3/5 is about right. It's a decent utility land - I've found it useful in a casual deck that mostly just splashes black for a few finisher cards. If I get this card out early to mid game I can just let it sit and charge until late game, when I want to let fly with my black bomb. Useful if not game-changing.
Weretarrasque
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
The problem with lands like this and their potential combinations with Doubling Season / Gilder Bairn or Proliferate is that you still have to spend mana to get mana. Usually, getting a net gain isn't worth it unless you have an cost worth paying.
But if you're patient, I suppose it wouldn't be bad.
QuietK
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I've found it useful in EDH, where it has frequently smoothed out my mana curve. It's not so crucial that I want/need to tap it every turn, and doesn't draw land destruction.
umumwhatshisname
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
5th edition art blows chunk next to the EPIC original art
Chrs84
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This is a great card/style to debate; I’ve noticed there are those who feel the upside overcomes its stipulation while others view it as pretty much outdated compared with the many newer ways of generating mana. Personally I’ve played with this card in some deck ideas and generally found the good outweighs the bad if you’re into it. Here’s why: The maximum benefit of this card comes from gameplays that count on some land being available for counter styles or specific moments to strike, so rather than keeping some land available only for nothing to happen, you throw in this land which builds up counters and allows you a decent transition from defence or build-up rounds to an offensive go in for the kill rounds. Now you cash in the Vault while still maintaining land for your other needs. Yes, it also allows you to stockpile for big “X pump” effects without having to actually tap-out the rest of your lands. Here’s a further ex: So if you stay in defensive-counter mode for 7 rounds and drop a land each round, always keeping some land untapped, and now you have an opportunity to go in for the kill, at face-value you have a max of 7 mana you can generate. If you played the Vault early in the same scenario, you then have about 7 lands you can tap as well as the amount of storage counters you built-up, generally you can almost double your mana generation for the kill. What if you had a few going? Drawback of course is the fact that it is in “tapped” mode so you lose the instant/interrupt mana option, so you gotta know when you’ll be needing it and untap accordingly, of course doing so kind-of hints to your opponent that something is probably coming, lol. So I’m gonna support a 3 ½ star rating, because a storage of mana is not bad at all. Totally understand 3 star ratings too, especially since it is vulnerable and unavailable while tapped.
XaiviarNightwing
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Great card if you combo it with a land enchantment. It only needs to be tapped during your upkeep it doesn't say T:add a charge counter. So you could turn it into a swamp to pay manna for instants, the pumps for a shade, or to activate the effect you enchanted it with. So if you are splashing this in a proliferate deck where you would have the need to tap a land each turn for an effect this can do it and pay you for it later. Best part is since it is a land that uses storage counters only land removal or blanket counter type removal can stop it.
Comments (8)
But if you're patient, I suppose it wouldn't be bad.
The maximum benefit of this card comes from gameplays that count on some land being available for counter styles or specific moments to strike, so rather than keeping some land available only for nothing to happen, you throw in this land which builds up counters and allows you a decent transition from defence or build-up rounds to an offensive go in for the kill rounds. Now you cash in the Vault while still maintaining land for your other needs. Yes, it also allows you to stockpile for big “X pump” effects without having to actually tap-out the rest of your lands.
Here’s a further ex:
So if you stay in defensive-counter mode for 7 rounds and drop a land each round, always keeping some land untapped, and now you have an opportunity to go in for the kill, at face-value you have a max of 7 mana you can generate.
If you played the Vault early in the same scenario, you then have about 7 lands you can tap as well as the amount of storage counters you built-up, generally you can almost double your mana generation for the kill.
What if you had a few going?
Drawback of course is the fact that it is in “tapped” mode so you lose the instant/interrupt mana option, so you gotta know when you’ll be needing it and untap accordingly, of course doing so kind-of hints to your opponent that something is probably coming, lol.
So I’m gonna support a 3 ½ star rating, because a storage of mana is not bad at all. Totally understand 3 star ratings too, especially since it is vulnerable and unavailable while tapped.