Hands of Binding

Sorcery

Tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step. Cipher (Then you may exile this spell card encoded on a creature you control. Whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player, its controller may play a copy of the encoded card without paying its mana cost.)

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (50)

pappy4eyes on Mono U spirits

4 months ago

Looks like a good deck, a friend of mine has a similar spirit deck.

I am not very good at deck building, but here are some more spirit cards that look cool: Departed Deckhand, Dreamshackle Geist, Dungeon Geists, Hands of Binding, or Nebelgast Herald (might be good with the flash from Rattlechains). Skyline Cascade enters tapped, but lets you keep an opponent's creature tapped for an extra turn. I think my friend has Cemetery Illuminator in his deck. If you exile a spirit from your graveyard it could be a way to have more options to play each turn.

It should be noted that you might have to cast Geistlight Snare for 2 mana sometimes since you only have 4 enchantments, but that should not be too much of a problem.

Again, I am not sure if any of these cards will work with the deck, they are just cards I thought looked cool. Feel free to completely ignore me. :)

Triton on Jhoira Artifacts

10 months ago

Cool deck!

To make the most of your commander's ability I'd recommend some untappers, perhaps Kelpie Guide or Vizier of Tumbling Sands. Some Proliferate like Tezzeret's Gambit would be very nice as well to boost those counters. Voltaic Key and the spendier Thousand-Year Elixir.

For board wipes, I'd recommend my pet card Chain Reaction. You can cut Cancel, Outnumber, Unsummon, and Hands of Binding for removal that hits more. Stoic Rebuttal is a counterspell that suits your theme well! Meteorite can be cut for Spine of Ish Sah, it hits more and is recurrable. Contagion Engine is insane value with planeswalkers and your commander.

Hope this helps! I didn't pay too much attention to the newest Jhoira, but she looks like a lot of fun! Enjoy your games with her! :)

DreadKhan on Karona Backgrounds EDH

1 year ago

Any of the decent Cipher spells might be worth thinking about, the best is probably Stolen Identity, which can make you a copy of the best creature or artifact each time Akroma hits someone. There are also Hidden Strings and Hands of Binding, in that order I suppose. Hidden Strings can let you hold up interaction while using your mana, Hands locks down a blocker each time Karona connects (helps for next turn), so she stays safe. There is the black option of Undercity Plague, which helps thin out blockers as well.

DreadKhan on Talrand Takes the Throne

1 year ago

Not what would be called 'fun' cards, but Helm of Possession and Vedalken Shackles are useful effects in Talrand I find. Shackles can steal problematic smaller stuff (by late game it can take most stuff, certainly most things I'd want to take), while Helm just costs you a drake. Idol of Oblivion is not a bad deal for repeated draw, assuming you find Talrand stays alive.

Shark Typhoon and Metallurgic Summonings are very solid token generators, with Summonings being able to recur all of your spells eventually if that's helpful. Worth a look!

Archmage Emeritus and Wavebreak Hippocamp both tend to play well in Talrand.

For non-artifacts, Mystic Reflection is a really useful card, able to turn your next drake into the best non-Legendary creature, or turn someone else's bomb into the worst creature on the field, requiring just U if it's foretold. I use 3 Cipher spells in Talrand, I'd use more but they go down hill pretty quickly. Stolen Identity is a hilarious card, getting you a copy of the best artifact or creature AND a Drake, and if you Cipher it on a Drake that can swing that turn, you can get ANOTHER copy and Drake off the Cipher cast. Hidden Strings and Hands of Binding can be quite useful, even if they just force someone to use removal on a Drake to stop your synergy engine.

DreadKhan on Drake my Day

2 years ago

Heraldic Banner is a boss card in budget Talrand, as are Hands of Binding Hidden Strings and Stolen Identity. Ciphering is amazing in Talrand, and the cards are really budget. Dig Through Time got reprinted recently I think. Ravenform is a great solution card in mono-blue, especially if you add some tutors later, as it can exile an artifact, something blue generally can't do. There is also Resculpt, which gives a 4/4 but is an instant. Either or both are worth considering. Saw It Coming and Mystic Reflection are also worth taking a look at.

Saccox on Unblockable Pezzent!

2 years ago

Hi nathanielhebert,I mounted this deck and it has a problem:you can only slow down your opponent with Hands of Binding and Blustersquall ,not control it. It behaves like a combo but don't close the game before the opponent fast enough to win. Could be put a War Horn to win before.

nathanielhebert on Unblockable Pezzent!

2 years ago

Fun deck — I gave it a few tries, and liking the efficiency of casting ciphered spells Hands of Binding and Hidden Strings with unblockable merfolk and company. Military Intelligence fills up the hand quickly, and soon enough there's an army to contend with.

TheVectornaut on Blue/White Life and Defenders

2 years ago

I think a good place to start would be to evaluate what goals are the most important for your deck while making sure you don't have too many ideas that compete against each other. When I look at the deck now, I can see the general idea of a U/W control list that takes advantage of freeze and lifegain to prolong the fight until you can win. However, I see some major problems with the plan as it is now.

First, the deck lacks a clear win condition at the end of all the control. You'll either need to chip away over the course of a slow game with your smaller creatures or hope you have enough freeze effects to get your big guys in late-game. Control deck usually opt for some type of haymaker that can reliably close the game. Some like AEtherling and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar are designed to protect themselves, some like Celestial Colonnade and Shark Typhoon place emphasis on evasion, some like Torrential Gearhulk and Snapcaster Mage give you as much value as possible, and some like Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Teferi, Time Raveler deny your opponents of counterplay. There's a lot of overlap within those categories and not all of these cards will be played as a wincon, but having a clear plan to win is better than only playing to not lose. The closest cards you have are probably Serpent of Yawning Depths and Archipelagore. Sea monsters are certainly a fine casual deck but slotting them into something else can be awkward at best and ineffectual at worst.

The second problem I see is the missed potential of your chosen colors combined with your chosen tribe. Right now, you have very few ways to take advantage of the clerics in the deck. Clerics are intended to be W/B since you get access to powerful new tools like Orah, Skyclave Hierophant, Taborax, Hope's Demise, and Cleric of Life's Bond along with classics like Sin Collector, High Priest of Penance, and Skirsdag High Priest. The lifegain/drain synergy in clerics also benefits from orzhov colors to play threats like Angel of Destiny, Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, Marauding Blight-Priest, Speaker of the Heavens, Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, Twilight Prophet, Pious Evangel  ^Flip, Drana's Emissary, and Cruel Celebrant.

Incidentally, black also synergizes quite well with tapdown effects because of Assassinate cards like Royal Assassin, Deathbringer Liege, and Murderous Compulsion, although white does have its share of Vengeance with Sunblast Angel, Deadeye Harpooner, and Swift Response. Anyway, now that I'm on this tangent, it's worth mentioning that including strong freeze effects is important if you want to make such an underused mechanic work. I'm partial to Dungeon Geists and Icefall Regent as permanent taps, but there's also Guardian of Tazeem, Niblis of Frost, Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, Time of Ice, Lorthos, the Tidemaker, Frost Titan, and Hands of Binding. Alternatively you can use cheaper cards that can retap a creature each turn like Gideon's Lawkeeper, Blinding Souleater, Fatestitcher, Hidden Strings, and Minister of Impediments. The final category I'll mention are other cards that take advantage of tapping enemy creatures like Palliation Accord and Verity Circle, except I'd only ever recommend the latter.

In summary, I think you should decide whether you're more interested in clerics or in freeze since they don't synergize with each other that well. For clerics, switching to black and taking advantage of lifedrain and sacrifice is advisable. For freeze control, find ways to abuse tapping, implement a strong win condition, and generally include more card draw and countermagic. If you are dead set on combining these styles, I'd at least invest in some tribal support cards to give the clerics more impact than just weakly contributing to the party mechanic. Adaptive Automaton, Door of Destinies, Obelisk of Urd, and Coat of Arms are some popular options. Finally, if your budget doesn't allow you to purchase many new cards, prioritizing the acquisition of additional copies of your strongest but cheapest cards is a good way to upgrade. For this deck, I think those cards are Attended Healer, Cleric of Chill Depths, Hypnotic Sprite, Kor Celebrant, Luminarch Aspirant, Queen of Ice, Shepherd of Heroes, Skyclave Cleric  ^Flip, Concerted Defense, Dovin's Veto, Negate, Inscription of Insight, Staggering Insight, Trapped in the Tower, and maybe Silundi Vision  ^Flip. Good luck with your build and let me know if you have any questions!