Palantir of Orthanc

Legendary Artifact

At the beginning of your end step, put an influence counter on Palantir of Orthanc and scry 2. Then, target opponent may have you draw a card. If that player doesn't, you mill X cards, where X is the number of influence counters on Palantir of Orthanc. That player loses life equal to the total converted mana cost/mana value of cards milled this way. (To mill a card, put the top card of your library into your graveyard.)

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	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
Freeform	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (15)

RufusTheGrufus on Anikthea's Enchanting Recycling Plant [Primer]

1 month ago

Hey, Idoneity, fair enough and grain of salt taken; I'm just happy for the engagement and thought exercise(s)!

I think you and I have fairly similar deckbuilding philosophies; and for that reason I think I'd agree that Fertile Ground is definitely not optimal, it is sweet Anikthea tech though. And I think we’d both also agree that it's also not just stand alone card value, but also deck synergy that factors into deckbuilding choices; especially for EDH.

Between Ajani's Chosen and Archon of Sun's Grace, I'd definitely agree that the archon is stronger. But, it seems like I value these cards much higher than you for this specific deck/build. Oftentimes I see Ajani's Chosen and Archon of Sun's Grace almost like backup/adjacent commanders to Anikthea. They're additional token generators that reward me for playing into the themes of the build, and offer an avenue to close out games either after my graveyard is wiped and/or before I get good targets in my graveyard for Anikthea's ability. They can and will get out of hand without Anikthea needing to be played, and can force opponents to need removal before I even utilize my commander; which can then be followed up by falling right back into the main gameplan with Anikthea. Sure, by themselves and without the context of the decklist, they aren't going to be doing much; but when they offer additional value for a majority of the plays being made with this list, I think they become a lot stronger of effects/includes.

I have similar opinions regarding Mirkwood Bats, Grim Guardian, and Bastion of Remembrance. Outside of pure game-ending combo packages, and B4+ decklists, I typically consider cards that I categorize as ‘Finishers’ as the cards that will win the game if you have already gotten your gameplan going. They're not cards that are supposed to end the game just by themselves, in my opinion, but more-so win the game once I’m already doing a lot, by capitalizing off of my deckbuilding choices. To that end, I would argue that adding the drain/ping effects like Mirkwood Bats and Grim Guardian are actually raising the power cap, relative to a more alpha strike-based gameplan, especially since they ping when my enchantment tokens ETB; which is why I started to transition them into the list. Unfortunately Bastion of Remembrance is probably the weakest option since it triggers off creatures dying. But the fact that it's an enchantment, that also provides a token body on the side, has kept it in the list up till now. Ideally I'd have a much bigger suite of on-theme ETB drain effects; I'm just waiting for them to be printed! I'm trying to maximize the value I can get from the tokens produced by Anikthea ASAP; especially since exiling your own enchantments to make token copies is a fragile strategy. The pinger effects guarantee some sort of payoff that's headed towards winning the game without having to worry about attacks.

Palantir of Orthanc... I know I should cut it for something more on-theme, I do love this card though lol… If I were to cut it, I'd want to replace it with another piece of card advantage; this deck can be really resource hungry. Similar thoughts for Mindwrack Harpy: I'd want to replace it with a different piece of on-theme card advantage if anything. I actually really like Mindwrack Harpy and sure, relative to something like Rhystic StudyGC or Esper Sentinel it's lower power; but it also puts in consistent work, especially in B3. I particularly like it because it typically offers card advantage during the same turn that it's played, and in my local meta having creatures with flying to block has been invaluable. I'm also a bit biased because I very rarely have had to worry about Mindwrack Harpy giving my playgroup card advantage as well, because up until recently I've primarily been the only one capitalizing off of my graveyard; and there is a good number of decks in my playgroup that care about topdeck manipulation so milling everyone has been almost all upside for me (we will see what the future holds since graveyard synergies are starting to become more common in my meta). In my experience Mindwrack Harpy has also gotten a disproportionate amount of removal thrown at it in my playgroup, so it also acts as a lightning rod to draw removal away from key pieces.

I think I'm going to hold off on adding Familiar Ground to the formal decklist right this second, but I am going to swap it in for Flowering of the White Tree and do a bunch of playtesting in the meantime! Thank you again for taking the time and energy to check out the decklist and offer your insight, I appreciate it!

Idoneity on Anikthea's Enchanting Recycling Plant [Primer]

1 month ago

RufusTheGrufus — Commander being a subjective format, we naturally approach the game differently. As such, you have inclusions I wouldn't prioritize, and likely vise versa if I were to construct this thing. It's always tedious to suggest cuts, but I can offer suggestions with that in mind.

My general philosophy in commander deck-building is that every card must do something individually significant without relying on other pieces, including the commander, to be relevant.

Following that line of thought, Ajani's Chosen is a rather small body that can swarm the board, but four mana is a lot to invest in something that doesn't want to attack or block. Archon of Sun's Grace is a far stronger stat line, but is excluded through personal preference.

Funnily enough, pretty much everything in the "Finishers" category is outside my playstyle as well. Particuluarly Bastion of Remembrance, Mirkwood Bats, and Grim Guardian seem to need a lot to get going. However, I know you want the deck to have a power cap.

The anthems are interesting, however plain unblockability to end the game might just be better. I'd only include it because I think the card is neat; it's probably not optimal either way.

For some other stray shots: Mindwrack Harpy is a little low power and Palantir of Orthanc isn't an enchantment, but you seem to like that one a fair amount. Definitely play what you like.

I don't know of this helps. Either way, I implore you to take these with grains of salt.

RufusTheGrufus on Anikthea's Enchanting Recycling Plant [Primer]

1 month ago

Idoneity, hi, thank you! I appreciate your suggestions and that you checked out the list!

Ripples of Undeath is great! It’s been in most of the different builds of Anikthea that I’ve tinkered with and is arguably just better Cemetery Tampering; I’ve wanted to slot it back into this list for a bit now. I think my main card advantage flex spots that I’d consider swapping would be: Palantir of Orthanc (even though I love this card), Commune with the Gods (flavor win), and Grisly Salvage (instant speed goodness). But, these cards are all in this list over Ripples of Undeath primarily because they offer card advantage immediately, rather than having to wait until the beginning of my next precombat mainphase... This deck’s gameplans are already inherently fragile and easily interacted with, so I wanted to reduce the number of plays that could end up just doing nothing; such as Ripples of Undeath getting blown up before I get any card advantage out of it (which had happened multiple times!). Interestingly enough, Cemetery Tampering has taken way less heat and oftentimes only gets removed when an enchantment-inclusive boardwipe gets used; so it ended up making the cut over Ripples of Undeath. That being said, I’m thinking it may just be time to swap out Cemetery Tampering for Ripples of Undeath because the flexibility of grabbing any non-enchantments milled is pretty invaluable for this deck.

Somehow I don’t think I’ve considered Overlord of the Balemurk for this build yet! It’s definitely an interesting option, but I do have some mixed feelings; primarily because I’m assuming that most of the time It’ll either be a reanimation target for Anikthea, or get cast for it’s Impending 5 cost which I’m not super jazzed about (because it takes forever to come online, only mills 4 once in the meantime, and recurs creatures to hand rather than the battlefield). Similar to Ripples of Undeath, my potential swap candidates would be listed above. I think I’m going to have to just rip off the bandaid and remove the flavor option in Commune with the Gods; at least for now because I think you’re on to something, and I want to playtest with Overlord of the Balemurk!

Spelunking is a fun option, I just don’t think it’s the right fit for this build of Anikthea though. Sure, it replaces itself when cast or nets a card if reanimated, but that’s kinda where it falls off for this build. I’m only running 6 lands that have to ETB tapped, so the last ability is not as helpful as it could be. To be fair, I’m able to play with whatever lands I want since my playgroup proxies, and I think Spelunking would feel much more synergistic and strong in a deck with more tapped lands (especially MDFC lands, which I’ve been lazy about finding space for). Any further synergy Spelunking has with the rest of the deck is solely based on the fact that it’s an enchantment, so I would primarily be looking critically at the main effect it provides (card advantage) relative to similar cards in my list for potential cards to swap it with; and ultimately I think I’d much rather swap in either Ripples of Undeath or Overlord of the Balemurk first!

Regardless, thank you again for your time and suggestions, I’m always happy to have new cards to mull over and consider for this deck!

Optimator on

4 months ago

Palantir of Orthanc is some of the best card draw you can run

Coercive Portal might be good. you won't have too many utility artifacts and enchantments. Still, the ones you have are fantastic. Would still hurt your opponents

Optimator on Kill The Poor

7 months ago

Promise of Loyalty

Ruinous Ultimatum

Baron Bertram Graywater

Demand Answers

Palantir of Orthanc

Kellogg, Dangerous Mind

Kulrath Knight

Bedevil

Stroke of Midnight

Anguished Unmaking

Take the Bait

Fracture

Despark

Get Lost

Soul Shatter

Baleful Mastery

xraider on Eldrazi babyyy

8 months ago

Here, specially for my apprentice, some spicy additions.

And remember—every time I kick your ass, you grow stronger. Feel your hate. Embrace your anger. Let it fuel your power, and you will become an Eldrazi yourself. Then, finally, you’ll crush everyone… including me.

Mana & Card Advantage

Mind's Eye – Passive card draw each turn.

Palantir of Orthanc – Repeatable value, politics or pressure.

Conduit of Ruin – Ramp and tutor for your Eldrazi.

Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter – Flash outlet for colorless spells + grows over time.

Equipment & Support

Whispersilk Cloak – Grants shroud and unblockable: perfect for protecting key creatures.

Massive Eldrazi Threats

It That Heralds the End

Kozilek, Butcher of Truth

Kozilek, the Broken Reality

Pathrazer of Ulamog

Ulamog, the Defiler

Breaker of Creation

Spells & Utility

Null Elemental Blast

Finishers & Protection

Akroma's Memorial – Grants an army of buffs to all creatures.

Ugin, the Spirit Dragon – Board control, removal, and a win-con.

Valengeta on Goyf Gulch (Primer)

1 year ago

-nothing- it sure is! I didn't know the card and makes perfect sense here. Although I really like Palantir of Orthanc and it fits very well in the deck, Survival is very very strong and worth the switch. Thank you!

enrico81 on Eldrazi

1 year ago

Hi JeskaiMaster01, very nice deck! I have done something similar. I included Palantir of Orthanc, Collector's Vault and The Immortal Sun to increase the draw sources. What do you think about it?