The conclusion of Scars of Mirrodin

[BruiZar]

Here are my conclusions of Scars of Mirrodin.

Top 5 Vintage
1) Liquimetal Coating
2) Prototype Portal
3) Riddlesmith
4) Steel Hellkite
5) Nihil Spellbomb

Top 5 Legacy
1) Infect cards
2) Riddlesmith
3) Necrotic Ooze
4) Koth of the Hammer
5) Venser the Sojourner

Top 5 Extended
1) Koth of the Hammer
2) Venser the Sojourner
3) Elspeth Tirel
4) Steady Progress
5) Ezuri's Brigade


Top 5 Standard
1) Koth of the Hammer
2) Venser the Sojourner
3) Elspeth Tirel
4) Nim Deathmantle
5) Indomitable Archangel


Myr Battlesphere

The newest incarnation of Vodalian War Machine. Myr Battlesphere replaces Pentavus, Triskelavus and Tetravus. It is more comparable to Empty the Warrens than to Pentavus and Triskelavus, because you get the tokens immediately. Myr Battlesphere is the first relevant token creator that is not hit by Null Rod since Tetravus. Pentavus and Triskelavus are too mana consuming and take three times as long to kill your opponent. Myr Battlesphere is a 2 turn clock that laughs at Tangle Wire, Smokestack and Jace, the Mindsculptor. It has 7 toughness, ensuring survival against Lodestone Golem, Triskelion and Razormane Masticore. A Lodestone Golem and Triskelion can destroy it however. This card belongs in the set of tinker considerations alongside Darksteel Colossus, Inkwell Leviathan and Sphinx of the Steelwind. Myr Battlesphere does not have any protection or evasion. Unlike Inkwell Leviathan, it beats through Karn, Silver Golem and there is no way to defend against the damage from tapped Myr. It is soft to Trygon Predator, Qasali Pridemage and Ancient Grudge, so you may prefer Sphinx for its built in protection. Myr Battlesphere is a meta game Tinker or Goblin Welder target. I don't expect it to see a lot of play, but as Workshops gain in popularity Myr Battlesphere could be an interesting alternative.     

Steel Hellkite

Steel Hellkite is an aggressively costed 5/5 Flyer. It competes for space with Triskelion and is another attractive Tinker target. Although it doesn´t have any protection like Sphinx, Inkwell or Darksteel Colossus, it can block Trygon Predator. Steel Hellkite is another tool in the mana disruption package. It sweeps artifact mana and is a way to get rid of enchantments.
   
Prototype Portal
 
This is the closest thing to Smokestack we have ever gotten, and I suspect it might even replace Smokestack in some builds. For starters, it costs    mana, the same as Smokestack. Instead of lowering the permanent count of both players, this card increases your  permanent relative to the permanent count of your opponent. This is advantageous to the shop player, because it is synergistic to smokestacks and tangle wires.

Smokestack deals with all sorts of permanents. It doesn´t neccesarily tie down mana, instead, it ´destroys´ your opponent´s least valuable card in play. Prototype Portal copies a sphere each turn, this means that, if your opponent wants to neutralize your spheres, he MUST top-deck a land each turn. If he does, he will not be able to get more mana than he had, because topdecking land only ensures parity. To break parity, the shop player can unload its other cards in hand until it becomes impossible for either player to cast anything. The spheres plan is the most disruptive shop plan there is at the moment, so it makes sense to copy spheres. Since the imprinted card is not affected by the spheres in play, it is easy to spam the board each turn. The imprinted cards cannot be countered either.

If you want to ensure that a sphere resolves, you can cast Prototype and see if your opponent counters it. If he doesn't, you imprint a sphere and go loose with it. If he does, you can cast your sphere in hand unmolested. Either way, the sphere will hit the board. Your opponent doesn't want to counter your prototype because you 2 for 1 him with his force of will. He will counter a card that does nothing on its own, so the threat in your hand is still there. This is important.

Another important part is the fact that this card is much better in multiples than Smokestack is. For example, you can copy a Mox each turn. This is significant because you will by-pass the need for Crucible of Worlds to keep Smokestack active. Your deck becomes more redundant and focused on mana denial (The areas of attack are: Smokestack+Crucible, Smokestack+Prototype, Prototype+Sphere, Prototype+TangleWire, Crucible+Stripwaste, 13 Golemspheres). There is more overlap in your threats which results in a harder to disrupt decks.

Once you have achieved a sphere lock and both players are out of threats and castable cards, simply break the stalemate with Mishra's Factory. Mishra´s Factory is a strong choice in the meta because it combats opposing Golems, can attack Jace, block confidants and serves as an alternate win condition in this deck.

Copying a card each turn is the same as having a Dark Confidant online. One of the biggest problems of workshop decks is running out of gas. By quickly dumping your hand, the shop player over commits and either hits a Hurkyl´s Recall or wins the game. Prototype Portal, at its worst, is a card that fuels Smokestack and serves as a confidant.   


Kuldotha Forgemaster

Kuldotha Forgemaster will probably be tested by some alongside Possessed Portal and Sundering Titan. Kuldotha Forgemaster's activation cost is expensive, but the effect is powerful. There are several reasons why I expect Kuldotha Forgemaster will not be a Vintage playable. The primary problem is Summoning Sickness. Kuldotha costs 5 mana. Once you pay for that kind of mana, you want something that does not have to wait a turn to become active, nor do you want to 3 for 1 yourself. Even if you manage to get possessed portal in play, you still need a threat to capitalize on it which means the setup requires a threat, a Kuldotha Forgemaster and a lot of artifacts to sacrifice. If Kuldotha Forgemaster is widely adopted, I expect Stiflenaught will deal with the deck quickly. One thing worth mentioning is that one Kuldotha can tinker up multiple cards, because you don't have to sacrifice it to itself. Perhaps a 2 card monte card, but I am not a believer.

Sylvok Replica

The closest equivalents to Sylvok Replica are Seal of Primordium and Qasali Pridemage. Workshop has historically had a lot of troubles dealing with a resolved Oath of Druids. The ability to drop Sylvok Replica before pulling the trigger is important, because you can´t use Workshop mana to pay for Nature´s Claim under Sphere of Resistance. The question is whether or not green mana will be available in Workshop Decks. Perhaps, replacing off-color moxen with Mox Opal can help alleviate the mana requirements. I don´t see this as a good way to combat Time Vault, because Jace, the Mindsculptor will simply bounce Sylvok Replica before dropping Time Vault. Another place for Sylvok Replica is Christmas Beatings. It is a colorless answer to Sphinx of the Steel Wind, a card Christmas beatings can´t beat.

Comparisons to Nature's Claim or Ancient Grudge are not relevant, because those do not dodge Sphere effects. Sylvok Replica is unaffected by Trinisphere, Lodestone Golem and Thorn of Amethyst. Mishra's Workshop helps pay for Sphere of Resistance.    

Leonin Arbiter

I have my reservations concerning this card. The best home for this card is Noble Fish. Dropping a first turn Noble Hierarch, followed by a turn 2 Leonin Arbiter is disruptive because it buys you a lot of time while you have 3 mana to use. Searching for answers will take longer, which means you have more time to search for protection. Multiple Leonin Arbiters stack, so you can never draw too many of them. Noble Fish runs Null Rod which has synergy with Leonin Arbiter because it denies artifact mana and significantly slows down fetch.

I´m not entirely sold on this card, because it´s hardly a soft lock, it´s something to buy you an extra turn or two at the most. I don't see this in mono white because mono white is too intensive on colored mana requirements, thus running artifact acceleration yourself is not that good which means it will come down too late.

Riddlesmith
Riddlesmith is a card you want to play alongside Goblin Welder, Life from the Loam, Gush or Crucible of Worlds, to quickly cycle through your deck or set up a lethal Tendrils. Perhaps a new legacy survival/vengevine build can be made around the existing Trinket Mage / Shield Sphere engine, in order to decrease reliance on Survival of the Fittest and Fauna Shaman.

  
 
Necrotic Ooze
This is a Survival combo piece with Phyrexian Devourer and Triskelion. It can kill your opponent instantly, even in response to removal. The big question is whether or not Vengevine or Loyal Retainers/Iona are better strategies. Necrotic Ooze opens up options for Survival combo but time will tell if its good enough to see competitive play in Legacy.


    
Nim Deathmantle
This is definitely an interesting card for standard. For 4 mana this is a recurring animate dead. The nice thing about this card is that you can play it in every color. This is the strongest equipment card of the set.


Precursor Golem
Precursor Golem is good at hating out other Golems. It can be used in the sideboard for the Workshop mirror, though Razormane Masticore is a stronger card due to first strike and the ability to kill a golem every turn. Repeal is on your own Precursor Golem a cute trick to bounce all Golems and draw 3, but you are better off playing with traditional artifact removal.


Alternative Bombs: Nihil Spellbomb and Ratchet Bomb
Nihil Spellbomb is an alternative to Tormod's Crypt and Relic of Progenitus. Unlike Relic, it can be used for a single mana, and unlike Tormod's Crypt, it can draw a card. This gives you a bit more flexibility, because you can choose one of the two effects according to your needs. It also helps diversify against dredge, so that Pithing Needle becomes increasingly worse. One important thing to note is that Nihil Spellbomb targets a player's graveyard. If you want to shrink Goyfs or have untargeted graveyard removal, Relic of Progenitus is still the way to go.

Rathet Bomb is an alternative to Powder Keg. It's slightly more useful because you can use Voltaic Key to untap it, so that it gains charge counters more quickly. I don't think this is particularly relevant in VIntage most of the time, because Workshop builds tend not to play Voltaic key. The decks that play with Voltaic Key have the colored mana to play Engineered Explosives. Ratchet Bomb also takes out enchantments and planeswalkers, which is an important consideration.




METALCRAFT
Ezuri´s Brigade
This card hasn´t gotten much attention. I really like Ezuri´s Brigade. Ezuri´s Brigade is an 8/8 trample for 4 mana in a set with Assault Strobe (16 damage) and Tainted Strike (9 infect, trample). How can that not be good? I repeat, it's 8/8 trample for 4 mana. This thing is huge and very undercosted. Although green is one of the weaker colors this set and Ezuri's Brigade costs double green, it is still 8/8 trample for 4 mana.


Galvanic Blast
A big improvement over Shock. Galvanic Blast is cheap and deals a lot of damage. I can see this card in some sort of rogue Burndrils deck where it acts for 3 storm for 1 mana, though the meta is not right for that and such a deck probably needs several more powerful printings before you can consider it as an option. Good card for sligh in other formats.


Liquimetal Coating
This card is going to create a new fish build that is focused on hating out artifacts. Liquimetal Coating ensures that cards which would otherwise be dead in non-Workshop matches are useful. This means that you can play with a post-board deck in a pre-board game. I see this as the Aether Vial/Eternal Witness uncommon of the set.
 It turns Gorilla Shaman and Ancient Grudge into Vindicates. Indomitable Archangel, another Scars of Mirrodin card, has great synergy with Liquimetal Coating. By using Liquimetal Coating you can protect your permanents from spot removal and turn on metalcraft.


Argent Sphinx & Kuldotha Phoenix
These cards are underappreciated. I believe both will have a great impact on standard. Argent Sphinx is a solid creature that dodges removal and infect. It has evasion and semi-vigilance with 4 power on a 4 mana blue card. It will be an important card against infect decks, where it can hopefully stall the game until Venser drops.
Kuldotha Phoenix is a more aggressive version of Argent Sphinx. It costs one mana more, but that should not be a problem with Koth of the Hammer. The reason why this is the first Phoenix that I really like after Shard Phoenix, is because it has haste and returns to the battlefield instead of your hand. This makes the card dramatically more relevant. Kuldotha Phoenix can attack every turn, regardless of whether or not it was killed. Both of these cards can act as a wall when Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon is on the table.



Mox Opal
Mox Opal will decline in price once it leaves standard. It's going to help shape standard, due to Metalcraft. It's hard to decide what the right number of copies will be, due to its legendary status and the fact that your opponent can also play with them. Unlike Chrome Mox, Mox Opal doesn´t have card-disadvantage in the traditional sense. Drawing multiples can be seen as such, but in legacy you will probably just eat it with Ravager. Multiple Mox Opals become Lotus Petals and that's not a bad way to get some value out of otherwise dead draws.


As you can see, Liquimetal Coating is a key card for the Metalcraft strategy. A standard deck with Jace the Mindsculptor, Indomitable Archangel, Venser the Sojourner, Gideon Jura, Mox Opal, Riddlesmith, Liquimetal Coating, Argent Sphinx and Trinket Mage is undoubtedly strong. You can protect everything with Indomitable Coating, protect your planeswalkers with a blinking argent sphinx. Use flyers and planeswalkers to win the game.

PROLIFERATE
I am a little disappointment at the lack of good proliferate cards. They invented a cool mechanic but haven't really done a good job of designing interesting cards with it. The only card that is reasonably playable is Thrumming Bird, and even that is only good with Tangle Wire. Steady Progress will find its way into Pyromancer's Ascension decks, but that's about it. Riddlesmith may find its way into this deck as well.



PLANESWALKERS
By definition, Koth is a card that you want to play in a mono colored deck, or one that capitalizes on Moon effects. In standard, we don't have duals with landtype mountain nor do we have moon effects. Even though this looks to be the most powerful Planeswalker in Scars at the moment, I think his value has a lower roof than other planeswalkers, because it's limited to mono red. I don´t think Elspeth Tirel is going to stay expensive. 3 1/1´s is not enough to defend yourself against those big, evasive bombs that are printed. Venser can make creatures unblockable so it can simply take Elspeth out, ignoring her army of 1/1's. Koth comes down a turn sooner which means that ones he hits his ultimate, Elspeth and her tokens are simply dead.



The Koth versus Elspeth matchup:
If Elspeth makes tokens first, she will have 2 loyalty, and must spend 2 turns gathering loyalty for her ultimate. In the meantime, Koth will simply level up to ultimate and kill all her tokens alongside Elspeth herself, before she reaches ultimate.

If she doesn´t make tokens, she will go to 6 loyalty, Koth will animate a mountain and stomp Elspeth in the ground with a mountian, down to 2 loyalty. Koth will be on 5 Loyalty when he passes the turn. Elspeth can go back to 4 loyalty but it's going to be too late as Koth will ultimate all up in her face.

If Koth reaches 4 loyalty, the player can add   to his mana pool on turn 5. This should be enough to ruin the party for everything on the board, since red is the color of artifact destruction and direct damage, and direct damage takes care of planeswalkers and there are plenty of artifacts to go around. The speed at which Koth can come down could overwhelm  /  players. Koth is a must-counter because he can lead to degenerate plays in standard. In legacy, Dragon Stompy will use Koth to increase the power level of the deck. In Vintage, it completely depends on whether or not a red deck can become competitive. It's important to note that Vintage and Legacy have duals, so splashing a color is not that hard in those formats.

Venser and Gideon
Venser, the Sojourner is still an interesting Planeswalker. Mostly because he can reset Gideon Jura to 7 loyalty (This is a lot), while Gideon Jura can protect him. Gideon Jura can animate himself and take planeswalkers out when combined with Venser (Unblockable Gideon Jura deals 6 to planeswalkers). Otherwise, the plan is to have Gideon pull aggro while Venser levels to ultimate by resetting the loyalty of Gideon to 7. Once you reach ultimate, simply exile everything, including mountains that are affected by Koth's emblem.


Elspeth versus Venser
Elspeth has the edge here, because her ultimate will go off sooner. As long as Gideon doesn't show up to spoil the party for Elspeth, she can nuke the board, rinse and repeat.

I predict Venser's value will stick due to its greater synergy with Gideon.

Elspeth and Venser
Elspeth can ultimate and Venser can blink out. This is probably strong, but I like Gideon's ability to protect and snipe planeswalkers in 1 attack more. Gideon can also just kill tapped creatures, while Elspeth can't.

Jace, the Mindsculptor
Still a strong card, but Koth hates this guy out effectively. They are both 4CC, but Koth can immediately throw a 4/4 mountain in Jace's face. This mountain can't be bounced because it's a creature until end of turn, and Jace can only bounce as a sorcery. Jace is somewhat soft to Koth.


Sarkhan the Mad
I don't really know where to place this. He would have been great with Venser, if not for the 4 color build that you have to run. There is Mox Opal to fix mana though, but it still seems like a longshot. Sarkhan the Mad could see some action in conjunction with Koth, but you would have to splash black for it or go the 4x Mox Opal route. Koth can animate a mountain, beat with it the same turn, and Sarkhan can turn it into a 5/5 dragon that will stick, effectively converting your topdeck mountains into 5/5 dragons. Sarkhan can cantrip itself when its low on loyalty, and it can end the game immediately with his ultimate.

4 damage from mountain, convert to dragon
14 damage from mountain(4) and dragon(5), Sakhan's ultimate (5)
= 18 damage

If you have a Mox Opal and 4 mountains you can play Koth AND Sarkhan the Mad in the same turn (turn 4). Koth can power out Contagion Engine on turn 5 and use the double proliferate to sweep the board (-3/-3 on all our opponent's creatures) and double proliferate to regain the 2 loyalty you lost. If you double proliferate the next turn (Ramp Koth to 6, and kill any remaining threats through proliferate) you can use his ultimate and keep Koth on the board.



I think Elspeth Tirel's price will decline (there are enough good alternatives in white), Koth will be expensive and Venser will follow.
•   Koth of the Hammer
•   Venser, the Sojourner
•   Elspeth Tirel


THE POISON DECK
The Infect mechanic will leave its mark on Eternal. Infect is a natural evolution for Berserk Stompy. Kavu Predator, pumped by Invigorate, Skyshroud Cutter, Swords to Plowshares and Reverent Silence, used to be the muscle of the deck. Kavu Predator turns the alternate costs of your cards into an advantage and a threat by growing your Kavu Predator. In the days of Kavu Predator, you would have to attack at least once to nullify the life gain effects of Invigorate and the other support cards. The following turn is the first opportunity to capitalize on your pumped Kavu Predator.



The infect mechanic completely ignores life totals, adding poison counters instead. This makes life gain irrelevant. In Berserk stompy, life gain was turned into an advantage, but with the introduction of the Infect mechanic, life totals become irrelevant. This means that the extra turn required to remove the life gain is gone which results in a great tempo boost. With infect, you only need to deal 10 points of damage, which means your Invigorates, berserks, Might of Old Krosa's, Bounty of the Hunts, are now doubly effective. These critical improvements of the archetype will result in a much more competitive and aggressive deck capable of winning on the second turn.





Another important piece of the puzzle is the creature type. Ichor Rats and Plague Stinger are Rats and Insects that can be regenerated with Swarmyard. This means that the Infect Stompy player can slice and dice Tarmogoyf and Regenerate. Berserk doesn´t require you to sacrifice the creature, but destroys it at the end of your turn. Swarmyard protects your vermin from getting destroyed by Berserk.




This is what an UW control list in standard could look like:

4 Celestial Collonade
4 Glacial Fortress
x Island
x Plains
Rest of manabase


3 Venser, the Sojourner
2 Gideon Jura
3 Jace, the Mindsculptor
3 Indominable Archangel
2 Argent Sphinx
2 Mox Opal
3 Everflowing Chalice
2 Liquimetal Coating
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Voltaic Key
4 Wall of Omen
2 Sea Gate Oracle
4 Trinket Mage
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Condemn
4 Mana Leak
2 Rathet Bomb
2 Cancel
1 Nihil Spellbomb

SIDEBOARD
2 Negate
2 Gideon Jura
3 Celestial Purge
3 Flashfreeze
2 Devout Lightcaster
3 other slots

[Lemnear]

A very nice conclusion about scars and it's impact on eternal. I had very much Fun in the prerelease today by having either a Prototype-Portal with galvanizer imprinted on the table or the Unhold alliance of elspeth and argentum armor all day

Yeah, my booster were very sick. :@D

[Eastman]

Very nice overview and helpful since I don't play much standard.  Trygon predator + liquimetal coating would indeed be dirty.

Question though:

Multiple Mox Opals become Lotus Petals and that's not a bad way to get some value out of otherwise dead draws.

Is that right? It was my understanding that the legend rule is a state based effect, and that as a result players don't receive priority before both legends in play are buried.  Thus a second mox opal would be useless, since if you played it both of your opals would die before you could tap the new opal for mana.   For instance since the rules change I have always thought that, if I play a tolarian academy and my opponent has one out, my opponent doesn't even get to tap his tolarian academy before it is buried.  This is a trick I use sometimes in control mirros to shut off Mana Drain and prevent an opponent from casting their instants on my turn when they are relying on academy for U mana

[BruiZar]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys. You are correct Eastman. My reasoning for Mox Opal was rather ambiguous. I was under time constraints and wanted to finish my post. What I meant is that you can use your first Mox Opal as a resource for Arcbound Ravager or Goblin Welder, while tapping mana from it. A consecutive Mox Opal can now be played and tapped for mana again. This can be relevant in situations where you can get rid of your Mox Opal, or in something like ANT provided you have metal craft. In an Ad Nauseam scenario you can use the legendary rule to get rid of 2 Mox Opals, then play the third. This builds storm and doesn´t cost you any life. ANT is played in Extended, Legacy and Vintage, so this is an area to explore. In Standard you can use Venser the Sojourner to blink one out and play another one. This way you can get 2 colored mana (useful when splashing a color perhaps?) before the first one returns to the battlefield and blows both up. Not something you'd like to do every game, but it is a tool to help you in some situations.

[the42up]

a pity about precursor golem... I was really on the bandwagon for him until the FAQ came out.  Still an interesting card, but that definitely sucked the wind from my sails...so to speak.


Im not nearly as pumped about prototype portal as everyone else. I dont think i am going to be dropping smokestack for this any time soon. Despite it being a "reverse" smokestack.


The two cards i am excited about the most are myr battlesphere (just b/c it makes a nasty welder deck than i can play with friends) and on a more competitive note, the steel hellkite. My lodestone golem was always looking for a quality buddy that could handle his arch enemy trygon.  My metalworker shop deck just got a nice upgrade.

[Eastman]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys. You are correct Eastman. My reasoning for Mox Opal was rather ambiguous. I was under time constraints and wanted to finish my post. What I meant is that you can use your first Mox Opal as a resource for Arcbound Ravager or Goblin Welder, while tapping mana from it. A consecutive Mox Opal can now be played and tapped for mana again. This can be relevant in situations where you can get rid of your Mox Opal, or in something like ANT provided you have metal craft. In an Ad Nauseam scenario you can use the legendary rule to get rid of 2 Mox Opals, then play the third. This builds storm and doesn´t cost you any life. ANT is played in Extended, Legacy and Vintage, so this is an area to explore. In Standard you can use Venser the Sojourner to blink one out and play another one. This way you can get 2 colored mana (useful when splashing a color perhaps?) before the first one returns to the battlefield and blows both up. Not something you'd like to do every game, but it is a tool to help you in some situations.

Thanks, this explanation is helpful. 

[Blue Lotus]

I'm pumped to play hatred again with infect creatures.

And obviously building an ooze deck w/ frantic search immediately.

[meadbert]

Leonin Arbiter still seems like the best card for vintage.

[BruiZar]

Leonin Arbiter still seems like the best card for vintage.

Leonin Arbiter is a card that looks strong in a vacuum, then doesn't get played at all. White hatebears see very little play because it directly pushes your deck in a certain framework; a framework that is not popular with vintage players. It has very limited potential due to the fact that fish builds would like to run this, but it shuts down fetch. This means a mono white build akin to parfait is best suited and that will simply not work because the deck requires too much white mana and can therefore not use a full powered framework. Leonin Arbiter won't go anywhere but south.

[nineisnoone]

Leonin Arbiter still seems like the best card for vintage.

Leonin Arbiter is a card that looks strong in a vacuum, then doesn't get played at all. White hatebears see very little play because it directly pushes your deck in a certain framework; a framework that is not popular with vintage players. It has very limited potential due to the fact that fish builds would like to run this, but it shuts down fetch. This means a mono white build akin to parfait is best suited and that will simply not work because the deck requires too much white mana and can therefore not use a full powered framework. Leonin Arbiter won't go anywhere but south.

It's a bit overrated, but it's still very good. 

Shutting down your own fetches isn't huge, since if you are casting it odds are you have your mana already so shutting down additional mana isn't huge.  I would say Gaddock is generally far more limiting than this card.

[BruiZar]

Leonin Arbiter still seems like the best card for vintage.

Leonin Arbiter is a card that looks strong in a vacuum, then doesn't get played at all. White hatebears see very little play because it directly pushes your deck in a certain framework; a framework that is not popular with vintage players. It has very limited potential due to the fact that fish builds would like to run this, but it shuts down fetch. This means a mono white build akin to parfait is best suited and that will simply not work because the deck requires too much white mana and can therefore not use a full powered framework. Leonin Arbiter won't go anywhere but south.

It's a bit overrated, but it's still very good. 

Shutting down your own fetches isn't huge, since if you are casting it odds are you have your mana already so shutting down additional mana isn't huge.  I would say Gaddock is generally far more limiting than this card.

If you can cast this, it is most useful on turn 1. This means you have 1 dual and a mox out. If you get wastelanded you basically lose the game right there.

[Troy_Costisick]

Leonin Arbiter still seems like the best card for vintage.

Leonin Arbiter is a card that looks strong in a vacuum, then doesn't get played at all. White hatebears see very little play because it directly pushes your deck in a certain framework; a framework that is not popular with vintage players. It has very limited potential due to the fact that fish builds would like to run this, but it shuts down fetch. This means a mono white build akin to parfait is best suited and that will simply not work because the deck requires too much white mana and can therefore not use a full powered framework. Leonin Arbiter won't go anywhere but south.

It's a bit overrated, but it's still very good. 

Shutting down your own fetches isn't huge, since if you are casting it odds are you have your mana already so shutting down additional mana isn't huge.  I would say Gaddock is generally far more limiting than this card.

If you can cast this, it is most useful on turn 1. This means you have 1 dual and a mox out. If you get wastelanded you basically lose the game right there.

Well, you do have a Mox left and a 2/2 while your opponent has no lands and is locked out of using any Fetches.  Your scenario may be relevant game one against Shop, but other than that, you're not going to see this very often.  That said, the anti-synergy with one's own Fetches has to be considered when evaluating whether or not to include this card in your deck.

[TheBrassMan]

I feel like you guys are dramatically overvaluing the importance of fetches in a deck with no brainstorms, no tops.  A two color deck gets little value from fetchlands beyond wasteland resilience, and the kinds of decks that run hatebears are inherently resistant to wasteland (in the scenario Brui mentioned for instance, where one player leads with Arbiter, getting Wastelanded seems like one of the best things that could happen to you next turn.)  It wouldn't be difficult at all to build a UW or UWx deck with Arbiter and a minimum of (if any) fetches.

[voltron00x]

The real strike against Arbiter IMO is its complete lack of effect on MUD and Dredge opponents.  It is also competing against a huge number of relevant hate bears in the same design space:  Meddling Mage, Canonist, Pridemage, Kataki, etc.

I still like the card a lot and suspect there will be times where it is very good.

[Troy_Costisick]

The real strike against Arbiter IMO is its complete lack of effect on MUD and Dredge opponents.  It is also competing against a huge number of relevant hate bears in the same design space:  Meddling Mage, Canonist, Pridemage, Kataki, etc.

I still like the card a lot and suspect there will be times where it is very good.

Me too, but I am beginning to suspect that- like Ethersworn Canonist- it is best suited for a heavy Storm meta, not a Mana Drain vs. Shop Meta like we have now.  Especially since the trend seems to be moving toward more Shops.

[voltron00x]

Canonist may be fine right now, it shuts off gush shenanigans right?

[Guli]

Leonin is good with Gorilla Shaman and 9 strips. Gorilla Shaman is good with welder. Welder is good vs Workshop. Vial is good vs Workshop. Vial likes Leonin ambush.

4x Waste
4x Ghost
1x Strip
4x Shaman
4x Leonin

I use this as mana denial and it is extremely effective. Note that it is also good against workshop and dredge in particular. Fish doesn't run many basic lands and run 6-7 fetch so they have a hard time keeping up with the mana denial.

Canonist is good with welder and vial. Believer and Teeg are good vs control, combo and oath.

4x Wasteland
4x Ghost Quarter (serious edge against shop & dredge)
1x Strip Mine

4x Plateau
3x Savannah
2x Taiga
2x City of Brass
1x Black Lotus
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mox Emerald
4x Aether Vial (shop, control, fish)

4x Goblin Welder (shop, control, fish)
4x Ethersworn Canonist (combo, fish, control)

4x Gorilla Shaman (mana denial)
4x Leonin Arbiter (mana denial, tinker, tutor)

3x True Believer (oath, combo, control)
3x Gaddock Teeg (control, combo)

4x Tarmogoyf (Fish, Control, Shop)
3x Disenchant (Sphinx, Oath, Shop, Time Vault)
3x Swords to Plowshares (Sphinx, Fish, Dark Confidant)

Sideboard:
4x Leyline of Sancity (Oath, Combo, Dredge)
3x Ravenous Trap
3x Tormod's Crypt
1x Disenchant
1x Swords to Plowshares
3x Mother of runes

[madmanmike25]

Leonin is more than fine in the current meta.  If a card costs 2 mana and makes Tinker cost 5 (more if you have multiples), then it's worth it.  The fetchland denial is just gravy.  Don't look at this guy as "competing" for space.  Any g/w build wants 4 of these guys.  Kataki should be maindeck too, as should some number of Natures Claim and StP's.

[BruiZar]

So now we're running a fetchless mana base? A minimum amount of fetch land is 0. Any fetch you draw after dropping Arbiter sucks. The card is inherently antisynergistic with your deck UNLESS you build a mono colored base. A 2 color fishbuild could potentially use this as it can simply run a lot of basics and 4x Savannah or 4x Tundra, but it would still suck because it doesn't do anything unless your opponent wants it to do something. Kind of like how Browbeat never gives you your way. The only way for Arbiter to be good is if you can drop it turn 1 and can follow up with wastelands to waste their fetchlands and screw your opponent. With an unrestricted gush, you don´t even need to search your library for vault key, you just dig for it, and with Fastbond and Lotus Cobra it´s not as if you can´t pay for that 2 mana to fetch a land either.

Then there is workshop, which just kills you with Golems and laughs at you. And there is dredge, which just reanimates you to death. This is a typical white grizzly bear that looks like an awesome hate card but fails to deliver, just like suppression field, which is not played either:



I understand that the card has the power level for Vintage, I just doubt that it will see a lot of play. The only thing I can see it do is replace Aven Mindcensor

[zeus-online]

.

[madmanmike25]

Not sure why all the emphasis is on fetchlands....  Making tutors cost 2 more per cat in play is good.  If you run 2-3 Avens (because they are redundant) alongside Arbiter, is the opponent really going to pay 2-8 mana to look at the top 4 cards?  That is an extreme nerf in my book.  Keep in mind that Spell Pierce, Hurks, and Rebuild don't affect the cat.  I'm all for blue mages having to diversify their bounce.

1.)  It slows down Tinker
2.)  It makes it more difficult to assemble Vault+Key
3.)  Hurts the mana development of EVERY non-shop, non-Dredge deck.

Not a broken card by any means, but this is most certainly Vintage worthy.  It costs only 2 mana and it stacks people.

[honestabe]

I dont see why everyone thinks you can only play Arbiter in mono colored decks.

I initially tested him in UW fish, with my only fetches being 4 Flooded Strand and his ability was rarely *if ever* a problem.  I since moved him into a 3-color fish deck, and he's still been just gravy.  He kinda sucks vs shops, but you can just side him righ out...

[bosoxdave]

So now we're running a fetchless mana base? A minimum amount of fetch land is 0. Any fetch you draw after dropping Arbiter sucks. The card is inherently antisynergistic with your deck UNLESS you build a mono colored base. A 2 color fishbuild could potentially use this as it can simply run a lot of basics and 4x Savannah or 4x Tundra, but it would still suck because it doesn't do anything unless your opponent wants it to do something. Kind of like how Browbeat never gives you your way. The only way for Arbiter to be good is if you can drop it turn 1 and can follow up with wastelands to waste their fetchlands and screw your opponent. With an unrestricted gush, you don´t even need to search your library for vault key, you just dig for it, and with Fastbond and Lotus Cobra it´s not as if you can´t pay for that 2 mana to fetch a land either.

Then there is workshop, which just kills you with Golems and laughs at you. And there is dredge, which just reanimates you to death. This is a typical white grizzly bear that looks like an awesome hate card but fails to deliver, just like suppression field, which is not played either:



I understand that the card has the power level for Vintage, I just doubt that it will see a lot of play. The only thing I can see it do is replace Aven Mindcensor

Those two cards are hardly comparable.  How many utility enchantments see play in Vintage?  Now, how many utility creatures see play in Vintage?  Similar cards do not always have similar applications.  Look at Noble Hierarch and BoP...Birds hits two more colors and has evasion, all while being a 0/1 for G.  Yet it is Noble Hierarch that gets play because of a relevant ability.  Likewise the ability to be able to swing with a 2/2 while disrupting your opponent is what defines Fish decks in the current state of Vintage. 

With that said I think that this card will see plenty of play, but I don't think it fits naturally into any deck pre Scars.  I think it will find its own Fish deck to run with, and that may very well run 3 colors, too.

[BruiZar]

Who cares about tutoring? So what if Tinker is shut down (Its not btw, its just more expensive)? Just drop oath and win instead, or use Jace to bounce it off the table. This dude can't even attack with a confidant on the table because if it does impact the game enough, your opponent will simply block you. Thats not useful at all as a grizzly bear.

In legacy, both Noble Hierarch and Birds of Paradise are played. The only reason vintage players started running Hierarch was because it works well with Selkie and there weren't any other cheap utility exalted creatures besides Qasali Pridemage.

[madmanmike25]

Who cares about tutoring?

Any deck that wants to win?  Or conversely any deck that wants to prevent the opponent from winning?  Did you really just undermine the importance of tutors in Vintage?

[Guli]

Who cares about tutoring? So what if Tinker is shut down (Its not btw, its just more expensive)? Just drop oath and win instead, or use Jace to bounce it off the table. This dude can't even attack with a confidant on the table because if it does impact the game enough, your opponent will simply block you. Thats not useful at all as a grizzly bear.

In legacy, both Noble Hierarch and Birds of Paradise are played. The only reason vintage players started running Hierarch was because it works well with Selkie and there weren't any other cheap utility exalted creatures besides Qasali Pridemage.

This is BS.

You guys are missing the point of Arbiter. It is a mana denial card that hits, disrupts some key spells when playing blue based control combo. Try reading my earlier post. Reading meaning understanding in depth. It is not about shutting down cards at all. Cards like Gaddock, Meddling mage and Believer shut down cards period. Leonin arbiter is good against mana drain when they are trying to build up mana. They need to tap out to be able to Demonic, Merchant Scroll or Tinker. This means the only way they can stop your real answer as fish is to Force of Will. That is were cards like Gaddock Teeg, Spell Snare, Cursecatcher come into play. Leonin is plain simple mana denial and I grasped this by playing massive amounts of games with the card in different kinds of colors.

I will repeat myself for those who missed my earlier post:
You NEED to address Shop with durable answers like Welder, Vial and Shaman while destroying their mana base in order to prevent a stream of big fat artifacts. These 3 cards are key to play a good game against blue control and shop. They are cheap and effective in what they do. Welder forces through canonist while vial forces through everything ambush style. Vial also makes it possible to play the land destruction game against shop to lock THEM out of the game.

Leonin hits were these 3 cards don't hit. Mana denial on tutors and fetchlands. Plus the vial/leonin tricks are extremely nice as a surprise.

I ghost quarter your underground sea. You have mox and fetchland. You tap mox and sac fetchland to generate 2 mana. I vial in Arbiter in response. Devastating. Same scenario with tapped land, fetch, untapped land. The cool thing is after such a play, the leonin grows to become a lion while he was just a cat before.

You eat their mox, strip their land and then make them pay extra for tutoring with arbiter. This is my way of pressuring their mana base, I don't use null rod anymore.

[nineisnoone]

Who cares about tutoring? So what if Tinker is shut down (Its not btw, its just more expensive)? Just drop oath and win instead, or use Jace to bounce it off the table. This dude can't even attack with a confidant on the table because if it does impact the game enough, your opponent will simply block you. Thats not useful at all as a grizzly bear.

Tutors aren't restricted because people "don't care about tutoring."  People clearly do.

And I don't see your point on it trading against Confidant. Every grizzly bear trades on block against Dark Confidant by definition of it being a grizzly bear.  So you are saying all 2 toughness no evasion creatures with a persistent ability are bad?  Is every creature without shroud now unplayable because of Jace?  

Again, I think it's overrated in the sense that we have these huge pie-in-the-sky dreams for the card, but it's still very strong in its archetype (which is of debatable strength).  

What you said.

Agree, suppression field did not see much play, and neither will this.

If Suppression Field attacked for 2, it damn sure would see play.

The real strike against Arbiter IMO is its complete lack of effect on MUD and Dredge opponents.  It is also competing against a huge number of relevant hate bears in the same design space:  Meddling Mage, Canonist, Pridemage, Kataki, etc.

I still like the card a lot and suspect there will be times where it is very good.

Both of those archetypes are "easy" to hate out in that there are extremely strong sideboard options against them.  It certainly won't help in those match-ups, but what this replaces likely won't be much better as none of the cards I imagine it competing with are especially great in those match-ups (barring Kataki and MUD).  

[zeus-online]

.

[bosoxdave]

You are not connecting the dots properly. 

If there was a 2/2 creature with Null Rod's ability for 2 mana (even if it was 1+colored mana) it would be incredible.  The comparison is not between Null Rod and Suppression Field.  The comparisons are Null Rod is to Suppression Field as Leonin Arbiter is to XXXX. 

[nineisnoone]

What you said.

Agree, suppression field did not see much play, and neither will this.

If Suppression Field attacked for 2, it damn sure would see play.

I guess that is where we differ, i don't think it would see play.

Suppression field has a majorly disruptive effect at an affordable price, and yet it sees no play what so ever. Why is that? Perhaps because there are more effective cards to play.

I mean, like seriously. Null rod sees play, costs 2 mana and does not beat for 2. Why is suppresion field so different?

Why is Suppression Field different than Null Rod?   Do I really need to answer that? 

And how are you going from...

1) Null Rod cannot attack, but is playable.
2) Suppression Field cannot attack, but is not playable.
3) If Suppression Field could attack, it would still not be playable.

Where exactly is your logic here?  I fail to see how you determine what impact the ability to attack would have, when your two case studies involve cards which cannot attack.  That's like if I watched some fish swim and told you all about what would happen if they started flying based on what I saw. 

Why does it need to attack for 2 to be viable?

You frame the question oddly.  It doesn't "need" to attack for 2 to be viable, but attacking for 2 gives it general utility and synergy with aggro game plans.  In short, it makes Suppression Field better which in turn increases it's viability. 

How about let's ask how many creature cards with abilities attached to them would be playable if they weren't creatures?  Dark Confidant, off the top of my head, is the only that would be playable. 

And, is it really that advantageous to be a Grizzly bear?

Umm...  Pridemage?  Have you never won games attacking with Dark Confidant?  In short yes, it really is that advantageous to be a grizzly bear.  Really.

Realize, I'm not saying it's going to dominate or anything.  But it would be a very viable card within it's respective archetype.  I would say an attacking Suppression Field would be superior to most other disruptive bears in my eyes.

Of course, this really has nothing to do with Arbiter.  But, ya know... Suppression Field!  Yeah!