MTG Combo: Karmic Guide + Reveillark

Discussion

Epicurus on Mentally Screw With Your Friends [Negan Primer]

2 years ago

Hi there!

First, I have thought that Priest of Forgotten Gods has been undervalued ever since the first time I saw her, so I'll suggest that for sure. Same goes for Bog Witch, Culling the Weak and Innocent Blood.

Next, don't know if you're into the whole Karmic Guide + Reveillark combo (I, myself, intentionally avoid going infinite if I can help it), but I'll drop that here anyway. If you spoke to that in the description, I apologize. I just skimmed through that and might have missed something.

Finally, some more pricey cards worth mentioning that are not in your Maybeboard are Luminous Broodmoth, Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker and Pitiless Plunderer.

Cheers!

iplayBANJO on Elenda - Life After Death

3 years ago

A bit of a long comment for you to chew some ideas over. I'm just going to throw out some cards that work for the aristocrats strategy that I think the commander would work well with. Then I'll give you some combos that could work here. Most of the combos rely heavily on white cards, so I think they are all pretty cheap. I'm sure there's a lot more that you could use, but these are the ones that come to my mind.

Aristocrat Mana Producers

Pitiless Plunderer , Sifter of Skulls , Nether Traitor , Pawn of Ulamog

Recursion

Reveillark , Karmic Guide , Sun Titan , Gift of Immortality , Angelic Renewal , Luminous Broodmoth , Mikaeus, the Unhallowed , Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord , Nim Deathmantle

Self-Recursive Creatures

Reassembling Skeleton , Bloodsoaked Champion , Oathsworn Vampire

Free Sacrifice Outlets

Ashnod's Altar , Phyrexian Altar , Altar of Dementia , Blasting Station , Viscera Seer , Bloodthrone Vampire , Carrion Feeder , Spawning Pit , Bloodflow Connoisseur Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter

Aristocrat Payoffs

Blood Artist , Cruel Celebrant , Falkenrath Noble , Zulaport Cutthroat

Vampires

I'm sure these fit into combos, but I'll leave them to you to evaluate.
Marauding Blight-Priest , Famished Paladin Epicure of Blood Defiant Bloodlord Cliffhaven Vampire Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

Combos with a free sacrifice outlet

Karmic Guide + Reveillark : Karmic Guide can return Reveillark to the battlefield. Sacrifice Karmic Guide, then Reveillark. Reveillark's death trigger returns Karmic Guide to the battlefield. Karmic Guide's ETB (enters the battlefield) trigger can return Reveillark to the battlefield. Repeat forever. Reveillark can also return another small creature to the battlefield in addition to Karmic Guide.
Gift of Immortality + Sun Titan : Enchant Sun Titan with Gift of Immortality. Sacrifice Sun Titan. Gift of Immortality returns Sun Titan to the battlefield. Sun Titan's ETB trigger returns Gift of Immortality to the battlefield, attached to Sun Titan. Repeat forever.
Kaya's Ghostform + Sun Titan : Same as Gift of Immortality combo above.
Angelic Renewal + Sun Titan : Same as above.
Fiend Hunter + Sun Titan : Exile Sun Titan with Fiend Hunter's ETB. Sacrifice Fiend Hunter to return Sun Titan to the battlefield. Return Fiend Hunter to the battlefield with Sun Titan's ETB. Exile Sun Titan with Fiend Hunter's ETB. Repeat forever.
Fiend Hunter + Karmic Guide : Same as Sun Titan combo above.

Leonin Relic-Warder combos

Animate Dead + Leonin Relic-Warder : Start with Leonin Relic-Warder in your graveyard. Play Animate Dead to bring Leonin-Relic Warder back from your graveyard. Exile Animate Dead with Leonin Relic-Warder's ETB. Leonin Relic-Warder dies to Animate Dead leaving the battlefield. Animate Dead returns to the battlefield targeting Leonin-Relic Warder. Exile Animate Dead with Leonin-Relic Warder's ETB. Repeat forever.
Dance of the Dead + Leonin Relic-Warder : Same as above.
Leonin Relic-Warder + Necromancy : Same as above.

Infinite Sacrifice Fodder

Divine Visitation + Requiem Angel : Sacrificing a creature will trigger Requiem Angel to create a 1/1 Spirit Token. Divine Visitation causes that to instead be a 4/4 Angel Token, which can be sarificed to trigger Requiem Angel to create another 1/1 spirit that comes into play as a 4/4 Angel.
Bishop of Wings + Divine Visitation : Same as above, but you also gain 4 life each time.

Epicurus on 187 Spellslinger: RURIC THAR

3 years ago

I read the previous comments, and I applaud you for intentionally foregoing infinite loops. I feel exactly the same way. Like how I refuse to add that Karmic Guide + Reveillark combo in my Cleverly Named Graveyard Deck. Nor any of the many combos involving Lab Man in neither my Spirit of '76 nor my Ramos Cascade Ramp, nor any other applicable combos.

As for card suggestions, I feel like Chandra's Incinerator might be useful for controlling the board, and Eidolon of the Great Revel makes sense because of your high mana cost distribution (if not also Pyrostatic Pillar, even though it's a noncreature), and also because this deck seems most effective against decks with incredibly low mana cost distribution.

Possibly also Trinisphere, which again is noncreature.

That's all I got.

Epicurus on Kathril, Aspect of Nightmares

3 years ago

I can't describe how refreshing it is to see an Abzan EDH deck that doesn't include Sun Titan, Acidic Slime or the Karmic Guide + Reveillark combo. It looks like you put actual creative thought into this deck, rather than simply spewing some EDHREC copypasta. Bravo!

I would recommend the following list, obviously for different reasons for each card:

And, if you want to spend the money on it, Phyrexian Altar

As for cuts to fit any of these in, I'd start by looking at your removal spells. You have a helluva lot of that. I don't know if it's your meta, but it seems like more than you need.

Epicurus on You'll Wish You Had One With Nothing

3 years ago

You're absolutely right on a lot of levels, and honestly that's what made me feel like this was the right place for my rant. But one more point before I finish.

I think that the majority of the parody exists in the infinite combos. If you look at the comments on the reanimator deck I posted above, you'll notice that I respectfully declined adding the Karmic Guide + Reveillark combo. I have hence found that combo in 9-out-of-10 reanimator decks, give or take.

But then, to use the example you gave, why the f would you not put Contagion Engine in every single Atraxa deck? It's a damn good synergy, and you'd be denying yourself the best possible synergy for the deck if you didn't include it. Is it creative or unique? Absolutely not. But it's a no-brainer. It's like, if you want a pillow fort, you include Ghostly Prison and Propaganda. If you want ramp in 5-color, you run Cryptolith Rite and Bloom Tender. If you're building a cascade deck, and it doesn't have Maelstrom Wanderer or Maelstrom Nexus, are you even trying? These are the best cards for their respective themes. The creative element is in choosing what spells you place around the obvious ones.

Back in the day, if you were building a suicide black deck, you included Necropotence, because that card was the definition of suicide black. If you had a draw deck, it had Underworld Dreams in it, because otherwise there was no point. A helluva lot of cards have been printed since then, but the results are the same. If you play this theme, you should include these cards. If you can figure out a way to still be unique and creative, you're above the curve in my book.

Again, please take no offense. This is a general rant not meant specifically for you. My only point is that there's a lot of parody because there's only so many cards that are the best cards for any given theme. Players like you and I - and we're not alone, even if we're the minority - will still find a way to build different. We play for fun, even if ultimately we would like to win more often than not. Whenever I see decks on here that are obviously EDHREC copypasta, I generally ignore them. But I won't besmirch them being what they are.

Epicurus on Nethroi Hulkweaver

3 years ago

You see? I did get around to looking at your deck!

Pretty sweet build. Now that I see your fill package, I feel like I need to see about putting Life from the Loam into my own deck.

Also, Beast Whisperer!!!! Why didn't you recommend that to me? Why didn't I think of that my own damn self?! I'm running more creatures than you, and I never thought of him. He, and Runic Armasaur, will find a way into my deck.

I second the above suggestion of running Blood Artist or, as I do in my deck, Cruel Celebrant. Or, better yet (albeit, for more mana), Syr Konrad, the Grim. Image pulling off the Karmic Guide + Reveillark combo with Grumpy Grim on the field. But it would work with just his little sister.

All in all, you've given me a wealth of ideas. Cheers!

koizintec9 on Alesha EDH

4 years ago

I'm not sure if you're already aware of this, but Ankle Shanker doesn't work with Alesha's ability because he already comes tapped and attacking, while his trigger happens during it's attack declaration. Ignition Team is one I really like in my Alesha deck, he usually enters as a very big beater and when reanimated with Alesha can be deadly. Altar of Dementia , Spawning Pit , Ashnod's Altar . Alesha really smiles at death, so having those sac outlets will be the best way to get the most value out of recurring creatures with your commander. Plus it's an essential enabler if you wish to combo off with Karmic Guide + Reveillark or Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit + Murderous Redcap .

ThallionDarkshine on The devil's in the details: …

6 years ago

I do agree that generating mana during the combo is not all that useful, but 2-cmc ramp that lets you play Zur a turn early is always good.

I'm also not sold on the 5-cmc tutors, but I'm not sure if there are any better options... Dark Petition might be better for occasionally generating some mana (and fixing it to black if that's what you need). Beseech the Queen might also be a better option. You'd probably never get the chance to cast it for 3, but a slightly worse Diabolic Tutor might be better than one of the other options. Sidisi, Undead Vizier is another possibility, and can be recurred via Karmic Guide.

I think Altar of Dementia might be better than Altar of the Brood. While costing another mana, it works the same in your Intruder Alarm combos, and also works with Fiend Hunter + Sun Titan and Karmic Guide + Reveillark . Finally, I think Animate Dead is probably a great inclusion. You can tutor it with Zur to recur your stuff, and it can combo with Sun Titan.