Dismal Failure

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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Highlander Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Dismal Failure

Instant

Counter target spell. Its controller discards a card.

kimosabe on Budget Approach Of The Second Sun Deck

3 years ago

Hey it's looking good so far. I would suggest Dovin's Veto over Dismal Failure. 4CMC counter spells are hard to commit to. Also check out Drawn from Dreams. I also have an Approach of the second sun deck I love playing. Go check out Baking of the Second Buns. Has a full description with my rationale.

griffin_15 on Nicol Bolas, the Ravager

5 years ago

Also, for the discard theme try Dismal Failure its a counter spell that also forces discard.

Flooremoji on Talrand, Sky Summoner

6 years ago

I don't know what it uses, probably mana curve and something else, but it has made some stupid decisions in the past, this deck locks good! Maybe a Dismal Failure, Soul Barrier or Dissipation Field? I'll +1!

P.S. I don't play commander and my opinions may not be expert.

MagicalHacker on To the locker wit' ye!

6 years ago

Okay so, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that the point of this deck is to use your opponent's best cards against them by first milling them then stealing them from the graveyard.

So in terms of cards that mill, I wouldn't actually use too many, because we want room for abusing those cards in the graveyard. I would say like 21ish? Here are the ones that you have that I think you should keep:

These along with Life's Finale, Jace, Memory Adept, Phenax, God of Deception, Undead Alchemist, Nemesis of Reason, Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker, Trepanation Blade, Keening Stone, Sword of Body and Mind, Mind Grind, Mindcrank, Duskmantle Guildmage (these two are good because of the combo with Bloodchief Ascension, not on their own, obviously), Startled Awake  Flip, and Talent of the Telepath puts you right on target of 21. It's a solid mill package, so I'd drop Dismal Failure, Psychic Strike, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, Liliana of the Veil (I know it seems great, but I really think that a deck like this needs more focus on the goal), and Necromaster Dragon.

Next, the abuse! This is one of the most untapped aspects of many mill decks, and it saddens me. What we need is an array of ways to get effects from opponents' graveyards, but the cards that we have unfortunately usually limit themselves to what card type they can get out of graveyards, such as artifacts, creatures, or instants/sorceries. According to EDHREC.com, the average deck runs 24 creatures, 12 artifacts, and 18 instants + sorceries. Based on those numbers, we should see at least 9 creature-stealing cards, at least 5 artifact stealing cards, and at least 7 instant/sorcery stealing cards, since we probably want 21 of these as well. For the artifact stealing cards, there are only two, and they are Geth, Lord of the Vault and Beacon of Unrest, so lets include 3 tutors to get these two cards as well. Those can be Demonic Tutor, Brainspoil, and Beseech the Queen. Next, the creature ones! I would say the best 9 are Reanimate, Animate Dead, Coffin Queen, Necromancy, Chainer, Dementia Master, Extract from Darkness, Ashen Powder, Sepulchral Primordial, and Nezumi Graverobber. Lastly, the instant/sorceries can be gotten via Memory Plunder, Spelltwine, Wrexial, the Risen Deep, Chancellor of the Spires, and Diluvian Primordial, so let's include Ethereal Usher and Netherborn Phalanx to be able to tutor for Memory Plunder if the commander isn't able to do what we need to do and Geth, Lord of the Vault otherwise. These tutors are really going to make sure you get what is best, as opposed to lots of cards like Jace's Mindseeker that get you a random card. What we want is assurance that the card we are getting is going to be impactful.

In short, for the aikido aspect, I suggest dropping Jace's Mindseeker, Phyrexian Metamorph, Puppeteer Clique, Gruesome Encore, Rise from the Grave, and Soul Ransom in order to add Beacon of Unrest, Demonic Tutor, Brainspoil, Beseech the Queen, Reanimate, Animate Dead, Necromancy, Nezumi Graverobber, Coffin Queen, Chainer, Dementia Master, Ashen Powder, Memory Plunder, Ethereal Usher, and Netherborn Phalanx.

That concludes the 43 cards I think you should absolutely run (21 mill, 21 reanimate, Bloodchief Ascension). That gives you 20 slots to put in whatever you would like after you put in the 37 manabase cards, but I think you will probably want about 7 ramp, 7 draw, and 7 spot removal (maybe fit a Laboratory Maniac as mentioned earlier), but I think you got those handled!

And yes, those two cards you mentioned aren't going to work, not necessarily because they're weak, but because they're too expensive when there are better options for cheaper.

DemonDragonJ on Aether Revolt Spoilers!

7 years ago

I see that the predictions of the majority of players that the planeswalekrs in this set would be Ajani and Tezzeret have proven to be correct, but I wish that they were not so expensive in terms of casting cost.

Dark intimations strongly suggests, to me, that Bolas shall return in Amonkhet; why else would WotC be printing such a card?

Disallow is awesome, but I feel that it may be too powerful, as it essentially makes Voidslime obsolete; I believe that it shuld have cost , and then it would have been balanced.

Despite that, I will definitely obtain copies of it for my various decks to replace existing cards (which is cruelly ironic, since I just replaced eight copies of Mana Leak across two decks with that many copies of Condescend, and I am now contemplating replacing them with disallow); however, even if I do not do that, it will be an excellent replacement for Dismiss and Dismal Failure.