DKA - Markov blademaster

[Blue Lotus]

Well will mono red be playable? Getting this guy out quick seems busted.

First swing - 3 damage

Second swing - 7 damage

Third swing - 11 damage/dead.

Land her quick, protect her with rebs and pyroblast and blood moon? Fetachable with that portal creature? Sound at least fun to me.

Pictures help.
-MM

[vaughnbros]

the problem arises in that it costs double red and doesnt compete with lodestone or goyf when it first hits the table.  its a neat card but i dont see it being playable.

[Blue Lotus]

Well I was thinking you would play with accel like SSG and rite of flame. If you get one hit in it can first strike down a lodestone alone and a goyf with help from a lightning bolt.

Of course, what a deck like this would do if it didn't draw this guy is certainly a problem but I think I'll be playing around with it.

[vaughnbros]

Well I was thinking you would play with accel like SSG and rite of flame. If you get one hit in it can first strike down a lodestone alone and a goyf with help from a lightning bolt.

Of course, what a deck like this would do if it didn't draw this guy is certainly a problem but I think I'll be playing around with it.

yeh its that one hit when he doesn't have haste that id be worried about.  i wasnt really thinking of rite of flame with that then yeh he might be able to be played although he competes with storm entity in that version.

[Delha]

Feels worse to me than Kiln Fiend. It's clearly superior once you get the ball rolling, but that extra turn strikes me as bad news in the sort of aggressive deck you're presumably running.

I wish he'd been costed at and got charge counters (with +1/0 for each counter) instead of being so expensive.

[boggyb]

Would kick ass with Bloodbraid Elf, if anyone can ever get that deck to work in Vintage.

[Blue Lotus]

Feels worse to me than Kiln Fiend. It's clearly superior once you get the ball rolling, but that extra turn strikes me as bad news in the sort of aggressive deck you're presumably running.

I wish he'd been costed at and got charge counters (with +1/0 for each counter) instead of being so expensive.

I'm not sure how aggressive it would have to be. If you burn out the first blocker she morphs into a finisher real quick. I was thinking rite of flame/ssg/up to 8 blood moon/up to 8 reb and some amount of burn.

Of course all theorycraft. It might be hard for a deck to be competitive that wants to engage on the stack but also have no source of card draw.

I do think this is much better than storm entity or kiln fiend due to the first strike. People are playing creatures now and this guy dominates the board is short order.

[dangerlinto]

Markov Blademaster  

Creature - Vampire Warrior   
Double strike
Whenever Markov Blademaster deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on it.

Well will mono red be playable? Getting this guy out quick seems busted.

First swing - 3 damage

Second swing - 7 damage

Third swing - 11 damage/dead.

Land her quick, protect her with rebs and pyroblast and blood moon? Fetachable with that portal creature? Sound at least fun to me.

Psychatog 1UB
Creature - Atog
Discard a card: Psychatog get's +1/+1 until end of turn
Exile two cards from your graveyard: Psychatog get's +1/+1 until end of turn
1/2

Is it better than that?

[Meddling Mike]

Psychatog 1UB
Creature - Atog
Discard a card: Psychatog get's +1/+1 until end of turn
Exile two cards from your graveyard: Psychatog get's +1/+1 until end of turn
1/2

Is it better than that?

I'd actually say Tarmogoyf is probably considered the gold standard for a fast fat creature.

I would be surprised if this guy saw significant play.

[AmbivalentDuck]

I know nobody wants to hear it, but Warren Instigator is a double striker for RR that finds pump for itself while also dropping buddies or making combos mana-free.

If you think you can get a RR guy into the red zone, I don't see a reason to play anything other than Instigator.

[Norm4eva]

I know nobody wants to hear it, but Warren Instigator is a double striker for RR that finds pump for itself while also dropping buddies or making combos mana-free.

If you think you can get a RR guy into the red zone, I don't see a reason to play anything other than Instigator.

+1.

I don't see many relevant doublestrikers getting played, and most of the good ones have protection built-in (Mirran Crusader and ah...the other one).  Slith Firewalker with doublestrike isn't gonna scare anyone, unless you like put it under something weird like Standstill or Counterbalance or um, Statis?  And by then who cares, that guy could be anything.

[dangerlinto]

Psychatog 1UB
Creature - Atog
Discard a card: Psychatog get's +1/+1 until end of turn
Exile two cards from your graveyard: Psychatog get's +1/+1 until end of turn
1/2

Is it better than that?

I'd actually say Tarmogoyf is probably considered the gold standard for a fast fat creature.

I would be surprised if this guy saw significant play.

I was trying to find a more like-comparison.  You know, 3cc, swings only a few times FTW.   Goyf is great but it's not a great comparison to this card.

[Blue Lotus]

I'm definitely not claiming significant play. I think this is better than instigator or kiln fiend or storm entity b/c it works great on its own. As in you don't have to play 30 other goblins in order for it to be good.

I think the psychatog comparison is exactly how I see this guy. Play him, protect him, dominate combat and then end the game. Plus he has evasion (first strike).

I certainly don't think this is HUGE for vintage but could be played. Tog hasn't been playable for over 5 years but with the new cage who knows what will happen.

I don't see many relevant doublestrikers getting played, and most of the good ones have protection built-in (Mirran Crusader and ah...the other one).  Slith Firewalker with doublestrike isn't gonna scare anyone, unless you like put it under something weird like Standstill or Counterbalance or um, Statis?  And by then who cares, that guy could be anything.

Something weird like blood moon?

[Norm4eva]

Something weird like blood moon?

Sure, Blood Moon.  Again, doesn't make the dude a 'better win con' than like, lots of Burn or any other dude that swings for the win.  Countryside Crusher maybe.  Who cares.  Something that Darkblast won't just eat like a bitch, heh.  I dunno.

[Meddling Mike]

I was trying to find a more like-comparison.  You know, 3cc, swings only a few times FTW.   Goyf is great but it's not a great comparison to this card.

Not that it really matters, but I'd say Tarmogoyf is a closer comparison. Psychatog would necessitate a completely different deck type than this card would. You need a ton of counters, card drawing and Berserk to make Psychatog work. Goyf, like this card, starts small but grows quickly without needing a particular strategy to achieve that end.

If I was looking for the most similar card to this I'd probably be going with Slith Firewalker as some people here have already pointed out, Stromkirk Noble isn't far off the mark either, although in a vacuum assuming one land drop a turn and these creatures being completely unmolested blademaster kills on turn 6 instead of turn 7 like Noble and Firewalker.

I know nobody wants to hear it, but Warren Instigator is a double striker for RR that finds pump for itself while also dropping buddies or making combos mana-free.

If you think you can get a RR guy into the red zone, I don't see a reason to play anything other than Instigator.

I would point out that to make Warren Instigator better than this guy you would need to have an ample supply of Goblins in hand. So, if you're heavy/mono red deck wasn't a goblin deck I think this would be a better card.

[AmbivalentDuck]

I know nobody wants to hear it, but Warren Instigator is a double striker for RR that finds pump for itself while also dropping buddies or making combos mana-free.

If you think you can get a RR guy into the red zone, I don't see a reason to play anything other than Instigator.

I would point out that to make Warren Instigator better than this guy you would need to have an ample supply of Goblins in hand. So, if you're heavy/mono red deck wasn't a goblin deck I think this would be a better card.

Remember that it's vs , Instigator comes down a turn earlier in most cases.  Also, both will need a deck dedicated to repeatedly getting them into the red zone.  Whether that's goblins or a pile of burn, it's specialized.

[KBH]

Its interesting to note that this guy is pretty close to having X.5 power.  Wonder if they've ever toyed with ways to port the 1/2 'Un' mechanic onto "real" cards. 

[Alamoth]

I don't think you really need to swing three times with this guy to win a game. If he had haste I'd be more impressed, but with a 1RR casting cost you'd need a very specific opening to swing with him on Turn 2. With all the burn that a red deck is likely running, I think you could make a convincing argument that Ball Lightning would a) deal the same amount of damage on average and b) often can trade with (and even trample over) a Tarmogoyf. First Strike is a great ability but not if your opponent can put together a few blockers. Also, not having haste, as we've seen with Slash Panther, makes this guy a bit too susceptible to Jace for my liking.

I'm not even going to compare this creature to Psychatog or Tarmogoyf. If you're building a Mono-Red or even a Red/Black burn deck with creature support, convince me that this guy is better than Ball Lightning.

That said, I can see him being pretty saucy in Modern Zoo decks.

[serracollector]

I don't know if its t1 worthy, but getting turn 1 Stoneforge Mystic for any sword, turn 2 this guy, turn 3 drop and equip sword, that's 2 swings ftw.

[AmbivalentDuck]

I don't know if its t1 worthy, but getting turn 1 Stoneforge Mystic for any sword, turn 2 this guy, turn 3 drop and equip sword, that's 2 swings ftw.

Doesn't it kill faster with Jitte?

[Killane]

Optimal.Jitte.usage puts him to 4 on the first swing, so no, not actually faster, though if you played mystic off a plateau you could go all-in on Fireblast to kill him, or you could use a free pump spell I guess.

[serracollector]

I was thinking SoFi or Sword of Body and Mind, since u get two burns, and or 2 2/2 tokens to swing with as well next turn.  Fireblast is also an option as well as just bolts and stuff in general.

[vaughnbros]

just seems like a win more to throw swords or jittes on it i mean really if your connecting with a creature that has a sword on it or jitte on it your winning.  Although turn 1 blademaster turn 2 equip a jitte to it is a turn 3 20 damage.  Mirran Crusader sees no play at all and is definitely better than this card.  turn 1 stoneforge for batterskull or sword is already amazing you dont need this guy to make it better.

[Smmenen]

Whoops.  nevermind.  Messed up the math.

I'd rather play Kiln Fiend. 

[serracollector]

its gets a counter on it for each hit, so its 3 first turn, and so on like he said eariler.

[AmbivalentDuck]

its gets a counter on it for each hit, so its 3 first turn, and so on like he said eariler.

With Jitte (which doesn't compete for a drop), it's:
1+2
7+12

If you can somehow equip an already charged up Jitte, it's 5+10 which isn't bad.

[MaximumCDawg]

Eh?  No, Jitte charges with each strike so, so you can do better:

Swing with Jitte-equipped Blademaster, Turn X
First strike damage = 1; Blademaster gets +1/+1, Jitte gets 2 charges
Normal damage = 2; Blademaster gets +1/+1, Jitte gets 2 charges.

Swing with Jitte-equipped Blastmaster, Turn X+1
Remove all four counters from Jitte to give Blademaster +8/+8
First Strike damage = 11; Blademaster gets +1/+1, Jitte gets 2 charges
Remove remaining charges on Jitte to give Blademaster +4/+4
Normal damage = 16, opponent is probably dead.

However, compare this to Mirrian Crusader:

Swing with Jitte-equipped Crsuader, Turn X
First strike damage = 2; Jitte gets 2 charges
Normal damage = 2; Jitte gets 2 charges.

Swing with Jitte-equipped Blastmaster, Turn X+1
Remove all four counters from Jitte to give Crusader +8/+8
First Strike damage = 10; Jitte gets 2 charges
Remove remaining charges on Jitte to give Crusader +4/+4
Normal damage = 14, opponent is probably dead.

In other words, this is no faster than Crusader when you're doing it right.  And Crusader is infinitely better out of the gate.

[Wagner]

With equipment it's not better than crusader, but without equipment, it only has to connect 3 times to win, compared to 5 with Crusader.

Also, once this connect one, it kills pretty much every creature with first strike, including Lodestone, but it will not trade with Lodestone without connecting. Really, different creatures altogether, and IMO, none of them worth being played in Vintage for the moment.

Biggest flaw to me is that it trades with a lot of 2/2 hate-bears, which seems awful.

[xouman]

I'd post it in a spanish forum, but we quorum that it's quite marginal, specially in a field with so many creatures (and can we expect so with cage around?)

Jitte could by optimal whan attacking with a 1/1 blademaster and blocked to a golem, for example: 1 damage  w/first strike, take 2 counters to kill golem, and no further damage (but blademaster is alive and golem death). Another scenario is attacking against ano creatures, and then using jitte counters to kill creatues next turn.

SOFI could be a great equipment, 2 cards, 2+2 points of direct damage and 7 + 11 combat damage. However, it can be blocked by non blue, non red creatures and so you can't draw, can't deal direct damage and creature won't grow, which seems bad business. Maybe SOBM is better because of the protection from green, but it has a potential problem against tarmogoyf decks: lots of tarmo decks play snapcasters,and with SOBM you are putting in the grave 20 cards every attack, allowing potential bouncer/swords to hit blademaster. It's a marginal situation, but also it's marginal the bonus of SOBM compared with jitte or SOFI.

Anyway, playing blademaster + equipments feels awkward in vintage. And I agree Steve, if you plan to allow a creature to attack unmolested, better use kiln fiend, less CC and quite deadly in a suitable deck, tough kiln fiend and markov blademaster belong to different decks.

[waffles]

Well will mono red be playable? Getting this guy out quick seems busted.

First swing - 3 damage

Second swing - 7 damage

Third swing - 11 damage/dead.

Land her quick, protect her with rebs and pyroblast and blood moon? Fetachable with that portal creature? Sound at least fun to me.

Pictures help.
-MM

Ooo its a dervish/slith, with blazing shoal makes for a faster death