[SCD] How good is meddling mage in today's cometitive meta?

[autonom]

I understand that meddling mage can stop decks that are reliant on one card, like Omnitell is on Show and Tell. But Ethersworn Canoninst I think causes even more problems for that deck (finding the combo takes longer) and is harder to kill (finding a way to kill it takes longer).

With all the great 2 mana hate bears that exist, what decks would want to play meddling mage maindeck or sideboard and why?

[wonderPreaux]

I understand that meddling mage can stop decks that are reliant on one card, like Omnitell is on Show and Tell. But Ethersworn Canoninst I think causes even more problems for that deck (finding the combo takes longer) and is harder to kill (finding a way to kill it takes longer).

With all the great 2 mana hate bears that exist, what decks would want to play meddling mage maindeck or sideboard and why?

Canonist is symmetrical, Meddling Mage typically isn't symmetrical in practice. I can play UWR Delver or something, drop a Meddling Mage on Show and Tell, and still play out a bunch of cantrips, creatures, etc. If I play Canonist, I'm slowing myself to a crawl too. Also, it's not as though Meddling Mage doesn't slow down combo, Meddling effectively turns "A+B" into "A+B+way to remove Meddling Mage", more pieces means more difficulty assembling the combo. Meddling Mage is also an arguably more flexible card than other hatebears because you can just call cards you're afraid of and effectively get a Cabal Therapy on legs. The best way to play with symmetrical effects is to play ones that really aren't symmetrical, which is why a lot of UWx decks run Meddling Mage.

[FoolofaTook]

Meddling Mage isn't a good main list card because very few good Legacy lists are dependent on a single card to function. So you put out a bear naming something and you inconvenience the opponent (maybe) and your 2/2 has very little effect on the game. From the sideboard it has some utility because when it's good it's pretty good. Even then if you ran creatures main list and the opponent isn't looking to roflstomp you in 3 turns the mage will be very vulnerable to their removal.

The best utility Meddling Mage has is in a list without main list creatures against an opponent who really wants to resolve a single card to win. They have very little creature removal game 2 and you have a creature who says no and beats for 2, giving you a clock in the match instead of waiting for your inflection point as usual.

[autonom]

Thank you both for great responses. That meddling mage is best in the side of a deck that does not run creatures makes a lot of sense.

[rickster]

Meddling mage increases your blue count for Force of Will. Some Shardless BUG players have four meddling mages in the sideboard. You swap out your goyfs for meddling mages against combo, this increases your blue count while creating a threat that does something when it comes into play.

It's situational which hate bear is better.

[btm10]

Canonist is symmetrical, Meddling Mage typically isn't symmetrical in practice. I can play UWR Delver or something, drop a Meddling Mage on Show and Tell, and still play out a bunch of cantrips, creatures, etc. If I play Canonist, I'm slowing myself to a crawl too. Also, it's not as though Meddling Mage doesn't slow down combo, Meddling effectively turns "A+B" into "A+B+way to remove Meddling Mage", more pieces means more difficulty assembling the combo. Meddling Mage is also an arguably more flexible card than other hatebears because you can just call cards you're afraid of and effectively get a Cabal Therapy on legs. The best way to play with symmetrical effects is to play ones that really aren't symmetrical, which is why a lot of UWx decks run Meddling Mage.

It's actually better than Therapy on legs because it effectively hits 100% of the time.

[Barook]

It's actually better than Therapy on legs because it effectively hits 100% of the time.

And like Therapy, it benefits from Gitaxian Probe, although I guess that matters rarely, though, since most of the time, you should already have the card you want to name in mind.

[wonderPreaux]

And like Therapy, it benefits from Gitaxian Probe, although I guess that matters rarely, though, since most of the time, you should already have the card you want to name in mind.

I actually did have a game against UWR Delver where I got Probe'd and then had a pair of Ponders get Pikula'd. It was not a good feeling.