Friday, August 28, 2015

Cube Card Spotlight: Progenitor Mimic

Welcome back for another episode of Cube Card spotlight. I'm your host, Plaid Magic and with me I have a very special guest(s?),

Progenitor Mimic



4GU

0/0

Creature - Shapeshifter

Rules Text: You may have Progenitor Mimic enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield except it gains "At the beginning of your upkeep, if this creature isn't a token, put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of this creature."

The Synopsis

Category: Controlish

The Rundown:

This is a top-o-the curve Simic cloner, who's primary appeal, I think, would be to break some things that usually aren't broken in a standard singleton environment. This is certainly a build-around-me fun stuff card. The fact that this can be blinked, then target it's own token to double up is pretty funny. While this fits the general theme of Simic's value package, it's hard to drop some of the lower curves for this bad boy.

TL:DR

Power Level:

Don't think this make a powered cube, though being able to cast this earlier with some Moxen would be nice.

Cube Tutor Stats as of Today (8/27/2015):


  • Pick: 10982
  • Pass: 88080
  • Pick Percent: 11.09%
  • Cube Count: 2045

Collective Pros:


  • Fun Build Around Me
  • Could protect itself, depends on the target
  • Breaks creature that are often unbroken in singleton

Collective Cons:


  • 6 CMC/two colors
  • Is dependent on the board state
  • Poor Natural Order target, due to board state required to be effective - ggop_
  • Many similar effects that are a lot easier on the mana base - Wox1510
  • Fails the "Doom Blade test" teribly - JimmyD101

Swap/Compare




  • Followed Footsteps - PlaidMagic
    The main difference here I think is mono color VS Simic commitment and the fact that Progenitor can clone a hexproof creature on the other side of the table, since it doesn't target.
  • Sagu Mauler - draig01
    at the same mana cost, which I've been surprisingly impressed by. Especially in reanimator because he comes with a built-in discard outlet (cast him for his morph cost then block :))
  • Simic Sky Swallower - ggop_
    Comparable top end simic. Very different cards, but take similar slots as game enders. Depending on need for clone effects, a consideration.
  • Stolen Identity - wox1510
    is really close, but one color, can hit artifacts, and can change what is copied.

Verdict:

While this fits the general theme of Simic's value package, it's hard to drop some of the lower curves for this bad boy. While this is a fun cheat into play card, there are other cheat into play cards that will almost basically win you the game within a turn. For the most part, designers with this in their cube seem to have it there because they like the affect, and think its fun, not necessarily because its the best fit.

The Discussion


draig01Never played with the mimic so I can't comment on him but in terms of comparisons I run Sagu Mauler at the same mana cost, which I've been surprisingly impressed by. Especially in reanimator because he comes with a built-in discard outlet (cast him for his morph cost then block :))
While he may be a bit dull he's easy to morph/flip if you don't manage to ramp or cheat him into play early and very hard to deal with once he's face-up. I don't think I'd swap him for the mimic.

FlemeI want to include the Mimic. I have him in my cube sideboard and I've had him in. He was a fun card but in an attempt to bring the curve lower and the cards more consistent, he was ultimately cut.
The effect is crazy fun but I think it costs one too much to be completely justifiable in a cube where you want to be lean. I mean, I cut Sagu Mauler from Simic as well because I found it to be a boring card and ultimately pretty expensive for what it does (I mean it's just a dumb fat beater with hexproof). SSS was too expensive at 7 and wasn't interesting enough for someone to want to reanimate.
My current Simic setup is:Coiling OracleShardless AgentEdricTrygon PredatorMystic SnakeKioraUrban Evolution
and the overlapping theme is "value", to which I think Progenitor Mimic would be a shoe-in. I find Simic in general to be the absolute weakest of the 10 guilds and it doesn't really invoke any strong feelings. What would one be cutting out of the above list to facilitate the Mimic? God how boring Simic is as a guild.
I'm really torn here. I absolutely love funky cards like the Mimic but on the other hand I want a lean and effective cube where your 6 drops isn't conditional and dependent on the boardstate. Then again cube has tons of creatures with powerful ETB so there are a lot of creatures that you can copy and replicate for value. It's a really hard call for me.
I guess he would make Simic the deck to draft for the player who prioritizes fun so there's that. What would I even look to cut if I were to reinclude the Mimic?

lolhah

Progenitor Mimic is probably an easy upgrade over Urban Evolution. I actually played a little bit with evolution in someone else's cube, and I was pretty underwhelmed. It would be a pretty subpar effect in one color, and I always found better cards to play than it while trying to cut down to 23.
And fwiw, I don't think either Mauler or SSS are expensive in the decks that are trying to cast them i.e. green ramp decks. Those decks are almost always able to cast cards for 5-7 mana, and having a massive better that is uninteractable is pretty stellar in cube where the removal runs rampant.

Fleme

Well, in that case it sort of becomes SSS or Mauler against the Mimic - what would I rather have there? The thing to note is that nothing in Simic really incentivizes the player to draft into Simic whereas other guilds have some clear bombs that reward going into those colors.

lolhah

I was pretty lukewarm when this was spoiled. Then I played with it, and while I'm not "hot" on it for all the previously mentioned detriments (6 drop that needs any sizable board presence on either to be good at all, terrible cheat target), it is one of those cards that can pull you out of a variety of situations if it lives for a turn or two. In the smaller cubes where your multicolored sections are tinier, I wouldn't run it, but it does cool stuff and when it's powerful, it's verypowerful.
Also, I'm a fan of the writing/vids/podcasts and this was a good post. Hope you keep doing more!

ggop_

Honestly, I had mimic for a while and it DID end games when it copied something like a titan. I chose to cut it in favor of SSS because I just had too many clone/steal effects in my cube. Also the board dependency it requires to be good makes it a very poor target for a quick Natural Order. If you don't have the money for a sower of temptation then I can see this being an exceptional wonky card to have.

Benny08302

I'm a big fan. I've run it in reanimator decks, sneak/show/eureka decks and ramp curve topper.
plus, my playgroup is much more EDH-centric, so a six-drop that enables a wacky board state is right in their wheel house.

wox1510

I think the main problem is that are too many similar effects that are a lot easier on the mana base. I counted six clones that get in over this guy (not even counting Clone itself). Another clone like ability is stealing, and steal auras are in the 4 mana range (Treachery is free).
So is the 1G upcharge worth the triggered ability? My first reaction is that it doesn't work with legends at all, so no infinite Thruns for you. Sure, there are some blowout scenarios like titans, wurmcoil, battlesphere, but the cheaper copy/steal options do most of that work already.
If you want a direct comparison, I think [[Stolen Identity]] is really close, but one color, can hit artifacts, and can change what is copied.

SocksofGranduer

He'd be killer with [[Giant Adephage]] or similar creatures.Actually, I would love to see a review of this guy as well.

JimmyD101

I always figured the main objective of this card is to clone and abuse big green fatties with an ETB like Terastodon or Woodfall Primus.
For something that needs to grind out value, it passes the Doom Blade test pretty poorly.

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