Is there a way to make Trait Doctoring more viable in competitive Standard?
Standard forum
Posted on Aug. 28, 2013, 2:07 p.m. by WovenNebula
Maybe when Theros is released there will be more basic land to screw with? Utilize Witchstalker when they cast spells on your turn by changing the color to your liking to make it more viable against every deck? Or use on Skylasher or even Fiendslayer Paladin ? Change the text on Garruk, Caller of Beasts to put a blue or white fattie down? I would like to hear other peoples views on this and if we can make it work and FNM worthy.
actiontech says... #3
Skylasher is pro-blue. The garruk idea makes some sense maybe but you're talking about a really long shot at a gimmick deck, not what I'd label "viable."
August 28, 2013 2:21 p.m.
It is a sorcery and so won't be very effective with all your creature examples and with garruk its a non creature spell that only makes his plus ability worse.
In short its only a fun casual card and was never built to be competitive.
August 28, 2013 2:26 p.m.
WovenNebula says... #5
Yeah your right so you would have to add quicken to make more use of it. Does anyone have any good combo ideas with trait?
August 28, 2013 2:39 p.m.
WovenNebula says... #6
For whatever reason I thought it was an instant. Makes it much worse but then again itll be a challenge. Lol
August 28, 2013 2:44 p.m.
August 28, 2013 3:17 p.m.
I don't think there is a good way to build a competitive deck around it. The best I can think of is that it might be a soft counter to devotion, but we can't be sure yet how devotion will play out, and even so, a hard counter would be better.
August 28, 2013 4:01 p.m.
@ Ruric. Those don't work... even with Hypersonic Dragon in play.
Once Lifebane Zombie enters the Battlefield it's ability triggers, and goes on the stack. You can respond with Trait Doctoring (If there's a Hypersonic Dragon , and it will change the text... but it won't change the text of the ability on the stack. Thus it's still only going to exile a White or Green creature.
August 28, 2013 4:25 p.m.
I think using it on your own Mindsparker , Fiendslayer Paladin , or Witchstalker is decent. That way those cards will get maximum effectiveness against your opponent.
August 28, 2013 4:41 p.m.
Cobthecobbler says... #12
I mean, uh.
Hmmm.
No. Trait Doctoring is a really bad card and can only effectively be used in a gimmick deck around it. For a deck to work with it, every card has to be a target for this hideous rare.
I'm sorry, I really don't like that card. It's not powerful enough to be a rare, and it makes me mad that I could have pulled something different, even Dragonshift for christ's sake.
August 28, 2013 4:42 p.m.
in my opinion it is supposed to be a cheap and early cipher to an Invisible Stalker . when triggered, you exile it and feed it to a Nivmagus Elemental . or trigger a Young Pyromancer , or a Guttersnipe
August 28, 2013 6:45 p.m.
The best thing for Trait Doctoring would be Devotion effects that you don't need to happen before combat or don't need/want to happen during an opponents' turn. For example, with the spoiled Thassa card, you'll want her devotion to be 5+ before combat so you can swing with that indestructible 5/5. But if there is a devotion card that says "During your end step do X if you have devotion Y," then Trait Doctoring will be a thing.
August 28, 2013 6:49 p.m.
thought of that as well. too bad Trait Doctoring is only a sorcery..
August 28, 2013 6:59 p.m.
weakmopre - I'm thinking about having it ciphered on a creature and hitting pre-combat. Otherwise you would need Aurelia, the Warleader to get that 2nd combat phase.
August 28, 2013 7:02 p.m.
weakmopre - that won't work because you can only exile instants with Elite Arcanist , otherwise that would be ideal.
August 28, 2013 7:04 p.m.
pookypuppy6 says... #20
One thing you can do with Trait Doctoring ] is use it as a Nivmagus Elemental supplement. Cast it and encode it onto the elemental (say, turn 2), and whenever it deals damage you can exile the copied spell for +1/+1 counters.
August 28, 2013 8:13 p.m.
BorosPlayer says... #21
Nope, you cannot exile and cipher it. You cipher when it resolves and you exile it before it resolves.
August 28, 2013 8:46 p.m.
He's saying you can exile each subsequent copy after it has been ciphered onto the Nivmagus Elemental .
That does work... but there are better options. Hidden Strings and/or Hands of Binding can both be use on turn 2, and both can be used to tap down possible blockers when first cast, ensuring that you'll get the cipher copy to be exiled.
August 28, 2013 9:05 p.m.
Cobthecobbler says... #24
I'm surprised that no one mentioned the way to use it with Undead Alchemist . Literally the ONLY way to make this card decent in a casual setting.
August 28, 2013 11:29 p.m.
Trait Doctoring doesn't do anything with Undead Alchemist as it can only change color or basic land type words with one another and the alchemist has none of these in it's ruling text.
August 29, 2013 4:51 a.m.
harrydemon117 says... #26
In a five color deck you could use it on a Liliana of the Dark Realms and have her fetch you ANY dual land post combat each time a creature hits. You can use it to ramp with whatever the biggest land count you have is to add BBBB for each of those lands tapped this turn if you have an emblem.
Not to mention -x/-x for whatever your best land count is.
By itself it's not a good card however. It needs to be part of a combo in order to do anything
August 29, 2013 11:20 a.m.
pookypuppy6 says... #27
You misunderstood the intention. You let the original copy resolve the first time without exiling it at all, allowing it to encode just fine onto Nivmagus Elemental . Then after it had successfully encoded onto the elemental, whenever you deal combat damage with him and cast a copy of the encoded spell, you can exile that spell for two +1/+1 counters. The spell remains encoded because you are only exiling cast copies of the spell.
In short, you leave the spell alone the first time to encode it, but feed off all the copies.
August 29, 2013 12:53 p.m.
harrydemon117 you could just build the deck to be mono black 5 color by using swamp shocks and maybe Chromatic Lantern as a color fixer.
August 29, 2013 3:18 p.m.
I just thought of a use for Trait Doctoring
, but it still doesn't make it good. You can use it as a counter for other players' devotion cards. As an example, if your opponent has Thassa out with the right devotion, you can change her devotion to a color they don't have to make her lose her creature status and just hit them w/o worrying about her.
Thoughts?
August 30, 2013 7:43 a.m.
harrydemon117 says... #31
@Demarge:
I gave an example of a USE for Trait Doctoring to show it needed to be part of a combo. The card is not playable as of right now in standard due to it doing NOTHING for its caster without another piece of the combo
August 30, 2013 9:19 a.m.
well put your Trait Doctoring on an unblockable creature or use thassa, god of the sea to alow your creature to attackt. Then change all your manas to Swamp and cast a Corrupt or a Quag Sickness . That's a use. maybe that can work
BorosPlayer says... #2
Your ideas for Witchstalker and Fiendslayer Paladin don't work because those are only for spells, and Trait Doctoring is a sorcery, so it can only be played on an empty stack. By the time you are allowed to play Trait Doctoring , there will be no spells to target, and anyways, it says permanent. However, the other ideas work and are decent, except to really do anything good with Skylasher , you would need it to be and instant to be played. The one with Garruk, Caller of Beasts is a good idea and you maybe could make a strange combo deck around it.
August 28, 2013 2:19 p.m.