Post MTG Cards and I'll Properly Analyze Them

[Simping For Hina]

I am a professional mtg player. Not really, but I have gotten paid for it enough through tournaments and event hosting that I basically don't pay anything to get cards anymore. Just the stuff.

[Yui]

May as well post my favorite card.

[Snatch Steal]

[Krein]

Can't post images for some reason, so I'll just leave names.

 

Thunderbreak Regent (favorite card)

 

Vendilion Clique (asking because I'm wondering if this card should be used in specific builds, or if it can just be used as a tech in decks running Blue)

 

Serum Visions (I've heard stuff like "Think Twice and Anticipate are better options", but this seems like such a good card)

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Blood Artist

 

Blood Pet

 

And I am curious your thoughts on the Curse cards and if any of them are any good.

[Snatch Steal]

OP WILL DELIVER JUST WAIT

[cr47t]

Can I post multiples?

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

Butcher of the Horde

[Trebuchet MS]

Boros Charm

[Simping For Hina]

May as well post my favorite card.

Wayfaring Temple is good in critical mass creature decks, but I don't think that means a lot. It is a fun casual creature in some GW Collected Company deck but does nothing too powerful when most critical mass decks are lower to the ground or the higher costing curve adds more to the board in the form of card advantage. This is a do nothing big thing that relies on the board state to be at relative ease and control for the player casting it, but I think it is more important to deal with every card around this and just keep blocking it. In Token builds are where you want this, but why use this when you can just use more token spells for the same cost? It isn't going to break any barriers and could easily be blocked for days.

 

I use this for protection.

[Simping For Hina]

Can't post images for some reason, so I'll just leave names.

 

Thunderbreak Regent (favorite card)

 

Vendilion Clique (asking because I'm wondering if this card should be used in specific builds, or if it can just be used as a tech in decks running Blue)

 

Serum Visions (I've heard stuff like "Think Twice and Anticipate are better options", but this seems like such a good card)

Thunderbreak Regent is good for lower to the ground decks to find a high casting cost spell that does more when you're opponent is trying to deal with everything else. Mostly because it is big and almost always secure a few damages, or stops the opponent from furthering their position in the game. It is a little too fair, and while it is hard to deal with, that doesn't mean people need to deal with it. There are ways to get around this card that allow for the player to constantly keep pressure on you while you try to stick around behind a dragon that doesn't get any value from the opponent who does nothing. In matchups where dealing with every card is important, and the one that sticks is the one that wins, this card does it all. But those matchups are far and few, and I would rather have myself something that can be both hard to deal with and something that protects me, not cards that my opponent can either get around or figure out a way where this card does nothing. Too fair and too stagnant to matter much in the matchups where you would want it to matter more.

 

Vendilion Clique is a glorious blue card. It provides blue with something that it can do often, provide information at instant speed and it is a threat. I talked about this card in one of my articles when I got back from an IQ, and it does wonders. Hand disruption, threat, instant speed, and information. These are all things that matter when you're trying to play fair. I don't like that the opponent draws a card, but that is needed and doesn't worry too much when I much rather have the information needed. Best in unfair matchups when you are the fair player.

 

Serum Visions is actually an extremely powerful card. It is meant for decks that need to set up their next few turns when something is going to happen, in aggro-control or in combo decks that have to worry about what their next tool is. It is how decks can keep up momentum and card velocity. If being compared to Anticipate and Think Twice, note that this card is meant to be in a deck where casting cost matters more than trying to draw into specific tools. Serum Visions helps to set up the next turn, or the next draw. And it does it for cheap, so it is a faster card to use. Anticipate is going to be about setting up something for the longer term and getting farther into the deck when you need to worry about what is needed later on in the game, not just next turn. It is much more focused on trying to win later on and trying to stabilize right then. Think Twice is card advantage, not card selection. This is a matter of how much you are trying to get out and how much you need to answer. It is not about setting up, but getting farther in your deck and getting more cards in your hand. Serum Visions is a better card when decks are either faster, but need to focus on the turn after or the next draw; their next step, as they already have the win and need to keep the pressure on the opponent. Anticipate is about setting up for the longer game, where you need to win, but you need a proper way to get there. Think Twice doesn't really care about winning any time, as the game will progress to a point you just keep getting damage in and eventually win.

 

Blood Artist

 

Blood Pet

 

And I am curious your thoughts on the Curse cards and if any of them are any good.

Blood Artist is a card that works well with sac outlets, obviously. It is good in Wrath decks or decks that keep trying to go wide against an opponent who deals with every threat. It is akin to the Zulaport Cutthroat, and is another card that Zombardment (A legacy zombie deck) can use to quickly win a game, but it doesn't do much on anything else. It is best when you can either have enough cards to deal with the opponent, so that pinging for one means the end of the game or you can sac your creatures for another sense of value. It is rather slow in both endeavors, and won't see much play in decks that are about trying to win through a board stall or can stall it. I would rather have something that can affect the opponent for more damage. This is better when you're in control of what and maybe when something is going to the graveyard, otherwise it is slow and annoying weak.

 

Blood Pet is good for when you are trying to accommodate much larger casting cost spells for cheaper, but it is also a one-trick pony. There are better cards than this, and black has better cards that provide more instantaneous mana. I wouldn't try to have too many of these, but they do get around hand disruption for a free spell. I think it is much more worth it to try and use this card for get out things that are cheap or not too mana intensive so you can get more value out of it. Unless you are a land focused deck that could use all the mana you can, as this could get a few points across which might be fun.

 

Curse of Death's Hold is the best curse out there. I don't think I need to say why, but it kills both Blood Artist and Blood Pet.

 

 

OP WILL DELIVER JUST WAIT

No he won't.

 

Can I post multiples?

No, you can't. Everyone else did, but I am giving you special treatment because I can.

 

Butcher of the Horde

Dude, I was expecting this to make a splash in Mardu Midrange. Still ashamed that it hasn't, as I still want to try and make it work. The problem is: It needs a set up, where a midrange deck would much rather have a threat that provides efficiency instead of requiring it. That is the biggest issue this card has, but it is still a powerful card when set up is already there as it can do anything and break up board stalls. It is a much needed threat as it turns all of the creatures that don't matter into fuel for the Butcher. It still has the need for other creatures and it doesn't affect the board without them, this is a major problem in decks that would play this card. It is much better when the entire field in playing creatures, and you happen to have better creatures at all points and time.

 

 

Boros Charm

Absolutely nuts. It is the best charm printed from the entire set, and it does everything that most decks in RW want to do. It is a finisher when most creatures can't get the points across, it is a threat enhancer when a threat just doesn't do enough, and it does something else that isn't relevant. This card put burn on the map, and it should be played in more Zoo variants but doesn't because of the W attached on. If it were RG, I think the lower creature-based burn decks or Zoo decks would take this right up. Still absolutely powerful, and something to always watch out for. My friend even played it in RW humans when Naya Blitz was the best deck, as it helped to keep momentum against that deck and make other decks lose momentum along the way.

[Yuuji Kazami]

Snapcaster Mage.

 

Silence.

 

Stormtide Leviathan.

 

Urborg, Tomb of Yawg something.

 

The extort mechanic in general.

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

I'm gonna throw you a bone.

 

Lingering Souls.

[Trebuchet MS]

Rise from the Tide

[goodfusion]

[Simping For Hina]

Snapcaster Mage.

 

Silence.

 

Stormtide Leviathan.

 

Urborg, Tomb of Yawg something.

 

The extort mechanic in general.

You're funking needy.

 

Snapcaster Mage is actually just broken, and one of the most powerful cards ever printed. It's power level is going to be defined by the cards that you use along side with it, but that doesn't stop it from being powerful as some of the best cards are the ones that do so much for so little. A 2/1 Flash attacker is pretty powerful, and one of the most common modes of Snapcaster Mage. Snapcaster does what every blue deck wants to be doing, and does more along side it as you can redo anything you want to do. More removal, more counterspells, more card disruption, and more card filter. It is the new way Blue is going to get card advantage rather than just drawing cards, and it is the direction that most midrange/tempo/control decks can do, as it attacks all angles of play that is needed as well. funking hell, this card is just broken and something I find myself loving when I play it, but funking hate the design of the card. It is actually just disgusting, what this card does.

 

Silence is a card that you want to use against Combo/Control. It allows combo decks to not have fear against Counterspells, and it helps to pace the opponent in a way that they are almost fighting two different battles without even putting up a fight. 1, fighting against Silence and 2, fighting against the actual combo. It also has use against combo decks, if you are a combo deck, as you basically get a free turn. Otherwise, you're putting the opponent on a free timewalk, but it doesn't stop what is already on the board. If you want to have fun with this card, put it on an Isochron Scepter deck, and it is absolutely broken then. So much fun. But it isn't that great in any other position than I mentioned, which means that it is a high liability if you're the one playing it.

 

Stormtide Leviathan is okay. It is a fun card to play around with, but kind of underwhelming. It does nothing but gets around everything. Most cards nowadays do exactly this, and that is when they become control finishers. This is a great card to play in reanimator strategies against fair decks, that much means it is just an honest and fun kind of card. It is big, is an artifact, and a funking leviathan. I can't hate the card, but for the same cost of the card is much weaker than most. It really can see play in only reanimator strategies for that exact reason, but those type of decks find cards that play both fair and unfair.

 

Tomb of Yawgmoth is interesting, as it is the best way to fix mana in most decks without taking away from much of the landbase. It was an absolute thrill to play it with Mono U Tron when I was a land-toolbox deck and had access to dismember. I had more ways to fetch it then, and it didn't stop me from casting my other cards. It wasn't a problem in most scenarios. The card helps a lot of land game issues that come with fetchlands, and helps to me BG rock have a powerful finisher. I would only focus on this card when the mana base and casting cost of cards are stretched in the deck you are trying to play, but I wouldn't play it unless that is the case. It helps to cast cards, but it only helps to cast cards that are heavy on black casting costs. And that is when it should matter. Don't try to stretch your mana base, tho, as this isn't the perfect answer and you should still be attempting to cast all of your other cards without the need of it. Urborg helps your problems, it doesn't solve them.

 

Extort is just a fun mechanic. It does as much as Blood Artist does, and can do more. There really isn't much to say other than just being fun. It isn't good or bad.

 

I'll get to the others later.

[Just Crouton]

Monastery Swiftspear

 

The Trinity Of Awesome (Kird Ape, Wild Nacatl, Loam Lion)

 

Lightning Bolt

[Simping For Hina]

I'm gonna throw you a bone.

 

Lingering Souls.

Do you really need to me say why this card is good? It does everything midrange and control decks want to do, and have trouble trying to accomplish. Stabilize and then go for the win. Lingering Souls can block for days, and can get through almost everything. It is one of the best topdecks your deck can have on a bad day and it is an allstar on a good day. There is almost no time when this card is bad, and gives decks the ability to just play a safe game against cards that try to win through a safe measure. It is a safety net card, for sure, but it's powerful enough to just blank specific strategies is played properly. The best way to play this card is know timing of when to play both sides, or just one side. And when to cast it from your hand over the graveyard when you are drawing into multiples. I never will not love this card.

 

 

Go the funk away with this card.

[Simping For Hina]

Monastery Swiftspear

 

The Trinity Of Awesome (Kird Ape, Wild Nacatl, Loam Lion)

 

Lightning Bolt

Monastery Swiftspear is a card that helps burn keep up. Before that and Eidolon of the Great Revel, burn was a Goblin Guide deck that would never win unless it had Goblin Guide in the main deck. The times the deck has a one drop is double that what it used to be, and it is another reason why some burn decks are running Wild Nacatl as well. It is absurd that a 1/2 is powerful, but it is a burn card through and through. It helps to keep tempo, and plays a much more effective role of getting more damage across the later the game goes, as you are playing more spells per turn. It doesn't have a great DoS identity, as it doesn't provide any sense of evasion, so this card is strictly meant for decks that can have a better "protect the queen" measure that deals with the opponent's creatures than their counter measures, if you are going to stick to a tempo style deck inside of tempo issued timing.

 

The lone three are just other creatures, mostly cards that put Zoo on the matchup as the idea of a curve started with these creatures more than anything. They are absolutely nuts as starters, but they are also the weakest players you could make on an early turn because of their toughness. "3" dies to Lightning Bolt. They provide the most damage, and decks have been focusing on using Wild Nacatl the most as it does provide one whole damage more than the others. In most Zoo decks, it is about putting as much damage on the board come each turn, and putting on more damage on the board as fast as possible. A lot of decks have taken to this idea more than the idea of trying to play the most efficient creatures to get damage across. Loam Lion and Kird Ape have become outclassed in most scenarios, and it is seemingly better to get away from this entire idea of using them. The toughness defines this more, as Lightning Bolt kills a Goblin Guide and a Noble Hierarch just as much, and provide much better measures to how the game plays out.

 

Lightning Bolt is not just a card, but a test. It is the limiting factor that defines most of the line up of creatures in Modern, even some play in Legacy. If you're looking at playing a creature, you also have to look at the style of deck you want to play and what creatures you include. I am probably going to talk more about the test, because dealing with the earliest of creatures without much drawback is meant to throw people off of tempo, and Lightning Bolt does the best job of that. It doesn't speed decks up in anyway like Path to Exile does, and it is almost never dead as it can hit face as well, making players play more cautiously. When trying to figure out creatures, you have to understand what the creature is going to do in a game and the amount of impact it will grant if left alone. This is why cards that lose to Lightning Bolt are some of the most powerful cards in the game, as they can either game tempo against the opponent or they just take over a game if Lightning Bolt can't hit. Lightning Bolt is also the fastest and best creature removal, as it doesn't grant the player anything that further progress their game plan. It completely throws them off at no cost whatsoever.