Gaea's Cradle vs Shrine to Nyx
Legacy forum
Posted on Jan. 2, 2014, 12:39 a.m. by aeonstoremyliver
Gaea's Cradle is a beast of a land. No doubt. But is Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx a comparable/budget replacement for Cradle? Does anyone think it is even viable in Legacy, say in Elves?
PrimeSpeaky says... #3
No, cradle is just far too much faster for Nykthos to be a budget replacement IMO. Its really hard to play "budget" in legacy when the game can just end so fast (note that those games can go into turns 4-15 but Sneak and Show doesn't plan on letting you go that far).
January 2, 2014 1:21 a.m.
Goblin Charbelcher , sneak and show, merfolk, storm go really fast so you need to be fast
January 2, 2014 2:47 a.m.
no good with tokens either at it wouldn't generate any mana, so it isn't even that good in EDH tbh, krenko, rith, zombies all make many many tokens, it may be good in my dragon deck IF it got a decent amount of mana out but at that point it would be win more. I think its home is white weenies in any format really
January 2, 2014 6:21 a.m.
They are in a completely different league. Cradle if far better, could rant about this, but i will refrain.
January 2, 2014 9:33 a.m.
aeonstoremyliver says... #7
I thought as much.
Now, what about Shrine to Nyx in Modern?
January 2, 2014 12:28 p.m.
There are devotion decks in modern that use it. These decks are new and fringe at them moment. But you can see a few here.
January 3, 2014 8:41 a.m.
In general, Cradle is better because as others have already pointed out, Nykthos taps you out 2 mana. BUT it will still depend on your deck. Nykthos counts red enchantments and planeswalker, Cradle doesn't.
January 4, 2014 11:22 p.m.
sorry, meant colored symbols on enchantments and planeswalkers
January 4, 2014 11:24 p.m.
If you don't have any Gaea's Cradle
and you're considering running Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
, then Gaea's Cradle
vs Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
is the wrong comparison to make.
Instead, you should be comparing nykthos to your other alternatives.
That being said, It's still worse than your other alternatives.
I wouldn't even consider nykthos, until you have full playsets of
Green Sun's Zenith
Priest of Titania
Quirion Ranger
Heritage Druid
Wirewood Symbiote
Elvish Archdruid
You might even rather just run Forest .
January 6, 2014 3:25 p.m.
TheArchtectOfThought says... #12
My point is that Nykthos is much better, whereas gaea's cradle (first off) NEEDS creatures to produce mana. Nykthos, however doesn't. Another thing, in mono green mana ramp, including elves and stuff, Nykthos will target more than just your creatures. In mono green your devotion is usually more than the number of creatures you control, I mean, there's enchantments like market festival, verdent haven... (sorry, bad examples) but they all have devotion. Cradle doesn't tap for mana unless you have a creature, nykthos, yeah, needs two to activate, but;1. It's of any color2. It's off of devotion3. It doesn't need a creature.
May 20, 2015 10:38 p.m.
TheArchtectOfThought says... #13
Yeah, cradle is broken, but, as far as I'm concerned, if I ever make a legacy elf deck, I'm running the NOT banned, just as broken card.
May 20, 2015 10:42 p.m.
@TheArchtectOfThought usually, elf decks have very few noncreature permanants, and you also usually don't have any use for a land that taps for colorless mana.
The fact that Gaea's Cradle doesn't require any mana to activate is a very significant one. It's useful when you don't have 2 extra mana laying around, and it lets you spend all of your mana on creatures first, and then tap for the extra mana,
You get extra value out of it a turn earlier than you do with nykthos. Gaea's Cradle is better than a forest when you can tap it for 2. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is better than a forest when you can tap it for 4
May 22, 2015 2:56 p.m. Edited.
OtakulordAndrew says... #15
@TheArchtectOfThought cradle is only banned in urza block constructed it's a legal card in legacy and a staple in legacy elves.
May 22, 2015 3:05 p.m.
aeonstoremyliver says... #16
This thread was four months old lol...
Gaea's Cradle is obviously the better choice betwixt the two, no doubt about that. If Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx can come online with a ton of Elves on the board, I could see it being decent.
@TheArchtectOfThought You may be mistaking Cradle for Tolarian Academy; that card is banned in Legacy and restricted in Vintage. Cradle is most def legal, and $160.00.
May 22, 2015 5:57 p.m.
TheArchtectOfThought says... #17
Say you have... 18 elves. That's 18 devotion at the least. Yeah, nykthos costs 2 mana to fire off, but my point is that you'll often have more devotion than creatures, and the two mana is nothing versus how much you'll get from it. Yeah, sure, it's not as good, and maybe cradle isn't banned, but it's an exceptional budget option.
July 3, 2015 2:23 a.m.
You don't really need Gaea's Cradle when you have 18 elves. you usually need it when you have 2-4 elves
July 3, 2015 10:17 a.m.
TheArchtectOfThought says... #19
Still, amazing budget alternative for excessive mana ramp.Nykthos Vs. Cradle = Tie
Spootyone says... #2
I think because of the fact that nykthos requires an extra two mana, you're not going to see it in place of Gaea's Cradle . However, as a budget replacement like you mentioned, I could see it being okay. Granted, this is coming from someone who doesn't play legacy, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
January 2, 2014 12:49 a.m.