Ok, it isn’t. Still, when you have 12-13 weeks of stored annual leave banked up and your boss is yelling at you to take some, there's no reason NOT to schedule it, at least a little, around some sweet overseas MTG Grand Prix action. Especially since we get so few big events in Australia.
With that in mind I decided late last year to do a Europe trip this year, mostly since I have family in Czech Republic and friends living in England for a year, so I checked the Wizards upcoming events calendar and what did I find? GP London (15-16 Aug) and GP Prague (29-30 Sept) 2 weeks apart in the time of year I like to visit Europe. Gas!
Better yet, both are Standard format, rather that the Sealed GPs we get in our area that I am not a fan of.
Standard has been pretty great this year and battling in two European GPs seems the perfect way to cap off the season.
I have played several decks in the format to some level starting with Mardu and moving though GR Dragons, RW Agro, Bant Heroic messing around with some fringe decks and eventually coming back around full circle to Mardu Dragons which is my current preference.
Currently that's the deck I am on but I'm waiting to see what comes out of the Pro Tour before locking in a standard deck for my trip.
This is the Mardu Dragons list I am currently on:
Creatures(21):
4 Seeker of the Way
3 Soulfire Grand Master
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Thunderbreak Regent
4 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Kolaghan, Storm's Fury
Spells(14):
4 Crackling Doom
1 Foul-Tongue Invocation
4 Draconic Roar
2 Ultimate Price
1 Murderous Cut
2 Thoughtseize
Lands(25):
4 Nomad Outpost
1 Temple of Malice
2 Temple of Silence
3 Temple of Triumph
3 Battlefield Forge
2 Caves of Koilos
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Mountain
1 Swamp
2 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
Sideboard(15):
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Crux of Fate
2 Kolaghan's Command
1 Thoughtseize
1 Duress
1 Arc Lightning
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Read the Bones
One thing I'm trying out is Abbot of Keral Keep to replace 2-4 of the Seekers but not locked in on that yet either way.
Besides standard, I also plan on taking Modern Affinity and Legacy Death and Taxes which are my preferred decks in their respective formats for side events and miscellaneous battling. (Sadly, no Highlander side event at either GP :( )
I've been running this streamlined version of Affinity of late to good success:
Creatures(28):
4 Arcbound Ravager
3 Master of Etherium
1 Etched Champion
2 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Steel Overseer
4 Vault Skirge
2 Spellskite
Spells(16):
4 Cranial Plating
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Mox Opal
1 Welding Jar
3 Galvanic Blast
Lands(16):
1 Island
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
3 Glimmervoid
4 Inkmoth Nexus
Sideboard(15):
2 Etched Champion
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Whipflare
1 Electrickery
1 Wear // Tear
2 Thoughtseize
2 Spell Pierce
1 Torpor Orb
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Blood Moon
I have also been experimenting with a build featuring 4 Hangarback Walker, 2 Day's Undoing and 4 Disciple of the Vault and I have been very impressed with initial results, in particular regarding Hangarback Walkers as the card has been performing extremely well so watch this space.
In Legacy I have not been playing DnT of late as I have been running RUG Delver and UW Mentor in recent proxy leagues and events but DnT is the Legacy deck I own and it holds a special place in my heart.
This is the list I've rebuilt for it:
Creatures(26):
4 Mother of Runes
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Spirit of the Labyrinth
2 Serra Avenger
4 Flickerwisp
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Spells(4):
4 Swords to Plowshares
Artifacts(7):
4 Æther Vial
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull
Land(23):
8 Plains
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
3 Karakas
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Eiganjo Castle
Sideboard(15):
3 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Cataclysm
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Council's Judgment
2 Rest in Peace
1 Graffdigger's Cage
2 Containment Priest
1 Enlightened Tutor
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
Nothing too special there, just a bit of a leaning towards anti-blue cards since Europeans love their Brainstorms.
This will be my first time playing Magic outside of Australia so looking forward to seeing this great game played in different environments.
Tom
Thursday 23 July 2015
Tuesday 31 March 2015
Top 8 Bad Cards in Standard
Well, there's a new set out with Dragon of Tarkir and with it a whole bunch of sweet new cards are hitting Standard play. However, instead of looking at the new good cards, today I went and put together my Top 8 list of bad cards that see Standard play.
Top 8 Bad Cards in Standard
8: Evolving Wilds
This card keeps managing to sneak its way into real Standard decks and every time it does a part of me dies a little.
Unfortunately, the current Standard mana base is god awful and Evolving Wilds remains a necessary evil.
7: Foundry Street Denizen
I have chosen this pass out draft common as the poster child for the current available 1 drops for the hyper aggressive red deck. Dragons of Tarkir have introduced 2 great red 1 drops in Zurgo and Lightning Berserker but the synergy with Hordeling Outburst is unfortunately still keeping the old Denizen in decks.
6: Satyr Wayfinder
I get it. It’s an enabler. That doesn’t change the fact that this is a 2 mana 1/1!
Is this card needed in the decks that run it? Yes, it probably is. Does it still suck? Absolutely!
5: End Hostilities
Five mana wraths are awful. Yeah they’re all we have but they really are bad.
End Hostilities gets the nod for the list here over Crux of Fate because I do like the dragon win con synergy Crux allows you to build into your deck.
4: Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
Every time I play against a blue-black control deck and my opponent smugly plays one of these one turn 3 I let out a sigh of relief, untap, play a Rabblemaster and kill my opponent.
I have no idea why people still include this Tibalt level planeswalker in their decks but I’m ok with it!
3: Outpost Siege
See my previous blog entry regarding the specifics on this one.
Additionally, I feel that with DTK hitting standard, Outpost Siege has gone from bad to outright embarrassing. There was so much main deck and side board enchantment hate already and the addition of Dromoka’s Command made it even worse. That coupled with the fact that Thunderbreak Regent is now a standard legal 4 drop make this siege a very bad idea.
2: Ashcloud Phoenix
This. Card. Sucks.
There are roughly a million exile effects being played but all the top tier decks (Chained to the Rocks in RW, Abzan Charm in all forms of Abzan, Perilous Vault in control, Banishing Light in GW Devotion, Silence the Believers still comes up from time to time) that all crap all over this card. Couple that with the fact that token decks are a very real thing at the moment and that it has 1 toughness and you end up with one unplayable bird.
This card’s always been bad and Thunderbreak Regent firmly closed the door on ANY excuse you had to still be running this.
1: Every card in the Blue-White/UWR heroic deck
Was there ever any doubt?
The top spot here cannot be given to any single card but instead goes to this entire deck.
I’m not saying the deck itself is bad, apparently it STILL puts up results… , but it cannot be denied that almost every card in it is an atrocity and an affront to constructed magic.
There have been other successful draft commons/uncommons decks in the past, current season mono red, last season’s mono blue ect, but none of them come anywhere close to this deck’s level of jank cards.
This is not a draft commons deck. With all start like Aqueous Form, Lagonna-Band Trailblazer, Stratus Walk, Battle Mastery and even the format defining Mortal Obstinacy often making the cut, it truly is the first constructed playable draft passouts deck.
Top 8 Bad Cards in Standard
8: Evolving Wilds
This card keeps managing to sneak its way into real Standard decks and every time it does a part of me dies a little.
Unfortunately, the current Standard mana base is god awful and Evolving Wilds remains a necessary evil.
7: Foundry Street Denizen
I have chosen this pass out draft common as the poster child for the current available 1 drops for the hyper aggressive red deck. Dragons of Tarkir have introduced 2 great red 1 drops in Zurgo and Lightning Berserker but the synergy with Hordeling Outburst is unfortunately still keeping the old Denizen in decks.
6: Satyr Wayfinder
I get it. It’s an enabler. That doesn’t change the fact that this is a 2 mana 1/1!
Is this card needed in the decks that run it? Yes, it probably is. Does it still suck? Absolutely!
5: End Hostilities
Five mana wraths are awful. Yeah they’re all we have but they really are bad.
End Hostilities gets the nod for the list here over Crux of Fate because I do like the dragon win con synergy Crux allows you to build into your deck.
4: Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
Every time I play against a blue-black control deck and my opponent smugly plays one of these one turn 3 I let out a sigh of relief, untap, play a Rabblemaster and kill my opponent.
I have no idea why people still include this Tibalt level planeswalker in their decks but I’m ok with it!
3: Outpost Siege
See my previous blog entry regarding the specifics on this one.
Additionally, I feel that with DTK hitting standard, Outpost Siege has gone from bad to outright embarrassing. There was so much main deck and side board enchantment hate already and the addition of Dromoka’s Command made it even worse. That coupled with the fact that Thunderbreak Regent is now a standard legal 4 drop make this siege a very bad idea.
2: Ashcloud Phoenix
This. Card. Sucks.
There are roughly a million exile effects being played but all the top tier decks (Chained to the Rocks in RW, Abzan Charm in all forms of Abzan, Perilous Vault in control, Banishing Light in GW Devotion, Silence the Believers still comes up from time to time) that all crap all over this card. Couple that with the fact that token decks are a very real thing at the moment and that it has 1 toughness and you end up with one unplayable bird.
This card’s always been bad and Thunderbreak Regent firmly closed the door on ANY excuse you had to still be running this.
1: Every card in the Blue-White/UWR heroic deck
Was there ever any doubt?
The top spot here cannot be given to any single card but instead goes to this entire deck.
I’m not saying the deck itself is bad, apparently it STILL puts up results… , but it cannot be denied that almost every card in it is an atrocity and an affront to constructed magic.
There have been other successful draft commons/uncommons decks in the past, current season mono red, last season’s mono blue ect, but none of them come anywhere close to this deck’s level of jank cards.
This is not a draft commons deck. With all start like Aqueous Form, Lagonna-Band Trailblazer, Stratus Walk, Battle Mastery and even the format defining Mortal Obstinacy often making the cut, it truly is the first constructed playable draft passouts deck.
Thursday 19 March 2015
Outpost Siege is a Bad Card
Outpost Siege has been seeing heavy play out of red decks
to gain card advantage but it is actually worth it?
How many cards does a draw spell need to give at sorcery
speed for 4 mana you before it's actually good?
Harmonize is probably the line where it's acceptable; 4
mana sorcery speed should draw 3 cards before it's a consideration.
The standard legal comparison is Treasure Cruise, a card
that has proven super busted in older formats, and that matches up fairly similarly
to the Harmonize rate where you're happy paying 4 for it and anything under
that is just gravy.
Sorcery speed draw 2s cost 3 mana and don't really see
much play in main decks at that cost so you're certainly not happy playing a 4
mana draw 2.
If you take this and look at Outpost Siege you find that
it takes 4 turns to return 3 cards for your 4 mana investment!
When you further consider that flipping cards to it is
not as good as drawing them, since it doesn’t let you hold up removal ect, it
will realistically take at least 5 turns to be on par with a sorcery speed draw
3 in terms of raw card numbers, and that's assuming you're not dead and that
your opponent can't remove it which in a format full of Sultai Charms, Perilous
Vaults, Utter Ends, Ugins and Erases is FAR from a sure thing.
In my experience, if you take a turn off to play Outpost
Siege and your opponent kills it at instant speed, you almost always lose the
game due to the massive tempo loss.
Yes Outpost Siege draws you cards, yes drawing cards is
good but current standard is extremely hostile to doing nothing.
Even against blue black control, a glacial deck which is
the reason the red decks need Outpost Siege and where it is the best, I've been
in situations where I knew if I played siege I would just give my opponent the
breathing room they needed to get to Ugin mana and lock the game up.
I would rather it have been any threat.
I've won more games off Chandra than I can count and it's
always upsetting to me to see more and more people cutting my Lady in Red from
their deck lists for a stupid 4 mana enchantment that only has 1 of her 3
excellent abilities.
In my experience, Chandra's +1 wins more games than her
zero in an aggressive red deck and I'll be sticking by her through thick and
thin.
Yes, she dies to Hero's Downfall but she will be avenged
with stormy breath if my opponents dare such heresy!
Tuesday 6 January 2015
Reforging Fate
Fate Reforged has been a much anticipated set for various story reasons and just because it's a follow up to one of the most popular sets ever printed in Khans, also, Dragons are cool.
People didn't really know what to expect apart from Dragons and Ugin and speculations were pretty varied and wild.
Well, the set is here and mostly spoiled so has it lived up to the hype?
For me the answer to that question is unfortunately a big fat resounding: No, it has not.
There are clearly some super strong cards in the set that will see heavy play in standard but I feel that the set is lacking flavour and has some weird design issues that I just can't get on board with.
What it comes down to most for me is the way Mythics have been done in the set and the super underwhelming dragons being printed.
I understand that when you’re printing something like 10 dragons in a set, they can't all be mind blowingly sweet constructed all-stars but would it be too much to ask for 1 or 2 of them to at least be decent? Instead, each time a dragon was spoiled was more disappointing than the last.
Now that they're all spoiled, there are only 2 that are even remotely worth talking about, those 2 being the GW and RB ones.
I feel these, in particular the GW one, may see some niche play but I'm not holding my breath even on these.The rest are flat untouchable from any constructed point of view.
PS: Yes, you should first pick the dragons in limited. Cos you know, reasons...
The other issue for me are the mythics.
WotC has completely switched around which cards they put at mythic in this set and I hate it.
In all other sets, the legendary Dragons and the Khan leaders would be printed at mythic and the power mythics in this set would be printed at rare.
I would be fine with the dragon cycle here being at rare given the limited mythic slots in a small set but the entire hybrid mana activated ability mythic cycle should be at rare as well as cards like Monastery Mentor. These cards are all very powerful but they are not 'mythic'.
It's like if Boros Reckoner was printed at mythic and Aurelia, The Warleader was printed at rare in Gatecrash.
Overall a giant flavour fail.
The weird choice of cards to put at mythic has also left the set with super powerful mythics and basically zero playable rares which is annoying for monetary card values at the very least.
The new manifest mechanic also seems to have led to some uninspired and repetitive card design.
Just take a look at these 2 commons for example:
There are two huge issues I have with these 2 cards in this cycle.
a) They're the same card with minor number tweaks
b) The red one makes a bigger creature than the green one
Really? Is this the best design space the manifest mechanic provides?
I hate this mechanic a lot in general but what I hate most about it is the lack of diversity it seems to allow.
Still, would it have been so hard to make the green on cost 5 and give 2 counters and the red one cost 5, give 1 counter and haste? Or hell, just flip their colours and leave as is for much better colour pie adherence?
With all that said, there's no doubt that the set will impact standard heavily and people are already jamming the new cards into decks to see what works.
Below are 3 decks that I've been having a look at. They are still early versions obviously with little to no play testing but I feel each of them represent a viable strategy going forward in Fate Reforged standard.
With all but 1 of the mythics and most of the rares spoiled, I think it's fair to say that Shaman of the Great Hunt is the best agro card in the set which means that we musts plays it my precious!
I'm still not sold on mono-red, outside of the sligh version which has no time for 4 drops, since the 2 drop slot is super lacking for the deck at the moment and the field is extremely hostile to small ground creatures that don't go real wide.
Also, apparently Shaman of the Great Hunt has an activated ability. Admittedly it's a bad one since it doesn't do damage to things but an activated ability none the less so why not see if we can activate it at some point.
Savage Knuckleblade is another card I've been wanting to play since it got printed and one I feel is underplayed right now for its stupid power levels.
To this end, I decided to roll out my Lounging Kibler playmat and make its subject proud.
Here's the hunting party I ended up with as a first draft:
Creatures(25):
4 Rattleclaw Mystic
4 Heir of the Wilds
3 Boon Satyr
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Savage Knuckleblade
4 Shaman of the Great Hunt
2 Stormbreath Dragon
Spells(12):
3 Crater's Claws
4 Lightning Strike
2 Temur Charm
2 Stubborn Denial
1 Disdainful Stroke
Lands(23):
4 Frontier Bivouac
2 Temple of Abandon
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Temple of Epiphany
3 Yavimaya Coast
3 Shivan Reef
1 Mana Confluence
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Forest
2 Mountain
Sideboard(15):
2 Stubborn Denial
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Arc Lightning
2 Wild Slash
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Keranos, God of Storms
2 Back to Nature
3 Hunt the Hunter
RUG has seem some play but it's never really been a top end contender.
I've always found the deck inconsistent and lacking that little bit of extra punch to put it over the top.
I don't know if Shaman of the Great Hunt will fix its issues but this is a home I feel will suite the hunter well.
The other card, again a Mythic because apparently playable cards all get printed at mythic now *shrug*, that was immediately in my wheel house when spoiled is Brutal Hordechief.
The obvious comparison to Hellrider is obvious but realistically I expect this card to play very differently to my demon friend of seasons past.
The lack of haste is a VERY big difference and means you can't really play this as the top end to a creature heavy RDW style agro deck like Hellrider saw play in.
I think the best shell for the Hordechief is a BWR tokens list where it adds a lot of value to your random 1/1s, even if they’re just chump attacking.
This brings is to the token master himself, Young Pyromancer 2.0 or as I like to think of it, Goblin Rabblemaster 2.Slow, Monastery Mentor:
I feel this card is currently being slightly over hyped but probably not by very much. The card's a good one to be sure and will see heavy standard play.
A lot of people are excited for him in UWR tokens but I feel he has a very good home in BWR too.
Here's a preliminary list featuring both these cards that I'm keen to try out:
Creatures(12):
4 Monastery Mentor
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Brutal Hordechief
Planeswalkers(3):
3 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Spells(20):
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Hordling Outburst
4 Crackling Doom
4 Stoke the Flames
4 Lightning Strike
(Haven't bothered adding a mana base but you should be able to sort it out)
I'm not really sure if Hordechief is actually better in this deck than Butcher of the Horde but I'm willing to give him a go.
He's also a warrior and the mass of playable warriors IS slowly creeping into the critical range so a BW warrior list may be on the horizon pretty soon.
The last deck I revisited was the classic UWR tempo/argo list from early in the season since Monastery Mentor and Shaman of the Great Hunt both look to fit in there too:
Creatures(18):
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Monastery Mentor
4 Mantis Rider
2 Shaman of the Great Hunt
Planeswalkers(2):
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
Spells(16):
4 Jeskai Charm
4 Stoke the Flames
4 Lightning Strike
4 Wild Slash
It's highly likely that the tokens Ascendency version of UWR is still just better but I did enjoy playing the tempo deck and wouldn’t mind picking it up again at some point.
Also, Mantis Rider is WAY too sweet to not see play.
The curve of mantis rider into Shaman of the Great Hunt (btw, really wish it had a shorter name...) seems rather good. Even if you can't attack with the Shaman, Mantis rider gets a +1/+1 counter and next turn you can remove or bounce their blockers to get through on the ground as well, or just draw 2 cards, attack for 4 in the air and get another counter.
Sure, I get that removal exists and that this scenario isn't too likely but hey, everything dies to removal and sometimes they don't have it.
I'm sure I'll be brewing a whole lot of decks in the coming few weeks but that's it for now.
I'll be running the Saturday pre-release event again as usual so looking forward to seeing how the limited game play is changed.
I guess I can't really leave it without commenting on Ugin himself so here he is:
I don't like this card. Basically at all.
Sure, it will probably see 1, maybe 2 of, play in some sort of UW, UB or Esper control list but this is certainly one of the weakest mythics in the set.
PS: None of the siege cycle are playable. Sorry Sam.
People didn't really know what to expect apart from Dragons and Ugin and speculations were pretty varied and wild.
Well, the set is here and mostly spoiled so has it lived up to the hype?
For me the answer to that question is unfortunately a big fat resounding: No, it has not.
There are clearly some super strong cards in the set that will see heavy play in standard but I feel that the set is lacking flavour and has some weird design issues that I just can't get on board with.
What it comes down to most for me is the way Mythics have been done in the set and the super underwhelming dragons being printed.
I understand that when you’re printing something like 10 dragons in a set, they can't all be mind blowingly sweet constructed all-stars but would it be too much to ask for 1 or 2 of them to at least be decent? Instead, each time a dragon was spoiled was more disappointing than the last.
Now that they're all spoiled, there are only 2 that are even remotely worth talking about, those 2 being the GW and RB ones.
I feel these, in particular the GW one, may see some niche play but I'm not holding my breath even on these.The rest are flat untouchable from any constructed point of view.
PS: Yes, you should first pick the dragons in limited. Cos you know, reasons...
The other issue for me are the mythics.
WotC has completely switched around which cards they put at mythic in this set and I hate it.
In all other sets, the legendary Dragons and the Khan leaders would be printed at mythic and the power mythics in this set would be printed at rare.
I would be fine with the dragon cycle here being at rare given the limited mythic slots in a small set but the entire hybrid mana activated ability mythic cycle should be at rare as well as cards like Monastery Mentor. These cards are all very powerful but they are not 'mythic'.
It's like if Boros Reckoner was printed at mythic and Aurelia, The Warleader was printed at rare in Gatecrash.
Overall a giant flavour fail.
The weird choice of cards to put at mythic has also left the set with super powerful mythics and basically zero playable rares which is annoying for monetary card values at the very least.
The new manifest mechanic also seems to have led to some uninspired and repetitive card design.
Just take a look at these 2 commons for example:
There are two huge issues I have with these 2 cards in this cycle.
a) They're the same card with minor number tweaks
b) The red one makes a bigger creature than the green one
Really? Is this the best design space the manifest mechanic provides?
I hate this mechanic a lot in general but what I hate most about it is the lack of diversity it seems to allow.
Still, would it have been so hard to make the green on cost 5 and give 2 counters and the red one cost 5, give 1 counter and haste? Or hell, just flip their colours and leave as is for much better colour pie adherence?
With all that said, there's no doubt that the set will impact standard heavily and people are already jamming the new cards into decks to see what works.
Below are 3 decks that I've been having a look at. They are still early versions obviously with little to no play testing but I feel each of them represent a viable strategy going forward in Fate Reforged standard.
With all but 1 of the mythics and most of the rares spoiled, I think it's fair to say that Shaman of the Great Hunt is the best agro card in the set which means that we musts plays it my precious!
I'm still not sold on mono-red, outside of the sligh version which has no time for 4 drops, since the 2 drop slot is super lacking for the deck at the moment and the field is extremely hostile to small ground creatures that don't go real wide.
Also, apparently Shaman of the Great Hunt has an activated ability. Admittedly it's a bad one since it doesn't do damage to things but an activated ability none the less so why not see if we can activate it at some point.
Savage Knuckleblade is another card I've been wanting to play since it got printed and one I feel is underplayed right now for its stupid power levels.
To this end, I decided to roll out my Lounging Kibler playmat and make its subject proud.
Here's the hunting party I ended up with as a first draft:
Creatures(25):
4 Rattleclaw Mystic
4 Heir of the Wilds
3 Boon Satyr
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Savage Knuckleblade
4 Shaman of the Great Hunt
2 Stormbreath Dragon
Spells(12):
3 Crater's Claws
4 Lightning Strike
2 Temur Charm
2 Stubborn Denial
1 Disdainful Stroke
Lands(23):
4 Frontier Bivouac
2 Temple of Abandon
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Temple of Epiphany
3 Yavimaya Coast
3 Shivan Reef
1 Mana Confluence
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Forest
2 Mountain
Sideboard(15):
2 Stubborn Denial
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Arc Lightning
2 Wild Slash
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Keranos, God of Storms
2 Back to Nature
3 Hunt the Hunter
RUG has seem some play but it's never really been a top end contender.
I've always found the deck inconsistent and lacking that little bit of extra punch to put it over the top.
I don't know if Shaman of the Great Hunt will fix its issues but this is a home I feel will suite the hunter well.
The other card, again a Mythic because apparently playable cards all get printed at mythic now *shrug*, that was immediately in my wheel house when spoiled is Brutal Hordechief.
The obvious comparison to Hellrider is obvious but realistically I expect this card to play very differently to my demon friend of seasons past.
The lack of haste is a VERY big difference and means you can't really play this as the top end to a creature heavy RDW style agro deck like Hellrider saw play in.
I think the best shell for the Hordechief is a BWR tokens list where it adds a lot of value to your random 1/1s, even if they’re just chump attacking.
This brings is to the token master himself, Young Pyromancer 2.0 or as I like to think of it, Goblin Rabblemaster 2.Slow, Monastery Mentor:
I feel this card is currently being slightly over hyped but probably not by very much. The card's a good one to be sure and will see heavy standard play.
A lot of people are excited for him in UWR tokens but I feel he has a very good home in BWR too.
Here's a preliminary list featuring both these cards that I'm keen to try out:
Creatures(12):
4 Monastery Mentor
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Brutal Hordechief
Planeswalkers(3):
3 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Spells(20):
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Hordling Outburst
4 Crackling Doom
4 Stoke the Flames
4 Lightning Strike
(Haven't bothered adding a mana base but you should be able to sort it out)
I'm not really sure if Hordechief is actually better in this deck than Butcher of the Horde but I'm willing to give him a go.
He's also a warrior and the mass of playable warriors IS slowly creeping into the critical range so a BW warrior list may be on the horizon pretty soon.
The last deck I revisited was the classic UWR tempo/argo list from early in the season since Monastery Mentor and Shaman of the Great Hunt both look to fit in there too:
Creatures(18):
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Monastery Mentor
4 Mantis Rider
2 Shaman of the Great Hunt
Planeswalkers(2):
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
Spells(16):
4 Jeskai Charm
4 Stoke the Flames
4 Lightning Strike
4 Wild Slash
It's highly likely that the tokens Ascendency version of UWR is still just better but I did enjoy playing the tempo deck and wouldn’t mind picking it up again at some point.
Also, Mantis Rider is WAY too sweet to not see play.
The curve of mantis rider into Shaman of the Great Hunt (btw, really wish it had a shorter name...) seems rather good. Even if you can't attack with the Shaman, Mantis rider gets a +1/+1 counter and next turn you can remove or bounce their blockers to get through on the ground as well, or just draw 2 cards, attack for 4 in the air and get another counter.
Sure, I get that removal exists and that this scenario isn't too likely but hey, everything dies to removal and sometimes they don't have it.
I'm sure I'll be brewing a whole lot of decks in the coming few weeks but that's it for now.
I'll be running the Saturday pre-release event again as usual so looking forward to seeing how the limited game play is changed.
I guess I can't really leave it without commenting on Ugin himself so here he is:
I don't like this card. Basically at all.
Sure, it will probably see 1, maybe 2 of, play in some sort of UW, UB or Esper control list but this is certainly one of the weakest mythics in the set.
PS: None of the siege cycle are playable. Sorry Sam.
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