Mortality Spear or Drag to the Roots?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Sept. 24, 2024, 9:17 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
I have a copy of Mortality Spear in four different EDH decks of mine, but I am wondering if I should replace those copies with Drag to the Roots from Duskmourn.
I am confident that my Meren of Clan Nel Toth and Teneb, the Harvester decks have a sufficient focus on gaining life that I shall be able to reliably cast Mortality Spear for its reduced cost; The Mimeoplasm deck has no way to gain life outside of Ravenous Squirrel, but does actively encourage me to put cards into my own graveyard, so I should be able to reliably cast Drag to the Roots for its reduced cost, in that deck, so I shall replace Mortality Spear with it; the only deck about which I am uncertain is my Kresh the Bloodbraided deck, since that deck neither has sufficient ways to gain life nor actively encourages me to put cards into my own graveyard, so either card would be equally valid in this deck, in my mind.
What does everyone else say abut this? Should I keep Mortality Spear in my Kresh deck, or replace it with Drag to the Roots?
For your Kresh deck, since it neither has consistent lifegain nor graveyard synergies to justify either card, you might want to choose a two-mana creature killer (Terminate) or a three-mana anything killer (Beast Within). Either would work for you better than a four mana card you usually would have to cast for four.
September 25, 2024 12:02 a.m.
I'd go with Assassin's Trophy or Maelstrom Pulse over those
September 26, 2024 12:01 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #5
shadow63, I already have a copy of Assassin's Trophy in each of those decks, because of how powerful that card is.
Caerwyn, those are both excellent cards, but I was also considering Abrupt Decay or Deathsprout, so what do you think about those cards?
September 27, 2024 11:25 a.m.
I think Abrupt Decay is a good option as is Maelstrom Pulse as mentioned by shadow63 (while Maelstrom is a sorcery, the ability to completely hose a token deck can be helpful, depending on your meta).
The only thing I like about Deathsprout is the art. Deathsprout just costs too much mana to make it worth running - four mana is a huge amount of mana for a kill spell. I mean, sure, it ramps you, but that land enters tapped, so it is not until a full turn later that you get to use this. And, quite frankly, by the time you have four mana you feel comfortable holding for a kill spell, you probably do not need new lands as much as you would have earlier in the game.
Cool art, cool effects on their own, but both ramp and kill spells work best when they have a low cost. By having a cost of four, Deathsprout does both halves of its ability poorly.
September 27, 2024 1:10 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #7
Caerwyn, what about Riveteers Charm or Unleash the Inferno?
September 30, 2024 3:41 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #9
shadow63, what about Tear Asunder, Cankerbloom, or Insidious Fungus? Would those cards fit the theme of this deck?
October 4, 2024 2:34 p.m.
Tear asunder reads better then it plays and the creatures are different enough from the removal spells that it's too hard to say if one is better then the other. But I'd go with the fungus over the cankerbloom
October 5, 2024 3:22 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #11
shadow63, why do you prefer Insidious Fungus over Cankerbloom?
Icbrgr says... #2
I vote for synergies... if you have a life gain theme then do spear...if you are actively filling up your yard then roots.
September 24, 2024 11:02 p.m.