Elvish Mystic Replacement?
Standard Deck Help forum
Posted on July 30, 2015, 10:24 p.m. by Zaiato
Assuming they dont re print Elvish Mystic or make a new 1 mana 1/1 that taps for green in the Zendikar block we need a replacement.
So out of these which one is best suited to take his place?
Whisperer of the Wilds
Rattleclaw Mystic
Honored Hierarch
Leaf Gilder
I cant think of anymore off the to of my head these are the only ones that I can think of that are not rotating out, so which is best and if you suggest one make sure its not rotating out in September.
actually its not stricly better if you are playing an elf deck other wise yeah its better in ramp strategies
July 30, 2015 10:36 p.m.
UpperDeckerTaco says... #4
I think Honored Hierarch has a lot of potential. Yes, you can't play a 3 drop turn 2, BUT, you can get your mana fix going and it acts simply as a Sylvan Caryatid and you can also just play more high value 2 drops turn 2. But yes, for just a mana dork that ramps and ramps hard, Rattleclaw Mystic is better just for mana. The Leaf Gilder is an elf, but I'd rather play other 2 drop Elves than this one, even if it does ramp. You get no value the turn you play it. It's just a bleh card.
July 30, 2015 10:45 p.m. Edited.
Now I dont wanna be a total downer but please dont ever play honored hierarch. That card is the biggest lie from origins it HAS to be in your hand turn one on the play (usually) or it is just bad. You have other options for color fixing including lands and rattleclaw mystic and if it does not connect turn 2 and get the ability it is worse than every mana dork in the game for the rest of the game. I am not saying this to be a dick but its just the way I see it there is no reason to play that card.
July 30, 2015 10:51 p.m.
I agree with Emblem, if Honored Hierarch doesn't hit them on turn two, it becomes worse that any other dork. IF you are able to hit them on turn two, then it is an okay card, but with the chance of it being useless I don't think that any deck should play it.
I wanted this card to be good so bad when it was spoiled, but without being able to tap for a colorless without being renowned or maybe having vigilance before becoming renowned, it just isn't that good.
July 30, 2015 11:22 p.m.
JANKYARD_DOG says... #7
Thought there was an article recently saying something about how they want to stay away from 1 drop mana dorks?
It's all in how you use Honored Hierarch, or any card for that matter. G/R/X, Break Through the Line, Subterranean Scout, Valeron Wardens... Use your imagination.. white for more renowned, blue for more avoidance, black for removal, or just G/R and add in some burn shenanigans and big stompies.
July 30, 2015 11:52 p.m.
Ok but then you are building a deck around the hierarch and not actually winning....mana dorks are not win cons they are tools devising tools to make your tools work is not a good idea
July 31, 2015 12:05 a.m.
JANKYARD_DOG says... #9
Well obviously it wouldn't be based solely around the Hierarch. That was just of the top of my head. As I said you could branch off different ways with renowned or whatever your little heart desires. Just saying he's not a complete lost cause, you just got to be creative.
July 31, 2015 12:13 a.m.
As an avid green and GWx player, I figured I'd throw in my opinion for Honored Hierarch as well.
The card just isn't good enough. Mana dorks already have an inherent problem in that they are bad top decks. In some ways, something like Sylvan Caryatid is even worse than Elvish Mystic since it can't even get in for 1 dmg when you top deck it. However, a lot of ramp decks are looking for that 8th mana or have a way to make use of even more mana than that, so top decking mana dorks isn't as painful.
This guy isn't even a mana dork when you top deck him. EVEN IF you manage to go through the hoops of getting him renowned and able to tap for mana once he is top decked, it is just so much slower than any other dork, and the color fixing is not going to matter at that point either.
So what is his upside? Well, if you get him on T1 and they don't play something to get in his way or kill him or otherwise impede his attack, you get to make him renowned and then on T3 you finally have a non-flying 2/2 BoP. Now, it's possible the color-fixing will be of good help at this point in the game, but it's much less likely than it would be for the previous two turns.
And what if you have to play an ETB tapped land on T1? You're set back further. In fact, every turn beyond the first that you play this guy he will get exponentially worse since it greatly lowers the chance that he will get to deal the necessary damage. And again, there isn't a huge upside if he does.
Overall, assuming we see no further mana dorks (which I kind of doubt, or that they'll print a sort of Rampant Growth type deal), Rattleclaw Mystic will surely be the go-to for any GR, GU, or Temur decks looking for a 2 mana dork. Leaf Gilder will see play ONLY in elf decks, which could be around. And Whisperer of the Wilds could see play with or over Rattleclaw Mystic in a deck looking to ramp incredibly hard and play x cost spells or 7+ drops on the regular. Still, though, these decks may be better off playing cards like Explosive Vegetation and Nissa's Pilgrimage since they may require actual land.
/end wall of text
July 31, 2015 2:27 a.m.
TheNinjaJesus says... #11
Additionally, it's too early in the game to write off that there will not be a one drop dork that can tap on t2. Hell, they might reprint Llanowars for all we know. BFZ is a magical land of possibility... And also, Azazoth.
July 31, 2015 2:47 a.m.
While I do appreciate the concerns with things like Elvish Mystic, I think nerfing them down to Leaf Gilder is an overcorrection. The 2 power isn't really relevant in the early game when you more than likely want to tap it for mana anyway and by the time that you have the mana to cast whatever you want then the power edge is irrelevant anyway. It is, for all practical purposes, just an Elvish Mystic at double the cost.
There are a number of options that are a middle ground between the "too strong" Elvish Mystic and the borderline unplayable Leaf Gilder that would offer a compromise. You could simply go down a notch and reprint Boreal Druid, so it slightly nerfs mono-green without having a huge impact on multi-coloured decks, which already have to take on a far less consistent mana base than a mono-coloured deck (making it less consistent that they can ramp into things like Thunderbreak Regent). Or they could reprint something like Elves of Deep Shadow so that there is a real cost to it. In conjuction with Gnarlroot Trapper it would give elf decks a lot of ramp but put them all in on winning early and also give other ramp decks at least one playable ramper. There is also, if Wizards are just determined that 1-cost mana producers are in fact "too strong", the option to at least push the 2-cost version. something like Devoted Druid at least has more upside but is balanced my having a cap on the number of times she can tap for two mana.
CheeseBro says... #2
Rattleclaw Mystic is stricly better than Leaf Gilder.
July 30, 2015 10:30 p.m.