Combos Browse all Suggest
Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Big Apple Highlander | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
| Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
| Custom | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Freeform | Legal |
| Highlander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Planar Constructed | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| PreDH | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Divine Presence
Enchantment
If a source would deal 4 damage or more to a creature or player, that source deals 3 damage to that creature or player instead.
H3y_Im_R0b on Divine Presence Question
2 months ago
I had stumbled upon the card Divine Presence and was curious if it could save creatures with toughness 4 and up from something like a Blasphemous Act or a Star of Extinction?
Fuzzy003 on
Teysa, Ghostly instigator
3 years ago
Divine Presence can help mitigate damage. Does not mitigate life loss tho... :)
StopShot on Counteracting large hexproof creatures.
5 years ago
The subject of this thread revolves around dealing with and counteracting against the commanders: Uril, the Miststalker, Sigarda, Host of Herons, Dragonlord Ojutai, Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, Thrun, the Last Troll as well as commanders that consistently or typically give themselves hexproof through various equipments/auras.
While it may not be the most prevalent strategy these types of commanders can be annoying to deal with. I'd like to create a discussion on what are the best ways to deal with these commanders. Given how niche these commanders can be, running cards that exclusively dedicate themselves to their removal may be detrimental to draw into when playing a game where none of your opponents run them. Therefore cards that can both combat massive hexproof creatures as well as still being useful to have if none of your opponents are playing with big hexproof creatures should be taken into consideration when deciding what is the "best" or "most practical" solution to combating hexproof strategies.
The first cards that come to mind are Arcane Lighthouse, Detection Tower, Bonds of Mortality, Shadowspear and Glaring Spotlight. These cards entirely dedicate themselves to combating hexproof strategies, and while this may be a detriment when used against non-hexproof strategies, these cards do lend themselves some extra utility. Arcane Lighthouse and Detection Tower can be seeded into your manabase so at worst they're just a Wastes however they can be more inefficient in comparison. Given that both are lands, tapping them costs you an extra mana resource effectively making their abilities cost to activate. Not only that, but they have no effect at stripping indestructible which can be a common keyboard which may be used alongside most hexproof strategies. Cards like Bonds of Mortality and Shadowspear cost only one to activate and they can bypass indestructible, however given they're not lands you have to dedicate a nonland slot in your deck to accommodate either of them which means taking out a card that may better synergize with your deck's main strategy in their place. They also lend themselves targets for counter spells and given hexproof decks contain white and/or green, artifact/enchantment removal will pose a high potential risk. This is all not to mention you still need to provide a removal spell in tandem with these cards in order to remove the threat.
Another solution is board wipes. Cards such as Wrath of God, Damnation, Day of Judgment, Supreme Verdict, Blasphemous Act, etc. Mass creature removal is incredibly strong given that its always relevant in most metas making it a highly flexible solution that isn't too narrow to rely upon. It's biggest drawback however is if the massive hexproof creature that needs to be dealt with has indestructible, totem armor or Gift of Immortality. Even a card such as Toxic Deluge can be a risk as you may have to pay a huge amount of life if the creature is incredibly big. Cyclonic Rift is another effective card. One thing to note about boardwipes are they affect the whole table which makes them also more likelier to be countered than by effects that impact a single individual.
A more narrow solution would be through damage prevention effects such as Story Circle, Forcefield, Runed Halo, Rune of Protection: White, etc. Given each card never "targets" they can be used to infinitely "Fog" a problem creature that you can't put up with. These effects are more narrow than boardwipes but broader than hexproof removal. Cards like these still run into problems with artifact/enchantment removal and they don't run enticing side effects such as drawing a card upon entering the battlefield like Bonds of Mortality or giving a creature lifelink and trample like Shadowspear, however you won't need to exhaust your removal spells to keep the large creature(s) either. In more broader metas such as combo, stax and prison, these effects may not be as useful however. More broader variants of these protection cards exist as Ensnaring Bridge, Divine Presence, Peacekeeper and Meekstone though these cards may make multiple opponents unhappy enough to remove them than the more narrower options.
The last effect used to combat large hexproof creatures is sacrifice effects such as: Fleshbag Marauder, Innocent Blood, Vona's Hunger, Liliana's Triumph, Doomfall etc. These effects can bypass not only hexproof but also indestructible, regenerate and totem armor. Their drawback lies in if the player with the large hexproof creature has any other creatures to sacrifice in their place. Because of this caveat this effect isn't too strong unless ran in multiples which can be difficult to commit to in a 100-card format. Instead selective sacrifice effects may be the best way to devote to this solution with cards like: Crackling Doom, Soul Shatter, Slaughter the Strong, Council's Judgment, Renounce the Guilds and Wing Shards. While these cards won't always guarantee the large hexproof creature will be removed, they provide a stronger case than not compared to most traditional sacrifice removal.
Lastly there are counter spells to remove hexproof creatures. While they may be the best all purpose solution they can be rendered ineffective if a Cavern of Souls or some other can not be countered effect is in place. With exception to Withering Boon, the biggest downside to counter spells are they are entirely exclusive to blue meaning other color combinations without blue do not have this option available.
Which method do you rely on to stop massive hexproof creatures? Is there a card or solution set not listed here that you use? If you happen to play EDH decks with big massive hexproof creatures, which effects annoy/counter you the most?
NetholonTheArchmage on The Sunforger-Dilemma
7 years ago
@ triproberts12 , thank you for your suggestions!
Ironically you just mentioned two of the cards that are among the most profitable in the deck in my opinion :D Divine Presence is probably my favourite pillow-fort-card ever.. Somehow it seems to shut down half of the table, not being able to deal any damage as everyone has a reliable blocker on their board. It is a mytery but strangely enough nobody manages to remove that thing... Might be cursed or something... In short: This card does huge work in my meta so I really want to keep it.
The Trading Post is one of the most versatile cards I know, offering you (on theme-) blockers (you may also gift them away for extravalue) , carddraw if you need it or, and that's the most important effect: artifact-recursion from your graveyard. Last but not least it is an important component of my Mindslaver -lockdown wincon.
Still I thank you a lot for your time and your angagement! :)
triproberts12 on The Sunforger-Dilemma
7 years ago
I think Divine Presence and Trading Post are pretty mediocre, personally.
Gleeock on
Queen Marchesa: Politics, Aikido, and Control
7 years ago
Divine Presence is an option... Not the same thing though, would interrupt your own big swing plays, unless you are using "life-loss".
ZendikariWol on Group Hug and/or Politics in …
7 years ago
I forgot to mention earlier that a political card can also be cards that give a backhanded gift (ie Nin, the Pain Artist). Also, not listing every curse in Magic's history.
White:
Blue:
Black:
Red:
Green:
Multicolored:
Colorless:
StopShot on
Alesha's Prohibition: Bears and Staxes
7 years ago
Needs more stax. Cards you may want to consider: Hanna's Custody, Thorn of Amethyst, Ethersworn Canonist, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Fall of the Thran, Global Ruin, Keldon Firebombers, Smallpox, Slaughter the Strong, Stronghold Rats, Necrogen Mists, Ensnaring Bridge, War's Toll, Tectonic Instability, Rite of the Raging Storm, Tainted AEther, Fulminator Mage, Divine Presence, Storage Matrix, Grave Pact, Bottomless Pit, Stoneshaker Shaman, Aura of Silence, Mesmeric Orb, Bounty Agent, Noetic Scales.
Not every one of these cards need to be included. Pick which ones you feel may suit you best as these are some of the best stax cards in your colors to choose from.
| Have (0) | |
| Want (1) | Durnik |