After thinking things through a bit, I still do not have an opinion on Obzedat's Aid. It's been spoiled for a while now but I keep going back and forth in my mind when it comes to this card. I think that the mana cost is very prohibitive, but it might be a very strong sideboard card in Esperblade to ensure that you resolve the most Jaces and thus control the match.
If I run 3 Jace the Mindsculptors, and sideboard in an Obzedat's Aid, I can cast it to return a Jace and Snapcaster-cast it again if my Jace is dealt with, in the end-game. it would also answer artifact destruction or a timely Thoughtseize choosing my Batterskull or Umezawa's Jitte. Obzedat's Aid seems like a very good card when it comes to legend-slaying (Planeswalkers, Karakas, Vendilion Clique, Umezawa's Jitte being the most prominent) because you can Snapcast the Obzedat's Aid whereas you can't Snapcast an artifact or planeswalker.
I doubt that reanimator strategies would resort to Obzedat's Aid, however, it could be a valid strategy since Deathrite Shaman can not remove enchantments or planeswalkers from graveyards, but can remove creatures. Nicol Bolas and Omniscience being the more potent targets for Obzedat's Aid.
I'm not sure if Obzedat's Aid is good enough for legacy but I am wondering if this card will have any implications on legacy. What do you guys think?
For reference:
Snapcasting Obzedat's Aid costs seven mana across three different colors. "This card is great when I Snapcast it," isn't really something that should be counted as a reason to run a card in the first place - it's more of a bonus once the card is already in your deck.
I guess my question is, why? As a one-of in the sideboard, I suppose it's okay, but is that really the best way to be fighting other control decks? Why not more planeswalkers, like Sorin, Lord of Innistrad? Or more discard? A single Vindicate can go a long way in the early and late games versus control, whereas Aid is almost strictly a late-game play.
I just feel like five mana for this effect is too much.
To justify that casting cost, it's got to win immediately better than Griselbrand or Omniscience since there are better ways to cheat those into play.
I think I understand where you're coming from. It's just like running an extra copy of Jace. Sure, it costs 1 more mana, but it is more versatile, and it can also be snapcastered, which makes it kind of like 2 Jaces.
I can't possibly see this being used elsewhere though. It costs too much for any kind of reanimator strategy. While you could theoretically use enchantments or planeswalkers to play around deathrite shaman, every other graveyard hate card will still wreck you.
It's not more versatile than Jace. Jace is Jace on turn 3. This is really only ever Jace turns 4+, assuming your opponent has both only partially disrupted you AND lets you live that long.
It's only versatile in that it can hit creatures AND artifacts AND enchantments, so if you're running a reanimator/rector/welder/trash for treasure/show and tell abomination, then this may be a super slow but reasonable card to play. But if you're playing that kind of deck...you have bigger problems than finding the correct reanimation spell.
And for the record, it is an intriguing card; I wish it was cheaper. Back in Apocalypse they pushed the crap out of Vindicate and it's good but not amazing because the color requirements and the fact that it's a sorcery put a damper on it in streamlined eternal formats like Legacy. They could have done that with this and it'd be just fine.
Context is everything. Obzedat's Aid is as good as the shell you are running it in. 5 CMC means you need to get to the end game, which means you need to play control to get there without dying.
Malchar explained exactly what I meant. The fact that you can Snapcast it _is_ relevant, because it turns Snapcasters into Jaces later in the game. 7 mana is not that hard if you're playing in a grindy control mirror, and getting back your best permanent could swing the game in your favor. Casting an Obzedat's Aid on Jace is not that bad at all. For a 1 mana premium over Jace you get to choose your best permanent and reanimate it. Casting Aid on a countered Jace is a little bit like hardcasting your Force of Will the next turn. Pact of Negation's delayed cost also springs to mind. It's part pseudo-permission, part pseudo-removal for legends, part versatility (choose best permanent) and part reinforcement for Snapcaster Mage. This is all theory though. Maybe it just sucks.
Before entirely dismissing the concept of a non-creature reanimation strategy, don't forget that we now have access to Obzedat's Aid, Academy Rector and Replenish. Enchantments are some of the strongest cards out there.
This color combination would have access to discard effects in the form of Duress, Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek, Cabal Therapy and Liliana of the Veil, as well as some of the best removal in the format ->Swords to Plowshares and Innocent Blood and it has Entomb. Is it fast enough? Perhaps not. But it does give room to explore alternative reanimation routes. The biggest merit is its immunity to creature removal and Deathrite Shaman. A lot of people are neglecting to dedicate graveyard hate in their sideboard because they trust that Deathrite Shaman will do it for them. Those decks would fall prey to a deck like this.
Playing with non-creature reanimation targets and academy rector allows you to get maximum value out of Innocent Blood and Cabal Therapy.
If this card was an instant and only cost 2WB, I would still rather have Restoration Angel / Venser / Notion Thief / any planeswalker.
I like the Replenish angle, but in a deck that's built to take advantage of broken enchantments, Replenish is always significantly stronger, right? So drawing Obezedat's Aid will always be a pain in the ass, because you'll wish it were a tutor for Replenish.Originally Posted by bruizar
Honestly I'm not certain that this card can do anything faster or better than Show and Tell. Functionally similar, in that we're looking to pay 3WB instead of the casting cost of a permanent, or else it is not worth it. And it has to get into the graveyard, and sit there until you've got 5 mana to toss at Ob-Aid. I dunno, it seems like making a bigger puzzle out of something than it needs to be.
In a deck like Rector fit it may be a solid singlton for the long game to get back dead fatties, enchantments, Deeds even.
Casting this card is essentially casting another copy of the best permanent card in your graveyard. It's like a more powerful regrowth. If your deck routinely casts 5 drops (and that is a very big "if") then there's really no downside to including one of these since it acts as another copy of most of the things that you were going to cast anyway, and you get that extra versatility.
It seems like it's almost certainly going to be better in modern though, since most of the things that you'd want to bring back are also legal in modern.
Yeah you can probably do some really awesome Gifts piles with this card.
Snapcaster, Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, Obzedats Aid?
Any Legacy that could possibly support this card would need a mana base that was so fubar, the deck's only ability would be its high cost permanents. No disruption or aggro.
Have a look at every noncreature artifact, enchantment, and Planeswaller in the game. There is not a single one that is better than Griselbrand. Pay 1 for Reanimate with shitloads of search and defense or pay five in a crappy color combination for the same or worse? This is a Standard card, boys.
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If I'm spending 5 mana on a single card, it better be winning me the game.
This is not doing that.
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