Standard forum
Posted on Feb. 7, 2014, 11:29 a.m. by Trilient
What do you guys think of this card? Personally I think it'll be great in green/x devotion decks with cards like Reverent Hunter . With green's ability to ramp you can feasibly play Reverent Hunter as a 7/7 + by turn 3 and swing for 10 trample turn 4, and draw a bunch of cards. Green's draw power was almost non-existent so I feel this card will fill that void.
I play Gruul devotion, and a lot of times it's not hard to empty your hand in the first 3/4 turns. So I will definitely be running at least 2 of these in my gruul deck.
Which card are you referring to? I play garruk in my gruuln deck, but the meta at my LGS basically kills it as it hits the field or uses Pithing Needle on it. There are also lot's of times where I'll play a Reverent Hunter and he comes out huge, but lack of trample means he can be chumped by 1/1's all day. Before it's even mentioned, I do play Nylea, but she's not always on the field at that time. Something that would allow him trample for the turn and the added benefit of drawing (which is something I wish I could do more often) Is great. And if my opponent waste's a counter spell on it, then that's one less thing to worry about when I get garruk on the field.
February 7, 2014 11:52 a.m.
Schuesseled says... #4
Garruk always gets to +1 if it resolves, if they are killing it before you +1. Then they are cheating.
February 7, 2014 12:37 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #5
Warriors' Lesson was the card i was referring to.
February 7, 2014 12:39 p.m.
Garruk is good, but there might be a time when you want to draw into a Bow of Nylea or something. Garruk's +1 doesn't let you keep it, whereas Hunter's Prowess would. Warriors' Lesson doesn't see play because it doesn't give any sort of advantage. Hunter's Prowess give +3+3 and trample, which in my opinion makes it inherently better and much more playable.
Also I meant to say Garruk's basically countered. I understand that if it resolves and it's killed by say, Hero's Downfall , I still get the +1. The Meta over here is mostly esper/azorius control. I'm the only person at my store that plays gruul, which makes finding the cards I want harder unless somebody pull's something.
February 7, 2014 1 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #7
Hunter's Prowess clearly has more upside than Warriors' Lesson , as the latter only nets you one card at best (and thus probably is only playable in Heroic decks).
The problem with Hunter's Prowess is its Sorcery speed. The matchups in which decks like GR need card advantage are against decks with lots of removal (ex. MBD) or Control decks, and those are the ones who will be able to stop you before dealing damage. Therefore, you might find yourself getting 2-for-1'd when playing it, or having to sit on it until your opponent taps out.
However, as you said, GR lacks hard-hitting draw power outside of Garruk, Caller of Beasts (which is the main reason I opted for GU instead), so that fact alone makes Hunter's Prowess worth consideration. I would definitely experiment with it but temper your expectations and don't set yourself up to get burned by a kill spell, Azorius Charm , etc.
February 7, 2014 1 p.m.
Yes, it doesn't have instant speed which may prove to be huge hindrance. However I will still try and play it, it may end up being a great card. I thought about playing G/U as well, but the power just isn't there. Prophet of Kruphix is one of the best simic cards in standard right now, especially for green. I splashed blue at one time just to play 2 copies of her, but overall it wasn't worth it. All the good cards for simic will be rotating out at the end of the year so I haven't bothered to collect them.
February 7, 2014 1:08 p.m.
@ChrisHansonBiomancin The fact that its Sorcery speed doesn't really matter to kill spells. Even if it was instant speed, you could still kill the creature before it dealt damage with Doom Blade or another instant-speed removal. The real issue is that you are telegraphing, so they can just mass block your creature to prevent you from gaining cards. Of course, that doesn't really apply against control, more of the mirror really.
I'm trying it out in Bant Hexproof as a way to refill the hand against midrange. Not sure if I'll keep it, though.
February 7, 2014 1:11 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #10
Well the main reasons to splash Blue, card-advantage wise, would be for Prime Speaker Zegana and Jace, Architect of Thought , though Prophet of Kruphix and Master Biomancer are great support cards for such a deck (tho both benefit greatly from card advantage) and Cyclonic Rift is a pretty amazing win con in the current format and it's easy to hit the Overload in a Green Devotion deck (this is my deck- My Prophet, Your Loss (Top 4 FNM))
Anyways, Hunter's Prowess can definitely win games if used opportunistically. The only question is whether the opportunity to play it safely ever arises. Since GR badly needs something besides Garruk against a lot of the format's top decks, and there aren't any better options available, I think it's worth a shot.
February 7, 2014 1:20 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #11
@raithe000: The Sorcery speed is a big deal when it comes to facing decks with kill spells since it doesn't allow you to play it opportunistically. For example, if it were instant-speed, you could wait until your opponent decides to use a Doom Blade on your Stormbreath Dragon before playing it on another creature, or hold back and stick to your board advantage if they don't.
February 7, 2014 1:27 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #12
G/R Monsters has no use for Hunter's Prowess . The deck already has Domri Rade and Garruk, Caller of Beasts providing draw, some even run Chandra, Pyromaster . The deck re-stocks its hand very well and that is the reason it is a tier 1.5 deck. Hunter's Prowess is a big risk to get 2 for 1'd and doesn't draws well as the PW's.
Maybe in a Selesnaya or Simic deck that doesn't have as many competitive options for generating card advantage in a creature deck.
February 7, 2014 1:45 p.m.
I suppose. The issue is, if you are attacking, you're last chance to cast it is before their last chance to Doom Blade something. So if you want to bait a kill spell, you risk not being able to draw cards if they don't play a kill spell.
February 7, 2014 1:46 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #15
@raithe000: What you say is definitely true if you don't have the advantage on the board. However, GR has some of the biggest threats in the format, which means you could often afford to be selective about playing it if it were an instant. However, since it's a Sorcery, this is mostly a moot point lol.
@Rasta_Viking29: If GR was as effective at re-stocking its hand as you claim, it would be Tier 1 without a doubt. Domri Rade is only going to net you one card 40-50% of the time, and Chandra, Pyromaster 's card advantage is fleeting as well since you only get the card for a turn. The reason GR loses to true Tier 1 like MBD and WU is that it can't draw consistently, and you are behind the 8-ball after the big threats you spent extra cards to ramp into are removed. Hunter's Prowess can provide real card advantage in a way Domri and Chandra can't, and for that reason I think it's worth a shot. I agree that Selesnya could use it since they have almost no good options, but if any G/x shell REALLY doesn't need it, it's Simic, due to the options I listed above.
Schuesseled says... #2
We already have sometihng that allows you to draw cards when you swing, has seen zero play.
A green deck that wants to draw cards will probably just use garruk.
February 7, 2014 11:43 a.m.