Arcane Denial

Instant

Counter target spell. Its controller may draw up to two cards at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.

You draw a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.

Discussion (48)

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

1 month ago

ACTUALLY

• Panharmonicon is too good for several reasons. Primarily, the value it gets while it's on the field invaluable. It will absorb at least one removal piece, because if it can't be removed the value train is pretty unstoppable. Secondly, its a great target for Sphinx of Enlightenment. I am taking out one card I find to be underwhelming, Arcane Denial, to make room for Panharmonicon again. I can justify this because I also just recently added 2 other counter spells (Force of Negation & Swan Song).

multimedia on Undead unleashed combo upgrade

1 month ago

Hey, nice upgrades on a budget so far for the precon.

Opponent mill strategy is an interesting choice/change from the precon. Opponent mill that's not an infinite combo, but done over many turns can be risky in multiplayer Commander because graveyards are a huge resource for so many decks.

The precon has too high of a mana curve with over 20 cards that are 5 CMC or higher. You haven't really changed this, but you have reduced the number of lands to 34 from 40 in the precon. By reducing the number lands, but not reducing the mana curve you risk not being able to cast spells until much later in a game. You're right to reduce the land count and 34 lands is fine, but the rest of your deck also needs to be reduced especially since you've added Bolas's Citadel.

Upgrading to better high CMC cards which you have done with Rise of the Dark Realms and Bolas's Citadel is good, but you really should consider cutting other high CMC cards from the precon to add these such as Gorex, the Tombshell and Gravespawn Sovereign. Gravespawn is also a reanimation effect, but is worse than Rise. Tombshell can be reduced in mana cost, but that has negative interaction with wanting to reanimate Zombies.

---

Death Tyrant is an example of a budget high CMC card that's an upgrade for another five drop in the precon such as Eternal Skylord. Tyrant has excellent synergy with decayed Zombies because when they attack and are saced at end of combat then you create a 2/2 Zombie for each one. This interaction is also good with sac outlets such as Carrion Feeder to sac all your attacking Zombies in combat to create that many 2/2 Zombies which can then with Wilhelt, sac them to create 2/2 decayed Zombies and repeat the next turn with Tyrant.

Some budget lower CMC cards to consider adding:

• Pyre of Heroes: repeatable sac/tutor/cheat Zombie onto the battlefield.
• Master of Death: repeatable Zombie to sac since can return itself from your graveyard to your hand at your upkeep for 1 life.
• Necromancer's Stockpile: repeatable discard, excellent with Master of Death and good way to get Zombies into your graveyard for reanimation.
• Siege Zombie: combos with at least two other Zombies + Throne of the God-Pharaoh for lots repeatable opponent life loss.
• Apprentice Necromancer: can be repeatable reanimation source with Gisa and Geralf.
• Lazotep Plating
• Counterspell
• Arcane Denial

Some cards to consider cutting: Gorex, the Tombshell, Switcheroo, Mass Manipulation, Aetherspouts, Eternal Skylord, Eloise, Nephalia Sleuth, Gravespawn Sovereign, Shadow Kin, Vilis, Broker of Blood, Open the Graves.

Good luck with your deck.

multimedia on Wombo Zombo

1 month ago

Hey, good upgrades so far of the precon. Nice first attempt, but your deck doesn't have a Commander.

In the deck editor add the CMDR tag after Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver text.

1x Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver *CMDR*

When you save and return to your deck then Wilhelt will be the Commander with it's own category and card image.

---

Undead Augur is in the precon and cutting it is a mistake because it triggers to draw when it dies or any other Zombie including a Zombie token dies. Because it triggers when decayed Zombies die then it can be an excellent source of repeatable draw and it's a Zombie. Augur because it's only two mana is really good with Gisa and Geralf.

Nice foil Acererak the Archlich. Him along with Rooftop Storm is your best way of winning. A way to win with Wilhelt is Poppet Factory which is the backside of Poppet Stitcher  ^Flip. Factory removes decayed from Zombies letting you with a sac outlet repeatedly sac a decayed Zombie to create another one. Blasting Station or Altar of Dementia are win condition sac outlets with Factory.

If you want to infinite combo with Gravecrawler + Rooftop Storm then you also need a sac outlet which Carrion Feeder being a Zombie is helpful. Blasting Station or Altar of Dementia are also win conditions with infinite Gravecrawler. If Rooftop Storm is how you want to win then consider some more protection: Counterspell, Arcane Denial, Lazotep Plating? With 11 Islands Mystic Sanctuary can be a helpful land.

Some changes to consider including some cards in the maybeboard:

• Undead Augur --> Ruthless Deathfang
• Poppet Stitcher  ^Flip --> Stitcher Geralf
• Blasting Station --> Ammit Eternal
• Altar of Dementia --> Havengul Runebinder
• Carrion Feeder --> Undead Alchemist
• Counterspell --> Soulless One
• Arcane Denial --> Prowling Geistcatcher
• Lazotep Plating --> Dread Summons
• Cryptbreaker --> Ebondeath, Dracolich
• Lord of the Undead --> Liliana's Mastery
• Living Death --> Ravenous Rotbelly
• Jet Medallion --> Obelisk of Urd
• Infernal Grasp --> Foul Renewal

Good luck with your deck.

multimedia on Undead Unleashed upgraded 10-10-21

1 month ago

Hey, well done with the upgrades of the precon. For less than $150 total deck price you've added Gravecrawler, Acererak, Stitcher, Blasting, Noxious, Belcher and Buried, that's impressive.

Vengeful Dead is another Zombie aristocrat as a win condition for the combos. Apprentice Necromancer can reanimate Stitcher on your last opponent's end step for one black mana to then on your next upkeep potentially flip into Factory. With Wilhelt when Necromancer dies it creates a Zombie token which might be the third token you need to flip into Factory.

I think you've cut down too many lands since 33 is a low number when the most important cards and interactions take a lot of mana. Consider cutting a few of the higher CMC cards to add a few more lands and some more ramp? Talisman of Dominance is in the precon and Mind Stone or Thought Vessel would give you two more low CMC ramp sources.

Esper Panorama can search for a basic Island or a basic Swamp. Mystic Sanctuary is an Island and it lets you recur an instant or sorcery to cast it again. Ice Tunnel is another Island dual land for Wonder.

Something the precon has is a lot of 5 CMC or higher cards and you haven't really changed this. The high end is very loaded in the precon and here with 22 cards that are 5 CMC or higher. You've added Noxious and Mob; these along with Rooftop, Apocalypse, Bidding, Parting, Hordewing, Harvester and Liliana are the better cards. Some of the others could be cut for more lands, ramp and instant protection.

You have very little instant interaction and no counterspell/other protection to protect from opponent exile effects as well as to protect the combo when you want to go off. Counterspell, Lazotep Plating and Arcane Denial would be helpful.

---

Some changes to consider:

• Vengeful Dead --> Eternal Skylord
• Apprentice Necromancer --> Gorex, the Tombshell
• Counterspell --> Drown in Dreams
• Lazotep Plating --> Stitcher Geralf
• Arcane Denial --> Ravenous Rotbelly
• Talisman of Dominance --> Army of the Damned
• Mind Stone or Thought Vessel --> Eloise, Nephalia Sleuth
• Esper Panorama --> Liliana's Mastery
• Mystic Sanctuary --> Ghoul's Night Out
• Ice Tunnel --> Gravespawn Sovereign

Good luck with your deck.

multimedia on The horde

2 months ago

Hey, well done so far on a budget.

Your deck doesn't have a Commander yet. If The Scarab God is the Commander then in the deck editor add the CMDR tag after The Scarab God text.

The Scarab God *CMDR*

When you save and reload the decklist Scarab will show as Commander with an image.

---

The 17 cards to consider cutting to get to 100:

• Submerged Boneyard
• Dimir Keyrune
• Dimir Cluestone
• Dimir Locket
• Wight of Precinct Six
• Hall of Triumph
• Price of Fame
• Drunau Corpse Trawler
• Brass Herald
• Geth, Lord of the Vault
• Ascendant Evincar
• Paragon of Open Graves
• Consuming Aberration
• Possessed Skaab
• Door of Destinies
• Caged Sun
• Gauntlet of Power

Several of these cuts to consider are high CMC cards, by cutting them you can reduce the mana curve which helps gameplay. The Scarab God is the high CMC creature you want to cast more than rest and you want an established battlefield of Zombies before you play Scarab. For five or six mana you want to cast Scarab or others Zombies not ramp.

Door of Destinies is an expensive price card that you don't really need. Door is too slow, you have better artifact anthem effects such as Coat of Arms. Caged Sun and Gauntlet of Power are other expensive price cards for small anthem effects and ramp that are not needed. Endless Ranks of the Dead, Gravecrawler or Grave Titan, any of these for about the same price would do a lot more for Zombies.

---

Some other upgrades to consider (close to price matching):

• Arcane Signet --> Sky Diamond
• Cryptbreaker --> Adaptive Automaton
• Carrion Feeder --> Loyal Subordinate
• Wand of Orcus --> Risen Executioner
• Patriarch's Bidding --> From Under the Floorboards
• Shepherd of Rot --> Gempalm Polluter
• Murderous Rider --> Drag to the Underworld
• Dark Prophecy --> Corpse Augur
• Vile Entomber --> Corpse Connoisseur
• Windfall --> Tymaret Calls the Dead
• Negate --> Didn't Say Please
• Arcane Denial --> Sinister Sabotage
• Unclaimed Territory --> Swamp
• Choked Estuary --> Island
• Sunken Hollow --> Island
• Temple of Deceit --> Island

Try to reduce the amount of casting cost cards since these will be more difficult to cast with so many Swamps. Having much more black sources from lands in the manabase is better overall for Zombies.

---

There's a new Magic set releasing Sept 24 called Innistrad Midnight Hunt and Zombies are part of it. Cards that can create Zombie tokens is a theme in the set. All the cards in the set haven't been revealed yet, but these are some cards to keep an eye on:

• Champion of the Perished: hopefully he's in the Commander precon.
• Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver
• Infernal Grasp
• Siege Zombie
• Ghoulish Procession

Of these I think definitely Champion and Wilhelt as well as Grasp are upgrades. Poppet Stitcher  ^Flip and Tainted Adversary are Mythics in the set that would also be upgrades, are expensive prices right now, but watch hopefully their prices drop when the set releases. The new rare land cycle in the set is a good one for Commander. Shipwreck Marsh is the Dimir land, but it's unlikely the prices of these lands go down much more than $5 because they're going to be wanted in Standard.

Innistrad Midnight Hunt has two Commander precons that will release when the set releases. One of these precons is Undead Unleashed, it's Dimir colors, Zombies with Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver as Commander. We don't yet know the precon decklists, we will soon, but we do know the price point. These precons will cost $40 meaning there will be at least 15 new cards designed for Commander in them. There's going to be Zombie goodness in Wilhelt's precon including hopefully some good card reprints.

Good luck with your deck.

KaptnK on

3 months ago

Asmoeus here are some suggestions around what I would do to improve the deck on a budget

Lands

• Remove Desert of the Fervent (enters tapped with no effect) > Add Evolving Wilds (will let you find a specific colour if you are missing one)
• Remove Desert of the Mindful (enters tapped with no effect) > Add Terramorphic Expanse (will let you find a specific colour if you are missing one)
• Remove Forgotten Cave (enters tapped with no effect) > Add Mountain
• Remove Lonely Sandbar (enters tapped with no effect) > Add Island

Artifact

• Look decent. Gilded Lotus does have a high mana cost so would keep an eye on how often you cast it.

Sorcery

• Remove Creative Technique (with your lower mana curve odds of you revealing something really good is low) > Add Arcane Denial as a good, cheap counter spell
• Remove Fiery Encore (expensive and requires you to discard a high mana cost card to deal decent damage) > Add Solve the Equation (Tutor for the spell you need)

Creature

• Remove Charmbreaker Devils (returning spell at random will not often get what you need, and does not have a way to get around blockers) > Add Runaway Steam-Kin (Will help you cast more spells and give you mana)

Other Considerations

• Stormchaser Mage
• Mulldrifter
• Archaeomancer
• Mnemonic Wall
• Turn Aside

Scytec on Breaking the Stack (Advice?)

3 months ago

Given your quantity of instant and sorcery spells, Overwhelming Denial could just be another copy of Counterspell for you. Arcane Denial and Wizard's Retort would also be valid options in the counter slot. Curiosity combos really well with Niv-Mizzet, Parun, if you run a card such as Thassa's Oracle, Laboratory Maniac, or Jace, Wielder of Mysteries this combo will just win you the game. I know it isn't a win via copy shenanigans on the stack, but it is consistent and powerful. Good luck, have fun!

FoieGras on Chromium, the Dragon's armory!

3 months ago

Removed: Dark Petition Grim Tutor Torrential Gearhulk Monologue Tax Keeper of the Accord Dance of the Manse Fierce Guardianship Dovin's Veto Arcane Denial Generous Gift Conqueror's Flail Archaeomancer's Map

Added: Demonic Tutor Vampiric Tutor Vindicate Sigarda's Aid Haunted Cloak Azor, the Lawbringer Clever Impersonator Inquisitor's Flail Open the Vaults Bolas's Citadel Vorpal Sword Disallow