Sleeper Dragon's Maze Cards
Standard forum
Posted on May 9, 2013, 1:15 p.m. by nfcnorth
There are tons of new cards thanks to dragon's maze being released. What are some cards you think have hidden potential that are being over looked? One sleeper that I can think of is Bronzebeak Moa . Just think about playing that dude and following it up with Lingering Souls for two turns or all at once for huge amounts of damage. He is not good on defense but even playing one creature a turn makes him a pretty big beat stick. He also pairs pretty well with any planeswalker that makes dudes. I am curious to hear about other cards people think of as sleepers. So let's hear about some sleeper cards!
I'd love to do Bronzebeak Moa with Trostani's Summoner . You could then play Conjurer's Closet and flash the summoner in and out. Your Moa is then a 14/14 every single turn. Not too shabby in my opinion. Of course that's very situational, but just an example.
May 9, 2013 1:35 p.m.
I dont know if anyone plays RWG, but if you do, you could do something like Bronzebeak Moa + Assemble the Legion He would just get bigger and bigger each turn haha.
May 9, 2013 1:41 p.m.
willsm87, it's called Naya and it works really well. I have already used that combo. It's great.
May 9, 2013 1:45 p.m.
Conjurer's Closet triggers at the end of turn, so that won't help Bronzebeak Moa much if you plan to attack with it. You could, however, use it in conjunction with Fling .
An idea I've had is Bronzebeak Moa + Thatcher Revolt . You would even have the mana open to cast Boros Charm on the Moa to give it double strike.
May 9, 2013 1:45 p.m.
Trmiller1326 says... #7
I can see AEtherling getting popular. Especially as a finisher in Esper Control.
May 9, 2013 1:45 p.m.
Trmiller1326 says... #10
In the right deck I think Ready / Willing could be a great card too, maybe in a Junk midrange/lifegain deck.
May 9, 2013 1:51 p.m.
I too am a fan of Ready / Willing . It is a one card combo with Boros Reckoner and is a huge blowout fused. Both sides are pretty good on their own too.
Also to elaborate a little more on my sleeper pick, I think it has potential. Imagine this T1 mana dork Turn 2 removal spell or Farseek Turn 3 Bronzebeak Moa Turn 4 Lingering Souls with the option to flashback or play another 2 mana spell. You have the option of swinging for 8 or 14 on turn 4. and if you do not flashback lingering souls you can swing for 8 next turn too. Plus its not like your running a bunch of spells that you would not normally run to make this work. But this is the last I will mention of this as I want to discuss more sleepers than just the one I suggested.
Something I want to touch on briefly I get that some people might disagree with some choices as sleepers but the point of this is not to say "oh this sleeper picks suck all these cards are better". The point is to discuss cards that have potential that is being overlooked. Remember these are sleeper picks and that everyone views card differently. So try to keep an open mind and not just say ''card x is better and always will be better". Also remember just because you may not like a card it doesn't mean no one likes it.
May 9, 2013 2:28 p.m.
I would also consider a "sleeper" card to be one that might be sub-optimal NOW, but will gain in usefulness after Innistrad block rotates out.
May 9, 2013 2:51 p.m.
pumpkinsword says... #13
Sleepers: Skylasher , Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch , Scion of Vitu-Ghazi . They will go up after rotation for sure.
May 9, 2013 2:53 p.m.
AEtherling is probably a good bet.
So long as you have one blue mana open, I see no way to get rid of him. He's big... and get's bigger! He's got the best type of evasion.
Sure he's 6CMC, so people will overlook him, but control, ramp, and other deck type can easily overlook this.
I'm testing him out in a B/U ramp deck: Heartless Strings, and he's a perfect fit... even if the deck can start off slow occasionally.
Vorel of the Hull Clade might pick up a little... putting counters on things can be a little time/mana intensive, but this speeds things up quite a bit, possibly making it worth while. I can see some bant Aggro that could take advantage of this, or even Turbo-Fog decks that use Otherworld Atlas for card draw.
Legion's Initiative is going to hold strong, and possibly rise... possible +1/+1 for all creatures (not just tribal) for only 2 mana... not many permanents can do this for this cheap. - ETB effects, even minor ones, will be that much more powerful with this, plus it can remove all negative effects from creatures (negative enchantments, -1/-1 counters... though they aren't in Standard currently... etc.), and of course it prevents board wipes, including those that may continue past end of turn.
May 9, 2013 3:20 p.m.
Lostsorrow says... #15
+1 Legion's Initiative as I am running 2 of them as well as 3 Sire Of Insanity in my reanimator deck, Reanimator LD Dragons Maze Updated (Help please). There is nothing more fun the using Legion's Initiative as stated before to save from a wipe but also trigger all your creatures come into play effects. To be able to double if not triple Acidic Slime , Thragtusk or Restoration Angel something else for only 2 mana is just epic. Sire Of Insanity is so good to feed the graveyard and also hose your opponent into a top deck wish. As Unburial Rites stays around for a few more months, it is only a perfect fit with Sire Of Insanity . I can see jund reanimator getting popular real fast because of Sire Of Insanity and Varolz, the Scar-Striped working together. Maw of the Obzedat I can see replacing Bloodthrone Vampire .
May 9, 2013 3:59 p.m.
AEtherling for sure. He is a beast in both my Bant and my Amercan. Deputy of Acquittals ...for a common, it will take the place of Resto (don't dismiss this idea bc it's common and doesn't "blink"). I really agree with Bronzebeak Moa ...those little turkies just about ran my pre-release! I love them with Assemble the Legion . One final card that I thin kwill see a lot of play post rotation...Vorel of the Hull Clade . I playtested him in my Bant and he is pretty well suited to doubling the counters on my Prime Speaker Zegana , usually making her 11/11. I especially like this with AEtherling on the board...its a victory swing in most cases. DGM is better than most people realize right now, but Innistrad block was so good it shadows it over still.
Also, I find Trait Doctoring to be one of the worst cards ever. Can someone show me where it's useful?
May 9, 2013 4:42 p.m.
Trait Doctoring can be good with protection colors. makes it to where your Knight of Infamy can block a Knight of Glory
May 9, 2013 5:20 p.m.
hmmm...that makes sense, but it's not an isntant so it can't be used for that particular scenario. What about for mana fixing the other way around? Like, if my Deathrite Shaman needs use his B ability but I only have G mana?
May 9, 2013 5:31 p.m.
@pumpkinsword: I second Skylasher . He'll be a really strong card in older formats. I doubt he'll see Standard play, but my god does he lay down the beats against blue. He's the ultimate answer to Fish.
May 9, 2013 5:46 p.m.
@kriskurse No! Just, no!
Trait Doctoring is not good. It cannot allow your Knight of Infamy to block a Knight of Glory . It is a Sorcery, and only lasts until end of turn, so it cannot be played before blockers are declared, unless you are putting it in a deck and intending to use Alchemist's Refuge just for it.
This is quite possibly the worst rare ever printed... it's best use is to be exiled to a Nivmagus Elemental every turn, or trigger Guttersnipe ... and since the point of a Guttersnipe deck is to not need to attack, it's only use is for it to never resolve, and simply be exiled over and over... kind of fitting for such a horrible card.
It's entire card could essentially say "Target creature. Cipher.", because that's all it does... it needs a valid target to be cast, and beyond that.... nothing.
The only target it might want to hit are creatures with protection from Blue, so you can hit it with a real spell like Unsummon ... but, "Hey, Look!!"... those have protection from blue.
Should I go on about how horrible this card is....? because I could keep typing for a while... I mean, I haven't even gotten to the point of comparing this to other bad cards to prove it's bad. I haven't needed to, it's just that bad. - I'm even the type of person who is willing to make a Maze's End deck (A-Maze-ing) because of that slight glimpse of potential... but I can't be bothered with this junk.
Ummm.... I think I may have just challenged myself... uh, oh!... yep, I did... Crap!
I challenge myself to design a Standard deck with 4x Trait Doctoring , where when cast, the opponent will view the ciphered creature as a threat to be killed! - Challenge Accepted! (I will keep you updated)
May 10, 2013 12:55 a.m.
Okay... I just went through 5 pages of Standard legal cards on Gatherer that have instances land types and/or color.
This is what I see as being possible targets for Trait Doctoring when Ciphered to get some effect:
Arbor Elf - Untap any land that has a basic land type.
Crypt Ghast - Get additional black mana from any land that has a basic land type. (This one intrigues me)
Gem of Becoming - Search for any land that has a basic land type. (This one intrigued me until I realized that with shock lands, you could already do that with this.)
Ivy Lane Denizen - Get +1/+1 counters for any color creatures.
Liliana of the Dark Realms - Search for any land with a basic land type, or give -X/-X equal to the number of land you control that have any specified land type, or get an emblem that allows you to get 4 black mana from land with any specifiec basic land type. (Lots of options... but not sure any are that great.)
Quirion Dryad - Allow you to get +1/+1 counters for green spells as well as other colors. (Also intriguing)
Sage's Row Denizen - Mill for creatures of any color... notood, won't be looking at this one further..
So, with these card available, I will see if I can make a deck that uses these to make a Ciphered Trait Doctoring a real threat. - Tomorrow.... too late to start now. Good night.
May 10, 2013 1:27 a.m.
Skylasher is great, especially against esper control. Can't be countered, blue protection, reach, it may have just been a Nevermore for Delver of Secrets Flip . It's still solid against all blue though, completely outclassing Runeclaw Bear and EVEN... Grizzly Bears !!!!!! :-( ) I also reckon Sire Of Insanity is underrated. It works really well with Blood Scrivener
May 10, 2013 2:28 a.m.
detentionsphere says... #23
No, Skylasher is not good against Esper, control, for the same reason that Voice of Resurgence is actually pretty meh against us; the fact that it is just a 2/2 beater.
As for sleepers... AEtherling is amazing. Deputy of Acquittals is pretty good. And my pick for sleeper of the set: Viashino Firstblade . A 4/4 with haste FOR 3?!?!? Sure it's bad after turn 3 but still.
May 10, 2013 3:50 a.m.
@detentionsphere - I'm not sure I would say Viashino Firstblade is a 4/4 haste for 3... after that one swing, it's just a rad and white bear. - Still a good aggro card, but I feel you may be over hyping it a little. - Granted if you combine a T2 Legion's Initiative with a T3 Viashino Firstblade would be a 5 point swing... but then it's still a 3/3. - For a 3 drop in R/W, I would rather have a Boros Reckoner , Silverblade Paladin , or possibly even Skyknight Legionnaire .
@KingSorin - I'm not certain about Sire Of Insanity . At 6CMC many players will already be top-decking. Those that would normally have cards will likely also have card draw that they can do on their turn. Jace, Architect of Thought , and Garruk, Primal Hunter come to mind, as does Tamiyo, the Moon Sage (although Sire Of Insanity ruins her ultimate.). Even a Think Twice in the grave is useable for this when players are up to 6-7 mana.
It will have it's place, as it prevents counter spells, and as you mentioned, it combines well with Blood Scrivener ... that is, it would if you couldn't just get down to no cards in hand by using your 6-7 mana to cast the 2 cards you draw each turn. But there are other cards that can work well with it. Staff of Nin , Otherworld Atlas (very powerful card draw if your opponents deck has few instants), or Notion Thief (to ensure they can't get more than one card at a time).
May 10, 2013 8:33 a.m.
So, I went ahead and completed my challenge... A deck to make that absolute best use of Trait Doctoring .
Deck: Traits of the Dryad
I haven't tested it a lot, but here's an example of something that happened when I did.
T2: Forest - Quirion Dryad
T3: Breeding Pool - Trait Doctoring (+1/+1 counter, change Dryad to change Red to Green) - Arbor Elf (+1/+1 counter) - Swing for 3, recast Hidden Strings cipher (+1/+1 counter)
T4: Swamp - Crypt Ghast - swing with 4/4 Dryad, cipher triggers giving a +1/+1.
T5: Swing with 5/5 Dryad, cipher Hidden Strings (Crypt Ghast now says "Forest", +1/+1 on Dryad), - Up to 11 mana is now available by getting GB from each forest, and untapping them with Arbor Elf s. - Cast 2x Crypt Ghast - Dryad gets 2 more +1/+1 counters and is now a 7/7.
May 10, 2013 9:17 a.m.
oops... I types Hidden Strings twice when I meant Trait Doctoring .... (can you tell what my favourite Cipher card is..?... possibly my favourite DGM card!)
May 10, 2013 9:19 a.m.
Hidden Strings could have said "You may tap or untap up to two target permanents. Permanents tapped this way do not untap during their controller's next untap phase" and be made rare instead of Trait Doctoring .
I assume Trait Doctoring was made to give Dimir a 1-CMC cipher card to trigger various on-cast effects.
May 10, 2013 10:30 a.m.
If things tapped by Hidden Strings didn't untap, AND you still had the choice of untapping with it, AND you could target 2 permanents (including land, as it currently does), it would have to be Mythic, and be 3-4CMC... locking down 4 lands with it would end games. - I think it's perfect the way it is.
I don't see the use in having a 1 CMC cipher card just to trigger effects... since it needs to cipher onto a creature, and would only be for triggering effects of other things in play, you'll have at least 3-4 mana before it can be effectively used for that... and it's cipher cost is the same as all others... "free".
May 10, 2013 10:43 a.m.
hmmmm.... Hidden Strings with Stasis . Pay for the upkeep cost and untap the creature it's ciphered onto every turn.
Might there be a spot for Hidden Strings in Legacy/Vintage?
May 10, 2013 10:46 a.m.
@Rayenous I was totally a bit drunk when I typed that. lol but You get what I mean. There are instances in play that it might be helpful for. Rarely Tho. The card is a bit bad. But there will be at least one time itll be useful. Say they are at 2 and they have 3 red creatures on the field, and you have a Knight of Glory . They are tapped out without any type of response, and you trait doctoring your knight to make it have protection from red. Lol not saying itd be too helpful ever. it just does work every once in a while
May 10, 2013 11:28 a.m.
They probably wanted to create a 1 CMC cipher, but in order to do that it needed to have an effect that wouldn't have too big of an impact. If the effect was too powerful it could be abused in other formats with access to effects similar to Isochron Scepter .
It also has SOME use with extort, especially when coupled with the new Pontiff of Blight in an Esper token shell.
I'm not trying to say it's a good card. The "end of turn" limitation sucks, and it could have been "until the end of your next turn" or "until your next turn." I'm just saying it COULD have some uses, even though they might be really janky.
May 10, 2013 11:48 a.m.
Still.... I'd rather have just about any other card. Blustersquall , Downpour , Gridlock , Sleep , Artful Dodge , Ghostform , and Tricks of the Trade are all options in the same color that would do just as well (or usually better), and not rely on having a "protection from colour" or "landwalk" creature in play.
If it were a permanent change, it may be okay... if it were instant, it may be okay... but the way this card was designed just sucks.
May 10, 2013 11:49 a.m.
....but why design a 1 CMC cipher. Since you'll need a creature in play, there's no need to make it 1CMC... you'll always have more than 1 mana available for it's casting.
It has no more use with Extort than any other Cipher card... only those will have some sort of effect. This just took up a slot in the deck for no reason.
Saying it "COULD" have some uses is like saying Chimney Imp COULD deal a lethal blow... the card still sucks, and could/should have been any other card. Only this one takes up a rare slot in your booster packs.
May 10, 2013 11:57 a.m.
Lostsorrow says... #34
makes you miss the good ole' days of Magical Hack and Sleight of Mind ;)
May 10, 2013 11:59 a.m.
If it was a permanent effect, the ability to change a land's type would have to be removed, but would make the card better.
May 10, 2013 12:04 p.m.
Those were a couple of my favourite cards when they were around. Very useful and playable.
Perhaps that's why I notice just how bad Trait Doctoring is. Making it cipher does not, in any way make up for how useless this is... all it does is make extra (useless) triggers occur, slowing down the game and annoying everyone.
May 10, 2013 12:04 p.m.
@ meecht - Trait Doctoring cannot be used to change a lands type. It can only change the "text" portion of a permanent, which is the part inside the lower box. A land's type cannot be changed, as it is not in that text box. (even the original dual lands were erata'd to fix this.)
May 10, 2013 12:09 p.m.
From Gatherer:
4/15/2013 Trait Doctoring changes the color word or basic land type each time it appears in the permanents type line and/or rules text. It doesnt change the name of the card or any instances of the word being used as part of a cards name.
4/15/2013 If the basic land type of a land is changed, the associated mana ability of that land will also change, but its name will not. For example, if youve changed Plains to Island, a card named Plains will have the basic land type Island and can be tapped for U, and it can no longer be tapped for W.
So you could change Mountain to "Basic Land - Forest" or Breeding Pool into "Land - Swamp Island" until end of turn.
May 10, 2013 12:17 p.m.
I was just reading that... this is new. Previously, Magical Hack , and Sleight of Mind could not change anything except what was in the text box portion of cards.
This might make 1 or 2 uses for this card in non-Standard formats... probably not powerful enough to be bothered with. - My first thought was being able to change you land into Island s for a more effective hightide... but hightide decks are usually mono blue to start with, so what would you change?
May 10, 2013 12:27 p.m.
hmmm... in that case, the "Challenge Deck" I made to see this cards best uses (Traits of the Dryad) in Standard can also mana fix by changing an Island into a Swamp (or what have you) for the post-combat main phase... which can also ramp if I have Crypt Ghast in play.
...hmmmm...
May 10, 2013 12:34 p.m.
Hey Rayenous, I used 4x Trait Doctoring ! The Pearl Trident Brigade.
May 10, 2013 1:24 p.m.
I'll save my responses to that for your Deck's page... needless to say... NO!
May 10, 2013 1:55 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #43
i just picked up two copies of Gaze of Granite , it's a great sweeper, really flexible, and can kill tokens like as easy as tapping down three lands and flicking the card across the table.
May 10, 2013 8:15 p.m.
Zhur-Taa Ancient just because doubling up on mana is never a bad thing, especially for things like Savageborn Hydra , Kessig Wolf Run , Devil's Play , and any other spell or ability with X in its mana cost.
May 12, 2013 2:34 a.m.
@pumpkinsword, i also agree with Skylasher as being a huge sleeper. I would also have to say Far/ Away
May 12, 2013 3:24 a.m.
Seance on board with with Bronzebeak Moa . cheat the Trostani's Summoner into play through Seance , slap a Rancor onto the moa. Yes, there are way better 4 drop options in standard right now, but with people not suspecting the moa, it would potentially just sit there for a turn or two, while you get your pieces in order, then you swing like a champ, and all they can do is scoop....
Copying and pasting decks from the last PTQ, or only using cards with gold / red emblems does not ensure that you win big monies...Moa is definitely a sleeper
May 13, 2013 12:36 p.m.
Midnight Haunting also helps if you dont want to run black for Lingering Souls
May 13, 2013 12:38 p.m.
if you are talking limited - Tithe Drinker is a work horse, give her a boost and let her do her thing, an Ethereal Armor with Riot Gear is just funny 4/4 life link, first strike, i have won games just bashing her into people on a board stall and dropping cheap spells extorting them, worst game yet i was up over 60 life when they finally scooped.
Thrull Parasite is another work horse that takes apart anyone playing heavy simic or if someone pull out a planeswalker, kiss it good bye - so far i have killed 3 planeswalkers this way.
a pair of Deputy of Acquittals with Spark Trooper is funny, hit the loop every game, but only hit both deputies in one game, for some reason a lot of people did not block the first spark trooper attack, i did get lucky pulling this combo
Krasis Incubation has become a card i really like,
Gaze of Granite is a wonderful answer to token decks.
Mekhami says... #2
Bronzebeak moa is still too expensive to be standard playable. Consider other 4 drop creatures in standard currently; Falkenrath Aristocrat , Hellrider , Restoration Angel .. these are all cards that stand on their own as much better cards.
May 9, 2013 1:31 p.m.