Kiora's Follower better than Rattleclaw Mystic??? Hmm...
Standard forum
Posted on May 30, 2015, 12:08 a.m. by philktoken8998
I've been pondering this question for a while, and I really believe Kiora's Follower is better in many situation where you're looking for a straight ramp deck. Yes, the UG is tougher to cast, but with some pain lands and the correct land base, it shouldn't be too hard to do. If you're doing any type of devotion, shenanigans can really occur by tapping, untapping, and then tapping Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx for an absurd amount of mana. Not only that, but a 2/2 body is pretty relevant when facing against aggro. Any thoughts? I currently have a Temur deck Icy Hot Temur Sleeve-Shaq Tested, Shaq Approved and ended up replacing the Rattleclaw Mystic's with Kiora's Follower, and I actually find it works better for ramp. Plus, if you get a tap land that you lay down, this card can let you immediately let you use it for mana in a pinch late game.
ABadMagicPlayer100 says... #3
It's better because it can untap your big creatures after they attack.
May 30, 2015 12:37 a.m.
philktoken8998 says... #4
yea UpperDeckerTaco i see what you mean, but I'm just saying that sometimes you'll see decks where Kiora's Follower probably is the better pick. I just see some decks and think "should be Kiora's Follower in there: instead. Also, just in the long term (modern, eternal formats, not looking at "decks") I think you'd usually argue that Kiora's follower is better. I think most people would rather have a the utility and versatility of Kiora's tap ability. In the end it's just conjecture and my opinion, but I just think this card is really under-rated. I guess having U/G makes it harder to cast and a bit more of a "gamble" on if you can hit it on turn two, but I think that it's more than worth the risk since with Rattleclaw Mystic you're playing at least three colors and using tri lands anyways.
If it had a little bit higher power or toughness (2/3 or 1/4 or 0/5) it may have been an even better card.....Think about it as being a solid defender for 2 CMC in the meantime. If you're big cards don't have vigilance but could be great defenders, this card can give you extra value out of your best cards.
May 30, 2015 3:26 a.m.
I don't think it's that clear cut. Kiora's Follower doesn't color fix as well, it has a bigger likelihood that you're not playing your ramp on time, and I think you're overvaluing untapping your creature a bit.
Ultimately, the biggest issue is that the various Standard UGx decks would rather weight Green or Red mana for their spells then run enough Blue to make sure they had good odds of hitting it on time. For instance, even your Temur deck is 3 sources short of the ideal 13 Blue you'd want in order to cast a 2 mana Blue spell on time 90%.
Sure, in a vacuum Kiora's Follower is better than Rattleclaw Mystic, but the payoff for Kiora's Follower isn't worth the cost for the rest of the deck when Rattleclaw Mystic is nearly, or just, as good in most situations.
May 30, 2015 4:02 a.m.
Jimmy_Chinchila says... #6
I like it for the pseudo-vigilance it can provide to key creatures and thus can be a combat trick or for untapping your just-played Temple of Plenty on their turn to cast Stubborn Denial. In a Nykthos deck it is the better choice, without Nykthos I like Rattleclaw. Of course I usually go with Sylvan Caryatid over either of them.
UpperDeckerTaco says... #2
Like you said, in potentially a ramp deck. Otherwise, Rattleclaw Mystic is better in other types of decks. For example, morph decks that ramp and use the Den Protector+Deathmist Raptor combo and Mastery of the Unseen, Rattleclaw Mystic may be on of the better options. Or just in a straight aggro morph deck Rattleclaw is better. Depends on the deck. But to say one is definitely better than the other, it's not so clear cut. That's like saying Draconic Roar is better than Lightning Strike, it depends on the deck it's played in.
May 30, 2015 12:33 a.m.