Painful Truths

Sorcery

Converge — You draw X cards and you lose X life, where X is the number of colours of mana spent to cast Painful Truths.

Discussion (51)

SeanmanX on Space Aids

1 week ago

Digging the first pass of the deck I would try to go all-in on the infect theme and ditch some of the +1/+1 counter focused cards. Would make the deck feel a lot more consistent in games played.

I also see some cards that give brokkos some form of evasion, its worth noting that brokkos already has a pseudo-evasion like effect by naturally having trample, which deters people from blocking anyways, I feel that the additional evasion effects via creatures to mutate onto seems a bit extra.

I reccomend removing these:

• Merfolk Skydiver - +1/+1 theme, its nice for a 5 mana proliferation sink but I feel its too clunky
• Pollenbright Druid - A one time proliferate is likely too cute for this deck
• Polukranos, Unchained - +1/+1 counter themed, I see the argument for mutating onto a huge creature with +1/+1 counters, but polukranos also shrinks really quickly
• Elusive Tormentor  ^Flip is a nice unblockable threat, but we're winning by going to bash town with infect damage, rather than an unblockable 6/7
• Silhana Ledgewalker Another pseudo-unblockable threat.
• Toothy, Imaginary Friend I likely would only play this card with Pir, Imaginative Rascal, seems very off theme from what you're trying to do aside from giving itself counters.
• Yeva, Nature's Herald This card only gives your green creatures flash, I dont think its really worth it... otherwise I would be super on board
• Blighted Agent is a human and you cannot mutate onto it. I'm not sure if you want to keep it in the deck as an extra infect threat, or go all in on the mutate plan.
• Relic Putrescence feels way too narrow just for giving its controller a single poison counter
• Simic Ascendancy Is a +1/+1 card that I dont see as a viable backup plan
• Leyline of Anticipation It's nice casting things at instant speed but that isnt really the theme of the deck, if folks have instant speed removal they will likely use it anyways and this wont get you many bonus points
• Golgari Charm What is this for? Removing 1/1s? Brokkos has trample and your infect creatures might have 1 toughness... regenerating brokkos? Just mutate again..

Cards I would consider adding:

• Rot Wolf
• Whispering Specter
• Plague Myr
• Necropede
• Blackcleave Goblin
• Thrummingbird
• Triumph of the Hordes
• Blackblade Reforged

Since you're looking for more Destroy effects, Card draw effects, and counter effects, consider the following:

• Beast Within
• Vines of Vastwood
• Deadly Rollick
• Invigorate
• Phyrexian Arena
• Painful Truths
• Arcane Denial
• Curtains' Call

There are a few different land ramp spells I may play, but those are likely out of budget. For the remainder of the cuts I reccomend taking out the worst infect creatures, and possibly some of your land ramp spells

Joe_Ken_ on My Saproling EDH deck

1 month ago

Deathspore Thallid can be used to turn your saporlings into some sort of alright removal while being another slow rolling producer.

Night Soil is a great card that can just devastate people's graveyards and you get saporlings for doing it.

Life and Limb is a risky card but fallowed up with a card like Overwhelming Stampede , Overcome , or Return of the Wildspeaker

Mycologist is another slow rolling card but he is low cmc and is outside green to spread colors around as well as sacrificing for life being good.

Poison-Tip Archer , Zulaport Cutthroat , and Bastion of Remembrance can be used to get some benefit out of saporling deaths kind of like Slimefoot does.

General removal for the deck can be with cards like Murder , Vendetta , Doom Blade , Beast Within , and Swords to Plowshares

Card draw for the deck you could use is Harmonize , Shamanic Revelation , Beast Whisperer , Painful Truths , and Read the Bones

Going to do one more part for ramp + good stuff

slashdotdash on We get stronger for each drop of blood

1 month ago

Hey there Johannes,

Since you mentioned card draw I thought I'd leave you a few suggestions. Fortunately, black dominates the card draw scene with sorceries.

• Painful Truths
• Read the Bones
• Syphon Mind
• Ambition's Cost
• Ancient Craving

These may not be flashy, but the ability to draw 3 cards without leaving a draw engine exposed is a boon. You never know when you'll run into a blinky Reclamation Sage or a Cleansing Nova or a Bane of Progress etc. In my experience, 3 cards for 3 or 4 mana is exceptionally helpful.

Also, Phyrexian Arena

Good luck :)

taco194 on Trynn and Silvar, Aristocratic Devourers

1 month ago

Looks pretty good! A friend of mine runs it almost identical to yours. It looks a little low on card draw though, maybe add some spells like Night's Whisper or Painful Truths? You could totally benefit from running Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves too! Silvar getting indestructible practically on command is already pretty hard to deal with so hexproof/shroud can make him stick around a whole game without getting exiled or bounced. Also, your curve isn't too steep so you might be able to get away with dropping a land, but I'm a madman so take that with a grain of salt.

Magnanimous on B/W/G Control

2 months ago

General Notes:

I think you have too many ramp/big mana cards with nothing particularly strong to build towards. I'd build this deck with the goal of Early/Mid: Disrupt, lock down the board, gain board presence, Late: Attack with huge walls and win. So, think about replacing worse ramping walls with better walls or control cards. I think you have a good creature/spell mix, but you may want to make it slightly cheaper.

Also, blue has some great defenders so you could switch up your colors if you're unsatisfied with BW.

Card Replacements:

Duress -> Thoughtseize/Despise (may be better/worse depending on meta) | Damnable Pact -> Painful Truths/Read the Bones | Torment of Hailfire -> Anguished Unmaking | Dusk -> Languish/Settle the Wreckage/Drown in Sorrow | Deathrite Shaman -> Jaddi Offshoot (DS isn't nearly as good without fetches and cheap spells)

Maybeboard Additions: Glade Watcher, Hornet Nest, Novice Knight, Portcullis Vine, The Birth of Meletis

slashdotdash on Ramos The Sparkle Dragon

2 months ago

Hi there West,

As a player who specializes in WUBRG big mana, I'd like to add a few suggestions.

Board Wipes

First off, let's look at a robust boardwipe package. I recommend 3 to 6 Sweepers total for a big, slower deck like this.

Disclaimer - while boardwipes can be a big feel bad for some, they are often extremely helpful to prevent slower decks from getting #WREKT by faster, lighter decks. Just make sure your playgroup is okay with you leaning into a slower playstyle that uses boardwipes to keep the nonsense at bay (this will really depend on your meta). Keep in mind boardwipes also help you get in for Voltron damage, assuming you sequence your plays correctly.

• Crux of Fate
• Ixidron: Looks strange, acts stranger. This thing is in my top 5 for favorite creatures, as it deals a crippling blow to most enemy decks.
• Cataclysmic Gearhulk: Thins the board without killing your best things. Beware, the opponent will still have stuff, but you're betting that Ramos can take 'em.
• Sublime Exhalation
• Day of Judgment
• Wrath of God
• Phyrexian Rebirth: If your deck is ramping enough (I think your deck can probably do it) then this spell is bananas.
• Flood of Tears: It is easy to overlook the second sentence...
• Time Wipe: A bit meh with Ramos himself, but keep in mind you can utilize this before Ramos even comes out to save your best creature while clearing the way for big mana spells.
• Phyrexian Scriptures: DANGER!!! This one is so slow that it can straight-up get you killed. It might be okay with Ramos, but it could also aggro everybody. I only include it because it synergizes a little bit with Ramos.

Card Draw

So one reason your deck might be "sputtering", as you put it, is simply the lack of Card Draw. With about 12 Card Draw sources you should be more able to keep yourself going and avoid sputtering.

Generically good card draw happens to be mostly black. Don't worry about life loss here, especially if you do end up adding board wipes.

• Syphon Mind
• Painful Truths
• Read the Bones
• Ambition's Cost
• Ancient Craving
• Underworld Connections
• Harmonize
• Urban Evolution
• Recurring Insight
• Phyrexian Arena
• Kumena's Awakening

Removal

Your removal package is one of the strong things I see here. My only comment is that Vindicate looks good but its sorcery speed, so a Beast Within or Generous Gift is better in my opinion. Nice job on this section though :D

It's a Trap!!!

Alright, so I'd like to help you identify the "trap" cards. My playgroup calls a card a trap if it looks good in the deck in theory but is actually quite bad in practice.

I strongly recommend against Morophon, the Boundless because you will be getting at best one or two creatures from him. I don't believe your deck is (or should be) tribal enough to take advantage of him.

Ponder and Preordain are unlikely to do as much work as real card draw spells, at least from what I gather skimming over your list. Your deck is going to be naturally slower (and that's fine if you have enough Removal and Sweepers to keep yourself alive) so don't sweat cutting the 1-drops for card draw spells. I would instantly run Painful Truths and Read the Bones in place of these.

Voltron: This is just an opinion, but your Voltron section looks too big. I think the best thing about Ramos as a Voltron commander is his ability to naturally acquire a threatening amount of power as a side effect of you playing a really good Rainbow deck! Lean into that. I know it feels bad to cut some of the artifacts, but you may find it better to have other threats or support for your threats, instead of relying on your commander (who is already a bit of a priority target if I'm being honest). Now granted I am not sure that you've got too much Voltron stuff, but my instincts tell me to avoid committing too much to Voltron. I have seen it end terribly many times and this deck has the luxury of Incidental Voltron, so I would take advantage of what your commander is already doing.

Also, just a general trap for big mana decks is choosing too many "Payload" cards (like Maelstrom Wanderer, Nicol Bolas, etc) while not including enough support for them. I don't think you've got an issue with that, but stay vigliant - you're the only one who can stop you from going overboard.

Other Quick Additions

Kessig Wolf Run: Supports the Voltron, lets you sink that excess mana, and only takes a land slot to boot! Simply a great card for the Voltron portion of your strategy.

Wrap Up

Overall, this is an interesting deck design though I do think it could benefit from a more focused game plan.

Don't get me wrong, this is good stuff - I think you've created a nice first version. Please don't take my criticism of your card choices personally, these are after all just my opinions and I am very passionate about making WUBRG work well. That doesn't mean I know best, though I'm trying to share what tips I can on the topic. At the end of the day choose the cards you want, but please do add more draw spells ;)

Cool deck and nice first draft.

Cheers and have fun :D

smilodex on Tymna and Vial Smasher

2 months ago

When you already play Exquisite Blood you should consider to play the Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond-combo.

If you want to take this deck to the next level, you should consider the following cards:

• Sensei's Divining Top
• Deafening Silence/Eidolon of Rhetoric/Rule of Law and Defense Grid: to slow down storm- and spellslinger-decks, to deny cardadvantage/ramp and to protect yourself against control and combodecks
• Lapse of Certainty/Mana Tithe/Burnout nobody expects white counters
• Your deck is lacking carddraw! Wheel of Fortune, Painful Truths, Necropotence, Heartwarming Redemption, Phyrexian Arena, Night's Whisper, Azra Oddsmaker & Dark Confidant (/Sign in Blood/Dawn of Hope)
• Toxic Deluge/Fire Covenant/Darksteel Mutation/Vandalblast/Grasp of Fate/Fiery Confluence(/Austere Command/Crush Contraband/Forsake the Worldly) - these are really good removals
• All the Moxes like Mox Opal, Mox Diamond etc.
• Lotus Petal, Rite of Flame to play your commanders on Turn 2
• Play some of the good 2 mana rocks like Orzhov Signet or Talisman of Conviction
• Land Tax & Wayfarer's Bauble (if you run enough basic lands, like now)
• Smothering Tithe - THE white staple and especially good with Wheel effects
• Imperial Recruiter, Recruiter of the Guard, Gamble or Diabolic Intent
• Play Stax to keep your opponents in check! Rest in Peace, Aura of Silence, Trinisphere, Cursed Totem, Hushbringer/Torpor Orb & Stranglehold

multimedia on Nicol Bolas, Deck of Nightmares

3 months ago

Hey, I agree Nicol Bolas can be devastating repeatable discard in multiplayer Commander. It's a more powerful Grixis Commander then Crosis.

No matter the Commander choice here's some budget cards $2 or less each to consider adding. Several of these suggestions are in the maybeboard. When you're playing a high CMC Commander then more low CMC ramp helps.

• Talisman of Creativity
• Dark Ritual
• Izzet Signet
• Rakdos Signet

Crosis has flying and most Specters also have flying which makes Dragon Tempest a two drop haste enabler for the majority of your creatures. Consider cutting the other Dragons and high CMC creatures for more Specters or creature that can give you more value?

• Thief of Sanity: amazing in multiplayer Commander since you have more opponents to steal cards from.
• Kess, Dissident Mage: get more value out of draw spells and discard spells, she's a very good Grixis flying creature.
• Sedraxis Specter
• Needle Specter
• Blizzard Specter
• Scythe Specter
• Fell Specter

Whispering Madness is a wheel and it can be repeatable with cipher which can be powerful with flying creatures. Read the Bones, Painful Truths, Brainstorm are mana efficient draw spells. In multiplayer Commander the versatility of Mirrormade is great, especially on a budget. With all the discard from multiple opponents The Eldest Reborn can do a lot and have many targets to choose from to reanimate.

Mask of Memory and Mask of Riddles is low CMC equipment that can be repeatable draw with flying creatures. Sunken Hollow, Dragonskull Summit, Grixis Panorama, Ash Barrens are lands to consider adding.

Cards to consider cutting:

• Hideous Visage
• Slate Street Ruffian
• Fill with Fright
• Traveler's Amulet
• Phantasmal Dragon
• Territorial Hellkite
• Boltwing Marauder
• Hypersonic Dragon
• Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury
• Arcanis the Omnipotent
• Moltensteel Dragon
• Tyrant's Familiar
• Gruesome Deformity
• Fear
• Foresee
• Ambition's Cost
• Mind Rot

Good luck with your deck.