[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - North Star

[3drinks]

Cost should have been 2b so you could at least dark rit into this on 2. A not-hasty 5/5 on 2 in exchange for no lands is fair. Exactly the kind of sui black deck from back in the day I'd expect to see. But even then...just hex-depths and still have a land plus a 20/20 instead of a 5/5.

[Hawk]

I guess this gets played in Vilis and Greven just like folks slam Tarnished Citadel into Darien, King of Kjeldor. The effect to make a demon is just bad - a 5/5 for four and ALL YOUR LANDS isn't worth it. Even in a deck like The Gitrog Monster where you get something for it (note only one card from the frog, but that sort of deck is likely to be jamming Titania, Protector of Argoth and what not), it's simply not worth it.

...but for a "combo", in BGx, you could float 4 mana, sacrifice all your lands to this, and then slam Splendid Reclamation with the floating mana to trigger landfall a whole bunch? Works in BWx with Planar Birth or Gerrard's Hourglass Pendant for any color combo, and The Mending of Dominaria or World Shaper offer some redundancy with extra hoops.

Of course, you could run Zuran Orb or Sylvan Safekeeper or Squandered Resources or a dozen other, less crappy ways to sacrifice all your lands.

[void_nothing]

I um. Have never seen anyone play this card in any context. And why would they? If you have a wombo combo that needs all your lands in the grave, this requires you to spend four mana aside from a land drop - there's a way to do it for 0.

[DirkGently]

Y'all are looking at it in the wrong context - in limited, this seems pretty strong as a pseudo-flash enormous beater that costs very little to include in your deck. It's a last-ditch effort, but if they don't have removal they're probably screwed.

Within commander, though, outside of "my last opponent is at 5 with no flying blocks or mana untapped", the only use is probably just being a legendary land that isn't TOO much worse than a basic.

Though the zuran orb comparisons are probably bad. This takes a land slot and isn't much worse than a swamp, so if you potentially want your lands in the grave then this is probably the lowest-impact way to do it. I can't imagine a deck really wanting that though.

[TheGildedGoose]

Legacy Pox staple.

[Hawk]

Legacy Pox staple.

Maybe taking it to seriously, but looking at the 20 most recently submitted Pox decks to MTGTop8 - this card appears in the maindeck and sideboards of 0 of them. Pox is a wild-looking deck with Wasteland, Dark Ritual, and Smallpox being more or less the only guarantees, but no Tombs there.

I do think Dirk's point about this being "not much worse than a swamp" for a deck like Kethis, the Hidden Hand is fair but overall yeah - I really can't see why it's not a $0.25 rare?

[folding_music]

Kamahl's Druidic Vow
Primevals' Glorious Rebirth
Sisay, Weatherlight Captain
Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful

giggle I know this ain't convincing. but it's like playing Dark Sphere in an artifact deck, or whatever, just sheer Density +1 stuff

[Mookie]

I do think Dirk's point about this being "not much worse than a swamp" for a deck like Kethis, the Hidden Hand is fair but overall yeah - I really can't see why it's not a $0.25 rare?

Price history - it was $0.50 for years before slowly creeping up to $1 due to it being an older card with no reprints. The price spiked pretty recently (specifically, shortly before the release of Dominaria United) up to $10, so it does look to be related to Dihada, Binder of Wills, Shanid, Sleeper's Scourge, and the rest of that 'legendary matters' precon being released. That said, it's not clear if there is actual demand for the card... or if someone predicted that there would be a bunch of demand and did a buyout.

[Treamayne]

Wasn't Tomb of Urami used alongside Balance in 60-card back in the day?

[TheGildedGoose]

Legacy Pox staple.

Maybe taking it to seriously, but looking at the 20 most recently submitted Pox decks to MTGTop8 - this card appears in the maindeck and sideboards of 0 of them. Pox is a wild-looking deck with Wasteland, Dark Ritual, and Smallpox being more or less the only guarantees, but no Tombs there.

The joke is twofold: 1) Legacy Pox is bad and plays bad cards 2) Legacy Pox actually experimented with this card.

Current Legacy Pox is Karn, the Great Creator/Urza's Saga reliant.

EDIT: Here's a non-comprehensive list of weird/bad lands Legacy Pox has experimented with over the years:

Cabal Pit
Hive of the Eye Tyrant
Ifnir Deadlands
Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
Tomb of Urami

Rule of thumb: Does it tap for black and enter untapped? Throw it in Pox!

LAST EDIT: Actually, my brain faintly recalls reading about someone floating mana in the late, late game to activate this and cast Tombstalker by using the lands to fuel delve.

[3drinks]

Saturday, February 18th, 2023; Greater Tanuki

Man, this is exactly the kind of dual purpose card slot I like to see. Yeah, 99% of the time it's an instant speed rampant growth|mir, but unlike rampant growth it's at least a sizable body late. Plus, it's a natural alter of Tanooki Mario, and isn't that just the best thing ever.

[RedCheese]

Tanukis are dogs?

[void_nothing]

Tanukis are dogs?

They're raccoon dogs, which are neither, but are distant relatives to dogs and wolves and coyotes and the like.

[onering]

On Tomb:

You really have 3 aspects of the card that make it valuable to different decks.

Losing a life is an upside for certain decks (I actually run it in a life switching deck for that reason). In decks that actively want to take damaged, this gives them self damage on a land with no drawbacks and some trinket text attached that may come into play on extremely rare occasions and make a great story.

It's legendary, it allows decks that care about legendary permanents to run another legendary land at a minimal cost while having some trinket text that may prove useful in extremely rare occasions and make a great story.

Lastly, it's a way to sacrifice all your lands if that's something your deck wants to do that only takes a land slot and makes a 5/5 flyer for you while your doing it, with the drawback being it's cost to activate and the minimal life loss when using it for mana.

Basically, a niche card that actually plays in a few different niches.

[Serenade]

Tanuki plays well with Keruga, the Macrosage as companion.

[Dunadain]

I'll be the pessimist: the flexibility isn't worth it. You should be thinking REAL hard before putting any 3MV ramp in your deck, and if, for some reason, you are, then this has a lot of competition.

I do like what Serenade said though, as a way to "cheat" a cheaper spell into your deck that technically has a much higher mv. Wonder if that hilarious "high CMC tribal" deck that's floating around this site would consider it.

Edit: I just checked, and he's running Beanstalk Giant // Fertile Footsteps so it's the kind of effect he's interested in.

[Mookie]

Greater Tanuki is... interesting. I'd usually go for more traditional ramp (Rampant Growth / Kodama's Reach / Harrow) instead, but the fact that it is both instant-speed and an activated ability is sort of interesting. Early game ramp usually isn't worth countering, but copying it with Rings of Brighthearth could be sort of neat (although copying fetchlands is much easier though, if you're looking to copy ramp). Beyond ability-based stuff, I would consider it for decks that care about mana value, such as cascade-based decks that want to always hit something specific. There might be a use for it in enchantress decks, but there are better enchantment options available, like Wild Growth and Khalni Heart Expedition.

[3drinks]

Sunday, February 19th, 2023; The Horus Heresy

[Serenade]

A saga has to have a good immediate impact and decent follow-ups to warrant inclusion. Like an planeswalker, I guess. All the new proliferate toys make me wonder if I should revisit a Satsuki, the Living Lore list I started a while back.

This card always felt low-impact for six mana in Grixis, but I have not played it. First ability misses generals, does not untap, and does not grant haste. I'd struggle to pick it over Mass Mutiny.

[3drinks]

Oh. That non legendary clause. This card should have been a respin I guess.

[Mookie]

There are a lot of powerful new cards in the 40k precons, but I'm a bit low on The Horus Heresy. It's... fine, I guess? Six mana to borrow three creatures, draw three cards, and then kill some stuff is a fine pile of value... but spreading it out over three turns is a bit slow. In particular, the fact that the card draw can be negated by removal makes it feel a bit clunky it might be worth consideration in a more dedicated theft deck, particularly if you can sacrifice the stolen creatures for extra value, but I'm not sure what other decks would want it.

I'll call out that Horus Heresy is competing against stuff like Cruel Ultimatum, Invoke Despair, and Dark Intimations - Grixis has a ton of powerful value cards to choose from, and this one doesn't do much to stand out from the crowd.

[onering]

Ew, one of those dumb fake cards

[3drinks]

Ew, one of those dumb fake cards

What? Are these not verified cards? I don't get it.

[DirkGently]

What? Are these not verified cards? I don't get it.

Technically a legal magic card, but not magic IP.

Seeing these next to old classic cards definitely makes them look fake imo.

At least this one kinda sucks though.

[3drinks]

Monday, February 20th, 2023; Spreading Plague