Combos Browse all Suggest
Legality
Format | Legality |
1v1 Commander | Legal |
Archenemy | Legal |
Block Constructed | Legal |
Canadian Highlander | Legal |
Casual | Legal |
Commander / EDH | Legal |
Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
Custom | Legal |
Duel Commander | Legal |
Highlander | Legal |
Legacy | Legal |
Leviathan | Legal |
Limited | Legal |
Modern | Legal |
Modern Beyond Horizons | Legal |
Oathbreaker | Legal |
Pauper | Legal |
Pauper Duel Commander | Legal |
Pauper EDH | Legal |
Planar Constructed | Legal |
Planechase | Legal |
Quest Magic | Legal |
Tiny Leaders | Legal |
Vanguard | Legal |
Vintage | Legal |
Agony Warp
Instant
Target creature gets -3/-0 until end of turn.
Target creature gets -0/-3 until end of turn.
Allan-Chefa- on Persistent Control
2 years ago
I tested the deck and won a few games but lost most. The games were against decks from the current meta. "Back to the lab" Ponder and Brainstorm were great cards with Persistent Petitioners and Fetchlands so I increased it from 6 to 8. Arms of Hadar is strong i increased it from 2 to 3. Dramatic Reversal, Agony Warp and Echoing Decay were dead or weak cards in all games removed. Chainer's Edict will remain in the deck but as Persistent Petitioners is 1/3 a creature was always sacrificed that didn't bother me... maybe Snuff Out goes well in this deck. I need tips on the mana curve and side, thanks.
DemonDragonJ on Help Me Reduce My Decks …
4 years ago
I have ten “normal” decks (i.e., decks that are not EDH decks), one for each two-color combination, but, most of those decks, I built when I was new to this game (occasionally modifying them as newer cards were released), so some of them have more than 60 cards, the number that has been accepted as the ideal number of cards for a deck.
Therefore, I am seeking advice for how I can reduce my decks to 60 cards, so that they are ideal for this game.
The first deck is Scourge of Pestilence, a black/green deck whose primary theme is using the graveyard as a resource, but also with a token subtheme. I already removed two copies of Nature's Claim (rendered unnecessary by four copies of Assassin's Trophy) and two copies of Skullbriar, the Walking Grave which did not contribute to the overall theme of the deck, which has reduced the deck to 66 cards, so I still need to remove six more cards. I will definitely remove two lands, since I feel that 28 lands will be sufficient for a 60-card deck, but that shall still leave four more cards that need to be removed. I am currently contemplating removing two copies each of Deathrite Shaman and Vulturous Zombie, since the deck currently has four of each of those cards.
The next deck is Devouring Darkness, a black/blue deck with the theme of destroying an opponent’s library before they have a chance to cast their spells. I have already removed four copies of Agony Warp, which is a great card, but does not fit the theme of the deck, so the deck currently has 66 cards. I have noticed that some cards in this deck put cards into the opponents’ graveyard, while other cards exile cards, two strategies that work against each other. However, Consuming Aberration and Oona, Queen of the Fae are both too awesome to remove, despite their abilities working against each other. Circu, Dimir Lobotomist is nice, but is rather expensive for a 2/3 creature, plus, there is no guarantee that a player shall have multiple copies of a card in their deck, reducing his usefulness. The creature that contributes least to this deck’s theme is actually Baleful Strix, but that card is so amazing that I would prefer to not remove it, unless there is no other option. As with my previous deck, I shall remove two lands from this deck, to reduce it to 28 lands, which shall leave four more cards that need to be removed.
I do have several more decks with more than 60 cards, but I would like to work on these decks, first, before I work on any other decks.
What does everyone else say about this? What cards should I remove from my decks to reduce them to 60 cards each? I will greatly appreciate any feedback that anyone here has to offer.
Tzefick on Ability challenge
5 years ago
Yea, sorry about that one. I have had busy weeks and limited access to this PC where I had the suggestion written up. I loathe TappedOut's text formatting and small comment typer, so I usually write in Notepad and copy over for larger amounts of text.
For the kicks of it I'll post my response to the Divine suggestion and my raw draft on Collide that I had written up but not reevaluated before posting.
'
Divine Feedback Show
Old challenge: Collide Show
I'll need some time to think about Nobility.
sakuraPLAN on Cardcaptor Sakura Flavour Deck
5 years ago
Here is why I have chosen these cards: Child of Alara - This is my Commander - This is Sakura. Alara reads "When Child of Alara is put into a graveyard from play, destroy all nonland permanents. They can't be regenerated. Now we all know how much it sucks to have to worry about the threat of a board wipe being on the field - so I have chosen to put 1 restriction on Alara. In the series during The Final Judgement, Sakura essentially has her memories wiped and life as she knows it as a Cardcaptor never existed. This only ever happens to Sakura ONCE. For this reason, I am putting a restriciton on her, that I can only choose for her to go to the Graveyward ONCE per game. This means timing of this is crucial. Other reasons for why I have chosen Alara and the Commander: - She is a Child, like Sakura was when she encountered the cards - You will need recursion as a key element in your deck building to ensure you can continue to use Alara. Sakura always has access to her cards, so having the ability to pull things back from the grave fits in perfectly with that aspect.
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow - This is Shadow. Has shadow in the name as well as gives you the ability to draw a card and have your opponents lose life based on its CMC
Voice of All - Voice. The cards title is the essence of what the Voice Card does.
Tishana, Voice of Thunder - Thunder(1). I chose this card 1) because it has Thunder in the name but also because the artwork is of Tishana who is controlling the 'thunder' (but is actually water) Tishana would be Sakura. This card allows you to have no max hand size - which isnt an essential element to this deck but again- access to all cards. She allows you to draw a card and her 'Thunder' is as strong as you can make it. Just as it would be is CCS.
Thunderbolt - Thunder(2). Some cards are too hard to not have in when they fit so perfectly with a CCS card. This card speaks for itself as to why I would choose it as Thunder
Soul Manipulation - Illusion(1) My first thoughts when i though about Illusion as a MTG was making something appear as something it isn't - Like a Morph card. Another thought I had, which i feel fits more correctly with CCS is that Illusion would appear in the disguse of what that person feels. Manipulating the space in front of them so see something else. This just lead me on key word search for Manipulation and this seemed to be a reasonable result. Also allows for graveyard recursion.
Illusionary Servant Illusion(2). Has Illusion in the name. Is essentially just another creature.
Maze of Shadows Maze. Has maze in the name and allows for a 'Fog' on target creature.
Etali, Primal Storm Storm. Has storm in the name, is a big creature. Storm is an aggressive Card. Etali, feels just that. In the series Saoryan became the first Cardcaptor to control Storm, essentially taking the card away from Sakura. So, Etali, Primal Storm, will take others cards away from them.
Mirror Mockery Mirror. Mirror had always been used to make a copy of Sakura (until Clear Card) but Mirror was never the real Sakura. So I searched for something that would create of copy of a creature that wouldnt become a permanent. Essentially this would need to be used on a card with an ETB trigger or with Haste.
Blood Mist Mist (1). Has mist in the name. Originally i was thinking of a creature that had deathtouch as everything Mist touches gets destroyed. Instead I went with a card that has Mist in the name and allows for Double Strike.
Dread Return Return. I know from the start that any of the Time element related CCS Cards would have be graveyard related. I felt this was the best of my options and has Return in the card name.
Dragon-Style Twins Twin. CCS Twin Card are 2 twins who fight in unison. This creature has Twin in the Title, The art is of twins about to engage in combat and has Double Strike.
Valley Dasher Dash. Dash is a super fast card that panics when scared or flees. Valley Dasher has Haste and has to attack each turn if able. I think that is a pretty close similarity in the fact that this card is "always on the go"
Sandcrafter Mage Sand. Art work is of a Mage casting Sand Magic. That alone fits in the CCS.
Carpet of Flowers Flower. Im not gonna lie originally i was going to go with Flower / Flourish simply because the card is called Flower however, Carpet of Flowers allows for colouring fixing if used against an island deck. An essential element in a 5 colour deck.
Pit Fight Fight. I always knew what style of card I wanted for Fight. This seemed like a reasonable option.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest Silent. Has silent in the name. In the art Shu Yun is in a temple. A quiet place. Just like the museum was in the series. This card has the ability to allow additional damage.
Snowhorn Rider Snow. Besides from running One snow covered land. This seemed like the next best option.
Agony Warp Little. There are no LEGAL cards with little in their name. The little card is known for making things smaller. Whilst my BIG card does not currently do this in reverse. I felt Agony Warp was a good alternative.
Wall of Wood Wood. A gentle card that does essentially nothing but defend. My RAIN card was originally going to be a card that allows walls to attack as if they have no defender but I am not running enough walls in this deck for it to be worth while. instead I went with once that could be used with Wall of Wood being on the field or any other card.
Angelic Shield Shield. Makes your creatures tougher- giving them more protection. Allows for Graveyard recursion.
Ashiok, Dream Render Dream. Has dream in the name. Looks somewhat similar to the CCS Dream Card Art. Allows for Graveyard control.
Drana's Emissary Sweet. There are NO CARDS with Sweet in their titles. Sweet only appears in flavour text. Out of all the options. This seems the most beneficial.
Goldenglow Moth Glow. Only card with glow in its name. it is similar to CCS Glow Card and allows for life gain. A gentle card that is really - Just a 'pretty' card just like in CCS.
Spirit Loop Loop. Has loop in the name. Allows for life gain and the card itself, essentially in undying... just like a loop.
Luminescent Rain Rain. The only card with Rain in its title that seemed some what in resemblance to the CCS Card and could still work with WOOD.
Avenger of Zendikar Create. Create is a card that creates creatures. Avenger seemed to be a good fit. Avenger being the book and the plant tokens being the creatures that Create makes. This card will be changed out for Deep Forest Hermit(UNRELEASED) which creates squirrels and works with your graveyard.
Sword of the Animist Sword. Allows you to attached a sword to target creature and allows for ramping.
Archangel's Light Light. Originally I wanted a card that was similar to Dark- just like in the series. It was hard to find any that that worked that included the words light and dark. There is the potential that the 2 cards could become One single card in future, as in the series the 2 cards must always be used in unison. This card has light in the name and has graveyard recursion.
Erase Erase. REMOVAL. No further explanation needed.
Floating Shield - Float. Has float in the name. Allows you to choose WHITE as the protection colour without it being removed from enchanted creature.
Pathway Arrows Arrow. We never for to see much about how Arrow works as a card when being controlled. But we do know that it shoots arrows. So, this card has Arrow in the name, the artwork is of a bow and arrow and is an equipment allowing equipped creature to tap to deal a damage to another creature - almost as if it were shooting an arrow.
Ragamander on Blue/Black
5 years ago
The first thing I'll say is that with 21 lands, you probably can't expect to get the mana to launch Army of the Damned or a really powerful Mind Grind or Torment of Hailfire. Well, at least without Organ Harvest, of which you're only sporting one copy. (If you don't play with teammates, or if you don't play with silver-bordered cards, you might replace it with Culling the Weak.) For reference, the math on Army of the Damned is that about 1/3 of your cards are lands = 8/24, meaning you need to survive to turn 17-18 (have seen a total of 24 cards between your opening hand and your draws each turn) to hit that 8th land. That’s a long time in a Magic game.
Second, Mind Grind, while fun, is questionable here, since none of your other cards will mill your opponent. Many people play with 4 copies of many of their cards, so milling them might not cut them off from their game plan unless you mill them so much they might die. And for that, you would need more support for the mill plan or a LOT more mana. (This is possible, but a big change. Look for cards like Glimpse the Unthinkable and Mind Funeral. Otherwise, I'd cut it for cards that affect board-state or life-totals.)
Third, your overall game plan appears to be to stall in the early game for more powerful plays late, since your low cost cards are generally defensive. This means you'll want more lands in your deck so that you don't stumble on your way to those big plays. I'd remove Coral Atoll and put in four Dimir Aqueducts. It's not the ideal play, but it's cheap and there's a lot of upside if your opponent doesn't Ghost Quarter it or something. Anyways, that will take you up to 24 lands AND increase your average mana output a little more, letting you rely on 4CMC, 5CMC, and 6CMC plays to dominate the game.
Finally, on to individual cards:
Kraken Hatchling, Mausoleum Wanderer, Pharika's Chosen, and Will-o'-the-Wisp are all fine defensive one-drops, but they all do something a little different. Thornbow Archer is a little more aggressive than the rest of your deck wants, so maybe drop it and pick your favorite of those first four and add a second.
Fogwalker is okay on defense, though it's not the best two-drop out there. I'm not a fan of Olivia's Dragon, especially outside of madness/reanimator decks. Rancid Rats just doesn't offer enough oomph for the mana (skulk is not typically a very useful ability). Graf Rats is bad unless you have Midnight Scavengers, so it's really about how much you personally want to meld them. Ultimately, I'd rather replace them with better blockers like Wall of Tears, Wall of Souls, Contraband Kingpin, Dragon's Eye Savants, Gifted Aetherborn, or the absolute top-tier Baleful Strix. Other value options include Omenspeaker, Sigiled Starfish, and Augur of Bolas. Other fun options here are Surge Mare, Riptide Mangler, Lazav, the Multifarious, Fathom Feeder, and Ludevic's Test Subject Flip. Choose your favorites. Alternately, spot-removal like Doom Blade, Victim of Night, Cast Down, Go for the Throat, and sometimes Dimir Charm are pretty effective.
Wharf Infiltrator can be good sometimes. You can leave it in for fun or replace it.
Eternal Scourge has its uses, but I don't think this deck is optimized for it. Ideally you'd want a few things that can exile it from graveyard or hand, such as Gurmag Angler, Soulflayer, Tombstalker, Scavenging Ooze, Grim Lavamancer), Azor's Gateway Flip (from hand), or the most hilarious option, Serum Powder. As it stands, it's just difficult to kill outside of combat, like a bad shroud or hexproof. Honestly, I don't think you need a 3/3 to be immune to removal. Replace with a finisher, which I'll discuss in a bit. Alternately, one of my favorite defensive 3CMC creatures is Graveblade Marauder, since its offensive capabilities can rapidly increase.
Markov Crusader isn't actually very good even in the rare case when you do have another vampire, and you only have one other one. Compare to 4CMC utility wunderkind Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, 5CMC finishers (like Archfiend of Depravity, Glyph Keeper, Ob Nixilis, the Fallen, Vengeful Pharaoh, and maybe even Serra Sphinx), and 6CMC game-winners (like Noxious Gearhulk, Dread, Kokusho, the Evening Star, Wurmcoil Engine, Grave Titan, or even Vengeant Vampire, though that last one is much worse than the others). Sure, none do exactly what Markov Crusader does, but some are close and they all have incredible upsides. Even something like Shriekmaw might ultimately gain you more life by just killing something outright, plus it's super-flexible. Heck, Soul Ransom and Mind Control are strong cards too, at least against creature decks. Anyways, Markov Crusader is a card to replace.
Midnight Scavengers is okay, especially if you have a lot of disposable deathtouchers to bring back, but it still doesn't compare favorably to the above finishers unless you really want to meld it with Graf Rats. Remember, doing things you want to do is an important part of MTG. But if you don't care to meld, I'd look to replace it.
Ob Nixilis, Unshackled is fine. In most cases it doesn't compare favorably to the 6CMC critters above, but it has its uses. If you've got a lot of little deathtouchers (Pharika's Chosen, Typhoid Rats, Dire Fleet Poisoner, it can grow really out of hand. Also, Field of Ruin forces a library search.
Elder Deep Fiend is fine. Usually you play it in a deck that has plenty of creatures you don't mind (or are better off) sacrificing (for example, Priest of the Blood Rite, Relentless Dead, Doomed Dissenter, Stormbound Geist/Geralf's Messenger), then you emerge it early and tap down lands. That's not really your plan here, so it's probably not the best choice. Some good choices for replacements are above, but within the category of emerge creatures, I think Distended Mindbender fits your deck better.
Organ Harvest is a powerful card, but has some drawbacks. Most importantly, a lot of people don't play with or against silver-bordered cards. They're not legal in any official tournaments. Tournament legal variations are Dark Ritual, Culling the Weak, and Ashnod's Altar. Other than that, it's a card that is useless in many situations and completely changes what you're able to do when you actually can make use of it, and that can be awkward from a strategy perspective. If you don't have creatures, you can't cast it. If you don't have a big spell in your hand, you don't need to cast it and you'd rather have almost any other card. So it wants your deck to be full of disposable creatures and big spells, like an emerge deck or a zombie deck really making use of Army of the Damned and From Under the Floorboards. But for the most part that is not this deck, so unless you want to build around the card, I'd remove it, either replacing it with Dark Ritual which is always useful when drawn early, or something else that's cheap and effective: Dead Weight, Apathy, Doom Blade, Pharika's Chosen, or whatever.
Sorcerous Sight is worse than Peek and Gitaxian Probe, but I don't think any of those are particularly good in your deck. If you want to know what's in your opponent's hand, play Telepathy. Otherwise, there's better card draw: Preordain and Ponder are the best cheap spells, but it might be worth spending more mana for more effect with Sign in Blood or Chart a Course.
Cemetery Recruitment isn't particularly good with so few zombies. You can add more zombies, or switch to Ghoulcaller's Chant/Find / Finality/Recover/Disturbed Burial/Death Denied to simulate the effect, or just do card advantage the old-fashioned way, with stuff like Sign in Blood/Consult the Necrosages/Read the Bones/Notion Rain/Secrets of the Golden City. Alternately, shred your opponent's hand (and lose friends) with Hymn to Tourach or punch your opponent for cards with Shadowmage Infiltrator. If you're committed to bringing creatures back from the dead, look to Zombify, Extract from Darkness, or Isareth the Awakener, which can randomly run away with the game if your opponent doesn't have an answer. The most efficient reanimation spell is Unburial Rites, but you'd need to splash white for it to be better than the above options.
Contingency Plan doesn't actually net you any cards in hand; you just control what you are going to draw later. Since you're not very graveyard-focused, there's little benefit. The more flexible version is Dimir Charm, and the more powerful version is Lim-Dul's Vault. If you want to stack the top of your deck for 2CMC without wasting a card to do it, there's Diabolic Vision, but the 1CMC Preordain and Ponder are worthy as well. Alternately, raw card advantage is an option. Any of the options I've already listed are fine, but here are some more: Chemister's Insight, Foresee, Deep Analysis.
Mind Grind attacks on an irrelevant axis. Recommend replacing it with a finisher unless you add more mill. If you want a non-creature finisher, Ob Nixilis Reignited is pretty cool. If you just want something that can't get Murdered, there's Sphinx of Jwar Isle.
Torment of Hailfire is possibly workable if you go to 24 lands with Dimir Aqueducts. X=3 is pretty much the bare minimum, and if they have cards in hand even that might not be enough. This is a possible swap for a finisher, as above.
Army of the Damned is hard to cast at 8CMC. Recommend replacing it with a cheaper finisher unless you're all about Organ Harvest.
Apathy is pretty decent at 1CMC. Probably not as good as just casting Doom Blade/Go for the Throat to kill the thing, but definitely more interesting and fun. It can stay in, though swapping it for something more reliable is technically the correct decision.
Strange Augmentation is bad in your deck. While +3/+3 for 1CMC is fine in a very aggressive deck, that doesn't seem like your game plan. Ideally, your finishers are big enough to win without the extra P/T. If they're not, these could be replaced with kill spells to make sure they are.
Tormod's Crypt is useless unless you frequently play against graveyard-based decks. Even then, with only one in the deck, you're in bad shape. I'd swap it for Relic of Progenitus or Sentinel Totem if you really need graveyard hate. If a creature is reliable against those graveyard decks, Deadeye Tracker, Nezumi Graverobber, or Withered Wretch can do some work. Agent of Erebos is another option. If the only things you need to exile are creatures, then Cemetery Reaper, Dimir Doppelganger, and the powerful Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet are options. Otherwise, cheap kill spells, counterspells, or even more expensive exiling removal (e.g. Sever the Bloodline, Silence the Believers) are options. Phyrexian Scriptures is another card I'll mention, just 'cause it does lots of stuff.
Nevinyrral's Disk is pretty good. Go ahead and keep that in there.
Gridlock is okay, but it's basically a Darkness you can use aggressively. I think Sleep is generally better at that. Alternately, if you want a mass-defense spell, Yahenni's Expertise, Languish, and Damnation are the go-to sweepers.
Outwit is way too narrow; most decks don't target players. (The primary exceptions are burn and mill, so if you play against them a lot, it might be fine.) If you want a dollar-cost-effective counterspell in that slot, play Counterspell or MAYBE Dimir Charm for flexibility.
Turn Aside is okay, but mostly outclassed by Dive Down or Counterspell.
Murder is fine. (Card-wise, not morally!) Technically Hero's Downfall is better if you can get one.
Liliana Vess is fine, but she's a little slow. I'm not sure whether she's better or worse in this deck than Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, Ob Nixilis Reignited, Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath, or even Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. My inclination is that those are stronger as you increase the median quality of the cards in your deck (making Vess's -2 less important).
Here's one inexpensive, somewhat-boring take:
2x Glyph Keeper
1x Silumgar, the Drifting Death
1x Liliana Vess
2x Dimir Charm
2x Doom Blade
2x Agony Warp
3x Notion Rain
9x Island
9x Swamp
That's just one take on the general strategy. Ultimately, (I think) you're playing Dimir Midrange, and so you're looking for about 40% (24) lands, 30% (18) things that keep you alive until you have 4-6 mana, 20% (12) things that kill your opponent and are themselves hard to kill, and 10% (6) things that put you ahead on cards just in case you're not drawing the right part of your deck.
Neotrup on Does a creature taking damage …
6 years ago
No. A 5/5 that takes 3 damage becomes a 5/5 with 3 marked damage. Also, Legion's Judgment care's about the creatures power, not toughness. A 5/5 that get's hit with Lightning Bolt followed by Inside Out becomes a 5/5 with 3 marked damage.
An reason damage and loss of toughness is important is because if there is a Darksteel Sentinel and it get's hit with Lightning Bolt the result is a Darksteel Sentinel with 3 marked damage. If a 3Darksteel Sentinel is instead hit with the second half of Agony Warp it instead becomes a very dead 3/0 as indestructible can't save it from having no toughness.
On how cards like Inside Out work, if a 5/5 is hit with Spatial Contortion and then Inside Out, it becomes a 2/8. If instead it gets hit with Inside Out and then Spatial Contortion it still becomes a 2/8. This is because the effects are applied in layer order rather than timestamp order.
cole20112 on How to Piss Players Off On A Budget
6 years ago
Would Bile Blight or Grasp of Darkness fit the slot of Agony Warp better? Or does the fact that it does two different things to two different creatures relevant.
HurricaneZach on Angler/Delver
6 years ago
natyfaty: After testing, the second Agony Warp has been good. There have only been a few games where I missed Mana Leak but I am able to side in more counterspells in those matches. I also tried it with Doom Blade and Dead Weight but the Agony Warp seems right for now. Also, can't deny the card advantage and early game stall against creature decks that Augur of Bolas gives. Thanks!
Aeonikus: Duress has pretty much been awesome. I am thinking of making room for one more for how good it has been. However, I didn't have much success using Pestilence over the other sweepers/Echoing Decay out of the SB. Which matchups would you bring it in for over Echoing Decay, Shrivel, or Evincar's Justice? Thanks!