Cryptic Serpent

Creature — Serpent

Cryptic Serpent costs less to cast for each for each instant and sorcery card in your graveyard.

Discussion (49)

zamiero on Vial and Ghost!

3 weeks ago

3> Ahhh I've been wanting to play with Obosh, the Preypiercer and Angrath's Marauders - glad you found a spot for them. While you're at it, you could also consider other "damage doublers" such as Wound Reflection and Fiendish Duo. I've thought about a Vial-Smasher deck with a White partner just to add Gisela, Blade of Goldnight.

3> I see you enjoy big monsters and X-spells here. Oh to be young again... but seriously, this seems like a good deck to play them in as you would be rewarded. Instants are your friend, as you can Smash Vials on everyone's turn! No Comet Storm?

3> I would be worried about Vial-Smasher getting nuked from orbit as soon as your turn passes and it's no longer indestructible. You'll find Heroic Intervention and Slippery Bogbonder will help with targeted Exile removal. You already have Destroy and Sacrifice covered I see.

3> I see some cost-reduced and commander-free spells in there, but you have a limited suite. While doing research for my thoughts on Vial-Smasher, I found the following might be helpful - list is just copy/paste, so it will include some White and/or Blue cards:

• 3- Offalsnout (evoke B)
• 3- Rushwood Legate (opponent control island)
• 4- Skyshroud Cutter (control forest, opponents gain life)
• 4- Frogmite (artifacts battlefield)
• 4- Bone Picker (creature dies)
• 4- Briarhorn (evoke 1G)
• 4- Deepwood Legate (opponent control forest)
• 5- Stormwing Entity (cast instant/sorcery)
• 5- Ingot Chewer (evoke R)
• 5- Shriekmaw (evoke 1B)
• 5- Glarewielder (evoke 1R)
• 5- Mulldrifter (evoke 2U)
• 6- Igneous Elemental (land graveyard)
• 6- Nemesis of Mortals (greatures graveyard)
• 6- AEthersnipe (evoke 1UU)
• 6- Spitebellows (evoke 1RR)
• 6- Cloudthresher (evoke 2GG)
• 6- Hooting Mandrills (cards graveyard)
• 6- Ethereal Forager (cards graveyard)
• 6- Soulflayer (cards graveyard)
• 6- Sultai Scavenger (cards graveyard)
• 6- Tasigur, the Golden Fang (cards graveyard)
• 6- Salvage Titan (sacrifice three artifacts)
• 6- Sawtusk Demolisher (creature battlefield)
• 6- Shatterskull Minotaur (party)
• 6- Somber Hoverguard (artifacts battlefield)
• 6- Veteran Adventurer (party)
• 7- Gurmag Angler (cards graveyard)
• 7- Ore-Scale Guardian (lands graveyard)
• 7- Myr Enforcer (artifacts battlefield)
• 7- Cryptic Serpent (instant/sorcery graveyard)
• 7- Gearseeker Serpent (artifacts battlefield)
• 7- Quicksilver Behemoth (artifacts battlefield)
• 7- Dargo, the Shipwrecker (sacrifice artifacts/creatures)
• 7- Mournwhelk (evoke 3B)
• 7- Faultgrinder (evoke 4R)
• 8- Ghoultree (creatures graveyard)
• 8- Avatar of Woe (creatures graveyard)
• 8- Walker of the Grove (evoke 4G)
• 8- Shambling Attendants (cards graveyard)
• 8- Bedlam Reveler (instant/sorcery graveyard)
• 8- Qumulox (artifacts battlefield)
• 9- Molderhulk (creature graveyard)
• 9- Sibsig Muckdraggers (cards graveyard)
• 9- Necropolis Fiend (cards graveyard)
• 10+ Stratadon (basic land types)
• 10+ Primeval Protector (creatures battlefield)
• 10+ Ghalta, Primal Hunger (power of creatures battlefield)
• 10+ Draco (basic land types)
• 10+ The Great Henge (power of creatures battlefield)
• 10+ The Cauldron of Eternity (creatures graveyard)

3> I see some cost-reduced and commander-free spells in there, but you have a limited suite. While doing research for my thoughts on Vial-Smasher, I found the following might be helpful - list is just copy/paste, so it will include some White and/or Blue cards:

• 3- Light Up the Stage (opponent damage)
• 4- Reverent Silence (control forest, opponents gain life)
• 4- Snuff Out (control swamp, pay life)
• 4- Ensnare (return two islands)
• 4- Flameshot (discard mountain)
• 4- Outbreak (discard swamp)
• 4- Snag (discard forest)
• 4- Unmask (black card hand)
• 4- Ravenous Trap (opponent 3 cards enter graveyard)
• 4- Lethargy Trap (three creatures attacking)
• 4- Bolt Bend (4-power creature battlefield)
• 4- Massacre (opponent control plains)
• 4- Refreshing Rain (opponent control swamp)
• 4- Ricochet Trap (opponent cast blue)
• 4- Tentative Connection (menace creature battlefield)
• 4- Drag to the Underworld (devotion to black)
• 4- Snag (discard forest)
• 4- Hagra Mauling  ^Flip (opponent has no basic lands)
• 4- Price of Fame (targets legend)
• 5- Bounty of the Hunt (green card hand)
• 5- Contagion (black card hand)
• 5- Force of Will (blue card hand)
• 5- Cave-In (red card hand)
• 5- Submerge (opponent control forest)
• 5- Gush (return two islands)
• 5- Misdirection (blue card hand)
• 5- Dark Triumph (sacrifice creature)
• 5- Thoughtcast (artifacts battlefield)
• 5- Murderous Cut (cards graveyard)
• 5- Rite of Undoing (cards graveyard)
• 5- Coveted Prize (party)
• 5- Deadly Alliance (party)
• 5- Baral's Expertise (cast CMC 4 or less)
• 6- Pyrokinesis (red card hand)
• 6- Fireblast (sacrifice two mountains)
• 6- Pulverize (sacrifice two mountains)
• 6- Into Thin Air (artifacts battlefield)
• 6- Tasigur's Cruelty (cards graveyard)
• 6- Spinning Darkness (black cards graveyard)
• 6- Become Immense (cards graveyard)
• 6- Set Adrift (cards graveyard)
• 6- Will of the Naga (cards graveyard)
• 6- Runeflare Trap (opponent drew 3 cards)
• 6- Zahid, Djinn of the Lamp (artifact battlefield)
• 6- Magmatic Sinkhole (cards graveyard)
• 6- Thwart the Grave (party)
• 6- Curtains' Call (per opponent)
• 6- Cobra Trap (noncreature destroyed by opponent)
• 6- Rishkar's Expertise (cast CMC 5 or less)
• 7- Divergent Transformations (per opponent)
• 7- Into the Story (opponent 7+ cards graveyard)
• 7- Assert Authority (artifacts battlefield)
• 7- Seeds of Renewal (per opponent)
• 7- Needlebite Trap (opponent gain life)
• 8- Treasure Cruise (cards graveyard)
• 9- Blasphemous Act (creatures battlefield)
• 10+ Dead Drop (cards graveyard)
• 10+ Volcanic Salvo (power of creatures battlefield)
X
• 3- Chord of Calling (untapped creatures battlefield)

ellie-is on Voracious Spellcasting

4 months ago

@Chino90: Thanks! My only issue with Discovery / Dispersal is that it costs one more mana compared to Tome Scour, which can be an issue (I guess not as big an issue if Voracious Reader is in play). And while choosing what cards you're throwing away is nice, Tome Scour mills a whole five cards which's really great for getting Cryptic Serpent into play early.

I'm gonna add it to the maybeboard and playtest it at some point though, see how much of a difference it makes in practice! Thanks for the suggestion :)

Yuri200X on modern mono blue aggro (budget)

7 months ago

At the moment your deck looks a little bit confusing... It doesn't seem too consistent in terms of a battle plan. I've seen Mono Blue Aggro thrive in 2 ocasions: merfolk and tempo aggro.

I think you're not much interested in merfolk since this lisr is clearly not based on that tribe.

So, I think you could go for a tempo-ish route that's still somewhat budgety:

Faerie Conclave can be a 2 or 4-of... (Depending on the tempest djin mechanics) Tempest Djinn is pretty neat Cryptic Serpent is interesting, but doesn't have evasion Pteramander is a 5/5 by turn 3-5 Thing in the Ice  ^Flip has some disruption that doesn't bother you too much...

With that in mind you could very well run Thought Scour to mill yourself and help your own creatures Think Twice since it's instant and gives 2 draws Opt because it's an instant Remand and Vapor Snag to build that tempo...

This way you could play on your opponent's turn while you build up your game and close the game with the creatures... I think I'd go with 4 thing in the ice, 4 pteramander and 2-4 tempest djin... And probably run 20-22 lands

4 think twice 2-4 thought scour 2-4 opt

And then leave the rest for remand, mana leak and whatnot

Phule451 on Sea Monster Tribal

11 months ago

Crush of Tentacles is a great form of flavorful removal. Cryptic Serpent and Deep-Sea Kraken are a couple other fatties you can cheat in for less mana. Also kinda surprised you don't have Halimar Depths in your build. Stormsurge Kraken can be fun, but I am biased in this as lieutenant cards are kinda pet cards for me. Reef Worm is fun, and just gets bigger and bigger. Tatyova, Benthic Druid could also get you some more card draw. Hope this helps, I know I love my sea monster deck, though I went mono blue.

Barbarian_Sun_Pope on Voracious Spellcasting

1 year ago

Would you consider Saheeli, Sublime Artificer or Gadwick, the Wizened ?

• Saheeli adds a little more value to each cantrip and can even double up on Cryptic Serpent late game.
• Gadwick, though not as strong, can add some more control elements as a one of, since most of your spells are instants and he can tap down blockers late game.

Hope this helps.

TheRoaringBlaze on Pioneer Cryptic Serpent

1 year ago

One thing I’ve noticed that your deck is very counterspell heavy, with 11 in the main deck; in general, from personal experience, decks that are heavily counterspell based aim to control the tempo of the game, slowing their opponent’s game plans while advancing their own. However, the quality of counterspells aren’t great in your deck and get very quickly outclassed (see Izzet Charm / Quench as opposed to something like Absorb / Frilled Mystic ) and there aren’t any flash threats present in your deck that aren’t cheap counterspells. Looking at Azorius and Simic Flash, they hold up the threat of counterspells, but also have ways to apply pressure in case there is no need to counterspell, such as Nightpack Ambusher and Archangel Avacyn  ^Flip. While you have Cryptic Serpent and Enigma Drake , playing those on curve prevents you from holding up counterspells, and every turn later they’re played allows your opponents to go over your game plan, and potentially beat you. Maybe adding something like Young Pyromancer or Thing in the Ice  ^Flip would be better than Curious Homunculus  ^Flip, as one can generate a huge battlefield and the other can provide a huge threat and tempo shift. Bedlam Reveler can also be better late game, as even though you have to tap on your turn for it, it can help refill your hand. Improving the quality of counterspells with cards like Ionize and Mindswipe could make your deck much better late game, and maybe adding more flash threats like Elder Deep-Fiend , Brazen Borrower and Brineborn Cutthroat could help apply more pressure to your opponents. Cards like AEtherize to act as a pseudo Settle the Wreckage could be a great idea as well. Of course, this kind of Izzet Flash deck not be the goal of your deck; in that case, perhaps remove Quench and Izzet Charm , as these kinds of counterspells are only really good early game and are dead draws later on.

gavriel1136 on The Wheel

1 year ago

Nava will show you the cards I recommended removing. Some good keywords to look for if these don't tickle your fancy are Delirium, Flashback, and Threshold. Here are some cards you could add to it instead: Chill of Foreboding , Circular Logic , Countervailing Winds , Cryptic Serpent , Dakra Mystic , Detritivore , Diluvian Primordial , Dreamborn Muse , Fascination , Fraying Sanity , Gibbering Fiend , Magnivore , Manic Scribe , Ore-Scale Guardian , Rakshasa's Disdain , Rise from the Tides , Runehorn Hellkite , Stitcher Geralf , Stream of Thought , Treasure Cruise , Howling Golem , Millstone

SeekerofSecrets on UW Tempo (Budget-ish)

1 year ago

So I would replace a few that already have, I don't think geist is very well positioned and dragonlord is more of a top end control finisher

so if I was going to play tempo I would probably start with: 4x delver 4x queller 2x Cryptic Serpent 2x Pteramander (dropping Settle the Wreckage )

with 4x Serum Visions , 4x Thought Scour , 3 Opt .

for midrange I think that I would start with 4x Wall of Omens 4x Restoration Angel 3x Spell Queller 1-2 Torrential Gearhulk and then some combination of giest or wreckage to get you to 16-17 threats.

I love mentor as a card but unfortunately we just don't have the support to play it in modern (yet) imo. It feels awful to tap out turn 3 with it, and we don't get any immediate value out of it in the later games. Now I have seen it do work g2 out of the side board. Medomai is just another great late game bomb, but its a control finisher, and thats not where you want to be imo. I'm no expert though! I'd look at some established UW midrange lists, I'm more of a tempo player.