Acolyte of Affliction

Creature — Human Cleric

When Acolyte of Affliction enters the battlefield, put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard, then you may return a permanent card from your graveyard to your hand.

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
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (7)

Ca1m_down on BlitzKrieg

1 year ago

Hey, cool list. I think there are a couple of different ways of building Henzie and I feel like you have a couple of different ideas going on here. Here are my thoughts on the different themes you can focus on that synergize with Henzie's abilities:

Cost reduction (making big impactful creature cost as little as possible to cast multiple in a turn every turn) Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma, Nylea, Keen-Eyed, Cloud Key, The Immortal Sun, Marauding Raptor, Heartless Summoning, Krosan Drover, Goblin Anarchomancer, Semblance Anvil

"Blink" (lots of undying, persist, and plenty of "Feign Death" effects to maximize etb/dies triggers and keep the creatures after blitz) Cauldron of Souls, Conjurer's Closet, Kaya's Ghostform, Supernatural Stamina, Blood for Bones, Undying Malice, Minion's Return, Demonic Gifts, Abnormal Endurance, Unholy Indenture, Return to Action, Fake Your Own Death, Flayer of the Hatebound, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, Puppeteer Clique, Woodfall Primus, Murderous Redcap, Faceless Butcher

Value Town (maximize card advantage, keep the cards flowing, recursion, keep non-creature count low) Guardian Project, The Great Henge, Greater Good, Lifeblood Hydra, Demonlord Belzenlok, Gorex, the Tombshell, Deadwood Treefolk, Acolyte of Affliction, Evolutionary Leap

I think doing a combination of these three things is solid, but I'd recommend focusing on one and trying to keep the game plan somewhat focused. My brew leans towards Value Town.

Things in your current list that I'm a little skeptical of:

Sundial of the Infinite I think since Henzie is only giving us a small mana discount, this would just be used as a weird "your creatures have haste". I think you often want to take advantage of the "when this dies, draw" rather than 1+ mana cost reduction.

Deathreap Ritual This doesn't trigger if your creatures are dying in your end step to blitz, creatures need to die before the end step for the Ritual trigger to go on the stack. Even if that wasn't the case, I feel like it's better in decks where you're the one making sure it's triggering on each of your opponents turns. What Henzie is doing doesn't really help with doing that. I feel like Moldervine Reclamation would be similar in concept, but more synergistic once the deck is going (but I also don't think it's worth an inclusion).

Living Death How are you filling your yard? Henzie doesn't get cards into your yard very quickly. I think the is a card that fits better in decks that are doing plenty of looting and self milling. It's very likely the other graveyard players will benefit more than you when you cast this.

Most of your creatures that are less than 4 cmc don't seem like they do enough with Henzie to take a slot. I think you'd be better off if your CMC<4 mana stuff was non-creatures that ramp and/or setup for your game plan. I can understand the sac outlet ones if you're really taking advantage of the instant speed aspect, but most of the time you're having to sac end of turn anyway, so I think it'd be better to take advantage of the better payoff of the non-creature sac outlets (like Evo Leap, Vampiric Rites, the various Altars, Greater Good, etc.) As far as mana dorks, I feel like 2 mana ramp spells will help more in the long run. I don't think Henzie is powerful enough of a turn 2 play to risk losing mana sources to pings and/or wraths.

All that being said, it's great seeing other peoples takes on Henzie. I've certainly gained a bunch from reading your comment on my decklist and thinking critically about yours. I'll try and keep my list updated as I play it more. It's been a blast so far. If I didn't already have a black based "blink" deck I think I'd probably lean Henzie towards that strat. :)

Xenaphix02 on Sidisi's Brood of Tyrants EDH

2 years ago

I'd cut all the signets/mana rocks since you're trying to have a critical mass of creatures. I would also suggest you run cheap dorks like Birds of Paradise and Elves of Deep Shadow. + I'd also cut Cauldron of Eternity, I just don't like the shuffle effect. As for just straight cuts, Villainous Wealth is kind of useless here. It doesn't synergize, and it takes forever to get a decent rate, or you might just whiff and hit nothing. God-Eternal Bontu seems risky as you might find it hard to sacrifice anything if you aren't doing well on the board. Mikaeus is kind of a weird pick without Triskelion, as without the combo he kind of just sits there and is just an 'ok' reanimator target. You might also want to cut Crypt of Agadeem as you already have a pretty efficient mana base and crypt's activated ability won't always be useful. Going down to 33 lands (counting the mdfc) likely won't hurt. Tasigur is also a weird fit here since his ability is best when you have less cards in your graveyard (I am referring to both his delve and his activated ability), so it's a slight 'non-bo'. Acolyte of Affliction just looks silly compared to the other mill pieces in the deck.

Some cards that I might cut but I think are ultimately up to your preference (moreso than my other suggestions) are Whisper, Skull Prophet, and Stitch together. Gitrog monster also has the problem of royally screwing over your mana base every once in a while. I would also stop consider Blightsteel Colossus as you can't reanimate it.

Sorry if this long comment is intimidating, I just think this is a pretty cool list and I wanna see it's final form.

I_Want_To_PlayAllTheDecks on $5 Graveyard Shenanigans

3 years ago

Sorry for all the comments, but would Unearth also be good if Splinterfright was added? What about Call of the Death-Dweller? And last but probably not least, what about Boneyard Mycodrax or Acolyte of Affliction?

any_response on Sultai Yisan, the Wanderer Bard

3 years ago

Hello swarm intelligence,

I am working on a deck idea i had some weeks ago, a sultai deck using ETBs to control the board using cards like Sidisi's Faithful, Silumgar Sorcerer, Frilled Mystic, Acolyte of Affliction or Reclamation Sage together with Escape Protocol in a cycling shell.

The commander of the deck will be Tasigur, the Golden Fang.

As i have many different ETBs and i want to get as many of them as possible onto the battlefield, i want to include Yisan, the Wanderer Bard, also to be able to use them all at instant speed.

I know this deck will not be played at a competitive level, but i would like to include 1-2 combo lines with Yisan. As i have Tasigur, the Golden Fang, any infitite coloured mana combo would suffice (at least for a win at sorcery speed), one thought of mine was Peregrine Drake and Deadeye Navigator, but i hope you have some other and unique ideas i could include. Preferably, if possible, without any effect targeting a card in a graveyard, because i would like to run Ground Seal as a control piece.

I hope you can breathe some life into this idea of mine, be as creative and convoluted as you please, i am looking forward to it!

StopShot on I want an enchantress commander …

3 years ago

I would personally run Nethroi, Apex of Death. Nethroi has lifelink which can be fun to pump up with auras, but Nethroi's reanimate ability can be seriously powerful at enchantment reanimation if you build your deck right.

Auramancer, Griffin Dreamfinder, Monk Idealist, Restoration Specialist, Trusty Retriever, Acolyte of Affliction, Golgari Findbroker, Lurrus of the Dream-Den, Eternal Witness, Felidar Guardian. These make excellent targets to recur enchantments and auras with as you could recur 4 to 5 enchantments every time Nethroi mutates.

Do keep in mind a few card draw enchantment creatures also have 0 power making them free to reanimate too. Creatures like: Argothian Enchantress, Mesa Enchantress, Verduran Enchantress, Kor Spiritdancer.

Since you're in black it should also be easy to recur creatures with cheap mutate costs such as: Vulpikeet, Migratory Greathorn, Insatiable Hemophage, Huntmaster Liger and Gemrazer.

So if you get creative with the deck building Nethroi, Apex of Death can practically be a Crystal Chimes on a stick.

Also if you run out of enchantments to recur I'd recommend running these enchantments as they're easy to both put into the graveyard and obtain value off of them which is what will make this strategy even stronger: Sinister Concoction, Seal of Primordium, Seal of Cleansing, Soul Snare, Weight of Conscience, Aura of Silence, Font of Fertility, Sterling Grove and Unbridled Growth. Sigil of the Nayan Gods and Cast Out also work if you only intend to cycle them.

triproberts12 on Hogaak Persist Combo

4 years ago

Isn't this backwards of how these leagues normally work? I thought the winner is the only one that doesn't get the budget bump, so the most powerful deck doesn't snowball.

Anyway, Mindwrack Harpy is the most pushed intro deck card I've ever seen. That's my first add.

I also like putting in more creatures with ETB effects. It's kind of awkward that you'll want to tap mana dorks for Hogaak. Glowspore Shaman, Golgari Thug, Crow of Dark Tidings, Gamekeeper, and Mire Triton can all help get Hogaak out by turn 3 if you have a good turn 1 play.

There are a lot of good gold cards in BG graeyard stuff, too: If you have anyone that's relying on indestructibility, Drown in Filth is a good budget option to feed your graveyard. If you're built around Hogaak, I'd think it should regularly be a hard removal spell with upside. Nyx Weaver is just a great card in any graveyard deck, and cheap, too. Jarad's Orders is a good double-tutor. Underrealm Lich is worth the $2, in my opinion. I would also ask yourself whether Eternal Witness is $3.50 better than Acolyte of Affliction/Golgari Findbroker/Treasured Find. Storrev, Devkarin Lich didn't get much fanfare, but the power and price tag are there.

Animist's Awakening is good value at just over $1. World Shaper and Splendid Reclamation are a little more expensive, but higher impact than other $4-5 cards I see in the list. Lower on the ramp ladder, note that Harrow and Springbloom Druid put a land in the yard. Funeral Rites isn't a bad draw spell for this deck. Same for Winding Way, Gather the Pack and Relentless Pursuit. Syphon Mind doesn't have much to do with the theme, but I start with it in most of my black value decks. Dark Deal could be very good, especially if your draw power is maximized and you can use your yard as a second hand. Greenwarden of Murasa is just a powerful card. Same for Phyrexian Delver.

Some other general budget cards for considering: Ransack the Lab, Corpse Churn, Dead Reckoning, Grapple with the Past, Hatchery Spider, Millikin, Mindwrack Demon, Once and Future, Splinterfright, The Mending of Dominaria, Skullwinder, Blood for Bones, and Vigor Mortis.

rotimislaw on Golgari Swarm - Undergrowth

4 years ago

I've just reminded myself of Gorging Vulture, Mire Triton and Acolyte of Affliction from the latest sets.