Combos Browse all Suggest
Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
| Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
| Custom | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Highlander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Pauper Duel Commander | Legal |
| Pauper EDH | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Brainbite
Sorcery
arget opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a card from it. That player discards that card.
Draw a card.
Mana_Mythic_Legendary on Pursuing Perfection, Part 7: Dimir …
2 years ago
Ah, Dimir. Blue-black is where you come to turn an opponent’s soul these exact colors, sidestepping their defenses in order to slip a scalpel right in their feels. Combining the thematic terror of black with all the manipulations of blue, if you think about it, is one of the most disturbing, creepy tactics in magic. Forget psychological warfare: blue-black is about marinating the psyche of your opponent in anxiety, slow-roasting it over the fires of depression, lathering it in the sauce of their own inadequacy, and finally feeding them their own deliciously barbecued will to live. Think I'm exaggerating? Consider these titles. Glimpse the Unthinkable. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. Freaking Brainbite!!!
If you think this comes from a place of dislike, think again. I have a deep affection for this nasty little mix. Making opponents flip their collective gourds in a sporting way makes me very, very happy. Today, we’ll be going over three primary themes of commanders who embody Dimir chicanery: Mill, Rogues, and Theft. As always, please bear in mind the point isn’t to discuss the competitive but rather to celebrate the thematic.
Mill
The magic equivalent of memory loss, mill suffers in commander: eating through 99 cards is a tall order, and opponents with an original eldrazi titan somewhere in there may well fetch you the worst insult of all and ignore you. There are ways around that, of course, but this is an inarguably uphill climb. Which, of course, makes for a delightful challenge the Dimir will gleefully help you meet. Just ask Nemesis of Reason. It’s very, very hard to protect one’s library, and there’s something truly horrible in watching all your goodies piff away without even hitting your hand.
If you’ve read this series through, you might remember that my oldest deck is mono-green. It’ll be no surprise to you, then, that when I was learning commander I lived in abject horror of Oona. Anyone running a mono-colored deck is going to feel targeted by this hideously nasty commander. Do you even need a strategy to play her, beyond ramp? Honestly, she rather plays herself: even outside her chosen prey, “Exile X” on a stick is very, very spicy, and when you’ve got your chosen prey they may well scoop when you play Kindred Discovery. Remember those eldrazi? Screw those eldrazi.
Hail the mighty poo beetle. No, it doesn’t actively mill, but HOLY BALLS OF ROLLING SHIT does it reward milling! There is a fine, fine pool of zombies in dimir colors, and when that palls you can make your own. I’ve never seen this played, but to be honest I don’t want to, especially since the mighty poo beetle will always be five mana… maybe I want to see this played. By me. Scry X? Bleed X? Army of the Damned, anyone?
Now this is general damage. This is also, in my opinion, a genuinely bad idea for those who aim for winning rather than fun. Seven mana for a 5/5 flyer who doesn’t actually do damage to opponents? Less than competitive, shall we say, but certainly neat and themey. Stuff like Dauthi Voidwalker or Leyline of the Void do nothing to undermine Szadek’s growing spree, and embiggening this already self-embiggening boi could make for a very, very scary board presence. And seeing this work, making this work, would be undeniably fun.
Rogues
I say ‘rogues’ not as the creature type, but as the overall concept of sneaky sneaks sneaking off to perpetrate sneakiness. See Rogue Class or Dimir Cutpurse and you’ll get where I’m coming from. Dimir is the guild of spies and intrigue, so it’s no surprise that blue-black rewards the “Doink! Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk” playstyle. If your passion drives you toward little bodies that pilfer, plunder, or otherwise profit on the swing, look no further.
Zareth is an odd choice to be commander. He functionally has Ninjutsu, but unlike a certain upcoming favorite has no provision for command zones. If you like thinking around corners, there is actually a fair bit of support to be found. Run an aura theme, for instance, and stick Necromancer's Magemark on a spare dude. Or Phantom Wings on the man himself. Zareth will reward you, and as for the second half of his text, it’s a doozy. Mill/kill your opponent’s stuff, then steal it. Good times.
This is a heavily themed card, combining tribal, milling, and draw elements in a nice little vampiric package. Not quite the unpleasant beast that the original Anowon is, but still nice. Be sure to include Notorious Throng.
Instead of a profitable army of petty thugs, you may prefer just the one guy. For actual command damage, Szadek’s replacement has an inarguably better grasp of the job. Mill yourself. You know you can. Clone yourself an unblockable midget, then switch into a Phyrexian Dreadnought (or something similarly large but more affordable) before you tag them. This guy is an absurdly versatile toolkit. Just avoid jerks with Lignify. Hehehe…
Theft
We’ve talked thieves, now let’s talk actual yoink. Blue and black are the only colors with access to consistent, long-term swipage, and combining them inevitably brings you to a natural conclusion: why make a plan when you can steal someone else’s?
Keiga, the Tide Star called. She’s pressing charges on the grounds of copyright infringement. Dragon? Check. Six mana? Check. Theft? Big ol’ check. When combined with blink and a sac outlet, this big and greedy cheese can steal an army. And, if you do this to a super-friends player, maybe lose you a friendship.
This guy’s just neat, especially if there’s some cocky twit in your local meta who likes taking extra turns. Mill him a bit, then tag him. He’ll stop that right quick. Bonus points if you get somebody to make a custom version of this guy as a certain cosmic entity. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh, Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
Do you like Sen Triplets, but not artifacts, white, or being thrown out of playgroups? Xanathar doesn’t pilfer hands, but libraries are fair game. The utility of certain tutors is suddenly very, very much in the eye of the beholder (sorry, I had to). Run stuff like Thoughtpicker Witch, Painful Memories, or Sealed Fate, and enjoy your monopoly on topdecks… I kind of want this one too.
And, for my personal favorite...
My darling, dearest Yuriko. Readers know my love for Kamigawa, so imagine my roaring delight when this beauty was released. There are 346 rogues currently in print. There are only 22 ninjas, and not all of them are good, but even the piddliest ninja becomes horrifying when Yuriko is out (and thanks to ninjutsu, she’s ALWAYS out). There’s a weird imbalance encouraged here: lots of inexpensive bodies digging for absurdly expensive spells. At the worst, you draw some cards. At absolute best, you smack the table for eleven damage by revealing Temporal Trespass… which you then cast for three mana, you magnificent bastard.
That's it for this round. Thoughts and questions are welcome. I hope you enjoyed it, and will come back next week for Rakdos!
Prior Articles:
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor on
Now You See Me
5 years ago
Hi there!
So here are some suggestions, feel free to accept/ignore them as much as you want :).
1) I think the biggest issue your deck faces is that you are running a lot of cards that aren't terribly impactful in a 40 life, multiplayer format. For example, most of your card draw is either a one-off effect or tied to another spell that doesn't do a whole lot (i.e. Peppersmoke or Brainbite). I'd suggest adding card draw effects which either accumulate you more cards (i.e. Fact or Fiction, Stroke of Genius, etc.) or even better, are repeatable effects (i.e. Greed, Mystic Remora, Bident of Thassa, etc). Repeatable effects are key in EDH.
2) You are using a lot of spaces in your deck for effects that give your creatures evasion. I don't think you really need that much because most of your creatures already have evasive abilities. If you do want to devote some space however, there are much stronger options that you could consider like Whispersilk Cloak, Mask of Riddles, Sword of Feast and Famine and its siblings, Dauthi Embrace, Thassa, God of the Sea, Cloak and Dagger, etc.
3) Here is an obligatory promotion for Cyclonic Rift and Rite of Replication in any blue deck. Also, you probably want to run a couple more board wipes. Decree of Pain, Toxic Deluge, and Black Sun's Zenith are great. You also might want some more ramp. Talisman of Dominance, Sol Ring, Mind Stone, Hedron Archive, and Thaumatic Compass Flip are all really great options.
4) Alongside repeatable effects, flexible cards are extremely powerful in EDH. You are going tribal here, so a card like Vanquisher's Banner would be amazing. It boosts your tribe and provides card draw. Herald's Horn is another option.
5) I think you could be running a stronger removal package as well. Instead of running tap effects, why not just run straight kill spells like Hero's Downfall, Silence the Believers, Vraska's Contempt, Attrition, etc.?
Lastly, I'll leave you with my deck Pocket Sand. Feel free to take ideas from it. It isn't a rogue/faerie tribal deck and it plays a more political game than yours, but it is similar to your deck in that it likes to use small, evasive creatures to out value opponents to eventually win the game.
Good luck deck building! +1
P.S. Some of the cards that I suggested aren't very budget friendly, but there are tons of cheaper replacements that do almost the same thing.
Hyperalgialysis on
Bolas Control
6 years ago
You need to add more control elements to make it run smoother, you have a decent amount, but it needs some sweepers like Anger of the Gods Languish or AEtherize. Disallow is going to be better than Cancel, but if you don't want to spend the money on it Scatter to the Winds, Void Shatter, Dissolve, Dissipate and Counterflux are all cheaper upgrades. Upgrade your mana base as you can, you could easily start by adding a few of the cycle dual lands or the battle for zendikar ones, then get Dragonskull Summit. I also like Foreboding Ruins and Choked Estuary, especially if you focus more on swamps. To help get bolas in play faster, Talisman of Indulgence and Talisman of Dominance are 2 drop mana rocks that work well in your colors. I would drop all your creatures and go more spell heavy, maybe making room for some Spellheart Chimera or Enigma Drake since you would increase your spell count. You can also run things like Sea Gate Oracle and Augury Owl to set up your draws. Consult the Necrosages is better than Brainbite. Slave of Bolas and Elder Mastery should be replaced with Dark Intimations. Drop Throne of the God-Pharaoh as well since you arent making tokens to benefit from it. Another decent creature to put in would be Noxious Gearhulk since it removes a creature. Duress and Blightning are also really good, as well as Negate and Barter in Blood.
Yams on
6 years ago
Overall this deck looks pretty solid. It reminds me a lot of 8-Rack (which you may or may not have heard about), which uses The Rack and Shrieking Affliction. Those could be 1-drops that replace Rakdos Cackler since that doesn't seem to add towards your "discard to win" strategy, especially since the Rack is splashable. The main reason you may want to keep as-is is if you don't want to be entirely dependent on the discard strategy and have a good beater.
Also, I find that Duress is very useful. Maybe replace 1-2 Despise with that or Brainbite since, although brainbite cantrips and acts as a painless budget Thoughtseize, it's rather slow and you may rather be casting Blightning or Bloodhusk Ritualist at that point.
DemonDragonJ on Consult the Necrosages or Pilfered …
7 years ago
I recently replaced Brainbite in my black/blue deck with Consult the Necrosages, but I am now wondering if Pilfered Plans would be an even better card for that deck, because consult the necrosages requires its caster to choose one of two options, whereas pilfered plans gives its caster both options for the exact same mana cost as CtNS.
What does everyone else say about that? Between consult the necrosages and pilfered plans, which card do you prefer?
DemonDragonJ on Perplex or Psychic Strike?
7 years ago
Ultimately, I purchased four copies of psychic strike to replace perplex, since I believe that the former card shall serve me better.
Now, I have another question for my black/blue deck, which I shall ask here, rather than starting a new thread for it.
I very recently replaced Brainbite with Consult the Necrosages in my black/blue deck, but I am now wondering if Pilfered Plans would be even better for that deck, because consult the necrosages requires its caster to choose one of two options, but pilfered plans gives its caster both options for the exact same mana cost as CtNS.
What does everyone else say about that? Between consult the necrosages and pilfered plans, which card do you prefer?
DemonDragonJ on Brainbite or Consult the Necrosages?
7 years ago
I have a black/blue deck, which contains four copies of Brainbite, a card that I like very much, but I am considering exchanging that card for another card, because it is simply too expensive for its effect; most discard spells cost 1, 2, or 3 mana, so 4 mana is restrictive, because my opponents will have already cast many spells by the time that I can afford to pay for it.
I am considering replacing brainbite with Consult the Necrosages, a card that is very similar, but less expensive, and, therefore, can be used earlier and more often.
What does everyone else say about this? Is it worthwhile to replace brainbite with consult the necrosages?
EarlessShrimp on
Hey, where'd your cards go?
7 years ago
Actually, the Archivists could replace the Brainbites pretty well
| Have (1) | reikitavi |
| Want (0) |