Chroomaton in tempered steel
Deck Help forum
Posted on Aug. 3, 2012, 9:55 p.m. by xo2
Does Chronomaton serve a purpose in Tempered Steel . It adds an aggressive creature to the deck, mostly for against delved where you need aggressive starts.
Has anyone tested with this card? It may add to the deck.
I would honestly recommend against it. You want to swing with your creatures at all times, the best 1 drops for Tempered Steel that aren't Glint Hawk are Vector Asp or Hex Parasite in my experience simply because their abilities don't require tapping. Any turn that you decide to not attack with your 3/3 (after Tempered Steel) just to make it a 4/4 is an unsound move in my opinion.
August 3, 2012 10:10 p.m.
Scratch that, an even better '1' drop for Tempered Steel is Vault Skirge I always forget to categorize it there even though I never ever pay 2 unless I must.
August 3, 2012 10:21 p.m.
It's not the ability. It's another early body that's pumped by Tempered Steel . Against delved you need all the cheap threats you can get. And it's better than Origin Spellbomb , then if it can't attack profitably, it's a mini mana sink that gets bigger. Until it can attack.
August 4, 2012 10:42 a.m.
While it is true that having a potential mana sink could be helpful I don't think your deck will realistically survive that long barring exceptional circumstances. If you don't win in turns 3-5 I would argue that your deck has likely lost anyway, and, if it hasn't, you likely only need to swing again if your victory is that close.
I would also disagree fairly emphatically with the assertion that it is better than Origin Spellbomb . While it looks bad on paper the ability to refill your hand for the early dump while still getting a body to pump and swing with is fantastic.
August 4, 2012 6:35 p.m.
Origin Spellbomb is amazing, it provides a body that can avoid sweepers for a turn, and a card. However, against quick decks it can be found to be a little slow. That is where Chronomaton shines. It can swing after only costing 1 mana, not 2/3 and if it can't attack that turn, it waits and grows.
Against delver, elves, zombies, and rg aggro it's not having more cards that counts, it's how fast you are. Which is where Chronomaton would do his work, most likely as a 2-of out of sideboard. And spellbomb doesn't help win on turns 3-5 that often.
August 4, 2012 8:02 p.m.
I still have to disagree. Leaving aside the Spellbomb as it isn't even a creature to start with and just focusing on other creature alternatives you still have Vault Skirge , Memnite , Vector Asp , Hex Parasite , Signal Pest and Glint Hawk , I wouldn't even include all of these but I would still include any of them before Chronomaton .
The assertion that it is all about speed I believe is definitely accurate, and the issue with your reasoning then as I see it is that Chronomaton doesn't let you go any faster, it only lets you make it 1/1 bigger at the cost of attacking. That, right there, is slowing you down as I see it if you are ever stopping to make use of it.
August 4, 2012 8:09 p.m.
I steady have those 1ddops in my list except for Hex Parasite and Vector Asp . Vector Asp is only good if you're going the infect path to victory with inkmoth. Hex Parasite is only better when facing planeswalkers. Chronomaton would always be attacking unless there was a bigger opposing creature to kill it. Which is when it would start growing.
The thing is, is that the quicker the creature can start attacking, the better.
August 4, 2012 8:19 p.m.
Again, I still agree about needing to attack but Chronomaton doesn't start swinging any faster than the others and his ability is a contingency that takes away from swinging. If there is something bigger than him and you need to stop attacking to make him larger then, chances are, they will just play their next biggest creature next turn and you are back at square one.
When it comes to Hex Parasite and Vector Asp the first will also work great to bring down Champion of the Parish and decks that run things like Increasing Savagery . The Asp I don't see being a dead draw if you are playing W/B with some Isolated Chapel s as it attacks just as much regardless and I usually include Inkmoth Nexus -es as the mana base is virtually mono-white in most cases anyway. I usually think of Infect as a second win con because of Inkmoth's evasion anyway.
August 4, 2012 8:31 p.m.
I still don't like Vector Asp in uw or Wg Tempered Steel . Hex Parasite is a more niche card that does a job very well, however PWs and Champion of the Parish aren't being played enough to profitably play Hex Parasite .
When Vector Asp and Hex Parasite can't attack, because of, maybe a Blade Splicer . While both of those are forced to sit there with Memnite on 'defense' Doing aboslutely nothing. While Chronomaton can grow himself until he can attack.
For PWs Hex Parasite can shrink them and then attack them. While the other two will just attack them lower.
In a vacuum I feel that Chronomaton is the best. And I'm going to test 2 of them in place of my one non-foil spellbomb and a Glint Hawk .
fireteam says... #2
Um. Chronomaton would be a bad idea for tempered steel. A 1/1 for 1? And it requires mana and a TAP to place a +1/+1 counter on it? Especially in Tempered Steel, it would be bad. It is WAY too slow. It requires a tap and mana that you cannot afford.
August 3, 2012 10:04 p.m.