Shadowmage infiltrator

[Anonymous]

I recently acquired a couple shadowmage infiltrators, and im thinking they would be great in a B/U or W/U/B deck.  Are they ever in competitive decks in type 1 or 1.5?  I have seen ophidians played, and the infiltrator seems infinately better.

[Shock Wave]

On the contrary, Ophidian is infinitely better than Shadowmage Infiltrator. If you've played decks like Urphiddian or Accelerated Mono-U, you'll understand that the deck revolves around the potential for an early Ophidian, usually backed by a pitch counter. This just does not work with Shadowmage Infiltrator. The reason is because it requires BU1 to cast, and thus the majority of the time, you will be required to tap lands to cast it. Off colour moxes don't benefit decks running Shadowmage Infiltrator because they do not provide the potential for acceleration.

In a nut shell, you would not run Infiltrators in U/B for the same reason you would not run Ball Lightning in Sligh. Yes, it has the potential to be good, but it is damn slow and is usually just a nice, juicy Mana Drain target.

specialk, one of the members on this board, has previously played a Keeper-style deck which featured Infiltrators in conjuction with Ophidians. He has had success with this deck in recent tournaments, although it seems as though the more prevalent aggro decks become (TnT, Sui, etc) the less effective the deck works. Remember, decks such as Urphiddian and XLU are not as vulnerable to Wastelands as U/B is. More often than not, Shadowmage becomes FOW bait while you're waiting to draw that second source of mana.

[Diablos8]

I like Finkel wayy better than Ophidian. Sure he's 1 more color mana to pull, but you also deal the damage to the opponent(which can make a huge difference). I've played(and still do) Forbiddian, and I really like Finkel better. Around 4 months ago, a made a b/u/g control deck using them, and piloted it to a 3rd place finish in a local 1.5 tourny. Here's the decklist I currently have:

Finkels&Fun:

4 Shadowmage Infintrator
2 Morphling
1 Genesis(works nice vs. control, my own Deed, and Disk)

4 Pernicious Deed
4 Standstill

4 Duress
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell
3 Diabolic Edict
3 Naturalize

4 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
4 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
4 Bayou
3 Wasteland

Sideboard:

4 Chill
2 Hydroblast
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Gloom
2 Perish
1 Spike Weaver

[Exeter]

I've seen a base black deck with Finkels and Ophidians splashed in that is quite nasty vs control, and I would guess, combo.  That deck also featured power blue, Duress, FoW, FoF, and Hypnotic Specter. Maybe Negators too, I don't remember, but they would at least be in t he sideboard.   Recoil was used as a general-purpose removal spell.

[Shock Wave]

Quote I like Finkel wayy better than Ophidian. Sure he's 1 more color mana to pull, but you also deal the damage to the opponent(which can make a huge difference). I've played(and still do) Forbiddian, and I really like Finkel better. Around 4 months ago, a made a b/u/g control deck using them, and piloted it to a 3rd place finish in a local 1.5 tourny.

I don't know much about 1.5, but I assure you that in T1, Ophidian is the way to go. I don't mean to say that it doesn't work, but Ophidian is much easier to resolve. In T1, Shadowmage Infiltrator is hardly a viable win condition, so the 1 point of damage it deals is hardly an asset.

[Anonymous]

Ophidian works better not only for the reasons Shock Wave mentioned, but because he fits perfectly into the Mono-U w/moxen AND UrPhidian decks.  Right now, Mono-U and U/R are the best builds.  

What does Black have over mono-u consistency or u/r burn? It has search, draw, duress, and creature removal.  Not worth it IMO.

How about a good B/U decklist to compare?

Also note that the metagame isn't listed.  In a non-powered meta, finkel might be ok.

[Shock Wave]

Quote Ophidian works better not only for the reasons Shock Wave mentioned, but because he fits perfectly into the Mono-U w/moxen AND UrPhidian decks.  Right now, Mono-U and U/R are the best builds.

See above. I mentioned that as well. You're right, maybe in a non-powered metagame Finkels might be viable but not in a diverse, competitive environment.