Master of the Feast or Herald of Torment?

Standard forum

Posted on May 12, 2014, 11:17 a.m. by Sloanan

So I'm playing a Rakdos agro deck that mostly deals with lots of weenies and Prophetic Flamespeaker shenaniganz, but I also want to make a little bit of room for another three-drop. I'd link to the deck, but I haven't put it on here yet, but it's fairly basic agro staples (Cackler, Scarhide, etc.) mixed with Purphuros, God of the Forge and Underworld Cerberus for lots of mid-game burn if my agro fellas don't do the trick right away (have them kill the Cerberus to get back all of my one-or-two drops that died, then summon them all and shock the opponent to death - I did 12 damage on T6 at my FNM last week just from Purphuros alone).

Anyway, I'm stuck on my other 3-drops between Master of the Feast and Herald of Torment . I only have room for two and I'd prefer it to be two of the same creature for consistency. The card draw of Master of the Feast is definitely a drawback, but at the same time, swinging for 5 in the air on T4 is always welcomed. The life loss from Herald isn't as much of a drawback, and I guess it's a little more flexible in that I can bestow it if need be, but still.

What do you fellers and fellettes think?

Kravian says... #2

Herald. Bestowing it on the flamespeaker is waaaaay more optimum synergy than simply having a 5/5 that helps your opponents find answers.

May 12, 2014 11:25 a.m.

dymk says... #3

For me, Herald of Torment would be the best between those two. I think that the card draw from Master of the Feast would need a combo from a card that hits them for total number of cards in hand. Something like Toil / Trouble .

Have you thought about Nightveil Specter ?

May 12, 2014 11:28 a.m.

Herald is probably stronger in an aggressive deck. You should be dealing enough damage where 3 damage should still be plenty. The option to Bestow also helps against opposing removal.

5 damage in the air is nothing to scoff at, though. You should probably just test both out and see how you like them. Proxy it up and play.

May 12, 2014 11:28 a.m.

CrazyLittleGuy says... #5

It depends; Master of the Feast will do serious work in the beats department, but if you're looking to abuse Prophetic Flamespeaker then a 4/5 flying double strike trample sounds pretty ridiculous.Try em both out and see if Bestow comes up often enough to warrant Herald of Torment .

May 12, 2014 11:30 a.m.

zandl says... #6

Master of the Feast is a dangerous card to use. There isn't a deck out there that won't benefit hugely from drawing an extra card for free and, in such a removal-heavy format, the demon is likely to die before it gets to hit a player. This would effectively mean you spent 3 mana to kill your own creature.

May 12, 2014 12:02 p.m.

in light of the latest Grand Prix I would say that Master of the Feast has turned out a lot better than some would expect.

I would argue that you run it against aggro decks because they can't really match you pound-for-pound when you drop a flying 5/5 turn 3. against control I think Herald is the safer bet, because giving them card draw can be very risky with things like Azorius Charm still around

May 12, 2014 12:19 p.m.

Khanye says... #8

Herald of Torment all the way...hard cast as a creature for 3, or bestow for 5...that is called options in your favor...multi-functional cards > big beaters all day IMO

May 12, 2014 4:08 p.m.

I'm with the crowd on this one- Herald all day. There's a lot of instant-speed removal that can deal with Master (Hero's Downfall , Abrupt Decay , Selesnya Charm , Rapid Hybridization , Enchantment removal like Golgari Charm and Deicide , etc.), so in many cases you just gave your opponent a free card. In the current format, Master is just bad imo.

May 12, 2014 4:49 p.m.

Sloanan says... #10

Well, this seems borderline unanimous, so I guess Herald's sticking with it!

Thanks, guys.

Here's the deck, BTW. Made a couple of changes, but I might go back to lots and lots of one-drop weenies:


Infinite Pest Playtest

Standard Sloanan

SCORE: 0 | 0 COMMENTS | 0 VIEWS

May 13, 2014 5:11 p.m.

cr14mson says... #11

you're playing Black/Red, you have access to Master of the Feast that beefs up your opponent's hand then monstrous your Stormbreath Dragon . what's the discussion?

May 13, 2014 10:53 p.m.

sylvannos says... #12

@cr14mson: ...because Master of the Feast is a terrible card? Two more damage from your Stormbreath Dragon 's monstrous isn't worth helping your opponent dig for Supreme Verdict or Desecration Demon .

May 14, 2014 6:01 a.m.

dymk says... #13

After seeing the build, I would include Thoughtseize and skip both the Herald and Master.

May 14, 2014 7:44 a.m.

This discussion has been closed