Key to the City

Artifact

, Discard a card: Up to one target creature can't be blocked this turn.

Whenever Key to the city becomes untapped, you may pay . If you do, draw a card.

Discussion (50)

abby315 on United States Marine Kor | Akiri, Fearless Voyager

3 weeks ago

I have almost zero suggestions because I never run Equipment decks, just want to point out that Akiri's ability triggers for each player you attack, so ideally you have 4 creatures attacking 4 different opponents. I like that you put in the living weapon Equipments for this reason! Maybe Ancestral Blade would be a good fit as well? Captain's Claws is a little underwhelming but it helps gets tokens on the field for future turns. Alternatively, Kemba, Kha Regent.

Here are a few options that might help you get through any defenses:
Break Through the Line
Key to the City
Signal Pest
Subira, Tulzidi Caravanner
Wings of Hubris

Also, this is a good time to pick up Stoneforge Mystic and play it.

I second the above comment, also: the new auto-equip cards seem really good. I don't think we've seen the red one, but the white one seems like it fits the bill.

Artatras on The Many-Faced God - [Primer]

1 month ago

I'm not a huge fan of Ghostly Pilferer. We already have access to Cephalid Inkshrouder which, despite costing one more mana, does add shroud in addition to evasion. Yet, it is still not good enough compared to Invisible Stalker. Having access to a discard outlet on a creature is not that important, as we have many other options and we don't need to discard 3 to 5 cards all at once multiple times during a game. The one mana increase on the Cephalid is simply not worth it. Pilferer, in my opinion, is even worse. He doesn't offer any protection, and evasion is yet again tied to card disadvantage. While this can let you discard a key creature with its first one or two activations, it becomes more and more awkward as the game goes on. Once you are out of creatures, you will be forced to discard cards you actually need. Pilferer's first ability is also extremely clunky. You would need to transform Lazav for during your upkeep (since it will be very unlikely that Lazav's final form after an attack will be that of a Ghostly Pilferer) and then pay another to draw. 4 mana to draw a card is definitely not a great deal. Lastly, the ability to draw whenever an opponent casts a spell from anywhere other than their hand is too situational to be reliable. Sure, it triggers whenever they cast their general. But how many times does that happen during a game? And of those times, I'm not sure if you would be able to get value out of Pilferer because maybe you would need your mana for something else. Let's say you manage to get 3 cards out of Pilferer (which is rather optimistic, in my opinion). Dark Tutelage or Phyrexian Arena will achieve the same result over three turns, but with a lot less hoops to jump through.

The direct comparison that comes to my mind when I think about Pilferer is Key to the City. They both work in the same way. They let you exchange discarding cards for evasion (and also share the same added bonus of drawing a card by paying during your untap step). The thing that makes the Key so much better is the fact that you play it for and never worry about it for the rest of the game. It stays on the field, ready to be used whenever you need and for free. With Pilferer, you have to waste every time you need evasion or a discard outlet.

I'm not saying that Ghostly Pilferer is complete garbage and should never be considered. He tries to do a lot of different things and fits with the deck's playstyle. However, I think we already have other cards that do probably less, but much more efficiently.

sirnag on Urza, Lord High Artificer cEDH *Primer*

1 month ago

For the budget deck have you thought about adding Key to the City over Sensei's Divining Top? I think it makes a great draw engine for infinate draw or even a card a turn. Play it and tap it for blue, then every untap phase retap it for 1 and tap something else and boom additional draw!

Or adding Deadeye Navigator as a budget way to make infinite constructs?

BRG24 on Look Ma! No Hand!

1 month ago

Interesting deck. Perhaps it might be worth considering some sort of madness package to make your discards hurt a little less? Fiery Temper would be great card, and it works really well with Lightning Axe in my experience. A Bloodmad Vampire or an Incorrigible Youths could also do a similar job, reducing the tempo loss of your discarding most of your hand. As a slightly slower discard effect, Key to the City could be good too, allowing you to punch through with your big creatures to end games. Just some ideas, hope these are helpful, and good luck with the deck.

Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor on Sharp hugs

2 months ago

Hi there,

I used to run a Sygg deck myself a few years back. Ninja's are a fine route to go, but the most important things that I discovered was how hard it was getting Sygg to trigger on opponents turns and the necessity to be able to withstand some table hate. Some cards that I found to be quite powerful in my old deck were:

Illusionist's Gambit - Such an underrated card which can save you in a pinch and force a Sygg trigger

Dulcet Sirens - Can force someone into attacking with the benefit you getting to chose whom they attack

Pestilence - A lot of times people will incidentally lose 1-2 life during their turn due to fetch or shock lands. Pestilence lets you get that 1-2 extra damage needed to trigger Sygg

Undermine - Counter anything and then draw a card

Any of Dauthi Embrace/Whispersilk Cloak/Key to the City/Keeper of Keys - Giving unblockable to whoever needs it

Smuggler's Copter - Flying 3/3 that loots and can be crewed by just about any creature

Some new cards that came out after my build that could find a home in Sygg are:

Loyal Subordinate - 3 guaranteed damage on your turn with Sygg out.

Rankle, Master of Pranks - It has 3 power, it flies, and you can always come out ahead with his discard ability if Sygg is on the battlefield. Oh, and he is basically a legal Braids, Cabal Minion

Garretthook on Ensoul Artifacts - Pioneer

2 months ago

I love the idea of tezzerets touch. -3 Darksteel Ingot +3 Ghostfire Blade -4 Dimir Charm +2 Fatal Push +2 Key to the City -1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver +1 Emry, Lurker of the Loch. upgrade your budget discard spells into Thoughtseize

BRG24 on Felidae Cult

2 months ago

9-lives, unfortunately unblockable is an effect mainly kept in blue, so I’m not sure if there are any effects like it in your colours. The way you will be getting damage through in this deck will most likely have to be trample instead. Unflinching Courage might be a good way of giving your big creature trample, and the lifelink is also pretty nice for a huge creature to have. Setessan Training and Cartouche of Strength are two other auras that can give something trample, and each having a useful secondary effect (card draw or removal).

About the only card I can find that does give unblockable in your colours is Key to the City, but I would not recommend it for a deck like this. While is have used the card a lot in discard decks, this deck probably can’t afford the discard cost, since the draw effect is pretty clunky and you don’t have any other sources of draw.

Regarding Sylvan Caryatid, this deck doesn’t feel like it is in need of ramp all that much, it would most likely rather just play out threats each turn. It would also prevent you from running Kaheera, the Orphanguard as your companion, which could prove significant.

Trial of Strength also feels a little strange. Sure it works well with Anointed Procession and populate, but it’s also moving away from all your cat synergy and is ultimately in lots of cases just a 3 mana 4/2. If you want another good token producer for the deck, I’m going to say once again that Ajani, Strength of the Pride feels like the best way to go. The tokens are replicas of one of the deck’s most powerful creatures, plus it has the flexibility to do so much more, which seems perfect for the toolbox strategy you are to be going for.

As a final thing, I’ll mention your sideboard. To make your toolbox strategy you’ve moved a lot of the traditional “sideboard cards”, like Prowling Serpopard and Watchers of the Dead into the mainboard, which I feel is a mistake. They are good into some matchups, sure, but they will often be dead draws against other decks. You’d probably be better off running flexible cards or cards with multiple effects in your main board, then having the full blown counter cards in your sideboard. Feline Sovereign is a great card for the mainboard, for example, since it has a primary buff effect that helps in every game, but can also have extra incidental value in some matchups, and then in the games where the artifact or enchantment hate is necessary you can sideboard in some more. Since we’re viewing this as a toolbox, you could see it as trying to fill the mainboard with “multitools”, shall we call them, and then have the precision tools for specific jobs in the sideboard (please forgive the awful analogy, but hopefully it makes sense).

And regarding Kaheera, cut down to only one in the sideboard, since you can only cast one from there each game.

Sorry that this is long again, hopefully this is helpful.

BRG24 on Fair Dredge

2 months ago

Nice deck. If you’re running Bloodrage Brawler, perhaps Rotting Regisaur is a possible card to consider? The constant discard can sometimes be problematic, but it’s a huge body and if your deck is looking to discard a lot, then maybe it’s worth considering. I’m not sure about your budget, but if you’re willing to stretch then Grim Flayer also seems strong. It’s a low drop aggressive creature that will help fill your graveyard pretty quickly, although if you’re looking to go all in on discard perhaps might not fit as well. Finally, Key to the City is my personal favourite card for discard decks, being able to get through your big creatures to end games is always good value. Hope this is helpful.