[PCH2] Baleful Strix

[mmcgeach]

Over at mtg salvation they're spoiling some planechase cards. One looks pretty interesting:



Seems to me like an efficient answer for blue-black control to use against aggro and fish decks. Might look good in one of those planeswalker decks (synnergizes with tezzeret agent of bolas) providing an early blocker. Just seems like a great tempo play.

Edited title for capitalization - Prospero

Pictures/actual name of the card helps.
-MM

[Daenyth]

This seems fairly interesting against workshops too. Cast it off an island + swamp, isn't affected by golem or thorn, trades with everything in their deck.

Pretty bad against prison builds though, so I'm not too sure.

[TheWhiteDragon]

This card is amazing in a UBR deck with welder (which i happen to have).  It is possibly better to just dump inkwell or jar and weld it in, but this guy is castable and becomes fodder + card draw.  A recurable uberwall that draws a card every time he enters play....I've seen worse things (see tarpon).

[ErtaiAdept]

This card is amazing in a UBR deck with welder (which i happen to have).  It is possibly better to just dump inkwell or jar and weld it in, but this guy is castable and becomes fodder + card draw.  A recurable uberwall that draws a card every time he enters play....I've seen worse things (see tarpon).

I'm actually looking into putting a UBR welder style deck together, would you mind sharing your list?  I'd be interested to get some ideas for a starting point.

[TheWhiteDragon]

// Lands
    1  City of Brass
    2  Tropical Island
    2  Volcanic Island
    2  Island
    4  Scalding Tarn
    2  Underground Sea
    1  Polluted Delta
    1  Strip Mine
    1  Wasteland

// Creatures
    2  Goblin Welder
    1  Blightsteel Colossus
    2  Gorilla Shaman (2)
    2  Trygon Predator
    4  Dark Confidant

// Spells
    1  Sol Ring
    1  Mox Ruby
    1  Mox Sapphire
    1  Mox Emerald
    1  Black Lotus
    1  Mox Jet
    1  Mana Crypt
    1  Time Vault
    1  Voltaic Key
    1  Vampiric Tutor
    1  Demonic Tutor
    1  Tinker
    1  Time Walk
    1  Ancestral Recall
    1  Yawgmoth's Will
    1 [BD] Brainstorm
    4  Mana Drain
    2  Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    2  Sensei's Divining Top
    1  Thirst for Knowledge
    4  Force of Will
    2  Mental Misstep
    1  Grafdigger's Cage
    1 [COM] Flusterstorm

// Sideboard
SB: 1  Trygon Predator
SB: 3  Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 3 [COM] Flusterstorm
SB: 1  Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2  Ancient Grudge
SB: 2  Old Man of the Sea
SB: 1  Inkwell Leviathan
SB: 1  Planar Void
SB: 1  Nihil Spellbomb

That was my latest list - which i have not tooled with in several months.
  At one point I had main inkwell, jar, and fofs...but flusterstorm/sphere killed my like of fofs, and bobs turned out to draw better than jar (though jar/welder is straight ridiculous).  Inkwell was a nice sencond bot main, but without fofs, it's less good, and with bobs it's less good...and it was only money vs fish anyway.  Shaman/Welder are the bomb squad of the deck and really kick face.  I had 4 welders, then 3, then 2....and 2 seems right without fof/inky/jar.  It's all a matter of your meta whether upping on tinkerbombs and a welder are worth it.  I think bob is better than fof overall in any situation though.  Trygons are money too.

[xouman]

Against prison decks it's one more permanent to tap or sacrifice, without wasting a card. Deathtouch and flying make it a tremendous blocker. I'd play it in lots of "slow" UB decks :/

Btw, deathtouch does anything to BSC?

[Tempus]

Btw, deathtouch does anything to BSC?

Nope Deathtouch says destroy.

[vaughnbros]

So this is essentially a wall that cantrips for two colored mana, not overly impressive but this could definitely see some fringe play in decks like welder, which always likes to draw cards, or tezz, which needs to protect from trygons.

[xouman]

As aggro is impossing on the tables, a 2 mana cantrip that takes out most attacking creatures (not first strike creatures or BSC and alikes) is a card to take into account. At least for decks that need turns to assembly. Tezz sesms a good example.

[The Atog Lord]

Is this card confirmed? It seems too powerful. For two mana, you have a removal spell that can also be a clock. It might not see Vintage play, but I could see it having some impact in Legacy. Any artifact that draws a card on arrival is something to keep in mind for use with Goblin Welder, and this card does that while being blue and halting most creatures (other than BSC and Thalia). If this is real, then it at least has the power level for Eternal-format consideration.

[brianpk80]

The card is not confirmed.  I saw the post in question and it stated that the significant other of some shopkeeper relayed some vague info about the set.   It mentioned a "UB artifact creature" with flying, deathtouch, and draw upon ETB, but the way it was phrased made it unclear whether the casting cost was or whether it meant this is a "blue and black artifact creature" with an unspecified casting cost. 

[Saya]

It's a kind of upgraded typhod rat!additional U=Flying+a card.very reasonable.

[mmcgeach]

Turns out it is totally legit.

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131385&stc=1&d=1337675348

Looks like its an "uncommon" so you can get 2 of them in the same planechase deck.

[ErtaiAdept]

Seems legit to me.

I really like the art too.

[Royal Ass.]

That card is sick.  Nils Hamm continues to impress me.  One of the best contemporary mtg artists imo.  

[The Atog Lord]

Well, there it is! That card is very undercosted, and it would not surprise me if it saw Eternal play.

[Daenyth]

I think the biggest flaws with this are that it is fairly poor against decks without creatures (though not completely dead), and if they have a creature they care about, they won't swing with it. For example, shops could have a Lodestone in play and leave it back while swinging at you with a Revoker, which forces you into either taking damage or making an awkward trade. A trade with good value to be sure, but still awkward.

[Prospero]

I think the biggest flaws with this are that it is fairly poor against decks without creatures (though not completely dead), and if they have a creature they care about, they won't swing with it. For example, shops could have a Lodestone in play and leave it back while swinging at you with a Revoker, which forces you into either taking damage or making an awkward trade. A trade with good value to be sure, but still awkward.

How about the mana requirements, in all likelihood, forcing players to expose non-basics against their Shop opponents? 

The real cost of this card is the four slots that he takes in your deck.  While the card might be alright objectively, all he does is cycle and stall.  Isn't it better to be working on a proactive game plan?  Maybe I'm just not looking at this card from the right angle, but I don't see it really being all that Vintage playable, if it's playable at all.

[vaughnbros]

I think the biggest flaws with this are that it is fairly poor against decks without creatures (though not completely dead), and if they have a creature they care about, they won't swing with it. For example, shops could have a Lodestone in play and leave it back while swinging at you with a Revoker, which forces you into either taking damage or making an awkward trade. A trade with good value to be sure, but still awkward.

How about the mana requirements, in all likelihood, forcing players to expose non-basics against their Shop opponents? 

I think your opponent not being forced to attack into it and its cost of 2 colored mana are both pretty huge downfalls of this card.

The real cost of this card is the four slots that he takes in your deck.  While the card might be alright objectively, all he does is cycle and stall.  Isn't it better to be working on a proactive game plan?  Maybe I'm just not looking at this card from the right angle, but I don't see it really being all that Vintage playable, if it's playable at all.

You don't really need to run 4 of these.  Cycling and stalling has been important for control/combo decks in the other formats, cards like wall of omens/blossoms have shown to be very powerful.  So I wouldn't really say all it does is cycle and stall.  Obviously a preordain is going to be better for drawing and a dismember better for destroying things in most cases, but this handles both in a single card.  This thing is pretty amazing against both trygon predators and goyfs

[MaximumCDawg]

Solid card is solid.  I don't see where it fits off the top of my head, though.  As a sideboard card, this protects workshop from Trygon and deters opposing Golems from attacking, so I guess you could run a BU Shop deck to use this in the mirror.  That doesn't seem productive.  In a BU deck against shops, I feel like there are better options.

As a main deck card, what kinds of decks really want an evasive weenie and a deathtoucher?  If such a deck exists, it would love this card. 

[Meddling Mike]

This card seems interesting from a Vintage perspective. I could see it being good in a deck that can cast it while also having Goblin Welders in a metagame where it would be trading with/holding off Lodestone Golems, Goyfs, Flipped Delvers, etc.

[boggyb]

Reminds me most of Scryb Ranger -- super efficient simply by virtue of the density of its abilities, none of which is all that great by itself, but which multiply in usefulness and range when combined with the others. There's some RUB critter deck out there that this is perfect for, one running MD Bobs, Lavamancers, and Welders to combat a shops-heavy metagame while trying to keep even with cards against blue decks and remain somewhat significantly interactive during the combat phase to help match with other fishy decks. This is a terrible inclusion versus any storm or combo opponent, however.

[brianpk80]

A new friend for Esperzoa.

Cavern of Souls naming Bird = this guy, Aven Mindcensor, BoP, Squadron Hawk, possible Mindshrieker.  There's that Tradewind Rider-Bird that costs 2U but requires Birds for activation.  It's called Keeper of the Nine Gales.  Would Tradewind Rider be playable in "Fish" if it were 2U?  I'm not sure.  But I've noticed the Birds that get printed since then, waiting for a critical mass of Birds with Vintage-relevant effects.  It may take a few years and more expansions, but we're getting there.  This new Bird is a step in the right direction.   

[Wagner]

A new friend for Esperzoa.

Cavern of Souls naming Bird = this guy, Aven Mindcensor, BoP, Squadron Hawk, possible Mindshrieker.  There's that Tradewind Rider-Bird that costs 2U but requires Birds for activation.  It's called Keeper of the Nine Gales.  Would Tradewind Rider be playable in "Fish" if it were 2U?  I'm not sure.  But I've noticed the Birds that get printed since then, waiting for a critical mass of Birds with Vintage-relevant effects.  It may take a few years and more expansions, but we're getting there.  This new Bird is a step in the right direction.   

I'm still waiting for them to print busted enough minotaurs to make Didgeridoo decent... Still waiting...

[bluemage55]

If you're already running Welder and U. Seas, then at least a single copy would be a solid choice.  Otherwise, it probably wouldn't be worth going out of your way to include.

[Worldslayer]

This guy is ultraniche, but as always it sort of balances out with how EXCELLENT he is in that niche. If you're for some reason dead set on jamming a slaverish build into a field of u/g/x fish decks, this man as a 4x combined with some way to stop STP completely stonewalls their gameplan (since almost nobody runs Cold-Eyed Selkie anymore). He's nuts. And if they're just attacking you with a dork leaving their goyfs and bigger dudes at home, aren't you kind of winning as a "Big Blue" style deck? Especially if you have welder active? They attack with a dork, take your 1-2. EOT weld him out, draw a card. They still can't attack with a big guy, because then you just weld the idiot back in. And if they don't, great, you weld the idiot back in. I'm not seeing the fishy deck winning this gamestate.

Unfortunately, he's pretty bad is other matchups/situations. Other here meaning "almost every other one".

[brianpk80]

I'm still waiting for them to print busted enough minotaurs to make Didgeridoo decent... Still waiting...

Bird viability is more likely.  There are no Minotaurs that see regular play.  It will be a long wait for you...

[serracollector]

I think this card will find it's way in a Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas deck.  Same colors, and you can make it a 5/5.  It keeps the death touch and flying still I believe.  Or it can simply be used as a blocker til you can ultimate with tezz and win.  Either way its a nice cantrip for a deck bassed on tezz 2.0.

[forests failed you]

Wow.  Baleful Strix is quite a card!

[Archae]

Given that I have been testing out Tidehollow Strix recently to deal with Trygons/Goyfs, Baleful Strix seems like a viable card; granted, this is in a dedicated deck, but viable nonetheless.