[mtgnexus] Random Card of the Day - Ulalek, Fused Atrocity

[Serenade]

I've flipped on tutoring. My group has gotten more competitive, and there are too many things I need to answer or pressure I need to add NOW. Power creep and homogenization of deck construction are making the game much less fun for me.

[onering]

Enlightened: finds key cards and is necessary for some decks. Not much competition for enchantment tutors, or artifact tutors in white that aren't for equipment. It's baseline is sol ring or crypt. The fair use baseline being so good makes this basically an auto include, and it does a lot of work in helping mono white ramp.

Mystical: good, but faces competition for its slot. Brutal in certain decks like Narset 1.0 where resolving it basically wins the game.

Worldy: probably has the most competition out of the cycle. There's a ton of stuff in green that grabs creatures, and while they aren't as broad in what they grab they usually have some upside (either being a creature themselves, being repeatable in some way, or getting the creature to play).

Vampiric: maybe the best tutor in the game. Firing it off end of turn basically makes it Demonic Tutor but you have all your mana to use. Competes with Demonic for the top slot.

Cruel: this card sucks I'm sorry. Your deck will be better cutting it for Diabolic, because as often as it's going to get you what you need a turn earlier it's more often going to make you wait an extra turn to draw it. It only outclasses Diabolic when you cast it when you only have 3 mana, otherwise it usually just matches Diabolic by making you wait a turn (either to have mana available with Diabolic or to draw it with Cruel) or is slower than Diabolic (because you're more likely to have mana to cast what you searched up with Diabolic than a way to immediately draw whatever you searched up with Cruel, and you only save 1 mana with Cruel anyway!). There are just too many better options, including 2 that are strictly better and one that is almost strictly better (heavier black cost, pay 1 more life, but tutor to hand), and plenty that are arguably better in most situations.

[Dunadain]

Never thought about how red never got a piece of this cycle, I suppose it would be artifacts? Or maybe it leans even harder into card disadvantage, allowing you to tutor anything, but you also discard a card.

Either way, this whole cycle is good, and I for one think tutors are a net positive for the format.

👍👍

[Mookie]

Never thought about how red never got a piece of this cycle, I suppose it would be artifacts? Or maybe it leans even harder into card disadvantage, allowing you to tutor anything, but you also discard a card.

Goblin Recruiter? It and Zirilan of the Claw look to be the only red tutors in Mirage block.

I'm currently low on tutors - fetching the same one or two things every game feels sort of boring and makes games feel more homogeneous. I am willing to run Trinket Mage, Tribute Mage, and other narrow tutors when they are part of the deck's theme, but I have cut most of the less-conditional tutors from my decks.

That said, Vampiric Tutor and the other options are certainly powerful cards and add a lot of consistency to decks, which makes them a must-include at higher power levels. Decks without tutors will usually need more card draw and redundancy to make up for the increased variance, particularly if you're trying to put together a specific combo. I do find card draw to be more fun than tutoring though.

These tutors do cost a card though, which can be an issue in some games - I would be hesitant to run multiple top-of-deck tutors unless my commander could provide a consistent source of card advantage to make up for it. I recently had a game where an opponent mulled to 6 and used Vampiric to grab a Generous Gift, then wound up doing very little for the rest of the game - I think they should have used it to fetch some source of card advantage instead.

Cruel Tutor is pretty bad though.

[Guardman]

So going back to Solemn Simulacrum, the more I think about it, the more I like that its not the staple that it used to be. I think it is a much more interesting card when its played because it either fits a specific role or has some sort of synergy in the deck rather than being a generic goodstuff creature (which it still is to a certain extent).

[3drinks]

Never thought about how red never got a piece of this cycle, I suppose it would be artifacts? Or maybe it leans even harder into card disadvantage, allowing you to tutor anything, but you also discard a card.

Either way, this whole cycle is good, and I for one think tutors are a net positive for the format.

👍👍

Gamble|usg and Reckless Handling are the closest it got.

[Igzex]

To this day, they are still among the most powerful consistency options in the game. However, I have to stress that they are not the super staples that the EDHREC statistics makes them out to be. These tutors are geared towards digging up a specific card that your gameplan needs whether it would be the most relevant sword for your voltron, the missing pieces of a combo engine, or specific outs for a hexproof indestructable board. If your deck has a good ratio of cards that are all good at advancing your gamestate you should probably focus on drawing multiple cards instead of just replacing a card. You don't have to splurge $40 bucks for a Vampiric Tutor when you'll get more out of those Painful Truths and Manifold Insights filling up that bargain box at your LGS.

[Mookie]

To this day, they are still among the most powerful consistency options in the game. However, I have to stress that they are not the super staples that the EDHREC statistics makes them out to be. These tutors are geared towards digging up a specific card that your gameplan needs whether it would be the most relevant sword for your voltron, the missing pieces of a combo engine, or specific outs for a hexproof indestructable board. If your deck has a good ratio of cards that are all good at advancing your gamestate you should probably focus on drawing multiple cards instead of just replacing a card. You don't have to splurge $40 bucks for a Vampiric Tutor when you'll get more out of those Painful Truths and Manifold Insights filling up that bargain box at your LGS.

Yeah, this is always an interesting thought experiment - Is it better to play nine tutors and one tutor target, or five draw spells and five redundant copies of what you would tutor for? I think the latter makes for more interesting games, but the correct choice often depends on the rest of the deck.

Some decks want the tutors because there aren't multiple versions of what they're tutoring for, or they're a significant step down in power (i.e. Thassa's Oracle as a win condition). On the other hand, if what you're fetching is replaceable or if it isn't a significant spike in power over a random draw, then card draw tends to be more efficient.

[Toshi]

I'm somewhat low on these - from a game experience standpoint. Sure enough i have my highly tuned decks that want it to compete, but outside of those i enjoy coming from redundancy and flavor a lot more.
In more casual decks i want my tutors to be fun like Bring to Light or mechanically fitting like Diabolic Intent and Sidisi, Undead Vizier in reanimator decks or Imperial Recruiter in weenie lists.

There's only so much tun to be had, if you do the same thing each and every time. No wonder i hate tutoring commanders.

[PrimevalCommander]

One mana tutors are obviously very powerful, and I'm playing all 5 (with gamble) somewhere or another, but I am using them less than I had in the past. I think I have an unused copy of most of them, because like others have said, I like a little variance and would rather draw extra cards in many cases. Though you know what these cards do well? Tutor for draw engines so I can draw extra Extra cards Probably my #1 use is to tutor for those engine pieces to get extra value. I don't use too many 1-card wincons, so having a couple tutors to gear up my engines are really nice to have. If I have the engine online, then I can look for an answer or a wincon.

I just wouldn't play 3 of them in a 3 color deck, unless my commander draws so many cards I can't cast them all anyway. They are staples in all my mono-color decks.

[pokken]

They are staples in all my mono-color decks.

I think this is my favorite use for them, I really like the different constraints they breed, especially Mystical Tutor and Enlightened Tutor but even Worldly Tutor, in mono color (or non-black) decks. I find Crop Rotation interesting for similar reasons.

Like in Ephara, I can Mystical Tutor for Sevinne's Reclamation or Cosmic Intervention to set up big ramp, or I can tutor for a board wipe, so it's got a little toolboxy feel. E-tutor can get ramp, catchup ramp (Archaeomancer's Map, or wincon Felidar Retreat.

Then you get deep where E-tutor can find Expedition Map which can find Field of the Dead or Mystic Sanctuary, the latter being able to recover a Mystical Tutor :D

So I've had games where I start with a Mystical Tutor and have enough CA that I can fetch E-tutor, e-tutor for map, map up a fetchland to get Mystic Sanctuary to get Mystical Tutor back for a board wipe, bounce Mystic Sanctuary with a Azorius Chancery and replay it to get Enlightened Tutor for a Trouble in Pairs for more cards or Felidar Retreat to win the game, etc etc. :D

Honestly it can all be kinda tedious but I enjoy the thought exercises the restrictions present. Similar with Spellseeker and Recruiter of the Guard loops.

[Sinis]

I haven't played top of deck tutors for a long time, and this is coming from someone who used to run Mystic Tutor and Personal Tutor|POR in a lot of decks. I truly used to love them in decks with Miracle cards or top-of-deck shenanigans (like Intet, the Dreamer, or Djinn of Wishes), but it's been a long while since I've sleeved one up. Or Search for Glory over Enlightened Tutor, and even then not that.

I'm unsure if non-Vampiric top-of-deck tutors are just too inflexible, or if they're too slow... or if it's because I'm just running fewer tutors in general, because I want the varied non-combo gameplay experience, but I think the sun is setting on these in my groups.

[benjameenbear]

I like the redundancy and flexibility tutors add to deck construction, personally. For that reason, I try to have different card types (card advantage, removal, and ramp) represented within all of my tutor targets, especially these top-of-deck tutors. In my Atraxa deck, for example, Enlightened Tutor could get me Solemn Simulacrum/Sol Ring (for ramp), Noxious Gearhulk (for removal), or Skullclamp (for card draw).

But since E. Tutor isn't Phyrexia themed... it doesn't make the deck. I have an extremely strict Phyrexian-theme policy for that deck specifically where I remove a bunch of generically good cards in favor of cards that better fit the aesthetic and feeling of what I want my deck to produce. I think this is WAY more fun instead of generically jamming in a bunch of Atraxa goodstuff.

[folding_music]

in ancient chaos times in my area Mystical Tutor was the second most feared card because Upheaval was the most feared card :3 I lke that they put you a card down but they should still cost two

[3drinks]

Apologies, I've been battling something since last night. Still not 100%, but we're making progress at least. At least I didn't miss the whole day though.

Friday, June 21st 2024; Vanishing

Man, I remember when this + Zur the Enchanter|tsr was unbeatable. What a time that was. I bet it's still good, especially in, say, a Geist of Saint Traft|isd deck.

[Dunadain]

Still great protection, very blue mana intensive though.

👍👍

[pokken]

I struggle to imagine the deck in which I can screw around this much anymore.

I died to 8 tarmogoyf tokens from a precon tonight on turn 7

[materpillar]

I struggle to imagine the deck in which I can screw around this much anymore.

I died to 8 tarmogoyf tokens from a precon tonight on turn 7

Precons don't mess around as much as they used to.

[3drinks]

Saturday, June 22nd 2024; Static Orb|7ed

It's actually really, really hard to break the symmetry on this (icy manipulator|2ed notwithstanding), and it's painful to play through. I'd really rather see winter orb|3ed on either side of the table because at least I can finish reasonably quick with the team.

[3drinks]

I struggle to imagine the deck in which I can screw around this much anymore.

I died to 8 tarmogoyf tokens from a precon tonight on turn 7

Precons don't mess around as much as they used to.

Seconded. Last precon I grabbed (and actually played with) was that Sauron, Lord of the Rings deck and that ate a Zur, Edgar, and Oswald for breakfast. Guess as it turns out, wipe into a 8/8 with a free 5/5 and Reanimate attached is a lot of power to deal with. Who knew?

[pokken]

Static Orb is incrdibly easy to break symmetry on and way more backbreaking than winter.

Sword of Feast and Famine and Unwinding Clock and Seedborn Muse etc

[Dunadain]

Yeah, it's trivially easy to tap an artifact. I'm not sure what you mean @3drinks.

Like most stax effects, it's not particularly good, and, subjectively not particularly fun.

👎

[Sinis]

I think you can just find a way to tap it. Not just Icy Manipulator, but Clock of Omens, Urza, Lord High Artificer, Shimmer Dragon, and Moonsnare Prototype are all playable. Additionally, you can just peep old stasis tech; decks that would bounce it or do something like Master Transmuter or Temporal Adept.

Finally, just mass vigilance creatures. Tocasia, Dig Site Mentor, Heliod, God of the Sun, Brave the Sands all let you attack with impunity while other players can barely move.

Anyway, I think this card is probably just unfun, and I wouldn't want to play with or against it.

[Igzex]

Saturday, June 22nd 2024; Static Orb|7ed

It's nice to remember that not all game ruining cards are from the Play Design era.

[3drinks]

Sunday, June 23rd 2024; Sanctifier en-Vec

"Modern is leaking again..." but no, for serious, this card does a lot of work. Fantastic little hatebear.