MinorBug's CCotD - Shepherd of the Flock
By MinorBug |
Shepherd of the Flock
Creature - Human Peasant
3/1
Usher to Safety
Instant - Adventure
Return target permanent you control to its owner’s hand.
This rather unassuming uncommon from Eldraine may not impress at first glance. I know I, for one, were expecting it to be outperformed by other white adventure cards - Silverflame Squire, Faerie Guidemother, and Giant Killer all looked like they would have more raw power behind them. However, after testing some, Shepherd of the Flock surprised me, and has been perhaps the best performing of all of them in my environment. In this article I'll discuss some of the cards strengths, and why I think it's likely worth a test in your own environment.
Shepherd is an adventure card. For those who don't know, a card with adventure can either be played immediately as a creature - in which case, you just get its body - or as its adventure - in which case, you get the benefits of the adventure spell, and can play the creature side later on. This gives adventure cards an inherent level of modality, allowing them to be relevant at many points in the game, unlike their peers which are often more narrow in their use. Modality is a very powerful and frequently underrated quality for cards - don't think of Shepherd as subpar just because it's not the best 2 drop, 3 drop, or 1 mana bounce spell, when it's a card that can be all three.
Next up, the simple 3/1 body of Shepherd is quite effective. Over time, I've come to appreciate more and more the value of raw stats in white aggro especially, with me including several white 2 mana 3/1s for that deck - the ever popular Adanto Vanguard, the more recent Seasoned Hallowblade, and even Daybreak Charger have all been solid in my environment. 3 damage per turn kills players, especially if backed by removal or tappers to get through blockers. Tempo decks also love the fast clock for cost, and midrange just appreciates that 3 power trades up against a lot of threats when blocking, with few 2s and 3s having enough toughness to safely attack into it. Of course, being a 2 mana 3/1 alone does not justify including the card - Devilthorn Fox is far from a cube staple - but being able to slam the card as a well statted 2 drop is certainly a relevant mode, and something the card does well. From my experience, at least, the body has been more relevant more often than any of the other white adventure cards.
The adventure of Shepherd lets you bounce a permanent you control. Bouncing and flickering are effects many players like. Johnny-type players especially enjoy using such effects to get repeated value from ETBs, and cards like Flickerwisp, Restoration Angel, and Kor Skyfisher are amongst the most cubed white creatures. Similarly to these cards, Shepherd of the Flock can be used to get value from ETB effects several times - putting a Blade Splicer back in your hand can get you a large board state with little investment, and bouncing a card like Cloudkin Seer can help generate card advantage. However, the ability of Shepherd to bounce any permanent at instant speed can help you get utility even where the others can't. A common line is for an aggro deck to put a creature back in their hand to save it from a wrath, and then next turn slam the Shepherd and whatever they bounced, which none of the above cards can do. But on top of that, it can save a planeswalker from creature combat, bring back another adventure card like Murderous Rider so you can use its ability at instant speed, send an aura or o-ring back to your hand so you can cast it with new targets, help you dodge removal, and a lot more. And unlike other cards that can achieve similar things for similar costs, the opportunity cost to running it is low - worst case for Flicker is a dead card, but worst case for Shepherd of the Flock is still a 2 mana 3/1, and the cost of using Shepherd's ability is a mere 1 mana.
However, not every card is for every environment, and while I do love Shepherd of the Flock, most of my experience of the card comes from unpowered cubes, without dedicated combo decks. At the end of the day, while he is a pretty solid fair creature, he is exactly that - a fair creature. In extremely powerful environments, where storm consistently comes together and kills within the first few turns, where reanimator is shoving Griselbrands onto the board turn 2, and spending only 1 mana on turn 1 is considered embarassing, Shepherd of the Flock is very quickly going to find himself out of place. I definitely wouldn't try to jam him in such an environment - there, you'd be better served by staxy or disruptive 2s, such as Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Spirit of the Labyrinth.
Between its deceptively powerful body, high power ceiling, and low opportunity cost, Shepherd of the Flock has become a staple in my cubes. If you haven't already, I'd recommend you test it out in any unpowered environment.
Have you played with Shepherd of the Flock? What did you think? Did doming people for 3 make him the 2 drop aggro wanted, or did he just die to tokens and pings? Did his bounce generate value and save boards from removals and wraths, or was it just a waste of time and mana? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Damn. This is great.