Cthuloo
05-26-2011, 05:12 AM
Really? Yeah, really.
Chains of Mephistopheles 1:b:
Enchantment
If a player would draw a card except the first one he or she draws in his or her draw step each turn, that player discards a card instead. If the player discards a card this way, he or she draws a card. If the player doesn't discard a card this way, he or she puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Why am I brining up this old and obscure card in a world populated by shiny brand new Mental Missteps?
Well, first of all it has an awesome flavor, and has that "old school" style that every one of us loves. This should already be a good enough reason to run the card, but for the few of you that aren't convinced yet, I still have plenty of motivations for you.
Let's make a brief summary of the more relevant cards that can be put in chains by the good old Mephistopheles:
Brainstorm (and to a lesser extent Ponder, Preordain and "flipping" Top), which leads to...
Jace's second ability
Standstill
Sylvan Library
50% of Spiral Tide (Cantrips, Time Spiral, Meditate)
... and, from the last SCG top 16, other smaller snacks for Mephistopheles include: Cryptic Command, Sword of Fire and Ice, Repeal, Horizon Canopy and the entire engine of the Enchantress deck. Not that bad for an old devil, right?
This card is obviously not maindeck material, except maybe as a 1-of E-Tutor target, but, since the ancient times, the devil likes to hide in the shadows, and pop up in snake form to annoy naked girls offering them fruit. Now, substitute in your mind Eve (it's easier if you stop imagining her naked) with Team America, Uw control, Time Spiral, cantrip ANT or Enchantress. Now try again, avoiding to think to naked girls + chains, you pervert, and you will see why this old piece of cardboard could be a good sideboard weapon against the aforementioned decks (and not only them).
Who could profit from a deal with the devil? Well, first of all the Dark Confidant. Wasn't he that convinced you to make the deal in the first place? Well, DC text conveniently doesn't mention the word "draw", so it will not be affected by the chains. I'm not suggesting an exact decklist, since the card is meant as a versatile tool for black decks that don't splash blue to fight blue decks (mainly), but probably decks like The Gate and Deadguy Ale could profit the most from the card, since their ways to make card advantage still work very well despite the chains (DC, Mystic, Bitterblossom, Gatekeeper).
What do the devil worshippers on this site think about the card? And don't answer "But it's 80$ on SCG". You made a deal with the devil. Nobody said it was free.
Chains of Mephistopheles 1:b:
Enchantment
If a player would draw a card except the first one he or she draws in his or her draw step each turn, that player discards a card instead. If the player discards a card this way, he or she draws a card. If the player doesn't discard a card this way, he or she puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Why am I brining up this old and obscure card in a world populated by shiny brand new Mental Missteps?
Well, first of all it has an awesome flavor, and has that "old school" style that every one of us loves. This should already be a good enough reason to run the card, but for the few of you that aren't convinced yet, I still have plenty of motivations for you.
Let's make a brief summary of the more relevant cards that can be put in chains by the good old Mephistopheles:
Brainstorm (and to a lesser extent Ponder, Preordain and "flipping" Top), which leads to...
Jace's second ability
Standstill
Sylvan Library
50% of Spiral Tide (Cantrips, Time Spiral, Meditate)
... and, from the last SCG top 16, other smaller snacks for Mephistopheles include: Cryptic Command, Sword of Fire and Ice, Repeal, Horizon Canopy and the entire engine of the Enchantress deck. Not that bad for an old devil, right?
This card is obviously not maindeck material, except maybe as a 1-of E-Tutor target, but, since the ancient times, the devil likes to hide in the shadows, and pop up in snake form to annoy naked girls offering them fruit. Now, substitute in your mind Eve (it's easier if you stop imagining her naked) with Team America, Uw control, Time Spiral, cantrip ANT or Enchantress. Now try again, avoiding to think to naked girls + chains, you pervert, and you will see why this old piece of cardboard could be a good sideboard weapon against the aforementioned decks (and not only them).
Who could profit from a deal with the devil? Well, first of all the Dark Confidant. Wasn't he that convinced you to make the deal in the first place? Well, DC text conveniently doesn't mention the word "draw", so it will not be affected by the chains. I'm not suggesting an exact decklist, since the card is meant as a versatile tool for black decks that don't splash blue to fight blue decks (mainly), but probably decks like The Gate and Deadguy Ale could profit the most from the card, since their ways to make card advantage still work very well despite the chains (DC, Mystic, Bitterblossom, Gatekeeper).
What do the devil worshippers on this site think about the card? And don't answer "But it's 80$ on SCG". You made a deal with the devil. Nobody said it was free.