[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Samwise the Stouthearted

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TheGildedGoose
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Post by TheGildedGoose » 1 year ago

It's best in mono-black since it as a color lacks stack interaction. Protecting your key spells from counter magic is more important than stealing Time Walks.

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Igzex
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Post by Igzex » 1 year ago

I love this card a lot. The real beauty of this card is just how unexpected it is, resulting in so many magnificent troll plays.

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Post by 3drinks » 1 year ago

Thursday, August 11th, 2022; Ascend from Avernus


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R{R/W} 87guide Burn
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WRKellan, the Fae-Blooded // Birthright Boon (local secret santa gift)
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Post by PrimevalCommander » 1 year ago

RE: Imp's Mischief, best I've ever done in recent memory with redirection was with an Insidious Will targeting a copy of Braingeyser from my opponent's Garth One-Eye. Since braingeyser is called out on the card, I knew I would get my chance, so it wasn't too much of a gotcha, but a 16 card swing for 4 mana sure was sweet.

New card: I just ordered an Ascend from Avernus for my brand new God-Eternal Oketra deck but it isn't even sleeved yet. I'll be trying it out this weekend and I hope I get a chance to try this card. Looks pretty good on paper for a mass breath of life since all it really needs is 7 to get really good value. Not as good as similar cards in black, but I wanted something that could make me an instant board in the late game and trigger all my small creature synergies, so my target MV for this will be between 6 and 7.

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Post by Mookie » 1 year ago

I'm always a fan of mass reanimation, but I have a somewhat mixed opinion of Ascend from Avernus. I think my main concern is one of efficiency - Storm of Souls is much cheaper if you want to recur expensive creatures, while Rally the Ancestors has the upside of being an instant and a mana cheaper... although both of those cards also have pretty significant downsides attached to them. If you're just looking for a one-sided mass reanimation spell with no extra hoops to jump through, Ascend from Avernus looks excellent. I wouldn't necessarily to count on it to recur 6-drops, but just getting back a bunch of small/medium-sized creatures can represent a lot of value. Historically, most mass reanimation spells have been in black, so I'm happy to see it being expanded to white. Definitely works well with go-wide decks.

...somewhat sad to compare it to Immortal Servitude. I guess being hybrid (and thus easier to cast) means it also gets a lower power level to compensate, but... yeah. Definitely a bit of power creep, but given how weak Immortal Servitude is, I won't complain.

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hyalopterouslemur
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Post by hyalopterouslemur » 1 year ago

This is huge, even if it only gets creatures and planeswalkers.

I like how the exile clause is like "Oh, you thought you could Mnemonic Wall this back for some kind of loop? lolnope"
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TheAmericanSpirit
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Post by TheAmericanSpirit » 1 year ago

I think Return to the Ranks and Rally the Ancestors are better. Return can cost a lot less for a more selective recursion and Rally has timing advantages. Immortal Servitude is just plain cooler.

Overall, not bad but lame.
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Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

There are better options, but the "planeswalkers" bit is kind of intriguingly neat. I'd like to find a good home for this card.
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Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

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Post by PrimevalCommander » 1 year ago

Compare this to the old mass-reanimate in white that I'm used to, Marshal's Anthem, and this card looks like a freakin deal.

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Post by 3drinks » 1 year ago

Friday, August 12th, 2022; Alirios, Enraptured



Man. This would be an interesting pick for the community build-a-deck. What do you do with it?

Modern
R{R/W} 87guide Burn
Commander
WRKellan, the Fae-Blooded // Birthright Boon (local secret santa gift)
RTorbran, Thane of Red Fell (Red Deck Wins)
WBRAlesha, Who Smiles at Death (Slivers)
WBRKaalia HQ

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Post by Venedrex » 1 year ago

Epicurean, EDH without Universes Beyond.

http://nxs.wf/np748831


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Post by Ruiner » 1 year ago

I guess ideally you give him an equipment that grants Vigilance or a way to independently untap like Pemmin's Aura, and then give him a Blade of Selves and get your army of Reflections swarming the table.

The flavor is spot on but not the easiest to build for.

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Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

He sure is flavorful, and I would love to do something with him, but that thing is probably inevitably blink.
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Post by hyalopterouslemur » 1 year ago

Also hosed by Mirror Entity.

The real question is why he's not black. Like, I know the idea of reflections is blue, but narcissism is pretty black.
Thanks to Feyd_Ruin for the avatar!

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

hyalopterouslemur wrote:
1 year ago
The real question is why he's not black. Like, I know the idea of reflections is blue, but narcissism is pretty black.
My understanding - which might not be accurate - is that Alirios is depicted in Nerono, the blue-aligned sector of the Theros underworld. Nerono is known for showing the dead, and anyone who ventures there, illusions of their memories and obsessions from life, explaining why his reflection becomes "real".
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

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Post by 3drinks » 1 year ago

Saturday, August 13th, 2022; Flamekin Herald


Modern
R{R/W} 87guide Burn
Commander
WRKellan, the Fae-Blooded // Birthright Boon (local secret santa gift)
RTorbran, Thane of Red Fell (Red Deck Wins)
WBRAlesha, Who Smiles at Death (Slivers)
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Post by TheAmericanSpirit » 1 year ago

I'm not really a fan of %$#% that only works when a commander is around, but this is even worse. I don't think tacking a freebie onto your commander is gonna be worth playing this otherwise useless 3/2.
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Post by Gentle Giant » 1 year ago

Around a year before this was printed I had built a deck that tries to capitalise on all the commander-related cards like Genesis Storm with Tana and Tymna. I was very excited to see this card, as one of the angles for winning focused on casting my commanders as many times as possible. With the release of the backgrounds I should probably revisit that concept :thinking:

Anyway, I could see it do some nice work in decks that have similar goals, perhaps by bouncing their commander back to their hand for EtB/cast value or something. Or in Maelstrom Wanderer for the bonus cascade memes.
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Post by Mookie » 1 year ago

I love cascade, but Flamekin Herald is a miss for me. It's a vanilla 3/2 for 3 that only generates value when you cast your commander, which is usually somewhat difficult to do repeatedly. A common reason for a commander to leave the battlefield is a board wipe, which would presumably also kill the Herald and thus prevent additional cascades. As a result, I would be surprised to get more than 1-2 cascades out of it per game. Of course, that may be worth it for expensive commanders - if you get another 7-drop off casting Maelstrom Wanderer, then paying 3 mana for Flamekin Herald seems like a good deal. But for cheaper commanders, I'm a bit dubious.

...I guess it could be in partner decks, since they can cast their commanders twice as often. Could also be good if you have a commander that can return itself to hand, although not many of those appear to be red. Seems like an all-star in Rootha, Mercurial Artist though, and could also be good in Squee, the Immortal and Tymaret, the Murder King. Beyond that... there may be some shenanigans you could do with it - cascading into free spells like Lotus Bloom, Wheel of Fate, or Glimpse of Tomorrow off Norin the Wary sounds ridiculous.

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Post by Serenade » 1 year ago

Cascade reminder text is so big. Look at this compared to its extended border version. Or Wild-Magic Sorcerer.

Outside of "cast from exile" and "cascade matters" decks, do you play cascade at all in this format? Maybe I'll try it in a simple RG ramp deck, where everything either gets more lands or blows up stuff. It's not like you'll cascade into B.Act.
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Post by illakunsaa » 1 year ago

I think Zacama, Primal Calamity could take advantage of the herald. I often cast zacama multiple times sometimes even during the same turn. Even if I hit something like cultivate it's still ok value.

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hyalopterouslemur
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Post by hyalopterouslemur » 1 year ago

Only thing I can think of is playing it in some cheap commander to get a 1- or 0-cost card.
Thanks to Feyd_Ruin for the avatar!

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Post by NotARooster » 1 year ago

I love Flamekin Herald in my Garna, the Bloodflame deck, but I probably wouldn't play it anywhere else

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Post by 3drinks » 1 year ago

Sunday, August 14th, 2022; Shifting Sky



For the amount of decks that want a Darkest Hour and the amount of love for Painter's Servant, I suspect this 0.20c rare probably has a home too. So what do you have with this?

Modern
R{R/W} 87guide Burn
Commander
WRKellan, the Fae-Blooded // Birthright Boon (local secret santa gift)
RTorbran, Thane of Red Fell (Red Deck Wins)
WBRAlesha, Who Smiles at Death (Slivers)
WBRKaalia HQ

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