Mardu Charm
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on Sept. 7, 2014, 9:21 p.m. by nighthawk101
Servo_Token says... #4
Meh, Sultai charm is better. It's decent for the colors though.
September 7, 2014 9:23 p.m.
BorosPlayer says... #8
September 7, 2014 9:38 p.m.
YouGotFranked says... #9
Why the dislike? It does pretty much what an aggro charm should do imo.1st mode can pretty much translate to '' destroy Courser of Kruphix , the bane of aggro decks. 2nd mode could be 2 for 1 against a mirror match and finally the 3rd mode is Inquisition of Kozilek . What not to love?
September 7, 2014 9:39 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #10
Pretty much all of the multicolor charms from RTR and Shards of Alara (with the exception of a very playable few) had three abilities that were overcosted. The versatility is what makes the card better. This card is a little too overcosted for its effects, however.
September 7, 2014 9:40 p.m.
YouGotFranked says... #11
I meant Duress not Inquisition of Kozilek sorry.
September 7, 2014 9:41 p.m.
Servo_Token says... #13
This card pretty much turns 1 mana into 3 mana, with the exception of the second ability, which turns 2 mana into three mana.
It's not that good, even in the deck that wants it.
September 7, 2014 9:42 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #14
This upcoming Standard is notably missing Mizzium Mortars , and Courser of Kruphix does look like it will be very relevant. Raise the Alarm with first strike is OK for three mana, but not what you'd really like to be doing. The Duress is just terrible.
September 7, 2014 9:44 p.m.
Like most charms, it does things that you can do much cheaper with other individual/dedicated cards, like an un-overloaded Mizzium Mortars and a Duress , but the ability to choose within a single card costs you additional mana. It's a typical charm, a 3-for-1 options card, seems about right for an aggro deck.
September 7, 2014 9:48 p.m.
Equating it to Raise the Alarm isn't a fair comparison. Two 1/1 surprise blockers with first strike is quite nice, especially considering the knowledge we have that 2 power will trade with any morph cost under 5cmc. That info should not be discounted.
September 7, 2014 9:51 p.m.
Blizzicane says... #17
September 7, 2014 9:54 p.m.
The card will probably see play, it's definitely not very good though.
September 7, 2014 9:54 p.m.
They wouldn't put mind rot on it. That's on Esper Charm
September 7, 2014 9:55 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #20
Esper Charm is awesome. I don't know why people don't play it more.
September 7, 2014 9:57 p.m.
This thing can kill big blockers, create surprise blockers, and it can force a discard of boardwipes during the upkeep. It does everything a mardu aggro deck could ever want.
September 7, 2014 10:07 p.m.
Stop the hate, its not horrible. I'll definitely admit its not the best but there are uses for it somewhere.
September 7, 2014 10:13 p.m.
I mean, I could see it as a decent sideboard card, really depends on what we see in khans, a little annoying that we have yet another removal spell that can't hit Stormbreath Dragon , Ensoul Artifact or Polukranos, World Eater ...
Would have been better if the first mode hit players...
September 7, 2014 10:14 p.m.
I mean, this card also has 2 modes that fight Courser of Kruphix you either just kill it or know when to cast it for discard off of the cards revealed with courser
September 7, 2014 10:16 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #25
@Caes I'd do it during their draw step just in case they would have drawn it that turn, but you've still made a very good point.
September 7, 2014 10:21 p.m.
trentfaris242 says... #26
The thing is, Sultai Charm actual works with the playstyle of that clan. This is just...weird. I can see the first ability relating to this clan, but the second belongs in Abzan/Jeskai and the third belongs in Sultai.
September 7, 2014 10:24 p.m.
Rhinowarrior says... #27
Where did you get this spoiler? I can't find it anywhere!
September 7, 2014 10:26 p.m.
SoPringles says... #28
This cards is going to annoy all the green players that think they will be getting value off ferocious.
September 7, 2014 10:39 p.m.
I'll tell you guys what, you can play Mizzium Mortars , Raise the Alarm , and Duress in your mardu deck. In mine I'll play this and then use those extra slots i'm not wasting on other useful cards that will help me finish you off. Oh yeah, and because I'm using the charm, my Duress and Mizzium Mortars are at instant speed instead of sorcery speed, plus when I cast my Raise the Alarm for surprise blockers they get first strike. Each one of these abilities is a distinct upgrade from all of the cards that people are comparing them to, and they're on one card. Of course it cost more than Duress , Duress isn't instant speed and doesn't give you the option to make tokens or deal 4 damage to a creature. Similar things could be said for each of those other cards you guys are comparing it to as well.
I love how people will point out all the time that they've been trying to slow the format down since the start of Theros and at the same time will tell you every card spoiled cost too much for what it does because at one point in time in magic history they printed a card that did the same thing but cost less. For some reason those people can't grasp the fact that those cards were part of a completely different meta and that the cards currently being spoiled are designed around the current meta and the direction Wizards is trying to take it. Stop whining and enjoy the spoiler season and the get ready for the prerelease because, like it or not, these are the cards being printed and I know your not all going to boycott standard (like thousands have claimed to do during Theros even though standard is still easily the most played format) so these are cards you'll be playing with and against.
September 7, 2014 10:55 p.m.
Amen abenz419, amen.
In other news, Mardu charm is too legit to quit. Not the best in EDH, but it seems fine elsewhere. Is it Modern playable?
September 7, 2014 10:59 p.m.
BorosPlayer says... #31
On second thought:
Kill a ferocious creature
Give raid twice
Take out a boardwipe that would punish you for overextending
Not as bad as I originally thought, but not as good as I would have hoped.
September 7, 2014 10:59 p.m.
trentfaris242 says... #32
@abenz419 If you're playing each of those cards in a Mardu deck, you're doing something wrong. That's why this card is bad.
September 7, 2014 11:01 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #33
@JWiley129 It's not Modern playable, if only because there's no good Mardu deck. Mardu Midrange is something people try, but I don't feel this fits there particularly well and there are definitely better cards that you would play before it.
September 7, 2014 11:06 p.m.
This is a joke when compared to the sultai charm.
September 7, 2014 11:07 p.m.
trentfaris242 says... #35
@abenz419 In no world is the choice between 3 abilities on one way overcosted card better than running the much, much cheaper (and ultimately better) versions of the individual cards.
I'd much rather have Mizzium Mortars because it's way easier to cast and can be overloaded.
Duress can be played T1. Or T2. Or even multiple times on T2 or T3.
Raise the Alarm is simply cheaper. If you honestly need that first strike from this card to block those pesky X/1's and still keep your chump blockers, by all means go ahead.
September 7, 2014 11:11 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #36
It doesn't do anything you'd want in these colors at that cost in modern. 3 mana is literally the sweet spot for that deck. EVERYTHING good cost 3 for Mardu in modern and you need those cards to be the most efficient.
the 4 damage can't go to the face
mostly any mardu midrange is not playing tokens because we have really efficient creatures already.
We have Thoughtseize Inquisition of Kozilek already and theyre very much worth the spot at one drop. 3 mana is way too much to mess with. Is it standard playable? very. not modern.
September 7, 2014 11:12 p.m.
trentfaris242 says... #37
I'll add that it's the same case for Sultai Charm . It also won't see constructed play because of this reason, but at least it's worth taking in limited since it's abilities go with the colors of the clan...
September 7, 2014 11:13 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #38
Oh...that all being said, If you build a mardu token deck it MIGHT work as a 3-of tops. though that deck itself is extremely inconsistent
September 7, 2014 11:14 p.m.
If the first option said 4 damage to target creature or player then it would instantly become a staple. That alone would give it enough versatility to see play in both aggro and control oriented RBW decks.
September 7, 2014 11:20 p.m.
why couldn't the tokens just keep first strike? I mean, It's not like that would be unheard of, 2 power first strike for 3 mana...
September 7, 2014 11:21 p.m.
Blizzicane says... #41
Totally forgot Esper Charm already had Mind Rot well then lets give it Hymn to Tourach to break it. XP
September 7, 2014 11:23 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #42
i'm pretty convinced this and the temur clans are going to be the neglected weak clans due to power creep :/
September 7, 2014 11:23 p.m.
VampireArmy - how does power creep have anything to do with how strong/weak a clan is going to be? If anything the best clans right now are the Green ones b/c Courser of Kruphix is likely to be the best card in Standard. Granted we've seen some decent removal to deal with 4 toughness (Stoke the Flames , Pillar of Light , suspension field, Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker ), but I don't think that changes things.
September 7, 2014 11:36 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #44
well for one none of those cards are even from khans... (except sarkhan)
Let's compare to RTR which had a faction based gameplay. Rakdos/orzhov/simic were weaker than azorius/boros/selesnya right? don't get me wrong, they have power to them but it becomes obvious when you compare
September 7, 2014 11:44 p.m.
@trentfaris242 On the plane of Tarkir the Mardu Clan believes the speed of the dragon is the way to win. In the game of magic a mardu deck literally only represents what colors the deck is, there is no right or wrong way to build a mardu deck. So your faulty logic doesn't really prove anything. Also you can't call it over costed just because your comparing it to Duress which only cost 1 mana or Mizzium Mortars which only cost 2 mana. If Duress were instant speed like the charm it would cost more than 1 mana and if Mizzium Mortars were instant speed then it would cost more as well. Sorcery speed hand disruption and sorcery speed removal are not the same thing as instant speed hand disruption and instant speed removal so please quit ignoring that fact and pretending they are.
Your also wasting lots of precious space in your deck to run enough copies of each one of those cards for each to effectively be played like you described. Effectively taking away from the overall strength of your deck because each of those cards are enablers that support your deck strategy and none of them actually win you games. I'll also point out (even though we're still early in the spoilers) that even as a 3 drop the 4 damage is enough to kill every other 3 drop or less creature that has been spoiled including a few creatures that have a higher CMC with the exception of one card, Dragon's Eye Savants . Putting it right in line with the way the meta appears to be shaping up with what we've seen from the spoilers so far and what we already know from the Theros block.
September 7, 2014 11:45 p.m.
Suspension Field is from Khans, it's the 2-mana worse Journey to Nowhere . I just didn't know if it was in the database yet.
I agree though, we'll see how the rest of the cards turn out.
September 7, 2014 11:52 p.m.
BorosPlayer says... #47
All should note that the first ability is Flame Slash (which has CMC of 1), not Mizzium Mortars .
September 7, 2014 11:58 p.m.
CommanderOfBolas says... #48
@trentfaris242: You should watch Brian Braun-Duin play modern with Chris VanMeter. BBD plays a modern BUG midrange deck and he played the sultai charm in it. The sultai charm is totally constructed playable. I mean, Ultimate Price , Naturalize , and a better Desperate Ravings without flash back makes the card so versatile. It was clearly playable enough for one of th most well known magic players to put into a modern deck.
September 8, 2014 12:08 a.m.
CommanderOfBolas - To be fair, BBD was testing to see if it was good enough for Modern. It seems like it could be, but we'll have to wait and see. Besides, Sultai midrange is probably not going to usurp Jund/Abzan anytime soon.
September 8, 2014 12:11 a.m.
CommanderOfBolas says... #50
Sure, I suppose that is a fair point, but he did mention how much he liked it. Now, maybe BUG just isn't strong enough in modern for the charm to see play very much, but I would be surprised if it weren't in nearly every Sultai standard deck
nighthawk101 says... #2
Almost (well I did) forgot: http://www.team-mint.jp/?mode=f30
September 7, 2014 9:22 p.m.