Defiler of Dreams

Creature — Phyrexian Sphinx

Flying

As an additional cost to cast blue permanent spells, you may pay 2 life. Those spells cost {U} less to cast if you paid life this way. This effect reduces only the amount of blue mana you pay.

Whenever you cast a blue permanent spell, draw a card.

Combos

• Defiler of Dreams + Impact Tremors + Shrieking Drake

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Brawl	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Pre-release	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Standard	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (11)

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

6 months ago

GHoag Thank you for the good wishes! I intend to record what happens the best I can so I can accurately report on the games. Whatever happens I couldn’t have done as well without you! I do have one big question for you below, if nothing else please help me settle the Palinchron debate.

I got to playtest Tezzeret the Seeker last night and in my limited experience he is VERY good in this deck. I can’t say I would want to see Thran dynamo more than tezzeret in almost any situation. He is an absolute lightning rod. If your opponents know you have dramatic reversal in hand, they have to counter the tezzeret or they will simply lose the game. They can’t wait to see what the ‘-x’ ability grabs (unless they run Stifle or Disallow which isn’t common right now), because the Isochron Scepter just enters the field. If the opponents don’t know you have dramatic reversal in hand it is even more precarious for the opponents, because they don’t know if you are about to win the game or not. Furthermore they should still probably counter it because of the +1 ability alone. Untapping a mana vault every turn is extremely valuable.

Dream Eater performs remarkably well also. It did so well, that it was actually the target of Phantasmal Image at times. Bouncing a Kraum or a Talion to their owners hand feels really good, shutting down their card advantage and setting up my own.

Fabricate is definitely the next tutor to go in if I were to add another one. Still debating what comes out for it. Muddle more likely grabs Isochron Scepter because there is one less artifact tutor than spell tutor. I think I am happy with the tutor base after adding Tezzeret though.

Admittedly submerge is awful against non-green and even 4-5 color decks, because they often don’t run many basic lands except dual-lands. It is definitely a meta choice. Rapid Hybridization is more expensive but meta flexible. Since I don’t know exactly what the meta will be at lotscon and there is no sideboarding allowed I’ll probably go with the more flexible card.

This week my top debate is Palinchron. In the current rev it is starting to feel clunky. Requiring 6 lands on the field seems like a tall order in cEDH, doable only in slower games. He is also clunky because I can’t tutor him or recur him from the graveyard, without exploring the addition of Body Double. Questioning Palinchron also brings Aetherflux Reservoir into question, because Palinchron is the biggest payoff for aetherflux. Without Aetherflux there is no back-up win-con to Thassa’s Oracle which is monumentally important. So taking out Aetherflux is not an option. The Aetherflux/Palinchron wincon is slower than Isoscepter and hard to know when to go for. Though Palinchron is clunky, he is currently the best payoff to aetherflux, and it assists Thoracle. BUT thoracle doesn’t need the help of infinite mana in this deck because I am noticing that I can get to the bottom of the deck before I have 6 lands in play. So I just need a card to be an Aetherflux Reservoir Payoff.

That all said: I posit Shrieking Drake vice Palinchron. This card combos with Defiler of Dreams and Aetherflux Reservoir to have infinite spell casts, life, and damage. Shrieking drake is more innocuous and FAR less expensive therefore making him less risky to run. Shrieking drake also has the versatility of returning a Sphinx to my hand to be cast again. The biggest downside to this choice is that there is less infinite mana combo redundancy than with Palinchron. I think this downside is mitigated by Unesh getting through a lot of the deck very quickly, without needing the help of infinite mana. After briefly exploring the addition of Body Double, I think this course could be doable if we replace Sphinx of Lost Truths. Body double gives me combo safety with Palinchron, makes the combo only require 5 lands in play if I am doing it with Body Double, and has the versatility of copying anything in ANY graveyard. Worth noting, copying things in an opponents graveyard is not often the best choice. The biggest cons here is this makes the deck generally more expensive to play, and body double doesn’t further plan to get through the deck.

I think playtesting is required to know which of the two paths (body double or shrieking drake) is best to take. But with limited time, my gut tells me the Shrieking Drake path is better because it is still lower to the ground, and has synergy with the 20% rule.

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

8 months ago

New Unesh Card Printed in Wilds of Eldraine

Virtue of Knowledge to replace Gauntlet of Power. Pros of virtue of knowledge:

• 2nd copy of Panharmonicon
• Same CMC as Gauntlet of power, but has a devotion to blue. It benefits from Defiler of Dreams & Sapphire Medallion.
• The effects are 1-sided. They only benefit you, not your opponents.
• Still Combos with Palinchron.
• Adventure modality. Can be used to copy fetch ability early game. Can be used as a one time mana stimulus with Frantic Search, Snap, Palinchron. This is modality not even Panharmonicon has.
• Triggers when ANY permanent enters the battlefield, not simply creatures and artifacts. This deck doesn't make great use of this text, but it could more so in the future maybe. Mystic Sanctuary is the only additional card that benefits in this deck right now.
• Pitchable to cards like Force of Will.

Notable Cons:

• Isn't targetable by Scholar of the Lost Trove

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

8 months ago

Palinchron added + talk about combos

Replaced Narset's Reversal. Reversal is a cute fun card in this deck. Reversal is a combo piece that is under utilized here. Reversal relies on your opponent to cast a cool spell, playing your own deck and theme is normally better.

Palinchron combos with SIX cards already in this deck to produce infinite mana, infinite storm count for Aetherflux Reservoir, and infinite card draw with Defiler of Dreams. These SIX cards are High Tide, Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power, Caged Sun, Panharmonicon, and even Phantasmal Image. This makes it extremely likely that you will be able to combo with Palinchron if you draw him.

Honestly I knew this card was bonkers, but after thinking about it and finally writing all the synergies on paper I have convinced myself to include it.

While we are talking about combos, I didn't realize there was another infinite combo in the deck. This one takes a bit of setup but here it is. Aetherflux Reservoir, Cloudstone Curio, and Defiler of Dreams. With all 3 of these permanents on the battlefield, if you have 1 low cost changeling in your hand, 1 on the field, and if you have any sphinx mana reduction you meet the criteria. For instance:

1. The 3 combo cards are on the field, and so is Amoeboid Changeling and Urza's Incubator.
2. You cast Mothdust Changeling from your hand using Defiler of Dreams blue cost reduction.
3. Cast triggers Aetherflux Reservoir gaining you the life back you spent to cast it.
4. ETB triggers Cloudstone Curio sending Amoeboid Changeling to your hand.
5. Cast Amoeboid Changeling from your hand using cost reduction from Urza's Incubator and Defiler of Dreams.
6. Cast triggers Aetherflux Reservoir to gain you back the life you used to cast.
7. ETB triggers Cloudstone Curio sending Mothdust Changeling to your hand.
8. Return to step 2.

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

8 months ago

GHoag I respect the Mystical Tutor choice, and I think it is good in my build too. I think I like Spellseeker in my build more because I like that the tutored card goes directly to my hand rather than the top of the library. I also like that Spellseeker’s ability is ETB. It can benefit from Panharmonicon, and it can also benefit from cost reduction of Defiler of Dreams and Sapphire Medallion. In conclusion, I think Spellseeker’s synergies and utility are worth the extra 2 cmc in my build.

I do really like Irenicus's Vile Duplication, but because I am going to go with spellseeker for now, I’ll keep Sakashima in. I am not sure which suite is more powerful, I will have to try out both in the near future to make a better conclusion.

I do like Unsubstantiate more than Unsummon. I think the 1 more cmc is definitely worth the versatility. I still want to squeeze in Trickbind, this spell is very strong depending on the pod. Maybe it is better to keep it in the binder until I think I need it.

If I may, what did you decide to take out for Isochron Scepter and Dramatic Reversal?

Gidgetimer on Defiler of Dreams ability

1 year ago

Defiler of Dreams allows you to pay life as an additional cost when casting blue permanent spells. The reduction is effective for the single casting of the single spell. You can pay 2 life as an additional cost for any number of blue permanent spells to reduce the cost by {U} provided you have the life to pay for each spell.

9-lives on Defiler of Dreams ability

1 year ago

Say I have Defiler of Dreams and I pay life for the mana reduction. How long does this mana reduction last? One turn? Also, how many permanents can I reduce the cost of with this ability?

Snap157 on Will Phyrexian Mana Return?

1 year ago

The new Defiler cycle (Defiler of Vigor, Defiler of Dreams, etc) already grants phyrexian mana to your spells in that color. Worth peaking at

Niob_Mordodrukow on Fast Animar

1 year ago

Removed Consecrated Sphinx, added Defiler of Dreams instead. Reasons: Defiler costs less (in both ways, lol), gives not just cards, but also mana (virtually), comboes with Shrieking Drake, does not depend on opponent drawing cards.