As a general rule, most of the three-color legendary creatures printed in recent Magic sets are written off as Commander fodder right away. The more colors a card has, the tougher it is to cast in Standard, after all. Some cards do buck this trend, however, becoming staples in competitive constructed as well as Commander. Helga, Skittish Seer may be the next MTG card to do so. Just yesterday it showed up as a full playset in a Modern League-winning list, where it did a very good impression of staple draw engine Up the Beanstalk. Is this Frog the real deal, or just a flash in the pond? Let’s find out.
MTG Helga, Skittish Seer
- Mana Value: GWU
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 1/3
- Card Text: Whenever you cast a creature spell with mana value 4 or greater, you draw a card, gain 1 life, and put a +1/+1 counter on Helga, Skittish Seer. Tap: Add X mana of any one color, where X is Helga, Skittish Seer’s power. Spend this mana only to cast creature spells with mana value 4 or greater or creature spells with X in their mana costs.
For those unacquainted with our dear Helga, let’s quickly break down the card itself. As a three mana 1/3, requiring three different colors of mana to cast, Helga doesn’t make a great first impression. Thankfully, she has a novella’s worth of card text to make up for it.
There are a lot of words here, but it boils down to two things. Whenever you cast a creature that costs four or more, Helga lets you draw a card, gain a life, and put a counter on her. ‘Draw a card’ is clearly doing most of the heavy lifting there, and is where the Beanstalk comparison I mentioned above comes in. The counter isn’t totally irrelevant, however.
Not only does it help Helga block better against ground threats, but it also powers up her second ability. You see, Helga acts as a scaling mana dork that adds more mana the higher her power is. Sure, you’re largely restricted to spending that mana on other big creatures, but with Helga that’s what you want to be doing anyway. Once she gets going, and in the right deck, Helga is a value engine that’s hard to stop.
Frogs In Control
What is this mythical ‘right deck?’ Well, according to early results, it’s a Four-Color Control brew for Modern. RespectTheCat posted such a list, featuring a full four copies of Helga, on Twitter yesterday. It runs four colors to capitalize on powerful removal like Leyline Binding and Prismatic Ending, and threats like Omnath, Locus of Creation.
The deck also makes great use of the MH2 Evoke Elementals, specifically Subtlety and Solitude. These cards are excellent for disrupting your opponent’s plans, since they can be cast for ‘free’ a lot of the time. They also both cost four mana or more, which means they can trigger Helga’s ability when you cast them. This works whether you actually paid the mana or not, turning these cards into powerful sources of card advantage.
When the original Up the Beanstalk was at the height of its powers in Modern, it was largely because of its interaction with these legendary design mistakes. Of course, Beanstalk counted all spells, so it let you draw off of Leyline Binding as well, but Helga is very close. Being able to give you mana to cast more creatures, as well as Prismatic Ending, since it’s an X spell, gives it a unique edge. It also gives you more presence on the board, which is crucial against creature-focused decks like Boros Energy. Notably, Up the Beanstalk doesn’t trigger off Subtlety or Omnath, Locus of Creation, but Helga does.
In addition to these staples, RespectTheCat’s list includes Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury as a finisher, and a surprising six total planeswalkers. Three copies each of Wrenn and Six and Teferi, Time Raveler can be found here. Apparently, this colorful mix proved effective, as it took RespectTheCat to a 5-0 finish in the MTGO Modern League they ran it in.
A New Up The Beanstalk?
It’s always great to see new cards succeed in older formats. Helga’s synergy with existing Four-Color Control shells is obvious, and it could very well find a permanent home there once the playtesting dust has settled. Are the comparisons to banned-in-Modern powerhouse Up the Beanstalk warranted, however? In a word, somewhat.
Up the Beanstalk was a perfect storm of factors that led to an oppressive archetype in Modern. It only cost two mana, only required green, and it was an enchantment, which made it tricky to interact with. The card also cantrips, which means you don’t even lose a card when getting it into play.
Helga, on the other hand, is a three mana, three color creature. Not a very favorable comparison. Especially when other would-be Beanstalks have sprouted up in recent sets, and ultimately amounted to very little. Remember Satoru, the Inflitrator? Many thought similar things about that card, and, while it appears in a few decks, it hasn’t exactly set the format on fire yet.
That said, Helga doesn’t have Satoru’s awkward once-per-turn clause. It also gets bigger over time, which quickly puts it out of range of damage-based removal. Throw in the ability to make mana and fuel itself, and you have a card with a lot of upsides to counter its downsides. Given that it appeared as a full playset in a 5-0 list, the card clearly has some potential in the Modern format. If you want a copy for Commander, I suggest grabbing it now, before its price hops into the stratosphere.
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