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Profane Tutor
Sorcery
Suspend 2— (Rather than cast this card from your hand, pay and exile this with two time counters. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, cast this without paying this card's mana cost.)
Search your library for a card, put that card into your hand, then shuffle your library.
wallisface on Heartless Legendaries
2 months ago
Some thoughts (a bunch of these boil down to you needing a plan B for when you’re missing Heartless Summoning):
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Without Heartless Summoning you can’t really play the game. That’s a problem as you’ll be mulling down to 4 cards 22% of the time trying to find it (and even on that 22% mull to 4, you may not have found it - you’ll be continuing to mull down to 3 13% of the time, and down to 2 8%).
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You can’t rely on Profane Tutor to act as additional copies of Heartless Summoning… trying to use Tutor to that effect means you’re not doing anything that impacts the board until turn 5 (aside from a single relevant turn-3 play) - and the game’ll most-certainly be over by then.
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Even if you cast Heartless Summoning, it’s very trivially for an opponent to remove with Prismatic Ending, Haywire Mite, Leyline Binding, countermagic etc… and then you’re back to doing nothing.
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Even with Heartless Summoning in play, your mana curve reads too high. Modern decks typically can’t justify more than 3-4 cards costing 4 mana, and play nothing above this cost - factoring in the cost reduction of Heartless Summoning, you’ve still got 8 cards in this range, which is far too many. Having soo many cards costing 5 (so, 3 with a Heartless Summoning in play) is also going to make your turns really slow/clumsy.
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Even if you can play Heartless Summoning, you’ve done nothing to impact the board for 2 turns - and letting your opponent effectively have 2 free turns before you start doing anything impactive is a really, really dangerous place to be (normally even giving your opponent one free turn is a really bad idea). Imo you need more early-game interaction, stuff like Fatal Push and Thoughtseize.
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I have no idea why Sword of Light and Shadow is here - it does nothing for you.
capwner on "Master of Cruelties" - Budget but Strong?
3 months ago
As an x/4 in a no fury meta I think this card could potentially be good. The deck really wants Ragavan but yeah that's not very budget. Bowmasters too.
About 'understanding what to replace,' the way I think of it is, you know there are always more potential good cards than you can actually run in any deck, usually there are multiple good ways to build a deck. Every card should play into your synergy, except for sideboard cards which can attack something very specifically. And every card should be the best possible option for its slot (most versatility, most synergies with your other cards, most favorable in specific interactions vs. specific cards). Example, this is why I love Apostle's Blessing in here, it's versatile because it protects and evades, and these are both things your deck REALLY needs. And it's a cheap instant. Great card.
But now look at Goblin Tunneler, I see a card that is part of the gameplan, but it's also an x/1 non hasty creature and a 2 drop. This is going to fall short a lot of the time. Maybe a card like Wedding Invitation or Key to the City could be better in this slot. Generator Servant is great for the haste but it has the same weakness. Splitting that with artifact ramp like you did is good, maybe consider options like Pentad Prism but go with what you think plays the best. Molten Collapse is a strictly better Dreadbore and not expensive. Sunken Citadel might be a good land to combo with Rogue's Passage, maybe then Field of Ruin instead of Ghost Quarter? And Graven Cairns? On the lands topic I really like the idea posted above of adding Leechridden Swamp but you do need the fetches to really make it work.
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death has a nice effect but doesn't really synergize with anything besides bringing your Master back, which it can't even do vs. LB and Solitude. Maybe adding cards that combo with her like Fulminator Mage or Augur of Skulls could make her better. Lightning Greaves also makes her and a lot of your other creatures better too, this is a card I'd consider for a 1 or 2 of. But without adding more support, you might consider cutting Alesha and adding something along another angle.
I like Brainspoil, the tutor is nice because finding the Master is definitely a bottlneck in the deck. Grim Tutor is an option but a bit more expensive, Profane Tutor is affordable but has some problems. Having at least one other tutorable 5 drop would make your BS a lot better. 1 of Glarewielder would be kind of cute.
Hand disruption is another angle you might consider, it's really good for a slightly slower combo deck like this to nullify your opponent's big early plays and buy you a couple extra turns to combo them out. Collective Brutality is a pretty decent flexible card that also finishes your opponent.
In the end I think tuning your list and making cuts is about trying to make as many of these meaningful synergy connections between different cards as possible, getting the right amount of each type of effect you want (3 vs 4 of a specific effect like Dreadbore matters a lot vs some decks!), and then you cut either your lowest synergy cards, or effects you think you could safely go down a count on. Usually you want 6-8 ways of getting your key card in action, or 6+ of each combo piece/synergy if it involves multiple cards, and in a perfect world you want 4+ post board copies of HATE for particular meta decks, like 4 Leyline of the Void vs. Living End, or 8 killspells that can kill a Primeval Titan or Sheoldred. Your board cards should address aspects of other decks that really threaten you, no need to run those Leylines if you already beat that deck most of the time. It often comes down to having the right reactive cards, so you want good numbers of the ones you'll need the most.
Sorry for the whole ass book! It seemed like you wanted the help and I liked the concept/got into it a bit once I started looking. I think there's a lot of work and playtesting you could do to really optimize this, and maybe it could end up being pretty good+still affordable!
wallisface on
4 months ago
Some thoughts:
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don’t include either of those sideboard cards into your deck, they’re bad.
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Profane Tutor is much better than both Grim Tutor and Diabolic Tutor. I’d just run the Profane Tutor and ditch both of these other tutors entirely in favour of more early game interaction (killspells).
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your land count of 28 seems good, especially as Cabal Coffers ”isn’t a land” and won’t be helping you at-all until you have 3 other lands in play anyway. However, you could replace some swamps with Troll of Khazad-dum, as they can act both as land-fetches early game, and large creatures late game.
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if you’re planning on making big mana, Tainted Adversary is going to be a lot more useful than Gifted Aetherborn.
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you never want to be paying more than 2 mana for a killspell. In that vein i’d recommend either Infernal Grasp, Bloodchief's Thirst, or Sheoldred's Edict instead of Murder.
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I don’t think Hypnotic Specter is very useful - a lot of decks will already be empty handed by their own play-patterns before this thing swings. I’d swap it for one of the before-mentioned killspells (or Damnation),… if you really want a creature, maybe something like Tourach, Dread Cantor.
I think the biggest hurdle to this deck is that while you’re probably going to be able to play a land every turn, that’s still pretty slow ramp-wise, so you should be investing a lot more resources into ensuring you can slow the game down in those early turns (by killing your opponents threats) so that you can reliably do stuff with your big spells in the late game.
ShadowAblaze on Sliver Storm
8 months ago
Hello! Not sure if you still work with this deck or have been checking out the newest slivers, but I have other cards to throw out there for consideration.
Realmwalker - Gives knowledge and lets you cast about half your deck from the top.
Nameless Inversion - This is decent removal that still cascades as it is similar to Crib Swap. Just an idea if you wanted more of those... You could cascade right before your turn for the pseudo power nine (or cards below) to make your next turn more explosive than anyone might have expected.
Free Spells:
- Profane Tutor Tutor?
- Sol Talisman Sol Ring?
- Wheel of Fate I think this is the most interesting, it allows you to fill your graveyard and get a new hand. There is enough recursion that this could be a game-winner with the Dregscape Sliver or other schemes.
DMFF on Aristocrats Who Drink Soul Tea
8 months ago
Diabolic Intent and Profane Tutor were both tested in this build. kmall3170 found that she likes having the option to not rely on being forced into sacrificing and she also finds Profane to be too slow. There are moments that you need to use Grim Tutor to tutor for answers in tight situations where your field is empty, so she ultimately settld on Grim. I do appreciate the suggestion though!
fluffyeel on Sen Triplets - Esper Control (Seeking Help)
9 months ago
I would joke about "how can it be a Stax deck without Smokestack", but that's separate, and instead I'll offer up some possibly evil advice:
- Teferi's Puzzle Box or any wheel effect (like Echo of Eons) is obnoxious with Narset, Parter of Veils or Notion Thief. You could also go for Alms Collector for extra obnoxiousness.
- Raffine's Tower is a fetchable tri-land, so highly recommended. Not sure what your budget is, but other handy lands include Reflecting Pool, Field of the Dead (if you can swap out some lands for snow lands), Mana Confluence, Temple of the False God, the Fetches on-color (or even Prismatic Vista or Fabled Passage if you're basic-heavy). If you're basic heavy, maybe go for Back to Basics if you know there are lots of non-basic lands running around...
- In terms of Teferi's Protection comboing, why not Sunder?
- For removal, I highly recommend Vindicate and Anguished Unmaking. Elspeth Conquers Death is pinpoint plus reanimation, which can be handy. Cyclonic Rift is really quite pricey (surprisingly), but an excellent nuke.
- As for stealing opponents' things, I can suggest Commandeer, Desertion, Gonti, Lord of Luxury, Telemin Performance... you could also use things like Silent-Blade Oni, Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni, and Fallen Shinobi for extra stealing fun, but given that they're Ninjas, they don't work as well without a dedicated Ninja strategy.
- Thalia, Heretic Cathar is another fun "Stax" card, as is Authority of the Consuls.
- Tutors are awesome (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Profane Tutor, Lim-Dul's Vault...), but not sure which ones you have ready access to. I also recommend Expedition Map to help get more lands.
- For some card draw, Teferi, Time Raveler, Sphinx's Revelation, and Fact or Fiction might be worth considering.
Balvron on Green/Black toxic/proliferate need recommendations
10 months ago
Also i pulled some cards that were interesting to me atleast
Exotic Orchard Verdant Command Profane Tutor Graceful Restoration Timeless Witness Ignoble Hierarch Echoing Return Clattering Augur Flourishing Strike
Break the Ice this one seemed really useful to me
Azoth2099 on Green/Black toxic/proliferate need recommendations
10 months ago
Balvron Thanks, man! Happy to help, really.
So the core of the / presence in the deck should be devoted to Dorks, Ramp and Tutors so that you can quickly get the deck engine up and running. Getting your commander on the field and geared up as quickly as possible is everything in this new context. Some cheaper options for Tutors are Diabolic Tutor, Profane Tutor, Mastermind's Acquisition and Increasing Ambition. I'd really recommend just biting the bullet and slotting in the more efficient ones like Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Diabolic Intent & Wishclaw Talisman though. Cheaper card draw options like Phyrexian Arena & Dark Tutelage are also pretty solid. Necropotence, Black Market Connections & Dark Confidant are up there, but worth it.
The only thing you need for is for card draw and interaction, with a few key Proliferate pieces that you'll be able to Tutor for when the time is right. Spells like Brainstorm, Ponder, Tolarian Winds, Impulse, Preordain & Serum Visions provide decent gas for cheap. Classics like Counterspell, Delay, Negate, & Dispel protect your game plan. Flux Channeler & Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus are probably the only Proliferate pieces you'll need, but I'd Throw a Serum Snare in there too. Mystical Tutor, Rhystic Study & Mystic Remora are always nice to have as well.
The few things you'll need for here is to Tutor up gear for your Commander with cards like Enlightened Tutor, Idyllic Tutor, Steelshaper's Gift & Open the Armory, and occasionally control the board with Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile. I'd also recommend some Stax pieces like Silence, Grand Abolisher, Smothering Tithe, Esper Sentinel, Archivist of Oghma & Drannith Magistrate for good measure, & some more Commander protection with Mother of Runes & Giver of Runes.
Some good pieces of gear to retrieve slap on could be Swiftfoot Boots, Mask of Memory, Conqueror's Flail, Bone Sabres & Mask of the Schemer, for example.
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