SCD: Rhystic Study

[pokken]

The forthcoming is a bit of a rant. Feel free to try to convince me but I really don't care, I'm just venting. :D

A small legend
SP - Study player

This card is not good in most scenarios. The only reason it's "good" is because your opponents are making poor play decisions, and people count on impatience. Playing this card is basically presuming that at least one of your opponents will make bad decisions in order to "get to play" - it's *almost* a classic Prisoner's Dilemma except that it doesn't really benefit the person who defects (as much as they think it will) so it's more of a false dilemma. It presents as a dilemma where if one person defects everyone should defect, but that's not really an accurate understanding in most cases.

It's certainly possible for it to be correct to defect; there are scenarios where being the only defector will win you the game *if you can win right now* - but way, way too many things are out of your control for this to be correct very often.

If you defect and try to win, the other players are often forced to defect trying to stop you (yuck, more cards for SP). Because Commander is a zero sum game they must expend all resources to prevent your immediate victory even if it guarantee's SP's win).

If you defect and simply try to get ahead, it is very, very difficult to understand if it's actually increasing your win rate!

- It gets worse the more you defect
- It gets more likely for others to defect the more you defect
- You can force others to defect by defecting!
- Reason 44 (1)

What's the bottom line on all this nonsense? My simple rules for playing against Rhystic Study

1) Everyone always cooperates. Even if it means you miss a land drop.
2) Everyone attacks the Rhystic Study player until they are dead or it is removed.

Yeah, there're other sources of bomb card advantage. But this one gives you choices and if everyone makes the right one, people will stop %$#% playing it and wasting all our time.

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Footnotes
(1) People who play Rhystic Study are disproportionately likely to be playing stronger decks than everyone else, because it's a tryhardmobile.

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Appendix

Here's some other reasons why you shouldn't play Rhystic Study that are unrelated to the whole bad/good play dynamic:

* It's a lousy topdeck when you're trying not to lose, because you don't get cards now. Divination is better on turn 7 when you're trying to come back.
* It's extremely random whether or not it helps you hit land drops.
* It wastes game time. So much game time.
* The entire table will collude against you and kill you now because they read my hate letter.

[ISBPathfinder]

I would love to advocate for banning Rhystic from the standpoint that its a miserable card that slows down games and its goodstuff. There is no "right way" to play around rhystic because if you pay the tax every time it still wins. Its a miserable card that does too much and it slows down games as it does it.

You should pay the tax but I am also an advocate of doing something every turn. If paying Rhystic's tax a single time makes you not able to play something then you should do your play and not pay it. If you can't pay Rhystic on two plays.... well then you are being greedy and need to answer rhystic.

[PrimevalCommander]

Even good players don't pay for Rhystic all the time (myself included) because as stated above, you cannot afford to not do things while everyone else does. And no one is going to always pay the 1 and treat it like a Thorn of Amethyst for all spells. Reliability is definitely a factor, but in practice this reliably draws more cards than it's mana value would typically allow, which is why it is so popular. Generally if I can double spell and not pay for 1 trigger, I'll let the single card go through. I am very averse to double spelling and not paying any triggers. That is too greedy for me. Unless I myself am setting up for a win the next round and I need both spells to get the proper set up. That risk my be worth it at that point.

Agree that it monopolized game time and is a groan to play through. I don't use mine much for this reason. It also ensures that you have everyone else's FULL attention at all points in the game, which is not always the best place to be for blue players. So there is the social cost of annoying the table and ensuring no one forgets that it is in play or that you are still drawing cards. It doesn't draw cards instantaneously, but it is a self-contained engine of value, and there are few of those available at such a bargain mana value.

Is Smothering Tithe a good card when it is a 4 mana do-nothing until your opponents next draw phase? It doesn't break even until your opponents collectively draw 4 cards. But I think we can agree that in practice it is more than worth the investment.

[pokken]

Is Smothering Tithe a good card when it is a 4 mana do-nothing until your opponents next draw phase? It doesn't break even until your opponents collectively draw 4 cards. But I think we can agree that in practice it is more than worth the investment.

The tax is twice as much, the payoff is mana instead of cards and there is no option to skip drawing a card; Smothering Tithe and Rhystic Study have basically nothing in common from a play pattern perspective.

(other than wasting game time:D)

And no one is going to always pay the 1 and treat it like a Thorn of Amethyst for all spells.

That's my point, if everyone does and just turns their dudes sideways at the SP then they'll quit playin it :D

I do always pay even if it sets me back unless it's to kill study / win.

[NZB2323]

I recently cut Rhystic Study and Smothering Tithe from my Éowyn, Shieldmaiden deck for Sheriff of Safe Passage and Generous Plunderer.

They had tax synergy with Esper Sentinel, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, but then also negative synergy with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Éowyn, Shieldmaiden.

When playing against it I always try to pay the 1, but make exceptions.