Cursed Totem, Null Rod or Powder Keg?

[Bastian]

Cursed Totem, Null Rod or Powder Keg? Which is better?

Ever since one of the invitational's that it became current to use 3-4 maindeck Null Rods because they can prevent the ever so popular moxen and other artifact mana from being used. Not only that but they can prevent powerful artifacts such as cursed scroll, masticore, powder keg and illusionary mask.

They can slow down decks like keeper and combo...

With the passing time other decks appeared and right now, if an aggro player wants to use 4 slots to use Null Rods or something alike, what is better? Null Rod, Cursed Totem or Powder Keg?

Null Rod has the already explained advantages.

Cursed Totem acts in a similiar way to the rod but instead of artifacts it stops creatures from using activated abilities. This means that Masticore would be stopped just as well, along with Morphling (which, even though isn't as used today it's still a headache for weenie players). It also prevents more (recently) popular creatures from being used: Goblin Welder, Volrath's Shapeshifter. It also prevents Triskelion from dropping its tokens and killing weenies.

Powder Keg is a mix of both. It can act as a mini wrath of god (although weenie decks aren't as popular as before, I think), and it can be used to kill either cheap artifacts (moxen) or used to destroy annoying cheap creatures like goblin welder.

So... if an aggro player wants to use 4 slots for one of these cards, which one is the best? Would you pack 4 copies of another card in the SB?

Tell me what you would do.\n\n

[VideoGameBoy]

Cursed Totem also stops 'Tog...

[Matt The Great]

It really depends on what you expect to face. But first, note that both Rod and Totem stop triskelion and karn, and that neither stops a Shapshifter from copying, only from discarding.

If you face high-level decks (Psychatog, survival-mask, stax/mud, rector combo) all day, use Null Rod. Especially use Null Rod if you're playing black and can get it out first turn. I would NOT use Totem in black decks because Withered Wretch and Nantuko Shade are your best creatures.\n\n

[Toast]

assuming your main troubles are versus powered decks then null rod all the way.

null rod and keg can both nab moxen

keg acts as a mini wog against you if you are blowing up things like welders
keg becomes difficult to use as cards get more expensive

cursed totems nabs creatures like welder..shifter..phling and artifact kill

null rod nabs artifact kill, mask, keg, etc


I would say null rod > all for a weenie type deck

[Bastian]

I have been mostly inclined towards maindecking totem and pushing the rod into the sb because totem can stop tog and welders, two of the most popular t1 creatures right now, along with some others: 'core, trisk, shapeshifter...

[Matt The Great]

Shapeshifter is not stopped by Cursed Totem as long as the opponent has some other way of discard creatures (such as Survival).

[Rico Suave]

Um, not only does it depend on what you want to beat the most, but it also depends on what deck you have in mind.

For example, Null Rod shuts down Moxen, and so it complements the mana denial in suicide.  Additionally, Cursed Totem works poorly in tandem with it's creatures.  Obviously Null Rod is the choice there.

However, something like WW doesn't really aim for mana denial.  Instead of trying to stop a dangerous thing from hitting the table, it instead deals with that thing when it hits.  Cursed Totem is able to deal with more things after they hit (like Tog), so that would better fit the theme of WW, assuming you don't have too many creatures that have activated abilities.

Of course, the metagame is always a good thing to keep in mind.  If Null Rod is better against the metagame, and consequently wins more games than any other card in that slot, then use it.  On the other hand, if you're forcing Null Rod into a deck that doesn't really want it, perhaps it would be better to choose a different deck.

[Azhrei]

Cursed Totem is, IMO, really weak. A good control deck can hit it easily enough at will, so it's basically a dead draw that makes them deal with it once they're ready to kill you anyway. It CAN stop a Welder, yeah, but it can't stop Smokestack and that means that Welders are going to go active again. It doesn't exactly do much to a Dreadnaught either....

Null Rod is still the best option because it hinders mana development, which is a much better idea than hurting creatures. Powder Keg is Powder Keg-- good at sweeping 1-2 cc threats and not much else.

[VideoGameBoy]

Quote Cursed Totem is, IMO, really weak. A good control deck can hit it easily enough at will, so it's basically a dead draw that makes them deal with it once they're ready to kill you anyway. It CAN stop a Welder, yeah, but it can't stop Smokestack and that means that Welders are going to go active again. It doesn't exactly do much to a Dreadnaught either....

Except that the control deck must deal with it, and while Welder is inactive, the Smokestack is eating both sides of the table, not just 1.

[Azhrei]

Yeah, they MUST... one of my roommates went on a Cursed Totem kick a while back and while we did HAVE to deal with it, we also always DID and barely cared while it was in play. Most of the time rather than try to hose something like that, you're better off using good creatures yourself (Gorilla Shaman, Nantuko Shade, etc.)-- Null Rod is different because if you have few or no Moxen you can get 6:1 off a 2 mana card and stunt mana development.

[MethodXL]

Totem really doesn't stop the shapeshifter because the player can survival the kill card as said by matt the great... I would rather use main deck null rod because they are better against most of the decks you would see in an normal metagame.  

Totems and Kegs are nice but as said before weenie deck aren't abundant to need kegs and though totems work, i think there are far better cards to be used.\n\n

[Bastian]

I had been playing around with the three cards. Mostly with cursed totem and null rod deciding which to play maindeck and which to SB, if I sideboarded it.

As some explained, and this was something I overlooked, shapeshifter won't be stopped from copying as long as there is another way to discard creatures- survival of the fittest. Furthermore volrath's shapeshifter decks, vengeur masqué decks, usually pack a full set of illusionary masks which won't be stopped by cursed totem either. So the totem isn't really as hot as I'd expected it to in this match.

Vs Stax, Smokestack hits and it doesn't take long for my deck to suddenly lose my few permanents, because even if I stop welder from being used a few turns, eventually I end up losing the totem unless I destroy smokestack.

Furthermore azhrei nailed the conclusion with what he said about control decks. Control decks can eventually destroy totem because they have the answers for it. A good control deck and a decent player should be able to do that...

As you must've known this answer was mostly because I'm always looking for a way to further test and develop my favourite deck: WW, and the variants I've been working on... For a time cursed totem looked awesome because it could shut down welders, shapeshifters (morphlings included:P), masticore, triskelions and, above all, psychatog. I HATE THE TOG! (although I admire the elegance of the deck)

I suppose the conclusion I end up is the one everyone's been saying: Null Rod. At least I can rest my mind over this matter. Thanks for the help:)

[Godder]

Another point to consider: Null Rod or 5 Strips? For that matter, is running 4 Null Rod and 5 Strips a worthy disruptive effect right now? It's colourless, and if you can get it going with a couple of creatures pecking away, it may well be enough... It just seems that with Tog and Workshop decks ruling the roost, stunting their mana development, along with some cheap creatures may be a plan right now...