Lost a game to a bad card?

[Hellion]

Card in question:

Rath's Edge
Legendary Land
Tap, add 1 into your mana pool
4, Tap, Sacrifice a land. Deal 1 damage to target player or creature.

Yap, it's the Edge. Since it's release in Nemesis, it is acclaimed as the "most difficult move to deal 1 damage" card. Inquest Gamer's voting poll, voted it the worst card in Nemesis. Many, many players hated this card.

A few months later, MBC tourneys start and *surprise* almost all decks run this card. I even saw a T8 deck running 3(!) of these. It's despise seem forgotten by those who spawned it. To add salt into the wound, I'm sure that many many players were killed by this card once or twice during play.

I supported Rath's Edge way before it's widespread use. I debated tirelessly in Mtgnews discussion columns about it's potential. Of course I got flamed. Along with other frequent posters like Duke and Mogg, we love the card. And it really pays off to see a card we saw as "Da Bomb" make it.

So this post is about such "sleepers". Was there a time when you discovered a sleeper and didn't rest till it fullfilled it's potential? Or was there a time you stood by a card so loyally, your friends thought you lost your mind?

Suggestions, anadotes welcomed. Thank you. ^_^

PS: It won't be a bad thing if you add whether you lost to a Rath's Edge lately. >_^

 

[Gizmo]

Rath`s Edge virtually defines the environment of MBC, I`m running multiple copies in all my aggressive decks, and my MBC blue flyer deck is practically designed to only deal 16 damage because I know I`ll get another 4 out of an Edge to win the game.
As I recently said in a post to my MBC design team:
"If Rath`s Edge cost half as much to use and did twice as much damage it would almost be as good as a Cursed Scroll - and you can`t say fairer than that."

I don`t think Rath` Edge is 'Da Bomb'.
I think it`s terrible - it`s just that MBC is worse.

 

[Dune Echo]

Hello Everyone!

Long time no see, I know. (YES, I'M STILL JUDGING THE BREAK A CARD CONTEST! I KNOW I'M WAY BEHIND. I PROMISE I'LL GET TO IT SOON!)

Anyhoo, I think that Rath's Edge has lots of potential. In an all artifact deck it's alternate damage source you can use to plink off 1 damage as long as you have land and can pay 4. And hey, on top of that, it produces 1 colorless mana when tapped. Other than the Legendary status and hefty activation cost, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this card. However, I use Juggernauts in my deck, 3 of them. Do you know how often I'd rather pay 4 for a Juggernaut than plink 1 damage at a target.

I still think that Rath's Edge is very versatile and by no means bad. It just has to find it's home in the right decks and those decks are MBC. MBC is just perfect for this card. You actually get to use it! And hell, it's easily affordable (well, was until it's popularity went up, I haven't seen prices on it lately).

For anyone that uses it, it has its home. There are lots of cards that actually work very well with this "bad" card. Complex Automaton is a great example. Also think of Llanowar Elves to help power it.

That's just my input. I promise I'll get the deck lists looked at shortly. You have no idea how much time Windows 2000 takes up during your average day!

 

[Hawaiian mage]

When Prphacy came out, I used the Top Deck list of cards to find ANY sleeping card there. Some how I missed Keldon Battle Wagon and Citadel of Pain, and ended up trying to break Gulf Squid. I figured if Icould play it over and over again then I could use it to lock down my Opponent. I was about to use that green card that let eachplayers play Creatures as instants, but then I saw Belbe's Portal(another underused card.) Thus I came up with "Belbe's Squid", you can find a decklist in the Cuasual Decks section. I just know that there's going to be a card in Invasion that makes this deck one of the best out there. I can feel it.

And about Rath' Edge, at first I dismissed it as another palemoon type card(how did that pole vote Rath's Edge worse then Pale Moon?) But then it hit me, "Why not put just 1 in instead of an Island or Plains? It wouls almost never hurt, and late game it wouldhelp alot."
I use a Rath's Edge in Belbe's Squid now.

 

[theorgg]

[me]stands up nervously[/me]
I am The ORGG, and I have been killed by a rath's edge four times...

Everybody Else: Hi, Orgg!

I said that Rath's edge wasn't that bad. The only really crappy part is it's a legend.

As for the "ever spotted a good card that shot up in value?" department, I'll say that Thawing Glaciers was my pick. since Alliances came out, I said that Thaw was sooo amazingly broken because it thinned out your deck and wasn't conditional like land tax...

Unfourtunatly, Noone in my playgroup had one except my best friend, and he used 'em in his armageddon deck...
shows how experienced we were...

 

[rkoelsch]

Dune Echo - Are you studying for it? or are you working with it.

 

[Istanbul]

I've never lost to a Rath's Edge.
In fact, I've never had a Rath's Edge do a single point of damage to me or anything I own.

However, I AM adept at discovering unusual cards that other people don't think about. Ogre Enforcer in a LD deck, since an opponent with very little mana will have a hard time finding a way to deal 4 damage with one source. Tranquil Grove as a metagame choice in my version of green Stompy, for a way to smash Replenish and Pebbles and Trix. Psychic Allergy as a kill card, since you only need it in play two or three turns to kill a fully healthy opponent. Mana Vortex / Groundskeeper for a one-sided slow Geddon that keeps going.

I could keep going, but I think you get the idea.

 

[Apollo]

I have never been killed by a Rath's Edge. I have never had one deal a damage to me. I have never had one deal a damage to anything I own. In fact, I have never had one played against me.

As for championing underused cards, I do that all the time; it just usually doesn't work.

Some examples would be the Complex Automaton deck and the Orcish General deck.

One of these days, I'll make that General work.

Apollo

 

[FoundationOfRancor]

I have lost to that ingenoius raths edge.

















it will pay...and dearly.

 

[Fire Slinger]

I have never played against a deck that had Rath's Edge in it. As for playing undervalued cards, I played Morphling way before it was considered the second best creature in type II. I play Trade Routes, with is a powerful card drawer.(I've drawn through an 8-land pocket to get a Morphling and win the game.)

 

[Duel]

I am one of the more sleeper-oriented players, but I'm not any good at it, unfortunately. I played colossus, voltaic key before tinker came and it hit the big time.

I never dissed rath's edge. I, in fact, liked it from the beginning. In my mind, it functions as a really bad cursed scroll.

 

[Chaos Turtle]

I wouldn't say I ever thought Rath's Edge was a "good" card, but it's certainly not as useless as (obviously) Pale Moon or Terrain Generator.

I never thought it was particularly "bad," either. After all, anything that deals damage that costs nothing except a land play to get out, and a reasonable cost to use, can't be that bad.

With so many decks using what two years ago would have been thought to be an obscene amount of land, Rath's Edge fits in quite nicely, as one of many newer cards that gives you something to do with all that land.

It's simply a sign of the slowing environment. A good sign, by the way.

My favorite sleeper? I dunno. I keep hoping Clear the Land will turn out to have a killer deck behind it.

Underestimated card from the past? Hm... Ironclaw Orcs. Yes, I'm serious.
Back when "Sligh" was "Geeba!" and the "mana curve" was new technology, Ironclaw Orcs proved to be a very efficient little critter. So it couldn't block anything that could kill it. Well, fine, cuz I wasn't planning on blocking anyway.
"Bolt yer dude, attack for 6. Torch you for 4. Good game."

 

[manchot_13]

Serra avatar and oath of lim dul are both under used cards...i like both... my serra avatar deck works to... until you play it against a deck that does something...

 

[Seeker of Truth]

One of the cards I'm proud to have found before it became popular was Sacred Mesa. Yes, that Sacred Mesa. I managed to get a hold of four of them at about $2.00 each, and then saw them escalate to over $9.00 each as people started picking up on its strength. And of course, the Mesacraft decks used this card, along with Earthcraft, to be a hot topic for a while...until Earthcraft was banned.

I like looking for these kinds of cards and decks built around cards few people use. Of course, there are also overrated cards, the ones everyone says will be big, but no one turns into a major deck type.

My current target: Search for Survivors. Something's gotta work with that card!