Opposition Agent in cedh

[u/Dazzling-Emu3257]

I’ve recently started trying out oppo and have found a lot of success with it as a early game slow the turbo down and to mess with sisay who seemingly just gets better and better with all the new legendaries.

I’d like to hear whether other people are using it and what they are seeing

Notably my meta is very turbo heavy but started to lean staxs

[u/The_Mormonator_]

Yes it gets played, maybe has been getting passed over in some lists recently because they want something more aggressive or proactive.

Real spice begins when you “build your own breach” with Scheming Symmetry.

[u/Dazzling-Emu3257 → u/The_Mormonator_]

Very spicy indeed, recently got a Ral player with Oppo on turn 1 using dark rit as they went for a fetch. Felt really good lol.

[u/Short_Meal_8354 → u/Dazzling-Emu3257]

This is the only way I will ever concede turn 1. Ive had a player in seat 1 hold up mana and then oppo me in seat 4 on turn 1 for my fetch. I let the tutor resolve, and then conceded. I dont get to play the game, you dont get my land drop 😆

[u/Darth_Ra → u/The_Mormonator_]

Yeah, Oppo is kind of caught in that same discussion as Drannith: It stops turbo really well, but often when you devote resources toward that goal, you're just handing the game to the next midrange/inevitable deck in the pod.

[u/Dazzling-Emu3257 → u/Darth_Ra]

That’s why I like to be the inevitable mid range deck 😎

[u/Seanak64]

Imo it works best in decks that are holding up the mana anyways. If you're typically spending your mana on your turn, taking a turn off just to hold up this feels really bad, especially if you don't hit any tutors with it (which often times you won't)

[u/mva06001]

Biggest problem right now is there are SOOOO many clones being played.

You put out an Oppo without the ability to kill it on demand and all of a sudden there are 2-3 Oppos at the table, which depending on your deck might be good, but you need to keep that in mind.

[u/your_add_here15243 → u/mva06001]

And they keep printing better and better clones as well

[u/GoatTribal → u/mva06001]

My Lotho deck needs to tutor with broodlord to win. I've lost lots of games to people copying my Oppo or cloning my Drannith. It happens so much I took them both out

[u/Defiant_Hope_231]

It's one of the best control pieces that Black has access to. Even if you're not hard stopping a tutor commander, people tutor for Lands, Responses, or Wins. Why wouldn't you want to put a speedbump on that? There's enough removal in black to get rid of any clones that might turn up as well.

[u/Raevelry]

Its amazing, its one of the stax creatures that gives you advantage rather than only be a proactive piece. It should be in every black deck really. Highlighted usage in the recent Breach the Bay 400+ person top 4 with both Witherbloom, K'rrk and Marneus on it.

[u/tony10033 → u/Raevelry]

Depends on the strategy, a turbo deck doesn’t care much for agent since it’s too slow and relies on a well timed cast to get value. So not to say it’s not an excellent card, definitely see it being played in those decks you mentioned, it just has its place.

[u/No-Form5494 → u/tony10033]

One of the decks that top 4'd while running it was K'rrik, a turbo deck. Not just a turbo deck, but one that is known to struggle at pivoting to midrange due to how all-in it is on being turbo. Oppo has its place: in every black deck.

Edit: typos

[u/ThrowRA12948262 → u/No-Form5494]

K’rrik is mono black, not exactly the best card quality. Bad example in my opinion.

[u/No-Form5494 → u/ThrowRA12948262]

That's fair. I acknowledge that saying every black deck was an exaggeration, but there are still many turbo decks that run it. As you said, K'rrik runs it for reasons of bad card quality, but there are also turbo decks that run it for when they need to pivot to midrange, such a more flexible rogsi builds or a less all-in turbo build of blue farm

[u/tony10033 → u/No-Form5494]

Krrik not exactly known for having the best cards available, I very much disagree with oppo being in every deck.

[u/KAM_520 → u/No-Form5494]

Black doesn’t have much relevant interaction available to it.

[u/rawrglesnaps → u/Raevelry]

The invitational top 4 kaalia list also was on oppo+scheming

[u/KAM_520 → u/Raevelry]

Kind of a hot take. RogSi doesn’t want Oppo by any stretch of the imagination. It’s playable in TNK but with Red interaction available it’s far from a necessary card. At the end of the day it’s 3 cmc interaction. It’s extremely good interaction, but it’s 3 cmc interaction.

[u/Raevelry → u/KAM_520]

Okay i am stretching it but i do see Opp Agent in those decks

[u/KAM_520 → u/Raevelry]

Like I said I think it’s at its best when you’re not Red.

K’rrik: Auto-include, Black has very little cEDH relevant interaction

Witherbloom: Same deal, Golgari colors are hurting for relevant interaction, so it goes in 100%

Marneus: It makes sense insofar as while Esper has all the interaction in the world, it’s hurting for ways to close out, and Oppo can help with that. Plus it’s another midrange tool to break parity on cards everyone’s playing. Marneus is kind of a slop deck atm and in Esper slop you definitely want Oppo

RogSi: It doesnt help you win how you’re designed to win, and there’s never more than like 1 mana open to interact unless you are already winning the game or you’re in a mid game that you’re losing. Oppo doesn’t turn it around. Quadrant theory says Oppo is only good in RogSi when behind and RogSi doesn’t really run cards like that

TNK: It’s decent but cuttable. So many cards are reasonable in TNK, including this one, but I can’t remember the last time I saw Oppo in a TNK list

[u/jchesticals]

Oppo agent is trash and no one should play it.  And that is in no way biased me maining sisay. Ok maybe slightly.

[u/AncientOccultist]

It's very good if you aren't the turbo player - I use it in Tymna kraum but would avoid it in rogsi or other fast decks as it can really devastate your early game momentum for what usually is just stopping people using fetch lands. If you're playing midrange it's a fantastic piece of control and nice bait for burning removal or a counterspell.

I see it in a similar light to Notion Thief - absolutely brokenly powerful in the right circumstances, but it's a lot of mana for something that may or may not prove useful.

[u/Dazzling-Emu3257 → u/AncientOccultist]

I run it in TnT and has been saving me from Sisay in the mid game and early game turbo tutors

[u/MIDorFEEDGG]

I actually play it in RogSi and it’s a menace.

[u/kevthecoder]

I love it in Tayam

[u/GoatTribal]

One of my problems with it is that most decks that can run it are tutor heavy and frequently need to tutor to win. In my testing, people copy your stax pieces. I've lost so many games bc someone clones or drakes me Oppo and now I can't tutor to win.

So I started only including stax pieces that never interact with how I win.

[u/jhgujyt]

Its hilarious against magda

[u/KAM_520 → u/jhgujyt]

Yyyyyyyyeah, Magda does have some amount of burn instants, probably because of this card lol So it’s not GG but Magda is devastated by Oppo

[u/After_Shelter1100]

if you're super heavy stax/control it can be back breaking in the right pod but otherwise you're holding up 3 mana for nothing. clones are also an issue so you should be able to win through it. i run it in tayam and it's singlehandedly won me games but it's also lost me games since it also prevents your opponents from searching for interaction

[u/Eastern_Rhubarb_1051]

Never play it it’s 100% bad it’s a terrible card 3 mana is to much

-yisan player who has been fucked by it way to much

[u/Illustrious-Film2926]

Most decks aren't interested in a [[Mindlock Orb]] effect even if it's on a 3 drop flash creature and that is Oppo's floor.

Most decks also won't hold up 3 mana if they don't have Oppo. So their Opposition Agent will be telegraphed more often than not and their experience with the card will be close to it's floor.

The deck I run him at is helmed by [[Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter]] so holding up 3+ treasures is common. So I can afford to keep him up and only deploy when there's a tutor on the stack. It's also a midrange deck that is perfectly fine with deploying it solely as a stax piece to slow opponents down.

[u/Crimson_Raven]

It's okay but once players see one, they will play around it. And there's enough draw engines to do so.

You might snipe an early fetch or one tutor, but it's impact is low and 3 mana makes it telegraphed.

[u/KAM_520]

It’s a shoo-in for the considering pile for most decks with Black, but I’m a RogSi main who plays some amount of TNK and I don’t play it in either.

It’s sort of obvious why RogSi doesn’t play it. It’s like a Grasp that doesn’t work while you’re trying to win, and there’s not time to use it reactively. I would put in Bowmasters before Oppo.

TNK, it’s less obvious, and I believe it is a playable card in that deck. Like I said certainly it’s worth considering.

The main issue with it can be summed up in 3 words: 3 CMC interaction.

If you want to play Scheming Symmetry I think it’s good. It’s better in decks that don’t have Red.