Corr, that’s it mate. Make the plunge for the clunge and seek out as many caves as ye can…
Spelunking (verb) – To masturbate frequently over inanimate objects, trying hard not to leave any DNA at the scene of the…
Oh hey ! Ahem. Welcome to the second instalment of BIG dumb Spec Mentions. This time we have an explosive delivery from Josh, delivering a flurry of thought-provoking gobbledygook.
Now, before we go further, I’ll cave in and admit that the information above is indeed false. Spelunking is actually another name for cave exploring. There’s nothing quite like getting yourself all squeezed inside a tight cave, so I hear.
Now, the card is already on the map for some other jetsetters; seeing experimental play in Pioneer, Standard and Modern.
It’s probably too early in the day to say if Spelunking has what it takes to justify a permanent space. Let’s deep sea delve a little further..
Stripping it naked, let’s start with the casting cost of just 1 Green 2 Colorless; A converted mana cost of three.
If we stop here, it’s really not looking that appealing, but bear with me. Why would we just stop here? Come off it.
The cave/life gain part of this card… it may well be redundant. I’m not saying there’s no chance of making this a redeeming feature, but most people won’t care about this. What we do care about is a nice little bit of ramp (provided you were sitting on a land, or drew one upon casting). Throw down that Shock Land you have in your hand, don’t worry about paying 2 life; Spelunking is here to help with that! Play tapped, and this beauty will give it a good tug and untap it.
Gates? Hold the door .. Spelunking is here! Now every game you can win with Maze End! perhaps if you value your friendships and the sanity of your pod, try not to let too many wins come down to this green powerhouse paired with Maze End… you may face yourself with a spitefully sweet Jokulhaups next time. For players cursing me for enlightening the Maze End Gang to the awesome power of Spelunking, don’t worry , don’t panic & don’t forget to Worldfire!
This card is special. It’s sitting at around $2, and right now it’s stable. But once the right YouTuber says the wrong thing about Spelunking, you can expect the demand to be very high. Though the card itself doesn’t give colour fixing, there’s still plenty of filters that can help iron out a mana base that wants to give all of the power without costing a hefty peso. Energy Refractor and Crossroads Candleguide are a few in Standard I can think off top of the dome. But even these dead trees are heavy CMC, and cost two to filter. Spelunking does many things, but
Mana fixing is not one of them.
So we can perhaps put this card to better use in a Commander deck! There are cheaper and more efficient filters for us to utilise there..
Both printings of Amulet are as steady and stable as you’d expect from a true “Staple”.
Amulet of Vigor is well known for speeding up otherwise sluggish tactics. Amulet functions using a trigger instead of a static effect, which does mean it can stack with itself. You’re just not going to get that level of depth outside of this deep blue/grey sea of trash you’re currently drowning in.
Unbanning Primeval Titan in EDH
(just kidding)
Understanding the importance of Amulet is the true key to understanding why Spelunking is tomorrow’s staple. Let’s take a little plunge into the Modern Grotto to see just why Amulet of Vigor is considered such a vital staple in the format. Playing a “Bounce” land such as Simic Growth Chamber allows you to untap it once per Amulet before choosing a land to return, often just picking up the bounce land itself. This “ritual-esque” usage of the bounce lands (which typically play much slower than normal lands) allows for explosive plays well ahead of schedule, especially when combined with “Exploration” effects like Summer Bloom or Azusa, Lost but Seeking. This actually resulted in Summer Bloom being banned from Modern back in 2016. Killjoys..Destined to climb to new peaks, or to fall into the abyss?
Spelunking goes well in any deck that needs to run slow mana, whether that’s because you would rather not spend hundred$ each time you brew, or because you’re Maze End Gang for life, fool.
With a splash of Green needed, this card is likely not destined for the heights of Amulet when it comes to price, but surely it’s worth more than a few bucks…That’s all for today’s instalment of BDSM folks. As ever with the specs that we’re covering, we have around five copies spare – the first five people to post original content on the forums (even just an introduction post!) can cop one for free.
Josh over & out, ready to make like a fraudulent cheque and bouncing on out x
Definitely trust this guy…