Worst rare in Odyssey?

[Captain Caveman]

Battle of Wits is not totally useless.

You could build a casual or multi-player oath deck with Rectors to
fetch it. I'm talking about a "big" Oath deck of course.

 

[Spiderman]

My Manabarbs deck easily gets out all four at one time, so Decimate would work very well against it.

Dogged Hunter would work against that Spirit Mirror/Unnatural Selection(?) combo that someone posted a month ago in General or Single Card Strategies...

 

[Gizmo]

Now is is just me or did they really screw black this time?

Its definately you.

I can think of an application for almost every card on the list other than Impulsive Maneuvers. Lich, as much as you dont like it, has the biggest potential for abuse of any card in this set. Personally I kind of like it.

I mean.
Battle Of Wits. Bad, but funny.
Braids. So was The Abyss bad as well?
Chance Encounter. Seeing as you can win on turn 1 with this in T1 (Black Lotus draw) I think its certainly not the worst.
Decimate. Oops, Burst and Idol just left. Oh well. but potential 4 for 1? It`ll crop up at some point.
Divert. Mmm, dont understand why this isnt REALLY good. I`ll be getting 4 ASAP. Verdicts, Vindicates, Burn, Repulse... I mean. Its just AMAZING for only U.
Dogged Hunter. Well its a limited card. Close to being terrible but I think he might crop up in casual play.
Obstinate Familiar. Designed for T1.

From the list there I`d say its Impulsive Maneuevers. But Id be more inclined to throw useless junk like Aven Shrine in there. Usually the worst card in a set is something that involves lifegain. Either that or Bloodcurdler. Actually. Charmed Pendant is a 4cc artifact that Id happily trade away for a Mana Battery, its that bad.

 

[Gizmo]

Delaying Shield?
Deserted Temple?

I could probably find ten cards from Odyssey that are worse than almost anything other than Impulsive Maneuvers on that list.

 

[EricBess]

To Spidey:

Obstinate Familiar won't keep them from milling your cards, but it will keep you from loosing the game when your library is empty.

 

[Spiderman]

I always forget that aspect of it... I was thinking of the process of getting there, not the end result.

 

[theorgg]

Originally posted by Istanbul


Just checking...
Theorgg is an admin, right?

...right.

*runs away*

This coming from the Phyrexian Pimp?

BWAAA HAAAa haaa haa haaa!

 

[FoundationOfRancor]

Why do people think persuasion is bad? People, control magic was simply TOO GOOD.

 

[Gizmo]

I disagree.
I think that at the moment Control Magic is simply fairly costed.

 

[Mikeymike]

[step on soapbox]
Persuasion isn't a bad card at all, it is a rather insulting card though. The fact that WOTC felt that it was necessary in this environment to reprint an obviously inferior version of 2 cards, 1 of which is an all time classic. To top it off they made it a rare, quite a slap in the face to the people who've been playing Magic for awhile and have 16 Control Magics from the 5+ editions its was printed in. Was Control Magic even so overpowered that it needed to be neutered like this? No, I've always felt it was a balanced card (not Treachery though), there are just too many ways to deal with an enchanted creature. What a waste, all for a card that only made guest appearances in constructed when it was legal 3 years ago.

Make the card somewhat original. 1UU, the enchanted creature has an upkeep of 1U or whatever.

Here is a power rare from Vendetta:
River Snake
2G
2/1
Islandwalk
'G: Regenerate River Snake'
[/step off soapbox]

 

[Spiderman]

Can someone quickly post what Persuasion is?

What's up with River Snake with the additional cc, compared to River Boa?

(do you notice I don't really look at spoilers? )

 

[Mikeymike]

Persuasion (rare)
3UU - Enchant Creature
Gain control of enchanted creature

Its inferior to the original b/c it costs 1 CC more, its inferior to Treachery b/c its the same CC but you can't untap lands.

River Snake was my wise-aleck response to Persuasion, its not a real card (I hope). I was trying to make a point.

 

[Spiderman]

Well, I guess WOTC is just "upping" the "standard" for Standard format these days.

Obviously someone in Extended or previous is going to play with the original Control Magic (or Treachery)

 

[CAMDEX]

Obstinate familiar is a really good casual situational card. It wrecks Tyranny decks, which survive on making you draw cards.

 

[Dune Echo]

Gizmo: Follow your idea! I have been talking to a gentleman in my area that has 4 and is really hammering some viable ideas out of this thing! The stuff he's just hinted at sounds utterly painful.

 

[Thallid Ice Cream Man]

Bad cards (IMO) that haven't been mentioned:

Hint of Insanity
Tombfire
Mudhole

I should explain my criteria for worst card. The worst card:

1. Can't deal damage. This leaves creatures out of the mix.

2. Can't let anyone draw cards or attack the library.

3. Can't help win the game.

Only a few cards from each set meet these, so in general I try to look for the cards whose effects are least likely to achieve anything.

That's why I included Tombfire and Mudhole. Basically all they do is decrease the chance of threshold, and in my opinion it's not usually a good idea to rely on threshold anyway.

I included Hint of Insanity because it is so situational.
I don't know the statistics, but let's say that on average, only half the time does it make a player discard at all, and usually it's two cards.
So when rounded it makes someone discard an average of 1 card.
This is not worth 2B.
There are other less tangible benefits, like the fact that you get to look at their hand, and the fact that if they had multiple copies of a card, they might really want it, but in general it's pretty bad.

Obviously this could be argued; Odyssey is not a set with lots of cards that rank in the lowest section: Benign (not in my opinion, anwyay).

What do you people think is the worst card in Odyssey?


Also, don't rule out Deserted Temple just yet. Yes, it sucks right now, but a Voltaic Key equivalent for lands might have uses later, and if we don't remember this, we won't be able to make the connection.