Impaler Shrike
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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
Modern Beyond Horizons Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Pauper Legal
Pauper Duel Commander Legal
Pauper EDH Legal
Planar Constructed Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Impaler Shrike

Creature — Phyrexian Bird

Flying When Impaler Shrike deals combat damage to a player, you may sacrifice it. If you do, draw three cards.

Shaffe_House on Araumi of the Dead Tide

3 years ago

Creatures

Reanimation Targets:

Game Winners

Diluvian Primordial, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Sepulchral Primordial, Triplicate Titan, Grim Guardian, Underworld Sentinel

Value Targets

Archaeomancer, Baleful Strix, Banshee of the Dread Choir, Broodbirth Viper, Clone Shell,Demon's Disciple, Doomwake Giant,Fleshbag Marauder, Impaler Shrike, Meteor Golem, Mulldrifter, Noxious Gearhulk, Overseer of the Damned, Peregrine Drake, Reef Worm, Shriekmaw, Solemn Simulacrum

Enablers:

Champion of Wits, Crow of Dark Tidings, Deranged Assistant, Merfolk Looter, Millikin

Others:

Crashing Drawbridge Soldevi Adnate Solemn Simulacrum Wonder

Mortlocke on New hubs to be added

3 years ago

Hello legendofa,

I propose a new hub to be added: Phyrexian. During Modern Horizons 2, 225 creatures were retconned into having the Phyrexian creature subtype to join Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider . Additionally, there were a smattering of Enchantments, Artifacts and etc that ether have the Phyrexian subtype or create creature tokens that do. Thanks to this retcon I now have a deck that has a Phyrexian tribal theme. For your reference, below is a full list of spells that were affected by WotC's Phyrexian errata.

Source: https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Phyrexian

B0NGUS on Araumi, Raiser of the Darkened Depths

4 years ago

Thanks Grind ! I absolutely will be adding Monastery Siege to my Maybe Board and Geier Reach Sanitarium straight into the deck.

I previously had Mulldrifter in the deck but cut it for cards like Floating-Dream Zubera & Impaler Shrike , although I believe I do need more card draw in the deck so I'll put that back into my Maybe Board.

ChandraNalaar on PDH(UB) - Araumi demands additional performances

4 years ago

Impaler Shrike seems good here, don't you think ? In a 4 players game, chances are it will draw you at least three cards.

TheRheX on Resilient Black Rose

5 years ago

@alexjustdoit: I took a closer look at your list (Black Rose Trading Co.).

My thoughts on some of the cards in your Mainbord:

Archaeomancer: I took that out of my list as it was often a dead card or there were simply better things to do for 4 mana. Our 4 mana slot is very crowded, so if we want to justify putting a 4 cmc card in, it has to be premium.

I disagree on Last_Laugh's comment that Living Death is underwhelming without Archeomancer. Since we can sac our whole bord when playing Living Death we will have a full bord after resolving it while our opponents mostly get bordwiped. I would argue that it's worse when played a second time since now we are reviving all of our opponent's creatures, that we killed the first time (unless we exiled their graveyard beforehand).

Gray Merchant of Asphodel: I have yet to test that card. Since he gains us live we can't rely on dethrone to abuse the ETB-effect so he probably only shines with Unspeakable Symbol in play. I'm curious how he performs - please let me know.

Grimgrin, Corpse-Born: He reads like he was made for Marchesa, but always entering tapped is a bigger downside than i expected. Remember that we want to untap him before attacking, so also before our other creatures had a chance to gain a +1/+1 counter from dethrone. That makes it awkward finding a target to sac, so he can end up being a glorified 5 mana sac-outlet.

Impaler Shrike: Another card that reads really well, but needs to meet too many criteria to be worth it. As i said before: for a 4 mana card to find its way into our deck it has to have a great impact. Impaler Shrike seems too unreliable for that.

Kokusho, the Evening Star: See my comment on Gray Merchant of Asphodel, let me know how they perform :)

Metallic Mimic: If you play this card and Mikaeus, the Unhallowed you might want to consider also putting Murderous Redcap in for some cheap and easy combos.

Spark Double: I play Dack's Duplicate over Spark Double since more than 60% of the time I want to target my opponent's ceratures. But getting the +1/+1 counters on your opponent's turns aswell might be big enough of an upside to justify playing Spark Double instead. Is it a "win more" card? ...needs some testing.

Spellskite: Most counterspells are simply much more reliable than this. Check the decklists of your playgroup and you will probably only find a handfull of single-target spells where Spellskite would come in handy.

Hall of the Bandit Lord: I have not tested this land yet. Haste is a premium ability in our deck, but since it can't be tapped for mana outside of the "pay 3 life" ability I'm really curious how it performs.

Shifting Shadow: Another card that did not make my list because it seems so unreliable. I feel like we want to play bigger bombs or more graveyard-recursion to justify playing this enchantment. But the high upside when it works out might make up for it being unreliable...

Vedalken Orrery: I used to play Leyline of Anticipation but decided to cut it. It's another 4 cmc card that we don't get full value out of. Especially since we want to play hasted creatures on our turn.

Some cards to consider:

Cyclonic Rift: Simply too good of an effect. This card decides games.

Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin: Gets out of control quickly and provides us with sac targets for Grimgrin, Corpse-Born, Phyrexian Altar, etc.

Skullclamp: This card is busted. I would play it over Impaler Shrike 100% of the time.

Blasphemous Act: Is a lifesaver for 1 mana. I have tutored for this card more than once.

Hope this helps with some of your decisions :)

I would love to hear how your version of the deck performs.

Lokotor on Marchesa, The Black Rose - Primer

5 years ago

Serkus I haven't gone through the rounds fully testing Fleshwrither , Smothering Abomination , and Spark Double yet. They were all added at the same time shortly after WAR dropped, so it just hasn't been long enough for me to say yet. so far things are going well though.

I plan to test the new Yawgmoth, Thran Physician as well, assuming he is not $$$$. my guess would be that I'd drop something like Smothering Abomination or Impaler Shrike as they're also 4 drops that act as card draw. i'm leaning on shrike at the moment, but time will tell.

I think yawgmoth is a good fit. he gives a sac outlet and card draw, along with possibly some removal (I wouldn't count on it though). i'm hoping to pick one up in the near future if i can.

JustinWunderlich on Marchesa, On the way to the top!

6 years ago

Impaler Shrike looks like it does work in most marchesa decks. I'm getting one soon! Sower of Temptation has been on my radar for a while now, please let me know how it plays out for you :)

As for Herald of Secret Streams I actually kind of like this card. It's not the most OP in Marchesa but can do some leg work. Why exactly would you recommend cutting it Lokotor?

Dumgoldfish124 on Bird Token/Tribal

6 years ago

47552 Love the idea, really creative! I have some recommendations for you though. Onto the birds!

First, if your play group doesn't mind un-cards, then Crow Storm is quite good. Other then that, Storm Crow itself, despite the memes, is not a bad card and is great in bird tribal. Murder of Crows is a really good finisher as it will deter board wipes and swing for 4 a turn. Mindshrieker is another good finsher. Swan Song and Essence Scatter are both great bird themed counterspells and Wing Shards is a great bird themed spell. Crookclaw Elder is a good draw engine and Impaler Shrike and/or Thieving Magpie add a good bit of draw. Keeper of the Nine Gales adds some great board control and helps disrupt the tempo of your opponent. Augury Owl gives some nice foresight to what is coming up and allows you to change the order or throw away the cards that are not needed. Finally, while not a 'bird bird', Soulcatcher is awesome at killing the opponent after some sacrifice shenanigans.

I also have some general recommendations for the deck. Firstly, Culling Dais is awesome. It can tap and sacrifice a bird if that bird is destroyed, turning it into another card for later on. It gets even more ridiculous with Thrummingbird increasing counters. Deluge gives all of your birds pseudo-unblockable and Gravitational Shift beefs up your birds while your opponent's ground troops get weaker. Kangee, Aerie Keeper pumps the power and toughness of all your birds while Aven Mimeomancer makes your tokens bigger. Door of Destinies does similar things to Kangee. Tezzeret's Gambit is a nice draw spell that also adds counters. Glory stops damage cold. In this deck Grafted Wargear is better then Barbed Battlegear, despite the synergy with Soulcatchers' Aerie. Cataclysm is an awesome board wipe, especially with Soulcatchers' Aerie. Masako the Humorless is nasty surprise for your opponent, especially with Glory chilling in the graveyard. Finally, with land I recommend using Nimbus Maze and Sejiri Refuge. I also recommend having 20 lands, but if 18 works, by all means, keep using 18.

I hope this helps! If you would like any help with cuts, just ask, I'll be happy to help!

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