Cards I do not understand.
General forum
Posted on July 11, 2014, 2:46 a.m. by Death_The_Kid
So there are times where I will not understand why a card is worth a lot of money, or why people say it is good. So this first card I do not understand is Necropotence how does it work exactly and why would I want it?
Death_The_Kid says... #3
hm i see but I have to wait till the end my turn ot use the cards right? i think thats what bothers me, I did not know that I could pay as much life as I wanted so I can see why that is good. thanks :)
July 11, 2014 2:54 a.m.
CrazyLittleGuy says... #4
No problem! Forcing you to wait until end of turn, and to a lesser extent the exile upon discard clause, are just ways to keep the power of the card in check. That prevents players from just activating repeatedly up until they hit the card they're looking for, which would make it a combo player's dream. As it is, it serves as a way to continuously ensure your hand is full of gas and answers throughout the game. If it was in Modern, I can almost guarantee Phyrexian Arena would be obsolete.
July 11, 2014 3:02 a.m.
Death_The_Kid says... #5
okay so can someone explain Zedruu the Greathearted to me? idk how anyone would use him lol
July 11, 2014 3:18 a.m.
you play control, draw a shit ton of cards and give your opponent permanents that either do nothing or are a hinderance to them. You can oblivion ring their dude and then give them the oblivion ring
July 11, 2014 3:23 a.m.
CrazyLittleGuy says... #8
Sure! Zedruu the Greathearted is used in some special EDH decks that aim to give their opponent disadvantageous cards like Steel Golem and Illusions of Grandeur . This way, while you gain extra life and draw extra cards, your opponent is bogged down with permanents that only harm them.
July 11, 2014 3:27 a.m.
There's also a slightly less played type of deck called Group Hug, whose intent is to aid the entire table with universal effects, like Kami of the Crescent Moon , Boldwyr Heavyweights , or Oath of Lieges . It's a way to play the politics of EDH, which some people really like to do. It often also has a way to just win on the spot, despite the advantage it gives to other players, though some Group Hug decks are truly designed to play kingmaker without winning.
July 11, 2014 4:15 a.m.
Necropotence basically says 'fuck the draw step - have as many cards as you want'
July 11, 2014 5:23 a.m.
nobu_the_bard says... #11
Group Hug EDH decks that use Zedruu the Greathearted try to even out the power levels of opponents and play defensively. They either try to wait and exhaust all of their opponents over time (either directly or indirectly) then crush everyone who has burned out fighting each other, or stall the game until they set up some kind of combo, in my experience. Their method is to play opponents against each other instead of trying to bog the game down with things like Smokestack .
Zedruu will also be used to give players things like Howling Mine or Mass Hysteria or whatever, things where the controller is irrelevant for their purposes.
Necropotence is so good at what it does, the more powerful version without the waiting clause, Yawgmoth's Bargain , is banned in basically every format, despite costing roughly twice as much mana.
July 11, 2014 9:27 a.m.
@CrazyLittleGuy & Death_The_Kid - I'd like to point out that Necropotence does not put the cards in your hand at the end of your turn, but rather at the beginning of your next end step. It's a very subtle, very important difference.
Activating Sundial of the Infinite
, casting Time Stop
, or any other effect that prevents your End Step from occurring will cause the cards to remain exiled forever. This is because the wording says "at the beginning of your next end step" instead of "at the beginning of your end step." Again, an important, very subtle difference.
Without "next," the cards would just return to your hand during the end step of your next turn because the ability doesn't reference a specific end step. However, you only have one "next end step," and the cards go to your hand during that specific end step, meaning the one that will occur soonest.
Also, activating the ability during your end step will not cause the cards to go immediately to your hand because the "beginning of your next end step" has already happened. It's important to state that you are activating the ability during your Second Main Phase, which would cause the cards to go to your hand when you enter your End Step.
July 11, 2014 9:31 a.m.
nobu_the_bard says... #13
Oh yeah; and Necropotence 's cards aren't draws. In EDH that can matter up against something like Nekusar, the Mindrazer ; his two abilities that affect opponents won't affect you, and other stuff that shows up in those decks to stack onto his effect like Underworld Dreams have diminished effectiveness against someone running Necropotence because of its unique functioning.
July 11, 2014 9:31 a.m.
I'd rather get Cockatrice and sign up for free, build a deck with any cards I want right off the bat for free, and play whatever I want for free.
No tickets, no trading, no buying.
Seems like a no-brainer.
Wizards only used because they're now owned by money-hungry Hasbro. Cockatrice does MTGO better for free, so they're intimidated by it.
July 11, 2014 12:43 p.m.
CrazyLittleGuy says... #15
Yeah, I know the rules of the card. I was just simplifying it since it didn't seem like OP even understood the card at all. If someone doesn't even understand the benefits of Necropotence yet, I doubt they'll soon be running it in a deck with another confusing card like Sundial of the Infinite :P
July 11, 2014 3:47 p.m.
True. I was just trying to point out that there is a difference between "end step" and "end of turn." It doesn't matter 98% of the time, but there are instances where it's relevant.
July 11, 2014 4:08 p.m.
biggestmtgnerd says... #17
If you don't understand Zendru, try combining him with Aggressive Mining .
July 12, 2014 4:52 a.m.
Death_The_Kid says... #18
okay guys I pulled a Chord of Calling last night, what do?,,,I might play G/B in standard so tell me how good is it in standard? Or should I try to trade it when its at a hot price? I understand this card I know its good in EDH and things but idk what to do with it lol.
July 14, 2014 2:09 a.m.
Death_The_Kid says... #19
Okay I wanna know what i would do with this guy X3
July 23, 2014 1:57 a.m.
Norin the Wary consistently triggers any abilities that happen when a creature enters the battlefield. A recent Modern list runs him with Champion of the Parish , Soul Warden , and Genesis Chamber , among others, because any spell you cast or creature you attack with flickers him.
July 23, 2014 3:32 a.m.
Re: Norin: Purphoros, God of the Forge and Confusion in the Ranks come to mind.
July 23, 2014 4:50 a.m.
Though I guess that the latter of those isn't exactly simple either. :P
CrazyLittleGuy says... #2
Instead of drawing regularly, you can pay 1 life at any time to draw a card at the end of your next turn. This means that, immediately after playing the card, you can spend a small amount of life to immediately refill your hand, albeit after a shorty delay. It's a similar reason as why Griselbrand is so universally liked; the ability to spend mostly irrelevant life points for a massive amount of cards is invaluable.
July 11, 2014 2:50 a.m.