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

[Igzex]

I run this card in my The Ur-Dragon and let me tell you, she has put in some work. As if there weren't enough ways to add value to cracking fetchlands...

Obviously too high a CMC and too vulnerable for a more serious deck though.

[hyalopterouslemur]

Obvious dual type benefit (e.g., artifact creatures, artifact lands enchantment creatures, enchantment artifacts, Dryad Arbor) is obvious.

I should point out nptjing says you have to cast it, or it has to be from your hand, or even that it has fo be nontoken.

Panharmonicon?

[Mookie]

Amareth, the Lustrous is sweet. Six mana is a pretty hefty price for a commander... but it's also a pretty solid draw engine, if you can have a high enough hit rate. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to stack the deck in your favor - topdeck manipulation is the most obvious, but you could also just go really heavy on a specific card type or play a lot of multi-typed cards... or, more likely, just use one trigger to set up the next. Best-case-scenario, assuming you have a 100% hit rate, you have a no-downside Recycle in the command zone, which is pretty strong. Could probably also support a Cheeri0s-style deck, alongside lots of free artifacts (or cheap creatures), which could be amusing.

I'll call out Mirri's Guile, Sensei's Divining Top, and Sylvan Library as strong enablers, as are effects like Sphinx of Jwar Isle.

[3drinks]

Monday, August 23rd, 2021; Void Winnower

Well....

[Dunharrow]

Pretty good top-end. I like this type of hate over something like Iona, Shield of Emeria.
I think easy to include in Rakdos, Lord of Riots, but in most other decks you probably have limited spots at this part of the curve. I would play the legendary eldrazi over this any day.

Does tend to make your board mostly unblockable so it is pretty good at getting damage through.

[Serenade]

Always a good reminder that tokens have MV = 0.

[pokken]

One of the many reasons I love Unexpectedly Absent

[materpillar]

You know what's fun in magic? Casting spells. You know what isn't fun? Not casting spells. This isn't a fun card to play against. It either does next to nothing or completely blows someone out. Not really interesting play patterns here.

[Mookie]

Void Winnower is a very powerful card. You can't use it to lock a single opponent out like Iona, Shield of Emeria - instead, it hits all of your opponents equally (unless one of them is playing Gyruda, Doom of Depths), which means they're all incentivized to deal with it.... and since they can still cast half their spells, everyone should theoretically be capable of killing it. I'll also call out that unlike most lock pieces, which grind the game to a halt, Void Winnower is usually going to accelerate the game to a conclusion - it has a massive body and grants evasion to your team (including making it impossible for most tokens to chump block).

I won't claim that I enjoy playing against Void Winnower, but as lock pieces go, I find it to be pretty fair - nine mana is a lot, it isn't capable of locking people out entirely, and it doesn't have hexproof or another form of protection.

....also, obligatory 'combos with Possibility Storm' comment.

[onering]

One of the many reasons I love Unexpectedly Absent

Why? STP and Path are both options in white, as is Generous Gift. The first two are cheaper and more permanent removal, the third has more flexibility, and all three hit this guy.

[pokken]

One of the many reasons I love Unexpectedly Absent

Why? STP and Path are both options in white, as is Generous Gift. The first two are cheaper and more permanent removal, the third has more flexibility, and all three hit this guy.

Being able to be either even or odd and dealing with indestructible stuff with no side effects (no ramp, no lifegain).

But the specific situation I remember the opponent had a Chalice of the Void on 1 of all things, and multiple people showed 1 mana removal spells, so it holds a special place in my heart

[onering]

One of the many reasons I love Unexpectedly Absent

Why? STP and Path are both options in white, as is Generous Gift. The first two are cheaper and more permanent removal, the third has more flexibility, and all three hit this guy.

Being able to be either even or odd and dealing with indestructible stuff with no side effects (no ramp, no lifegain).

But the specific situation I remember the opponent had a Chalice of the Void on 1 of all things, and multiple people showed 1 mana removal spells, so it holds a special place in my heart

Well, that's a pretty awesome play. Normally though. lifegain is a lot less of a downside than Unexpectedly Absent's cost, if you want the creature to go away for any length of time, and I'd say even Path's ramp is a small enough downside compared to having to hold up mana for UA.

[Wallycaine]

Why? STP and Path are both options in white, as is Generous Gift. The first two are cheaper and more permanent removal, the third has more flexibility, and all three hit this guy.

Being able to be either even or odd and dealing with indestructible stuff with no side effects (no ramp, no lifegain).

But the specific situation I remember the opponent had a Chalice of the Void on 1 of all things, and multiple people showed 1 mana removal spells, so it holds a special place in my heart

Well, that's a pretty awesome play. Normally though. lifegain is a lot less of a downside than Unexpectedly Absent's cost, if you want the creature to go away for any length of time, and I'd say even Path's ramp is a small enough downside compared to having to hold up mana for UA.

My understanding of the typical line of play Pokken follows is to cast Unexpectedly Absent in response to a fetchland/ramp/tutor effect, allowing you to ensure it goes away fairly permanently for only WW. Obviously pumping a larger amount of mana into it is always an option, and it still works fine to get rid of something for 2-3 turns at a (relatively) low cost, but while timing limited, the amount of mana you have to hold up for it is only slightly more than Path or Swords for a far more versatile removal spell.

[toctheyounger]

First person to say they literally cannot even is free to leave the way they came in.

[toctheyounger]

Although to expound on the card a little more I think its fine, good even in a lot of cases. Unfun? I don't think so, no more than Gaddock Teeg or other hatebear effects. And if you really run absolutely nothing to remove it what even is your deck?

The body is fine, very eldrazi. I like it, as a whole. Geberally I play it expecting that its on a time limit; partially because putting extra resource into keeping it alive is inefficient, and partly because doing the same is a bit jerkish. The best abd fairest use of the card is as a temporary roadblock while you keep your tempo up and shoot your shot at a win.

[BeneTleilax]

I wish there were more offbeat rule-setting cards, that don't just tell a specific deck to die(though this does ruin X+Gyruda's day, I guess). I've found this guy interesting to strategize around.

[hyalopterouslemur]

First person to say they literally cannot even is free to leave the way they came in.

I was going to say how odd the card is, thank you very much.

This is interesting. It hurts, but not as much as Iona or to a lesser extent Gaddock Teeg. It's too expensive for most Stax builds, but token Stax (with Earthcraft or Mana Echoes) is a thing.

[Igzex]

I have a better meme based assessment of this card, actually.



Interesting how this card is less vulnerable to spot removal as 2 establishes itself further and further as the gold mana cost standard yet it is more vulnerable to board wipes as 5 mana wraths that offer a small advantage have pushed out the 4 mana straightforward wraths as the standard.

[Dragonlover]

My wife runs it in their 9 drop tribal Jodah deck. Pretty crushing at either WUBRG or being dropped in off Myojin of Life's Web along with every other huge creature because Grozoth tutored it all to hand.

Dragonlover

[plushpenguin]

Its ability to protect itself is... unreliable. Even cmc means that most boardwipes and clones can't be used on it, but a lot of good spot removal is odd cmc (especially 1) and it offers no protection against it.

[cheonice]

First person to say they literally cannot even is free to leave the way they came in.

[3drinks]

Tuesday, August 24th, 2021; Murktide Regent

A cool dragon that is all the rage in Modern right now, but how does it fare in this format?

[BeneTleilax]

Tuesday, August 24th, 2021; Murktide Regent

A cool dragon that is all the rage in Modern right now, but how does it fare in this format?

Cheap evasive beaters are still good here, but not as amazing as they are in modern. I think this guy suffers from his Delve being somewhat awkward in flashback tribal and similar, so people don't run him for synergies that often. At the same time, he's not quite big enough or undercosted enough to run as pure goodstuff.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I mean, go ahead and play your suped up Tombstalker. French vanilla beaters ain't taking you far around here. Unless your deck has synergy with the delve a la food chain, I can't imagine this being particularly good.

[onering]

I have a better meme based assessment of this card, actually.

Narrator voice: he was right