Damping Sphere

Artifact

If a land is tapped for two or more mana, it produces instead of any other type and amount.

Each spell a player casts costs more to cast for each other spell that player has cast this turn.

Discussion (51)

Artatras on "The Many-Faced God" - [[Primer]]

3 weeks ago

Hi _Putrefax and thanks for your suggestions!

I see where you are going with your stax pieces, but it is not necessarily the direction that I want to take. Damping Sphere does not have that much of an impact in Commander, apart from hurting storm strategies. Thorn of Amethyst has a similar effect, but it hoses me even worse. I have very limited mana resources, and every single mana is extremely important for me. I like Defense Grid a little bit more because, as you said, it makes me much harder to interact with. However, I am not a huge fan of these symmetrical effects. I have many instants in this deck, and the grid neuters my ability to interact with my opponents.

I really like, however, Mana Web. It either slows my opponents' gameplans or limits their interaction. Most importantly, it's effect is asymmetrical. I don't get hurt by it, and I like it a lot. I will be considering the Web for sure.

I have never had a great experience with either Meekstone and Crawlspace. Every time I have played those cards, they have never had that much of an impact on the game in my favour. I have never thought about Ensnaring Bridge, but I guess it makes sense. I can control Lazav's power at will and I don't have too many cards in hand, so it's worth the try.

Null Rod is actually unplayable for us. With it on the board, if Lazav ever becomes an artifact creature (and he will, considering our wincon creatures are artifacts), we won't be able to activate his ability again as long as the Rod stays on the board.

Karn, the Great Creator's effect is, once again, asymmetrical and can be taken into consideration. I particularly like his -2 ability, which is probably our only way of getting back any of our win conditions if they ever get exiled. I don't have too many available slots, but I hope I can squeeze it in somewhere.

As for Mystic Sanctuary, I admit I had underestimated it. One of my friends actually won a few games thanks to it, although with a completely different deck (Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow), where it makes even more sense. Still, I can't get around lands that have the chance to come into play tapped, and lands that must be considered more like a spell. To give you an example, I hate Bojuka Bog so much so that I don't play it in any of my decks. If I want graveyard hate stapled on a land I go for Scavenger Grounds, despite it being symmetrical. This is because Bojuka Bog, like Mystic Sanctuary, is more of a spell than a land. In the early game, I simply can't play them because it would be a waste. This means that, if in my first few turns of the game I have three lands in hand and one of them is a Bog or Sanctuary, then I have virtually just two lands. And if I am forced to play them immediately, it's a huge tempo loss since they come into play tapped. These kind of cards need to be drawn at the right time, otherwise they will be stuck in hand for an indefinite amount of time. Scavenger Grounds, on the contrary, can be played immediately with no downside and can be activated whenever we need. Of course I am not playing Scavenger Grounds in a Lazav deck, but this is just to explain you my line of thought. For these reasons, I would rather play Snapcaster Mage or Mission Briefing over Mystic Sanctuary.

I am really curious to see what Laboratory Maniac wincons you will be throwing in, because I kind of need an "I-Win-The-Game" emergency plan. Can you please link your build once it's ready?

Thanks again for your suggestions. Cheers!

_Putrefax on "The Many-Faced God" - [[Primer]]

3 weeks ago

You could go more all in on stax as a way to stop interaction. Since after you've got your commander on board and the ability to throw stuff in your yard, you don't really cast spells too much apart from protection.

Damping Sphere, Thorn of Amethyst, Defense Grid, Mana Web type spells make you much harder to interact with while you punch face.

Ensnaring Bridge, Meekstone and Crawlspace don't affect you at all, but can stop people sending retaliation hits your way after you kill an opponent.

Generic stax like Null Rod, Grafdigger's Cage and Torpor Orb have the potential to absolutely hose your opponents and do almost nothing to you.

As far as non-stax pieces go, Karn, the Great Creator can get back any of your ARTIFACT combo pieces that have been exiled. Nothing better than winning with your Dreadnought after someone has exiled your graveyard. Mystic Sanctuary is an island that can get you a counterspell/tutor back after you use it.

I'm tempted to build a deck similar to this, but with a couple sneaky Lab Man wincons just incase.

Kiran_M on This deck should never work

3 weeks ago

Burgess_Buttonworth and Epicurus, I definitely like Risk factor as a way to refill your hand after the reset or get in some damage. Maybe run something to protect the Lich's Mirror in case your opponent has instant speed removal in response to the Madcap Experiment, which would kill you. Also maybe run some bounce spells that hit all permanents, not just creatures. This can stop hate like Damping Sphere and other things that might hose your combo. I definitely like the idea of running Approach of the Second Sun (credit to seshiro_of_the_orochi for the idea).

pmansmoney on Lavinia Omen Pool *Primer*

1 month ago

What do you think of Damping Sphere? Loving the look of the deck btw, I'm trying to throw together something similar!

BanoMD on Scarab Hero

1 month ago

Garretthook

Appreciate the sentiment, I’ve been having fun with it! I still find I’m constantly tinkering with it. Lots of cards I’m still learning about in Pioneer since I only started playing in Kaladesh, so the list keeps changing.

Right now, I really hate that I feel like I need to add 3 Damping Sphere and 2 Gideon of the Trials just because of where the meta is at. Feel those slots could be used for cooler things!

nascentbodhi on Yuriko... because who needs friends anyway?

1 month ago

It seems like many Yuriko lists have moved to labfish combos, which I'm not a big fan of. For this build my goal is to continue using more of a burn strategy with a subtheme of turns. That being said, it could easily be updated to support the newer combo based wincons.

Removed: Countersquall, Curfew, Dark Ritual, Darkness, Far / Away, Memory Lapse, Mission Briefing, Treasure Cruise, Fallen Shinobi, Mist-Syndicate Naga, Sakashima the Impostor, Spectral Sailor, Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive, Bitterblossom, Smoke Shroud, Bojuka Bog, Castle Vantress, Mystic Sanctuary, Grafdigger's Cage

Added: Arcane Signet, Bloodstained Mire, Chrome Mox, Damping Sphere, Exotic Orchard, Force of Despair, Frantic Search, Gitaxian Probe, Mausoleum Wanderer, Plaguecrafter, Snap, Spell Snare, Temporal Mastery, Universal Automaton

Oloro_Magic on Help needed with SkredRed build

1 month ago

Hey!

First off welcome back to modern, it's been a while I see and yeah... things haven't been too kind to Skred Red, first off I will say that the current lists are likely temur now, here is an example:

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-temur-midrange-165516#paperTEMUR MIDRANGE

That's just to give you an idea of where snow as an archetype has gone nowadays but let's talk about classic skred red. Basically you want to get yourself 4 Arcum's Astrolabe right away, the card quite frankly is broken, it replaces itself and ups your skred snow count right away. Here is a list from MTUgin that I am a fan of:

MTUgin's Deck

Lands

2 Frostwalk Bastion

2 Scrying Sheets

18 Snow-Covered Mountain

Creatures

2 Eternal Scourge

2 Seasoned Pyromancer

1 Hazoret the Fervent

2 Stormbreath Dragon

Planeswalkers

1 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame

2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance

2 Koth of the Hammer

Spells

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Skred

3 Anger of the Gods

Artifacts

3 Relic of Progenitus

4 Arcum's Astrolabe

4 Mind Stone

1 Ratchet Bomb

Enchantments

3 Blood Moon

Sideboard

2 Goblin Rabblemaster

3 Simian Spirit Guide

2 Chandra, Awakened Inferno

2 Shattering Spree

2 Pillage

2 Pithing Needle

2 Dragon's Claw

That list can use a lot of work, for example I think Blast Zone is likely just better than the ratchet bomb, and another little Chandra could be played, but it should give you something to work from. Skred right now can be a little weird, Primeval Titan decks are very good right now meaning being the Blood Moon deck isn't a bad place to be, but you really do lack any meaningful sideboard cards. I'd probably cut the SSG's for Damping Sphere which is also good against titan and storm. If your meta turns out to be a ton of titan you should be decently positioned otherwise one of skred's biggest problems in this day and age is what is becoming the end all and be all of the modern format and that is game actions per turn. Skred has a very low count on this and thus is inherently behind decks like amulet or urza which are doing many things a turn. Now, again Blood Moon can just win games but it is a concern. The temur build solves this problem some but is a very different deck.

As for having to buy new cards, its a reality all us modern players have had to face, 2019 produced a LOT of staple cards: Wrenn and Six, Teferi, Time Raveler, Urza, Lord High Artificer, Arcum's Astrolabe, and Oko, Thief of Crowns to name a few. In a way Skred has a lot less than most decks so there is that to look forward to I guess. My advice to you though is just cast moon, you can update as you go, moon will steal you games while you do. If I were you I would prioritise the Chandra's and Seasoned Pyromancer both seem good here. Let me know what your meta looks like I'd be happy to help you out with a sideboard!

Good draws!

CheapnFast on Revenge Of The Smith

1 month ago

Your main problem when it comes to sideboarding is going to be facing the two degenerate combo decks in the format. One involves a storm style combo with Underworld Breach and the other is a two-card combo deck with Inverter of Truth and Thassa's Oracle. Luckily because you're playing an artifact-centric deck you have some options. Graveyard hate can slow down both decks, and you're in white so you could play Rest in Peace, but that is going to be super expensive. Tormod's Crypt is a 0 mana artifact and an instant-speed answer. For the Underworld Breach deck specifically, Damping Sphere is a good sideboard choice. The Inverter of Truth deck though is tough to deal with. Your best bet is stuff that shuts down ETB effects, and in white you have access to Hushwing Gryff. You also might want to play something that deals with Bogels. Shadowspear is a great equipment that you could even consider as a mainboard opion. Sorcerous Spyglass is a good answer to planeswalkers and an artifact so that could also be good.