Inspiring Call

Instant

Draw a card for each creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it. Those creatures gain indestructible until end of turn. (Damage and effects that say "destroy" don't destroy them.)

Discussion (51)

multimedia on Omnath elementals mashup

3 weeks ago

Hey, good creation and nice Secret Lair Blightsteel :)

You should consider buying the new Zendikar Rising Commander Land's Wrath precon. In the $20 precon are several cards that can improve your deck:

• Omnath, Locus of Rage: finisher, repeatable Elemental tokens with landfall.
• Zendikar's Roil: repeatable Elemental tokens with landfall.
• Arcane Signet: two drop Rainbow mana rock.
• Mina and Denn, Wildborn: play an additional land on your turn and return a land to give Omnath trample.
• Admonition Angel: repeatable exile opponent permanents with landfall.
• Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor: repeatable +1/+1 counters with landfall.
• Waker of the Wilds: mana sink to turn lands into Elementals.
• Emeria Shepherd: recur or reanimate permanents with landfall.
• Evolution Sage: repeatable proliferate with landfall which is good with +1/+1 counters.
• Harrow: land ramp, puts two lands onto the battlefield to trigger Omnath and landfall.
• Kodama's Reach: land ramp.
• Return of the Wildspeaker: draw.
• Inspiring Call: protection and draw.
• Myriad Landscape
• Naya Panorama

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• Risen Reef + Omnath, Locus of Rage/Zendikar's Roil

This is a casual budget Elemental interaction, Risen triggers whenever any Elemental you control ETB which includes tokens. If you reveal a land with Risen then you put it onto the battlefield and create another Elemental which triggers Risen again. This can be a lot of card advantage with Elementals.

• Forgotten Ancient + Marath, Will of the Wild

Another budget Elemental interaction that uses +1/+1 counters. Ancient is a good card for counters in multiplayer Commander because it triggers whenever any player casts a spell. The mana that Omnath makes can be used to activate Marath and you can keep doing this as long as you can keep putting counters on Marath. Omnath, Locus of the Roil, Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor, Felidar Retreat, Evolution Sage can all be repeatable sources of counters onto Marath with landfall.

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Some budget lands to consider adding to improve the manabase:

• Exotic Orchard
• Jungle Shrine
• Mystic Monastery
• Kessig Wolf Run: it's less than $1, mana sink to give Omnath pump and trample.
• Yavimaya Coast
• Battlefield Forge
• Shivan Reef
• Cinder Glade
• Canopy Vista
• Prairie Stream

The Pain lands: Coast, Forge, Reef you pay 1 life to make colored mana, but that's fine in 40 life Commander and since Omnath is a life gaining engine with landfall. Can get these lands for less than $1 each. The Battle lands: Glade, Vista, Stream would help the manabase since they have good interaction with lots of basic lands and you can get them for less than $2 each.

Good luck with your deck.

bobpuluchi on Chulane & counting

3 weeks ago

Chulane is an insanely strong commander, and there are certainly ways to build this deck to be more competitive even on a budget. That being said it seems to me you would like a fun and casual +1/+1 themed deck that tries to win with Simic Ascendancy. Personally I think that sounds like a lot of fun and you should definitely build around it.

The first place I would start with the deck is using Tomer's suggestions from MTGGoldfish for building Commander decks. The bullet points are copied from one of his articles. Tomer explains these bullet points to be more like guidelines rather than strict rules you have to follow. Then the rest of the deck is filled with whatever you want to add.

• 50 mana; lands and ramp, usually a 37–13 split
• 10 sources of "card advantage;" I use this term loosely but am mostly looking for card draw or any spell that nets me 2+ non-land cards in hand / directly into play
• 6 targeted removal; split between creature / artifact / enchantment removal
• 3 board wipes; creature-light decks might want one more, creature-heavy decks might want one less
• 2 recursion
• 2 flexible tutors
• 1 graveyard hate; to shut down powerful graveyard recursion that everyone runs
• 1 surprise "I Win" card; something that can win games the turn you cast it without too much setup

So maybe more what you may have been looking for in your original question is what cards to add? Cards like Whitemane Lion, Shrieking Drake, Beast Whisperer, Primordial Sage, and cheap mana dork creatures work well with what Chulane wants to do. But as far as Simic Ascendancy and +1/+1 counters, some cards I'd consider are Managorger Hydra, Loyal Guardian, Forgotten Ancient, Herald of Secret Streams, Rishkar, Peema Renegade, Inspiring Call.

https://edhrec.com/themes/p1-p1-counters is also a good resource. For the deck you're building I'd look at other commander decks that care about +1/+1 counters and proliferate like Ezuri, Claw of Progress and Ghave, Guru of Spores

I think Simic Ascendancy with Chulane is a really cool idea. Have fun deckbuilding!

Peoni on Catrunner

1 month ago

The once a turn clause is definitely a drawback for sure, but I the way I figured it is if you have enough consistent card draw happening every turn then you're still getting to use the ability and you're finding other cards that will trigger it. More card draw never hurts, especially when your commander's activated ability can be a wincon depending on how many cards you have in hand. That reminds me, Library of Leng and Reliquary Tower both serve as pretty good budget options for holding onto all of the cards you'll be drawing, with Thought Vessel being a good but less budget option.

As far as drawing on everyone else's turns, the previously mentioned Runic Armasaur is a really nice choice. Some decent green instant draw you might like are Aggressive Urge, Benefactor's Draught, Bind, Feral Instinct, Inspiring Call, Lace with Moonglove, Lammastide Weave (lol), Momentous Fall (lots of tokens makes the sacrifice no big deal, especially if you get some big ones out there), Provoke, Skyshroud Blessing, Viridescent Wisps, and Vivify could be considered. Also the previously mentioned Verdant Rebirth. I'd say replacing the more situational cards that you'd usually be cycling anyway with cards that net you draw and share the same cost as the cycle should serve as replacements. For example Stinging Shot and Thornado are probably better off being replaced by some of the 2 cmc cards I just listed like Aggressive Urge, purely because in that case you're getting an effect and a card instead of just paying 2 to draw a card.

Gnarlback Rhino and Veil of Summer also have the potential to net you a card on another player's turn, with Veil being a good card all around and giving you some much needed stack interaction to get around enemy counters.

Azdranax on Useful formulas for deck building

1 month ago

Interesting topic Ramble, I've been meaning to respond for the last day or two but have just been super busy, but let me provide a mana base formula I stumbled on a few years back after noticing a pattern in my deck building - might be something to try out and see if you find similar results, as I find it's very rare to get either flooded or mana screwed using this formula. I'll provide a couple of examples as well - more for the casual-competitive decks, as my cEDH decks don't always follow the formula as rigorously.

The basic formula for mana-producing lands is: Starting base of 30 mana-producing lands, plus additional lands equal to the CMC of your commander, plus additional lands equal to the average CMC of the deck, minus designated values for each mana rock, mana dork, mana spell and draw spell equal to or less than the CMC of the commander.

The first example is for my Zada, Hedron Grinder deck: Yada...Yada...Zada. In this case, the formula is 30 + 4CMC (commander) + 2.28 average CMC, or 36.28. I then subtract designated values for the following cards in the deck: -1.0 for Mana Crypt, -0.5 for Sol Ring (or any other 0 or 1 CMC rock), -0.25 for Thought Vessel (or any other 2 or 3 CMC rock), Battle Hymn, Brightstone Ritual, Traitorous Greed and Dockside Extortionist, and finally -0.10 for each of the draw spells in the deck: Accelerate, Boiling Blood, Crimson Wisps, Expedite, Fists of Flame, Stun and Renegade Tactics for a total reduction of 3.45 and a final value of 32.83 (rounded up to 33).

The second example includes a more aggressive reduction in mana-producing lands based on my Elf tribal Marwyn, the Nurturer deck: Elves Tap and Slap (Marwyn Tribal Counters). The formula here is 30 + 3CMC (commander) + 2.64 average CMC, or 35.64. I then subtract for the following cards: -0.50 for Sol Ring, -0.25 for Elvish Archdruid, Elvish Mystic, Fyndhorn Elves, Gyre Sage, Incubation Druid, Llanowar Elves, Llanowar Visionary, Priest of Titania, Rishkar, Peema Renegade, Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, Viridian Joiner, Wood Elves, Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, Nissa's Pilgrimage, Rhonas's Monument, Gaea's Touch and Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip. Finally, I subtract -0.10 for Elvish Visionary, Llanowar Visionary and Inspiring Call for a total reduction of 5.30 and a final value of 30.34 (rounded down to 30).

Although the reduction values could be considered a little arbitrary in certain deck concepts, this formula has held pretty accurate since I started keeping track of it. I hope you find this useful in the future, and happy brewing.

Azeworai on Micromancy

2 months ago

Well met, young callant! I have some suggestions with your names on them. Such a strange coincidence.

You'll need Black Lotus, this verson of Sol Ring, perhaps a dual land or two...

Jests aside, let's do this.

So, I see budget, I see counters, I see mill. Let's start with mill.

One does not simply play a graveyard deck bereft of the following: Satyr Wayfinder finds some lands whiles stocking the bin. Grisly Salvage is morbidly efficient, finding creatures and lands. Winding Way does the forenamed, whereupon it sometimes betrays you (Don't look it in the eye). Grapple with the Past brings stuff back and loads the bin. It feels great. Funeral Rites is fine and straight-forward. Ransack the Lab is cheap whiles bearing efficacy.

If you're feeling betaken to your graveyard chicanery, Perpetual Timepiece does an absolutely lovely job of stocking the bin.

Backup versions of the commander's ability are evermore a cruciality. Sevinne's Reclamation is great, as with Sun Titan. "Six mana?! :(" you say. "It's worth it! :D" I respond.

A little more on the affluent side, but The Gitrog Monster, Ramunap Excavator, and Dread Return could be worth inclusion, for they are quite splendid.

Ahem. DEATH'S OASIS?! It mills, it fills, and eventually it kills. Moreover, it is three to cast, thusly on-theme.

Okay, now counters!

(I've never built any counter-themed decks. You have been warned.) Upon my presaged failures, all I have to proffer is Inspiring Call and Armorcraft Judge. Take it or leave it.

Unto the intrinsic:

Let us protect thine commander! Selfless Spirit is out of budget yet amazing, Saffi Eriksdotter is of a similar role, and Dauntless Bodyguard, along withal Selfless Savior, are budget options for choice.

Ramp, ramp, ramp. I care not that your curve is low, ramp! Rampant Growth, Nature's Lore, Edge of Autumn, ilka of these are fantastic.

There are two routes in commander decks (when playing fairly); a low-curve with a foison of card draw or a higher curve with less card draw. Low-curve = more card draw. I'd add Painful Truths, Sign in Blood, Funeral Rites, Ransack the Lab

I am biased, but I put Once Upon a Time in literally all of my green decks. 'Tis most lovely each time I cast the gest.

And therefrom is the finis of my comment. Fare thee well and may fortune betide!

DeinoStinkus on Skullbrair, the Immortal Juggernaut

2 months ago

Inspiring Call, Hydra's Growth, Kalonian Hydra

DeinoStinkus on Skullbriar EDH - Counters remain

2 months ago

Liliana, the Last Hope if it's within your budget

Inspiring Call/Heroic Intervention.

Yogei on Humongous Hydras

3 months ago

Thanks for the suggestions mobizque! I definitely think you're right about swapping Colossal Majesty for Inspiring Call. Stonecoil Serpent is a bit above my usual budget for a card but I'll give it a few tries online and see what I think of it!