[Discussion] Equipment in Type 1

[Lockdown]

Equipment in Type 1
One of the most talked about equipment right now is Sword of Fire and Ice.  For those of you who don’t know what that is, here’s the text:

Card:

[card]Sword of Fire and Ice[/card]
3
Equipped creature gets +2/+2 and has protection from red and from blue.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, Sword of Fire and Ice deals two damage to target creature or player and you draw a card.
Equip 2

As you can see, this is quite powerful and has many uses.  First of all, it makes your creature much more powerful, with a potential of 4 extra damage a turn.  What’s more, two of that damage is from a colorless source, and can be directed towards almost any target.  Second, it’s card advantage because of its [card]Curiosity[/card] effect, drawing a card whenever it deals combat damage.  Third, and perhaps most importantly, the equipped creature gains protection from red and blue.  This means that red and blue creatures can’t block the equipped creature, red and blue sources can’t target the equipped creature, and red and blue sources can’t deal damage to the equipped creature.  Already you can see how great that is.  Protect your vulnerable creatures such as [card]Goblin Welder[/card]s and [card]Phyrexian Negator[/card]s from burn.  Force through extra damage, or protect yourself against Goblins, Fish, or Tog to name a few.  All for the price of 3 mana, making it playable first turn with [card]Mishras Workshop[/card].  However, is there something better?


Let’s take a look another Equipment:

Card:

[card]Sword of Light and Shadow[/card]
3
Equipped creature gets +2/+2 and has protection from white and from black.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, you gain 3 life and you may return up to one target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
Equip 2

The white and black counterpart to Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow has its own uses.  No matter how hard you try, Sword of Fire and Ice can still be taken to farm by [card]Swords to Plowshares[/card], barring the use of [card]Thoughtlace[/card].  Sword of Light and Shadow can’t.  Whereas Sword of Fire and Ice protected against damage and bounce, Sword of Light and Shadow’s main ability protects against targeted removal such as Swords to Plowshares, [card]Vindicate[/card], and sub par black removal such as [card]Terror[/card] and can still safely deal with the most dangerous creature in Type 1, [card]Psychatog[/card].  Its other abilities aren’t as good though compared to Sword of Fire and Ice.  Three life a turn is somewhat helpful against Aggro, but not as much as two damage.  The ability to return creatures to your hand after they’ve died is decent, but I can’t think of a deck where that ability is a big help (recurring [card]Spore Frog[/card] is t3ch).  In the end, Sword of Light and Shadow’s best use is for a metagame full of decks like Suicide Black, EBA, Parfait, and maybe Keeper.  I still rank Fire and Ice above Light and Shadow.


The major reason why Sword of Fire and Ice, or even Light and Shadow would even be considered for the Type 1 metagame is because of their ability to protect some valuable creature.  The +2/+2 and other abilities are just icing on the cake.  So that brings us to the next two cards, Lightning Greaves and Whispersilk Cloak.

Card:

[card]Lightning Greaves[/card]
2
Equipped creature has haste and can’t be the target of spells or abilities.
Equip 0

Lightning Greaves is very good in that its cheap, costing 2 to cast and 0 to equip.  Getting haste is somewhat useful, allowing for a surprise factor with something like being able to abuse Goblin Welder a turn earlier, or sneaking in some extra damage.  It’s the, “can’t be target of spells or abilities,” that attracts me to this card.  The fact that it costs 0 to equip means that you can use Lightning Greaves the turn in comes into play, providing immediate protection against all targeted removal.  You might say that it doesn’t help against instant speed removal/burn, as they can target the creature in response to you equipping it.  That’s true, but neither of the Swords fare any better in that case.  The equipment is only helpful if the creature is already equipped when your opponent can play his removal.  In which case, Lightning Greaves is much better than Sword of Fire and Ice, or Light and Shadow because it stops all of the targeted burn, bounce, and removal that I’ve already mentioned.  The only cards that Lightning Greaves doesn’t really help against are cards like [card]Starstorm[/card] and [card]Earthquake[/card], which very few or no top-tier decks play, and cards like [card]Wrath of God[/card] or [card]Mutilate[/card], where Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Light and Shadow don’t help anyways.

Card:

[card]Whispersilk Cloak[/card]
3
Equipped creature is unblockable and can’t be the target of spells or abilities.
Equip 2

Whispersilk Cloak is the last equipment that I’ll discuss here  Similar to Lightning greaves, the equipped creature can’t be blocked, instead of being hasted.  This makes cards like Phyrexian Negator a very fast clock, that’s almost impossible to get rid of.  However, the casting/equip costs of Whispersilk Cloak are the same as the Sword of Fire and Ice/Light and Shadow, making this card much worse than Lightning Greaves.

In conclusion, I’ve come up with the following rankings for the 4 Equipment discussed above:

1) Lightning Greaves
2) Sword of Fire and Ice
3) Sword of Light and Shadow
4) Whispersilk Cloak

2 and 3 are interchangeable depending on the metagame, but in general, Fire and Ice is much better than Light and Shadow.  Keep in mind that this is only my opinion, and is by no means a rule that is set in stone that everybody must follow.  Many people may disagree with my analysis, and I welcome any and all discussion.
 
-Lockdown

*Reminder, this discussion is only for the 4 Equipment listed above.  Not Skullclamp, or anything else, just these 4.

[RoadTrippin]

2) Sword of Fire and Ice
3) Sword of Light and Shadow

2 and 3 are interchangeable depending on the metagame, but in general, Fire and Ice is much better than Light and Shadow.

I know you stated this is just your personal opinion, but I would definitely like to see why you think this- because in my opinion, Sword of Light and Shadow is completely unplayable in Type One. The Protection abilities of the swords are sort of just a bonus- Speaking in terms of Sword of F/I, the pinging and card-drawing abilities coming from a colorless artifact mean that colors that didn't have access to these abilities now have them in one nice playable little package. Light and Shadow doesn't add much of anything in the way of useful abilities, for any color.

Edit: i realize I skirted around an issue that you're going to bring up in Swords to Plowshares. Your opponent can just as easily Swords in response to equipping, and if that Sword of L/S they see on the table is in any position to swing the game towards your favor, they're going to find that StP right away. So what I'm saying is Swords don't do much to stop Swords. or something.  

[Mith]

I'm testing Sword of Fire and Ice in my Tog for the mirror match (which is becoming increasingly prevelant). So far, it's been amazing...not to mention that I can bring it in against Slaver to protect from REB and pick off Welders. If I keep seeing Tog everywhere, then I'll keep running them in the board.

[jpmeyer]

Skullclamp?

[GodzillA]

Skullclamp?

Wow. No kidding.

Also, I agree with RoadTrippin' re: Sword of Light and Shadow. Its abilities are far less relevant than SoFI's, for all the reasons he mentioned. The protection abilities are secondary and almost irrellevant in the face of its card drawing and direct damage abilities. The protection is just icing on the cake.

Top 3 equipment in my mind are:

1. Lightning Greaves
2. Sword of Fire and Ice
3. Skullclamp

[InsaneScrub]

As with all the Equipment Artifacts, you have to look at some important points, first off cheap is a factor, and not tying up your mana to use it is another, type 1 is about speed.  First and foremost there are some very important creatures that need to definitely be protected, and there are none better than Psychatog, Goblin Welder, True Believer (For ww), and Exalted Angel (My fav:).

Now, the question remains which Equip is the better choice? Well, it's obvious that Lightning Greaves is the better choice, first and foremost because it totally protects the creature from all spells and abilities that target it, which is critical, giving it haste is just a bonus.  

But what makes this artifact so powerful is, it's 2 and it cost 0 to put it on a creature, which is great.  Remember, I am not saying the others are good also, I am just saying that Lightning Greaves is first rate, so enjoy and expect to see some people playing greaves in low creature decks.

[Dozer]

I don't think Lightning Greaves has a place in aggro-decks. Honestly. Why should any aggressive deck play a card they have to invest two mana for just to protect their guys? I'd rather play another threat for that mana, especially since you have some untargettables already availabe, Blurred Mongoose probably being the most prominent, as well as Hasted creatures. Unless you play creatures that profit additionally from being equipped (read: Block White Weenie), Lighning Greaves is not for an aggro deck. It is no threat, and Balance as well as Fire/Ice or Swords in response to the Equip get rid of the creature anyway.

Where I can possibly see Greaves is as a protection for any finisher from opposing removal, and as a protection from The Abyss, which nobody runs these days. So, let's look at Lightning Greaves on finishers. Morphling had the untargetability built in, which is why he spelled "GG" like no other before him. But is investing another card and two mana really worth protecting a creature you should only play unless you are in control? In my opinion, no, since for the same two mana you can have a Mana Drain.

Playing a 1st turn Greaves and a 2nd turn Exalted Angel to start swinging with an untargettable 4-point Drain Life is a cool play. Effective, though, it is not. If an Angel hits that early, if you play it in a control deck, chances exist that you will be able to protect it. The Angel is "GG" one way or the other. Same, but even more, goes for Psychatog, because a Tog-Deck is unlikely to be unable to protect their Tog or just play another.

So what is the place for the Greaves? I see two options as most prominent and sensible: For one, Lightning Greaves has a place in EBA-Style decks, where every creature counts for more than only swinging. Here, Greaves is golden with Meddling Mages, Angels and the varied assortment of multi-functional creatures, because it leaves ressources for aggressive play. When you don't have to hold back disruption/counters to protect your Most Valuable Critter, you have more options available and thus your chances for winning increase. This is only true for decks that actually CAN hold something back, so for Sligh, Madness, Stompy, R/G beats and the like, this is not true (as well as for Suicide, which really has better things to do with 2 mana).

The other, most important function of Lightning Greaves is protecting Goblin Welders. These two go together like they've been designed for each other, I believe. Welders are creatures you absolutely want to keep on the board in any circumstances. The decks that abuse Welders are usually stocked up bad on protection from removal on non-artifact spells, and the Greaves help out here. Also, Greaves accelerate Welders a whole full turn, which is very good because your opponent has to deal with it now or never. In case of emergency, Welders can also recycle their own Greaves into something more valuable, although this should not be a preferred route. Here, Lightning Greaves can really make a difference, so I think that if you play Greaves, do it with Welders - and every time I see Greaves, I expect Welders, and with good reason.

Dozer

[SpencerForHire]

As of late there was a R/B Workshop deck running around here for a while.  The deck ran abyss's as a lock and just stuck Greaves on their welders, plus as he later brought up, never underestimate a first turn hasted Metalworker.

Not saying R/B WS is good, it's far from in fact (at least this one was) but it allows  for some extremely powerful new concepts.

IMO Skullclamp is more of a Extended/Type 2 concept then type 1, sure there will always be a deck that can utilize a card in T1 but for the most part it's all about the SoFI and Lightning Greaves.  They both allow to get around certain situations or pummel your opponent faster then normal, whether or not 2 mana for haste and untargetability is worth it.. well thats personal preference.

[Lockdown]

*Reminder, this discussion is only for the 4 Equipment listed above.  Not Skullclamp, or anything else, just these 4.

Read above.  I know that Skullclamp is good, I was going more for the protection factor.  Which brings me to my second point.  I guess that we're looking at these 4 Equipment from different ends of the spectrum.  Maybe it's just me, but I was under the impression that the main reason for running Sword of Fire of Ice was to protect your valuable creatures from removal.  In which case Sword of Light and Shadow is useful to protect against cards like Swords to Plowshares, as I mentioned before.

Edit: i realize I skirted around an issue that you're going to bring up in Swords to Plowshares. Your opponent can just as easily Swords in response to equipping, and if that Sword of L/S they see on the table is in any position to swing the game towards your favor, they're going to find that StP right away. So what I'm saying is Swords don't do much to stop Swords. or something.

As I said before, looking from the protection end of the spectrum:

The fact that it costs 0 to equip means that you can use Lightning Greaves the turn in comes into play, providing immediate protection against all targeted removal. You might say that it doesn’t help against instant speed removal/burn, as they can target the creature in response to you equipping it. That’s true, but neither of the Swords fare any better in that case. The equipment is only helpful if the creature is already equipped when your opponent can play his removal. In which case, Lightning Greaves is much better than Sword of Fire and Ice, or Light and Shadow because it stops all of the targeted burn, bounce, and removal that I’ve already mentioned.

[Vegeta2711]

Maybe it's just me, but I was under the impression that the main reason for running Sword of Fire of Ice was to protect your valuable creatures from removal

Reasons I run SoFI

1. Draws me cards
2. Gives essentially a 4 point power boost to my creature.
3. Goes through Tog.

I couldn't care less about 'protection'.

[Gaea]

i think sword of fire and ice costs a lot, i would prefer to play a mask of memory instead of it, maybe don't go trough tog but costs just 2 and 1 to equip

[jpmeyer]

Mask of Memory doesn't deal 4 damage

[GodzillA]

Maybe it's just me, but I was under the impression that the main reason for running Sword of Fire of Ice was to protect your valuable creatures from removal.

You're right. It's just you. The protection provided by Sword is certainly an added bonus, particularly against Tog, but it is extremely overcosted to serve only that purpose. It is an important card primarily because it adds an effective 4 power, and because it produces card advantage. Shorter clocks and more card draw are just what aggro has always wanted. Sword of Fire and Ice is viable because it provides this, not because it provides protection.

[jpmeyer]

The only reason that I even thought about adding Sword of Fire and Ice to Stacker was because it could serve as Tubbies 9-11, not because it had random abilities.

[Charlie]

Equipments are really unplayable in T1, barring the possible Skullclamp. It takes lots of mana for swords to become active, and I'd rather be playing threats than a 3cc equipment+2cc equip.

[Triple_S]

I have not done any testing on Sword of F/I yet but Skullclamp can be abused quite easily in Vintage (I am currently working on a deck that is going to stay underwraps to Team Shortbus/VAV until after GP:DC) but needs a deck built around it.

[jCoKn]

I like Greaves, but not the swords...

Also, what about Loxodon Warhammer? I'm not sure if it can see type 1 as a frequently seen card... but is it even playable?

Edit: and can Leonin Bola can really screw over Tog...? (well at least until tog #2 hits the field)