Let's Talk Alhammarret's Archive
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on June 28, 2015, 12:35 a.m. by NotaNetDeck
I'm falling in love with Origins before it's even been released. Archive is spoiled to be a 5 CMC artifact that doubles your life gain and card draw (there's no may clause), except for the regular, first draw step draw.
I don't play Oloro, Ageless Ascetic EDH but I assume this is an auto-include here, along with most white/blue decks (Sphinx's Revelation's effect is quadrupled!). It reminds me more than a little of Doubling Season, but I want to know what you guys think and which decks you'll play it in :)
You'll probably play it in any Artifact decks and other control lists. The number of cards that synergize with it are COUNTLESS.
June 28, 2015 12:38 a.m.
DERPLINGSUPREME says... #4
@JWiley129 I could count them if youd like me too.
I'm very lonely...
June 28, 2015 12:40 a.m.
NotaNetDeck says... #5
Yeah, artifacts and control are what I expected. I would play it with Mind's Eye/Consecrated Sphinx. At that point, I imagine it'd be a little like having Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur online where you actually could deck yourself if you weren't paying attention. What fun!
June 28, 2015 12:52 a.m.
Competitive Azami can't run this. It's far too costly and does nothing on its own. You need immediate value with her. The decks this will fit in the best are casual builds like Oloro, Erebos, Augustin, etc. This thing is great if you can get it to stick around.
June 28, 2015 1:17 a.m.
Karns_Pyromancer says... #7
It's probably rather good in Nekusar builds as well (I ran Loxodon Warhammer in mine).
I would assume most Bant decks can use it as goodstuff.
June 28, 2015 1:23 a.m.
FinchFalcon says... #9
I don't think it's that great in Oloro... He's already life-gaining like nobody's business, and has access to most of the best card draw options around, not even including himself. It makes him a little better at his best traits. Usable and effective? Sure. Auto-include? Not so much.
June 28, 2015 1:34 a.m.
NotaNetDeck says... #10
TheDevicer, I was thinking about that, too. As cool and EDH-tuned as this card might be, it does nothing on its own, making a synergetic general like Oloro (which apparently was the right suggestion) almost necessary. I'm sure there are at least some non-competitive Azami decks, though.
Drawing cards is also more significant than gaining life, so with a general that uses only one of the effects like Nekusar, Archive still seems beneficial.
June 28, 2015 1:45 a.m.
KillDatBUG says... #11
I mean, it's going to see play in EDH- Boon Reflection and Thought Reflection saw play prior to this being spoiled, and Alhammarret's Archive is almost exactly those two cards combined. It'll probably be more like Doubling Season in that it'll only see play in specific decks like the lifegain decks with Felidar Sovereign and Test of Endurance as wincons.
June 28, 2015 1:46 a.m.
NotaNetDeck says... #12
FinchFalcon, I see why Archive's effects might be redundant in Oloro, but why wouldn't you include it? Are there any drawbacks its inclusion?
June 28, 2015 1:48 a.m.
FinchFalcon says... #14
NotaNetDeck: Drawbacks? Not really. I just think it's taking up a card slot and not really improving the deck a whole lot. There's no reason NOT to include it, except that maybe there are other cards more deserving of a slot.
June 28, 2015 3:12 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #15
I'm not sure how you can say that doubling card draw and lifegain doesn't improve Oloro. Granted it has no immediate impact on the board, but the residual impact is so great that I think it is easily in the top 60 best cards for lifegain combo control.
June 28, 2015 7:36 a.m.
i would run it in any edh deck thats blue, because of card draw. Brainstorm for 6, put only 2 on top? count me in!
June 28, 2015 9:39 a.m.
DiamondFlavor says... #18
I feel like it's actually more interesting outside of blue. Any well-built blue deck should have decent card flow anyway. Like, I can't see myself running this in Zegana because the redundancy is not worth a slot or the tempo.
Could be interesting in more fringe cases like Erebos to power up his draw but also offset the life loss (if you have any decent lifegain sources). Also seems good in a red deck set up to loot quite a bit, such as Daretti, because red is always hurting for advantage.
White really wants more draws but I can't think of a white general that has the synergy to make this work.
June 28, 2015 9:56 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #19
I think it's not good unless your commander gains life or draws cards, and even then there's no guarantee it'll merit a card slot because it could just be a win more card.
June 28, 2015 10:49 a.m.
FinchFalcon says... #20
Gidgetimer: I'd much rather have a card that draws me more cards than one that says if I draw one, I get an extra. The life gain is nice, but Oloro does just fine on his own without doubling effects. It's not that it's not good, just that it's not good enough. Turn five, I'd rather drop my Sen Triplets if I'm going to have to wait till my next turn for an effect. I'd rather drop my Gilded Lotus and hold up that mana for a counterspell. Archangel of Thune has better synergy. Divinity of Pride presents a better threat. Tamiyo, the Moon Sage is better for her control and her ult, and Liliana Vess or Increasing Ambition let me find exactly what I need. And since I've been drawing extra cards since turn three with Necropotence and/or Phyrexian Arena and/or Rhystic Study and/or Jace Beleren, I don't need the five-mana, slow, win-more effect. Either I'm already drawing cards, and I don't need the Archive to win, or I'm not, and the Archive won't save me.
June 28, 2015 12:44 p.m.
NotaNetDeck says... #21
Magical Hacker said what I was trying to say a while back and did it more concisely :P
FinchFalcon, I'd like to point out in this optimistic scenario that since you've been drawing (e.g. from Rhystic Study) since T3, you won't have to wait until your next upkeep for an effect from Archive.
But I think your point is a valid one. As far as doublers go, this one has some win-more aspects to it.
June 28, 2015 2:44 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #22
Not every EDH deck will get a huge benefit out of it. If you don't run enough things to trigger it, seems like you could put something more useful in the 99.
That said, I'll definitely be running it in one or both my EDH decks. There are a lot of commanders who will like this. In my case, Daretti's going to love it. If your commander or your deck enables and wants lots of card draw there's plenty of value.
Fun stuff in a "lifegain matters" deck too.
I see a lot of potential in more combo-heavy decks that want to draw down to the cards they need. If you're already running the draw to get there, doubling it up is amazing!
June 28, 2015 8:17 p.m.
NotaNetDeck says... #23
It'll be interested to see over time whether or not this card becomes a staple. Archive seems very playable but I'd venture a guess and say its inability to do anything on its own will restrict overall where it's played by general or deck theme.
June 30, 2015 12:01 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #24
That's my thought, NotaNetDeck. If your deck isn't running many card draw or lifegain effects it spends a lot of time just setting there. I can easily see it become a staple for certain commanders or archetypes, but not necessarily a majority of EDH decks on the whole.
June 30, 2015 12:08 a.m.
FinchFalcon says... #25
I'd see it being very valuable to Daretti, who can both make use of its bonus, and discard the card itself if he doesn't need it.
June 30, 2015 12:50 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #26
Yep, there's a reason I've already bought one. The moment I saw this I went "that is going in my Daretti deck!"
June 30, 2015 2:28 a.m.
I will use it with Selvala, Explorer Returned and Well of Lost Dreams
June 30, 2015 7:57 a.m.
NotaNetDeck says... #28
It does seem very good in Daretti, and being an artifact means there will almost always be a way to put it (back) on the battlefield.
June 30, 2015 1:10 p.m.
I absolutely LOVE this card.
I'm instantly adding it to my Oloro deck, Dubstep Control with DJ Oloro and a foil one for my Pimp mizzet Deck, Pimp-Mizzet, the $$$mind. It's like a 5 mana Thought Reflection! (Which I will be taking out for this).
Other than that, I may add it to my mono-red Slobad EDH deck, but I'm not too sure yet. If I had Daretti as my commander it wouldn't even be a question.
Simply put, my favorite card revealed in recent times.
July 1, 2015 8:26 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #30
Yeah; Daretti, Selvala, Nekusar, Niv-Mizzet, Oloro and numerous other commanders will get a ton of value out of this. I could see it in Azami, too. If you're drawing lots of cards this looks like something to strongly consider at the very least.
July 2, 2015 1:48 a.m. Edited.
NotaNetDeck says... #32
Kala I forgot about Zedruu! Should be fun with Paradox Haze, even if Zedruu is your only draw/lifegain source.
DERPLINGSUPREME says... #2
Oloro is a must, along with almost all life gain decks and Azami decks. its REALLLYY good in almost all edhs.
June 28, 2015 12:38 a.m.