Why are Gruul players playing Rakdos Cacklers instead of Experiment Ones?
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Posted on July 6, 2013, 12:20 p.m. by LayWhoZayHer
It's logical that in a Gruul deck you can pump up Experiment One to a 4/4 with regenerate, while Rakdos Cackler can become a 2/2 and cannot block. I don't get why they're playing him instead of Experiment One .
miracleHat says... #3
from what i have been reading, people have slowly been making the change and running both.
July 6, 2013 1:03 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #4
Well i guess it depends on the player, personally i've found evolve to unreliable, i'd only use it if there was nothing i could put in it's place.
July 6, 2013 1:33 p.m.
Experiment One is only good if you never need/expect to regenerate.
The fact that you need to remove the counters before the damage is dealt makes it rather week.
If he's a 3/3 and your opponent blocks with a 3/3, you have to let yours die in order to kill his.
If you remove the counters, you now have a 1/1 that will regenerate this once, but his 3/3 will live. This leaves you with a 1/1 and him a 3/3... probably would have been better to trade.
Compared to a Rakdos Cackler , they might be about equivalent in terms of how much damage they will get through if cast on turn 1... but if you draw either past turn 3 or 4, the Cackler just out classes the Experiment.
As such, if you have room for both, it's not a bad idea... but if you have to choose just one, toss the Experiment, and keep the Cackler.
July 6, 2013 1:44 p.m.
It's for the consistency and what putting that much green in would make you drop, the Gruul aggro deck is actually much more of a Red deck with a little green.
Any one drop means having roughly 8-12 untapped mana sources in order to be able to reliably play it T1. This would require adding a lot more forests to the mix and likely cutting Boros Reckoner . Sometimes you need to look at more than just the best card in the mana slot.
The other aspect is the consistency. You could run 12 green sources and 12 red sources with Experiment One and Boros Reckoner , and sometimes you'll get there. But at a long tournament some percentage of your games are going to be lost to that mana base. For aggro it's especially important, playing all your spells on time every time is a lot more important than the raw power of them.
July 6, 2013 2:17 p.m.
That is the exact reason I dont run Experiment One in my simic deck. I can evolve creatures a lot in the deck but I'd rather remove a counter from an undying creature and have it come back then remove counters that I will have to build back up. The power and toughness loss from Experiment One is a major factor in why dont run him.
July 6, 2013 4:24 p.m.
detentionsphere says... #8
Yes, what Slycne said. There are only about 6 untapped T1 green sources in most Gruul decks (4 Stomping Ground , 2 Temple Garden ) and about 14 red.
July 8, 2013 12:36 a.m.
RedCloud2012 says... #9
In many case like jund or Simic decks a stable blocker is what is needed against fast aggro and Expirement one is just what you need for human heavy versions with huntmaster that pair well with cavern of souls and even burning-tree. I believe X1 is slow to catch on but has alot of value for a 1 drop. For Simic he is equally valuable and can evolve more and also work well with zameck guildmage. I really like the card.
July 8, 2013 12:39 a.m.
harrydemon117 says... #10
The best thing to do is try it both ways and see for yourself. Everyone can post their own ideas (and most are validated by lots of practice) but in reality the only way to "see" it is to playtest with it yourself.
raithe000 says... #2
Really the wrong area. Try standard in the forums.
If I had to guess, Cackler is absolutely certain to be attacking for 2 on turn 2, Experiment One is less certain. Also, I'm not sure how much pure gruul is played. If they splash black, then you can hit the Cackler more often.
July 6, 2013 12:45 p.m.