Mental Misstep in EDH?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Feb. 10, 2015, 10:55 p.m. by PlattBonnay
Originally I simply wrote this card off as not being good enough for EDH simply because it was too narrow, although I have seen it in enough lists that I'm starting to wonder if I have missed something.
So I would like some opinions, is Mental Misstep viable in a big format like EDH? Or is it still too narrow?
I think I'd rather run Dispel, Force of Will, Misdirection, Pact of Negation, Stifle, Flusterstorm and Swan Song before looking at this thing. I'll tell you what though, this thing in tiny leaders is sweet!
February 10, 2015 11:26 p.m.
PlattBonnay says... #4
TheDevicer - Well you definitely wouldnt play it in place of any of those, you would play it as well as those.
February 10, 2015 11:51 p.m.
Yeah, but then you'll usually want to extend your counter suite to things like Arcane Denial, Counterspell, Mana Drain, Cryptic Command, Forbid, Muddle the Mixture, Remand, Voidslime, Hinder, etc. There's a whole ton of counterspells out there that are excellent. Really, this comes down to what can you counter with Mental Misstep that's worth the inclusion.
In EDH, that's generally going to be the cycle of 1-mana tutors, swords/path, Exploration, Burgeoning, Reanimate, sensei's, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, some 1-mana counterspells, and some more specific stuff like Green Sun's Zenith and Land Tax. I guess it comes down to a judgement call. I don't think that the opportunity cost involved with Mental Misstep will have me adding it into anything too soon unless I have a really specific reason. I do agree with Epochalyptik though. Just the fact that this thing hits the 1-mana tutor cycle and things like Imperial Seal and Personal Tutor makes me think twice about this card.
Honestly, I'm inclined to say it's a meta dependent call for the most part. I highly doubt most EDH groups warrant running this thing.
February 11, 2015 1:08 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #6
Gonna borrow some of TheDevicer's examples to illustrate the three reasons you play Mental Misstep at the tournament level.
The reason you play it in competitive is partly because of critical turn one plays (Sol Ring, Exploration, Mystic Remora, etc.), partly because of utility spells (Vampiric Tutor, Reanimate) and partly because of counter wars. There are a lot of really powerful 1-drop counterspells that see play in hardcore combo-control decks, and Mental Misstep helps you beat any of them. For free.
February 11, 2015 1:51 a.m.
Hjaltrohir says... #7
I think that if your group is competitive then sure, it is a good inclusion. Less competitive metas tend to be higher n the curve so Mental Misstep seems less useful.
February 11, 2015 1:51 a.m.
Didgeridooda says... #10
No, sol ring is banned in french. Different format. People play EDH competitively without it being french.
MM is great. 1 costers make the game go round. Good to have a sneaky one you can play when tappedout.
February 11, 2015 9:22 a.m.
In my area every one plays 1v1 but NOT French and every deck I see has ring and top, I don't know about you/your meta but I don't mind paying 2 life to stop someone from having ether of them
February 11, 2015 12:16 p.m.
Oh yeah. In 1v1, the value of this thing goes up a bit.
February 11, 2015 12:31 p.m.
SageOfStone says... #13
It can be played to quite good effect in my metagame. Everyone has a turn one play most of the time, and it's still live later in the game because it hits tutors and such.
Epochalyptik says... #2
It's good in competitive EDH, but not very applicable in less competitive metas.
February 10, 2015 11:03 p.m.