros it fetches Ragavan, Goblin Welder, and Skirk Prospector.

I've tried to make this guy work (what feels like) 100 times, and he's best if you already have 7+ targets like dorks. 4 targets or less and you might draw too many of them to cast this for max value late game.

I wish they would print a legendary version of this effect. Mono white 1 drop tribal sounds very cool

Sunday, February 20th, 2022; Diamond Lion



Well, it READS like a certain real famous text. Magus of the Lion's Eye.

has summoning sickness meaning I have to wait until turn 2 to win.
garbage/10

.14 cent rare. Called it. This card sucks.

Costs 2 more and has summoning sickness. It's a cute throwback, but not going to win nearly as many games.

I think it's fine as a way for graveyard-based decks to diversify instead of running the same staple. I know I'm "guilty" of deliberately running a worse card that fit theme rather than the staple for it's effect. In this case, being a creature works with a lot of creature-centric graveyard strategies.

It's fine. It is just super narrow and doesn't have many applications because of the lack of haste.

I've considered running it in Rielle, the Everwise as a turn 2 play into a turn 3 Rielle. The removal of Rielle in such a situation though has made me ponder the value of such a play though.

What if Lion's Eye Diamond were a bear? I think the base of a lion is a one mana 2/1, so turning it into a two mana 2/2 seems like a downgrade.

Anyway, as others have noted, Diamond Lion is pretty bad. The original LED was a 'fixed' Black Lotus - you pay zero mana and get back three mana, with some significant downside. However, when you're paying two mana to get three mana back, the number of options go up significantly - that's Desperate Ritual territory, which has numerous alternatives, between all the rituals, Pentad Prism, Generator Servant... and plenty of others I'm forgetting too.

...I think that the biggest issue with Diamond Lion is probably that it doesn't actually function as even a budget replacement for LED. Outside storm, LED's best uses are with stuff like Auriok Salvagers and Salvaging Station, and occasionally being fetched off Trinket Mage. However, because it costs two mana, it doesn't work with any of those cards. Very disappointing. Maybe if it cost one mana, I could see playing it... but at two, it gets a hard pass. You need to be pretty all-in on discard / graveyard synergies.

Sunday, February 20th, 2022; Diamond Lion



Well, it READS like a certain real famous text. Magus of the Lion's Eye.

God-awful unplayable. Lotus Petal with summoning Sickness that requires a 2 mana investment and for you to pitch your hand. Hard pass.

If you really felt like you wanted to pay 2 mana one turn and have some mana the next turn, you could use Pentad Prism, only get 2 mana, but, idk, keep your whole hand I guess.

Will work nice in Chun Li deck probably