Surgical predictions in eternal formats
General forum
Posted on May 23, 2012, 6:36 p.m. by ludwigthewalrus
What do you guys think about the price of surgical extraction post rotation? I feel like it'll go up, seeing as extracting a force of will 1st turn for no mana is crazy good.
Wizard of the Damned says... #3
I agree with the above statement. They have a similar spell already in legacy but it has the split second mechanic. They both have advantages (split second vs. Phyrexian mana) so it will probably remain about the same
May 23, 2012 9:46 p.m.
ludwigthewalrus says... #4
Yah. I was trying to remember the name of it while posting, but couldnt and was too lazy to look it up.
May 23, 2012 11:32 p.m.
Extracting a Force is not crazy good. Thinking that it is is a huge trap.
When you use Surgical, you are putting yourself down cards for no advantage, since it isn't likely that they have another copy of the card that you extracted. One less card in your hand, no effect on theirs, it's not hard to see that that is pure card disadvantage.
Surgical Extraction is only good against Dredge, and (to a much lesser degree) Reanimator. However, you could be playing Relic of Progenitus or Nihil Spellbomb instead, which actually replace themselves rather than costing you a card. Or, you could go with a much more powerful blanket effect like Leyline of the Void or Grafdigger's Cage that shut them down for the entire game. Even in the matchup where it's good, it is still the worst option available.
May 23, 2012 11:34 p.m.
ludwigthewalrus says... #6
In my opinion, surgical is better than those in eternal formats because any deck can run it, and its not susceptible to removal like something such as a leyline or cage. Sure its not blanket removal, but its quick, anyone can run it, it gets rid of any other copies of problem spells, and kills many vital pieces of popular decks.
And according to your card disadvantage logic, that would make FoW and any other card with a similar ability terrible. all surgical does is lose you one card, wheras FoW loses you two cards, and one life, just to counter one spell. And to replace themselves, nihil spellbomb and relic of progenitus both require an extra mana, which means you have to have at least one extra mana to us them that turn, and the fact that nihil requires black, makes it even more slow.
Just my two cents.
May 23, 2012 11:53 p.m.
Force of Will is indeed terrible against most decks. However, it is a necessary evil when you are fighting so-called "unfair" combo decks that go off on turn 2 or 3. You should be boarding them out in most matchups.
However, the card disadvantage of Force is the same as that of Surgical; either one card for nothing, or two cards for one; either way, you're down by one. And the life doesn't matter at all, it isn't even worth mentioning.
torridus says... #2
I think it will stay the same, if not go down. Not many people use it now, to my knowledge (I don't follow Legacy too closely), so I don't think there's a reason for that to change at the moment.
May 23, 2012 7:08 p.m.