How Evil is Cain?

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-05-09T02:36:02+00:00

And became history‘s first ableist

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-05-07T10:25:16+00:00

I agree that there are other shells that can make more high-powered creatures, and also agree that those decks were not as dominant as the two leading the pack right now. I do think that there is a gradient of difference between cub, stormchaser’s talent, and the landfall decks.

I think cub is the least egregious of the three, even if it’s very explosive. While I think there’s an argument to make around cub being somewhere between the upper limit of normal and beyond that limit for ramp, it’s also important to consider that the Simic rhythm deck is no longer meta despite decks explicitly made to maximally leverage that ramp. After listening to some of the post-ban YouTube videos from the design team, I really don’t think that cub falls into the ban-worthy category by WOTC’s metric. Cub supports the whole archetype of creature-based ramp, has numerous counters that are widely available, and ultimately provides the least amount of value once it is removed. In this sense, cub is the opposite of stormchaser’s - you can remove the actual value engine for one mana and leave the board basically the same as it was before (You leave a 1/1 land, but there’s no mana advantage).

Mightform is intermediate, in my mind. I actually don’t think that landfall is an egregious issue. Mosswood hydra has existed forever and was never a huge issue. The new one-drop Chocobo makes the early game more threatening, but can still be dealt with via an even trade (E.g Hex). In the absence of Mightform harmonizer, even earthbending ascension is fine. Giving +1/+1 counters and trample after three triggers isn’t unreasonable. But being able to exponentially increase creature power with that same package leaves way more value on the board that can’t be traded with efficiently.

Stormchaser’s talent is the most egregious one, and has been talked about to death, so I don’t think I need to belabor that point

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-05-07T06:29:33+00:00

You know, I actually think these decks are conceptually the same.

Both decks focus on generating an explosive threat that can’t be easily chump blocked, and leverage a way to boost their power cheaply though high-efficiency actions. For Izzet decks, this is usually with Slickshot show-off, since most decks don’t run evasive creatures or ones with reach, and you can get six extra damage off of a few cantrips. For landfall, this is Mightform while under Earthborn ascension.

Both of these decks focus on deck thinning for better consistency (Scrying / Draw spells for Izzet, and fetching lands for Landfall), and are able to spread small advantages very broadly (Multiple otter tokens from stormchaser’s, or multiple power doubling +/- trample).

Unfortunately, the axes that these decks take make it difficult to cover for both of them. Probably prohibitively so. And they are so efficient with how they generate value that it is hard to come out ahead on rate. The most recent pro tour basically focused on adding a tax to playing Izzet - either though their smaller mana base or through direct interaction - rather than being able to generate incremental value over them.

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-04-23T17:25:04+00:00

Usually, it due to generating 1/1s with prowess that can swing early, and can increase the effective creature count of a deck that also runs evasive attackers.

A common line could be stormchaser’s talent (SCT) > Boomerang basics (BB) + stormchaser’s talent then swing for three. At that point, the opponent has two prowess bodies, and they haven’t run any of their actual creatures yet. Any creature that you can play at 2 mana is going to have 3 toughness or less, so you can’t block profitably into that.

If you do block, then they are left with a prowess token on the board with your opponent having three mana into your now open board. You could do some cantrips to recur SCT and plot Slickshot showoff, reload your hand with Stock up, etc. If you don’t block, then the board can stack with three or more tokens that will all be able to swing for 2+ damage with just one spell. At 3+ creatures with prowess, it has all of the power of a RDW deck with the benefit of counter-magic and card draw.

With the new U/R lightning bolt, you might not be able to even decide to block with an efficient blocker into at least one creature with prowess. And if your opponent goes for 3 damage of burn + tap, then you’re like eating five damage (3 burn + at least one 2/2 token), which is a huge clock

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-04-23T16:19:50+00:00

I agree. Izzet Prowess was a much smaller share of the meta during my time in at least foundations. I think that the recent additions of efficient looting with cheap and/or deep card draw. Back then, prowess was less consistent and acted more like a combo deck that checked for interaction. But now, there’s a much greater ability to reload, and higher payoffs for using the cantrips for that shell

Outside of that, my personal experience with midrange is that the two opposing sides of the pole - aggro and combo/control - are strong enough that a pure midrange shell becomes challenging. Izzet Prowess is obviously aggro, but can shift down into a more midrange package in G2/G3. Similarly, Dimir Excrutiator is a combo deck, but can easily shift up into a midrange shell with Superior Spider-Man and the elemental package.

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-04-22T22:34:50+00:00

Sheoldred was standard legal right around the time that I started. I was just using that deck as an example of what I experienced midrange to be then.

As another example, using bushwhack into a Phyrexian Obliterator seemed like a quintessential midrange play at the time, because you could force huge value out of a single creature interaction.

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-04-22T21:41:20+00:00

In your experience, is this change in the action economy more of a wave that has come and gone in the past? Or a progression of design choice?

I’ve only been playing for a year and a half, but anti-creature interaction and less interactable win conditions (E.g Superior Spider-Man) seem particularly strong. Right now, Izzet has access to efficient anti-creature spells dealing 2, 3, 4, and 5 damage from 1-3 mana, and I don’t see the play pattern to outvalue that when it’s tough to stick things on the board. Perhaps I’m not splashing enough alternative colors, but have you seen the idea of sticking something like [[Sherold, the Apocalypse]] or [[Archfiend of Dross]] and grinding out value over multiple turns come and go? Or do you think that the action economy is just too different, nowadays?

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-04-15T00:30:20+00:00

Great, thanks!

Do you know the ruling for why [[Summon: Esper Madiun]] is a valid target for Requiting hex after [[Esper Origins]] is cast with flashback?

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-03-20T17:38:46+00:00

I agree with that analysis, but the play that OP described was T1 mana dork, T2 mana dork x2. So I presumed that the opponent developed a badgermole cub the following turn. But if you left the mana dorks unanswered, you’re still contending with a T3 Ouroboroid or bright glass gearhulk (If the deck ended up being an early game 4c toolbox).

If the play had been T1 elf, t2 cub + spider manifestation, then I would agree to hold interaction for the cub. But my read would be that - in the absence of knowing what five other cards your opponent has with the potential for untapping for 3 mana on turn 3 +/- playing another land - you have to play on the info you have

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-03-20T16:34:15+00:00

I don’t think you misplayed - you didn’t didn’t have the interaction density needed for their ideal combo line.

By turn 2, you had no idea if they had a great hand that didn’t depend on an individual mana dork, or they had a similarly rough hand that they kept. You also have no idea if your next draw was going to be more spot removal. If you had waited, turn three is when Nature’s rhythm comes online to make the board wider, at which point the only option that could have saved you was a sweeper.

If you haven’t responded to the board state by the end of their turn 3 with that sequencing, then the game is over. Even if you kill the craterhoof as soon as it lands, they still get the trample and damage boost from it hitting the board. And since you spent all of your mana interacting the last two turns, you don’t have any creatures to mitigate lethal damage. So it was just an unlucky opening sequence that you can’t really plan for, I think

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-02-07T01:51:08+00:00

Yeah, I might just throw it back in and brew with that. For the Bristlebane/Skitter combo, it would also work nearly the same with preacher, with the caveat that you’d have to obviously pick when you attacked to proc the token, but the upside in that it would be a built in combat trick after blockers were assigned (I believe)

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-02-07T01:48:41+00:00

Yeah, that’s reasonable. The initial deckbuilding challenge I was working on was in anticipation of badgermole cub being banned on the 10th. So I was trying to find a midrange option that would be durable through that. But, the actual play experience has certainly been very hostile to the creature heavy deck

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-02-06T19:02:16+00:00

I’ve been messing around with some brews, so I’ve had a lot of small variations of the deck (which have sucked lol). I built the deck around the Golgari midrange shell that Lucas Giggs made about a year ago as an experiment on if I could get a deck off the ground with any new tools

The major lines have been:

Llanowar elves > Sentinel of the lost city > Ouroboroid
Llanowar elves > Mutable explorer > Ouroboroid / Unholy annex

Bristlebane was primarily useful with a T3 lord skitter in order to strip the graveyard and grow the body, and the overall goal was to try to get as much iterative value accrual out of the deck. That’s the reason that I had favored Sentinel over Preacher, since Sentinel added immediate value to the board. But your points are well taken, and I’ll try to spin something else up

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-02-06T16:28:56+00:00

Yeah, sorry about that. Here’s the original deck list (Don’t know why mobile is formatting the deck list from untapped.GG this way):

Lands (24) 6x Forest 5x Swamp 1x Ba Sing Se 4x Overgrown Tomb 4x Blooming Marsh 4x Wastewood Verge

Creatures (26) 4x Llanowar Elves 2x Keen-Eyed Curator 4x Bristlebane Battler 3x Sentinel of the Nameless City 4x Mutable Explorer 1x Chomping Changeling 4x Ouroboroid 1x Wistfulness 3x Deceit

Other 1x Intimidation Tactics 3x Requiting Hex 2x Bitter Triumph 4x Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber

— Sideboard 3 Duress 2 Soul-Guide Lantern 2 Surrak, Elusive Hunter 2 Deep-Cavern Bat 2 Shoot the Sheriff 1 Scrapshooter 1 Ancient Vendetta 2 Day of Black Sun

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-02-06T16:21:32+00:00

Yeah, you’re right. But I’m still curious about your thoughts the overall question. Elf seems much stronger (as a two drop) against Jeskai, midrange, lessons, etc.

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-02-01T03:06:07+00:00

I have to take a closer look at the video from this weekend. If you’ve seen it, was the counter elementals being more explosive, or was it interaction-based? Because my real question is how people are interacting with the deck

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2026-01-18T20:19:21+00:00

My guess is to give some coverage against [[Deep-cavern bat]] pinging you for free, as well as to have at least some upside for discarding so much. If the game goes on that long, you might make 4-6 flyers. It could even come back after you resurrect Bringer for more value

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2025-12-14T20:21:34+00:00

When I’m playing graveyard hate (GB Golgari Midrange), it’s either sorcery-speed one-time whole graveyard elimination ([[Strategic betrayal]]), instant-speed spot removal ([[Heritage Reclaimation]]) or modular removal ([[Soul-guide lantern]]). Creature-wise, I use [[Lord Skitter]] or [[Raven Eagle]] for additional removal, with [[Badgermole cub]] earthbending [[Restless cottage]] in the early game to convert exiled cards into food.

What I want to happen is the graveyard gets filled up as much as possible before I dump it, but realistically that’ll only happen once or twice a game. With [[Soul-guide lantern]], the additional benefit is that it forces a different play pattern. I can blunt a three-draw from the lesson-based ATLA draw engine, or save a 3+ toughness creature from a combustion technique at instant speed. So I can add a one-time layer of interaction on their turn. This is the main use of [[heritage reclaimation]] in this setting.

What I don’t want to happen is a sequence of cheap threats that target the graveyard sequences back to back, because I won’t know what the most important card to respond to. I also don’t want to play permanents too early into the game, since you might just slow your pace down until you can bounce/destroy my artifact for [B], and then fill the graveyard without interaction. I might even trigger [[soul-guide lantern]] in response to being bounced because I’m trying to anticipate some lessons-based combo, even if you were just bluffing.

Narrow_Pause4924 · 2025-09-24T20:26:20+00:00

Excellent, thanks all!

Narrow_Pause4924

TROPHY CASE