Hagra Mauling

Instant

This spell costs {1} less to cast if an opponent controls no basic lands.

Destroy target creature.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Brawl	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Pre-release	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Standard	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (47)

DreadKhan on Grimgrin - Needs your Help

2 months ago

When I was testing out your deck, I definitely noticed mana issues, you probably want a mix of a couple more lands and some mana rocks. There is the odd mana dork you could use, none generally as good as a Green one. I always like Dreamscape Artist in a Dimir deck that makes use of the graveyard, it's actual Harrow so the lands are entering untapped, making the ramp a bit better than it might usually be. With a 5 mana Commander I think I would run Sol Ring, especially without Green, there is also Talisman of Dominance and Dimir Signet that are solid. A really solid 3 mana rock is Skyclave Relic, it can be a 3 drop or a big (and versatile) efficient 6 drop. Not sure if you need all of those, but I think you want some of those ramp options. TBH, you might also lower your average Mana Value, you're well over 3, which might be a tad high for 33 lands in a reasonably competitive deck. A couple handy utility lands that are nice with Voltron decks include Witch's Clinic, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, and Tyrite Sanctum. Sanctum is a bit weird, but getting Indestructible on your Commander will probably feel pretty good. There are also some MDFCs that aren't bad in Black, you could replace one of your 2 mana Black removal creature removal with Hagra Mauling  ^Flip, risking 4 mana to remove something (with no restriction though) is harsh, but it's also a land which feels incredible in a lower land count deck. I hear Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip is also very good, especially with a Voltron Commander.

I also noticed that the deck seemed to not excel at clearing the board of threats/problems, this can include combo pieces or Voltron creatures. From a competitive standpoint, if you expect to play against decks that are 7s or above you probably want at least a couple more solid counters, it's hard to know which to run because actual Counterspell costs UU, which is hard to hold up obviously, but Swan Song and Negate might not be versatile enough, but I think any or all of those would make the deck more functional. Niche removal like Ravenform, Resculpt and Feed the Swarm are also worth a look, you never know when you'll need to tutor up an answer for either of those types, and being able to hit a creature is also useful, fwiw Black isn't great at exiling creatures. I see you only have 1 Planeswalker in here, have you thought about Liliana, Death's Majesty? She's got some synergy with Zombies for sure, and offers a potential wipe.

A tutor that might fit in here that you're not running is Final Parting, which is clunky at 5 mana but it also offers a two for 1 tutor, so even if it's a lot of mana it does a lot of work. I'm not sure how many cards you're that desperate to get into the graveyard, but Final Parting finds 2 of 3 pieces for Gravecrawler combos in my Meren deck, very handy if I have one in hand already.

Pretty tough finding stuff that sticks out for being suboptimal in this list! Here are a few I suspect could be upgraded: Reassembling Skeleton is a Skeleton. The recursion aspect is not particularly good at 2 mana for a non-Zombie body, with a max of one on board at a time. Undead Alchemist might do something sometimes, but I feel like it's a bad interaction with a lot of your deck, it's terrible with Living Death type stuff obviously, and if someone is close to death, this gives them way more life. Call to the Grave seems potentially iffy, you run some very good non-Zombies, and you can't sac a token instead to it, it eats only non-Zombies. Kindred Discovery seems questionable potentially, it negatively interacts with any combo that uses a zombie entering or dying repeatedly since you have to draw, this can also make you unable to swing with a huge zombie army, which seems agonizing without at least throwing in something like Capsize. More curious than certain, but do you often have 1 toughness things to work with Skullclamp? Any Zombie at 1 toughness is buffed by your lords, and the tokens you make are 2/2s iirc? If you ask me, unless you have a source of 1 toughness bodies I'm missing, you could instead run Mask of Griselbrand, it can draw cards too (sometimes way more), both require a sac outlet, and it offers real utility in combo by offering evasion and lifelink. I would run any of the removal I mentioned over Doom Blade and Go for the Throat, I feel like the versatility and some offering exile has an edge. For Tragic Slip, do you get stuck without a sac outlet very often, this seems like an unnecessary complication to have on your removal, but at least it can hit Indestructibles? IMHO if you can afford it run Deadly Rollick, this will also exile stuff without as harsh a requirement (I'd rather have the downside of 4 mana vs removing only x/1s).

loricatuslupus on Blessings of Blood and Feathers

2 months ago

Well first thing that stands out is that you need more mana, probably 35 lands plus a few more rocks - if there was any deck to use a Sol Ring in, it's one where your commander costs six! Given you're not running many tapped lands anyway some of the extras could be filled in by the ZNR DFCs like Hagra Mauling  ^Flip, giving you more lands if you need them without sacrificing spell slots. Once you're making sure that the deck is consistent in getting there you could also then add some bigger creatures or other finishers, safe in the knowledge that you should be able to hardcast cast them most games (and given how much life you can gain recurring 6/7 drops should be easy enough). Speaking of might be worth at least CONSIDERING other graveyard stockers/reanimator spells such as Unmarked Grave/Reanimate in case Rudolf is indesposed or you have to recover from a board wipe. Given how easy it is for you to make Rudolf indestructible board wipes are going to be a great friend - being in white you can take the slightly cheaper Wrath of God/Day of Judgment over Damnation, then get a bit more spenny with Toxic Deluge/The Meathook Massacre or pay a bit of extra mana to get flexibility in Merciless Eviction/Austere Command. Essence Pulse and Fumigate gain life as well. Similarly you're in the best colours for spot removal: ditch Disenchant and the cards which give -x/-x (they might not get the job done on a big boi) and get Vindicate/Mortify/Anguished Unmaking/Fateful Absence/Path to Exile. The deck is also quite commander-centred, meaning that lasting protection for the main man is more important than an instant which saves him once. Lightning Greaves/Swiftfoot Boots are the classics but I like Blessing of Leeches in commander as you can regenerate for free as many times as you need per turn while the life loss is meaningless to you. Otherwise you might want see if my Licia deck (Reign in Blood) has anything you like the look of.

Skyzzik on Urza Esper Artifacts

4 months ago

2xplains OUT 1xisland OUT Commander's Sphere OUT Bonder's Ornament OUT Thopter Assembly OUT

Glasspool Mimic  ^Flip IN Ondu Inversion  ^Flip IN Sejiri Shelter  ^Flip IN Kabira Takedown  ^Flip IN Burnished Hart IN Hagra Mauling  ^Flip IN

DreadKhan on unthinkable apocalypse

4 months ago

There is Kaervek the Merciless, this might work well with your fairly high MV. Also with the higher MV, you could look at Protection Racket, which is mostly a problem if your deck cares about specific cards, as long as your deck is just a bunch of cards that are all good together it's one of the best cards in Black, it can draw you more cards than Rhystic Study in some metas, or just drain everyone of life if they're really, really responsible and always pay. Finally, Timesifter is hilarious if your opponents have a deck with a noticeably lower MV, or a lot of lands compared to you. You could toss in some really high MV spells like Blasphemous Act and/or Reckless Endeavor, wipes are handy I find, even in a deck that usually is ahead, sometimes you face a faster deck, or a deck that has one sided wipes. I think if your MV is over 3.75 you probably could look at all but Timesifter, for that you might want to go even higher. Another way to raise your average MV is MDFs like Hagra Mauling  ^Flip, as a spell you would never run it, but in place of a land it is both versatile and has it's MV for any effect that cares about it, the only question is if you can afford a tapped land (or want to pay for the Mythics, can enter untapped in a pinch). Some of these cards are just incredible value IMHO, like Valakut Awakening  ^Flip, but some seem bad, afaik the best way to rate these is to consider if the effect is valuable period in Commander (is it worth a card in theory), not to worry as much about the cost because the alternative of hitting a land drop is almost never a terrible thing.

If you run a lot of creatures, I like Court of Cunning and Court of Ambition, both are annoying cards that can also draw you cards, and Cunning is a great source of repeated mill vs something like Glimpse. Also if you run a lot of creatures, Bident of Thassa is perhaps the best non-Frostfang version of this effect, the forced attack can be backbreaking to some decks. Another decent one is Reconnaissance Mission, the worst of the lot is Coastal Piracy. Grim Hireling and Professional Face-Breaker are also nice cards. Thalakos Deceiver and Thalakos Dreamsower are nice Blue Shadows, Dauthi Voidwalker is a really good Black one, each of these is really hard to block and comes with a substantial upside. It's a bit janky in Commander, but Sower of Temptation isn't a terrible card, you just can't count on stealing anything too game breaking, as long as you steal something not worth spending another card on you'll get an evasive 2/2 that can sneak damage in for triggers.

If you want a one-sided nearly-Wrath, you might consider Make an Example or Phyrexian Purge. Example is able to pinpoint remove the best creature of each opponent, by any metric, and it's almost impossible to get around with present day cards (it's a chosen, not targeted sacrifice effect), while Purge lets you clear out the best 4 or 5 creatures so you can just take over, Purge likes having access to some life gain, it's especially good with something like Sangromancer, but if you want life gain in Grixis it's hard to do better than Exquisite Blood, but I'm almost never unhappy with Mask of Griselbrand, I think that card is slept on somewhat in Commander.

If you do go with Kraum or some other beefy Commander for your deck, Agitator Ant is a pretty strong card, but you either need the biggest thing on board already or to be able to remove stuff as needed. Kraum having evasion means you'll usually be able to get in against someone, so +2 power is great, and you being Goaded wears off before your next attack step anyways, so it only matters if someone steals it I guess (at which point it can't attack you I suppose??), Agitator Ant also works with any super-evasive creatures, so if your deck has lots of Flying or Shadow it

Hope some of these ideas are helpful!

UnleashedHavok on Every Rose Has Its Thorns V2

5 months ago

I like a lot of your suggestions DaringApprentice, thanks so much! And am taking several of them. Let's see, I added in: Bojuka Bog, Hagra Mauling  ^Flip, Sword of the Animist (so freaking good with Marchesa on the field), Laelia, the Blade Reforged, Daring Apprentice, Braids, Arisen Nightmare, and I think that's it.

Embercleave led me to finding The Reaver Cleaver, then I had a game the other night where a Captain Lannery Storm + The Reaver Cleaver rocked my world and made me decide to add it to my deck. I'm hoping the synergies for exiling cards to cast play well together in this deck and help speed Marchesa up. I'm really trying to figure out how to add in a Quietus Spike, Elturel Survivors, Geyadrone Dihada and a Deathrender in here, but don't know what to cut. I feel like everything fits so well. Any thoughts?

DaringApprentice on Every Rose Has Its Thorns V2

5 months ago

Here are some suggestions:

Utility Lands: Bojuka Bog, Hagra Mauling  ^Flip

Ramp: Arcane Signet, Sword of the Animist, Burnished Hart, Canoptek Wraith, Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion, Sifter of Skulls, Solemn Simulacrum

Card Draw: Laelia, the Blade Reforged, Morbid Opportunist, Keep Watch, Breya's Apprentice, Moonveil Regent, Smothering Abomination, Reconnaissance Mission, Necrologia, Future Sight, Kothophed, Soul Hoarder, Will Kenrith, Harvester of Souls, Ruin Grinder, Deepfathom Skulker, Sandstone Oracle

Targeted Removal: Rapid Hybridization, Wild Magic Surge, Terminate, Resculpt, Reality Shift, Forbid, Daring Apprentice, Transmogrifying Wand, Ravenous Chupacabra, Chaos Defiler, Glorybringer, Mystic Confluence, Necron Deathmark, Reaper from the Abyss, Rowan Kenrith, Curtains' Call, Duplicant, Meteor Golem

Board Wipes: Nevinyrral's Disk, The Phasing of Zhalfir, Whelming Wave, Ixidron, Blood on the Snow, Deathbringer Regent, Necromantic Selection

Synergy: Ghoulish Procession, Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia, Drana, Liberator of Malakir, Blight Mound, Braids, Arisen Nightmare, Fleshbag Marauder, Gravelighter, Irenicus's Vile Duplication, Magus of the Abyss, Anowon, the Ruin Sage, Ruthless Winnower, Ogre Slumlord

Threats: Quietus Spike, Elturel Survivors, Relentless Assault, Gratuitous Violence, Sarkhan the Masterless, Westgate Regent, Precursor Golem, Necropolis Regent, Walk the Aeons, Combustible Gearhulk, Embercleave, Sharding Sphinx, Angrath's Marauders

DaringApprentice on Are You Sure You Want to Do That? V2

5 months ago

I'm well, hope you are, too! I don't have quite enough time as I thought I might to go through an in-depth suggestion process, but I've put the highlights below:

Fixing Lands: Path of Ancestry, Exotic Orchard, Caves of Koilos, Vivid Meadow, Vivid Marsh, Vivid Crag, Thriving Heath, Thriving Moor, Thriving Bluff, Citadel Gate, Black Dragon Gate

Utility Lands: Bojuka Bog, Hagra Mauling  ^Flip, Sanctum of Eternity

Card Draw: Morbid Opportunist, Smothering Abomination, Necrologia

Targeted Removal: Wild Magic Surge, Chaos Warp, Oblation, Mortify, Vindicate, Mangara of Corondor, Transmogrifying Wand, Nahiri, the Harbinger, Curtains' Call

Board Wipes: Out of Time, Kaya's Wrath, Depopulate, Shatter the Sky, Nevinyrral's Disk, Sublime Exhalation

Selective Board Wipes: Slaughter the Strong, Divine Reckoning, Cataclysmic Gearhulk, Sculpted Sunburst, Single Combat

Synergy Cards: Braids, Arisen Nightmare, Magus of the Abyss, Anowon, the Ruin Sage, Ruthless Winnower, Ogre Slumlord

DreadKhan on Daemonic Tribute

7 months ago

Just took a quick look, but you seem to be running too few lands. Maybe some MDFCs would help, cards like Valakut Awakening  ^Flip or Hagra Mauling  ^Flip, which can be a land or a spell are cards you could cut non-lands for to smooth out your games?

Netherborn Altar is a good way to recast your Commander again, Goblin Engineer is helpful in regards to Krark's Thumb. Do or Die or the newer, better and cheaper Make an Example are good ways to deal with creatures without using a cast of your Commander.