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

[Serenade]

So efficient. OG art has never been changed. Always loved it.

[pokken]

I love me some rancor. Favorite thing to do with it is somewhat quirky but thaumatog + verduran enchantress (or any enchantress) makes for a fun engine. Thaumatog preferred over auratog cos it's GSZ'able.

Overall it really hits the sweetspot of resilient auras that accomplish something useful (evasion). I really am not a huge aura fan in EDH due to the tempting target auras present once they're on a dude.

Just the other day I petty thefted a creature with sixth sense attached, when a guy was really counting on it for card draw.

[3drinks]

Every time I see this, it makes me contemplate the viability of krond the dawn-clad. Eventually I'll come to my senses because Krond won't ever work - but this speaks to the value of Rancor, if it single handedly is causing one to reconsider a generally poor all around choice of commander.

[pokken]

Every time I see this, it makes me contemplate the viability of krond the dawn-clad. Eventually I'll come to my senses because Krond won't ever work - but this speaks to the value of Rancor, if it single handedly is causing one to reconsider a generally poor all around choice of commander.

skullbriar was kinda like this. He was about 30x better starting with rancor than without

[hyalopterouslemur]

I remember when Rancor first came out. I started running it on my 'thopters. It was an obvious choice in enchantress as well.

In Commander, it has two basic functions: First, it can be used in a Voltron deck; put it on Uril and you have a 9/7 with trample and hexproof. Put it on Rafiq for a 6/4 with double strike and trample (so, yeah, you only need to connect twice now) or on his terminally ill friend to get an unblockable 4/2 with double strike (so you only need to connect twice now).

It can also be used to make my (nongreen) swords and other procs connect. Put it on a primordial dragon (provided they have green, so Treva, the Renewer, Darigaaz, the Igniter, Rith, the Awakener, Intet, the Dreamer, Vorosh, the Hunter, or Teneb, the Harvester), and you have an 8/6 with flying and trample just waiting for you to pay three mana for its effect. So, they need a creature with banding (lol) or a creature with even greater toughness to stop you.

[toctheyounger]

It's hard to rival the value for a single seen here. It's remarkably versatile and can be used in Voltron, 'combat damage to a player', enchantress, and so forth. The reusable nature of it is pure gravy on top of an already tasty biscuit.

[Sinis]

Sunday, December 29th, 2019; Rancor

Remember eating this repeatedly with Auratog? Hooboy.

[3drinks]

Sunday, December 29th, 2019; Rancor

Remember eating this repeatedly with Auratog? Hooboy.

Hmm, and that's in the modern format too. I wonder if there's a deck here........Sigarda at the top end? Meh, seems like Boggles just does this better. Could be some interesting side play in Boggles though surely.

...So, they need a creature with banding (lol) or a creature with even greater toughness to stop you.

Hey! Don't be dissing on my Baton of Morale / Helm of Chatzuk!

[Mookie]

Rancor is pretty efficient, as far as auras go - it was actually originally supposed to cost 1G, which partially explains its efficiency... but that's a pretty tame mistake for a card printed in Urza block.

Statwise, +2 power and trample are pretty good for a single mana. Add in its recursion ability (which significantly softens the traditional aura problem of getting 2-for-1'd) and it looks pretty good. I see it most commonly alongside large green commanders that lack evasion, such as Omnath, Locus of Mana. Alternatively, can be good if you have enchantress effects - Tuvasa the Sunlit seems like another natural fit. The fact that you need to get it into the graveyard does slow down recursion though - enchantress decks don't always have a bunch of expendable creatures and sacrifice outlets. Could do interesting things with Ajani's Chosen or Sigil of the Empty Throne though.

[3drinks]

Monday, December 30th, 2019; Opposition

[MeowZeDung]

Oh man, this card. It's undoubtedly good if you're a creature or (even better) token deck, to the point that I hesitate to run it outside of spikier pods. It's just a feel bad in more causal settings. I haven't had the heart to jam it in Kykar, Wind's Fury yet.

That said, Opposition + Jeskai Ascendancy or Intruder Alarm or Seedborn Muse or Unwinding Clock in an artifact deck, or even Turnabout with a way to recur it is the wombo combo in my mind.

[3drinks]

Oh man, this card. It's undoubtedly good if you're a creature or (even better) token deck, to the point that I hesitate to run it outside of spikier pods. It's just a feel bad in more causal settings. I haven't had the heart to jam it in Kykar, Wind's Fury yet.

That said, Opposition + Jeskai Ascendancy or Intruder Alarm or Seedborn Muse or Unwinding Clock in an artifact deck, or even Turnabout with a way to recur it is the wombo combo in my mind.

I remember using it in Sygg ({u/b}) before moving to Tradewind Rider. These both were the quickest ways to turn games to non-games. Like it wasn't even fair.

[MeowZeDung]

Woof. Tradewind Rider. For when opposition isn't oppressive enough by itself and you want a one sided Upheaval to go with it

[pokken]

I run it as the main finisher in Alela, artful provocateur since it stops basically everything once you've got a huge faerie army.

It's generally been better when other people play the deck than when I do.

[Sinis]

Monday, December 30th, 2019; Opposition

This card is so gross. Among my decks, last seen in Oona, Queen of the Fae.

[hyalopterouslemur]

If you're playing Derevi Stax, this is ridic. Tap a 1/1 to tap a bigger creature or a land. And then your Meekstone and Winter Orb come into play...

[3drinks]

Tuesday, December 31st, 2019; Underworld Dreams

[Mookie]

Saw it pretty frequently when Nekusar, the Mindrazer was all over the place, but I don't see it that often in other decks. If you don't have some way to force your opponents to draw cards, it is a pretty slow clock. There is some argument for running it as a hate piece against decks that draw a ton of cards, but if they're drawing that much, they will probably draw an answer before they die to it. Notion Thief is a much better way to shut down card draw, as is Spirit of the Labyrinth.

On the other hand, making Wheel of Fortune and Windfall into burn spells makes the damage add up really fast - seven damage (or twenty-one, assuming you're hitting three opponents) for three mana is an insane rate. This scales pretty well into multiplayer.

The other place I could see it is with Erebos, God of the Dead for enabling devotion - it is a solid buff for Gray Merchant of Asphodel, and incidental damage stacks well with Erebos shutting down lifegain.

[MeowZeDung]

It would work well in a Grixis wheels build, likely led by ol' Nekusar, the Mindrazer, with Niv-Mizzet, Parun, Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind, Psychosis Crawler in the 99.

I can see the case for Erebos, God of the Dead.

Other than that, *maybe* a Dimir mill list that's including some big draw effects to reduce library sizes and hope to take out at least one opponent via damage before milling the others? I guess it goes well with Folio of Fancies and stuff like Prosperity in a mill deck. Still, not sure it's where mill wants to be.

[Serenade]

Seizan probably uses.

[3drinks]

Aaaannnnddddddd the first card of 2020 is...........

Wednesday, January 1st, 2020; Wargate

[DirkGently]

Oh hey, I love this card. Criminally underused imo. I guess it is tri-color. Still though, excellent where it's legal. 3 mana for a nonbasic ramp spell is unparalleled to my recollection (untapped even!), and then it doubles as a late-game tutor for any permanent if you've got the mana. Plus you get to keep the choice semi-concealed until it hits the board and its too late to stop you. Super cool.

[3drinks]

Definitely one of those counter on site cards. But one I'd love to hit with a Narset's Reversal ha.

[pokken]

I always wind up cutting it because of the expense. I just hate blowing 3 mana of tempo on tutoring most of the time even if it's powerfu

I'd probably keep it in a cradle deck.

[umtiger]

Wargate is definitely costly.

But if everything you want is 0cc (i.e. Non-Basics) or 1cc (e.g. Exploration) it's an all-star. I'm always glad to see this in my opener when I play my Lands.dec. It's kinda like an Expedition Map that also ramps.