Lotus Cobra: Not Just A Birds Of Paradise

The following card was spoiled by Mike Flores on the mothership today:



Let's ignore the Mythic rarity, and ignore my inevitable rant about the fact that it's Mythic and doesn't seem Mythic.

So let's focus on the gameplay and ARGH THIS ISN'T MYTHIC AND IT NEVER SHOULD BE MYTHIC AND IT SHOULD BE RARE BECAUSE IT DOESN'T FEEL MYTHIC AND WIZARDS SHOULD BE SHOT AND BURIED IN A SHALLOW GRAVE SO WE CAN DIG THEM UP AND SHOOT THEM AGAIN BECAUSE THAT'S THE BEAUTY OF A SHALLOW GRAVE AND WE'LL **** THEIR **** WITH **** **** **** AND ***** ***** THEM IN THE ****** AND THEN THEY'LL HAVE TO ***** SIDEWAYS AND....

Sorry. Had to get that off my chest. Now we can focus on the card itself. Mike Flores already made some great points over in his article, but the main thing I'd like to talk about, and correct, is the following claim made by some Twitterites:

"It's like a Birds of P that untaps if you fetch a land. Not really impressed enough."


 "I see everyone hyping up Lotus Cobra. Most of the time it will just be a Birds of Paradise. Sometimes not even that."


My rebuttal: No it isn't.

Oh, you want proof? Facts? EVIDENCE? What do you people want from me?

Alright, fine. I'll actually explain WHY I think it's better than Birds of Paradise. The sacrifices I make for you people.

Let's put Lotus Cobra and Birds of Paradise together:




(Wow. How subtle. Making Lotus Cobra bigger. That's REAL quality, right there.)

Okay. Let's count the ways Birds of Paradise is better than Lotus Cobra.

It flies.
It's one mana cheaper.

Now let's count the ways Lotus Cobra is better than Birds of Paradise.

It can activate twice with a fetchland.
It doesn't tap to make mana.
It has two power.

Short list, but all of these should raise alarm bells. A 2 power creature for 2 mana with a powerful, relevant ability that it doesn't tap for. Hmm. I wonder if there are any other cards like that.

SPIKE HALL OF FAME






Yeah. I could rest my case here, but some would be unsatisfied. Let's go with the following scenario.

You have 2 mana. You've played a Lotus Cobra or a Birds of Paradise last turn, and now you've untapped. You're playing Jund. Here is what could happen, in the best scenario:

YOU DON'T PLAY A LAND.

Birds of Paradise: You play a 3-drop from your hand.

Lotus Cobra: You play a 2-drop from your hand. You attack for 2.

Verdict: I'd say Lotus Cobra wins here(especially since Jund's 2 drop of choice is Putrid Leech), but we'll call it a draw.

YOU PLAY A SAVAGE LANDS.

Birds of Paradise: You play a 3-drop from your hand.

Lotus Cobra: You play a 3-drop from your hand. You attack for 2.

Verdict: Lotus Cobra wins.

YOU PLAY AN UNTAPPED LAND.

Birds of Paradise: You play a Bloodbraid Elf, cascade into something, and swing for 3.

Lotus Cobra: You play a Bloodbraid Elf, cascade into something, and swing for 5.

Verdict: Lotus Cobra wins.

YOU PLAY A FETCHLAND.

Birds of Paradise: You crack the fetchland and play a Bloodbraid Elf, cascade into something, and swing for 3.

Lotus Cobra: You crack the fetchland and play a Bloodbraid Elf, cascade into something, swing for 5, and Bolt the player at EOT, or the next creature he plays.

Verdict: Lotus Cobra wins.


Of course, we're assuming we play BoP turn 2. But how likely is that. I mean, how many lands in Jund come into play tapped Turn 1?

4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands

Oh right.

Okay, so assuming half the time, you can play a BoP turn 1, here's what happens. We will play 2 identical Jund players. One player has Birds of Paradise turn 1, the other, Lotus Cobra turn 2.

Birds:

Turn 1, Birds. Pass.
Turn 2, land, 3-drop, pass.
Turn 3, land, Bloodbraid Elf, cascade, swing for 6.
Turn 4, land, Bloodbraid Elf, cascade, swing for 9.
Turn 5, win the game.

Lotus:

Turn 1, land, go.
Turn 2, Land, Lotus Cobra.
Turn 3, Land, Bloodbraid Elf, cascade, swing for 5.
Turn 4, land, Bloodbraid Elf, cascade, swing for 8.
Turn 5, win the game.

Now this is assuming the following scenario:

The players don't play a land that enters the battlefield tapped.
They have a land every turn.
They never draw a fetchland.

With Lotus Cobra essentially at it's worst, the two players STILL GOLDFISH AT THE SAME RATE. With fetches, Lotus Cobra becomes insane. A turn three Bituminous Blast into Bloodbraid Elf is possible. So is a Turn 3 Baneslayer Angel. With a fetch, Lotus Cobra is crazy. Without one, it swings for 2 in exchange for being one turn slower.

So, essentially, we have a card that without a fetchland, is just as good as Birds, and with a fetchland, is much better. Added are these two facts:

You have a slightly better chance of drawing a Cobra by turn two than a Birds by turn one.

Lotus Cobra is undoubtedly a better topdeck (assuming, by the time you're in topdeck, you've played enough lands to play all your spells).

Thus, Lotus Cobra: not just a Birds of Paradise.