Cabal Ritual

Instant

Gain {B}{B}{B}.

Threshold — Gain {B}{B}{B}{B}{B} instead if seven or more cards are in your graveyard.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	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
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (50)

DreadKhan on Maralen's Merry-Go-Round of Death

13 hours ago

Have you thought about using an Emergence Zone? Casting Maralen on the end step before your turn sounds amazing, you tutor first and can grab your Opposition Agent! Teferi's Puzzle Box is pretty interesting with Maralen out, especially if you can skip your draw step somehow (I like Necropotence). In a meta where people love Najeela and Winota I don't think I'd want to go without Make an Example in mono-Black, this removal will always hit the most important thing on each opponent's board, and if they choose poorly they'll lose more. I wonder if Necromantic Selection is more impactful/hits the table sooner than In Garruk's Wake? If you're really far behind keeping your board is probably a lot worse than stealing the best creature you wiped. I'm also not sure if Decree of Pain is better than Wake, it's modal (with both modes being potentially relevant), and it's a tad cheaper, the sheer card advantage is probably better in a cEDH deck with more fast mana though. Any reason you're not on Lightning Greaves? I find this is a reasonable choice in a deck that cares about it's Commander, I guess you're still open to Instants, but if you can't give Maralen Flash somehow it seems good, maybe I'm missing something?

Are you skipping staples like Mana Crypt and Mana Vault because they are too pricey? If you still want playable ramp in mono-Black, there are a few options that you aren't running yet. I think your average MV is high enough to look at Dream Devourer, this makes your spells easier to cast, and even if you lose the Devourer you can still cast the spell. I'm not sure it really fits, but if you need to cast big value stuff then Magus of the Coffers is good help, and it tends to impact the board sooner than Nirkana Revenant fwiw. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth isn't ramp but it works with lots of Black cards that care about swamps. Cabal Ritual is a bigger Dark Ritual, especially if you've Milled yourself a bit.

I think I liked this deck so much it inspired me to look at my copy of Maralen, and I think I've thought of a deck for her at last, I think it'll be my sweaty try-hard win con in my Sisay, Weatherlight Captain deck, thanks for the inspiration, hope some of my ideas are helpful!

legendofa on infinite rats

2 weeks ago

So it is Dragon tribal, be cautious about Patriarch's Bidding. I think it has a place in this deck until proven otherwise, but make sure you get at least as much value out of it as Atarka-deck does.

What I see here is a bunch of high-mana dragons, and I assume the mana dorks to support it will be in there, too. Crippling Fear has potential to be an all-star. I don't think you need more fear, since your commander grants fear and you have pretty good stall capacity until Marrow-Gnawer comes out. I'm not sure what ramp to recommend if you're at your budget limit, but Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Crypt Ghast, and Nirkana Revenant are all cards to keep in mind.

king-saproling on Toshiro EDH

2 weeks ago

You might like these: Cabal Ritual, You Are Already Dead, Mirrodin Avenged, Locket of Yesterdays, Expedition Map, Black Market, Revel in Riches, Extraplanar Lens, Manascape Refractor, Lithoform Engine, Doubling Cube, Vesuva, Deserted Temple, Thespian's Stage, Beseech the Queen, Exsanguinate

sylvannos on Hoax Storm v2

3 months ago

To start with, there's a few cards that have better Vintage equivalents. Overmaster and Spell Pierce should be the 3rd. and 4th. copies of Force of Will. Leftover space from cutting those can be Red Elemental Blast, Pyroblast, or Flusterstorm. You don't need Faithless Looting because we have Paradoxical Outcome, Sensei's Divining Top, Gush, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, and Brainstorm to choose from. Merchant Scroll also belongs in here, because you can use it to grab Ancestral Recall at the very least. Usually you want it to make sure you have protection in hand by grabbing countermagic.

Library of Alexandria isn't good in this deck. And you're not the type that needs 8x {UR} sources, so Steam Vents can go, along with a few copies of Volcanic Island (1 or 2). Replace all of these with four copies of Scalding Tarn and basic lands. Or even just play 6x fetches. You need to be able to shuffle after using Brainstorm, Ponder,and Sensei's Divining Top.

From here, you have a solid U/R Storm shell. However, I wouldn't play straight "Modern U/R Storm, but Power 9" dot dec. 2 mana is a lot for Goblin Electromancer, there are easier ways of winning than Grapeshot, and so on. The question then becomes "Where to go from here?"

• Paradoxical Outcome is just the nuts. By bouncing moxen and cheap artifacts, it's a ritual (since you can replay everything for {0}, untapping it all) and it's a draw spell. However, Paradoxical Outcome requires Mox Opals, Lotus Petal, Lion's Eye Diamond, etc. so you'll have to cut rituals (likely Seething Song). The upside is you get an extremely powerful engine that can often end the game with a single Paradoxical Outcome.
• Thassa's Oracle is the new hotness for Vintage combo cards. You can win the game by casting Brain Freeze on yourself, then casting Thassa's Oracle. It also opens up more combos using Demonic Consultation and Doomsday. Sometimes you've just drawn a bunch of cards and have ~3 cards left in your deck.
• Tinker is too good in Storm not to play it. You're either getting Memory Jar, Bolas's Citadel, Time Vault (Voltaic Key is already good in Storm when combined with Mana Vault and friends), or a random wincon like Sphinx of the Steel Wind boarded in for game 2. Bolas's Citadel will essentially flip the top half of your deck into play.
• You can also play draw 7s (Wheel of Fortune, Timetwister, Memory Jar, Diminishing Returns) in combination with Narset, Parter of Veils and Hullbreacher.
• Mana Drain is good, but you may find it too slow if you make any of the above changes. It definitely does more work in a more control-oriented Storm deck with Narset, Parter of Veils, Dack Fayden, Grim Tutor, etc.
• Lastly, there's the question of Underworld Breach, Yawgmoth's Will, Monastery Mentor, or some combination of these. Underworld Breach will mean you can stay in two colors. Playing black for Yawgmoth's Will allows you to play Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Yawgmoth's Bargain, Necropotence, Doomsday, Tendrils of Agony, and hardcasting Bolas's Citadel. Monastery Mentor both scales up and goes sideways. A single token is enough to kill someone combined with Paradoxical Outcome or a draw 7. Monastery Mentor is like casting Tarmogoyf and Empty the Warrens for three mana and one card.

Hope this helps! Welcome to MtG's oldest and greatest format.

amarthaler on EDH Skithiryx, the Blighted Dragon

3 months ago

Deck overhaul list!

Out: Cabal Ritual... Dark Ritual... Dark Confidant... Dash Hopes... Dauthi Voidwalker... Feign Death... Lotus Petal... Mana Crypt... O-Naginata... Oubliette... Royal Assassin... Sign in Blood... Sword of the Chosen... The Meathook Massacre... Vorpal Sword... Wasteland... Withering Boon... 1x Swamp

In: Blightbelly Rat... Contagion Clasp... Decanter of Endless Water... Drown in Ichor...Hand of the Praetors... Infectious Inquiry... Mirrex... Necrogen Communion... Nimraiser Paladin... Pestilent Syphoner... Phyrexian Arena... Sudden Spoiling... The Seedcore... Thought Vessel... Trailblazer's Torch... Vraska's Fall... Vraska, Betrayal's Sting... Whisper of the Dross

TheOfficialCreator on

7 months ago

Black Market Connections is a very strong ramp/draw/fodder shell for your deck.

Ob Nixilis's Cruelty, Ambition's Cost, Deadly Dispute, Village Rites, and Cabal Ritual are some good additions you could look into as well.

kookoo on "Chains and Things"

8 months ago

I looked until the cards starting with F on scryfall, and here are some card recommendations I have. I don't often play aristocrats decks, so I'm sorry if this isn't very helpful.

Removal: Avatar of Woe, Defile, Dismember

Reanimation: All Hallow's Eve, Balthor the Defiled, Exhume, Dance of the Dead

Ramp: Blood Pet, Blood Vassal, Cabal Ritual, Culling the Weak

Other: Carnival of Souls

Crow-Umbra on [retired] Action Painting Spellslinger

8 months ago

Thank you for your suggestions Jett2112. I think that my deck generally has a pretty tidy CMC curve already. The top-end is currently the 5 spells I have at 5 cmc. I'm not looking to Casualty 2 every time I cast an instant or sorcery, and haven't had too much of an issue popping off a few spells per turn beyond turn 5.

In defense of some of your suggested cuts:

• Volcanic Torrent - One of the most recent additions to the deck. I've played it in my Prosper, Tome-Bound deck to enjoyable success. I recently added it here as a one-sided board wipe that can be copied, and also gives me the chance to Cascade a couple more spells out. This deck needs as many one-sided wipe options as it can manage, since it will have a weaker board state than most other decks in my play group.

• Lier, Disciple of the Drowned - Ideally helps cover on the turn I'm going to combo off, but most importantly lets me flashback spells. In a pinch he can be sacrificed to Casualty 2. I've also considered Past in Flames in this spot, but preferred to have the body on board.

• Storm-Kiln Artist - Shits out treasures when I'm spell slinging and copying spells. On the turns that I'm using Casualty 2 on Anhelo, Storm-Kiln can net me at least 2 treasures. Since his power grows with the number of Artifacts I control, he also is a decent ground-based chump blocker, or body for Casualty 2 if absolutely needed.

• Archmage Emeritus - Like Storm-Kiln Artist, except can potentially draw multiple cards each turn, especially if I'm copying spells with Casualty 2 or any of the other copy effects in the deck.

• Leyline of Anticipation - Potential opening hand shenanigans are the best upside here for setting up flash speed fuckery for free. I absolutely want the the capability to play all of my sorcery speed stuff at instant speed (Demonic Tutor, Jeska's Will, Torment of Hailfire, etc etc)

• Birgi, God of Storytelling  ^Flip - She nets {R} every time I cast a spell, which can fuel even more spell slinging, especially on turns I want to pop off. At worst she's another body for Casualty 2. She also has the backside everyone forgets about, which can impulse draw as needed.

• Atsushi, the Blazing Sky - A flying defender the majority of the time, but exactly the type of creature I want to throw into the Casualty 2 grinder. I most often pick the 3 Treasures on death trigger, but also like knowing the impulse draw is an option if needed. If I need to go aggro for any reason he also has Trample to push damage through other Flying creatures.

Your suggested additions:

• Pulse of the Forge - If anything, I might replace Brimstone Volley for it. Not an addition that I'm dying to make.

• Rapid Hybridization - I had this in the initial version of the deck, but replaced it with Reality Shift, because I like exile based removal more when I can have it.

• Reanimate - I like Reanimate, just not necessarily in this deck. If I copy it, I don't want to be losing a lot of life, especially when I tend to have the softest board state compared to others, and will likely get hit the most. It is life loss I don't think this deck can afford much from having played it a few times. I think I opted to include Kolaghan's Command instead for the additional modal options. Yes, Reanimate is better for getting creatures directly to the battlefield as opposed to back to hand.

• Lightning Bolt - A classic. I don't remember why I omitted it before. It could potentially replace Cabal Ritual, as Ritual has been pretty situational in my games so far.

• Brainstorm - Something I probably omitted for another counter spell or something. Def something I'll reconsider if I feel I need some more top-deck set up.

• Dauthi Voidwalker - I do like Voidwalker, and run some copies in my Isshin, Two Heavens as One, Prosper, Tome-Bound, and Burakos, Party Leader/Folk Hero decks respectively. I like Voidwalker a bit more in those decks, since those 3 want to play more aggressively than this one wants to.

• Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer - Yes, this card is good. The only way I am playing this card is if I proxy it, or if I pull one from a pack. I am not spending $95 on just one card lmfao. I can also already hear my friends' sighs as Ragavan hits the table. Great card, just not particularly my taste.