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

[Sinis]

Thursday, March 10th, 2022; Rafiq of the Many

The blast from the past! Rafiq was very popular in 2009-10. I haven't seen someone play it in years and years, and I wonder if it's just aged out. Also in need of a reprint.

Well that's one way to one shot people with your Progenitus commander.

My favourite is Finest Hour, but Rafiq will do.

[Lifeless]

One of my buddies still plays Rafiq on a regular basis - we all have voltron decks that we frequently use for one last quick game at the end of the night (Rafiq, Godo, Omnath, Uril, Narset). What can you really say about him other then he's received a lot of support over the years because Bant is very flexible. He does his job.

[hyalopterouslemur]

I saw more Rafiq after New Phyrexia came out, myself. Blighted Agent is pretty ridiculous with him. One Giant Growth and you kill someone. Swords are a two-shot, but Sword of Truth and Justice is a one-shot. Any other evasive infectious guys (or Spinebiter) are also a win for similar reasons, but Blighted Agent can't be blocked, and it's easy to just give it +3/+0 or better.

[Mookie]

Rafiq of the Many was one of the old bogeymen of the format - he attacks for 8 by himself, and it's not difficult to turn him into a 2-shot voltron kill. Unfortunately, he hasn't aged very well, as others have pointed out - he is extremely vulnerable to removal (or being chump blocked), and if you're investing resources into pumping him up to take out one opponent, you may run out of resources by the time you try to take out the others. That's not particularly unique to Rafiq though - it's true of many voltron commanders. Rafiq suffers more than most though due to the fact that his lack of evasion effectively forces you to invest a bit if you want any chance of connecting.

Still, if you're looking for a glass cannon, Rafiq is definitely capable of killing opponents quickly. If you don't want to do a voltron strategy, you can also use him to pump your other random creatures... but Duelist's Heritage and Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder are both a little more efficient at doing that job.

[PrimevalCommander]

I still remember the time my buddy was playing Rafiq of the Many and countered some big spell with Draining Whelk turning it into like a 7/7 flyer. His turn comes around, drop Rafiq and someone eats 16 dmg from the whelk after exalted and doublestrike. Despite how meager that sounds today, this is what a "big play" looked like during EDH when Alara was in print. Always love seeing these old commander staples. Back when Garruk Wildspeaker was one of the best Overruns in the format.

I would say he is still plenty viable as a voltron commander. You can now play 8 sword of X/Y for the evasion and double triggers. Even the crappiest Sword of Body and Mind looks somewhat playable with double triggers. Fragile, yes, but a nice blast from the past.

[Treamayne]

I have a Rafiq Exalted deck I still play now-and-then on MTGO (draws a bit less hate than it used to when Rafiq, Uril, etc. were the top kill-on-sight Generals); but I don't have it built as a Voltron deck (of course it can if there are enough exalted triggers - but that's a late game back-up plan). Instead it's 30 creatures and built around Banding (for defense, since most are blockers) and things that enjoy attacking alone or synergize well with Exalted (attacking or using Tap-as-cost for non-attackers).

Example Cards

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Phyrexian Splicer
Terrifying Presence
Sigil of Valor
Knotvine Paladin
Dream Prowler
Concerted Effort
Nature's Blessing
Glare of Subdual
Stuffy Doll and Bride of Stuffy
Hunter's Prowess
Gemini Engine (still gets a token with the P/T bonuses)
Grunn, the Lonely King
Altar Golem
Stonehoof Chieftain

Still a decent Casual General, as long as you aren't just trying to break him (like combo/infect/etc). . . though I would love to see a new Exalted General in Esper or Abzan.

[cheonice]

A friend of mine plays Rafiq of the Many on a regular basis. If you don't manage to kill him on sight, he becomes a monster pretty fast. Sigarda's Aid is one of the better cards that kept him viable.

[Igzex]

He was the Street Fighter 4 Ken of Commander way back in the day: Everyone used him, tried the same "cheap" tactics, and then I countered those tactics with ease and they got mad at me over it.

[3drinks]

Friday, March 11th, 2022; Rings of Brighthearth

[3drinks]

He was the Street Fighter 4 Ken of Commander way back in the day: Everyone used him, tried the same "cheap" tactics, and then I countered those tactics with ease and they got mad at me over it.

Ssh. Don't let people know I plan to use Ken, Burning Brawler to freecast Ravages of War/Armageddon. 👀

[Dunharrow]

I feel like i would play Lithoform Engine more often nowadays, but this is better for infinite combos.

[Igzex]

Ssh. Don't let people know I plan to use Ken, Burning Brawler to freecast Ravages of War/Armageddon. 👀

There's nothing to tap for gratifying them It takes nothing to realize you're ken

Also this card. Man, that I can say this card kinda got power creep'd makes me wipe sweat from my forehead.

[hyalopterouslemur]

More expensive than Illusionist's Bracers but more versatile.

And Ken should at least partner with Ryu.

[Toshi]

Fetches, Planeswalkers, ... the interactions are as diverse as i find them boring.
The card is super good, obviously. But for my personal taste it's just too versatile. More often than not i like fringe but bonkers interactions more than i like plug and play ones.

[Serenade]

Yeah, I used to get so much enjoyment out of this card, but now it feels so…basic? Lately my activated-abilities-generals have a different, higher use for the mana (Nin, Konrad). Charix still likes it, though.

[Mookie]

The reprint brought down the price of Rings of Brighthearth significantly - I should really hunt down a copy for my Samut deck, but I'll probably end up waiting for the next time it is reprinted. It obviously combos with Grim Monolith and Basalt Monolith, but even just copying fetchland activations can represent a lot of value. It is possible that Lithoform Engine is stronger, but if you're activating multiple abilities per turn (and can afford the mana cost), Rings can represent more value.

...that said, I'm generally skeptical of adding additional mana costs to cheap effects for more value - my eternal thirst for endless value tends to result in severe tempo issues.

[3drinks]

Saturday, March 12th, 2022; Scrap Trawler

[3drinks]

Also this card. Man, that I can say this card kinda got power creep'd makes me wipe sweat from my forehead.

It's a sad day when the most OG stalwart of the format is considered power crept. Thanks, wizards.

[Toshi]

More often than not i like fringe but bonkers interactions more than i like plug and play ones.

Speaking of which... one of the best pieces in Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle lists!
I prefer the promo artwork, though. Kinda reminds me of Phyrexian Walker.

[Mookie]

Scrap Trawler is a very powerful card. Combos with Krark-Clan Ironworks and Myr Retriever? TBH, even though I run it in my Sharuum deck, I won't claim to actually understand how that particular combo works. Most of the time, I just use it as a value engine - my deck isn't particularly built around it (I don't have a ton of self-sacrificing artifacts or 0-drops to recur), but it is still a good way to recur a few cards. The fact that Sharuum is a 6-drop and thus can recur most of the artifacts in my deck on death certainly helps.

More broadly, Scrap Trawler is great in decks with lots of cheap artifacts, particularly if you have ways to sacrifice them. Chaining something like Hedron Archive → Commander's Sphere → Mind Stone → Nihil Spellbomb → Lotus Petal represents a ton of value. On the other hand, if you're using it just as a bigger Myr Retriever and don't expect to get any triggers off of things other than itself, it goes down in value significantly. I won't say it is an autoinclude in artifact-based decks, but it's pretty much always worth consideration.

[hyalopterouslemur]

This card has so much potential, just returning eggs and such.

[3drinks]

Sunday, March 13th, 2022; Mana Vortex

[onering]

oh boy, stax!

[hyalopterouslemur]

This card isn't so bad, on its own. But isn't that the way with Stax?

[TheAmericanSpirit]

My first "real" edh deck in early 2012 was a Zur stax list that played this alongside Armageddon and cataclysm. It was also the deck for which I obtained my first Necropotence. I never loved that deck, but I'll never forget all those cool 3 drop enchantments like this thing.

Thay being said, Vortex is most effective just after mld, right as players begin to recover but no longer have any lands sandbagged. Then you hit them with this, and they'll never recover. It works, but it's a filthy way of doing business and no longer my preferred avenue of play.

Edit: holy %$#%, it's $50? %$#% wow, I bought mine way back for like 1.57 or something.