Sanctum of Ugin

Land

: Add to your mana pool.

Whenever you cast a colorless spell with converted mana cost 7 or greater, you may sacrifice Sanctum of Ugin. If you do, search your library for a colorless creature card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.

Discussion (44)

APPLE01DOJ on Thoughts on UG Control?

3 weeks ago

Also hits ETB/LTB abilities which is important for stoping combo/advantage.

Also can stop stuff like Sanctum of Ugin

oberien on Metalworks V2

3 weeks ago

I liked the v1 list and played it at two FNMs. However I didn't find it complex enough being used to Hardened Scales, KCI and Amulet Titan (and Amulet Bloom back in the day). I love the solve the puzzle aspect of decks. The old version felt more like a "cheat 10/10 into play and beat the enemy down" with the infinite loop feeling more like a backup. The new list above seems to focus more on infinite loops, which satisfies my inner MTG player :)

I took the above list to the FNM with slight modifications and went 1-1-1 (could have been 2-0-1 if I knew the deck better). I didn't have any Conjurer's Bauble so I replaced them with Akroma's Memorial , Ghirapur AEther Grid and Karn, Scion of Urza . I really enjoyed playing the deck and slowly discovering more and more ways to win the game :) For those interested, I went for this sideboard: 3 Nature's Claim , 2 Dismember , 2 Abrade , 2 Firespout , 1 Engineered Explosives , 2 Nihil Spellbomb , 1 Grafdigger's Cage , 1 Sun Droplet , 1 Sorcerous Spyglass .

Infinite Combos

General loop: Metalwork Colossus (MC) and Scrap Trawler (ST) on the battlefield, at least {3} mana reduction on the battlefield (e.g. 1 Semblance Anvil and 1 Cloud Key ) and enough CMC for MC, a Metalwork Colossus in the graveyard (GY). Sacrifice MC and ST to the MC in the GY. ST-trigger of MC gets back ST, ST-Trigger of ST gets back any {0}, {1} or {2} mana artifact. Play MC and ST for free. We're back to the beginning but have an additional artifact in hand and increased the storm count.

Another possible loop if artifact reduction is only at {2} is to not sacrifice ST, but only MC and the {2}-mana artifact, ST-trigger of MC get back that artifact, play both. If artifact reduction is only at {1}, it's possible to draw some cards with Conjurer's Bauble (until there are no more artifacts in the GY) or to include Chromatic Star and draw infinite cards. There must always be enough non-creature artifact CMC on the battlefield to cast MC for free.

Infinite Card Draw: Get back Elsewhere Flask and play it (-> draw), then sacrifice it to get it back again in the next iteration. If there's a sac-outlet on the battlefield, it's possible to get back any egg and sacrifice it to the sac-outlet before sacrificing MC and ST to MC in the GY.
Infinite Damage: With Ghirapur AEther Grid in play, just do the most simple version of the loop and tap both to-be-sacrificed artifacts to grid before sacrificing them, dealing one damage. Without grid sac the Mortarpod token for 1 damage, sac Mortarpod and MC to the MC in the GY, ST-trigger of MC gets back Mortarpod . Rinse and repeat.
Infinite Mana: Tap Mind Stone for {1}. Sac MC and Mind Stone to the MC in the GY. ST-Trigger of MC gets back Mind Stone . Rinse and repeat.

Card analysis

I'd like to go through some cards:

• Arcbound Ravager : I really like this addition. I was missing a sacrifice outlet to get the second Metalwork Colossus into graveyard before. Arcbound Ravager being fetchable with Sanctum of Ugin is just amazing and allowed me to go off in two games in the FNM which I otherwise couldn't have.
• Grinding Station : I'm not sure about this card in general. I've previously played some variations of Krark-Less Ironworks lists ( Semblance Anvil and Grinding Station ). I see this card in this deck mainly for 3 reasons. (1) Milling the opponent with the infinite combo, (2) using it as a sac-outlet, (3) milling yourself to get a Metalwork Colossus into your graveyard when you already have one on the field to start the combo.
  I don't see the reason for (1), as we already have infinite card draw (eggs) and infinite damage ( Ghirapur AEther Grid or Mortarpod ).
  For (2) I find Arcbound Ravager better, as it can be fetched for with Sanctum of Ugin and doesn't need to be tapped (even though you can respond to the untap-trigger of Grinding Station by tapping it whenever an artifact ETB).
  For (3) I can't really judge that yet, as I didn't really try it out yet. I usually don't have problems finding the second Metalwork Colossus among Ancient Stirrings and Sanctum of Ugin . In longer matchups Inventors' Fair can also be used, even though I didn't need to crack any fairs so far. It might help against Blood Moon .
• Mortarpod : This is the easiest and cheapest go-to infinite damage card. Even if drawn without a loop, it's still one damage that can take out a Snapcaster Mage to slow down the clock of an opponent ifneedbe.
• Akroma's Memorial : I personally love this card in this deck. I've added it to the old version, and I also have it in my current deck. First, given {2} to {3} mana reduction, it's pretty easy to cast. It triggers Sanctum of Ugin letting you fetch Metalwork Colossus . If you have it deployed, and have any mana reduction on the field, MC is already free. Nobody expects this card. It adds another sort-of wincon. You can win with this card out of the blue. While I think it may be somewhat a win-more card, it has already won me several games single-handedly. I was able to fly over my opponent's elves. Giving Vigilance, it allowed me to attack with two MC against Spirits, which needed to block one, which left them without lethal and put me into a better spot. I just love this card.
• Ghirapur AEther Grid : I think this card deserves to be a one-of in the deck. Against creature-based decks, it enables easy removal of the creatures. Control decks can barely do anything once it's deployed. And otherwise it still allows an infinite damage combo if Mortarpod has been exiled.

These are some cards, which may be good, but I don't see their effectiveness quite yet:

• Greater Gargadon : As an earlier post suggested, this is a possible sac-outlet and threat. The problem is that we usually want artifacts on the battlefield to make Metalwork Colossus cheaper. Additionally, if we're able to get to 10 artifacts, we most likely already have a win condition.
• Karn, Scion of Urza : I'm very unsure about this card. It gives us card-draw, but I don't think that's important in the current decklist. The only real reason for it I can think of is for the super-large token when we have lots of artifacts in play. But for that it might be too slow. It might help in grindy matchups, but in those MUs we'd just like to combo off anyway. And against control MUs it's not needed as this deck already has an amazing control matchup.
• Salvage Titan : This card might be worth investigating, but I'm unsure if it goes well with the other ideas of the deck. We don't necessarily want to sacrifice 3 artifacts for a 6/4.
• Silent Arbiter : This might be good against creature-heavy matchups and go-wide strategies.
• Torpor Orb : Unsure if there are enough MUs which this card is good in.
• Sun Droplet / Golem's Heart / Dragon's Claw : These might help against burn / fast strategies. May also help agaist phoenix decks.
• Ratchet Bomb : Cheap (probably free) boardwipe. Helps against chomp blockers and tokens. Probably shouldn't be cracked for {2} :)
• Engineered Explosives : Also possibly cheap boardwipe and a one-answers-all type card. Especially useful with Prophetic Prism .

Mana Base

I'm not sure about the landbase. I prefer utility lands over the Aether Hub s. I think that the old mana base fits better. This is probably mainly because I still like having Prophetic Prism over Elsewhere Flask . I haven't tested a lot with the landbase yet, so I'm not sure what the correct way of handling this is.
I often times lose against the deck itself just due to only drawing lands / having no lands. I'm not sure if this is just plain misfortune or if the number of lands is hard to balance between having enough lands on the starting hand and not flooding.

Weaknesses

• Blood Moon : Shuts off our utility lands. Makes it harder to get another Metalwork Colossus or Scrap Trawler or Arcbound Ravager as Sanctum of Ugin and Inventors' Fair can't be used anymore. Color isn't that much of a problem as only few cards are coloured and Prophetic Prism s and Elsewhere Flask maindeck help against it.
• Chalice of the Void : If played for X=2 shuts of pretty much half of the deck. It's still possible to hard-cast Metalwork Colossus and to make it cheaper with Semblance Anvil and Cloud Key . But it's very hard to fight through.
• Trinisphere : Cost reduction comes before cost-setting effects. As such no matter how much cost reduction is on the field, we need to pay at least {3} for everything. This card slows the deck down a lot and is pretty much impossible to win against from what I've experienced so far.
• Rest in Piece: Only affects the infinite loop / combo part. We can still win "normally" with Metalwork Colossus .

Matchups

• Through the Breach / Nahiri, the Harbinger : Alchemist's Vial completely shuts them off. Therefore, this MU is amazing.
• Control: The Control MU is probably one of the best out there. Always remember having a sacrifice outlet for any Metalwork Colossus on the battlefield, be it Phyrexia's Core or a Metalwork Colossus in the graveyard. Whenever they try to exile one from the battlefield, get back one from the graveyard and get the otherwise exiled one in the graveyard.
  I even won two out of two games against Legacy Miracles (low sample rate, but we both felt like the MU is highly favoured for Metalworks Combo)
• Very fast creature decks: This deck seems to always just be one turn too slow for very fast creature based MUs. In fact I lost 4/4 games against Sliver.

I don't have a lot of matchup data so far, and the above are mainly just estimates and gut feeling playing the matchup.

Please leave feedback on my observations so far, I really love this deck and it feels like it still has potential.

RedYeard on Metalworks V2

4 weeks ago

I was digging through eggs lists and someone recommended Greater Gargadon . I think the card has potential in this deck as a persistent and protected sack outlet for 1 mana. Its a big body with haste as early as turn 4 and has good synergy with Ichor Wellspring and Scrap Trawler .

A major downside to this card is it can't trigger or be tutored itself with Sanctum of Ugin or Inventors' Fair unlike Arcbound Ravager which is arguably the card I would replace with it.

abenz419 on need to cut at least ...

1 month ago

@SP3CTR3_chelts yeah I actually kind of missed playing him. I ran this sultai deck (with a red splash) when he was legal in standard. It was so much fun. It Prized Amalgam , Haunted Dead , and some graveyard enablers like Vessel of Nascency , Grapple with the Past , and Noose Constrictor .

It was pretty consistent at getting a Haunted Dead into the graveyard early, then pitching a Prized Amalgam or two to bring it back during my opponents upkeep, then in response to the ETB trigger on Haunted Dead sac it to Elder Deep-Fiend to tap all their lands down (triggering Sanctum of Ugin and Kozilek's Return when needed) leaving me with amalgams, a spirit, and elder deep-fiend and then repeating the process. Essentially time walking my opponent from turn 4 and on. I'll have to see if I can remember the deck list so I can show it to ya some time. It really was a blast to play.

abenz419 on need to cut at least ...

1 month ago

The duel lands are there because they offer the ability to play things out of the sideboard. Hand disruption like Thoughtseize and Distended Mindbender along with Kozilek's Return . But in all honesty, after talking to some friends of mine and based on various things said during the many questions I've been asking on here. The deck has changed a decent amount since I posted this.

Mono Blue Eldrazi copy

I feel like this version has the best mana base with 13 blue sources to cast EDF. 7 black sources to cast things out of the sideboard, 9 if it's Distended Mindbender . And 7 red sources for Kozilek's Return out of the sideboard as well. It also has 21 colorless sources as well. This version also uses Wretched Gryff . It's a 3/4 flyer that typically cost 3 mana and draws a card on cast. It also triggers Sanctum of Ugin so I can tutor for Elder Deep-Fiend , Thought-Knot Seer , or Reality Smasher depending on what's the most relevant at the time.

abenz419 on which of these two decks ...

1 month ago

@Oloro_Magic yeah I know Cavern of Souls would help but at the moment I don't have any and I'm not really looking forward to spending the money on them at the moment. Where I play, the modern crowd isn't the largest and counter magic isn't the biggest worry so I can get by without them for now. I do kind of agree with you though, because I've been leaning toward the copy version. I actually feel like the mana base there is better. It has 10 dedicated blue sources making the double blue easier to hit, while also having 8 red sources for something like Kozilek's Return out of the sideboard. The only thing is I would like to run some black cards out of the sideboard as well like Thoughtseize , Inquisition of Kozilek , Transgress the Mind , or even Distended Mindbender and it's tough at the moment. I would like to replace Corrupted Crossroads for something that's functionally the same except doesn't care about being devoid. Besides Cavern of Souls can you think of something I could use that would provide colorless and also add colored mana?

As far as Eldrazi Skyspawner and the other 3 drops, they're there for the emerge creatures. Wretched Gryff is a 3/4 flyer that draws a card on cast for 3 mana and Elder Deep-Fiend will typically only cost 4. It's probably the easiest way to curve into Elder Deep-Fiend on turn 3 or 4. One reason not to cut Wretched Gryff is because it triggers Sanctum of Ugin so I can go and find Elder Deep-Fiend .

abenz419 on need to cut at least ...

1 month ago

I need to cut at least two lands from my deck, Mono Blue Eldrazi. I don't know where to make the cuts though. I need enough blue sources that I can hit the double blue for Elder Deep-Fiend without sacrificing the ability to cast the colorless creatures too. I feel like the lands I currently have are all important. The temples and tron lands to produce large amounts of mana quickly. the Watery Grave and Cascade Bluffs to help cast the deep-fiends, dismembers, and Kozilek's Return out of the sideboard. Sanctum of Ugin helps chain together deep-fiends.

What do you guys think, where can I make the cuts, and why? In testing, the deck floods out regularly with 26 lands. I feel like 23 or 24 is probably ideal.

APPLE01DOJ on What should be changed??

1 month ago

Definitely run Expedition Map . I'd move Warping Wail to the SB and cut Eternal Scourge completely.

I'd trim either 1x Sanctum of Ugin or 1x Unclaimed Territory .

I'd also probably run Watery Grave over the basics and/or the U/B pain land over Unclaimed Territory .