Time Spiral Review for Legacy

[Finn]

This thread is for the discussion of my latest article, Time Spiral Review for Legacy. We would be grateful if you would let us know what you think, but please keep your comments on topic.

[Twilightsown]

I don't play legacy and I still found this informative. Good job.

[Cornithopter]

OMG NooB You Forgot teh Timeshifteds!!!1!!

On a more serious note, no love for chameleon blur?

On an even more serious note, nice article, although I think you overrated a few cards.

[V0id]

I found this article is simply lovely. thanks

[Michael Morris]

Remove Mangura of Condor AND target permanent from the game.

Now if I read that right you must perform both actions. If you can't (say, Mangura gets shocked or Karakas'ed back to your hand) the ability won't work.

It's like the difference between Hex and Seeds of Strength. With Hex if you fizzle one critter target the spell fails, with Seeds fizzling one has no effect on the other two.

Or at least that's how I understand the game. I could be wrong.

[xepel]

The ability will do as much as it can. If Mangara isn't there, it'll still remove the other permanent.

With Hex, you have to have 6 different targets to be able to play it. But if some of those targets then go away, it will still kill the rest.

[Solace]

I think Smallpox will be awesome in non-standard formats. It's an extremely solid card... but not quite enough to base a deck off of. I'm not sure it's got a deck to fit into in standard, but if you've got a way to make discard work for you (along with not having a creature in play, and make the land-sac not so bad, both of which are in standard)... the possibility to 3 for 1 your opponent for is awesome. Same card advantage as Ancestrial Recall, for one mana more, and the CA is actually used in destroying things immediately, instead of sitting in your hand.

[Bubblematrix]

Nice article, lists all the things that I would have expected to see.

Two comments tho: Magus of the Disk - I think this looses a lot of power over the memory jar by not being an artifact, mainly it gets summoning sick (eeeew) and can't be welded back into play, saying this I'm sure it's ok, just not as good as the hype.

Angel's Grace - indeed you do "Play not to lose" - but I would take this every time in Scepter/Chant or simlar, it's almost as effective as stifle in stopping a win from any storm based deck, it give you that nice little pause for a gaea's blessing trigger to get through and stops opponents from laughing past a scepter/chant lock by hitting you in your turn. This plus the blessing are a match made in heaven for stopping brain freeze wins. That said it is a very niche use.

[epeeguy]

Trickbind may have been a good mention as well; it is a good way to combat Iggy-Pop, Solidarity or other storm-based combos, presenting you with a way to counter their kill condition the turn they try to go off. It can be played around (if you have a second Brain Freeze and mana to play it, though a second Tendrils of Agony is a bit harder to play usually), but it certainly appears to be a step up from Stifle since you can't respond to it. It also has the extra advantage of shutting down some pesty creatures in play that are usually pretty resilent or otherwise hard to deal with. And if Time Vault hadn't been re-re-re-errated, then it would have been another way to combat that.

Otherwise, an excellently done article for Legacy players (or for people who enjoy the format, but don't get enough chances to play it, like me).

[Finn]

Right, Epeeguy.

Trickbind is one of those cards I found myself asking folks about since my own intuition was that it was not particularly better than Stifle. No one seemed to be interested, but I think that all the split second cards deserve a second look. That ability is just really good. Ultimately I left it out because it is still as narrow as Stifle for the most part. As a hoser, Stifle sometimes works against storm decks, but only if the rest of your deck puts pressure on them to go off too early. There are better options right now. But down the road, who knows.

[Nerevar]

No comments on Sudden Shock?

[Mr. Nightmare]

Just a few things:

This is about Legacy, right? I couldn't tell.

Academy's Ruins - I agree with it, but you could have mentioned Mindslaver Lock.

Ancestral Vision - Sucks.
Conflagrate - Sucks.
Deep Sea Kraken - I'll say this, and then lose to it - In the format of creature removal and "Counter target spell," this card is terrible.
Liege of the pit - Pretty unplayable
Magus of the Candelabra - Ok in casual, regarded as the weakest Magus
Magus of the Disk - White has better board sweepers, and Nevinyrral's Disk is less prone to getting killed before use.

I would have liked to see a mention of Fathom Seer, as well as Trickbind. I also think Stuffy Doll combo may make an appearance in the Metagame.

[Lightster]

Great article Finn. Thanks for the enjoyable read, even being a Standard player.

Originally Posted by Bubblematrix

Nice article, lists all the things that I would have expected to see.

Two comments tho: Magus of the Disk - I think this looses a lot of power over the memory jar by not being an artifact, mainly it gets summoning sick (eeeew) and can't be welded back into play, saying this I'm sure it's ok, just not as good as the hype.

I'm assuming you mean Magus of the Jar?

Originally Posted by Bubblematrix

Angel's Grace - indeed you do "Play not to lose" - but I would take this every time in Scepter/Chant or simlar, it's almost as effective as stifle in stopping a win from any storm based deck, it give you that nice little pause for a gaea's blessing trigger to get through and stops opponents from laughing past a scepter/chant lock by hitting you in your turn. This plus the blessing are a match made in heaven for stopping brain freeze wins. That said it is a very niche use.

How does it do anything special for your Gaea's Blessing triggers? And most certainly how does this do anything for stopping brain freeze? At best, you could put it on a scepter, and use it every turn, on your turn, to prevent from decking out, which seems suboptimal.

Originally Posted by Mr. Nightmare

Just a few things:

This is about Legacy, right? I couldn't tell.

Academy's Ruins - I agree with it, but you could have mentioned Mindslaver Lock.

Ancestral Vision - Sucks.
Conflagrate - Sucks.

Wow. That's pretty indepth. Lemme re-read that, make sure I didn't miss anything.

Originally Posted by Mr. Nightmare

Deep Sea Kraken - I'll say this, and then lose to it - In the format of creature removal and "Counter target spell," this card is terrible.

Damnit, I hate playing creatures in a format with creature removal and counterspells. How am I ever going to kill my opponent?

[Mr. Nightmare]

Let's get in a fight about it.

Wow. That's pretty indepth. Lemme re-read that, make sure I didn't miss anything.

When you're done, you can provide some input on the article, because even though you felt the need to attack mine, you conveniently didn't provide anything more than "good job" yourself. Something about a glass house, and throwing rocks.

Damnit, I hate playing creatures in a format with creature removal and counterspells. How am I ever going to kill my opponent?

Wow, congratulations on not knowing what the hell you're talking about. It probably has something to do with this:

Originally Posted by Lightster

Thanks for the enjoyable read, even being a Standard player.

Not that there's anything wrong with being a Standard player, but in a format that is defined by a one Mana creature attempting to connect with your opponent, this guy (who hits the RFG zone turn 3, and doesn't hit play until turn 5 on average, possibly later) isn't blue's most relevant threat. He has to compete with Sea Drake, Meloku (who doesn't see play), Serendib Efreet, Morphling (who doesn't see play), and Exalted Angel, Mystic Enforcer, and Fledgling Dragon as finishers, all of which hit faster or are more effective than him.

[a_passer_bye]

Enjoyable article. It helps me to think of cards in ways other then their casual applications. I'm always up for articles like this. I agree though that the Split Second cards should have been given at least a once over.

Originally Posted by Lightster

How does it do anything special for your Gaea's Blessing triggers? And most certainly how does this do anything for stopping brain freeze? At best, you could put it on a scepter, and use it every turn, on your turn, to prevent from decking out, which seems suboptimal.

How so? Please explain how you are planning on putting the Gaea's Blessing onto an Isochron Scepter?