MTG Salvation

When I added this card in, it was just for testing and I didn't expect it to last long. But every time it hit play, the player on the other side either had to have the removal on the spot, often disrupting their curve, or it started dominating the game. I can't really speak for 360 cubes as I have never run less than 400 cards and now have a 540 cube. Both Graveborn Muse and Plague Sliver are run in the average 540 cube according to Eidolon's data, and after more than half a year of running this card, I am very very certain that Bloodline Keeper is better than both. Both black four drops yield nothing when immediately removed. Plague Sliver is better at quickly killing their opponent when they have no ground blockers. Both the Muse and the Vampire gain card advantage every turn, but I believe that in this day and age, where cube creatures get better with every set, board advantage is much more important than drawing cards in most decks. Not losing you life every single turn is also a very important edge that the Bloodline Keeper has over both as a ton of very good black cards already lose you life, many also every turn. This is a central weakness that black has against aggressive decks, especially red ones.
Also: Flipping the Bloodline Keeper does not happen every game, but it is very very relevant and plays out similar to a planeswalker Ultimate in providing additional inevitability on top of an already very good card.

With all the talk about the four drops slot being sweet, black definitely has a hole, especially if you actually want a beater. I like the keeper better than either Juzaam or Plague Sliver. My question is if it is better than Graveborn Muse?

I am quite certain that it is, like I argued in the opening post.

Quote from Phantizle

With all the talk about the four drops slot being sweet, black definitely has a hole, especially if you actually want a beater. I like the keeper better than either Juzaam or Plague Sliver. My question is if it is better than Graveborn Muse?

It might be, its very situation dependent. Honestly, the biggest downside of the keeper for me is the 3 toughness.

My issue with the Keeper is that you either can attack or make a token. If I have a 3/3 flyer in play, I'm going to want to attack with it more often than not. I may be talking out my butt due to lack of experience with the card, but the tap cost makes it seem really clunky to me. That fact that Keeper and his tokens fly is pretty attractive though.

I really, really like Graveborn Muse. I would run Keeper over Plague Sliver or Juzam if I still ran those, but I can't imagine cutting Muse for this.

For me, at 500 Powered, this card is on the bubble and could come in for testing.

Cheers,
rant

I don't think it's better than the Muse. I'd rather have the card draw. This card is a really slow big bitterblossom that has the additional drawback of dying to creature removal.

Large slow cubes can take advantage of the eventual advantage it can grind out, but the average cube nowadays is too quick for a 4-drop that gets in its first 2 damage on turn six.

It needed a mana cost to create the tokens (like 2B: for example) ...the in the activation absolutely kills it. I need to be able to create my tokens while bashing with him through the red zone. It tested out for us like a really bad black Master of the Hunt, that doesn't double as removal and can't attack and make tokens at the same time.

Quote from wtwlf123

Master of the Hunt

Wild?

Big slow Bitterblossom still sounds pretty awesome to me, though. I've been running it for a while, and while I don't rank it above Graveborn Muse, I still think it's cubeable in 540 or even 450. It's certainly not a good finisher for faster decks, although you have the opponent on the ropes, you can attack with it as a vanilla 3/3 flier. If you're in a midrange slugfest, you grind out advantage with it. It can also work as a finisher if you can protect it in a control deck. It's not the best in any situation, but it's pretty good at a range of situations. It's certainly more of a "damn-I-need-to-answer-this" card than most of black's 4-drops.

The fact that it flies makes it far better than Master of the Wild Hunt in my opinion. I also think it's better than any of the Juzam/Sewer pack and Graveborn as well. I'd rank it up with Nekrataal, which is obviously better in shorter games, but the Keeper is better in most longer games.

I think it's better than the 5/5s for 4, and Master of the Wild Hunt is about equal to it.

Quote from Blimpy

I think it's better than the 5/5s for 4, and Master of the Wild Hunt is about equal to it.

But black four drops are A LOT worse than green ones.

I think black has a lot of good 4-drops, actually. And the top tier of the 4-drops are actually better than green's.

Quote from wtwlf123

I think black has a lot of good 4-drops, actually. And the top tier of the 4-drops are actually better than green's.

I think they're about equal, but I can see why you would say this.