Collective Effort

Sorcery

Escalate — Tap an untapped creature you control. (Pay this cost for each mode chosen beyond the first.)

Choose one or more —

• Destroy target creature with power 4 or greater.
• Destroy target enchantment
• Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature target player controls.

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

Discussion (48)

BioProfDude on Mono White Vigilance

4 months ago

I think if you have the budget, you need to at least upgrade the mana. Include 2x Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, 1x or maybe 2x Castle Ardenvale, 1x Shefet Dunes (you'd be surprised at how effective that +1/+1 thing can be at istant speed!), and maybe 1x Cave of the Frost Dragon as a place to sink mana for attacking if you get wrathed.

Guardian of Faith also nicely fits your theme and is an underrated card that can be extremely useful. I get that you're trying to stick with humans, but I think there's already a really, really good humans deck, so I would exploit the vigiliance and worry less about the humans aspect (see below).

On that note, Reidane, God of the Worthy  ^Flip would be a solid addition, if at least for the sideboard.

While it doesn't have vigilance when activated, maybe Smuggler's Copter? Ha! I know, we're jamming it in every deck to see if it will work, but in this type of aggro deck it just might and it provides you a nice way to draw some cards.

Last suggestions for the main are Brave the Elements and maybe something like Temporary Lockdown or Ossification in the main board. I get that you have humans, but I think these are just better than Sanctuary Lockdown or Collective Effort. Even Get Lost would be a great addition, or possibly Declaration in Stone in the sideboard.

Your sideboard should probably include Rest in Peace to deal with Izzet Phoenix and Amalia Combo, and probably should have Damping Sphere to deal with Lotus Combo. Containment Priest is also another solid sideboard consideration.

Oh, a fun card that might be cool would be Rally the Ancestors (or Return to the Ranks, maybe). For surprise blocking? Just a thought.

Cool deck idea! +1 from me!

ClockworkSwordfish on Double exalted

1 year ago

Between the Aven Sunstrikers and Skyhunter Skirmisher, you probably have enough double strikers that you need a full four Grappling Hooks... after all, you can basically only use one at a time!

A card I like in an exalted-focused deck is Collective Effort, since only one of your critters will be attacking and the rest can help out by tapping to pay for the Escalate cost. They can also be called on for Conspire costs (maybe AEthertow?) or if you're really feeling saucy, the Forecast cost on Sky Hussar every turn.

Creature-wise you're looking pretty solid - I like the inclusions of lifelink and double strike - but you might want to consider finding room for Knight of Glory! At the very least as a sideboard option. I find his Protection means he can either be a great blocker against certain decks, or go unblocked turn after turn with that huge Exalted boost in tow.

to_regatha_and_beyond on Angels by my side

1 year ago

I've playtested the deck a bunch of times and here's what I'm thinking. I know you don't actually care about feedback but I really hope you change that or something, IDK.

So, I'm seeing a lot of value in this deck, but it doesn't seem to play super well. It's pretty inconsistent, and the only way I tend to see it consistently drop the threats it needs to win is if it can draw Extraplanar Lens, which you only have two of. Speaking of only having two of those, since you're running 1-2 copies of almost all of your cards, this becomes a very inconsistent deck, especially with how little card draw you're running. Even when it does manage to drop a big threat down, it's often not the one that feels necessary at that moment. Especially that whole Gisela, the Broken Blade  ^Meld + Bruna, the Fading Light  ^Meld thing that you want to have happen, doesn't happen.

I would cut a bunch of these out. For instance, Collective Effort has been a dud every time I've drawn it. Voice of All is pretty weak as well, even as a sideboard card. Get down to 60 cards and put some more copies of each card.

If you want to keep showing people this deck you need to at least try to make it work. You've clearly been playing MTG for a long time, so you should know by now that this kind of deck doesn't work. Sorry to be that blunt about it.

lhetrick13 on W/G Kitties

1 year ago

Love a good cat deck! You should check out Kaheera Cats and Chariots :3 by NonetheWeisser for some additional inspiration. Definitely one of the most competitive tribal cat decks out there and if I could toot my own horn my version of cat tribal focuses more on token creation but it is fairly potent non the less as well (Feline Feelings). Lots of good discussion in the comments of those two decks as many of the cards you are either playing or considering are in those. Might help you make some educated decisions if you were on the edge of playing one cat versus another.

Otherwise, it almost feels a bit like you are going for some +1/+1 counter synergy with this deck. Collective Effort and Unbreakable Formation are something I have played in +1/+1 counter decks and Ajani, Caller of the Pride provides another way to get counters while having some finishing moves as well. If that is the direction you are wanting, I would definitely recommend adding in a full playset of Metallic Mimic to bring cats in with +1/+1 counters and Hardened Scales to double that effect. Adding a few copies of Gavony Township might give you late game options as well. If that is not the direction you are wanting, I might suggest Dromoka's Command over Collective Effort. Slightly less potent and upside but cheaper and a bit more flexible. I would also suggest Heroic Intervention over Unbreakable Formation for the same reasons.

Also, you may want to look at the lands a bit. You only have 10 ways to generate a {G} mana. Loam Lion is a beast if could add something like Temple Garden. Wooded Bastion would be a cheaper alternative if cost is an issue.

Anyway, hope something there was useful and happy brewing!

lhetrick13 on G/W +1/+1 counters

1 year ago

Drestlin - On the bright side, at least a one drop is pulling the attention of your opponent's removal spells right? They spend a likely 2-3 CMC to exile/destroy your 1 CMC sounds like a trade in your favor. Mix in Shapers' Sanctuary and you will even get a draw out of it to boot! With Collective Effort and Dromoka's Command I am usually running enough enchantment hate to not need Hopeful Initiate but he is my only way to deal with artifacts and I have used him successfully for that many a time. Usually because their are bigger threats on the board than him.

lhetrick13 on G/W +1/+1 counters exile

2 years ago

Drestlin - I think any deck is going to struggle to be effective against all the types of meta decks you mentioned. To a degree, every deck is specialized and will match up better against certain decks than others so rather than trying to make yours effective against every deck, you would likely focus on making it do what it does better with the hope that its strengths can overcome its weaknesses. Then again, I am not exactly a competitive players so that statement may be complete garbage.

With that said, I am also working on a +1/+1 deck at the moment (I'll Raise you +1/+1...) so many of the questions you posed are exactly the same I have been asking myself. Looking at your deck, it reminds me a lot of mine despite the many different cards and I have a feeling you fair well against creature based decks that rely upon strength. Here are a few things I noticed and some suggestions:

1. You have a pretty low mana curve with a lot of ways to throw some +1/+1 counters around. The big thing that jumps out to me is in terms of creature removal you are running 2xDromoka's Command and 2xInscription of Abundance will allow you to "fight" target creature. Otherwise, you can not remove any creatures. Have you found this to be a challenge? In terms of dealing with artifacts and enchantments, Dromoka's Command would allow you to deal with enchantments but that is it. To me, this seems like a potential issue. I run Hopeful Initiate, Swallow Whole, Collective Effort, and Dromoka's Command to help with removal while still give me options.

2. I found that with the low mana curve, under ideal scenarios, I could play most my hand by turn 3 or so and really hit the wall as I would not have anything left to play. At that point I the next couple draws would determine my success. I would guess you run into the same thing looking at your deck. To fight this I added in Horizon Canopy and Esper Sentinel to try to generate some additional draws. I want to do some testing with Inspiring Call as that would kill two birds with one stone by generating some extra draws and possible saving the bacon of my creatures against those devistating board wipes than I can not recover from due to lacking drawing mechanics.

3. Complete personal preference here but I really like Savior of Ollenbock and Basri's Lieutenant in terms of helping a "destroy all creatures" from ending my game. I usually have Savior of Ollenbock exile my own creatures from my graveyard as a insurance policy so if he does leave the board, other creatures of mine return to play. Basri's Lieutenant is similar that even if you clear the board, at least a 2/2 knight will still be around for each creature with a +1/+1 counter on it that was killed. Both of those make people think twice about playing those cards and I have experienced far less of them playing this deck, than my usual creature focus decks.

Not sure if anything I mentioned was actually helpful but hopefully something was. Happy brewing!

Skysurfer on

2 years ago

The idea is litty and i love it but this list has 3 major issues:

1. Your sheer lack of turn 1 proactive plays makes you so hilariously screwed if you are on the draw and being on the play not nearly as threatening as you could be, along with you likely having a difficult decision of playing hero or thought erasure turn 2.

2. The massive amount of 2 ofs will likely make it really hard to have any idea of what you might draw or even see in a game and be able to critique and figure out how to mesh and meld your deck as you play more with it.

3. Your sorcery speed plays and instant/flash speed plays are all of very similar mana costs and i imagine make the deck a struggle to figure out what to play each turn; the deck cant decide if it wants to play midrange value or tempo.

I would probably with your current setup delve more into the tempo option. The first issue can be easily solved by just molding at least 2 of the Thought Erasure into either Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek so you almost always have it in your opening hand (the last erasure can mold into either another of them or a 4th Spell Queller) Drown in the Loch seems like a really good tempo option so i would take out the 2 Discovery / Dispersal for 2 more Drown in the Loch. I dont think Tomebound Lich fits very well into what you are trying to do so I would search for something more in the 1-2 drop area to be better capitalized on by ojutais command/ahtreos (Delver of Secrets  ^Flip or Esper Stormblade??) I would also cut 1-2 lands as 24 is only really played for decks that scry a lot like control. Dimir Charm or a creature buff for the tokens like Collective Effort might also be a spicy option to put in exchange for some of the spot removal like path or push. I hope this all helps. Good luck in your matches.

Howwyl on Money for nothin'

3 years ago

Cut Suggestions:

• Binding the Old Gods isn't good removal cause it doesn't have the benefit of being instant speed or being a creature you can reanimate. It also takes a whole turn rotation to ramp you one forest that you can't even use that turn.

• Moldervine Reclamation is 5 mana for a draw engine which is kinda expensive. Your decks goal doesn't seem to be aristocrats, rather bringing back a bunch of lower power creatures with good effects or are actually thicc. In this case, you don't have good fodder to make this card work.

• Collective Effort is kinda bad all around. it's removal is conditional and slow and you can only pick the +1/+1 option once so it can't make your men big.
• Beast Whisperer same kinda think with moldervine. You are going to cast creatures on occasion, but what you really want is card draw when creatures etb so you can fill your hand after mutating Nethroi. It's decent in the early game, but etb draw is better for you in both the early and late game.
• Wayfarer's Bauble . You are in green and there's better creature ramp that doesn't cost $4.

Add Suggestions:

• Eternal Witness . good recursion outside of nethroi and allows you to get important non-creatures back when recurring.
• Wood Elves . better than binding of the old gods for ramp in almost every way. It's creature based, non basic forest finding and the land doesn't enter tapped.
• Springbloom Druid . like harrow, but on a creature. keep both if you want though.
• Tortured Existence . Even though it's an enchantment, it's cheap and allows you to surprise your opponents with something from you hand and otherwise you can just trade creatures for whatever you need at the time.
• Grim Haruspex . Decent card draw that give you some benefit if your board gets wiped.