[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Journeyer's Kite

[3drinks]

Friday, March 29th 2024; Getaway Car

I've run Erratic Portal to reasonable success. This feels like another way to get it done, albeit trading a mana req and instant speed for requiring the combat step. But it's a free investment after the initial cast...

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Friday, March 29th 2024; Getaway Car

I've run Erratic Portal to reasonable success. This feels like another way to get it done, albeit trading a mana req and instant speed for requiring the combat step. But it's a free investment after the initial cast...

The bounce being mandatory kills it for me. If you want bounce, Waterfront Bouncer or Crystal shard are much better colored options that don't require risking your 3 toughness engine in combat and give the option to interact as well.

[DirkGently]

The bounce being mandatory kills it for me.

Up to one target. It's not mandatory.

But yeah I agree that I'd rather run an engine that doesn't need to risk death in combat. Three toughness is quite unfortunate. Plus honestly most of the time, a blink engine is better anyway and we've got plenty of those.

[3drinks]

Saturday, March 30th 2024; Eternal Thirst

I think this is just about good enough as a punish towards non-infinite aristocrats strategies but also a payoff to machine gunning everyone else's boards. Also Lurrus-able.

[Dunadain]

I don't think it's good enough anywhere.

You'd need to be an all-in voltron deck, even if you did have a way to recur
the aura, you still lost all the counters you had gained, that also runs a bunch of interaction, which is kind of an oxymoron.

Maybe Skullbriar, the Walking Grave?

Also, as far as I'm concerned, hate for non-infinite versions of a strategy is no hate at all.

👎👎

[Hermes_]

This card also doubles as a name for my dating life

[Serenade]

I'd probably use Necrosynthesis over it. Bonus points for casting it on an opponent's high-power creature that is going to bite it soon.

(I likely would use Tarrian's Soulcleaver over either.)

[3drinks]

Sunday, March 31st 2024; Clone|fbb

[3drinks]

You'd need to be an all-in voltron deck, even if you did have a way to recur
the aura, you still lost all the counters you had gained, that also runs a bunch of interaction, which is kind of an oxymoron.

The counters are on the creature, not the aura.

[Mookie]

Copy effects are playable in the format, but I would say Clone is not. There are at least four strictly-better versions of the effect that do something in addition to copying (i.e. Stunt Double and Gigantoplasm). There are also cards like Spark Double and Glasspool Mimic // Glasspool Shore that can only copy your stuff, but come with other upsides that more than make up for that limitation.

More broadly, I'm a bit low on Clone effects these days. They can make for interesting games, but they're also pretty high-variance. It's not unlikely for my opponents to have no creatures I'm interested in copying because their creatures only make sense in their deck. Copying my own stuff is more consistent, but a lot of the creatures I most want to copy are legends. The only deck where I currently run multiple Clone effects is Sharuum, but those are primarily there as combo pieces. My other decks tend to run stuff like Rite of Replication instead.

[Dunadain]

You'd need to be an all-in voltron deck, even if you did have a way to recur
the aura, you still lost all the counters you had gained, that also runs a bunch of interaction, which is kind of an oxymoron.

The counters are on the creature, not the aura.

Well yeah, how do you think people are going to destroy the aura?

Clone is iconic, there's a dozen better versions of the effect these days, but none of them have that legacy.

👍

[Sinis]

I think that while Clone is iconic, I find it really sad that Clone|LEB itself is not. There are so many Clone+ cards, that even in a dedicated clone deck probably wouldn't run clone. Phyrexian Metamorph is 13 years old, Gigantoplasm is 10, Stunt Double is around 8, and there have been much more recent additions, like Mirrorhall Mimic // Ghastly Mimicry.

Which is all really too bad. I have a beta Clone that I'll probably never sleeve up again.

[3drinks]

Monday, April 1st 2024; Wreck Hunter

[Sinis]

I thought Wreck Hunter was super sweet when it got spoiled and was one of the cards that prompted me to pick up the Brother's War commander decks along with many of the old-frame cards...

I haven't played it or seen it played. I'm sure it's fine in the right deck.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

This is a card that looks awesome until you realize how niche its window for use is. You need things to die, which delays the ramp it provides (though I think if you can get 2 stones it's worth it) and the floor is a 2/2 flash with a relatively strict mana cost. Flashing it out post-wipe for max value is the dream, but considering many wipes exile or bounce instead of destroy, even that use-case has some caveats. Even in a scenario where it works as intended, you need to have a use for all that powerstone mana or else it just kinda does nothing.

[ironic gesture]

I get excited occasionally when I see powerstone generating cards and then remember the stones only tap for artifact spells and that makes them seem suuuper niche. How high do you all rate powerstones?

[Mookie]

Wreck Hunter is one of my favorite cards from Urza block. I fondly remember comboing it with Brain Freeze in Type 3 to power out Colossus of Sardia. Good times!

Unfortunately, power creep hasn't been kind to Wreck Hunter - I don't think I've seen it played in the last five years. Powerstones are a mechanic that never really took off - I was hoping that Mirrodin (or even the return in Mirrodin Pure) would make my collection of Mightstones and Weakstones worth something, but it turns out that only being usable to cast spells from the Antiquities set is a pretty harsh restriction. I suppose you can use them to activate abilities, at least... but in this case, the setup cost means I'm more inclined to play a ramp effect that is more self-contained, like Jeweled Amulet. Could be fun with Greel, Mind Raker? Hmmm...

...anyway, happy Dandân appreciation day, all!

[Serenade]

I wanted this card to be good. Sigh. At least you can target yourself.

Powerstones are just not it. Small plus that you can use them for activated abilities as well as artifacts…but when they re-make Nature's Claim (like STP->PTE), I sure hope we get a Treasure instead of a Powerstone token.

[Treamayne]

It's too bad the tokens were not named Powerstone Shard (and really weird that a Shard is more powerful than a full powerstone?).

[Sinis]

Powerstones are a mechanic that never really took off -

This is really the heart of it. I'm not sure what deck powerstones live in, if any of them.

[Dunadain]

I will echo the sentiment: power stones just aren't good.

👎

[PrimevalCommander]

You can cast artifact spells and activate any type of ability. Probably playable in a deck with a commander with an activated ability with some artifact themes. Various Urza decks or perhaps Geth, Lord of the Vault.

[3drinks]

I know I was using Hall of Tagsin as a mana sink for some time (Gut, True Soul Zealot + Agent of the Iron Throne + Obosh, the Preypiercer). It was fine. Nothing to write home about, but it did what it says on the tin. When I was done with them, Gut would be nice enough to turn them into skelies for me.

[3drinks]

Wednesday, April 3rd 2024; Spearbreaker Behemoth

I miss the days when this was the most bombtastic Tooth and Nail hit, and you'd watch people scramble to get their Swords to Plowshares|3ed. Maybe that was just me, because I jammed this in Stonebrow, Krosan Hero so long...

[materpillar]

Powerstones are a mechanic that never really took off -

This is really the heart of it. I'm not sure what deck powerstones live in, if any of them.

Lazav, the Multifarious absolutely loves powerstones. Stern Lesson is bonkers good in that deck. Ashnod, Flesh Mechanist also quite strong.

As for Spearbreaker Behemoth, this card has gotten way worse over time not just because of power creep but because of indestructible creep. There's just way more indestructible running around and way more exile to counter it. This doesn't protect things nearly as well as you'd like anymore.