Tesseract #5: Single Card Discussion - Lone Rider
Card Design Features Opinion
Spootyone
27 January 2019
1132 views
27 January 2019
1132 views
Tesseract #5: Single Card Discussion - Lone Rider
Hello internet, and welcome back to Tesseract, the series that goes hyperdimensional on cube!
Last time, in Episode 4, we discussed the new mechanics from Ravnica Allegiance, their implications, and whether or not they seemed viable for Peasant cube. I also gave some examples of cards I’d be looking for from each guild.
In this episode, I want to show off the initial changes that I am going to make to my cube due to the release of Ravnica Allegiance. Afterwards, we are going to have our second single card discussion. This go-around I want to talk all about another “pet card” of mine that I think people are sleeping on: Lone Rider Flip! My hope as always with single card discussions is not to convince you that the card is better than every other card, but that it is one with enough significance to me that it bears going into detail on. And in discussing the details about interesting cards like lone rider, I intend to persuade you to test out the card in your own cube to see the effects it may have. But before we get into that, let’s catch up shall we?
Since We Last Spoke
Hoo boy it’s been a while hasn’t it? I don’t want to spend a large amount of time discussing why I’ve been absent the past couple weeks, but I do want to apologize if anyone was let down. I assure everyone that letting people down is not my intention, nor is the series going away. There are a couple locations that I tried to make known what was going on. You may have seen my article on tappedout explaining what happened, or you may have found out via my twitter post seen here. You can visit either of these to get the longform version of why I didn’t post anything, but I’ll give you the short version here: I've been busier than I wanted to be, and other aspects of my life need to take priority, so I'm moving to a bi-weekly release schedule, starting with this post.
On top of that, I had a problem come up in the past 2 weeks with the article I had been working on. Yep, that’s right, this isn’t even what I intended on releasing today or last week. Sometimes, I find myself very excited to discuss what I think is going to be a small subject, only to find out upon beginning that what I have to say is much greater than what I’d originally intended. This is what happened with the piece I’d begun working on for this release. And because I feel a need to do research and learn quite a bit before spouting my opinions, I continually found myself rambling incoherently and not quite knowing fully what I wanted to say. Because of this, I shelved the article for the time being and will work on it over time. On the bright side, I think it will become a small subseries that will provide content for many months to come.
Now that that is out of the way, let’s talk about how my cube itself has changed.
As with most set releases, a large handful of cards seem good enough to at least test out over the weaker or more out of place cards in my cube. Many, such as Pteramander, Light Up the Stage, and Fireblade Artist seem like cards with enough synergy and power level to stay in long-term without even needing to be tested. Others, such as Ministrant of Obligation, Smelt-Ward Ignus, and Essence Capture are less exciting but felt worth trying out.
There are some main changes that are worth discussing in a bit more detail. The first of these is that every multicolor section is getting an extra slot for the time being. This is not because I needed more multicolored cards in my cube, but rather a result of being in a multicolored set’s release. As many of you might be aware, my playgroup wanted me to try out the entirety of the “xxyy” uncommon creature cycle. This has meant giving up a precious multicolored slot to each of those - even when they don’t necessarily deserve it. Because of this issue, I have opened things up so I have room to test a few extra cards.
Speaking of cycles, I have decided that I’m going to test the entirety of the uncommon split card cycle from this and the last set. Cards like Integrity / Intervention have stood the test of time and I never even testing them. New cards like Depose / Deploy seem like fantastic cards that I wish to try out. Given the overall strength that many of these cards have appeared to have, I feel comfortable testing them all and seeing if they all are, in fact, fantastic.
It’s also probably worth discussing what happened to my Simic section. Simic is...adapting to a new set of cards and strategies right now. In other words, I scrapped the entire thing to test a whole bunch of new cards to see what sticks. This unfortunately means cutting some cards I actually enjoyed like River Hoopoe, but those can always come back in once the new cards have been tested. Specifically, I am going to try a +1/+1 counter theme again with all of the new toys that simic has been given in RNA. I’m not exactly hopeful, but I want to be!
One last thing about my multicolored sections: Lingering Souls is going to be moved to my White section for the time being. The reasoning for this is both that I wanted an extra slot for Orzhov, as well as the fact that I wanted to see if I would hate it being there. It’s basically cheating, but I think I am okay with it for now. The back half of the card isn’t needed for it to be a good card. I would play lingering souls in a RW token deck without a single black source, and I think that is telling of where it maybe should be located. I’ve actually been looking at Claim / Fame moving to black for this very same reason. I love claim to fame in rakdos, but I’d consider it in a golgari deck with no red as well. Here are my changes as they stand right now.
Cube Changes
OUT
IN
There’s far too much going on here to discuss every change in detail unless I wanted to make an entire article about them. And as much as I’d love to turn this 1 article into two, I think that’s probably a bit disingenuous of me. That said, I’ll go over a few of them quickly.
Rhythm of the Wild is a card I got to play with at the prerelease and it was insane. I’m glad to finally have a Fires of Yavimaya that I don’t hate to play with.
Fireblade Artist showed what kind of power it held during the Pre-prerelease, and it’s also just the card we’ve been looking for to signal that Rakdos has a sacrifice theme in it.
Biogenic Upgrade might be an overrun with synergy. Overrun always felt a little iffy due to its triple G casting cost, and this doesn’t require a full board for a large presence.
Collision / Colossus was a very exciting card for me to see as Colossal Might was a card that I was very fond of, but cut due to my own strange legality ruleset. This better version could be amazing.
Pteramander is exactly the kind of Delver of Secrets Flip that a cube can afford to play. Because this card scales better throughout the game than delver does, and because it doesn’t have to be played T1 to be good, I think this card will be very powerful. Furthermore, not only does it have synergy with the spells archetype, it also has synergy with a fliers archetype and +1/+1 counter decks as well! Due to all of these qualities, I am naming Pteramander this sets Vice Peasident, the second best card in the set for Peasant cubes.
Lastly, I want to talk about a card that is so good I thought it was a rare for days before realizing I was allowed to play with it in my cube. This card’s power level has been discussed greatly by many people now, and it being tested in Unpowered and possibly even Powered cubes all over. Currently seeming to be a standard and possibly Modern powerhouse, Light Up the Stage is just fantastic. Card advantage in red is limited at best, and certainly so in aggressive decks. This card’s strength oozes from it. The fact that the cards can be played on your next turn as well is monumental to what this can do. Overall, Light Up the Stage may prove to me so strong that people wonder how it could have been printed, and that is why it is my nomination for Peasident of Ravnica Allegiance.
Okay, I think I’ve discussed cube changes enough for this week. I have explanations behind all of the changes I made, though, so if you are curious about any of the additions or extractions I’ve made please ask me in the comments below and I will discuss the reasoning with you.
And if that weren’t enough for you, I have exciting news that some of you may have missed out on. 2 weeks ago I co-hosted 2 bonus episodes of a cube podcast that I have been a huge fan for quite some time, and noted in this series as being good for cube-newbies and cube-oldies. This podcast is Solely Singleton, and in these 2 bonus episodes linked below, Brad, Eric and myself discuss all of our hot take first impressions for Ravnica Allegiance. I should note that because these are bonus episodes, they are lengthy and mostly unedited. They are also very NSFW. I also think they turned out great and were very fun to do, so if that sounds like your sort of thing, please check them out!
Now, let’s get to the main topic for this week!
Single Card Discussion: Lone Rider
Alright, let’s start off by jumping right into the card itself. Lone rider is a transform card. This means that it has a front side and a back side that each are to be considered different cards. Usually the power level of transform cards comes from the power the front half has on its own, combined with the effort that is needed to transform the card. In our first single card discussion, we spoke about Autumnal Gloom Flip. It’s probably indicative of my own preferences that both of these cards are ones with transformation mechanics. Additionally, the benefits I find in both of these cards are shared somewhat.
Lone Rider Flip is a 1/1 human knight with first strike and lifelink for 1W. Because of the nature of transform cards, I want to start by discussing the front half of this card by itself. Having a front half that is playable on its own is a huge indicator of whether or not the card will be a strong enough contender for your cube. Duskwatch Recruiter Flip is a shining example of this. As such, I think we should ask the question “is lone rider good enough with only its front half?” The answer to this question is likely to be “it’s close but not quite good enough.” Lone rider is a great card to include in a white/green or white/black midrange deck as a means of being an anti-aggro 2-drop. Other than that, not many decks are looking for a 2 mana 1/1 with first strike and lifelink.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about the back half of lone rider, It That Rides as One Flip. This creature is a 4/4 Eldrazi Horror with First-strike, lifelink, and trample. In addition to having an absolutely kick ass name, this creature really shreds the vanilla test. Much in the same way that Autumnal Gloom Flip being a “3 mana 4/4 trample and hexproof” creature is a fantastic ceiling, Lone Rider Flip being a “2 mana 4/4 first strike, lifelink, trample” is a fantastic ceiling.
Untransformed, I’d say the card is at about 80% of the power level that would be required for inclusion in my cube. Transformed, I’d say it’s at about 200% of what would be required, as a 2 mana 2/2 with those 3 abilities would certainly be good enough for inclusion in most peasant lists. We aren’t here to discuss only best case scenarios though, so I think it’s critical that we now look at the transformation requirements to this card.
In order to transform Lone Rider Flip, the controller must have gained 3 or more life by an end step. This includes the opponent’s end step. It also doesn’t specify that the 3 life must have all come from a single source. Gaining 3 life is not something that just happens in a normal game of magic, I’d say. Unlike a growing Tarmogoyf, transforming lone rider requires making decisions during draft and deck building, as well as during gameplay. And the rate and difficulty of this effectively comes down on us, the designer of the cube.
Because we are in full control of the cube’s design, we choose how many cards can transform Lone Rider. It is very important to balance the rate at which a player can draft a transform enabling card with the setup and design cost of including such a card in the cube or in their deck. Any enablers that are playable on their own are priorities for these precious cube and deck slots, as having too many cards that do NOT function on their own or in other decks can lead to parasitic design elements, which are not good. Personally, I like to balance my cube in such a way that if someone first picks a lone rider, they can get enough enablers by the end of the draft to try the card out in their deck, should the deck itself support the card.
I have found that there are 3 main types of enablers that I run. These three categories are “good lifelink creatures”, “Cards that gain 2 or more life without lifelink”, and “ equipment, auras, or buffs”. Between these three categories, my peasant cube runs about 30-35 enablers at any given time, with some of them certainly being better than others. I will now go into further detail about what kinds of cards fall into each of these categories. I will not be posting a full list of all of my enablers unless a list is requested in the comments, and you can also go look at my cube list using the link at the bottom of the article.
First off, we have “good lifelink creatures.” This category is pretty self-explanatory, and not many creatures that I’m playing right now actually fall into this category. Some examples of these cards are Vampire Nighthawk and Seraph of Dawn. Creatures in this category pretty much have to have 2 power minimum, as stringing together 3 cards just to set up a turn in which you flip a lone rider is pretty weak - not impossible, but pretty slow. Good lifelink creatures can function as a means of pushing control or midrange decks and weakening aggro. They also tend to be pretty rare at uncommon or common.
Next up are “cards that gain 2+ life with lifelink.” This category is probably the largest category of cards I play that function as lone rider enablers. The category encompasses everything from creatures like Lone Missionary and Arborback Stomper and Cloudblazer to removal like Lightning Helix and Faith's Fetters, as well as combo engines such as Blood Artist and Zulaport Cutthroat. Cards in this group usually are the ones you want to be picking up in draft if you really want to flip lone rider often. Midrange, Control, and combo decks that are playing lone rider absolutely love enablers such as these, as they ultimately help keep them alive as well. In fact, I’d say that lone rider can even function well as a control finisher in the right deck.
Finally, we have the category of “equipment, auras, or buffs.” Much like the first category, this one is pretty self-explanatory. Because lone rider has lifelink, itself, increasing its power by 2 is a great way of getting it to transform - especially since first strike gives it a great chance of living through combat. This category includes equipment such as Bonesplitter and Grafted Wargear, auras such as Madcap Skills and Bonds of Faith, and cards that buff lone rider such as Briarhorn, Blossoming Defense, and Rancor. Aggressive decks typically enjoy playing these sorts of cards as is, so these are the ones to be keeping in mind when drafting an aggressive deck that includes lone rider.
So what exactly makes lone rider such a good card? Certainly we can discuss the stats it has on the transformed side or even the stats on the front side, but there’s more to the card than just that, in my opinion. As I mentioned before, lone rider shares many benefits with running Autumnal Gloom Flip. Lone rider is a draft minigame. It acts as an in-game minigame. Getting to play your own personal quest of “flipping the rider” can very much help ease tensions of losing a game or match, as doing so can still result in the player feeling like they accomplished something along the way. I’m a huge fan from a design standpoint of cards that can do this.
Furthermore, combo decks like Splinter Twin don’t exist in Peasant. Because of this, designers such as myself need to find other ways to give combo players ways to win that they enjoy. Transform cards that can win the game once flipped are a great way to do this, and the cost of running them and the “package” associated with them is fairly low. As long as all of the enablers are good in other decks, transform cards can act as single card combo packages.
Threat of activation makes lone rider a removal magnet. Depending on the deck you are running, this might just be a good thing. In a “good stuff” midrange deck, forcing your opponent into a position where they must ‘’doom blade’’ your rider out of fear just to have it followed up by a seraph or dawn or arborback stomper can be wonderful. Additionally, other build around cards love including lone rider. A good example of these would be Death Denied.
I think I will be doing a single card discussion on Death Denied in the future, but for now I will just say that these decks typically revolve around playing a high density of creatures that provide insane value, card advantage, are threats, provide benefits upon death, and usually have a low mana cost. Lone rider is a card that fits into a few of these categories. There is little as enjoyable as playing out a lone rider and having it eat premium removal without even trying to transform it, only to cast a death denied and bring it back for another attempt.
White in cube is probably one of the most “open” colors to work with, having good cards for Aggro, midrange, and control decks across the curve. Additionally, white can support combo decks depending on the definition that pertains to you personally (I consider token blood artist decks to be combo decks in my cube). Lone rider is a single card that works with many of those “combo” archetypes while still functioning as its own separate archetype. Lifegain still doesn’t have enough payoff cards in peasant to make a good archetype, but if you wanted to try it out anyway, Lone Rider Flip makes for a wonderful and safe addition to such a package.
So what downsides does this card have? Well, lone rider is not an aggressive card per se. Having only 1 power without any enablers is far from where a red aggressive deck wants to be, or even a white based one. White aggro drafters might find it a bit awkward when they see lone rider in one of their packs. They might even think that it’s worth running in their deck and be disappointed when they didn’t include enough enablers, or did so and ruined their otherwise aggressive deck. Things such as this are troublesome from a design standpoint, but you really have to sometimes let go and give your players enough credit to hope they won’t make bad draft or deckbuilding decisions.
Overall, I’d say that Lone Rider Flip is probably not quite strong enough for your average unpowered or powered list. That said, I find removal to be roughly as good in these formats and peasant, so maybe you could try it out anyway. And I certainly think it could be worth experimenting with in a lower power level unpowered list. In peasant, I think the card is amazing from a strength perspective, a fun perspective, and from a design perspective. I’ve had it in my cube from day 1 and I don’t foresee myself removing it any time soon. I truly believe that if you have a peasant cube and aren’t running this card, you are doing yourself a disservice.
And with that, I will leave you all for another two weeks. I hope I have convinced some of you to take another look at this horrific creature from Eldritch Moon for your own cubes - peasant or otherwise. Are you on the fence? Just try it out! Need some more examples of good enablers to run alongside the card? Ask me below or check out the link to my own cube at the bottom of the article. And if you already have tried the card out in the past, I would absolutely love to hear your own personal experiences with it. Discussion is one of my biggest aims of this series.
If you enjoyed what you’ve read, make sure to let me know either in the comments below, or you can find me on Twitter at @Spootyone. I think I’m going to stop predicting what I will be discussing in my next episodes as doing so results in me feeling like I’m pigeon-holing myself into something I might not fully be ready to release. Hopefully that doesn’t bother anyone. If anything, it just adds to the suspense and mystery that comes with every new article. I look forward to speaking with you all again in the next episode.
The Spooty Contemporary Peasant Cube
Just a brief mention that Bonds of Faith doesn't really work for flipping Lone Rider Flip. It lets you get the three life off of lifelink, but then the rider transforms into a creature that isn't a Human and so the bonds stop it from attacking or blocking.
January 28, 2019 3:19 a.m.
miracleHat says... #3
I wouldn't worry about the Lone Rider Flip/ Bonds of Faith interaction too much. When mirrodin and m12 were out together, the best g/w aggro strategy in the game was Mirran Crusader + Rancor ... :P
January 29, 2019 12:34 a.m.
Thanks everyone for the comments thus far :)
Flooremoji: So I started doing some counting and about halfway through realized a lot of the info was useless for this discussion lol. "removal" can be defined differently if we are talking about how it relates to Lone Rider Flip, as bounce spells become more useful, but things like Lightning Bolt become almost useless after a flip. It's kind of hard to judge in that case.
As for the average each deck has, that highly depends on the color combo. Red decks can certainly have access to plenty of burn. Black plays nearly the full suite of Doom Blade effects (no Ultimate Price right now. Also no Snuff Out .). A GW deck could have almost none or plenty with Swords, Oblivion Ring , and Nature's Way . It just comes down to the random elements.
Yiggler: Yeah, you're definitely right on that. Though, admittedly, I would probably be playing them both in the same deck fairly often, and would probably still consider using the bonds on lone rider that way in some circumstances. I think a different way of thinking of it is that bonds of faith on lone rider becomes an aura with "Target creature gets +3/+3 and trample." That's pretty good in that scenario.
miracleHat: Ah, protection.
January 29, 2019 7:27 a.m.
Lone Rider Flip is one of those cards that I love and is sooo close to being a great card. I run one in my cube and I'm not sure yet how good it is there but it's still one I can't bring myself to pull.
Flooremoji says... #1
Nice article! How much removal to players typically have in your cube?
January 27, 2019 7:53 p.m.