Is there any word that sounds cooler in English
than "ascension?" Certainly it goes on five of
the coolest cards in Zendikar. Pyromancer
Ascension is arguably overkill, but is there
really such a thing as enough when it comes to
all-time greats like Time Warp, Banefire, and
Ancestral Vision? I think not.
Constructed:
Red decks have more creatures than other spells
to win their games. I was looking into a Red
Blue deck with zero creatures. Some cheap draw
spells like Ponder and cheaper burn spells. A
four of is a must. It looks simple to put
counters on, but it can take some time to get
two counters on it. I have seen one sit on the
table for several turns before it got its first
counter on it.
Casual & Multiplayer: It can really get some good use out of it in multiplayer games, because
you have time to set up. But there is the random
Naturalize that will hit when you do get the
second counter on it.
Limited:
Sealed deck, unless you get the the god packs
with nothing but instants and sorceries, which I
have not see one pack like that. I would never
draft all noncreature spells. You will have to
get more than 3 or 4 to make each one work.
Creatures are your main spells that win limited
games over the long haul. Sometimes a one big
instant or sorcery can win the game for you or
turn the game around in your favor.
But overall I can see putting together a
creatureless deck with several instants and
sorceries.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 3
Multiplayer: 3
Limited: 2
Later
Miguel
Paul
Magic The Gathering
Card of The Day: Pyromancers Ascension
Welcome back
readers hopefully you are all enjoying a well
deserved holiday break. Today’s card of the day
is Pyromancers Ascension a powerful quest
enchantment from Zendikar that has an entire
deck archetype based around it. For an
investment of two mana whenever you play an
instant or sorcery that shares a name with a
spell in your graveyard you get a counter as
long it has two or more counters you may copy
every instant and sorcery spell you play. This
makes for a powerful effect that allows a deck
built around utilizing the ability to flourish.
Currently in standard there is a control deck
built around Pyromancers Ascension as well as
powerful spells like Double Negative In a
strictly blue/red build and the build that
includes black for finishers such as Cruel
Ultimatum.
The deck
while not generating the popularity or win
percentage of decks such as Jund never the less
has a powerful and versatile game plan to draw
on allowing the lynchpin of the deck,
Pyromancers Ascension to be a powerful
competitive card. In extended currently there
are no powerful combo decks revolving around
this card but that is sure to change due to the
large variety of cards available in the format
as well as the potential of cards to be released
and the fact the deck can win without resolving
Pyromancers Ascension. In casual and multiplayer
this card can make all your spells extremely
nasty throw in some cards that help you smooth
out your draws such as Ponder and watch as all
the spells you play double, also a nice addition
to dedicated burn decks to give them longevity
in multiplayer. A powerful and dangerous card
whose power can only grow around the kitchen
table. In limited the chances you draft enough
multiples of spells to make this card worth it
is questionable, I doubt this card will make a
high pick although it could compliment certain
decks nicely.
Today's card of the day is Pyromancer Ascension
which is a quest that has a Fork or Twincast
style of effect. Aside from the obvious
choices of burn spells this also works quite
well with Manamorphose and Rite of Flame in
extended. Just about any instant or
sorcery can benefit greatly by having another
copy of it and the only condition is having to
play two spells of which copies already exist in
the graveyard.
For Constructed, Casual, and Multiplayer getting
two for one on your investments is a great deal,
but the limiting factor will be getting the
quest counters. Playing a second copy of
one spell early in a game isn't too uncommon,
but doing it twice falls into the realm of luck.
There are some effects that can make this more
likely, but overall this just isn't reliable
enough to make a major impact.
For Limited this is pretty much a useless card
in Sealed as the odds of both getting duplicate
cards in your pool and playing them both in a
game where you have this quest available are
just too remote. Unless you have a large
number of the same instant or sorcery cards this
should be left in the sidedeck. For
Booster this is a very risky pick as you may not
get enough passed enough duplicate spells to
make it a sound investment. If drafting
several copies of burn spells already and this
is passed to you it can potentially see the
effect take hold. The odds of this are
still reduced compared to any constructed
environment which makes this dead weight far too
often to be included in most winning builds.
