cheap wrath effects

Standard forum

Posted on Dec. 13, 2014, 8:40 a.m. by kanofudo

Anger of the Gods or Drown in Sorrow. Both of them cheap wrath effects that lots of players can't do without. But which is better? And why?

Is Anger of the Gods better due to the extra damage hitting Sylvan Caryatid, and exiling problem cards like Bloodsoaked Champion?

Or is Drown in Sorrow and the scry power better overall? Thoughts?

Arvail says... #2

You'd be surprised at how few 3-toughness creatures are played in standard. There's Sylvan Caryatid, Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, Fanatic of Xenagos, Mantis Rider and a few other ones. The wraths will commonly kill about as many creatures. Still, anger has slightly better reach. So the question moslty becomes what you're playing. Remember, both the cards have double mana symbols specified in their costs. That means they're not exactly easy to splash given you'll be wanting to cast them early and reliably. The scry vs. exile is pretty matchup dependent. I'd say scry in most cases.

December 13, 2014 9:24 a.m.

Servo_Token says... #3

The simplest way to answer this question is to ask another question: Would you rather play Shock or Lightning Bolt?

In my opinion, getting more for the same price is always the better option. Considering that your lands do a good deal of scrying already in standard, I really don't see a particular need to tack that on to your sweeper as well, and 3 damage just hits so much more. Just the ability to knock a caryatid off the table is enough to grind some decks to a halt, and that's just so much more worth it.

December 13, 2014 9:36 a.m.

Named_Tawyny says... #4

In any standard in which Whip of Erebos and delve is a thing, getting creatures into exile is going to serve you better, 9 times out of 10, than scrying one.

December 13, 2014 12:32 p.m.

Hjaltrohir says... #5

I would do Anger of the Gods as Named_Tawyny said due to the exile and as ThatBlueMage said about the Shock/Lightning Bolt thing.

December 13, 2014 2:35 p.m.

abenz419 says... #6

i'd never play Anger of the Gods in my mono black deck. I'd go with Drown in Sorrow and back it up with Bile Blight and Hero's Downfall lol

December 13, 2014 3:39 p.m.

Arvail says... #7

That's kinda what I'm saying. You play what you can.

December 13, 2014 3:58 p.m.

GlistenerAgent says... #8

If you have access to both, the choice is pretty clear. Scry 1 is a whole lot worse than killing creatures with three toughness.

December 13, 2014 9:58 p.m.

SnadroWraith says... #9

You know, normally i would go for the more damage/exile hit. It just provides more and has a habit of just destroying plans of other players... however Sylvan Caryatid has hexproof so Anger of the Gods is useless against it.

December 15, 2014 1:33 a.m.

jr92_2000 says... #10

@SnadroWraith Anger of the Gods doesn't target.

I think you can make the argument that Anger is the best sweeper in the format right now (as sad of a statement as that is). If only it didn't have the requirement.

December 15, 2014 9:03 a.m.

SnadroWraith says... #11

jr92_2000 That's weird cuz when I was playing a FNM event a couple weeks ago, I tried the Anger of the Gods on the Sylvan Caryatid and the guy I was playing said nope because of hexproof. We called the judge over and he sided with my opponent saying that Anger is still targeting, just its targeting ALL of the creatures. So since it targets all, Sylvan Caryatid's hexproof kicks in.

December 15, 2014 11:27 a.m.

jr92_2000 says... #12

'Protection from Red' would get around Anger of the Gods, but hexproof does not.

December 15, 2014 12:48 p.m.

SnadroWraith: Your judge was wrong. In order to target something, the card has to say "target". Anger of the Gods definitely destroys Sylvan Caryatid.

Was this a sanctioned or a casual event? I feel like that judge should be reported.

December 15, 2014 1:50 p.m.

Rayenous says... #14

Two reasons to play Anger of the Gods over Drown in Sorrow...

Monastery Swiftspear and Seeker of the Way!

1 spell in response to Drown in Sorrow and they keep their board presence.
With Anger of the Gods, they need 2 spells... even if they have 2 instant speed spells, and the mana for them, you are forcing them to play both at a bad time. Essentially ensuring a 2-for-1 in your favor.

December 15, 2014 2:16 p.m.

dezzo says... #15

anger of the gods is a very potent weenie hoser in std.

it can single handedly blow up whip decks with the exception of abzan whip because of siege rhino... but u can deal with that with other cards.

December 16, 2014 6:20 a.m.

SnandroWraith what the judge said was wrong and I'm amazed that happened at an fnm there are some interactions that involve multiple mechanics were somethings happening that not stated on the card but targeting not one of them if the card doesn't say target it doesn't target

December 26, 2014 7:14 a.m.

SnadroWraith says... #17

k. ive already addressed the issue with the store. The judge was kicked out. turned out that he was playing favorites with his friends

December 27, 2014 2:42 p.m.

This discussion has been closed