Geralfs Messenger, why not?
Modern forum
Posted on May 21, 2015, 8:20 p.m. by RoarMaster
So I remember when Geralf's Messenger first came out there was a bunch of buzz about how it was the new-and-improved Kitchen Finks, and how much of a bomb-ass card it was. Apparently it was not worth the hype? I havent seen it played in any competitive modern decks, and Im wondering why. Is it the tri-black cost that is too steep to get out t3 reliably, or is there some other reason?
Cobthecobbler says... #3
I think it belongs in a mono-black sub-devotion build, but that's not really a thing right now
May 21, 2015 8:25 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #4
Comes in tapped and is very restricted by cost. You also have to remember that in the current meta, gaining is better than dealing because of all the aggro decks (RDW, Affinity, etc...)
May 21, 2015 8:33 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #5
It does see play in some fringe Mono-
Devotion lists that run Phyrexian Obliterator and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. However, it's casting cost is very restrictive and so it isn't as good for Modern decks as other cards.
May 21, 2015 8:37 p.m.
Where would you play this thing? The BBB pretty much excludes it from anything other than MBD.
May 21, 2015 8:37 p.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #7
If anything it was a new-and-improved Murderous Redcap that isn't as flexible. Its basically nothing like Finks
May 21, 2015 8:44 p.m.
Then why not just play the finks and actually be able to cast it in case it's in your hand on turn 3?
May 21, 2015 9:31 p.m.
RoarMaster says... #10
TheDevicer why not play both? :P
Thanks all for the replies, basically I assumed all that, but thought that the mana bases of modern should have been able to handle triple black without too much difficulty.
The ETB tapped seems like its one of the bigger issues other than color restrictions. Not the end of the world, but for a three drop I can see how you want to be dropping something of substance.
Collected company seems legit though, didnt think of that!
May 21, 2015 10:20 p.m.
The problem with running both is that it excludes you from running powerful 1-ofs. Assuming you have a whopping 26 creatures in your deck, running playsets of both finks and the messenger will take up 30% of your creature base alone. Splitting is then a better option, no? Well, I content that I'd rather run a playset of the better card and opt for two or three copies of powerful 1-ofs like Eternal Witness, Brimaz, King of Oreskos, Orzhov Pontiff , etc.
May 21, 2015 11:09 p.m.
Between the fact that it costs (as mentioned before, this is very restrictive), it comes into play tapped and is much harder to combo with than Murderous Redcap or Kitchen Finks, it makes it too hard to play.
As for the whole Collected Company decktype - Althoug hits a good way to depoy the creature, if it's utterly unplayable outside of 4 specific cards in your deck, it seems bad. Not to mention if you draw into one, chances are it's unplayable until late game where it's not very relevant.
The card sees play, but mainly in Commander with Ghave, Guru of Spores where it is a combo piece.
May 21, 2015 11:53 p.m.
It comes in tapped so it doesn't like do anything if you're behind when you play it. It can't block too well - it can only be aggressive.
BBB is super restrictive and hard to achieve in a lot of decks. Like, it makes it very hard to achieve both that and say Courser of Kruphix or Kitchen Finks or something else. I occasionally, from time to time, struggle to be able to cast Liliana of the Veil (who is less restrictive) and Path to Exile and Tarmogoyf reliably. It would be even worse with BBB.
May 22, 2015 7:14 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #14
If we had Bloodbraid Elf it would be good. Interestingly enough, that happened at one point, I believe, and Bloodbraid Jund was pretty stronk.
In a CoCo deck, you can only hit it with CoCo, or it's not castable.
quesobueno123 says... #2
I believe it is more that there is no deck for it to be played in.
May 21, 2015 8:22 p.m.