Brainstorm
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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Alchemy Legal
Archenemy Legal
Arena Legal
Big Apple Highlander Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Gladiator Legal
Highlander Legal
Historic Brawl Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Pauper Legal
Pauper Duel Commander Legal
Pauper EDH Legal
Planar Constructed Legal
Planechase Legal
Premodern Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Brainstorm

Instant

Draw three cards, then put two cards from your hand on top of your library in any order.

trippy_mcfly on Cumly Cube

2 weeks ago

Introducing Cumly Cube 1.3! Two years ago, Cumly Cube was updated to Cumly Cube 1.2, creating a balanced cube and wonderful play experience for all involved. Despite these changes, there remained some minor flaws in the card pool. I am now pleased to announce that, after extensive research and design, Cumly Cube has reached a final form. No card is too powerful. No card is too weak. Synergy is abundant. Both the draft and play experiences are dynamic, exciting, and new. There will be no more major updates to Cumly Cube 1.

120 cards have been removed, and 120 cards have been added. Here are the changes, provided with brief justifications:

REMOVED:

ARTIFACT

  1. Everflowing Chalice: mana rocks should cost 3 or have a drawback
  2. Glass of the Guildpact: too weak
  3. Heraldic Banner: encouraged mono-colored decks
  4. Illuminated Folio: too weak
  5. Jayemdae Tome: too weak
  6. Loreseeker's Stone: too weak
  7. Mind Stone: mana rocks should cost 3 or have a drawback
  8. Null Rod: too much of a hate card
  9. Pithing Needle: too powerful with Urza's Saga
  10. Pyromancer's Goggles: too narrow
  11. Retrofitter Foundry: too powerful with Urza's Saga

CREATURE

  1. Bomat Courier: too powerful against slow starts
  2. Deathpact Angel: creates a Cleric token, not a supported creature type
  3. Dimir Cutpurse: too powerful
  4. Elves of Deep Shadow: too obvious of a choice as a cumly
  5. Golos, Tireless Pilgrim: too powerful
  6. Hostage Taker: too powerful
  7. Kalamax, the Stormsire: too powerful
  8. Loyal Retainers: too obvious of a choice as a cumly
  9. Monastery Mentor: too powerful
  10. Moonveil Dragon: pumping the team makes for anticlimactic endings
  11. Murktide Regent: we’ve seen enough of this card already in other formats
  12. Ornithopter of Paradise: too obvious of a choice as a cumly
  13. Phantom Tiger: too weak
  14. Risen Reef: too powerful
  15. Shadrix Silverquill: creates Inkling tokens, not a supported creature type
  16. Tatyova, Benthic Druid: too powerful
  17. Thraben Inspector: we’ve seen enough of this card already in other formats
  18. Toxrill, the Corrosive: creates Slug tokens, not a supported creature type

ENCHANTMENT

  1. Alpha Authority: hexproof makes for less interesting games
  2. Favorable Winds: too weak
  3. Offspring's Revenge: too narrow
  4. Pernicious Deed: too powerful of a board wipe
  5. Rally the Ranks: too weak
  6. Song of Freyalise: too typical a card for green

LAND (types are grouped together in this list)

  1. Tolarian Academy: too powerful
  2. Arid Mesa: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  3. Bloodstained Mire: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  4. Flooded Strand: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  5. Marsh Flats: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  6. Misty Rainforest: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  7. Polluted Delta: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  8. Scalding Tarn: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  9. Verdant Catacombs: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  10. Windswept Heath: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  11. Wooded Foothills: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  12. Badlands: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  13. Bayou: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  14. Plateau: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  15. Savannah: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  16. Scrubland: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  17. Taiga: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  18. Tropical Island: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  19. Tundra: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  20. Underground Sea: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  21. Volcanic Island: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
  22. Hissing Quagmire: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
  23. Lavaclaw Reaches: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
  24. Lumbering Falls: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
  25. Shambling Vent: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
  26. Needle Spires: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
  27. Raging Ravine: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
  28. Stirring Wildwood: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
  29. Wandering Fumarole: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting

INSTANT

  1. Abnormal Endurance: too typical a card for black
  2. Aerial Predation: too narrow
  3. Alchemist's Gift: too weak
  4. Arbor Armament: too weak
  5. Autumn's Veil: too narrow
  6. Betrayal of Flesh: too weak
  7. Bladebrand: too typical a card for black
  8. Brainstorm: we’ve seen enough of this card already in other formats
  9. Cathartic Pyre: too much utility for an instant
  10. Comet Storm: one-sided board wipes need to be focused on creature type
  11. Consider: too typical a card for blue
  12. Crippling Chill: too typical a card for blue
  13. Crush: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
  14. Dawn Charm: other cards in Cumly Cube fill this role better
  15. Dive Down: hexproof makes for less interesting games
  16. Divine Offering: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
  17. Dragon's Fire: too typical a card for red
  18. Electrify: too typical a card for red
  19. Fell the Pheasant: too narrow
  20. Gainsay: too narrow
  21. Gut Shot: too weak
  22. Heroic Intervention: other cards in Cumly Cube fill this role better
  23. Hold the Line: too narrow
  24. Into the Core: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
  25. Lash of Thorns: too weak
  26. Make Your Mark: too weak
  27. Opt: too typical a card for blue
  28. Overload: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
  29. Pitfall Trap: too narrow
  30. Repulse: too typical a card for blue
  31. Scrap: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
  32. Seedtime: too narrow
  33. Shatter: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
  34. Smash: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
  35. Smashing Success: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
  36. Smite: too narrow
  37. Turn to Frog: turns a creature into a Frog, not a supported creature type
  38. Unsummon: other cards in Cumly Cube fill this role better

SORCERY

  1. Blasphemous Act: too typical a card for red
  2. Chart a Course: too much utility
  3. Cleansing Wildfire: too much utility
  4. Cultivate: too typical a card for green
  5. Disentomb: too typical a card for black
  6. From the Ashes: too narrow
  7. Funeral Rites: too much utility
  8. Gitaxian Probe: too typical a card for blue
  9. Necromantic Summons: too typical a card for black
  10. Nighthaze: other cards in Cumly Cube fill this role better
  11. Persist: too typical a card for black
  12. Pirate's Prize: too much utility
  13. Ponder: too much utility
  14. Reanimate: too typical a card for black
  15. Recover: other cards in Cumly Cube fill this role better
  16. Serum Visions: too typical a card for blue
  17. Spitting Earth: too typical a card for red
  18. Thoughtcast: too typical a card for blue

ADDED:

ARTIFACT

  1. Coat of Arms: encourages building around creature types
  2. Patchwork Banner: encourages building around creature types

CREATURE

  1. Arahbo, the First Fang: supports the Avatar and Cat creature types
  2. Avatar of the Resolute: supports the Avatar creature type
  3. Autonomous Assembler: supports the Assembly-worker creature type
  4. Bag End Porter: supports the Dwarf creature type
  5. Breya, Etherium Shaper: supports the Human and Thopter creature types
  6. Captain Storm, Cosmium Raider: supports the Human and Pirate creature types
  7. Captivating Unicorn: supports the Unicorn creature type and supports enchantment decks
  8. Centaur Battlemaster: supports the Centaur creature type and functions as a strong payoff for prowess decks
  9. Chronicler of Heroes: supports the Centaur creature type
  10. Conclave Cavalier: supports the Centaur and Elf creature types
  11. Conclave Mentor: supports the Centaur creature type
  12. Crosis, the Purger: supports the Dragon creature type
  13. Fear of Exposure: supports the Nightmare creature type and supports enchantment decks
  14. Ghostly Changeling: supports all creature synergy decks
  15. Gimli of the Glittering Caves: supports the Dwarf creature type
  16. Glissa Sunseeker: supports the Elf creature type
  17. Graveshifter: supports all creature synergy decks
  18. Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea: supports the Elf creature type
  19. Haunt of the Dead Marshes: supports the Elf and Nightmare creature types
  20. He Who Hungers: supports the Spirit creature type
  21. Heedless One: supports the Avatar and Elf creature types
  22. Jungle Creeper: supports the Elemental creature type
  23. Jungle Delver: supports the Merfolk creature type
  24. Kataki, War's Wage: supports the Spirit creature type and functions as artifact hate
  25. Keiga, the Tide Star: supports the Dragon and Spirit creature types
  26. Kiora's Follower: supports the Merfolk creature type
  27. Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca: supports the Merfolk creature type
  28. Lagonna-Band Trailblazer: supports the Centaur creature type
  29. Marwyn, the Nurturer: supports the Elf creature type
  30. Master Skald: supports the Dwarf creature type
  31. Mine Layer: supports the Dwarf creature type
  32. Neighborhood Guardian: supports the Unicorn creature type
  33. Promised Kannushi: supports the Human and Spirit creature types
  34. Realmwalker: supports all creature synergy decks
  35. Reveka, Wizard Savant: supports the Dwarf creature type
  36. Seraphic Steed: supports the Angel and Unicorn creature types
  37. Soul of Zendikar: supports the Avatar and Beast creature types
  38. Steadfast Unicorn: supports the Unicorn creature type
  39. Stingmoggie: supports the Elemental creature type and functions as artifact hate
  40. Sygg, River Cutthroat: supports the Merfolk creature type
  41. Vineshaper Mystic: supports the Merfolk creature type
  42. Wistful Selkie: supports the Merfolk creature type
  43. Yargle and Multani: supports the Elemental and Spirit creature types
  44. Zacama, Primal Calamity: supports the Dinosaur creature type

ENCHANTMENT

  1. Aura of Silence: functions as artifact and enchantment hate
  2. Aura Shards: functions as artifact and enchantment hate
  3. Blessed Sanctuary: supports the Unicorn creature type
  4. Corrosion: functions as artifact hate
  5. Embargo: interesting prison piece for stasis decks
  6. Font of Fortunes: card advantage at a fair price for Cumly Cube
  7. Gate to Phyrexia: functions as artifact hate and supports the niche but possible sacrifice deck
  8. Impending Disaster: a useful piece for aggressive decks or niche graveyard decks
  9. Shared Animosity: supports all creature synergy decks

LAND (types are grouped together in this list)

  1. Drowned Catacomb: completing the full set of check lands
  2. Glacial Fortress: completing the full set of check lands
  3. Hinterland Harbor: completing the full set of check lands
  4. Sulfur Falls: completing the full set of check lands
  5. Cascade Bluffs: completing the full set of filter lands
  6. Graven Cairns: completing the full set of filter lands
  7. Mystic Gate: completing the full set of filter lands
  8. Sunken Ruins: completing the full set of filter lands
  9. Wooded Bastion: completing the full set of filter lands
  10. Darkwater Catacombs: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
  11. Desolate Mire: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
  12. Ferrous Lake: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
  13. Fire-Lit Thicket: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
  14. Flooded Grove: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
  15. Overflowing Basin: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
  16. Skycloud Expanse: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
  17. Sunscorched Divide: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
  18. Viridescent Bog: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands

INSTANT

  1. Accelerate: supports prowess decks
  2. And They Shall Know No Fear: supports all creature synergy decks
  3. Artifact Mutation: functions as artifact hate and supports the Saproling creature type
  4. Bandage: supports prowess decks and is also funny
  5. Brokers Charm: charms are an important part of Cumly Cube
  6. Charge Through: supports prowess decks
  7. Cremate: supports prowess decks
  8. Mirrodin Avenged: supports prowess decks
  9. Poison the Blade: supports prowess decks and offers deathtouch in green instead of its typical color, black
  10. Pressure Point: supportsli prowess decks and offers tapping in white instead of its typical color, blue
  11. Steady Progress: supports prowess decks as well as slower proliferate decks
  12. Sugar Rush: supports prowess decks and offers power boost in black instead of its typical color, red
  13. Treacherous Greed: supports the niche but possible sacrifice deck
  14. Turf Wound: a strange tempo card that fits the ethos of Cumly Cube
  15. Warriors' Lesson: supports prowess decks and might end up as green Ancestral Recall

SORCERY

  1. Altar of Bone: supports the niche but possible sacrifice deck
  2. Aphetto Dredging: supports all creature synergy decks
  3. Apocalypse: total game resets are an important part of Cumly Cube, because you end up playing more Cumly Cube!
  4. Ashen Powder: a more situational and odd piece for reanimator decks
  5. Blood for Bones: a more situational and odd piece for reanimator decks
  6. Breath of Life: offers reanimation in white instead of its typical color, black
  7. Broken Bond: functions as artifact and enchantment hate yet also ramps
  8. Channel the Suns: a strange yet useful mana-fixer. Out with fetch lands, in with sorcery WUBRG!
  9. Cloak of Feathers: supports prowess decks
  10. Crippling Fear: supports all creature synergy decks
  11. False Dawn: supports prowess decks and might offer mana-fixing in niche situations? Even if this card is pretty useless, it screams Cumly Cube
  12. Grim Tutor: tutoring is a small part of Cumly Cube but very important in the right decks
  13. Growth Spasm: offers ramp, mana-fixing, and supports the Eldrazi creature type
  14. Hymn of Rebirth: offers reanimation in green and white instead of its typical color, black
  15. Ice Storm: land destruction is a small part of Cumly Cube but a necessary balance, and not usually in green
  16. Jace's Triumph: there are Jace planeswalkers in Cumly Cube
  17. Mana Vapors: a strange tempo card that fits the ethos of Cumly Cube
  18. Many Partings: offers mana-fixing and food
  19. Migratory Route: offers mana-fixing and supports the Bird creature type
  20. Obzedat's Aid: offers reanimation in black and white
  21. Ordered Migration: supports the Bird creature type
  22. Raise the Palisade: supports all creature synergy decks
  23. Resourceful Return: a more situational and odd piece for black graveyard decks and artifact decks
  24. Ribbons of Night: offers direct damage in black instead of its typical color, red
  25. Rise of the Witch-king: a more situational and odd piece for reanimator decks
  26. Riveteers Confluence: similar to a charm
  27. Safewright Quest: offers slight mana-fixing in green and white
  28. Solve the Equation: tutoring is a small part of Cumly Cube but very important in the right decks
  29. Sweep the Skies: supports the Thopter creature type
  30. Temporal Machinations: supports artifact decks
  31. Unnatural Restoration: supports proliferate decks
  32. Urborg Repossession: a more situational and odd piece for black graveyard decks

kamarupa on Uren8

3 months ago

Oh boy. I have... uh... a lot of thoughts.

I'm going to start with ramp and mana base. I've been commenting something along these lines on a lot of decks lately. Ramp isn't much of a ramp if you're missing land drops regularly. Getting to, say 3 available mana on t2 is nice, but if you don't hit a land drop or dork on the next 3 turns, the ramp didn't really help. I'm generally not a fan of spells like Arboreal Grazer and even less a fan when there aren't a substantial number of lands in a deck to start with. At a mere 20 lands, you're going to be have to be very lucky to get both Arboreal Grazer AND 2+ lands in an opening hand. And even if you do, the likelihood of you continuing to draw lands just isn't very high. Basically, any effect that lets you "play an additional land" is just way too conditional to be consistent in my view, and therefore, I prefer to run with dorks and enchantments and rarely, rocks. You do have an enchantment that tutors you 2 lands, but at a pretty steep 4MV, I think it's going to function as much as a 'thinner' as it will a ramp spell. I do see some redundancy there with Prime Time, so I could see it be a useful spell. I should state that Prime Time isn't a creature I have much experience with, so I don't know much about what other spells synergize with it best, but I have a gut feeling that what you've brewed could have better synergy with it. It seems like it might be getting included because it's a well known and feared threat more than being a perfect fit. You also have Flare of Cultivation, which seems like your 3rd best ramp spell after your two dorks. While I like that you can cheat it into play, I don't like the required sac cost to do so as the only really good target is the Arboreal Grazer and that's just too conditional to be consistent. It's not a spell I have lot of experience with, and while I'm not a big deck thinner, I can't deny it has a lot of powerful potential. But I want more good targets for it, preferably ones that actually WANT to be sacrificed. The best part of your ramp is that you have 8 1MV dorks. Given your EXTREMELY high average MV of 4.35, I think 8-10 is probably the right number. To sum up, I would cut Arboreal Grazer and possibly reconsider both Prime Time and Encroaching Dragonstorm, either leaning into Prime Times most classically defined deck elements or cutting it. I'd try to find another 1MV creature for your Flare of Cultivation to target (6-8x 1MV non-dorks that want to be sacced) or I'd look for some other ramp choices. I'd also consider adding in something like Fertile Ground, or maybe Utopia Sprawl, as you do already have a good number of lands with the basic Forest type. If you do go for the Sprawl, then perhaps Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth might be a smart add. Finally, I'd like to see this deck reach for at least 22 lands if not 24. You've just got a hell of a lot of very high MV spells and these days I strive for 22 lands as my minimum. It's just more consistent.

Next, I want to follow up on some of what Balaam__ brought up - disruption. Disruption doesn't do much good in a sidebaord. It needs to be mainboarded or else your deck will not only end up unbalanced when sideboarding, but you'll also be tempted not to sideboard as much as you struggle to choose what spells to swap out of the mainboard. I believe almost all decks need at least 4x disruption spells in the mainboard, with 8 being best. Disruption comes in a lot of forms - counterspell is great, but I don't like tieing up mana playing the waiting game. Removal is classic for reason. Usually half of 8 disruption spells are a form a removal. Sideboards offer us different methods of removal so you can get past all the defenses opponents might use to prevent that removal. That makes sideboarding a lot easier to pull off, swapping removal for removal. I really like protection spells Heroic Intervention - while defensively, it can function like a counterspell, offensively it can do things counterspell can't. It largely comes down to preference, but disruption beyond removal is almost always essential. Of course, there's also discard, which is a solid choice, too, though I don't prefer it because it misses cards drawn after it's cast and so isn't as foolproof as a pre-emptive defensive play. I also like squeezing in 1x Fog spell when I can. I love the comedic flavor of it, but again, that's just my preference/sense of humor. Assuming you cut Arboreal Grazer, Flare of Cultivation, and at least a few copies of Encroaching Dragon Storm, even after adding 2x land, you should have room for at least 4x disruption spells in your mainboard. Incidentally, all these changes should also help bring down your average MV, which will make the deck not only faster, but more resilient as it will be able to respond to opponents.

One thing I do think you have right here is the number of creatures. But I'd like to see tighter choices that play off each other a bit more. I get that Prime Time and Flare of Cultivation support Ureni, the Song Unending, but at 3 copies and Legendary status, I'd want to solely focus on that creature or abandon that whole strategy - it's all or nothing with spells like that - run 4x of Ureni to maximize its odds it comes up when Breaching Dragonstorm when that hits. Maybe even look for spells that let you tutor it to the top of your library - Scheming Symmetry comes to mind, though I don't think that's exactly the right spell for this brew. Brainstorm might be a good option - not really a path to card advantage, but it would be useful in setting up Breaching Dragonstorm.

To return to Balaam__'s feedback, I also agree with him that Breaching Dragonstorm, especially at 5MV is too easy a target for opponents to thwart. I do think you've got enough ramp to hardcast some of your threats at least some of the time, but adding in a secondary (or even primary?) cheat-in spell would almost certainly make the deck more consistent. Elvish Piper, for example might be just as fast or even more consistent, though it wouldn't help with your big sorcery spells. Although I think this would be a significant departure from your current brew, Maelstrom Archangel would be a nearly identical backup to Breaching Dragonstorm. I'd probably go for 6-8 total "cheat-in" spells.

Overall, I feel like this deck isn't quite focused enough. It's not clear what it really wants to accomplish and doesn't seem completely committed to any one goal. At the same time, it also seems a little over-gunned - I sometimes say, "you don't need to bring a tank to a water-pistol fight to get a win" - when it comes to successful brewing, it's not the biggest threat that wins, it's the fastest fully effective one. So my broadstroke advice is to try to narrow the deck down to the core you really want to win with and try to support that core as much as you can.

I do love me some card advantage and I can see how Up the Beanstalk could have been useful here. As alternatives, you might consider Garruk's Uprising, Tribute to the World Tree, or even just plain old Harmonize

Sometimes I find I'll start a brew like this and realize I might have tried to squeeze 2 or more decks into one. It might be useful to fork this once or twice and explore different aspects in each fork. Make one with a lot more disruption mainboard, one with different ramp spells, one that really focuses on Prime Time, etc etc.

I hope some of this is helpful. I'm just spitballing off the top of my head. Don't take it as me being too critical. I'm really just throwing out the first thoughts that came to mind and I'm very likely to have missed nuances, etc.

jaymc1130 on

8 months ago

Seems like too many medium knight creatures and too little consistent value generation to really pop. Sidar just plain isn’t particularly good in EDH settings from a competitive standpoint, but can be much more effective in Duel Commander where it’s much less important to be able to play at instant speed with shields up at all times.

A couple generic suggestions.

  1. Currency Converter, looting effects go great with converter, and with a looting effect from eminence this card is going to be a must include for any Sidar deck.

  2. Call the Bloodline, Chivalric Alliance is great in a Sidar deck, why not a second copy of something similar? Both of these token generators also pair extremely well with Currency Converter as two card combos that can put in some real work. 1 mana and a card for a 1/1 and a 2/2 or 2 mana and a card for 2 2/2s are great deals in terms of mana investment.

  3. Containment Construct, pitching lands and playing them from the yard? Yes please. Pitching spells and playing them from the yard? Yes please. So much value to grind out opponents with and an excellent way to generate card advantage by using the yard as a second pseudo hand. Crucible of Worlds can also help get value from looting away lands in a similar manner.

  4. Virtue of Loyalty, a 2/2 for 2 mana at instant speed can be considered removal for creatures attacking you while just being generically on rate for spending 2 mana (much more applicable to Duel Commander than EDH or cEDH) and the second casting provides a powerful enchantment finisher that can get pretty out of hand if left alone for more than one turn cycle of buffing the whole squad.

  5. Reanimates in general. Unearth, Animate Dead, Necromancy, Jolted Awake, Agadeem's Awakening  Flip, etc. Slap some more of these effects into the deck so it’s not as reliant on Sidar reanimating things to generate value from the yard.

  6. More interaction. Fatal Push effects and some more counters like Drown in the Loch can help improve your chances of creating winning board states. Just playing some generic knight idiots and sitting around waiting for an opportunity to turn the team sideways is a pretty passive way to play. Generate some opportunities for yourself by adding some ways to affect the board in a favorable manner and protect the squad as you assemble it.

  7. Cantrips. Ponder, Preordain, Brainstorm (if you can swing adding in the 9 fetchland package) and the like will help smooth out draws, make the deck more consistent, and give you things to do on early turns that proactively progress your game plan.

There’s a lot more I could add, but these are some basic things that could improve functionality without breaking the bank.

plakjekaas on Could Uro come back to …

8 months ago

Icbrgr the two pieces you named are banned because of their interaction with other cards, that aren't legal in Modern or Pioneer.

If Basalt Monolithfoil was legal in Modern or Pioneer, Zirda, the Dawnwaker would be banned there too. Same goes for Brainstorm and Dreadhorde Arcanist.

Uro is banned because it doesn't actually need any other cards to be constant value, a late-game & recurring threat, and repeated lifegain to hose most aggro strategies. Because the presence of the card by itself distorts the metagame around it, you need to either be playing Uro, or have a plan to combat Uro, or your deck is not viable at all. That's what format warping means.

BirdieGirlie on Spiteful Avatar

9 months ago

Intrigued by the new turn into blue/black/green! I think this is shaping up really well!!!

A few thoughts:

I think you might speed up the deck a lot by getting rid of the two Avatar of Might and just running 4 copies of Hunted Phantasm. That's the best card in the deck! Avatar is the only card on the list that can't just be played when drawn. There's a condition that needs to be met. The rest have no condition and should come out on the field ASAP.

Swan Song and Strix Serenade are both fantastic for the deck and strictly better than Into the Flood Maw which you have in right now. Amulet of Safekeeping is also kind of a dead/do nothing card, because it sits on the field and provides passive support. I think you should swap those pairs of cards.

Blood Seeker is a worse Blood Artist in exchange for 1 power and I don't think that's worth it to you. I think you should replace that with one of the blue 1 mana instant draw spells -- Brainstorm, Opt, something like that. It will get more cards into your hand and make your play faster! The more card draw you have, the more likely you are to hit Blood Artist at all to get her onto the field!

Also those two legendary lands are awesome, but not worthwhile in this deck. You're running 3 Prismatic Vista with exactly 3 basic lands in the deck. You draw those lands and all three vistas become a dead draw. You need basic lands. You need fetchable lands at least. There are basic dual lands out there! Put in some Swamp/Islands, Swamp/Forests, and Forest/Islands instead. I still think you should take out the Cavern of Souls in favor of colored mana-generating lands as well. So many of your cards require 2 colored mana, after all!

Excited to see where you take the deck from here!!!

KongMing on Imoti Cascade V3

9 months ago

Oh, you should definitely add a copy of Brainstorm too, for another way to cheat stuff onto the field from your hand and potentially trigger Imoti more.

sergiodelrio on Goblin Storm

10 months ago

Disclaimer: While some of the following statements might seem like they're meant to be objectively true, they are in fact a subjective opinion based on my design philosophy

I feel like some cards in this deck are a trap.

  • Faithless Looting - As wallisface mentioned before, this is pure card disadvantage. You don't gain anything by just digging and here's why. This deck wants to be as economical with its cards as possible, since you want your cards to either net goblins, net mana or net cards as efficiently as possible in order for you to keep up with opponent's speed. You are spending 1 (4) mana to see 2 (4) cards, but you also discard 3 (5) cards in the process and they don't even do anything in the GY. If you want to stay in blue Brainstormfoil or the likes might serve you much better.

  • Springleaf Drum - So this one fixes your colors, will ramp some, and can sac to Kuldotha Rebirth. But, imho, this is only good on paper. Your deck has a number of sequencing issues, and this is one of them. Playing it early means you likely have to wait to use it. You need to have played goblin producing spells by the time you want to tap it, but you also likely want to sac this to Kuldotha Rebirth over a land. At the same time tapping that goblin is competing with Shared Discovery. If you draw it later, or when you're actually going off, this is kind of awkward too, because it will only ever fix that one mana pip on the same turn and that's the best case scenario. Now you might say, 'but hey, I'm still sacing this to make 3 goblins', now we back to card economics. All of a sudden your 3 goblins cost 2 mana and 2 cards.

  • Distant Melody. Please put the gun down xD. This card can only ever shine when you're already ahead imho, especially the way this deck is set up. It's only ever good when it draws at least 4 cards, but since this is a core RED deck, it will also draw some of your infrastructure cards that will simply force you to delay your plan. This card is awesome when it can draw like 7, but at the time it would/could, you'd be better of casting some kind of finishing spell.

  • Manamorphose. I have taken this card out of every deck I made that had it because I always realized it was never worth the slot (*unless you are playing a deck that has Goblin Electromancer clones and Morphose becomes a ramp spell). Yes, it cycles for free. But ultimately, this is one of your infrastructure cards that you only need because you play U

If I were you I'd consider an alternative way to build the deck in mono R and see what you end up with. That way, you need less infrastructure cards of a certain type, and will naturally draw into combo cards more often, without needing to draw 7 from a 4 mana off color spell.

The best thing you could possibly sac to Rebirth are expendabe Artifacts. Experimental Synthesizer is the best thing for that. (And you might want to look out for more, since IF you go mono R you will lose the ability to sac the blue lands, because you will probably want them out of the deck, but maybe not... but sacing lands to Rebirth feels wrong as well most of the time)

A 1-to-1 replacement for your blue draw spells is tricky. Glimpse the Impossible could be a powerhouse in your deck, tho. It draws cards, if you can't go off that turn or can't cast the cards it becomes ramp in the form of creatures, which in turn power up Battle Hymn (maybe up this to 4 copies as well). Consider also adding Wrenn's Resolve and/or Reckless Impulse, yes, those are not 'draw 3 or more' but they don't require much setup and you can reliably cast them even when you're not stabilized yet.

This would be my draft of this, leaving as much intact as possible, and even leaving the U artifact lands ... just to have sth to look at mono r goblin combo

zemen on That Fishy Flashy Situation

11 months ago

Some card suggestions in case you don't have any of the put creature into play cheat cards, you could use cards that put cards from your hand onto the top of your library and use your commander's ability:

You could also maybe slip some miracle cards in there too since you are constantly manipulating the top of the library:

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