Gonti's Machinations

Enchantment

Whenever you lose life for the first time each turn, you get {ENERGY}. (You get an energy counter. Damage causes loss of life.)

Pay {ENERGY}{ENERGY}, Sacrifice Gonti's Machinations: Each opponent loses 3 life. You gain life equal to the life lost this way.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	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
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (48)

Chasmolinker on So, You Wanna Play Jund Yea? (Budget)

2 years ago

Hahaha Metropolis39 Trust me... They are back breaking.

When not dealt with, Winding Constrictor is a house. Glint-Sleeve Siphoner will bury you in Card Advantage when paired with the snake and even more so with Gonti's Machinations. Bloodhall Ooze can be a T3 5/5 and a T4 9/9. Olivia Voldaren will steal your creatures once you've spent all of your early removal. And Woodland Wanderer is often a 6/6 or 7/7 Trample with Vigilance.

Play against it and see what you can pull off. Energy is entirely broken and under represented.

zapyourtumor on Tainted remedy

2 years ago

I'd cut the bad stuff and lean 100% into the enemy lifegain theme. This means up to 4 Tainted Remedy plus 4x Kavu Predator , and cut Idyllic Tutor , Serrated Scorpion , Twilight Prophet , Gonti's Machinations , Roiling Vortex , etc.

I know Blessed Alliance and Rest for the Weary are used with Tainted Remedy, but the best cards with Remedy are ones that have a "drawback" that involves your opponent gaining life and Remedy/Kavu turn that drawback into an advantage. I see you already have Wall of Shards and Grove of the Burnwillows , which are classics. Some other ones are Oust , Fiery Justice , Solitude / Condemn , Devour Flesh with Nature's Claim for the sideboard. Alms Beast is also funny.

Saccox on Super Budget Abzan Midrange

2 years ago

Hi Ultarian, Gonti's Machinations in combo with Glint-Sleeve Siphoner ?

Angel_Zero on 40 Bolt

3 years ago

what about Gonti's Machinations and Alms of the Vein for even more bolts!

StarstormKK on Dark Shot Pezzent! (10/12 Euro/$)

3 years ago

Thank you for upvoting my deck. We all work so hard on these things and its nice to have someone else show appreciation for it! I came here to return the favor. When I got here, I had to learn what Pioneer format was all about--I like that they are making time segments that are larger than they used to because I have always been more of a player than a collector.

This deck definitely accomplishes your goals-- it has an obvious theme and the cards are completely affordable. I have a couple of suggestions that would fit into this deck, but I am not sure if they would improve it...just some ideas (I made sure they were affordable as well). Also, I noticed the low number of creatures and wanted to see if I could persuade you into adding a few more. I recognize that the ratio of cards in the deck that caused the desired "life loss/gain effect" needs to be really high for the deck to be functional...finding that balance is likely the hardest part for the newer player.

• Cryptolith Fragment  ^Flip : Seems to be right on theme with the life loss for opponents thing and could provide some ramp.
• Multiform Wonder : Uses and provides energy as well. This could give the player a blocker and a little flexibility, at least if you are running 4 copies of Gonti's Machinations .
• Ammit Eternal : Cheap CMC for a 5/5. Worst case scenario, the opponent is losing 3 life once. Best case scenario, you have a creature that swings every turn and applies pressure.
• Baleful Ammit : Combos with the card above nicely, provides lifegain as well. Also Cheap CMC.
• Bloodhunter Bat : Is one more mana than Sovereign's Bite , does the same thing and provides you with a flyer.
• Bloodthirsty Aerialist : With there already being 50% of your deck causing you to gain life, this seems like an awesome option. They will grow to the point of ridiculousness very quickly. The price shown here is twice as high as it is when I looked it up, but it is still less than a dollar.

What is great is that there are so many available that I had absolutely no trouble finding some to fit into this theme...I only made it partway through the B's!

Great deck and good luck in your endeavors!

-StarstormKK

carpecanum on K’rrakaka

3 years ago

Black lifegain always makes me think of Vampiric Link . It works, even if cast on an opponents creature. You have enough vampires to consider Blood Tribute .

Soul Conduit , Platinum Angel

If you put in an energy card or two Gonti's Machinations could give energy if you had something to spend it on. Hard to think of many more positive things that happen when you "lose" life.

zapyourtumor on $15 Jund

3 years ago

Bloodhall Ooze is dope

Maybe 1x Gonti's Machinations? (is great with glint-sleeve)

Scavenging Ooze and Maelstrom Pulse aren't that expensive right now either, maybe 1 of each?

Balaam__ on 101% Mono Black Burn

3 years ago

Flooremoji thanks for pointing out Gonti's Machinations, that’s going in for sure.

And yeah, after I cobbled the initial build together I surveyed what I had and wasn’t impressed. I haven’t had a chance to play test this yet but it didn’t exactly scream ‘good build’.

I know I could lean heavily into a couple other colors and/or archetypes, but I never intended to play this one even remotely competitively. It was just a silly idea for ‘kitchen-table-with-neighbors’ games. I’m going to keep it mono black and primarily burn, with light hand disruption. I’m mostly looking for any standout cards I missed that are categorically better than versions of what I already included, and this helpful community has already boosted the build considerably. Thanks to everyone.

Also, this is my least favorite deck I’ve constructed by a large margin yet it has the most likes. XD