Gisela in my Boros
Deck Help forum
Posted on July 1, 2013, 3:16 p.m. by hochmaster
I think Gisela, Blade of Goldnight 's mana cost is a little too redank, but it would be a super nice ability of hers to have if my Boros Aggro\Lifegain ever runs out of gas for any reason... and it would also help me hose down other aggro decks. What do you guys think?
hochmaster says... #3
I think you're right about Gisela, her mana cost is too high for her to be effective. As for Tablet of the Guilds, I would normally agree with you, but I have actually seen this in action. Since almost every card in my deck is multicolored, its pretty much 2 life for each spell, without me having to pay any extra mana for the life gain. For example, gaining 6 life instead of 4 for Warleader's Helix, and other such things. It gets really effective if I have 2 or more of them out there.
July 1, 2013 4:21 p.m.
hochmaster Paying extra mana is never the issue, see Lightning Helix vs Lightning Bolt or all the charms for that matter. Additional effects or versatility are often worth a little more on the casting cost.
The problem is that it still costs you a card to do this. That's one less attacker/blocker, one less removal spells, one less anything that actually effects your board-state, and that's before considering that lifegain will be virtually useless in many match-ups. Mill is still a popular win-con among control decks, so you have less creatures or reach to fight through their removal and permissions. Also, many of the "go-big" ramp, mid-range and reanimator strategies won't be nearly as slowed down as you might think. If you've ever seen Thragtusk decks duke it out, even spiking up to 40+ life only adds a few turns from the clock once you're playing 5+ power creatures.
Will it win you some games, absolutely. But I'd rather have cards that I knew would help my deck in the greatest number of games I've played.
July 1, 2013 5:21 p.m.
hochmaster says... #5
Yeah, I guess you're right, since it isn't too useful unless you have 2 or 3 of them. I think I will sideboard it out and mainboard the enchant breaks I have in my sideboard, since people love to use enchantments against this deck, like o-ringing Tajic. Also, dudes around my local card shop love to spam Intangible Virtue with weenie decks, so some enchant breaks will deal with them summarily.
Thanks for the advice!
July 1, 2013 5:54 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #6
Not in an aggro deck, you should be curving out at 4 for hellrider/firemane avenger/sparktrooper, and maybe up to 5 for thundermaw.
July 1, 2013 6:08 p.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #7
I agree with the comment above me. Gisela is a fantastic card to sideboard in midrange deck though... for example: De Tora was running it in her Wolf-Run Bant at pro tour gatecrash and it wrecked face.
Slycne says... #2
High casting cost cards will always have powerful effects, but there are reasons for not putting Omniscience in every deck. Gisela, Blade of Goldnight might be more on message, but there's still problems with running her in aggro, though your build is much more mid-range than aggro actually.
The biggest issue is that there's really only 3 situations for her. 1 - you draw her early and you're stuck with a dead card in hand, virtually mulliganing every game that happens. 2 - the game lasts long enough that you can cast her and she breaks a stall. 3 - the game goes long enough that you can cast her but your opponent is already firmly in control. 1 and 3 are you're most likely cases, as 23 lands without acceleration doesn't support 7 CMC well and any deck that drags you late enough for your mana to come out will have a better late-game plan. A controlling deck like that wants to make the game last long, you're better off making all your cards support a single goal instead of trying to include something that might help, or at least leave those cards for sideboard.
Likewise, I'd strongly recommend against running Tablet of the Guilds . It is just a bad card. It does nothing to support your deck and wastes a card slot on not effecting the board. It's about as terrible a top deck late game that I can think of and it won't matter at all for some matches. I know that lifegain is appealing, but it's best when it comes along with an effect that does something. This is why Lightning Helix is so good. Sure you got 3 life, but you also got to kill a creature, saving you even more life in the long run.
July 1, 2013 3:46 p.m.