Cartel Aristocrat

Creature — Human Advisor

Sacrifice another creature: Cartel Aristocrat gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn.

Discussion (51)

nbarry223 on Glittering Company

11 hours ago

Okay, this is what I came up with for the 26 creatures + sideboard and it looks way different from what I expected honestly. It's more focused on getting good 2 card combos with Collected Company while maintaining most of the synergy. I was able to get a "game ending" hit with Collected Company to ~14.8% or a little better than 1/7 from its current ~7%.

If you already have some kind of combo piece on board, this of course would go up significantly, since a lot of the combos are 3 pieces. I also am not including strong synergies in this, like Quillspike + Kitchen Finks which would probably be enough to win in a lot of cases honestly, since they have to somehow remove the Quillspike first or you'll just keep generating value.

I think Renegade Rallier is a sleeper in here, and may be justified as more than a singleton, since he synergizes so well with fetchlands just guaranteeing value. Unfortunately, I just couldn't justify Saffi Eriksdotter, even with the infinite combo potential.

I found that having the more narrow "wincons" mainboard didn't make a lot of sense in most cases, since you could scry straight for Glittering Wish or get infinite life (allowing you to find Glittering Wish or slowly chip away at them) whenever you actually 'needed' the wincon.

4x Birds of Paradise
1x Carrion Feeder
3x Viscera Seer
3x Devoted Druid
3x Kitchen Finks
1x Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit (allows good synergy with a lot of cards for the anti -1/-1 slot)
1x Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2x Vizier of Remedies
2x Heliod, Sun-Crowned
2x Quillspike (surprisingly valuable because of Devoted Druid)
1x Renegade Rallier (nice recursion or ramp)
2x Spike Feeder (kind of undervalued this initially, but with correct support it can be really good - blocking combat tricks against things without trample too if needed)
1x Endurance (grave hate and psuedo-recursion if needed)

sideboard notes:
Cartel Aristocrat (sort of flex because Dina, Soul Steeper almost covers the slot)
Quillspike (sort of flex because Impromptu Raid almost covers the slot)
I'm thinking -1 Revival / Revenge (only card you'd want to bring back that you can't just wish a psuedo-version of is Devoted Druid or one of its pieces and at that point, having access to both pieces and not having ended the game sounds a little unlikely)

You could now fit specific hate cards you plan to side in like:
1x Dauthi Voidwalker

because I basically cut them from the main to add more consistency to the combo(s).

nbarry223 on Glittering Company

15 hours ago

Few Groupings / General Notes

SAC OUTLET
Viscera Seer / Carrion Feeder / Cartel Aristocrat / Glittering Wish

ANTI -1/-1
Vizier of Remedies / Melira, Sylvok Outcast / Good-Fortune Unicorn (doesn't work with Devoted Druid) / Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit (doesn't work with Devoted Druid) / Glittering Wish

-1/-1 Win-Con (don't work with Vizier of Remedies / Melira, Sylvok Outcast)
Obelisk Spider / Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons / Glittering Wish

Lifegain Win-Con
Blood Artist / Cruel Celebrant / Dina, Soul Steeper / Glittering Wish

Mana Win-Con
Rhonas the Indomitable / Lair of the Hydra / Walking Ballista / Glittering Wish

Solo Combo Pieces
Kitchen Finks all-star
Devoted Druid all-star
Quillspike
Spike Feeder
Heliod, Sun-Crowned decent
Saffi Eriksdotter
Renegade Rallier also can ramp

Notes

• Multiple legendaries are bad
• Multiples of any grouping is bad
• Kitchen Finks is good in multiples (good value)
• Devoted Druid is decent in multiples (ramp)
• If a card is multicolored, running 3 or less copies main lets you run +4 virtual copies for

Key Combos

• SAC OUTLET + ANTI -1/-1 + Kitchen Finks (wincon sort of optional)
• SAC OUTLET + Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Kitchen Finks (wincon sort of optional)
• SAC OUTLET + Saffi Eriksdotter + Renegade Rallier + Lifegain Win-Con (not Dina, Soul Steeper
• ANTI -1/-1 + Devoted Druid + Mana Win-Con (sort of optional, but not as optional - a lot easier to die with infinite mana than infinite life)
• Devoted Druid + Quillspike
• Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Spike Feeder (wincon sort of optional) / Walking Ballista (sort of mana intensive and Walking Ballista can't be fetched for this, but you can do infinite damage with a lifelink Ballista with 2 +1/+1 counters)

Math to follow, just had to organize what I was going to be calculating for first.

nbarry223 on Glittering Company

1 day ago

I'm just going to ramble here, but probably some decent ideas to consider.

Bretagard Stronghold could be a thought for re-using persist triggers or just pumping creatures. Hex Parasite is an interesting idea with Kitchen Finks or maybe even Devoted Druid that just might be abusable (not quite infinite).

Cruel Celebrant is essentially a Blood Artist that doesn't target and is wishable. It's comparable to Dina, Soul Steeper except it doesn't work with the Spike Feeder + Heliod, Sun-Crowned combo but does work for Saffi Eriksdotter + Renegade Rallier. Since the second group is all multicolored, you could probably change some things around to allow for wishing for more game enders, and potentially freeing up some redundant slots while you are at it.

Obelisk Spider seems like it would work with Good-Fortune Unicorn and persist triggers etc. so it may be worth shuffling some cards around there. Also, now that I think about it, you could have Cauldron Haze as a persist set up giving you a nice protection option / potential sac outlet. You can also use Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons to make lots of tokens with triggers instead of going for life (probably not as ideal).

Varolz, the Scar-Striped might be a more versatile sacrifice outlet than Cartel Aristocrat. The scavenge synergizes nicely with persist, allowing some interesting plays. Unfortunately, you don't really have any cheaply costed overpowered creatures, so you miss some opportunities with Devoted Druid and mana.

So I'm thinking something like:
MAIN
-1 Spike Feeder - only really works with Heliod, Sun-Crowned who combos with other cards like Kitchen Finks
-2 Vizier of Remedies
+2 Good-Fortune Unicorn
+1 Obelisk Spider
+1 Bretagard Stronghold
-1 Indatha Triome or Forest

SIDE
-1 Dina, Soul Steeper
-1 Dromoka's Command
-1 Quillspike
+1 Cruel Celebrant
+1 Obelisk Spider or Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons
+1 Cauldron Haze

You could also concentrate more on certain infinite combos instead of being spread as much, but there's downsides to that as well.

zapyourtumor on Soylent Black is PEOPLE!!!

4 months ago

Village Rites > Altar's Reap

Eaten Alive > Spark Harvest/Bone Splinters

Konrad seems too slow and doesn't have much impact for a 5 drop.

One thing you badly need here is an instant-speed reusable sac outlet. which can be used to sac your tap creatures for untapped tokens to surprise block, or just sac anything that is targeted with exile removal, or get instant speed card draw/drain. The only good one in pioneer thats a human is Cartel Aristocrat, and it might be worth splashing white just for that. White would also let you run Cruel Celebrant (not a vampire unfortunately), and maybe Return to the Ranks.

nbarry223 on Glittering Company

4 months ago

So to me, that means that:

Cartel Aristocrat, Good-Fortune Unicorn, Kitchen Finks, Impromptu Raid and to a lesser extent Revival / Revenge, Fiend Artisan, Knight of the Reliquary are win-cons.

I'd say the first 4 in that list are definite staples that need to stay. Revival / Revenge seems to do it's job well too. Everything else does its job, but doesn't have haste or has some minor downside, so there's potentially room for improvement.

Personally, my top choices of everything I'm going to throw out there is as follows:

Liliana, Heretical Healer  ^Flip (maindeck recusion/utility)
Sigarda, Host of Herons (potential side anti-removal)
Dragonlord Dromoka (potential side anti-counterspell)

I also see a lot of cards in here to counter control/removal. Have you considered a bigger hexproof/shroud creature, or something that's just uncounterable and a threat? There's also recursion, which Revival / Revenge does a pretty good job at, but some other options I can think of for that are Liliana, Heretical Healer  ^Flip, Lurrus of the Dream-Den, Necropanther, Vesperlark or Nethroi, Apex of Death.

Also, I know you don't have red, but General Ferrous Rokiric seems like it would be a good consideration for that type of a slot. Hexproof agaianst most removal and it synergizes with all of the multicolored you have going on.

Better fits as far as colors go are Reaper of the Wilds, Sigarda, Host of Herons, Thrun, the Last Troll, Witchstalker, Carnage Tyrant, Loxodon Smiter or Dragonlord Dromoka. Some are wish targets while others aren't, figured i'd throw out anything that had potential though.

To me, a wish target has to either be low enough that you can cast it same turn, or big and strong enough that you can cast it next turn and it turns the game around/seals the deal.

I just think you have a lot of slots in the sideboard that accomplish the same basic thing and you might be able to get away with condensing it a bit more to give more versatility for broader answers like psuedo-board wipes, silver-bullets, etc.

So if all that rambling somehow allows you to free up maybe a slot or 2 and still cover everything you need to cover, then maybe you will have the space to consider a broader selection of counterplay instead of just furthering your own strategy.

There's also things like Vindicate that hit lands too, which could help with the tron match as well as covering basically everything.

JacobAGrossman on Glittering Company

4 months ago

Ok, well let me take a step back and go the other direction, and explain my current sideboard choices:

Cartel Aristocrat, Good-Fortune Unicorn, and Kitchen Finks are the combo pieces.

Dina, Soul Steeper replaces Murderous Redcap, Conclave Mentor, and Cruel Celebrant as m, "what to do if infinite life isn't enough," card.

Abrupt Decay and Despark cover literally all single target removal possible.

Humiliate is the best hand interruption, and sometimes that counter placement can be the next piece of the combo puzzle.

Fiend Artisan and Knight of the Reliquary are my big beaters that also can look for other pieces if they're big enough to survive, which is why I would wish for them. Especially the Artisan, if my opponent is blowing up my creatures.

Athreos, God of Passage is if I can get ahead of creature removal and punishment my opponent for it.

Revival / Revenge is for when removal or mill or counterspells have gotten the better of me.

Vexing Shusher is so counterspells don't.

Impromptu Raid is for when I have infinite green mana on the board, and a Wish in my hand. Made all the more confident by the inclusion of Endurance. Also replacing a want for Wheel of Sun and Moon.

Dromoka's Command is for the Blood Moon slot, when fetching for basics isn't working and I don't have a Swamp for Abrupt.

Kambal, Consul of Allocation is for control or artifact decks thinking they're fancy.

Hopefully that will shed a little light on my thoughts, and why I went with what I went with. Sorry if I was a little abrasive earlier, didn't realize what you meant. Now hopefully we are on the same page :D

TheVectornaut on A sweet ass B/W deck

10 months ago

Hero of Precinct One and Tome of the Guildpact are some decent cards that care about multicolored without being so themselves. Orzhov picks could be Pillar of the Paruns , Beckon Apparition , Blood Baron of Vizkopa , Nightsky Mimic , Kaya's Guile , Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim , Karlov of the Ghost Council , Resolute Rider , Seraph of the Scales , or Vizkopa Guildmage . I tried to pick card suggestions that fit in with either the multicolored or the lifegain plans. Popular inclusions in more tempo or aggro focused Mimic/Divinity builds include Castigate , Orzhov Charm , Mourning Thrull , Cartel Aristocrat , Sin Collector , and Gift of Orzhova . Combine the two and you might get some value out of a shell of Ajani's Pridemate , Heliod, Sun-Crowned , Light of Promise , Wall of Limbs , and Archangel of Thune .

Anyway, now that I've probably named every black and white card ever printed, do let me know if you have questions. Good luck!

Goblin_Guide on Making the name "Death & Taxes" make sense

1 year ago

I would recommend Blood Artist and more Cartel Aristocrats and some creatures like Doomed Traveler.