cultivate or harrow?
General forum
Posted on Dec. 31, 2010, 2:53 p.m. by jewpop42
what better? cultivat or harrow?
harrow
pros: instant speed could play it at oppon. upkeep or EOT.. two lands come into play untapped.. causes double landfall
cons: have to sac a land even if it gets countered
cultivate
pros: dont have to sac a land. put a land into your hand for the following turn
cons: sorcery speed.. land comes into play tapped.. turn three cultivate taps you out for the turn
Prophylaxis says... #3
I recommend that you keep Harrow in the maindeck and Cultivate in the sideboard. Control players love to counter Harrow after you've sacrificed the land, so you sub in Cultivate for those purposes.
December 31, 2010 3:02 p.m.
π_is_the_word says... #4
It's all situational.
They both are good, but if you are not facing a deck with counterspells or you do not care if your Harrow gets countered, Harrow is good. However, you can strategically play Cultivate in order for you to do some planning with activating/finishing-off an opponent with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle .
So, as I said at the start it's all situational and likely preference.
December 31, 2010 3:05 p.m.
well you could play harrow in their upkeep and if they counter it they ruin their mana for the turn so they will most likely not counter but i think harrow is just still way better
December 31, 2010 3:20 p.m.
π_is_the_word says... #6
As a control player I would counter a Harrow as long as I have the mana for it. Harrow or any ramp spell like Cultivate has a huge target on it for counterspells. This is because, it moves you a turn or two turns ahead of me which gives you a huge advantage. So, do not assume that playing a harrow during my upkeep will mess anything up because it doesn't.
December 31, 2010 4:02 p.m.
TimProctor says... #7
It depends, if you are in a Landfall deck or need very rapid mid-game (meaning that you need 5 mana on turn 3) land ramp then Harrow .
If you are playing a control deck or an end game deck then Cultivate is better because the extra land on turn 7 or 8 makes a big difference.
IMO it comes down to the question of whether Harrow is worth the cost and risk or is safe and steady is better.
December 31, 2010 4:04 p.m.
thanks for the comments guys its just a semibig arguement amung my hombres
December 31, 2010 8:26 p.m.
xeratheenigma says... #9
moved this thread to the general forums. sorry for any inconvience.
~Xera
December 31, 2010 10:14 p.m.
i'd have to say Harrow , and the reason is this: you can play it at instant speed.
as of this moment (in standard, at least, if i'm not mistaken), control decks have no one drop counterspell, so after they've done their thing during their turn, and you see they have one land left untapped, feel free to play harrow at the end of their turn.
if they have two, expect to be leaked.
i'd say run Cultivate game 1 and after you've played, if you understand at least a smidgen of how their deck works (if they have buttloads of counters etc...) then you can make the choice of mainboarding in Harrow from your sideboard or keeping Cultivate in for game 2
January 1, 2011 1:43 a.m.
there is Dispel and Spell Pierce haha but other than that i agree
January 1, 2011 3:59 a.m.
popeyroach says... #12
this thread is pritty useful for a player like me that likes to ramp. I've always used cultivate to avoid land sac, but I'll consider switching to harrow for aggro ramp.
alblaster says... #2
Harrow Cultivate for reference
I would say Harrow unless you expect to face a lot of counterspells.
December 31, 2010 2:58 p.m.