[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - North Star

[Igzex]

me

Oh ok. I understand ;_;

[hyalopterouslemur]

It irks me now that 5 mana is the benchmark for "if you let this alone for two turns I will win the game" but on the balance I guess it's fair.

I wish they would make more of this effect in white and blue because the two times I cloned this thing with Ephara were...very nice

That's a big stretch. I'm also cool with only green getting verdant force.

It's good that most things/mechanics aren't designed for EDH. Mechanics that you have to keep track of are also iffy.

This effect could be white, though it also granting +2/+2 on the same card is iffy, since you're effectively making a ton of 3/3s.

I have to say, this is a good idea. Not all forces are created equal, and white still has the worst (which is fair, they're all 7/7). So green can keep up with Magmatic and Baleful.

[DirkGently]

I actually think CIty's Blessing is so great for the reasons you think its meh. It's enough of a challenge to be a fun mini goal in limited, yet so automatic in commander that some of the cards are actually playable. You can count on having this Dryad do her thing in commander and being high impact, yet not so much in limited so while she was an absolute bomb she wasn't pack rat level format breaking. the same is true about basically any of the ascend cards that have commander viability. That's pretty good design.

The only thing separating dryad from the hall of fame most-broken-limited-bombs is that you can kill it. If you don't have removal right away you're screwed though.

Even in limited dryad was basically auto-blessing. If they have the removal to kill dryad the blessing doesn't matter anyway, so it's basically only relevant when they have no removal but a lot of pressure to force chump blocks.

There are some other designs like Twilight Prophet where blessing is at least a barrier sometimes- easier to get in commander obviously, but at least it's meaningful text. I feel like city's blessing was stuck onto dryad just to make the mechanic seem more important in the set.

[Mookie]

Tendershoot Dryad is a very strong token producer, and a real threat when you have the city's blessing (which you'll pretty much always have by the time you untap with it). It's a much stronger upgrade over Verdant Force. Obviously a massive beating in Limited, but also a solid card in EDH. (also, obligatory 'why does green have better token producers than white' callout)

re: City's Blessing in general... personally, I appreciate how the play patterns differ between different formats. In Limited / Standard, it can be somewhat difficult to reach the threshold - you're incentivized to protect your permanents instead of trading them off, and it provides a nice build-around / quest to complete. On the other hand, in EDH, it's generally trivial to reach ten permanents, which means the cards are more consistent... but due to the higher power level of the format, that's sort of necessary for cards to be playable. There are a lot of limited-only mechanics that don't really see play elsewhere, and I appreciate that city's blessing didn't end up being one of them. The relatively small number of cards with it (and varying payoffs) means there isn't much incentive to build a dedicated deck though, but the mechanic is self-contained enough that it doesn't really feel parasitic.

I play Arch of Orazca in a few decks, and I've seen Wayward Swordtooth and Tilonalli's Summoner in a few decks too. I don't think I've seen any of the others. I would like to test out Twilight Prophet, but... I don't think it's worth the pricetag. Seriously, I've never seen it played anywhere - EDH or Standard - and it costs how much?

[3drinks]

Monday, August 2nd, 2021; Kruphix, God of Horizons|sld

[Dunharrow]

Remember when people would jam Kruphix into any UG deck, and then it would basically be ignored? Like a 5 mana reliquary tower.
It's funny that I never see it as a commander, but if I did I would be gunning for that player. Nothing fair to be done with it.

I think Doubling Cube is one of the best cards for Kruphix. That and Seedborn Muse.
But it just does so little compared to a dozen simic commanders.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Kruphix is a weird god. The colorless mana bank is neat, but the infinite handsize feels random and tacked on. Still, probably among the fairer UG generals these days.

[Sinis]

Monday, August 2nd, 2021; Kruphix, God of Horizons

I dont' think I've ever cast my copy.

I'm sure it's good. Somewhere.

[pokken]

Kruphix is an extremely powerful control shell general - the banking mana allows you to hold interaction up and gain functional tempo by people playing around you having mana up, and then store it. The handsize rider is kinda whatever, but being an indestructible enchantment is huge.

He's at his best with a crapload of interaction and colorless bombs you can play for "free."

Allowing Awakening and Wilderness Reclamation type effects to basically act as mana doublers is very nice.

I don't particularly enjoy the play patterns but he's undeniably powerful.

[materpillar]

Monday, August 2nd, 2021; Kruphix, God of Horizons|sld

This has roughly been my experience. Seedborn Muse → generate a billion mana → win somehow or another.

I really need a snore emoji

[pokken]

This has roughly been my experience. Seedborn Muse → generate a billion mana → win somehow or another.

I really need a snore emoji

The old "it's not an infinite combo so it's fine right guys? right guys?"

:yawn:

[umtiger]

This has roughly been my experience. Seedborn Muse → generate a billion mana → win somehow or another.

I really need a snore emoji

The old "it's not an infinite combo so it's fine right guys? right guys?"

:yawn:

I mean, it's not Kinnan.

I'm not going to complain about anyone playing Kinnan if they want. But I'm definitely not going to complain about anyone playing Kruphix.

[hyalopterouslemur]

The colorless mana bank is more useful than the infinite hand size, which seems to be mostly there to fit into blue. (But then green has infinite hand size too.) Infinite hand size has value in some (but by no means all) control decks, like synergy with Arcane Lab or holding a fist full of counterspells in the shadow of a Winter Orb

This is mostly to accel big dumb spells. If your deck has a ton of mana sinks, it's not so useful. But it is a way to get the Kozilek line from OGW out.

[Mookie]

Remember when people would jam Kruphix into any UG deck, and then it would basically be ignored? Like a 5 mana reliquary tower.

Less 'ignore' and more 'accept it and move on'. Indestructible enchantments are pretty hard to kill, so once it hits the field, it's just part of the rest of the game most of the time.... and if Kruphix is a creature, it is usually a sign that something has gone horribly wrong.

Anyway, as far as Simic rampanddrawcards.dek commanders go, Kruphix is pretty fair (minus the whole 'impossible to kill' thing) - it neither ramps nor draws cards itself, and five mana means it usually doesn't come down too early. It can definitely fuel some degenerate things though, particularly alongside Seedborn Muse effects to untap lands - just stockpile a ton of mana and funnel it into some massive spells.

[3drinks]

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2021; Lightning Greaves|afc

Despite literally a hundred prints this retains a $6 price tag. Idk about you, but I've moved on a bit past Lightning Nikes, the format is such a different animal than it was a decade ago when these were everywhere.

[DirkGently]

I play these in basically every deck where my commander has a tap ability, really wants to get into combat (without other equipment - otherwise this can become a problem), or where I think I'll need to protect my commander. Not for every deck, but definitely fits into a lot of them imo.

[cheonice]

Lightning Greaves and its child Swiftfoot Boots still have their place in the format as a cheap and reliable source of haste and protection. There is a reason they are number 3 and 4 at edhrec's artifact page.

Notable cousins of the "shoes and other clothes that offer protection and a bonus" family include
Winged Boots
Whispersilk Cloak
Champion's Helm
Cloak and Dagger
Mask of Avacyn

[PrimevalCommander]

Still one of the standards for commander protection, especially for commanders who want haste. Hard to argue with the efficiency of this one. There have been better one-shot effects printed, but Greaves still holds its own where it's wanted.

[materpillar]

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2021; Lightning Greaves|afc

Despite literally a hundred prints this retains a $6 price tag. Idk about you, but I've moved on a bit past Lightning Nikes, the format is such a different animal than it was a decade ago when these were everywhere.

I feel like Lightning Greaves are both better and worse than they used to be. I run into less sweepers and more spot removal than I used to making them blank more of my opponents cards than in years past. However, the format is more powerful and synergy based and the boots don't usually do a whole lot to further gameplans. When they're good they're still really good, they're just wanted by less decks than they used to be.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

The nikes are still as good as they've ever been, just played less. There was a good little while where sol ring-> greaves was my favorite t1 play.

[Mookie]

Lightning Greaves are still excellent.... but yeah, as the format has evolved, they are definitely being played differently. I used to see them played in pretty much every deck for the shroud - if a deck had a commander that they wanted to stick around, they would play the greaves to protect them. But these days, I feel like it's all about the haste - if your commander has a tap ability or needs to attack, Lightning Greaves goes way up in value. They're certainly still used to protect commanders (and other creatures), but I feel like people are less likely to throw removal at a commander 'on principle' the days, and instead save that removal for higher-value targets. Plus, the fact that most removal is instant-speed means that equipment is usually weaker protection than an actual counterspell / protection spell.

Anyway, these are excellent in my Thada and Brago decks - the free equip cost means they can attack immediately, which is excellent. They're also good in various equipment-based decks that are capable of tutoring them up. And, of course, Swiftfoot Boots usually goes in the same decks. If you're not running a red deck, the two of them are some of the best sources of haste available, so they tend to show up in the same decks a lot. I think Lightning Greaves is stronger overall due to the free equip cost, but if you plan to stack up a lot of equipment, hexproof can be more useful.

[Igzex]

I mean, they're still pretty good for decks that care about attacking with creatures but that whole plan isn't that great anymore as this format sprints even further in the direction of value engines, resource denial, and combo.

[pokken]

Man I hate this card. It's just so...lame. interact. I Always bias toward reactive protection spells since they don't telegraph and don't force people's hand. If you have removal and I equip greaves you are forced to do it then or at least think really hard. Otherwise you might wait until it comes at you.

[hyalopterouslemur]

If you need your commander, this is really good. Spot removal? LOL

It's also good with tap abilities or in Voltron. I even put it on my Sun Titan, ideally with Unquestioned Authority or Spirit Mantle.

[umtiger]

With the increase in spot removal, I think Greaves is actually better than ever.

Haste was always more important part of the card, but now the shroud part matters more since you're fighting more StP's and fewer WoG's.