Mana Leak

Instant

Counter target spell unless its controller pays .

Discussion (51)

heckproof on I believe in miracles...you sexy thing

3 days ago

So W/U Terminus control seems to be at about at its peak in terms of tuning, and unfortunately that means that, if you wanna make this deck optimized to its fullest, you’re going to need the fetches, Jace, etc. The nice thing about W/U control, though, is that there are a lot of free slots that you can play around with. Here’s my own list, which is reasonably close to the standard (save for a few one-ofs that I just like playing with): NOT A BREW

If you want a cheaper build that’s still decent, however, you’re not out of luck. You can build a slightly budget version of the “oops, all Gideons” control that was running around in 2017. You usually run a 2-1 split of Gideon of the Trials and Gideon Jura , which both keep you alive and eventually become win conditions. I would recommend purchasing a full playset of Field of Ruin , which both act as budget fetches and also keep you alive against Tron. I would also recommend some number of Mana Leak and Logic Knot , although admittedly Logic Knot is only at its best if you’re playing Search for Azcanta  ^Flip, which is not a budget card. Instead of Snapcaster Mage , which is quite expensive but also is crucial to your strategy, you could run Mission Briefing , which lacks the body that makes Snapcaster so good but gives you a chance to set up your next draw. I would recommend looking at Raph Levy’s deck for PT Rivals of Ixalan. It’s not budget, but it gives you a frame of reference for what I’m talking about. If I can find a link to the decklist, I’ll link it later.

And...I think that’s about it! I don’t know if this was any help. Good luck, and may you draw all the salt from your opponent as you counter your way to victory!

GofyTomcat1 on RUW Deck

4 days ago

Here is a list of generally good Jeskai midrange/tempo/aggro cards in Modern. Feel free to run any or all or none of these, depending on what you can afford:

Lightning Bolt

Lightning Helix

Remand

Unsubstantiate

Mana Leak

Path to Exile

Electrolyze

Opt

Serum Visions

Geist of Saint Traft

Lightning Angel

Snapcaster Mage (if not on a budget)

Mantis Rider

Delver of Secrets

Spell Queller

Vendilion Clique

Young Pyromancer

Chandra, Torch of Defiance

Elspeth, Knight-Errant

Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Gideon of the Trials

Notes:

1. These cards tend to be more expensive. Feel free to get them as you can afford them. I would recommend Lightning Bolt over Lightning Strike, Remand / Mana Leak over Cancel, and Lightning Helix over Shock as a starting point. This will lower your mana curve and allow you to cast more spells per turn. Likewise, Mantis Rider and Lightning Angel are good threats that are more efficient than your current setup, but are still affordable on a budget.

2. Your mana base would do well to get lands that enter untapped, such as painlands (ie Shivan Reef ), fastlands (ie Spirebluff Canal ) or, if you can afford them, fetch and shock lands (ie Flooded Strand and Steam Vents .) This will allow you to more easily cast your spells "on curve."

3. I think you only need 2 Planeswalkers, not 3. Choose your two favorites (or one off the list I provided) and run those. For me personally, I run Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Elspeth, Knight-Errant , but the choice is ultimately yours.

4. Feel free to take a look at my deckThe Spirit of '76: Jeskai Lightning Geist for inspiration.

5. Most of these suggestions come from me as a competitive Modern player. Your deck is tagged as "Modern" so as such I am approaching suggestions in that way, with more competitive (tournament) gameplay in mind.

6. I look forward to seeing what you come up with!! You have an excellent game-plan, but if you can, remember that "efficiency is key" for decks like this.

All the best, Gofy

ChooseWiselySon on Mill - Go for the lands

4 days ago

Thanks for the suggestions I sadly own none of those cards haha. I should however have one or two copies of Ritual of Soot that could be a boardwipe option I would be taking out the two Mana Leak for that I think.

Will have to playtest all that as soon as possible. Thank you very much for the suggestions !!

ToolmasterOfBrainerd on Modern Horizons Announced

6 days ago

I would have been fine leaving Flusterstorm in Eternal. Modern doesn't need it. It's good in Legacy because there are counter wars and combo decks which play counterspells to protect their combo. In modern there aren't enough instants or sorceries for it to matter.

My problem is that the counterspells in modern all suck. Creatures define the format, so a counterspell needs to be able to counter creatures. And the 2 most playable counterspells, Mana Leak and Logic Knot , are way too fragile. Tron and Titan can easily pay for their costs. Wurmcoil Engine , Thragtusk , and Primeval Titan are the threats which midrange decks struggle the most to deal with. And, from a color balance perspective, these cards are supposed to be soft to countermagic. Greedy expensive bombs should be balanced by their vulnerability to tempo plays. Counterspell would fix that problem instantly. Heck, counterspell still gets blown out of the water by Aether Vial and Cavern of Souls . It wouldn't be broken. It'd help balance.

Counterspell sees play in legacy, but not much. I'd say they are pushing the uniqueness of legacy with Force of Negation way more than they would with Counterspell . Force of Will and Brainstorm are the flavor of legacy.

TheMagicMafia on Hour of Grixis

6 days ago

Mana Issues

The mana's going to suck. You're running a completely 3-color deck hoping to play Cryptic Command s turn 4 and Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God turn 5.

I really like Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God and want to see him stay, so I suggest taking out some of the cards that really want a color that is not black, such as Cryptic Command , Vendilion Clique , and Sweltering Suns .

Style Issues

The counter spells and instant speed interaction like Vendilion Clique and Countersquall adds something to the deck, but shouldn't be the focus of it. Instead I think Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God would do best in a sort of Grixis-that-feels-like-Jund list that wants to make sure the coast is clear with removal and discard before slamming an unstoppable threat and winning.

Suggestions:

Discard

please put in Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek

Threats I think would be good/interesting.

Note: I only want like one or two of these in alongside Bolas

• Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet - great all around threat which works well with removal and gets better as the game goes on.
• Liliana of the Veil - runs down your opponents' resources.
• Gurmag Angler - "cheap" threat
• Death's Shadow - most shadow decks are very aggressive, but as control decks run low on life generally, it may be a fine way to close out the game while freeing up the rest of your mana for removal or card draw. Would require some relatively major changes to the deck though.

Cards to Remove

• Cryptic Command - too blue intensive
• Vendilion Clique - too blue intensive and not a strong enough threat
• Jace, the Mind Sculptor - too blue intensive and cards like Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet would be better for the mana and as a threat
• Sweltering Suns - red intensive, but also objectively worse than Anger of the Gods in a Arclight Phoenix and Bloodghast meta.
• Countersquall - Mana Leak should probably be your only counter as life doesn't really matter for you and there are many creature heavy decks running around, but also it just doesn't fit with the discard/removal + slam a threat game plan.

Cards I like in the deck

• Opt - blue card draw and selection is one of the biggest reasons to play blue, and I think Opt and Serum Visions would be good for smoothing out your mana, curve, and finding the answers you need.
• Angrath's Rampage - good removal that people won't expect
• Kolaghan's Command - 2 for 1
• Search for Azcanta  ^Flip - good blue card advantage engine
• Snapcaster Mage - just good value
• Terminate - good removal

Wonderman14 on NEED HELP , with a ...

1 week ago

Hi guys, ¿any ideas about a Mono U control deck viable for MODERN?. I have some nice cards but im a noob about modern meta, if there is something like that in modern actually.

Here a list of some card i already have

Snapcaster Mage x 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor x 2 Mana Leak x 4 Serum Visions x 2 Cryptic Command x4 Thing in the Ice  ^Flip x 4 Remand x 2 Baral, Chief of Compliance x 4 Spreading Seas x 4 Vedalken Shackles x 2

Please, im lost, i see a lot of mono u control/tempo decks, but they are from 2016,17,18, so maybe im trying force something useless.

Wonderman14 on NEED HELP , MONO U ...

1 week ago

Hi guys, ¿any ideas about a Mono U control deck viable for MODERN?. I have some nice cards but im a noob about modern meta, if there is something like that in modern actually.

Here a list of some card i already have

Snapcaster Mage x 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor x 2 Mana Leak x 4 Serum Visions x 2 Cryptic Command x4 Thing in the Ice  ^Flip x 4 Remand x 2 Baral, Chief of Compliance x 4 Spreading Seas x 4 Vedalken Shackles x 2

Please, im lost, i see a lot of mono u control/tempo decks, but they are from 2016,17,18, so maybe im trying force something useless.

Catpocolypse on Red,Blue control, (Looking for advice)

1 week ago

I would definitely drop all copies of Lighthouse Chronologist . I takes Waaay to much mana to be good for anything and if you are playing a control deck, you want your mana available at all times, for a counterspell or some quick removal. I would also look to drop some of your creatures, particularily some of the more expensive ones(mana wise) like Dominus of Fealty . This is Modern and is incredibly fast. I would look at a Snapcaster Mage for an increased threat of control or Torrential Gearhulk for a good end game threat. Counterspells are always something you need so, id suggest dropping Protean Raider for maybe a Mana Leak . Or maybe Opt / Serum Visions because you dont seem to have much card draw. Which brings me to another point. Control decks must, Must, MUST have a fair amount of card draw in them. You need to have your hand stocked with what you need so that you can respond to things when they pop up, not 2 turns later. I would suggest not only Opt / Serum Visions but Chart a Course and maybe Merfolk Looter which can help keep your hand at an even 7, while still making spells available using previously mentioned cards like Snapcaster Mage , Torrential Gearhulk , and Call to Mind .