Sin Collector

[brianpk80]

Wizards continues to reveal a burning animus towards blue. 

Sin Collector

Human Cleric
When Sin Collector enters the battlefield, target opponent reveals his or her hand.  You choose an instant or sorcery card from it and exile that card. 
2/1
"That must weigh heavily on your soul.  Let me purge it for you."



Pretty sinister w. Cavern on Human.  Useless against Shop.  Compared to Tidehollow Sculler, it costs 1 more and has more restrictions on cards it can grab but this one is Human and the card does not return to hand if the Sin Collector is plowed, bounced, or bolted.  Combines nicely with Meddling Mage, Deputy of Acquittals, and Mayor. 

[Stormanimagus]

Wizards continues to reveal a burning animus towards blue. 

Sin Collector

Human Cleric
When Sin Collector enters the battlefield, target opponent reveals his or her hand.  You choose an instant or sorcery card from it and exile that card. 
2/1
"That must weigh heavily on your soul.  Let me purge it for you."



Pretty sinister w. Cavern on Human.  Useless against Shop.  Compared to Tidehollow Sculler, it costs 1 more and has more restrictions on cards it can grab but this one is Human and the card does not return to hand if the Sin Collector is plowed, bounced, or bolted.  Combines nicely with Meddling Mage, Deputy of Acquittals, and Mayor. 

I'm not sure I'd maindeck it, but YES! Just YEEESSSS!

-Storm

[rbtabris]

Exile the counterspell I can't use? OK.

It does seem decent. As you say, worthless vs. Shops, but there are chances that Thalia + mana disruption are at work and I'm stranded with a business spell, or creature destruction spell I can't cast. I guess it's most effective for shoring up a combo matchup. We can't play 4 Brainstorm to hide our business from discard, after all. (And because it's exiled, it can't be Willed back, Regrowthed, etc.)

[gkraigher]

Costs 1 too much in my opinion.  So close.  So close. 

[brianpk80]

Exile the counterspell I can't use? OK.

  I was thinking along the lines of grabbing a Balance, Pyroclasm, Supreme Verdict or other board sweeper held in hand until the right moment for maximum impact.  Also, I was thinking of Grixis where you could open with Cavern, Hierarch and play this turn 2 to preempt a Tinker, tutor, Bolt, or Time Walk.  Then you know how to sequence your next plays with the information gained.  An uncounterable Duress is obnoxious.  And anything that can get you 2 for 1 is worth looking at closely.   

It does seem decent. As you say, worthless vs. Shops, but there are chances that Thalia + mana disruption are at work and I'm stranded with a business spell, or creature destruction spell I can't cast.

Ironically, that might be the best argument in favor of Sin Collector.  Thalia will screw things up royally for the first few turns, which is why we run 4 even though she's legendary.  But if the deal isn't sealed, an opponent can break though, so seizing opponent's escape valve before the mana is available might be an optimal play. 

I guess it's most effective for shoring up a combo matchup. We can't play 4 Brainstorm to hide our business from discard, after all. (And because it's exiled, it can't be Willed back, Regrowthed, etc.)

True.  And with all these Explosives running around, having a CMC of 3 might be a feature rather than a bug. 

[rbtabris]

 I was thinking along the lines of grabbing a Balance, Pyroclasm, Supreme Verdict or other board sweeper held in hand until the right moment for maximum impact.  Also, I was thinking of Grixis where you could open with Cavern, Hierarch and play this turn 2 to preempt a Tinker, tutor, Bolt, or Time Walk.  Then you know how to sequence your next plays with the information gained.  An uncounterable Duress is obnoxious.  And anything that can get you 2 for 1 is worth looking at closely.

Good points. (I was being mostly facetious with that line, after our match Saturday. ) It's not quite Duress (can't grab Jace, can't grab EE), but, as you say, the information gained is worthwhile. I'm not familiar enough with the archetype, so I wonder: what do you think could be cut in order to fit this?

[Guli]

At first, I was disappointed, because I thought about Sculler and Relic and so on. Then I realized it truly is a 2 vs 1. This card might be the real deal for all the reasons Brian pointed out.

The only thing is, it could have been a bit less fragile, for 3 mana, they could have busted it a little more.

Being dead against workshop is irrelevant! Human Cavern runs cheap spells to answer Workshop, this will support Thalia in her fight against Blue and Fish.

[TheWhiteDragon]

As soon as I saw this was "human" I immediately thought - yes, another tool for Guli and storm.

[Saya]

Sin Collector is too heavy.Tidehollow would be better.

[brianpk80]

Good points. (I was being mostly facetious with that line, after our match Saturday. ) It's not quite Duress (can't grab Jace, can't grab EE), but, as you say, the information gained is worthwhile. I'm not familiar enough with the archetype, so I wonder: what do you think could be cut in order to fit this?

The core is Noble Hierarch, Thalia, Dark Confidant, and Mayor of Avabruck.  Everything beyond that is negotiable as long as they work together and are cognizant of the most threatening plays; Fiend Hunter and Meddling Mage are good examples.  They fit the bill but someone can substitute them with things like Gideon's Lawkeeper, Ethersworn Canonist, True Believer, Magus of the Unseen, or Knight of the Reliquary + Maze/Karakas and still have the same general bases covered.  The four cards in the core are distinguishable in that they're the most overpowered and difficult to replicate.   

To test the Sin Collector, I'd temporarily take out 1 Fiend Hunter and the Devout Witness which is just a meta slot and add two to get a sense of whether it's something I like seeing or whether it's one of those draws I wish was something else.  I'd think about whether there are any match-up where it shines and then decide whether it belongs in the maindeck, sideboard, or nowhere at all. 

Sin Collector is too heavy.Tidehollow would be better.

No.  Tidehollow isn't even up for consideration because it can't be cast off Cavern. 

[Guli]

Brian, start with 4 copies when you are testing a new card, then slowly scrape. Yesterday I told you that I believed that the powerlevel is about the same as Fiend Hunter, however I don't think it has any business taking slots from Fiend Hunter.

This card is comparable with Glowrider. It is very simple, turn 1 Thalia with a mox followed by turn 2 Glowrider. I played 4 Glowrider. I eventually didn't like it because of Workshop. Rider is really useless there, even Thalia doesn't do much in many cases. Sin Sollector has really the same problem. SIn Collector has the advantage that it snaps a card permanently, but at the condition that they have to hold it in their hand (and I believe these days this happens a lot so I like Sin Sollector personally). However, Glowrider will increase Thalia's effect immensely and the result may be that they won't be able to cast that card Sin Collector would snap away anyway, PLUS other cards. So Glowrider has a wider range, Collector is precision.

Against Workshop the Sin Collector might be a tad better than Glowrider because of Dismember. But the problem is, will you even keep it maindeck in game 2?

Someone mentioned that it is useless to snap a Force of Will, because it is dead already thanks to Caverns. This is false information, there are non human bombs like Stony Silence and Swords to Plowshares or Rest in Peace that do see play.

This card really wants Restoration Angel though!

[StanleyAugust]

This should really have flash. I also think it's a bit overpriced. Vendilion Clique is way better. That said, it does produce another option for GWB Beats.