Santiago1011 on Gisa: So Undead It’s Criminal
20 minutes ago
Hey Profet93, yeah I can explain!
Basically, Hex Parasite's activated requires you to pay a (in our case, we'd opt for the 2 life most of the time) and amount of mana to remove X counters from a target. The key here is that unlike some newer cards, Hex Parasite does NOT say that X must be greater than zero.
That means we can pay 2 life for the phyrexian black, and 0 mana fr X to remove 0 counters from TARGET permenant. This is important because the targetting of opponents creatures is what we're after here. The same premise works for Retribution of the Ancients where you pay a to activate and remove 0 counters from permenants you control to give target creature -0/-0. The ability still resolves as normal even though nothing 'happens'. Gisa of course does have something happen from this targeting though.
So ideally you play U-Saga turn 1-2, ramp on turn 2-3, get Hex Parasite and cast Gisa on turn 4, and by turn 5 have Gisa, HP, and 8 zombie tokens for the price of 8 life.
All that said, I think Victory Chimes is the best Gisa trigger in the deck since you don't hurt yourself using it and it has no mana cost to activate AND you can use it on every single player's turn. It's just harder to get out due to cmc and not tutorable with U-Saga
jawz on GU Geralf's 13
1 hour ago
Took me too long to realize how March of Swirling Mist helps the deck.
If you have the Triskaidekaphile and The Pride of Hull Clade out with 5 mana (3 blue) ready. And you can get the Pride through for damage untouched (maybe with Escape Tunnel). You can arrange to draw 15 cards from the Pride's ability. Then if you have that last blue mana ready and a March in hand, you can at instant speed probably find a few blue cards in hand to dump to get down to the 13 card hand and the Trisk's auto-win ability.
So I'm putting a couple Marches in.
Grockle1004 on Green Oona
2 hours ago
Just a fun casual deck I like to play.
Utopia sprawl, nykthos + kioras follower, prophet of kruphix, retreat to coralhelm = big mana; empty into oona means lots of mill and faeries
Tatyova and soul of harvest for card draw
Fable of wolf and owl/ embodiment of spring are just nostalgic cards for me
Coward_Token on Loot has a little bit …
2 hours ago
I would feel more proud of this being the site's #1 Loot deck if the competition didn't consist of one and a half person.
markbeloit on Card creation challenge
3 hours ago
Aether Converter
Artifact
Whenever a nontoken artifact or enchantment enters the battlefield under your control, untap Aether Converter and add .
,: Create a Shard token. (It's an enchantment with ", Sacrifice this enchantment: Scry 1, then draw a card.")
Wild.
Profet93 on Gisa: So Undead It’s Criminal
5 hours ago
"Use Urza's Saga to tutor for Hex Parasite firstly, as it allows you to pay 2 life to activate Gisa on every turn" - Can you explain how specifically that works? Santiago1011
9-lives on Void Shatter's Thousand Virulent Cuts
6 hours ago
FormOverFunction i'm not quite grasping what you're saying. Can you explain?
lhetrick13 on Hakbal's Explorers
6 hours ago
king-saproling - Thanks for the upvote. I can attest from my play-testing that this deck hits surprisingly hard. Explore is an odd mechanic but it found a home with Hakbal of the Surging Soul!
Durahan-Brewer on Dimir Ninja Fae (Modern)
6 hours ago
Brother, I appreciate the support of the clan.
Oona's Blackguard is a solid card, particularly when played with Bitterblossom or a Rogue-engine. Paired with Ninjas it does lose some of its spice. Oona Blackguard wants to remain on the field, as do the Creatures you +1/+1 for player damage + handrips. Unfortunately both Oona + Ninjas require player damage for proc, leading to only ever getting 1/2 value. Ninja value EtB (Enter the battlefield) effects, since they get to use them more than once.
If no EtB, cards proc'ing on attack like Dreadhorde Arcanist have an ideal setup for Ninjas, getting an /attack/ + /player combat damage/ value.
DoctorMunchiesPHD on Marwyn Elfs
7 hours ago
VestigeOfHope ooh good call, cheaper on the wallet too. I'll make the alteration later today.
Balaam__ on Jund Dregde Reanimator
7 hours ago
Reanimator is in the hubs sub menu, I’d tag this so it will be visible to those specifically searching for something like it. Well put together, +1
rckclimber777 on Build a Deck with Me …
7 hours ago
First a quick introduction. I've been playing magic off and on for years. When this site first started out, I was super active and then I stopped playing. I recently got back into it and plunged deep into the Commander format. I love building decks around interesting concepts and often trying to break cards.
My slightly ambitious goal is to create a series of threads that show my thought process as I build a commander deck. I figure it will serve two purposes: First, it will aid newer players who have some precon decks and perhaps are looking to upgrade them or they see a commander and want to build it, but aren't sure how. The second is purely self-motivated in that more experienced players can fine tune my own logic and make suggestions for my own improvement.
So with that, the first commander deck I'm going to build here is Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds. This is a card that begs to be broken and creates for interesting and powerful decks. There are also several different lines you can choose to go with. You can make it go infinite if you like degeneracy or don't like the people in your playgroup, or you can decide to go the way of building lots of tokens quickly and then turning them sideways and swinging. (Spoiler alert we are going infinite)
So first things first, we need to think about what the commander actually does and what it is going to need to do that effectively. First, it allows all nontoken creatures to tap and create tokens that I control that entered the battlefield this turn. So a couple things to point out: First is that it is tokens not creature tokens specifically, so treasures, clues, food, etc. are fair game. Secondly, it doesn't have to be my turn that the tokens came in, you can activate the ability at instant speed if you create a token on your opponent's turn. Now Ghired also is only 3 mana in Naya colors with Haste which means he's going to come down early in the game, so we'll want some other creatures out there when he comes down to start building up tokens right away.
With his abilities in mind, there are a couple things that we want to think about: Cards that create tokens, cards that double tokens, cards that untap things, and cards that do interesting things when they're tapped, example Wylie Duke, Atiin Hero, who comes down early as well, and when she is tapped I gain life and draw a card. We will obviously need to consider interaction, ramp, and card draw, but those are secondary in my thoughts. Every deck needs those, but what items you add often depends on what your deck is trying to do. In this case, we want to make tokens, tap creatures, make more tokens.
Token Generators
So a couple really good token generators here to start would be things that keep making them rather than one offs. In my playtesting Oltec Matterweaver is hard to beat. It comes in early (turn 2 if you can get a sol ring). When you cast a creature spell you can copy a target artifact or bring out a 1/1 gnome. Turn 1 you play a plains and a sol ring. Turn 2 you bring this out, turn 3 you bring out Ghired, creating a copy of sol ring, tap your Oltec Matterweaver and create another sol ring. You now have 3 sol rings on the field on turn 3... You are now the archenemy, congrats?
Some other standouts are Emmara, Soul of the Accord who when tapped creates a 1/1 soldier with lifelink. So tapping will actually create two tokens. Thousand Moons Smithy Flip is another beast of a card. It comes down turn 4, Ghired is already out along with any other low cost creatures. Let's say you have a Birds of Paradise and Ghired when this comes down and maybe a mana rock. You create a 5/5 Gnome (2 creatures, 2 artifacts, and the gnome itself). Now you tap the bird and Ghired and create two more Gnomes. You now have 3 7/7s, on turn 4...
Honorable mentions here are things like Smothering Tithe who will create treasures each opponent's turn, tap a creature and create another. Rain of Riches, create some treasures, copy them cast something and get cascade.
Also, populate is a thing, I like Growing Ranks and Nesting Dovehawk for that.
Doublers
Ok, so doublers is a pretty easy topic, there are quite a few out there, they are expensive and honestly for this deck you don't need much. I chose a couple that I particularly like for this and by like I mean I own them and didn't have to go out and spend $50-60. Examples are Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation Flip, Mondrak, Glory Dominus, Primal Vigor (careful as this one applies to everyone not just you).
Untapping Abilities
Untapping abilites can make it even worse as time goes on. If you have a Seedborn Muse you untap each upkeep so they draw a card, Smothering Tithe creates a treasure, during their end step you tap your creatures creating more treasures. Untap on the next opponent's untap step, rinse and repeat.
This is also where infinite combos begin to happen. Sunstrike Legionnaire untaps everytime a creature enters the battlefield. Make a creature token, tap sunstrike legionnaire, create another creature token, sunstrike legionnaire untaps, rinse and repeat, gg. Midnight Guard works too for one more mana. Other options include making copies of your own creatures that untap creatures when they enter the battlefield like Hyrax Tower Scout, Zealous Conscripts, Sparring Mummy. Mix that with notable salty cards like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Molten Duplication, Splinter Twin, Jaxis, the Troublemaker and you're off to infinite again. (Jaxis uses his ability targeting sparring mummy, sparring mummy comes in untaps him, now Jaxis just taps to make a copy of the sparring mummy token (from Ghired) which has haste, it comes in untaps Jaxis, rinse and repeat, swing with a legion of sparring mummies)
Cards that do cool things when tapped aren't super plentiful, but the two I've mentioned already are great for this deck. (Wylie and Emmara).
Interaction, ramp, card draw
Now for the ramp, interaction, and card draw. Ramp is fairly straightforward, since we have the Oltec Matterweaver, I opted to put in some signets, but left some other stones out. Normally when I'm in green I go heavy on green ramp. I opted for cheap ramp spells like Rampant Growth, Farseek, Three Visits and Birds of Paradise (could maybe use more mana dorks since having a body later will help in producing larger tokens).
Interaction is super important in this one. Board wipes are coming, targeted removal is coming, so need to prepare, but we also need to be flexible in taking out our opponents. So to save us from board wipes, we have Heroic Intervention, the ubiquitous and hopefully soon to be reprinted (one can dream) Teferi's Protection, Boros Charm, and Smuggler's Surprise (which is heroic intervention in disguise).
Getting rid of threats is crucial, so Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares are useful, but not as useful as Beast Within, Generous Gift, and Stroke of Midnight. These obviously target more than just creatures, but also produce tokens. There are situations where a well-timed beast within on your own treasure token to create a 3/3 beast that you can copy a bunch of times is the right play. That make it not just removal, but also a token generator.
Finally, we come to card draw. Since we are producing tokens (hopefully most turns) we can include things like Bennie Bracks, Zoologist and Idol of Oblivion. I also like Welcoming Vampire for this deck. It is creature heavy so Guardian Project is great, so is Beast Whisperer and Garruk's Uprising. Esper Sentinel is always good. We already have Wylie from earlier. Getting card draw is vital to the survival of any deck and particularly this one as we need to be producing tokens regularly and you need cards to produce them. I chose to run about 11 card draw engines in the deck to ensure I'm drawing regularly.
Lands... I mean... make sure you have dual lands in the deck and triomes if you can. One noteworthy utility land is Grove of the Guardian which can have a nice payoff when you create an 8/8 with a few creatures out along with Ghired.
I'll post the deck that I built from this thought process on my page in case you want to see the final product. And if you made it this far thanks for joining me on this, I hope it was helpful. Feel free to comment on how you would do it differently or cards that should have been mentioned. Also feel free to mention commanders you want to see built. I have a couple in mind to start but want to see suggestions as well.
FormOverFunction on Void Shatter's Thousand Virulent Cuts
8 hours ago
That’s a tough call, though. There should probably be a name for this, but you’re going to run the risk of replacing parts in/on the car with cool add-ons to the point where ceases being a car and can’t run any longer lol
Wirmy on The Nine
8 hours ago
I’m loving what you have got going so far! I suggest considering these cards for your deck: Darkblast, for mill purposes primarily, but it can always help clear the field of any 1/1 chaff or give you an unexpected edge in a fight; Stinkweed Imp, this is primarily a defensive card, but it’s got a very useful Dredge 5 mechanic. Cauldron's Gift, since you are monoblack; Millikin, to help you cast Ringwraiths; Corpse Churn; Mesmeric Orb, this card is certainly too expensive to really be an option but I saw it and thought I’d mention it.
austintayshus on Card creation challenge
9 hours ago
Bant Epiphany
Choose one or more:
-
Draw two cards.
-
Put target attacking or blocking creature on the bottom of it's owners library.
-
Put target spell on top of it's owners library.
-
Destroy target artifct or enchantment.
-
Each player shuffles their graveyard into their library.
Based on Sublime Epiphany.
I think 5 is the highest number of choices ever printed on any modal card like this. Can't fit much more than that on a card.
Challenge: Make an artifact that makes enchantment tokens.
Protomantis on Official missing/incorrect card/token thread
9 hours ago
Hi, both Bucolic Ranch and Goliath Truck are being listed as Creatures in the decklist instead of Land and Artifact respectively.
seshiro_of_the_orochi on Card creation challenge
9 hours ago
Mechtitan Emergency Call
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, search your hand, library and/or graveyard for six vehicle cards with different names and exile them, then shuffle.
Create Mechtitan, a legendary 10/10 Construct artifact creature token with flying, vigilance, trample, lifelink, and haste that’s all colors. When that token leaves the battlefield, shuffle all cards exiled with this spell into your library.
Create an MV6 instant that draws two cards as part of its effect.
Kornjunky on Comedy Club
10 hours ago
Chopping block but already bought: Cartouche of zeal, demonic vigor
TypicalTimmy on Card creation challenge
10 hours ago
Basically just Emrakul rending worlds apart again as she does.
Let's see another card that makes a legendary token.
9-lives on Void Shatter's Thousand Virulent Cuts
11 hours ago
Thanks, FormOverFunction! I love cipher cards in this deck! I'm going to have to make room for it, though.
FormOverFunction on Void Shatter's Thousand Virulent Cuts
11 hours ago
It’s an odd effect, but Last Thoughts might be a cypher answer to card draw. Cypher doesn’t get a lot of play, but if getting attacks through isn’t a problem, and you can protect the creature it’s on, maybe it’s worth considering.
9-lives on Void Shatter's Thousand Virulent Cuts
12 hours ago
Thanks a bunch, RiotRunner789! Very useful advice! I'm keeping Graceful Adept so that if it ever happens, I can make it use Prosthetic Injector. But Library of Leng doesn't affect the hand size does it? Like, what happens if I have more than 7 cards and skip my discard phase? Admiral's Order is great! Same with Dissipate and Unwind! However, I do enjoy cards that tie up mana the most. It's a win-win because if they choose not to pay the cost, they end up losing their card. And, if they can't that's also good. Not just that, but also if they do pay the cost, it makes it to where they can't spend much mana on anything else.
Made_Compleat on Card creation challenge
13 hours ago
Chatterfang and Kibo
Legendary Creature - Squirrel Ape
Whenever one or more tokens would enter the battlefield under your control, create that many tokens plus a colorless artifact token named Banana with ", Sacrifice this artifact: add or and you gain two life" instead.
, : Sacrifice any number of artifacts or creatures you control. Create twice that many 1/1 Squirrel tokens at the beginning of the next end step.
3/4
Clearly something has forced these two superpowers to unite. Probably Emrakul, because of the Emrakul vs. 15 squirrels meme. Create a card representing Emrakul's influence that forced Chatterfang and Kibo to unite.
griffstick on Restrictions to make commanders interesting?
14 hours ago
What 77hi77 said about Inalla, Archmage Ritualist in his third paragraph about building that deck as mono blue reminded me of the deck I wanted to build but never did. A mono black vampire deck using Edgar Markov as the cmdr. Being mono black allows the devotion strategy to come into play (Gray Merchant of Asphodel) and cards that care about swamps too. Cards like Crypt Ghast and Cabal Coffers, to cards like Nightmare Lash and Dread Presence. Build this and you'll truly have a unique deck that still competes. And to top it off, you can use Torment of Hailfire as a finisher, if you like, because mono black has big ramp.
Elhoggerino on Blood Blatter Beast of Bhaal
14 hours ago
Also 38 lands with a curve like that? Dude you can afford a couple less.
Elhoggerino on Blood Blatter Beast of Bhaal
14 hours ago
I also don't really understand Fog or Spore Frog but I know you like politics so maybe they'll be fun in order to get favours from people. Loads of card draw which is nice but again I can see you running out of creatures to sac for Village Rites and Deadly Dispute type cards. You generally need to draw cards while behind and while behind you might be suffering from graveyard hate agaist your skeletons or other effects - just something to consider. Also Damnation might be something to consider switching for a different boardwioe if you are gonna put some regenerate creatures in (Toxic Deluge turns off regenerate aswell - but it's such a good card it's probably worth it)
In terms of cuts to make to make space for more dummies, Shadow in the Warp doesn't really fit much in the deck - you have so many cheap creatures that you'll probably be casting more than one a turn and it will rarely help that much - and the 2 damage is pretty insignificant compared to your other effects. I would favour Llanowar Elves type cards over Fertile Ground as again, creatures are what you want and they give you the oppurtunity to sac them if you need.
Some good cards to consider:
Victimize - brings back your Sakura-Tribe Elder type cards and is a sac outlet at the same time
Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger - just great value aswell as triggering Bhaal. A good reanimator target aswell.
Recurring Nightmares - Reanimator + sac outlet + it doesn't die? This card's great.
Dread Wanderer? Not the best but helps you out in a pinch if you have a Village Rites and nothing else
Nether Traitor - I don't know why this isn't in there already
magwaaf on Super Stompy!
15 hours ago
Turns out I was wrong I. The long run lol. They made enough cards for Coco to be good enough
Elhoggerino on Blood Blatter Beast of Bhaal
15 hours ago
Hey man, Looks cool. A couple cards I'm not a huge fan of here, like Smothering Abomination and Greater Good. Abomination is slow and because you're not running a token deck you will often have to sac creatures you dont want to as it's not a may sac. Greater good I'm not really understanding as you have very few creatures with greater than 3 power - it will rarely actually net you cards. A more general criticism is the number of creatures. You have 26/100 creatures and only 4 that come back when you kill them. Maybe consider more regenerate creatures like Mortivore or something like Bloodghast that will come back without you needing mana open. Also you're such a creature focused deck and I can see you running out quickly (part of the reason I don't like Smothering Abomination).
MagicMizz on Queen's Ultraviolence
15 hours ago
Also, Kardur, Doomscourge is essentially Disrupt Decorum attached to a creature so it might help your "too little creatures" problem a bit
MagicMizz on Queen's Ultraviolence
16 hours ago
Love this deck, I have a similar one. Inkshield and Descent into Avernus are both cool cards that can really change the game in your favor.
VestigeOfHope on Marwyn Elfs
16 hours ago
With Marwyn as your commander, you'll want to be careful with shroud (looking at Eladamri, Lord of Leaves). Shroud affects both you and your opponents. Therefore, Marwyn can't become the target of "Untap target creature" when Eladamri is out on the field. Personally, I like Asceticism for protection.
DatShepTho on Jodah and buds
17 hours ago
How well does it run with 34 lands and 15 ramp pieces? I feel like it's a few lands short?
wallisface on gond gate and black gate …
18 hours ago
Most gates have a replacement effect on themselves that says they enter the battlefield tapped. On those Gates, you can choose to have them enter the battlefield tapped or untapped, by ordering replacement effects.
In the case of The Black Gate, you can have it enter untapped even if you don't pay the 3 life. You may also pay that 3 life if you still want to (for example, if you're trying to grow a Death's Shadow)
Last_Laugh on Dopplegangbangers - Historic Flash Convoke …
20 hours ago
36hammond Well shit, that applies to Roaming Throne too. I've cut both in the actual deck but need to update this list when I get a minute. Thanks for letting me know.
MMellowMiq on No button to add alters?
20 hours ago
Is this thing still on? :L
I'm looking to add custom proxy versions of cards I made for my favorite commander/EDH deck, any possibility I could gain access to altars? Thanks!
seshiro_of_the_orochi on Card creation challenge
21 hours ago
Queza's Thoughtbender
Creature - Cephalid Warlock
Ward - Mill three cards.
Other cephalids you control have "Ward - Mill three cards".
Whenever an opponent mills one or more cards, you may exile up to one of them.
You may cast cards exiled with ~ if that card's owner has been dealt damage this turn by a cephalid you control.
3/4
Create a legendary creature card depicting a team-up of Chatterfang, Squirrel General and Kibo, Uktabi Prince.
Bwamp on gond gate and black gate …
21 hours ago
do I still need to pay 3 life for black gate to come in untapped?
Formless0209 on Queen Marchesa: War Profiteering
22 hours ago
Love this deck! Marchesa was my first Commander.
