[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - North Star

[pokken]

This is my usual curve topper in black control decks that play all the free counterspells to protect it So not a lot of decks, but I really liked it in Inalla.

Kinda like a sweeper and Recurring Insight at the same time.

[Hawk]

I haven't run this in ages. 8 mana is a lot, and (while I'm sure the math would prove it wrong), I sometimes fall into the mindset of "why pay 8 for this when I can pay 9 for In Garruk's Wake or Plague Wind to make it one-sided?". One-sided generally feels better than "draw a ton", at least in the creature-centric builds I tend to have. It's also in general worse than Overwhelming Forces although budget concerns would probably have me grabbing decree. This seems better in a more controlling build both because the mana savings might matter and because the fail-rate of a cantripping instant speed Infest might also come up.

This is obviously a good card but I'm surprised to see it at nearly 16000 decks on EDHRECs. For context that's way more than Plague Wind (3500ish) or Garruk's Wake (13000), and only a little less than Forces (18000). It is also more played than Black Sun's Zenith (10500ish), Crux of Fate (11000), and Life's Finale (4000) - I think this is better, but so much better than it is played in 50% more decks is a surprise. Maybe I'm underrating it? I feel more like people are overrating the "versatility" of cycling this bad boy.

[pokken]

If you don't play a lot of creatures or most of them are ETB value dudes with crappy bodies (e.g. Wood Elves ) turning them into cards is way better than keeping them.

[ZenN]

It's also in general worse than Overwhelming Forces although budget concerns would probably have me grabbing decree.

Wow, I legit had no idea that card existed. ~$60 in Canuck dollars isn't the worst thing ever. Obviously overpriced just because it's P3K, but it is a strong effect, even at 8 mana.

Huh, I think I need to find a spot for one of these at some point.

[Sinis]

It's also in general worse than Overwhelming Forces although budget concerns would probably have me grabbing decree.

Wow, I legit had no idea that card existed. ~$60 in Canuck dollars isn't the worst thing ever. Obviously overpriced just because it's P3K, but it is a strong effect, even at 8 mana.

Huh, I think I need to find a spot for one of these at some point.

You'll be happy to know there's a judge foil in circulation that's approx 50-60% of the price of an English P3K one.

[onering]

Overwhelming forces only hits one opponent though. Its a penny rare on mtgo, and it doesn't play very well because often you cast a sweeper to deal with more than one opponent.

Conversely, the all opponents vs all players is really important, so it determines which is better depending on the deck. In Garruk's Wake is great, if you have a lot of creature on the board. It's significantly worse than decree when you're running a deck that doesn't have a lot of creatures, a deck that only needs to wipe the board if its behind (so you wouldn't need to pull the trigger on a wipe if you had enough creatures that you'd want it to be one sided anyway, making In Garruk's Wake a win more play), or a deck that can easily get dudes back from the yard. Decree, on the other hand, is so much better when you are behind, or when you are running a deck with a low creature count, or if you don't particularly mind your creatures dying. I'd rather lose a couple creatures and draw a bunch of cards for 8 mana in a lot of decks than spend an extra mana to make it one sided while losing the card draw. In Garruk's Wake is great when you use it to clear the way for attackers, as a game winning play, but Decree is Great in most of the normal situations you want a sweeper.

Decree's only real drawback is that its 8 mana, which is quite frankly brutal. It was a curve topper in the battlecruiser era of edh, and today its stretching it for many 75% metas. Its cycling ability, however, is really relevant, and serves a a sweet combat trick that can't be countered and replaces itself at a more manageable 5 mana, while also taking out plenty of utility creatures. Its a modal spell with one mode being a reliable good not great, with the other being backbreaking if you can get it.

[ZenN]

Ah, I hadn't realized the oracle text on Overwhelming Forces was target opponent. This makes me significantly less interested in the card.

[tstorm823]

I play this in "give people creatures" the deck. It's pretty neato after Alliance of Arms.

[Mookie]

Something I'll call out in regards to Decree of Pain vs In Garruk's Wake is Quadrant Theory. In Garruk's Wake is a better card when you're winning, since it doesn't touch your own board and lets you clear out blockers for an alpha strike. On the other hand, Decree of Pain is better when you're losing or at parity - when you're behind, you probably won't have many creatures to lose, while the card draw is much more relevant when at parity. I'd also say that the cycling mode also makes Decree better in the developing phase.

However, due to the multiplayer nature of EDH, the percentage of time you spend losing or in a stall is significantly larger than the percentage of time you spend winning, which means that Decree is going to perform better the majority of the time. By itself, that isn't enough to make Decree a better card - we do have to consider by how much better the cards perform in the different scenarios. For example, if Wake performed 50% better when winning, and Decree only performed 10% better when at parity or losing, I'd probably still give the edge to Wake. However, I feel that the opposite is true - the extra card draw from Decree is enough to catapult many losing or parity positions into a winning position by itself, while I don't feel that Wake's ability to clear out blockers is particularly valuable for any but the most aggressive of decks (especially since Decree can turn a board of tokens and small creatures into extra card draw anyway).

[toctheyounger]

It's a lot to cast. Even the cycling cost is high for what it does. That being said, it can legitimately turn your game around from being struggle city to top of the pile. It really doesn't take much of a board presence to overfill your hand, so the advantage you can get from this is pretty stellar.

[3drinks]

You're really using the wrong card for comparisons. In Garruk's Wake also hits planeswalkers, and all of them which is only replicated by The Elderspell or Aether Snap. You can really only compare decree to Plague Wind in all fairness. Which, yes, I'd jam decree over in every situation.

[toctheyounger]

Which, yes, I'd jam decree over in every situation.

Not every situation.

[3drinks]

Friday, May 29th, 2020; Mind's Dilation

Big dumb mythic U that takes over games in insurmountable value? Or nah. 🙄

[Dragoon]

I've been playing it since its release in my random Golos, Tireless Pilgrim (which was still helmed by Maelstrom Wanderer at the time). In my experience, it's a good value card that attracts a disproportional amount of hate. It will most often trigger only once per turn, and you will whiff around a third of the time by hitting a land. Still, it is a fun card that I'm never sad to see (except when I have to hard cast it ).

[Mookie]

Mind's Dilation is a fun card. I don't actually think it to be particularly good compared to other blue topend spells (specifically, Cyclonic Rift and Expropriate), but I still run it in a few decks due to it being an entertaining card.

In practice, I think that random spells off the top of opponents' decks are pretty weak on average, especially once you add in the possibility of hitting lands. There are certainly good hits occasionally, but it's really more of a card advantage engine than an actual win condition. Obligatory 'your opponents' decks probably don't synergize with your deck as much as your own deck does' comment, which I should really just start copy/pasting at this point.

In contrast, the amount of hate this card generates is massive. I think a lot of it is because people tend to evaluate cards like this by the worst-case scenario... and when you're potentially slinging free Eldrazi or whatever other finishers they have, that scenario is really, really bad. The net result is it's generally a removal magnet - if you play it, expect people to kill, steal, or copy it, so pack some countermagic to protect it. It's also possible for opponents to play around it by either not casting spells or casting a bunch of spells in a single turn, and it also gets shut down by hate cards like Teferi, Time Raveler. I'll believe that the card is capable of taking over a game if left unchecked, but my experience is that its lifespan is usually less than a single turn cycle. Depends on how much enchantment removal the table is packing, I suppose.

Sidenote: if there are multiple Mind's Dilations on the table, expect the stack to get complicated. Or for the players without one to just stop casting spells entirely.

[Dragoon]

Sidenote: if there are multiple Mind's Dilations on the table, expect the stack to get complicated. Or for the players without one to just stop casting spells entirely.

Now I want to cast Fractured Identity on this bad boy. :laugh:

[Hermes_]

i've had fun with it in my johria suspend deck *evil laugh*

[3drinks]

Sidenote: if there are multiple Mind's Dilations on the table, expect the stack to get complicated. Or for the players without one to just stop casting spells entirely.

Now I want to cast Fractured Identity on this bad boy. :laugh:

When the heck did this become $6?

[tstorm823]

When the heck did this become $6?

It's a neat card that was printed in one pre-con.

[Myllior]

I'm looking at popping it into a Vial Smasher // Kraum // Obosh deck for the extra Vial Smasher triggers. It officially comes under Big Dumb Stuff for me.

[ilovesaprolings]

Big dumb mythic U that takes over games in insurmountable value? Or nah. 🙄

This is the kind of big timmy mythics blue should have, not things like omniscience or expropriate

[pokken]

I just really do not enjoy the design of this card. Much like Etali, Primal Storm but more often I really do not like passing my cards all around the table. I've got a good way to deal with it now with my whiteboard cards but it's still annoying, particularly in my permanent heavy decks that cost a lot of spells.

It's so random that I don't see it winning games very often either.

I wish they would stop putting 'may' on these effects, since it's way more fun when you can screw with it by manipulating your topdeck

But I would prefer they just stop with the exile %$#% from my library and cast it for free effects. It's annoying as a mechanic

[Dragoon]

But I would prefer they just stop with the exile %$#% from my library and cast it for free effects. It's annoying as a mechanic

Hey now, don't wish for stuff like that! How else am I supposed to win with my random deck? With my own cards? Pfff!

[pokken]

I didn't say ban the ones they have just stop printing more

[Outcryqq]

Mind's Dilation plays great in my Vial Smasher the Fierce/Thrasios, Triton Hero deck.