Dream Eater
Set Price Alerts

Combos Browse all Suggest

Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Arena Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Gladiator Legal
Highlander Legal
Historic Legal
Historic Brawl Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Pioneer Legal
Planar Constructed Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Dream Eater

Creature — Nightmare Sphinx

Flash

Flying

When this enters, surveil 4. When you do, you may return target nonland permanent an opponent controls to its owner's hand. (To surveil 4, look at the top four cards of your library, then put any number of them into your graveyard and the rest on top of your library in any order.)

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

1 year ago

Minor rev and other rambling

It is getting oh so much harder to justify substitutions. Lotuscon is a week out and I feel the heat.

  • Replace Thran Dynamo with Tezzeret the Seeker. This sub is about artifact tutoring and mana. The deck needed at least one more way to tutor Isochron Scepter, and other artifacts. Tezzeret does this. But tezzeret is also versatile, and it has the potential to do thran dynamos job better than thran dynamo. The +1 ability can target man vault, grim monolith, and basalt monolith. It doesn't always do this better than thran, but lets talk about the downsides to thran. As mentioned above, less versatility. But the mana cost for thran is quite high. At 4 cmc I want to play game winning cards. Thran can help power out Unesh. BUT, if thran is in your opening hand and it is your path to casting Unesh, there are better plans in the deck and you should mulligan that hand anyway. Tezzeret can be any of our game winning artifacts, for 1 more mana than thran. Thran is nice for quality of life during the game, but it does not win the game. One other great thing about Tezzeret in Unesh, is that he actually can have some decent blockers to keep him around for more than 1 turn, so he is also still great DURING the game. Almost all of the upside of thran dynamo AND some on this card.

I have also thought about replacing Dream Eater with something less expensive like Sakashima's Student or Metallic Mimic. Dream eater is the most replacable sphinx in the deck, and it is HARD to justify a replacement still. For one, this creature is removal. Play this to remove a stalwart stax piece and win the game on the same turn. Also, Surveil 4 is almost another Unesh trigger by itself, and this ability benefits from our awesome cards Panharmonicon and Virtue of Knowledge. Dream eater helps in so many ways that I fell as though it can't come out.

I have also heavily considered Merchant Scroll and Fabricate. It is hard to justify replacing anything for these cards. In the current revision, I think we see the combos as fast as possible without inundating our ability to interact.

I really like the card Submerge. I think it is better than Rapid Hybridization. Main targets for this slot are stax creatures such as Collector Ouphe, and commanders. The 'forest' part of Submerge's cost is going to be online a lot (probably). Zero mana interaction is better than 1 mana interaction. As a kicker, some decks in the format can effectively use the 3/3 creature that rapid hybridization gives them. This substitute is probably coming, but I am still contemplating.

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

1 year ago

GHoag thank you for your most critical feedback. I agree with a lot you have to say on this. There are a few things I'd like to discuss further. I'll mirror your format so you know how I am responding to what. Thank you for the praise on the list so far, there is definitely some things to be worked out still. "The pinnacle is a concept only to the unambitious" -flavor text from a card I don't remember lol. (sorry for the novel below)

Regarding Fetchlands, I think the deck thinning is negligible or very hard to notice at most. This aspect of them definitely can't be a bad thing. But playtesting has shown that the negative effects of including them are negligible. I have never been upset about running all 4. Also, the synergy these lands has with Vantress Visions (Virtue of Knowledge) feels reeeally good.

Rite of Replication is expensive mana wise. The purpose of Rite is to get through your whole deck in one go assuming Unesh is on the field, which is not always the case. In my playtesting, it has been very hard to resolve due to mana cost, and when you do meet the mana requirement it is never safe from interaction. Given these flaws, this card might as well say "if you are targetting Unesh and this card resolves, you win the game." With the FOFs, you can pick up all counter magic and free mana rocks on the way down your deck to cast & protect Thassa's Oracle. A non-negligible side effect, this makes choosing piles easier to do because you no longer have to grab sphinxs or other wincons. This wincon is still relevant at this mana cost. I think the jury is still out if this is the best choice though. With inifinite mana you can do something similar, and I'll talk more about this below. Q: Why not add Personal Tutor? Simply because you don't need 3 copies of Rite. I already don't like Mystical Tutor, but the versatility to grab any instant makes it worth it. By the time you meet the mana requirement, you will have seen Rite or Mystical Tutor. Personal Tutor is too narrow to have in a slot, even on the 'Rite' plan.

cEDH meta talk, there is Turbo, midrange, and stax (early win, midgame win, lategame win respectively.) The average win without any interaction is turn 6-7 on this revision. This solidly puts Unesh into midrange. I think he can be sped up a bit with more revisions. Turn 4 is a late win for Turbo, but with enough interaction to stop the turbo player we can get to the midrange and win the game. Unesh suffers against a a few stax pieces. The main ones being Torpor Orb (which doesn't see a ton of play these days), and Null Rod and Collector Ouphe. Collectore Ouphe doesn't feel so bad with our interaction suite, and Null Rod is even more of a nuissance. If both are on the field, it is an absolute nightmare for Unesh.

Creatures: Yes a lot of fat was trimmed, and it took some time to really narrow down the best Sphinxs in these slots. There is still room for improvement here. For instance Vexing Sphinx feels awful. The reason I added it a while back was because he can be played early game for a bit of card draw. The card draw from this is not worth the mana spent, the fact that even with Unesh out he is 2 blue to cast also feels very bad. I will definitely replace him with another Sphinx, probably Argent Sphinx or Metallic Mimic. For 2 blue I am much happier to see the mana sink on Argent Sphinx. And for 2 colorless I am happy to see possibly the next cheapest sphinx not already in the deck. Enigma Thief though high CMC, I can reliably cast him for his prowl cost at 2 cmc, and his removal is top notch. Dream Eater though the removal is not the best, it is still good. The kicker here is honestly the surveil 4. You do Unesh FOF first, then surveil 4 and hopefully you can put all 4 in the graveyard. Still dream eater does feel a bit slower than everything else. Scholar of the Lost Trove, upfront I feel very strongly about this card. It's not because this is a pet card, it's because I think its very powerful in this deck. Even at 5cmc which is what I normally cast it for, it feels like insane value. You get the Unesh trigger, and a wincon from the graveyard that the opponents thought they didn't have to deal with anymore. After doing some math on this, the average cost of an Unesh trigger with Unesh on the field is ~2.25 cmc in the current revision (that is the cmc of a card generating the FOF divided by the total number of things generating FOFs excluding Rite). At 5 cmc, casting the Scholar gives you a 4 cmc game winning artifact and a ~2.25 cmc Unesh trigger. Not to mention, it gives you flexibility in choosing piles. For instance, If an opponent erroneously puts Panharmonicon in a pile by itself, you can shamelessly take the other 3 cards in that FOF. Palinchron is also rather expensive to set up, but not as expensive as Rite. I think it is a good back up win condition. If Rite doesn't resolve, or if Isochron w/ dramatic reversal doesn't resolve, we need at least one other way to combo off. With ways to tutor for High Tide this win condition has been online surprisingly often, and is definitely threatening. That said having this AND Rite feels too heavy mana wise. I think I am pretty much sold on Isoscepter because of how inexpensive it is. With recent mana rock additions as well as Mox Diamond and Grim Monolith (mentioned below) the wincon is online for far cheaper than Rite and effectively does the same job, also dramatic reversal can be used as a one time use now which makes it good on it's own.

Lands: After a day of listening to cEDH podcasts, this is what I came up with. Urza's Saga is nuts. After playtesting with these lands I felt a big power spike. Thank you for mentioning Mystic Sanctuary again. I didn't think about it being able to retrieve a wincon which is pretty relevant. I will consider slipping this one back in there. I also think that losing just one more Island wouldn't be very impactful. What do you think about Command Beacon? After playtesting, I think there is such a niche case when this card is good in cEDH. I think I prefer an Island here given the more recent revisions.

Enchantments: Agreed, all of these are great cards. Not much to change here.

Instants: I don't think there are any cuts to be made here. After playtesting I think I need to add more Instants to more reliably shut off early combo wins. Demonic Consultation and Ad Nauseum are rampant. Even fitting in a Dispel or Spell Pierce to the deck would go a long way.

Artifacts: Work needs to be done here. I agree with a lot of what you are saying. Lightning Greaves feels bad because board interaction is light and stack interaction is high in cEDH. Caged Sun is usually too expensive to play without cheating it in with Scholar. But scholar wants to hit other game winning cards anyway, so Caged sun needs to go. Grim Monolith and Mox Diamond need to go in. I have been reluctant to add them to the list because I don't have paper copies. You are spot on with these two though. I am not high on Moonsilver Key, but I do like Wayfarer's Bauble. The bauble putting a land into play is important to getting palinchron online, and this also sees great synergy with Vantress Visions similar to the fetch lands. Though bauable is definitely worse than mox diamond and grim monolith, it would be my last cut. Mox Amber indeed doesn't power Unesh out, but we don't need it to. I will say that my playtests have really favored this card. Being able to play more mana artifacts after a FOF for free will keep the FOFs rolling. Mox Amber feels very good. Mox diamond is superior, but I won't take out Mox Amber for it.

REVISION: After synthesizing both our viewpoints, here is a revision that I will go ahead and push. I think you will like this mostly, but let me know your doubts.

EXPLANAITION: This rev cuts the Rite wincon and adds the less expensive Isoscepter wincon. There is still backup wincon in Aetherflux. Isoscepter is backed up by Palinchron, and Aetherflux is supported by Palinchron. Obviously, the goal with infinite mana is to play Thassa's eventually. Dramatic Reversal is good enough on its own now because of the artifacts added recently. I honestly think this is the cheapest that the wincon package can be while still being robust enough to not fizzle out. With these wincons, Unesh doesn't have to be on the field, which makes the deck less reliant on him, mitigating one of the deck's biggest flaws. Cutting Lightning Greaves will likely be inconsequential due to low board state interaction. Muddle and Spell pierce add some more stack interaction while Muddle can find combo pieces. I went with Spell pierce over Dispel because it can hit stax pieces as well as stopping an early combo win. Cutting a sphinx now relies on Ghostly Flicker to be part of the 20%. Mystic Sanctuary and Scholar of the Lost Trove are used to retrieve wincons from the grave if necessary.

I heavily considered subbing Dream Eater for Argent Sphinx. I will need to playtest that change before committing to it.

johnnythexxxiv on Oathbreaker Nightmares!!!

1 year ago

Just a heads-up, Sol Ring is banned in Oathbreaker and Fiend Artisan is illegal in this deck due to its color identity.

If you're looking for recommendations, I would work on lowering your curve. Hypnox and Void Beckoner are basically never going to get cast and Psychic Symbiont does far too little for its cost. Chainer hurts your deck more than it helps at the moment, you don't have much mill/discard so you won't be able to reliably pull cards from your opponents graveyards and you'll exile-wipe yourself when it gets removed. You also don't have any flash synergy with Slitherwisp, so it's basically just a hard to cast flash 3/2, which we can do better than for that kind of mana investment.

As for what to replace those cards with, I will always be an advocate for cheap, flexible removal like Baleful Mastery or Bloodchief's Thirst but I get that you want to go really heavy into the nightmare theme, so your 1-drop nightmares like Banehound and Zagoth Mamba will make sure you have early plays while cards like Braids, Arisen Nightmare and Dream Eater provide flavorful removal and card advantage/filtering.

I also made an Ashiok, Nightmare Muse deck. Although mine was a mill deck, there may still be some inspiration for you in there: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/03-10-22-ashiok-mill/

amicdeep on Bant Soulherder except I NOW have money

3 years ago

may be worth playing Professor of Symbology and a few lesson card in sb. its a pretty budget package and effective.

if your running flicker wisp then a couple Glasspool Mimic  Flip may also be worth running

Restoration Angel is currently around $1.

Watcher for Tomorrow and another solid wall of omens effect.

Yorion, Sky Nomad as a companion is probably also a good call.

some other good budget options.

regular Elite Guardmage, Epochrasite, Faerie Seer, Reflector Mage, Sagu Mauler, Akroma, Angel of Fury

curve toppers Angel of Sanctions, Cloudblazer, Dream Eater,

Lavinia of the Tenth makes a lock with soulherder

Cyberbolt21 on Mono Blue Midrange

3 years ago

psionictemplar yeah believe me i know. XD i have a habbit of always adding a bunch of cards that look interesting. This use to be way more clutered before i put this here. For the theme, like title says, im going for more of a midrange style. Mix of aggro and control. So im trying to aim for a balance of creatures and spells. I've been watching youtube videos for guidance and pull some cards from various build from Tolarian Professor, strickly better MTG and Giant monster games. In a way id like for this deck to be a jack of all trades type, can do several things but not excelling in one particular area. This is well suited for the group of friends i play with. I know abilities matter more but ive always been a person who likes to use cards that have artwork i enjoy, not solely run stuff just cuz they are objectively the best, it depends. This applies mostly with creatures for me, an old habit i have from my yugioh days XD but i digress. Thats why mono blue has been difficult for me to make, cuz a lot of creatures are meh to me. However i did find some stuff i like. So creatures like Callaphe, Beloved of the Sea Cloudfin Raptor and Thoughtbound Phantasm can get bigger over time. And for Thoughtbound Phantasm uses surveil so i threw in Narcomoeba in so i can a free creatures out. Id prefer if i could get a creature that has this same ability but with some added stuff idk. Also threw in some surveil cards like Dream Eater and Dazzling Lights to boost Thoughtbound Phantasm . Also have one Rise from the Tides for a token flood if i need it and some milling options like Mind Sculpt and have Sacred Excavation to use on Compelling Argument for more mill options. Cryptic Serpent can get out quick and cheaper with all the instants and sorceries played. And for Phyrexian Revoker i already have a full set of 4 irl cards so i might throw them here, can be good control to block card abilities, and have the other Phyrexian Metamorph to copy a creature if needed. Like i said id like this to be a jack of all trades kinda deck. I just need to get a good ratio of cards to balance out this deck.

Idoneity on Illuna, Apex of Blue Shenanigans and Stompy Boys

3 years ago

Ah, Illuna is a commander that has become a favourite of mine, for manipulation of the top leads to quite a bit of value.

I am notably bereft of much experience with the Mutate mechanic, as my list has only had a Parcelbeast, which was thusly removed, but I may offer insights upon the top of the library.

Momir Vig, Simic Visionary is quite the terrifying engine for this deck. It is a Mutate target if it must be, and it combos with the commander directly. It tutors for a big idiot to cheat upon the field, whilst working with the rest of the deck most splendidly.

I have found Thassa's Oracle to be a fine value card, oft sieving through the top four cards of the library, only to find a cataclysmic ten-drop. Moreover, Illuna may Mutate unto it.

Dream Cache is a card I used to run, yet shall admit to ablating. It does the job quite well, but was insufficient in the wake of Brainstorm.

Whiles being rather expensive, Scroll Rack, Mirri's Guile, Sensei's Divining Top, and Sylvan Library are each some of the greatest engines in the entire deck. Bother not with questioning their inclusion. If you get ahold of one, use it.

Cavalier of Gales is an extremely efficient flyer and put a big imbecile atop the library.

Prognostic Sphinx grants a deep scry each turn and Hexproof, thence being a fantastic card upon all fronts.

One of the most condign secondary win conditions in my list is Lurking Predators. 'Tis as powerful as it reads.

Perhaps the best card in my entire deck is Future Sight, with a worsened version being Magus of the Future. These provide a heaven-high amount of card advantage. Everything cast from the top essentially draws a card, additionally providing information of when to cast Illuna.

Courser of Kruphix is just a fantastically efficient creature, attributing defensive value and information.

Long-Term Plans grant an instant-speed tutor for the most devasting card in the entire deck. Try it and love it.

Lastly, Dream Eater has become a favourite of mine, being a splendid combat trick and top-of-the-library aid, whereupon always bringing a sense of dint and defense.

That shall be all from me, sire, but I do hope that you would deign to peer upon my list, being as such:

Idoneity's Deliverance

I have become most pleased with it.

Fare thee well, and might the best of fortune betide.

Idoneity on Brago, Budget Eternal

4 years ago

I haven't delved upon the blink strategy myself for quite some time, though I may be of aid.

There is a budget constraint, wherethrough I shall keep all of my suggestions under two dollars.

So this should go in nearly every deck, and this one seems perfect, and— (okay I'm done jesting).

Upon actual suggestions are a couple categories worth bolstering.

Some flickering and blinking:

Yorion can do quite a bit, and it begins looping with effects such as Charming Prince. Ephemerate is an overperformer whiles Ghostly Flicker, though more to cast, gets the job done. Combined with a counterspell in the graveyard, it can be a soft-lock with Archaeomancer (run that, too). Flickerwisp is just potent. Soulherder is oft the very best card to resolve.

A multitude of card draw:

Arcanist's Owl just keeps digging. Augur of Bolas could be fun. Barrin, Tolarian Archmage is able to bounce your own utility creatures or pester the opponent's board. Elsewhere Flask does its job. Wall of Omens draws many cards and serves as defense for those pesky aggro decks. Champion of Wits loots through the deck until life's end. Fblthp, the Lost is just greater. Golden Egg cycles and draws more cards.

Some removal effects:

Angel of Finality is an efficient flyer with a relevant trigger. Every deck needs graveyard hate! Dream Eater goes through a lot of cards and bounces important targets. Elspeth Conquers Death is as powerful here as it is in Standard. Leonin Relic-Warder serves a similar purpose. Frost Titan locks down important threats.

Snow basics would be a nice addition for Arcum's Astrolabe. It cycles, fixes, and is banned in Modern so you know it's powerful.

And some cards that don't really fit in tother categories:

Angel of Serenity deals with threats and can recur creatures from your own graveyard. Angelic Chorus gains far too much life for the opponent's comfort. Annex is nice, for you can switch it around as better lands come into play. Nevermore can keep changing card names to prevent anyone from casting their commanders.

Fall of the Thran is really mean and I love it.

Now for a few non-budget options:

Cavalier of Gales is an absolute power house, Ephara draws a meiny of cards, and Solemn Simulacrum offers a lot of advantage.

Just on one to note, Conjurer's Closet is going to be reprinted in Double Masters, thus it may drop to within budget.

There are quite a few things I would recommend cutting.

AEther Adept is lacking, Archaeomender doesn't seem to be retrieving much of worth, Archon of the Triumvirate is overcosted, Aven Surveyor is as well, Artisan of Kozilek triggers off of cast and is thus useless to blink, Your artifact tutors do not search for much of relevance, Subjugator Angel is a worse Tempest Caller, Hoverguard Sweeper is EIGHT MANA (what?!), Dispel is too narrow, and Aether Tunnel is lacking in power.

Let me drive this one in. Eon Frolicker just loses you the game. Giving someone a turn is ceding far too much time for them to gather resources and defenses. The "protection from that player" really doesn't do that much.

I suppose that is to be all from me. Happy blinking!

1Username on Chulane T2 win - consistency is key

4 years ago

Probably no: Dream Eater at 6 mana is too expensive. Faerie Impostor forces a different creature, defeating the self-bounce. Aven Riftwatcher is good for quick lifegain but doesn't do enough.

On the fence: Abundance. Yes, it's helpful, but at 4 mana, does it do enough? It would help in a pinch, but how often would I truly use it?

Easy Yes: Aluren, Sylvan Library, Cloudstone Curio.

Load more