Evaluating New Cards

What is Noob Bait?

In Magic: The Gathering, "Noob Bait" refers to cards that attract newer or less experienced players because they appear strong or unique but ultimately don't perform well in competitive settings. In cEDH, Noob Bait often includes cards that:

1. Seem powerful but don’t offer enough efficiency or flexibility.

2. Mimic the effects of better cards without matching their effectiveness.

3. Don’t actively support your deck’s primary strategy or game plan.

Examples of Noob Bait in cEDH

1. [[Everybody Lives]]

• Mana Cost: [[symbol:1]][[symbol:w]]

• Effect: Grants all creatures and players hexproof and indestructible until end of turn. Prevents players from winning or losing the game during that turn.

Why It’s Noob Bait:

• Compared to cards like [[Heroic Intervention]] or [[Angel's Grace]], it falls short.

  • [[Angel's Grace]] costs only [[symbol:w]], has split second, and also protects your life total from going below one. Despite this, [[Angel's Grace]] is rarely seen in modern cEDH lists because it lacks utility outside specific situations.

• [[Everybody Lives]] doesn’t further your game plan and is situational at best.

  • It might stop a game-winning play, but often at the expense of your own resources and momentum.

Verdict: While not outright bad, its lack of synergy and utility in most decks makes it an inefficient use of a deck slot.

2. [[Permission Denied]]

• Mana Cost: [[symbol:u]][[symbol:w]]

• Effect: Counters a non-creature spell. Opponents cannot cast non-creature spells for the rest of the turn.

Why It’s Noob Bait:

• At first glance, it appears to combine the strengths of [[Dovin's Veto]], [[Negate]], and [[Silence]], but its functionality falls short.

  • Requires a non-creature spell already on the stack to trigger the silence effect, unlike [[Silence]], which can be cast proactively.

  • Costs two colored mana, making it less flexible than similar alternatives like [[Mana Leak]] or [[Flusterstorm]].

• The situational nature and clunky mana requirements make it unreliable.

Verdict: A card that borrows characteristics from powerful spells but fails to deliver the same level of utility or consistency.

3. [[Tishana's Tidebinder]]

• Mana Cost: [[symbol:2]][[symbol:u]]

• Effect: Flash. When it enters the battlefield, counters an activated or triggered ability. If the ability is from an artifact, creature, or planeswalker, that permanent loses all abilities until [[Tishana's Tidebinder]] leaves the battlefield.

Why It’s Noob Bait:

• While it mimics effects from [[Stifle]], [[Pithing Needle]], and [[Merfolk Trickster]], it doesn’t perform any of these roles well:

  • [[Stifle]] is more flexible and costs only [[symbol:u]].

  • [[Pithing Needle]] is permanent and costs [[symbol:1]].

  • [[Merfolk Trickster]] doesn’t see cEDH play due to its limited utility, and [[Tishana's Tidebinder]] shares this weakness.

• The high mana cost ([[symbol:2]][[symbol:u]]) makes it a poor tempo play, especially compared to better alternatives like [[Dress Down]], which costs less, impacts all creatures, and replaces itself.

Verdict: A flashy card that tries to do too much without excelling at anything.

How to Identify Noob Bait

When evaluating a new card for cEDH, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do similar cards already exist?
   Compare the card to existing staples. If alternatives are cheaper, faster, or more flexible, the new card may not be worth including.

2. Do these similar cards see significant cEDH play?
   If the established options are fringe or situational, the new card likely won’t perform better.

3. Is this card as good as the existing options?
   Evaluate the card’s functionality. Does it offer anything unique or superior to what’s already available?

4. Do I really need the redundancy?
   Redundant effects can be valuable, but only if your deck truly benefits from them.

5. Does this card support my game plan?
   Every card should either advance your strategy, protect your win condition, or disrupt your opponents.

If a card fails these checks, it’s likely Noob Bait. Save yourself the disappointment and look for stronger alternatives.

Wrapping Up

Noob Bait cards in cEDH often seem enticing but fail to hold up under scrutiny. By applying the questions above, you’ll develop a sharper eye for evaluating new cards and avoid wasting valuable deck slots on underperforming options.

Have you encountered a card you suspect is Noob Bait? Share your thoughts or ask questions in the comments below—we’d love to hear from you!

Thank you for tuning in, and we’ll see you in the next lesson of the cEDH Intermediate Course.