Morphing Mind Games

Commander / EDH Exxie97

SCORE: 87 | 45 COMMENTS | 5396 VIEWS | IN 29 FOLDERS


All the colors of the rainbow (except red...) —May 22, 2018

Haven't updated this deck for a while but after playing with it some more I found myself not getting enough colored mana. Here are the changes.

In:

+ Reflecting Pool Good for getting more colors. Thanks to Dobby_The_Planeswalker for the suggestion.

+ City of Brass Same as above. Thanks to Dobby_The_Planeswalker for the suggestion.

+ Ainok Survivalist Just some good utility on a morph creature. Thanks to glembo for the suggestion.

+ Cloudform While not repeatable can cause major problems for opponents if you get it with a creature like Blightsteel Colossus. Thanks to SirSh4ggy for the suggestion.

+ Lightform Same as above, as well as extra lifegain for Serra Avatar. Thanks to SirSh4ggy for the suggestion.

+ Long-Term Plans A cute tutor that words quite well with manifesting. Thanks to RazortoothMtg for the suggestion.

+ Commander's Sphere More color fixing and repeatable with Silas Renn, Seeker Adept. Thanks to user:Barsan for the suggestion.

Out:

- Tomb of the Spirit Dragon Never really got much use out of this card, I'll have to look for another source of life gain to keep Serra Avatar and Felidar Sovereign up.

- Zoetic Cavern Not very useful (great flavor though), replacing it for more colored mana.

- Trail of Mystery This card is just wayyyyyy to slow for me.

- Vanish into Memory Seems good on paper, not really in practice. I rarely found myself gaining any cards off of this.

- Mentor of the Meek Just never really found myself wanting to play him.

- Hunted Troll Good if you can cheat him out but gets chump blocked too easily.

- Seer's Lantern Just need more colored mana.

Exxie97 says... #1

@Barsan

I've actually been looking for some more card draw that complements this deck and Vanish into Memory seems to fit quite nicely.

Zoetic Cavern looks much more flavorful than Sakura-Tribe Elder (and more useful later in the game).

Unfortunately the only way I can cheat in Dark Depths is with Ixidor, Reality Sculptor which seems very limiting.

Thing in the Ice  Flip seems like a nice beater/board wipe to include. However I can't cheat it in with Illusionary Mask due to it being a double faced card, but that dose make it immune to Ixidron. I'll give it a try to see how reliable it is.

Again thank you for all of your suggestions. If you have any more cards you think might fit don't hesitate to let me know. I really appreciate all of your feedback.

September 22, 2017 5:53 p.m.

Exxie97 Double faced cards can now be manifested and played face down via mask. I believe the rule change came during the SOI because the transform mechanic was so prolific in that set and they were worried about sleeved decks misplaying. So it's no longer immune to Ixidon, unfortunately. But it can be Cheated into play.

September 22, 2017 7:02 p.m. Edited.

CommanderNeyo says... #3

I really like this deck, and you obviously have put a lot of work into it. +1

In your description, you mention flipping Felidar Sovereign during your untap step. If I recall correctly, you can't cast spell or activate abilities during the untap step, so you would have to flip him at the end of your opponent's turn if you want him to trigger during your upkeep (which shouldn't make any real difference, but it is worth noting).

September 23, 2017 3:59 p.m.

Exxie97 says... #4

@Barsan,CommanderNeyo

Gosh I thought I knew the rules of this game, thank you for keeping me updated on them.

September 23, 2017 9:13 p.m.

mortilus says... #5

Conch Horn is not a repeatable Brainstorm unless you have artifact recursion - saccing the horn is part of its activation cost. A repeatable Brainstorm for that low of a mana cost would not be $.42

September 24, 2017 2:19 a.m.

Exxie97 says... #6

@mortilus Sorry, I should have clarified it better in the update. It's a repeatable with Silas Renn, Seeker Adept. I thought it might be good to have some cards that work well with Silas Renn, Seeker Adept because he doesn't offer much to the deck besides colors.

September 24, 2017 3:06 a.m. Edited.
September 24, 2017 11:38 a.m. Edited.

glembo says... #8

I reaaaaally love your deck! Mind games are so fun in multiplayer! +1

You said that you needed card draw, have you considered running Secret Plans? And Ainok Survivalist could make a very nice enchantment or artifact removal. Keep up the good work!

September 25, 2017 8:45 p.m.

glembo says... #9

Also Dusk / Dawn could be a very nice board wipe that would le your morphed creatures and both your commanders alive!

September 26, 2017 4:23 p.m.

Just realized you could flip Silent Arbiter during your combat step to limit blockers to 1.

September 26, 2017 7:55 p.m.

Legend06 says... #11

maybe not in the full spirit of the deck, however, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite after playing Ixidron would demolish your opponents field while giving you an army of 4/4...

September 27, 2017 11:09 a.m.

glembo says... #12

Maybe you could consider swapping Hunted Troll for Leveler, he hit harder, he's tougher and you probably win the game if you target him wih Fractured Identity. Also, Chromeshell Crab could be another great way to dispose of unwanted manifested cards.

September 28, 2017 8:07 p.m.

Exxie97 says... #13

@Barsan
I like Commander's Sphere, I'll probably take out the last signet and swap it in. I don't think I have enough necessary non-basic lands to make Expedition Map worth it, I would just rather the lands go onto the battlefield.
Not sure about Silent Arbiter, I can only really see him being useful if I'm trying to get past a bunch of flying/reach creatures.

@glembo
I was actually looking around for more board wipes that would complement this deck and Dusk / Dawn fits perfectly.
I used to run Secret Plans when I was first building the deck but I cut it to make room for other cards, It might deserve a second chance though.
Ainok Survivalist looks good, I would just have to find a spot for it.
Hunted Troll has been on my cut list and Leveler seems like a nice replacement (and always nice to have the extra target for Fractured Identity).
Chromeshell Crab is pretty expensive for what he dose. I've played him in some of my previous decks and he has felt weak every time I got him.

@Legend06
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite + Ixidron is a nice one sided board wipe/boost effect, however Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is the absolute BANE of this deck. If someone were to steal her that just kills you. She just seems too risky to put in for that reason alone.

Thank you all for your suggestions, I'll be playing this deck tomorrow for more testing so I'll be sure to update my thoughts on the cards.

September 28, 2017 9:17 p.m.

glembo says... #14

I got one last suggestion for now, Grim Haruspex has pretty much the same role as Mentor of the Meek but you don't have to pay, he's also more fitting flavor-wise and could make some use of the black mana base. The card draw is more conditionnal though so it would be something to think about.

P.S. I'm very much interested in making a similar deck, but I got to ask: in the early game, how do you play it? Between the rather slow morph/manifest creatures and having to cast spells while preferably not tapping out... During my playtest, I always seem to have a decent board state a bit too late in the game, but that's propably on my side so I'm curious to know how do you pilot the deck :D

September 28, 2017 10:15 p.m.

RazortoothMtg says... #15

WOW! Amazingly well done primer. all of a sudden I feel like I need a morph deck... finally something to use my partner commanders for! How do you feel this kind of list compares tot he Animorphs lists and their potential "infinite" with Primordial Sage effects? Would you ever consider running over with Kraum, Ludevic's Opus to include Animar in the 99, is he too weak, or does black give you too much to cut?

September 30, 2017 1:07 p.m.

RazortoothMtg says... #16

Sorry for the double post, but to back up what I was saying about cutting black, it seems to be your most lackluster color. Kraum is a better just "I want more colors" partner, as he draws cards. You could replace Phage with the obviously much worse-but-along-the-same-lines Leveler, which is great with Fractured Identity and could have a place anyway, Vampiric Tutor becomes Long-Term Plans, again, worse, but still good. No Ghastly Conscription-esque replacements I can think of currently.

On the other side of things, red gives you Animar, Soul of Elements, AKA Animorphs, for all the free morphs. It gives you Kraum, probably better than Silas for the most part. Akroma, Angel of Fury is a big red morph-er, Dwarven Blastminer is on-theme land hate, and Skirk Alarmist, Ixidors worse cousin. I've seen animorphs lists run Jeering Instigator as well.

If you don't go for the switch, why no Bane of the Living? On theme wrath. You should also consider Strionic Resonator to copy some of the un-morph triggers.

September 30, 2017 1:17 p.m.

Exxie97 says... #17

@glembo
While Grim Haruspex is better for drawing because you don't have to pay the 1, I feel like Mentor of the Meek is better for snowballing. They are both good card draw options just with different purpose. I'll give Grim Haruspex a try, it is more flavorful.
While this deck is usually pretty slow, here is how I try and play in the early game.
In my opening hand I generally look for 2-4 lands, 1-2 things that ramp, and a manifesting engine (or a tutor to get one). On turns 1-3 I try and get my lands and mana rocks out (basically just play what you can), if I have the option to play my manifesting, I'll almost always play that over ramp . I generally won't play Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa during the early game unless I need to get in with Silas Renn, Seeker Adept or Jeskai Infiltrator. After that I will usually only spend around 1/2 or 2/3 of my mana during my turns and leave the rest for potential unmorphs. If I don't unmorph anything, I'll spend it on manifesting or hand/top deck manipulation at the end of my opponents turn.
I hope this helps, I'm not very good and explaining how I play.

@RazortoothMtg
Animar, Soul of Elements is normally amazing for morph, however I am only currently running 7 creatures with morph making him not all that useful. This deck has more of a emphasis on manifesting rather than morph. I have looked at all color for this deck and I thought red looked the weakest because it didn't offer any manifesting engines, or creatures that can one hit kill somebody. Black also offers more options for tutor including the transmute tutors which helps make this deck much more consistent. I do agree that Kraum, Ludevic's Opus dose make a better 'I need colors commander', but Silas Renn, Seeker Adept and Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa work together quite nicely. Skirk Alarmist is probably my biggest pull towards red, but that just isn't quite enough.
I do really like the look of Long-Term Plans, might replace Fabricate with it.
I have to pump a good amount of mana into Bane of the Living for it to be worth it for me because it will almost always wipe out all my face down 2/2. Still might be a good board wipe option though.
Strionic Resonator has the same problem Animar, Soul of Elements has, not enough morph creatures.

Thanks for your feedback and suggestions!

October 1, 2017 11:12 p.m.

glembo says... #18

@Exxie97

It does help, that's a great explanation thanks! If I have any other suggestions or ideas, I'll make sure to let you know!

October 2, 2017 6:26 p.m.

Feyamius says... #19

Really cool deck. I run a much more classic version of morph deck with K&T as my commander and even more surprises coming out of sunforger. That Illusionary Mask is hilarious! I must have overlooked it every time I searched for "face-down" or similar keywords. Weird. Being able to turn your morph creatures face up just by tapping them seems almost broken. But just almost. ;)

If you need more carddraw, I'm kinda surprised you don't run Aphetto Runecaster yet. And since you want some stuff in the graveyard, Riptide Survivor may be something for you. More top deck manipulation service can be provided by Unblinking Bleb.

October 3, 2017 8:27 p.m.

Feyamius says... #20

Darn, I forgot to link the Sunforger.

October 3, 2017 8:34 p.m.

I get that you want the extra scry power but isn't having most of your lands ETB tapped a major impediment? What if you took the tri lands out and replaced them with Reflecting Pool City of Brass or any of the other pan-colored lands?

Granted, many of those will make you pain 1 to use them but it would make this play a lot faster

October 6, 2017 6:29 p.m.