Scapegoat

Instant

As an additional cost to play Scapegoat, sacrifice a creature.

Return any number of target creatures you control to their owner's hand.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Big Apple Highlander	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Freeform	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
PreDH	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (51)

Crow_Umbra on The Glory of the Horde (Zurgo Ultra-Budget)

1 month ago

All of the suggestions here are pretty spot on. I've had an Isshin tokens deck in my lineup since 2022, and experienced similar deck-building conundrums in its earliest days. I have a few general suggestions, as well as a couple for more specific cut considerations:

• For decks like these, it's ideal to keep the average Mana value on the lower end. This helps set up quicker starts and makes it a bit easier to rebuild your board after eating some removal. I'd generally recommend looking at your 5-8 MV range as the first place to focus for cuts, as others suggested through more specific cuts.

• I think you can cut Crowded Crypt as something on the cheaper end. To build off my last bullet, cards at the 3 MV slot should be impactful enough to warrant them competing to be cast on curve instead of your commander. This will come from getting more reps with a deck. I make this suggestion for a few reasons: Crowded Crypt is a bit slow at 3 MV, it taps for 1 color of mana in a tri-color deck, & its activated ability is okay. I'd recommend swapping in another 2 MV rock like Talisman of Hierarchy or one of the others in Mardu Colors, or Rakdos Signet and others in Mardu colors.

• Since Zurgo cares about your token creatures dying, here are a few sacrifice enablers that help your game plan & are within budget: Plumb the Forbidden is an awesome instant to draw from, and Fanatical Devotion is a pretty cheap free sac outlet that also helps protect your more important creatures. Scapegoat is also solid as budget board protection and sac enabling.

• Neyali, Suns' Vanguard could be a potential swap with Mentor of the Meek. For an additional {R}, she gives your token creatures a decent key word and also provides some card advantage from the impulse draw effect.

• Starry-Eyed Skyrider could also be a solid swap for a suggested cut.

Crow_Umbra on Elsha, Threefold Master - Mystic Meditation (v0.4)

9 months ago

Interested in seeing how your deck evolves, especially once we get some more Tarkir spoilers. MaRo stated in his Tarkir teaser that we're getting new Instant & Sorcery subtypes.

Lol you have plenty of spells to choose from for a deck like this as is, but I'd recommend checking out a few more:

• Scapegoat - You'll be making plenty of creature tokens for the additional cost.

• Soul Partition - One of my favorite flex pieces for removal or protection

• Untimely Malfunction - A budget Deflecting Swat with some additional utility.

Crow_Umbra on

1 year ago

Oh nice! You're in for a fun time, Isshin is a lot of fun to pilot. Is there a general budget you have in mind once you do start buying cards? Because of his ability, there's certainly different archetypes that you can emphasize in your build, or mix and match them to best suit your play group's vibe, or your preferred play style.

Since you haven't really play-tested the deck much yet, I'll keep my feedback more general. Once you start getting a feel for it, you'll have a better idea of potential changes you might want to make. A few things I can think of:

• Angelic Exaltation is kinda off-theme, although it has an attack trigger. The emphasis on a single attacker doesn't mesh as well with the various token makers in your creature base. You have a lot of strong pieces to build a wide board and overrun your opponents. I think this is a safe swap out.

• I think you can swap a couple of board wipes for some board protection effects like Scapegoat, Fanatical Devotion, or Unbreakable Formation. The first two give you means of repurposing your creature tokens to save more important stuff. Alternatively, Plumb the Forbidden can be a devious response to a board wipe, & kill your board to draw some cards. I think you can swap out Plague Wind, since it's the most expensive card, mana-wise.

• Avacyn can probably be swapped for some lower on the curve protection options like Reconnaissance or Dolmen Gate, which is less budget. Reconnaissance was recently reprinted in the Assassin's Creed set with updated reminder text. This EDHREC article details how it can be utilized as a pseudo-Vigilance anthem. Avacyn is a powerful card, but she's very heavy on {W} for a 3 color deck.

• To compliment your creature token production, I think you can maybe swap Arni for Welcoming Vampire, Tocasia's Welcome, or Chivalric Alliance as a means of keeping your hand stocked.

I think retooling a bit on how you protect your board and draw cards could be some decent spots to focus on first. Isshin is very board dependent, he thrives from keeping it protected to maintain that aggro momentum.

Hopefully those are some helpful starting points. Best of luck with your games tomorrow, I hope you stomp your friends lol

Crow_Umbra on The Allure of Honor

1 year ago

Digging your deck description lol. Definitely a great one sentence encapsulation for playing Isshin. Have you had a chance to play this deck irl yet? Mostly asking to see if there were any areas you were looking to maybe change around, or if you have a general budget in mind. I have a few general suggestions if you're looking to make swaps or upgrades:

• I think if there's any one area besides ramp or draw, that Isshin decks should look to upgrade first, it's definitely board protection. Isshin is super board dependent, so the more you can protect that, especially proactively, the better you'll be over the course of a game.

• On the topic of protection, Reconnaissance is a great first upgrade. It was recently reprinted in the Assassin's Creed set with updated reminder text. It acts as like a pseudo-Vigilance that can pull your creatures out of combat at various points. This EDHREC article helps explain this utility in better detail.

• Dolmen Gate is another excellent board protection effect.

• Instant speed options like Unbreakable Formation and Scapegoat are decent budget options to help avoid wipes. Alternatively, Plumb the Forbidden is a great way to sac your board in response to a board wipe and refill your hand. Clever Concealment is a less budget option, but great for decks like this that want to go wide.

• Frontline Medic is also a budget option that's kind of on theme with Battalion. Fanatical Devotion is also another fairly budget option for repurposing your tokens.

Happy to talk shop if you're looking for feedback. I have some additional ideas, but didn't want to write you an essay. Hope you have fun with Isshin, he's a blast to get snowballing.

Crow_Umbra on

1 year ago

You've got a pretty solid Isshin deck! Have you had a chance to play this list irl yet? I have a few suggestions, and just kind of "food for thought" comments from looking at your deck:

• I'll admit, I'm a bit biased, and prefer not to use equipment that aren't Lightning Greaves variants or Skullclamp. On that note, I'd recommend maybe swapping out Diamond Pick-Axe & Sword of the Animist/Bitterthorn with a couple more 2 mana rocks like Talisman of Conviction & others in-color. Pacing wise, I found Sword of the Animist to be kinda slow for Isshin, since it's 4 total mana to cast & equip to a creature. The 2 mana rocks could even swap out with Wayfarer's Bauble and/or Commander's Sphere.

• Related, but Skullclamp is gas for draw in a deck like this that makes lots of 1/1 tokens. Highly recommend it.

• Phlage is a great card, but do you think you'd ever cast it for its Escape cost? I pulled a copy, but haven't put it in Isshin yet, mostly because in games where I could play the Escape cost, I'm already far enough behind that it might not help me much.

• Rottenmouth Viper is an enticing pick that I've definitely gone back and forth on, but have mostly left in consideration for now. It kinda feels like a slower Torment of Hailfire with extra steps, & needs some steep board investment if you cast it for its reduced cost.

• If you keep a lot of your big beaters, Dragonhawk, Fate's Tempest could be worth looking at. On its own, it's at least a 5/5 flyer that can smack faces, but has that additional impulse draw & group slug stapled to it.

• I'd highly recommend adding Clever Concealment, Scapegoat, or Fanatical Devotion as additional means of protecting your board, or at least key pieces of it. Isshin is heavily board invested, so protection goes a long way.

Those are just some of my initial thoughts. I'm down to talk shop if you're up for it. Best of luck with your deck; Isshin is a blast

Crow_Umbra on The Thousandth Gnome [$50 Anim Pakal Budget]

1 year ago

No prob! I've used all 3 cards at some point or another in different decks, usually in Aristocrats or token focused strats.

I like your inclusion of stuff like Homestead Courage and Feat of Resistance to protect or anthem up Anim Pakal, and get extra counters on her. I think you have a decent amount of redundancy that you could maybe swap one of them for Scapegoat, since it has upside of saving other creatures beyond your commander. I think of all of them, you could cut Test of Faith, as it feels the most narrow.

I think you could swap either Dispatch or Wear / Tear for for Soul Partition, depends on your preferences. I could also be off-base that these aren't even on your radar for swaps lol.

I see the usefulness in Resourceful Defense being able to move counters around on your creatures, either for the activation cost, or when they die. Fanatical Devotion could be a 1:1 swap on mana value, & turns your Gnomes into protective fodder.

Crow_Umbra on The Thousandth Gnome [$50 Anim Pakal Budget]

1 year ago

Anim Pakal is a lot of fun. I run her in the 99 of one of my decks, and she snowballs pretty quickly if left unchecked, which I'm sure you're familiar with. Your deck looks solid, just thought I'd leave a few budget suggestions for protection & removal:

• Scapegoat - Chuck some of your token fodder to save whatever pieces of your board from removal that gets around your Indestructible protection.

• Soul Partition - Pulls double duty as either removal or protection for one of your key pieces. The times I've used it as removal, my opponents rarely re-cast whatever I exiled.

• Fanatical Devotion - Makes your opponents second guess sending removal your way with a board full of token fodder.

Last_Laugh on Better Ingredients, Better Vampires, Papa Eddie's

1 year ago

I have a few suggestions for ya, but not a bad start.

Reconnaissance is worth its' weight in gold here. If you're unfamiliar with the card I suggest looking it up, it's pretty busted if you know what you're doing. Long story short is attack with EVERYONE safely, deal combat damage in most situations, and untap each creature at the most opportune time (including after combat damage is dealt... both 1st strike and normal) so everyone is untapped by the end of combat.

Purphoros, God of the Forge makes it so every vamp you cast domes each opponent for 4. It also lets you run Scapegoat as a finisher instead of just as 1 mana answer to wraths (trust me when I say bouncing all your stuff back to hand is 100% worth it in response to wraths so you actually have a grip full of cards to redeploy and get eminence triggers again).

On the subject of protection, this is probably the most important support type for aggro decks and there's zero of them in the deck. Don't get caught with your pants down or that is a miserable game where you end up with no hand topdecking cards until you lose. Teferi's Protection, Clever Concealment, Boros Charm, Flawless Maneuver, and I also lump Plumb the Forbidden in this section (same logic as Scapegoat). Seriously, run them ALL... unless your meta has like 0 removal you won't regret it.

Let me know if you're picking up what I'm putting down, I have more suggestions and/or help with cuts if you want it. Also, feel free to check out my list for inspiration. Upvotes on any of my decks are appreciated. Edgar's Dega Vampires