[Single Card Discussion] New Fish Toy-Azorius Guildmage

[Implacable]

It's amazing!

It costs four mana...

Eh?

[brianpk80]

FWIW, I think this discussion is focuses too much on the Guildmage's creature neutralizing ability.
While I'm not sure The Guildmage will find an effective home in Fish builds, my take on it is that
its utility is that it allows Fish to condense several meta-slots into 1 creature, at the expense of having to build
up a solid mana base for it to be effective.  For instance, Stormscape Apprentice is a dead/weak draw
v. Dragon, Slaver, and Stax while this guy maintains its punch v. Oath/DSC and can additionally stop Bazaar of
Baghdad, Barbarian Ring, Mindslaver, Granite Shard, Goblin Welder, Wasteland, and even other less apparent things
like Library of Alexandria, Ashen Ghoul, Maze of Ith, Isochron Scepter, Sensei's Divining Top, Pernicious
Deed, Umezawa's Jitte, Zombie Infestation, Old Man of the Sea, Memory Jar, AEther Vial, Icatian Javaliners,
Siege-Gang Commander, and others.  If you've got the mana (and the more the merrier) this thing
can also significantly slow down a Triskelion from wrecking your board.  It's also easier to cast than
Meddling Mage and True Believer, has some "surprise factor" w. Vial, and beats for 2.  Not out of this
world, but decent.  While it may not be in optimal in current Fish builds, I can see it having a home in a
Vial Fish build that uses a bit more acceleration than typical U/W fish (Sol Ring comes to mind).

-Brian

[Kieranwolf]

Did I hear something about Darkblast not being useful against a 2/2?

That's silly. Just wait a turn and have two black mana open. Cast it, dredge it up, cast again. If this guy's really even slightly annoying to your opponent, then this is what will happen more oft than not against control or just about any deck that runs black.

My impression is that this card is only good for fish with Aether Vial. Vial allows you to have the emergency mana open to use the ability if you need to, while putting it into play is an ability instead of a spell.

Late game it can be a really good rip, assuming you've kept the Vial in play. This is when Gifts likes to recur Time walk with their precious DSC. Just have that six mana open to tap Big Man twice.

No Vial makes it suck a lot more. Early game: no mana for ability, late game: a hard-cast FOW or often worse, Drain.

Hey, that's about as clear as I can make it. If Vial isn't your friend, this guy sure isn't either.