[Single Card Discussion] Sky Hussar (in Fish)

[Pave]

I've been trying to break Sky Hussar in a UW Fish shell.  At first blush tapping down two of your own dudes simply in order to draw a card seems bad for Fish insofar as the archtype seeks to apply pressure early and take the role of beatdown.  I've been looking for an approach or some nice tech to obviate this draw-back, however.  (In the end it may not be possible but I'm still trying.)

I've tried a Wizard Control build, featuring Chalice, Aether Vial, and a host of Voidmage Prodigies, Meddling Mages, and Stormscape Apprentices alongside the newer Azorius Guildmage.  Tapping down the Wizards in order to draw is fine since you still have mana open to threaten counterspell and cast (or ideally vial in) the further dudes that you'll be drawing.  This is a highly control-oriented build and accordingly quite slow, if at times quite powerful.

A faster, if compromised, Savannah Lion shell can also be used (though the need to draw cards in this build is seen as redundant in the light of the deck's emphasis on simply matching mana denial with beatdown and not at all seeking 'control', only lethal tempo).  I may prefer this shell.  The mana denial is strong and the deck can still pile on the damage.  One has to make a decision as to when it is best to beat and when best to draw.  That is a decision that is often enough welcome.  Hussar can provide a nice boost in matches where the game is forced long - Fish mirrors in particular - and it is in this, the aggro mirror, that Hussar may truly find his use, if only as a sideboard card.  He provides a good boost in draw, especially when aided by Raise the Alarm, and at the same time constitutes a sufficiently potent finisher.  The surprise factor is also solid, both in drawing and finishing.

Hussar does have its advantages over the means of drawing traditionally favoured by Fish (namely Curiosity and Standstill).  It's uncounterable and you don't have to get damage past in order to get the card.  Standstill is by now very easy to play around and doesn't help you out of trouble.  Hussar might fulfil an interesting role alongside Brainstorm in some UW Fish builds, and certainly helps the aggro mirror.

I attach the following lists simply in order to give you an idea of the kinds of things I've been trying.  I'm very open to your impressions and own testing.  Surely some interesting new UW Fish builds are being worked on.  I'd be very interested to hear of them.

--

Huzzah!

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Island
1 Plains
2 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
4 Tundra
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland

4 Chalice of the Void
4 AEther Vial

1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm

4 Sky Hussar
4 Azorius Guildmage
4 Voidmage Prodigy
4 Stormscape Apprentice
4 Meddling Mage


SB:

3 Pithing Needle
4 Seal of Cleansing
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Kataki, War's Wage

--

WW Hussar

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
2 Island
2 Plains
1 Windswept Heath
1 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
4 Tundra
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland

3 Null Rod
4 Chalice of the Void

1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will

3 Sky Hussar
4 Savannah Lions
1 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
4 Stormscape Apprentice
3 Raise the Alarm
3 Azorius Guildmage
3 Meddling Mage


SB:

3 Pithing Needle
3 Seal of Cleansing
3 Kataki, War's Wage
3 True Believer
3 Swords to Plowshares

[Glix]

Its an interesting idea, however I dont think that it is worth it.  By running hussar, you become much more control orriented and you aren't beating down.  That means that fish is loosing.  Control decks, believer it or not, are better at control than you are.  Fish tries to disrupt, then beat down quickly with utility creatures.  By tapping down to draw, you are really being counterproductive.

And creature based decks already have a better, more attacky alternative, in Confidant.

However, the card may have potential.

[Pave]

Savannah Lion Fish (Meandeck Deck Wins) seems to me a very good deck and I don't think there's much to improve in it.  I suppose the least of my suggestions here is that perhaps the 3 slots in its sideboard, formerly devoted to Last Breath, might better be Sky Hussar.  Crusade is great also but it helps your opponent just as much as you in the specifically UW Fish mirror.  If Ichorid is on the rise Samurai of the Pale Curtain could also go here.  What cards do Fish players use to break the mirror and could Sky Hussar be better?

[Pitlord]

Winning the fish mirror comes down to a lot of things and lots of deck differences. For example, if you are playing chalice + Vial, then Jitte wins the fish mirror as long as there is no null rod around to wreck it. Also, well placed wastelands and stifles (if you play them) are very important.

The fish mirror comes down to who can out tempo the other. Vial and jitte do this well, as do managing resources very carefully. The matchup is very dependent on build as well, with the more aggro build winning a good amount of the time.

With that in mind, Hussar seems very bad in the mirror. With boht players trying to squeak any tempo they can get, tapping 2 creatures, during you upkeep, is way too slow for the effect. This will often tap you out, allowing them to swing for damage, just to draw a card. Having more cards in the fish mirror is not the best way to win. The best way to win is to play well and manage your resources better than the other guy.