[KTK] Khans of Tarkir

[Doks]

Hi all,

so the new set is fully revealed and I'm wondering why no one has become excited enough to start a discussion. I for myself am not very good at predicting how good a card might be, but there are definetely some cards that caught my attention (as a control player). These are:


1. Dig through Time + Treasure Cruise

I like both of them very much. They have the same CMC, one draws an additional card compared to the other and costs only U in the best case, the other costs at least UU but has instant speed and "tutors" the best two out of the top seven cards of your library (which is arguably a little stronger than "just" drawing three blind cards).

I've already been a fan of Tombstalker as finisher in my U/B(w) control deck and guess that Dig through Time will be another nice addition with the delve mechanic. More than two might be overkill, so Treasure Cruise might not make the cut.


2. Utter End

4 mana for a 1:1 trade doesn't sound too promising at first glance. However, I like that Esper Control gets another sorcery / instant - answer to permanents, especially planeswalkers, besides Unexpectedly Absent, Council's Judgment and Vindicate. I always loved O-Ring, D-Sphere and Banishing Light as an answer to early problematic permanents, but hated how fragile they were.

Now, with Utter End, Esper can maybe refrain from relying on the CMC-3 enchantments, replacing them by the named four spell-based answers and thus making room for overall board sweepers like Planar Cleasning, Akroma's Vengeance and Fated Retribution.


3. Sultai Charm

BUG Oath will love this. No need to run a one-sided answer like Nature's claim for Mystical Teachings anymore. And if it can't get the job done, it still digs at instant speed for a card that can handle the problematic situation.


4. Murderous Cut

The longer the game goes, the closer this gets to a non-conditional "B: Destroy target creature." Overall a very nice card in B's removal package. To get rid of an enemy Druid Hermit on the draw still requires you to play Innocent Blood or Fetchland + Ghastly Demise, but the other common choices (Doom Blade, Go for the Throat, Ultimate Price) also fail to save you in that situation.


5. Sharkan, the Dragonspeaker

This might serve as a nice finisher for Izzet control. It's more about his first and second ability to control the board if needed (Flametongue Kavu effect) and bashing for a solid 4 points of damage while being hard to remove.


6.Mantis Rider

(Maybe?) This will find its place in aggro-control strategies like URw Tempo. From my feeling, it looks pretty good, but can't really evaluate, if aggressive decks are satisfied with 3 power for CMC 3.


That's it from me so far, what cards are you guys excited about?

[MMD]

I have not intensively worked on the KTK list yet but can say that the overall power of the set looks mediocre to me at first glance. I personally expected a slightly higher power level on cards which require 3 different colors to cast.

For the moment I just "worked" on the mythics and rares for pre-order reasons. Most cards do have high mana cost requirements but if you have a deck which can fulfill them you should try these out:

Savage Knuckleblade – My rough creature benchmark (CC>2) is the following: Creature should have either haste, hexproof, flash, a relevant CIP trigger, some sort of evasion or a very good P/T value. In other words I want creatures to be quite resistant against removal and/or have a good chance to kill planeswalkers. Savage Knuckleblade can fulfil this requirement and is one of the very few 3CC creatures which you happily draw in the late game. My card of the set.

Mantis Rider – welcome addition for the UWR aggro/midrange strategy. Hasty evasion is a very useful combination to fight planeswalkers. P/T is not optimal as he falls to a lot of removal and can block only the smaller dorks to stay alive but hey, the investment is only three mana which is a very good buy IMO.

Siege Rhino – Loxodon Hierarch is obsolete nowadays due to increased average power level but this card is on steroids. 4/5 trample with a six life swing should often dominate the board which is very good for CC4 IMO.

Anafenza, the Foremost –The ability might be more or less irrelevant but this is irrelevant  as 4/4 for 3mana can be good enough by its own and there are some situations where her ability can be game winning (Persist, Reanimator) or at least sweat (2nd big/evasion attacker, mana elf).

Bloodsoaked Champion – 2/1 for one mana with a relevant ability...bought.

Wingmate Roc – 5 mana is a lot but hard to kill 6 power evasion is nothing to spit on. The second ability is quite week but can help you in race situation; I see it as a free bonus. 5 mana slots are very limited so it will be very hard to make the cut, perhaps in two colored midrange decks.

Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker – RR3 is not what I usually want to pay for a planeswalker but both abilities are very useful and he passes the planeswalker test to defend himself. In a world of planeswalkers he is the boss.

Butcher of the Horde – fulfills some of the requirements I have on creatures (P/T, flying,(haste)) and should find a home in decks which can pay him (mana) but definitely in decks with can pay both (mana/creature)

Temur Ascendancy – The card should at least cantrip in Temur Ramp decks and haste is one of the creature key abilities against removal and planeswalkers, as already mentioned. Certainly a bad top deck, so it might be too conditional but I would give it a try.

Sagu Mauler – The pre-order market says he is crap but I love his stats and abilities. He is very hard to kill and has evasion. If you reach 5 mana your opponent has no chance to save his planeswalker without losing a lot of toughness on the board. But I don´t know which deck want to pay so much mana for him, except perhaps RUG ramp.

Rattleclaw Mystic – The pre-order market says that he is good but I am not convinced.  He dies to everything and is no threat. Ramping from four to six is also not what I search for (except I have a Sagu Mauler in hand...)

Narset, Enlightened Master – I do not want to argue that this is playable but her effect can be very powerful and has combo potential. Some setup ideas for Highlander? There is even a Turn1 modern combo with it: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/modern-deck-creation/571175-turn-1-combo-using-narset

[tonytahiti]

Siege Rhino – 4,8

Dig Through Time - 4,7

Savage Knuckleblade – 4,7

Mantis Rider – 4,5

Butcher of the Horde – 4,5

Surrak Dragonclaw - 4,4

Anafenza, the Foremost – 4,4

Abzan Charm - 4,4

Hooting Mandrills - 4,3

Bloodsoaked Champion – 4,1

Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker – 4,1

Clever Impersonator 4,0

Treasure Cruise - 3,9

Monastery swiftspear - 3,9

Sultai Charm/Mardu Charm - 3,8

Sagu Mauler – 3,8

Wingmate Roc – 3,4

Jeskai Charm - 3,2

Murderous Cut - 3,2

Temur Charm - 3,1

Ashcloud Phoenix - 3,0

Rattleclaw Do Nothing – 2,0

Sorin Lord of Do Nothing - 2,0

Sidisi Lord of MillNoHit - 2,0

Utter End of Mana Efficiency - 1,3

[tonytahiti]

i was quite wrong about wingmate roc and i am sorry. its clearly a 3,9 and no 3,4.

[Kenshin]

The fact that Utter End is an instant makes it really good in Esper flash decks. I know, this is obvious, but keeping mana up for counters while still being able to handle pesky permanents if nothing of consequence happens is quite useful compared to the sorcery speed solutions for 3. It is definitely not the best card ever, but one that deck has waited for. Kills off Obzedat too, which is actually quite the beating. On top of that, Mystical Teachings finds it. I would give it a 3, as it is going to be played in some archetypes.

Dig Through Time seems to be a monster. But it instilled more fear into my testing partner than it actually seemed great to me. But that most likely is because in a deck full of counters you do not get to look at too many sick spells. It still is insanely powerful. Treasure Cruise on the other hand I am not yet sold on. Sorcery speed makes this a lot less likely to be cast for 6 if things go wrong. Tapping out always sucks. It is bad early and later on only good if you pillage your yard. But further testing might prove me utterly wrong. I mean waiting 4 turns to draw 3 is brutally strong, so paying 2-5 or just waiting for it to be just U might still be powerful as hell. Especially since most blue decks only have Snapcaster Mage as their graveyard synergy. Both Cards are probably pretty unreal in Decks with actual business cards as opposed to the pile of counters and removal I call esper.

[tonytahiti]

has anybody tested cards we havent talked about that have proven themselves to be good? potential sleepers for the format etc?

[Ball.Lightning]

I have tested some cards in Reanimator deck - namely Sultai's Charm, Treasure Cruise a Tormenting Voice. All peformed extremely well. Charm is probably the strongest one, since it is almost catch all answer, which also synergises with the deck theme. Treasure crusise is just Ancestral Recall in this type of deck and I was also very happy with Tormenting Voice as well. It is one of the best discarders possible on 2cc (if running red). I sort of dont understand, why it has been skipped by everyone here..

[Maqi]

Tormenting Voice is good. I ordered a foil one just yesterday.

It is kind of risky to run it against blue because discarding the one card is an additional cost. That being said... running Reanimator vs. blue is a pain in the %&$ anyway!

I have yet to test Sultai Charm, but judging from the looks of it, it seems like an obvious include since it handles Sc. Ooze, B2B, Blood Moon, Relic, Nihil Spellbomb, Ground Seal etc. while also being proactive to your gameplan when not needed as counterhate. Instant speed is really what makes this card tick.

Treasure Cruise and DtT are the obvious nuts. Look at the recent tournament in Braunschweig (http://www.mtgpulse.com/event/17895#253376) and it becomes obvious that they will affect HL very much.