Comments on: Part One – Captured Sunlight? Really?

By: Five With Flores » Rhox Meditant Again

Five With Flores » Rhox Meditant Again — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 02:36:02 +0000

[...] Bituminous Blast 4 Bloodbraid Elf 4 Captured Sunlight 4 Enlisted Wurm 4 Kitchen Finks 4 Maelstrom Pulse 4 Rhox [...]

By: KZipple

KZipple — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:05:24 +0000

That isn’t nearly as midrangy as Foolkillers.
I haven’t played any of these things, but Kathari Remnant is great in Limited. That means this probably has potential. Honestly, it might not be that hard to design around it. Is there anything wrong with paying 2 more for Rampant Growth and gaining 4? Or one more for Civic Wayfinder and getting life? If that’s the worst that can happen, I’m certainly up for blowing a dozen tix trying it out.
What if the removal suite were confined to, say, Wrath of God and Scepter of Dominance, maybe with some Path to Exiles thrown in?

Man. I was hoping to win Regionals this year and this has to happen to me…

By: hudnall56

hudnall56 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:54:58 +0000

Captured Sunlight into Kitchen Finks is the most mid-rangey thing I’ve heard of for a long, long time.

By: CMH2003

CMH2003 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 07:25:10 +0000

Here is the reason that Captured Sunlight has the POTENTIAL to become a great card in standard. It is a great foil to decks that run the elf. Basically look at it as a renewed faith cycle that the “drawn” card gets played for free.

Now about the Elf, the elf is a great card by itself. You start to think of all of these possiblities and get all warm and snuggly inside. You breakup with your girlfriend because you’ve got a new girl in town. You head out of the house and down to the local card shop sit down to play and one of 3 things will happen…..

1 You play Elf flip Boggart-Ram Gang and well live the dream

2 You realize you are playing a slow red green beat down deck and yes you end up flipping the sauce but buy that point you are so far behind a well placed ajani wipes the floor with you.

3 You flip Bird and cry.

Now dont get me wrong Bloodbraid Elf will be amazing just not yet.

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:54:25 +0000

I would argue that just by being played in the main of a Standard deck, Bloodbraid Elf is the better card with Cascade. I mean, in this format, how exciting is it to cast Elf on turn 4 and flip into Boggart-Ram Gang or Jund Hackblade? I definitely think you could build a deck to have no bad flip with Elf whereas I don’t see the same happening with Captured Sunlight.

By: Dochetwas

Dochetwas — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:06:11 +0000

I agree that Captured Sunlight is not an exciting card (well, unless you’re a really boring person), but I disagree that it’s the best Cascade spell in Standard. I think Bloodbraid Elf probably takes that award (or Broodmate Dragon, depending on what we consider a Cascade spell (and depending on if any 5C-Control players test Maelstrom Nexus)). Consider what decks want these cards. Bloodbraid Elf is one of the best plays post-Wrath I can think of in Standard right now, assuming you didn’t build your deck like a buffoon. You immediately get a 3-power dude, and you Cascade & flip up something cool (maybe a Thoctar-d, or a Boggart Ram-Gang, or a Hackblade, etc.). That’s pretty hot. You just took the wind out of your opponent’s sails, for 2RG. That’s hot sauce.
Captured Sunlight, though, feels really midrange to me, but it doesn’t really let you get anything good. You flip Path to Exile: That’s great, but you could have killed ALL my guys for 4 cmc. Nice 4 life, sir. You flip Kitchen Finks: That’s about the best I can think of, and even then, you didn’t really do anything over-the-top. You put a 3/2 into play (that has some additional advantages, sure) & gained 6 life. Is that the nut high for Captured Sunlight? Because that seems sort of disappointing.

And @messels: No, this wouldn’t be very good in EDH. (I’d MUCH rather have Deny Reality in EDH. Bounce your Planeswalker, Cascade into…Damnation?) Randomness isn’t really the norm, also, unless you’re playing Mono-red Chance Encounter.dec, in which case you should receive a slap upside the head.

By: Gifts Ungiven

Gifts Ungiven — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:40:42 +0000

Comparing Sunlight to the elephant is pointless, yes. That said, I think it’s the best cascade card because it has clear utility in its sideboard role, and in the type of decks where it makes sense, it’s almost guaranteed to flip something that enhances your board position.

Note that I’m also suggesting it’s purely a sideboard card, and it’s a sideboard card whose utility depends on the metagame. If I had to play in the pre-Reborn metagame, I wouldn’t have Loxodon Hierarch in my sideboard, since 4 life and a 4/4 doesn’t do me a ton of good against a swarm of fliers and a Glorious Anthem in play, or a Siege-Gang backed by an Ajani.

However, if the new R/G cards (Bloodbraid, Spellbreaker) push us back toward R/G fatty-based aggro, then Sunlight is good, because it’ll be a relevant amount of life and is highly likely to flip up something that will dramatically enhance your board position. That is, it’s good in environments where Faith’s Fetters and Loxy would also be good plays.

I’m not fond of Cascade overall in Standard, but Sunlight has potential to be a solid sideboard card, depending on how the environment moves.

By: messels

messels — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:33:39 +0000

no. Alfrebaut is missing the point. two cards w/ zero affect on board position vs. ONE CARD w/ zero affect on board position. maybe finks does get nabbed, but it’s only ONE CARD not TWO. captured sunlight is only acting as a filler! better to just play an answer/threat than a stall.

really, all i’m trying to illustrate is that captured sunlight is NOT anywhere near what lox. heiarch is. barely any comparison beyond “4 life” and “similar casting cost”. i mean, would you really choose (were it viable) captured sunlight over lox hiearch?

captured sunlight is a casual card.

**note** i could see this card be a really, really, really excellent choice in EDH where randomness is kinda the norm…

By: Alfrebaut

Alfrebaut — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:25:31 +0000

I think the above poster is sort of missing the point. It’s NOT two cards for “zero board advantage.” It’s one card that nets you the other card. The upshot is the 4 extra life, the downsides are the mana cost and the uncontrollability of the flip. You say that putting a thoctar into play will just run it into path? Well, same could be said for well, any alternative you mentioned. Finks runs into it, netting you only 2 life, and Hierarch would run into it, too.

However, I do think that the better comparison would be to Blast and Elf, where it really depends on the aim of the deck to determine the effectiveness of the card. If you’re a control deck up against a Philosophy of Fire-type deck, obviously Captured Sunlight is ridiculous, and almost certainly better than Elf or Blast. Captured Sunlight is, I think, definitionally what Mike would term a “role player.” And it’s pretty good at what it does, in my opinion.

Also, Mike, this is pretty nitpicky, but I don’t actually think Firespout would work with Captured Sunlight. =X

By: messels

messels — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:30:33 +0000

UH. it just doesn’t do it for me, man. doesn’t change the board position at all. the difference between lox.heirarch and captured sunlight are magnitudes of infinite difference. lox hierarch IS a creature, can regen ALL your other creatures AND gets you 4 life to boot. so what if you put a thoctar down? it’s just going to be p-2-exiled OR run into a fatty wall (ala reverence)–or eat an incinerate! in the case where it’s p2exiled/incinerated then what? you just used two cards for ZERO board advantage. aka “big waste of time.” wouldn’t you rather play a finks? THAT’s the comparison here i think. i mean, finks can yield 4 life (and yields at min two) and has the same p/t of bloodbraid elf. and because of persist, comes back for more fun even if it’s wrath’d. it’s a board position card. i don’t see any board position in this. lifegain alone ain’t shit. wall of rev + plumeveil isn’t a win condition. it’s a time-buyer.

all the same, i haven’t seen a deck list around this card so i–and you and mike from tuscon–are talking in a vacuum. and in a vacuum blast & bloodbraid are qualitatively better due to a fore mentioned board advantage.