M15 - Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on June 23, 2014, 10:13 a.m. by Rayenous
Not sure what to think of this... Looks like a poor-mans Birthing Pod at first... but it's just to restrictive.
When you first use it, you only get a 1 drop... that's generally on T4 (T3 with ramp). You want to be playing something better at that point.
But if it's out for a while, it's a HUGE bonus getting free 4, 5, 6 drops...
The it dies off again, because it's not "less than or equal to", you'd quickly have too many counters on it to be able to find anything.
I could see some EDH players trying to get it out with Prophet of Kruphix for some fast abuse... but I don't see it being powerful in any deck or format. - Perhaps with something like Thrull Parasite to let you control the number of counters?
It has some potential to help pull a combo by turn 5/6/7 depending on what's in the hand, but that's a tough fit and only really works if you get the card early in the game. Just a little too pricey to really be effective. Might see some EDH or kitchen table play, but can't imaging much beyond that.
June 23, 2014 11:32 a.m.
Hjaltrohir says... #4
He could be soooo good in edh, if you build a deck around him. I can also see him being good with proliferate or Vorel of the Hull Clade -esque effects as well as Doubling Season
June 23, 2014 12:03 p.m.
Waaaay too slow to be constructed playable. Fauna Shaman and Birthing Pod are just better.
June 23, 2014 1:47 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #6
While I agree that he is too slow for competitive constructed play I feel you may be confused as to what exactly Fauna Shaman
does to try to compare it directly to Birthing Pod
or this.
Tooth and Nail
, Natural Order
, Birthing Pod
, Green Sun's Zenith
, Wild Pair
, Defense of the Heart
, Protean Hulk
, Chord of Calling
, Doubling Chant
, and even Shadowborn Apostle
are legitimate things to compare Yisan to, but simple creature tutors are not the same effect as tutor and put into play effects.
June 23, 2014 2:55 p.m.
I know full well what Fauna Shaman and its job is very similar to this one's: tutor up creatures. In a Green EDH deck, you'll have plenty of mana to play with to put the card into play. The Shaman's ability is essentially "Discard a creature card, Green Sun's Zenith " if you play it that turn.
They aren't the same card, but Fauna Shaman is stronger.
June 23, 2014 3:36 p.m.
I thought about Yisan for my Vorel of the Hull Clade deck and I'm not super excited. Yisan's ability grabs creatures with cmc "equal to the number of verse counters on Yisan..." This means that I can't abuse it with Vorel and give him 20 verse counters and tutor whatever I want out of my deck. You would need some way to remove counters from him in order to really abuse his ability, but I feel like he will have a place in EDH and will be good. But the strategy he fits best in are Mono-green fatty ramp, and Omnath, Locus of Mana and Azusa, Lost but Seeking do it better.
June 23, 2014 3:40 p.m.
If this guy was hexproofed or something, i'd be really excited. He's just a little too vulnerable for my liking. If he was guaranteed to survive for a while, I think I'd try to build around him. Something crazy could happen where as 1-drops you have Judge's Familiar s and maybe even Faerie Impostor s to flash in at instant speed. At the 2-drop slot you get quicklings and instant speed Tidebinder Mage s. Who knows. I don't think it's efficient enough to see play with the current card-pool, but someone may make it work, and it would be a very fun deck to see play.
June 23, 2014 8:26 p.m.
MatthewOry says... #10
My opinion is that there are only a couple of spots for him in standard. One being mono green devotion the other likely being simic devotion playing Prophet and other buddies. In a devotion deck where you have extra mana, this could be a great 2 of to help refill the battlefield without expending from your hand. I think it could do a lot of work there.
June 24, 2014 2:19 a.m.
Yisan, the Wanderer Bard does do one thing better than Birthing Pod . it makes the Kitchen Finks + Melira, Sylvok Outcast + Viscera Seer a lot easier to assemble
June 29, 2014 3:58 p.m.
In standard with Helpers like Kiora's Follower , Hidden Strings , Prophet of Kruphix , you can quickly move past the little guys into big guys. Seriously, search and put into play is way better than draw, but it's card advantage. The trouble is getting to the bigger numbers, but once there, 3 mana gets you a good card and you still have cards in hand.
Probably not the best creatures you can run for this: turn 4 you play an extra elf for 3, but you keep cards in hand. Turn 5, Kiora's Follower and Boon Satyr . Turn 6, Polukranos, Prophet of Kruphix . Turn 6b: Prime Speaker Zaganna, Sylvan Primordial .
I think I'd rather Chord of Calling over this.
July 1, 2014 7 p.m.
But wait: this flashes in creatures. Play 1 Sedge Scorpion in your deck and similar nasty surprises and you can get good value.
Gidgetimer says... #2
The mana cost is what is prohibitive with him. If it were just a tap ability you would play out a 3 drop 2/3 and then get value from then on. But it isn't, it ties up your mana for the turn so the only place I see this being relevant is in major ramp decks (mostly a casual type), or in a Prophet of Kruphix or Seedborn Muse deck. With the irresponsable amount of mana made by Elves decks the mana wouldn't be an issue any more but at that point it becomes that this is a lackluster tutor for elves when Skyshroud Poacher exists
TL:DR - I don't see it seeing tournament play. The only green decks willing to leave mana up for this ability are: Ramp(casual), Prophet of Kruphix /Seedborn Muse (EDH) and Elves (not a good enough tutor).
June 23, 2014 10:47 a.m.