Grafdigger's Cage

Artifact

Creature cards in graveyards or libraries can't enter the battlefield.

Players can't cast spells from graveyards or libraries.

Discussion (50)

RedYeard on Jank Swans

3 weeks ago

Defense Grid does the job and works with Throes of Chaos . I've tried it and its solid. Maybe some number? Its a hard match-up no matter what. Even a few more Throes of Chaos could be helpful, since its potentially a spell every turn they have to counter. Grafdigger's Cage makes a difference against control and their Snapcaster Mage . Noxious Revival could be a good way to mess with a number of those interactions too. Its the "snappy, sanctuary, counter-spell" combo we're really worried about since its so broken. I mean we are blue.. so maybe just better counter spells ourselves. Narset's Reversal is extremely fun. I've definitely beat blue more than once playing: Narset's Reversal your Narset's Reversal over and over again until you run out of mana. Its probably the most fun way to win that counter war! :)

Some number of Leyline of Sanctity is probably correct for hand disruption metas.. which is where we were at before the most recent degeneracy. Now I think Dismember looks pretty good.

Looking at some of my old write up, Trinisphere would actually be pretty good against the current Cascade decks. Damping Sphere too. Side out our Throes of Chaos for that hate, since it affects us too.

We're incredibly consistent and only lose by one maybe two turns most of the time in a turn 3.5/4 modern meta.. If wizards prints a land that flips into a 7CMC planeswalker we're golden but they'd never do tha-

As a rule I wouldn't go below 39 lands when sideboarding unless you just drop the fast Seismic plan. We're almost like Rack and prefer to be on the draw since we can turn 2 Seismic Assault with Gemstone Caverns .

NoopyNolife on Modern Conclave Constrictor (+1/+1)

3 weeks ago

Thanks for your suggestion Quicksilver! Anafenza seems like an efficient answer to graveyard decks, though her mana cost might be too prohibitive to be fast enough to deal with such decks. I'll keep her in mind, though a Grafdigger's Cage might be a more reliable hate piece.

Could you maybe elaborate on why Anafenza is an ideal target for Snakeskin Veil ? She doesn't seem to have any synergy with the card other than that she is a creature?

aholder7 on Juleokin Format 2.0 w/Banlist & …

1 month ago

Referenced the wrong card. I didn’t mean Grafdigger's Cage I meant Silent Gravestone. Technically living end effects still would work but you get the idea.

aholder7 on Juleokin Format 2.0 w/Banlist & …

1 month ago

Okay so I believe I mentioned this last time you brought up the format but I don’t recall the answer. How do you deal with non-land sources of mana or non-basic lands. Your rules say you CAN pay for mana with basics existing but is it possible to still tap a non basic for mana to pay a cost? For example if I have a swamp and a Volcanic Island on the battlefield. Can I play a Doom Blade by tapping my non basic for 1 and using my swamp for the other portion? Theoretical reasons for this could include ramping with artifacts or fetching for a dual land to get 2 off colors.

Also your van list includes things shuffling the grave into the library. Is my assumption correct that you also intend to ban cards like Conjurer's Bauble?

You mention “cards with the ability to mill” are banned and that all damage to self is mill. Is your ban inclusive of cards that deal damage to self/opponents since that will mill? I assume not and you intend that to be cards with the mill keyword. But there are also cards with this same style effect not key worded as mill such as Mulch. And cards that exile from library such as Salvage Drone. May be a good idea to be clear about what you plan on excluding.

You also exclude abilities that can “reanimate”. I took that to mean putting a creature onto the battlefield from grave. But this is not a keyword and you’ll have to be specific. There’s also cards like Living End which will likely get around any wording for Reanimation. I also didn’t take your wording to mean banning of cards that return cards to hand. I also saw nothing stopping someone from using Snapcaster Mage on non-creatures in grave which I’m unsure if that was intentional or not. You could make the rule a bit more all encompassing by changing the rule to something like Grafdigger's Cage.

I also built a deck to test this format assuming you can use fast mana. this deck 100% wins turn 1 if you get a mountain in the opening 7 and the opponent doesn’t have Force of Will. You can still win turn 1 if you have to mulligan to less than 7 I was just too lazy to check how the math works out with less than 7. All you need to do is cantrip through 24 cards, play and crack the lotus then grapeshot twice for lethal. The cantrips don’t need to be red I just did it because it matched the grape shots. The deck can also be built with more than 3 mountains that is more consistent and doesn’t lower its chance as much in a mulligan but it technically leaves open the chance of whiffing the combo on turn 1 and I thought it made a better point to demonstrate things this way. Also note this deck is not even remotely optimized. It could be made far more efficient and sleek with time and testing.

Deck Jok test

My list is just an example of how I believe the format will play out. Storm-like decks and decks mulling to make sure they open with a Force of Will. If you see a reason it won’t end up like this feel free to point out anything I missed. But I think you need to find a way to limit people in some way.

RinceRaven on Kaalia

1 month ago

Okay so, this comment is kinda unreadable, and I'mma clean this up a bit, order cards together, give my personal thoughts and then repost it, but here's the dump version also so I can work off it myself

Dragon Tempest, Lightning Greaves, Caged Sun, Thran Dynamo, Aura of Silence, Austere Command, Archangel of Thune, Aurelia, the Warleader, Doom Whisperer, Rakdos, Lord of Riots, Sword of the Animist, Dragon's Hoard, Price of Fame, Ob Nixilis, Unshackled, Angel of Serenity, Kaalia of the Vast, Magus of the Moat, Herald of War, Primevals' Glorious Rebirth, Hazoret's Monument, Firemind Vessel, Worn Powerstone, Thundermaw Hellkite, Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury, Lathliss, the Dragon Queen, Karmic Guide, Sower of Discord, Angel of Condemnation, Blade of Selves, Gilded Lotus, Bolas's Citadel, Tainted Remedy, True Conviction, Deafening Silence, Grasp of Fate, Everflowing Chalice, Grafdigger's Cage

Something you could also be doing is go for more of a reanimator style deck, running stuff like Faithless Looting, and Cathartic Reunion.

maltheyounger on Ultra-Budget Speed Dredge (2x 5-Card "Gold Hands")

2 months ago

Thank you so much for sharing this amazing deck Apollo_Paladin! You've convinced me to buy into Legacy so that I can play with one of my friends who is also building a deck. I love the budget focus and the fun interactions I've seen playtesting a few hands.

I haven't played it yet, so what I'm about to ask is just based on my speculation. Would love to hear your thoughts though!

I was wondering if Dark Ritual or Cabal Ritual would have a place in variants of the deck? Perhaps if there is a bunch of graveyard hate they could be sideboarded in to help hard cast some removal.

To that end, I was wondering specifically if you have considered Nevinyrral's Disk or Spine of Ish Sah or Scour from Existence or similar cards to respond to Grafdigger's Cage and Leyline of the Void. Would any of those cards or others be worth bringing in from the sideboard in the event of running into graveyard hate? Alternatively, perhaps Duress could provide some protection?

Thanks so much for the informative guide and your hard work on the deck! I can't wait until it comes.

Chandra585 on Modern Monoblue Silver Bullets

2 months ago

Grafdigger's Cage is a classic silver bullet card.

rjife on Abzan Flash

2 months ago

If you're trying to go for a flash theme, Nightpack Ambusher works very well. I prefer Grafdigger's Cage to Tormod's Crypt, though that's just preference. This deck looks great otherwise!