Etali, Primal Storm

Creature — Dinosaur

Whenever Etali, Primal Storm attacks, exile the top card of each player's library, then you may cast any number of nonland cards exiled this way without paying their mana costs.

Discussion (51)

TypicalTimmy on Lathliss' Brood

6 days ago

Daedalus19876;

• You are correct in that Coalition Relic is better than Manalith - in the right deck. I have no methods of proliferate or tap-dance. As a result, I can not pile charge counters onto the Relic. Effectively, all I will ever get out of it at one time is a single mana of the color of my choice. This is the same value I get out of Manalith , for the exact same CMC. It's not that Relic is bad - it's that my deck is not designed to optimize it.

• Heart of Ramos is an amazingly beautiful card. I run the Relics in a lot of decks. I actually run Eye of Ramos and Skull of Ramos in my Silumgar, the Drifting Death deck for that very reason. The reason I did not include it within this deck is simply because I don't have need for a lot of stones. The ones I do have seem fine enough. Sure, I could get 1x additional , but I don't think in this particular deck is worth the slot for the card for a one-time use. In other words, to me the value of +1 in addition to the normally produced is less valuable than a card that remains on the field.

• I honestly overlooked Thran Dynamo . Totally forgot it. I think I should replace Gilded Lotus . The triple colorless is easy to overcome since I'm only using one color, and it works perfect for mana dedicated toward stones. It might not speed up my deck by a whole lot, but it will see some slight improvement. Also, it gives me another card to free-cast off of Sunbird's Invocation when I cast my limited number of 4-drop spells, such as Crucible of Fire and Thunderbreak Regent .

• Ruination and Winter Orb are great locks on the game. I could very easily slip them into the deck. The reason I don't want to is merely because I'm not that kind of player. It's not a bad suggestion; It's that I don't feel comfortable sitting down with a group of people and basically telling them they can't play Magic. If I wanted to do that, I'd play mono-blue ;)

• The reason I literally run zero Instant and / or Sorcery spells is because I needed to make room for all my Dragons! Haha, joking aside the reason I didn't go with these in this deck is because I specifically sought out Dragons and Enchantments that have Instant / Sorcery-like impacts on the game. The main theme of the deck is a Dragon deck, but I'd say the archetype is strictly burn with the massive amount of non-combat damage I can very easily and steadily spread around. Effectively, my Dragons act with secondary functions, which allows me to double my resource value while honing in on synergy.

• I honestly have not considered Sneak Attack , Bacon God, or even Etali, Primal Storm . All three of these would be great additions. I'll have to see what I can safely cut. I already have cheating aspects with Sunbird's Invocation , so adding another one or two would really help tie that into the synergy as well, rather than having it as a one-off gimmick.

Thanks for your suggestions! I'll get looking at what I can slot in and where :D

This deck to sort of be my love-child. It's everything I love in Magic:

• Dragons
• Big-ass stupid plays
• Ramp / Reduction
• Tokens
• Massive amounts of damage
• Archenemy style gameplay
• Giant boardstates
• Evasion
• And did I mention MOTHER F***ING DRAGONS?!

I'll admit, I fully intend on buying this deck and even pimping it out over time. So the suggestions really do help :D thanks!

DarkHero on What Commander for Grixis Steal ...

2 weeks ago

So, I'm working on Grixis Theft deck. I had originally gone with Admiral Beckett Brass as the commander, but I didn't want to go full Pirate Tribal. I was using Arcane Adaptation and Conspiracy naming Pirate, but it just felt like too much to make the commander even worth it.

What would be the best option in Grixis colors for a commander focused around cards like Bribery , Etali, Primal Storm , and Lord of the Void ?

I'm currently leaning towards Kess, Dissident Mage just because we will be able to recast some of the spells for double the effectiveness.

EDIT: I've also stumbled upon the possibility of Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder and using Cascade to get my stuff. Not sure.

Joe_Ken_ on Neheb, The Eternal Burn *Help!*

1 month ago

I feel like Stuffy Doll could be swapped out since it is mana for being able to just ping someone for one damage or deal some damage if someone attacks into you it can deal some damage by blocking. Swapping it for Drakuseth, Maw of Flames will be good since when he attacks he will deal 3 damage to two opponents each and 4 damage to another getting you 10 mana with neheb's ability alone without even counting Drakuseth's attack.

Obsidian Fireheart may also be a good card to swap out for something in your maybe board since like I said before you want to deal as much damage as possible before your second main phase to get as much mana out of Neheb's ability as possible. You could pick up Etali, Primal Storm since it will let you steal some cards from your opponents and cast them without paying their mana cost.

Generator Servant isn't really good when a mana rock will just work better. Getting two mana only once isn't really good when you could put in Everflowing Chalice where you could pay the kicker multiple times with Neheb or just cast it for to just get you a mana rock that taps for for each of the following turns.

You could swap Embermaw Hellion for the new Torbran, Thane of Red Fell since it actually costs mana less and will have your red sources deal 2 extra damage instead of 1 extra. Or you could just take out Stormbreath Dragon out of the deck since his becoming monstrous ability can end up not doing a lot of damage if some of your opponents have exhausted their hand size.

Acidic Soil could be taken out for Price of Progress depending on how your local group is playing. If they are multicolor decks then I would definitely swap them since it deals double damage equal to the number of non basic lands they control which could get you a lot of value.

Phule451 on Fireheart

1 month ago

Though it's not legal until tomorrow, Torbran, Thane of Red Fell is a must in this deck. Also surprised to not see a Etali, Primal Storm , as staple to a red deck to me as a Mountain . Fire Servant would serve you well. Obsidian Fireheart and Burning Earth continue with the land hate theme you've got going on. Enjoy the deck, I know I enjoy MY Chandra tribal deck...!

multimedia on Rakdos Beatdown

1 month ago

Hey, you definitely like high mana cost cards (5 CMC plus). There's 28 here!

How do you expect to be able to cast Rakdos? Consider more cards that make an opponent lose life? This deck will have a difficult time functioning without having Rakdos on the battlefield, being able to reduce the casting cost of creatures. With a 4.9 avg. CMC even being able to cast Rakdos is going to be a problem.

My advice is focus much more on the early game and much less on the late game. You don't need 25 high mana cost creatures for Rakdos, it's overkill.

Cards to consider adding:

• Rakdos Signet
• Talisman of Indulgence
• Cryptolith Fragment  ^Flip
• Spear Spewer
• Thermo-Alchemist
• Sin Prodder
• Nettle Drone
• Vial Smasher the Fierce
• Lobber Crew

In the early game you want to make it easier to cast Rakdos this means mana rocks that can help make mana for his difficult casting cost and repeatable pingers to be able to make your opponents lose at least one life to be able to cast Rakdos.

---

Heartless Hidetsugu can reduce a ton of colorless mana with Rakdos with one activation. Use this reduction to free cast Eldrazi (Ulamog and Emrakul). Artisan of Kozilek can be reanimation and Void Winnower is also good. These Eldrazi are really the only high mana cost creatures you need because lets face it there's not a lot of other creatures that can even compare in power level.

Other high mana cost creatures of the ones here to consider keeping are: Ilharg, the Raze-Boar , Sidisi, Undead Vizier , Urabrask the Hidden , Etali, Primal Storm , Archfiend of Despair , Vilis, Broker of Blood , Sheoldred, Whispering One . This is a base to consider:

• Heartless
• LLharg
• Sidisi
• Urabrask
• Eltali
• Archfiend
• Vilis
• Sheoldred
• Ulamog
• Ulamog
• Emrakul
• Artisan
• Winnower

---

There's beginnings of a reanimation strategy here with Chainer, Nightmare Adept . Reanimation is a good a backup plan to be able to get big creatures onto the battlefield without Rakdos. Reanimation needs two parts: enablers to get creatures into your graveyard and the actual reanimation to cheat them onto the battlefield. Consider expanding on each of these parts?

• Faithless Looting
• Buried Alive
• Gamble
• Apprentice Necromancer
• Doomed Necromancer : included in Merciless Rage.
• Animate Dead
• Reanimate

The Necromancers are good with Chainer. Discard a big creature than cast one of the Necromancers from your graveyard, it gets haste, sac it to reanimate the big creature you just discarded.

Other cards to consider adding:

• Sol Ring : included in Merciless Rage.
• Graven Cairns
• Dragonskull Summit
• Ash Barrens : included in Merciless Rage.
• Smoldering Marsh
• Eye of Ugin : Eldrazi tutor.
• Anger : haste enabler.
• Rakdos Charm : way to make opponents lose life, can reduce a lot of colorless mana with Rakdos or instant counter an opponents infinite creature and/or graveyard combo.
• Chaos Warp : instant permanent removal, included in Merciless Rage.
• Terminate : instant creature removal.
• Lightning Greaves : haste enabler, protection.

If you would like I can give you a list of cards to consider cutting. Good luck with your deck.

Ryland7 on "Is Everybody Tapped Out?" -Archmage Eternal

1 month ago

Decided to scrap Sheoldred, Whispering One for Reanimate . I figure it's not unheard of to skip my land drop turn 1 to discard something stupid like Etali, Primal Storm and lose 6 life to have a creature like that swinging on turn 3.

I also switched out Karn's Temporal Sundering for Time Warp . In the case where I don't have my commander on the field, or any other legendaries, Karn's is basically a dead card in the deck whereas Time Warp can be cast whenever I have double blue mana available.

weirdog92 on Xenagos Attack Attack Attack! (EDH)

2 months ago

Out:

Multani, Maro-Sorcerer (Commander can't target him), Red Sun's Zenith , Signal the Clans .

In:

Etali, Primal Storm , Ghalta, Primal Hunger , Reap the Past .

TypicalTimmy on Should Cyclonic Rift be Banned ...

2 months ago

All colors have sweepers, including Colorless , Colorless , Colorless and let's not forget Mutha Frackin' Colorless .

Heck, even GREEN has a sweeper.

I bring these up because I want it to be perfectly clear that sweepers exist in all domains. And while yes, it is true that blue does have others: Whelming Wave , Devastation Tide , Engulf the Shore & Curse of the Swine , it is equally true that in the grand scheme of things Cyclonic Rift isn't actually all that powerful; It's just really annoying and sets you back a turn or two. Here, let me explain from the perspective of a Timmy :)

• I have 5 cards in hand, 7 creatures on the battlefield, 3 stones & 2 enchantments
• My opponent casts Cyclonic Rift
• My turn comes around, I draw for my turn and now have 18 cards in hand in total
• I may now evaluate my position based on what I know
• I can rebuild my mana base with my stones, knowing I need the mana thanks to take care of the incoming threats my opponents will be replaying
• I can rebuild my creature base, being first to take hold
• I can bring back out my enchantments and begin to synergize and combo off of them appropriately
• When it comes time for my end step, I may discard cards which are not impactful, cost too much, or simply are in excess

In this situation, I am able to craft and rebuild specifically to the standards required of me. I may also choose what my hand looks like at the end of my turn. I am in complete control of my own game play.

Now, consider the following with a minor alteration:

• I have 5 cards in hand, 7 creatures on the battlefield, 3 stones & 2 enchantments
• My opponent casts Merciless Eviction , choosing creatures
• I lose all of my creatures to the aether
• On my next turn, I draw
• 6 cards in hand
• I play maybe one spell? Maybe two?
• My boardstate is forever in shambles
• I do not regain any position
• I can not regain any of my cards
• I have no control over what happened

Between these two, I leave on the best possible footing when hit with a Cyclonic Rift because it gives me a chance to rebuild - and here's the most important factor - IN RESPONSE to the knowledge of what everyone else has in their hand.

If my opponent played a Ravenous Chupacabra , I know full well playing my Etali, Primal Storm is probably not a smart option. If my opponent had an Acidic Slime out on the battlefield, I'm most likely not going to be playing my Argentum Armor , because why would I spend to put it into my graveyard just a turn later, knowing full well it's been causing some serious problems?

Cyclonic Rift gives you a lot of information on your opponent's because it lets you know what their hand mostly consists of, which means you can determine how those spells might affect your decisions.

TLDR - Cyclonic Rift me all you want; I'll rebuild appropriately in response to what information I now have about the other players. Don't Merciless Eviction me and give me zero chance of ever recovering.

And the same holds true, by the way, for any boardwipe if you don't have recursion built into your deck. If you don't have recursion, Wrath of God / Damnation are just as bad as Merciless Eviction because you still lose all of your creatures. This is true that they are in the graveyard and not in exile, but if your deck can't interact with your graveyard in any meaningful way (Or any way at all), they are just as far out of your reach.

Still TLDR - Returning to the hand is far better than destroying / exiling.

And yes, I do realize Cyclonic Rift sweeps opponents and not you - You are the only one left in tact.

Well, if you are making that as the argument, what about In Garruk's Wake / Plague Wind ? How come nobody complains about these?

The fact is, Cyclonic Rift isn't all that powerful unless you build around using it - and the same holds true for all cards in the game.

TLTLTLDR - Cyclonic Rift should stay. It gives blue viable and valuable interaction, protection from aggro, resets tempo, keeps games going, makes the game fun and interesting, and overall is relatively weak when compared to others that do similar things because you can recover from it easily.