Shunt

Instant

Change the target of target spell with a single target.

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

Discussion (36)

amarthaler on Hellfire & Brimstone (Budget Burn)

1 year ago

I like it! Always fun to play budget mono red burn.

If card draw ever becomes an issue for you, consider adding some looting spells such as Unexpected Windfall, Big Score, Seize the Spoils or Tormenting Voice. Likewise for deflecting harmful spells coming at you, I like running Shunt, Bolt Bend or Wyll's Reversal.

Nice work!

amarthaler on EDH Ganax, Astral Hunter & Tavern Brawler

1 year ago

Update!

In: Unexpected Windfall and Shunt

Out: Seize the Spoils and Deflecting Swat

Trying to smooth out the mana curve a bit more. They're basically the same spells, just cheaper or more effective (Shunt vs Deflecting Swat).

Gleeock on What is Your Opinion of …

2 years ago

Feel the same about them in any color :) -- A waste of time. I like spells that repurpose other spells & keep the game going... Just not in the direction the original caster intended. Same reason I'm still cool with Narset's Reversal

Grubbernaut to me Deflecting Swat feels very . It doesn't cancel action.. it reallocates it. Also, there is a whole bunch of precedent for that effect. Off the top of my head Bolt Bend, Shunt & several others that I would have to look up.

BrassLord on Moraug's Mile Time

3 years ago

Cool deck! Honestly seems like a surprisingly good Voltron commander, as you can get several combat steps out of nowhere. Maybe adding in some swords or things with double strike like Shriekmaw would give it, like QUADRUPLE strike! Just cool for an, oops surprise lethal!

Surprised not to see a Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker in there somewhere! It does infinite combo with Combat Celebrant , but even if you choose to play it just for value, you can get a lot of miles out of copying Scaretiller , Solemn Simulacrum .

Reverberate Shunt and Deflecting Swat are all useful if you're finding yourself playing in a counter heavy meta! Just redirect the counter to any of these spells. Coastline Marauders is one of those cards I think is a very good underrated budget card! Glad to see it getting some use!

smilodex on Gerrard, weatherlight hero of eggs cedh

3 years ago

Pretty cool list, but the deck seems to lack a bit of interaction: Lapse of Certainty, Rebuff the Wicked, Shunt and Grasp of Fate are really good choices

MTGBurgeoning on Gruul Stompy Featuring Xenagos, God of Revels

3 years ago

As more play-testing of the deck transpires, I gladly will share those results.

As for your inquiry about the deck's weaknesses, I can answer that from a global perspective. Over the years I have honed a certain deck-building blueprint. One of the many guidelines of this blueprint is to try and avoid any form of sorcery-speed spell that "targets." In the current deck list, only Decimate and Finale of Devastation apply. Casting Decimate is always risky, as any one of the targets can be bounced or removed prior to resolution, thereby whiffing on all targets. The potential reward of 4-for-1 for just is acceptable, however, and worth including. Finale of Devastation is not as concerning because most of the time the target is in the library. Reap the Past may provide similar apprehension if the graveyard is exiled prior to resolution. This is a reason why I chose not to include Rishkar's Expertise. I envision the creature getting removed instantly before the spell resolves, leaving only hopeful thoughts of what might have been. For me, this awareness translates to other facets of deck-building as well.

EXAMPLE: The only two auras I will ever include in an EDH/Commander deck (aside from strict aura/enchantment builds) are Rancor and Journey to Eternity  ^Flip. If each aura sticks, perfect. The returns on these investments are amazing due to their built-in recursive benefits. If they don't stick, at least the mana invested is not a great loss. I think including spells like Deflecting Swat, Bolt Bend or even Shunt in order to protect sorcery-speed spells is advantageous, and even more so when considering the benefits you outlined above. For the purposes of including versatility to the deck, including these change-of-direction spells seem quite useful. If all options for instant-speed spells have been exhausted, I would consider adding some "sorcery protection."

EXAMPLE: When Generous Gift was released in Modern Horizons, I swapped out Vindicate for it in nearly every deck I could. Instant-speed, undoubtedly, is more powerful than sorcery-speed. This is why I opted for Return of the Wildspeaker and Momentous Fall over Rishkar's Expertise.

However, the benefits you mentioned of including a spell like Deflecting Swat or Bolt Bend are intriguing. This is a consideration to ponder further.

Well, I suppose this is my long-winded attempt to answer your Xenagos-specific question with an overgeneralized deck-building philosophy (micro into macro): I try to construct decks through a card-by-card guideline of "How much can this card hurt me? If I invest mana into this card, what are the returns? What are the risks? What is the balance?

Hopefully this response will be useful in some way. Keep on Xenagosing!

Snake_Oil on Ashling Burns Everyone - Mono R - Voltron/Artifact

3 years ago

If you want to run Rimescale Dragon you'll need to run Snow-Covered Mountain rather than your basic Mountains. I'd say something like Embermaw Hellion instead, as it helps with your "damage addition effects".

Magebane Armor is an absolute must, as are Loxodon Warhammer and Lightning Greaves to go along with Basilisk Collar and Swiftfoot Boots -- Magebane keeps Ashling alive, while the warhammer is another source of lifelink.

The Shunt and Reverberate style effects are the best way of protecting your resources, so good job on putting them in. Same with all the draw spells, I'd think about Perpetual Timepiece and Elixir of Immortality as a means of getting things back, but it's not like this is a graveyard deck and you need to protect that space as a resource, as I say, just in case.

Right now is, I think, the cheapest Blood Moon has ever been, so strike while the iron is hot there if you can! Same (again, I think) with Braid of Fire.

I'd think about something to slot in over Retreat to Valakut and Claws of Valakut -- Might just be me, but they're two of the less synergistic choices. You could use those spots for Magebane and Warhammer, for example.

Otherwise I'd say just keep tweaking it and playing around. Use the Prof's vid to work out what synergies you want to pursue aside from damage amplification which is a good start.

dingusdingo on Best Counterspells in Commander?

4 years ago

Blue

Your very top tier auto-include for lists is going to look like

• Force of Will "free"
• Pact of Negation "free"
• Swan Song cheap to cast and wide in restrictions
• Mana Drain color heavy but ramps the following turn
• Mental Misstep "free"
• Delay not color heavy and hits any spell, delaying for 3 turns is the same as solving it in very fast competitive EDH

Your situational includes are going to look like

• Force of Negation This can't protect your own combos, so it isn't wanted in every list. This is ran in QUITE A FEW lists though, always worth a consider.
• Counterspell Usually seen in mono or dual color decks as the cost can be hard in some 4 or 5 color shells
• Dispel Sometimes cut for a more general counter
• Negate
• Muddle the Mixture Limited in scope and color heavy but this is more often slotted as a hard-to-counter tutor with a counterspell as icing on the top
• Narset's Reversal this card is pretty nice. While it does see a lot of play, it definitely isn't an autoinclude yet by any means.
• Spell Pierce Before you mock this card, consider how well it catches ultra fast mana rocks and tutors. Noncreature is very wide, and it stops Sol Ring Mana Crypt Mox Diamond Mox Opal Chrome Mox Mox Amber Mana Vault Vampiric Tutor Imperial Seal Mystical Tutor Worldly Tutor Gamble Dark Ritual and SO MUCH MORE. Even for a tempo card, you're still going to catch weird stuff like someone's Rhystic Study because they tapped out to pay for it. Its very strong against blistering fast combo decks, which is why it sees competitive play.

Other blue stuff is usually just too expensive. Paying over 2 mana for a counterspell just doesn't cut it when there are so many threats for so cheap. Don't pay more than 2 for a counterspell unless it does something wild on top. Counterspells with fewer restrictions on what it can counter are going to be better.

Other Colors

This is where it gets saucy boys

• Red Elemental Blast Pyroblast are VERY good. In a pod, there is almost definitely blue at the table. Every single red deck can slot these for commander without fear. Do note that REB works against any spell that includes blue (multicolor), while pyro only works against spells that are ONLY blue (monocolor).
• Fork Reverberate (Twincast) these allow you to copy a counterspell to create a counterspell. More access for red to counterspells. They also conveniently work very well against tutors, ramp, big draw spells, and extra turn spells.
• Guttural Response Weird hybrid color and somewhat restricted but still a good include in most RG decks.
• Burnout a bit worse then the elemental blasts as it costs 2 mana and it is limited. The cantrip is nice though
• Mana Tithe not that good in EDH but give it a whirl I guess
• Lapse of Certainty costing 3 hurts, but this is more a tempo card than anything.
• Dash Hopes Don't play this card in EDH lol
• Withering Boon on the chunkier end at 2 CMC, but in a color that doesn't get much of this. The 3 life and the restriction hurt, but definitely EDH playable. Every deck runs a commander, 99% of which are creatures
• Imp's Mischief can counter a spell by having it target Mischief, as can Misdirection Shunt Swerve and Ricochet Trap.
• Veil of Summer 1 mana green Cryptic Command
• Autumn's Veil Counterspell + silence against UB
• Bind I bet you didn't even know this card existed. Cantrips. GOOD IN THE YISAN MIRROR MATCH?
• Avoid Fate Weird protection oriented counterspell
• Nether Void Mostly ran in stax builds, brutal lockout card
• Planar Chaos One of my new favorite cards. Brutal with recursion like Hall of Heliod's Generosity. Play when you're ahead
• Deathgrip Lifeforce These are based if you have any method of color shifting. Realistically, you could run Lifeforce in Momir Hackball. These cards can cause scoops on casual tables lol.
• Vexing Shusher can render counterspells useless. Similarly, Dosan the Falling Leaf Grand Abolisher Prowling Serpopard Gaea's Herald can all protect against counterspells. Far more marginal but still worthwhile are Hall of Gemstone and Ritual of Subdual for turning off counterspells for opponents.