Drown in Sorrow vs Anger of the Gods
Standard forum
Posted on April 20, 2014, 1:46 p.m. by LordOfDispair
I see people playing black red control or black red X control and choosing Drown in Sorrow over Anger of the Gods . Why is this? it seems like anger is strictly better, a scry doesn't seem worth a point less of damage and no exile.
Also, the all indestructibles have plenty of toughness to spare, the only time you could really break through it is with instant speed. And the -2 power is only worth something at instant.
As a grixis player, I still find no reason to add this card. Is there something I'm missing?
Another avenue to consider is the jump from 2-3 is actually not that meaningful for the current suite of creatures in standard. Nightveil Specter has been waffling with Lifebane Zombie . Sylvan Caryatid you're not worried that much about. And it will sometimes have an affect on timing with a Pack Rat . There's a few other random things like Fleecemane Lion , etc, but as a removal heavy deck you're not that concerned with it. Basically everything else is firmly killed by -2/-2 or isn't killed by 3 damage any ways.
Combine that with the aforementioned Master of Waves , scry, not having a red heavy mana base - you need like 20 red sources to reliably cast Anger of the Gods on 3, the general lack of exile being relevant, etc. Drown in Sorrow is likely the stronger choice in an unknown field. Though certainly if you know there are going to be a billion Voice of Resurgence decks then it's starts to be worth considering.
April 20, 2014 2:18 p.m.
i just think its a personal call realy. i rather run Anger of the Gods since it has bigger reach with 3dmg. the only realy things i can think of where id rather have DiS over AotG would be against white weenie with all there protection spells. Decks that run Master of Waves is to my knowlage MUD and in that match, anger kills all but master while drown kills all but Nightveil Specter
neither of those 2 can do gods or Frostburn Weird in.
April 20, 2014 2:44 p.m.
LordOfDispair says... #5
@SlycneThe jump from 2 to 3 covers the ones you listed, Sylvan Caryatid and Nightveil Specter , but also Herald of Torment , Fleecemane Lion (assuming no monstrosity), Voice of Resurgence , Prophet of Kruphix (less important), and Dreg Mangler .
your points are valid, though. I just think I would want to kill myself if I ever went against selensya/junk aggro/midrange while running Drown in Sorrow , I don't usually run into too many mana problems.
April 20, 2014 3:23 p.m.
CommanderOfBolas says... #6
I am a grixis player (if you couldn't already tell by my name) and I prefer Anger of the Gods . something you guys aren't considering is the prevalence of R/W burn. Chandra's Phoenix gets really annoying, and exiling it is pretty awesome. not to mention that Dictate of the Twin Gods means that anger now kills everything. now, maybe you don't want dictate, but my grixis deck is based more around reusable removal/burn like Mogis, God of Slaughter and Keranos, God of Storms . also, Witchstalker could become an issue that drown cant answer. overall, Id say anger is the better utility card. I think you would only want drown against white weenies, and maybe you would want a split of them for MUD
April 20, 2014 4:03 p.m.
Xathrid Necromancer , Voice of Resurgence and Athreos, God of Passage are real magic cards.
April 20, 2014 4:32 p.m.
DovahWalrus says... #8
@TexasDice from that perspective than Brimaz, King of Oreskos is bad cause it dies to doomblade. And also Desecration Demon is bad cause it dies to Dark Betrayal .
April 20, 2014 6:10 p.m.
LordOfDispair Like I said, it's certainly possible to construct a local metagame in which Anger of the Gods is the right choice. I don't however think anyone is wrong in choosing Drown in Sorrow against the current overall metagame or simply not having a conditional sweeper in the mainboard. I think there's a strong argument to be made that it doesn't kill enough, and then you can simply stack your sideboard with whatever one is more relevant to the decks you play against. Mizzium Mortars is a much better maindboard card in my opinion.
Anecdotal evidence aside and assuming My 200$ Grixis Control Deck is the deck in question, 11, 11, 13 is mathematically a very bad mana base. You're trying to hit double UU for Dissolve
, double RR for Anger of the Gods
and double BB for Hero's Downfall
. Even if you consider that you don't always needs those spells right on time and temples can help a little to find the right colors, you're still bound to have mana issues with this arrangement. Consistency is a major part of deck construction, it's often better to do a slightly less powerful thing more often than a more powerful thing but with less odds - otherwise everyone would just play 4 or 5 color good stuff decks.
April 20, 2014 6:20 p.m.
Wow Slycne, thanks so much for that explanation just now! Honestly, "it's often better to do a slightly less powerful thing more often than a more powerful thing but with less odds," totally makes sense and I'm gonna have to think about that more often.
April 20, 2014 6:31 p.m.
fadelightningmm says... #11
so im pretty sure everyone over looked this but Drown in Sorrow cost a third that of Anger of the Gods its entirely possible that the minute damage difference and exile vs scry capabilities are just being over looked for a more budget friendly option. As a mono green/simic player that would be my input at least. If I had $12 to spare id go with anger since I don't id likely play drown for $4 (as a playset of each). Plus drown has cooler flavor text and art in my opinion
April 20, 2014 7:18 p.m.
I doubt that since most decks that run it are spending hundred's on just lands.......
April 20, 2014 7:30 p.m.
If you're in Grixis colors, of course you play Drown in Sorrow , I totally overflew that detail.
It's indeed WAY easier to curve into, because sabotaging double blue is bad. Hell, I'd even argue about throwing out Dissolve for Psychic Strike
But in Izzet and Rakdos Control, there is no reason to downgrade your deck, because Master of Waves is the only relevant thing Anger does nothing against, for the upside of having a near unbeatable card against G/W, Humans and the ability to sweep Nightveil Specter .
April 20, 2014 7:51 p.m.
I honestly think Anger of the Gods is better, but in my grixis I run Izzet Staticaster and Gorgon's Head so I don't want to kill it. I actually opted not to run drown though, only siding them, as there are so many decks right now that just don't care about it. (lots in my meta too, like monsters and esper)
April 20, 2014 8:08 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #15
In a perfect world, Anger would be the choice over Drown- the small drawback of not killing Master of Waves (but still hitting the tokens) is the only argument I can think of for the latter besides the Scry.
However, since both demand a double color, it's probably wiser to go with the one that is in the more dominant color of the deck. Since Black has better options for a control deck, it makes sense to opt for Drown.
April 21, 2014 5:18 a.m.
strongwalker says... #16
Athreos, God of Passage may shift standard more than a little, in which case the exile part of Anger of the Gods will be MUCH more relevant than it is now.
Keep that in mind if you're purchasing one or the other
PasorofMuppets says... #2
One reason could be it takes care of Master of Waves.
Could be a mana issue, imagine the decks are heavier black.
April 20, 2014 1:53 p.m.