Cryptic Command
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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Alchemy 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
Freeform Legal
Gladiator Legal
Highlander Legal
Historic Legal
Historic Brawl Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Planar Constructed Legal
Planechase Legal
PreDH Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Cryptic Command

Instant

Choose two —

  • Counter target spell.
  • Return target permanent to its owner's hand.
  • Tap all creatures your opponents control.
  • Draw a card.

DatShepTho on the flood

2 months ago

Also, there's now another strictly better Unsummon with Into the Flood Maw

Also, may I share with you Cryptic Command and Dismiss as better versions of Bone to Ash, or Exclude for one mana cheaper if you're only expecting to play against creature decks.

DemonDragonJ on Mind Over Matter

3 months ago

I have replaced Cryptic Command with Disallow, which reduced the average converted mana cost of this deck from 3.79 to 3.77, because, as great as the command is, its casting cost is too strict, so it is better to replace it with a card that has a more lenient casting cost, and Disallow still very much matches the theme of this deck.

DemonDragonJ on Utopian Prosperity

10 months ago

I have replaced Cryptic Command *list*, Plasm Capture, and Render Silent with Brokers Charm, Disallow, and Pledge of Unity, which reduced this deck's average converted mana cost from 3.63 to 3.60, because I believe that they newer cards are a better match for the theme of this deck; I almost chose Archmage's Charm instead of Disallow, but that card's mana cost is too strict, so I chose the other card, instead.

NV_1980 on Tapped Out

11 months ago

This looks like fun :)

Some ideas (based on my Hylda deck) that could prove useful:

  1. Bond of Discipline: taps all your opponents' stuff (thereby making Rhoda significantly stronger/tougher immediately, depending a bit on how much is on your opponents' sides of the battlefield) AND grants all your attackers lifelink.
  2. Borrowing 100,000 Arrows: if we're tapping this much stuff, why not benefit from that in other ways?
  3. Cone of Cold: another very powerful tapping spell; potentially lethal when timed right.
  4. Cryptic Command *list*: again, taps all your opponents' stuff and allows for some other benefits as well.
  5. Hands of Binding/Hidden Strings: imprint one of these on Rhoda and watch him grow.

Have fun with the deck!

DemonDragonJ on Should I Keep These Cards …

1 year ago

I have copies of Primal Command in several of my EDH decks, as it is an excellent card (in my mind, it is the second-best of the original five commands, after Cryptic Command *list*), but I am contemplating replacing those copies with other cards. First, in my Jenara, Asura of War deck, I am considering replacing Primal Command with Blossoming Bogbeast, since that deck has a strong focus on gaining life; in the other decks in which I have copies of Primal Command, I am considering replacing it with Shared Summons, since the newer card is an instant, rather than a sorcery, and searching for creatures is the mode that I use most frequently, anyway, so I certainly would appreciate any feedback, about that.

Also, I have copies of Grand Arbiter Augustin IV in these three EDH decks, and I shall certainly keep him in my Sen Triplets deck, since that is a dedicated control deck, but I am not certain about my Jenara, Asura of War deck or my Numot, the Devastator deck; I am considering replacing Augustin with Forgotten Ancient in my Jenara deck, since +1/+1 counters are the other major theme of that deck, and, while I do not wish for that deck to be too limited in what it can do, I also wish for it to be consistent and efficient. My Numot deck is essentially a jack-of-all-trades deck, so, perhaps, Augustin is not too unusual for it.

What does everyone else here say about this? Should I keep those cards in those decks, or should I replace them?

DemonDragonJ on Which Card Should Replace Plasm …

1 year ago

I have a copy of Plasm Capture in this EDH deck, here, but I plan to replace it, with another card, since its mana cost is too strict, and I am considering one of the following cards: Cryptic Command *list*, Countermand, Dismal Failure, or Dismiss; among those cards, Cryptic Command *list* is the most versatile, but it also has the strictest casting cost; Dismiss is simply a poor substitute for Cryptic Command *list*; Countermand is redundant with Psychic Strike and Thought Collapse; and Dismal Failure is quite nice, but it is also rather expensive for its effect. Also, I could forsake a counterspell and instead put Eureka Moment in this deck, although Gretchen Titchwillow has an ability that is essentially a repeatable version of that spell.

Therefore, I would like to ask everyone here for advice about this matter: which card should replace Plasm Capture in this deck?

Rhadamanthus on what is modal?

1 year ago

A modal spell is a spell with an effect that says "Choose [some number] - [list of choices]" where you make the modal choices as you cast it. Spells like Simic Charm or Cryptic Command are modal spells. Aether Channeler has a triggered ability with a modal effect, but Aether Channeler itself as a spell is not modal because you don't make any modal choices as you cast it. Similarly, Umezawa's Jitte has an activated ability with a modal effect but the Jitte itself is not a modal spell and Jace, the Mind Sculptor has a bunch of different activated abilities but doesn't have anything modal about it.

wallisface on Dimir control modern

2 years ago

Mana cost-effectiveness is super important, and the difference between a 2-mana counterspell and a 3-mana one is astronomical. The only reason Archmage's Charm and Cryptic Command see any play is because they can do powerful effects instead-of/in-addition-to the countering… but no other counterspells above 2 mana are ever worth running.

Countering a trigger is super niche and unlikely to come up often enough (or be powerful enough) to ever justify costing an extra mana.

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