Baleful Strix

Artifact Creature — Bird

Flying, deathtouch

When Baleful Strix enters the battlefield, draw a card.

Discussion (51)

Strobasourus on Ninja Deck

2 hours ago

Thalakos Seer, Dig Through Time, Temporal Trespass, Baleful Strix, Vela the Night-Clad, Arcane Adaptation, Ukkima, Stalking Shadow, Thieves' Guild Enforcer, Mystical Tutor, Dream Cache, Personal Tutor, Sensei's Divining Top, Scroll Rack, Cover of Darkness, Soothsaying, Halimar Depths.

Lokotor on Marchesa, The Black Rose - Primer

2 days ago

Charlielx

Obvious upgrades would be things like Volcanic Island, Underground Sea, Badlands, Scalding Tarn, Prismatic Vista, Morphic Pool, Luxury Suite, Fiery Islet, etc. Ancient Tomb also would probably be a reasonable add.

As for more impactful upgrades, I would like to get a Toxic Deluge at some point, but it's never been a priority buy for me at ~$35. If I had a second Damnation that might also be something i'd consider adding.

Arcane Signet is marginally better than Fellwar Stone but not enough that I really feel like spending $7.

Fierce Guardianship is also a relatively good addition, since protecting Marchesa is important. Similar free counters are a bit harder to run in this shell given their various restrictions (eg actually having a blue card for FoW isn't as reliable)

Spellseeker could be worth trying out

jeannieboef

I think for card draw, the best options would be either Necropotence or Yawgmoth, Thran Physician depending on what the rest of your hand looks like. (number of black sources and/or creatures primarily) Yawgmoth is probably the less threatening option between the two, and also more useful throughout the course of the game as he's also a sacrifice outlet, so he'll kill two birds with one stone for you.

If you have a sacrifice outlet in hand then you could go for either Baleful Strix or Solemn Simulacrum, depending on what you're looking to get out of them. they'll provide you with a lot of value in the earlier parts of the game. notably strix is a good option since at CMC2 you can get it out early and really be able to capitalize on the card draw (not to mention it's a great blocker.) and solemn obviously has the advantage of also being ramp. it's mostly a tempo call here though.

For your second question, it depends mostly on what I need the ramp for. If I just want to have some extra mana for my next turn's play, then sol ring is fine. If I've got a source of draw, or a hand full of higher CMC threats like Wurmcoil Engine or Nicol Bolas, the Ravager  ^Flip or Dictate of Erebos or something, then Scroll of Fate is good since it'll let me flash them in for free, essentially. if it's more in the earlier part of the game and i'm looking to just get a strong start/lead, then Solemn Simulacrum is great since it'll not only provide me with up to 7 more lands, but also plenty of card draw. (especially if i can pair it with Arcbound Worker for free counters on every other player's turn.) Dockside Extortionist isn't always a great turn 1-4 play, but depending on the table it'll give you a ton of mana, especially if you can do it a few times in a row.

on your last question, like always, it depends. the board has been wiped, but depending on where i'm at, things vary. are all creatures dead but i still have all my artifacts/enchantments? did i pull a classic marchesa move and come out with all my creatures still in play? was it just a weakly positioned enemy Cyclonic Rift that left everyone equally empty?

the deck largely plays by way of card synergy, so there's not quite a one stop win card, generally you'll need a card that creates value, AND a card that takes advantage of that value, so you'll have to base the decision on which pieces you have and which ones can best take advantage of it.

if you run Goblin Bombardment then Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Glen Elendra Archmage are an obvious combo target, if you've got something like Arcbound Worker or Unspeakable Symbol out then you could quickly create a huge army of Wurmcoil Engine tokens to lock the game down with. (on a clear board, having a 6/6 and 8 3/3s with lifelink and Deathtouch is usually gg.) if you've got Grave Pact then you could look for a sacrifice outlet, or something to easily recur to lock out the table.

Wurmcoil Engine is the most powerful creature in the deck as far as individual threats go, so with nothing else on board at all, that would probably be my pick, but i think if you're ever in that position then you're probably not going to win that game regardless.

ilovemydoghisnameistuna on

3 days ago

Uuuh, what is the goal with this deck? Constantly chaining together equal CMC cards over and over won't really tutor anything, and a graveyard strategy would seem pretty hard in PDH. Speaking of which, you have several illegal cards in this list: Aura of Dominion, Pemmin's Aura, Baleful Strix, Nightveil Predator, Nightveil Specter, Siren of the Silent Song, Lightning Greaves, and Swiftfoot Boots.

SilentPlague on Cheap Grixis Deck

6 days ago

Definitely a multiplayer deck since turn 4 is most likely where anything will happen for you as it stands now. Wouldn't try one on one with this one unless you play another slow deck.

Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge, Mairsil, the Pretender, and Kess, Dissident Mage are all better alternatives to Spellbound Dragon. I feel they fit your disruption technique better and are very cheap ($). To help with getting quicker spells out, there is Dismember that can be paid with life to get out sooner or Sign in Blood. Not cheap, but a really good early game player, is Baleful Strix.

This looks really fun in multiplayer. So I don't blame you if you keep it as is. I feel like it would make everyone so annoyed. I also like Swerve a lot. I have 4 in my Izzet deck.

jakeelephant006 on its too late they are already under your bed

1 week ago

This deck performs very well with some decently large deficiencies. I think you need to cut some weaker cards (sorceries and creatures mostly) and add in more Ninjas and ninja synergies.

Cards to Cut: Creatures: Definite cuts are Jeskai Infiltrator, but I'd also heavily consider trimming Dark Impostor, Deathcult Rogue, Etrata, the Silencer, and Nezumi Cutthroat.

Sorceries: Definitely cut Hour of Eternity, Kefnet's Last Word, Paranoid Delusions and consider trimming Ghostform, Slip Through Space, or Stealth Mission.

Artifacts, Enchantments, Instants, Planeswalkers, and Lands: I would definitely cut Briber's Purse, Fatal Push, and Vraska, Scheming Gorgon while also giving thought to the merits of including Skygames, Bontu's Monument, Forge of Heroes, Unclaimed Territory, and of, or at least the Amonkhet, cycling lands.

The cards I have recommended are either slow, have low to zero synergy with the rest of the deck, or are typically weak in commander.

Cards to Add Creatures: Ninjas, ninjas, and more ninjas (plus some cheaper unblockables for good measure). There are 19 Ninjas in mtg history (excluding changelings). You have 11 in this deck. I think you ought to have more. The cheapest are Mistblade Shinobi, Okiba-Gang Shinobi, Skullsnatcher, Throat Slitter, and Walker of Secret Ways. Higure, the Still Wind and Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni are both reasonable splurges in terms of powerful Ninjas to acquire. Now for other creatures to enable Ninjitsu. First off, I could have included Changeling Outcast in the last section since it is also a Ninja and you should absolutely be running it in here. Other small unblockables for you to Ninjitsu into are Gudul Lurker, Slither Blade, Tormented Soul, Faerie Seer, Mothdust Changeling, Gingerbrute, Dimir Infiltrator, Baleful Strix, Invisible Stalker, Augury Owl, Sage Owl, Spire Owl, and Cloud of Faeries. All of these cards are less than 3 cmc, and are either entirely unblockable or have good etb/ltb or dealing combat damage synergy (and are mostly pretty cheap too). I'd recommend adding at least 3 or 4 of them in addition to the above ninjas.

Other cards: This section is mostly for general things that you could do to make this deck more consistent and enjoyable to pilot, but there are a couple specific synergies I think you're missing out on. They're both pretty intertwined so I'll just address them together. I think you could be putting in a few more cards that are good to reveal off of Yuriko's trigger and ways to manipulate the top of your library so you get those card when they are most impactful. I am referring to cards like Treasure Cruise, Sibsig Muckdraggers, Temporal Trespass, Dig Through Time, Draco, Consign / Oblivion, Murderous Cut, Far / Away, Curtains' Call, Into the Story, Submerge, Commandeer, Commit / Memory, Discovery / Dispersal, Rags / Riches, In Garruk's Wake, and any other high cost card that has an alternate mana cost, mana reducing ability, split card, or is a high impact card. Then you could also throw in a few ways to manipulate the top of your library like Brainstorm, Ponder, Serum Visions, Tamiyo's Epiphany, and Crystal Ball. The only other synegystic thing you could put in here is making your other creatures Ninjas as well with Conspiracy, Xenograft, Arcane Adaptation, and Amorphous Axe.

Otherwise, you could probably add in some more ramp (Sol Ring, Mind Stone, Star Compass, etc.), card draw (see cantrips above and Last Thoughts), board wipes (could probably replace Bontu's Last Reckoning with some of the ones from the last section or just add those ones or some other good boardwipes) and spot removal or counterspells (I don't see a lot of good ways to deal w/ non-creature permanents in here).

Osbert on Silent Shinobis

3 weeks ago

You do not have enough evasive creatures nor do you have enough ways to make it difficult to block onboard ninjas. I've been fiddling with a Yuriko deck since her release so I'll point you to some true gems in the evasion category.

Cover of Darkness: Not only thematic but very effective at making it difficult to block ninjas.

Key to the City: Make target creature unblockable for 0 mana. Yuriko decks draw like mad so discarding a card won't hurt as usually we have to discard to hand size at end of turn anyway. More fuel for delve too.

Smoke Shroud: 0 mana evasion that's recurable for a ninja. Pitch it from overdraw but honestly 2 mana is still cheap if you have to cast it.

Bitterblossom: Expensive to purchase ($30...) but an unlimited source of 1/1 flyers come in handy for chump blocking and sneaky ninjas into play. Faeries also play a lot of tricks and are sneaky so they kind of fit into the deck seamlessly.

Trickery Charm: This card was MADE for Yuriko. Every mode is good at a different point in the game.

Wonder: Have you ever seen the Kung Fu movie Hero? There's a scene where two guys are fighting while dancing on water and it's super cheesy but I love it. Pitching Wonder to overdraw is not hard and you get to make all the flying ninja sounds you want when you attack now!

Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive: Lots of ninja's and evasive creatures have power or toughness 1 including Yuriko. Even using him as your unblockable to shuttle in ninja's isn't so bad at 2 mana.

Wingcrafter: More flying ninjas, what's not to love!? It's cheap and can give another ninja evasion so it's a strong card in my opinion. It's decent on T1 without flying even because you only need one opponent open to swing at and it's doubtful each opponent will drop a creature.

Faerie Seer: Reusable Scry 2 on a flyer that sets up Yuriko triggers beautifully.

Mothdust Changeling: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Well its a ninja. Keep away from bright lights.

Siren Stormtamer: Cheap flyer that protects your stuff later in the game.

Baleful Strix: A very annoying card for our opponents to play around unless they have flying tokens.

Thalakos Seer: Might as well read unblockable.

Cloud of Faeries: Essentially a 0 mana 1/1 flyer. Ninjitsu is a mana hog so deploying our evasive creatures for free is extremely valuable.

Spellstutter Sprite: Plenty of 1 CmC spells are played in EDH like Swords to Plowshares, Chain of Vapor, Sol Ring, Nature's Claim, etc. With more faeries out it can start hitting bigger spells but sometimes its just nice to flash in a flyer at EoT to get psuedo haste.

Nether Traitor: Probably the best creature printed with Shadow. Haste and it's recursion ability make it invaluable. Not a bad card to pitch to overdraw either and just sit with a up waiting for the inevitable board wipe.

ironmindraph on Alela, Art of Trickery and Manipulation

4 weeks ago

desmondwrite interesting question, I've struggled hard to find a way to draw efficiently. It needs a lot of works and that might be its big weakness. But the low CMC of the curve helps me get through the draw issuesé

Here's my draw options so far: Curator's Ward, Dire Undercurrents, Kindred Discovery, Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Baleful Strix, Sai, Master Thopterist, Skullclamp, Smuggler's Copter, Sword of Fire and Ice, Nihil Spellbomb, The Immortal Sun and Treasure Map  ^Flip. Most of them are gamechangers (sword, dire undercurrent, kindred, etc.)

It is not premium draw options as we know blue can provide but it sinergize pretty well with my faerie/enchantement/artifact tribal as it brings lot of value. The deck overall is a very good performer on multiplayer table and is playable 1vs1.

fmastrome2008 on Yarok: Double Double This That

1 month ago

1. Bojuka Bog will provide graveyard interaction without affecting consistency.

2. Deadeye Navigator will provide infinite combo shenanigans. Draw your entire deck with Baleful Strix or Ice-Fang Coatl. There's plenty out there.

3. Sire of Stagnation is straight gas and draws 8 cards off 1 opposing fetchland.

4. Swap the mana rocks for more Rampant Growth and Kodama's Reach type effects. It also triggers more landfall.

5. Avenger of Zendikar and Lotus Cobra are 2 of the best landfall creatures in existence. I'd definitely include those.