Raven's Crime: Vastly Overlooked?

[TheMagicMof]

Sure, you don't pick what cards are chucked, but c'mon, if played right, you can have you're opponent consitantly throwing atleast one card a turn and maybe even 2 cards on turn two. What's wrong with that? This might be too soon to say but... 30-32 land Raven's Crime-Worm Harvest? Maybe not competetive, but still awesome. Gotta throw in Crucible of Worlds too to make it flow.

Any Ideas?.... Maybe we can draw up a deck list.

EDIT:

Cards to include:

Worm Harvest
Raven's Crime
Crucible of Worlds
Creakwood Liege
Syphon Life

[ewallhagen]

Bizarre... I would squeeze a syphon life in there as well... seems interesting... dunno what to make of it though.

EDIT: You're going to hate yourself when you play it and your opponent sneaks a Wilt-Leaf Liege into play.

[TheMagicMof]

Bizarre... I would squeeze a syphon life in there as well... seems interesting... dunno what to make of it though.

EDIT: You're going to hate yourself when you play it and your opponent sneaks a Wilt-Leaf Liege into play.

Lol i know i was thinkin that too... What do you think of Spitting Image?

P.S- I think retrace might be adding up to a Terravore reprint in 11th :D

[mtglordtom24]

Retrace seems unplayable to me, especially Raven's Crime. The mechanic doesn't allow for card advantage unless the card does, and none of them do, unless you Spitting image a Mulldrifter. The cards are made to generally give players an outlet to manaflood, when you choke on more land than the Louisiana Purchase. Not to mention that Raven's Crime easily allows for an opponent to have a turn one Wilt Leaf Liege. The power level of spells with Retrace is just not high enough for constructed play. A solid creature with retrace would've been alright. Like a:
[g/b][g/b][g/b] creature-zombie warrior
Deathtouch
Retrace
[3/1]

[ewallhagen]

Hmm... I like that idea Tom. Actually, thinking about it, I'm kind of surprised they didn't. Maybe they felt that giving creatures persist was enough, and it didn't make sense to have two different forms of creature recursion in the same set? *shrug* I agree with your sentiments on the mechanic overall. I like the spitting Image + Mulldrifter idea. Sounds like the basis of a deck to me. =P

Edit: With Crucible of Worlds, you seriously breed card advantage. It turns a land into both a usable spell, and a land at the same time. Double advantage with River Kelpie. (Draw 1 for playing the retrace spell, then draw another for putting the land into play with the crucible.) Seems like enough synergy to me to attempt a deck.

Sample:
4 River Kelpie

4 Crcucible of Worlds
4 Cryptic Command
4 Broken Ambitions
4 Damnation
3 Terror
2 Nameless Inversion
3 Raven's Crime
2 Syphon Life
2 Corrupt
1 Oona's Grace
1 Spitting Image

4 Sunken Ruins
4 Desert
3 Dreadship Reef
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Tolaria West
1 Academy Ruins
5 Island
4 Swamp

T1 Ravens Crime, T2 Broken Ambitions, T3 Crucible and you're basically set to win the card advantage game. Every land is now "pay B as you put this land into play, your opponent discards a card." That's sick (so long as you don't hit the damned liege.)

[mtglordtom24]

We've gone over this deck idea, I bashed it before and will continue to do so. I don't see a way for you to play a deck with an engine that comes on at turn 6 that can win. But if they really want to push anti-Wrath tech, the Retrace mechanic would be the way to go on a creature. This creature reminds me of Shambling Shell though.

[Theobill]

In limited i've really enjoyed retrace spells and while that doesn't equate to being successful in constructed, I think there are chances for some of them as 1 off cards, in a fictional UB control deck I wouldn't mind having Oona's grace and perhaps raven's crime, It is a pretty powerful effect especially when you can do it multiple times per turn.

I think Kelpie.dek is probably more casual than competitive but I'm bored so I'll post a list.

Kelpie teachings

3xRiver Kelpie
2xteferi

4xmystical teachings
4xthink twice
2xstrangling soot
2xcrucible
4xrune snag
4xcryptic command
3xdamnation
2xterror
1xtendrils of agony
1xoona's grace
2xraven's crime

4xterramorphic expanse
4xfilter land
2xpain land
2xurza's factory
1xacademy ruins
2xurborg
2xtolaria west
3xdesert
4xisland
2xswamp

Obviously this isn't an optimal build but i think this is the direction it should head in.

[mtglordtom24]

Seems like a 'Casual Only' deck for sure. I don't envision that as a Tier 1 deck in any instance. :O

[LegacyHunter]

I drafted it with Poisen the Well x2 and 1x Drain the Well and it worked out nicely. You have no know when to play it obviously though. T1 Raven's crime and then let it sit till about turn 4-5 when the big creature's are about to hit the board. The better your opponent's mana curve, the better this card gets. It's part of a theory I call Pre-Negation. It is basically built on destroying cards before they hit the board with cards like Earwig Squad and Thoughtseize. I might add that you can create the land you need with card's like Safewright Quest, Endless Horizon's, and Tilling Treefolk.

It just really unnerves me that this card is a Sorcery and not an instant.