Death Cloud

Sorcery

Each player loses X life, discards X cards, sacrifices X creatures, then sacrifices X lands.

Discussion (51)

dingusdingo on Non dredge gitrog deck.

1 month ago

This is a somewhat strange request. The interaction between Dakmor Salvage and The Gitrog Monster is extremely strong, and very cheap monetarily. You should consider running a couple dredge cards for value anyways, as hitting 2-3 extra draws off a dredge is an easy and once again cheap monetarily way to get ahead in card advantage.

To humor you though, here's what I'd probably run.

• The full suite of 1 drop mana dorks Arbor Elf Llanowar Elves Fyndhorn Elves Birds of Paradise etc. etc. and some big dorks like Priest of Titania
• Cards that let me put extra lands into play for more landfall triggers Sakura-Tribe Scout Skyshroud Ranger Azusa, Lost but Seeking Explore Exploration Burgeoning maybe even Walking Atlas
• Cards that let me turn lands into effects or otherwise graveyard the lands Sylvan Safekeeper Constant Mists Crop Rotation Elvish Reclaimer Edge of Autumn Lotus Field Forbidden Ritual Reprocess Harrow
• Cards that love lands entering battlefield or graveyard Terravore Titania, Protector of Argoth Avenger of Zendikar Rampaging Baloths Undergrowth Champion Lotus Cobra
• Symmetrical black land hate cards that I can break parity on with Gitrog draws and recursion Smallpox Pox Death Cloud Desolation
• Recursion effects for all these land sacs Life from the Loam Groundskeeper Crucible of Worlds Ramunap Excavator
• Cards that go with my board hate subtheme here Torment of Hailfire Oppression Necrogen Mists Bottomless Pit Bane of Progress Back to Nature Black Sun's Zenith Damnation Root Maze Caustic Caterpillar
• Finishers if you don't want to combo, like Beastmaster Ascension Genesis Wave Craterhoof Behemoth Overrun Overwhelming Stampede

And from there, round it out with some efficient early game beaters, some spot removal, land ramp, and a bit of card draw.

StivoxiusPrime on Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest - Insect tribal

1 month ago

i don't see the synergy with Death Cloud Killing Wave and Pox

im still new and try to learn more but here i don't see it work sorry. please help me :D

predator_13x on Maga Stax?

1 month ago

Clockwork Swordfish

Funny that you mention Dystopia and Mire in Misery considering that right now i'm fighing Karametra with Aura Shards ^^ Both very interesting cards. Thank you for mentioning them.

And in regards for Pox and Death Cloud , you're right, they pose too much of a threat to my own life depending on where we are in a game, especially if the game ends up running long. It's a shame, considering the extra benefits, they could eventually find a place in the deck.

ClockworkSwordfish on Maga Stax?

1 month ago

This might be too specific for your tastes, but I find that playing green is so desirable in EDH that Dystopia is always useful. Paying a few life is a pittance compared to blowing up a couple permanents, especially because it also has the capability to take out enchantments. Speaking of, you might appreciate that fancy new Mire in Misery - it's especially effective just after you wiped the board of all creatures.

On the stax side of things, I notice you went for Smallpox but not Pox or Death Cloud . Too dangerous?

SideBae on First Oloro, you must learn, stax on stax off

1 month ago

Right. Let's talk Stax.

1. Zur's Weirding : This is a hell of a card to consider when you have a general that gives you a lot of excess life. Being able to deny opponents any relevant spell is great, and because your opponents presumably don't have as reliable a source of life-gain, it is eventually going to be asymmetric-ish.

2. In a black, three-color deck, I think Painful Truths is better than Ambition's Cost . I run it in my Tasigur, the Golden Fang list, and I've been very impressed with it.

3. Prismatic Vista is a great fetch to include in a Back to Basics deck. I suggest including Silent Clearing , as having the ability to cycle a land that ETBs untapped is a big deal.

4. Your curve is consistent at the low end. Counterbalance with Sensei's Divining Top can be very powerful, especially since it is a counter-spell emulator that doesn't cost card-advantage.

5. Xerox cards are good. Ponder and Preordain are both great cards, since they dig you to lands if you need them or past them if you don't. Brainstorm is especially good with a fetch land, and you run enough fetches to justify its inclusion.

6. Because you're facing so many opponents, one-for-ones are typically not enough to put you ahead in the game. Swords to Plowshares is one of the only one-for-ones I suggest in EDH (because of its absurd efficiency); I think you should include it. Oblation and Murder are probably not going to put you far enough ahead. I suggest running Supreme Verdict , Toxic Deluge , Wrath of God and friends. If you cut some of your creatures for more enchantment or non-creature artifact-based disruption, these will be especially powerful. If you make all your lands snow-covered, Dead of Winter is also an excellent boardwipe. Also, Cyclonic Rift .

7. In my Grand Arbiter Augustin IV deck I used to run Approach of the Second Sun as a win-condition... you might want to consider it. However, I think it is probably too slow and too expensive to be a reliable win condition. I think a better win condition would be Jace, Wielder of Mysteries . Planeswalkers are already really good in a stalemate, and Jace, Wielder of Mysteries can produce an insta-win if you resolve Demonic Consultation and name a card not in your deck. (Side Note: You get extra points if you name Atog , Singing Tree or Falling Star with your Demonic Consultation .)

8. In addition to Demonic Consultation , if you're smarter than me and have the requisite brain-power Doomsday can be a good way to end the game. As implied, I don't really know how to explain Doomsday decks and/or the best way to play them, but I've seen them go off and find it spectacular. Google 'Doomsday EDH Primer' -- I think the first one that comes up (a TappedOut link) is especially good.

9. As above mentioned, planeswalkers are busted in stalemates or when you have the game on lockdown. Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is a great card-draw engine that effectively costs three-mana, and he doubles as removal. Depending on whether you have ethical qualms about being a monster, he also produces a hard-lock on untapping when paired with Stasis . (Note that Smothering Tithe paired with Stasis also does this). Technically, this can be a win-condition; Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is capable of minus-ing on himself, preventing you from milling out, while you wait for your opponents to concede or draw their decks. Jace, the Mind Sculptor is another great card in a stalemate.

10. Ashiok, Dream Render and Narset, Parter of Veils are both extremely good in EDH. Narset is especially good if you can pair her with a Windfall , which you should also run. Teferi, Time Raveler is another sort of hate-piece, and I've been very impressed with him. Kaya, Orzhov Usurper can be good in the right meta, and her other incarnation, Kaya, Ghost Assassin is good in a much wider set of situations.

11. Tutors are a big part of making a good deck great. Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor are the best, but they're very expensive and therefore rather inaccessible. Lim-Dul's Vault , Dark Petition , Mastermind's Acquisition , Diabolic Tutor , Enlightened Tutor and Mystical Tutor are all good, too, and more affordable. Whir of Invention is a good way to utilize your artifacts to find whatever silver-bullet lock-piece you need.

12. If, as first mentioned in (6), you end up cutting some creatures, Night of Souls' Betrayal is a powerhouse against a lot of decks.

13. As you're in Stax, you're usually playing for the long-game. This means incremental value is extra important. Search for Azcanta  ^Flip is a great way to improve the quality of your draws. Bitterblossom is excellent for producing blockers/small bodies to poke planeswalkers with, and it pairs REAL well with your Smokestack .

14. Mana-rocks are the best form of acceleration in your colors. Talisman of Progress , Talisman of Hierarchy , Talisman of Dominance and Dimir Signet are all worth adding, and Thought Vessel , Mind Stone , Prismatic Lens and Coldsteel Heart are all worth at least thinking about. Two-mana rocks are especially good if you pair them with an Ancient Tomb , which is another land to consider. Sol Ring , the best ramp in the game, should go in now. If you increase your artifact-count, you can also run Mox Opal in addition to your Mox Diamond .

15. Long games tend to produce large graveyards. Consider Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time in order to capitalize on this.

16. You seem a little light on counter-magic. Mana Drain and Force of Will are the gold-standard here, but as such they cost a fortune. Other, more accessible counterspells include: Counterspell , Dovin's Veto , Negate , Dispel , Spell Snare , Spell Pierce , Flusterstorm , Swan Song , Delay , Remand and Cryptic Command .

17. If you choose to run more mana-acceleration, like those mentioned in (14), cards like Armageddon and Ravages of War can end games. This is perhaps the most brutal effect in EDH, but... you know. Is fun. Cataclysm is a powerful board wipe, though its effect extends past lands and therefore does not leave your board intact. So consider carefully.

18. I should mention Pox , as I see you're running Death Cloud . Pox is right up there with Armageddon in terms of brutality, though I haven't had as much luck with it -- costing triple black is a bit of a nuisance. I've had a better experience with Smallpox or just straight-up Liliana of the Veil .

19. Mystic Remora is great for slowing down a game if your opening seven isn't really fast. In more inexperienced metas, it can easily be an Ancestral Recall or two.

20. I think Rule of Law is strictly better than Arcane Laboratory , as it cannot be killed with Pyroblast or Red Elemental Blast . In my experience, most red decks run at least one of those cards, and being able to dodge them if possible is a not-insignificant bonus.

21. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is a strictly-better Glowrider , if you want to keep this effect in the final list.

22. Finally, the Words cards may be worth it. Words of Wind with Wall of Omens makes a three-mana-an-iteration loop that can, if you're in a favorable position, clean your opponents' boards. Words of Waste is usually good in Erebos, God of the Dead and other direct card-advantage generals' decks, but it may be worth including if you cast Oloro, Ageless Ascetic and draw with him often enough. It'll keep pressure on your opponents' hands real well.

Aright. Good luck man! Oloro was my first general, so I got a soft-spot.

marcusandre1 on Nath of the Gilt-Leaf (Competitive)

2 months ago

After a very long while, here is the primer for my Nath of the Gilt-Leaf variant.

INTRODUCTION

My variant of Nath of the Gilt-Leaf is a mid-range control deck with a very evasive removal package, flexible mana accelerators, decent hate pieces, and many powerful draw engines to put your opponents into a unwinnable position.

The Mid-Range Control variant that I brewed bridges the gaps between the two other Nath variants. Unlike the stax variation, my version uses both null rod options to slow down aggressive combo decks, relying far less on artifacts. The spot removal suite is trimmed to answer all problematic permanents that would not be present in the elf ball version of Nath. with the recent printing of Yawgmoth, Thran Physician the mid-range point where Nath has board control but no option other than pick at player's life totals until a tutor shows up, is greatly improved with Yawgmoth being available.

HOW TO PILOT THE DECK

Early Game (Turn 3 <)

Early game is about setting up draw engines with Waste Not or Geth's Grimoire + Geier Reach Sanitarium . Nath supplements them by him being out with Skullclamp or the other pieces to start pushing ahead. Against faster decks, you have to focus on acceleration with early ramp pieces to push ahead such as mana dorks. Keeping removal up against certain strategies like graveyard recursion and problematic creatures that could threaten to combo win is paramount. If you're starting hand happens to not be that fast, you can easily go get a Null Rod or Collector Ouphe with the various tutors available, or hold removal while ramping at the same time like Snuff Out , Nature's Claim or Noxious Revival for graveyard based combo. Another card to help even the playing field when your behind is Pernicious Deed , which helps you keep the game at your pace, while letting you build up your board.

Mid-Range (Turn 4,5,6)

At the mid-range point, you must be prepared for resistance and wraths by establishing the aforementioned resources. Sadistic Hypnotist with reanimation back up or Chord of Calling it in to absolutely devastate your opponent's hands is one of the most powerful ways to slow down your opponents. Another great card is Imp's Mischief to either protect your own combo, or gain value off of others cards that target. Volrath's Stronghold and Phyrexian Reclamation will allow you to continue to reestablish your postions when sweepers come. The key note is to make sure to have a way to draw cards or tutor for what you need to finish the job because Nath tends to face sweepers if he lingers a full rotation.

Late Game/Finishers (Turn 6 >)

At this point in the game, you have build up your resources far past your opponents and have a very dominant presence. With huge mana accelerants like Gaea's Cradle and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth + Cabal Coffers , which is easily assembled with the tutor package, you have various mana sinks available to finish the job.

Torment of Hailfire with all of the other engines that benefit can easily knock out combo players that already abuse their life totals with little to no permanent commitment to the board. Death Cloud is the opposite, which can end a game early if Nath outpaced the the rest of the board, especially if the other players is reliant on creatures. If mana is particularly tight, a Garruk Wildspeaker ult, or Triumph of the Hordes can finish a player off. Craterhoof Behemoth is another go to, with a lot of reanimation lines available through card filters such as Anvil of Bogardan and Liliana of the Veil . With all the resources you will be building as opponents will be losing them to all the discard effects, you more often then not attrition your opponents to death.

End Note

This deck requires very calculated decision making and anticipating what your opponents' lines of play. Being very good at establishing draw engines, understanding board assessment, and piloting through bad match ups such as The Gitrog Monster Combo and Flash Hulk is the most important thing when playing Nath. Tapping out or playing recklessly can lead to you losing tempo and ultimately cost you the game, so watch for over extension and play very carefully.

If anyone has any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below, thank you.

DeadTheArtist on D I S C A R D

2 months ago

Evry1sfavteddy it is more of a "just for fun" card. The ideal situation is when everyone is sacrificing lands to Death Cloud or Pox and then I activate the second ability on Tomb of Urami and get a 5/5 Demon while everyone else is starting the game over land-wise. And if it is a perfect world scenario, Crucible of Worlds is out. I also made a sweet token for Urami himself (use link below if ya wanna check it out)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxQ0B6pFieb/

dingusdingo on Vilis, The Edge Lord

3 months ago

My no budget recommends

Tutor and Draw

Dark Confidant Demonic Tutor Vampiric Tutor Diabolic Intent Expedition Map

Ramp

Everflowing Chalice Fellwar Stone Fractured Powerstone Jet Medallion Mind Stone Mox Opal Mox Diamond Chrome Mox Bubbling Muck Rain of Filth Deserted Temple

Life to Effects

Mindblade Render Nightmare Lash Lashwrithe Death Cloud Dystopia Strands of Night Plunge into Darkness Withering Boon Killing Wave Circle of Affliction Phyrexian Etchings Plague of Vermin Bond of Agony Moonlight Bargain Phyrexian Reclamation

The list looks pretty tight overall. There are definitely some cards I'd be cutting though.

I would cut Carnophage Vesper Ghoul Sangrophage Guul Draz Assassin

Hope this helps mate.