Shared Summons

Instant

Search your library for up to two creature cards with different names, reveal them, put them into your hand, then shuffle your library.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (48)

DemonDragonJ on Which is More Important: Total …

3 weeks ago

Kazierts, I agree that both Faerie Mastermind and Spectral Sailor are excellent creatures, but why do you not believe that Triskaidekaphile is a good creature? It provides four benefits in one card: unlimited hand size, a mana sink, repeatable card advantage, and an alternate win condition, all for a mere 2 mana, so how is that not a staple for every blue deck?

TheOfficialCreator, I have noticed that, in most cases, except that Shared Summons is not as efficient as is Eladamri's Call, and I also would prefer Opportunity over Overflowing Insight, because the former card is an instant, while the latter card is a sorcery, and that difference can be crucial in a desperate situation.

SteelSentry on Which is More Important: Total …

3 weeks ago

Some of those are also relative because sometimes being one bigger than the other is a much bigger deal than just one. I can tell you from Standard that I can remember way more Lightning Strikes being cast than Shocks ever were unless you were in specifically a Prowess-style deck; thrown at a player, 2 and 3 damage is the difference between a playset doing 8 and 12, and 2 toughness and 3 toughness are important breakpoints in creature design for many reasons, the Bolt test being one of them.

Shared Summons is certainly a powerful card, especially in combo decks, but Eladamri's Call letting you find the right creature and casting it the same turn makes it better in most cases than getting two creatures and then dying to some artifact or enchantment you didn't have the mana to remove with Reclamation Sage which means I prefer it in most cases.

Lightning Angel is actually a good example of 3 vs 4. Mantis Rider is good, and also, relevantly, a Human, but it dies to Bolt or a 1/1 plus a Shock, and anything it kills it trades with. In a mirror match, the Angel can block other Angels all day, dodges Bolt, and unless you're playing a cube (Flame Slash and Flametongue Kavu are popular includes) or a format that has playable expensive red removal like Witchstalker Frenzy, a red deck may struggle to kill it 1-for-1.

With the draw spells, this is a very common theory in Yu-Gi-Oh actually, but a card going +1 like Quick Study is very powerful. More cards is always better, as is mana-to-card ratio, but little burst draw or cantrips usually live and die on their efficiency, and Quick Study being the cheapest unconditional way outside power to go card positive makes it incredibly noteworthy. Like the tutor argument, you might prefer card filtering cantrips that leave you neutral because the right card is more important than more cards, but it depends on why you're putting the spell there in the first place.

It's a very interesting topic that is often ignored in Commander due to the nature of the format, but the idea that "1 isn't always 1" is what really makes card analysis for 60 and 40 card formats special to me.

DemonDragonJ on Which is More Important: Total …

3 weeks ago

I often wonder which is more important for a card: its overall cost or its cost-to-effect ratio (i.e., its mana efficiency); for example, there is no question that Lightning Bolt is superior to both Shock and Searing Spear, but, between the other two cards, I would choose Shock over Searing Spear in the majority of situations, because Shock has a ratio of 2 damage for 1 mana, whereas Searing Spear has a ratio of 1.5 damage for 1 mana.

For a slightly more complicated example, compare Eladamri's Call to Shared Summons; the former card can find a creature for a mere 2 mana, which is very efficient, but it simply replaces one card in its controller's hand with another, whereas the latter card can search for two creatures, which leaves its caster with an additional card in hand, compared to before it is cast, but it is less efficient, costing 2.5 mana per creature found, so it is not as clear which card is superior, there.

Opportunity is literally a double version of Quick Study, as they both have the same ratio of cost to effect, but which is the superior card? Is it really better to spend six mana to draw four cards, as doing that would leave the caster with less mana to cast the spells that they draw? Also, Quick Study is strictly better than is Inspiration, as it costs 1 less mana to cast, but, between Concentrate and Tidings, I am not certain which is superior, since they both allow a player to draw one less card than their mana values.

On the subject of card drawing, in the realm of repeatable card drawing, Arcane Encyclopedia is strictly better than is Jayemdae Tome, as it costs only 3 mana to draw a single card, compared to 4, but Tower of Fortunes can draw four cards for 8 mana, which is a ratio of 2 mana per card, but that ability costs 8 mana, overall, so the question is if it is worth 8 mana to draw four cards.

Continuing that theme, there are numerous creatures (and one enchantment) that allow a player to repeatedly draw cards, such as Azure Mage, Spectral Sailor, Faerie Mastermind, Triskaidekaphile, or Treasure Trove, a ratio of 4 mana for one card, but Mystic Archaeologist can draw 2 two cards for 5 mana, a ratio of 2.5 mana per card, which is definitely far superior, in my mind.

Hedron Archive is literally two Mind Stones put together, and Dreamstone Hedron is literally a triple Mind Stone, so they all have the same cost-to-effect ratio, but I prefer the original Mind Stone, since the existence of Thran Dynamo and Gilded Lotus makes it difficult to justify using the other mana rocks, at least, for me.

To use the example of Skyward Eye Prophets, a 1/1 creature for 2 mana is perfectly acceptable, a 2/2 creature for 4 mana is slightly expensive, but nothing outrageous, but a 3/3 creature for 6 mana is simply too much, although, as a side note, I have a copy of that creature, in one of my decks, because I really like its ability.

For a further example, I would choose Mantis Rider over Lightning Angel in the majority of situations, since it provides a better rate than does the angel, and, similarly, I would choose Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers over Vernadi Shieldmate, since the former creature is more efficient for its cost.

I believe that I have provided a sufficient number of examples, for this discussion, so which trait do you believe is more important: overall mana cost or cost-to-effect ratio/mana efficiency? I certainly am interested to hear your thoughts on this matter.

DemonDragonJ on Nature's Bounty

1 month ago

I have replaced Primal Command with Shared Summons, since the latter card better fits the theme of this deck.

DemonDragonJ on Elemental Storm

1 month ago

I have replaced Primal Command with Shared Summons, since the latter card better fits the theme of this deck.

DemonDragonJ on Waste Not

1 month ago

I have replaced Primal Command with Shared Summons, since the latter card better fits the theme of this deck.

DemonDragonJ on Should I Keep These Cards …

1 month ago

TheoryCrafter, I actually have an EDH deck with Elsha of the Infinite as its general, and that deck is quite different from my Numot, the Devastator deck, and, at this moment, I feel that Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is perfectly fine, in that deck, so I shall keep him in it, for the present time.

As for Shared Summons, several other players to whom I spoke felt that it is superior to Primal Command, especially since the decks in which I wish to put it have a strong emphasis on creatures, and I rarely ever use the other modes.

DemonDragonJ on Should I Keep These Cards …

1 month ago

I have copies of Primal Command in several of my EDH decks, as it is an excellent card (in my mind, it is the second-best of the original five commands, after Cryptic Command *list*), but I am contemplating replacing those copies with other cards. First, in my Jenara, Asura of War deck, I am considering replacing Primal Command with Blossoming Bogbeast, since that deck has a strong focus on gaining life; in the other decks in which I have copies of Primal Command, I am considering replacing it with Shared Summons, since the newer card is an instant, rather than a sorcery, and searching for creatures is the mode that I use most frequently, anyway, so I certainly would appreciate any feedback, about that.

Also, I have copies of Grand Arbiter Augustin IV in these three EDH decks, and I shall certainly keep him in my Sen Triplets deck, since that is a dedicated control deck, but I am not certain about my Jenara, Asura of War deck or my Numot, the Devastator deck; I am considering replacing Augustin with Forgotten Ancient in my Jenara deck, since +1/+1 counters are the other major theme of that deck, and, while I do not wish for that deck to be too limited in what it can do, I also wish for it to be consistent and efficient. My Numot deck is essentially a jack-of-all-trades deck, so, perhaps, Augustin is not too unusual for it.

What does everyone else here say about this? Should I keep those cards in those decks, or should I replace them?