Land Tax

Enchantment

At the beginning of your upkeep, if an opponent controls more lands than you, you may search your library for up to three basic land cards, reveal them, put them into your hand, then shuffle your library.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Oldschool 93/94	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (48)

SaberTech on Varina: Ultimate 2025 upgrade

1 day ago

Well, I'll try picking some options to cut from different points in your curve so that I don't mess with the balance you are trying to go for too much.

• Changeling Outcast I don't think that this one is really worth it. It is an early drop that can net you some value off of Varina if attacks don't look great but I think that I would prefer to see a mana rock over that in my starting hand pretty much every time.

• Champion of the Perished, Shambling Ghast, and Lazotep Reaver are also pretty low value options that I would prefer to be a mana rock in my opening hand but they at least have a bit of potential scaling value. The Champion could get big enough to pressure opponents a bit even though it doesn't have trample, and both the Ghast and Reaver could potentially do something late game with the Liliana, Untouched By Death combo line. Still, I would consider any of those three to be cuttable for other stuff.

• Relentless Dead I think that this card is too mana hungry. Varina's card filtering lets the deck be pretty consistent in finding cards that it wants to cast, so it's a waste to leave mana untapped just so that you can make use of Relentless Dead's abilities if it dies. You have other ways of getting creatures back in the deck, and I think that Zul Ashur, Lich Lord already fills the role better.

• Headless Rider Preferably, you don't want to be trading away your utility zombies in combat if you can help it so the Rider becomes more of a backup to get some value if an opponent uses removal than a way of getting ahead on board. It can produce infinite tokens off of some of the decks combos, I'll give it that, but on its own it is trying to compete with Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver, which can also combo and draw you cards. If you are looking for an alternative to it, I've actually been very impressed with Geralf, the Fleshwright in my own list. Geralf also combos and his ability to pump your zombies can get pretty nuts.

• Priest of the Crossing is a card that I'm just uncertain of. It's more a suggestion to just watch how this card performs for you in practice to see if it's worth it. I think that how well it fits will come down to play style.

• Noxious Ghoul and Temmet, Naktamun's Will kind of play a similar role in the deck, but from different angles. They both ultimately make your creatures harder to block. The Ghoul removes creatures, synergizes well with cards like Cryptcaller Chariot, and can fit in with some of your combos. It's dependent on other cards working well for it to do more than clear some small creatures each turn though. Temmet is a better body for your mana and his looting effect helps to fuel both itself and other cards in the deck. With other cards in the deck like On Wings of Gold, Zombie Master, or Death Baron that also make it harder for the opponent to block you could decide which of them ends up doing more for you overall after some testing.

• Land Tax is a card that I like in my own deck but what I mainly use it for is a way to put a bunch of cards in my hand to loot away for something better. I don't put too much emphasis on it as a way to mana fix. With only 6 basics in your deck you only get a couple shots with it, but considering that it is only 1 mana that still could be enough value for what you spend. Just something to keep your eye on.

Profet93 on Gerrard Capashen: You and the Cap'n Make it Happen

2 months ago

SufferFromEDHD +1

(At the risk of inappropriate) Gerrard Capashen be like - I'd tap that

In all seriousness, Buried Ruin - Recursion

Land Tax - Draw/ramp, ramp with serra sanctum

What has your experience been with planar portal, is there a particular instant or sorcery you want since you opted not to put Planar Bridge in it's place?

DreadKhan on Using shrazarad

4 months ago

I think back then you could try to build White Weenie and throw Shahrazad in as more Goodstuff since your deck is almost certainly lower to the ground (and WAY more consistent) than anything anyone else was bringing to the table. On the downside you have to grind through extra games, but the more layers you pile up the better your deck tends to get, and the worse your opponents end up, because your deck has lots of interchangeable small creatures. There was also Mishra's Factory for a man-land, because you'd certainly want to run a few extra lands. Oh, and vs the mirror I suspect you might catch them off guard using Land Tax to dig out lands before they know you're on Shahrazad, at which point they not only are they land thinned for each mini-game, they also have dead Land Tax cards to stare at when they're behind on lands, because they don't know if the opponent has another Shahrazad up to punish them.

NensouHiebara on Halvar, Divine Voltron

5 months ago

@Savaaage

Paradise Mantle being an Equipment is a significant quality. Mana ramp drawn late isn't great, but a Mantle can still draw a card with Puresteel Paladin and is a cheap, inconsequential way for another creature to have double strike when Halvar  ^Flip is out. The drawback for this synergy is that Mantle is less consistent at mana production. I haven't decided on what Mana Crypt's replacement will be yet. There's plenty of time for discussion.

I had issues with Sigarda's Aid doing nothing for Equipment that's already in play. I could give it another try, but it's not replacing a mana source.

Land Tax isn't a ramp effect, and I don't understand the current appeal of it. Weathered Wayfarer is a much better repeatable land tutor when behind. Claim Jumper closes the gap against Green better. There's also Sword of the Animist and Sword of Hearth and Home to keep pace with the ramp player and gradually build a resource advantage. I see Land Tax as an outdated staple from the old days of the format before most of the new tools came along, and it sticks around largely out of habit and high-profile reprintings drawing fresh attention to it.

Savaaage on Halvar, Divine Voltron

5 months ago

NensouHiebara, i think Springleaf Drum or Arcane Signet would be better than Paradise Mantle if you're looking for another mana rock. I agree with Last_Laugh that Sigarda's Aid isn't bad also, i know you ran it in the past.

What about adding something like Land Tax back for when playing against green ramp?

raspberryfish25 on Linvala, Giada, & Akroma

5 months ago

Hey I stumbled upon your deck and I figured I would give you some feedback. Overall, I really like your Giada deck but I worry that your mana curve might be to high especially since you are in white. have you looked at switching out some of your higher mana costed cards for lower CMC cards? Here are a few cards I run in my Giada deck that are lower CMC and have really packed a punch

Ramp

Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip: Easy to flip because all your creatures have evasion.

Sword of the Animist: Gives you consistent ramp every turn.

Land Tax: While not technically ramp does a great job making sure you never miss your land drops and allows you to thin your deck of basic lands as the game goes on. I think Land Tax works well in a deck like this because of the large amount of basic lands you are running.

Card Draw

Mask of Memory: Since your creatures have evasion it is very easy to have it trigger each turn.

Conjurer's Mantle Same as Mask of Memory but also gives one of your Angels vigilance and +1/+1 which is more relevant than you would realize.

Horn of the Mark: What makes this card so unique is you get to draw a card for each opponent you attack with two creatures so you can draw up to 3 cards per turn.

Pyre of Heroes: While technically not card draw does allow you to "trade up" your weakest angel for another angel from your deck with one higher CMC

Protection

Together Forever: I can't express how strong this card has been in my deck. Since Giada is putting +1/+1 counters on your angels you can pull all your angels back to your hand in the event of a board wipe.

Win Conditions

Aetherflux Reservoir: Works well with your lifegain effects in your deck and allows you another outlet to utilize all the life you are gaining.

Angels to Consider

Wojek Investigator, Angel of Jubilation, Angelic Field Marshal, Firemane Commando, Serra Paragon, Thraben Watcher, Metropolis Reformer, Angel of Vitality, Serra Avenger, Segovian Angel, and Sephara, Sky's Blade. Most of those angels will help to lower your curve and allow you to play your angels faster.

Angels I Would Remove

Akroma, Angel of Wrath: Unless she is in there for flavor she cost way too much for what she brings to the table. Consider replacing her with Sephara, Sky's Blade.

Angel of the Dire Hour: Requires you to hold up to much mana, run an extra board wipe instead.

Angel of the Ruins: Same as above, she cost too much for the effect she brings.

Angelic Arbiter: I would only run her if you were going to double down on stax otherwise I think she is over costed.

Other Cards I Would Remove

Parhelion II: Cool card but to high of a CMC for the payoff.

Quicksilver Amulet: 8 mana to play and cheat out a creature seems like a lot. I think if you end up lowering your CMC of your deck this card will become worse.

Return to Dust: I would replace with Heliod's Intervention roughly gives you the same effect but will let you kill additional enchantments or artifacts if necessary, plus the lifegain can be helpful in your deck since you have a lot of lifegain payoffs.

Crow_Umbra on Musashi's Mosh Pit [Primer]

5 months ago

Thank you for checking out the deck and offering some suggestions, Craeter, I appreciate it. I'm overdue on doing a year end wrap up of the various changes I've made this year. Definitely overdue for a primer update in general; I've been meaning to expand on a couple of sections and clean up organization in general. In regards to your suggestions:

• I used to play Sword of the Animist in some of the earliest iterations of this deck, from like February 2022 to at most the following year. A core memory was an early game where I pulled all of the basics out of my deck with the Sword, & my play group saw how this would be a problem. Over time, I've moved away from playing equipment much beyond the Lightning Greaves variants and Skullclamp, especially outside of dedicated Equipment strats. They're useful, but I don't like the play pattern of equipment costs, especially when I run lots of cheap instant speed interaction, that I feel those costs can compete with. I think as I optimized my mana base, Land Tax effectively took the slot that Sword used to be in.

• I'll keep that Kaya in mind. I played Kaya, Geist Hunter for a bit for her anthem effect and token doubling. Planeswalkers don't see a whole lot of play in my play groups because of how aggro and go-wide they primarily lean. Walkers tend to get attacked and removed very quickly.

• Nahiri's Resolve is interesting as an anthem & means of re-setting creatures at end of turn. For a Haste anthem, 5 mana feels kind of slow, especially when there are other haste anthems in the 3-4 cmc range that also offer a power buff in addition to haste. I think this could be a stronger piece in a deck with a more dedicated suite of creatures or artifacts with ETB effects.

• Etali, Primal Storm is another card I used to play in Isshin. There were turns where it popped off & got some really cool pulls off its doubled trigger. The majority of the time I played it, Etali tended to eat targeted removal and board wipes, or the attack triggers whiffed. It's a fun card, but very boom or bust. Big Red effects are fun, but after a while I craved more consistency.

• Mangara, the Diplomat was in some of the earliest iterations of this deck (maybe like the first 4 months). I found that my playgroup would play around Mangara in a way that he didn't feel super impactful. Some of the earliest archetype shifts that I made for this deck were cutting the more defensive pillow-fort effects like Mangara and Emberwilde Captain, and leaning much more into being proactive with my own aggro. I've found that Authority of the Consuls and similar effects have been wonderful here because they hamper early aggro, or cheaply come down when the table is in board-wipe recovery mode and helps me get out ahead.

• I played Gloin briefly in my old Prosper, Tome-Bound deck. Gimli feels like it could be a budget alternative to Professional Face-Breaker, or put in work in a more Legendary focused deck, like you suggested. I toyed around with the idea of a Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge Mardu Legends deck about a year ago, and I think these two Dwarves and Galadriel's Mirror would be more at home there.

Thank you again for the suggestions.

Nunu312 on Beware of Spooky Spirits

6 months ago

Love a good spirit deck, and nice to see a new commander doing it!

I think you've got some great cards in there that probably don't work as well as you want them to. Luminous Angel is incredibly expensive for a 4/4 flyer that might generate 2-3 tokens. By the time you put it down that's just not a relevant amount. Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens Is in very much the same boat. Because it only happens on casting, it can at most happen 5 times, as that's the amount of spirits you have to cast (and you have no arcane spells). Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite Is a fantastic card but can occasionally create friction at the table. I don't necessarily suggest that you cut it, but do consider it. It can easily create an environment where some people are unable to play their decks at all until it is delt with.

A bit of the same but Long-Forgotten Gohei definitely fits, but you only have 6 spirit spells and no arcane spells, so you're only using half of it. Etchings of the Chosen is the same price but has an extra ability. You may just want to run both though?

The first thing for additions are the token doublers. These will really help you capitalise on your commander as they will act upon each instance. So instead of casting Triplicate Spirits and getting a rather underwhelming 3, you instead get 6. Then at the end of turn you get another 6... only this is doubled as well, instead of 3, you get 18.Mondrak, Glory Dominus and Anointed Procession are the standouts here, although they are pretty pricy in real world dollars.

Overall though, I feel your ways of generating tokens is very on theme, but not very sustainable. A key thing that you might have missed is that your commander generate spirits for each tokens you make, not spirit tokens. So Collector's Vault, makes a treasure token, free spirit. You have a huge amount of ways to make tokens but a lot of them are humans or other some such (Call the Coppercoats, Martial Coup) so they may not be on brand. Look into ways you can make those one or two treasure / clue / food tokens as you just otherwise play normally.

A conspicuous absence is any of the Teysas. Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts is expensive but fun. Teysa, Opulent Oligarch is much cheaper and synergises VERY well with your commander. Teysa, Orzhov Scion requires a bit more of the black/white spirits, but might still work very well. Teysa Karlov doesn't synergise super well, but has good abilities regardless and certainly isn't a bad pick. The Kaya planeswalkers also often deal with white black spirits as well as having a bit of control so they might be good to look at Kaya the Inexorable being the standout.

another fun card that is changed entirely by your commander Afterlife Insurance and having any method of sacrificing your spirits changes it from just saving those spirits, to doubling their amount. It would go well with Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, but that starts to lean more into aristocrats than pure spirit tokens.

Another thing is that a lot of white ramp works well with bounce or sac land, you've got the obvious one but you might be able to increase it with Lotus Field and Lotus Vale. Things like Land Tax is a staple for white, but even when you're just running Priest of the Blessed Graf they can help you make him work.

My final point is that you don't seem to have a good way of protecting your quite expensive commander. Your group might not place that big an emphasis on commanders, but it's more fun if she sticks around. There are the old standouts of Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots, but there are a lot of options.