Breathless Knight

Creature — Spirit Knight

Flying, lifelink

Whenever this or another creature enters the battlefield under your control, if that creature entered from a graveyard or you cast it from a graveyard, put a +1/+1 counter on this.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	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	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
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (5)

lhetrick13 on Beyond the Grave (Mardu)

1 year ago

Dead_Blue_ - Good stuff, given me some things to think about!

For Oliva, I liked the Mobilized for War variant as she is cheap for her strength, I like the Flying for evasion, and her ability to discard/pump creatures and add pressure by giving them Haste. The discard is handy for Haakan or just to get creatures in the graveyard for Breathless Knight's benefit. I have an aristocrat/counters vampire themed deck that Olivia Voldaren would likely fit in better with her ability to put +1/+1 counters on herself and steal opponent's creatures that could then be sacrificed for additional benefits. I will add that to the maybe board there!

I know what you mean about the "draining resources" with the discard enablers. It is a double-sided sword as at times, it is helpful but others...not so much. Nameless Inversion is a great card for this deck as its Shapeshifter class allows me to recast it unlimited times as long as Haakon is in play. A single copy of that can literally clear an opponent's creature board in a single turn if I have the mana to burn. Finding the balance of discard spells will be something I will experiment with so thanks for the spell suggestions!

I never even thought about Hollow One for this deck. Shame it is not a Knight but with Collective Brutality, under most circumstances, you could cast Hollow One for free or 1 CMC...that would be pretty nice!

lhetrick13 on Beyond the Grave (Mardu)

1 year ago

Darth_Savage - Thanks for your thoughts and giving me an excuse to take a break from work!

In regard to graveyard synergy and knights...you are not wrong. Knights are not exactly the most ideal candidates for graveyard mechanics. You did miss Oathsworn Vampire who is similar to Deathless Knight but at least returns to play instead...even if it is tapped. But ya...those two are not exactly going to make any opponent tremble in a deck like this.

You are also not wrong about there being better reanimators out there like Bloodghast and company and that Breathless Knight would definitely shine brighter in a deck filled with those types of creatures. regardless of it not being used to its fullest potential, Breathless Knight + Dauntless Bodyguard + Haakon, Stromgald Scourge due have some great synergy as you can sac the bodyguard to grant indestructibility for a single {W}, recast, and repeat. Recently added that combo and definitely need to capitalize on it more.

I am slowly agreeing with you regarding The Circle of Loyalty. Running a single copy is not ideal and even the games when I do get it, is is usually discarded or not played. I think I can remove that for something better for sure.

You mentioned you feel like the deck is torn in two ways...graveyard synergy and what I am guessing is the discard/madness? Is that right? If so, you are correct...I am trying to build the deck around Haakon and maximize my ability to get him in the graveyard to be played by hitting discards often. So it should feel like that to a degree but still need to likely get this strategy optimized...The recent changes were definitely for the better but not perfect by any means.

Yogie on Beyond the Grave (Abzan)

1 year ago

lhetrick13 - Yes I agree, a second pair of eyes really helps sometimes. One of the good things about TappedOut I suppose, there are plenty of people to lend you their eyes.

I see your point on Aether Vial, and that’s totally fair. When you play the Mardu deck you might feel that you have enough ways to get Haakon on the battlefield without the need of Aether Vial. I looked up some other Haakon decks and Aether Vial seems to be a common way of “cheating him in”.

Knight Exemplar is definitely an amazing card, my own knight deck wouldn’t work without her. My thinking is, that if you manage to get a reliable way of reanimating knights indestructible might get in the way as Breathless Knight especially would benefit from creatures traveling back and forth between battlefield and graveyard. If you do Impact Tremors or other Enter the Battlefield or On Death abilities could be good replacements for her. But again, that depends reliable reanimation, and of course what you want yourself. Another silly combo for Breathless Knight is Gift of Immortality. Imagine if you could kill of a knight with Gift of Immortality attached to it while Breathless Knight is on the field!

I’ve had Changeling Outcast recommended to me a few times by others, that’s why i mention it. Yes it, and other shapeshifters are good cards but I’m always a bit on the fence regarding them. Maybe I’m being silly but it feels like “fake tribal” to me.

I’m glad that I could be of help! Vampires are pretty fun, and they are pretty versatile too with many types of abilities. And I know what you mean when you say that you have too many things to work on. I used to be the same way xD But I’ve managed to sort out my deck building. Right now I’m only maintaining my main decks and building just one new one.

You might already know this, but if you want to playtest without having to buy the cards first I could recommend both Cockatrice and Tabletop Simulator. The first is a free program where you can play MtG online, and you have all cards available. The second you need to buy, and you need a little bit of preparation, but it feels much more like real magic.

Yogie on Beyond the Grave (Abzan)

1 year ago

Hi, I’ve taken a look at both this deck and its Abzan sibling. The comment on the Abzan deck says the same thing, but it felt appropriate to leave the comment on both decks since I ended up comparing them a little. I should also say that I have little experience with graveyard/reanimator decks. But I’ll give what little input I can :p

Haakon, Stromgald Scourge looks like a fun card to build combos with. He’s a bit fiddly but such decks can be a lot of fun to play.

My first impressions are that the Abzan deck is currently the stronger deck, based on its creatures. But, the Mardu version has better graveyard-synergy and more potential. Call the Bloodline and Aether Vial seem like cards you’d want in both decks. Breathless Knight looks perfect for these decks, I imagine it being a key card if “tended” properly. Knight Exemplar on the other hand seem almost counterproductive. She’s a fantastic card but is indestructibility really necessary when you can play knights from the graveyard?

Speaking of the graveyard, Unearth could be worth looking at. It grants extra reanimation if Hahkoon doesn’t find his way to the battlefield. Something like Changeling Outcast could be good too since it’s so cheap, even if it’s a fake-knight.

Lastly, and this might come down to deck building style more than anything else, but why run just 1 copy of some cards? Olivia, Mobilized for War especially? If a card adds to the decks strategy wouldn’t you want better than 1 in 60 odds of finding it? And if not, is the card really necessary? In “my style” of building I focus a lot on consistency. I rarely want less than 3 copies of a card in a deck, and I try to always double down on key mechanics for the decks strategy.

Like I said, I’m a little out of my element here, but hopefully I’ve said at least one useful thing. Good luck with the decks, I like the idea of them, they have potential!

Yogie on Beyond the Grave (Mardu)

1 year ago

Hi, I’ve taken a look at both this deck and its Abzan sibling. The comment on the Abzan deck says the same thing, but it felt appropriate to leave the comment on both decks since I ended up comparing them a little. I should also say that I have little experience with graveyard/reanimator decks. But I’ll give what little input I can :p

Haakon, Stromgald Scourge looks like a fun card to build combos with. He’s a bit fiddly but such decks can be a lot of fun to play.

My first impressions are that the Abzan deck is currently the stronger deck, based on its creatures. But, the Mardu version has better graveyard-synergy and more potential. Call the Bloodline and Aether Vial seem like cards you’d want in both decks. Breathless Knight looks perfect for these decks, I imagine it being a key card if “tended” properly. Knight Exemplar on the other hand seem almost counterproductive. She’s a fantastic card but is indestructibility really necessary when you can play knights from the graveyard?

Speaking of the graveyard, Unearth could be worth looking at. It grants extra reanimation if Hahkoon doesn’t find his way to the battlefield. Something like Changeling Outcast could be good too since it’s so cheap, even if it’s a fake-knight.

Lastly, and this might come down to deck building style more than anything else, but why run just 1 copy of some cards? Olivia, Mobilized for War especially? If a card adds to the decks strategy wouldn’t you want better than 1 in 60 odds of finding it? And if not, is the card really necessary? In “my style” of building I focus a lot on consistency. I rarely want less than 3 copies of a card in a deck, and I try to always double down on key mechanics for the decks strategy.

Like I said, I’m a little out of my element here, but hopefully I’ve said at least one useful thing. Good luck with the decks, I like the idea of them, they have potential!