Tome of Legends

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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Arena Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Gladiator Legal
Highlander Legal
Historic 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

Tome of Legends

Artifact

Tome of Legends enters the battlefield with a page counter on it.

Whenever your commander enters the battlefield or attacks, put a page counter on Tome of Legends.

, , Remove a page counter from Tome of Legends: Draw a card.

kirbysan on [Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*

10 months ago

Perilous_Percival

Ah, I guess spoilers don't work in comment boxes, that's annoying.

1. Guardian of Ghirapur IN Angelic Curator OUT

After nearly a year of playtesting, I'm not the biggest fan of the low CMC angels, especially Angelic Curator. While it's a 1/1 flying angel body for 2, the protection for artifacts is more of a hindrance than a help. It helped defend against a Blightsteel Colossus once but being unable to equip it hurts more. By turn 3 when we want to drop Angelic Curator we would rather want to drop a 3-4 CMC angel or an impactful Artifact, Equipment or Enchantment.

Guardian of Ghirapur is a far superior body to Angelic Curator at 3/3 for 3. Initially there weren't that many blink targets for this deck but I've tweaked it to have more relevant targets and provide some outs to accelerate our gameplan. Typical targets would be Stoneforge Mystic, Recruiter of the Guard, Inspiring Overseer, Karmic Guide, Sanctuary Warden, Bruna, the Fading Light  Meld.

2. Karmic Guide IN Angelic Page OUT

Following the same logic as Angelic Curator, Angelic Page simply doesn't do enough when it hits the board. Karmic Guide was initially pulled due to lack of use as 5CMC is a lot for simple recursion and the deck was more focused on mana efficiency. However, with the re-introduction of tutors and blink mechanics it may have a place again.

3. Recruiter of the Guard IN Mangara, the Diplomat OUT

Mangara has proven its worth in a few games if opponents continue with their strategy and play through it. However, like Smuggler's Share, if opponents decide to play around it, it's kind of a dead card on board. The first ability generally doesn't do much since opponents aren't swinging into our board and depending on the deck they can cast one big spell on their turn and save their instants for opponents. Recruiter of the Guard was in my initial build but pulled in favor of more angels. Typical line would be Recruiter of the Guard into Stoneforge Mystic to grab either Lightning Greaves for protection or Sword of Hearth and Home for protection, ramp and blink shenanigans. While it seems like adding 1 card for a maybe synergy seems inefficient I was able to pull it off in 1/3 games so it's not as inconsistent as it seems.

4. Firemane Commando IN Angelic Sleuth OUT

While the clues generated with Sleuth have saved me before, I would much rather have more consistent draw to keep my hand topped off rather than wastinga turn after a wipe to refill my hand. Firemane serves double duty as not only being a solid 4/3 angel body but also provides "free" draw through attacking which we want to do. It also helps direct combat decks towards opponents if they want the draw.

5. Invasion of Dominaria  Flip IN Thorough Investigation OUT

In the same theme as Sleuth, Thorough Investigation provides draw for later with the added benefit of going through the dungeon. I've completed dungeons twice before with this card but the benefits haven't been as strong as I hoped. Invasion of Dominaria  Flip provides lifegain and draw immediately and as long as we have 2 angels (Giada and 1 other) then we can defeat this battle the turn we drop it providing a 6/6 Serra Angel. When you staple all 3 together then that's incredibly efficient. Late game when we're trying to close out the game we may choose to not swing at the battle but instead go for lethal but the option remains.

6. Invasion of Gobakhan  Flip IN The Ozolith OUT

In the dozens of games I've played with Ozolith I've only had it successfully work once. Late game it may seem like a dead card as it sort of hinges on either an opponent playing a board wipe and us refilling the board to swing again or using Pyre of Heroes on a stacked angel to grab something relevant. I much prefer Gobakhan as it slows down an opponents gameplay, easy to flip and provides benefits right away by buffing our board the same turn it comes out and also has "free" protection for later.

7. Conjurer's Mantle IN Mask of Memory OUT

Mask has been pretty great overall but sometimes slows down the game too much by making us filter. While there's a recursion package, it's not always guaranteed, so pitching relevant angel bodies early can be detrimental for late game, especially against graveyard exiles like Bojuka Bog. Yet, we'll still want to draw our cards so the discarding is necessary. Mantle is great not only because it costs the same, has a buff and vigilance and grabs relevant bodies off the top 6 without having to discard.

8. Clever Concealment IN Cosmic Intervention OUT

Cosmic seems good on paper but exile effects like Farewell or Merciless Eviction can make it useless. It also doesn't protect the angel tokens which can sometimes be the main body of threat. Concealment allows us to not just protect the tokens but lets the vigilant angels tap for a surprise protection. Oftentimes opponents will check untapped mana before blowing everything on a boardwipe so the convoke mechanic is super relevant for a well timed protection spell. Depending on the success of this swap I may consider Wand of the Worldsoul as well for some sneaky convoke shenanigans.

9. Chivalric Alliance IN Tome of Legends OUT

In the same line of thinking as Firemane Commando, "free" draw is better than costed draw. They both cost the same but having to pay for Tome of Legends can slow us down as well as if Giada is removed too much in the beginning. At most we'll ever get 1 draw per turn anyway so this swap was pretty simple.

10. Land Tax IN Smothering Tithe OUT

I've loved Tithe for awhile thinking it's a great ramp card. While it is good, it hinges on the decks it's played against. I've been most successful against my friends Jhoira's deck which colored my view when bringing it into pub matches. After reflecting on it for a year, it simply isn't worth it in mid to high powered casual decks that don't use draw as part of their strategy. In 90% of games I'll get 3-6 treasures before it gets removed or the game ends. Figuratively, you would drop it on turn 4 and if no one pays the tax then by turn 6 you'll have at most 6 treasures which is only net +2 mana. If the game lasts till turn 7 then you could have +5 mana but at that point opponents would either have game ending spells or plenty of open mana to pay the tax. Land Tax on the other hand can come down T1 before Giada even hits the field, thins out the deck while filling the hand with relevant plays and synergizes well with Emeria Shepherd or Emeria, The Sky Ruin. It was in the initial build of this deck before but was taken out along with the other artifact ramp to add more angels in.

11. Plains IN Bonders' Enclave OUT

As one of the few available card draws in mono-white, Enclave was a land for hail-mary draws. I've only ever used these abilities in 1 game when I was desperate for any card draw and it felt terrible. Paying 4 to draw a single card is terrible use of mana. Also, there were too many colorless sources from lands so I was struggling early game to play 2 relevant white cards in one turn.

12. Mistveil Plains IN War Room OUT

Same line of thinking as Enclave. Mistveil's ability is more of an experiment as tap lands are generally too slow. Typically recursion would just put the creatures back on the battlefield but Mistveil can possibly help with the Blink/Tutor package we've introduced.

Considering Wand of the Worldsoul and Excise the Imperfect

Opponents: Sigarda, Host of Herons & Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn

Starting hand: Windswept Heath, Fabled Passage, Path of Ancestry, Bruna, the Fading Light  Meld, Folk Hero, Righteous Valkyrie, Invasion of Dominaria  Flip

Game lasted only 20 minutes as this hand curved out nearly perfectly.

T1 - Path of Ancestry tapped, drew Lightning Greaves

T2 - Plains (drew) into Lightning Greaves

T3 - Myriad Landscape tapped into Giada, Font of Hope, equipped Lightning Greaves swung with Giada

T4 - Windswept Heath into Plains into Folk Hero, swung with Giada, cast Righteous Valkyrie, drew a card

T5 - Mutavault (drew) into Invasion of Dominaria  Flip and swung both Giada and Valkyrie into the battle flipping it to Serra Faithkeeper  Flip to gain 8 life this turn and triggering Valkyrie's +2/+2 anthem

T6 - Cast Herald of War and equipped it with Lightning Greaves.

T7 - Cast Lyra Dawnbringer and Invasion of Gobakhan  Flip. Equipped Lyra with Lightning Greaves. Swung in for lethal ending the game.

Lightning Greaves did work this game as it not only protected Giada from early single target removal but also accelerated combat damage each turn. While I did draw into both battles this game I didn't have a chance to test out Invasion of Gobakhan  Flip except making a Krosan Grip more expensive which likely helped my Folk Hero or Lightning Greaves survive till the end.

Opponents: Sigarda, Host of Herons, Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn & Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver

Starting hand: Cavern of Souls, Scavenger Grounds, Mutavault, Guardian of Ghirapur, Folk Hero, Winds of Abandon, Battle Angels of Tyr

Initially I believed this hand was amazing as I had draw, removal and aggro all in one but failed to realize I had 0 colored mana except for angels. It ended up working out as the 2 Selesnya players ramped hard in the beginning allowing Tyr to do some work.

T1 - Cavern of Souls

T2 - Mutavault into Giada, Font of Hope

T3 - Scavenger Grounds into Battle Angels of Tyr, Giada sworded by Lathiel

T4 - Ancient Tomb into recasting Giada, swung with Tyr drawing a card and generating a Treasure token

T5 - Plains into Folk Hero and Herald's Horn and swung again with Tyr and Giada drawing a card and generating a Treasure token. Using the 3 open mana I cast Recruiter of the Guard fetching Stoneforge Mystic.

T6+ Cast Stoneforge Mystic to fetch Lightning Greaves but Stoneforge was promptly exiled. I had originally planned to use Guardian of Ghirapur to chain blink Stoneforge into Sword of Hearth and Home but instead used her on Recruiter of the Guard to fetch Thraben Watcher. I finished the game by casting Avacyn, Angel of Hope and equipping it with Lightning Greaves to give my board protection and started swinging away with indestructible vigilance angels.

I was nearly knocked out by the Sigarda player in the second to last turn because she was equipped with Sword of Hearth and Home making her unblockable as well as a Kaldra Compleat and finally a flashed in Sigarda's Vanguard for double strike. Luckily I had left mana open for Oblation and targeted the Sword of Hearth and Home allowing me to block with Ghirapur and Giada preventing lethal damage.

Opponents: Prosper, Tome-Bound, Sliver Overlord & Muldrotha, the Gravetide

Starting hand was pretty slow with only 2 tapped lands but I figured Luminarch would win me the game provided I wasn't attacked early game.

Starting hand: Kabira Takedown  Flip, Windbrisk Heights, Luminarch Ascension, Invasion of Gobakhan  Flip, Herald's Horn, Bruna, the Fading Light  Meld, Generous Gift

Prosper started off the game insanely fast with a T1 Dark Ritual into Bucknard's Everfull Purse where he rolled 4 to cast Prosper on T1. They proceeded to dominate the game with a Reckless Fireweaver and later a Storm-Kiln Artist draining us to the low 10s. They attempted to finish us off with a Delayed Blast Fireball to wipe our board and swing with lethal. However, Slivers flashed in a Spiteful Sliver and Sliver Overlord to deal 30 damage back to Prosper bringing them down to 3. I used Luminarch Ascension to drop 2 angels before Giada died and got a 7/7 & 8/8 body that survived the fireball. While Slivers could have knocked me out with the Spiteful Sliver they had no real way to deal with Prosper after the fireball so I was able to knock out both players on my turn. Muldrotha had no answers so was dead on my next turn.

kirbysan on [Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*

10 months ago

All,

Grabbed all my 3+ pod gameplays and the recent MOM gameplay and swaps and posted it on my own decklist. I'll keep commenting on Guerric page as it gets more traffic. Let me know your thoughts and if my thinking is sound. Thanks!

Help Me Giada, You're My Only Hope

March of Machine Upgrades (x12) - Blink/Tutor Show

Game 1 (3-man Pod vs. Sigarda Voltron & Lathiel Lifegain) Show

Game 2 (4-man Pod vs. Sigarda Voltron, Lathiel Lifegain & Wilhelt Zombies) Show

Game 3 (4-man Pod vs. Prosper Exile, Sliver Tribal & Muldrotha Reanimation) Show

Crow_Umbra on

1 year ago

There's also Idol of Oblivion & Tome of Legends. Idol might be a bit more helpful since it is more tied to token creation, but Tome of Legends can be "recharged" by (re)casting or attacking with Isshin.

Draw in Mardu is kinda tricky. Each color's contributions have different flavors & manner of pulling it off. The draw I chose for the deck falls under the following categories:

  • Triggered by combat damage
  • Impulse draw (playing from exile)
  • Looting (discard a card, draw a card)
  • Sacrificing creatures to draw
  • Cantrips (one off draw, usually from Cycling on lands)
  • Drawing tied to small creatures Entering Battlefield.

All forms of draw have inherent draw backs to either their consistency, cost, or velocity at which they occur.

Plumb the Forbidden is usually something I save for when a board wipe happens & I have no board protection effects in hand. Might as well have the most resources available to rebuild with compared to everyone else.

spaghetti_police on 'Whatcha gonna do about it?'

1 year ago

SirHipHopHippo


Tome of Legends I will definitely try out, a good 2 mana colorless draw engine is hard to find.

Preston, the Vanisher does have a nice ETB doubler but Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines fills much a similar role. I still haven't figured out which card I can remove from the list, that's the hardest part lmao.

Kaya, Intangible Slayer has really nice abilities and you can use all 3 immediately. Planeswalkers work well in a deck full of board wipes and the card draw for 0 is really nice, the scry one for the opponents is political and not too advantageous.

I love Orzhov because of the 'Death and Taxes' theme. I go easy on the 'taxes' so that opponents worry about each other more than myself. The Gain and Drain is what I use to offset the life loss from artifacts and enchantments and card draw, I avoid increasing the cost of spells since I require fast mana to operate. The 'Death' aspect manifests itself in the form of board wipes and creatures meant to be played directly after a board wipe, most creatures I play offer a lot of value individually to control the board alone or in combination. I am a sucker for either Elesh Norn or cards like Ethereal Absolution.


I checked out your Obzedat deck, it looks like you have a lot of high synergy within your deck. I would recommend Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite because of the group buff/opponents debuff, playgroups tend to hate that card though.

Other card to think about would be:

Many of those came from my Karador deck, which has a similar creature ETB playstyle. I listed many with the hope at least one will be helpful. I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees value in this commander still!

Crow_Umbra on Isshin, the Glorious Strategist

1 year ago

Always happy to see Batwing Brume in a deck. It's an old favorite of mine when I first started playing in college, about 10 years ago.

Isshin is easily my favorite commander, and one I've enjoyed playing a lot the past year. I'm not sure if you were aware, but sadly, Bushido does not work with Isshin's trigger, as Bushido only triggers when the creature blocks or becomes blocked. Ronin Cliffrider, which you already have in you 99, is probably the one most worth keeping, since it can take out opposing creature tokens if they're small enough.

If you decide to remove the Bushido creatures, that does open up some opportunities for more draw/impulse options available to Isshin, like:

  • Idol of Oblivion - More useful if you are running a more creature token heavy strategy.

  • Plumb the Forbidden - is one of my favorite draw pieces, especially in response to board wipes.

  • Tome of Legends - Fairly helpful, & easy enough to get a few more counters on.

  • Commissar Severina Raine - If you aren't opposed to Universes Beyond, she is a slightly worse Skullclamp and is also an excellent finisher for Isshin decks, especially token focused ones.

  • Gruesome Realization - Like a Night's Whisper with a modal option to also soften up an opposing board, especially useful against other token filled board that lack power/toughness modifiers of some kind.

  • Professional Face-Breaker - Is kinda like a budget-ish version of Tymna the Weaver if you squint hard enough. Both reward you for going wide with attacks.

  • Tocasia's Welcome - Another option if you have lots of creature tokens, but could work for you since about 20 of your current creatures are 3cmc or less.

  • Brazen Cannonade - An impulse draw for 2nd main phase after combat.

  • Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant helps keep attackers away from you, and Goads up to 2 creatures per board with Isshin out.

I hope these suggestions are helpful. Let me know if you would like any additional feedback or suggestions. I hope you have fun piloting Isshin, he is a blast.

SirHipHopHippo on 'Whatcha gonna do about it?'

1 year ago

spaghetti_police

Hi Spaghetti! You're one of the few people on here who still update their Obzedat decks frequently. I also have an Obzedat deck, it's my oldest and probably my favorite deck I own, but we both have completely different strategies which is good fun.

I love your approach to the build!

My deck is linked here if you wanna check it out, mines an Orzhov ETB deck, but it has a similar strategy of pacing the game down and punishing opponents. Link (https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/juggled-to-death/)

Shadrix Silverquill is sick, I should maybe try to squeeze that in for more card advantage.

Have you considered Tome of Legends? Card is insane value with Obzedat entering the battlefield every turn. It might be worth running over Mazemind Tome. Another great card you might like is Preston, the Vanisher. You get an extra Obzedat ETB trigger every turn, but it does suck that you have to sac the copy to legend rule. It's deffinitly better in mine as an ETB deck, but it could be fun in your deck too.

I see you have Kaya, Intangible Slayer in your maybe board, I was thinking about adding Kaya to mine too, the hexproof is nice, but it's so much mana!

Anyways, glad to see another Obzedat playing in todays EDH scene, there aren't a lot of us due to the overwhelming popularity of other Orzhov commanders.

Crow_Umbra on Isshin for a Fight

1 year ago

Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant  Flip is definitely an interesting pick and offers a broadened suite of protection. If I'm counting correctly, it looks like you have about 5 effects in deck right now that gain you life, Witch's Clinic would put you at about 6?

Could be worth at least one try in a game, but I don't know if the extra hoops to jump through are necessarily worth it. Dolmen Gate is reliable, is 1 mana less, and is colorless. Idk, I'm just thinking of scenarios where you draw Rune-Tail in games where you are significantly below 30 life, and don't draw into the 5% of your deck that would help you maybe get back over 30.

Even then, I feel like if you removed Tome of Legends because you didn't want Isshin to have to wade into combat to "recharge" it, then Witch's Clinic falls into similar territory, where you have to risk Isshin attacking or blocking to get at least 3 life, barring any other P/T boosts.

Michigone on Isshin for a Fight

1 year ago

Change Log 23-Feb-2023

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