So lords and ladies of mage wars, a bunch of you probably remember when The Dude started a thread about often used cards and such. He started with tanglevine, and it was very insightful. Ive been missing that kind of expoundance (its totally a word, don't look it up though) upon the strategic stuff that we all use in almost every book!
So im bringing it back and changing the format a little bit, and im going to say a bunch of stuff about a card and a few of its uses and you guys can feel free to call me out and tell me how wrong or right i am, then you can express an opinion or a fact about said card. So pretty much the normal deal here.
This week's card is one that i used to decry as completely useless in times gone by. But recent changes in the meta have almost given this card a permanent place in most books again. Its Seeking Dispel!
As previously stated i used to be against this very simple card. I found it kind of unimportant as most of the time it was simply a 2 mana wash on either side, and in previous versions of the meta, enchantment stacking made it difficult to remove the single enchantment you might be fearing when it's buried in a stack of 3 or more face downs. And with the advent of enchanters wardstone seekers became even more inefficient, costing twice and sometimes three times the cost of the face down to remove it.
However now i can't even think about putting a book together without having at least one probably two on hand and that gets expensive fast! What changed? Why am i suddenly sacrificing 4sp in my very tight holy books? Well the answer is a bit more complicated than most, but it pretty much boils down to one new card from academy. Arcane ward. Without a seeker, one arcane ward at one SP for anyone and 2 mana, can cost me TWO dispels (very valuable spells!) To be rid of something potentially game ending. Mid game its rare to be ready with 11 plus mana for a huge dispel without preparing for it first and an arcane ward makes that process even more difficult!
Besides that, there are a few uses for Seeking Dispel that Make them pretty desirable. The basics are nothing to be sneezed at. Destroying a force field for 2 before it becomes 12 mana to be rid of is a game changer! Ditto for a mind control, or a force crush, or an agony or ghoul rot.
Also the fact that the target of a seeking dispel cannot be flipped in response, making it one of the only ways to (somewhat unreliably) counter enchantment transfusion.
Did i miss anything important? Anyone else agree or not? Have you found any really awesome uses for this old work horse card? Ive changed my tune about it recently, how bout you?
(P.S. The dude hasn't been seen for awhile and we all hope he's ok! I certainly hope he doesn't mind im using his idea. Its all for the community anyway. Hope you are well Dude! )
