MTGNexus

So, to give a little context. I have a deck (list here) where I care quite a bit about having my sac outlets. That said, I only need to move a few creatures at a time so High Market / Phyrexian Tower kind of do the job just fine I just need more access to them especially if my opponents decide to go after them with removal. I originally was thinking about cutting one of the basics for Tolaria given that this deck mostly doesn't mind a tap land as really turns 4/5 tend to be when I need to be untapped and I can fudge a tapped land outside of that. I also had the thought that I could theoretically cut a land for Sylvan Scrying given that a hand with one land and scrying is probably just as likely to get mulliganned as a hand with 2 lands one being Tolaria West.

I feel like a bit swing in their performance being that sylvan is better early but Tolaria West opens options for later in the game tutoring something like Pact of Negation (note I don't currently have pact in deck but its not so far off that it wouldn't work for the deck. It seems like a bit of a trade off between strong early and strong late but tilting your hand and informing others that you have pact is also...... something..... I don't know how much of a concern I should have in cutting a land for a nonland in this case as I feel like if I include Tolaria its for another land but is it also fair to do that with sylvan? I guess both could always be a thought too but I don't know. Thoughts?

Hmmm.... hard to say. As you've noted, Sylvan Scrying is a bit better in the early game due to its efficiency, while Tolaria West provides more flexibility in the lategame. In a vacuum (and looking at your current decklist), I'd go for Scrying, but it's not difficult to make Tolaria West better. I'll also note that which is better is going to depend somewhat on the speed of the deck - if you're looking to close out games quickly, the increased efficiency matters more than if you're aiming for a grindier deck.

Speaking more broadly, Pact of Negation does help make Tolaria West better, but given that you're running Rayami, First of the Fallen, I'll call out Stonecoil Serpent as another solid tutor target. Tolaria West also works well with land recursion effects and bouncelands, but I wouldn't run them just to support it. It does interact well with Kefnet the Mindful, but I suspect that interaction is a little too cute.

I'd consider Expedition Map too. It has a lot of sequencing advantages and not costing colored mana can be nice (allowing you to use whichever mana you're not in need of late in the game). I am getting pretty close to playing it over scrying again because of the sequencing advantages. Being findable by artifact tutors or recurrable by things that recur permanents doesn't hurt either.

Being able to Expedition Map for Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth to fix a greenless hand is not absolutely out of the realm of possibility either given the number of non-green lands you have.

I've kinda fallen out of love with TW as I find it's usually just a 3cmc sylvan scrying. But YMMV - that opinion was developed from using it in Phelddagrif which has a lot of alternate land drops so rarely needs to play it as a land.

TW is essentially a mdfc; either a mediocre tutor or a tapland. Scrying is always just what it appears to be and eats a slot. My vote goes to TW.

Is Crop Rotation an option? It gets permanents out of Song of the Dryads/Imprisoned in the Moon and seems better since it's a cheap instant.

Serenade wrote: ↑

2 years ago

Is Crop Rotation an option? It gets permanents out of Song of the Dryads/Imprisoned in the Moon and seems better since it's a cheap instant.

ISB is looking to replace a land with one of these tutors, rather than cutting into deckspace proper. Since Crop doesn't put you up a land, it's hard to slot it into a land slot.

My vote would be for TW. It can tutor for nonlands as well, and it's an actual land. For example, if you have an opening hand that has only 1 other land(let's say Command Tower or one that taps for all your colors), and Slyvan Scrying, you have to mulligan, but if your opening hand is command tower, TW, and 5 nonland cards, you can probably keep that hand.

C.Rotation being countered is a concern, too, but maybe those are just my friends.

I'd pick TW between those two choices. I find myself using the Zendikar3.0 cards often lately. Options are nice!

Thanks everyone. I think I am going to err on the side of TW just given that if I don't have the right setup to use it its use as a land drop is still relatively useful.

Serenade wrote: ↑

2 years ago

Is Crop Rotation an option? It gets permanents out of Song of the Dryads/Imprisoned in the Moon and seems better since it's a cheap instant.

If you're going with Crop Rotation, there's also Knight of the Reliquary, which is Crop Rotation as an activated ability. But it takes longer. But there's less risk of being countered.

I would say, most of the time of the two, I would favor Sylvan Scrying. Transmute for 0 does grant me a few other things. (Mana Crypt, mostly. But Ornithopter, Phyrexian Walker, and Memnite by virtue of being free can play a key role in many a broken combo. You can also get Chimeric Mass, Endless One, Engineered Explosives, Everflowing Chalice, Astral Cornucopia, and Hangarback Walker, FWIW. Some of those actually interest me for proliferate/Doubling Season shenanigans.)