[PCH2] Shardless Agent

[psyburat]

She falls into generally accepted color combinations for both Gush and Fish archetypes, and gives us a chance to look at Hypergenesis and sigh when we realize that Chalice set to 0 is a good blind play.  The fact that Mana Drain and Daze become dead flips and Moxen are sometimes less than stellar may detract from her usability.  Ryan Glackin, a local Vintage powerhouse, has utilized Bloodbraid Elf very recently, so she may not be as weak as she may seem.  Is there a possibilty of utilizing her as roadbump that can cast a potentially brutal spell?  Does a Legacy to Vintage port of Hypergenesis actually exist?  Could her synergy with Ancestral Vision open up any possibilities?

Hopefully my track record for finding playable artifact creatures with one keyword can strike twice.

[Worldslayer]

If I remember correctly, Legacy used to feature an underplayed but (again, if I remember correctly) overperforming RUG deck centered around Bloodbraid -> A. Visions on top of your typical hyperefficient RUG cards. The biggest loss comes from not being able to run Fluster/pierce/drains, but a variety of pitch counters and laser-focused hate like Grudge and Claim could be enough for a deck with 8 ways (four of each cascader) to potentially find one of five ancestral recalls, a land drop (mox), or a aforementioned laserbeam. The question is if a cascade/midrange type RUG like this is better than just running a bunch of spells in those colors that all cost 2 or less, which at this point is the tried and true method in that color combination. I'm not sure Hypergenesis is where you want to be, but i've seen worse cards receive more hype.

[The Atog Lord]

The trick to this card is that, first, cascading into a Mox isn't really that bad. And second, I suspect that if she sees play, it will be in creature-based decks that will not run the full set anyway. I think cascading into Noble Hierarch will be the more likely scenario.

[serracollector]

Me and some other's were looking at this card in the current Human builds with Bobs, Thalia, ethersworn Cannonist, and Mayor of Avorbuck.  With a lack of draw (sans bob/Tandem), getting 2 threats into play for 1 card at a mere 3 mana is always nice.  Also, at just a mere 3 mana, bounce and recasting this card to gain CA is also a possibility.  I really like this card, and think it will be used.  At least I know I will give it a try.

[MaximumCDawg]

I dunno about this guy. 

Plus: he's a rogue, and so he goes in rogue.dec. alongside Spymaster, Blackguard, Earwig, Stalker, etc. 
Minus: Rogue.dec is not a good deck.

Plus: He does fit in Noble Fish, where he can flip you into many two-drop hate bears.  When you do, it's like you get 3: put a 2/2 into play, then put another hatebear into play.  That's like drawing a card AND accelerating your threats when he hits.
Minus: You can look at this the other way around.  You COULD just play the hatebear itself.  Instead, you're playing a random hatebear some of the time, and the payoff is you might get an extra vanilla 2/2.

Plus: If you run Curfew or similar cards, you can bounce this guy to keep getting more Cascades.  Unlike cantrip creatures, each time you hit with Cascade you gain mana as well as a card (since you cast it) and that's pretty cool.
Minus: Except when you whiff, which you will a good portion of the time if you're running cheap removal or counterspells.  And is the extra point in the casting cost really worth casting a random card in your deck?

Conclusion:
This works in a deck that has a way to re-use the effect and is willing to pay one mana to cast a random card in the deck.  Otherwise, it feels like a do-nothing 2/2 that is just replacing more useful 2/2s.
 

[vaughnbros]

I think this definitely competes for that 3 drop card advantage slot, other competitors being Edric and selkie.  The problem is Edric and Selkie are barely being played right now and this card while better at some things is definitely more restrictive to your deck building.  So the pros and cons I see for this over the other two are as follows:

Pros:
-You get a card right away on the stack for free providing much greater tempo, which is probably the biggest problem with its competitors
-Its an artifact making it cheaper through lodestone's sphere effect and makies it still work with Canonist out
-Its not legendary and its a 2/2
-It doesn't need to stay on the table

Cons:
-Playing daze, or misstep, or spell pierce, or flusterstorm in your deck makes this card have dead cascades
-Casting this and its cascade spell through sphere effects can prove to be difficult

All in all i think this card is pretty good in any deck that chooses not to run misstep, daze, spell pierce, and flusterstorm.  The only thing is that all those cards are a major reason to choose to run blue in the first place, although this could be one of the key cards to push a pure tempo UGx deck over the top.

[MaximumCDawg]

But, Vaugh, who cares if I get a tempo boost if it comes attached to something that doesn't matter?  What I mean is that, sure, Agent puts something on the stack at random from your deck.  But, Agent itself is just a 2/2.  Vintage decks tend to run creatures that are good on their own merits and then have an upside, not generic creatures that help you get something less generic.  Imagine if Dark Confidant only drew you one card or even two before shutting down.

[vaughnbros]

But, Vaugh, who cares if I get a tempo boost if it comes attached to something that doesn't matter?  What I mean is that, sure, Agent puts something on the stack at random from your deck.  But, Agent itself is just a 2/2.  Vintage decks tend to run creatures that are good on their own merits and then have an upside, not generic creatures that help you get something less generic.  Imagine if Dark Confidant only drew you one card or even two before shutting down.

It does matter you are getting 2 extra power of creature.  Basically your argument as a whole says that trinket mage is not playable.  Also hard casting a spirit guide apparently does nothing for you.  There are also a litany of creatures that are played in vintage whose abilities generally have very little impact on the game state.   And If bob only drew 2 cards he could potentially be better because there would be significantly less risk in his life loss.

[nineisnoone]

But, Vaugh, who cares if I get a tempo boost if it comes attached to something that doesn't matter?  What I mean is that, sure, Agent puts something on the stack at random from your deck.  But, Agent itself is just a 2/2.  Vintage decks tend to run creatures that are good on their own merits and then have an upside, not generic creatures that help you get something less generic.  Imagine if Dark Confidant only drew you one card or even two before shutting down.

It does matter you are getting 2 extra power of creature.  Basically your argument as a whole says that trinket mage is not playable.  Also hard casting a spirit guide apparently does nothing for you.  There are also a litany of creatures that are played in vintage whose abilities generally have very little impact on the game state.   And If bob only drew 2 cards he could potentially be better because there would be significantly less risk in his life loss.

Trinket Mage is playable on the power of what he tutors. Hard casting a spirit guide is not really relevant. Bob draws a card every turn, this may give you a card once.

It basically reads "when this comes into play draw 1 card, gain 0-2 mana." It's not exactly that, but similar. It's not bad, but just adding the power is of questionable worth compared to diluting your deck.

[vaughnbros]

But, Vaugh, who cares if I get a tempo boost if it comes attached to something that doesn't matter?  What I mean is that, sure, Agent puts something on the stack at random from your deck.  But, Agent itself is just a 2/2.  Vintage decks tend to run creatures that are good on their own merits and then have an upside, not generic creatures that help you get something less generic.  Imagine if Dark Confidant only drew you one card or even two before shutting down.

It does matter you are getting 2 extra power of creature.  Basically your argument as a whole says that trinket mage is not playable.  Also hard casting a spirit guide apparently does nothing for you.  There are also a litany of creatures that are played in vintage whose abilities generally have very little impact on the game state.   And If bob only drew 2 cards he could potentially be better because there would be significantly less risk in his life loss.

Trinket Mage is playable on the power of what he tutors. Hard casting a spirit guide is not really relevant. Bob draws a card every turn, this may give you a card once.

It basically reads "when this comes into play draw 1 card, gain 0-2 mana." It's not exactly that, but similar. It's not bad, but just adding the power is of questionable worth compared to diluting your deck.

Yes trinket mage is playable because he tutors, but if his body was completely irrelevant fabricate would see play over him.  Hard casting a spirit guide is relevant in the decks where spirit guides see play I don't really know how to explain it more than I already have if you don't see that its relevant.  I wasn't really comparing this to bob he just brought up that bob wouldn't be played if he only drew two cards, but I think he would.

You are basically right on how it reads, but I would rephrase to "when this comes into play draw a nonland card, up to 2 mana, and gain mana equal to that cards converted mana cost."  I don't really see how this is diluting your deck, it replaces itself immediately and you can only run 4 of each card, meaning if I can only find 52 cards worthy of putting in my UGx deck I can now add 4 gitaxian probe and 4 of these and the deck is complete

[AmbivalentDuck]

I think this definitely competes for that 3 drop card advantage slot, other competitors being Edric and selkie.  The problem is Edric and Selkie are barely being played right now and this card while better at some things is definitely more restrictive to your deck building.

Hey there!  I've been winning weeklies with 4x Edric for almost a month now.  That said, his value decreased starkly when Cavern of Souls found widespread adoption because extra cards in hand that happened to be countermagic ceased being a solid tempo play against other critters decks.  Why pay 3 for a 2/2 when you can pay 2 for a 3/4 or 4/5?

[xouman]

It does not seem a good card to play in Noble fish. It seems better in a all creatures deck, but not a deck with multiple katakis, gaddocks or thalias. As Duck says, tarmo is much better to this creature, although having this cascading into a goyf/ooze is great.

At this moment I can't imagine a good deck that would play this card, but probably someone would try it. Tarmos, oozes, nobles, trygons, phantasmal image (amother free cascading? for 2 or for 3?), jaces, trygons...mix it with red? lighnings can always be thrown into the face

[hvndr3d y34r h3x]

It does not seem a good card to play in Noble fish. It seems better in a all creatures deck, but not a deck with multiple katakis, gaddocks or thalias. As Duck says, tarmo is much better to this creature, although having this cascading into a goyf/ooze is great.

At this moment I can't imagine a good deck that would play this card, but probably someone would try it. Tarmos, oozes, nobles, trygons, phantasmal image (amother free cascading? for 2 or for 3?), jaces, trygons...mix it with red? lighnings can always be thrown into the face

I'm pretty sure it won't cascade.

[serracollector]

I really think it could work well in tandem with other cheap artifact creatures.  Something with 4 ethersworn and 4 revoker to start off.  Add in Thalia and Thorns, and its like MINI-MUD.

[vaughnbros]

I really think it could work well in tandem with other cheap artifact creatures.  Something with 4 ethersworn and 4 revoker to start off.  Add in Thalia and Thorns, and its like MINI-MUD.

With master of etherium as your beat down seems like it could be possible since this deck could probably get the blue count to run force.

[msg67183]

What about an artifact creature Beatdown deck with etherium sculptors to make your creatures cheaper? 4 of this guy, then 4 revoker, 4 lodestone, 4 master of etherium, 4 canonist, 4 legionnare, 4 metamorph, then the broken mana artifacts and possibly artifact lands? Im just throwing out an idea. Thoughts?

[brokenbacon]

This cascading into Thorn or Revoker actually seems really cool, and pretty powerful. Good thoughts!

[serracollector]

Well also remember that this card, Thalia, and Ethersworn are all HUMANS.  Thus you can run 4 caverns.  Then its at least 1 uncounterable creature, and cascade into a 2nd.  Also if you got 4-5 colors, since you can run caverns/city of brass/glimmervoid/ancient ziggurat, you got the new Baleful Strix.  Cascade, Strix, draw another threat etc.  It just seems like a good card altogether for the current Thalia/Ethersworm Human Caverns deck.  I dont FOW has any part of this.  Thorns, Thalia, Revokers, and Ethersworn should do the job.

[MaximumCDawg]

But, Vaugh, who cares if I get a tempo boost if it comes attached to something that doesn't matter?  What I mean is that, sure, Agent puts something on the stack at random from your deck.  But, Agent itself is just a 2/2.  Vintage decks tend to run creatures that are good on their own merits and then have an upside, not generic creatures that help you get something less generic.  Imagine if Dark Confidant only drew you one card or even two before shutting down.

It does matter you are getting 2 extra power of creature.  Basically your argument as a whole says that trinket mage is not playable.  Also hard casting a spirit guide apparently does nothing for you.  There are also a litany of creatures that are played in vintage whose abilities generally have very little impact on the game state.   And If bob only drew 2 cards he could potentially be better because there would be significantly less risk in his life loss.

Trinket Mage is playable on the power of what he tutors. Hard casting a spirit guide is not really relevant. Bob draws a card every turn, this may give you a card once.

It basically reads "when this comes into play draw 1 card, gain 0-2 mana." It's not exactly that, but similar. It's not bad, but just adding the power is of questionable worth compared to diluting your deck.

Yes trinket mage is playable because he tutors, but if his body was completely irrelevant fabricate would see play over him.  Hard casting a spirit guide is relevant in the decks where spirit guides see play I don't really know how to explain it more than I already have if you don't see that its relevant.  I wasn't really comparing this to bob he just brought up that bob wouldn't be played if he only drew two cards, but I think he would.

You are basically right on how it reads, but I would rephrase to "when this comes into play draw a nonland card, up to 2 mana, and gain mana equal to that cards converted mana cost."  I don't really see how this is diluting your deck, it replaces itself immediately and you can only run 4 of each card, meaning if I can only find 52 cards worthy of putting in my UGx deck I can now add 4 gitaxian probe and 4 of these and the deck is complete

It dilutes your deck because it's pretty expensive as fish creatures go.

Like was said earlier, Trinket Mage is good because it tutors up whatever you happen to need at the time.  This creature randomly casts another <=2cc card in your deck.  Without him, you would just have drawn another random card in your deck and cast that instead.  I still think you're all thinking about this guy in reverse.  Don't focus on what he's cascading into - because its random. Instead, focus on the fact that when you cast him you get Random Card in Your Deck + a vanilla 2/2.  How good is that?

[Commandant]

For the cost I'd rather have Trygon. Agent is a literal Grey Ogre with variance attached.

[brianpk80]

It's solid.  As far as creatures go, generally speaking there are the disruption creatures, engine creatures, and aggro.  Some serve cross-purposes, like Ooze, Jotun Grunt, and Noble Hierarch.  For disruption, there are many to choose from, w. Thalia and Ethersworn being a cut above the rest.  Obviously, Tarmogoyf is an example of pure aggro.  Shardless Agent would be in the engine category, meaning fair comparisons would be to Dark Confidant, Edric, Ninja, Selkie, Tandem Outlook, etc.  

Deciding which ones are "better" than the others can't be conducted in a vacuum, since they all shine or fail based on context.  The Trinket Mage comparisons here, with all respect, are puzzling because they're serving different purposes.  It's like comparing Land Tax to Crop Rotation.  What the Agent cascades into is no less random than what a Dark Confidant reveals.  

Dark Confidant is the best draw creature in general, but there are reasons to use alternatives.  If you're not playing the kind of deck where he draws into Voltaic Keys and Vampiric Tutors, this is a low point for him.  

1. All of the opposing creatures being played + Phyrexian mana means the life loss is more relevant.
2. Cavern builds occasionally have color access problems so blowing a fetch on a Bayou/Underground could be bad.
3. Fire/Ice, etc.  People are over-prepared to deal with Bob.  I can't rely on him anymore because he dies young.  
4. I'm finding creature decks are better when the first few turns are used casting disruption, instead of draw-creatures.  Turn 1 Thalia, Ethersworn, Revoker, Welder, or Wasteland on the draw has a more direct impact on the opponent's early plays.      

So it's fine if the draw creature is in the 3-CC slot since drawing is best after exhausting disruption.

That puts the Agent in the same category as Tandem, Edric, Selkie, Heartwood Storyteller, Ohran Viper, Shadowmage, Scroll Thief, Dimir Cutthroat, Augury Adept, and still more of the draw-critters people have forgotten.  

They're all roughly the same power-level and the question of which to use depends on the make-up of the build.  The best home for Shardless Agent would be one heavy on permanents, with minimal counter-Magic, and inherent tactics to enable reuse, like Ninjutsu, Bouncer, Esperzoa, Jace, or the Cavern-resetters.  Fully powered, nearly mono-blue w. a light g/w splash artifact aggro, w. either Master of Etherium or Grand Architect as lord.  4 Cursecatchers if it's the Architect.  

But back to the main point, the Shardless Agent is not a Hill Giant.  Games last an average 3-5 turns, so having the immediate effect is critical.  There's an inconsistency between exalting a creature that says, "Wait a whole turn.  Reveal a card.  Put it into hand.  Lose life.  This may die before you get to see any cards." while disparaging one that says "Reveal cards.  Exile the superfluous land.  Play the nonland revealed card for free, right now."  

[vaughnbros]

MaximumCDawg, Cascade is another way a Misthollow Griffin can get into exile.  I remember you were into that card when it first came out.  On a side note, there are a lot of strange ways that thing generates CA.  Chump blocking and exiling it from your own graveyard w. Ooze for infinite recursion, etc.

But back to the main point, the Shardless Agent is not a Hill Giant.  Maybe Vintage players are unfamiliar with Cascade and tempo.  Games last an average 3-5 turns.  There's an inconsistency between exalting a creature that says, "Wait a whole turn.  Reveal a card.  Put it into hand.  Lose life.  This may die before you get to see any cards." while disparaging one that says "Reveal cards.  Exile the superfluous land.  Play the nonland revealed card for free, right now."   

It should be noted that cascade doesn't exile permanently it puts the cards on the bottom of your library so it doesn't work with Misthollow Griffin.

[The Atog Lord]

This cybernetic lady is already seeing Legacy play. And not in a fair way -- she allows Cascade decks to consist of fewer colors, thereby having a more consistent manabase and making better use of ESG and SSG. Check out Todd Anderson's list from the SCG Legacy top eight yesterday.

[brianpk80]

Was thinking out loud.  Fixed, thanks.  Feel free to remove post. 

[DubDub]

But, Vaugh, who cares if I get a tempo boost if it comes attached to something that doesn't matter?  What I mean is that, sure, Agent puts something on the stack at random from your deck.  But, Agent itself is just a 2/2.  Vintage decks tend to run creatures that are good on their own merits and then have an upside, not generic creatures that help you get something less generic.  Imagine if Dark Confidant only drew you one card or even two before shutting down.

It does matter you are getting 2 extra power of creature.  Basically your argument as a whole says that trinket mage is not playable.  Also hard casting a spirit guide apparently does nothing for you.  There are also a litany of creatures that are played in vintage whose abilities generally have very little impact on the game state.   And If bob only drew 2 cards he could potentially be better because there would be significantly less risk in his life loss.

Trinket Mage is playable on the power of what he tutors. Hard casting a spirit guide is not really relevant. Bob draws a card every turn, this may give you a card once.

It basically reads "when this comes into play draw 1 card, gain 0-2 mana." It's not exactly that, but similar. It's not bad, but just adding the power is of questionable worth compared to diluting your deck.

Yes trinket mage is playable because he tutors, but if his body was completely irrelevant fabricate would see play over him.  Hard casting a spirit guide is relevant in the decks where spirit guides see play I don't really know how to explain it more than I already have if you don't see that its relevant.  I wasn't really comparing this to bob he just brought up that bob wouldn't be played if he only drew two cards, but I think he would.

You are basically right on how it reads, but I would rephrase to "when this comes into play draw a nonland card, up to 2 mana, and gain mana equal to that cards converted mana cost."  I don't really see how this is diluting your deck, it replaces itself immediately and you can only run 4 of each card, meaning if I can only find 52 cards worthy of putting in my UGx deck I can now add 4 gitaxian probe and 4 of these and the deck is complete

It dilutes your deck because it's pretty expensive as fish creatures go.

Like was said earlier, Trinket Mage is good because it tutors up whatever you happen to need at the time.  This creature randomly casts another <=2cc card in your deck.  Without him, you would just have drawn another random card in your deck and cast that instead.  I still think you're all thinking about this guy in reverse.  Don't focus on what he's cascading into - because its random. Instead, focus on the fact that when you cast him you get Random Card in Your Deck + a vanilla 2/2.  How good is that?

It's good.  The solution is: make the 'random' card with CMC <= 2 one that you CAN'T JUST CAST, i.e. Ancestral Visions.

You can't just cast Ancestral Visions for 0 mana.  But this card can.

So you need to reduce variance to take advantage of an unintended interaction between Cascade and Suspend?  Jaces + 1 Brainstorm.  Bonus!  Jace can rebounce the Agent so you can cascade again.

[ed0]

4. I'm finding creature decks are better when the first few turns are used casting disruption, instead of draw-creatures.  Turn 1 Thalia, Ethersworn, Revoker, Welder, or Wasteland on the draw has a more direct impact on the opponent's early plays.      

So it's fine if the draw creature is in the 3-CC slot since drawing is best after exhausting disruption.

That puts the Agent in the same category as Tandem, Edric, Selkie, Heartwood Storyteller, Ohran Viper, Shadowmage, Scroll Thief, Dimir Cutthroat, Augury Adept, and still more of the draw-critters people have forgotten.

I agree on the general assessment, but this is the exact reason why Shardless Agent does not make the cut in a fish style deck in my opinion.
After you have established some disruption and a manabase in the first few turns your focus shifts more towards blocking specific outs the opponent might have at the current board position. That means that your choice towards new disruptive pieces becomes more selective - so the 3 drop should enable you to generate a selection of new disruptive pieces to either plug holes or replace losses.

In Shardless Agent case, with the card you cascade into either being an unwanted piece of disruption (a second Thalia - which you couldn't even cast - or second Ethersworn) or no disruption at all (Hierarch, Goyf, Lord, ...) there is a good chance you don't advance the board state by a margin you would expect from a 3 drop.

In comparison a resolved Edric puts a lot more pressure on the opponent to react to it. not only will he generate 1-2 cards this turn, but more every turn starting from there - in addition to protecting your other disruptive bears somewhat (as the opponent has has to split his removal).
Edric is a threat that needs to be addressed or you are buried with card advantage.

That is not to say that Shardless Agent is not a very strong card if your decks goal is to exploit the cascade mechanic.

[nineisnoone]

But, Vaugh, who cares if I get a tempo boost if it comes attached to something that doesn't matter?  What I mean is that, sure, Agent puts something on the stack at random from your deck.  But, Agent itself is just a 2/2.  Vintage decks tend to run creatures that are good on their own merits and then have an upside, not generic creatures that help you get something less generic.  Imagine if Dark Confidant only drew you one card or even two before shutting down.

It does matter you are getting 2 extra power of creature.  Basically your argument as a whole says that trinket mage is not playable.  Also hard casting a spirit guide apparently does nothing for you.  There are also a litany of creatures that are played in vintage whose abilities generally have very little impact on the game state.   And If bob only drew 2 cards he could potentially be better because there would be significantly less risk in his life loss.

Trinket Mage is playable on the power of what he tutors. Hard casting a spirit guide is not really relevant. Bob draws a card every turn, this may give you a card once.

It basically reads "when this comes into play draw 1 card, gain 0-2 mana." It's not exactly that, but similar. It's not bad, but just adding the power is of questionable worth compared to diluting your deck.

Yes trinket mage is playable because he tutors, but if his body was completely irrelevant fabricate would see play over him.  Hard casting a spirit guide is relevant in the decks where spirit guides see play I don't really know how to explain it more than I already have if you don't see that its relevant.  I wasn't really comparing this to bob he just brought up that bob wouldn't be played if he only drew two cards, but I think he would.

You are basically right on how it reads, but I would rephrase to "when this comes into play draw a nonland card, up to 2 mana, and gain mana equal to that cards converted mana cost."  I don't really see how this is diluting your deck, it replaces itself immediately and you can only run 4 of each card, meaning if I can only find 52 cards worthy of putting in my UGx deck I can now add 4 gitaxian probe and 4 of these and the deck is complete

The rewording is just semantic, the point was to evaluate the card in it's theory form (resource consumption/generation).

Are we discussing the merits of hard casting Simian Spirit guide? No. My point is that the example has nothing to do with evaluating this card. Hard casting Grey Ogre is relevant in a deck where Grey Ogre sees play, but that has nothing to do with evaluating this card either.

It dilutes itself because 1 mana for 2/2 isn't awe-inspiring, and I haven't seen (though I haven't been intensely looking) people playing Ape/the-green-one/Nacatal/Lions/Pups in any sort of mid-range fish deck. They usually are much more aggro oriented, where the 1 cost is crucial for timing.

The benefits it gives you are overall not dramatic or well defined (+2 power is more of a situational benefit and somewhat hard to assess, whereas a hate-bear impacts the game at a clear strategic level), and my issue with fish decks recently is not that they don't have enough good cards. The opposite really.

Can you make it work? I'm sure you can make it work well enough. I just don't really see the point.

[brianpk80]

I agree on the general assessment, but this is the exact reason why Shardless Agent does not make the cut in a fish style deck in my opinion.
After you have established some disruption and a manabase in the first few turns your focus shifts more towards blocking specific outs the opponent might have at the current board position. That means that your choice towards new disruptive pieces becomes more selective - so the 3 drop should enable you to generate a selection of new disruptive pieces to either plug holes or replace losses.

In Shardless Agent case, with the card you cascade into either being an unwanted piece of disruption (a second Thalia - which you couldn't even cast - or second Ethersworn) or no disruption at all (Hierarch, Goyf, Lord, ...) there is a good chance you don't advance the board state by a margin you would expect from a 3 drop.

In comparison a resolved Edric puts a lot more pressure on the opponent to react to it. not only will he generate 1-2 cards this turn, but more every turn starting from there - in addition to protecting your other disruptive bears somewhat (as the opponent has has to split his removal).
Edric is a threat that needs to be addressed or you are buried with card advantage.

That is not to say that Shardless Agent is not a very strong card if your decks goal is to exploit the cascade mechanic.

It can't be said whether Edric is better or worse.  If your list is calibrated in a way that he has support as an advantage engine, then obviously, he's the best fit.  There are so many different ways to build a "creature" deck these days, whether it's "Fish" with its myriad different permutations or some new brew.  I'm saying that each of the drawers under Dark Confidant are of a comparable power level.  None of them are broken but all of them are solid. 

Edric, Tandem, and Ninja are not good in creature standstills which are more common these days.  Edric's army won't draw anything if he's Bolted, Bounced, Swordsed, Pathed, Lavamancered, etc. before combat damage.  He's vulnerable to Karakas and poor in multiples.  His strength negates the Exalted bonuses.  If you don't have a creature on the table when he comes into play, there is no immediate draw, so you have to wait a whole turn (probably the critical turn 3) to get anything other than a Hill Giant.  I'm not saying he's bad.  His strengths are obvious if the build supports him.  High creature count, fliers (Delver?) or Factories to make sure there's a heavy creature presence to connect.

What I'm saying is that as a whole, an Edric support package + Edric isn't going to be objectively better or worse than a Stoneforge Mystic package + SfM and ditto for Selkie, Ninja, Heartwood, Knight of the Reliquary, or Shard Agent.  As long as you know your deck and build it to capitalize on the unique strengths, find ways to offset the weakness, and make sure you have a plan for early Tinkers, Vaults, Oaths, & Golems, it can be designed with comparable overall quality for any of the engine creatures.  That's not a very contentious point, which your last comment acknowledged. 

In Shardless Agent case, with the card you cascade into either being an unwanted piece of disruption (a second Thalia - which you couldn't even cast - or second Ethersworn) or no disruption at all (Hierarch, Goyf, Lord, ...) there is a good chance you don't advance the board state by a margin you would expect from a 3 drop.

That's why the best way to approach these new cards is to start from scratch, not just crib swap them with existing cards in an existing shell.  Thalia is the best creature right now, but that doesn't mean running four of them automatically makes the best deck.  There's a difference between -having the best deck- and -having the best cards-.  Is Golgari-Grave Troll a great card?  No.  In fact, it's horrible.  It's only the perverse context created by the Dredge shell that makes it so intense.  When Ravnica came out, no one would ever think an over-costed creature with a "cute" ability would be under DCI scrutiny years later.  Demonic Tutor is a better card than Qasali Pridemage, but that doesn't mean it should replace Pridemage in Noble Fish.  I think you know what I'm saying.     

So to start a design w. the Shard Agent, I think, "what would I want to Cascade into play?"  Phyrexian Revokers, Ethersworn Canonists, Meddling Mage, Azorius Guildmage.  What kind of 1 drop are we looking at here?  Cursecatcher, because build will be light on Thalia.  What should take the aggro slot?  Grand Architect.  Why?  Because right now it's more advantageous to buff the hatebears outside of Fire/Ice, Triskelion, Lavamancer, Massacre/Pyroclasm range than to have a Tarmogoyf unsupported by running requisite instants and sorceries to fill the graveyard.  I'd go with Architect over Etherium since the bonus goes to the non-artifact creatures as well and can be extended to the non-blue artifact creatures.  What kind of cards can abuse the Shard Agent while still being good on their own?  Bouncer, Esperzoa, Ninja/Sakashima/Shinobi, perhaps.  Post-board that Vedalken "return creature to hand" thing might be a good sideboard choice for spot removal.  Definite Porcelain L's in the sb.  Then wonder, is there a Tinker plan?  Yes.  Is there a Time Vault plan?  Yes.  Does it auto-scoop to Golem & Thorn?  Not really, due to artifact creatures & acceleration. 

So I tested a list a little bit and I was happy with the Shard Agent.  I had turn-three kill from T1 Esperzoa followed by a T2 Architect into another Esperzoa.  Opponent's Vampiric Tutoring and Dark Confidant were responsible for 4-5 life loss.  On turn two, he could have Tinkered into Blightsteel and still lost the game the next turn.  I have never experienced that while piloting a "Fish" deck. 

It's slightly more beatdown than control compared to lists I usually run.  I'll play a few more games, learn about what works and what could be improved, and post a list sometime soon.  The goal is to have something solid, not something "fantastic, brilliant, and earthshattering," which is best left to combo players. 

[brianpk80]

Can you make it work? I'm sure you can make it work well enough. I just don't really see the point.

The point is that despite years of increasingly degenerate Vintage, sometimes people still appreciate the underlying game itself and seeing how the power-creeped new cards interact with everything. 

[brokenbacon]

This cybernetic lady is already seeing Legacy play. And not in a fair way -- she allows Cascade decks to consist of fewer colors, thereby having a more consistent manabase and making better use of ESG and SSG. Check out Todd Anderson's list from the SCG Legacy top eight yesterday.

Yeah, just saw that list. That shit is absolutely bananas.