Harness the Meh?

Foznertep

Would someone please explain to me what the fuzz concerning Harness the Storm is all about? I pulled it the other day and was really excited only to test it in decks realising it was little more than an overpriced Trail of Evidence. How do people plan on building decks around this card? Am I missing something here?

Plastic

Welcome to post nerf Storm. A buggy, overcosted shadow of its former self.

Abenjes

its not as powerful as it was and I think it still has value in the right deck , you need to run a lot low cost spells I run it in Sarkhan with under the floorboards, devils, avacyns card that deal 6 to 3 targets and transgress the mind. it can allow me to get my Tyrant out very quickly.
I've seen it used effectively in an Ajani using only spells.

madwren

Ajani can't use only spells. He maxes out at 6 spells at level 60.

Harness is still effective, but it's easier to stall out at 12 mana. At 6, you could draw and cast extra copies easily to reinforce it.

Previously, when you cast a spell, it triggered by returning a spell and destroying 3 gems. This allowed for loops to more easily self-sustain, so they changed it to destroy gems BEFORE returning the card in patch 1.7.

Unfortunately, whatever sequencing fix they applied had unintentional results. Now, instead of triggering when a spell is cast, it triggers when a spell in your hand is filled with enough mana to cast, even if you do not cast it.

Conversely, if you have a spell in your hand that was already full of mana, and then drop a Harness and cast that stored-up spell, it won't trigger like it should. Finally, sometimes when you fill up multiple cards with mana, when you cast the last one it will cease triggering altogether. While the chaotic result does admittedly fit well in red, it makes it very unpredictable.

bk1234

I still love it. I cycle Spirits and Devils in **** and cycled Enshrouding Mist and Inner Struggle to beat Avacyn over and over. The best way to play it is in a multi color deck with low cost spells. I think it's just as good post nerf -- was just an adjustment like when they nerfed Days. Now that the shock has worn off and I've adjusted it's still the powerhouse in my 2 color red decks.

Foznertep

But how? Even if the destroyed gems would result in a match (they mostly didn't), the new card is at the bottom of my hand, anyway.

Volrak

Line up several cheap spells in a row in your hand. The second proc of HtS can cast what it drew on the first proc, etc.

SoberReality

I don't have harness, but i know how ridiculous (and time-consuming) it was pre-nerf. I always thought of harness as a way to recycle cheap spells to be used over and over again, instead of abusing the gem destruction for long, drawn out matches. Is it really THAT bad right now though (besides the bugs)? Being able to reuse relatively cheap removal spells like exquisite firecraft and whatnot seems like a good deal.

Foznertep

I would love to take it for a spin in a Koth deck but I have been waiting for him to be available in the vault for ages now thanks to that stupid rotation model.
This must really be the worst invention since the chocolate spear (this comparison courtesy of Terry Pratchett, R.I.P.).

shteev

I'd say that the nerfs to Harness have barely impacted it's power in the hands of a skilled player, although perhaps the AI isnt getting such good use out of it now.

ridfrenzy

Arlinn loves it, especially when it can pull SP out of your graveyard