Stolen Strategy

Enchantment

At the beginning of your upkeep, exile the top card of each opponent's library. Until end of turn, you may cast nonland cards from among those exiled cards, and you my spend mana as though it were mana of any colour to cat those spells.

Discussion (38)

Jaecen on Animar Sec

4 days ago

Card Categorization

I've categorized the cards in your deck here: https://deckstats.net/decks/50753/1215572-animar

The following analysis is based on that categorization. Several cards are in more than one category, so I've categorized them based on their primary or common case. E.g. Ancient Animus is both "Removal" and "+1/+1 Counter Interaction", but you're going to cast it to kill something -- the +1/+1 counter is a nice bonus.

Strategy

There's no explicit or stated goals of the deck, so I can't evaluate the cards against that. If you have a goal, let me know.

The core effect of Animar is to play creatures, which grows Animar. As Animar grows, he helps you play more (and more expensive) creatures. Some notable limitations:

• Animar only decreases colorless costs
• Animar only cares about creatures
• Animar only cares about casting creatures

Animar is cheap to cast and protects himself from most removal (due to his protection from Black and White). Because of this, we can assume that we will get him out early and keep him out long enough for him to provide benefit. We'll build the deck assuming Animar is on the battlefield at all times.

Since Animar reduces the colorless component of creature costs, we'll get the biggest benefit from colorless creatures. As with any unlimited cost reduction effect, we should look for ways to break the free case. The obvious one here is to bounce and recast colorless creatures for free.

Since we're playing all of these (hopefully free) creatures, Animar will grow quickly. Giving Animar good evasion will give us to win on commander damage quickly.

To best abuse Animar, we want:

• Many creatures across a range of mid to high colorless costs
• As many of those creatures in our hand as possible
• An many +1/+1 counters on Animar as soon as possible
• A means to make Animar unblockable

The easiest way to break Animar is to create an engine that casts colorless creatures and bounces them to your hand as many times as possible during a turn. We'll want ETB/LTB effects on those creatures and cards that care about creatures entering and leaving the battlefield. Additionally, we'll want cards that care about +1/+1 counters on a creature.

Favor creatures over non-creatures, as you get a discount on creatures. Try to keep colored costs to a minimum - avoid double or more colors in a cost.

Abusable Colorless Creatures:

• Myr Battlesphere creates four Myr tokens
• Precursor Golem creates two 3/3 tokens
• Artisan of Kozilek reanimates a creature
• Duplicant exiles a creature
• Anodet Lurker and Peace Strider gain three life
• Electrostatic Pummeler and Multiform Wonder give three engergy
• Reservoir Walker gains three life and gives three enery
• Grim Poppet gives three -1/-1 counters to put on something
• Meteor Golem destroys something
• Mirror Golem exiles a card from a graveyard
• Pierce Strider drains three life from an opponent
• Skyscanner draws a card
• Mindless Automaton draws a card via a +1/+1 counter interaction
• Solemn Simulacrum tutors a basic land into play
• Thought-Knot Seer can effectively mill and oppenent with ETB and LTB triggers
• Triskelion deals damage via a +1/+1 counter interaction
• Workhorse grants colorless mana via a +1/+1 counter interaction
• Oblivion Sower steals lands from your opponents deck

Repeatable Bounce:

• Ancestral Statue
• Equilibrium
• Guardians of Koilos
• Cloudstone Curio
• Temur Sabertooth

Synergies:

• Panharmonicon !!!
• Cream of the Crop
• Decoction Module
• Impact Tremors
• Leyline of Vitality
• Hardened Scales
• Simic Ascendancy
• Path of Discovery
• Warstorm Surge
• Wild Pair

Unblockable Enablers:

• Herald of Secret Streams
• Thassa, God of the Sea
• Whispersilk Cloak
• Protective Bubble
• Aqueous Form
• Keeper of Keys
• Key to the City
• Passwall Adept
• Rogue's Passage
• Aether Tunnel
• Cloak of Mists
• Suspicious Bookcase
• Marchesa's Smuggler
• Tricks of the Trade

We'll want to get as many creatures down as quickly as we can. Card draw and other card advantage effects are valuable.

Draw/Card Advantage:

• Vizier of the Menagerie
• Sunbird's Invocation
• Stolen Strategy
• Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
• Garruk's Horde
• Descendants' Path
• Elvish Visionary
• Mulldrifter
• Fierce Empath
• Wall of Blossoms

Changes to the Existing Cards

I would consider cutting way down on the amount of ramp. Mana dorks get the deck running early, but they don't have any synergy with the core effects. I suspect that's what was leaving you feeling like you had a dead hand.

Cards that seem particularly problematic:

• Wild Cantor . Requires a sac for effect. Doesn't get cost reduction. A dork that taps for mana would be better.
• Tinder Wall . Same as Wild Cantor sans the cost reduction bit.
• Vivid Creek and Vivid Crag . These both ETB tapped, don't have basic land types, and only provide off-color mana twice. If would strongly consider running Amonkhet cycling duals over these.
• Ancient Ziggurat . Be careful, as this mana can only be used for casting creature spells. I don't like this land in most decks.
• Bond Beetle . I have no idea why this is in here. It works once and has very little synergy with the deck. Verdurous Gearhulk would be better, but still not great.
• Green Sun's Zenith . I think a cheaper card that tutored to hand and then let you cast the card would be better, as you'd get the cost reduction effect and other synergies. No cards come to mind, but there are lots that look at the top X cards and tutor to hand ( Gift of the Gargantuan , etc.).

DespairFaction on Aurelia, Wielder of Weapons of Mass Destruction

1 week ago

Hey,

So as I mentioned on twitter. We definitely need more ramp in this deck. My equipment deck ways in somewhere around like 20 or 25 total artifacts, id expect that you end up in similar territory after adding some mana rocks. Worn Powerstone is an absolute staple for me, Smothering Tithe is amazing, and then a handful of the CMC mana rocks are good. Gilded Lotus although slow, I have found helpful for that extra needed mana that you need to move around equipments late in the game. So get your mana ramp count to at least 10, I'm counting 5 right now, but a lot of it is conditional or slow. In limited testing I haven't had great results with Boreas Charger, so I may cut that one, but more testing is needed. Also just noticed sol ring is missing from the list. Highly recommend, its OP.

I think your creature package looks great. Only 2 small changes. Ive never had good success with Hellkite Charger so i would cut that one. It takes 13 mana to cast it, and use the untap combat ability, and doesn't pair well with feast and famine because of the timing of the triggers. So Id cut that one. And I've had mixed results with molten primordial. If there aren't tokens running around everywhere it can be really good, but the second there is chump blockers it loses a lot of value. For 1 extra mana you can play insurrection, which easily kills 1 or more players when Aurelia is play. So if you need that effect I would look toward Insurrection . It can be nice to have an Leonin Abunas or Indomitable Archangel especially if theres a lot of removal in your meta, but its not entirely necessary...just something to think about. Also its not really on theme, but I just really like Iroas with Aurelia. Together they have 6 devotion, so very easy to get into creature form, and attacking with it twice just puts a hurting on opponents. Again not necessary, but i just like it as sort of a separate avenue of attack. Oh and I would add in a Kazuul's Toll Collector the free equip is really nice.

I think you want to cut just a few spells from the deck as well. My votes would be Dawn Charm and Wild Ricochet . Ive never been able to live the dream on wild ricochet and if its in your hand, 4 tends to be a lot to hold up. Dawn charm is just a bit redundant with comeuppance and teferis, and i don't know that you need all 3.

Now with all of this stuff, if there are things specific to your meta it may makes sense to keep some of them. A large portion of my testing was in the MTGO meta which has its quirks.

A few other interesting cards to think about. Ive seen people run Nahiri, the Lithomancer , Daretti, Scrap Savant , and Goblin Welder as other ways to get artifacts back. There also the crazy expensive one from antiquities, agrivian something or other. Any of these could potentially be better in the Daring Archeologist spot just something to think about.

If you are needing additional card draw. Stolen Strategy is a reasonable place to start, and Memory Jar actually works really well with the recursion you have going already.

Land base, things are in good shape. Although I would cut, temple of the false god for a basic plains. I have run out of plains with sword of the animist and emeria shepherd and that makes me very sad. Or you could replace it with a spinerock knoll, a card I've come to like a lot recently.

A few other things to think about. I didn't see a lot of double strike. I really like Silverblade Paladin and Duelist's Heritage , makes it really easy to be lethal or generate tons of value with equipment triggers.

But otherwise I really like everything. The mana ramp is the big change, and everything else is just some small tweaks.

Also theres a few cards I've been looking at for a while, but since i haven't been running this build of Aurelia I haven't been able to test. Let me know how Lapse of Certainty , Settle the Wreckage and Rebuff the Wicked are working for you. They are cards I always look at, just haven't had a chance to use them yet. Anyway hope this helps! Heres my list, its a bit outdated now, but still relatively close to where it should be https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/aurelia-weapons-of-war/

TheRedGoat on Guess Who's Back, Back Again, And Again **Primer**

2 weeks ago

So if theft is your main strategy, why not look into literally just that with Chamber of Manipulation and Stolen Strategy ? And I assume you want to focus on creatures theft, which is why you don't have Mindclaw Shaman and his ilk?

DespairFaction on Iroas, God of Victory EDH

2 weeks ago

Hey I'm a long time Aurelia player, but Im not sure if you keep up to date with this deck. However I played it today, and have some changes that I recommend. First up at the macro level, you have too many 4 drops, not enough mana ramp, and not enough removal. 13 is probably about the correct number of 4 drops to have. Also conceptually, I think its better to play Boros like modern jund, and not modern burn. i.e., as a midrange deck. Because of this I would add things like Land Tax , Gift of Estates or Boreas Charger . Because you need to cut from your 4 drops, I would add a couple of 2 CMC mana rocks, because of how well they play with 4cmc cards. And I would actually add 2-3 6 drops in the deck. When the game goes big you want to be able to go big also, again this does depend on making all of your land drops.

Cards I would cut, Thundersong Trumpeter, Figure of Destiny , Spear of Heliod since i don't think any of these have enough impact. I would also cut Hellrider , probably kalemne, and I would most certainly cut Mind's Eye since it is really bad in aggro decks. For card draw, look at things like Stolen Strategy , Etali, Primal Storm , Magus of the Wheel , Reforge the Soul or Memory Jar .

As far as things to add, I would definitely add Sun Titan , True Conviction and a probably another card or 2 to give additional combats of which there are many. You could also look at adding Thalia's Lancers to make sure you can hit Aurelia, Elesh, or Gisela as needed.

Anyway those are a few suggestions. More 2 CMC rocks, less 4 cmc cards, a few more 6 drops, and it wouldn't hurt to up your land count 1 or 2.

ThaneGarrus on Queen Marchesa: Politics, Aikido, and Control

1 month ago

I don’t like Captive Audience in this deck, let me explain

1. In my experience the games I usually win are the ones where I am politically policing the strongest decks at the table then turn the tide on an opponent going off, that means I already barely have the chance to cast cards like Stolen Strategy in most cases because I’m holding mana up for a counter play

(yes Academy Rector can cheat it into play)

1. Captive Audience will likely draw on the full hate of the one player you select (if they can’t remove it, they will try to remove you) which means your resources will be heavily taxed (split between surviving and trying to win)

I can’t wait for Smothering Tithe to come out because I would really like to play both the proactive and reactive parts of the deck! This is by far my favourite deck to play

ThoAlmighty on I Move to Postcombat...

2 months ago

Not sure what your budget is, but Koth of the Hammer and Chandra, Torch of Defiance are both strong mono-red support cards. Outpost Siege and Stolen Strategy are nice engines and mana sinks as well.

eliakimras on Vial Smasher & Kraum EDH

2 months ago

May I suggest Shadowblood Ridge instead of Temple of the False God. This filter land may help you pay for a turn 2-3 Vial Smasher the Fierce. Also Exotic Orchard and Shivan Reef are not expensive. You might want Ancient Excavation, Steam Augury, Fact or Fiction instead of Frenzied Fugue, Thought Scour and Extract from Darkness for fuel for Delve. Mind's Dilation, Sunbird's Invocation, Stolen Strategy, Fury Storm and Fevered Visions can often win the game by themselves. You might want some counterspells which can also be card advantage: Izzet Charm and Arcane Denial. Disdainful Stroke and Swan Song stop almost everything for cheap. Have you tried Phthisis? Bojuka Bog and Rakdos Charm are good against graveyard decks (which is a popular theme). You may also consider Brainstorm for better control of your draws.

Lord_Grimm on Black/Red Group Slug

3 months ago

Creatures: Rakdos, Lord of Riots makes you jump through hoops to cast, then only really benefits creatures which you are light on. Although I love the flavor, it may be an upgrade target. Something like Vial Smasher the Fierce or Sire Of Insanity could keep the flavor but give better long term results.

Wall of Shadows The flavor is once again strong with this pick. However, it is the black Fog Bank. If creatures are a premium for you, it may be a slot. I don't have upgrades, just an observation.

Speaking of your creatures, over 90% cost 4+. You will need defense if unable to stay below suspicion. Which brings me to removal... Most of it is targeted or sorcery. In the colors where you will make each opponent angry, you NEED the flexibility to remove when needed. Or the very least, remove everything (board wipe) to buy time, ie: Damnation, Blasphemous Act... cards like that will keep the board clear till you can play the big X spells FTW. Midnight Recovery only targets your grave, which will most likely not have a target. Possibly Animate Dead or Beacon of Unrest would be a better fit. Sadistic Sacrament will, at best, anger 1 opponent. Most likely the 1 who is the most ahead. Why turn that chair? Secondly, Stitch Together also only works for your grave, which will most likely be creature light given ~17% of your build are creatures in the grave. Cut or Killing Wave may be options? Artifacts are heavily reliant on a creature. There are several card slots that could be utilized to better punish opponents here. Enchantments: Wound Reflection and Stolen Strategy are amazing! The other 2 feel narrow only because they rely on you having creatures. A single board wipe, removal spell, etc will render these cards worthless. Lastly, lands... this is a controversial topic I typically do not comment on via TO. I'll remain brief, but currently with a avg CMC of 3.63 and most of your spells costing 4+ or are X spells 37 lands feels low. 39 may be better. Although fetches don't add to much in EDH, they do offer choice and remove dead land draws later. More dual options could be helpful too. Lastly Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Cabal Coffers, Command Tower, Tainted Peak & Badlands are just to name a few. In closing, I love what this build is trying to do. Playing the player is very next level, even though it creates fast enemies. Preparing for the backlash that comes with being 'that player' will increase both win and fun. Believe me. You may not win every game, but you'll have a great time seeing everyone squirm. Keep up the dirty work. There is always the most filthy of them all... Suicide Rakdos. :)