I've been thinking about Falling Star quite a bit recently. For the past several weekends, I've been running Jaguar Staff, but this weekend, I swapped it for Falling Star.
After thinking about this trade for a bit, I realized that Falling Star is a direct upgrade to Jaguar Staff. In fact, I'm a little embarrassed I didn't see this earlier.
The biggest reason for this conclusion is that Falling Star gives 100% of its value on the turn you play it. Guaranteed. Every time. The Jag Staff needs two turns and it can be removed with any number of relic removals. Let's see how that impacts their effects.
Stat Generation
Both give 6/6 worth of stats. Jag Staff gives 2 3/3 Black Jaguars while Falling Star gives 3 2/2 badgers. Just considering these, Jag Staff might get the nod. 3/3 are better against armor and a little harder to remove. However, Jag Staff can't always create those 2 Jaguars, so that second 3/3 must be discounted.
Falling Star may also not create all 3 badgers if your board is full, but if so, it's second source of stat creation kicks in: your creatures gain +1 strength. These buffed creatures can attack the same turn with those buffed stats.
Finally, Jag Staff generates no creatures on the turn you play it if the opponent's board is empty. Falling Star still does.
In the stat generation department, the clear winner is Falling Star.
Removal
The second main component of both these cards is removal. Jag Staff excels at clearing out 2 hp creatures but is foiled by frontline and you also take damage to do it. If you use your Faeflames aggressively like I do early game, you'probably already taken 5-10 face damage clearing. Jag Staff is terrible against large creatures. You likely can't kill them and you take tons of damage trying.
Falling Star provides burn +6 to the strongest enemy creature. This cannot be foiled by frontline. Ward doesn't stop it either. The downsides are the creature gets one more turn to take action and death by burning doesn't give favor. The favor downside is minor, but their strongest creature getting to attack one more time sucks. On the hand, imagine any number of scenarios where this extra action makes/breaks the game. Would Jag Staff have done better?
For example, some big creature is threatening lethal. Even if you could kill it with Jag Staff - you die. Falling Star can at least save you if that big creature is confused. They now might miss face and take out a badger.
The last point I want to make on removal is how Falling Star complements your other spells. Your deck is loaded with anti-big creature hate.
This gives me the edge in mirror matchups. It has also made a noticeable difference against Ramp Magic, which is a struggle.
Newest WR Deck
I started this week by replacing Jag Staff for Falling Star. I can say with confidence I never drew a Falling Star and wished it was a Jag Staff. Towards the end of my run, I realized I was facing very few relics, so I actually swapped out my Bronze Servant for another Falling Star. The final deck is:
If relics get big again, I can always swap back. For now, though, this feels really strong. As of writing, I'm 17/24. Not my best weekend ranked performance, but I also didn't get any free wins this week matching up against gold players. I'm happier with a 17 or 18 win performance this weekend than my 19 wins last weekend.
History of Swaps
For those keeping track, this deck has evolved. Here are my changes:
- Black Jags swapped for Skeleton Heavies.
- Pyramid Wardens swapped for Rabid Bears
- Jag Staff swapped for Falling Star
- Bronze Servant in/out as needed depending on the presence of relics in meta.