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Pojo's The Spoils Card of the Day

Ectypal Stave

COUNTERFEIT COST: Use this only if a tactic has been played this turn. Pay 2+X, where X is the numeric cost of the last tactic played this turn. Deplete this card. EFFECT: Duplicate the tactic. (A duplicate retains all rules text including extra costs, wh

Card Ratings
Limited: 3.55
Constructed: 3.25

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the worst.
3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating.

Date Reviewed - 11.24.06

Scott Gerhardt	Ectypal Stave: I like the concept here. The problem is the exceptional committment to obsession and it's cost to copy. In limited it is often hard to generate as much obsession as this requires, but it can be a real backbreaker to be able to copy their removal or even your own removal very late in the game. In constructed, I did not see anyone playing this card at the GenCon $5k and probably for good reason. This card is not generally good until extreme late game, which most of the games did not go to. Constructed: 2.5 Limited: 3.5
Nimbly	Hey everyone. Unlike most of the Spoils COTD reviewers, I didn’t go to GenCon (Any way I look at it, I’m still a poor College student…), but hey, good job for everyone who did. I’ll probably see you all at Indy ;) Ectypal Stave Arcanist Item Cost – 2 Aspect – 4 Obsession Effect – Use only if a tactic was played this turn. Pay 2+X, X being the cost of the last tactic played, and replicate it. Everyone, meet Knobby Stave’s older, somewhat deformed second cousin. I mean that in a good way. ES really can bring down the hurt for the guy that’s playing you. This card definitely falls into the “Piss off your opponent by copy, counter, and stealing” category. For 2 additional resources on top of the last spell played this turn, you also get to play it, or use it for a second time, however you may be using it. Your opponent got a scrag? Hey, for a measly four resources, you get one too! The combo potential is enormous. Let’s say your opponent uses a shriever attack, which kills all yours but leaves all of your opponent’s creatures at 1 life. Hey, for another 6 resources on your side, you get to knock them down too. Pretty damn nice. Now, the problem here is that if your opponent already knows that you have this card (which should be obvious because it’s on the field…), then they are going to use spells much more conservatively than they would without ES. They aren’t gonna Scrag your Spitspider if you have the 4 resources to knock out his Vander Malagut. That would be more stupid than…uh…um…not coming up with a cool analogy for this line. Oh… Also, you have to keep resources free, which really sucks because your front line of creatures will suffer for it. If you don’t keep up your side of creatures, then replicating spells that your opponent uses won’t help because he has no reason to kill anything (if there isn’t anything to kill), which means you don’t get any kill spells either. That kind of makes you keeping resources open kinda pointless…luckily you get to draw with your resources. Overall, not a bad card, just a good player would play very intelligently against it, so it makes the replication power almost completely based on your own spells, which still isn’t bad, just not using the full potential of the card. Constructed – 2.5/5 – In the right build, it can be amazing, utilizing discard, stealing, and creature control, leaving your opponent not many options on what they can do. Not a great card, because you have to keep excessive amounts of resources clear to use, which really sucks late game. Oh, and 4 aspect doesn’t make it any better. Limited – 3.5/5 – Another card that really makes your opponent use his spells in care. Also, in this format, where kill spells are much more limited, replication has only that much power. Artwork- 4/5 – Interesting how no mater what position the hat guy is, the cat gets hit the very same way…over, and over, and over…again. That’s all for Ectypal Stave. Anyone with a question or comment to me should e-mail me at nimbly@gmail.com Later Days…
Lucas	This card seems to be a rather more permanent version of Voidal Replication (you think this is the real Slade?) This card however has a hefty cost. You need to pay two AND the cost of the tactic. Now personally I have the notion of a Gearsmith/Arcanist cross because of several Arcanist items that you only ever want to see one copy of. You don't need any more than one copy of this, Arcanist's Almanac/Zenobia's Spyglass, or Knobby Stave in play. The Gearsmith trade has plentiful ways to search out those single copies of cards, especially items. I'll get to work on that idea later. In any case, much of the time this card will prove worth while. Just keep a decent number of resources unused and if you never have to use them, you can draw some cards with them. This card will effectively cause your opponent to re-think playing cheap destruction like Scrag on account of the risk that you'll be able to copy it and use it on them. If the game's gone really long and they pull a bomb, let's say, Grand Theft All, on you, you could copy it right back if you had enough resources. This is definitely a nice card to have lying on the field. Limited: 3.7/5 (here they are again, odd average makers, but it's so incredibly accurate Constructed: 4/5
Knightmare 13	Ectypal stave Here is are very own modification of Magics infamous Isochron Scepter + Twincast combo. Basically the combo in magic once set up, it allowed you to replicate the last spell played that turn. For me it was usually used to clone a massive mill spell called Glimpse the Unthinkable....... for the small price of TWO mana you could put the top 10 cards of your enemies deck in there grave, if you used the combo above for an extra 2 mana you added 10 more cards to that combo. Thats 1/3 of there deck gone by by. I would follow up the next turn with Haunting Echoes, which removed all the grave from the game along with any copies of the cards still in there deck. So basically they lost there whole deck by turn 3 or 4. THANK GOD IN HEAVEN there is nothing like that in the spoils. While our version of the combo isnt quite as brutal and cost a bit more, it doesnt take away from the fact that once its on the field your opponent will be forced into a peeing contest with you over any tactic they play. They scrag one of you guys? You pay 4 and scrag theirs. They try Ritual of the Shattering Teeth? Hey there Mr Opponent, say goodbye to your hand! This card is great. Sombody is going to find a way to break it. While 4 threshold is more than rough. Its still plausable and especially so in the mono archansit control deck. Sealed- (good luck hitting 4 threshold and having enough archanists) Draft- (its viable but dont press your luck) CON - (once sombody finds a good combo it could be a 4.5 / 5) Keep an eye on this one. BY THE WAY !!!!!! Im searching for a FOIL Face in the Crowd and will handsomly reward with a decent trade anyone who can find me one.