Helm of Awakening

Artifact

Spells cost less to play.

Discussion (51)

Decrepit_Angel on [Primer] Colored Mana is for the Weak

2 weeks ago

203995014

Sorry for the late response. I was caught up with finals at University and haven't had the time to play much magic or keep up with the game much at all.

The deck has gone through quite a few iterations, several of which were due to meta calls and what hate pieces were best at the time. Winter Orb effects were absurdly good in my meta at the time, hence the inclusion of Candelabra of Tawnos but I think that you are right in it being unnecessary for most metas. Helm of Awakening is also a relic of the old build that still had occasional use but again, I think you are right in cutting it. Krark-Clan Ironworks is a difficult one for me to justify cutting as it makes Spine of Ish Sah far worse without combo potential. I guess that dropping both would give a slot for the new Ugin and Karn without even messing with the mana curve so I will likely try that and see if I end up missing the old cards.

As for going down even more Wastes , that is a meta call but I personally feel like 5 is the right amount. Solemn Simulacrum and Burnished Hart get worse with less basics and when I originally ran 4 Wastes , I had more than one situation where I ran out in deck making the aforementioned cards nearly useless. Also, given how commonplace it is to see Assassin's Trophy nowadays, and given that everything this deck does is good at terrifying people into using all of their removal on you, I don't think I would go down any. Honestly, if I can find space for it, I think I would go up one more Wastes as all of the 4 color partner decks make Blood Moon and Back to Basics effects far better and far more common. Blood Moon is almost always just a mild inconvenience but Back to Basics can be game ending if you don't have enough artifact mana out (and was another consideration for why I ran Candelabra of Tawnos ).

Blast Zone is definitely better than Sea Gate Wreckage in most scenarios so I will swap that out. Zhalfirin Void is fine but I'm not sure what I would cut for it. If nothing else, I can add it to the budget options list.

Ugin, the Ineffable will probably find his way into the list (especially because of the synergy he has with Ashnod's Altar when he doesn't have to be used to break stuff) but I am far more interested in Karn, the Great Creator . Even if his minus 2 is basically useless excluding niche situations such as getting back your exiled stuff, his static ability is more than enough to justify his inclusion. (also, his plus kills Mana Crypt s and Mox Diamond s/ Mox Opal )s/etc. I might even experiment with the hard lock he has with Mycosynth Lattice .

As for Tormod's Crypt and Haunted Cloak , I will likely end up cutting Haunted Cloak due to the deck being less focused on the combat win than it was originally when I added it and wrote the primer. I am not sure about just swapping Tormod's Crypt for Grafdigger's Cage but I will think about it. Grafdigger's Cage is better at stopping Protean Hulk shenanigans (and a lot of other similar win-conditions) as well as stopping Yisan, the Wanderer Bard and Captain Sisay decks, both of which are already bad matchups. Tormod's Crypt is better against storm decks and anything that relies on Timetwister loops as well as just guaranteeing that certain problematic cards are removed instead of temporarily shut down. I might just end up running both if I can find space. I'll experiment with what I can and if I get the chance to play some games, I'll add my experiences with the new cards. Expect an update some time in the next week or so to the primer.

And thank you for all of the advice. I fell a bit behind on the primer due to college so if you have any other advice for potential cards or things to cut, I would appreciate it. I really haven't gotten to play much magic since the start of the new year and I am sure that the meta has changed quite a bit.

203995014 on [Primer] Colored Mana is for the Weak

1 month ago

Hi Decrepit_Angel, I just wanted to say that I've really enjoyed the amount of work you've put into making this deck and I've had a ton of fun with it for the past year now. I wanted to type out some observations and ask you some questions if you're still around to read them lol:

1: The three cards I've found to be underperforming the most are Krark-Clan Ironworks , Candelabra of Tawnos , and Helm of Awakening (in order of decreasing effectiveness). I wanted to know about your thoughts and experiences regarding them.

Krark-Clan Ironworks I've basically never had a use for aside from some niche infinite combos, I never found a situation where it would be advantageous to sacrifice some artifacts to cast Kozilek nor was I ever tutoring for it. I wouldn't cut it yet, but I'm not terribly enthusiastic about it.

Candelabra of Tawnos was 99% of the time a dead card, never used it in infinite combos nor did I really ramp with it. There was never a situation where I only had one land untapped while wanting access to multiple utility lands at once. The best use I found for candelabra was in tandem with Winter Orb , but there are so many other ways to sidestep Winter Orb's drawback that it's not terribly important to me. The card has been dead in such a majority of cases that I've cut it in a few iterations and never looked back.

I've never found a use for Helm of Awakening, even a niche use. It's always the first card I chuck away with Azor's Gateway  ^Flip, it's always the first card I throw away with Geier Reach Sanitarium , it's never once helped me when I had it in hand. Not useful while comboing with Paradox Engine , and there's never a good turn to play it otherwise because the drawback is antithetical to the stax options this deck employs. It's only a mana closer to Kozilek, and the drawback loses so many games. It never feels like there's a good turn to play it, and the times I played it just to try it, I promptly lost after.

Aside from those three, I've also wondered about Haunted Cloak and Tormod's Crypt . Haunted Cloak is difficult to fit into the curve, considering the initial 3 mana cost and the 1 to equip with after. Combined with the fact that it doesn't even protect the Kozilek, and I haven't found too many uses for it. Tormod's Crypt also feels situational, though I like its place as a graveyard hate. I wonder if it could be replaced by Grafdigger's Cage or some other card, some with more utility or something that replaces itself.

I've also been trying out lands like Zhalfirin Void and Blast Zone , currently shaving a Wastes and Sea Gate Wreckage (the latter I've literally never used its ability once). 4 wastes still feels very good to play with.

2: Are there any new options you might test out? I've been very impressed with Ugin, the Ineffable , all three abilities are relevant and the card provides much needed removal against the horrors of Stony Silence and the likes. I've also been playing with Staff of Nin lately, the card draw engine has been nice and the ping provides a much faster way to close the game with an infinite combo. Without the ping, I've had to resort to more convoluted means to close the game. Not necessarily an objective power level argument, but it saves a lot of headaches at the table.

I appreciate all the work you've put into the deck, and I hope you'll continue working on it in the future!

TheRematcher on Black Lantern Corps

1 month ago

Thanks for the fast Reply Bad_Dog, I didn't spot the interaction with citadel, but that definately looks very interesting! I planned on Building this deck on a Budget a few days ago and thought of a list very similar to this, just with some(honestly many) worse cards and without citadel and doomsday. I will include citadel now, but I'm unsure if the inclusion of Doomsday is necessary: You have two wincons in scepter+reversal and labman/Jace+consultation, so your opponents would have to exile one of your scepter pieces and your labman, since he can win you the game with citadel.(If you are playing both jace and labman, your opponents would have to exile both of them, and Jace is a less dead Card, if you don't combo with him.) But I am sure, you have good reasons to play Doomsday, and I will surely check out the primer to get behind it! Other Things I'm a bit curious about: Which purpose do the Helm of Awakening and the Thing in the Ice  ^Flip serve?

Trolldier_of_Fortune on H͟E̤̜̓̓ͬ͟ ̟̯͟C̸̙̻̙͂O͓̻͓̹̱Mͦ̾ͫ҉̬̘͕E͔͐͗̋͊̓̚S̮͖ͨ͌ͭ̏̃͊

1 month ago

Oh man, Mirage Mirror . No need to sell me on that card honestly, it's great. The only reason it's not already here is because I've neglected to update this list in a while because I hadn't been able to play much the past couple years. That absolutely needs a spot. I forget it can copy lands, so it can actually be a third way to pull off a sneaky Dark Depths combo if need be as well. That's pretty sweet.

I've run Mindslaver before here, and I ended up cutting it. It's fun, but I needed the spot for Kaladesh tech. Clutch Emrakul, the Promised End casts have won games for me before though. Helm of Awakening is pretty gnarly, I may have to test it and see if I can't make it work for me. I'm just not a fan of symmetrical effects.

As for the 100 Strip Mine s, I put 100 there because it wouldn't let me add a million. "You really need 1000000x Strip Mine, huh?" YES I DO TAPPEDOUT, MAY I PLEASE HAVE THEM? I figure if I keep that there for long enough, I will eventually get at least one.

I could use a sell on Tangle Wire . I like it, and I bet I could get it past my group, but how do I break parity with it? Clock of Omens kind of things I would guess? I mean, I guess tapping the Wire to itself is a cheeky cheat, but you seem to know something I don't that makes it go from good to incredible.

As for your puzzle, hell, challenge accepted. I too am a fan of Rube Goldberg machine plays.

• Tap Sensei's Divining Top
• Pay 2 to Rings of Brighthearth trigger using Metalworker , 2 remaining in pool
• Draw Wastes and Sensei's Divining Top
• Play Wastes (because why not honestly)
• Tap Inspiring Statuary and Clock of Omens to untap Metalworker
• Tap Metalworker again for 6 mana now, 8 mana in pool
• Turn Mirage Mirror into Rings of Brighthearth , 6 mana in pool
• Tap both Rings of Brighthearth to untap Metalworker, pay both triggers to untap both of my Rings as well
• Proceed to generate literally a googolplex of mana. Because overkill.
• Finally replay Sensei's Divining Top
• Use Rings of Brighthearth + Sensei's Divining Top with unlimited mana to draw until I get the following cards: Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre , Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger , Lightning Greaves , Swiftfoot Boots , and Strionic Resonator
• Play Kozilek, Butcher of Truth , Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre , and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
• Play Lightning Greaves , Swiftfoot Boots , Sculpting Steel copying either of the boots, and Strionic Resonator
• Equip each Titan with boots
• Swing one Titan each at each player
• Using infinite untaps and mana, two players entire boards disappear and one's entire deck gets exiled via Strionic Resonator spam

I'm not sure if you had a way to actually end the game proper from there in mind but this is what I came up with. One player has no deck, and the rest have no boards, so realistically everyone scoops and the hypothetical players here probably never play with me again. God I love colorless.

Wurwilf on H͟E̤̜̓̓ͬ͟ ̟̯͟C̸̙̻̙͂O͓̻͓̹̱Mͦ̾ͫ҉̬̘͕E͔͐͗̋͊̓̚S̮͖ͨ͌ͭ̏̃͊

1 month ago

That was a quick reply. $70 for a mana crypt?? I'm jealous. I'm proud of my collection too, having seen Ugin, Rings, and Crypt all double in price since I bought them.

I completely understand you not wanting to start a stax arms race. I guess some people like untapping their cards, god knows why. I know you've decided against it, but Tangle Wire is so stupidly good in EDH, I just have to mention it one more time. Of all the tap effects, Wire holds a special place in my cold, dead heart.

A card I forgot to mention is Mirage Mirror , which not only can make a little mana, but can also serve as a sac outlet for Kozi due to the legend rule, as well as serve as an emergency Kozi duplicate WITH HASTE. If you're feeling combo-inclined, Mirror can duplicate Inventors' Fair to set up a near-certain win with a double-tutor. Not only that, but you aren't limited to your own permanents. See a Necropotence ? Now it's MY Necropotence.

Otherwise, Mindslaver shenanigans are fun, although I'm sure you were already aware of that. Helm of Awakening can be dirty, but you'd better be prepared to win if you play it.

I see you've added 100 Strip Mine s to the maybeboard. I'm not sure that's enough. Also, I've tried (and cut) Lotus Petal myself. It's decent enough in your opening hand, but pretty poor at any other point in the game.

I love coming up with puzzles and challenges involving unique interactions in these sorts of decks. To show off the power of Mirage Mirror , I've come up with a puzzle for you.

Board: Metalworker , Inspiring Statuary , Sensei's Divining Top , Clock of Omens , Rings of Brighthearth , Mirage Mirror (and no lands)

Hand: Unwinding Clock , Sculpting Steel

Goal: Win the game against 3 players with 40 health this turn. The top of your deck is irrelevant (let's say that all 6 Wastes are on top).

Ignore the puzzle if it's not your thing. Thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed reply.

NV_1980 on Fblthp - Look Ma, no creatures!!

2 months ago

Hi,

You mention Helm of the Host in your description, but we assume that should actually be Helm of Awakening . We would really recommend a Reliquary Tower and/or Spellbook in order to cope with more than 7 cards in your hand. Other than that ..., meh, this isn't really the kind of deck we would want to build as it can only ever be played once against the same group of people. But hey, if this makes you happy, go for it.

Regards,

Mrs. and Mr. NV_1980

hkhssweiss on Circu's Apathetic Sadism (Combo)

3 months ago

Hmmm for an alternative win con and such, I usually go for Future Sight + Paradox Engine + Sensei's Divining Top or Helm of Awakening to go into infinite draws. After that I would use a spell like Bitter Ordeal and recur it with Codex Shredder . Another line I go for is the Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal in addition with Copy Artifact + Winds of Rebuke / Swan Song and go infinite mill or birdies.

SamsWrath on Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain - Storm

3 months ago

SevSeventeen, I forgot to mention Voltaic Key and Etherium Sculptor . I included Voltaic Key because it can act as a quasi mana-rock and is simply a better option for one of the 99 than a 0cmc that does nothing but, cantrip if Jhoira is in play. I included Sculptor because he adds another way to draw the deck with Sensei's Divining Top , he's an artifact and he's 2cmc which means, he can be tutored with 4 of the deck's tutors and if he's in play with Helm of Awakening then all the 2cmc artifacts are free to cast! Also, unlike Helm, he only reduces spells I control.