Dowsing Dagger

Artifact — Equipment

When Dowsing Dagger enters the battlefield, target opponent creates two 0/2 green Plant creature tokens with defender.

Equipped creature gets +2/+1.

Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, you may transform Dowsing Dagger.

Equip {2}

Discussion (50)

Guerric on The Outfield

1 week ago

Hi AaKkisa! I've written a primer on this deck and we have some discussion on that page which I'll link below. In the meantime, I'll give some thoughts!

I think you have a lot of things right here. You have a lot of good weenie angels, which is key. You have some good draw engines, though in my opinion leaning a bit more into lifegain and playing Well of Lost Dreams is really good. I might also cut one of the more pricey draw engines like The Immortal Sun in favor of something more synergistic like Sigarda's Splendor, but that's just me. Thorough Investigation is also a great draw engine in my experience that costs only three. I'd also add The Book of Exalted Deeds so as to complete your angel token making suite. I also think you could afford to drop a board wipe, particularly Wrath of God which hits your own stuff. There is at least one good angel I don't see in Angelic Sleuth, which gives you lots of draw in a wipe or mass blink situation. The biggest thing I would change is ramp. Since you always have Giada turn two, one and three mana ramp pieces are often better than 2cmc ones, and you don't need as much ramp as in another deck. Some of the colorless 2cmc cards like Mind Stone or ones that enter tapped like Marble Diamond are lesss ideal. Cards like Herald's Horn, or land fetchers like Sword of Hearth and Home and Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip are better.

At any rate, I hope that's of help, but you can also check out my approach here in the below primer if you are interested!

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[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven: A Giada Guide

Commander / EDH Guerric

SCORE: 22 | 24 COMMENTS | 740 VIEWS | IN 9 FOLDERS

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DrukenReaps on Goading Walkers

1 week ago

Removing: Bedlam, Chandra, Flame's Fury, Disrupt Decorum, Flamerush Rider, Court of Ambition, and Court of Ire.

Adding: Sword of the Animist, Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip, Thaumatic Compass  ^Flip, Worn Powerstone, Talisman of Indulgence, and Veinfire Borderpost.

Immortalys on Cards that put creature token …

1 month ago

Clackbridge Troll hasn't been mentioned yet, but I'm not sure if your opponents will attack you with 0/1 Goats. Slaughter Specialist is a good one though. Sleeper Agent is one you can directly give away. Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip also gives your opponents creature tokens, but they are 0/2's with Defender, so again I'm not sure if you want that.

Jokulmorder1 on Gift Tokens

1 month ago

this idea cracks me up. there's always the Hunted cycle, plus Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor, Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip, Baffling End, Akroan Horse, Combat Calligrapher, and Poisonbelly Ogre!

Guerric on Fish are friends

2 months ago

Hi Anabasis! Since you asked for some feedback on the list prior to committing, I'll comment here since I can link cards easily. Let's begin with the archetype you are going for here, how it plays out with Braids, Conjurer Adept, how to make it run a bit smoothly. The archetype for this deck is "group hug," which is a bit of a misunderstood archetype that has gotten unnecessary bad rep in the past. Basically, a group hug deck built properly is one that has effects which benefit everyone, but benefit the player the most. The idea is that there is little incentive to target the group hug player because they are giving free stuff, and the free stuff nonetheless keeps every player more competitive, which takes more pressure off of the group hug player, who is then ahead in the value race. The most iconic group hug commander, for example, is Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis. This commander lets every player either draw an extra card or play an extra land each end step, whereas the Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis player gets to do both. Oftentimes what makes game uneven are some players encountering ramp or draw problems, and this evens things out and keeps them competitive. Usually players won't target Kynaios and Tiro because it is benefitting them, and because it is not inherently threatening. Nonetheless, the Kynaios player is ahead in the value race, and usually plans to win with some sort of alternate win condition like Approach of the Second Sun. Braids, Conjurer Adept plays out similarly, in that every player benefits from Braids, but unlike your opponents your deck is built to exploit it, and you will have scarier things to cheat out than they will. The difference with this deck, however, and this is the critical part, is that your deck will be inherently threatenting. People will soon figure out that you are dropping scary things and have plenty of incentive to kill braids. What's worse is that the way Braids works inherently gives them added incentive to do so. The scariest words on the card are "at the beginning of each player's upkeep" are ones you will come to loathe if you don't build this right. These words mean that if you play Braids normally, each of your opponents will get to use Braids before you do. This is bad, because after three opponents have used it, the third could kill Braids before you ever get to use her. This is the nightmare that should ever be in your mind when planning or playing this deck, but if you are mindful of it, it can be overcome. So let's think first about Braids' abilities and how to best protect and exploit her to your benefit over your opponents.'

The first is to do lots and lots of what blue does best, namely, countering spells. Whereas Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis are a pillowfort group hug deck, you should think of your deck as a control group hug deck. Forget the crappy boardwipes like AEtherize and Aetherspouts. You probably included them because you've sensed they won't hit your board, but you'll find that smart players never attack with their most important pieces, and that they won't generally do what you want them to. Spectral Deluge and Whelming Wave are probably fine, but leave the rest out- you're better off just stopping things from happening to begin with than wiping a board that will probably be in your favor. Counterspells are good here for two reasons. First and foremost, they protect Braids from removal, which will be their most important duty. Beyond that, since you're getting a free permanent every turn, you have the luxury of holding your mana open, so you might as well have stuff to do with it! I'd think about playing up to ten different counterspells along with premium blue targeted removal like Reality Shift, Ravenform, etc.

Since the weakness of Braids is that our opponents' get to use her first if we cast her at sorcery speed, we might as well rewrite the script and try to play her at instant speed where feasible. Leyline of Anticipation and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir can help with this. You'll enjoy much more playing Braids on your opponent's end step and getting to use her first than the reverse. This will also aid and abet your counterspell game, in that if you don't need to counter anything you can cast other spells on your opponent's end step rather than wasting your mana. I see that you included these spells, but I wanted to make sure that you realize how critical they are to your game, and that if you can find more of this effect it will be worthwhile to include it.

A third implication is that, in the true spirit of group hug, you should get to use Braids more than your opponents. It's only fair after all! Therefore cards that copy triggered abilities like Strionic Resonator are at a premium here. Braids is far better if you get to use her twice and your opponents only get to use her once.

You also need to rework your ramp section entirely. The general rule of commanders and ramp applies here, namely, that you mostly want to play ramp that can get your commander out a turn early. This means one and two mana rocks primarily, unless it can get extra lands out. Dreamstone Hedron and Hedron Archive are traps and will make you cry. I know the theory is that you can play them for free with Braids, but keep in mind that they will never help you cast Braids. Also, they tend to be removal targets, and you'd probably be putting out something threatening over a mana rock anyway. Caged Sun is definitely worth it though because of the overall value, and because it will be worth it even to double your mana for one turn in order to cast a massive x-spell. Armillary Sphere is just bad here. Importantly, it is not a ramp spell since it doesn't put anything onto the battlefield. When people do play it, it is just for color fixing in multi-colored decks, and you don't need that. It'd be better to just play more card draw so that you can draw into your land drops normally. Sol Ring, Mind Stone, and Thought Vessel are fine, but you want to add Wayfarer's Bauble, Sky Diamond, and Coldsteel Heart at least. Sword of the Animist and Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip are also fabulously repeatable ramp that always makes me smile. Dreamscape Artist is also a sleeper blue card that can repeatedly ramp lands onto the battlefield which is often overlooked. You'll be far happy with these efficient options that can either get Braids out early or get her out on time with mana to spare for counterspells than with the big splashy cards.

Also, as far as card draw goes, I wouldn't take group hug to far here. You are already giving your opponents free permanents, and you are in the best card draw color and don't need their help in that. Personally I'd recommend skipping Kami of the Crescent Moon and the like entirely, and play more personal draw spells like Gadwick, the Wizened and Blue Sun's Zenith. Seriously. One advantage of Braids is that they will play spells for free and run out of stuff to cast, whereas you can keep drawing into it. If you help them out too much, you're just hurting yourself in the long run. I'd honestly replace all the reciprocal draw spells with spells which draw you cards. The only one that might be ok is Well of Ideas, but that one is benefiting you more and you first, so it fits the bill.

Some more cautions. While casting free haymakers is the reason for this deck, don't overdo it. You want to be able to afford to hard cast stuff sometimes, both in case Braids dies or just to amass more of a board presence. The power curve in magic has been getting lower in recent years, and there are many devastating spells that cost four and five mana, so don't sleep on those. Your average cmc here is 4.5, and while some high cmc haymakers are what you want, you also want lots of castable creatures.

I'm also not sure why we are playing the "creatures become every creature type" cards. Is this for better board wiping with Whelming Wave or synergy with Spawning Kraken? In my experience these synergies won't work out enough to justify the card slots, which might be better filled with counterspells or other creatures. Honestly, if I were to pick another theme to support this archetype I'd pick blink, since you doubling ETB counters can be great, but that's just me. Blinking is the sort of thing where you don't need to do a lot of it for it to be good.

A few other card choice matters. Reflections of Littjara only works on cast, so it won't copy creatures played with Braids. Definitely consider this before including a five mana enchantment that doesn't affect the board right away. Also, yes, absolutely play High Tide. It is so worth it in a mono-blue deck. Yes, Frozen Aether is amazing here. this is absolutely how to play group hug. Your opponents get free stuff, but it is only fair that you get to use your stuff first. Personally, I feel like Ominous Seas is one of the most overrated commander cards in recent years. It seems like you get a great rate on a vanilla 8/8, but often the enchantment will get blown up first, and it takes forever to come out. That's just my opinion thought.

One final thought, don't prejudice yourself too much in favor of sea monsters over against, say, eldrazi. I know the chase eldrazi are expensive, but Artisan of Kozilek is under one dollar in real world money and a wonderful thing to play with Braids, and to make copies of with your copy spells, and to give haste to with Crashing Drawbridge. You will have so much fun.

I think this will be a great deck and you have a lot of good ideas going here. I'd just refocus it a bit and then wreak some havoc!

Optimator on Alela

3 months ago

I would try to squeeze in Blackblade Reforged. Having a flying lifelinking commander that cares about casting artifacts will make great use of it.

It's a little slow, but Hanna, Ship's Navigator would be an excellent source of card advantage. Fantastic for all your Oblivion Rings and stuff.

You might also consider Mask of Memory, Rogue's Gloves, and Mask of Riddles since you have so many flyers. Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip would be an excellent choice for ramp for the same reason. It's amazing.

Brilliant Restoration might be too hard to cast, but it's worth noting. Triumphant Reckoning is worse, but easier to cast.

eliakimras on Breena - Silverquill Statement Upgrade

3 months ago

Hey, me again! I really like Breena, the Demagogue's premise. I want to build her in the future, since I'm cultivating a combat metagame. But I have some ideas that can make your deck funnier and stronger:

I imagine you're trying to keep the idea of giving gifts to your opponents for them to killing each other, while reaping benefits to you.

One way is to force combat. You might want to put Martial Impetus and Parasitic Impetus back to deflect attacks and get draws off Breena. (Too bad goad is a blue-red thing - come on Wizards, give us on other colors). Otherwise, they buff Breena to hit harder.

Another thing you should consider is protection for your creatures:

• Sejiri Shelter  ^Flip and Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip can be slotted as lands.
• Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Whispersilk Cloak, Darksteel Plate and Hammer of Nazahn are great utility artifacts.
• Timely Ward has flash.
• Dawn Charm doubles as a fog.
• Valorous Stance doubles as a removal spell.

How about protection to you?

• No Mercy, Dread, Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker and Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts deter attackers.
• Koskun Falls is a second Ghostly Prison if you can pay its upkeep cost. Solitary Confinement is even more efficient, as long as you can keep up with its cost.
• No one will mess with you again once you cast Hellish Rebuke. Darien, King of Kjeldor also shows them why attacking you is not advisable.
• If you prefer the way of taxing opponents, Sphere of Safety synergize with your other pillowfort enchantments.

About recursion:

• You run a lot of permanents that might die. How about getting them back with Sun Titan or Emeria Shepherd?
• Mistveil Plains has good synergy with tutors.
• Liesa, Forgotten Archangel also acts as graveyard hate.

About card draw:

• Breena costs 3 mana and it is easy to recast, but you can't rely on your opponents wanting (or being able) to attack each other. Sign in Blood, Night's Whisper, Read the Bones, Treacherous Blessing, War Room and Castle Locthwain can be great options (it is good to lower your life total to trigger Breena). Erebos, God of the Dead can also act as a blocker and life-gain hater.
• Skullclamp is good if you can reliably generate X/1 tokens.
• Syphon Mind is a favorite of mine.
• Mangara, the Diplomat... The name says it all. #bffBreena
• Shadrix Silverquill is not only on-theme, but on-school aswell.
• Endless Atlas and Dread Presence require many basic lands.
• The cards above can replace Ambition's Cost, Ancient Craving and Secret Rendezvous (if they want free cards, may they attack each other).

About your ramp:

• I see you run cards that ramp you if an opponent has more lands than you, a la Knight of the White Orchid. Your Lotus Field is great for setting that up. You might also consider putting Orzhov Basilica back for the same effect.
• Loyal Warhound, Verge Rangers, Weathered Wayfarer, Archaeomancer's Map and Isolated Watchtower also capitalize on opponents ramping. I recommend replacing Boreas Charger (if you can't kill it easily), Scholarship Sponsor (not advisable to give ramp AND card draw to your opponents) and Oreskos Explorer (it is better to get lands on the battlefield instead of on hand, unless it is an unrestricted tutor like Weathered Wayfarer).
• If you ramp using the cards above, you will have a lot of Plains on the battlefield. Emeria, The Sky Ruin is free recursion on a land - enjoy ;-)
• You might also consider Fellwar Stone and Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip as ramp options. Breena has flying, so it is easy to transform the artifact.

Sorry for not commenting on your whole deck. Since I have not played her myself, I could only suggest more general things. I hope the suggestions have inspired you somehow. As always, have fun with the Demagogue!

multimedia on Pirates a'hoyyyyyyy

3 months ago

Hey, nice version, but where's Glint-Horn Buccaneer? I saw your deck in the featured decks ad.

You can improve on balancing card quality since you have some amazing cards here, but also quite a few lackluster ones that are much lower on power level compared to the others. An example is Scalding Tarn which is excellent, but not playing a dual land that Tarn can search for... Steam Vents could replace Izzet Guildgate and Volatile Fjord could replace Highland Lake. Other Izzet dual lands to add in place of some basic lands to improve color fixing from lands: Training Center, Cascade Bluffs, Sulfur Falls, Stormcarved Coast and Frostboil Snarl.

I don't think I've even seen Armillary Sphere in the same deck before that also has Mana Drain, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Jeweled Lotus, Dockside Extortionist, Goldspan Dragon, Jeska's Will and Urza's Saga. Sphere is really out of place power wise. Consider cutting Sphere for Arcane Signet? The Diamonds are also subpar, considering cutting both of them for Talisman of Creativity and Izzet Signet? These are not expensive changes, but can make a big improvements on ramp.

Another example of card quality balance are the counterspells. Mana Drain, Counterspell, Pact of Negation, Negate are great thus you don't also need to play Hornswoggle, Admiral's Order and even Lookout's Dispersal because these are not as good.

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Some more one drop/two drop flying Pirates and unblockable Pirates can more easily trigger Malcolm and Breeches. Spectral Sailor, Warkite Marauder, Departed Deckhand could replace some higher mana cost Pirates such as Captain Ripley Vance, Deadeye Quartermaster, Prosperous Pirates and Sailor of Means. You have Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Dockside Extortionist, Goldspan Dragon and Corsair Captain which are all excellent thus you don't really need to play other Pirates that create treasures when they ETB because those cards are not as good.

Wonder and Anger are powerful with Pirates, but they need help to get them into your graveyard because you don't want to ever cast them. Expanding with more loot can help to draw/discard them that also adds more draw to your deck. Faithless Looting, Windfall, Mask of Memory and Frantic Search could replace Mutiny, Hornswoggle, Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip and Admiral's Order. These changes are also not expensive and improve card quality.

Good luck with your deck.