Inquisitor's Flail

Artifact — Equipment

If equipped creature would deal combat damage, it deals double that damage instead.

If another creature would deal combat damage to equipped creature, it deals double that damage to equipped creature instead.

Equip 2

Combos

• Chained Throatseeker + Inquisitor's Flail + Whispersilk Cloak

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (50)

BlondieN8 on Mindskinning and Deck Thinning

1 month ago

DreadKhan, first of all, I must compliment on your detailed response that many users tend leave out. Allow me to answer your deck concerns with the following:

1. Inquisitor's Flail (IF), I have thought about this artifact, but decided to cut it in earlier drafts due to more counterspells. Later on, I may incorperate "IF" into the deck depending on my card draw functions.

2. Propaganda (P) & Fatespinner (FS), are both wonderful suggestions Crawlspace was intended to be a cheap hate card, enabling the preservation of mana for counterspells—"P" may take triumph and take it's place. "FS" would be an interesting card added into the mix. I would need a some time to tinker around with new cards. MTG has taken a little backseat while I work on studies.

3. Resculpt, will not be added to this deck due to the playstyle around counter spells. I tried to keep my curve low enough to allow room for counterspells on problematic itmes. If all else fails with the counters, I can always bump up a commanders tax over and over.

4. Dress Down (DD), does have an interesting ability, but It would involve removing another hate card or counterspell. "DD" has potential so I will add it into the maybe list for later tinkering.

5. Sunder (S), Static Orb (SO), and Rising Waters (RW). To start, "S" is already above the curve and not particularly impressive compared to other high-costing cards. "S"' is detrimental to our board, especially regarding mana artifacts and creatures with tap abilities. While I might consider "SO" eventually, it will not be included at this time. As for "RW," I already have several hate cards that do not cause self-harm. My current land hate cards include Winter Moon, Back to Basics, Field of Ruin, Ghost Quarter, Strip Mine, and Wasteland. "RW" also inpacts my own ability to cast counterspells. This is also closely related to lack of self-mill cards fund in this deck. Every card has been chosen to benefit me whilst disrupting opponents.

6. Jace is used for card drawing and moving opponents' cards from the top. I have also included Jace as another permanent for players to worry about, but with your comment, I may consider switching it out.

Thanks again for your help; if you have any additional suggestions or concerns, feel free to comment. Changes to this deck will come eventually.

DreadKhan on Mindskinning and Deck Thinning

1 month ago

I really like the idea of making mill work in cEDH... I hate being milled in cEDH, I will never forget losing games that would have been cake walks because some key card was milled (and it wasn't even vs dedicated mill decks, just one off mill for 4 lol), it's not supposed to be good but cEDH decks are so overwhelmingly greedy that something like that can spoke their wheel and cost them the game. Looking at this list makes me feel like not playing Tasha's Hideous Laughter in any blue cEDH list is a mistake, it's really hard to get stuff back from exile and it requires nothing

This is probably not a great suggestion, but maybe it's an 'okay' one... have you ever thought about Inquisitor's Flail? Double mill from your Commander for only 4 mana isn't THAT steep, especially if you pay it over 2 turns, and nobody is ever blocking your Commander so the drawback shouldn't matter.

YMMV but IMHO in cEDH I'd rather resolve a Propaganda than a Crawlspace, if only because people sometimes play Abrade and can then swarm you to death. Most colours are bad at removing Enchantments, but only Black is terrible at blowing up artifacts. I feel like you should also look really hard at Fatespinner, this is an incredibly frustrating Stax effect in mono-Blue, and slowing the game down gives your Commander time to do the thing.

I'm not sure if Resculpt is good or bad in here (a 4/4 is reasonably big), but your Commander is unblockable and with it you can remove an artifact that's really bad for you, OR just exile a problem creature.

What do you think of Dress Down? A lot of things care about creature text, and while turning all of yours off could be bad, it can prevent you from losing the game to a variety of creature based things.

Probably my weirdest idea, would Sunder work in here? The idea is you play it after you're set up to give you a few turns grace while everyone else runs around like headless chickens, I would expect even a couple swings while people try to rebuild could be enough. There is also Static Orb, I feel like as long as you are swinging with your Commmander you don't need to do anything else to gain immense advantage. If Sunder is too much mana you could try Rising Waters maybe, it's only 4 to really slow things down?

If you want to cut something, is there a real plan for Jace, the Mind Sculptor? He's pretty nasty in 1v1, but in a 4 player game I feel like he's too small of an effect for that much mana.

DreadKhan on Canadian Short-King

3 months ago

Who knows if it's entirely 'good' in here, but Raised by Giants isn't an aura and it gives Wolverine +8/+8, too bad it doesn't come with Trample! There is also Belt of Giant Strength that might synergize for a handy buff.

Maybe One with the Kami? It doesn't have to go on Wolverine, and if he's strong enough you a ton of bodies. The card can go infinite with many other cards fwiw, but I've rarely seen it used for that so it shouldn't attract attention.

While it might not look fantastic at first glance, Kessig Wolf Run is a pretty useful card in most Gruul lists that feature ramp, and in this list it's even better since your Commander can regenerate if the opponent kills him due to low toughness. Since it's a land it's a safer include IMHO. Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep is a much fancier land, but First Strike seems like it'd be a nice ability to have. Final one, the new Arena of Glory, Haste is a sweet ability.

Inquisitor's Flail is a card I always look at when I build a Voltron list, if it's at all possible to be sneaky with it it's a very cheap damage doubling equipment that stacks with almost everything. Just this and and your Commander hits for 8 without any counters, and you can just regenerate him if he dies, but it's even better with double strike, then you'd hit for 16 from just those 2 things, and having even +1 power would turn it into 24, which is lethal.

As for possible cuts:

I don't love Assault Strobe, I hate that it's a Sorcery, especially when even Temur Battle Rage exists, giving double strike without trample seems like a bad idea. BTW I'm not saying run Battle Rage necessarily, I don't know if you want a one and done like this, and you for sure don't want it to be a Sorcery IMHO.

Animist's Might makes me wonder if Monstrous Onslaught is better, it doesn't have to target your own creature so it's harder to disrupt, and the ability to spread the damage out can make things very ugly for people if have a big creature. Might to me looks like it'd be cheaper to cast, but you'll only ever kill one creature with it. Similarly I don't love Contest of Claws, Sorcery speed removal isn't very good and I'm not sure that's enough upside (though it is better than Might fwiw, I'd look at better cards). If you're dead set on a card like this why not use Stump Stomp  ^Flip instead? At least it's a land if you're desperate.

Grumgully the Generous seems bad? I could be missing something, but a single +1 counter doesn't sound like it's worth a slot, especially at 3 mana, and you can only get it on ETB, so it's VERY timing sensitive; do you REALLY want to delay Wolverine a turn for this guy? I love the flavor of the card so I could see it being a pet card, so if it's a favorite keep it! Similarly I don't know about Renata, Called to the Hunt, both of these are great if you've got synergies with the counters, but if you don't they are just a one time +1/+1, and if they come down late they might just do nothing at all.

Concord With the Kami looks like a bit of a trap to me, if you are getting wiped a lot the card will do nothing, right, and that's when you want it the most!

How often do you find yourself drawing more than 3 cards with Season of Growth? I think Harmonize is going to play more consistently fwiw, but if you find you're usually drawing 3 or more cards with Season it's probably fine.

Do you really need to size of the effect for Signature Slam? It seems worse than Kamahl's Will, which costs only one more for an (arguably) much bigger effect. These lands are Indestructible and have Vigilance, so they can all safely swing (and can benefit from buffs as creatures for that turn) if you need that, but they can also work as handy blockers, I feel like killing the opponent's best creature AND making a bunch of blockers is nice upside?

I don't think you want or need stuff like Arcane Signet or Gruul Signet in Gruul, you're already vulnerable to stuff like Bane of Progress, so why increase that vulnerability? There are still Green ramp spells out there fwiw, including Three Visits. I guess the rocks are cheaper (and can add Green when you're truly desperate), but it seems more like an allowance to run more Basics (in a deck that doesn't run anything like Primal Order or Blood Moon), do you have some good payoffs for running Basics over the odd dual? I get the price point, but I feel like when you go much over $100 you have to start spending more on lands, or really lean into some kind of synergy with Basics, such as the ability to dig out a TON of Basics somehow (there are cards like Traverse the Outlands I guess).

I hope some of these ideas help, apologies if I suggested you cut any pet cards!

DreadKhan on Anax and Cymede, Spell Slinger

6 months ago

It's always cool to see how someone solves the Anax and Cymede puzzle! They end up being a better Commander than people expect, especially if you can generate a board to benefit from his buff (and you can trigger them a few times).

I have an A+C list, I use Crown of Flames and Flickering Ward to generate A+C triggers, as well as trigger other cards. In that list I use the few creatures that care about enchantment ETBs (so Mesa Enchantress, Kor Spiritdancer, and Sram, Senior Edificer, but I also found Gandalf, White Rider pretty handy, Scry isn't as good as Draw, but he's easy to trigger and buffs my whole board each time, which stacks with A+C's triggers! FWIW it's easier to find an Aura than it is an Instant/Sorcery in Boros (Sunforger is a bad card IMHO, but some people swear by it). I value these Auras so highly I almost always hold up mana to bounce them in a pinch. I almost never tutor for it, but I also run Ghitu Firebreathing, it's a got Flash, which means for every 3 mana you can pump into the effect you can pump your creatures not just on your turn, but also in preparation for blocking. It's niche I admit, but there are only so many playable Auras that bounce themselves for cheap!

I'm not sure if you're interested in equipment, but Inquisitor's Flail plays pretty well with A+C's First Strike and Vigilance, and it stacks with other doubling effects like True Conviction/Spectacular Showdown. Two-Handed Axe is great for A+C, if you have 7 mana you can swing in at 8 power with Double Strike with no other support!

If you want to take a look at my A+C list, it's Staxdrop! (Snowdrop Vorthos Deck), it's a Vorthos deck so it has some unusual elements like hard Stax effects and numerous board wipes, so that part might not be relevant to your deck!

DreadKhan on Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer Home Brew Deck

7 months ago

I'm not sure if you're interested in adjusting this at some point, but I often get ideas when I look over decks/test them out (and like the list enough to get a bit invested in it), so here's a few ideas I had, maybe something will spark your interest! Also, you're at 99 cards atm, if you add 1 more the deck will show as legal in Commander.

I have some decks that mix Voltron/Aggro, I have rarely been unhappy with Berserkers' Onslaught, even if you already have First Strike getting Double Strike also doubles everything on your board's power while attacking (you'll still have First Strike while blocking, which is still very useful imho). True Conviction is a White version with a bit more upside, but it's 6 mana, I think you could run both to get that Double Strike Anthem out more often. Scavenged Brawler is a weird new card that offers two uses, if you cast it it's a 4/4 artifact creature with a heap of upsides, but imagine using that on Jor! Vigilance and First Strike are AMAZING together. With your Average MV I wonder if Detective's Phoenix is worth a look? Haste and Flying for only {R} is amazing later game, especially with an 8 power Commander! Rite of the Raging Storm is a weird card that synergizes with your Commander (an 8/1 is actually intimidating IMHO, and if you can give it Double Strike, it gets ugly...). Gisela, Blade of Goldnight is an interesting late game card, the effect is stronger than it looks, and it stacks with Double Strike. Two-Handed Axe and Inquisitor's Flail are nice equipment with First Strike.

If you like The Prydwn, maybe Parhelion II? If Jor is online it's 8 mana to swing for 22 by itself (well, with it's two Vigilance angels that each get +3), this also plays well with any power double effects. It is a LOT of mana fwiw, but it's a decent closer that only needs a pilot to work.

This is going to sound a bit crazy, but have you ever considered Harmonious Archon? This has big synergies with Jor (and any other anthems you have), maybe not ideal if you have opponents who have larger armies of smaller tokens? Oh, if people do tend to swarm you maybe Brave the Sands would help? It's very good with First Strike, as well as Jor's ability.

Liquimetal Torque is a neat mana rock that can help you get a problem card off the board (artifacts are more often removed), and with your Commander you could use this to gain access to an extra artifact to turn on The Prevailer in a pinch, I think that's enough use cases to matter. I have had fun with Torque + Gorilla Shaman, Viashino Heretic, and Devout Witness as permanents that can repeatedly remove problematic cards without generating too much salt. Since they're also creatures they offer you upside of being capable of swinging with +3 in a pinch. Great with Double Strike obviously!

Bonders' Enclave and War Room are pretty handy in a Boros list, especially with a Commander that turns on the Enclave. Enclave is pretty cheap ATM, War Room seems to get reprinted a lot so if it's too much it'll probably go down at some point.

Oh, just remembered, have you got a Transmogrifying Wand kicking around? This is an artifact that will stick around after you've removed 3 creatures with it, the only real drawback in my experience is that it costs 3 up front, though in practice this is often an upside because you can play it out whenever for Metalcraft, then use it to Ox a problem creature.

DreadKhan on The Masochism Tango

9 months ago

Just some 'bad' ideas to consider (I have some irregular views on ramp, to be polite), Subterranean Hangar is ramp that uses a land drop, very handy with a 7 mana Commander, either to get them out or recast them, Fountain of Cho is the White option. I threw cards like this in a deck on a lark, I was pretty impressed how they can play out in a deck that uses fairly splashy effects... this brings me to Grave Betrayal, this card is politely described as 'good with your Commander'. Another option to consider is bigger ramp, maybe Thran Dynamo, which takes you from 4 mana to enough to cast your Commander next turn, seems decent? Maybe Gilded Lotus, which takes you from 5 to 8, but also gives you coloured mana? Worn Powerstone is also interesting, it's not a great card but it's also not unplayable, wildly worse Sol Ring is also a good enough card, it just looks bad because Sol Ring exists. Another choice worth looking at that is relevant because of it's ceiling is Skyclave Relic, the kicker is a bunch, but that much mana next turn is advantageous. I get that your deck is trying to be fairly nimble, with lots of lower to the ground ramp, but I feel like with a 7 mana Commander that does this much you really want her out as quickly and consistently as possible.

If you like Indestructible sources, I think Gift of Doom is the best ever printed, Morph is incredibly hard to interact with once it's in play, and I'd like to think you'll have some sac fodder. It's also a combat trick fwiw, you've got Vigilance, and if they've got a big attacker this can deal with them and prevent certain types of removal, and it can blank stuff at the fastest speed possible.

Since your Commander has Protection from Creatures, I'd love to see if Inquisitor's Flail would work in here? By itself it turns your Commander into a 3 turn clock vs any opponent, and she blocks better since she'll deal double damage. It's less resources than Fireshrieker, but it completely stacks with it fwiw, if you get two doubles you're a 2 turn clock. Come to think of it I think I'd run Duelist's Heritage over Fireshrieker if you have access to White. Another 'out there' idea, but Grafted Exoskeleton plays well with your Commander, it turns her into a 2 turn clock by itself, and your Commander becomes a pretty nasty blocker too, and it obviously would play well with doublers. If you've got Protection from Creatures, you could try Pariah on your Commander to drag out games. It's worse if people play Red Burn effects in your area, but at least life loss effects don't interact with it, just damage. If you have Indestructible on something then Pariah looks even better.

I hope some of these ideas are useful, Big Teysa is a nifty Commander to see in action!

DreadKhan on You'll have to toss me! (Don't Tell the Elf)

1 year ago

Have you thought about Neyith of the Dire Hunt and Rionya, Fire Dancer for this? Since you often have big creatures there is Chandra's Ignition, and Windswift Slice manages to be the world's biggest flavor fail and win at the same time, at least nobody will miss those elves when you sacrifice them! Two-Handed Axe might fit (and it's a big ax!), Inquisitor's Flail is unfortunately not an ax but is also very good if Gimli has high toughness.

I'm not sure how big your tallest creatures end up, but Monstrous Onslaught is very good with an excessively big creature.

Cool deck!

DreadKhan on Gnoll Patrol

1 year ago

I also think Gnolls are cool and approve of this premise! Here are my thoughts about the deck, hope they're helpful.

If you ever want to raise your budget a bit, Pathbreaker Ibex has huge synergy with your deck.

When I was testing out your deck I found that you seemed to be short of creatures for a deck that runs lots of creature payoffs and generally can't win without them. In a deck that's very creature centric I like to run closer to 40, if not more, Gruul has really, really good creatures to choose from. For example, you can run Wood Elves, Farhaven Elf over artifact ramp, these give you a creature body while also permanently ramping you (land ramp is much more stable than artifact ramp anyways). Creature buffs can be stapled to a creature, there are options like Thunderfoot Baloth, Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma or maybe Blossoming Bogbeast or Kamahl, Heart of Krosa. You can use creatures as a great source of removal with options like Thorn Mammoth, Ulvenwald Tracker, Kogla, the Titan Ape, Gruul Ragebeast, Steelbane Hydra, Viashino Heretic, and Outland Liberator  ^Flip are all pretty decent at getting things off the table for you while also offering a physical presence. Not sure if they quite fit, but depending on your meta Silklash Spider and Squallmonger are pretty nasty surprises for decks that use Flying a lot, Squallmonger can even kill huge flyers with another player's help, or allow several players to quickly eliminate an archenemy that is lower in life.

There are a few good ways to double your power in Gruul, the new Two-Handed Axe is very interesting, the surprise Double Strike ability works well with your Commander, and the power doubling effect definitely does. Inquisitor's Flail is an incredible equipment if your Commander is either very big or has First Strike, yours can easily get big enough to justify the risk. Berserkers' Onslaught is really strong, even if it's 5 mana, Enchantments tend to stick around for awhile.

I think you should run more sources of Trample in here (there are some listed above as well), but with a budget restriction that does make it more of a challenge. Your Commander is really strong if he has Trample, but can be chumped by a 0/1 goat token without it (funny image, maybe he got hungry?). Garruk's Uprising is a really good card if you have enough creatures with power 4 and up, but the Trample is the real perk here arguably. Kessig Wolf Run might do the trick, and it's on a land. Brawn is pretty budget, but it can be hard to get it killed. War Cadence isn't exactly Trample, but it can easily let you swing with unblockable creatures if someone is tapped out, but remember this can also be used to create chaos on other people's attacks if you've got nothing better to do. It's also not Trample technically, but Siege Behemoth can bypass blockers for your attackers.

With a relatively low budget in Red, I feel like Rite of the Raging Storm is a very underrated card. Those 5/1s are never coming your way, but they will swarm anyone who can't deal with it on their opponent's turns, and yours gets the buff from your Commander fwiw. Breaker of Armies is a good way to clear out potentially a whole board worth of stuff of a vulnerable player, it can deter attacks vs you if their defenders are all going to be stomped by an Eldrazi.

If you can get your creature count high enough, you could sneak stuff like Lurking Predators in, which is pretty impressive card advantage over time in many metas. There is also Heartwood Storyteller, which is very good if you don't run many non-creatures.