[card] Ophidian

[thefreakaccident]

I remember the good old days when this card used to be very good...

2U Ophidian

creature- snake

whenever this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, you may negate the damage dealt to draw a card.

1/3


I used to play this in my Forbiddian deck a long time ago, but I never see it otherwise... is the card just bad?

Or is there another reason?

[Lemuria]

Well, actually there's a reason:

Shadowmage Infiltrator :wink:

[Anusien]

The problem is that with things like Vial and Nimble Mongoose, you can't count on connecting every turn with a 1/3. I'd rather run Shadowmage Infiltrator or Dark Confidant. If you insist on running a creature like that, Jushi Apprentice is probably your best bet, but I'm not convinced that's a good plan.

[thefreakaccident]

Sometimes shadowmage infiltrator is simply out of the question though... although I would have to agree that it is strictly better than the original.


Does anyone have a list for forbiddian?

[Brushwagg]

There is also Merfolk Looter. You don't get an extra card to hand but you can filter cards and still do the damage. Shadow is probably the best bet to get the damage through.

But Dark Confidant and Shadowmage are better then Ophidan.

[Citrus-God]

Isochron Scepter + Brainstorm > Ophidian.

[Meekrab]

Isochron Scepter + Brainstorm > Ophidian.
That's a joke, right?

[Citrus-God]

That's a joke, right?

No, I'm serious. Ophidian sucks in this format, because this format is like, removal heavy. The best thing you can get that is closest to Monoblue Control, is actually some random deck with Counterbalance and Top.

[Gui]

Sometimes shadowmage infiltrator is simply out of the question though... although I would have to agree that it is strictly better than the original.


Does anyone have a list for forbiddian?

I have the original decklist here ^^
It still works sometimes, but you can tweak it as you wish:

Forbidian, a Jon Finkel's deck

4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
3 Forbid
3 Annul
4 Ophidian
3 Morphling
4 Powder Keg
2 Nevinyrrals Disk
4 Brainstorm
4 Impulse
4 Thawing Glaciers
4 Wasteland
2 Dust Bowl
15 Island


SB: 1 Annul
SB: 2 Treachery
SB: 4 Stifle
SB: 4 Hydroblast
SB: 4 Back to Basics

[Eldariel]

The thing with Shadowmage is that it's in UB so it forces two of your colours. Also makes Back to Basics almost unusable. Mono-blue Ophidian has done well in past in this format and the deck certainly isn't as horrible as the amount of players it's got would make one believe. Ophidian is surprisingly useful against Joblins. When I first tested it, I thought it wouldn't be much, but the ability to block every non-Piledriver Goblin takes away some of the damage and the draw-ability is obviously amazing in a control-deck.

[nupert]

There are matchups where Ophidian is better than Shadowmage Infiltrator. For example, if your opponent has Solitary Confinement or Engineered Plague on the board, Ophidian still draws you cards whereas Shadowmage Infiltrator does not.