Dreams of the Dead

Enchantment

{1}{U}: Return target white or black creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. That creature gains "Cumulative upkeep {2}." If the creature would die (would be put into the graveyard from the battlefield), exile it instead.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	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
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (16)

Gidgetimer on Interaction between Orvar, the All-Form …

7 months ago

The cumulative upkeep added from Dreams of the Dead is not a copiable value. The copy will not have the cumulative upkeep.

707.2. When copying an object, the copy acquires the copiable values of the original object’s characteristics and, for an object on the stack, choices made when casting or activating it (mode, targets, the value of X, whether it was kicked, how it will affect multiple targets, and so on). The copiable values are the values derived from the text printed on the object (that text being name, mana cost, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, power, toughness, and/or loyalty), as modified by other copy effects, by its face-down status, and by “as . . . enters the battlefield” and “as . . . is turned face up” abilities that set power and toughness (and may also set additional characteristics). Other effects (including type-changing and text-changing effects), status, counters, and stickers are not copied.

CamraMaan on Interaction between Orvar, the All-Form …

7 months ago

First, to cover logistics, my Orvar, the All-Form deck has every 1cc instant that changes the color text of a card, which brings me to Dreams of the Dead... say I change it to specify the color blue, and bring back a blue creature from my grave, which now has a cumulative upkeep of 2cc. Then I target this creature with an instant while Orvar is in play, making a copy of it. Does that copy have cumulative upkeep as well...? My assumption is that it will, but my hope is that it won't.

Coward_Token on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sedris (EDH)

3 years ago

More unearth bypass: Teferi's Veil, Conjurer's Closet, Identity Thief

More pseudo-unearth: Dawn of the Dead, Dreams of the Dead

tenasscity on Aminatou, Blink Combo

3 years ago

Dreams of the Dead Parallax Wave

Also look into Faerie Artisans bounce them and keep the token. Also, where is the Conjurer's Closet ? :D

SideBae on

4 years ago

Hey! So I have some suggestions: feel free to ignore any/all of them.

1. There's a reason Ponder and Preordain are banned in Modern, and it's because they're stupid-good cards. Being able to dig you to what you need and past what you don't for one blue mana is a REALLY powerful effect, even if the cards themselves may not look as powerful as they are. I highly suggest including them. I like that you're already running Brainstorm , though I think running two+ more fetches would be ideal; you don't want to get locked with two dead cards on top of your deck.

2. I do not think Path to Exile is good in EDH. Ramping your opponent in a format with everyone trying to do busted things is rarely anything short of a bad idea, and is frequently dangerous. (Note that your Ashiok, Dream Render does not stop opponents searching off YOUR spells.) As I see it, you may be better off just running another card-draw spell, which would dig you to more potent removal; I suggest Painful Truths . Three-mana: draw-three is a hard rate to beat, and I've been very impressed with it in my Tasigur, the Golden Fang list.

3. You have some good artifact ramp, but I think it can be improved. I really like that all your rocks are two or less mana -- three-mana mana-rocks are simply not good enough a lot of the time, especially with a four-mana commander. Unfortunately, a lot of the best ramp in EDH is very expensive: Mana Crypt and Mox Diamond come to mind. I do have some other suggestions though. Consider at least a few of the following: Talisman of Dominance , Talisman of Hierarchy , Talisman of Progress , Fellwar Stone (which is admittedly a worse Arcane Signet , but still good), Mind Stone , Everflowing Chalice and/or Thought Vessel .

4. Whir of Invention is a card you may wish to consider. It can grab your Bolas's Citadel late-game, but more importantly it acts as a to-battlefield tutor for things like your Cursed Totem or Skullclamp . Also, it's instant speed.

5. If you want to run things like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Consecrated Sphinx , I suggest you think about a reanimation package. In general, these duders will be tough to cast, and being able to cheat them into play will give you a competitive advantage. Entomb and Buried Alive are the best ways to bin your targets (though there are others, like Liliana of the Veil or your maybe-board Frantic Search ), and you can then use spells like Animate Dead , Dance of the Dead , Necromancy , Reanimate or Unburial Rites to profit for less mana than usual. Intuition is a fun (if not cheap) card to pair with Unburial Rites and some reanimation targets, thought the precise pile may be tough to determine. Also, due to your colors, you may even consider Dreams of the Dead . The cumulative upkeep can be tough, but if you run something like Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur then you'll be able to do your damage within a turn-cycle or so, and the upkeep won't matter.

6. Your mana curve is pretty consistently low. I think you should at least playtest Counterbalance , since you already have the Sensei's Divining Top . Counterbalance does tend to be a high variance card, and it may end up being more of a preference-call than a meta-call. But I like it, so I figured I'd mention it.

7. I'm not sure how good Hushbringer is, since it stops your Skullclamp from triggering... You may be better off with just a Spirit of the Labyrinth or such.

8. Depending on how often you get to five mana, Divine Visitation could be a win-condition in itself in this deck. Making a 4/4 every time you cast an artifact or enchantment seems... good.

9. Mystic Remora is good. In less-experienced metas, it is often an Ancestral Recall ; even if people know that it's better just to wait it out, Mystic Remora will still buy you time to develop your board and make land-drops while opponents try to outlast it. Being one mana was a mistake, but it's here, so what the hell.

Right. That's all I got. Good luck!

SideBae on The Scarab God

4 years ago

So for starters, I think you should definitely include Ponder and Preordain . These two one-mana cantrips don't look like much, but they'll let you run thirty-three lands rather easily and smooth out your draws. There's a reason they're super-banned in Modern, and it's not 'cause no one likes them.

Brainstorm is similar to the aforementioned, but you need shuffle effects to make it good -- getting stuck with two dead cards on top of your deck blows chunks. I think you need at least three fetches to justify running brainstorm, and probably want six plus, really. If the Zendikar/Onslaught fetches ( Polluted Delta , Verdant Catacombs , etc.) are inaccessible (they often are), there're other fetch options. Prismatic Vista is good, but that one can be expensive too... Evolving Wilds , Bad River , Rocky Tar Pit , Flood Plain , Terramorphic Expanse and Ash Barrens are all valid and much more affordable.

Concerning your counter-board, there's room for (a little) improvement without breaking the bank. Disallow , for instance, is a strictly better Cancel . I don't think Thought Collapse is very good... three mana is a lot of pay for a counterspell is a lot, and milling an opponent is frequently good for them in EDH. I think you may be better off using that slot for something like Fact or Fiction (which builds card-advantage) or a low-cost counter like Spell Snare , Spell Pierce or Dispel .

The best way to improve this deck, I think, is to work on the mana-rocks. The best ones outside Sol Ring ( Mana Crypt , Mana Vault , Mox Diamond , etc.) are unfortunately very expensive; however, there're a lot of two-mana mana rocks that are very affordable, and you may already have lying around. In my experience, two-mana rocks are a lot better than three mana rocks. Consider some or all of the following: Talisman of Dominance , Dimir Signet , Fellwar Stone , Arcane Signet (I think/hope the price will drop soon), Mind Stone , Prismatic Lens , Everflowing Chalice ... These'll let you keep up with green decks, or at least have a chance of doing so.

I see you're running Gravecrawler . I feel semi-obliged to point out that Skullclamp is stupidly good with Gravecrawler . Note that if you have a lord like Diregraf Captain out, it becomes slightly less fun; however, with your Carrion Feeder , you can keep it coming.

I think most UB decks benefit from running Ashiok, Dream Render and Narset, Parter of Veils . Their hatebear-like static abilities are super relevant in EDH, and if you pair Narset, Parter of Veils with your Windfall , you're halfway to playing Leovold, Emissary of Trest (who, thank whatever G-d may be, is banned).

Obviously, I don't know exactly how this deck will play -- I've never played this list. However, I suspect you end up with a lot of guys on the field. If that's the case, consider Slate of Ancestry as a draw engine with discard as a perk.

If you run a reanimation package, you can get cards like your Grave Titan down REAL fast. Consider Entomb in addition to your Buried Alive , and two or three cards like Animate Dead , Reanimate , Necromancy , Dance of the Dead , etc. Depending how spicy you want to get, Dreams of the Dead is in your colors... I think it's probably pretty bad, but I figured I'd mention it.

Patriarch's Bidding is around $20 nowadays, but it'll help you recover from a boardwipe real fast. I suggest running it in most black tribal decks, unless your meta is more than 40% to 50% tribal.

Command Tower seems like a good land to run. However, if you want to cut the colorless lands like Emergence Zone for basic Swamp s and Island s, you can run Back to Basics to pretty good effect.

Winds of Rebuke is a good bounce effect that also mills you... It'll build card advantage via your graveyard, so you should at least test it.

Right. That's all I got for now. Good luck!

Rhadamanthus on Does Nicol Bolas, the Ravager …

5 years ago

Madcookie, notice that Isareth the Awakener's ability says "exile it instead of putting it anywhere else". That means it won't interfere with something that's already going to exile.

The following ruling (with some small variations) shows up in the Gatherer entries for most of the cards with an effect like this (Kheru Lich Lord, Whip of Erebos, creatures with Unearth, Dreams of the Dead). I don't know why it isn't included for all of them, but the same principle applies to Isareth.

If a creature card returned to the battlefield with Kheru Lich Lord would leave the battlefield for any reason, it’s exiled instead. However, if that creature is already being exiled, then the replacement effect won’t apply. If the spell or ability that exiles it later returns it to the battlefield (as Suspension Field might, for example), the creature card will return to the battlefield as a new object with no relation to its previous existence. The effects from Kheru Lich Lord will no longer apply to it.

electromancer on Aminatou Much to Handle *RETIRED*

5 years ago

Neat deck. Dreams of the Dead works with flicker effects.