geist not used as much anymore?
Standard forum
Posted on June 3, 2013, 4:54 p.m. by Sagi007
Geist of Saint Traft this card used to be a bomb(still is) in epser/azorius control but for quite some time i dont see the card anymore in these decks. not on the rare amount of FNM i attend nor on cocatrice.
why is this? is it because of AEtherling ? was the room needed for other more immportant stuff?
or is it just that im not crossing the fully netdecks builds.
PS:
i know geist is still used in what it called again.. bant enchantment? green+stalker+geist slap auras on em.
it has gone down a little bit but if it is not showing up, it is your meta, or LGS.
i ran into three bant aura's deck this past FNM none of them in my pod but i did play two of them them in side games.
in the control decks they have really lost mainboard slots but there are normally 2 or three lurking in the side boards.
i have found most of what it is is people are play testing new things pre theros in casual formats, get someone to play seriously and out the come.
June 3, 2013 5:06 p.m.
I'm still curious to where standard will fall in regards to esper control with the launch of dgm and then when m14 drops. but eprsonally, I don't see him being that powerhouse in control. AEtherling is much better especially with the release of mr f-u geist aka Skylasher
June 3, 2013 5:07 p.m.
yes i noticed those cards aswell .
mr f-u geist aka Skylasher . yes thought literly the same.
June 3, 2013 5:26 p.m.
cartwheelnurd says... #6
I though Skylasher was a year late and should have been in M13, as the ultimate trump card to delver so green decks could have some love.
June 3, 2013 5:46 p.m.
Geistis still used, but with all the aggro running around right now it's hard to make Geist as menacing as before. I love him still, though.
June 3, 2013 8:15 p.m.
detentionsphere says... #8
@gufymike: Esper control has gotten much worse with DGM. It's not dead, but Voice of Resurgence , Sire Of Insanity , and Sin Collector really hurt it.
As for the use of Geist, there's really no home for it right now other than Bant Auras; he wants an aggressive tempo build with removal or other ways to get him through. Control would never use him because your Supreme Verdict kills him, Nephalia Drownyard is awesome, and anyways, since you only want to drop a finisher around turns 8-9, something like Angel of Serenity , AEtherling , or Obzedat, Ghost Council is much better. Him costing three doesn't matter in a control build.
June 4, 2013 12:46 a.m.
JMANNO33O that's aggro, not control (I use him my bant hexproof/enchantment deck also).
June 4, 2013 4:30 p.m.
@gufymike Did it matter? OP said it wasn't used as much anymore.
June 4, 2013 4:34 p.m.
I use Geist mainly AGAINST control...there isn't a whole lot they can do to him besides Supreme Verdict type stuff.
June 4, 2013 4:38 p.m.
Devour Flesh
, Terminus
, Bonfire of the Damned
(grixis), overloaded Cyclonic Rift
, Dissipate
, Syncopate
, Render Silent
. Plasm Capture
,
But the point of the thread is IN a control shell.
June 4, 2013 4:42 p.m.
ok, yes...and the likes of Devour Flesh , but let's assume that they need Far / Away to take care of Geist. The seasoned u/w/? player will have played him on T3, swung on T4, and have a counter or 2 in hand with at least 2 untapped land when your opponent is going to tap out on T5 to TRY and deal with him. At least, this is the scenario I run into most of the time. As a control player, I never tap out after my T3 Geist unless its absolutely necessary like a T4 Verdict against aggro
June 4, 2013 4:45 p.m.
Ok, then in the spirit of this thread: I RUN GEIST BOTH IN AND AGAINST CONTROL...why? BC HE IS Geist of Saint Traft ...
June 4, 2013 4:46 p.m.
gufymike The point of the thread is Geist of Saint Traft which is what we're talking about.
June 4, 2013 4:49 p.m.
you missed. out on t2. on the play, in response to the cast, control player removes mana dork. t3, you go to enchant him, boom, Devour Flesh in response, costing you both him and enchantment. Done and dealt with. Doesn't stop me from using him, but there are better plays a control player can and will do than what you suggested. From there on, it's a crap shoot to the amount of removal they have vs the creatures you drop.
June 4, 2013 4:50 p.m.
JMANNO33O geist in a control shell .... why isn't he there, is the point and the answer is because there are better creatures like AEtherling to run than him.
June 4, 2013 4:52 p.m.
he is great...he should and will be used I standard right up to the day that he rotates out and people cry in mourning. He is that good...all the answers for him are not reason enough to not play him. Reckoner, Obzedat, and Sphinx's Revelation all have answers too, but they still see play. I think that people are stressing too much about what they see in netdecks. No, he isn't a control staple in most "winners" right now, but he is still just as lethal. If they aren't running Geist, its most likely due to him not synergizing with their specific strategy, not because there is a better control creature out there.
June 4, 2013 4:53 p.m.
isn't 'synergizing with' the same as 'better for that style'? No one is hating on geist and no reason to defend him, he just doesn't fit and thus not a better creature for control than others.
June 4, 2013 4:57 p.m.
Geist hits harder early, AEtherling is fantastic, but only if you want a longer game in which you are willing to wait minimum of & turns to start the killing process. AEtherling its a quick kill in just 3 turns, however, Geist gets there earlier. I think that type of control deck, where you kill with a specific creature has broken into Kill 'em quick BEFORE you give them a chance to stabilize, or kill them quick AFTER you have taken a few turns to disrupt their stabilization.
June 4, 2013 4:57 p.m.
I'm simply trying to say Geist hits before AEtherling , which may be what attracts some to him over the AEtherling.
June 4, 2013 4:59 p.m.
The BEFORE part is aggro. The AFTER part is control. Aggro is meant to deal with the opponent before they can get into their groove. control disrupts them and you stabilize and kill them after that. why there is no real 'aggro-control' style.
My point is the way geist is used today by most people is in aggro and this thread originally had no care about that use, just in a control shell, where he is lack luster.
June 4, 2013 5:01 p.m.
I'll give this though, geist might fit in a nice midrange-control shell, but I would still rather run more cheap removal and less creatures, thus giving AEtherling the nod.
June 4, 2013 5:06 p.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #27
I was going to throw in my two cents, but it would only be the same answer over again. Bant yes, esper no.
June 9, 2013 7:22 p.m.
What about that new Esper aggro thing I heard about? Would that want Geist or is it a different animal altogether? I hate even seen a list for it yet
June 10, 2013 2:05 p.m.
different animal. because OP specifically stated 'Geist of Saint Traft
this card used to be a bomb(still is) in epser/azorius control ' Esper aggro sounds ok, but not my esper ;). honestly I hate playing aggro and only play bant enchantments because I have the cards and waiting to see what happens to/for combo/control in theros and m14. In addition instead of building standard decks at this time, with the release of modern masters, I've made it a priority to finish off a modern deck.
cartwheelnurd says... #2
There isn't really a kind of deck like the old delver, besides bant auras, that can use him in this standard. He's outclassed on the ground by nearly every creature. Remember that a card's power level oes not determine how much play it sees. I depends on what decks can use it effectively. The only reason cards like him and Snapcaster Mage are holding heir value are because they are staples in a lot of control decks in modern.
June 3, 2013 5:01 p.m.