Opt

Instant

Scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom of your library.)

Draw a card.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Pre-release	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Standard	Legal
Standard Brawl	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (47)

kamarupa on Don't

3 months ago

While I don't recommend it, as it really puts a target on your dorks, if you have Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy in play, a Freed from the Real on a Birds of Paradise or Noble Hierarch would generate infinite mana. There's certainly enough protection with current Instants, though, if you wanted to go that route. Bloom Tender would another solid choice to include then, if you felt so inclined.

I definitely think the manabase could be improved on. It seems there's no budget for creatures, but lands are all budget? So I was hesitant earlier, and didn't have the time either then to make a case for improvements. That said, 1x Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth is, IMO, always worth whatever mana-fixing it provides opponents. After that, I tend to prefer Botanical Sanctum, Dreamroot Cascade and Barkchannel Pathway  ^Flip to the perennially desired Breeding Pool and Misty Rainforest. I just can't stand the thought of burning 3 life to get one dual land. I usually also include Scavenger Grounds just on the off chance I face a deck that likes to bring stuff back from the graveyard.

I didn't see you asking for removal spells, but Beast Within is decent, IMO, and I wouldn't turn my nose up at any deck running Pongify or Rapid Hybridization, especially if the deck is also packing creatures that can block those 3/3 gift tokens.

While it's a bit gutsy to rely strictly on mana dorks for the white mana needed to cast Gods Willing, I rather like the idea of an unblockable swing thanks to its protection.

In my eyes, the biggest weaknesses are: Opt doesn't provide any card advantage. Divination would be better, and Harmonize better still. Hydroid Krasis, as I said before, seems to fit as well and comes with the bonus of a bit of lifegain which is never bad. And that leads to the next issue - the wincons are [almost] all legendary, and therefore rightly limited to less than 4 copies each. I do like that they come with their own means of preventing removal, though. And finally, that the mana base just isn't as premium as most the spells it supports.

kamarupa on The Passive Aggressive Aproach

5 months ago

Overall, I like the deck. I have a few thoughts that could be helpful. Feel free to disregard.

Mill is something a lot of players hate. I think defenders are decent way to counter some of that hate, but I'd expect very aggressive removal of your two mana dorks, Axebane Guardian and Overgrown Battlement in second games. I see you have 2xTurn Aside, which I'm sure helps, but I suspect something like Tamiyo's Safekeeping or Vines of Vastwood (there's a ton a green protection spells, really) would be more useful, as they could help with surviving blocking huge creatures in addition to foiling removal.

Banefire seems better than Bonfire of the Damned, since it can't be countered or prevented at a pretty low threshold.

Freed from the Real seems like a good fit here - lower casting cost than Sword of the Paruns and lower activation cost and no equip cost

63 is 3 too many. There are non-essential defenders that could easily be cut, and spells like Opt and Divination don't strike me as perfect fits for the deck, either. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of draw card in Modern, but I also think it's always best if you can get that draw card to come with synergy. For example, you have Wall of Runes and Gatecreeper Vine already - these seem at least 'on-theme' in a helpful way that render Opt more like filler than utility. You might also consider Wall of Omens or Drift of Phantasms instead of Divination. I'd also even favor Harmonize over Divination, as 3 cards for 4MV is a better deal than 2 cards for 3MV and more card draw off a single spell is more effective and efficient.

Polaris on How does tax collector interact …

5 months ago

Yes.

When you pay 1 life and exile a blue card to Force of Will, you aren't bypassing the cost, you're paying an alternative cost. The new cost to cast the spell is "pay 1 life and exile a blue card from your hand." Tax Collector's effect will add a mana to that total cost you pay.

The difference between this effect and Trinisphere is that Trinisphere will add whatever amount of mana increase that brings the cost up to 3. It will increase the cost to cast Force of Will to 1 life, exiling a blue card, and paying {3} because the casting cost being paid didn't have any mana. On the other hand, if Force of Will were cast for its mana cost, Trinisphere would do nothing since it already costs at least {3}, but Tax Collector would still increase the cost from {3}{U}{U} to {4}{U}{U}.

Tax Collector also isn't symmetrical, while Trinisphere is, so in the second case you'd have to pay {2}{U} to cast that Opt.

builderboy7 on How does tax collector interact …

5 months ago

If I cast Tax Collector and elect the mode to make my opponent's spells cost an additional generic mana, if I then cast a Opt and my opponent responds with a Force of Will, would they have to pay the additional {1}? What's the difference between this effect and Trinisphere?

RiotRunner789 on water proof deck (v.3.0)

5 months ago

You could consider Trailblazer's Boots and/or Prowler's Helm. If you equip more than once, you save mana.

Cantrips like Opt are a good option, though technically not card advantage. The big ticket items would be Rhystic Study and The One Ring.

Otherwise, you could consider curiosity effects if you plan on connecting, Consecrated Sphinx, Fact or Fiction, or one of the blue creatures that draw you a card every instant or sorcery you cast.

TheoryCrafter on Help me to build my …

5 months ago

Okay, I am back thank you for your patience. I don't know if you're just looking for advice or if you want a whole deck list, so I'll meet you somewhere in between.

So I use the manabox app for card listings. Turns out I miscounted and there are 35. If you put all but Twisted Riddlekeeper(potential color identity issues) in there you have a good start.

Perhaps the strongest cards in addition to Fear of Sleep Paralysis are Mjolnir, Storm Hammer, Monstrosity of the Lake and Scroll of Isildur; though even cards like Kitnap, Lost in the Maze and Sleep-Cursed Faerie can be a boon due to Tekuthal's activated ability and not be affected by Fear of Sleep Paralysis.

One card I recommend you add is Maskwood Nexus. Both Protocol Knight and The Watcher in the Water require creature types to be effective.

Speaking of Watcher in the Water, you'll need instant speed card draw. You're gonna need card draw regardless, but WitW will need feeding to be effective. This includes, but isn't limited to Archmage's Charm, Bane's Contingency, Jace's Archivist, Opt and Triskaidekaphile.

Triskaidekaphile is an Alternate Win Card as well, which you should have in your deck as a means of winning if you can't win by beating up your opponents. Other Alternate Win cards that would also fit the best in this deck are Central Elevator / Promising Stairs(To fully take advantage of the Eerie ability on Fear of Sleep Paralysis), Darksteel Reactor and Twenty-Toed Toad(which doesn't specify what counters apply to the win condition).

The latter two are fed well by your commander's static ability. Proliferate cards you can use include, but are not limited to, Contagion Engine, Contentious Plan and Inexorable Tide.

However, if you have a Commander like Tekuthal, it would not be wise to NOT take advantage of the proliferate ability. Crystalline Giant can give your creatures counters other than +1/+1, especially if you use Goldberry, River-Daughter to move hexproof counters onto your most important pieces. Power Conduit is another card that can strengthen your creatures. And you certainly can't go wrong with The Ozolith of you can afford it.

Ramp, like card draw, should be in every deck. Sol Ring is practically a necessity. Astral Cornucopia and Everflowing Chalice become mana fountains of their own once the charge counters are on and proliferating. Though cards like Arcane Melee, Defiler of Dreams and Urza's Incubator(which gets support from Maskwood Nexus) are just as useful.

And finally there's lands that can help with counters(like Nesting Grounds and Blast Zone), reusing spells(Like Mystic Sanctuary), redundancy(such as Reliquary Tower) and can offer elements of control not available to blue(such as Scavenger Grounds. Try this keep at least half lands as Basic Islands. That way, if you get hit with cards like Alpine Moon or Blood Moon it's not an immediate capitation.

Well, that it for my part. I hope this is a help, if nothing else than for inspiration. Thank you for reading me out. Happy Hunting!

wallisface on I need help creating a …

7 months ago

I guess do some playtesting and see how things go.

I’d heavily suggest against using ”pet cards” though, as this archetype is already trying to pursue a gameplan that is far-from optimal, and so it needs all the help it can get. Including Corrupted Resolve just because you-can, seems like you’re kneecapping your brew before its even had a chance to compete.

Inexorable Tide is in-of itself a bad card, and even running one copy feels dubious. I’d only considered one-copy “ok” because there will be some grindy top-decky situations where it can help. But even then, there will be a lot of games where drawing this, or playing it, cost you the game. Running two copies feels very dangerous.

Running better draw effects, like Opt, Consider, Preordain, Memory Deluge, will draw you naturally into more poison effects. You don’t need Infectious Inquiry to be doing that also. Especially when its life-loss worsens your matchup versus anything remotely-aggro, and its sorcery-speed makes it almost-impossible to control the boardstate.

But, i’d suggest playing some matchups with this deck and seeing how this performs in reality. I’m super-confident my points will hold-up, but its best to test and see.

BirdieGirlie on Spiteful Avatar

7 months ago

Intrigued by the new turn into blue/black/green! I think this is shaping up really well!!!

A few thoughts:

I think you might speed up the deck a lot by getting rid of the two Avatar of Might and just running 4 copies of Hunted Phantasm. That's the best card in the deck! Avatar is the only card on the list that can't just be played when drawn. There's a condition that needs to be met. The rest have no condition and should come out on the field ASAP.

Swan Song and Strix Serenade are both fantastic for the deck and strictly better than Into the Flood Maw which you have in right now. Amulet of Safekeeping is also kind of a dead/do nothing card, because it sits on the field and provides passive support. I think you should swap those pairs of cards.

Blood Seeker is a worse Blood Artist in exchange for 1 power and I don't think that's worth it to you. I think you should replace that with one of the blue 1 mana instant draw spells -- Brainstorm, Opt, something like that. It will get more cards into your hand and make your play faster! The more card draw you have, the more likely you are to hit Blood Artist at all to get her onto the field!

Also those two legendary lands are awesome, but not worthwhile in this deck. You're running 3 Prismatic Vista with exactly 3 basic lands in the deck. You draw those lands and all three vistas become a dead draw. You need basic lands. You need fetchable lands at least. There are basic dual lands out there! Put in some Swamp/Islands, Swamp/Forests, and Forest/Islands instead. I still think you should take out the Cavern of Souls in favor of colored mana-generating lands as well. So many of your cards require 2 colored mana, after all!

Excited to see where you take the deck from here!!!