[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - North Star

[Mookie]

Hallowed Burial is okay, but I don't see any reason to play it these days - there are significantly better board wipes available. Farewell is the obvious power creep option, but I think it is more directly outclassed by Sunfall at five mana. Exile vs tuck is usually equivalent unless you're likely to tutor for the tucked creatures (which your opponents can also do), so I would prefer to also get a giant beater. Either is a meaningful upgrade over Wrath of God due to the presence of indestructible / recursion (although, again, you may prefer destroy effects if you have those yourself). I don't think Wrath of God has been playable for a while though.

[3drinks]

I don't think WoG is unplayable. Sometimes you need to wipe or die on four (or three on a foretold Doomskar). I think a lot of people could stand to have a better semblance of a curve and less value chase the "upgrades".

[Hawk]

We're at a time of peak wraths. After Wrath of God and Day of Judgment were the gold standard for so many decades of Magic's 30 years, the last 5-6 or so have seen an absolute flood of absurd boardwipes. As noted, that takes one-time staple Hallowed Burial from top of the heap to rarely played.

- If you care about mana efficiency, you should be playing Hour of Revelation, Vanquish the Horde, Devastating Mastery, Out of Time, or the aforementioned staples.
- If you care about power and answering indestructible creatures and graveyard decks, you should be playing Sunfall or Farewell (there's also Tragic Arrogance and By Invitation Only which skirt indestructible but not graveyard games).
- For flexibility, I'll plug Cleansing Nova, Ondu Inversion // Ondu Skyruins, and Rout as solid cards.
- Nevermind a long, storied list of spells that are good in specific niche decks for trying to break symmetry - Austere Command, Dusk // Dawn, Organic Extinction, Hour of Reckoning, etc...

More than that, I'd say the meta has evolved to make slots for wraths tighter. Back in "the day", it wasn't uncommon for a W/x deck to run 6-7 wraths since every deck was big battlecruisery haymakers and white was so bad that well-deployed wraths were usually their only way to even the odds. If you're aiming for six wraths in 2011, this almost always makes the cut - heck, you were likely running far more marginal spells. Now, decks are so tuned and gameplans so streamlined that most folks are only running 2-4 wipes and frequently aiming to break symmetry on them to win games, And as noted above, if you are a deck like Pheldagriff that just wants to run a wall of 9-12 wipes...nowadays there are probably 9-12 better ones. I wouldn't throw shade at anyone running this - it's probably a 5% power difference between it and Terminus or Sunfall and it's nostalgic and nowadays extremely budget friendly. But it doesn't really have a great home.

[Dunadain]

Wrath of God is unplayable!?!?!?


Sorry @Mookie but you're tripping.

Hallowed Burial vs. Wrath of God is a pretty fair comparison, in a vacuum I'd give it to WOG, but if your a hard cointrol deck the extra mana becomes fairly small potatoes and Hallowed Burial becomes more appealing.

[Mookie]

Wrath of God is unplayable!?!?!?


Sorry @Mookie but you're tripping.

Fine, fine, I guess I was being a little hyperbolic: Wrath of God makes the cut in mono-white and Zurgo Helmsmasher-style decks playing every board wipe. I wouldn't play it anywhere else though.

Now, Damnation on the other hand.... that card is still fantastic.

More broadly, I look at board wipes as a solution to two different problems: the short-term threat of an attack, and the long-term threat of value generation.

The former means I want the board cleared, no questions asked... and when Heroic Intervention, Counterspell, and Living Death exist, I'm not convinced Wrath of God is enough. Supreme Verdict, Sunfall, Settle the Wreckage... I think there are more consistent answers available if I am concerned about my life total. I would also prefer something cheaper like The Battle of Bywater or Vanquish the Horde if there is the potential for me to hold up my own interaction.

In the latter situation, efficiency is less important - if my opponent is getting value from Prosper, Tome-Bound, Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver, or Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm, then that may not immediately threaten me... but it will allow them to improve their board position over time relative to mine. On the other hand, I may also have my own commander or other creatures generating value, and I don't want to blow them up. In this situation, I think asymmetric board wipes like Austere Command, Tragic Arrogance, Unstable Glyphbridge // Sandswirl Wanderglyph, and By Invitation Only are better.

....I guess I would sort of like to see more board wipes like Hour of Devastation that strip indestructible from creatures. WoG's anti-regeneration clause is incredibly niche these days.

[Guardman]

Wrath of God is still great. Four mana is exactly where I want to be for a creature wrath effect (and the can't be regenerated actually comes up every now and then). On the other hand, things like Hour of Revelation can hit a lot of things for cheaper, but is a more heavy white mana investment, plus like half the time I like to only hit creatures while keeping my non-creatures around.

As for Hallowed Burial, its fine. It's nice even. But unless I am specifically playing a deck with a lot of tutors, I think stuff like Sunfall is better.

Also, recently, I've found myself defaulting to more one-sided wrath effects like Scourglass, Organic Extinction, Hour of Reckoning, or even Dusk // Dawn. Being able to keep your board while your opponent's boards are gone/mostly gone is just such a big swing nowadays.

[WizardMN]

I am with @Mookie on the Wrath of God debate. I play White in more decks than any other color and I usually have a fair amount of wraths in general. And I haven't played Wrath of God in a deck in years. White just has so many other options that WOG doesn't make the cut in most cases. As mentioned though, perhaps a mono-white deck will want it.

As for Hallowed Burial, as has been mentioned, there are far better options. Sunfall likely being a pretty good comparison and Sunfall being better in more situations. If there is a board state I need to get rid of, I would rather just be rid of everything.

[DirkGently]

Wayta, Trainer Prodigy is a really good design imo. I elaborate more in my GBU review, but being a pseudo-tribal commander that interacts with its respective tribe mechanically rather than just "does it have this type" is so much more interesting imo. And being dual use activator and removal - both at a decent rate - is pretty stellar imo.

I look at every wipe in the format every time I build a white deck. Hallowed Burial is somewhere amongst the legion of "totally fine but I'll never play it" options. Unless you really want tucking specifically for some reason, there are a lot of superior cards, many of which can break symmetry much more easily.

Was amazing before the rules change though.

[PrimevalCommander]

I miss playing Hallowed Burial. I'm not playing as much white as I used to, and now I'm looking for semi-asymmetrical wipes in my decks where I can keep some of my things around and now be set back so far. I know we only play them when we are behind, but sometimes keeping some of the few things we have around is a big deal. Tragic Arrogance is becoming my go-to wipe at 5, with Austere Command still taking my prime spot at 6 for flexibility. I still like Hallowed Burial as a solid wipe, and I might have to look for a slot for it. I played it for many years until I started looking form more synergies in my board wipe category.

[3drinks]

Thursday, November 16th, 2023; Liliana, Death's Majesty

[3drinks]

Fine, fine, I guess I was being a little hyperbolic: Wrath of God makes the cut in mono-white and Zurgo Helmsmasher-style decks playing every board wipe. I wouldn't play it anywhere else though.

Now, Damnation on the other hand.... that card is still fantastic.

More broadly, I look at board wipes as a solution to two different problems: the short-term threat of an attack, and the long-term threat of value generation.

The former means I want the board cleared, no questions asked... and when Heroic Intervention, Counterspell, and Living Death exist, I'm not convinced Wrath of God is enough. Supreme Verdict, Sunfall, Settle the Wreckage... I think there are more consistent answers available if I am concerned about my life total. I would also prefer something cheaper like The Battle of Bywater or Vanquish the Horde if there is the potential for me to hold up my own interaction.

In the latter situation, efficiency is less important - if my opponent is getting value from Prosper, Tome-Bound, Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver, or Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm, then that may not immediately threaten me... but it will allow them to improve their board position over time relative to mine. On the other hand, I may also have my own commander or other creatures generating value, and I don't want to blow them up. In this situation, I think asymmetric board wipes like Austere Command, Tragic Arrogance, Unstable Glyphbridge // Sandswirl Wanderglyph, and By Invitation Only are better.

....I guess I would sort of like to see more board wipes like Hour of Devastation that strip indestructible from creatures. WoG's anti-regeneration clause is incredibly niche these days.

I'm not sure you can compare situational wipes accurately to wrath of god without evaluating the less-than-ideal circumstances in addition to their ceilings. Sure Vanquish the Horde can cost WW and that's "better" but what about the times where it's six? These are real situations that you haven't factoured into your evaluation. Similarly, I don't think Austere Command is a good comparison because there is a stark difference between four and six mana. Yeah, you do get more from Austere. You should; you spent 50% more to cast it, and if you didn't then you just played bad wrath. Supreme Verdict is a pretty straight across example, but what if you're not in Azorious? Now you can't use it so this isn't even in the equation.

There's a reason Wrath of God has maintained a $2 price floor despite having a billion prints. Otherwise it would fall to bulk like the many other cards that see print.

I'm not seeing what you're seeing. This looks like an enrage enabler first and foremost. I can't see this playing well in a stax list for a few reasons:

1. It must tap to use its ability, which makes it a nonbo with stasis effects
2. It requires 3 whole mana to use the fight ability as removal, which stinks when your mana is probably choked.
3. Without some other support a 1/5 isn't winning many fights, so the utility of the ability requires probably even more investment to even do anything
4. Unless you're getting into Lightmine Field shenanigans, the third ability does nothing for a stax build.

Stax is just a fancy name for control. I'm not talking Stasis-adjacent effects as much as just having {guaranteed} access to removal every game, which this card does. Sure it costs three but it's not like the only removal you have, it's just a guarantee that you'll see without having to go down cards to remove something since it allows your threats to act as removal instead of burning that singleton plowshares.

Then it has upside if you care about enrage or brash taunter effects. Not sure I'd lean too hard into that but making Ripjaw Raptor punch things and draw is a good play line while it {the commander} can also start a Polyraptor chain.

[yeti1069]

Thursday, November 16th, 2023; Liliana, Death's Majesty

I think planeswalkers suffer in multiplayer, and none of Liliana's effects are strong enough to warrant inclusion.

[Dunadain]

Hard to see myself running lilly, but I am pretty anti-pw in general

[Ruiner]

I like this one for decks that would like sacrifice fodder and recursion. She's not amazing, but doesn't have a huge target on her either usually. Pretty decent in my Braids, Arisen Nightmare deck.

[Hawk]

Planeswalkers are interesting in Commander, as I find the two different places I play most often (my house with family and friends; a friend house with their kids and extended family) have two different attitudes that seem to be the prevailing ones:

1) Planeswalkers are silly little cards and so as long as they aren't ulting any time soon they are generally left alone.
2) Planeswalkers will be killed on sight even at significant cost of cards/creatures to the opponet and will never, ever, ever make it a full turn cycle, so they need to be good enough if you only get to activate one ability.

I suspect few are as hostile as to lose half a board to kill a 'walker, but the attitude online is to assume walkers will immediately die and indeed to assume most cards that cost more than 4 mana will immediately die, and if that's the framework than yes most 'walkers are not super playable or good. I think in practice we're all too hard on Planeswalkers though, and in my experience playing Daretti, Scrap Savant Planeswalkers tend to stick around a few turn cycles unless you're threatening to ultimate off.

But to speak to our CotD and not the card type generally, Liliana, Death's Majesty is not too bad either in the right list. She's most at home in reanimator, since she's a Rise from the Grave that also fills your 'yard and protects herself if you have no good targets. Now, a tuned reanimator list probably isn't running Rise...but if you are, this is a nice sidegrade. Not for every deck and I'm not running it currently, but this is a good planeswalker design that I think might surprise folks.

[Mookie]

I run Liliana, Death's Majesty in Tasigur, and she's fine there. Fills the graveyard, makes blockers, reanimates stuff I've milled... and presents a threat that lives through board wipes, Pernicious Deed, and Death Cloud. I'll note that my deck has a bias towards permanent cards due to the inclusion of stuff like Invasion of Shandalar // Leyline Surge and Nissa, Vital Force, plus it's nice to keep stuff out of the graveyard to limit my opponents' options for Tasigur. I wouldn't play her over Animate Dead or other extremely efficient reanimation effects, but she's certainly a reasonable choice if you're looking to go a bit bigger.

I'll note that Liliana is the only planeswalker that can unconditionally reanimate a creature - other options only recur low-MV creatures or require an ultimate.

[NZB2323]

I ran Liliana, Death's Majesty in a Sidisi, Brood Tyrant Zombie tribal build. She curves well with Sidisi, her +1 puts a zombie in play and triggers Sidisi, her -3 can be used to get back lots of powerful creatures(Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Craterhoof Behemoth, Hordewing Skaab, Noxious Ghoul, ect.), and her ultimate is a one-sided board wipe.

[onering]

She'd be fantastic in BG zombies alongside Doubling Season effects.

[3drinks]

Friday, November 17th, 2023; Haunted One

[NZB2323]

Haunted One is a really good card in theory that I've never seen in a game.

[Guardman]

I really think Haunted One is the definition of a good card that is in search of a home.

Of the black typal decks, I'm not sure which one would want it. Zombies either have commanders that aren't zombies or are very specific. I could maybe see this in a BG elves build, but they usually don't need any help alpha striking the table and I am not sure if the undying is that valuable to them. RB Goblins would be a great fit, but is still in search of a good RB typal commander that is actually worth it to play another color over mono-red. Vampires would like this a lot more if it was persist instead of undying since they have some +1/+1 counter synergies. Clerics aren't really aggressive, preferring to play a grindy drain game.

[Serenade]

Are pirates good yet? Have your general crew a vehicle then let your team swing, sac them all, and get their ETB value again?

Edit: This Xavier Sal, Infested Captain dude even taps himself and removes counters!

Edit edit: I also was thinking about rats, but they often have a token focus.

[Guardman]

Are pirates good yet? Have your general crew a vehicle then let your team swing, sac them all, and get their ETB value again?

Edit: This Xavier Sal, Infested Captain dude even taps himself and removes counters!

Edit edit: I also was thinking about rats, but they often have a token focus.

You know what's funny, I didn't even think about Pirates mostly because the best pirate stuff is in UR. Also, as much as I love Admiral Beckett Brass as a card, you already got the perfect pirate commanders in Breeches, Brazen Plunderer and Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator. Though truthfully I haven't had a chance to digest Admiral Brass, Unsinkable and whether or not she is actually a good pirate commander (though I am leaning more towards eh).

[Dunadain]

Doesn't pair too well with any of the "choose a background" commanders, but it's solid in the 99

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I'm not terribly impressed by any background, let alone this. What I've found more often than not is that your commander will get killed to deny you background value. This is even worse considering it pigeonholes the whole deck into typal synergies. It isn't even a static ability! It can be Stifled!

Bah, I do not like this card.