Artisan of Kozilek
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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Highlander Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Vintage Legal
Casual Legal
Custom Legal
Quest Magic Legal

Artisan of Kozilek

Creature — Eldrazi

When you cast this spell, you may return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.

Annihilator 2 (Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices two permanents.)

montanaflash23 on Toolbox PreCon

4 weeks ago

First round of updates is on a 25$ budget. Swaps I am testing and in no particular order of swapping:
Kodama's Reach --> Daemogoth Woe-Eater
Thriving Grove --> Demonlord Belzenlok
Lifecrafter's Bestiary --> Gamekeeper
The Beamtown Bullies --> Elemental Bond
Bellowing Mauler --> Greater Good
Artisan of Kozilek --> Riveteers Ascendancy
Deathbringer Regent --> Feldon of the Third Path
Migration Path --> Hornet Queen
Mosswort Bridge --> Jaxis, the Troublemaker
Spinerock Knoll --> Workshop Warchief
Dodgy Jalopy --> Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge
Swamp --> Ognis, the Dragon's Lash
Thriving Moor --> Professional Face-Breaker
Thriving Bluff --> Rampant Rejuvenator
Commander's Sphere --> Cultivate
Woodfall Primus --> Junji, the Midnight Sky
Caldaia Guardian --> Underworld Sentinel
Mezzio Mugger --> Kardur, Doomscourge
Turf War --> Ravenous Chupacabra
Next of Kin --> Blessed Respite
Wave of Rats --> Kazuul's Fury  Flip
Grime Gorger --> Acidic Slime
Stalking Vengeance --> Llanowar Wastes

Guerric on Fish are friends

4 months ago

Hi Anabasis! Since you asked for some feedback on the list prior to committing, I'll comment here since I can link cards easily. Let's begin with the archetype you are going for here, how it plays out with Braids, Conjurer Adept, how to make it run a bit smoothly. The archetype for this deck is "group hug," which is a bit of a misunderstood archetype that has gotten unnecessary bad rep in the past. Basically, a group hug deck built properly is one that has effects which benefit everyone, but benefit the player the most. The idea is that there is little incentive to target the group hug player because they are giving free stuff, and the free stuff nonetheless keeps every player more competitive, which takes more pressure off of the group hug player, who is then ahead in the value race. The most iconic group hug commander, for example, is Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis. This commander lets every player either draw an extra card or play an extra land each end step, whereas the Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis player gets to do both. Oftentimes what makes game uneven are some players encountering ramp or draw problems, and this evens things out and keeps them competitive. Usually players won't target Kynaios and Tiro because it is benefitting them, and because it is not inherently threatening. Nonetheless, the Kynaios player is ahead in the value race, and usually plans to win with some sort of alternate win condition like Approach of the Second Sun. Braids, Conjurer Adept plays out similarly, in that every player benefits from Braids, but unlike your opponents your deck is built to exploit it, and you will have scarier things to cheat out than they will. The difference with this deck, however, and this is the critical part, is that your deck will be inherently threatenting. People will soon figure out that you are dropping scary things and have plenty of incentive to kill braids. What's worse is that the way Braids works inherently gives them added incentive to do so. The scariest words on the card are "at the beginning of each player's upkeep" are ones you will come to loathe if you don't build this right. These words mean that if you play Braids normally, each of your opponents will get to use Braids before you do. This is bad, because after three opponents have used it, the third could kill Braids before you ever get to use her. This is the nightmare that should ever be in your mind when planning or playing this deck, but if you are mindful of it, it can be overcome. So let's think first about Braids' abilities and how to best protect and exploit her to your benefit over your opponents.'

The first is to do lots and lots of what blue does best, namely, countering spells. Whereas Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis are a pillowfort group hug deck, you should think of your deck as a control group hug deck. Forget the crappy boardwipes like AEtherize and Aetherspouts. You probably included them because you've sensed they won't hit your board, but you'll find that smart players never attack with their most important pieces, and that they won't generally do what you want them to. Spectral Deluge and Whelming Wave are probably fine, but leave the rest out- you're better off just stopping things from happening to begin with than wiping a board that will probably be in your favor. Counterspells are good here for two reasons. First and foremost, they protect Braids from removal, which will be their most important duty. Beyond that, since you're getting a free permanent every turn, you have the luxury of holding your mana open, so you might as well have stuff to do with it! I'd think about playing up to ten different counterspells along with premium blue targeted removal like Reality Shift, Ravenform, etc.

Since the weakness of Braids is that our opponents' get to use her first if we cast her at sorcery speed, we might as well rewrite the script and try to play her at instant speed where feasible. Leyline of Anticipation and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir can help with this. You'll enjoy much more playing Braids on your opponent's end step and getting to use her first than the reverse. This will also aid and abet your counterspell game, in that if you don't need to counter anything you can cast other spells on your opponent's end step rather than wasting your mana. I see that you included these spells, but I wanted to make sure that you realize how critical they are to your game, and that if you can find more of this effect it will be worthwhile to include it.

A third implication is that, in the true spirit of group hug, you should get to use Braids more than your opponents. It's only fair after all! Therefore cards that copy triggered abilities like Strionic Resonator are at a premium here. Braids is far better if you get to use her twice and your opponents only get to use her once.

You also need to rework your ramp section entirely. The general rule of commanders and ramp applies here, namely, that you mostly want to play ramp that can get your commander out a turn early. This means one and two mana rocks primarily, unless it can get extra lands out. Dreamstone Hedron and Hedron Archive are traps and will make you cry. I know the theory is that you can play them for free with Braids, but keep in mind that they will never help you cast Braids. Also, they tend to be removal targets, and you'd probably be putting out something threatening over a mana rock anyway. Caged Sun is definitely worth it though because of the overall value, and because it will be worth it even to double your mana for one turn in order to cast a massive x-spell. Armillary Sphere is just bad here. Importantly, it is not a ramp spell since it doesn't put anything onto the battlefield. When people do play it, it is just for color fixing in multi-colored decks, and you don't need that. It'd be better to just play more card draw so that you can draw into your land drops normally. Sol Ring, Mind Stone, and Thought Vessel are fine, but you want to add Wayfarer's Bauble, Sky Diamond, and Coldsteel Heart at least. Sword of the Animist and Dowsing Dagger  Flip are also fabulously repeatable ramp that always makes me smile. Dreamscape Artist is also a sleeper blue card that can repeatedly ramp lands onto the battlefield which is often overlooked. You'll be far happy with these efficient options that can either get Braids out early or get her out on time with mana to spare for counterspells than with the big splashy cards.

Also, as far as card draw goes, I wouldn't take group hug to far here. You are already giving your opponents free permanents, and you are in the best card draw color and don't need their help in that. Personally I'd recommend skipping Kami of the Crescent Moon and the like entirely, and play more personal draw spells like Gadwick, the Wizened and Blue Sun's Zenith. Seriously. One advantage of Braids is that they will play spells for free and run out of stuff to cast, whereas you can keep drawing into it. If you help them out too much, you're just hurting yourself in the long run. I'd honestly replace all the reciprocal draw spells with spells which draw you cards. The only one that might be ok is Well of Ideas, but that one is benefiting you more and you first, so it fits the bill.

Some more cautions. While casting free haymakers is the reason for this deck, don't overdo it. You want to be able to afford to hard cast stuff sometimes, both in case Braids dies or just to amass more of a board presence. The power curve in magic has been getting lower in recent years, and there are many devastating spells that cost four and five mana, so don't sleep on those. Your average cmc here is 4.5, and while some high cmc haymakers are what you want, you also want lots of castable creatures.

I'm also not sure why we are playing the "creatures become every creature type" cards. Is this for better board wiping with Whelming Wave or synergy with Spawning Kraken? In my experience these synergies won't work out enough to justify the card slots, which might be better filled with counterspells or other creatures. Honestly, if I were to pick another theme to support this archetype I'd pick blink, since you doubling ETB counters can be great, but that's just me. Blinking is the sort of thing where you don't need to do a lot of it for it to be good.

A few other card choice matters. Reflections of Littjara only works on cast, so it won't copy creatures played with Braids. Definitely consider this before including a five mana enchantment that doesn't affect the board right away. Also, yes, absolutely play High Tide. It is so worth it in a mono-blue deck. Yes, Frozen Aether is amazing here. this is absolutely how to play group hug. Your opponents get free stuff, but it is only fair that you get to use your stuff first. Personally, I feel like Ominous Seas is one of the most overrated commander cards in recent years. It seems like you get a great rate on a vanilla 8/8, but often the enchantment will get blown up first, and it takes forever to come out. That's just my opinion thought.

One final thought, don't prejudice yourself too much in favor of sea monsters over against, say, eldrazi. I know the chase eldrazi are expensive, but Artisan of Kozilek is under one dollar in real world money and a wonderful thing to play with Braids, and to make copies of with your copy spells, and to give haste to with Crashing Drawbridge. You will have so much fun.

I think this will be a great deck and you have a lot of good ideas going here. I'd just refocus it a bit and then wreak some havoc!

GoldenGolgari on Moraug's Relentless Attack! *C*

4 months ago

You should definitely be playing Etali, Primal Storm. She's the commander of my own mono-red deck built around extra combats and she's soooooo good when you get 1-2 extra combats off. As for other suggestions, cheap annihilator creatures like Artisan of Kozilek would probably be pretty good as well for hating particularly tricky opponents out of the game with all the extra combat triggers.

DreadKhan on Rumble In The Jungle

4 months ago

If a Titan is too extreme, you could try tossing in a few other big Eldrazi like a Pathrazer of Ulamog or Artisan of Kozilek. Incase you get a wide board, stuff with X in the cost, like Endless One or Walking Ballista also could play well. Shalai, Voice of Plenty can put a ton of counters out. Harmonious Archon is absolutely hilarious with tokens on your team, everything is a 3/3. Maybe not Elephant themed, so probably only relevant if you want a bit of a power up.

Loving the theme!

sigio91 on Discovering the Aeons

5 months ago

Little update: -1 Scourge of Fleets (little impact once on board) -1 Artisan of Kozilek (The deck doesn't need grave recursion for creatures) -1 Memory Lapse -1 Disallow

+1

Coward_Token on SATORU NINJA 'DRAZIES FROM THE BOTTOM NOW WE HERE

5 months ago

just so you know, Myojin of Night's Reach, Artisan of Kozilek, & Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre don't get their on-cast triggers from ninjutsu

Bitterblossom is pretty good for a steady stream of ninjutsu fodder, even if it's slightly slow

GangstaFranksta on Red Green Black EDH

6 months ago

Cheap permenants that you can lay down with Vaevectis or other similar cards that then also give you mana: Wood Elves, Farhaven Elf, and Solemn Simulacrum and Yavimaya Elder also lets you draw so you can sac him with Asmadi for a profit. For similar "when permanent enters the battlefield" effect maybe Reclamation Sage and Acidic Slime.

Consider creating tokens to sac with Asmadi as well: Dragonlair Spider and Grave Titan

Asmadi is always a huge threat so you'll have to keep him safe with cards like Sylvan Safekeeper Swiftfoot Boots and Whispersilk Cloak.

Chaos Warp is a staple of jund and you could use it if someone tries to get rid of Asmadi. Deathsprout and Decimate are really good jund removal cards as well. Primal Surge is a lot of mana but a good alternative win condition.

Also assuming that Asmaldi gets to stay on the field then here are some good cards that let you make sure whatever you get with him is good: Augur of Autumn, Haunted Crossroads, Hua Tuo, Honored Physician, Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire, Brutalizer Exarch, Courser of Kruphix, Vizier of the Menagerie, Crystal Ball, and Call of the Wild. On the other hand, here are some cards to make sure whatever your opponents get from Asmaldi isn't good: Painful Memories, Agonizing Memories.

Then here are some big creatures you could get for free with Asmaldi: Woodfall Primus, Borborygmos Enraged, Kodama of the East Tree, and Artisan of Kozilek. Lurking Predators is also useful for this feature as well as setting up what's on top of your deck.

Mortuary Mire is probably a good addition to the deck as well.

multimedia on First Dragon Commander Deck

6 months ago

Hey, you're welcome. Yes, if you cast Painful Truths with Jodah you converge for five, draw five and lose five life. Nice changes, but the card suggestions in my last comment were for using Garth as Commander not Jodah. Since you've made the change to Jodah then Soulherder and Vizier of Tumbling Sands are not needed.

With the change to Jodah here's some budget cards to consider adding and some explanation of the powerful interactions with these cards.

With Jodah cards you cast with his ability don't change their original CMC, you're just using an alternative casting cost to cast them. Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty is a nice budget card for this interaction for repeatable cascade. Any 6 CMC or greater Dragon can be cast for five mana, but still trigger Imoti to cascade. Imoti triggers for any 6 CMC or greater spell cast not just creatures.

Cascade is a powerful effect that lets you from the top of your library cast the first spell that's less than 6 CMC for free. Because with Jodah you can cast huge CMC spells for only five mana then Imoti's cascade can be bonkers. You can abuse Imoti's cascade with Dragons Draco and Scion of Draco with Crystal Shard to return them back to your hand to cast again and cascade again. Scion is excellent with Jodah because it gives him hexproof, vigilance and first strike, hexproof is the best of these for protection.

Conflux is powerful budget tutor when you cast it for only five mana and it's 8 CMC for Imoti. In Garruk's Wake wrecks your opponents creatures/Planeswalkers and is an 9 CMC card for Imoti. Artisan of Kozilek is 9 CMC, but cast for five mana which reanimates any creature in your graveyard and gives you a 10/9 Monster who if it gets to attack triggers devastating annihilator 2.

When playing Jodah as Commander then having a lot of protection for him is important because he will be a target for opponent removal as soon as he appears in the game. Swiftfoot Boots equipped can give Jodah hexproof protection from opponent's targeted removal. Stubborn Denial is a one mana Negate to protect Jodah since he has 4 power. Most likely Denial will be used to counter a board wipe for one mana.

Boros Charm can give Jodah as well as all your other permanents including lands indestructible to survive most board wipes and any removal that destroys. Shielded by Faith can give Jodah indestructible and this aura can change who it's attached to which can be helpful when playing lots of creatures. Cast Faith early enchanting any creature you control and then when Jodah appears attach Faith to him.

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