Bontu's Monument

Legendary Artifact

Black creature spells you cast cost less to cast.

Whenever you cast a creature spell, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.

Discussion (50)

GolgariGravedigger on The Scarab God

1 month ago

Scarab God is tough to build competitively especially if you're on a budget, and the good zombies are not very cheap anymore. It looks like you have a lot cards from Amonket and Hour of Devastation. I really love those sets personally but most of the zombies in them are pretty lackluster in commander. I would cut a whole lot of these guys especially 4+ CMC zombies.

I recommend adding a lot more card draw, mana ramp, and single target removal. 10-12 draw spells, 10-12 ramp spells, and 5-10 removal spells are recommended for most EDH decks. The best draw, ramp, and removal spells are not really budget friendly anymore since pretty much everyone is playing them. But, there a few sleepers out there that, in my opinion, are really powerful budget cards.

Card draw spells:
Necrologia is like a budget Ad Nauseam but you can only play it at your end step.
Read the Bones is a classic that let's you dig into your library.
Stinging Study gets you 5 cards in this deck.
Underworld Connections is like a budget Phyrexian Arena, and it can draw you an extra card each turn.
Village Rites gets you 2 cards for 1 mana and it's a 1 time use sacrifice outlet.

For mana ramp generally you want to go with 1 or 2 CMC mana rocks that enter untapped if you aren't playing green: Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Dimir Signet, Mind Stone, Liquimetal Torque, Thought Vessel, Prismatic Lens, and maybe an Ornithopter of Paradise, it's a decent mana dork. Add Talisman of Dominance if you want to pay $7 for one.

Outside of those I like Power Tap. Target The Scarab God and get 5 colorless mana. Power Tap is a sleeper budget card IMO. Don't cut Dark Ritual or Bontu's Monument.

For Single Target Removal you want to stick to 2-3 CMC instant speed removal spells that can target as many different types of permanents as possible. A few cards I like are: Feed the Swarm
Power Word Kill
Heartless Act
Go for the Throat
Personally, I really like Imprisoned in the Moon and Oubliette. They decomission your opponent's Commander. And both cards ate cheap since they were recently reprinted.

Also Counterspell cards can be very powerful.

A few inexpensive bombs you can add:
Gray Merchant of Asphodel is amazing.
Army of the Damned is an absolute beast in this deck. Both of those cards can you win you the game.

There are a lot more really great cards out there you can add, but I just wanted to list a few to get you started.

ghostfire86 on Atheros God of Wifi

1 month ago

Ayara, First of Locthwain and Zulaport Cutthroat literally counter Carnival of Souls negative effects and it you run Bontu's Monument things get even better. You don’t drop it turn one, just when your ready to make your move or have stabilized.

Cloudstone Curio works amazingly here. Ive ran it since my original build and never have questioned its usefulness. You should reconsider and do some testing.

ghostfire86 on Atheros God of Wifi

1 month ago

Change Thrilling Encore to Living Death. More bang for the same cost and speed. Personally I’d be greedy and use Rise of the Dark Realms instead of Angel of Glory's Rise. Also, I’d run Dictate of Erebos as redundancy and drop the Black Market.

Your deck pulls into two directions: 1) Aristocrats 2) Token Overrun

I’d advise dropping Mirror Entity and adding Bontu's Monument. The loops you have are enough to kill without dumping mana into the mirror for a big hit.

You’re short on draw. Taborax, Hope's Demise can help here while gaining a big stick.

multimedia on Vampire Assault

1 month ago

Hey, nice budget version.

I prefer a lower mana curve with Vamps having Edgar and Ruinous Ultimatum as the high end. With Patriarch's Bidding and Haunting Voyage as major recovery.

Here's two combos that give you repeatable value or can potentially win the game without having to attack with Vamps which in some situations is helpful in Commander.

• Oathsworn Vampire + Cruel Celebrant + Yahenni, Undying Partisan
• Captivating Vampire + Throne of the God-Pharaoh

Oathsworn Vampire + Cruel Celebrant + Yahenni, Undying Partisan is a Vamp combo because of Edgar's eminence to create as many Vamp tokens as mana you have available from repeatedly casting Oathsworn from your graveyard. This combo makes die triggers from Celebrant by sacing Oathsworn which is what lets you cast Oathsworn from your graveyard. Combine these Vamps with Cordial Vampire to make your Vamp army powerful with +1/+1 counters. Combine this combo with Captivating Vampire to gain control of a lot of your opponents creatures.

Bontu's Monument is nonVamp card that can replace Celebrant in the combo and it reduces the cost of Oathsworn to only one black mana. Blood Artist can also replace Celebrant. Viscera Seer is another Vamp sac outlet that could replace Yahenni in the combo.

Throne of the God-Pharaoh combines with Captivating Vampire and other Vamps to drain all your opponents life by tapping Vamps. Captivating can gain control of a creature and that creature can be your own creature repeatedly which means that if opponents don't have creatures to steal then you can continue activating Captivating.

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Here's some suggestions of how to improve the manabase on a budget.

• Exotic Orchard --> Guildmages' Forum
• Caves of Koilos --> Scoured Barrens
• Battlefield Forge --> Bloodfell Caves
• Shineshadow Snarl --> Orzhov Basilica
• Foreboding Ruins --> Rakdos Carnarium
• Smoldering Marsh --> Temple of Malice
• Tainted Field --> Temple of Silence
• Tainted Peak --> Terramorphic Expanse

Vault of Champions and Spectator Seating are excellent lands in multiplayer, but they be out of budget range.

Good luck with your deck.

SpecimeN87 on The Bloodhall Season 30 - Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed

2 months ago

If you want ramp, and another life loss effect, Bontu's Monument will help and can a lightning rod for removal in place of your commander. you had at least twelve cards that trigger it, and xiao makes that repeatable technically. If you really, really need draw, Erebos, God of the Dead and/or Erebos, Bleak-Hearted are dual purpose. They are also colored and can be retrieved, plus they have indestructible tacked on!

metalflame on Shadowborn Apostle Combo

3 months ago

Your deck could be just about as effective if you chose another tutor card other than Imperial Seal which is prohibitively expensive for just about anyone.

Also remember Bontu's Monument and Aetherflux Reservoir effects are based on casting a spell, and the thrumming stone does not cast the creatures, it plays them. So no synergy there.

Ive got a monoblack deck that might have a few ideas for you worth looking at. Marrow-Gnawer King of the Rat Colony

Also 40 shadowborns may be so much that it takes away from your options to remove, ramp, or even draw more effectively.

Arkhanuin on Ayara - MonoBlack - TEST

3 months ago

Thank you very much your feedback and suggestions.

I really plan to cut out Breeding Pit and Aphemia, the Cacophony , I just feel I need more token factories and those are my only possibilities right now. Ophiomancer and Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip are brilliant cards for my deck, unfortunately I don't have money for them right now.

Ghoulcaller Gisa is a good call, but I really won't have big power creatures, I could sacrifice only 0-1-2 power creatures, and for 5 mana it's too much from a creature without ETB effects.

I don't want Glaring Spotlight and Daring Fiendbonder in my deck, since these cards are for attack support. I don't feel like attack at all with this deck. Probably all my creatures will defend my health and my PW's and they will be sacrificed before the summoning sickness wears off.

I made some changes tho, some cards arrived, what I ordered previously: Sword of the Animist instead of Sword of Body and Mind

Crypt Ghast instead of Solemn Simulacrum

and I took off some "targeted removals" for more Damge//Gain Life effects like: Blood Artist , Bontu's Monument and Vindictive Vampire

slymole on Help! Nicol smashed my toys!

3 months ago

Considering Bontu's Monument as a two of, and/or Pillar of Origins .