Evolutionary Leap and Modern Applications
Modern forum
Posted on July 8, 2015, 1:27 a.m. by WovenNebula
What are people's thoughts on the card in Modern?
Do you think it will be used as a Birthing Pod variation using cards that have persist and/or undying abilities?
Don't get me wrong it Is not as good as Bpod , the cards go in your hand etc, but could Evolutionary Leap make that leap?
Link for Evolutionary Leap Speculation
Evolutionary Leap Deck Challenge
Sound off below.
WovenNebula says... #3
It's disappointing that it can't search for specific pieces but it is cheaper cmc wise and can give you card advantage. It "could" be used with Congregation at Dawn or Crown of Convergence to better manipulate the top and cards similar. Though in not sure, since I haven't play tested anything as of yet.
July 8, 2015 1:44 a.m.
Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #4
Coco or other Green decks might find a good use for it, maybe with Commune with the Gods or more likely Genesis Wave. Between those, the cards mentioned in previous comments, and Animist's Awakening, I feel like Green has some tremendous digging tools. There's a really explosive Green Combo deck waiting to be found.
July 8, 2015 1:46 a.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #5
It does sacrifice at instant speed, which is a huge bonus. I'm intrigued, but really not a fan of it going into my hand.
July 8, 2015 1:46 a.m.
RoarMaster says... #6
Since you have to pay a green in order to sac it, then no, it will not be used to replace the free cost sac outlets that allow the deck to go infinite, or even exponential.
Its a cool card, but requires a pretty steep cost in order to trigger and you wont always have the conditions met, so its conditional.
I doubt it will see a ton of play outside of standard and EDH. Still good, just not a Fauna Shaman.
July 8, 2015 1:46 a.m.
WovenNebula says... #7
I think it's best version would be using the advantage to overwhelm your enemy, but again it's all up in the air. Maybe do red, green, and white to get all the best persist and undying (possibly a dredgevine or zombie deck). You could use ramp like Birds of Paradise, Simian Spirit Guide etc.. Turn two cast the leap and and activate. Maybe play a creature. Turn 3 cast Domri Rade netting two creature draws a turn possibly. It's all conjecture at this point.
July 8, 2015 1:50 a.m.
WovenNebula says... #8
You would have to build a deck with persist or undying creatures to make it work and in comparing it to Fauna Shaman it's an enchantment that avoids Lightning Bolt etc. Fauna Shaman has better ability but can be hit by almost everything that is why it doesn't see much play.
July 8, 2015 1:53 a.m.
I really don't like this card for Modern. The randomness of the card is what's really going to hose you a lot of the time. The type of deck that wants this card is, in my mind, a token deck with one creature as a 1-2 of that you need to find in a pinch. But then why aren't you running Chord of Calling or Collected Company if it's CMC <=3?
July 8, 2015 1:59 a.m.
Seems like this was made as a very toned down Survival of the Fittest and it really doesn't look too bad. I like it as a card in general but have trouble seeing it finding a home in Modern. It feels like there are a bunch of cards that do the same or something similar and they don't see any play either.
July 8, 2015 2:02 a.m.
JaceArveduin says... #11
JWiley129 Or you could make that those creatures Emrakul or Blightsteel Collosus and just Polymorph them out via the tokens :P
July 8, 2015 2:32 a.m.
Being a random card and sending to hand instead of the battlefield makes it virtually unplayable.
July 8, 2015 3:36 a.m.
I think it could be useful with a Yasova Dragonclaw build, steal opponents threat sac to dig for value.
July 8, 2015 4:19 a.m.
It's not like you need to sac something good, CB. Could maybe see some GR thing with some goblin tokens and getting card advantage off Dragon Fodder and Hordeling Outburst. Kill spells in general are also less reliable with this thing on the field.
July 8, 2015 4:36 a.m.
This enchantment is so bad for creature combo that it doesn't even work with Grenzo, Dungeon Warden.
There are some interesting though slow combo potentials with these two lands though: Kher Keep - Khalni Garden.
These allow you to stack your entire deck provided you live to turn 3, which would be easy if you were playing these lands in some sort of control deck with something like 14 1 drops. Then you just need 2-3 lands, this card, and the rest answers. Once you are able to sacrifice a token you stack the deck and go nuts with something like High Tide or storm.
In short I actually think it's more viable for non creature decks and even then only if you have the correct control cards to support it such as Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek, Mental Misstep, Path to Exile, Spell Snare, perhaps Spell Pierce (for modern anyways) and then a way to get enough damage to combo once you stack the deck. Definately for 60 card you either want to have one of those three control colors or use things like Faithless Looting to speed it up.
Personally I am very excited that I'll be the first one in my playgroup with a Riku of Two Reflections and then support from those two lands and cards that make tokens along with Skullclamp.
For sure the deck will have Crop Rotation, Fabricate, and that 1 drop artifact that 
tron plays to tutor for any land.
July 8, 2015 4:38 a.m.
It seems like a decent option for Podless Combo now that I think about it. Even if it doesn't hit a combo piece every time, you'll still get some value out of it. For example, sac a Voice of Resurgence, get a token, grab an Eternal Witness and then shenanigans? Sounds like a decent 1 or 2 of.
July 8, 2015 6:35 a.m.
God damnit. So we're pretty much limited to "When this creature dies", Threshold, recursion and Delve. Those are all fine abilities but I don't like using a card to support abilities in the case of Threshold because Threshold is not enough on it's own, also the best delve cards were already banned in modern. Sigh.
I guess like someone else mentioned it's token time.
At least in standard you have bloodsoaked to play around with.
July 8, 2015 7:28 a.m.
slovakattack says... #19
It aint no birthing pod. One of the reasons that Bpod was so good was that it allowed you to get increasingly powerful creatures for a nominal mana cost.
Remember, you still need to pay for the creatures you get. They go in your hand, not in play.
July 8, 2015 9:08 a.m.
WovenNebula says... #20
Maybe utilize Genesis Chamber in the deck sacking tokens etc.. Hmmm
July 8, 2015 1:30 p.m.
forestlore44 says... #21
I think the key to breaking this card is having some cheap token producer and running 3-5 insta-win creatures in your deck. This + Khalni Garden + cheat in to play card + Emrakul, the Aeons Torn = win
July 8, 2015 8:48 p.m.
WovenNebula says... #22
@forestlore44 I personally don't think an all in token deck would abuse it very well, I'd rather just use Polymorph in that type of situation, if that is what you were suggesting.
July 8, 2015 9:12 p.m.
selesvyaloverer8 says... #23
heres a RUG list i made up for this basic shell is
4x Polymorph
4x Cloudform
and then a bunch of counterspells and cantrips
July 8, 2015 9:38 p.m.
selesvyaloverer8 says... #24
July 8, 2015 9:39 p.m.
I think people are forgetting that it goes in your hand, not onto the battlefield like Polymorph. Evolutionary Leap can destroy the strategy, and I don't think it should be in a shell like that.
If it were able to work, 
would be your best bet. This allows for Spectral Procession, Intangible Virtue, and other things to play as a token attrition deck that has a late-game finisher. You could also run Flickerwisp or Restoration Angel so you can flicker your Cloudformed Emrakul, the Aeons Torn into play.
But like I said before, Evolutionary Leap kinda destroys the strategy, so I don't see why this would be any better over a 
list running Lingering Souls and Bitterblossom.
July 8, 2015 9:45 p.m.
RoarMaster You don't gotta be rude about it. People misread cards all the time.
July 8, 2015 9:57 p.m.
RoarMaster says... #30
JDMCRIBYeah my bad, shoulda left out the F. Everybody misunderstands cards sometimes, but at the same time if I am going to bother writing out a response to an article about a card, I like to read the card a couple times so that I at least have something applicable to say about it. It only takes a couple seconds and it saves everybody time :)
July 9, 2015 1:27 a.m.
RoarMaster Of course, that's fine. It's just that some people take a lot of offense from being ridiculed for not completely understanding something a card does, especially when it's actually on the card. It's better to just explain to them what it does and where it says it does that.
July 9, 2015 1:46 a.m.
RoarMaster says... #32
JDMCRIB Yeah, it had already been explained twice already to people in the thread that it brought it to hand specifically.
July 9, 2015 1:55 a.m.
CarnariumKeeper says... #33
I could see this card being good in Through the Breach builds, where you need to draw the creature in order to breach it in. Sure, you could just use Polymorph, however the main problem Polymorph has is that your opponent can spot-remove your target, fizzling your win-con. Evolutionary Leap allows you to play a card that eventually fetches your win-con (and every subsequent copy of your win-con, in case something happens to your first). For instance, turn progression can be as follows:
T1, LandT2, Land; Evolutionary LeapT3, Raise the Alarm, Soul Summons, Bitterblossom, Dragon Fodder, Krenko's Command, Sprout, Khalni Garden; Land. End of opponent's turn, tap a G, sac a token/Manifest, search for Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.T4, Land; Play removal/ counterspellsT5, Through the Breach -- Emrakul
I suppose Polymorph could/should still be in a build like this, in which your only creature is Emrakul, but Evolutionary Leap enables more searching power at different points on your mana curve.
In addition, this card would work nicely in an aggressive build. Tarmogoyf, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Knight of the Reliquary, and Siege Rhino can all benefit from what is essentially "Whenever a creature you control would die, you may pay G. If you do, sacrifice that creature, then add a creature chosen at random from your library to your hand." The fact that once the enchantment is down, all you have to do is keep a G up, and you no longer lose card advantage from having your creatures removed. Plus, all you need to do to build around it is to have a deck filled with all-around-good, standalone-threat creatures that you'd want to draw anyway.
July 13, 2015 8:41 a.m.
When you put it like that I can see how it would be strong. Specifically if my deck was filled with Rhinos, Goyfs and Voice of Resurgence, along with Raise the Alarm maybe. I'd be like "I'm glad you top decked that removal but I hope you can do it for the next 16 turns in a row because that's how many threats I have left." and play one every single flipping turn.
July 13, 2015 10:28 a.m.
HorrorAvengers says... #35
This card and Abbot of Keral Keep are rather spectacular in modern jund in my testing. This is less mainable though, i tested 2 mb and eventually moved them to the side because in some matchups they were the best card (other g/b/x, souls, any control), and God awful in others (infect, storm, twin). Which i guess brings my to the point. If control, in the u/x/x or g/b/x variants becomes utterly dominant, this card is amazing. Where the format is right now, dominating the late game is less important then surviving to turn 6. That makes this card sb only, if you're into this kind of effect. Which i am.
kmcree says... #2
I think its an interesting idea. I've seen some Collected Company decks that use Viscera Seer as a sac outlet for a Kitchen Finks/Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit combo. I suppose Evolutionary Leap could take over that sac outlet spot, and also provide an ability to dig for other pieces. The issue though, is that it can't be searched for by either Collected Company or Chord of Calling, which will make it harder to get out consistently. I definitely think its worth playing around with, but I'm not sure how well it'll stick.
July 8, 2015 1:33 a.m.