The Siege Cycle
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on Jan. 2, 2015, 2:20 a.m. by CommanderOfBolas
This cycle is pretty sweet. As you have probably seen, these cards are enchantments with modes. 1 mode favors the khans, while the others favor the dragons.
Palace Siege, Outpost Siege, Frontier Siege, and Monastery Siege are the ones that have been spoiled (we are just missing the abzan siege, for those of you who have been keeping track).
Anyway, I really like Monastery Siege. the card seems fantastic with its modes. Either loot 1 during your draw step, or make your opponent's removal and burn cost 
more. I feel like this could see play in a mono blue devotion strategy of some sort.
What do you guys think of the cycle so far? which is your favorite?
The white siege would have to be insane to be better than monastery. Right now I think it's leading this cycle for sure
January 2, 2015 2:24 a.m.
I am a big fan so far. They are versatile and will hopefully shake things up. A few could go into existing archetypes.
Depending on the last one, i may look to abuse them using constellation in a Skybind deck if it isnt too slow.
January 2, 2015 2:27 a.m.
shinobigarth says... #6
Monastery should get played like crazy, so keep your Thoughtseizes or Erases handy
January 2, 2015 3:31 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #7
Frontier Siege could go in my BUG deck. I don't say that about very many cards anymore.
January 2, 2015 4:31 a.m.
The accrued value over time that Frontier Siege gives is insane. Although the same is true of Monastery Siege.
The same is true of all of them but with Palace Siege being 5 mana it becomes a bit 'meh' and Outpost Siege seems slightly lower impact than the rest.
January 2, 2015 4:46 a.m.
Souljacker says... #9
Yeah Frontier Siege is great as it costs only 2 mana if you play it Main phase 1, or it can turn Hornet Queen into a 1sided boardwipe.
January 2, 2015 5:24 a.m.
Monastery Siege is borderline insane and I'll certainly be playing it like crazy.
Outpost Siege looks pretty good and I want to play around with it. I'm just not sure its better than other options in that mana slot.
Frontier Siege didn't look all that impressive to me, but I did completely overlook the Hornet Queen / Hornet Nest interaction. That might actually be pretty sweet.
I don't expect to play Palace Siege at all. I like both options on it, but I'm not comfortable paying 5 mana for either of them.
January 2, 2015 5:51 a.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #11
Did anyone else see that Frontier Siege says at the beginning of EACH of your main phaseS? That means main phase 1 AND main phase 2. Omnath would love it. Score 4 free mana, 2 before combat, 2 after combat. Lets not forget that Kruphix, God of Horizons is still a thing, and would love to turn that mana colorless for you to save it for combat tricks. I think Frontier Siege is one amazing card.
January 2, 2015 6:25 a.m.
Indeed. Frontier Siege pays for itself after a turn and a half. Thereafter it just sits there gaining value. Thats like a Rampant Growth, a Tarmogoyf, a Kalonian Tusker etc. every single main phase. For free. Mad.
January 2, 2015 6:27 a.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #13
I love it, and will consider it for my EDH deck. T1 Sol Ring into Signet. T2 land, tap sol ring and signet for Frontier. Main phase 2 Harrow into Chasm Skulker. So silly
January 2, 2015 6:30 a.m.
Souljacker says... #14
And for standard, T2 Sylvan Caryatid into this thing T3, another Caryatid 2nd Main gives you 8+2 mana T4. Mystic/Courser/Frontier is also an option.
January 2, 2015 7:47 a.m.
Named_Tawyny says... #15
Outpost Siege's Khan's option is pretty much Chandra's 0 ability. And at the same cost.
Siege is probably a bit more resiliant, but Chandra is more flexible. Tough call between them. That's good development.
January 2, 2015 8:23 a.m.
OMG. I read Monastery Siege wrong. I thought the looting was during the upkeep! This is so much better.
January 2, 2015 10:23 a.m.
chaoticmcunited says... #17
Well for one thing Monastery Siege makes burn pretty stupid with its dragons ability...
"Sir, you need to pay 4 to lightning strike my creatures. Ya can't do that."
January 2, 2015 5:31 p.m.
Ok so all 5 sieges are actually great in the deck they're meant for:
Palace Siege works great in a Sultai, Mardu or Abzan deck. In Sultai and Abzan, you really need to get those creature cards back prior to delving them away and the Mardu and Abzan love those ways of getting life.
Monastery Siege can help those Jeskai and Sultai decks both draw and leave behind the cards they don't need, and help Temur play those creatures that help ferocious without losing them.
Citadel Siege (the white one, which hasn't been seen too much yet) can help Abzan decks build their forces up without relying on the very conditional Bolster or the incredibly slow Outlast, and can help Jeskai and Mardu decks by tapping that one decent blocker you know a opponent will use.
Outpost Siege can help a Jeskai or a Temur deck by quickening the rate you can play creatures and spells that can win games, while in a Mardu deck where you know people will aim to get rid of threats you control as they attack can deal some decent damage as the try to destroy your stuff.
And finally, Outpost Siege is great. If your playing a heavy Abzan or Sultai deck, it gives you the mana needed to bring out creatures others definitely don't like without delving your library, and in a deck like Temur where you may have big flyers but not great ways of removal can really lend help to removing threats.
All of these are decently good cards. A few of them are great, but they're all playable in different decks.
January 2, 2015 5:47 p.m.
Good analysis, but Monastery Siege is still the best (in Standard at least).
All are playable for sure, but not in tier 1 decks.
January 2, 2015 5:49 p.m.
In my opinion it's the only one worthy of tier 1 decks. The others are great and decently flavorful cards. It depends on what deck they're in. In a Volrath the Fallen edh deck, Palace Siege could be really powerful. Especially if the card you send back to your hand is something like Death's Shadow. In a Temur deck with burn spells like Crater's Claws and Kruphix, God of Horizons you could create a bomb in three or four turns that wins a game. It's all very variable.
January 2, 2015 5:55 p.m.
I meant to reference Frontier Siege in the bit about Crate's Claw.
January 2, 2015 5:56 p.m.
I figured as much.
I really like the idea of Frontier Siege in Kruphix, God of Horizons and Omnath, Locus of Mana EDH.
January 2, 2015 6:02 p.m.
Yeah although I wouldn't use any of them except in very select edh decks. For example, Monastery Siege could hurt a monoblue deck like Arcanis the Omnipotent Especially if it's not too creature heavy. But in a deck where reanimator is big like a Sidisi, Brood Tyrant or where you need cards in the graveyard or just to protect your best thing like The Mimeoplasm or Edric, Spymaster of Trest it'll be great.
JWiley129 says... #2
As a red player I really like Outpost Siege, but I'm holding my breath for the white siege (possibly Citadel Siege?).
January 2, 2015 2:22 a.m.