Human Ingenuity

[Guli]

Well, when we look back, I am the one that pushed the Jund colors forward and right now, it is a 4 color deck indeed. I don't run blue anymore but I suggest that Brian gives Zur a try then. From past experiences, I know Zur is an amazing card capable of winning a match up on itself. Getting Rest in Peace against BUG is a big deal, or Stony against blue decks with full power, making your Thalia a monster by cutting of artifact mana and Time Vault win condition.

The deal with Zur was IIRC, when you get to untap with it, you usually won the game. I don't know if that would still go for the current meta, it has been a while when I tested it.

What are your thoughts on beating Workshop with the black Oath? Kinda like how green Oath players want to beat Workshop right?

/

This is the plan Stephen (and others) introduced right?

Well green Oath doesn't use Noble and Deathrite Shaman to help acelerate (we also run moxes so that is even). So how do you like this plan against Workshop?

/

It makes me feel comfortable against Workshop, this is a very serious and extremely dangerous plan now right? And Ingot helps cast the Oath, and Oath gets back Ingot. Pretty powerful tech if you ask me. EhEhEH

Another role the black Oath plays is to nulify cards like this:


I mean, it really isn't that hard to justify or see benefits of Oath of Ghouls in the current metagame.

The only thing that the list I posted above doesn't have, is a good match up against decks that don't see a lot play anymore, like really fast combo with a lot of rituals and getting a high storm count that don't use or rely on Oath of Druids. Like TPS or ANT. There is just 1 Canonist, and it doesn't really satisfy me but well, the meta is full of grindy decks, and those 4 Thalia do a lot of Work.

[brianpk80]

Zur and Oath of Ghouls are both fine cards that work in this archetype.  Oath of Ghouls was used 6-7 years ago in Vial Fish for the same reasons Guli cites as being relevant today: eschewing counterspells + removal and recycling utility creatures.  Back then, these included Children of Korlis (cause Storm was rampant) and Voidmage Prodigy and now the palette has expanded to include Qasali Pridemage and Ingot Chewer, Cavern replaces Vial, and Deathrite Shaman exists to ensure asymmetry (back then it was Jotun Grunt).  It additionally had a fun synergy with Waterfront Bouncer because you could discard a creature and have it return from graveyard on upkeep--this could be easily replicated with modern creatures like Devout Witness.

I recommend Vampiric and/or Demonic Tutor in that Oath list because many of the creatures are silver bullets w. Oath online and the tutors help compensate for the lack of blue.  Spore Frog/Kami of False Hope are also extremely powerful when recurred and are backbreaking against Dredge. 

[vaughnbros]

While I definitely see merit for oath of ghouls, it almost seems as though the human core and it are two entirely different entities.  The human deck wants to disrupt your opponent while beating them in, while the oath package wants accrue incremental advantage over time.  I can't help, but think that the oath would be much more powerful in a fish deck of its own without the aggro cards like mayor/exava/huntmaster.

Spore Frog/Kami of False Hope are also extremely powerful when recurred and are backbreaking against Dredge. 

If they aren't playing laboratory maniac, and you can keep them off darkblast.

[Guli]

Thanks for your comments Brian.

I think there are two engines that can respond to the metagame from the Cavern decks perspective. You are running one of them, Jace, and I am running the other, Oath of Ghouls. Both these cards are about hitting the opponent from an angle they can not really respond to once these permanents are in play. What they offer is additional resources to come on top in the attrition battle. In a vacuum, Jace is the superiour choice, it does not need any other cards to act as removal or as a card draw engine. But there is also context and a practical side. In a Cavern deck, I will always have utility creatures around to activate Oath. Activate not in the literal sense, because it is a triggered effect, but to get a returned value of the investment you make.

Jace doesn't bring back creatures from the grave, it just finds more off the top of the deck. I think the Jace route is stronger overall. But the Oath route is way more interesting and the power level of Oath, considering the context, is not that much worse compared to Jace. Also, money wise, Jace is very expensive, while the Oath is very cheap.

I also want to note that Oath is a very nasty card, it looks so innocent, until it starts bringing back all the Dark Confidant, Thalia or whatever that was removed, killed, countered. It looks slow, until it isn't. Workshop simply loses all initiative, and can not really interact with the card either. It needs to bring in graveyard hate to deal with it, but the problem with that is, that Human Caverns is not Dredge!

Most importantly, the synergy between Oath of Ghouls and Deathrite Shaman is superb and can not be underestimated.

[Guli]

While I definitely see merit for oath of ghouls, it almost seems as though the human core and it are two entirely different entities.  The human deck wants to disrupt your opponent while beating them in, while the oath package wants accrue incremental advantage over time.  I can't help, but think that the oath would be much more powerful in a fish deck of its own without the aggro cards like mayor/exava/huntmaster.

Spore Frog/Kami of False Hope are also extremely powerful when recurred and are backbreaking against Dredge. 

If they aren't playing laboratory maniac, and you can keep them off darkblast.

The Human core offers powerful abilities but they are all very fragile and people are prepared to deal with them. It is the skeleton crew, you need them to operate, but the ship needs additional tools to come on top. The plan with Oath (or Jace) is to actually play into their plan of getting rid of your initial creatures. As long as they aren't winning, but instead are busy trying to remove your stuff, you are happy. Then Oath kicks in when they are in 'rebuild' mode, and while they rebuild, Oath just replenishes all the early threats. They can not really do a second wave of removal at that point.

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

Want to point out oath of ghouls kind of nullifies engineered explosives but not really. Most ee's played against a humans deck will be at 2 clearing the oath with the humans. That being said the humans player can play around/through this to a certain extent...

[Guli]

Want to point out oath of ghouls kind of nullifies engineered explosives but not really. Most ee's played against a humans deck will be at 2 clearing the oath with the humans. That being said the humans player can play around/through this to a certain extent...

Sounds like a intense match up, sign me up!

Another card that does a lot damage is Balance. Oath is also capable of restoring your board presence after that.

[serracollector]

Zur finds oath.  Just wanted to point that out.

[Guli]

Zur finds oath.  Just wanted to point that out.

So do you think 2 Zur and a toolbox with 1 Oath of Ghouls would be better than running 2-3 Oath of Ghouls?


For reference I made some updates.

1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
3 City of Brass
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Badlands
1 Scrubland
1 Savannah
1 Taiga
1 Bayou
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine

3 Noble Hierarch
3 Mayor of Avabruck
1 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
1 Eternal Witness
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Dark Confidant

2 Oath of Ghouls
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Stingscourger
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Ingot Chewer

1 Abrupt Decay
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Life from the Loam
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Mental Misstep

SB: 2 Rest in Peace
SB: 2 Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 Ingot Chewer
SB: 1 Abrupt Decay
SB: 2 Wispmare
SB: 1 Mental Misstep
SB: 1 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Oath of Ghouls
SB: 1 Wasteland

Some of the changes explained

Added the Mox Sapphire for two reasons. This deck loves two mana on turn two because of Cavern and doesn't really want to run Null Rod to solve its problems. It rather wants to build up a curve, increase the pressure. The second reason is due to another change, Ancestral Recall (more blue mana). The deck just wants more power overall.

Added a Sensei's Divining Top. The card increases your hand size and I have played a lot against this card to see how good it actually can be. I added Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor for more shuffle effect and to find some singleton bombs in certain match ups (see Ingot versus Workshop, Pridemage versus Oath). I moved one Oath of Ghouls to the sideboard. I like to switch two Oath of Ghouls for two Rest in Peace when graveyard hate is needed. With more maindeck graveyard control, I don't think the dredge match up will suffer. This deck can 2-0 dredge consistently.

The third Oath of Ghouls can be important against decks that think they can just play the denial/removal/jace/grind grind grind game. I think two maindeck is enough, and when you want it badly in a specific match up, just bring in the third. I have similar thoughts on Abrupt Decay. You can bring in a second in aggro match ups and when playing Oath of Druids. Also only a single Swords to Plowshares. I do this because of the presence of the tutors, following Brian's path here. In total there is not that much removal main deck, with 1 Decay, 1 Plows and 1 Sting. But there is a solid anti- workshop plan in game 2 and game 3, so I am not that worried.

And lastly, Stinger is a great card to have around, but it gets outclassed in every update. I still value the 1 copy in the deck a lot, as a tutor target and great synergy with Oath of Ghouls, running less than one is surely a mistake. But I just could not find room for more, unless I cut some Deathrite Shaman. But with Sensei, Recall, Tutors it seemed to me I will probably not want 3 Stings in the deck. And running 1 or 2 does not seem to make a world of difference either. So I went for one slot. I could be wrong here and eventually still want more Sting. Or just run 61 cards? Another argument is that I can reuse it with Oath so I really don't want to draw multiples to have the bounce effect. And frankly, as stated before, I think we can expect some good prints in the near future. So I am starting to slowly change the deck in advance, I think it is time we get a nice 2 cc human that answers Tinker, Oath creatures, Show and Tell creatures etc.

Added two Wispmare (SB), it works well with Ghouls, good tech against Oath of Druids. It protects your Ghoul against RIP and Void. 1/3 Flyer can also be interesting against some aggro decks (who probably will bring in RIP anyway). I cut a cage for this, but also added a Tormod's Crypt. Against decks were you want grave hate but don't want to side out Ghouls, it is good to have.

Changed extirpate for a Loam. Loam could fill your grave with creatures, and get a waste lock or just give you a mana fix. I also found myself siding in a lot REB's, and I wanted to add more maindeck threats against blue. So now 1 REB and 1 Misstep main deck. After siding, you get to have 2 REB and 2 Misstep, which is strong against blue.

[Varal]

For reference I made some updates.

1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
3 City of Brass
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Badlands
1 Scrubland
1 Savannah
1 Taiga
1 Bayou
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine

3 Noble Hierarch
3 Mayor of Avabruck
1 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
1 Eternal Witness
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Dark Confidant

2 Oath of Ghouls
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Stingscourger
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Ingot Chewer

1 Abrupt Decay
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Life from the Loam
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Mental Misstep

SB: 2 Rest in Peace
SB: 2 Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 Ingot Chewer
SB: 1 Abrupt Decay
SB: 2 Wispmare
SB: 1 Mental Misstep
SB: 1 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Oath of Ghouls
SB: 1 Wasteland

I played many games against humans playing Terranova MUD and Black Lotus was a card that often let my opponent breaks out of a soft lock. Is there any reasons why it's not on your list? It seems like the speed it gives more than compensate for its non-repeatability.

[Guli]

About Black Lotus, in short, the card is one of the best cards in the game, if you own one, use it. But I can safely say that this deck does not need Black Lotus to win a game, but it would benefit from the card obviously. I don't own a Black Lotus, this is the primary reason I don't include it in the list.

I changed the list for your information. I loved that someone took my idea's and actually went to an event and top 6 with the deck. So I decided to return the favor and change my list with some of Steven Stiermans deck choices. That being said, I would love to read a tournament report of Steven himself, maybe some of these cards didn't work out the way he intended, and we should know about that.

1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
3 City of Brass
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Badlands
1 Scrubland
1 Savannah
1 Taiga
1 Bayou
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine

2 Noble Hierarch
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Dark Confidant
1 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
1 Imperial Recruiter
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Mayor of Avabruck
1 Eternal Witness

1 Oath of Ghouls
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Ingot Chewer
1 Stingscourger

1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Life from the Loam
1 Time Walk
1 Stony Silence
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Revoke Existence
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Darkblast
1 Red Elemental Blast

SB: 3 Ingot Chewer
SB: 1 Oath of Ghouls
SB: 1 Wasteland
SB: 1 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Mental Misstep
SB: 2 Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 2 Rest in Peace
SB: 1 Abrupt Decay
SB: 1 Scavenging Ooze
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt

[StanleyAugust]

Guli, how has Orzhov Pontiff been for you? I haven't tried it myself, but it seems weak on paper. On another note, I really like the innovation of Oath og Ghouls. It seems very good in combination with Ingot Chewer and Stingscourger.

[Guli]

I have yet to see but it does seem good on paper against Pyromancer builds and creatures in general. I find Goblin Sharpshooter also interesting to do what Pontif does and it is reusable. I will first try out Pontif and then move to Sharpshooter and maybe Izzet Staticaster can get a chance too.

Well Oath is more a response than an innovation. The innovation part has been done years before by Brian Kelly. Right after he innovated I also started designing these Oath decks. Many years have past and now the meta is interesting for Oath to be tried.


Honestly, the more I play with Humans the more I find Exava to be the key card to be the follow up on whatever early pressure you have been doing. It is fine to have an Oath in the deck, with some interactions like Deathrite Shaman and Ooze. The Ingot plan versus Oath is strong because it can be done repeatedly if you can set it up. However, the thing with Exava is, it has nearly a hexproof ability. Not a complete one, but I believe it can be stated that the card has at least semi-hexproof. The decks that run white for Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile and Balance are the only ones that can deal with Exava in a beneficial way. And even then it would be a trade. So I am now trying only 1 copy of Exava because I want to keep pushing this Oath idea with a lot of broken spells and tutoring. It gives you a lot of control and manipulation of your deck while putting up a lot pressure and turning value into value. It plays a lot like landstill, these Oath versions of Humans.

So I would like to think about ways to use multiple copies of Exava main deck. Not just throw her in there, but really re-design so you can get her in fast as a follow up to Thalia for example. I don't know if this aggressive idea would work in the current shells, I guess it will not. The plan should be so, that when you tap Cavern and three other mana sources for the Queen, the opponent should sigh really hard and feel overloaded. They should get this feeling of 'Man I just dealth with all those little threats like Dark Confidant, Deathrite Shaman, Thalia! Were did this come from?' Exava is a fast clock so they would have to either go for a complete combo route, or use their remaining resources (if they have any left) to dig for answers to deal with Exava. We want them to dedicate the time and resources to Exava. This way they are 'not winning' and we will topdeck more and more threats.

Thalia is perfect in supporting this strategy. They eventually have to get rid of her and that will require a Lighting Bolt or a Swords to Plowshares. A Dark Confidant can not be left unchecked either unless they on Oath or Doomsday or some of the old and explosive combo lists like TPS/ANT/Belcher. When you play a deck like BUG for example, Exava will be really strong, the match up is relatively slow, they can't really deal with Exava efficiently, were Thalia is not super great, Exava will shine. But against more mid-range decks, both will be just good and will draw the attention of the opponent one way or the other.

I wrote these explanations because I think Mayor as a three or four off in Humans might not be that great in the currect metagame with RUG Delver Gush, Affinity, Doomsday, Lots of Jaces and Snapcasters, and so on. Another thing I want to note on Mayor, a card that I truly innovated with, is that when I first starting using it in the original Human lists, the list had Ghost Quarters and Elvish Spirit Guides. There was a 'Workshop plan' that did not involve Ingot. In fact, mayor and mass strip effects with acceleration from Noble and Elvish Spirit Guide WAS the Workshop plan. The deck could simply ignore a Lodestone Golem and aggressively waste the Workshop and then the Tomb and so on. The plan was to power in a Mayor and flip it, control the Golem with Wolves, and then just beat them quickly before they topdeck more Workshops. A lot changed:
- Humans looks nothing a like the original lists
- Workshop decks seem to be running more lands? You can't really put pressure on them with 5 strip + 3 Quarters
- Even if you do, you will need Elvish Spirit Guides to sneak in an answer for whatever they got through.
- I see main deck Triskeleon, sideboard Arrows, Staff of Nins MD, .... Workshop decks seem to have adapted to the metagame.

Humans does not equal Mayor, but Mayor had a big role in the development of the deck. Can Mayor be dropped? I think it can and right now, it probably should. I am keeping one copy in the deck as a Recruiter target for times when you could tutor it up and go lethal on them. The truth is, mayor needs a deck with more mana denial and more oppresive strategies. Humans slowly developped into a powerhouse with broken spells, tutoring, while keeping Thalia around to keep combo in check. But with 4 Thalia and 3 Waste,1 Strip, and maybe 1 Rod effect MD (to tutor for when you need it) you aren't really putting that much stress on the opponents mana base  

All this together, Exava could be the card you need right now, it doesn't die to Bolt like Mayor does. With her big body, and not easy to get rid of aspect, Exava seems like a good four casting cost investment in the card pool of humans. Huntmaster is right up there too. But Huntmaster can be destroyed more easily, bolted when unflipped, decayed when flipped. This brings me to the next argument, Explosives works on both Ravager (flipped Huntmaster) and both Mayor and Howlpack (flipped Mayor), while Exava can not be dealt with Explosives with the exception of rare cases.

Would it be so terrible to run two Exava main deck? And maybe even push it to three with support of cards like Sensei's Divining Top? I really wonder this, because it has not been done by any of us yet, and I keep coming back to these conclusions I wrote above. So what should be in between cards like Thalia (best two drop hatebear) and Exava? Some are already in the deck, Dark Confidant, Noble Hierarch and Deathrite Shaman for example. Also don't forget Recruiter and Eternal offering value and broken routes (multiple recall or time walk thanks to regrowth effect, getting gorilla shaman and cleaning the mox mana base, ...) Should the game plan with Exava three times in main deck still be Oath of Ghouls? I would rather say no to that, because I rather would like to stop their development rather than try to regrowth my bears. If anything, I would run more Eternal Witness instead of Oath and use more Missteps.

4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
4 Dark Confidant
4 Deathrite Shaman
3 Noble Hierarch
2 Eternal Witness
1 Imperial Recruiter
4 Mental Misstep
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk

1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
3 City of Brass
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Badlands
1 Scrubland
1 Savannah
1 Taiga
1 Bayou
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine

This would be my rough starting point.



So those remaining cards and 15 sideboard will be the cards what I call in between. These are still a lot of slots to have a big impact on how the deck will function. But the human core changed. It no longer has Mayor and Deathrite Shaman is part of the club for me. It just feels right in a five color Human deck with Wasteland plan and bombs like Exava.

How you fill out the slots and 15 sideboard slots is entirely up to your expectations of the meta. There is no good Workshop plan in the 48 cards, so you will have to decide to dedicate the sideboard to mainly beating Workshop, or you want a more balanced deck with decent game 1 and good game 2 and game 3. Or you could choose to dedicate those 12 slots to beat Workshop and maybe splash damage blue in the process, and devote the sideboard into dredge and oath. Finding the right configuration is meta dependent and what the pilot feels most comfortable with.


If you think these assessments are wrong, please do share your thoughts on why you think they are wrong. Let's start some discussion again, just before Theros.

[MrGlantz]

I think humans is just going in so many different ways that its difficult to really see how any of them are similar. I've been playing around with the Braids and Xathrid Necromancer list which is at the very least absurdly fun, Brian has been doing things with Jace, and Guli is always tinkering with different versions. It's hard for a lot of us to come to a consensus on whats optimal when we're all essentially playing completely different decks.

Anyway the new spoiled legend from Theros seems absurd. Gives strong value and should always be able to get in there for beats.

[Guli]

I didn't take a very optimistic stand on this new Human. But it does probably need to be tested. Seems like a 1 off in some human builds were you don't want Edric, Thada or Geist because of their non human type. This has the upside of being Human so yea, It can be run. It isn't a one time enter the board effect. Human decks do like repeatable abilities that generate value.

You can recruit the card with Imperial, but that play seems so slow to me early game. You usually recruit for answers and etb effects.

I do am of the opinion that this cards has just enough things going, that it could have an impact. But it would require a good pilot and well oiled deck to make it work smoothly.


I also want to take a note:

The legendary humans are increasing in numbers, at some point the next tactic will be a very viable way to defend and attack:

Declare blocker, Tap Karakas, Bounce. Result: no lifegain or other abilities work (batterskull, jitte, wurmcoil, first strikers, etc..)
Attack with a lot creatures; if they block a legend, save it.

Karakas will become increasangly better in Humans. Karakas plays a very important role in the Griselbrand match up. Thalia + Stony can negate the drawn cards, and Karakas clears the way.

I think I would first try/run Anax and Cymede (or maybe run Anax and Dax alongside just to have all these interesting effects) because it is a card that you can use in aggro matchups to control the board. Thalia is a card that likes First strike buddies. Now with Exava there is a curve of first strikers. Turn 1 Thalia, turn 2 Anax, turn 3 Exava. That is 13 damage on turn 3 in total. Just hypothetical situations of course. But something to think about. I don't see any aggro deck beating these three on the ground face to face.




And I have another review for you guys: Phalanx Leader


The casting cost is what prevents me from saying this card is broken. It is another repeatable strong effect. I am using Darkblast main deck these days because of the next reasons:

- Dredging gets more creatures in grave, this is good with Oath of Ghouls
- There is a combo with Eternal, Time Walk and Oath of Ghouls that ends the game (you keep dredging Darkblast and Oath Eternal to regrowth Time Walk, and use Darkblast to get Eternal back into grave to replay it)
- There are several combo's with Eternal, Mangara and Imperial that generate value
- Darkblast keeps Dark Confidant, Pyromancer, Clique, Noble and others off the table
- Darkblast makes Thalia a 3/1 first strike

These are too many roles to not justify a card for a deck: removal, combo and engine.

So darkblast could get another role with Phalanx; pumping up your bears to add to the clock.


That is it for now,
Guli

[MTGFan]

Have you guys considered Champion of the Parish in these lists? I've been playing him in some of my aggro decks in Legacy and if you play enough Humans he can become very big very fast. In a lot of ways his size progression mirrors that of a Tarmogoyf. Of course, he is a much worse top deck, but a potentially 3/4+ one drop is something to be considered.

[brianpk80]

Champion never made the final cut in a final build I had but yes, the card has been considered.  There was some discussion on it a few pages back regarding the Burning Tree Emissary approaches from other formats.  

I like the idea of running Anax & Cymede with Darkblast, Lava Dart, and/or Fire // Ice.  Post Theros, I'd like to test the card in a UWR shell with Snappers & Pyromancer, and we might as well use it to also investigate whether Daxos of Meletis has any merit.  As I see it, Edric would be an auto include were he Human and there are times I wish for something like Augury Adept to increase the density of draw critters.  It's decidedly the fact that they're non-Human that holds them back and that's something we don't have to worry about with Daxos.      

[MTGFan]

Ok so the latest spoiled card is a Seedborn Muse BUT also has a Teferi ability AND most importantly is a Human. Seems playable even if as a SB option vs control.




I mean, this thing basically lets you play twice as many creatures because you get to play them during your turn and then again during your opponents turn. That feels pretty powerful.

[serracollector]

Also it can untap pingers and mana producers or humans with tap abilities, like all the spellshapers.  I really like this card as well.

[Guli]

I was looking at it, and looking at it again...still very unclear for me but...I got some practical thoughts on it. The casting cost is misleading, since it actually costs the moxes you have in play. So a 2/3 for 0 or 1 mana (in the context of the mid game were you will have a shaman or noble with some lands) with a trigger that gives a lot of advantages. So my deck runs both Noble and both Deathrite Shaman, and these would in theory benefit greatly from a card like this. But still, the casting cost and the relatively small body seems to make me cautious.

I think this card is good with a good amount of acceleration, mana dudes and Shardless Agent. Agent is a very powerfull follow up I think. Basically you want to have Humans that give you new cards. Otherwise all this mana seems pointless. So, Recruiter, Ranger of Eos, Eternal Witness, ...

The key thing is to use that Cavern two times.

[xouman]

It loses the best ability from Teferi (annul all counterspells and make instants to be played like sorceries), but untap lands and creatures in opponent's turn and give flash to creatures is a huge bonus on mirrors and slow games.

This creature arrives late and while it helps, it does not have instant effect. Have it drained (without cavern) and you are giving a great boost to opponent. Against oath or dredge is slow, against mud hard to play, against heavy aggro could be late... but still, against controlling decks and some card drawing, virtually doubles mana and allows attack and defend with same creatures next turn. At 3 mana it would be very interesting, but at 5... i say it won't be played.

[Guli]

The best 1 cc creature for Humans is Deathrite Shaman (generally speaking). Sometimes Noble can be as important in specific decks.

For that reason I think Human Shamans is the way to go featuring Deathrite and Eternal Witness.

[Protoaddict]

Just got spoiled:


http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11376

I'm not sure its maindeck quality but it is very aggressively costed. Against Zoo decks that lean on Pridemage it could have some game.

[StanleyAugust]

Man they print some shitty humans 

[Guli]

I like that new Human Assassin though:



I have explained the value of Deathrite Shaman, Eternal Witness, Oath of Ghouls and Darkblast. This new Assassin could be another interesting  card and works well with Darkblast.

[brianpk80]

The Assassin is one to keep an eye on if Heroic is somehow easily enabled.  Darkblast is rather elegant.  The 2/1 is not "bad" per se; after all, there was a player Dave Feinstein winning tournaments with UW Fish maindecking Savannah Lions in the middle of the last decade.  The Human subtype is nice but the ability is incredibly narrow.  It may as well say Gain 1 life every time a Bird attacks you.  Possible room to explore if Painter/Grindstone ever becomes the rage in Humans, but still dubious.   

[serracollector]

Are there any humans that allow to sac permanents for cheap? If so Rancor + any of these heroic guys could lead to some easy CA.

[ChronoExile]

Are there any humans that allow to sac permanents for cheap?

These were the first ones that came to mind:  There might be others.

Cartel Aristocrat
 
Creature — Human Advisor
Sacrifice another creature: Cartel Aristocrat gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn.

Viscera Seer
 
Creature — Vampire Wizard
Sacrifice a creature: Scry 1. (To scry 1, look at the top card of your library, then you may put that card on the bottom of your library.)

While not a human, it is a wizard so might work depending on the build.

[Guli]

Darkblast is good in Human decks! But I agree with Serra that we should dig into more targeted spells to trigger heroic

Or just run more Darkblast

Think about it, you kill the smaller ones with it, then edict away the rest

[vaughnbros]

Heroic is a pretty weak mechanic in how difficult it is the activate.  I don't think any of the triggers so far are worth going through hoops to achieve.  If the card is playable on its own right, which may be the case with Anax and Cymede, its a nice trick to have at your disposal, but the others are not powerful enough imo.