Approach of the Second Sun

Sorcery

If this spell was cast from your hand and you cast another spell named Approach of the Second Sun this game, you win the game. Otherwise, put this into its owner's library seventh from the top and you gain 7 life.

Discussion (50)

qwikster on STAX on STAX

1 week ago

Have you thought about Delay ? Since Approach of the Second Sun will be cast, then delayed, once the suspend counters are removed it's cast for the second time and you win?

Voodoo_Gremlin on Estrid's En-Stax-Ments

3 weeks ago

Thank you for all the kind words

To answer your questions:

1. I'm still on the fence about On Thin Ice . All things being equal Darksteel Mutation is probably a better piece of enchantment based removal, it doesn't trigger ETBs and it's hard to remove the creature from play so it's good to put on another players commander. Swords is also a more efficient removal. After I a have think about the cards I'd like to add from the d & d set I'll probably pop one or the other in

2. Wincon 3 is Approach of the Second Sun . I've tried to format the order of my custom categories but they're always weird. I've looked at the help section but still can get it right. Do you know how to do it?

5.i haven't had a chance to play Norn's Annex . It was added during the pandemic.  I was looking for pillowfort options that protect my Planeswalkers and its technically the same cost as Ghostly Prison and the prison doesn't help estrid & other Walkers so I thought I'd give it a go. I'm not afraid to try weird things especially if the card is $1.

GenericToaster on Looking for a wincon instant …

3 weeks ago

If you want something on theme, someone else may have to help. However, if you want a literal, "win-con only" card that happens to fit your colors, check out Approach of the Second Sun

JANKYARD_DOG on Spells that come back

3 weeks ago

Approach of the Second Sun ?

Mana_Mythic_Legendary on Pursuing Perfection, Part 6: Azorius …

4 weeks ago

Here’s something interesting: while there are over 120 mono-colored legendary creatures, there are less than fifty to each color pairing. As the pool has grown limited, we’ll need to shake up the format of these articles going forward. I’ll be grouping playstyle-linked generals where possible, but where that's not an option we’ll instead discuss generals who match the color pair’s themes overall. And today, we discuss Azorius!

Maybe you came here to build a deck build around flying. Maybe. Assuming you’re not Peter Pan, you probably came sniffing after a combination of White stax and Blue control. Maybe this is about enchantments for you. Maybe this is about blink. But in summary, this pairing has a general slant toward prevention and manipulation rather than offensive power.

White, when played defensively, comes across as a big, solid castle that central catering forgot to stock with anything but a vat of sour cream and the world’s blandest potatoes. Thick walls, but comparatively little offense or subtlety. This ties into stax in part, but also touches on themes which weren't covered in the white article: potent life-gain a la Rhox Faithmender and friends, shockingly powerful barriers such as Solitary Confinement and sweeping control of the board like the Aven Mindcensor . One of White's inherent disadvantages, however, comes to mind: besides a handful of "I win" cards like Felidar Sovereign and Near-Death Experience , white has no teeth outside the combat phase, and relatively little draw to dig for them. Test of Endurance and Celestial Convergence are made more reliable by white's fine pile of enchantment tutors, but personally I'd rather not depend on cards that give your opponents time to prevent your win.

Blue, on the other hand, isn’t so much defensive or offensive (in one sense, anyway), skipping that spectrum in preference of sidestepping problems until you can strategery your way to victory. It's great, in theory, and generally in practice. Blue, so long as we're lampooning, is a brilliant, twerpy engineer. A pest so frail they’d crumple under a breeze, so agile you’ll never tag them, and so annoying they’ll leave you begging for the clean killing blow they're too reedy to actually fetch you. The glaring problem, though, is that if an opponent can ignore a blue player's tricks and actually land a few hits, said blue player is probably screwed.

Combine them, though... Combine them, and they shore up one another's weaknesses in a big way. Combine them, and you potentially have the most solid, strategic defense in the game. Suddenly you have all the draw you could want for your Approach of the Second Sun , your Sphere of Safety will have an Enchanted Evening , and you can actually, feasibly win with Azor's Elocutors ... which will probably see you dying alone, unloved, and undoubtedly quite pleased with yourself.

For today, we're discussing Blink/Flicker, Control (again), and the Miscellaneously Themey. As always, please bear in mind that our focus here is not necessarily competitive but rather on thematic, archetypical commanders.

Blink/Flicker

ETB effects are wonderful, wonderful things. You get a body, sometimes even a good solid one like the Sun Titan and some nice, tasty effect that hopefully makes said body only the icing on a fine, fine cake. The classic example would be Palinchron : pair it with something repeatable like Deadeye Navigator and you have infinite mana. Then you can Meteor Golem the table's collective psyche straight into the nearest mental ward. Or, if you really want to emotionally cripple someone, blink their commander whenever they try to attack, attach some voltrony wincon, or... well, anything.

With White providing the protection keyword, Blue shelling out unblockable, and flying sourced from both, this pairing inarguably has the best evasion. Brago may not have the muscle to kill someone as is, but there are some great options for fixing that. Not that you need to: if you have a board of flickerhappy boyz, Brago's a great pick for commanding your blinking battalion.

Upon reading this card you may feel a great disturbance in the force, as though millions of token decks cried out in terror and were suddenly detained. Ask yourself: how many permanents cost less than 4 mana in a game? Assuming you're not playing an entire meta of leafy green lunatics, the answer is "most." This was my wife's first deck. Lavinia had herself a Conjurer's Closet , or something like, most games. I was grateful when she switched to slivers.

I like this guy. I like spirits. Rewarding the blink life with a swarm of tokens and supporting a neat mechanic with a number of good cards, Ranar's a great choice for someone who wants it all.

Control

Turtle up until you find your win, you spineless wart. Or, as Sun Tzu would say "Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack." Ghostly Prison AND Propaganda anyone? Nobody buys time like Azorius (blue extra turn shenannigans notwithstanding). The best spread of control options are tied up in these two colors, maintaining a proper hold on the battlefield to ensure you can, eventually, uninterruptedly, shamelessly legalese someone to death.

Simple. Direct. Rude. Terse? Resentful? Me? Absolutely. Do. Not. Want.

I have seen Gaddock Teeg a few times, to my discomfort. This feels like Teeg playing favorites. For someone labeled as a renegade, Lavinia certainly abides by this pairing's preference for smacking people in the kisser with a banhammer. Opponents can't cast anything large. Opponents can't cast anything free. Those fond of Izzet spellcasting combos must HATE this card. Hell, as someone who plays Rashmi, Eternities Crafter , I hate this card and haven't even seen it played.

Taking a step back from going wide, Gwafa reminds me of that scene in Robin Hood: Men in Tights where the sheriff tries to laugh his way though delivering bad news. "Your creature is worthless, haha. But you draw a card, hoho, isn't that nice? Hehe, aren't I nice?" Go to the darkest, dankest, smelliest hell, Gwafa.

Miscellaneous

Most of the removal tied to artifacts and enchantments works off of destroy effects, not exile, so if your focus isn't on commander-based synergies but rather your board state, Hanna may serve you well, especially considering how often tossing an artifact will get you a new one.

If you really want to flyspam, Kangee is a solid pick: blue-white has a whole mess of options to hose down the opponent with an airborne death swarm. Top marks if you manage to regularly play Dovescape and know the pleasure of watching your opponents try to process all their cool stuff turning into birds.

You like auras? Here you go. Avoid stuff like Reliquary Tower , overload your hand with goodies like Steel of the Godhead and All That Glitters , then gloat when you slap Bruna down and get everything you discarded into play without the bother of paying for it. Hell, put your auras on the creatures that tutored them. Bruna doesn't mind. She'll take them anyway, from anywhere. Thank God she doesn't have haste.

And, for my personal favorite...

This guy is a fantastic face to put on a political deck. Nobody wants to smash the guy who gives out free cards and life! At least, not until you find Mind Over Matter , or something like. You won't deck anyone thanks to this wascally wabbit's wording, but you'll have your entire deck in hand. That should be all, folks. The only reason Kwain doesn't have a deck in this house is because Rashmi and Pramikon got here first and stole all the good stuff.

That's it for this round. Thoughts and questions are welcome. I hope you enjoyed it, and will come back soon for Dimir!

Other Articles:

Mono-Green, with links to the other colors at the bottom

MobsterBubbles on Cube 1.0 SMB

1 month ago

6/21/21: Removed Integrity / Intervention and Mystical Teachings . Added Lightning Helix and Muse Vortex

6/29/21:1. Removed Magistrate's Scepter . Added Steel Dromedary

Removed Winota, Joiner of Forces . Added Venerable Warsinger

Removed Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager . Added Ravenous Squirrel

Removed Triskelion . Added Myr Scrapling

Removed Prosperous Pirates . Added Etherium Spinner

Removed Loreseeker's Stone . Added Extruder

Removed Bloodline Pretender . Added Ornithopter of Paradise

Removed Paradise Plume . Added Bottle Golems

Removed Triumph of Gerrard . Added Unbounded Potential

Removed Venerated Loxodon . Added Constable of the Realm

Removed Blade Instructor . Added Knighted Myr

Romved Elite Scaleguard . Added Nykthos Paragon

Removed Approach of the Second Sun . Added Settle Beyond Reality

Removed Windrider Wizard . Added Murktide Regent

Removed Spark Harvest . Added Bone Shards

Removed Keskit, the Flesh Sculptor . Added Legion Vanguard

Removed Sengir Nosferatu . Added Loathsome Curator

Removed Volcanic Dragon . Added Goblin Traprunner

Removed Dragon Mage . Added Arcbound Slasher

Removed Demanding Dragon . Added Flametongue Yearling

Removed Smelt-Ward Minotaur . Added Harmonic Prodigy

Removed Kaya's Guile . Added Graceful Restoration

Finalzesture on Whims of fate- Aminatou for Beginners

1 month ago

Thanks for the feedback Chasedrk1! If I was to use your advice; I'd use Approach of the Second Sun over Entreat the Dead since they both are good at ending drawn out games but Approach requires a lot less setup compared to Entreat the dead. Solitude also looks like a splendid choice but if people are on a budget, I'd Recommend Cavalier of Dawn Instead. It's a reusable Generous Gift over Swords to Plowshares so it hits more targets but it's a bit harder to cast. I'd reccomend adding a Mystic Gate over an Island if you chose to go the Cavalier route.

Kaya, Ghost Assassin can be replaced but I'd prefer replacing it with another card that can provide card advantage. For maximum compression; I would reccomend Jace, Wielder of Mysteries as it can draw more cards than Kaya, and be a more synergistic with cards like Oath of Teferi and Spark Double

If you want to min-max; I reccomend replacing Palace Jailer with Solitude and Court of Ambition with Phyrexian Arena and maybe find room for Smothering Tithe And/or Archaeomancer's Map that said, I think effects that "discard" from your opponents hand are either valued as too weak or too mean in commander. I for one like it as an "underdog effect" and I think discarding cards is fine if you get value in some other way like if you're running shrines or Kaya. Discarding cards can be just as effective as a counterspell if done right. Your opponents can't cast spells if they don't have any (with sufficient graveyard hate)

Chasedrk1 on Whims of fate- Aminatou for Beginners

1 month ago

This is a pretty great build. Azor, the Lawbringer was a fantastic game lock, closing out the game really relied on scoops instead of a solid win con against somewhat established board states. I don't think Kaya was needed. I ran a copy of Solitude instead. Approach of the Second Sun or Laboratory Maniac may be good as a finisher if the game needs to play out.

Well done here. +1