Ritual of the Machine

Sorcery

As an additional cost to play Ritual of the Machine, sacrifice a creature.

Gain control of target nonblack, nonartifact creature.

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 (45)

DreadKhan on Shirei of the Weak

2 months ago

It's not new or shiny, but Gift of Doom might be a better source of Indestructible if you have access to Black. Morph isn't an ability as far as stuff like Split Second are concerned, so it's better than Flash arguably (imho it's usually easier to counter an Artifact vs a Morph creature in Commander, so that's a bit more upside). You can also protect non-Legends, not sure if that comes up, but the sacrifice cost can easily be an upside in this deck.

I kind of like the idea of Sorceress Queen, her ability can be used to nerf an opponent's creature, or to protect one of your bigger bodies (that doesn't have +1 counters). I couldn't decide if you have enough of your own bodies that she can protect, but I thought I'd mention it. I'm not sure if anyone plays decks that revolve around big haymakers, but if anyone uses them (or generically good Commanders) you can steal them with Ritual of the Machine or Helm of Possession, both require a creature, a cost you're very able to pay I suspect.

After thinking a bit more, would Disciple of the Vault do anything in here? It's a bit like Blood Artist in that it can punish decks trying to do unfair things (your group doesn't like infinites, but does it like treasures?), but it also lets you pinch people whenever any artifact of your own dies. and you do have a few artifact creatures/token generators. Disciple also works with Grim Hireling, but you need to be getting in consistently, I wasn't sure if your deck achieves that most games.

Great deck idea!

SufferFromEDHD on Mono-Black Fun

4 months ago

Karn's Bastion really fits both commanders.

Koskun Falls white pillow fort.

Ritual of the Machine blue theft.

SufferFromEDHD on Oona’s Nightmare.

4 months ago

Brutal. This is a mean vintage pile. If you are already bending the rules why not throw in Tolarian Academy?

Urza's Saga would be a strong addition.

Crypt of Agadeem too slow?

Ritual of the Machine and Koskun Falls color pie bending tech.

Echo of Eons I find myself sneaking this into all kinds of different strategies. You are already running the original maybe this could be a solid second copy.

DreadKhan on 100 cards for Meren

7 months ago

One pattern I noticed with Meren is that she's pretty bad if you don't have a creature to get back, she's just a clunky body that does nothing if your graveyard is empty. That's part of why I don't like fast ramp in Meren, even in fairly high power (unless you're in cEDH and barely care about the Commander) all it does it get me a 3/4 on the board, and it's also going to risk being wiped or removed early. Thus, keep an eye out for small creatures that can sacrifice themselves or other creatures. Casual Meren usually wants to farm XP to an extent, using something like Fleshbag Marauder as mentioned, or the various Sakura Tribe Elder knock-offs, will let your Meren start working right from the get go. Another idea is to use self-mill effects, there are quite a few in Golgari, but I think you'd want to run a much high creature count to make self-mill more realistic. My Meren deck presently has 57 creatures in the 99, and that doesn't feel excessive because my Commander only interacts with other creatures. You might also take a look at Evoke creatures like Shriekmaw and Foundation Breaker, these can be evoked more than once with Meren, generating XP while policing the board. There are also weird old cards like Hell's Caretaker that farms XP (but can also reanimate something huge at the cost of a token). I think as your power level goes up the value of farming XP goes down, but this can be offset by including some of the game ending tutors I mentioned previously.

If you want to stick to Casual Meren, I always loved Street Wraith when I drew it early, it doesn't have to hit the battlefield to work with Meren, since getting it back to hand lets you draw another card. I wouldn't use it outside Casual, but it's a fun trick.

Ritual of the Machine and Helm of Possession offer Golgari decks an option they typically lack, that of just stealing something. This is useful vs Commanders of some decks, but it's also good vs big stuff that defies removal somehow. Neither is a really high power card, but both feel pretty good at lower and mid power.

Zeddicuus on Merieke Ri Berit, Manipulator of the Stack

9 months ago

Thanks for the suggestions! I think you're right that having reusable sac outlets would be more suitable. Altar of Bhaal would be a great choice, I think I even have one of those. I have never see Ritual of the Machine before. That would be a great way to steal people's creatures by using theirs for payment!

At one point I considered Zur the Enchanter for the deck, but I have slowly been taking tutors out of my decks so the decks have more variety in how they play.

DreadKhan on Merieke Ri Berit, Manipulator of the Stack

9 months ago

Have you considered some sac outlets that stick around? Altar of Bhaal is pretty good recursion if you can consistently steal a creature somehow. Helm of Possession would be pretty funny, it's both a sac outlet and a theft effect. Another one-shot theft effect and sac outlet combination is Ritual of the Machine. I assume Preacher isn't in here because of it's high price? It's more of a 1v1 card, but it can be a really nasty card vs people running few creatures, but it is legit terrible vs token decks, it's a weirder Oppressor. Probably the same for Mind Over Matter, it's pricey but a very good trick to have. Coffin Queen is another nice recursion option, the ability to steal from from other people's graveyard for almost no mana can be really powerful.

You run a reasonable number of very good enchantments of 3 mana or less, have you thought about Zur the Enchanter? Perhaps you don't run tutors in your meta, some groups don't like them in Commander.

AudderPop on Juri the Ninth, Locked Tomb Penitent

10 months ago

Thank you for the suggestions! I do like that Fatal Grudge replaces itself, but generally if a card lets my opponent choose what they're sacrificing I don't consider it effective removal; in most cases it's going to hit the least useful target possible.

I was really excited to add Ritual of the Machine until I saw that $5-7 was the cheapest I could get it, which would unfortunately make it the most expensive card in the deck, so I will probably pass on it :c

Thank you for the suggestions!

SufferFromEDHD on Juri the Ninth, Locked Tomb Penitent

10 months ago

Fatal Grudge solid removal and cantrip.

Ritual of the Machine dipping into blue color wheel.