Geist of the Archives

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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
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Geist of the Archives

Creature — Spirit

Defender

At the beginning of your upkeep, scry 1.

seshiro_of_the_orochi on Kenessos, Priest of Thassa

1 year ago

Going mono seems legit, but let me throw in another way:

If I counted correctly, you have 21 sources of Scry in here. 13 of them are small numbers on instants or sorceries. The remaining 9 are more or less repeatedable effects on permanents. My suggestions is to cut most of the one-shot scry effects. Valid exceptions are interaction spells that aren't overcosted (looking at Sea God's Revenge). You'll propably end up somewhere slightly below 100 cards that way. Fill that up with more repeatable scry effects and you're basically fine.

To end my comment, here are some ideas for repeatable scry effects:

Castle Vantress

Crystal Ball

Eyes Everywhere

Geist of the Archives

Hedron Alignment

In Search of Greatness

Isolated Watchtower

Lifecrafter's Bestiary

Psychic Impetus

Quandrix Campus

Seer's Lantern

Btw, Call of the Wild exists. Maybe give it a shot?

SturmMana on Blue Ectoplasm [Modern W/U Spirits]

3 years ago

HalbrechtHalbrecht

I've made some edits to this deck. I kept Geist of the Archives because I just love scrying too much, even if it may feel a bit excessive to most people. I did cut it down to 1 copy though. Also, I do have a question about Kira, the Great Glass-Spinner: I've heard that she counters even your own abilities, unlike hexproof. So does that mean that one of my Anthem effects would just keep getting negated once per turn over, and over? I just want to be clear on what the rules are before I add her. Once again, thanks for the help!

SturmMana on Blue Ectoplasm [Modern W/U Spirits]

3 years ago

Helbrecht

I've made some edits to this deck. I kept Geist of the Archives because I just love scrying too much, I did cut it down to 1 copy though. I do have a question about Kira, the Great Glass-Spinner: I've heard that she counters even your own abilities, unlike hexproof. So does that mean that one of my Anthem effects would just keep getting negated once per turn over, and over? I just want to be clear on what the rules are before I add her. Once again, thanks for the help!

HalbrechtHalbrecht on Blue Ectoplasm [Modern W/U Spirits]

3 years ago

+1 for spirits!

Alright. So my main concern with this deck is that you have nothing to do on turn 1 and very little to do on turn 2. Conversely, you have over half of your spells vying for turn 3. So my main recommendation would be to convert some of your CMC 3 and higher spells into 1 and 2 drops. I know you purposefully stuffed the 3 CMC slot for Drift of Phantasms' transmute ability.... but honestly, you don't need a LOT of cards at 3 CMC for the transmute to matter. You just need the most important cards (notably, Drogskol Captain). Quality vs quantity. :)

So some nominations!

I'll be blunt on this topic: 20 lands (or even 21 lands counting the double-faced one) is not enough for a deck with these mana requirements. I'd recommend 23. A synergistic land to consider is Moorland Haunt. Since you're primarily blue, the colorless mana shouldn't hamper you too much, and importantly, it gives you a mid- to late-game mana sink that makes creatures out of removed spirits. (Wait.... Is that like giving a second un-life to a being that was the second life of a prior being???)

Another possibility is Celestial Colonnade. It doesn't make a spirit, but a 4/4 flyer is still formidable, and it'll get pumped by Empyrean Eagle. The land also produces both colors of mana, which is nice.

Whichever you choose, I'd only add 2x.

  • Mausoleum Wanderer is on-board countermagic. As you play your anthem effects like Supreme Phantom, the Wanderer will naturally get bigger and make it harder for the opponent to pay the cost. But also, when combined with flash spirits, its power can grow out of nowhere, making the calculations not in your opponent's favor.

    Now, the downside to an on-board counter is that the opponent knows about it.... but is that actually a complete downside? Unless you're playing against experienced players, an opponent will often durdle and hold back out of fear of your counter. Which is, in effect, allowing you to "cast" the counter for free every single turn that they DON'T play the thing they're worried about you countering. Now, a good player will "bait out" the counter so that they don't have to worry about it anymore.... but that still sometimes means they're playing suboptimally. In addition, the Wanderer will also attract their removal spells, meaning your anthem effects and other important spirits are safer. And you're fine trading a 1 mana spirit for their removal spell!

  • Not as awesome, but Spectral Sailor has the important Flash mechanic, which is especially good when it only costs 1 mana. This can be anything from a surprise blocker to a buff for the Wanderer's countermagic to a surprise tap-down with Nebelgast Herald (which is extra good against decks with hasty creatures). Finally, it gives you a mana sink if the game goes long and you need to draw some cards.

  • Speaking of drawing cards.... the weakest of the bunch is Dreamcatcher, but since you'll be casting spirit spells all game long, there'll be plenty of chances to trade in this early game blocker for a new card whenever it seems best.

  • I would replace Geist of the Archives with Kaijin of the Vanishing Touch. Yes, it has 1 less toughness, but it's 1 mana cheaper than the former, with a potentially more potent ability (gives a small amount of bounce!), and that toughness will easily rise with all the anthem effects you have.

  • Not a new recommendation, but I would run the full playset of Supreme Phantom. The anthem effects will be the key to sealing your victory. I would replace your 2x Mindshrieker with the Phantom, since you don't have enough top-deck manipulation to make Mindshrieker reliable.

  • Spell Queller is an amazing sideboard card. It can replace one of your counterspells, and notably it "counters" uncounterable spells. Yes, the opponent has a chance to get the spell back, but combine Queller with Drogskol Captain, and good luck with that!

  • Geist of Saint Traft doesn't have the acclaim he used to, but I still like him, and combined with p/t boosts, he likely won't die in battle. And he always brings a 4/4 buddy with him! (Which also gets buffed by Empyrean Eagle). The hexproof also makes him hard to remove.

  • Probably another sideboard card, but Kira, Great Glass-Spinner is a very strong tax against removal-heavy decks.

  • Callow Jushi  Flip: Probably not as good as the other counterspell options, but kinda fun! Note that you don't have to flip him with just 2 ki counters on him, so you can save up the ki counters until the more crucial turns of the game. You can also have one flipped with a couple ki counters while you build up another one, because the legend rule doesn't apply until it's flipped.

  • Anthem effects: Like with Supreme Phantom, I see no reason not to run the full playsets of Drogskol Captain and Empyrean Eagle. The hexproof provided by Drogskol Captain is particularly important, and he would be my first two things to transmute for.

I already mentioned Geist of the Archives.

I also already mentioned Mindshrieker, and for a similar reason, I don't feel Callous Deceiver is good in this deck. Without anthem effects, the best it can be is a 2/3 flyer for 3 mana.... not that great. Its abilities don't help with anything else in the deck.

Another 3 drop I'd cut is Uninvited Geist  Flip. Its skulk ability doesn't synergize well with anthem effects, as pretty soon most creatures can block it. If it started as a 1/1, skulk might be better.... but then it's 3 mana for a 1/1 that takes 2 turns to transform into an unblockable 3/3. Eh. It also doesn't have flying for the Eagle to buff.

As to higher CMCs, I'm personally not sold on Dungeon Geists. Maybe you have good luck with it, but I'd rather have 4x Nebelgast Herald and cheap flash spirits than the 4 drop.

I'm loathe to suggest cutting Celestial Messenger because I know you like your Yanling package.... but honestly, the Yanling package will work without this over-costed spirit. It's 4 mana for a 4/3 flyer, IF Yanling is out.... and that's it. The only thing it's got going for it is that gorgeous art. Too bad it doesn't have mechanics to match.

Curse of Echoes's inclusion confuses me. If you like to play multiplayer games, this card can actually be BAD (you might not want your other two opponents getting copies!). But even 1v1, it gives too much control to the opponent. First, they have to have a deck with enough instants/sorceries to matter, so at best this would be a sideboard card. But even then, they can play around it too easily by not casting any devastating spells until they've found a way to deal with it.

Also not sold on Sturmgeist. At best it's an 8/8 flyer, but that's if you can keep a full grip of cards. But aside from Mu Yanling, Sea Gate Restoration  Flip, and Sturmgeist itself (4 cards total), you have no ways of refilling your hand. More likely it'll be a 3/3 or 4/4 flyer that sometimes draws you a card. Not that great for 5 mana. Doesn't feel like the right deck for it.

Keiga, the Tide Star: While stealing a creature is fun, Control Magic-effects usually cost less (4-5 mana), and with Keiga, you don't even get the effect until Keiga dies! If you want this effect in the deck, there's other more efficient ways to achieve it.

Finally, at the top of the CMC charts is Sea Gate Restoration  Flip. And hey, if it's a pet card, keep it. But hear me out on my concern. As stated above, this deck isn't designed to draw cards, so by the time you have 7 mana (turn 8-9), how many cards do you think you'll have left in hand? I'd bet 2-3, assuming you've been playing out cards on curve. So you'll draw 3-4. Is that worth the 7 mana? That's up to you, but since the going rate on a base draw effect is 4 mana to draw 3, you should be drawing more like 5-6. (This is also comparable to Mind Spring, which would draw you 5 for 7 mana.)


P.S. I am gonna go ahead and state this for the record: Your hunch that the 3-turn idea won't pan out so well is sadly going to be correct. It involves skipping a turn and getting a planeswalker to a (scary) ultimate — the former dangerous, the latter near impossible. It would be easier to spend 1 less mana and cast a 5 CMC extra turn spell or two. That said, the idea of taking THREE turns in a row IS truly fun, so by all means, play around with it until you tire of the strategy!

I know that was a lot of words to convey a few additions and cuts, so it was probably easy to get lost in it all. Here's one possible updated decklist; use the explanations above to season to taste!


Cut

-2 Mindshrieker
-2 Geist of the Archives
-2 Uninvited Geist
-1 Callous Deceiver
-3 Celestial Messenger
-3 Dungeon Geists
-1 Curse of Echoes
-1 Sturmgeist
-1 Keiga, the Tide Star
-1 Sea Gate Restoration


Add

+1 Prairie Stream
+2 Moorland Haunt
+4 Mausoleum Wanderer
+4 Spectral Sailor
+2 Supreme Phantom
+2 Drogskol Captain
+2 Empyrean Eagle


Sideboard

+2 Spell Queller
+2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner

(Sideboard cuts up to you)

I'd personally replace some of the mainboard counters with Spell Queller and Kira, since they're also spirits. But there's obviously pros to running unconditional counters like Dissolve.

I know that was quite a lot, but the more I dug into the available spirits, the more things I came up with! LoL. I hope at least something in all that helped.

golgarigirl on Arcades Wall/Flicker

4 years ago

Other defenders to consider: Crashing Drawbridge , Wall of Junk , Geist of the Archives , Resolute Watchdog , Portcullis Vine , Suspicious Bookcase , Wakestone Gargoyle , Grappling Sundew

Ways to Win: Tower Defense , Tree of Redemption , Bar the Door , Solidarity , Slagwurm Armor , Meishin, the Mind Cage , Primal Rage , Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa

Flicker: Ghostway , Panharmonicon

Removal: Generous Gift , Arcane Denial

Other things: Search for Tomorrow , Treefolk Umbra , Brave the Sands , Guardian Project , Darksteel Plate

Notes: This deck has an absurdly low curve, and wants it's ramp in it's 1 slot, if it has much at all. Most good options are going to be a bit expensive if they're any good. Card draw shouldn't be a problem...pay attention to what problems you run into while playing. Are you stalling for a way to push through? Do you need creature removal that isn't board clear? ETC.

skittles541 on Furious Spirits

5 years ago

take out Geist of the Archives . Its not very good in itself, and there are better cards to be played in agro

K4m4r0 on Nobody has the intention of building a Wall

5 years ago

As HobbyGamer007 said, Thallid Shell-Dweller is very good on its own, besides the ability. I don't like Geist of the Archives because it is just too expensive.

I even own Mentor of the Meek :) I thought about this card some time ago, but I think it is better to invest the mana in more defenders. I usually don't have any mana for the ability left, in my opinion Mentor would be good for the late game but won't bring pressure to the table. Again, that is just my opinion on him.

HobbyGamer007 on Nobody has the intention of building a Wall

5 years ago

THCue Thallid Shell-Dweller is a 2mana 5/5 that draws a card on etb. The other effect is just incidental. It's stats are among the best in these colors.

Ephemerate doesn't do much besides drawing cards and maybe preventing a spot removal. Might be good enough but it's effect is too narrow for a deck that doesn't focus on ETBs. Better play a counterspell over it.

Geist of the Archives is nice, i've been using Thassa, God of the Sea in my Brago deck and the upkeep scry is really good. Getting a 4/4 beater that draws a card as it enters on top of it seems good, but since we draw so many cards anyway I don't know if scry 1 is really worth it here.

K4m4r0 I dunno if you've considered it yet but I think a really powerful replacement for Masako the Humorless might be Mentor of the Meek .

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