[Single Card Discussion} Odd/Ends - DissensionRare

[Khahan]

I thought the new preview card this week was, at the very least, interesting and flexible.

Odds/ Ends is a split card. The 2 sides:
Odds
(U)(R) Instant
Flip a coin. If it comes up heads, counter target instant or sorcery spell. If it comes up tails, copy that spell and you may choose new targets for that copy.

Ends:
(3)(R)(W)
Target player sacrifices 2 attacking creatures.

Obviously Ends has about 0 value in type 1.


Odds on the other hand has some potential.

First, its a 2 color CC, blue and red. Most commonly found in welder decks which are abundant in T1. Its also doable in Oath.   

Strikes against is:
-casting cost: this restricts it to a very narrow set of deck choices
-effect: its a counter spell/fork. Fork is not very popular on its own and counterspells are pretty abundant.
-deck space: what would you take out for this affect?
-Its a bit unpredictable
-Its a narrow counter (instants or sorceries only)

In its favor:
-It CAN wreck many decks. Sideboard card possibly?
-Even though its unpredictable, its flexible and either option will rarely be a dead option
-Its a counterspell that stops most of the major cards in T1.
-It can balance out many spells that would be disadvantageous


What can it do against decks:
Vs Oath: Its just a counterspell, plain and simple, but only in a counter war. You cannot lead off w/ this because if the flip comes up tails, you most likely get nothing.
vs Gifts: It will either counter their search, or let you search first.
vs combo: you're better off w/ stifle. It can put 1 single copy of tendrils on the stack to resolve first. This may be good if they've abused necro or bargain to get a fistful of cards...but I wouldn't want to count on that to win.
vs workshop: pretty much a dead card
vs Ichorid: dead card
vs fish: help w/ t he counter war, but not as effectively as against other decks

What can it do against various common cards:
Counters: It is a counter for a counter war, no matter what. If you get the heads, you counter their counter.  If you get the tails, you copy their counter and then counter it

Draw/tutor cards: Never dead. It counters their recall, brainstorm, gifts, FoF, Demonic tutor. Or it lets you draw/tutor first.
Gaining parity is not a bad thing when its keeping the scales from tipping in your opponents favor

Tinker: Can counter t heir tinker, or, depending on your deck, completely off set it w/out having  to sac an artifact.


I don't think its going to make it into a deck mainboard. But some creative people may like the pro's enough to use it sideboard to fight specific decks. Its interesting, though. A flip card that may be useful.

[b-tings]

Getting to Recall or Will first and then Forcing their original spell off your copy is cute, but for the most part this is a sketchy soft counter that doesn't hit Oath of Druids or Stax parts. I can't think of a deck that would rather have this card than Mana Leak.

[pyr0ma5ta]

It's unreliable, and doesn't do anything against Stax.  And against a blue deck, I'd rather run Misdirection as extra counter magic.

[Pitlord]

I think the cost is what is going to make this really bad. Which would you rather have turn 1 or 2... UU up for drain, or UR up for this thing?

Also, half of the time, you get a fork, which can really suck. All you can do with fork is really win the counter war, or ancestral off your opponent, but doesn't misdirection do that for free? I think that the mana cost is too prohibitive, and misdirection is better than this if you really need/want counters beyond force and drain/leak.

[AmbivalentDuck]

Any "new" counterspell or effect has to compete with Daze, Disrupt, Mana Leak, FoW, Misdirection and Mana Drain.  Even if the cost was instead Izzet guild mana,  it *still* wouldn't be good enough to see play.  The effect is essentially strictly worse than Twincast, except that it requires UR instead of UU to cast.

[Khahan]

Any "new" counterspell or effect has to compete with Daze, Disrupt, Mana Leak, FoW, Misdirection and Mana Drain.  Even if the cost was instead Izzet guild mana,  it *still* wouldn't be good enough to see play.  The effect is essentially strictly worse than Twincast, except that it requires UR instead of UU to cast.

Kind of interesting. So far, most people seem to be looking at this as a twincast with an occasional counter ability. Which yes, can be kind of a drawback depending on what you want to do.

I was looking at this from the perspective as a counter w/ an optional twincast ability. If you are in a counterwar and get the twincast ability, no big deal, y ou copy their counter and you got your counter.

Either way, I don't think it will really see play.

[The Atog Lord]

This likely won't see any play.

We can disregard the expensive Ends and just focus on Odds.

In every current deck which can regularly make both red and blue mana, Blue is easier to get. Therefore, UR is more expensive than UU.

Odds is either a bad Counterspell or a Twincast, but harder than either to cast, as noted above.

Neither of those cards see any play right now. If a deck were to include Odds, then either Counterspell or Twincast would be better since having either one, and knowing what it will do before casting it, is better than having one or the other determined at random up resolution.

[Hillboy]

Even though ends effect is overcosted I don't see it being completely dead. It might see play in 3 color or 4 color control type of deck. Using either effect in situational circumstances. As far as being dead goes against oath lets say you have a late game your at two life and Akroma and Razia are bearing down on you. If your playing control you should in theory have a late game game against oath. You topdeck Odds/Ends and say go your opponent attacks for the win you go odds/ends buying you another turn.

Yeah there's alot of if's in there but I think the card is kinda cool at any rate.

[yespuhyren]

All I can see this being is a counter-counter.  No matter what you can counter their counterspell.  But you can't have cards just to hit FOW and drain.

[AmbivalentDuck]

Yes, you can.  You just can't play UR for it when you could instead pay R for a spell that can also destroy blue permanents.

[dskippy0]

Definitely not going to see play and the answer is simple. There are spells out there for UU, rather than UR, that just plain old counter. And there are pretty much no situations where copying the spell is better than countering. Sure the are some. If he bounces your fish dude and he has a DSC on the board or something but this is rare. In the vast majority of cases the copy effect is at best as good as countering. Like Ancestral Recall, Tinker (if you have DSC too), etc. But really, you can just counter these things at an easier casting cost for propability = 1. So this card is certainly not going to see type1 play. It is, however, a totally awesome card that I'll be playing plenty myself