Why Precursor Golem sucks
Challenges and Articles forum
Posted on Dec. 7, 2011, 1:27 p.m. by ririve
On this site there are a lot of Splicer decks. Most of them feature Precursor Golem , a choise that is horribly stupid.
I'll tel you why: When Precursor Golem enters the battlefield, You gain 2 3/3 Golems. Good.
His Other ability, hoever, is what bothers me. When you give 1 of your golems +4/+4 with Titanic Growth all of your golems get +4/+4. Good, but what will you do if someone uses Doom Blade or Revoke Existence on just 1 of your golems, no matter which one? When that happens, Your complete Golem Army will be lost.
So, if you're the proud owner of a Splicer deck that has Precursor Golem in it... WAKE UP!!! and remove it from your deck here and now.
Its a risk/reward thing. Personally the splicer deck i used to run did not have it because i deemed it too unsafe and used few pumping spells anyway. But for some people the reward is much more important then the potential risks. Besides the fact that with Vital Splicer or Asceticism or Withstand Death or (as i used to run) a Indomitable Archangel the risk to your golems is greatly reduced. Its not to say that your assessment of the risks is wrong, just that you downplay the advantage it creates as well.
December 7, 2011 1:34 p.m.
card:Autumn's Veil can protect from black and blue should u need it, look if u titanic growth and the guy doesnt have a spell.. hes taking alot of damage, if he does, well u took the chance, same as a big summon is a chance because u can spend all your mana and BAM manaleak, should we stop having big summons in our deck, simple asnwer, no. for ever action in magic there is an answer, no card is perfect and unstoppable
December 7, 2011 1:50 p.m.
metalmagic says... #5
Wait, so you're telling me that if one of my golems is going to die from a stupid instant or sorcery (I mean, who uses those?)......and I have a Precursor Golem out...... THEY ALL DIE?!
This news saddens me. Thanks for making me want to kill myself.
December 7, 2011 2:27 p.m.
NOTE: if you played an inferno titan, and they doom blade it, it DIES. Not part of it, ALL OF IT. THE WHOLE INFERNO TITAN DIES IF IT IS DOOM BLADED. It obviously sucks and should be substituted out for something that only HALF dies to removal, so that the WHOLE INFERNO TITAN won't DIE.
...Yeah ok, in case you didn't notice, you get a 9/9 for 5 mana, and then it dies just like any other creature to removal. It dies completely to removal like any other creature. If lightning bolt was still in standard I would understand, but since its not, it is not any different from playing any other creature.
December 7, 2011 2:31 p.m.
ok, I see what you are saying in splicer decks, so I take back a lot of the sarcasm above. However the general point still stands, it is not a bad card now that lightning bolt is no longer in standard in my opinion.
December 7, 2011 2:33 p.m.
Precursor Golem is amazing when using certain cards. card:Ranger's Guile adn Asceticism are very affective with the golem. Parallel Lives makes it an even better card.
December 7, 2011 2:54 p.m.
I still think the only place where it belongs is in the sideboard of a B/U control deck with Doom Blade s.
December 7, 2011 3:48 p.m.
Hey buddy, what you just told us all is printed right on the card. And moreover, you make yourself look stupid when you go about telling people how to play or build. Keep your preaching to yourself please, and allow people to build decks how they want to. Thanks.
December 7, 2011 4:12 p.m.
You made the generalization that people playing splicer decks have Precursor Golem in the deck, but then again a vast majority of people playing splicer decks are playing white with Birthing Pod and Master Splicer /Blade Splicer . But what about playing card:Ranger's Guile or Withstand Death ? for the 5 mana you just spent to cast the golems, the next turn you can Withstand Death on one of them, and Day of Judgment , or the other way around if the choice seems fitting, to bait out a counter or something.
OR, who knows get creative with it. Throw out the golem after Parallel Lives , then Fiend Hunter the Precursor Golem and you're left with the tokens. precursor golem]] is okay in my book so long as you know how to manipulate its ability properly...
God forbid the action on turn 5 in standard now-a-days is more complicated than Snapcaster Mage +Doom Blade +manaleak+etc.
people need to stop worrying about control in the current standard format and capitalize on the format's ability to OVERWHELM by nature of sheer creatures and spells you can play in one turn. make them pertinent one's and your opponent will run out of counters, I promise.
December 7, 2011 5:23 p.m.
P.S.-Sorry to troll, but O.P.'s decklist has a Quicksilver Gargantuan main-boarded...advice ignored
December 7, 2011 5:25 p.m.
Solaninalos says... #13
Well, thank you for your wonderful opinion on the quality of decks such as mine. However, my deck runs anywhere between 1/5 and 1/3 control, and I use that control to keep my Precursor Golem and every other golem on the field alive. It's not that hard to protect a Precursor from a Doom Blade.
December 7, 2011 5:29 p.m.
Everything dies to doom blade.
My response to this thread is Mimic Vat . Kill my golem, and I'll just make two tokens per turn. I wish there were cards in standard that are G/W so I could put them in my splicer/pump deck and that nwould help that situation; you know, like card:Ranger's Guile, card:Apostle's Blessing, card:Autumn's Veil, Asceticism , Stave Off ...
December 7, 2011 7:19 p.m.
Jace the Firebrand says... #15
Your concern, O.P., is a valid one. However, it isn't something splicer players haven't thought of. That said, I personally don't like Precursor Golem 's effect. And for 2 golem tokens, i'll play a Maul Splicer . Precursor's effect comes in handy for a final swing, though, so if i have the mana to pull it off (and by the time i have precursor in my hand, i do) i'll play Titanic Growth and swing with everything for and alpha strike. That said, Precursor is as much a liability as it is an asset, so splicers need to use caution.
December 8, 2011 12:21 a.m.
DARK_r3ck0n1ng says... #16
Most if not all splicer decks have cards like said before that can protect all of there golems and than swing for game, he is a great card for a lot of deck since he has instant metal craft as well, which is good for a lot of decks.
December 8, 2011 12:38 a.m.
Actually, he's good right now. The only real removal for him is Doom Blade and Dismember and maybe Ancient Grudge . Nobody uses Revoke Existence .
December 8, 2011 9:07 a.m.
People do use Revoke Existence , as well as Brimstone Volley , Incinerate , Victim of Night , and many many other. The real argument is that there is a lot of removal for every single card, and someone using Precursor Golem has to have answers for that or they just aren't a good deck builder. Good, experienced players can use it successfully.
I still want to see someone use Volt Charge against a precursor with either koth, chandra, or Shrine of Burning Rage
December 8, 2011 10:20 a.m.
I still don't understand why some of you defend Precursor Golem , since you have to build your deck to defend it, and then you've got a lot of better cards for splicer decks.
December 8, 2011 1:48 p.m.
I hear Asceticism a lot, but with that card, almost every creature is good.
BTW good combo: Asceticism +Witchbane Orb .
December 8, 2011 1:52 p.m.
BTW Fail thread: http://tappedout.net/mtg-forum/challenges-and-articles/why-precursor-golem-sucks/
December 8, 2011 1:55 p.m.
@RiotMakerRead your Profile. I Think you can forget My artwork.
December 8, 2011 2:12 p.m.
Precursor Golem is not the best card in the format, however generally he is very under rated. I personally would not use him in a splicer deck, but overall dies to removal is a bad argument. Almost every creature in the game dies to removal and a 9/9 p/t for 5 mana is pretty powerful. Now that lightning bolt is out of standard, it costs just as much mana to kill him as any other creatures, so I think he is under rated.
December 8, 2011 5:23 p.m.
I have to say that it would be a wonderfull card when it had not had it's second ability (spell Copy).
December 9, 2011 10:05 a.m.
The_Murderauder says... #25
If it didn't have its second ability, it would just would just be three 3/3s for five. In any color. Not exactly a fair or interesting card.
And everything dies to some kind of removal, man, just face it.
Also, Witchbane Orb and Asceticism is not a combo. That's not even called synergy. The two cards are what you might call similar.
December 9, 2011 10:59 a.m.
Solaninalos says... #26
It would be an overpowered card were it not for its second ability. 9/9 for 5 colorless? That's better than the Eldrazi. Every deck has questions they pose to their opponent, and every deck has answers to their opponent's questions. It's just that every once and a while, you have to make an answer to your own question- be it through O-ringing Precursor, or through casting protection on it for as long as physically necessary.
Also ririve, keep trading in the binders.
http://tappedout.net/help-desk/trading/
December 9, 2011 11:03 a.m.
And people, please stop calling it a 9/9 for 5. It's 3 3/3's for 5 colorless. There's a big difference. It could be a beneficial difference, or a detrimental difference.
December 9, 2011 11:07 a.m.
Solaninalos says... #28
You're right, there is a difference, that's my bad :P
December 9, 2011 11:09 a.m.
It's not just you, so don't beat yourself up. Everyone is.
December 9, 2011 11:11 a.m.
theurbanraptor says... #30
also... if you have a Mimic Vat and Parallel Lives you get a total of 2 [precursor golem]]s and 8 golem tokens. BAM.
or make your golem deck blue.Use Xenograft to make all your golems illusions and then have Lord of the Unreal make your golems hexproof.
December 9, 2011 1:42 p.m.
MechaEmperor7000 says... #31
Precursor can be a serious powerhouse in a deck based around it. For 5 mana you get a baseline of 3 3/3 golems. In addition any Splicer Golems will benefit from the spells you play.
This is everything printed on the card. Now let's think outside of the box. The standard card to protect Precursor decks is Apostle's Blessing. For a measly 1 colorless and 2 life you can protect your golems from any targetting spell for the turn. In a Green/blue deck, you can combo Parallel Lives with Cackling Counterpart, amassing a huge army of golems in a scarily short time. Note that Cackling is an Instant, so you can cast this at the end of your opponent's turn, and still attack with the golems in the subsequent turn.
Here comes the fun part: Blessing gives protection to the golems. It's effectively better than Overrun, the standard Green fatty finisher. All of your golems, for one turn, are unblockable. with just a precursor and the golem tokens it generates, as well as a Parallel Lives and Cackling Counterpart, you will receive a total of 17 3/3 golems (You start with Precursor and it's 2 golems, then you get a precursor clone and 2 more golems. This precursor generates another set of 2 golems, for a total of 5 being generated on top of the base 3. This is doubled again with Parallel Lives, giving you 10 on top of the 3 you just had. In addition, because the precursor copy's effect are considered separate, you get another 2 golems per precursor token, for a total of 14 golems generated by this action, adding to the 3 you had before). With a single Apostle's Blessing, that can deal a massive 51 damage, enough to finish off someone in EDH.
This is your finisher combo. It's not meant to stay on the field for more than a few turns, because honestly you should have won by the time this hits the floor. You play control until this happens, because you do not need to do anything else until your massive Golem Drop.
January 27, 2012 12:59 a.m.
Wizard of the Damned says... #32
Only good thing about precursor: instant metalcraft
January 27, 2012 1:02 a.m.
moz.the.blessed says... #33
sac a creature, cast a Brimstone Volley and see what happened. btw, Precursor Golem good IF you can go pumping all your golems and hit for win.
February 21, 2012 10:52 a.m.
the fallacy still lies in the idea you are using Precursor Golem in a situation where you have dinky effin' humans conjuring them and making them better...lets be real guys, chances are you opponent is going to end up killing everything because golems can't race anything.
You capitalize on their ability to make RETARDED amount of spells hit the stack and see how you opponent deals with it. Cackling Counterpart on it and hit 8 golems, if they respond to kill it, respond with another action like Twisted image 2 and DRAW 8 CARDS! like you're going to argue that is a bad play? ill pay 4 mana to draw 8 cards all day. Precursor Golem is like a neutral Reverberate with legs. If he still standing at the end of the play, great, if not, he has served his purpose. so turn 3 I play a Shrine of Burning Rage, Cackling Counterpart it, hit your 3/3 golem with your own Volt Charge to kill it and the 8 other golems you have out...then break the shrine over their head and watch them cry. count it out with me...you have 2 on it already from upkeeps, then you effectively cast 8 copies of Volt Charge (a red spell), bringing the counters to 10 on the shrine...what's more? I get o proliferate?! SWEET! WAIT YOU'RE TELLING ME I GET TO PROLIFERATE EIGHT TIMESS!???!? WOWOWOOWWOOWWOOWWOWOWOW 18 direct damage turn 4-5 depending if you're willing to play plunge which a lot of people would call me crazy, but EF' it, apparently I'm already crazy for having played Precursor Golem. I'll take that win from left field, why?
BECAUSE YOU NEVER SAW IT COMING
It works in black too, with Grim Affliction which can end the game if they have 2 poison by turn 3, which is entirely possible because once again, people don't see it coming. hit a Heartless Summoning, virulent wound one of their creatures, drop the golems turn 3, and proliferate your heart out.
February 21, 2012 9:45 p.m.
The_Murderauder says... #35
I don't think Precursor Golem's ability counts as casting the copied spells. So I'm pretty sure it wouldn't knock up Shrine of Burning Rage. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
And secondly, yes, you can say 'OMG look at this ridiculous scenario where I have the exact combination of cards I need to make an awesome play' about any card. Yes, that Shrine combo you mentioned is pretty snazzy, but it is a 4-card combo that takes a total investment of 13 mana across 2-3 turns, and in two colors.
I'm not saying the Golem's bad. I'm saying it's a realistic card that has its strong points and its weak points. It is unique and interesting precisely because it's not straight up good or bad. Things aren't always that black-and-white.
February 21, 2012 11:13 p.m.
MechaEmperor7000 says... #36
The Spell is not technically cast. I don't know if this is the case with Precursor, but I've asked about other similar duplicating spells (like Pyromancer's Ascension + Shattering Spree) where, since the copy technically wasn't "cast", it does not duplicate. I assume it works similarly here.
February 22, 2012 1:49 a.m.
Jace the Firebrand says... #37
precursor golem reminds me of Manabarbs. By that i mean it's a double edge sword (seriously, read manabarbs' flavor text). It's great for you, but it's also great for them. you just need to be sure you have the advantage and a plan in case things go a bit awry.
February 22, 2012 9:55 p.m.
Rabidsquirrel99 says... #38
Precursor Golem + Incremental Growth. Just saying.
Also, r/g golems with Vigor burn 1 golem, make them ALL stronger!
February 27, 2012 1:15 a.m.
Rabidsquirrel99 says... #39
4 Parallel Lives + 4 Doubling Season + play precursor. Then play a Clone. With urabrask on the field.
February 27, 2012 1:21 a.m.
The_Murderauder says... #40
That would be awesome! But it would only work if there were two other non-golem creatures on the battlefield for the first copy to target.
February 27, 2012 1:23 a.m.
Rabidsquirrel99 says... #41
Sorry, put precursor on a vat. 256 precursors and 1,024 tokens. Then another precursor and 512 more tokens. Play a Unnatural Predation to give each of your 1,792 hastey golems +258/+258 and trample. Swing for overkill.
February 27, 2012 1:31 a.m.
The_Murderauder says... #43
Tack on an Assault Strobe and an Overblaze and baby, you got a stew going.
RiotMaker says... #2
Here's some news for you: We know.
December 7, 2011 1:29 p.m.