[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - North Star

[ilovesaprolings]

Best removal ever

[JWK]

Best removal ever

Pretty much. The only real competitor is Path to Exile. Situationally either of them can be somewhat better than the other, but everything else is so far behind there's no real comparison.

Whenever and wherever I play, graveyard/recursion decks are always a thing. As such, I greatly prefer exile removal over destroy/kill. I really wish some of black's exile effects were cheaper.

[3drinks]

Absolutely a great removal spell, but I'm shocked how little appreciation people have for the comparable removal spells Pongify and Rapid Hybridization, which are also 1-mana instant creature removal spells with mostly negligible downsides. One thing I love about cheap interaction is that its power is proportional to the power of the meta. In a meta where people are playing scary combo creatures, it solves the problem. In a meta where people are beating down with big dumb battlecruisers, it solves the problem.

I don't expect I'll cut any of them from Phelddagrif ever. 1 mana to solve a creature is just so reliable.

Probably because giving people random apes or frog lizard creatures has shell shocked people after they came back to haunt the caster with random swords attached. I suspect Reality Shift suffers a similar fate, but at least that exiles.

I don't think that's the correct reaction. But it is in line with the a-typical commander player's average knee jerk reaction to them as such.

[materpillar]

Hot take, I'm not really a big fan of Swords to Plowshares. I only run it in 2 of the 6 decks that I own that have white. From an optimization standpoint, it does the thing that it does better than any card (unless you're doing stupid stuff like me). I tend to build towards decks that amuse me and Swords to Plowshares is blandly good in a way that it's hard to make interesting. I also tend to make an extremely strict theme and stick to it. It's very rare that Swords to Plowshares falls into that theme.

I'm going to roll through my white decks for my own amusement.

Golos, Tireless Pilgrim storm - This is my full glass cannon deck that I mostly just goldfish. It's only interaction is turn 4-5 Tendrils of Agony.

Golos, Tireless Pilgrim - I'm trying to have the worst curve I can possibly have. Adding an efficient 1cc removal spell is the opposite of that theme. Its slot is taken by Sickening Shoal which is I think is better here than StP would be since it's free and discarding a Hypnox that I don't end up casting doesn't matter.

The Ur-Dragon Changeling Tribal - StP slot is taken by Crib Swap which is actually stronger than StP because it only costs 1W as a result it being a dragon for eminence and then it interacts extremely well with things like Higure, the Still Wind, Elder Pine of Jukai and such.

Progenitus dredge - I run the entire original shards charm cycle (Grixis Charm and what not). No real reason, just because I find them vaguely more interesting and have nostalgia for cards of that era.

Gishath, Sun's Avatar and Chromium both run StP because they're more goodstuffy and StP is good.

[JWK]

Absolutely a great removal spell, but I'm shocked how little appreciation people have for the comparable removal spells Pongify and Rapid Hybridization, which are also 1-mana instant creature removal spells with mostly negligible downsides. One thing I love about cheap interaction is that its power is proportional to the power of the meta. In a meta where people are playing scary combo creatures, it solves the problem. In a meta where people are beating down with big dumb battlecruisers, it solves the problem.

I don't expect I'll cut any of them from Phelddagrif ever. 1 mana to solve a creature is just so reliable.

Probably because giving people random apes or frog lizard creatures has shell shocked people after they came back to haunt the caster with random swords attached. I suspect Reality Shift suffers a similar fate, but at least that exiles.

I don't think that's the correct reaction. But it is in line with the a-typical commander player's average knee jerk reaction to them as such.

Yeah, a lot of people are afraid of giving an opponent anything, regardless how worthless. And I .think we've all had the experience of giving an opponent a token and having them turn it into a win. I still remember the time I cast Swan Song only to have my opponent voltron that bird token into a quickly lethal threat. But it's much more common that the changeling/bird/ape/frog lizard/elephant token does absolutely nothing. Singular, small vanilla creatures arent' much of a threat in this format most of the time.

Pongify, Rapid Hybridization, Beast Within, Generous Gift etc are fantastic cards. The only drawback they have is that they destroy rather than exiling.

[Dunharrow]

StP is only in 52% of white decks on EDHrec. It is not an exciting card, but 100% should be in every white deck. Until Conspiracy came out, it was pretty hard to find copies of it. Now it is reprinted so often I feel like there is no excuse not to have it in a deck (except as pointed out earlier, if you intentionally leave it out for power or flavour reasons).
Frustrating that they won't print Path to Exile as often. I think I only have 2-3 decks that play it.

[Ginuqu]

The card's too good, I don't get why they reprint it over and over. Or rather, I DO get why they reprint it but wish they'd introduce two-cost removal spells which deserve to cost two and stop with all the Swords, Paths and Pushes

[umtiger]

Hot take, I'm not really a big fan of Swords to Plowshares.

I don't think that's a hot take. If you don't personally include it in your decks, it's okay. People don't have to play all the staples, there's so many alternatives and different ways to build a deck.

Now, if you said that StP isn't that good. That's a hot/wrong take.

StP is so much better than Pongify and Rapid Hybridization (except you can pitch to FoW). Remove from the game is the only solution to certain problems.

The card's too good, I don't get why they reprint it over and over. Or rather, I DO get why they reprint it but wish they'd introduce two-cost removal spells which deserve to cost two and stop with all the Swords, Paths and Pushes

Is this still about EDH or a 60-card format?

[Wallycaine]

52% actually seems pretty reasonable to me. To start with, while Swords to Plowshares is 100% the best spot removal spell in the game, not every deck wants spot removal. A particular deck may prefer to run wraths for their interaction, or just doesn't have room in their gameplan for interacting. Adding onto that, while it's strong removal, it's also not terribly synergistic removal. So a particular deck may prefer to run removal that synergizes with their commander/deck more, even if it's worse in a vacuum. Now, that said, it's still a really great card and should have a reason to be excluded most of the time... but I can see between flavor, power, and structure reasons that happening enough to get it to 52% or so.

[RxPhantom]

Swords to Plowshares and friends are doing a lot of work keeping white relevant in the format. Good card is good.

[ilovesaprolings]

Pretty much. The only real competitor is Path to Exile. Situationally either of them can be somewhat better than the other, but everything else is so far behind there's no real comparison.

Honestly i started to dislike pte. My last games with it usually went this way:
opponent: cast commander
me: pte
*next turn* opponent: land drop, cast commander again

[pokken]

I run stp most of the time but I'll never run it before more generalized effects like Unexpectedly Absent. I prefer to run removal that's rarely dead first if I can.

I'll usually run generous gift and beast within first as well but usually not vindicate. Anguished unmaking maybe.

I usually do wind up running it but I can be convinced to cut it

I will almost never run path to exile. Ramping people suuuucks.

[Mookie]

I'm actually not running Swords to Plowshares in any of my white decks. It's certainly possible that choice is incorrect, but.... My primary complaint with it is a lack of synergy - there are very few white cards that have synergy with instants (pretty much the only one I can think of is Monastery Mentor). In an Izzet deck, you could use your instants to trigger Niv-Mizzet, Parun or recur it with Snapcaster Mage, but for white decks it's almost always going to be a one-shot effect.

I would also say that I value creature removal pretty low. I find that the biggest problem cards tend to be noncreatures, so I prefer more flexible removal like Council's Judgment and Generous Gift, assuming I'm not just running Heliod's Intervention or another Disenchant effect. Simultaneously, white decks have access to a ton of options for Wrath of God effects capable of dealing with multiple creatures at the same time. I generally build my decks to be less creature-dependent, with more board wipes instead of spot removal.

For my decks specifically, I'm not running any mono-white decks, which also contributes to this. Sharuum and Teysa both have access to black, which brings stuff like Anguished Unmaking and Grave Pact. Brago prefers more synergistic options like Exclusion Ritual. Samut.... probably should be running more interaction.

[umtiger]

I'm actually not running Swords to Plowshares in any of my white decks. It's certainly possible that choice is incorrect, but.... My primary complaint with it is a lack of synergy - there are very few white cards that have synergy with instants

Even if the choice is incorrect, there's nothing wrong with it because you can build however you want. I don't run Sol Ring in 3 of my decks right now. I'm quite sure it's correct, but I wouldn't matter to me even if it was incorrect.

Just play the cards you want/like even if they are not good or there are better options. It's kinda of a downer when the Random Card is some piece that a poster wants to include but "just can't/won't" because it wasn't "good enough."

As long as people don't post stuff like StP isn't "good enough."

I do play it in my Brago deck. Getting rid of a blocker is enough synergy for me.

[Dunharrow]

52% actually seems pretty reasonable to me. To start with, while Swords to Plowshares is 100% the best spot removal spell in the game, not every deck wants spot removal. A particular deck may prefer to run wraths for their interaction, or just doesn't have room in their gameplan for interacting. Adding onto that, while it's strong removal, it's also not terribly synergistic removal. So a particular deck may prefer to run removal that synergizes with their commander/deck more, even if it's worse in a vacuum. Now, that said, it's still a really great card and should have a reason to be excluded most of the time... but I can see between flavor, power, and structure reasons that happening enough to get it to 52% or so.

I think every deck wants at least one spot removal card, and if you are playing white this is the best one. I get it, though. You want to build around your general and so you put synergistic cards over removal spells. I get it. I have done it.

I guess some people may be playing more versatile removal instead. I could see playing Assassin's Trophy and Generous Gift over StP.
I do think Exile and 1 mana make StP worthwhile.

[Toshi]

When it comes to cards with potential on par with Swords to Plowshares there are usually just 3 reasons for me to consider not running them:

1. I'm in colors that come with more flexible options. E.g. might not have equally mana-efficient removal, but plenty of more flexible options.
2. I'm looking for a more toned down power level. As not to shark on other potential matchups i might run Crib Swap, Angelic Ascension and the likes instead.
3. I'm looking for something else out of it. E.g. ETB triggers or death triggers. Unfortunately as far as death triggers go, mono doesn't look too great. Giant Killer // Chop Down, Valorous Stance and Afterlife among others aren't anywhere close to comparable.

Cyclonic Rift is another prime example of a card i think is too powerful, ubiquitous, but still near indispensable, due to the lack of viable alternatives. Come on R&D, print an Evacuation variant that says "nonland permanents" and StP/PtE variant that just kills already!

[pokken]

at least one spot removal card, and if you are playing white this is the best one

I would say if you are only going to run one, Unexpectedly Absent or Generous Gift are better.

I think between 4 and 10 is more likely to be correct than one But it does vary from deck to deck

[3drinks]

The card's too good, I don't get why they reprint it over and over. Or rather, I DO get why they reprint it but wish they'd introduce two-cost removal spells which deserve to cost two and stop with all the Swords, Paths and Pushes

The creation of more two cmc removal will not invalidate the existence and playability of more efficient one cmc removal.

I will almost never run path to exile. Ramping people suuuucks.

I've had this same take for years and I've always gotten poo poo'd on for having the "audacity" to insist this spell is hot garbage. Giving people a land is a huge, huge tempo mistake and there's so many other things I'd do before I'd help you fix your colours. We need more Declaration in Stones but ain't nobody ready for that conversation yet.

[Mookie]

The creation of more two cmc removal will not invalidate the existence and playability of more efficient one cmc removal.

Going in the opposite direction, there are other options for cheap white removal - Condemn, Journey to Nowhere, Seal Away, Oust. The issue is that they're generally either conditional or temporary (if not both). I'd definitely like there to be more options.

Looking at EDHREC, the most-played white spot removal spells after Swords (52%) and Path (28%) are:

• Generous Gift (14%)
• Oblivion Ring (7%)
• Darksteel Mutation (5%)
• Winds of Abandon (5%)
• Banishing Light (4%)
• Grasp of Fate (4%)

To contrast with black's spot removal options:

• Plaguecrafter (11%)
• Ravenous Chupacabra (8%)
• Fleshbag Marauder (7%)
• Shriekmaw (7%)
• Hero's Downfall (6%)
• Go for the Throat (6%)
• Murder (5%)
• The Eldest Reborn (5%)
• Noxious Gearhulk (4%)
• Tragic Slip (4%)
• Doom Blade (4%)
• Merciless Executioner (4%)

Even excluding the Fleshbag Marauder variants, I'd say that black has a much more impressive long tail of removal options - white's viable options after Swords / Path go downhill really fast, especially if you don't want to be running Oblivion Ring variants.

[3drinks]

The creation of more two cmc removal will not invalidate the existence and playability of more efficient one cmc removal.

Going in the opposite direction, there are other options for cheap white removal - Condemn, Journey to Nowhere, Seal Away, Oust. The issue is that they're generally either conditional or temporary (if not both). I'd definitely like there to be more options.

Looking at EDHREC, the most-played white spot removal spells after Swords (52%) and Path (28%) are:

• Generous Gift (14%)
• Oblivion Ring (7%)
• Darksteel Mutation (5%)
• Winds of Abandon (5%)
• Banishing Light (4%)
• Grasp of Fate (4%)

I'm shocked winds of abandon is even listed. At least play Settle the Wreckage. I mean it's still bad, but at least it's instant and doesn't give the whole table a blow out over you.

I'm even more shocked that Doom Blade is still maintaining a presence in 2020.

[Wallycaine]

The creation of more two cmc removal will not invalidate the existence and playability of more efficient one cmc removal.

Going in the opposite direction, there are other options for cheap white removal - Condemn, Journey to Nowhere, Seal Away, Oust. The issue is that they're generally either conditional or temporary (if not both). I'd definitely like there to be more options.

Looking at EDHREC, the most-played white spot removal spells after Swords (52%) and Path (28%) are:

• Generous Gift (14%)
• Oblivion Ring (7%)
• Darksteel Mutation (5%)
• Winds of Abandon (5%)
• Banishing Light (4%)
• Grasp of Fate (4%)

I'm shocked winds of abandon is even listed. At least play Settle the Wreckage. I mean it's still bad, but at least it's instant and doesn't give the whole table a blow out over you.

I'm even more shocked that Doom Blade is still maintaining a presence in 2020.

Winds of Abandon is pretty good. Having a card that's split between a 1 sided wrath and solid removal spell is two great modes, and the "ramp" has diminishing returns, especially when you're removing multiple actual cards for it.

[pokken]

Winds is definitely way underrated. My win rate when resolving it overloaded in ephara is still approaching 100%.
(I cannot remember a single loss and remember at least 10 wins).

[3drinks]

Sunday, November 22nd, 2020; The Zenith Cycle

Too many people sleep on red sun when it's recyclable exile removal, and even serves as a kill condition once you've drawn your deck. All of these tbh are solid roleplayers - especially white. Anyone whom says otherwise has never gotten blown out by a swarm of angry cats mid-combat 🙄

[Mookie]

The Zenith cycle is sweet.

Green Sun's Zenith is an efficient tutor, and the strongest of the bunch - a bit limited by only fetching green creatures, but that's not really a difficult restriction.
Blue Sun's Zenith is a big draw spell. I've also seen its ability to shuffle back in at instant speed come up a few times to prevent decking, and it also works with infinite mana to mill people out.
Black Sun's Zenith is a reasonable board wipe. It's a bit expensive for what it does - it's generally going to be more expensive than a Damnation - but it also deals with indestructible creatures. It's also a fantastic way to sling around piles of -1/-1 counters for Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons.
White Sun's Zenith I'm a bit less excited about - you need a fairly large X for this to feel worth it, which can be difficult for some white decks. Still, throw in a few anthems and it's a solid army-in-a-can. I run it in my cube, where it's a fun finisher for token decks.
Red Sun's Zenith is an okay Blaze, but I feel like there are better options. Exiling creatures is nice, and something red doesn't have a lot of, but it's hard to compete with Comet Storm if you're just looking for a finisher.

I'll note that the ability to shuffle back in makes all of these nice for longer games. It isn't necessarily common for you to redraw them, but it's nice when it happens - X spells scale pretty gracefully into the lategame. That said, a lot of them do face competition from other spells if you don't care about that feature.

I'll call out the Finale cycle (Finale of Devastation, Finale of Eternity, Finale of Glory, Finale of Promise, and Finale of Revelation) as a more recent comparison. The effects line up pretty closely (minus the red ones), with the Finales trading in the shuffle ability for even more lategame value.

[JWK]

Pretty much. The only real competitor is Path to Exile. Situationally either of them can be somewhat better than the other, but everything else is so far behind there's no real comparison.

Honestly i started to dislike pte. My last games with it usually went this way:
opponent: cast commander
me: pte
*next turn* opponent: land drop, cast commander again

That's one of those cases where "situationally better" comes into play. At some points in some games, giving an opponent an extra land can come back to bite you. Other times, especially late in the game, giving someone a basic land might not matter at all, whereas giving them life might... or, again, might not. Overall I have found the relative pros and cons of the two cards more or less even out, but it can also be a meta call. In very fast metas, ramping someone can be catastrophic, and in heavy combo metas or cEDH, giving someone any amount of life probably doesn't matter when you're winning with Thassa's Oracle.