Visions of Duplicity

Sorcery

Exchange control of two target creatures you don't control.

Flashback {8}{U}{U}. This spell's flashback cost is reduced by {X}, where X is the greatest converted mana cost/mana value of a commander you own on the battlefield or in the command zone. (You may cast this from your graveyard for this card's flashback cost, then exile this.)

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
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (4)

DreadKhan on Heliod, The Radiant Dawn

9 months ago

Surprised you're not running Folio of Fancies here? Not sure if Geier Reach Sanitarium is worth it (it's technically 3 mana to discount your mana by 3, but that is for each spell fwiw), but if you can double/triple spell after that's pretty useful. If you include Folio, you might want to throw in some X mana spells, Curse of the Swine is budget, as is Mass Manipulation, though Mass requires 4 Blue, which can't be discounted. Cut a Deal seems good, you get cards and the spell can be discounted to only W. Love Song of Night and Day is a good way to get cards/discount, the other abilities are kinda meh, but it's great if it only costs W to cast. If you don't intend to keep it around you could try Tenuous Truce, you can play it for W on any opponent's turn (after their attacking is done for turn) to get the discount, it's also situationally handy if you want to ally with someone. I think my final one is Your Temple is Under Attack, this is even modal and can be discounted to cost W, both modes can be very useful. These card draw spells also make your deck more consistent.

It's over your budget, but Standstill seems like hilarious maybe? Either you get 3 cards and -6 on your spells, or a whopping -9 to casts if opponents draw.

I love Mass Diminish if you can net a discount on it, you can also use it as an Instant, which is busted beyond words IMHO, it's the only limitation on one of the best at what it does. I can't believe they made it last until your next turn, so you get less 'value' if you play it on an opponent's turn, but any other opponents going before you still have a sitting duck to swing at. Another Sorcery that looks a lot better as an Instant is Single Combat, if you keep your Commander you can cast on your opponent's turn, so there will be a turn cycle where nobody can do much with creatures. I think Tragic Arrogance is pretty solid as well, even without Flash it's devastating, but with it I think it's quite scary, I think it's much better than Aetherize for example. Finally, Promise of Loyalty is neat, you won't be getting swung at for awhile by what's left, and it gets a big discount potentially. While it'd sometimes be a dead effect, Visions of Duplicity seems made for your Commander, it's very easy to make that UUU to create quite a bit of chaos, and at Instant speed.

DreadKhan on Bureaucracy!

10 months ago

I didn't realize your deck had a fairly low budget when I first started typing, so a few cards I mention might be out of your budget, but I think some of the stuff might fit.

I have an Azorius deck that has an aspect of bureaucracy in it, have you thought about Preacher and Callous Oppressor? I think they might fit flavor-wise, clergy are in part bureaucrats, and arguably the main part of being a bureaucrat is callously oppressing people/destroying their wills to enable control over them. I also like Bribery and War Tax, maybe Spurnmage Advocate and Pulsemage Advocate, advocacy is common in bureaucracies, as are bribery and taxes.

I'm not sure how eager you are to throw more interaction in, but Dovin's Veto and Disdainful Stroke feel fairly bureaucratic, maybe Generous Gift as removal? Is Visions of Duplicity on theme enough? Duplicity seems pretty on theme, and shuffling other people's creatures is the annoying crap officials get up to when bored.

Cool Vorthos idea, hope you have good match ups in your area!

DreadKhan on unthinkable apocalypse

1 year ago

I'm not certain the Commander has enough explosive power to consistently win vs 2 decks, but I have very good results in 1 v 1 with my Rakdos deck, and it often has spare cards by the end of the game, be it wipe or removal, because the deck just runs so much of those, with lots of the removal hitting more than 1 target (I love stuff like Phyrexian Purge, Fire Covenant, Make an Example, and Volcanic Offering can each be a terror of a card, and a deck running all of them has lots of pinpoint removal that will clear lots of stuff out. Ashes to Ashes and Reckless Spite also exist fwiw, and if you aren't certain you'll have creatures out, Tergrid's Shadow can do a bit of work, as can Plaguecrafter or Demon's Disciple, cards Sedris can recur for 2B even. Another value card is Dredge the Mire, which can cheat in the 3 worst creatures in people's graveyards, note certain creatures will kill you if you control them, so check before playing! Necromantic Selection not only clears the field, it also gives you back the best thing, this is extra juicy if you use some sort of Indestructible creature(s) that won't die. If you consistently have a fairly big creature, or one with Deathtouch and Lifelink, Chandra's Ignition is one sided by definition, one of many cards that shines brightly with Basilisk Collar (which is also very good with Jaya Ballard, Task Mage or even good old Banshee, Jaya's 6 damage wipe really is amazing if you've got Collar on her, though it'll kill her too). If you expect to have multiple opponents, Goad is a very strong effect, Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant is potentially pretty solid, lots of card draw. There is also Kardur, Doomscourge that will force everyone's hand. Spectacular Showdown is a great card if you've actually got a board of your own to finish people off, keep in mind that on your next turn, you not only won't have been attacked by any pre-existing creature, everyone else will have swung for the fences with Double Strike, and they will likely have nothing left to defend with, making your Double Strikers very effective. Another Goad source that is great with a creature heavy board is Agitator Ant, which is hilarious a lot of the time. If you're using Goad effects, War Tax can let an opponent have a way around them, if there is a tax to attack Goad fails, and War Cadence is absolutely devastating with Goad, even a tax of 1 to block can make blocking impossible for weenie decks, and you can use either on anyone's turn.

As you've got access to Blue, there are a few non-Rakdos tricks you can use, the most hilarious I know of is Mass Diminish, note that it lasts until your next turn and have a good laugh. There is also Sudden Spoiling, which is powerful but lasts for that turn, or Polymorphist's Jest, which is similarly a 1 turn solution. I use Mass Diminish more aggressively, to make a player hyper-vulnerable to attackers (and make them unable to counter attack), getting two casts is just savage. Visions of Duplicity can create some chaos with it's two casts, Cultural Exchange is obscene if someone else has better creatures. Bident of Thassa is glorious if you want both of it's effects, forcing people to attack is incredibly mean, and this doesn't require you to run a weenie like Goblin Diplomats, but that's also a fun card fwiw. If you're going to run Oriq Loremage, you might slip in a huge creature to Unearth, something like Dragon Tyrant can be huge and not break the bank, Double Strike and Firebreathing are really good together, and you won't have to pay the upkeep with Unearth, he's dead before that matters.

I was looking at your land count and average Mana Value and I think you probably are running too few lands at this point, it's very tempting to cut them, but 30 is probably too few for a MV that is over 2.5. You might get away with adding 2 mana ramp, but I'd still aim for at least 36 lands (or MDFCs that count as a land, you probably already have the best two MDFCs in those colours, but people also run Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip) to ensure you can consistently cast stuff. There is a smattering of ways you can run less lands/ramp, but these all come with downsides, but in Grixis you can run 4 solid Bounce Lands, Dimir Aqueduct and Guildless Commons should be in here as well if you want a lower land count, these let you hit another land drop when you draw them. You might also run stuff like Thran Dynamo or Worn Powerstone to help you hit higher MVs sooner, ramping by only 1 mana feels bad compared to hitting a land drop most of the time, there is also Gilded Lotus, but hitting 5 mana can be rough. Coalition Relic can charge for 1 turn, Skyclave Relic is super versatile/rugged, and Everflowing Chalice can be huge if you want, 6-10 mana is absurd but sometimes comes up. Cantrips like Ponder and Preordain are also good at digging for a land, but I know in Talrand it stings pretty bad when you Preordain and don't find a land and I needed one. As for some cards to remove, I'll take a look, but if I'm trying to build a deck that can handle attention, I look first at cards that will hurt only 1 player, unless that card will almost certainly end that player, either right away or in a few turns.

A few to consider removing (I may be missing why you have them in, so user discretion is advised or something): Archive Trap, Outpost Siege, Palace Siege, Ponder, Preordain, Haunting Echoes, Cruel Ultimatum (this seems insanely hard to cast, and hits only 1 player, unless you can copy it I'd run Captive Audience if I want to hose one player hard), Cranial Extraction, Cormela, Glamour Thief, Kess, Dissident Mage, Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger, Lobber Crew, Loyal Subordinate, Nekusar, the Mindrazer, Obeka, Brute Chronologist, Phenax, God of Deception, Runo Stromkirk  ^Flip, Spear Spewer, and Thermo-Alchemist.Some maybe cards include Angrath, Captain of Chaos, and Cryptolith Fragment  ^Flip (for another land, maybe a better rock, there is Thought Vessel, but fixing is sweet in Grixis).

Hope some of this is helpful!

Demon519 on M-m-m-m-m-my Muldrotha! That's a bad name.

2 years ago

RAMP: Deranged Assistant, Gilded Goose, Rootcoil Creeper, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Skull Prophet, Solemn Simulacrum, Phyrexian Tower, Binding the Old Gods, Titans' Nest, Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, Nissa's Renewal, Chromatic Lantern, Dimir Signet, Golgari Signet, Lotus Petal, Simic Signet, Sol Ring, Wayfarer's Bauble, Kiora, the Crashing Wave.

CARD DRAW and SELF MILL: Baleful Strix, Deranged Assistant, Glowspore Shaman, Prime Speaker Zegana, Satyr Wayfinder, Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, Skull Prophet, Solemn Simulacrum, Stitcher's Supplier, Underrealm Lich, The Binding of the Titans, Titans' Nest, Vessel of Nascency, Buried Alive, Rishkar's Expertise, Victimize, Aether Spellbomb, Altar of Dementia, Kiora, the Crashing Wave.

REMOVAL: Acidic Slime, Agent of Treachery, Bane of Progress, Cavalier of Night, Hostage Taker, Kraul Harpooner, Massacre Wurm, Polukranos, Unchained, Ravenous Chupacabra, Shriekmaw, Binding the Old Gods, Pernicious Deed, Seal of Primordium, Beast Within, In Garruk's Wake, Languish, Aether Spellbomb, Vraska, Golgari Queen.

PROTECTION and RECURSION: Eternal Witness, Genesis, Gisa, Glorious Resurrector, Glen Elendra Archmage, Siren Stormtamer, Spore Frog, Animate Dead, Kaya's Ghostform, Pattern of Rebirth, The Binding of the Titans, Rise of the Dark Realms, Victimize, Kiora, the Crashing Wave.

ATTEMPTS TO WIN: Avenger of Zendikar + Fabled Passage ... Eternal Witness + Time Warp ... Avenger of Zendikar + Altar of Dementia ... Massacre Wurm + Thassa, Deep-Dwelling ... Muldrotha, the Gravetide + Kaya's Ghostform + Lotus Petal + Altar of Dementia ... Rise of the Dark Realms + Eternal Witness ... Vraska, Golgari Queen emblem ... Underrealm Lich + Prime Speaker Zegana OR Rishkar's Expertise

CUTE/GOOFY: Gisa, Glorious Resurrector, Awaken the Erstwhile, Visions of Duplicity.