Sealed Fate

Sorcery

Look at the top X cards of target opponent's library. Remove one of those cards from the game and put the rest back on top of that player's library in any order.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (6)

Mana_Mythic_Legendary on Pursuing Perfection, Part 7: Dimir …

2 years ago

Ah, Dimir. Blue-black is where you come to turn an opponent’s soul these exact colors, sidestepping their defenses in order to slip a scalpel right in their feels. Combining the thematic terror of black with all the manipulations of blue, if you think about it, is one of the most disturbing, creepy tactics in magic. Forget psychological warfare: blue-black is about marinating the psyche of your opponent in anxiety, slow-roasting it over the fires of depression, lathering it in the sauce of their own inadequacy, and finally feeding them their own deliciously barbecued will to live. Think I'm exaggerating? Consider these titles. Glimpse the Unthinkable. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. Freaking Brainbite!!!

If you think this comes from a place of dislike, think again. I have a deep affection for this nasty little mix. Making opponents flip their collective gourds in a sporting way makes me very, very happy. Today, we’ll be going over three primary themes of commanders who embody Dimir chicanery: Mill, Rogues, and Theft. As always, please bear in mind the point isn’t to discuss the competitive but rather to celebrate the thematic.

Mill

The magic equivalent of memory loss, mill suffers in commander: eating through 99 cards is a tall order, and opponents with an original eldrazi titan somewhere in there may well fetch you the worst insult of all and ignore you. There are ways around that, of course, but this is an inarguably uphill climb. Which, of course, makes for a delightful challenge the Dimir will gleefully help you meet. Just ask Nemesis of Reason. It’s very, very hard to protect one’s library, and there’s something truly horrible in watching all your goodies piff away without even hitting your hand.

If you’ve read this series through, you might remember that my oldest deck is mono-green. It’ll be no surprise to you, then, that when I was learning commander I lived in abject horror of Oona. Anyone running a mono-colored deck is going to feel targeted by this hideously nasty commander. Do you even need a strategy to play her, beyond ramp? Honestly, she rather plays herself: even outside her chosen prey, “Exile X” on a stick is very, very spicy, and when you’ve got your chosen prey they may well scoop when you play Kindred Discovery. Remember those eldrazi? Screw those eldrazi.

Hail the mighty poo beetle. No, it doesn’t actively mill, but HOLY BALLS OF ROLLING SHIT does it reward milling! There is a fine, fine pool of zombies in dimir colors, and when that palls you can make your own. I’ve never seen this played, but to be honest I don’t want to, especially since the mighty poo beetle will always be five mana… maybe I want to see this played. By me. Scry X? Bleed X? Army of the Damned, anyone?

Now this is general damage. This is also, in my opinion, a genuinely bad idea for those who aim for winning rather than fun. Seven mana for a 5/5 flyer who doesn’t actually do damage to opponents? Less than competitive, shall we say, but certainly neat and themey. Stuff like Dauthi Voidwalker or Leyline of the Void do nothing to undermine Szadek’s growing spree, and embiggening this already self-embiggening boi could make for a very, very scary board presence. And seeing this work, making this work, would be undeniably fun.

Rogues

I say ‘rogues’ not as the creature type, but as the overall concept of sneaky sneaks sneaking off to perpetrate sneakiness. See Rogue Class or Dimir Cutpurse and you’ll get where I’m coming from. Dimir is the guild of spies and intrigue, so it’s no surprise that blue-black rewards the “Doink! Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk” playstyle. If your passion drives you toward little bodies that pilfer, plunder, or otherwise profit on the swing, look no further.

Zareth is an odd choice to be commander. He functionally has Ninjutsu, but unlike a certain upcoming favorite has no provision for command zones. If you like thinking around corners, there is actually a fair bit of support to be found. Run an aura theme, for instance, and stick Necromancer's Magemark on a spare dude. Or Phantom Wings on the man himself. Zareth will reward you, and as for the second half of his text, it’s a doozy. Mill/kill your opponent’s stuff, then steal it. Good times.

This is a heavily themed card, combining tribal, milling, and draw elements in a nice little vampiric package. Not quite the unpleasant beast that the original Anowon is, but still nice. Be sure to include Notorious Throng.

Instead of a profitable army of petty thugs, you may prefer just the one guy. For actual command damage, Szadek’s replacement has an inarguably better grasp of the job. Mill yourself. You know you can. Clone yourself an unblockable midget, then switch into a Phyrexian Dreadnought (or something similarly large but more affordable) before you tag them. This guy is an absurdly versatile toolkit. Just avoid jerks with Lignify. Hehehe…

Theft

We’ve talked thieves, now let’s talk actual yoink. Blue and black are the only colors with access to consistent, long-term swipage, and combining them inevitably brings you to a natural conclusion: why make a plan when you can steal someone else’s?

Keiga, the Tide Star called. She’s pressing charges on the grounds of copyright infringement. Dragon? Check. Six mana? Check. Theft? Big ol’ check. When combined with blink and a sac outlet, this big and greedy cheese can steal an army. And, if you do this to a super-friends player, maybe lose you a friendship.

This guy’s just neat, especially if there’s some cocky twit in your local meta who likes taking extra turns. Mill him a bit, then tag him. He’ll stop that right quick. Bonus points if you get somebody to make a custom version of this guy as a certain cosmic entity. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh, Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

Do you like Sen Triplets, but not artifacts, white, or being thrown out of playgroups? Xanathar doesn’t pilfer hands, but libraries are fair game. The utility of certain tutors is suddenly very, very much in the eye of the beholder (sorry, I had to). Run stuff like Thoughtpicker Witch, Painful Memories, or Sealed Fate, and enjoy your monopoly on topdecks… I kind of want this one too.

And, for my personal favorite...

My darling, dearest Yuriko. Readers know my love for Kamigawa, so imagine my roaring delight when this beauty was released. There are 346 rogues currently in print. There are only 22 ninjas, and not all of them are good, but even the piddliest ninja becomes horrifying when Yuriko is out (and thanks to ninjutsu, she’s ALWAYS out). There’s a weird imbalance encouraged here: lots of inexpensive bodies digging for absurdly expensive spells. At the worst, you draw some cards. At absolute best, you smack the table for eleven damage by revealing Temporal Trespass… which you then cast for three mana, you magnificent bastard.

That's it for this round. Thoughts and questions are welcome. I hope you enjoyed it, and will come back next week for Rakdos!

Prior Articles:

Green, with links to the other mono-colors

Azorius

azja on Gisa and Geralf Zombies

3 years ago

Creatures:

• cut Doomed Dissenter since it can't be recast with your commander, and there are plenty of 2/2 zombies for 2 which can
• cut Festering Mummy because in commander, most creatures will not die with a couple of -1/-1 counters. Consider keeping it if your opponents play lots of mana dorks such as Llanowar Elves
• cut Ghoulraiser, your commander casts a zombie of your choice from the graveyard anyway
• cut Liliana's Steward, targeted discard is bad in commander. You and the targeted opponent lose a card, but your other two opponents don't.

My suggestions for possible replacements are Cemetery Reaper, Cryptbreaker, Rot Hulk, Sidisi, Undead Vizier and Undead Warchief.

Sorceries:

• cut Increasing Ambition, it simply costs too much mana for the effect in my opinion
• cut Sealed Fate, it's pretty bad unless your opponent just used a Worldly Tutor or something
• cut Shamble Back, you don't want to exile your own creatures, and it's a pretty poor form of graveyard hate.

Suggestions: Demonic Tutor or the budget replacement Diabolic Tutor, Windfall, Night's Whisper, Reanimate and Buried Alive

Instants:

• cut Remove Soul, if you're paying 2 mana for a counterspell, you want it to hit more than just creatures
• cut Spell Snuff, 3 mana counterspells are too expensive
• cut Vile Rebirth for the same reason as Shamble Back

Suggestions: Cyclonic Rift, Entomb, Swan Song, Pull from Tomorrow

Artifacts:

• cut Manalith and Nyx Lotus. When you're in 2 colours, you generally don't want to pay more than 2 mana to ramp. Plus if you ramp on turn 2, you'll have 4 mana on turn 3, allowing you to cast your commander early

Suggestions: I think you're a bit low on ramp, most commander decks want 8-10 ramp pieces. Try Arcane Signet, Dimir Signet, Talisman of Dominance, Fellwar Stone, or Mind Stone.

Enchantments:

• cut Telepathy, it's not worth using a card to see your opponents hand unless you're playing something specific like maybe Sen Triplets.

Suggestions: Animate Dead, Phyrexian Arena, Rhystic Study

Lands:

• For semi-budget 2-colour deck, your mana base looks pretty good. I would just cut Skyline Cascade, having it come in tapped isn't worth it for it's effect in commander. You can probably just play a basic island in its place.

If you want to upgrade your mana base, avoid lands that come in tapped like Dimir Guildgate. A few suggestions would be Command Tower, Choked Estuary, Darkwater Catacombs, Drowned Catacomb, Tainted Isle, Underground River, Watery Grave.

I hope that was helpful! Here's a link to my The Scarab God commander deck which has a pretty similar zombie tribal theme to what you have. Take a look through it and maybe you'll find more cards that I forgot to mention. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask!

https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/27-08-19-scarab-god-edh/?cb=1597359288

naturesnake420 on Circu, Fateseal Lobotomist

5 years ago

Hey man love the deck definitely wanna try out Psychic Battle in my Circu list. Have you ever tried Uba Mask ? Also how do you use Sealed Fate , I cut a bunch of targeted mill and fateseal cards because they didnt affect board state and were dead cards often. Please check out my Circu list if you get the chance Circu Soleil.

Calliber on Unforeseen Consequences

6 years ago

Always ready to upvote a fun Dimir deck.

Have you thought about Sealed Fate? I know your goal is mill but it could be a potentially devastating mid-late game move to stack their library and allow you to just buy time letting them draw "dead" cards then hitting them with the mill when the better cards start to surface. Just a consideration, not needed though.

Rzepkanut on Grixis remake

7 years ago

Rise from the Tides, Breathstealer's Crypt, Overburden, Evacuation, Misinformation, Din of the Fireherd, Supplant Form, Crush of Tentacles, Past in Flames, Mizzix's Mastery, Metallurgic Summonings, Dakra Mystic, Lantern of Insight, Psychotic Episode, Sealed Fate, Second Sight,Precognition, Spin into Myth...lol That's a few ideas for you...

booradleypwns on Blue Black EDH

8 years ago

Looks good, although your curve is a little high, and you don't have quite enough ramp to get there. Sol Ring is good, but unfortunately doesn't help you cast your commander. Cards that can add colored mana will be awesome for your deck. Look at: Wayfarer's Bauble, Burnished Hart, Myriad Landscape, Darksteel Ingot, Dimir Signet, Talisman of Dominance, Fellwar Stone, Chromatic Lantern, Gilded Lotus. I would add each one of these do your deck if possible, but obviously up to you. When possible, targeting like 10ish ramp spells will make your deck run much more smoothly.

Mind Funeral is awesome, but also think about Mind Grind. Counterspell is going to be better than Countersquall in most situations, but also feel free to run both. On your lands, Watery Grave and Polluted Delta are going to be awesome for your deck. Would suggest both of those over Creeping Tar Pit for a similar price (in $$).

Sealed Fate isn't a great card for what your deck is trying to do, and Glimpse the Unthinkable is awesome, but the price of that card is just bonkers. Far / Away would be better than Barrin's Spite. Dismiss over Bone to Ash. Wrexial, the Risen Deep, Nemesis of Reason and consuming abberation are awesome cards for your deck.

Since you have so many mana symbols in your permanents, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx would probably be awesome in your deck. Also Baleful Strix is just great value. Otherwise maybe consider adding some more card draw if you can, maybe some Jaces or just good black or blue card draw.