Drowned Catacomb

Land

This enters tapped unless you control an Island or a Swamp.

{T}: Add {U} or {B}.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	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
Freeform	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
PreDH	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Standard Brawl	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (48)

trippy_mcfly on Cumly Cube

6 months ago

Introducing Cumly Cube 1.3! Two years ago, Cumly Cube was updated to Cumly Cube 1.2, creating a balanced cube and wonderful play experience for all involved. Despite these changes, there remained some minor flaws in the card pool. I am now pleased to announce that, after extensive research and design, Cumly Cube has reached a final form. No card is too powerful. No card is too weak. Synergy is abundant. Both the draft and play experiences are dynamic, exciting, and new. There will be no more major updates to Cumly Cube 1.

120 cards have been removed, and 120 cards have been added. Here are the changes, provided with brief justifications:

REMOVED:

ARTIFACT

1. Everflowing Chalice: mana rocks should cost 3 or have a drawback
2. Glass of the Guildpact: too weak
3. Heraldic Banner: encouraged mono-colored decks
4. Illuminated Folio: too weak
5. Jayemdae Tome: too weak
6. Loreseeker's Stone: too weak
7. Mind Stone: mana rocks should cost 3 or have a drawback
8. Null Rod: too much of a hate card
9. Pithing Needle: too powerful with Urza's Saga
10. Pyromancer's Goggles: too narrow
11. Retrofitter Foundry: too powerful with Urza's Saga

CREATURE

1. Bomat Courier: too powerful against slow starts
2. Deathpact Angel: creates a Cleric token, not a supported creature type
3. Dimir Cutpurse: too powerful
4. Elves of Deep Shadow: too obvious of a choice as a cumly
5. Golos, Tireless Pilgrim: too powerful
6. Hostage Taker: too powerful
7. Kalamax, the Stormsire: too powerful
8. Loyal Retainers: too obvious of a choice as a cumly
9. Monastery Mentor: too powerful
10. Moonveil Dragon: pumping the team makes for anticlimactic endings
11. Murktide Regent: we’ve seen enough of this card already in other formats
12. Ornithopter of Paradise: too obvious of a choice as a cumly
13. Phantom Tiger: too weak
14. Risen Reef: too powerful
15. Shadrix Silverquill: creates Inkling tokens, not a supported creature type
16. Tatyova, Benthic Druid: too powerful
17. Thraben Inspector: we’ve seen enough of this card already in other formats
18. Toxrill, the Corrosive: creates Slug tokens, not a supported creature type

ENCHANTMENT

1. Alpha Authority: hexproof makes for less interesting games
2. Favorable Winds: too weak
3. Offspring's Revenge: too narrow
4. Pernicious Deed: too powerful of a board wipe
5. Rally the Ranks: too weak
6. Song of Freyalise: too typical a card for green

LAND (types are grouped together in this list)

1. Tolarian Academy: too powerful
2. Arid Mesa: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
3. Bloodstained Mire: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
4. Flooded Strand: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
5. Marsh Flats: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
6. Misty Rainforest: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
7. Polluted Delta: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
8. Scalding Tarn: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
9. Verdant Catacombs: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
10. Windswept Heath: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
11. Wooded Foothills: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
12. Badlands: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
13. Bayou: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
14. Plateau: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
15. Savannah: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
16. Scrubland: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
17. Taiga: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
18. Tropical Island: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
19. Tundra: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
20. Underground Sea: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
21. Volcanic Island: mana-fixing should not be so easy in Cumly Cube
22. Hissing Quagmire: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
23. Lavaclaw Reaches: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
24. Lumbering Falls: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
25. Shambling Vent: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
26. Needle Spires: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
27. Raging Ravine: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
28. Stirring Wildwood: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting
29. Wandering Fumarole: creature lands are too versatile and discourage disciplined drafting

INSTANT

1. Abnormal Endurance: too typical a card for black
2. Aerial Predation: too narrow
3. Alchemist's Gift: too weak
4. Arbor Armament: too weak
5. Autumn's Veil: too narrow
6. Betrayal of Flesh: too weak
7. Bladebrand: too typical a card for black
8. Brainstorm: we’ve seen enough of this card already in other formats
9. Cathartic Pyre: too much utility for an instant
10. Comet Storm: one-sided board wipes need to be focused on creature type
11. Consider: too typical a card for blue
12. Crippling Chill: too typical a card for blue
13. Crush: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
14. Dawn Charm: other cards in Cumly Cube fill this role better
15. Dive Down: hexproof makes for less interesting games
16. Divine Offering: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
17. Dragon's Fire: too typical a card for red
18. Electrify: too typical a card for red
19. Fell the Pheasant: too narrow
20. Gainsay: too narrow
21. Gut Shot: too weak
22. Heroic Intervention: other cards in Cumly Cube fill this role better
23. Hold the Line: too narrow
24. Into the Core: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
25. Lash of Thorns: too weak
26. Make Your Mark: too weak
27. Opt: too typical a card for blue
28. Overload: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
29. Pitfall Trap: too narrow
30. Repulse: too typical a card for blue
31. Scrap: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
32. Seedtime: too narrow
33. Shatter: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
34. Smash: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
35. Smashing Success: spot artifact removal is not to be part of Cumly Cube
36. Smite: too narrow
37. Turn to Frog: turns a creature into a Frog, not a supported creature type
38. Unsummon: other cards in Cumly Cube fill this role better

SORCERY

1. Blasphemous Act: too typical a card for red
2. Chart a Course: too much utility
3. Cleansing Wildfire: too much utility
4. Cultivate: too typical a card for green
5. Disentomb: too typical a card for black
6. From the Ashes: too narrow
7. Funeral Rites: too much utility
8. Gitaxian Probe: too typical a card for blue
9. Necromantic Summons: too typical a card for black
10. Nighthaze: other cards in Cumly Cube fill this role better
11. Persist: too typical a card for black
12. Pirate's Prize: too much utility
13. Ponder: too much utility
14. Reanimate: too typical a card for black
15. Recover: other cards in Cumly Cube fill this role better
16. Serum Visions: too typical a card for blue
17. Spitting Earth: too typical a card for red
18. Thoughtcast: too typical a card for blue

ADDED:

ARTIFACT

1. Coat of Arms: encourages building around creature types
2. Patchwork Banner: encourages building around creature types

CREATURE

1. Arahbo, the First Fang: supports the Avatar and Cat creature types
2. Avatar of the Resolute: supports the Avatar creature type
3. Autonomous Assembler: supports the Assembly-worker creature type
4. Bag End Porter: supports the Dwarf creature type
5. Breya, Etherium Shaper: supports the Human and Thopter creature types
6. Captain Storm, Cosmium Raider: supports the Human and Pirate creature types
7. Captivating Unicorn: supports the Unicorn creature type and supports enchantment decks
8. Centaur Battlemaster: supports the Centaur creature type and functions as a strong payoff for prowess decks
9. Chronicler of Heroes: supports the Centaur creature type
10. Conclave Cavalier: supports the Centaur and Elf creature types
11. Conclave Mentor: supports the Centaur creature type
12. Crosis, the Purger: supports the Dragon creature type
13. Fear of Exposure: supports the Nightmare creature type and supports enchantment decks
14. Ghostly Changeling: supports all creature synergy decks
15. Gimli of the Glittering Caves: supports the Dwarf creature type
16. Glissa Sunseeker: supports the Elf creature type
17. Graveshifter: supports all creature synergy decks
18. Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea: supports the Elf creature type
19. Haunt of the Dead Marshes: supports the Elf and Nightmare creature types
20. He Who Hungers: supports the Spirit creature type
21. Heedless One: supports the Avatar and Elf creature types
22. Jungle Creeper: supports the Elemental creature type
23. Jungle Delver: supports the Merfolk creature type
24. Kataki, War's Wage: supports the Spirit creature type and functions as artifact hate
25. Keiga, the Tide Star: supports the Dragon and Spirit creature types
26. Kiora's Follower: supports the Merfolk creature type
27. Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca: supports the Merfolk creature type
28. Lagonna-Band Trailblazer: supports the Centaur creature type
29. Marwyn, the Nurturer: supports the Elf creature type
30. Master Skald: supports the Dwarf creature type
31. Mine Layer: supports the Dwarf creature type
32. Neighborhood Guardian: supports the Unicorn creature type
33. Promised Kannushi: supports the Human and Spirit creature types
34. Realmwalker: supports all creature synergy decks
35. Reveka, Wizard Savant: supports the Dwarf creature type
36. Seraphic Steed: supports the Angel and Unicorn creature types
37. Soul of Zendikar: supports the Avatar and Beast creature types
38. Steadfast Unicorn: supports the Unicorn creature type
39. Stingmoggie: supports the Elemental creature type and functions as artifact hate
40. Sygg, River Cutthroat: supports the Merfolk creature type
41. Vineshaper Mystic: supports the Merfolk creature type
42. Wistful Selkie: supports the Merfolk creature type
43. Yargle and Multani: supports the Elemental and Spirit creature types
44. Zacama, Primal Calamity: supports the Dinosaur creature type

ENCHANTMENT

1. Aura of Silence: functions as artifact and enchantment hate
2. Aura ShardsGC: functions as artifact and enchantment hate
3. Blessed Sanctuary: supports the Unicorn creature type
4. Corrosion: functions as artifact hate
5. Embargo: interesting prison piece for stasis decks
6. Font of Fortunes: card advantage at a fair price for Cumly Cube
7. Gate to Phyrexia: functions as artifact hate and supports the niche but possible sacrifice deck
8. Impending Disaster: a useful piece for aggressive decks or niche graveyard decks
9. Shared Animosity: supports all creature synergy decks

LAND (types are grouped together in this list)

1. Drowned Catacomb: completing the full set of check lands
2. Glacial Fortress: completing the full set of check lands
3. Hinterland Harbor: completing the full set of check lands
4. Sulfur Falls: completing the full set of check lands
5. Cascade Bluffs: completing the full set of filter lands
6. Graven Cairns: completing the full set of filter lands
7. Mystic Gate: completing the full set of filter lands
8. Sunken Ruins: completing the full set of filter lands
9. Wooded Bastion: completing the full set of filter lands
10. Darkwater Catacombs: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
11. Desolate Mire: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
12. Ferrous Lake: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
13. Fire-Lit Thicket: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
14. Flooded Grove: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
15. Overflowing Basin: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
16. Skycloud Expanse: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
17. Sunscorched Divide: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands
18. Viridescent Bog: completing the full set of Odyssey filter lands

INSTANT

1. Accelerate: supports prowess decks
2. And They Shall Know No Fear: supports all creature synergy decks
3. Artifact Mutation: functions as artifact hate and supports the Saproling creature type
4. Bandage: supports prowess decks and is also funny
5. Brokers Charm: charms are an important part of Cumly Cube
6. Charge Through: supports prowess decks
7. Cremate: supports prowess decks
8. Mirrodin Avenged: supports prowess decks
9. Poison the Blade: supports prowess decks and offers deathtouch in green instead of its typical color, black
10. Pressure Point: supportsli prowess decks and offers tapping in white instead of its typical color, blue
11. Steady Progress: supports prowess decks as well as slower proliferate decks
12. Sugar Rush: supports prowess decks and offers power boost in black instead of its typical color, red
13. Treacherous Greed: supports the niche but possible sacrifice deck
14. Turf Wound: a strange tempo card that fits the ethos of Cumly Cube
15. Warriors' Lesson: supports prowess decks and might end up as green Ancestral Recall

SORCERY

1. Altar of Bone: supports the niche but possible sacrifice deck
2. Aphetto Dredging: supports all creature synergy decks
3. Apocalypse: total game resets are an important part of Cumly Cube, because you end up playing more Cumly Cube!
4. Ashen Powder: a more situational and odd piece for reanimator decks
5. Blood for Bones: a more situational and odd piece for reanimator decks
6. Breath of Life: offers reanimation in white instead of its typical color, black
7. Broken Bond: functions as artifact and enchantment hate yet also ramps
8. Channel the Suns: a strange yet useful mana-fixer. Out with fetch lands, in with sorcery WUBRG!
9. Cloak of Feathers: supports prowess decks
10. Crippling Fear: supports all creature synergy decks
11. False Dawn: supports prowess decks and might offer mana-fixing in niche situations? Even if this card is pretty useless, it screams Cumly Cube
12. Grim Tutor: tutoring is a small part of Cumly Cube but very important in the right decks
13. Growth Spasm: offers ramp, mana-fixing, and supports the Eldrazi creature type
14. Hymn of Rebirth: offers reanimation in green and white instead of its typical color, black
15. Ice Storm: land destruction is a small part of Cumly Cube but a necessary balance, and not usually in green
16. Jace's Triumph: there are Jace planeswalkers in Cumly Cube
17. Mana Vapors: a strange tempo card that fits the ethos of Cumly Cube
18. Many Partings: offers mana-fixing and food
19. Migratory Route: offers mana-fixing and supports the Bird creature type
20. Obzedat's Aid: offers reanimation in black and white
21. Ordered Migration: supports the Bird creature type
22. Raise the Palisade: supports all creature synergy decks
23. Resourceful Return: a more situational and odd piece for black graveyard decks and artifact decks
24. Ribbons of Night: offers direct damage in black instead of its typical color, red
25. Rise of the Witch-king: a more situational and odd piece for reanimator decks
26. Riveteers Confluence: similar to a charm
27. Safewright Quest: offers slight mana-fixing in green and white
28. Solve the Equation: tutoring is a small part of Cumly Cube but very important in the right decks
29. Sweep the Skies: supports the Thopter creature type
30. Temporal Machinations: supports artifact decks
31. Unnatural Restoration: supports proliferate decks
32. Urborg Repossession: a more situational and odd piece for black graveyard decks

Craeter on Sneaky Sewer-Rat Spies

1 year ago

Lord_Olga Hey I appreciate you taking the time to really analyze this deck and offer some good suggestions! You've definitely got me thinking about some optimizations. Truth be told, I haven't had a chance to playtest this one yet, so I'm sure there is some room for improvement. I took your suggestions into consideration and made some tweaks to the deck.

Firstly, I did add two more lands to bring it up to 22, I agree with you 20 is too low for the curve but I'm having a hard time cutting to get up to 24. I also removed a lot of the more high cost cards to get the mana curve down further. I like to live dangerously, so I tend to slot as few lands as possible that still makes decks work. But I went ahead and added x4 Drowned Catacomb, I think you're onto something there. I'm skipping Polluted Delta for now to avoid the life loss since this deck only has a few cards with Lifelink.

I tend to build thematic decks, hence the Rogue's Passage, I did cut one but I'm going to keep one for the theme, even if it's not as good as the unblockable suggestions. I'm leaning against adding them, but I am adding Cover of Darkness, which serves the same function (except against black and artifact creatures), but against other {B} creatures then Throat Slitter will be relatively useless anyways. Cover of Darkness also benefits every creature since they are all Rats, and provides redundancy if Marrow-Gnawer is not out. It even has an interaction with Nashi, Searcher in the Dark if milled.

To address your 2nd point about speed, I cut some of the Drowned in the Loch and added two Force Spike to add some early game counters since this deck wants to make it to the mid game to really get going. And since I'm opting to keep it purely Rat themed and not add your 1 drop suggestions, this is the compromise to add some early game options.

I'm sure your suggestions would technically be better for a more truly competitive modern deck, I'm just opting to keep it more casual and thematic. But I appreciate your suggestions, I typically build for EDH and I want all of the things, so it's tough getting a 60 card deck streamlined with as many options as possible.

Lord_Olga on Sneaky Sewer-Rat Spies

1 year ago

Love the flavor, how does it do with the mana though? i see you have some things in here that help make ninjutsu cheaper, but setting a lot of this stuff up looks like it costs a lot of mana, and you've only got 20 lands. Your only turn one play is to put a candlestick out. You'll be playing unblockable creatures (which both cost 2cmc), then sending in ninjas by paying the ninjutsu cost, then resummoning your unblockables. Your early game draw combo with candlestick takes 4 turns to set up if you open the game with it (most LGS decks in modern are gearing up to play their wincon by then) and it also involves equipping your looter with it, which means you wont want to use it for ninjutsu or you'll have to re-equip candlestick which will slow you down.. you plan on using rogues passage to get ninjas out, but it also costs 4 mana to use and then you'd have to pay the ninjutsu cost for something still.

I do see you have some wincons set up that could go off at around turn 4-5, but they arent really related to the ninja stuff at all and setting them up is gonna slow down the ninja strategy as well as the other combos you're wanting to get going. Other way around too, if you do ninja stuff or draw you're gonna slow down preparing your wincons.

I sense a lot of conflict in this deck, focusing on one strat slows down another and on top of that you're rocking 20 lands (most of which enter tapped which will also slow you down) which means you'll probably not be playing a land each turn a good portion of the time. Usually 20 lands is for decks that either have a very low mana curve (average cmc of like 1.8, hardly any cards costing 3 or more cmc to play), or decks that have lots of ramp/draw to fall back on.

Let me know if im missing something but from what i see this thing is either gonna run super slow when you play its totality, or you're gonna have to essentially ignore the ninjutsu/unblockable aspect to setup your rat based wincons in time.

If that is true, i would suggest upping your land count to 24, getting rid of the lands that enter tapped in favor of something like Drowned Catacomb, or Polluted Delta, trimming some of the more expensive cards like Patriarch's Bidding that don't really fit what you're doing, and then look for some cheaper mana cost alternatives for what you're trying to do. For example, Aqueous Form makes a creature unblockable for 1 mana instead of 4 like Rogue's Passage, and it does it indefinitely. Curious Obsession is great for that +1/+1 and draw on an unblockable creature that takes 1 mana instead of setting up Candlestick and Shoreline Looter for 5 mana total and several turns to get cards in your graveyard. And if you want to break flavor a little bit, lots of good 1 drop unblockable creatures, technically Changeling Outcast is still a rat lol and then theres stuff like Slither Blade that is certainly not a rat, but good. And aside from that I guess just try to bring things together a bit more.

Anyway thats all I got, sorry for being so long winded but dimir stealthiness is my jam hahaha

Balaam__ on Reanimate, but I have no clue what im doing

1 year ago

Great effort for a youngster’s first foray into a daunting format. Much better than my first attempt.

A few suggestions that might work within the constraint of a tight budget:

•If you’re running {B}{U}, double down on the control aspect blue opens up. Countermagic is cheap (both mana wise and dollar wise) and crucial to sticking big plays. Your strategy should go something like ‘Play spell to get big creature into graveyard, play spell to get big creature out of graveyard, and keep a counterspell at the ready in case the opponent tries to interfere with that process.’

•Cut anything and everything that doesn’t directly contribute toward that gameplan. Try to ignore those ‘But I really like this card’ thoughts, and pay attention to the increased consistency this will net you.

•A specific observation I would make is that you don’t have anywhere near enough mana at your disposal. Aim for at least 22 lands in the deck. You won’t be hardcasting any 5+ cmc spells, true, but you absolutely must have mana at the ready when you need it or it’s basically game over. Incidentally, consider something like Drowned Catacomb instead of Undercity Sewers. There are other fairly inexpensive options as well, and they function more reliably than a land that is guaranteed to enter tapped.

Rasaru on Zombies 2.0

2 years ago

Do you want to the deck to stay within a certain budget? How much money are you okay with spending to upgrade? $25, $50, UNLIMITED?! :)

My first thought is to fix up your mana base. You have a LOT of lands that come in tapped no matter what your board state or hand looks like. That's going to slow your game plan down quite a bit. Let's make these simple swaps to start. Then, we I have a better idea of what your budget looks like, I can recommend additional swaps.

Vivid Marsh -> Takenuma, Abandoned Mire Utility lands are excellent because you don't have to play them as lands if your mana flooded AND it doesn't come in tapped

Vivid Creek -> Otawara, Soaring City Same as above

Scoured Barrens -> Godless Shrine Same colors, just has the option of coming in untapped and satisfies your other land requirements you're playing, like Shineshadow Snarl

Dismal Backwater -> Morphic Pool Same colors, comes in untapped 90% of the time in EDH

Jwar Isle Refuge -> Drowned Catacomb Same colors and at least has the opportunity to come in tapped vs ALWAYS coming in tapped

Reliquary Tower -> Raffine's Tower Land comes in tapped, but produces all three colors and can be cycled to draw a card if you're mana flooded.

If those options are too expensive, you could easily justify just swapping them all out for basics. :)

Balaam__ on

2 years ago

Depending on how competitive/expensive you want to be, there are a few different ways to approach a Faerie build. Typically, you either want to swarm the board with as many gnats as possible and win through attrition, which can be done through Bitterblossom and other token generators in combination with cheap to cast faeries.

With the alternative approach, you’re going to lean fully into control. Faeries are well suited to this playstyle, allowing you to micro manage everything your opponent tries to do through countermagic and bounce spells, locking down the table. {U}/{B} are the perfect control&removal colors, so I’d stick with Dimir.

You really can’t go wrong starting with the mana base, particularly if you like playing {UB} as it will transition well between formats and deck archetypes. You’re most likely aware of the ‘best’ lands, fetches and duals like Watery Grave or Polluted Delta (or Secluded Glen when specifically talking faeries). You may not be familiar with newer land cycles, stuff like Clearwater Pathway  ^Flip or Drowned Catacomb. These can be almost as effective as the ‘best’ lands but at a fraction of the price.

DarkKiridon on A Little Off The Top

2 years ago

Drowned Catacomb or better. No guildgates. Merfolk Windrobber, Hedron Crab Could use fetch lands with this. Mind Sculpt, Shadowmage Infiltrator ? Curse of the Bloody Tome or Drowned Secrets, Psychic Drain ? Psychic Strike for countering possibly.

Honestly think you have too many 5 drops. So many better and cheaper options.

Last_Laugh on Wilhelt and Sheoldred unite!

2 years ago

Arcane Signet, Dimir Signet, and Talisman of Dominance over Mind Stone, Sky Diamond, and whatever.

Plumb the Forbidden over Read the Bones. Instant speed makes this card.

Feed the Swarm is your only answer to enchantments in black.

Exotic Orchard, Underground River, Drowned Catacomb, Darkwater Catacombs, Morphic Pool, Tainted Isle, and Sunken Ruins are all pretty budget friendly.