Gridlock

Combos Browse all Suggest

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
Pioneer Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Gridlock

Instant

Tap X target nonland permanents.

OBK 5 / 2
Stranglehold feature for Copy everything

Cipher001 on Tap-Down Control

4 years ago

I want to make a deck based around tap-down control. As in, Downpour and Feeling of Dread control. For years, I’ve been trying to make this idea work, ever since I first started playing, in Return to Ravnica. It started with the cards Gideon's Avenger and Sunblast Angel . I thought I could make something work, and I sort of did. I made a budget deck that achieved mild success on T/O called Frozen Solid. People liked it because it was cheap and gimmicky, but I wanted it to be more than a cheap trick, which is unfortunate, because that’s all it could have really been at the time. The deck suffers from a core weakness that other forms of control don’t have to deal with, namely that after your cheap tap-down spell has resolved, all your opponent has to do is wait another turn and build up their army even further. Sunblast angel requires a land drop every turn for six turns. The game ends up being about prolonging an inevitable loss instead of winning. Nevertheless, I tried my best to make it at least semi-competitive.

I tried every combination of U/W/X. I tried esper with its access to cards like Royal Assassin and Murderous Compulsion . A way to get rid of tapped cards is great, but why would anyone ever spend two mana on a Murderous Compulsion when they could spend it on Doom Blade , Ultimate Price , Walk the Plank , Cast Down , or half the mana on Fatal Push ? Royal assassin at least sticks around to be able to make use of a mana-free kill to complement your tap-down effects, but it dies to even the gentlest of creature removal. It dies to Lightning Bolt . It dies to Shock . Heck, it even dies to Darkblast . And aside from the assassin, there isn’t a whole lot to support tap-down control in black.

U/W/G has Glare of Subdual , which answers one problem the deck has, namely of a lack of creatures to serve as a wincon. At the same time though, you’re still tapping them down, so they can’t be used to attack with (unless you have something to untap them with, which splits your available resources even further) and if you have a big enough field presence to control the board by tapping stuff down, you could have probably won already through some Overrun kind of playstyle instead. I found merfolk a flavorful and surprisingly synergetic tribe for what I was going for here, as seen by cards like Merrow Reejerey , Merfolk Trickster , and Harbinger of the Tides . I thought that of all the ideas I’ve made thus far, this had the biggest chance of doing what I wanted, with built-in tribal support that aligned with a tap-down aesthetic. You could even finish games with a well-timed Wake Thrasher .

In R/W/U, I experimented with Aurelia's Fury . With cards like Assemble the Legion , stalling becomes a legitimate strategy. Battlefield Thaumaturge could be used to make the spell a two mana overloaded Blustersquall . Along that route, Gridlock and Glimpse the Sun God could be used to support it, but the idea is heavily reliant on thaumaturge, which doesn’t always see play, even as a 4-of.

A truly depressing match against Red Deck Wins made me realize that the deck is entirely reliant on the opponent’s having creatures. Thus, the idea to include something from the hunted cycle was born. Hunted Phantasm , for example, provides me with a good beater and plenty of things to make use of for my spells.

Every now and then, some piece of deck-tech makes me have that flutter of naïve hope, like when we got Time of Ice in Dominaria or Verity Circle in Ravnica Allegiance. Verity circle could be the answer, the missing link. It provides me with the ability to refuel my spells and dig through my deck to get to the wincon, whatever it should be. In any other kind of deck, it’s mediocre at best, but it’s the best support my jank idea has ever gotten. I could be missing something that comes clearly for you. I’m asking you to help me realize my seven-year-old dream: to create a tap-down control deck that holds its own against at least semi-competitive decks. (Decks that have a reasonably achievable means to win and efficient support to help it achieve its chosen way of winning.) I’m not asking for anything that’d make the top 8 list anywhere, just something I can be satisfied with. So long as the primary theme of the deck is controlling the field through tap-down effects, I’m happy.

Please help me out here. I’m at my wits end lol. A big thanks to any and all who put their two cents in.

JANKYARD_DOG on Abyssal Might: Sea Monster Tribal EDH

5 years ago

I see you can make infinite green mana, so why not capitalize on that?. You could do this alternatively by adding Simic Growth Chamber (Voyaging Satyr target). Genesis Wave your deck to the field, add Laboratory Maniac as an alternate win con maybe as you can potentially do the the same with the Hydroid?. Tap everything on board with Icy Blast and/or Gridlock . Nimbus Swimmer for a giant flying sea monster. Walking Ballista to take out everyone/thing.

And if you're not into infinite things then perhaps you'd like Shaman of Forgotten Ways . A bit of creature ramp and a secondary ability that gets overlooked/forgotten alot that can net you a win, esp. against heavy lifegain decks. Well, hope this helps for your first cycle advice ;).

Lemur57 on Nezahal, Primal Tide - The Commander's Quarters

5 years ago

I just got around to ordering this list last week, though I'm still waiting on Alexi, Zephyr Mage, Breaching Leviathan, Dragon Wings, Ensnare, Millikin, Scourge of Fleets and Sky Diamond.

Instead, for bodies I've decided to use alot of draw in the form of Arcanis the Omnipotent, Azami, Lady of Scrolls, Kefnet the Mindful and to make up for the major loss in disruption (somewhat) Tidespout Tyrant. Commander's Sphere is slightly slower but makes a fine rock that comes in untapped and Gridlock and Aqueous Form to keep a consistent Instant and Enchantment count while still getting the job done. After a few test hands it seems to work out, so I'm looking forward to subbing them in when necessary even after i get the correct cards.

Sorry for the long comment, as it was mostly for me. I'm pretty new around here, but I think the draw creatures at least could be useful and potentially make room for other switches.

toastySmorc on Satyrs and Snipes

6 years ago

Cut Fire Servant, Satyr Firedancer, Hypersonic Dragon and Mercurial Chemister and run a full playset of Monastery Swiftspear and Nivix Cyclops/Kiln Fiend as they are the staple of any blitz style deck.

AS for spells, cut down on any spell that isn't under 2 or 3-so cards like Firemind's Foresight, Gridlock and Prophetic Bolt has to go. Cut all your counterspells and replace them with 2 or 3 Counterspell, and any combination of Brainstorm, Ponder and Preordain (all very powerful cards that are banned in Modern).

Last thing, replace Searing Spears with Lightning Bolts, and just cut Magma Jet for the blue cantrips I mentioned.

A UR spells deck tends to aim for fast wins off of Prowess creatures like Monastery Swiftspear, so you should focus the deck more in that direction.

greatdevourer on Tips for Momir Vig? 3rd iteration

6 years ago

Let me start by saying that you have picked a great commander. I like Momir Vig, Simic Visionary. He is so much fun, as long as you don't mind shuffling alot. Here's my Simic deck Simic Toolbox for a reference.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary let you build a toolbox deck that has many options and deal with a wide variety of threats. Let's use that.

I'm going to start with basic strategy, then move onto what to remove, and then what to consider putting in.
Due to the likelyhood of Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Gaea's Blessing, or Elixir of Immortality being in an opponent's deck, the mill stategies tand to not work well in commander games. Especially multi-player games. Now, I'm not saying that you can't mill the opponents, just don't rely on that stategy too much.
Additionally, you should be in the 34 to 38 lands range. Only having 29 lands could really slow you down. Don't rely on mana creatures because opponents will target them to hinder you.

I would remove the following:
Blanchwood Armor, only sees forest, auras aren't that good in commander, and there are better options.
Curse of the Bloody Tome, only works on a sinlge opponent.
Khalni Heart Expedition, there are much moer efficient land seach methods.
Ring of Kalonia and Ring of Thune, there are better equipments and other artifacts to consider.
Gridlock, weak tap target permanent ability. Too much of a mana sink.
Gatecreeper Vine, Creatures with defender can't attack and in later parts of the game, just disappoint more often than help. The search for a gate only nets one card.
Skullwinder helps your opponents as much as it helps you.
Wood Elves only finds a forest. Borderland Ranger, Sylvan Ranger, or Farhaven Elf may be better options. And/Or add Breeding Pool.

Without haste, creatuers that have tap abilities are just targets until they lose summoning sickness. Let's minimize those.
Boreal Druid, Kiora's Follower, Llanowar Elves, Merfolk Mesmerist are all cards to consider cutting for lands or stronger creatures.

These are maybe remove or maybe keep, depends on where you want to focus:
Fertile Ground, more land would be better.
Ghostly Touch, better ways to untap a permanent
Paragon of Eternal Wilds, only sees green creatures.

Now for the toolbox creatures. Let's really expand on your +1 counters theme. In no particular order:
From my deck, look at Cytoplast Manipulator, Cytoplast Root-Kin, Cytospawn Shambler, Forgotten Ancient, Helium Squirter, Plaxcaster Frogling, Spike Feeder, Spike Weaver, Triskelion.
Additionally Armorcraft Judge, Baloth Pup, Oran-Rief Hydra, Ainok Guide, Avatar of the Resolute, Battlefront Krushok, Hooded Hydra, Experiment Kraj, Fertilid are all fun cards with abilities that capitalize on counters.
Mystic Snake gives you a repeatable counterspell when you have Roaring Primadox or a Crystal Shard on the field.
Murkfiend Liege, makes everything stronger and untaps your dudes each turn. Truly obnoxious with a Hair-Strung Koto in play.
Gilder Bairn can accelerate your creatures and planeswalkers. But to really abuse it you need a Holdout Settlement, Springleaf Drum or Hair-Strung Koto in play to tap it.
Sphinx of Magosi has been a favorite of mine in commander decks. Flyer, card draw, and keeps gettign bigger.
Omnibian is a good way to remove an opponents blocking creature by reducing it to a 3/3 after blockers are declared and before damage happens.
Simic Guildmage is good for the counters, but if you really want to run some auras then he gets better.

Other cards to consider:
Crystal Shard lets you block and then bounce a creature you control so that you can reuse the 'enters the battlefield' triggers.
Durable Handicraft give you an option to put a counter on any creatures as it enters the field.
Hardened Scales is a great card in this deck and is cheaper than Doubling Season.
Halimar Depths, Khalni Garden, Llanowar Reborn, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood, Temple of Mystery and Treetop Village have always been good to me.
Simic Growth Chamber lets you bounce the Halimar Depths, Khalni Garden or a tapped basic. Also retriggers the landfall cards.

Writing this up has made me want to get off my chair and go build my Simic commander deck. Thanks!I hope that these suggestions help you. As always, temper these suggestions with your collection and your budget. Feel free to take a look at my decks and let me know what you think.

Orion93 on so you think you can attack?

6 years ago

Sideboard cards:

Battlefield Thaumaturge, Gridlock, Thrive, Kiora, Master of the DepthsAnd some control cards since your deck focuses on beating creatures with creatures you need a sideboard answer for the decks that aren't running creatures.

I'm feeling like your control combo isn't what you think. It blinks the creature into exile and then returns it under its owner's control, which you are not. I get that willbreaker says it's yours due to targeting but you target it, take it, exile, then return it to their field because the opponent is the owner. It's a cool idea and I could very easily be wrong but I would check into the rulings.

Orion93 on Kiora

7 years ago

Kruphix, God of Horizons

Kiora's Follower

Llanowar Elves

Prophet of Kruphix

Archetype of Imagination

Stormtide Leviathan

Whelming Wave

I had a fun Kiora, the Crashing Wave deck. My win conditions were to either waste my opponents time until I swing lethal with a flying leviathan or I had splashed red for the amazing card Crater's Claws which combos with Kruphix for an unlimited mana dump.

You'll be able to make a fun deck with this. It might not win a lot but it will run well.

Alternate idea, Kiora, Master of the Depths with Willbreaker. Use these with Battlefield Thaumaturge and cards like Gridlock and Thrive to shut down your opponents creature base by targeting them with your cheap spells. However this relies on playing against creature decks and in a modern set that's not terribly likely.

Load more
Have (0)
Want (1) Gwendy