Subject: Analizing Exodus Black/Artifact [strategy, long] Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 22:24:16 +0200 From: "Sjoerd Verweij" To: [ "Strategy", long ] Mainly because I've heard tons of people screaming that it's a very bad set, here's my take on Exodus. Firstly, since Zvi Mowshowitz did blue already, I'll only mention the cards I disagree on with him. Blue ---- Curiosity - Creature Enchantment, U, draw a card when creature damages opponent Not only usable in 5C-anything as Zvi suggests, but even more so in a blue weenie. Imagine turn 1 Spindrift Drake, turn 2 Curiosity! Very, very strong in the right deck, and as has been stated, needs to get through only once to break even from a card advantage viewpoint. --- Ertai, Wizard Adept, 2U, 1/1 Creature (Legend), 2UUT: Counter target spell. Already the most overrated card of the set. Sure, IF it gets down, and IF you can protect it, you can counter an additional spell, IF you get the amazing amount of mana needed. Come on people, how often do we use Dismiss? Besides, we already needed a fast way to get rid of a 1/1 creature: to beat Miserable Druid decks. --- Mirozel, 3U, 2/3 Flying, Returns to hand if targeted. It isn't big, and it isn't very good, I grant that. However, it also is very, very hard to kill. --- Other power in blue to watch for (as per Zvi's excellent analysis: Equilibrium, Mind over Matter). Now, let's go out on a limb and try another color, such as black. Black ----- Carnophage, B, 2/2, During your upkeep, pay 1 life or tap Carnophage. A pretty strong card for suicide black. As if that deck type needed the boost, we can now ritual out three of these on the first turn. And no, Pacifism doesn't work on this one as it did on Fledgling Djinn. Cat Burglar, 3B, 2/2, 2B, T: Target player chooses and discard a card. Play this ability as a sorcery. Amazing against buyback, but probably too expensive for constructed. Does wonders for the extremely common buyback-lockups you experience in the Rath cycle sealed environment, though. In constructed, why not use a Scepter? Culling the Weak, Mana Source, B, Sacrifice a creature: Add BBBB to your mana pool. Yuck. If this is supposed to be the new Lake of the Dead, it sucks. However, with a Grave Pact down, things can become amazingly annoying. Cursed Flesh, Enchant Creature, B, Enchanted creature gets -1/-1 and cannot be blocked except by artifact creatures and black creatures. Okay, hands up, those who play Fear. Other than that, it does get rid of Pygmy Trolls and Ertai, so may see use when Quicksands and Serrated Biskelion rotate out. (NOT!) Dauthi Cutthroat, 1B, 1/1, Shadow. 1B, T: Destroy target creature with shadow. Amazing in sealed. Drop a Splicer next to this one, and you have a Terror without restrictions. Will probably prove to be too fragile for constructed, since every color now has a must-kill 1/1 creature. Dauthi Jackal, 2B, 2/1, Shadow. BB, Sacrifice Dauthi Jackal: Destroy target blocking creature. Pretty bad. Perhaps suicide black will use it, but over what? It has too many GOOD cards to choose from. It is too fragile for mid-game, and takes 2 full turns away from a weenie rush. Dauthi Warlord, 1B, */1, Shadow. Dauthi Warlord has power equals to the number of creatures in play with shadow. This one is cheaper than I thought it would be. Since it also counts for itself, the worst that could happen is 1/1. Suicide black can now go suicide Shadow. Death's Duet, Sorcery, 2B, Return two target creature cards from your graveyard to your hand. How many people play raise dead? Just use a Stronghold, it's way more flexible than this dog. Entropic Specter, 3BB, */*, Flying. Entropic Specter has power and toughness equal to the number of cards in target opponent's hand. If Entropic Specter damages any player, that player chooses and discards a card. This would have been totally amazing in AlIce, but in the new Standard format, at least half the decks you're facing dump their hand by turn 4. Paying 5 mana for the amazing privilege of a 0/0 creature is not too strong. And as I found out at the prerelease, it even sucks in sealed. Fugue, Sorcery, 3BB, Target player chooses and discards three cards. The only of the black spells with this amazingly high CC's actually worth it, I think. But you run the risk of watching your opponent empty their hand before you can play it. I don't know. Perhaps 2 for very singleminded discard decks at best. Grollub, 2B, For each 1 damage dealt to Grollub, each opponent gains 1 life. Funky in multiplayer and by far the most inventive drawback we've seen in a while. Not a constructed card. Hatred, Instant, 3BB, Pay X life: Target creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn. Crap rare. My guess is that has this insanely high CC solely to prevent cheesy combo's. My other guess is that that combo will pop up anyway. It will, however, be on a par with Minion of the Wastes. Keeper of the Dead, BB, 1/2, B, T: Destroy target nonblack creature. Play this ability only if that creature's controller has at least two fewer cards in his or her graveyard than you have in yours. I like this one. Since I plan on using 3 Phyrexian Furnace in any Standard deck anyway to prevent all the graveyard funkyness, this might just work pretty nicely. Mind Maggots, 3B, 2/2, When Mind Maggots comes into play, you may choose and discard any number of creature cards. For each card discarded this way, put two +1/+1 counters on Mind Maggots. Not 1, but 2 counters??? Wow. It strongly fits black's Exodus theme, and will probable be very big when it drops. However, it doesn't fly or have shadow or anything. Hmm. Swamp, 'phage, Swamp, attack for 2, Ritual, Maggots, discard 4 critters, swamp, attack for 12 with a Tombstone Stairwell in hand... I guess it would fit in a Stairwell deck. Oh, and Necratog would love some Maggots, too. Nausea, Sorcery, 1B, All creatures get -1/-1 until end of turn. Kills birds, elves, lots of Shadows or Moggs, Ertai. Amazing for necro and black fat, not that good against anything else. Necrologia, Instant, 3BB, Play Necrologia only during your discard phase. Pay X life: Draw X cards. Oh my God, I'm going to be ill. Somebody please explain why I would play this over the real thing? Oath of Ghouls, Enchantment, 1B, During each player's upkeep, if there are more creatures in that player's graveyard than in target opponent's graveyard, the player may return a creature card from his or her graveyard to his or her hand. This is fairly funky in friendly play, but no more than that. I'd like to try this with Fanatics, Bombardments, Walkers and Ornithopters! Pit Spawn, 4BBB, 6/4, First Strike, During your upkeep, pay BB or sacrifice Pit Spawn. Whenever Pit Spawn damages a creature during combat, remove that creature from the game at the end of combat. On a par with Greven. That is, a sealed winner, but nothing you're going to play in anything other than a pretty bad reanimator. Plague Bearer, 1B, 1/1, XXB: Destroy target nonblack creature with total casting cost equals to X. Wizards is really into reusability this time, huh? It's pretty good, though extremely fragile and intensive. Once you get it up and running (in B/G Vineyard, for example), it could become advantageous pretty quickly. Recurring Nightmare, 2B, Sacrifice a creature, Return Recurring Nightmare to owner's hand: Put target creature card from your graveyard into play. Play this ability as a sorcery. Holy shit! Reusable reanimation! For 3 lousy mana and your Wall of something, put your Spirit of the Night into play. This card will revive reanimation even further. Dust off those Furnaces boys and girls, you'll need them. Amazing. A-ma-zing. Scare Tactics, B, Instant, All creatures you control gain +1/+0 until end of turn. Nice. What's to say? Nice. Slaughter, Instant, 2BB, Buyback - Pay 4 life. Destroy target nonblack creature. That creature cannot be regenerated this turn. Too expensive for my taste in today's blast-weenie-burn environment. Pretty good, but not below 16 life. Which means it's almost never good, unless you devote 16 slots to lifegaining/draining. Spike Cannibal, 1BB, Spike Cannibal comes into play with a +1/+1 counter. When Spike Cannibal comes into play, remove all +1/+1 counters from all creatures in play and put them on Spike Cannibal. To further inflame the HATE between green and black, how's this for a sideboard card? Devestating against Spike decks, but pretty bad otherwise. Thrull Surgeon, 1B, 1/1, 1B, Sacrifice Thrull Surgeon: Look at target player's hand and choose one of those cards. That player discards that card. Play this ability as a sorcery. In true Thrull style, not good enough an ability to pay AND throw away a creature for. Is buyback that big a threat to you, play a Scepter or Coercion. It does make for nice emergency flexibility, but the creature just isn't good enough to play for that single shot. Vampire Hounds, 2B, 2/2, Discard a creature card: Vampire Hounds get +2/+2 until end of turn. This card won me 12 games at the prerelease. Suicide black has gotten you down to 8, and you're establishing control. He builds up to 6 cards and attacks with this. Well, punk............? Has the same bluff value as Necratog did. Gets totally abusive when you have a Vampire Hounds AND a Necratog on the board. Every creature is +2/+2 TWICE in that situation. Did I mention this one is good in sealed? Volrath's Dungeon, Enchantment, 2BB, Any player may pay 5 life during his or her turn to destroy Volrath's Dungeon. Choose and discard a card: target opponent chooses and discards a card to the top of his or her library. Play this ability as a sorcery. This may promote a soft-lock type of deck. If you've got advantage on the board (perhaps a weenie and Necro), you can stall your opponent on a single card, or make him pay. But then again, chances are that your opponent either has no cards in hand anyway, or gladly pays that 5 life, in which case the card reads "Discard: make your opponent wait a turn longer for a card he needs IN CASE HE DOESN'T HAVE IT ALREADY, in which case you're just chugging 4 mana and loads of cards to make him lose 5 life." Thoughts The new black is all about weenies. There isn't a good black spell over 3 mana in Exodus. Carnophage, Vampire Hounds and maybe Dauthi Warlords will probably join suicide black in differing numbers. Recurring Nightmare will do it's name justice in reanimators. The rest (I dare say) is chaff. Black got off pretty badly in this set, but will dominate weenieville. For fun, now let's do artifacts. Coat of Arms, 5, Each creature in play gets +1/+1 for each other creature in play of the same creature type. Soldiers, knights and slivers. This can be that "just chug one in for fun" type of card that actually wins you games, but only time will tell if it's worth it. Erratic Portal, 4, 1, T: Return target creature to its owner's hand unless its owner's pay 1. Marginally useful at best. If you take the tapping out of the cost, it would have been an Evacuation after a Powersink. Can work very nicely under Orbs, though. May also work very nicely with Wall of Blossoms. Medicine Bag, 3, 1, T, Choose and discard a card: Regenerate target creature. YUCK. I'd rather play Squee's Toy. Memory Crystal 3, All buyback costs are reduced by 2. Now, what buyback is too expensive right now? Which one isn't? This pretty much allows every buyback spell to have a deck built around it. You know, the decks you wanted to make but pretty much sucked since Medaillons are too slow by themselves. Think Mind Games-Static Orb-Whispers, or Change of Heart-Invulnerability, or Brush-Justice. I'll want these. Mindless Automaton, 4, Mindless Automation comes into play with two +1/+1 counters on it. 1, Choose and discard a card: Put a +1/+1 counter on Mindless Automaton. Put two -1/-1 counters on Mindless Automaton: Draw a card. Nice, but overpriced. This one does have the Flowstone Sculpture type of built-in permanent pumpability, and cantrips when dying. I don't know if it's worth to build a Howling deck around... we'll see. Null Brooch, 4, 2, T, Discard your hand: Counter target noncreature spell. Play this ability as an interrupt. I didn't see this at the prerelease. If it's in the set, someone at Wizards is very much on crack. Drop this besides your Ensnaring Bridge, Scalding Tongs and Cursed Scroll for lots of "look ma, no hand!" fun. Amazing, and gets my vote for "most powerful card in the set before I played it" -- which means it will probably suck in constructed :-) Skyshaper, 2, Sacrifice Skyshaper: All creatures you control gain flying until end of turn. Sligh/Suicide black finisher? Could spawn the amazing Earthquake-weenie (something I always wanted to do) :-) Spellbook, 0, Skip your discard phase. How amazingly out of place (or set) can one card be? The entire set is about dumping your hand, and they put this in. Unbelievable. Sphere of Resistance, 2, All spells cost 1 more to cast. It's no Void, but may see use in Prison. Thopter Squadron, 5, Flying. Comes into play with three +1/+1 counters. 1, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Squadron: Put a Thopter token into play. Treat it as a 1/1 artifact creature with flying. Play this ability as a sorcery. 1, Sacrifice a Thopter. Put a +1/+1 counter on Thopter Squadron. Every big artifact creature since Triskelion has sucked. This one gets real close to being actually playable. Now, if it wasn't for the "play as"-part, it would. Transmogrifying Licid, 3, 2/2, Transmogrifying Licid counts as a Licid. 1: Transmogrifying Licid loses this ability and becomes a creature enchantmant that reads "enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and count as an artifact" instead of any other type of permanent. Move Transmogrifying Licid onto target creature. You may pay 1 to end this effect. First Licid I see myself playing. However, Licids are just not really worth it in constructed. Workhorse, 6, 0/0, Workhorse comes into play with four +1/+1 counters on it. Remove a +1/+1 counter from Workhorse: Add 1 to your mana pool. Man, what a dog of a rare. This is probably the thing Rasputin shot for being generally sucky. That's it for now, as my hands are cramping up and my eyes are falling shut. Maybe I'll do red and green when I'm awake again.... General thoughts. Every deck now needs creature removal. If your deck can not reliably take out a 1/1 or 1/2 creature from turn 3 onwards, you are in deep, deep shit. This is a moot point for suicide decks that win by turn 6 or give up anyway, but every other deck needs to neutralize all the Keepers, Druids, Ertais, Plague Bearers and the likes. Card disadvantage is here to stay. Null Brooch is the last card that the Bridge deck needed to become a real force from Extended to Rath Cycle. Believe you me, the deck type is strong. A Tongs-Bridge-Brooch core allows almost anything besides; Gypsy Pox, Vineyard/Spike/Guile, SRB, you name it. Cards to start packing if you didn't already: Energy Flux/Shatterstorm, Phyrexian Furnace. Cards to make an amazing comeback due to theme: Howling Mine. With so much to do with discarding, why not draw additional cards? I like the set. But then again, I like every set. Just my 2 Euro's, Sjoerd --- Tomorrow has been cancelled due to lack of interest.