Walking Ballista as a Win Conditon
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on June 20, 2018, 1:05 a.m. by enpc
When it was first spoiled, the hype over Walking Ballista was real. A lot of high end decks were running it as their primary win conditon.
Nowadays though, it's actually quite rare to see Ballista run at all, let alone as most deck's primary win conditon.
Why has Walking Ballista fallen out of favour with a lot of decks?
Homelessguy says... #3
I don't know, maybe it's the distaste for the card as some people find it cheap.
Infect is in the same vein where people don't run it because they just find it a cheap and broken way to win.
It also upsets the table as well as I use it in three of my EDH decks as win cons.
Personally, I love the card and it's right up there withParadox Engine
June 20, 2018 1:19 a.m.
I think it's fairly simple...if you're playing cEDH and your deck has the ability to produce infinite mana (or in the case of Mikaeus, infinite undying), then it should be in your deck.
June 20, 2018 2:24 a.m.
I use Stroke of Genius as my primary infinite mana sink over Ballista as it doubles as a way to refill my hand. If I stroke myself to draw my deck, drop a Staff of Domination and then use Timetwister>Time Spiral>Timetwister to recur Stroke 3 times, I can end the board. As far as utility goes, many cards act as outlets while having far greater utility outside of combo.
June 20, 2018 12:13 p.m.
RedUndead40 says... #6
It doesnt appear much because either
A) People hate losing immediately, and not everyone places winning above all else
B) Not every deck can take advantage by creating infinite mana.
UpperDeckerTaco every time you activate you lose priority. You basically have to activate one at a time, and your opponent gets to respond between each activation. But you can typically respond to their responses and kill them anyway unless they use Word of Seizing or Krosan Grip.
June 29, 2018 12:41 p.m.
RedUndead40: The question (although didn't expressly state it) was in the conext on decks that run it as an infinite outlet. Your first point also makes you sound salty.
In the context of its ability, you sure as hell can stack the triggers. You activate the ability, hold priority and then activate the ability again. This however does not mean that the damage has been dealt yet. Once you pass priority then you can start actually killing stuff, however you can't kill something and still maintain priority (hope this clears up UpperDeckerTaco).
I think the vibe I have been getting from a lot of decks (especially those at the top end of the spectrum) is that most infinite combo decks are trying to cut down the number of dead draws within the deck. So a lot fo decks are trying to find lines using cards that have a place not jsut inside of infinite combo. Looking at one Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter list, one of the win cons was to Angel's Grace and then recast Windfall over and ove runtil each opponent had decked themself.
So it seems like while Walking Ballista is good, the goal for a lot of players is to reduce the number of combo only cards. That being said, I don't think I will stop running it anytime soon.
Thanks to everybody who commented.
June 30, 2018 3:27 a.m.
UpperDeckerTaco says... #8
enpc I figured you could. But I don't find Ballista being a dead draw even if you don't produce infinite mana. It is just an expensive removal spell then, for creatures or planeswalkers (or players if they are at a low enough life total).
UpperDeckerTaco says... #2
I use it in every deck that can produce "infinite" mana. It is essentially a Fireball for any deck.
The only issue I have with it, and I guess a question...how would holding priority work with this card as to not allow your opponents to respond to each activation? Are you allowed to activate, hold priority, activate, hold priority, and "rinse and repeat"?
NOTE: Word of Seizing can be a blowout if the above question doesn't 'work'.
June 20, 2018 1:15 a.m.