Since I took a break last week to look at the 5cG archetype in CBS, I figured I’d pick up where I left off on some updated card values in the new environment today.
I’ve always been of the opinion that many otherwise solid drafters don’t take the necessary time to re-evaluate the older cards whenever a new set enters the format. Just because something was great in CCB doesn’t mean it’s still going to be amazing in CBS. Fortunately, I’m very interested in the subject and ready to help those of you that feel like slacking off.
A New Dilemma?
Last week Andy Clautice wrote a Draft Walkthrough here on Star City that caused quite a bit of commotion in the forums. Many people disagreed with the picks he made and it didn’t take long for the list of posts to grow a page long. While I’m not going to go into detail on the entire article, I did want to discuss one important point that I think the forum posters may be a little off on.
In his draft walkthrough, Andy chose Haru-Onna over a second copy of Elder Pine of Jukai. Someone posted in the forums that they thought this was a horrible pick and that Elder Pine is much better than the Onna overall. After that, it seemed like everyone jumped on the bandwagon and about six or seven people agreed that the Elder Pine was undisputedly better than the Onna.
I have a few thoughts on this new dilemma of Elder Pine vs. Haru Onna.
First off, both of these cards provide a huge amount of card advantage if they are left unchecked. This is something that isn’t usually given to Green. I think this pick deserves a lot more attention than it is being given, and anyone who immediately says take Elder Pine no matter what isn’t looking at all the angles.
Second, while I think that the two cards are extremely close in power level I actually tend to lean towards Haru-Onna!
My thoughts on this debate are as follows:
Elder Pine of Jukai
Pros
Allows you to stack your deck
Helps in the Hand Size War
Soulshift 2
Can get all of the lands out of your deck
Cons
Easy to kill
Doesn’t want to block unless absolutely necessary
Gets you extra lands, not extra cards
Can sometimes be annoying when your deck is stacked and you can’t cast a
spirit because of it
Needs a lot of time to start pressing the advantage and is very vulnerable to an early rush
Haru-Onna
Pros
Re-usable Wall of Blossoms
Amazing with stacked damage and an Arcane spell
Helps in Hand Size War
Draws actual cards, not lands
Still nets card advantage if it is immediately killed after being cast or is forced to block
Cons
One mana more than Elder Pine
Ties up mana over the long game unlike Elder
Can’t stack your deck (not a big deal since you usually need 2 Elder Pines to do this anyway)
Hopefully that makes the picture a bit clearer.
My main point here is that Haru-Onna can actually engage in combat with your opponent’s creatures and also will still net card advantage if it is immediately killed by a removal spell. If you play Elder Pine on turn 3 and your opponent First Volleys it, you gain absolutely nothing.
Another reason that I think the Onna is the better overall card is that it is great at any point in the game while Elder Pine may be a dead draw if you draw it on turn 15 and have no real use for its ability anymore.
Of course there are the times when you drop turn 3 Elder Pine and just go to town with it. I’ve been on the giving and receiving end of that and it’s the exact reason that the choice between these two cards is such a dilemma.
Overall, with everything else being equal, I personally think that Haru-Onna is slightly better. Mana curve, Spirit/Arcane count, and a number of other things can be very influential should you have to make this choice during a draft and you should take them into consideration when doing so.
An interesting note is that somewhat the same dilemma occurs between Elder Pine and Ghost-Lit Nourisher. Both cards are close in power level and while I haven’t had enough experience with the Nourisher yet, I think it may also be slightly better. Something worth talking about in the forums for sure though.
Hey You, Zip It!
Yep, I’m at it again.
Today I brought a few twists to my usual card values section. Check it out.
Squelch
Yes, I’m actually writing about this card.
Not because it’s “the best card you’re not playing,” but because it’s come full circle in this block and actually worth a maindeck spot in most decks if not at least top of the sideboard list.
This block is full of amazing activated abilities and casting Squelch at a crucial moment is not only the most unexpected thing ever (because I’ve never seen anyone but me cast it), but it can snatch an otherwise un-winnable game from the jaws of defeat. Most people run Reach Through Mists with or without ways to abuse it, just as a cantrip, and Squelch is the same thing except that it actually does something.
I used it about a week ago in a game that had become a complete damage race. My opponent was losing this race until he cast Moonlit Strider and sacrificed it to bring back his Kami of False Hope, tapping out. Unfortunately for him I used my Descendent of Soramaro on his end step to find my sideboarded in Squelch and attack for lethal while Squelching the Kami ability.
Clearly not every Squelch is going to be as good as that one.
The important thing to realize is that it’s a perfectly maindeckable card that never ever gets played when it really should see quite a bit of use. Even countering something trivial like a Split-Tail Miko activation could end up winning you a game. If nothing else, Squelch cycles easily with its cantrip ability and you will certainly catch someone off guard since nobody is expecting it.
Feral Deceiver
Is it just me or has this card gone completely downhill?
Dr. Martel was saying the other day that he’d much rather have Order of the Sacred Bell nowadays than this clunker, and I completely agree.
If you recall last week I posted a 5cG list that had one of these guys in it and I remember that during that draft I felt like I drew a blank card every time I drew the Deceiver.
Man, I used to love this guy! What happened?
I’ll tell you what happened, the format became more mana intensive. There are tons of activated abilities now such as Split-Tail Miko, Kitsune Lorebearer, Sokenzan Spellblade, Soratamis on the splash, Moonwing Moth, and the list goes on and on. With all of these abilities constantly requiring that you leave up extra mana, the Deceiver has fallen by the wayside.
Not that he doesn’t have a good activated ability himself, it’s just that he’s nothing special anymore and usually spends most of his time as an unexciting 3/2 body. The alternatives are all simply better in the new environment and I would certainly take Sacred Bell, Burr Grafter, and Kami of the Hunt over the Deceiver in CBS whereas I may not have done so back in CCC.
Honden of Night’s Reach
This one is a biggie.
I did mention this last week in the 5cG review, but I wanted to go a bit deeper into it here.
I remember saying that this was probably the worst Honden besides the Green one a while back. While it may have been true then, things have definitely taken a turn.
The fact that Saviors added the Hand Size mechanic to what was already becoming a slow Limited format is just the icing on the cake for our friend here the Black Honden.
This card is a bomb in the new format.
While Hondens overall have gone down in value since you have fewer chances to pick up multiples, this one in particular has skyrocketed. I’ve picked it first a number of times in the past few weeks and am always willing to splash it. The effect it produces is absolutely crippling on virtually any archetype in the block and most people still don’t run enchantment removal main to deal with it. There have been plenty of games recently where I played Honden on turn 4 and felt like I couldn’t ever lose even with a mediocre draw. My opinion of this card just keeps going up every time I play it and that is why I felt it necessary to really hit the nail on the head this week and talk about it again.
My suggestion to you is to start taking it higher, splashing it, whatever you need to do to get it in your deck.
You won’t be disappointed.
If you haven’t figured it out, this is the new twist I was talking about earlier. I’ve decided to add some card vs. card debates to my updates sections since I think they are important when the cards are close enough to create an argument.
This pick is one that I’ve gone back and forth on for quite some time. With the block now completed however, I think there is definitely a better card between the two.
I used to take Rootrunner over the Grafter in CCC because its ability was so powerful and you had little to do with your spare mana laying around. Earlier I talked about this same concept with the Feral Deceiver. Now that I’m splashing Soratamis and most of my other creatures have activated abilities, I think that Rootrunner has also gone down a notch.
Granted, he is still a 3/3 for four, I think that Burr Grafter is now the better overall choice since it only costs one Green mana and its ability is completely free of charge to activate. Funny how a mere two mana activation cost can be the difference in evaluating cards as similar as these two.
Gibbering Kami vs. Befoul & the Rends|
I know I’m going out on a limb with this one, but I’m going to do so anyway.
Most of you know by now that Scuttling Death is far and away the best Black common in Champions, but how high do you value Gibbering Kami?
I’ve had plenty of discussions lately on this subject, and it seems I value Gibbs higher than most people. I’m the first to say that I’m not a huge fan of Befoul. It’s a good all around spell, but I’ve never been a huge supporter of it. I do like Rend Spirit and I don’t have a problem with Rend Flesh.
It seems like the Champions Black commons have almost boiled down to a preference list instead of a correct pick sequence. What I mean by that is that you can justify taking Gibbering Kami, Nezumi Cutthroat, Rend Flesh, or Rend Spirit in almost any order you choose! I think if you’re going to take a removal spell from the list then Rend Spirit is probably your best bet. But then again, that’s just my opinion and I know there are plenty of you who disagree.
This is something that hasn’t been talked about at all lately and is actually rather important since it happens in the first booster of the draft. Anyway, I kinda went off on a little rant there without really being very clear, so I just want to leave you with my thoughts.
Gibbering Kami is still undervalued and I don’t think it’s in your best interest to immediately take one of the removal spells over it and move on. Usually I’m not a fan of 2/2 fliers for four, but the Kami is an exception and you should actually consider taking it much higher than you do now. Comments?
Kirri-Onna vs. Shinen of Flight’s Wings
“Uh oh, here goes Nick advocating another Onna over a bomb common again.”
Not quite, but hear me out.
I know a few people who like Kirri Onna much more than I do. And I like it a lot.
Those particular players were talking a week or so about whether or not it’s correct to take the Onna over the best Blue common. Now I don’t have too much of a stance on this issue since I like both of the cards and really wouldn’t mind having to make the choice between the two since I’m getting one of them for sure and that’s a very good thing. If I had to choose without any special circumstances I’d say that I like the Shinen a little bit better. The reason for this is mainly raw power since 3/3 fliers are spectacular in Limited and this one only costs one colored mana.
In a deck low on removal or one with a huge amount of Arcane triggers, however, I’d probably be more inclined to take the Onna. So while it is a frustrating choice to have to make, I think it’s pretty deck dependent and you should just take the flier when all else fails. I could be wrong however as the Onna is quite good in this format.
One other thing to remember that isn’t immediately obvious is that you can use the Onna in the same manner as a Glitterfang if the game stalls out and you have something like Waxmane Baku in play. Simply play the Onna and bounce a cheap Spirit of your own and then recast it to return the Onna. It’s an expensive substitute for Glitterfang but it will win you some games when you need to build some Ki counters or trigger something with Spiritcraft multiple times.
Let me say first that this isn’t entirely my “tech.”
I’ve seen other players using this card for the same reason I thought it would be good, and it makes me feel like I’m not a complete idiot for thinking this card was playable. The general idea here is to use this guy in a U/B deck with lots of ninjas as a cheap and easy way to get them out fast. If you have multiple Okiba-Gangs it’s going to be fine in any Black deck as well, though it’s definitely better in U/B.
The argument of course is that there are better options such as Soratami Cloudskater, and Floodbringer and their ilk, and the Deathknell pales in comparison. While this is true, it’s still a nice alternative, and also a Spirit if you happen to be packing Greed or a lot of Soulshift.
This isn’t the best card ever, but it’s more playable than most people give it credit for.
Other Thoughts
Some other cards that I would suggest you start taking earlier in your draft that have been on my radar lately are Blood Rites and Journeyer’s Kite. Both of these cards were mediocre-solid cards in the past and have really become powerful in the new environment. Even though the Kite is slow it ensures that you will win most long games and also helps you splash some bombs into your control decks. Blood Rites has become a very early pick since its resolution will usually signal the end of the game if your opponent can’t kill you in the next couple turns or have an answer to the enchantment at the ready.
As far as what’s coming down the pipe in the next few weeks, I’m planning on doing a CBS Walkthrough for next week, and then hopefully a new Snapping Thragg experiment before the end of July as I have a great new idea for one of those. My goal with these card valuation articles is to get the wheels turning for you guys so that you can view the Limited format with a more open mind rather than being locked into certain pick orders. If you are constantly evaluating what you are doing and why you are taking a particular card over another card close in value, it will go a long way to helping you win more drafts.
After all, we are all striving to be better players, aren’t we?
Soooooo & ThatsGameBoys on MODO