Mindslaver

Legendary Artifact

{4}, {T}, Sacrifice Mindslaver: You control target player during that player's next turn. (You see all cards that player could see and make all decisions for the player.)

Combos

• Academy Ruins + Mindslaver
• Mindslaver + Tasigur, the Golden Fang

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (49)

Icbrgr on "Unbeatable" card combo, or so …

1 week ago

also could be funny to dust off an old Mindslaver decklist and see how that goes lol

Bookrook on X control

2 weeks ago

X+One with Death (Playtest)+Animate Spell (Playtest)+Exchange of Words+Mindslaver

Mortlocke on

2 months ago

Thank you BenTim,

The deck exists in paper, the only thing left to do is sit down and make a nice Primer for it. I've had a blast playing this deck as once the Eldrazi start hitting the battlefield things get scary - for my opponents. I routinely cast Emrakul, the Promised End/Mindslaver targeting a good friend of mine in games as he always has devious spells in hand or in deck. We've played against each other plenty of times so I can remember a few of the more devious spells in his deck. One game, I Promised Ended him, permanently by getting him to cast Toxic Deluge and paying all 32 of his life. I didn't come out of that unharmed as it definitely killed my boardstate as well...but it was so glorious.

Bookrook on Combo decks in limited.

2 months ago

I have been noticing a trend with more recent sets where there is a combo in the limited pool.

OTJ: Mindslaver+Esoteric Duplicator

MH3: Amped Raptor+Primal Prayers+ as many copies of Shrieking Drake as you can find.

Duskmourn: Say Its Name

Now looking at the upcoming Tarkir dragonstorm, I’ve found two mardu siege-breakers and any of the impact tremors effects in the set. This seems like a possibly viable infinite to get off, maybe appearing in 2-3% of drafts.

Is this a trend we will see in the future with a combo in every limited set?

wallisface on Infinite Rulings

3 months ago

I would also suggest, if your intention is to keep games fun, that locking someone out of the game with a recurring Mindslaver is waaay more miserable than just ending the game through a combo.

Niko9 on Infinite Rulings

3 months ago

If it was me, I'd prioritize making the rules easy and clear rather than trying to fit every situation. There are two ways that I can think of that might be fun to play out:

One that I've done is having a combat damage wincon tourney. Something like mindslaver or infinite tokens would still be legal in combat damage only, but at the same time players know what to expect and can prepare. You don't need Force of WillGC when you know threats will be most often permeants, and can run lots of flexible removal instead. I don't even think Mindslaver would be a problem because more players would have space in their decks for artifact removal if they know they don't need to worry about instant speed combos.

Or maybe having a limit to how many times cards can resolve per turn cycle. I'm sure it would cause a ton of interactions to change, and I don't really know how it would look, but say, you can still resolve Rhystic StudyGC but the effect can only trigger 2 times before your next upkeep. It's still a broken card, but there would be a more finite light at the end of the tunnel. Again, this might drastically alter some commanders/playstyles, but I think overall having a 2 trigger limit for every card name per 4 player turn cycle could bust 99% of infinite grossness.

MagicMarc on What commander should I run?

9 months ago

I want to recommend Emry, Lurker of the Loch. For many reasons I think this card makes an interesting and very synergistic commander choice

Her creature types are merfolk and wizard which are 2 tribes/groups with a lot of representation and card choices.
Her first ability mitigates commander tax and can make casting her very minimal at any point in the game.
Her second ability loads your graveyard with targets for her third ability
Her third ability can be extremely powerful when you cast artifacts from your graveyard.

Her last ability can lock down an opponent re-playing cards like Mindslaver over and over again. It can provide repeatable removal re-playing cards like Meteor Golem. It can also create repeatable tutoring using artifacts like Moonsilver Key or do fun things with Treasure Chest.

Or, you know, just bringing back from the graveyard stuff like Wurmcoil Engine or other powerful artifacts.

sergiodelrio on The Best Deck Ever Made?

10 months ago

Seriously tho, Balaam__ is correct here.

"Gain control" does not mean what you think it means.

There are different ZONES in a magic game. One of them is the battlefield, another one is the stack. "Gain control" effects can only refer to objects in those zones (one exception: gaining control of another player ala Mindslaver)

An effect that COULD give access to your sideboard cards would have to be worded so that it includes the words "outside the game" (like Wish or Spawnsire of Ulamog). Cards do not naturally move inside or outside the game (or the sideboard) unless an effect specifacally states that and "outside the game" is also not a zone.

Permanents and "Permanent CARDS" are not the same. "Permanents" can specifically only refer to objects on the battlefield. In all other zones and in the sideboard those are "Permanent Cards" (Seed of Hope is one examle).

Under any circumstances, an effect that would bring a card from outside the game into the game would refer to the card as "(optional type specification like: Artifact, Permanent, blue, instant, Eldrazi) CARD" as seen in a Scryfall search here.

The way Brand is worded it can only (1) give you control of your own stuff on the battlefield (which in most cases is completely doing nothing), or (2) give you your stuff back that an opponent stole or got Donated or you exchanged with them (Spawnbroker and other cards could have done that), just like Balaam__ explained.

Don't you think a 1 mana spell that can slam any 15 cards on the table (or you can also cycle for {2}, lol) would have been a format staple, or immediately banhammered???

"(am I the only one wondering why people don't use this more)?" - Yes, since it sadly does not work like that.

All I can tell you now is to not get discouraged by that. Happened to me before, happened to others before, prominently happened to MTG deckbuilding legend Patrick 'The Innovator' Chapin before (Link to StarCityGames article), and it will happen again. Move on, there are many other combos remaining to be found. Cheers!