Sewers of Estark

Instant

Choose target creature. If it’s attacking, it can’t be blocked this turn. If it’s blocking, prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this combat by it and each creature it’s blocking.

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
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (4)

MagicMarc on Volrath New School

2 years ago

The following cards make a creature unblockable in black and/or colorless:

Hot Soup, Glaring Spotlight, Key to the City, Manifold Key, Sewers of Estark, Suspicious Bookcase, Wedding Invitation.

Unblockable with requirements or limitations:

Access Tunnel, Joven's Tools, Prowler's Helm, Rime Transfusion.

Alternative way of being unblocked:

Dauthi Embrace, Dauthi Trapper, Traitor's Clutch.

Daedalus19876 on $25 Extreme Budget Hapatra EDH

6 years ago

WargRave: Thank you very much for the detailed comment! You're right on most points, and this deck really does need some more tuning. My "proper" Hapatra deck is working beautifully, but it loses some important cards when transitioning to a budget like this...

My thought was that since I lose some powerful -1 counter cards when working under a low budget, I should include more cards to let Hapatra herself swing through for combat damage. You lay out a few better options, though, and I'll incorporate them, thanks!

Notes on specific cards:

I really do like Beast Within in every green deck, budget or not. There just isn't better green removal :)

Trailblazer's Boots is good, but I find Prowler's Helm better and a smidge cheaper. Still, I should try to include both.

I actually forgot Setessan Tactics existed. I should fix that.

Gravity Well is surprisingly good here, because dealing with fliers is the one big downside of having deathtouching token blockers on the ground. It takes the place of Eldrazi Monument in my "real" version of the deck. And while I think the spiders are a bit off-theme (and don't synergize with -1 counters), Tower Defense is a really good idea!

I like Liliana's Influence, despite its mana cost: there aren't many mass -1 counter sources in this kind of budget, and it's usually 10 snakes for 6 mana.

Your land suggestions are definitely solid.

(Also, Sewers of Estark specifically was something of a personal in-joke, given that it's from the same program as the original Mana Crypt and 25 cents. I know it's sub-optimal.)

Thanks again for the comment!

WargRave on $25 Extreme Budget Hapatra EDH

6 years ago

A decent $25 deck is a great accomplishment! Moreover, a lot of the stuff in here looks genuinely strong, and not jank at all.

On the subject of evasion, Trailblazer's Boots is other inexpensive equipment that gives nearly unblockable and doesn't have Hot Soup's downside, though it doesn't curve with Hapatra quite as well.

Reclamation Sage is a bit cheaper than Beast Within and you may be able to count on your -1/-1 counters to take out troublesome creatures, and your snakes to combat planeswalkers. Unravel the Aether and Deglamer maintain instant speed and budget while dealing with indestructibles like the Theros gods, Blightsteel, etc.

Speaking of removing creatures, fight works great with deathtouch snakes as well as infect/wither. I see you already have Ulvenwald Tracker, but how about Setessan Tactics for some instant speed blowouts?

I feel like Liliana's Influence is a little weak for its mana cost and it's over twice as expensive as the average card. Corrosive Mentor can spread a lot of -1/-1 counters at half the mana cost. Rendclaw Trow is another 3 mana witherer that also has persist! Blight Sickle allows everyone, including the snakes, to get in on the fun.

Eldritch Evolution is even more expensive, and doesn't have many targets from your snakes. The exact effect is impossible to replicate as thriftily, but Primal Command give the tutor effect along with other decent modes for about 80 cents less (you can find it for about $1 quite easily).

Gravity Well is an interesting one. I wouldn't want to stop my opponent's flyers from attacking each other though, just me. Tower Defense does the same job for a turn, and the toughness boost is considerable. It's enough to use it against ground attackers to keep all your blockers alive. Blightwidow and Deadly Recluse are the spiders that seem to fit best. Windstorm and Whirlwind proactively handle flyers.

Jungle Hollow is as about cheap as Foul Orchard, as is Golgari Guildgate. Grim Backwoods generates some value from excess snakes. I find the one mana cycle lands good to mitigate land flood, and they're less than $0.25 too. Oran-Rief, the Vastwood would require one of the more expensive spells to leave, but it's far better than a basic Forest.

Some ramp wouldn't go amiss. Wayfarer's Bauble, Rampant Growth, and Nissa's Pilgrimage are super budget. Sakura-Tribe Elder is 0.75, but snake flavor! Grapple with the Past is flexible.

Card draw options: Warriors' Lesson, Altar's Reap, Mask of Memory, and Vulturous Aven make use of your snakes. Read the Bones is rarely bad. For graveyard based card advantage, there's Phyrexian Reclamation and Wildest Dreams. Skullwinder is political and thematic. Creeping Renaissance could potentially replace Seasons Past at a lower price.

What else could come out? Probably Aboroth, it doesn't do as much as any other 6+ mana spell in the deck I think, or even the 5 mana spells. It doesn't even provide -1/-1 counters until your next upkeep. Hideous Visage feels like it's not necessary, since who's blocking 1/1 deathtouch creatures anyway? It's true that Hapatra wants evasion, but intimidate isn't even great on a two color creature; Aphotic Wisps does the job for one mana, and cantrips. Likewise, Sewers of Estark is too much mana and too many cents for the effect. Culling the Weak seems like something that belongs in an explosive combo deck, not a grindy, incremental value deck.

Well that's it, I look forward to seeing you evolve this deck!

Shane.Allen on Help with Ashling, The Extinguisher?

7 years ago

Prowler's Helm, Rogue's Passage, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Sewers of Estark, Whispersilk Cloak, these are all good cards you might want with that General.