Cook’s Kitchen – Avacyn Restored

[Bryant Cook]

Cook’s Kitchen – Avacyn Restored

Article.

[Oiolosse]

Cook’s Kitchen – Avacyn Restored

Article.

Standard article. I agree with many of your sentiments, esp. Bargainboy. I don't really think the red miracle is that playable though. Only because as a finisher you need to reliably finish. Fireblast can be cast 99% of the time, this, idk honestly.

[Vacrix]

Bryant certainly can Cook up a good article. Well done.. like I like my steak.

I wonder if you're going to do a part 2 once the whole set is spoiled? I anticipate we're going to get at least one more Legacy playable by how things are going so far.

[DragoFireheart]

You didn't mention how you can cast Temporal Mastery at instant speed ala Sensei's Divining Top. -1 point.

Good article otherwise and I agree for the most part.

[DragoFireheart]

Standard article. I agree with many of your sentiments, esp. Bargainboy. I don't really think the red miracle is that playable though. Only because as a finisher you need to reliably finish. Fireblast can be cast 99% of the time, this, idk honestly.

Thunderous Wrath has a much less severe drawback compared to Fireblast AND deals more damage. In UR burn, setting it up with cantrips isn't that hard.

[Bryant Cook]

Bryant certainly can Cook up a good article. Well done.. like I like my steak.

I don't get it...

I wonder if you're going to do a part 2 once the whole set is spoiled? I anticipate we're going to get at least one more Legacy playable by how things are going so far.

There's probably going to be another if there's more cards with discussing, but these three were highly anticipated and talked about so I decided to deliver my input before the entire set came out. I believe it was MaRo who wrote the article on Wizards about Miracle and Mastery who said he wanted to reveal the best start of the story first to engage the reader. I have a feeling we've seen the best cards from this set already, but hey, I could be wrong.

[DragoFireheart]

I don't get it...

He made a bad joke using your last name and your article's name.

[Bryant Cook]

He made a bad joke using your last name and your article's name.

I wasn't being serious.

[DragoFireheart]

I wasn't being serious.

Sarcasm is hard to tell on the Internet sometimes...

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

Boy, Bryant really Cooked up a good...

oh, that joke's been done already you say? Hm.

Good article, I agree with the analysis on all the cards listed. I think Temporal Mastery may in fact be good enough to continue seeing play once the hype dies down, but I certainly don't think it'll see play outside of a couple decks that have the right mix of board presence and manipulation to actually abuse it.

[Ignithas_]

Good article, but I don't agree about Temporal Mastery.

1. When you look at the UW Stoneblade decks, that made top 8, you see that there are flexible slots in the deck. Most likely you would like to have TM two times in the deck, and the slots, that are the least important ( in my opinion) is Snapcaster 3 and 4 and Geist of Saint Traft.
2. The fact, that TM can't react directly to Dark Ritual, Stoneforge Mystic, Reanimate, Faithless Looting, Show and Tell, or Knight of the Reliquary also applys to Geist of Saint Traft, and pretty much every non U deck and both see play regulary in Legacy.
3. "If a player open-hands Temporal Mastery it’s very difficult to cast at seven mana! Let’s stop for a second and create a list of playable cards in Legacy that cost seven… I’m coming up blank." You've mentioned Reanimator and Show and Tell...
Edit: Also Thresh has at least 2 flexible slots, otherwise they couldn't play Forked Lightning.

[Aggro_zombies]

Good article, I agree with the analysis on all the cards listed. I think Temporal Mastery may in fact be good enough to continue seeing play once the hype dies down, but I certainly don't think it'll see play outside of a couple decks that have the right mix of board presence and manipulation to actually abuse it.

People put Snapcaster Mage in tempo RUG decks despite the fact that those decks run six mana-producing lands (Wasteland is more like a spell than an actual land), and despite the fact that you rarely get up to the mana to cast a spell, Snapcaster, then cast a different spell - or even just Snapcaster, spell that costs more than one. In reality, Snapcaster has started to bend those decks around himself, and now they're dumping cards like Stifle that don't really do anything when you're on the Snapcast plan.

So I think people will load up on Temporal Masteries in every blue deck they can and will discover that taking an extra turn is always at least decent. TM will then stay in those decks regardless of whether or not it belongs there, and we'll have extra_turns_blue.format.

[Bryant Cook]

Good article, but I don't agree about Temporal Mastery.

1. When you look at the UW Stoneblade decks, that made top 8, you see that there are flexible slots in the deck. Most likely you would like to have TM two times in the deck, and the slots, that are the least important ( in my opinion) is Snapcaster 3 and 4 and Geist of Saint Traft.
2. The fact, that TM can't react directly to Dark Ritual, Stoneforge Mystic, Reanimate, Faithless Looting, Show and Tell, or Knight of the Reliquary also applys to Geist of Saint Traft, and pretty much every non U deck and both see play regulary in Legacy.
3. "If a player open-hands Temporal Mastery it’s very difficult to cast at seven mana! Let’s stop for a second and create a list of playable cards in Legacy that cost seven… I’m coming up blank." You've mentioned Reanimator and Show and Tell...
Edit: Also Thresh has at least 2 flexible slots, otherwise they couldn't play Forked Lightning.

1.) Geist is a completely different kind of interaction in the idea that it creates a clock forcing the opponent to interact with you. 6 damage a turn from a UW deck isn't exactly expected. It's also very tough to interact with because of Hexproof making it very playable.
2.) Geist does interact. Temporal Mastery does not.
3.) Seven mana cards. Let me rephrase, do you see anyone casting seven mana cards? Yes, there's Elesh Norn - A renanimate target. Her manacost might was welll be 14 for the sake of this argument. The actual casting cost doesn't matter out side of the spell Renanimate.

I mentioned Forked "Bolt".

[Di]

Bryant certainly can Cook up a good article. Well done.. like I like my steak.

I wonder if you're going to do a part 2 once the whole set is spoiled? I anticipate we're going to get at least one more Legacy playable by how things are going so far.

Not to steal anything away from Bryant, but I'll have an article up covering the entire set once it's fully spoiled. It might be beating a horse to death, but it's what everyone's talking about right now.

[Ignithas_]

1.) Geist is a completely different kind of interaction in the idea that it creates a clock forcing the opponent to interact with you. 6 damage a turn from a UW deck isn't exactly expected. It's also very tough to interact with because of Hexproof making it very playable.
2.) Geist does interact. Temporal Mastery does not.
3.) Seven mana cards. Let me rephrase, do you see anyone casting seven mana cards? Yes, there's Elesh Norn - A renanimate target. Her manacost might was welll be 14 for the sake of this argument. The actual casting cost doesn't matter out side of the spell Renanimate.

I mentioned Forked "Bolt".

1) A 6 damage clock on the third turn, that can be killed by a blank 2/2 creature isn't that strong and doesn't interact with much. TM also gives you a higher clock, because everything on the field become more dangerous. Plus you can empty your hand quicklier to get a better board position, without getting carddisadvantage.
2) Like I said, TM interacts through other cards. Just like Brainstorm, Ponder etc.
3) I don't think, that anyone would consider to cast 7 mana cards fair. You cast Reanimate to get Elesh and you cast TM with it's mirracle cost. What's your point?

[joemauer]

1.)
3.) Seven mana cards. Let me rephrase, do you see anyone casting seven mana cards? Yes, there's Elesh Norn - A renanimate target. Her manacost might was welll be 14 for the sake of this argument. The actual casting cost doesn't matter out side of the spell Renanimate.

Regal Force.
And Blightsteel Colossus is more than seven.

But on a more serious note, just because something can't be cast in Legacy does not make it unplayable. Show and Tell decks have eight "dead cards" that can't be cast in a fair way with Emmys and Proggys. Temporal Mastery will usually be cast unfairly with brainstorm.

Temporal Mastery probably won't be broken, but I don't think it will be as unplayable as your article implied.

[The Big Ragu]

Smashing article! I'm glad to hear you think it's unlikely that Temporal Mastery will be broken, because quite frankly, I just find it completely uninteresting.

It should be fun getting to see Griselbrand pop up here and there. He seems like a ton of fun, and I enjoy playing against Reanimator/Dredge/Sneak Show decks.