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View Full Version : Royal Assassin, thoughts?



daugarten
07-22-2011, 12:07 PM
So I run Royal Assassin in my Doran deck and have had varying degrees of success with it. Some lucky games it gets haste and pairs up spectacularly with Sheolodred, Sun Titan, and Reya... other games it just stalls the board for 3-5 turns... and still other times it just gets targeted immediately and never does a thing.

I've been told never to take him out, and I've been told he must go... I just can't decide for myself and I'm trying to find room for SFM.

What are everyone's thoughts?

Guy I Don't Know
07-22-2011, 02:10 PM
It is a moat like card. No one will attack with one creature into it. That being said, you don't gain anything from it dying and others can play around it. I think cards like Academy Rector play a better role, because they prevent others from wanting to attack you and you gain something when it dies.

JeroenC
07-22-2011, 04:50 PM
The three scenarios you give (being awesome, being defining for 3 turns or more or being an immediate target) are all signs of something an awesome card does. If just for power level, it doesn't seem like you should cut it. For fun reasons, well, that's up to you to decide.

Malchar
07-22-2011, 06:42 PM
If it just sits around and does nothing but scare people for a few turns and then dies, it was a loss of card advantage. However, depending on your deck, it might be worth it to buy time to stay alive.

majikal
08-04-2011, 03:50 PM
Royal Assassin is one of my favorite EDH cards. It buys you time to set up if you get him out early, keeps aggressive generals off your ass, and if they waste a removal on him, then that's one less thing to worry about killing your actual threats. He's also a fantastic politcal tool, allowing you to leverage his rattlesnake-ness in order to manipulate other players' actions.

If I draw him late game and don't need him, I usually sac him to my general (Ghave) to do something ridiculous or I Skullclamp him. I see no downside.

If the problem is just that your group can't handle Royal Assassin, I honestly don't know what to tell you. There are far, far worse things to worry about.