why does no one use somberwald sage
General forum
Posted on May 26, 2015, 4:15 p.m. by shadow63
i mean 7 mana on turn two is good right
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #3
Because one toughness and three mana. And how exactly do you get it going turn 2...?
May 26, 2015 4:21 p.m.
Pretty sure he meant turn three. As in, Land + Mana guy turn 1, Land + this turn 2, Land + both of em turn three = Pelakka Wurm.
May 26, 2015 4:30 p.m.
LordGrendel says... #5
What FAMOUSWATERMELON said. I see it in some budget Eldrazi builds as a cheap ramp along with the Urza Lands Eldrazi Temple and Overgrown Battlement but yeah...its a very niche card, and even where it is played not exactly competitive.
May 26, 2015 4:32 p.m.
aeonstoremyliver says... #6
Great when it sticks, but it'll get removed quick. It dies to everything lol. Not to use the 'dies to removal' cliche, but it's relevant here.
May 26, 2015 4:38 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #7
it's not just dies to removal. It's "dies to removal with lots of mana investment + very little chance to impact the game in your favor"
May 26, 2015 4:42 p.m.
yeah i meant turn 3. but even at 1 toughness you can cast most creatures in the game and puts your opponent in real tight spot especially if its something with evasion or hexproof
May 26, 2015 4:42 p.m.
brokendwarf says... #9
I play it in my Mayael EDH deck, but that's cause I haven't replaced it yet and cause I pulled a foil from random Avacyn packs.
May 26, 2015 4:42 p.m.
SpartanCEL says... #11
I second that aeonstoremyliver. Some people say a card dies to everything, but Somberwald Sage actually dies to everything. It dies to Elvish Mystic.
And the creature restriction is able to be built around I guess
May 26, 2015 4:45 p.m.
scopesightzx says... #13
The flavor text is so ironic. It literally can't face any danger without dying
May 26, 2015 4:55 p.m.
If you are looking for a similar effect, the new Shaman of Forgotten Ways is very similar (two mana instead of three), but it has actual relevant stats on it.
May 26, 2015 5:03 p.m.
jandrobard says... #17
It doesn't see play in modern/legacy because it's a 3-drop that does nothing but set up a bigger play, and:
a) most decks in those formats aren't build to use that much mana efficiently/use the mana only on creatures.
b) as has been already said, it dies to everything but itself.
May 26, 2015 8:14 p.m.
The other thing is - you can only spend the mana on creature spells. which means that the card really only lends itself towards big creature beats decks. And at that point, you're probably better off running proper ramp spells to try and strip as much land out of the deck as possible to help with draw chances (chances are you're playing mono green or green/red if you're playing this card).
May 26, 2015 8:55 p.m.
basically, it's a cool card that's totally fine in casual (I use it in casual as a budget card FOR SURE), but it's just a little to wimpy toughness wise for modern. The real question is what format you're talking about.
May 26, 2015 9:14 p.m.
Hallowed_Titan says... #20
But it's so fun when she works. Standby for Titanfall loves her ; )
Not very competitive though, I'll admit.
May 26, 2015 11:08 p.m.
i was referring to modern. its just hard to imagine that the fastest mana ramp that you can have on turn 3 isnt good regardless of it being a 0/1
May 27, 2015 12:14 a.m.
It ramps into things like Primeval Titan sure, but this issue is that
A) the mana is only of one colour, so you can't use it for cards like Siege Rhino
B) you can only use it for creature spells
C) the prevalence of removal in modern is very high (not to mention it dies to just about everything)
D) by itself it doesn't do anthing more than provide a one turn blocker (sure, Birds of Paradise does this but its a one-drop) as it has zero power
E) other than a few cards (like Primeval Titan) most creatures in modern curve out at 3 or 4 and by theis time you want to be playing your big hitters, not your mana dorks
F) most deks that run Primeval Titan are either Bloom titan, in which case it's too slow or are Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle style decks, in which case you value lands over mana dorks anyway
That would be my reasoning at least.
brokendwarf says... #2
Somberwald Sage
May 26, 2015 4:18 p.m.