Brainstorm

Instant

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

Discussion (51)

SideBae on Sen Triplets

18 hours ago

This is marked 'Help.' Below is my attempt at doing so:

First off, if you aren't averse to it on flavor grounds, I suggest the off-color fetches like Windswept Heath and Scalding Tarn . These could replace Temple of Silence and other ETB tapped lands, fetching your duals and shocks. These also allow for more shuffle effects off cards like Brainstorm .

If your meta is like mine, Sen Triplets will draw a lot of hate. Wearing down enemy resources can be useful. Pox is one of the most brutal EDH cards, but its younger brother Smallpox is sometimes better. It's good as a compliment to Liliana of the Veil , and fits within the control theme. Adding Waste Not to the mix, along with effects like Words of Waste , may be fun. I realize that this lowers the number of cards you have access to in your opponents' hands, but it is still a very powerful effect.

Preordain is a good cantrip with Brainstorm and Ponder .

You may have more luck with Cataclysm than Scourglass . It also wipes planeswalkers, but for less mana. Additionally, being able to access opponents' hands means you can rebuild faster than your opponents.

Remand seems like a good card in your deck, seeing as you can return a spell you want to cast, then target the opponent you countered and cast the spell yourself. Similarly, bouncing a juicy permanent during the end step before your turn means you can play it on yours. Winds of Rebuke and Snap might merit an include.

If you want to be a REAL douche, you can stick in Stasis in conjunction with Smothering Tithe . That's a BRUTAL combo.

Notion Thief is typically a good idea in a control deck that includes Dimir colors. Using him means Arcane Denial becomes straight busted, and running it with cards like Windfall and Time Spiral can simply shut people out of the game.

Telepathy can give you information on who you want to target with your general's ability.

Have you considered running Karn, the Great Creator in conjunction with the Mycosynth Lattice ?

I'm not sure what your meta is like, but mine includes things like Gaddock Teeg . I suggest running Toxic Deluge to get around this sort of effect. Another meta call is Mental Misstep , which I've also had luck with.

I like your Mystic Remora and Rhystic Study . I suggest things like Jace, the Mind Sculptor or Painful Truths .

I apologize if my suggestions are less than ideal; I've never had much success with this general. But that's what comes to mind. Good luck.

achilles777 on Eye of the Storm

21 hours ago

I might recommend a couple cards to help improve this. Isochron Scepter creates infinite mana with Dramatic Reversal . Also, Ad Nauseam is another excellent card advantage card you might want to consider. You're a little light on counter spells but that may very well just be user preference. Desperate Ritual seems like an add in for sure, also some cheaper cantrips like Brainstorm , Ponder & Serum Visions which will get that storm count up, then maybe add in Grapeshot for the finish.

outofnothing0 on Zur's Perfection

2 days ago

Been super busy lately so sorry for the late replies!

@Limo: Thanks for the upvote! I'll be sure to take a look at your deck!

@MooneBoyIrish: If you had read the deck description I've put the relevant ruling for auras there as many get confused by them; basically auras only target when cast so if they are put into play as part of an effect (ie. Zur, Replenish , Open the Vaults , etc) they can be attached to a legal permanent of your choosing (as defined by the enchant ability) without targeting that permanent. As MtgMaster02 pointed out Triclopean Sight is indeed both backup to Daybreak Coronet as well as an effective means to get Stasis up and running.

@SlowMoon17: I'd say both yes and no. I've slightly drifted away from the straight 1v1 environment to make it more resilient and able to at least hold its own in multiplayer as well (due to the local meta). I feel like there are faster ways of combo winning ( Doomsday , Phyrexian Unlife , etc) but that's just boring. There's something about playing land destruction/ Stasis and seeing the light drain from your oppenents' eyes that just makes it oh so worth it haha.

@Im_ygy: Yea... lol. I just looked it up and the entire decklist non-foiled, without Timetwister and OG duals is still around $2100 NM/PL

@MordMetal: It really depends on how budget you want. Obviously don't foil it lol; but in all seriousness you can save a ton on the land base alone. Add more basics and tap lands ( Arcane Sanctum / Vivid Creek / Vivid Marsh / Vivid Meadow ), use Evolving Wilds / Terramorphic Expanse instead of fetches, etc. If your overall CMC is still low swap Dark Confidant for Dark Tutelage , Snapcaster Mage for Archaeomancer / Mnemonic Wall . As for Timetwister it really depends on what effect you are looking for... GY shuffle: Elixir of Immortality , Card draw: Windfall , both: Time Spiral although it costs double the mana (and untaps!) and is still expensive although still cheaper by a phenomenal amount. These are just some examples. I'd recommend doing an advanced Gatherer search (https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Default.aspx) for specific effects you are looking for in a cheaper card variant.

@Dankey Thank you! I like running Jace, the Mind Sculptor for the Brainstorm effect (and Unsummon effect if needed) to filter away any enchantments that find thier way into my hand (so i can tutor them up for free). In 1v1 Jace basically lets me know what my opponent is drawing most of the time too; so for now I think he is just too versatile to get rid of.

@cango35: I really like Winding Canyons in most creature based decks but i think it'd be kind of a waste here for a few reasons. Firstly I overall barely have any creatures. Secondly the additional 2 mana is killer... it'd mean i'd need 6 mana PLUS the land to get it off and that's just not worth the luxury of flash in my opinion. Thanks for the suggestion though!

@hoffie4: I've had Strionic Resonator in the deck for ages! You must've missed it XD

@Auraprime1984: There are a few options. The rest of the mana base is pretty solid, so to be honest it doesn't matter a whole lot. You could add more basics, the third painland ( Caves of Koilos ), Exotic Orchard , maybe Tainted Isle / Tainted Field , Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth , Prairie Stream / Sunken Hollow , Choked Estuary / Port Town , etc. You could also use some tap lands like Arcane Sanctum , Celestial Colonnade , Fetid Pools / Irrigated Farmland , Temple of Deceit / Temple of Enlightenment , etc. Signet lands are also an option Darkwater Catacombs / Skycloud Expanse . You mostly just have to figure out what would work best with your build. Hope that helps!

SideBae on Derevi Fat Stax

2 days ago

Right off the bat, you should strongly consider Smothering Tithe to run alongside your Stasis . Each turn cycle, all three of your opponents have to pay to cut you off one blue, meaning Stasis is very likely to stay put.

Second, instead of running Bident of Thassa , you should consider running a Green Sun's Zenith to fetch your Edric, Spymaster of Trest . This gives you the redundancy that two of the 'hit OP draw' effect while allowing you to fetch other things with GSZ, including a Dryad Arbor turn 1, if you choose to run that, or Reclamation Sage to take out a pesky artifact/enchantment.

Similarly, I always feel weird running signets or Commander's Sphere in a green deck. If you have access to green, you have access to dorks (which are way better than signets). Avacyn's Pilgrim , Fyndhorn Elves , Birds of Paradise and Noble Hierarch are all REALLY powerful. Priest of Titania and Bloom Tender are both two-drops that make enough mana to be busted as well. Similarly, I don't think Solemn Simulacrum is ideal in this deck. If you cut the artifact ramp for dork ramp, you can run Kataki, War's Wage or Energy Flux to great effect. Also, Stony Silence becomes just... real good.

Suppression Field is also an excellent card. You aren't running fetches, which is fine, but decks that DO run fetches despise Suppression Field -- AND it hoses 'walkers, which you run 0 of.

Playing lock pieces, you're going to draw a lot of counter magic. I advise Dispel as an efficient piece of counter-counter magic, as well as Flusterstorm if possible. In the vein of counter magic, I don't think Hinder is very good. If you're afraid of an opponent just getting value out of the spell in the graveyard, Void Shatter ensures that your opponent doesn't just tutor it back later.

I think Supreme Verdict is better than Wrath of God , if only because it dodges counter magic. You probably don't want to run two wrath effects (because you're a go-wide creature deck), so I advise just replacing wrath with the verdict.

Tutor-wise, Mystical Tutor and Enlightened Tutor would be great for this deck. Mystical can get any instant or sorcery you need, be it wrath or ramp, while enlightened can find you lock pieces fast. I highly suggest them both.

Brainstorm , Ponder and Preordain are all excellent cards that make a borderline hand into a good hand. I think all blue decks should run these Xerox pieces, as they find lands and/or important spells at a very low cost.

Depending on how prevalent blue is in your meta, consider Carpet of Flowers . It is a REALLY good card.

I'd replace Cultivate and Kodama's Reach with Nature's Lore and Farseek , and Explosive Vegetation with Skyshroud Claim . The suggested cards to not require the 'Basic' supertype, meaning they can grab your duals without a problem. Also, Nature's Lore and Skyshroud Claim allow for your lands to enter untapped, reducing their net mana cost.

I advise running Utopia Sprawl and Wild Growth . With Derevi triggers targeting the enchanted land, these produce extra mana. Also, if you run Arbor Elf , they make it tap for extra mana as well. Notably, the sprawl can only target a forest. This isn't really a problem, as I think you should try to make your land base lean green anyways. Early in a game, you want to ramp first, which requires green and then enables you to find your other colors.

Grasp of Fate is probably better than Return to Dust . It has a wider range of targets, and tends to hit more permanents for less mana.

I think people tend to underestimate the power of soft-counters in EDH games. In the late game, when players have ramped their entire decks out, they do tend to be somewhat useless. However, early interaction is invaluable. I recommend at least trying Spell Pierce in a few games, as this can counter an early Sol Ring and make all the difference.

Speaking of odd EDH counterspells, Mental Misstep is another tremendously undervalued card. If your meta is fast, it can be a complete game changer; if your meta is slow, it is indeed useless. That's a meta call, but I put it out there because I've had great success with it.

Mystic Remora is a good way to draw cards if it comes down turn 2 or 3. You should consider running it.

I would suggest running Sower of Temptation over Keiga, the Tide Star . It is vulnerable to removal, but gaining control of a creature and impacting the board right away is worth it, at least in my opinion. Similarly, if you want to lay down some real cash, Gilded Drake is a good option.

You should at least consider running Thalia, Guardian of Thraben . With dorks and the untap abilities from your general, you're likely to have more mana than your opponents, making her ability more and more one-sided.

I think Reflecting Pool is probably better than Meteor Crater . You might also consider running City of Brass and Mana Confluence , as I've had good success with these in 3-color decks. Exotic Orchard and Forbidden Orchard are also considerations for mana fixing.

Mother of Runes is a D&T staple you might want to consider. She's very good for protecting your creatures, although she is a nonbo with the aforementioned Suppression Field .

I feel that Mulldrifter is included because it can be flickered with Roon of the Hidden Realm and Brago, King Eternal . Seeing as the blink effects aren't in the command zone, I think just running Fact or Fiction and/or Dig Through Time would be better, as they are instants and let you leave up counter magic. Treasure Cruise is good too, although this is a sorcery. Chart a Course , Slate of Ancestry and Shamanic Revelation are also good cards for this deck.

You may wish to consider Howling Mine . It will always draw you a card on your draw step, as the untap step comes first. However, if you tap it down with your general's ability, the effect becomes asymmetric.

Good luck with deck building!

Last_Laugh on NARSET INFECT

2 days ago

I'm kind of agreeing with the first poster. This is just extra turns Narset with minimal ways to do infect damage... I'd cut the gimmick. My suggestions will fall in that category and I'll try to suggest some cuts too.

Spirit Mantle / Reconnaissance for Invisibility and Tricks of the Trade.

Copy Artifact for Simian Spirit Guide.

Smoke for ??? (This one is meta dependent)

Mystical Tutor / Personal Tutor / Brainstorm for Chain of Vapor, Swords to Plowshares, and Corrupted Conscience .

Divine Reckoning / Razia's Purification for Chandra's Ignition and Ruination.

Ral Zarek , Temporal Manipulation , Time Stretch , Time Warp , Waves of Aggression , Walk the Aeons , and Time Warp for Madcap Skills, Eldrazi Conscrption, Aetherflux Resevoir, Angelic Destiny, Stitch in Time, Refurbish and Open the Armory.

Feel free to check out my list for other ideas including your lands. Upvotes on any of my decks are appreciated. Narset, American Beauty

SideBae on Vial Smashes Affinity

2 days ago

So my first thought is that you should run a LOT of instants, rather than just 2. Vial smasher can trigger on ANY turn, not just one, so running something like Dig Through Time would be... really good. Generally, you'll want these instants to draw you more cards, so Fact or Fiction and Glimmer of Genius are also fine choices. Cards with alternate casting costs also tend to have high CMCs: for example, Force of Will is a Lava Axe in this deck, as well as a counter spell. While Force may be a pricey card, other cards from the same cycle aren't. Contagion is well under a dollar, and can potentially also 2-for-1 with opposing creatures, while Pyrokinesis is even stronger. Misdirection and Commandeer also come to mind. If you want to get REAL spicy, Mind's Dilation is another good way to cast spell on your opponents' turns, but bear in mind this card tends to be killed pretty fast.

Flash creatures like Torrential Gearhulk also seem like pretty good ideas.

I suggest replacing Vedalken Orrery with Leyline of Anticipation . It's (very) slightly harder to remove an enchantment than an artifact, but more importantly if Leyline is in your opening 7, you avoid having to pay its cost. I can see a world where you play both, though.

I see you're running a few mana rocks, but I advise more. Two mana rocks tend to be far superior to 3 mana rocks, so Dimir Signet and Rakdos Signet are likely better than Thought Vessel or Worn Powerstone . Talisman of Dominance and Talisman of Indulgence also come to mind. Being in green means you have access to a whole host of dorks, like Llanowar Elves , Fyndhorn Elves , Arbor Elf , and Elves of Deep Shadow . These 1-drops may not look like much, but being able to accelerate you into quickly casting your general and then the following high-cost cards is a good thing. Orcish Lumberjack is a personal favorite in any red-green deck. However, if you choose to go via artifact ramp and not dork-ramp, this opens you to using effects like Pyroclasm or Volcanic Fallout to keep opponents' creatures in check. Ancient Tomb tends to be REAL nice for powering out turn-one 2-drop rocks. Depending on how blue-heavy your meta is, Carpet of Flowers can range from good to a straight-up powerhouse. If you take this part of my advice, your curve will drop significantly and you will be able to run 32-ish lands with no real problem.

You'll also probably want a good card-draw package, if you're planning to cast a lot of spells. Azra Oddsmaker is a goldmine if you have an open opponent to attack, and black has access to enchantments like Phyrexian Arena . Night's Whisper and Ambition's Cost are also good, and work well with Kydele.

Delve spells will act sort of like X-cost spells, but be easier to cast late-game and harder early-game. Empty the Pits may be interesting, but you should also consider Logic Knot , Treasure Cruise and Tasigur, the Golden Fang . Tasigur will give you an out later in the game for excess mana, and will allow you a level of recursion. In order to make these cards powerful, you need cards in the graveyard. For that, I recommend Faithless Looting , Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip and Dack Fayden . While these last two are pricier cards, I think looting is the best here of the three, as you can cast it turn one to filter out a hand that may be too heavy in lands or spells. The flashback is also very significant. Jace is a powerful card in that he allows more card filtration on a permanent, and allows you to snap back a spell if you want. Dack Fayden is a boss in EDH, where stealing a Sol Ring is very common. So even if you don't need to filter your draws, stealing a rock should be an option about 98% of the time.

Speaking of card filtration, Ponder , Preordain and Brainstorm are all potent cards in any blue deck. While they may not work particularly well with Vial Smasher, they all work rather well with Kydele while also giving you a cantrip to cast turn 1. A lot of times, these are the cards that make a boarderline-keep hand into a keep hand for me, as they are extremely good at finding lands and/or spells as need be.

With Kydele, cards like Windfall , Wheel of Fortune and Winds of Change all become rituals in addition to their usual effects. Running Notion Thief in conjunction with these 'everyone draws' spells is... good. Similarly, targeting an opponent with Dack Fayden 's +1 while Notion Thief is on the field is a pretty good way to tip the card-advantage scales in your favor.

I like Whip of Erebos . You should consider running some Entomb or Buried Alive effects with it, as that would allow you to get some one-shots in with powerful creatures when hitting an opponent or just when entering the battlefield. Nicol Bolas and Massacre Wurm comes to mind.

Good luck with deck building!

whalen147 on HERE WE GO (Oathbreaker)

2 days ago

Ziggy-Star-Dust A spell needs to be on the stack first, and we need 2 total copy spells (or Ral's -2 and a copy spell, but its awkward to pull off) for the combo to work. Then it can target itself infinitely. So we can wait for someone to cast one, or cast something like Brainstorm or ideally Gut Shot , cast the copy spells and repeat until KO's.

DaddysKitten88 on Fuck You Blues

3 days ago

Thank you for all the suggestions. I've ordered a few of the cheaper cards Ponder , Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir , and Roil Elemental plus I found Brainstorm , Counterspell , Blue Sun's Zenith , Bident of Thassa and Archaeomancer in my collection. I also have a Darksteel Plate instead of the other two artifacts mentioned by bushido_man96. K1ngMars I'll look for an Aqueous Form . Now to see what to take out. I know I'll take Lay Claim out for sure.