Magistrate's Scepter

Artifact

, : Put a charge counter on Magistrate's Scepter.

, Remove three charge counters from Magistrate's Scepter: Take an extra turn after this one.

Discussion (45)

DemonDragonJ on Extra Turns Outside of Blue

2 months ago

Blue is the color of temporal manipulation, and, therefore, the color of extra turns, but, on occasion, other colors can have extra turns, as well.

I feel that extra turns outside of blue are acceptable, but only under the proper conditions, such as losing the game unless you win, as is the case in red, forcing another player to pay life, as in Temporal Extortion, or taking the time to build up to it, as with Magistrate's Scepter.

As a side note, I severely dislike that every extra turn spell in recent years exiles itself, because I like taking multiple extra turns, and I do not think that there is anything wrong with that, as long as the cost for doing so is extremely high.

What does everyone else say about this? How do you feel about extra turns outside of blue?

Mana_Mythic_Legendary on Pursuing Perfection, Part 11: Simic …

2 months ago

All hail our magical gene-splicing overlords, having taken all elections by storm via a platform of ignoring the ever-loving Sharktocrab out of Ian Malcolm. Much as I love this color combo, I’m first to admit it’s a bit much: combining the draw and control of Blue with the ramp and board presence of Green is taking things to excess. Glorious, opponent-crushing excess. Play your cards right (haha) and you will neither have an empty hand nor an empty board. Maybe an empty social calendar, but that’s a problem for another color pairing.

All hyperbolic joking aside, there is considerable promise under Simic’s hood. Kruphix, God of Horizons supports the tendencies both colors to a nearly unbearable extreme. Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy doesn’t just break mana dorks, he shatters them, and don’t get any veteran started on the ruinous politics of Edric, Spymaster of Trest. And it’s not just the commanders: Prophet of Kruphix, banned though it may be, is a testament to the potency here. Mystic Snake is a constant presence for a reason, as is the Trygon Predator. There’s even a pair of worthwhile upkeep wins: Biovisionary, with the profligacy of cloning effects, is actually plausible in EDH (and hilarious), while Simic Ascendancy is downright heinous.

Blue and Green together encourage a beautiful game, a dance constantly wavering across the line between strength and subtlety that I, personally, find incredibly appealing. But we’re not here to talk only about the things I like: we’re here to talk about theme, and today we have three: Card Advantage, Counters Matter, and Tokens Matter. As always, please bear in mind that our focus here is not necessarily competitive but rather on thematic, archetypical commanders.

Card Advantage

In most games, you will have a solution to any given problem. Trouble is, that solution is somewhere in your deck and not in your hand. Where Green is equipped to solve the broadest spectrum of challenges, Blue is inclined to sidestep those problems, and fill up on those sidesteps with draw, until a solution to the game itself appears. Filling up Blue-style on Green’s kit? Wondrous. Whether tutoring or going full beast mode and drawing half your deck, Simic is singularly positioned to solve any problem by readying an overwhelming suite of answers and then slamming down enough mana to use all of them at once.

The original vintage of true bullshit, circa 2006. The sheer quantity of quality in Green’s menagerie of ETB effects is staggering. With hot garbage like the Snapcaster Mage and Gilded Drake shoring up those already beastly reserves, if you need it and it comes on a creature-shaped stick, you got it. I just hope you can tutor fast.

What is it about Innistrad and terrifying frogs?! This was the first new legend to impress me in a while. Milling yourself isn’t hard when you have blue on hand, and Grolnok’s presence means that instead of filling your graveyard you’re creating a permanent hand that’s safe from any interference that isn't a Riftsweeper. That’s incredibly appealing to me. It’s a little like a sugar-free, exile version of Enter the Infinite. Obligatory mention of the Hermit Druid goes here, but my first thought was actually Dreamborn Muse.

Every deck reaches a point where drawing land is no longer desirable. Every deck eventually draws lands once too often and suffers a crippling, disappointing crash-and-burn. Aesi is unimpressed. Combining a self-only Horn of Greed and Exploration on a 5/5 body, a little flooding is nothing to worry about. Drop a few things like Reshape the Earth, draw nine cards profit, play the additional lands you drew, draw more cards, and so on. You’ll catch a bit of a stink-eye off your opponents, but that’ll wash out. In mana.

Counters Matter

White hands out +1/+1 counters like candy, but doesn’t do much with them. In justice, any lifelink card with a pile of +1/+1 counters doesn’t need to do much. Just swing. Simic, though, seems to think that getting bigger should get you access to cool new things. Cards, for instance, via Fathom Mage, or creatures via Cytoplast Manipulator. And then, once you’ve done all that cool stuff… well, just swing.

To be honest, I don’t like this section, and our first commander is a perfect illustration why. Fair warning: salt incoming.

Ok, now THIS is a little much. I don’t even remember playing against this guy: I just didn’t like it from the first. It’s very easy to build, very powerful, VERY unsubtle. The reliability that comes of experience counters is undeniably potent and, in my opinion, boring. I like to think my own style is a bit more elegant than simply hosing down midgets, then turning a Blighted Agent loose. But then this is all just my opinion AND I own an Omnath, Locus of Rage deck, so what do I know?

This is both goofy and highly contextual. If you’ve got a Kenrith, the Returned King fanboy running around the local meta, you’re probably going to wreck face. There is a respectable pile of activated abilities in every color, let alone Blue-Green, that would let you build a deck with adequate support. It’s not the most optimal choice, but running the original legendary goo would certainly be the odd bit of fun.

I DO remember playing against this guy, though it was a while ago. If I recall rightly, the pilot refused to add Darksteel Reactor, instead relying on the Elusive Krasis and little else. Dude needed Freed from the Real, too. Things have changed. Now you can do silly stuff with Liquimetal Coating and any number of planeswalkers, ruin lives with Magistrate's Scepter, or whatever other hateful things come to your devious little mind. Options. Vorel has them.

Tokens Matter

This is more my speed. There are several contestants for best in token quantity, though Selesnya is probably the best in blending quality and quantity. Simic watched this contest, watched the parades of copy-paste legions, and decided there was a market for going hard in quality. Progenitor Mimic, Spitting Image, and Repudiate / Replicate are all examples of this trend: token copies. I’m not sure cloning someone’s field is more polite than actually stealing their stuff, but kicking Rite of Replication into the face of some smarmy bastard gloating over his Blightsteel Colossus would be a highlight for anybody.

Very direct, and nothing wrong with a little hexproof lite. Having Parallel Lives for your general, if we’re honest, has got to be a dream come true for a LOT of people. Just don’t cast rite of replication on the sphinx (you know the one) unless you have your Laboratory Maniac ready.

Oooooooooo. I like. Not quite enough to build, but I like! Drop Fable of Wolf and Owl, a card I’ve always wanted but never needed, and drop a clone every turn. And… on second read, this says choose, not target, so shroud does jack-all to prevent this… maybe I do want to build this…

Not bad! It’s not too hard to keep your creature base diverse, and a free copy of anything is nice. As said earlier, there’s a wealth of ETB effects to chose from, and doubling those effects is a great start to a plan. Just stay away from changelings.

And, for my personal favorite:

There is a pervading, understandable trend in commander toward tutoring needful things. My wife, however, hates tutoring: she’s not a patient creature, so asking her to wait while I dig for that one, particular solution is not conducive to a fun game, let alone suggesting she go digging herself. Rashmi was built for her with the intent of drawing so much that tutoring was pointless. Her effect was more a perk than anything. At worst, you draw an extra card every turn. At best, you get a freebie! The deck turned out to be so competitive that I… well, I kind of stole it back. I even splurged and got a Sensei's Divining Top, which with Rashmi is exceedingly rude, and added Counterbalance, a pairing which let me successfully counter Krosan Grip at a tournament. The raw card advantage and efficiency that Rashmi lends a deck, it turns out, can win games by itself.

That's it for this round. Thoughts and questions are welcome. I hope you enjoyed it, and will come back soon for Orzhov!

Selesnya

Gruul

Rakdos

Dimir

Azorius

Green, with links to the other mono-colors

DemonDragonJ on Is Magistrate's Scepter Worth the …

2 months ago

I very much would like to put Magistrate's Scepter in my Atraxa, Praetors' Voice EDH deck, but the reasons for which I have not yet done so are both the amount of mana that must be invested in it (3 to cast, 4 to place a single charge counter on it) and the fact that, after I cast it, my opponents will do everything that they can to prevent me from using to its fullest potential. If the cost to place a charge counter on it was not so high, I would experiment, and see how much use I could derive from it, but, as it currently is, I am not certain if I should use it.

What does everyone else say about this? Is Magistrate's Scepter worth the risk of using in an EDH deck?

Dencoan on Death's Kiss

3 months ago

KayneMarco i added Topple the Statue for card draw and single target removal based off of a few videos saying you should have x of each type of card. definitely not against keeping brave the sands in place of topple the statue. being new to commander i dont know how required having all the recommended ramp/removal/draw/board wipe is to have a successful game.

i feel like Magistrate's Scepter could be super useful but so could Swiftfoot Boots for protecting my commander or Shalai, Voice of Plenty if i get her out. just not sure what would be worth cutting for one of these

Dencoan on Death's Kiss

3 months ago

KayneMarco so im thinking these swaps thoughts?

Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper for Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider

Brave the Sands for Branching Evolution

Cauldron of Souls for Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

with proliferate is it worth working in Magistrate's Scepter?

DemonDragonJ on Several New Cards

4 months ago

I am very frequently designing new cards, so here are several of my latest designs.

Angelic Intervention Show

Angelic Intervention

Casting Cost:

Instant

Permanents that you control gain hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.

As far as I am concerned, the fact that Heroic Intervention is not white is blasphemy, so I have made a white version of that card. I know that white usually does not grant hexproof to permanents, only to players, but I believe that this is an acceptable exception, especially when one considers how greatly green has been intruding into white's section of the color pie, recently.

Gabriel's Horn Show

Gabriel's Horn

Casting Cost:

Legendary Artifact

, : target players gains X life and gains hexproof until end of turn.

, : creatures that you control get +X/+X and gain first strike and vigilance until end of turn.

, : create X 4/4 white angel creature tokens with flying.

The archangel Gabriel is a popular figure in Christian folklore, but, as with any centuries-old stories, depictions of him vary greatly; however, one common trait in all of his stories is that he has a horn that he uses for various purpsoes, but, again, the exact abilities of his horn vary depending upon the story, so I chose my own abilities for my depiction of Gabriel's horn. I originally had given this card a cost of only , but I decided that that was too low of a cost for such a powerful card. I also had planned to give this card a fourth ability, one that would return a creature card with converted mana cost X or less from its owner's graveyard to the battlefield, but I decided that the horn was already sufficiently powerful as it is.

Praetors' Scepter Show

Praetors' Scepter

Casting Cost:

Artifact

, : put a charge counter on praetors' scepter.

, remove three charge counters from praetors' scepter: take an extra turn after this one.

Magistrate's Scepter is an awesome card, but the reason for which I do not have it in my Atraxa, Praetors' Voice EDH deck is that it requires too heavy of an investment in mana before the player can profit from it, even in a deck that has numerous sources of proliferation; when a player casts that card, there is no way that their opponents will not seek to destroy it immediately. Therefore, I have created a variant of it that utilizes my fondness for Phyrexian mana to help ease the costs of that card, and I chose to use blue Phyrexian mana, because blue is the color that most commonly can grant additional turns.

Magus of the Rack Show

Magus of the Rack

Casting Cost:

Creature - human wizard

Power/Toughness: 1/3

, : exile any number of cards from your hand face down, put that many cards from the top of your library into your hand, then look at the exiled cards and put them on top of your library in any order.

This card is a creature version of Scroll Rack, which I only recently released is an amazing card; it has the same converted mana cost as the original artifact, because it does not have haste and therefore cannot be used on the same turn on which it is summoned, unless it is granted haste by another source. I originally planned to make it a 2/2, but I decided to instead make it a 1/3, because the controller of this creature will almost never attack with it, unless they are truly desperate.

What does everyone else here say about these cards? Do you like them?

MobsterBubbles on Cube 1.0 SMB

6 months ago

6/21/21: Removed Integrity / Intervention and Mystical Teachings . Added Lightning Helix and Muse Vortex

6/29/21:1. Removed Magistrate's Scepter . Added Steel Dromedary

Removed Winota, Joiner of Forces . Added Venerable Warsinger

Removed Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager . Added Ravenous Squirrel

Removed Triskelion . Added Myr Scrapling

Removed Prosperous Pirates . Added Etherium Spinner

Removed Loreseeker's Stone . Added Extruder

Removed Bloodline Pretender . Added Ornithopter of Paradise

Removed Paradise Plume . Added Bottle Golems

Removed Triumph of Gerrard . Added Unbounded Potential

Removed Venerated Loxodon . Added Constable of the Realm

Removed Blade Instructor . Added Knighted Myr

Romved Elite Scaleguard . Added Nykthos Paragon

Removed Approach of the Second Sun . Added Settle Beyond Reality

Removed Windrider Wizard . Added Murktide Regent

Removed Spark Harvest . Added Bone Shards

Removed Keskit, the Flesh Sculptor . Added Legion Vanguard

Removed Sengir Nosferatu . Added Loathsome Curator

Removed Volcanic Dragon . Added Goblin Traprunner

Removed Dragon Mage . Added Arcbound Slasher

Removed Demanding Dragon . Added Flametongue Yearling

Removed Smelt-Ward Minotaur . Added Harmonic Prodigy

Removed Kaya's Guile . Added Graceful Restoration

nlabelle on Atraxa(infect)

8 months ago

THE SHOW BUTTON DOESN'T WORK OMG HERE IT IS TYPED OUT LIKE A LOSER.

Budget -2 Plains +2 Forest +1 Gemstone Mine -1 Temple of Silence -1 Zagoth Crystal +1 Astral Cornucopia -1 Gyre Sage +1 Fynn, the Fangbearer -1 (3 total) more Plains for a Blight Mamba . I think we are good w/ 38 lands.

Non-Budget Not sure what to cut in this section, but if yo' wallet is feelin' like a pimp, go on brush yo' shoulders off. Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider Once you add the fetches + shocks, Become Immense becomes...immensely better. Usually will cast for G.

Personal Choices - Prairie Stream - Sunken Hollow + Vivid Grove + Vivid Creek Prairie and sunken will come into play tapped most of the time anyway, so might as well make rainbow colors and get some counters back on them late game.
-1 Render Silent (casting cost is prohibitive). +1 Fuel for the Cause -1 Fathom Mage +1 Steady Progress . Fathom Mage seems iffy for card draw. Steady progress feels more stable, instant speed, and proliferates. -1 Despark +1 Inexorable Tide . Ups your CMC aka mana value by a bit, but I'd rather go the proactive than reactive game plan. -1 Lazav, the Multifarious . He will appear as one of your infecty boiz from the yard, but at that point you're already behind, and he has no forms of evasion. Maybe +1 Sword of Truth and Justice instead. (It's slow) -1 Supreme Verdict (prohibitive casting cost, you're probably the one with the most valuable creatures). +1 Contentious Plan for more draw and more dirty HIV. -1 Phyrexian Juggernaut . Too slow, probably a dead card in your hand, chances of it not getting blocked are small. I imagine best-case scenario is that it goes unblocked and you pump it, but wait...how 'bout Roalesk, Apex Hybrid . Ain't nobody gonna attack you when they get proliferate juices on their shirt.

But wait, do you want to make the deck WORSE? Contagion Engine + Magistrate's Scepter . Take all the turns. 7 mana + a boardstate is a steep setup, but do you want to be a winner, or a JANK-ASS BISS?

I'm not really sure if these are good or not. So this section is useless. Strionic Resonator . Seems kinda win-more. But meh. Idk.

Let's f* with Hop -1 Generous Gift +1 Teferi's Protection . I am a terrible human being.

I most definitely could be wrong in this section. -1 Ancient Tomb . You'll take a heavy amount of damage, and your color requirements are strong. I'd replace with +1 Inkmoth Nexus

Aight baby gurl, bedtime. May your infectious love for infect cause infectious hate upon you. Love, Jake Stremers