Magic Bracket Batch 4.25

Kodama’s Reach vs Eldrazi Conscription - Conscription stands out more, as the only colorless non-devoid Aura, tied for the most expensive Aura, and the namer of a fun, underrated deck - Mythic Conscription.  Kodama's Reach has wider competitive play (Heartbeat combo, Ghazi-Glare, Greater Gifts, and various Block Constructed decks) and is more useful for casual play.  It's not original, as a Rampant Growth variant.  I love Mythic Conscription, and I love Rampant Growth variants, so this is pretty tough for me... it helps that I always felt Sovereigns was the card that really made Mythic Conscription possible, you could build pretty much the same deck with Mythic Proportions (obviously it wouldn't be quite as good).  Personal bias for green ramp puts it over the top for Kodama's Reach.

Mortify vs Cyclonic Rift - There are plenty of great destruction spells - happy to vote for the very best (Terminate, Vindicate, Doom Blade, Swords, Path) and reward the fun card here.  Oh, how fun it is to overload a Rift in Cube.  It also has a competitive resume (most notably Blue Devotion, but also control decks before that).

Young Wolf vs Stony Silence - Don't always love voting for sideboard answer cards, but Stony Silence has meant enough to the game to take this matchup - keeping Affinity, Tron, and Lantern in check.  Props to Young Wolf though, it's great in draft aggro decks and almost good enough for Constructed.

Mind’s Dilation vs Demon of Dark Schemes - Demon, just because I'm not down for paying 7 to not affect the board and *maybe* do something that I can't even control after that.  Voting against Dilation for the fourth and I hope last time.

Mindleech Mass vs Precinct Captain - I'll take a 2/2 first strike for 2 any time.  Captain was sweet in Standard WW and even saw play in control sideboards.

Overtaker vs Rakdos’s Return - Rakdos's Return was great in Constructed and an underrated Cube all-star.

Scavenging Ooze vs Shambling Vent - Ooze is just so much fun once it gets going.  Do need to keep an eye on the creature duals though, if Vent loses there will just be two left.

Teferi’s Response vs Grave Upheaval - Don't care very much.  Response, for the really blatant "Eat that, Rishadan Port!" wording.

Aura of Silence vs Terminus - As annoying as Miracles was, it *was* cool, and the Miracle mechanic did a great job of feeling awesome without actually being broken in its format.  May punish Terminus eventually, but there are a million Aura of Silence-like taxing cards.  (Huh... checking it out though, it really has seen a lot of play, going back to Finkel's Icy Manipulator-based prison deck, and including Extended Oath and Cocoa Pebbles.  Still don't really like matchup-dependent safety valve cards, but it's actually a close vote; it's not like Terminus is a proactive card.)

Gaea’s Revenge vs Tangle Wire - Revenge is my kind of beatdown, and Wire is a famous trap in Cube, but for all that, Wire's long, long history as a key Stax/Shops piece (and Tinker before that) carries the day.

Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient vs Mayael’s Aria - I await the Onakke's arrival in the Magic narrative with great interest.  Meanwhile, the card is fun and powerful enough to build around in casual.  Aria is one of those splashy cards that turns me off because you could try building around it, if you like winning 10% of your games.  I imagine it's better in multiplayer.

Suture Priest vs Sepulchral Primordial - Not too invested, but Priest has cool art and does Soul Warden things.

Squirrel Nest vs Splinter Twin - I kind of wish I gave protest/sympathy votes, because I'd love to give one to the doomed Nest, Earthcraft's combo partner and the main Squirrel in later Squirrel/Opposition decks.  Sure, Nest/Earthcraft is kind of a blunt instrument of a combo, but so is Twin.  I do think Twin deserves to win though, sadly.

Solemn Simulacrum vs Emrakul, the Promised End - Hey, a chance to vote against an Eldrazi titan!  Very few cards get banned for not being overpowered but actively making the game unfun, so congratulations Emmy.  Sad Robot combines Invitational-winner credit with a great nickname and a big place in decks from Slide, Tooth & Nail, and Valakut Ramp to Kessig Titan & even a little Pod.  It fixes, gives card advantage, and generally helps your deck do whatever it was trying to do.

Argothian Enchantress vs Liar’s Pendulum - Not the original Enchantress, but the reason there's a deck called that.  I like cards that let you bluff in Magic, but not ones like this that are purely about bluffing and kind of orthogonal to the game (to be fair, Scroll would have been the same thing if anyone ever used it fairly).

Lotus Cobra vs Dragonlord’s Prerogative - Cobra, the iconic and redefiner of what Mythic means.

Past in Flames vs Snow-Covered Island - You know what, I actually think I'd rather have the last* snow land (*Dark Depths is actually still alive) than another Storm piece.  We still have Empty the Warrens, Desperate Ritual, Remand, Repeal, Git Probe, Ponder, Preordain, LED, Tendrils...

Kentaro, the Smiling Cat vs Time Spiral - Yep, Time Spiral's broken and probably a mistake, but High Tide was an amazing deck and Kentaro isn't much competition.

Druidic Satchel vs Inferno Titan - Titan's the easy choice.

Nomad Outpost vs Reya Dawnbringer - Outpost, actually.  The tri-lands were such a welcome addition to the game, both in Limited and casual (and a bit of Standard play), while Reya's going to cost you nine (if you even live that long) just to eat a Doom Blade, and doesn't win you the game even if she lives.

Spellskite vs Oboro, Palace in the Clouds - Like 'em both; Spellskite means more to me, more formats, more interesting play decisions.

Brass Herald vs Greenwarden of Murasa - Greenwarden was actually a fun mythic in Draft - not too many of them are costed for most decks, and give great advantage without completely being game over.

Kozilek, the Great Distortion vs Drogskol Reaver - Reaver's one trick was the double strike/lifelink/Curiosity interaction, which is indeed clever.  Kozilek has a cool card draw & Counterbalance-like thing going on, and Menace is a satisfying sort of quasi-evasion for a 12/12.  I suppose Kozilek can have it.

Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran vs Demonic Rising - Agrus Kos beats people up and wins games.  Demonic Rising is too fiddly for the sake of flavor, without having enough flavor to put up with that.  It's a fun enough card, don't get me wrong, just doesn't win here.

Momir Vig, Simic Visionary vs Hallowed Burial - Funny how Momir Vig's Vanguard avatar has far surpassed the fame of his card, but here we are - and here I am voting for him again over just another sweeper with a tweak.

Lord of Tresserhorn vs Debt of Loyalty - 10/4, good buddy.  Though I do like the weaselly Starke on Debt.  I just don't like that it doesn't do what it says it does, and even when it did, you had to rules-lawyer the meaning of Regenerate to make little Timmy unhappy.

Goblin Lackey vs Temple of Mystery - Sorry, Britney (and Noah).  This is the last Temple, and I like them much better than the voters, but better that they go extinct than to lose one of the most iconic Goblins.

Frontier Siege vs Spine of Ish Sah - Siege, for inspiring hyperventilating articles and then failing to make a Constructed impact.  It's still decent in Draft if you can get it late enough, and I still enjoy the decks I built around it.

Managorger Hydra vs Stonecloaker - Hydra's the Quirion Dryad for the Modern era.  Not exactly as successful, but I sure love it with Hardened Scales.  Nothing in particular to say about Stonecloaker, so that's enough.

Hooded Hydra vs Utopia Sprawl - Really liked the interplay of the abilities on Hydra; great design.  The Wild Growth/Abundant Growth/Sprawl family has never been great competitively (Abundant was pretty good), but it's been great for casual ramp and combo (especially Sprawl).  I adore them both and will try to be optimistic and note that one gets to advance.  I think my love for ramp is too deep to ignore Sprawl.

Rimescale Dragon vs Coldsteel Heart - Snow vs. snow!  I'll take the more useful of the two, and also the one that always gets Hank Williams stuck in my head ("Why can't I free your doubtful mind/And melt your Coldsteel Heart?").

Moonveil Dragon vs Thoughtseize - Thoughtseize.