Dimir House Guard

Creature — Skeleton

Fear

Sacrifice a creature: Regenerate Dimir House Guard.

Transmute (1)(Black)(Black) ((1)(Black)(Black), Discard this card: Search your library for a card with the same converted mana cost as this card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library. Play only as a sorcery.)

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
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (49)

nothingstar on oloro

3 weeks ago

This is a good start, you have some really nice lifegain synergies going. It doesn't really seem like a card draw deck to me, though. It leans more towards the lifegain world of Aetherflux Reservoir than to the U/B world of card draw. There are a lot of black cards that exchange life for cards; if you want card draw, you should get a Graveborn Muse leave the Reservoir behind.

If you go the true lifegain route, you might add transmute effects for tutors, like Clutch of the Undercity or Dimir House Guard. And another good wincon could be Celestial Convergence + Solemnity. And Test of Endurance. Though those will require more counters/protection than you have right now.

I have learned from experience that strategies that ping your opponents for one or two life every turn get you killed very quickly, because they make you stand out even when you're doing very little. So things like Drana's Emissary are kinda dangerous.

In that same vein, Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose will draw hate. It's Sanguine Bond on a stick, and when people see half of the Sanguine Bond/Exquisite Blood combo, they shoot it immediately.

One final bit of overarching advice -- since this is a 3-color deck, I suggest staying away from cards that require a lot of one kind of mana. Particularly lots of black mana, like Underworld Dreams or Peer into the Abyss, since this deck is heavily U/W right now.

Okay, now some slightly more nitpicky things about card choices:

• Since the Mages only seem to fetch mana rocks at this point, might you switch them out with myrs? Like Alloy Myr.

• I'd replace Folio of Fancies with Temple Bell, personally, because I like having to spend less mana per draw.

• Serra Avatar might be better than Celestial Force. But also I just really like Serra Avatar.

Again, this is quite good, just needs a bit of focusing towards the endgame. All the nitty-gritty of the mana curve and stuff you'll work out in playtesting, and what you have so far is workable.

CruelEntertainment on Date Night with Phage

4 weeks ago

Have you Though about adding any transmute cards to the list, like Dimir House Guard or Brainspoil, if anything just to save a bit of money, also, thanks for making the list, I feel like it is a cool primer for how to

Flarhoon13 on Kenrith, the Cycling King

1 month ago

Inaugural game went perfectly. Time of Need got Zirda, the Dawnwaker. An early Fluctuator allowed me to cycle about 7 cards early. Zur the Enchanter got Astral Slide, Escape Protocol and Training Grounds. So, when Kenrith, the Returned King finally came out, all of his abilities were reduced to a single coloured mana. Razaketh's Rite got a Palinchron, probably should've gotten a Herald of the Forgotten. My opponent had been kind enough to mill my Scholar of the Ages so I could search with Razaketh's Rite again, this time for the Dimir House Guard to loop Palinchron via Kenrith, the Returned King for infinite mana and the win.

DreadKhan on EDH Merens Reanimator

1 month ago

In my Meren deck, I don't run a lot of bigger creatures, even though the deck has decent odds of ending up with huge amounts of mana, stuff like Beast Whisperer/Grim Haruspex draw cards off of creatures either entering or leaving the battlefield, there are lots of variants of both of those effects, and these will let you play many spells in a turn, rather than play one huge thing. I don't think your MVs are a huge problem, but the 'top of my curve' creatures are Razaketh, the Foulblooded, Protean Hulk, and Sheoldred, Whispering One, the first two can win on the spot or very quickly, while Sheoldred is a bit more questionable, a lot of people find stuff like Sheoldred tends to be too slow in todays game, so even that is a card I'm considering switching out for lower to the ground stuff. I checked and atm I have 14 1 drops, which is a few more, there are plenty of decent 1 drop mana dorks you could throw in to both lower your curve and possibly raise your consistency, though the best is Elves of Deep Shadow, since your deck cares more about Black mana.

As a general rule of thumb for Meren, if you can do a thing with a creature instead, you probably should unless the creature option is truly awful, I run 55 creatures in the 99, and I'm still thinking about sneaking more in by taking out things like Artifacts. Creature payoffs are better than artifact payoffs in Golgari, and Meren can't recur non-creatures.

For sac outlets, you ideally want a selection of 'free' sac outlets, ones that only use a creature and no other input, so stuff like Viscera Seer, Carrion Feeder, Woe Strider, any of the good altars (Phyrexian Altar, Ashnod's Altar, and Altar of Dementia are my all very good), Sadistic Hypnotist is insanely useful (it is a 5 drop though), if you have 4 drops that matter you can use Dimir House Guard because Transmute is a good mechanic if you care about the MV and it's also a free sac outlet. I think you can throw in a few sac outlets that are more limited, stuff like Helm of Possession, Phyrexian Tower, Hell's Caretaker, Altar of Bhaal, and Ritual of the Machine are all beefy effects, even if you can only use them once per turn. I really like stuff like Sakura Tribe Elder because the card provides it's own sac outlet (but only for itself), ymmv but I think you're taking a risk by running something like Solemn Simulacrum over Dawntreader Elk or Diligent Farmhand, 4 mana is a ton and it lacks a self destruct feature.

One option some people end up taking is replacing Meren as the Commander, not because she isn't strong enough but because the play patterns are pretty consistent, once you've figured out what your deck is trying to do, Meren is usually very predictable, so some people prefer something like Baba Lysaga, Night Witch. She offers card draw and a sac outlet in the Command zone while caring a lot less about creatures in particular, so you'd have more freedom in terms of card types.

Hope some of this is helpful!

psionictemplar on Mortal Kombat

3 months ago

The time counters do need to be gone for auramancers to work like you want. Unless they are already out of counters, then "kombat" away. Suggestion wise, I have Dimir House Guard for you as a way to tutor auramancers at the very least.

DreadKhan on Korvold Sacrifice

3 months ago

I assume you're trying to keep this on a lower budget, so this post will lean into cards that are cheaper, probably ~$5 or less. I feel like something like Pawn of Ulamog, or Sifter of Skulls, or even Ogre Slumlord? Bodies off of creatures dying that can also die is pretty on theme.

A great source of fodder can be Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder, but if you play anything too big he'll just die. You really want some infinite and free sac outlets if you use him, but there are a few of those around that aren't too costly, including Viscera Seer, Carrion Feeder, Woe Strider, and Sadistic Hypnotist. There is also Dimir House Guard, which can also serve as a tutor for anything that's 4 mana if you already have better sac outlets on board. Another creature that interacts fairly well with your Commander is Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, who can make some bodies for you/provides a free sac outlet.

Not sure how often you attack, but Jolene, the Plunder Queen, Grim Hireling and Professional Face-Breaker can all generate treasures for you to sacrifice as needed. These are good cards with creatures that are hard to block, such as Shadow creatures, though Gruul has no Shadows afaik and Black has mostly Dauthi that aged poorly and the pricey Dauthi Voidwalker, I have been known to run Dauthi Slayer and Dauthi Marauder here and there, Dauthi Horror is also reasonably cost effective in it's own way. There are a few more out there if you like the concept of creatures that can't block or be blocked.

You might like Mimic Vat, the bodies can be useful while having some synergy with the Commander.

Since Korvold can easily get over 10 power and has evasion, have you considered Tainted Strike to help him one-shot people? 10 Infect damage kills any opponent, regardless of life total. Also good with a Trample source obviously, Garruk's Uprising, Primal Rage (or Rancor?) or Blossoming Bogbeast are all affordable and playable sources. Obviously not important if people rarely run fliers in your area.

I could point out some good candidates for replacement in your list if you'd like.

Hope some of this is helpful!

zAzen7977 on K'rrik the Masochist

4 months ago

Hey theyounghansolo, I have a lot of experience playing K’rrik competitively and I have a few suggestions to help you improve your competitiveness:

ssteves1069 is spot on, Chainer, Dementia Master is crucial to this deck’s functionality. Since his ability is an activated ability, it bypasses Rule of Law and counterspells, which are this deck’s greatest weakness. To use Chainer, you need a proper sacrifice outlet like Dimir House Guard or Razaketh, the Foulblooded. Once you have Chainer, Guard/Razaketh, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel on the board, you’ve assembled an infinite combo and drain each opponent to death. You can also accomplish this with Buried Alive and Necrotic Ooze.

Final Parting targeting Reanimate in hand and Vilis, Broker of Blood in the grave usually wins you the game. Scheming Symmetry should never be run in a competitive setting since you are likely providing an opponent with a combo piece or counterspell.

Beacon of Unrest is too slow, I’d replace it with Shallow Grave. Recurring your artifacts is not critical to your strategy.

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse has the same functionality as Aetherflux Reservoir, but is a creature and can be reanimated. She pairs perfectly with Vilis. Plus Shelly and Peer into the Abyss either gains you lots of life or usually eliminates another player.

To be continued…

king-saproling on Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafted

5 months ago

You might like these: Goblin Welder, Ashnod's Transmogrant, Silverskin Armor, Transmogrifying Licid, Dimir House Guard, Mana Echoes, Sword of the Paruns, Staff of Domination, Ingenious Artillerist, Species Specialist, Anointed Procession, Krark-Clan Ironworks, Zulaport Cutthroat, Corpse Knight, Illusionist's Bracers, Smothering Abomination.

Personally I would cut these: Oni-Cult Anvil, Sokenzan Smelter, Big Score, Unexpected Windfall, Hidden Stockpile, Pia's Revolution, Osgir the Reconstructor, Daretti Scrap Savant, Trash for Treasure, Read the Bones, Loyal Apprentice