I've seen this card do a lot of good work in the MTGO cube, and we all know how powerful fast mana can be. Third turn Hellrider in my mono red deck? Yes, please!
I've cubed it and it's pretty good. Ultimately I cut it because I lile Tomb more and it wasn't an effect I felt like I needed 2 of (maybe if I was unpowered I'd play both) bit it's still a good card.
I actually never played with this card. I know that it should be the last land you play, still resticting myself to play another land is kind of meh.
It's an "aggro land" even more so than Ancient Tomb. Also it doesn't just get you to four mana on turn three, for instance. On turn four you can then tap out and play another land, sac the CoT, and tap the new land, and you still have five mana for your turn four play. It's then only at the beginning of turn five, when you start the turn with just three lands in turn, that it feels meh.
Sorry to be pedantic, just trying to point out that in a case like this, the CoT has given you two "ramped" turns. I also like it because including this in my 40 makes me feel better about running only 16, or possibly even 15, lands in my aggro deck.
Thing is, most of my aggressive decks tend to be colored-mana heavy, in which it doesn't help that much until turn 4 or so to play my equipment/planeswalker etc.
I like Ancient Tomb because I can play mana rocks on turn 1 and continue my ramping after that...4 mana on turn 2 is soooo nice.
Part of me likes this for turn two deathbridge goliath(with elf) and the like, but as mentioned above I think I am more color centric with my aggro decks, and this doesn't do enough. Bonus interactions with balance, but what isn't great with that?
Sorry to necro this thread, but I'm wondering how City plays in 2013.
I used to play a lot of monoW Stax back in legacy, and I'm very aware of the power behind a T1 mox diamond + land, then T2 city of traitors to threaten an armageddon for the next few turns (and coincidentally, 4 mana being the magic number for all of stax's big plays).
In cube, I could see city coming down to ramp mana up for two turns (the turn it comes into play, and the next turn if you sacrifice it) allowing you to play faster planeswalkers or ramp targets. it plays nicely with crucible, knight of the reliquary, and artifact mana (thus the artifact and wildfire decks).
But is a sol land just not consistent enough? I haven't tested it yet but I've got a copy lying around so I'm very tempted.
Stormbind and Seismic Assault decks are pretty happy to play this card, ignoring the mana cost on Seismic.
That being said, this card gets picked in the middle of a pack every time I draft my 450 and has never missed the main deck. Winter Orb is fine with this card and it's a great way to power out turn two Blightsteel Colossus with Show and Tell.
Admittedly, it's not actually that /good/, but it's a lot of fun and it's nice to play with such a powerful card. My players use it to their benefit and not and regardless it's a really neat card.
Nearly 5 years - what is the latest status? Did anyone bring it back? My limited experience with it is that it does damage when it hits. And usually delivers 4 mana over two turns, but then sets you back one 'drop for the rest of the game.
StormbindThis card gets picked in the middle of a pack every time I draft my 450 and has never missed the main deck. Winter Orb is fine with this card and it's a great way to power out turn two Blightsteel Colossus with Show and Tell.
Admittedly, it's not actually that /good/, but it's a lot of fun and it's nice to play with such a powerful card. My players use it to their benefit and not and regardless it's a really neat card.
How is this card in 2024? I'm running a Vintage 360 and looking for any form of acceleration I can get. Is this too narrow? Sacrificing it is a brutal cost but with the lower curves nowadays could it work? Seems like exactly the land for aggro decks.
Thanks!
Edit: Apparently reading is difficult and this is Ancient Tomb. I swear I read this three times and it said "two mana of any color." As it's printed it doesn't sound like an effect that aggro would want
I prefer Ancient Tomb if you only have room for one of the two effects, but it's still a powerful land if you're looking for more ways to drop early 4-drops. In the era of powerful 3-5mv initiative and monarch cards, I think there's more justification for City now than there has been in the past.
I've seen this card do a lot of good work in the MTGO cube, and we all know how powerful fast mana can be. Third turn Hellrider in my mono red deck? Yes, please!
Has anybody ever tried it out?
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It's an "aggro land" even more so than Ancient Tomb. Also it doesn't just get you to four mana on turn three, for instance. On turn four you can then tap out and play another land, sac the CoT, and tap the new land, and you still have five mana for your turn four play. It's then only at the beginning of turn five, when you start the turn with just three lands in turn, that it feels meh.
Sorry to be pedantic, just trying to point out that in a case like this, the CoT has given you two "ramped" turns. I also like it because including this in my 40 makes me feel better about running only 16, or possibly even 15, lands in my aggro deck.
I like Ancient Tomb because I can play mana rocks on turn 1 and continue my ramping after that...4 mana on turn 2 is soooo nice.
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I used to play a lot of monoW Stax back in legacy, and I'm very aware of the power behind a T1 mox diamond + land, then T2 city of traitors to threaten an armageddon for the next few turns (and coincidentally, 4 mana being the magic number for all of stax's big plays).
In cube, I could see city coming down to ramp mana up for two turns (the turn it comes into play, and the next turn if you sacrifice it) allowing you to play faster planeswalkers or ramp targets. it plays nicely with crucible, knight of the reliquary, and artifact mana (thus the artifact and wildfire decks).
But is a sol land just not consistent enough? I haven't tested it yet but I've got a copy lying around so I'm very tempted.
It's always ok to necro threads in the cube forum. We like our history.
On subject I don't think the extra colorless mana is worth the major drawback.
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That being said, this card gets picked in the middle of a pack every time I draft my 450 and has never missed the main deck. Winter Orb is fine with this card and it's a great way to power out turn two Blightsteel Colossus with Show and Tell.
Admittedly, it's not actually that /good/, but it's a lot of fun and it's nice to play with such a powerful card. My players use it to their benefit and not and regardless it's a really neat card.
I'd include it in any cube of any size.
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Thanks!
Edit: Apparently reading is difficult and this is Ancient Tomb. I swear I read this three times and it said "two mana of any color." As it's printed it doesn't sound like an effect that aggro would want
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My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!