Reflector Mage

Creature — Human Wizard

When Reflector Mage enters the battlefield, return target creature an opponent controls to its owner's hand. That creature's owner can't cast spells with the same name as that creature until your next turn.

Discussion (51)

wallisface on The New Most Competitive Modern Deck--Dryads

3 days ago

Omniscience_is_life, some examples of how the 5 modern-playable tribes operate, to give you an idea of what you’re up against:

• Humans have creatures that grow very bog very quickly in both Champion of the Parish and Thalia's Lieutenant . Almost every other human is then actively ruining the opponent ability to play (i.e. Meddling Mage , Kitesail Freebooter , Reflector Mage ), or providing backup damage (i.e. Mantis Rider )

• Spirits function down a similar line to humans, except with everything in the air, and lots more lords. They buff with the likes of Drogskol Captain and Selfless Spirit , and disrupt with the likes of Skyclave Apparition , Spell Queller and Mausoleum Wanderer . They even have built in protection in the form of Rattlechains and Selfless Spirit .

• Goblins are a hyper aggressive deck aiming to win by comboing off, or besting you down. Their combo pieces are Conspicuous Snoop and Boggart Harbinger (putting Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker on top then Sling-Gang Lieutenant to win). They can easily assemble their pieces with the likes of Goblin Matron and Goblin Ringleader . They also have a lot of aggressive go-wide threats to try winning without the combo.

• Merfolk are less interactive than the 3 above decks, and because of that, generally weaker. Almost everything they run is a lord and/or grants islandwalk ( Lord of Atlantis , Master of the Pearl Trident etc), and they aim to simply race the opponent by swinging in with lots of 5/5 unblockable merfolk thanks to the likes of Spreading Seas . They basically aim to race the game, so their interaction is just to mess with their opponent, like Merfolk Trickster , Harbinger of the Tides etc.

• Elves are a straightforward deck. They makes a butt-load of elves, generate waaay too much mana, and then win the game through Ezuri, Renegade Leader , Shaman of the Pack , and Elvish Warmaster .

The above decks can all win their games by turn 4 or 5, most of them giving the opponent constant grief while doing so.

As a further example, Slivers are not a modern-viable tribe, because just throwing creatures down on the board and hoping for the best doesn’t cut it in the modern environment.

I think you need to consider what you’re actually getting out of Dryads, and whether you want this to be a competitive deck, or a casual/meme deck.

ririve on Roon of the Hidden Realm Primer

5 days ago

Bloodzy, I should add these into my explanation, haven't done that yet since the rules change. Voidslime and Disallow don't get tutored up by Spellseeker , which is a big deal in my opinion, but they are pretty good cards on their own. You could add a Mystical Tutor or to get them more reliably but that ruins the surprise and blowout potential, but it's still reasonable and the tutor can also be used to get other cards. Sundial of the Infinite , however, does not really do anything on its own and would just be there for permanent removal, which also only works on your turn.

The problem I personally find with this effect is threefold (in decreasing order of importance):

1. I run enough removal (that is also reusable because of Roon) to be competitive in the format I play in and we are fast enough that Reflector Mage often achieves the same effect, the game will simply be over by the time they get to use their commander again.

2. I prefer advancing my own position over trying to screw with someone else (unless they are about to end the game), because I have a very instant finisher in my combo. Slowing down one opponent (or blowing them out, likely making the spend the rest of the game trying to screw with me) is in my opinion weaker than advancing my own position.
3. I play in an established playgroup where we basically play with open decklists. Not that it can't still be effective, but it lacks the blowout because my opponents will likely keep it in mind.

TL;DR: I personally wouldn't play them because I don't think they are optimal in my current playgroup, but I don't dislike Disallow or Voidslime . I don't like Sundial of the Infinite . If you want to run more of these effects I would instead reccomend Trickbind , which can't be countered, or Tale's End , which is also just a 2 mana commander-counter. Like the other two counterspells, they are more flexible than Sundial outside of the combo with Roon, but they are also tutorable with Spellseeker .

P.S. sorry for the delayed reply, I don't check my tappedout regularly.

Mcat1999 on Please help save this game

3 weeks ago

Yes. EDH is MTG's single largest format and Mark Rosewater has even said that he wished he could remove or dissolve the Rules Committee, as they are not employees of WOTC, rather some 3rd party Judges and managers.

Standard, one might assume, is MTG's next largest format. Apparently that title is held for Draft, which makes sense. Logistically, entering a Standard competition is difficult, costly (competitive decks rotating in and out) and difficult with schedules. However Draft is as simple as buying a few packs or a box and going at it with your friends. We use to play at Steak and Shake. We'd get off work, hit up our Walmart and go eat at Steak and Shake or Ihop. We'd crack packs, build crappy decks and go have some fun.

Standard isn't a dying format by any metric. However, in terms of profitability, Standard isn't where the moneys at. So yes, it makes economic sense to cater to the strongest (financial) formats as to attract the most buyers.

So yes, chase rares and mythics (and even uncommons and occasionally commons) are made for each set for these two format archetypes.

And yes, some colors get far more love and appreciation than others. I recall over the past year or so seemingly every single mono-black Legendary creature was given explosive praise by the YouTube community, to the point influencers would start off videos with "Yeah, it's another black creature..."

Not that many of them have actually panned out the way they were hyped up to be. Honestly most of that hype was just for easy clicks.

If you look up Standard banning history, we find something very interesting. Here's a breakdown of Standard's bannings since 2017 when the Banhammer really began hitting hard.

2017

• January - Emrakul, the Promised End , Smuggler's Copter and Reflector Mage

• April - Felidar Guardian

• June - Aetherworks Marvel

2018

• January - Attune with Aether , Rogue Refiner , Ramunap Ruins and Rampaging Ferocidon

2019

• February (Arena) - Nexus of Fate

• October - Field of the Dead

• November - Oko, Thief of Crowns , Once Upon a Time and Veil of Summer

2020

• June - Agent of Treachery and Fires of Invention

• August - Cauldron Familiar , Growth Spiral , Teferi, Time Raveler and Wilderness Reclamation

• September - Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath

• October - Omnath, Locus of Creation , Lucky Clover , and Escape to the Wilds

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It's actually quite interesting that has 36.67% of all bannings in Standard and has 33.33%.

Combined into Simic or +, there are 5 total cards. Thereby making Simic+ the most "Powerful" broken color combination.

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Standard Bannings since 2017

Unformat* Mcat1999

3 VIEWS

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Information on ban lists: https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Banned_and_restricted_cards/Timeline

LeaPlath on -Deleting-

4 months ago

Angel of Invention can be a 4/3 flying vigilant lifelinker who buffs everything. Or a 2/1 flying vigilant lifelinker who brings along a 2/2 and a 2/2 for a total of 6 points of power. You can play both easily.

If you go for Prime Speaker Vannifar you untap with them. Play any 2 drop for ETB. Sacrifice it to Vannifar to get Krasis. Krasis untaps Vannifar and you tap Vannifar again sacrificing Krasis. Krasis gets Hippo and Hippo untaps Vannifar. You sac hippo to Vanifar and get a 5 drop.

Giving people control of stuff is not a thing that happens in competative magic at all really so it isnt an actual concern. It is worth having some removal as creatures tho. Reflector Mage is a solid target as it gives you a lot of tempo.

If you care about combo decks you want some GY hate, Eidolon of Rhetoric?and Archon of Emeria as a searchable 1 of. And maybe Tomik/Kurnoros as 1 ofs or out the sideboard.

Why do you think Inverter being given to you is an issue? For one its banned. Secondly it being donated doesnt do anything.

HELLcaster19 on Bra-let's-go

5 months ago

pretendingtoalright

I like the decks theme of tokens and the life gain sub-theme. In terms of protection and removal, I would point you to my own Brago deck.

Controlled Flickers

He is more of a control deck (or at least, tries to be) until I can get my little engines online to go for the combo win.

Venser, Shaper Savant, Man-o'-War and Exclusion Mage and some neat creatures that work like the Reflector Mage that you already run. Venser can also be used to bounce any other permanent, which includes lands, if you want to be that guy!

Venser is also a beautiful addition, as it can also put spells back into players hands when it enters. This allows you to stop the uncounterable spells, along with Narset's Reversal.

I hope there are some cards in my list that you may consider adding to your own for more protection. You have a couple in your list that I will be considering for mine. +1 for another fellow Brago player!!

Nemesis on Cube additions

6 months ago

White

Thraben Inspector

Adanto Vanguard

Tithe Taker

Brightling

Flickerwisp

Hallowed Spiritkeeper

Emeria Angel

Archangel Avacyn  ^Flip

Gideon Blackblade

Condemn

Council's Judgment

Legion's Landing  ^Flip

Eldrazi Displacer

Giver of Runes

Mother of Runes

Kytheon, Hero of Akros  ^Flip

Hidden Dragonslayer

Skymarcher Aspirant

Weathered Wayfarer

Soltari Foot Soldier

Blue

Looter il-Kor

Invisible Stalker

Gush

Mystic Confluence

Repeal

Chart a Course

Spellseeker

Torrential Gearhulk

Glen Elendra Archmage

Pestermite

black

Putrid Imp

Heartless Act

Languish

Gifted Aetherborn

Raven's Crime

Blood Artist

Zulaport Cutthroat

Red

Dire Fleet Daredevil

Runaway Steam-Kin

Goblin Rabblemaster

Imperial Recruiter

Terror of the Peaks

Fiery Confluence

Splinter Twin

Kari Zev, Skyship Raider

Flame Slash

Feldon of the Third Path

Legion Warboss

Abrade

Pyretic Ritual

Seething Song

Firebolt

Firedrinker Satyr

Robber of the Rich

Ilharg, the Raze-Boar

Arc Trail

Arc Lightning

Storm's Wrath

Green

Gilded Goose

Den Protector

Ramunap Excavator

Biogenic Ooze

Nature's Claim

Rishkar, Peema Renegade

Selvala, Heart of the Wilds

Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma

Thrashing Brontodon

Pelt Collector

Manglehorn

multicolor

Fractured Identity

The Scarab God

Knight of Autumn

Knight of the Reliquary

Trostani Discordant

Dragonlord Ojutai

Hostage Taker

Stormchaser Mage

Kaya's Wrath

Expansion / Explosion

Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice

Reflector Mage

Shadowmage Infiltrator

colorless

Shrine of Burning Rage

Stonecoil Serpent

Meekstone

Chrome Mox

Lightning Greaves

TarimodV on Pioneering Bant Blink

10 months ago

Thanks for the up vote JeppeFugl. I’m working on incorporating Zirda, the Dawnwaker into the sideboard now, to take advantage of the Companion mechanic. Bad part is that the deck building restriction regulates Reflector Mage into the sideboard too.

pugzly101 on Brago Flicker Nonsense

10 months ago

Thanks for the comment HELLcaster19.

As far as the auras are considered, this is rules faux pas by me. I was under the impression you could order the triggers and re-entry of creatures and just re-attach it to whatever you wished. These will almost certainly come out in favour of of a more efficient card draw spell.

Alirios, Enraptured I cracked in pre-release and I wanted to try and make it work, but I have to say it is first on the chopping block. Whirler Rogue is in to give Brago unblockable & provide chump blockers.

Reflector Mage is definitely on the to buy list. One of those cards I just hadn't gotten around to buying. Version 1 of the deck was about £55 and have been upgrading slowly. Also goes with synergising with Marble Titan & Dusk / Dawn much better.

Thanks for the suggestions!