Cerebral Vortex

Instant

Target player draws two cards, then Cerebral Vortex deals damage to that player equal to the number of cards they've drawn this turn.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	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
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (45)

Crow_Umbra on Xyris, the Endless Ouroboros [Wheel Primer]

1 year ago

Totally understandable regarding wanting to go for the group slug angle. Purphoros, God of the Forge has won me multiple games in my Isshin deck. Cerebral Vortex is such a goofy card I've wanted to pull off at least once.

My friend's Xyris deck also performs super consistently, & is a force to be reckoned with in our meta. I think it's also won most of the games I've sat across from it.

UltimateRoxas40 on Xyris, the Endless Ouroboros [Wheel Primer]

1 year ago

Crow-Umbra, Cerebral Vortex looks fun, but it only targets one opponent. If possible, I'd like to perform a simultaneous knockout, like wheeling enough with Purphoros, God of the Forge to knock them out all at once. And if I'm playing 1v1, I can usually generate enough value to overwhelm my opponents. This deck has one of the highest win rates of my EDH decks, to the point that I stopped bringing it out against my friends haha.

Crow_Umbra on Xyris, the Endless Ouroboros [Wheel Primer]

1 year ago

Cerebral Vortex could be kinda silly here, especially when used in conjuction with other effects that force your opponents to draw.

Ironically enough, I wanted to use Cerebral Vortex in my Anhelo, the Painter deck as tech against the Xyris deck in our meta.

Crow_Umbra on The Wheels Keep Spinning

1 year ago

No prob KingLonsur! I haven't had a chance to try Cerebral Vortex in a real game yet, but I've played the other 3 in different games & decks, & enjoyed them a lot. I hope you do too!

Crow_Umbra on The Wheels Keep Spinning

1 year ago

Cool deck! Locust God is no joke. One of my friends used to play a Locust God deck in our meta.

This is a kind of silly suggestion, but I'd recommend checking out Cerebral Vortex. I currently run it in my Anhelo, the Painter deck since I have various copy effects. It can be used for yourself as a last resort, or it can burn someone that you've been hitting with wheel effects. Additionally, Pulse of the Grid might be worth a look. I also run it in Anhelo for the potential return to hand capability, but figured it could get some mileage here as well.

I know creature slots are a premium in spell-slinger decks, but have you considered either Witty Roastmaster or Hellrider to help round out your Impact Tremors effects? In a weird parallel, my Isshin deck is also token focused, and have found some fun success in running a few more group slug or damage effects in addition to the Purphoros and Impact Tremors we both run in our 99s.

Crow_Umbra on Your Cheap Obscure Overperformers?

1 year ago

I've really liked Pulse of the Grid in my Anhelo, the Painter deck. I was able to copy it and return it to hand about 2-3 times in a couple of games. I think it certainly has a place in any Blue decks that also want to play with their graveyards or have a discard subtheme.

I'm going to be testing out Cerebral Vortex in place of Pulse of the Grid, in Anhelo pretty soon. The potential to draw 2, take 2 damage, or draw 4, take 6 damage in a pinch seems okay, especially when people play stuff like Stinging Study. I am also interested in Cerebral Vortex's potential to punish an opponent for digging deep on draws, especially if copied. I have a certain Wheeling Xyris, the Writhing Storm deck in my meta in mind for this scenario

Artificer12 on Can I cast an instant …

2 years ago

An opponent has Vedalken Orrery in play, and at the end step before their turn, they flash out Gadwick, the Wizened, with X = 8 (This also applies to any other instant speed draw spell, this is just the scenario I was confronted with).

I have Cerebral Vortex in my hand, and would like to cast it targeting this opponent (It's a draw punish deck), but after Gadwick ETBs so that it deals the 8 damage from drawing those cards within the current turn .

Is there a second round of priority before the turn passes, but after Gadwick hits the field so that this is possible? Or does the turn end after the spell resolves?

wallisface on Izzet Sway Combo

2 years ago

Stolos Ahh yeah my bad - i missed that sway set life totals to 7. This combo does indeed feel a LOT more feasible to me now that i understand the actual interaction.

I still think aiming for a turn 6-8 win is a bur slow, especially when most modern decks aim for a turn 4-5 win, and even a lot of casual creature-based strategies will be able to beat you down before turn 7. Here are some thoughts on potential improvements:

• The combo only realistically needs Cerebral Vortex, Sway, and Mana Seism, with 8 lands in play. I would suggest making the rest of the deck hard-control to stall out the game that long. Going to 25-26 lands, and including White as a 3rd colour, gives you a lot of hard-control options to buy you all the time you’d need to pull this off. Control thrives on dragging the game out long, so that feels like the best-bet.

• To that end, i’d suggest adding Archmage's Charm, Counterspell, and Cryptic Command, as well as some draw packages like Opt or Serum Visions. White becomes useful for running Prismatic Ending, and a few copies of Teferi, Time Raveler.

• A must, imo for this deck would be 2ish copies of Memory Deluge - this will help you assemble the combo pieces quickly late-game when you have enough lands to go-off.

The reason i’ve suggested going down the hard-control route is that your current plan leaves your opponent too much ability to do what they want - and for a slow deck that spells doom. The other option could be to add Green and try going for heavy-ramp, but that will leave your deck a lot more unreliable in its ability to complete the combo.