Lets have a chat about Keranos, God of Beards (I mean God of Storms) Lets first start with the specifics of the card itself. Keranos costs 5 mana (I will literally have an entire paragraph about his casting cost, just wait). He is a conditional 6/5 for 5. His ability sort of plays off like this: If you reveal a land, you essentially draw another card and get the land for free. If you reveal a nonland card, you draw that card and get a free Lightning Bolt. He is in UR colors. Now, I am going to be as clear as I can be. Phenax, God of Deception is the best god in Born of the Gods. Like, by a long shot. Literally the best one. The only reason why Phenax fails to see Standard play is because he lacks a solid deck to be played in. The only reason why Xenagod is played (RG Monsters and Jund Monsters) is due to the fact that he becomes a creature in its own deck very often and the deck utilizes him to the fullest without feeling weak or lackluster in a specific area. The same goes for Keranos. He is essentially a good enchantment, much like how Phenax is only a good enchantment. His color identity is in colors that want to play instants and sorceries, not permanents. UR is a color identity that focuses on valuing the opponent out of the game as fast as possible. Making 1-for-1s with your opponents creatures, making tempo plays by bouncing the Elspeth they just tapped out for or countering their Sphinxs Revelation, and winning with cheap and efficient creatures that are hard to block or is backed up by a large suite of tempo to make sure that it doesnt get blocked by anything that can kill it. Tapping out for 5 is the worst part. This is not the card you want to be playing on turn 5. Do you want to know what your opponent will likely have by turn 5? Heres a list. Blood Baron of Vizkopa, Obzedat Ghost Council, Stormbreath Dragon, Desecration Demon, Iroas God of Victory, Xenagod (likely an active Xenagod), Loxodon Smiter, Ruric Thar, Master of Waves (has protection from red, so Keranos free Lightning Bolt is useless), Polukranos, and then some. You know... The relevant ones. So your (most likely inactive) Keranos has a big suite of creatures that are nastier than him, that dont die to Keranos Bolt, and you essentially wasted a turn that you could have used to counter or deal with any of the above. Lightning Bolt kills smaller creatures, right? Yeah. But thats if you live until turn 6. And on turn 6, you only get one Lightning Bolt for your patience. And thats IF you dont rip a land off the top. You know what I want to do on turn 5 against aggro? 2-for-1 them with a fused Turn and Burn. Or just play Stormbreath Dragon. Lets go over the cads we have against aggro: Mizzium Mortars (6 to overload), Anger of the Gods, Cyclonic Rift (doesnt help against cheap aggressive creatures) and a whole bunch of petty singular burn. A counterspell here or there. A very unimpressive Steam Augury for petty card advantage. Jace AOT (horrible against midrange). Anger of the Gods is literally the best, and only viable card, here. You can play Mizzium Mortars and Fated Conflagration to deal with bigger threats. But by then itll be a bit too late. If you do manage to stabilize with Anger of the Gods and the like, then well done! You lived to cast Keranos! Which will most likely do nothing except draw you cards and durdle. In this case, Keranos is a win-more. You want to play him with creatures? Good luck diluting your plays that you could have spent tempoing your opponent. At this point in time, there are no good T1 or T2 creatures you can cast and let you reliably win you the game by itself. You can argue that Young Pyromancer is decent. You want to know why Delver of Secrets wasnt a mainstay creature last standard format? Because Supreme Verdict is uncounterable. The fact that Supreme Verdict exists, is played as a 4-of, and is played in two decks that dominate 35% of the meta is a huge sign that tempo decks are not a thing in this format either. Lets move on. Keranos in a UWR control shell package will be decent. You draw more cards than Esper or UW, but you know what Esper and UW play? Detention Sphere and Revoke Existence. You want to know what cant be hit by the above? AEtherling. You want to know why Esper and UW control dont play any of the gods? Because of Detention Sphere and Revoke Existence being played in 35% of the meta. Also because they wont usually have the devotion to turn the gods into creatures. The worst play in tempo control is to die to your own 5-drop being answered by petty removal the other control deck plays as a 4-of. Then what are you splashing red for? Anger of the Gods? You already run Supreme Verdict. Wild Ricochet? You already play counterspells. Assemble the Legion? Not as strong as Elspeth, which you are certainly already playing. Ral Zarek? Theres a reason why hes not seeing play right now. Izzet Charm? Theres no point. Let me just say this: Keranos is a sweet card. But he doesnt belong in this standard format. Iroas is good because he affects the very next combat he comes down in and becomes a creature very easily in his deck. Thassa is good because she becomes a creature very easily in her deck and gains incremental advantage by essentially controlling the next draw. Xenagos is good because he affects the very next combat and becomes a creature very easily in his deck. Erebos is good because he affects the cards in your opponents hand and becomes a creature very easily in his deck. (and his activated ability is relevant) If these cards get answered, its for a reason. BECAUSE THEY EFFECT THE BOARD IMMEDIATELY. Keranos doesnt. He gains slight advantage but doesnt let you control what you draw. The contest at the 5-drop spot in other decks is too large. He doesnt become a creature easily. Hell get removed because your opponent will essentially Time Walk you if they do with no downside. In another standard, hell be good. But the criteria for a 5-drop god that needs a deck to be designed around it is so high. And at the time of writing, the cards available to UR just dont meet the criteria.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 05:58:07 +0000
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