[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - North Star

[Serenade]

We are going to have all the Obscuring Haze we want, so I feel like this card is an easy skip.

For those that have played/do play it, what is the average number of lands you would say you hit off Respite? (I would consider it for Phylath, World Sculptor plant tribal, which is not a serious deck.)

[pokken]

For those that have played/do play it, what is the average number of lands you would say you hit off Respite? (I would consider it for Phylath, World Sculptor plant tribal, which is not a serious deck.)

2-3 for me. You can think of it as "take an extra turn and ramp 2" most of the time, *if* you're threatening enough.

The deck I run it in, I'll usually try to slow roll my fattie post-Xenagos if I have respite. People get scared when I have Xenagos, as well they should, so they usually start swinging. so I'll fade a decent attack, ramp a couple.

The other scenario I have it in is if I have to just drop a fattie that ramps but no way to keep chaining it, I'll pass turn with like a bunch of treasures from Ancient Copper Dragon or something and be able to ramp a few more off this.

It occupies about the same mental space for me as Time Warp as long as I'm not afraid of combos.

[3drinks]

Friday, July 21st, 2023; Amber Gristle O'Maul

And they said r didn't have any dredge-play...nah but really I had to go back and re-read this and I don't think this super awful tbh. Got more play to it than some of the background commanders I think.

[3drinks]

That awkward moment when you leave the mana up and they alpha strike someone else. Good problem, sure.
I would only play this in a deck that has a lot of flash/instants/activated abilities.

No problem, just EoT a Stroke of Genius|usg instead.

[Dunadain]

Honestly a pretty neat commander for an aggro dredge deck. Unfortunately, everytime I play aggro I'm left disappointed

[pokken]

And they said didn't have any dredge-play...nah but really I had to go back and re-read this and I don't think this super awful tbh. Got more play to it than some of the background commanders I think.

This is super strong, and extra strong if you get into blue with Alhammarret's Archive and Teferi's Ageless Insight to go to crazy town with. Having haste feels really nice too. I always enjoy playing a haste commander, and hate playing against them

Feels like a pseudo control/tempo deck with stuff that makes tokens when you cast spells and then refuels by swinging with them feels fun. Probably pretty easy to generate a draw 3/draw 3 more when you combat damage type of scenario too.

Stuff like Talrand, Sky Summoner and Poppet Stitcher // Poppet Factory and whatever. Maybe some token generation spells. Some flashback stuff for value. Spelltwine.

it's frustrating to me how fastly my brain wants to build every deck these days

(not sure what blue background, probably Feywild Visitor feels good or Sword Coast Sailor -- Shameless Charlatan could be pretty gross as well:P)

[3drinks]

Saturday, July 22nd, 2023; Bastion of Remembrance

[TheGildedGoose]

An aristocrat effect and token generator in one? Sign me up. Shame it's not a creature, but it's still efficient at what it does.

[Mookie]

I would say Bastion of Remembrance is one of the better Blood Artist / Zulaport Cutthroat variants. Obviously, if you have a bunch of cards that care about creatures dying, running more creatures is generally preferable... but that also means you open yourself to being blown out by board wipes. I wouldn't run it over the best aristocrat payoffs, but I would certainly consider it as my third or fourth pick if I wanted to diversify my threats. I suppose it is vulnerable to enchantment removal... but at three mana, I'm not that concerned about losing tempo to spot removal. As an added bonus, it brings along a token, which means you'll still have some value even if it is removed (and it also doesn't count against your creature count).

...beyond that, I'll note that it makes a white Human Soldier token, which has some tribal implications for stuff like Xathrid Necromancer and General Kudro of Drannith.

[3drinks]

Sunday, July 23rd, 2023; Helix Pinnacle

[materpillar]

Instant win effects always look fun but then they play out in an extremely underwhelming fashion. If you dump 100 mana into this you deserve the win but it's a pretty boring way to win with 100 mana.

[Serenade]

Sometimes your enchantress deck needs more one-drops and more wincons.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I don't really enjoy alternate wincons, but Pinnacle is definitely the fairest of them all. 100 mana is a whole hell of a lot and I can respect a triple digit commitment.

[TheGildedGoose]

I don't really enjoy alternate wincons, but Pinnacle is definitely the fairest of them all. 100 mana is a whole hell of a lot and I can respect a triple digit commitment.

Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant is calling. I guess it's not technically an alternate wincon, but it might as well be. If you don't immediately win after resolving such a big search, you are an ass hat.

Helix Pinnacle is boring.

[Mookie]

As alternate win conditions go, Helix Pinnacle does seem pretty fair. An enchantment with shroud is admittedly somewhat difficult to interact with, but answers do exist. Beyond that.... 100 mana is a lot - so much that I would expect spending that much mana on pretty much anything else would also win the game anyway. There are a few ways to reduce the total cost (like Unbound Flourishing), but I would generally consider most non-infinite ways to boost Helix Pinnacle to be totally reasonable... and if you are generating infinite mana, there are better mana sinks anyway that don't take a full turn cycle to win.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I don't really enjoy alternate wincons, but Pinnacle is definitely the fairest of them all. 100 mana is a whole hell of a lot and I can respect a triple digit commitment.

Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant is calling. I guess it's not technically an alternate wincon, but it might as well be. If you don't immediately win after resolving such a big search, you are an ass hat.

Helix Pinnacle is boring.

I dunno about Bilbo. As an avid aggro player, I assure you that Bilbo needs one hell of a pillowfort or a big chain of life-doubling (Celestial Mantle, Beacon of Immortality, etc.) to get anywhere close to 111. Pinnacle is boring, yes (all alt wins are intrinsically lame imo) but it's safer and gets rolling as soon as you have mana to sink. Bilbo sits there picking his nose being an overcosted and nerfed Cleric Class until maybe, doubtfully you can pop off and get what a simple Primal Surge would have given you ages ago.

Or are you arguing that Bilbo is fairer (in which case I suppose I agree)? I'm sorry, I really did not sleep well last night.

[Hermes_]

Sunday, July 23rd, 2023; Helix Pinnacle

I need one for my 96 forest Omnath, Locus of Mana deck

[pokken]

The number of times I have seen this card fail to win the game is just hilarious. Like, the table *always* pulls out the stops and somehow removes it. The time my buddy threatened Omnath's own Steel Hellkite and killed the Pinnacle with it will live in infamy forever.

[3drinks]

The number of times I have seen this card fail to win the game is just hilarious. Like, the table *always* pulls out the stops and somehow removes it. The time my buddy threatened Omnath's own Steel Hellkite and killed the Pinnacle with it will live in infamy forever.

Good ol steel hellkite|brc, love my one sided non-sunburst Engineered Explosives.

[DirkGently]

I feel like this has to be one of the lowest EV cards in the format. The concern it generates is usually massively disproportionate, it's easier to kill than you expect, and 100 mana can win the game soooo much easier.

[Toshi]

Another one of those cards that proves the old saying "when there's no viable spot removal, there's always player removal."

Sure, there have been times when Omnath, Locus of Mana/Kruphix, God of Horizons players have gotten close and the table didn't draw into their Austere Commands - but i don't think i ever lost to Helix Pinnacle.
Usually it sits there, gets a few counters and their controller gets the sh*t punched out of themselves disproportionally.

[3drinks]

Monday, July 24th, 2023; Progenitor Mimic

Yet Another Busted Simic Card™ I remember when this was everywhere and you couldn't sneeze without running into one. Mimic your Avenger, Con Sphinx, Sad Robot, the card was so overwhelmingly utilitarian..........................I'm kinda happy you don't see it anymore.

[Dunadain]

if you're not flickering your Progenitor Mimic to copy the token copy or, cloning the token copy with another clone, so that you get more than 1 copy each turn, then I don't want to talk to you.

[pokken]

Yah, prog mimic is another of those slow roll simic value cards that the game doesn't last long enough for anymore, but...much like my fave Genesis Wave it can really go hog wild if you drag the game out a little so the mana production gets there to support it.

Of course prog mimic also goes infinite with all the Time Warp effects (and an Eternal Witness or so), and new players don't expect that combo anymore really.

I haven't played it in a while but I sure as hell would if I made another clone tribal deck. It's definitely good enough, especially with the ability to copy legendaries being made much more easy now (e.g. Spark Double et al).

[Igzex]

It was in the same block as my absolute favorite target: Utvara Hellkite. Sucks that games go too fast now to just relax and casually have 50 dragons on the field.