Don't know about the rankings, but I don't think I've had a chance to play ANY of these guys in GTC... maybe the Sunhome, but that's it. I felt like the guildmages were way easier to come by in draft in RTR than in GTC.
I think Izzet GM has to be worse than Dimir, but not sure.
This is pretty interesting. I've played all the GM's at this point, some only a little though. They don't seem to impact the game like the RTR ones did. I think part of it is that this format seems more wham-bang fast, and the mana activations are too much of a luxury. Take vizkopa. There have been a couple games where it took the game over in late-game situation with lots of mana and you're in topdeck mode, but before that it just doesn't do much.
2.Rix Maadi (one and two are actually close for me. This card has won me more games than Vitu even though I played Selesnya more.)
3.Sunhome (This card seems to put the Boros player over the tipping point whenever I see it played.)
4.Korozda (Very good, but often for me the Intimidate wasn't useful.)
5. New Prav (Maybe underrated, once you get the Detain online you really take over a game, God forbid you get to ten mana!)
6. Skarrg (Maybe I'm underrating him although I quite like him.)
7.Vizkopa (being underrated here pretty hard. She's very good and will see more popularity once more people play with her.)
8.Zameck
9.Nivix
10.Duskmantle (I've only used him once and he did help me win a game.)
bulletd Guidelines:
5.0: I will take this card no matter what. Creature 1 or playable 1 or hate 1.Domri Rade 4.5: Bomb and splashable. Creature 1-2, playable 1-2, removal 1. Obzedat, Ghost Council 4.0: Excellent first pick first pack, will sway me into same colors. Creatures 1-4, removal 1. Rubblehulk 3.5: Excellent first pack pick two, will confirm colors or possibly sway into second color. Ground Assault 3.0: Good in-color addition, or splashable removal/creature. Creatures 3-9, removal 1-3. Kingpin's Pet 2.5: Solid pick in-color; creatures 5-12, removal 3-5. Mugging 2.0: Creatures 10-16; removal 6-7. Act of Treason 1.5: My 23rd or 22nd card, depending on removal. Gutter Skulk 1.0: 23rd card if I don't maindeck an additional land. Mental Vapors 0.5: This card will sometimes be sideboarded in. Shattering Blow 0.0: I will shred this card for counters. Frenzied tilling
Freely acknowledging I'm at odds with many here on some choices:
1. Vitu-Ghazi. Bloody Vitu-Ghazi. One of the only truly first pickable almost always Guildmages, and pickable over a number of rare bombs in the set. One man army here, and a damn effective one at that.
2. Rix Maadi. Nearly on the same level as Vitu, though not quite. This thing is fairly cheap removal, bleed, combat trick, and a bear all rolled into one. Reason I have it below is that Vitu was always board-state alterring if it hit the board. Rix is just an efficient means of getting there, and although gamestate alterring he simply doesnt take over the board as well as Vitu.
3. Skaarg. Trample for all for cheap is extremely nice and makes combat a pain. Have a 4/4 attack turn 4 is also extremely nice, as well as giving you blockers that can block most relevant fast game critters. He doesn't severely alter the board-state nearly as much as Vitu or Rix, but he does lay the beats and eeks out that extra bit of damage you need.
4. Korozda. The option for evasion was always very nice, and the second ability really made removal a risky affair. Not nearly game changing in the format as the above, but still very good to have around and scavenge made the second ability down-right mean at times.
5. Sunhome. This is the one I disagree with most on. I've never actually seen it take hold of the game and rangle its dead or dying body like I have with any of the above. Its first ability is nice to have around, and can eek out the damage. The second ability, however, I've never actually seen to great effect. Its expensive, produces a fragile body, and doesn't really do much for you. That 1/1 isn't going to save you if you need it to, and I have yet to see it actually win the game more quickly. Still, I've seen the first ability used to decent effect and at the least its a mana dump with a board improving ability. Just not one that is particularly useful or game-changing like many of the above.
6. New Prahv. At first I thought this one would be the strongest. Evasion+Detain? Awesomesauce. It's good, quite good at that. Problem is, Azorius had plenty of flyers open to it already, and most decks utilized this fact. Which made the first ability marginally useful for the few creatures without flying you would have. The second ability is the real meat, however due to the cost (A necessary cost) it meant that you ran the risk of putting yourself between playing a creature (Or bomb), or stalling one of their creatures while they build up a better board presence. Still, it is useful particularly if the game goes on longer. I just found that the second ability was prohibitively expensive at times, and it despite appearances just couldnt' take over the game very well. If it does take over the game, it's hard. Just that you need to get to that point first.
7. Zameck. I quite like Zameck, really, and I think its criminally underrated. Its major problem is that it doesn't play nicely with the stronger Simic gameplan much. It function best as a mid to late game drop rather than early drop. Its abilities are both very nice for mid game shenanigans, as it leads to ridiculous card draw engines. It also makes that normally late game evolver dead draws gain some extra mileage. It just doesn't have the ability to drastically alter board position.
8. Nivix. I actually like this one a lot, and although it doesn't have game-alterring abilities in the same sense of any of the above still is quite useful. Digging into your deck in the mid-late game can give you a huge advantage, and the copy ability is also quite nice at times. Still, narrow and less useful than the rest.
9. Vizkopa. I've never seen it do more than get a few points of life gain/loss at best. It has potential, but it's awkward and clunky potential to try and work with.
10. Duskmantle. My favorite guildmage. Though still it's not particularly good. The first ability is actually useful if you leave mana open, and the second ability is decent to have around. It falters, however, with Vizkopa's clunkiness in using its abilities to strong effect. I still like it, it just not as useful as any of the others.
That said, I would still very gladly include any of the guildmages in any draft where I could run them. They are all very useful, and still quite powerful in their own right. Even duskmantle is a very strong card to have around in your deck. So just because its the least of the guildmages doesn't mean it's bad at all. Its still quite good. Just not as so as the others.
Don't know about the rankings, but I don't think I've had a chance to play ANY of these guys in GTC... maybe the Sunhome, but that's it. I felt like the guildmages were way easier to come by in draft in RTR than in GTC.
I think Izzet GM has to be worse than Dimir, but not sure.
This is pretty interesting. I've played all the GM's at this point, some only a little though. They don't seem to impact the game like the RTR ones did. I think part of it is that this format seems more wham-bang fast, and the mana activations are too much of a luxury. Take vizkopa. There have been a couple games where it took the game over in late-game situation with lots of mana and you're in topdeck mode, but before that it just doesn't do much.
I'm still not overly certain that GTC is such a hyper-aggressive format as some make it out to be, but I do agree to a point. I've seen all of the guildmages wheel pretty late, much later than any would in RTR (Except Nivix, perhaps, and even that was snagged fairly early). That said, the one I've seen used most often is Skaarg, as it does work wonders in or against more aggressive builds. Sunhome I've seen used some, but mainly its first ability for a little extra damage. The others, it seems, are just not well-like by most and being picked after bafflingly odd choices. They all are, after all, bears at worst and in the format I will still pick them early. I think people are giving to much thought to how useful the abilities are and completely forgetting how useful a 2/2 for 2 actually is.
I neglected to point out that I thought ranks 2-6 were very close to each other, so really I think our two lists are quite similar.
It does appear that everyone ranking them put Vitu first, Duskmantle last, and had the same Tiers 1 and 2 (if you make tier 1 the first 6 and tier 2 the last 4)
Freely acknowledging I'm at odds with many here on some choices
Not particularly at odds with mine, I just put Korozda 2 spots higher. Perhaps the Intimidate +1/+1 ability worked better in my games than it did in yours. I remember a lot of games where it was the #1 must kill creature on whichever side it was on.
Not particularly at odds with mine, I just put Korozda 2 spots higher. Perhaps the Intimidate +1/+1 ability worked better in my games than it did in yours. I remember a lot of games where it was the #1 must kill creature on whichever side it was on.
I just noticed that. I would like to say that 1-4 are all extremely strong, it's just how I've seen them work and the effect they had on the game once they came out. Korozda was always strong when on the board, and a threat you absolutely needed to answer sooner over later, just that its presence wasn't always game-state changing in my experience unlike the other three. Vitu-Ghazi just devastated most games I saw it in, Rix Maadi could remove many threats on its own for reasonable costs, and Skaarg just lays the beats and makes attacking into you a difficult affair when there arent many creatures that can profitably get through a 4/4 on turn 4+ (Or vice versa). Really, 1-4 are fairly close with only Vitu being the outshiner of the group.
The one which I disagree with most on, however, is Sunhome which although useful for the Boros gameplan also isnt as great as people make it up to be. It's first ability is nice and all and almost always useful, but its second ability I've just never seen be useful. If you've burned out enough to consistently be making a 1/1, chances are you are going to get beat down soon by bigger threats. It's a nice little tack on, and should be used if you have the mana open, just that it doesn't dramatically alter the game at all. But with the first ability being what it is, it is what you would call "Tier 1". Just on the lower end of the spectrum than the rest.
That all said, I would like to reiterate that even though there are some clear winners and losers in the guildmage comparison, all of them are still miles and ahead above a great deal of the chaffe in their respected sets. There is very little reason not to snag an on-color guildmage early to mid pick, even in GTC. They are, as I said, all bears with fairly decent abilities tacked on. I've won and lost because of all the guildmages, barring Vizkopa and Duskmantle which I have yet to really see. Vizkopa I've used once myself, and it was nice enough to help stall the board but ended up being really clunky trying to work its abilities effectively into the gameplan; Duskmantle I haven't really seen. Only drafted Dimir once so far (As Orzhov is one of the more popular archetypes now that most have jumped on board the bandwagon and it snags the great black removal, and anything worthwhile in black). Still, I can't see myself passing Duskmantle for, say, Shadow Slice which I have seen happen and baffles me to no end.
Basically, I would prioritize most every on-color guildmage with few exceptions (Cloudfin/Experiment over Zameck, and possible Truefire/Halbierders over Sunhome, etc). The top 4 of my list would likely be #1 priorities if in color, and very likely to be first picked by me unless a truely bomby card were present.
