Grasp of Darkness

Instant

Target creature gets -4/-4 until end of turn.

Discussion (48)

wallisface on Epidemic Devotion

3 weeks ago

Some thoughts:

1) modern is a very fast format, you want to heavily restrict the number of 4-drops and above you’re running. I’d ditch all the planeswalkers you’re running cause their mana cost just makes them too slow to field effectively.

2) instead of Hero's Downfall , which is a bit slow, i’d suggest replacing it with either Victim of Night or Grasp of Darkness

3) you need 5 lands in play to play Gary. But you’re only running 20, which feels waay too low. That’ll only let you draw your 5th land on turn 8, on average. The game’ll be over by then. I’d advise bumping up to 24 lands, and also consider dropping the fetches- they don’t help you here.

SideBae on Yuriko Ninja EDH

1 month ago

What I suspect is going on is that your opponents are doing a lot on the aggro front. There're a few ways you can deal with this.

First, you can discourage your opponents from attacking you. Propaganda is probably the best-known card for this, but there're plenty of others. No Mercy comes to mind -- it was one of my favorite cards when I was a kid. Crawlspace and Silent Arbiter are good ways to limit the number of attackers an opponent can pressure you with, and assuming no trample, you likely can just chump away whatever they're hitting you with. Finally, Meekstone will keep the most dangerous ones tapped. I think any of these will probably be better than AEtherize , especially since none of them are 'single use.'

I don't know your meta. However, a lot of the time fatties come down without being hard-cast, like through Natural Order or Reanimate . Running hate cards, like Grafdigger's Cage , can prevent this.

You also seem to be light on wrath effects. Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow ninjutsu ability gets around commander tax, meaning he'll really only ever cost to put down -- so feel totally free to wrath with him on the board. Kindred Dominance strikes me as being way too much mana to do real damage in the earlier stages of the game, especially if you're fighting a bunch of aggro decks. Damnation is, I think, preferable here, as are Toxic Deluge and Cyclonic Rift . Damnation and Toxic Deluge being four and three mana, respectively, means you can conceivably cast them before you're getting smacked but while your opponent has a summoning-sick army. Cyclonic Rift 's overload ability IS seven mana, but being instant speed makes up for that (at least in my opinion).

If you include wrath effects, non-creature token producers are worth including -- they'll give you creatures to 'return' with Yuriko's ability while surviving the wrath themselves. Bitterblossom is the best here, though like most good cards, it's relatively expensive. Other options include Breeding Pit , Graf Harvest (if you wrath Yuriko to the 'yard, you can exile him to the command zone to create a token, then ninjutsu him out on the token when it attacks), Spawning Pit and Volrath's Laboratory (which can make ninjas).

If you decide to run some of the above cards, they should replace your one-for-one removal cards. In general, EDH games will have you facing three opponents, and therefore three times the number of cards you have. You therefore want cards that will effect more than a single card your opponent has. Hero's Downfall and Grasp of Darkness may be great in one-on-one formats, but in EDH they simply don't pack enough punch. (One interesting exception to the 'limit your one-for-ones' rule is the inclusion of counter magic. In general, I think of counterspells in EDH as more than one-for-ones, since A) they can save more than one of your cards if you counter something like By Force or Fire Covenant , and B) they can stop combos cold, making your opponent waste all the combo pieces s/he/they cast before the countered card.)

I have some non-combat related suggestions, too -- I hope I'm not being presumptuous in offering them:

I'm sure you've noticed how awesome your Treasure Cruise is: being eight on a Yuriko flip but often costing around two or three mana at most to cast is pretty busted. There're other delve cards to consider, though I do think it is likely more than one or two in a list will occasionally cause issues when delve gets in its own way. Dig Through Time is a primary candidate here, as it is also eight mana, but it also happens to be an instant (yay!). Temporal Trespass also comes to mind.

In magic, there're a bunch of alternate casting-cost cards that work well with your general, as their CMC is usually pretty high. Unfortunately, some of them are expensive -- I'll just mention them, in case you have more money to blow than I typically do: Force of Will and Commandeer . Spinning Darkness , Gush and Misdirection are all more affordable and alright cards in their own right, though they are significantly less powerful.

Nexus of Fate is a pet card of mine, and I think it'd be genuinely good here. It hits for seven, but doesn't 'really' make you tap out since if it resolves you get another untap step right away.

A creature to consider is Baleful Strix . Having deathtouch and flying make it really hard to block, and if you keep ninjutsu-ing it back to your hand you can keep casting it for the draw trigger.

Top-deck manipulation is a good way to make sure your general hits his hardest, and your Brainstorm is a good start. Mystical Tutor isn't too much money, though the black version, Vampiric Tutor , definitely is a lot of money nowadays. Scheming Symmetry is an alright replacement, though you'll want to be sure to kill the opponent who searches, or at least remove his top card. Though they're pricey, Sensei's Divining Top and Jace, the Mind Sculptor really are the best ways to mess with your top few cards in the game; Jace has the added bonus, like Brainstorm , of being able to top cards that you want to reveal with Yuriko's trigger again. Dream Cache and Telling Time are both OK top deck manipulation.

Cantrips are good. I suggest running Preordain in addition to your Ponder and Brainstorm . It's not as good as the two you have (in this deck), since it can only leave one card on top of your deck for Yuriko triggers, but I still think it's worth playing. As a turn one play, it's gonna be hard to beat. (Of course, Ponder does still beat it.)

Finally, mass card-draw is a good thing. Even if it doesn't trigger Yuriko, having spells to cast is always preferable to not having them (exception: Mindslaver ). Windfall is excellent, especially if you put in Narset, Parter of Veils (I think you should). Fact or Fiction and Chemister's Insight are both good instant-speed draw spells.

Only good things! Hope this helped.

RNR_Gaming on Mono-black budget demon

1 month ago

Grasp of Darkness can be swapped for it.

rjphilla on Black Discard

1 month ago

Bile Blight just better then last grasp and for slightly bigger creatures use Grasp of Darkness

Brutal_B on Black Devotion Modern

2 months ago

I like what you got going on here. Some cards I run in my mono black devotion that you could utilize as well are: Gifted Aetherborn , Hypnotic Specter , Ravenous Chupacabra , Squelching Leeches and possibly Bone Picker . I like the idea of Languish but I don't like killing off my own creatures; so maybe Grasp of Darkness for target removal. I'd definitely fit in at least 2 Cabal Stronghold .

wallisface on Bloodlord

3 months ago

Looks interesting, some thoughts:

1) very few modern decks use Planeswalkers at all - and for that reason i’d ditch The Elderspell entirely. If you’re planning on having a sideboard maybe run a few in there, but it’s just going to be too useless most of the time to run in the deck.

2) if you’re feeling like splashing a few dollars, Inquisition of Kozilek is a pretty nice upgrade to Duress .

3) Blood Divination feels very slow and kindof meh. I think this slot is better for running a killspell - either Victim of Night , Grasp of Darkness , or for a little more $$, Fatal Push .

4) Knight of the Ebon Legion seems bad, and Aid the Fallen is pretty slow and clumsy (and would be better-off just being another creature). I would suggest swapping them both with Gatekeeper of Malakir and Indulgent Aristocrat . Asylum Visitor could be an option as well.

wallisface on

3 months ago

Some thoughts below. I’ve assumed most of the more expensive cards you have here are ones you already have - and that the “budget” title implies you’re not out to throw down loads more cash.

1) Cast Down feels average. If you can’t get Fatal Push , then the next best stuff is probably Victim of Night or Grasp of Darkness .

2) Without a more 8-rackish build, Nyxathid feels unreliable. If your meta is ditching their hand quick, his mana cost makes him too slow. And if not, they probably still have too many cards in hand to make him worth it? I’d be tempted to swap this for 1 more Abrupt Decay or Maelstrom Pulse , and then 3x Gurmag Angler .

3) how’ve you found Desecration Demon performing? Feels like he provides some value, but always at your opponents discretion. I think he’d be better served as 2 more Courser, or if you have cash to splash, Phyrexian Arena

hungry000 on B/W Gideon, Brisela

4 months ago

Sure. I'd use all of the cards you ordered besides Thalia's Lieutenant , which isn't great here since there aren't enough Humans in your deck to make good use of it and it's more suited for an aggro plan. You should have a playset of Inquisition, Lingering Souls , Martyr of Sands , Squadron Hawk , and 2 Day of Judgment in the main, with the other 2 Days of Judgment in the sideboard (assuming you got a playset of it). Cut 1  Dusk / Dawn , 2  Fumigate , 1  Ironwright's Cleansing , 3  Never / Return , 1  Decommission , 2  Gideon's Reproach , 1 Approach of the Second Sun , 1 Renewed Faith , 1 Restoration Gearsmith , 1 Aerial Responder , 2 Grasp of Darkness , 1 Authority of the Consuls , and 1 Murder to make room.

There are functional replacements for Path that you can use: Condemn and Oust . I'd replace the Fatal Push, Murder, and 2 Grasps of Darkness with a 2/2 split of those until you get Paths since you want as many white cards as possible for Martyr. You might also want to consider getting Thraben Inspector for some card draw, Ranger of Eos to get more Martyrs, and a couple Proclamation of Rebirth .