Phyrexian Scriptures

Enchantment — Saga

(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)

— Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature. That creature becomes an artifact in addition to its other types.

— Destroy all nonartifact creatures.

— Exile all cards from all opponents' graveyards.

Discussion (51)

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

ToastedBagl on Infect

2 months ago

Phyrexian Scriptures is good if you lose control of the game.

griffstick on Exploring creativity.

2 months ago

Wait for the board to fill then play Vicious Shadows and then play Blasphemous Act. I love that combo.

Wait for the board to fill then play Phyrexian Scriptures. Next turn play Thrilling Encore.

I love commanders that give you free range to build a deck to however you decide to create it. A good example of this is Queen Marchesa. I built a Queen Marchesa deck with a bunch of deathtouch creatures other dangerous creatures like Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker Ophiomancer and High Priest of Penance. To create a unique pillowfort. Why this kind of pillowfort you ask? Because it's also a planswalker deck with 12 walkers. But that's not all. I also have a plethora of card combos like Protector of the Crown and Shielded by Faith and all the above board wipe combos. And the board wipe combos act like win conditions too.

This is why Queen Marchesa is good. But she gives the monarch. Thats what makes her great. And she has deathtouch and when you dont have the monarch you get deathtouch Assassins that die to Skullclamp or act as good blockers for planswalkers. Creatures with deathtouch work great with Thornbite Staff, Viridian Longbow and Chandra's Ignition. Giving you simple control.

---

With all that being said. Are their other commanders that you have built around? That has a deck design that seems to be unique? An example of this would be rashmi, eternitites crafter. Rashmi creates no direction to build a deck. A bad example would be Lathliss, Dragon Queen. Clearly you need a dragon tribal. So Lathliss, Dragon Queen gives you a direction to build.

---

So everyone please share your thoughts and explain what commanders you believe are good for this and share what you did to make it unique.

Seventy7INa45 on Affinity for EDH - Marchesa the Black Rose

5 months ago

Last_Laugh - Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate you taking the time to offer suggestions.

Spark Double and Diabolic Intent are solid suggestions, I will find room to include those, thank you!

Metallic Mimic was something I thought about including, because at face value it seems like it would interact well with Marchesa. Problem is, the most common creature type I have is construct, and that’s less than 1/3 of my overall creature count. I could see it being very good situationally (i.e. I have a few constructs in my hand, or a way to get them) but I saw it sitting on the board not doing much otherwise.

Ashnod's Altar is good overall; I use it in a lot of my other decks. I went with Ironworks since most of my creatures are artifacts anyway. Probably worth including both to be more consistent, also might be worth looking at Phyrexian Altar as well.

Sage of Fables seems good for instant Marchesa protection. I currently just have Guildmages' Forum and Forge of Heroes as instant +1/+1 counters for Marchesa, so I'll take a look at finding room for another if I find I consistently need it.

Flayer, Sage, and Altar seems like a cute combo to use to end the game, and powerful, but also doesn’t fit with the artifact based Marchesa deck I was going for. Stacking modular counters is a sub goal of the deck, and I can’t put counters on Flayer or Sage without something like Phyrexian Scriptures or Mycosynth Lattice . Same with Vindictive Lich

SynergyBuild on Mono black aggro DONE OUR WAY

6 months ago

Devotion requires a separate build, and would prolly need a commander that supports it like Erebos.

Otherwise I think I can build up a few pieces.

The main goal is to ramp, then drop a lock on the field with a wincon in SKittles. The issue is while Skittles is fast, it really needs a +1/+1 counter or a sword on it to get a whole turn faster at killing anyone.

I think Phyrexian Scriptures is perhaps worth it, since it lets us get that counter, is mass removal that saves our commander, AND it is mass exile, all for the price of Damnation , but I just dislike Damnation since it doesn't allow regeneration for our commander.

I am testing a bunch of cards like this.

Martinssn on

6 months ago

Revel in Riches Phyrexian Scriptures The Eldest Reborn Treasure Keeper Cranial Plating

Apothesis on Yawg Daddy **PRIMER** [Heavily Play Tested]

10 months ago

The following cards are on the chopping block.

Archfiend of Ifnir
Grave Titan
Phyrexian Scriptures
Ogre Slumlord

Will be replacing with

Gravecrawler or Razaketh, the Foulblooded
Vilis, Broker of Blood
Scheming Symmetry
Phyrexian Delver

Apothesis on Yawg Daddy **PRIMER** [Heavily Play Tested]

10 months ago

The following cards are on the chopping block.

Archfiend of Ifnir
Grave Titan
Phyrexian Scriptures

Will be replacing with
Gravecrawler or Razaketh, the Foulblooded
Vilis, Broker of Blood
Scheming Symmetry