Elite packs this week (12/3) - which MP card are desirable?

[Tremayne]

I know, everyone is venting on the timer issue in the upcoming version 3.3. so maybe this is of little interest to the community at large, but bear with me.

Assume you have none of the MP in the two Elite packs in the vault this week.

Which MP would make you dish out 400 purples for a elite pack?

MP in the legacy pack
Boil
Shatterstorm
Slaughter Pact

MP in the standard pack
Conflux
Hanna, ships navigator
Pernicious Deed
Rishadan Port

[Tremayne]

Personally, I would go for the Slaughter Pact, sadly it is paired with some of the worst MP I can think of. Boil is so situational that I deeply wish there was a sideboard mechanism in MTGPQ.

Shatterstorm is a little better than Boil but not by much.

[Tilwin90]

The DOM pack is disastruous.
I see people trying to break Conflux one way or another but it looks like an overly expensive 5-tricks pony that isn’t worth the price (kind of reminds me of Explosion).
Hanna has nothing in the face of Starfield of Nyx but she would be at most a fun card to try and play with.
I have Pernicious Deed and Rishadan Port and I never use them anymore (I tried, but they are simply horrible).

The Legacy pack is much more interesting though (assuming you didn’t already get the full MP set during the HOD packs chances bug).
Shatterstorm is superb and is right now the best support sweeper in the game. If you don’t use supports or actually want to break them (Djinn Wishes, Gilded Petal or however the full mana on destroy MP support is called) it’s an auto-include in place of Demolish. I use it in the Emrakul’s Corruption right node deck (where you have to cast X supports or less)
Slaughter Pact is extremely cheap removal in pretty much any color, though it’s notably good in red and green. Note that black & white will get something from RNA that costs 5 (instead of 1), deals only 5 damage to yourself and is a common (talk about power creep).
Boil is bugged right now as it can’t be cast if the opponent doesn’t have a blue support out.

[Matthew]

First, this depends on what your mythic collection looks like. I’ll answer assuming you have every single mythic but none of the MPs. I have all of these cards, and there are only three that I use regularly. I’ll break it out into three categories or rankings, however you want to look at it:

1. Useful enough to make occasional to frequent appearances in actual events:

• Slaughter Pact
• Hanna
• Rishadan Port

2. Fun to experiment with, but NOT for serious play:

• Shatterstorm (check out my video here! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_NXYSJoOFznW8uB6M3cnIA)

3. So badly designed or with such a negative drawback that it’s not worth using ever, except perhaps for mastery (and even that is a stretch):

• Boil
• Conflux
• Pernicious Deed

Now, all of that being said, I wouldn’t even say that the three useful cards are worth chasing at this point. You’re better off chasing the bombs from M19 (yes, even still!!!) and maybe, possibly waiting for the Allegiance update to drop. And if you don’t have all of the mythics and there is a chance you will get one of them, then I don’t think it’s worth the jewels at all.

Thats just my two cents though.

//Edited Link Redirect To Their YouTube Profile Page -Brigby

[Tremayne]

@Tilwin90 and @Matthew - thank you for playing along.

I think that it is funny to see each of your comments on Shatterstorm. Tilwin90 thinks it is superb and Matthew thinks it is subpar (my interpretation).

Edit - BTW @Tilwin90 thank you for the info about the defective Boil

[Mburn7]

Hannah and Slaughter Pack are definitely good cards. The rest range from Meh to Garbage.

I’d hold your Jewels until RNA comes out, so you get extra pulls on those new MPs

[Tremayne]

@Mburn7 - nice you are game also.

How does Hanna work? Say your returned support card is completely filled with mana because there are enough white and blue gems on the board. Will the support card be casted on the same round or does it work as copied spells and only drop in the next turn?

[Matthew]

@Tilwin90

I have Pernicious Deed and Rishadan Port and I never use them anymore (I tried, but they are simply horrible).

Dude, you should try out Port again. They actually fixed it and it works properly now. It’s brutal in the right set-up. Use it with stuff that hits the whole board (Fall of the Thran) or things that hit sections of it (Abbot of Keral Keep). Storm the Vault is another good card to pair with it.

I’ll admit that it’s not a “for everybody” card, because mana screwing your opponent isn’t what a lot of people call fun. It is definitely useful now though.

[Mburn7]

@Tremayne

Yup, that’s how Hannah works. You match the gem, the support returns to your hand (if you have space) and gains the mana. If its full, it casts that turn. She’s great for returning multiple supports at once and getting “on cast” effects out of them, but definitely not as consistent as Starfield.

[madwren]

@Tremayne

How does Hanna work? Say your returned support card is completely filled with mana because there are enough white and blue gems on the board. Will the support card be casted on the same round or does it work as copied spells and only drop in the next turn?

Hanna can be remarkably fun in Legacy in a Teferi support spam build (Insidious Will, Gideon’s Defeat, Sphinx’s Decree, etc) and her virtue over Starfield is that she returns multiple supports in a turn, especially when Vault is in play. Vault blows some up but tends to bring them immediately back. She isn’t quite as strong in Standard, unfortunately.

Regarding other masterpieces, I don’t see any of the ones listed as being worth chasing. Slaughter Pact is very good–and great for objectives where you need to micromanage your own life total–but not crucial by any stretch.

[Stormcrow]

I’ve been sitting on all my Jewels for a while waiting for Ball Lightning to show up, seems like it’s been forever. This set of packs definitely didn’t tempt me to stop waiting though.

[Gilesclone]

The current set is not impressive

[Tremayne]

@Mburn7 and @madwren - thanks for the feedback. I can see the potential in her, but I will not use my purples on that package.

[thesmallesthuman]

I see the decision here is made, but I really wanna jump in on this conversation about Hanna for a second cuz I have this massive crush on her.

She is awesome in legacy for for the reasons mentioned above (plus omni!), but standard still has some excellent self-destructing supports in sorcerous spyglass and thaumatic compass. But it’s GRN that really made her shine again. Pair her with drowned secrets or lich, throw in a few gem changers or board explosions and then cast all your supports from the graveyard for free.

Hanna for prez 2020!

[fiirst]

let’s see RNA EP after update first.

[starfall]

Hanna and Slaughter Pact are worth having.

[EvilDead]

If you don’t have Blue Sun’s Zenith, I would save the purps until M19 rotates back in.

[OmegaLolrus]

I don’t have Blue Sun’s Zenith, but I’m not trying to get it as a public service. The second I get it, it’ll be nerfed into the ground.

I quite like Hanna or Conflux, so that’ll be what I’m shooting for… But the alternative isn’t bad.

[Tremayne]

@EvilDead

If you don’t have Blue Sun’s Zenith, I would save the purps until M19 rotates back in.

Oh, I got BSZ already, I got it very early on and it was ridiculously good, still is.

I started this thread because I needed some feedback about the MP in this weeks elite packs. Do not have any from the standard pack and was considering to pull the trigger on the legacy pack because Slaughter Pact looked good, but I think Boil is atrocious.

thank you to all who gave their input. I will keep my purples for later in the week.

[Stormcrow]

I’ll just note here for anybody that might not have checked, there’s now a 3rd elite pack available in the vault, with new RNA stuff in it. Possibly the other two packs being so lackluster this rotation is a way to make the new stuff look great in comparison.