Guildpact Informant or Merfolk Skydiver?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Oct. 28, 2019, 6:43 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
The newest debate that I am considering for my Atraxa EDH deck is whether or not I should replace Guildpact Informant with Merfolk Skydiver . The skydiver has a lower converted mana cost and can also immediately make itself or another creature more powerful, but its proliferate ability requires a significant investment of mana, which is the main focus of my deliberation.
On one hand, the informant’s ability requires no mana, but triggers only during combat, whereas, on the other hand, the skydiver’s ability can be used at any time, but requires mana to use. Also, each of those creatures has redundancy with other cards in my deck; the informant has redundancy with Thrummingbird , Grateful Apparition , Sword of Truth and Justice , Kalonian Hydra , and Archangel of Thune in that each of those cards has a triggered ability that places counters on creatures. If I were to put the skydiver in the deck, it would have redundancy with Viral Drake , Contagion Clasp , Contagion Engine , Karn's Bastion , Shalai, Voice of Plenty , and Gavony Township in that each of those cards has an activated ability that places counters on creatures.
What does everyone else say about this? Should I replace Guildpact Informant with Merfolk Skydiver ?
Actually, I could alternatively replace Abzan Falconer with Merfolk Skydiver , because, as nice as the falconer is, it does not really contribute to the overall theme of the deck and having another source of proliferation is better than giving all of my creatures flying, especially since a large number of creatures in this deck already have flying, and I have two other cards in this deck that can grant all of my creatures flying. What does everyone say about that?
multimedia says... #3
Hey, I don't think you need to play Guildpact Informant , Merfolk Skydiver or Abzan Falconer . You could cut all three as there's better cards that would help your deck.
Consider Eladamri's Call ? It's budget and one of the best creature tutors in Commander. Instead of playing subpar creatures for redundancy play an instant that can get you any creature into your hand? Consider Sage of Hours ? It's a creature to want to put counters on an proliferate especially with Forgotten Ancient .
October 29, 2019 4:49 p.m.
RNR_Gaming says... #4
I'd go for the informat if its between those two. 5 mana is too steep for an activation that doesn't do a whole lot. There are better cards especially being in 4 colors.
October 29, 2019 6:07 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #5
RNR_Gaming, what about removing Abzan Falconer in favor of Merfolk Skydiver ? Is the falcon really that great of a card for this deck?
October 29, 2019 9:27 p.m.
RNR_Gaming says... #6
My suggestion is to play test both. Personally, I like falconer more than skydiver but it comes down to personal preferance and whatever you'll have more fun casting and activating. Falconer gives all your creatures with a counter flying; but if all your creatures have flying already it's pretty usless.
October 29, 2019 10:03 p.m.
bushido_man96 says... #7
Does your deck have a way to generate infinite or mucho mana in order to abuse the ability of Merfolk Skydiver ? If so, then I think it's probably worth running for the redundancy, especially if that's a win-con. If not, then it may not be worth running, due to the dual-colored nature of it's activation cost, and the total of 5 mana to activate.
October 30, 2019 12:42 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #8
multimedia, Sage of Hours is a great creature, but there is no room in my deck for it, unfortunately.
bushido_man96, this deck cannot generate infinite mana, but, between Gyre Sage , Crystalline Crawler , Everflowing Chalice , Astral Cornucopia , and the storage lands, it can generate very large amounts of mana, so paying for Merfolk Skydiver 's ability should not be especially difficult.
October 30, 2019 9:54 p.m.
multimedia says... #9
No room? Replace Guildpact Informant for Sage of Hours ?
Sage or more expensive Lighthouse Chronologist give you something your deck doesn't have to improve it. Don't you think it's better to add a card that can improve your deck? Informant doesn't really do that because it's a third tier card of redundancy. I'm not saying that redundancy is bad, but Informant is redundancy that you don't need especially if you believe there's no room for other cards. If space is that tight then you should reevaluate the amount of redundancy your playing.
bushido_man96 says... #2
The Falconer may be the better cut, especially if a high percentage of your creatures already have flying.
October 29, 2019 1:49 a.m.