Light Up the Stage

Sorcery

Spectacle (You may cast this spell for its spectacle cost rather than its mana cost if an opponent lost life this turn.)

Exile the top two cards of your library. Until the end of your next turn, you may play those cards.

Discussion (51)

NorinTheWise on Norin's ETB Extravaganza

2 days ago

Profet93

I think you are right about the tempo. However, I do prefer Ignite the Future over Light Up the Stage so I switched that out for the Tower instead. Mainly for its recurrence. It is initially a temporary harmonize in red, but can then net some crazy worth with its flashback.

Yeah, the anti-synergy is negligible when you think of how rarely it would occur. When it does, Ugin's passive ability is still active which is my main purpose in playing him.

That is a cool combo, but I am in agreement with it being to difficult to assemble. A three card combo in red is rare to put together. I would much prefer adding in Godo, Bandit Warlord + Helm of the Host if I was simply going for combos. Godo tutors the other half of the combo and Helm of the Host synergizes with the ETB theme of the deck as well. I could also add in Twinflame or Heat Shimmer to go infinite with Dualcaster Mage.

Stolen Strategy is my pet card. I know it isn't a consistent card, but I love its flavor for the deck. I added a section about it in my Brewing Process section which also explains my addition of Warstorm Surge.

Profet93 on Norin's ETB Extravaganza

2 days ago

NorinTheWise

You truly are wise!! :D

I think Light Up the Stage should be put in instead of tower that draws you cards. Reason is because tower costs a lot to play and a lot to activate. Its a HUGE tempo loss in a deck that can't really afford it. Light up the stage can be easily paid for and isn't even if bad if paid in full cost. It has helped me win several games.

I take it you're willing to risk the small potential for anti-synergy of ugin and immortal given how much potential Ugin has. Another potential idea could be as follows...

Ugin Ineffable + Sensei's Divining Top + Experimental Frenzy can help you draw your entire deck. Top is just amazing on it's own and frenzy can help with card draw. I personally took this combo out of my deck because there is little/no way to assemble it in mono red outside from gamble, but I thought it was something to consider given you adding ugin and a potential back up combo.

Volcanic offering is more of a pet card than a 100% serious recomendation. It's goodstuff, nice to have, but not necessary at all.

Warstorm Surge NEEDS to be in this deck, above flametongue even. 2 damage minimum every turn, not to mention adding a gauntlet or immortal to deal more damage. Works well with token enablers.

Inventors' Fair - Tutor, lifegain, very helpful.

POTENTIAL CUTS.....

Tower for Light up the stage

Stolen strategy for War storm surge

DespairFaction on Combat as a Resource (Aurelia Warleader)

3 days ago

Hey its Commander Replay. I played about 7 games with the deck between your version and mine so ill share my analysis of everything. Ill start with the more general stuff, and then ill dig into card specifics.

First off the hate bear plan worked great against U/x combo decks. Had their combo lines covered early and easily. On the other hand I faced blood pod several times and that seems to be a pretty bad matchup. They have a ton of answers, and with Elesh Norn at the top end its just destroys this deck. It felt like they are doing the same thing but just way better cause of Gaea's cradle and green black tutors so that wasnt amazing. I had a chance to beat it in one game but missed some land drops and drew all the swords with the giant in play, and null rod down. Had i not drawn sinew and steel could have shot the null rod, reequipped jitte, and killed the kataki that followed. I also assume that any deck that is good against blood pod, will also be good against this list. Pyroclasm is real scary.

So the single biggest problem with this deck right now, and the single biggest opportunity for improvement is mana production. You are running very little fast mana and the land count was super low. This list was running 29 and your updated on moxfield was running 30. Both conceptually and in practice, this deck isn't going to win the game on 4 mana...its not flash hulk or consultation. So i think its begging for more lands. I was able to get my list to 31 lands but honestly I think 33 or 34 or would better. Again, this list isn't winning with 3 lands.

Following the land problem there is also not enough fast mana, and things to do with 1 mana. I noticed I was getting log jammed with 2 and 3 drops and was giving away a lot of precious time. And this sort of plays into mana curve issues as well, definitely need to trim back on the 4 drops. I was able to get down to 10, and as I mentioned Id still like to go lower.

So in short the curve was high, and the deck is mana hungry.

Two other smaller problems that I didn't elect to fix since they are matchup specific, but can be solved with a few card changes. Not a lot of removal for creatures. Again, soft to blood pod. Also no main deck pyroblast, REB and Angel's grace type stuff to prevent losing on the spot. Would like to see some answers main deck.

So here are the changes I made. I won't go through all the cuts, but ill mention the big ones. A few things were cut simply for deck space so I won't worry about those.

Out:

• Helm of the host - deck isn't producing enough mana to get anywhere close to equipping this. Plus a huge blow out to instant speed interaction.
• Stonehewer looks like the only possible path to victory with this.
• Ruination - a worse armageddon. switch to static orb. its more abuseable.
• Decree of Annhilation - high cost. but i think it could return due its hard to counter nature. went with static orb in place. the orb effects are more abusable IMO.
• Elspeth - not enough impact at 4
• Karn - bad card draw, slow. would rather just pay 1 to get some extra lands.
• Aurelia Exemplar - I cut this one, but it might be worth brining back. I may have cut too much damage from the deck.
• Angel of Jubilition - lot of good abilities, cut for deck slots. might return.
• coalition relic - turn this into fast mana.
• thrill of possibility - we can better than this.
• faithless looting - I'm not a huge fan, but i know people like it.
• glorybringer - this one may need to come back with better mana production. more damage and creature removal.

Must Adds: Ok here are the cards that I think are must adds for the deck to compete in the competitive space. - Land Tax - find your lands. card advantage.

• Tithe - find your lands. card advantage

• Springleaf Drum - this is fast mana in a deck like this.

• Chrome Mox fast mana, but card advantage problem. be sure to balance with draw.

• Curse of Opulence - more turn 1 plays and fast mana.

• Feast and Famine - bring this in from the Sb, its the best sword by a large margin. it also opens up combos with aggravated assault, and neheb.

• Mox Diamond - if you have the $$, MTGO, or proxies legal.

• Sword of the Animist - the ramp is very good, and the +1/+1 is relevant.

• Smothering Tithe - broken cards are broken.

Other fast mana worth considering:

• Mox Opal - rework to have metal craft fast

• Mox Amber - maybe. not reliable tho

• Simian Spirit Guide guide - one shot boost

• Lotus Petal - one shot boost

• Rite of Flame - one shot boost.

Card advantage tricks:

I still need to do some work in this area. Tectonic Giant needs more testing, but could consider Prophetic Flamespeaker instead. Its great with swords and you get both cards as opposed to always exiling one. no damage mode tho.

• Light Up the Stage i would strongly consider this is. should be 1 mana most of the time.
• Ignite the Future light up the stage #2.
• Commune with Lava this is very good with feast and famine (float first, untap then cast for like X=10) and dockside extortionist.
• Reforge the Soul strong consideration, but notion thief and narset are real cards.
• Instead of thrill of possibility i went with Daretti, Scrap Savant basically a repeatable thrill, that can bring back your equipments.
• Also I strongly considered Nahiri, the Harbinger and Ajani Vengeant for the 4 cmc slot.
• Palace Jailer strong consideration here
• Skullclampboth of us should probably be running

Win Conditions and Lock outs:

So this is where my deck was maybe a little thin, and Ill need to test a bit.

• As mentioned I took Helm out because I just don't think its ever going to happen on the current mana production (but maybe if we figure out some mana tricks) so instead I went for Neheb, the Eternal Sword of Feast and Famine and Aggravated Assault. This is a favorite of mine, all 3 pieces are great on their own and game winning when together.

• Winota, Joiner of Forces ridiculous with aurelia. Free creatures.

• Winter Orb and Static Orb with Blinkmoth Well ghirapur aethergrid Sword of Feast and Famine and either Neheb. One sided mana production. Use Goblin Engineer to find any of the artifact pieces of the this combo, as well as sword recursion or shenanigans with the orbs.

• Planar Chaos this is pet lock piece that I've been testing out. Haven't resolved it yet, but i can't imagine anyone is going to cast much into it.

• Ive been strongly considering Possibility Storm with all of the rule of law type effects as an additional source of lock. You can still cast your commander, and generally that should win the game.

• Helm of Possession is a fun trick I've used in some decks. good against decks where they really need their commander.

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

Given the absurd mana hunger of this deck I realized a massive difference in games with dockside extortionist and games without. That led me to thinking about more ways to get dockside extortionist. There are the 2 main recruiters, but I think goblin recruiter is worth looking at because you can put dockside on top, then kiki-jiki right beneath and copy it the following turn or anything else that might make sense (plus aurelia's untap)

testing out Crovax, Ascendant Hero this is to hose blood pod and green mana dorks. basically a second elesh norn. If the deck gets good at locking stuff or producing crazy mana, could look at Thalia's Lancers into Elesh Norn.

All of the 4 drops in my list require significant testing, feel free to cut any of them.

You should add Mikokoro to the main deck. Its solid.

Adriana, Captain of the Guard warrants testing. again for blood pod and other green decks...makes your team huge.

If mana production is good enough to warrant the return of Helm, also add Godo, Bandit Warlord for the additional tutoring and redundancy. Hammer of Nazahn is also pretty real. Could also consider cloud shift and ephemerate as protection and blink to further this combo.

Reanimation is needed. Could be a lot of things. Reveillark, Sword of Light and Shadow that one ajani, and Sevinne's Reclamation all come to mind.

Profet93 on Norin's ETB Extravaganza

4 days ago

NorinTheWise +1

I really like this deck. My initial build was quite similar to this, (although higher CMC) as ETB synergy is the best way to go. What I have found in my meta, is that paying 5 mana for minion reflector for example, with nothing else to do during that turn is quite unimpressive, as they usually remove it by the time it gets back to me. More important than that smaller issue is your devastating lack of card draw....

I count 6 cards that you net positive card advantage, which in my opinion, is too low for a mono red deck. Options include Hedron Archive, Humble Defector, Ignite the Future, Light Up the Stage, Outpost Siege, Arch of Orazca or Commune with Lava. Adding some of these will help ensure you maintain gas to apply pressure and find combo pieces. Because once they destroy tome or atlass, you're SOL.

Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Value, removal, draw, wincon, synergy with mox amber

Buried Ruin - Return 1/4th of your deck back

Goblin Matron - Tutor (for combo), ETB synergy

Curse of Opulence - Ramp and politics. Attack them with Norin, run away, get a treasure XD

Flametongue should definitely get a spot, I would cut Pia because he doesnt do much on ETB and activated ability costs too much to be useful. Holding up that much mana means less tempo. Flametongue does the opposite. Do note that you need a target, so that if there are no other creatures, it kills itself.

Volcanic Offering - Not necessary, but I'm almost always happy to see this. Politics. 4 for 1 removal at instant speed. Hits pesky lands which are big problem in my meta anyways.

I would love to hear your thoughts on each suggestion. If you wanted some more ideas or wished to discuss strategy, lmk me know. Feel free to check out my Norin Deck

mrdehring on Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh (Planeswalker Tribal)

1 week ago

Love the Chandra tribal.

The Flame of Keld and Akki Lavarunner  ^Flip are some extra damage cards to think about.

Fanning the Flames is a repeatable damage effect. Shattering Pulse doesn't do damage like Smash to Smithereens, but the buyback might be worth the damage. Vandalblast is another consideration. Subterranean Tremors is also fun.

Light Up the Stage seems like it might be cheap card draw.

With all the rituals Fall of the Titans might make for a good finisher to go along with Comet Storm

To add to your sweepers you may like Starstorm.

Ragham on Rakdos 8-Whack

1 week ago

You miss Devastating Summons. I've been playing this deck also in major tournaments, and this combo Summons + Whacker is the main kill of the deck. I would not play less than 3 Summons.

I have also really prefered to play with Mogg Fanatic over Fanatical Firebrand for having more reach, and to put more pressure.

As you splash black, you have a all-indicated companion to play : Lurrus of the Dream-Den.

Your land choice are not the best clearly. I would recommend to play Auntie's Hovel, Blood Crypt and Blackcleave Cliffs alongside basic mountains. For budget issue, replace cliffs by your Unclaimed Territory why not, but do not play Dragonskull Summit because you have many non-mountain lands.

I am unsure about Munitions Expert and Light Up the Stage. The expert is situational and needs conditions, while the sorcery spell is not triggered before combat so it slows down our main plan. Since we play black, I wonder me if a Thoughtseize effect would not be better for not being disrupted in our game plan which allows at our opponent to play. The question would be Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek ?

Finally, I am happy to see no Burning-Tree Emissary as they are bad with Goblin Bushwhacker. In my opinion, they are great when we play Manamorphose to fix mana issue as well as digging for the combo.

In sideboard, I think that you want some Fatal Push to defend yourself against Kor Firewalker etc, Thoughtseize effect against combo, some graveyard answers like Nihil Spellbomb which can be recast with Lurrus, some anti-Chalice of the Void like Smash to Smithereens.

I will start with a list like that : (18 lands) 4 Auntie's hovel, 4 Blood crypt, 4 Blackcleave cliffs, 2 Bloodstained mire, 4 Mountains. // (28 creatures) 4 Goblin guide, 4 Foundry street denizen, 4 Mogg fanatic, 4 SPike jester, 4 Legion loyalist, 8 Bushwhackers. // (14 spells) 4 Lightning bolt, 4 Goblin grenade, 3 Devastating summons, 3 Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize (meta call). // Sideboard: Lurrus of the dream-den, 4 Fatal push, 2 Thoughtseize, 4 Nihil spellbomb, 4 Smash to smithereens.

I hope I would help you fellow goblin ! What do you think about all that ? :)

Clashboy15 on RU Sprite Dragon?

3 weeks ago

Improbable Alliance is probably not very good for this deck, since this is an aggressive deck and alliance if for tempo decks, so definitely cut it. Cut Thrill of Possibility because it requires you to have at least two cards in hand and costs two mana, which is bad for a prowess deck. Also cut Flame Sweep and Keep Safe because first of all, 2/3 of your creatures don't have flying and secondly, this is an aggro deck and you should be killing your opponent before you need flame sweep. Keep safe is interesting, but again, it costs 2 mana and is not really an effective counterspell, since it is so situational. Also cut 2 Light Up the Stage and 4 Skewer the Critics because they often dont trigger prowess. You will usually be casting them after combat, which is pretty bad.

So, you cut around 11 cards, what should you replace them with? Well, to start off put two Dreadhorde Arcanist. It is a wizard and will let you recast spells, triggering prowess at the same time. Put in 1 Treasure Cruise. Although it doesn't synergize too well with dreadhorde arcanist, there's a reason why this card got banned in modern. Because you'll be casting so much cheap 1 mana instants/sorceries, this should easiley be a one mana Ancestral Recall . So now there's 8 more cards to replace. Add 4 Crash Through, as it will draw you a card for just 1 mana, triggers prowess and gives your big creatures trample. It's a must include in any pioneer prowess deck. Next, add 2 Warlord's Fury or 1 of that and one The Royal Scions. This depends on personal preference, if you want a late game play, the scions is fine. Personally, I would use just two Warlord's Fury. Finally, put in two Spell Pierce. It is basically keep safe but cheaper and less situational. For example, it can counter key noncreature spells in a combo deck, counter a big planeswalker, counter a board wipe, or just any non creature spell, all of which can not be done by keep safe.

Lastly, the sideboard needs some work. Take out all the cards in the current sideboard. Add two Pithing Needle. It can deal with pretty much any card in the format. 3 Grafdigger's Cage or Tormod's Crypt for some much needed graveyard hate. Remember, all these cards trigger prowess as well! Put 4 Abrade in the sideboard, as it can deal with creatures pretty effectively and can kill artifacts as well. 1 Disdainful Stroke for matchups with more beefy spells. 2 Mystical Dispute because of how overpowered simic and a lot of other blue decks is. 1 Aether Gust because again, simic is really powered (also deals with lots of other cards in pioneer by countering them or bouncing them). For the last 2 cards, add Searing Blood.

Kennsworth on Sac Collector

3 weeks ago

cut groundbreaker and splash black for Lightning Skelemental, its the only non single pip green card. Also feed the clan and gaea's blessing are definitely side board cards, they should definitely be more burn like Skewer the Critics or card advantage like Light Up the Stage You've also got 20 cards in your sideboard (28 if you count the 8 cards in the main that should be in the board) so you're gonna have the straighten that out. I'm not in your meta so I can't really help you there.