Liliana of the Veil

Planeswalker — Liliana

+1: Each player discards a card.

-2: Target player sacrifices a creature.

-6: Separate all permanents target player controls into two piles. That player sacrifices all permanents in the pile of their choice.

Discussion (51)

match_lighter on 10-Rack

3 days ago

I particularly like Liliana of the Veil in The Rack decks as well as Thoughtseize which is in most cases better than Specter's Shriek . For protection against creature based decks a few Ensnaring Bridge could be used(which have really nice Invention art) as well as a copy of Damnation . Your mana base could also be improved Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth allows for the play of a couple of colorless lands like Mutavault or Dunes of the Dead (which works great with Smallpox ). I hope you will consider these changes which will greatly improve your pile of cards.

nUKe13 on nUKe13 Mardu Pyromancer

4 days ago

guero388 Thank you for the comment! Honestly, I haven't had too much time to play/test recently, but previous experience helps with the new decks as well. Mardu Pyromancer is a very particular build that often rewards experience of the match up to understand timing and sequencing. Most decks in Modern become more rewarding and more powerful based on the time invested. Stick with it! And, if it's not your cup of tea later, take a break, try something else, and find your niche.

Mellro I am very excited about Eldraine (mainly for the classic European fantasy theme, but also the big changes that will come to Modern). Chandra, Acolyte of Flame will need more testing, but I am always hesitant about Planeswalkers in Mardu Pyromancer. I have seen (and we could still use): Liliana of the Veil , Liliana, the Last Hope , Nahiri, the Harbinger , and Chandra, Torch of Defiance . I ask myself: "What does Chandra, Acolyte of Flame add to the build that these other Planeswalkers don't?" First, basic +1 ability does nothing for advantage, unless we start running Mardu/Boros Super Friends with Nahiri, the Harbinger , Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded , or any of the Chandra variants. The second ability (+0) does give us hasty tokens, but we have to sacrifice them, so only 2 damage is mediocre. I don't think Mardu Pyromancer is a token deck, per se, but it uses tokens to out value and out grind the opponent, through chump blocking and chip damage. Also, if we wanted a 3 cmc token generator, we would run Hordeling Outburst . The "ultimate" (-2) is actually one of the reasons I would consider running her, if only to consistently use Ransack the Lab for recursion and grinding. However, the deck runs at a slow, consistent rate, that we aren't trying to get rid of our hand incredibly quickly. Also, we run Bedlam Reveler and Seasoned Pyromancer for hand card advantage. I don't think we need Chandra, Acolyte of Flame .

Mellro touching on the new lands from Eldraine, specifically the Mardu colors: Castle Ardenvale is too expensive (in cost and requirement) for just 1 token. Castle Locthwain may be ok on an empty hand (and I would consider it), but Mardu Pyromancer usually doesn't run out of cards, unless Hazoret the Fervent is on the field and encourages emptying the hand. Castle Embereth is not bad on an established board. However, it feels like a "win-more" card, and Mardu Pyromancer (in my opinion) isn't a token deck looking to pump an endless amount of tokens on board; its purpose (again, in my opinion) is to outlast and out grind the opponent. Basically, tokens are like a cherry on top of a VALUE sundae. Castle Locthwain is the one I would consider, if only to give the option to dig for an answer. At this point, spending 3 mana to draw one card might be a bit of a heavy price. I would need to test them more.

saturn999 Thanks for the enthusiasm! We are still out here going strong!

Thanks again for your comments! The Modern Meta Match-Ups section is improving and I hope to have it completely done here soon!

corythackston on I Caught the Modern BUG

4 days ago

That's a whole lot of Tectonic Edge in a deck that wants to cast Vendilion Clique , Abrupt Decay , Liliana of the Veil , and Shadow of Doubt . Not to mention I'm pretty sure Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin both outperform Tec Edge most of the time.

SideBae on Alela, control-aggro

1 week ago

Hey! So I have some suggestions: feel free to ignore any/all of them.

1. There's a reason Ponder and Preordain are banned in Modern, and it's because they're stupid-good cards. Being able to dig you to what you need and past what you don't for one blue mana is a REALLY powerful effect, even if the cards themselves may not look as powerful as they are. I highly suggest including them. I like that you're already running Brainstorm , though I think running two+ more fetches would be ideal; you don't want to get locked with two dead cards on top of your deck.

2. I do not think Path to Exile is good in EDH. Ramping your opponent in a format with everyone trying to do busted things is rarely anything short of a bad idea, and is frequently dangerous. (Note that your Ashiok, Dream Render does not stop opponents searching off YOUR spells.) As I see it, you may be better off just running another card-draw spell, which would dig you to more potent removal; I suggest Painful Truths . Three-mana: draw-three is a hard rate to beat, and I've been very impressed with it in my Tasigur, the Golden Fang list.

3. You have some good artifact ramp, but I think it can be improved. I really like that all your rocks are two or less mana -- three-mana mana-rocks are simply not good enough a lot of the time, especially with a four-mana commander. Unfortunately, a lot of the best ramp in EDH is very expensive: Mana Crypt and Mox Diamond come to mind. I do have some other suggestions though. Consider at least a few of the following: Talisman of Dominance , Talisman of Hierarchy , Talisman of Progress , Fellwar Stone (which is admittedly a worse Arcane Signet , but still good), Mind Stone , Everflowing Chalice and/or Thought Vessel .

4. Whir of Invention is a card you may wish to consider. It can grab your Bolas's Citadel late-game, but more importantly it acts as a to-battlefield tutor for things like your Cursed Totem or Skullclamp . Also, it's instant speed.

5. If you want to run things like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Consecrated Sphinx , I suggest you think about a reanimation package. In general, these duders will be tough to cast, and being able to cheat them into play will give you a competitive advantage. Entomb and Buried Alive are the best ways to bin your targets (though there are others, like Liliana of the Veil or your maybe-board Frantic Search ), and you can then use spells like Animate Dead , Dance of the Dead , Necromancy , Reanimate or Unburial Rites to profit for less mana than usual. Intuition is a fun (if not cheap) card to pair with Unburial Rites and some reanimation targets, thought the precise pile may be tough to determine. Also, due to your colors, you may even consider Dreams of the Dead . The cumulative upkeep can be tough, but if you run something like Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur then you'll be able to do your damage within a turn-cycle or so, and the upkeep won't matter.

6. Your mana curve is pretty consistently low. I think you should at least playtest Counterbalance , since you already have the Sensei's Divining Top . Counterbalance does tend to be a high variance card, and it may end up being more of a preference-call than a meta-call. But I like it, so I figured I'd mention it.

7. I'm not sure how good Hushbringer is, since it stops your Skullclamp from triggering... You may be better off with just a Spirit of the Labyrinth or such.

8. Depending on how often you get to five mana, Divine Visitation could be a win-condition in itself in this deck. Making a 4/4 every time you cast an artifact or enchantment seems... good.

9. Mystic Remora is good. In less-experienced metas, it is often an Ancestral Recall ; even if people know that it's better just to wait it out, Mystic Remora will still buy you time to develop your board and make land-drops while opponents try to outlast it. Being one mana was a mistake, but it's here, so what the hell.

Right. That's all I got. Good luck!

jaymc1130 on So I have an interesting ...

2 weeks ago

I've been playing some Modern lately ever since the unbanning of Stoneforge Mystic as this is one of my all time favorite cards as well as all time favorite archetypes. I love control decks in constructed play, I love the style, the thought required to play the decks correctly, the feeling of solving a puzzle when you manage to win with them. Naturally with SFM's return I brewed up a handful of decks, got as up to speed on the Modern Format as I could, and started playtesting Stoneblade brews and the various top decks in the format.

Having tried a number of different variations of the Stoneblade concept against the format staples I began to notice a bit of a pattern. Namely, that the wins with the archetype were most often not coming from lines related to SFM at all, but rather establishing complete control over the game state and abusing Jace, the Mind Sculptor to Fate Seal the way to victory. All of this got me thinking about what I enjoyed most about the deck and I realized it wasn't actually SFM at all.

It was Jace.

The dude is a bad, bad mama jamma. I got to thinking about things some more and wondered if just building around Jace as the primary focus was a concept that could work. I decided on Grixis colors and got to brewing. I tried a number of ideas but eventually realized Jace alone wouldn't be getting the job done as often as I'd like and started looking for a partner in crime for him. The usual suspects got tried like Liliana of the Veil and seemed underwhelming. Then I figured if I was working this angle why not give something that seems almost unplayable in Modern a shot: Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God . The play pattern of the deck tended toward lots of longer games, a lot of draw-go hand shredding that disrupted play patterns of format staples to allow for these longer game play patterns to be relevant, and a lot of fun testing the idea.

Having put the concept through some paces I've arrived at what I think is actually a viable core of the deck. which can be found here: Bolas Control. What I'd like from any of you who might happen to read this is your thoughts on Modern in general, potential tweaks and alterations to the deck that could improve it, matchup considerations, and general questions, comments, and concerns.

I think this concept could be quite a bit of fun to toss around as an idea and fine tune, so let me know what ya think folks

SideBae on Low att. discard

2 weeks ago

So two cards I think you should put in right away are Geth's Grimoire and Words of Waste . Paired, they're busted -- but individually they're good, too.

Smallpox and Pox are some pretty brutal spells to resolve. I've always been partial to Smallpox , simply because it's easier to build around, but Pox proper can be pretty good too.

Liliana of the Veil is amazing, though unfortunately she is a lot of money. Liliana, Heretical Healer  ^Flip is a more affordable alternative -- and if you can flip her fast and consistently, she's arguably just as good. Liliana Vess is also good, but I think she's significantly worse than the aforementioned. If you run some Lilies, Liliana's Triumph becomes even more powerful.

Considering how much of your creatures are under three power, you might want to consider Meekstone if your meta is into the whole attacking thing.

Raven's Crime interacts pretty well with Null Profusion .

Night of Souls' Betrayal seems like it'd be super dorky in this deck. Your x/1s (like Dusk Legion Zealot ) would die and come back every turn so long as your general is down, so you'd get their triggers on every end step. This will require a lot of build-around, but keep it in mind because it's kinda super powerful.

Bottomless Pit and Necrogen Mists are good permanent-based sources of discard. Oppression is also pretty dumb.

Rorolith on Mono-Black Devotion

3 weeks ago

Gifted Aetherborn is a very good card, also Phyrexian Obliterator is a staple in mono-black devotion. if you could replace that Liliana of the Dark Realms with Liliana of the Veil or Liliana, the Last Hope that would also be good. running Geralf's Messenger and Thoughtseize i think are commonly run in mono-black devotion. this is all pretty expensive.

Asyriel on Why Do Some Players Wish ...

4 weeks ago

Take Liliana of the Veil then. Killing off 4 of those alone against an 8 rack deck would be almost impossible. When a rule is changed, all formats are treated equal. If you change it for modern players legacy is also affected. The game would be in chaos.