[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Jetfire, Ingenious Scientist

[Serenade]

Fateful hour was neat but on too few cards. Seems like our God of Fate could bring in a red touch in the next Commander product, and that would interesting to see if it played with FormOTD.

I like the Squirrel version of this card, of course.

[Sinis]

Friday, January 31st, 2020; Form of the Dragon

If you have a way of not dying, it's an interesting way to win the game in a prison deck. It's pretty terrible otherwise. There are just too many ways to lose life out of combat (Aristocrats are an especially popular way to win outside of combat).

[hyalopterouslemur]

Fateful hour was neat but on too few cards. Seems like our God of Fate could bring in a red touch in the next Commander product, and that would interesting to see if it played with FormOTD.

I like the Squirrel version of this card, of course.

Well, the problem with fateful hour was basically that it rarely mattered. It matters less in EDH, since it's common to be hit for 10 life or more, to say nothing of infinite combos. And any fork or damage doubler turns a simple bolt into a game-winner. I imagine you would need some Ivory Mask variant, first. And second, something like Urza's Armor or Benevolent Unicorn or Gisela, Blade of Goldnight to shut off things that hit you for 1. (Doesn't stop Blood Artist, Falkenrath Noble, and Zulaport Cutthroat.)

[bobthefunny]

Form of the Dragon is a pet 'fun' card in my Jori-En deck. Yes, of course it has backfired several times... it also... has actually done the exact opposite. There have been times that I've been on the back foot, and the inability to be hit by ground forces has been instrumental in surviving a few extra key turns.

I've also played it before when at full life in order to permanently keep someone's Commander off the table, which was instrumental in reestablishing field control.

Is it a great card that everyone should run? No, of course not. But it's certainly not useless, nor even certainly bad. It's a gamble, but that's why you play it when the downside of the gamble won't really leave you worse off than you are. Plus, it's just straight up fun.

It's great to have someone ask you if you have an answer to the problems on the board, and you just go, "No, but I can become a DRAGON! And dragon's don't care!"

[Mookie]

Form of the Dragon is a sweet card, but also a high-risk one. Shooting things for 5 per turn is good, as is a one-sided Moat. But the real danger is getting your life total set to 5 each turn, which is going to turn a lot of people off. That much life puts you in 'dies to a stiff breeze' territory - burn, any fliers, Exsanguinate, or just enchantment removal are all options for finishing you off, and any lifegain you have available is effectively nullified.

I used to hear about it as a finisher for Enduring Ideal decks - if you lock your opponents out of playing cards, burning them for 5 a turn is a way to close out the game. It may be outclassed by something at this point though. Alternatively, play it with Zedruu the Greathearted and give it away. It also seems fun to pair with Sandwurm Convergence to turn off attacks entirely. If you have Necropotence or some other way to gain life, you can use the life-setting ability as a benefit.

...7 mana is pretty expensive, but this is definitely a high-risk, high-reward card.

[darrenhabib]

If you can combine Form of the Dragon with other protection for your life total then it can be a fun card.
Worship, Ali from Cairo, Fortune Thief, Serra the Benevolent, Platinum Angel, Platinum Emperion.

Grounding creatures means you can't be attacked Gravity Sphere, Mystic Decree, Archetype of Imagination, Thundercloud Elemental.

[ilovesaprolings]

Grounding creatures means you can't be attacked Gravity Sphere, Mystic Decree, Archetype of Imagination, Thundercloud Elemental.

And sandwurm convergence. probably very crappy and almost unacheivable, but it's freking form of the dragonwurm. It's probably the timmiest combination of cards out there.

[3drinks]

Saturday, February 1st, 2020; Goblin Razerunners

[Serenade]

[double-checks this was not first printed in Prophecy]

[3drinks]

[double-checks this was not first printed in Prophecy]

I know exactly what you mean.............

[Mookie]

This card seems.... not great. Sacrificing a land for a +1/+1 counter isn't a very good exchange rate. I suppose it is better if you're playing Lord Windgrace or have some way to benefit from your lands dying, but that's a bit niche. Burning something for each counter it has is more interesting though - there are many ways to throw piles of counters on a creature, like Death's Presence and Reyhan, Last of the Abzan. Of course, this raises the question of why you would throw your counters on Goblin Razerunners to deal damage instead of an evasive creature so you can just attack.... Maybe if you have Strionic Resonator to copy the trigger?

Yeah, I'm sort of drawing a blank here.

[Sinis]

Saturday, February 1st, 2020; Goblin Razerunners

It was good at the prerelease, and I haven't sleeved it up since.

[ilovesaprolings]

Opened it twice: both in conflux and battlebond... yay!

[hyalopterouslemur]

This card seems.... not great.

Psst...You can get counters from other sources. Favorites like Blade of the Bloodchief, Curse of Stalked Prey, Increasing Savagery, and I guess Curse of Predation can help. Or just go with the old standby Cathars' Crusade.

[onering]

Yeah it's fairly solid when you aren't relying on the land sac to get it counters, but instead it's getting counters from other sources, especially sources that don't just give counters to one creature. But the land sac effect isn't bad either. It turns late lands into counters and damage, granted a small amount at a time but it's still an option. It's a reasonable enough card without the land sac ability, so you need to look at that as something you usually won't use but that will occasionally be beneficial. It works pretty well with crucible as well, and there are definitely certain lands you'd want to sac repeatedly (like flagstones of trokair or that one from kamigawa that makes a 1/1 when it dies).

[3drinks]

For 4R this loops well enough with Drownyard Temple.

[3drinks]

Sunday, February 2nd, 2020; Disturbed Burial

A nice, reasonable value engine. It's no Tortured Existence, but it'll do well enough.

[DirkGently]

I'd be more likely to compare it (unfavorably) to phyrexian reclamation.

I considered this for my Child of Alara a long long time ago, but I don't think it ever made the cut. Even the realm of creature recursion that doesn't require a nonland permanent on board, this was still too weak imo.

Being countered by grave hate is a real downside for something so slow and predictable. By the time you cast this a second time, you've invested 10 mana, so it's really plausible than an opponent has had the chance to get some grave hate available. Compare to corpse dance which is way more powerful and can't be countered on resolution. Or even to something like grim harvest that's also better at avoiding total wreckage from in-response grave hate - it still gets countered, but at least you can get it back later. And the upfront cost for your late-game value engine isn't as high, when you really just need a raise dead. If this was an instant it'd help a lot too. But at sorcery speed, woof.

[Toshi]

I'd rather compare this to Corpse Dance. And Disturbed Burial is just so much worse, unfortunately.

Btw, how do Buyback spells work with Kess, Dissident Mage?

"If a card cast this way would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead."

So, if i cast a spell with Buyback from my graveyard, will it go to my hand, since it wouldn't be put back into the graveyard?

[Serenade]

Paying the buyback would put it into you hand instead of the GY: It would not be exiled.

[DirkGently]

I believe you get the option to do either. If multiple replacement effects are applicable to the same event, then you get to choose which happens. Then, if the event is still applicable for the other replacement, then the other replacement happens as well.

In this case, once you've chosen to put it into hand or exile, the other one wouldn't apply since it isn't going to the grave anymore, which is the event that was being replaced. Presumably you'd choose to put it into hand, but if you wanted to exile it for some reason I'm fairly sure you could.

[3drinks]

I believe you get the option to do either. If multiple replacement effects are applicable to the same event, then you get to choose which happens. Then, if the event is still applicable for the other replacement, then the other replacement happens as well.

In this case, once you've chosen to put it into hand or exile, the other one wouldn't apply since it isn't going to the grave anymore, which is the event that was being replaced. Presumably you'd choose to put it into hand, but if you wanted to exile it for some reason I'm fairly sure you could.

This is accurate.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Obvious comparisons include Phyrexian Reclamation, Living Death, Corpse Dance, and this is worse than all of them.

Bear in mind, Raise Dead effects are not inherently bad. I'm fond of Undertaker and Evolution Charm, to name two that actually make it work. Even Gravedigger is a thing in zombie tribal. And something like Morbid Plunder that gives you actual card advantage without paying through the nose for it can also work.

[Mookie]

Disturbed Burial is pretty inefficient - there are a lot of ways to recur creature cards from graveyard to hand. Two mana isn't that costly, but still more than Raise Dead. And if you're planning to recur multiple creatures, it looks really bad compared to Phyrexian Reclamation and Death Denied. Meanwhile, Corpse Dance returns cards directly to play.

If you really wanted Disturbed Burial to do work, it would probably be in a buyback-themed deck, with Memory Crystal and a bunch of cost reducers. Of course, at that point you'll be running a bunch of instants and sorceries, so you may not have many creatures worth recurring, but meh. As pointed out, Kess, Dissident Mage works with buyback, so you only need to pay the buyback cost when you cast it from your graveyard. Still somewhat inefficient though - the only buyback card I'm currently running in my build is Whispers of the Muse, and don't think I have any interest in Disturbed Burial at all. Although I am planning to test out Order of Midnight, which functions somewhat similarly. Hmmm...

[Sinis]

Sunday, February 2nd, 2020; Disturbed Burial

Many have already stated the objectionable qualities of this card, but I think it does have one thing going for it: It's hard to interact with.

Short of a counterspell or instant-speed graveyard hate, it's going to work over and over. The same cannot be said for the variety of enchantments and creatures that will do the same thing.

Would I play it? I still consider it, but it's been a long while since I've sleeved it up. It (and its generally superior competitors like Phyrexian Reclamation) just aren't an effect I usually look for.