Shivan Reef
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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Highlander Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Pioneer Legal
Premodern Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vintage Legal
Casual Legal
Custom Legal
Quest Magic Legal

Shivan Reef

Land

: Gain .

: Gain or . Shivan Reef deals 1 damage to you.

Squee_Spirit_Guide on Grab Your Amoxicillin, it's Infect Time!

1 week ago

I think Groundswell is much more reliable with fetches. However, Balaam__ is spot on with Rancor, I had completely forgotten about that one! Ignore Groundswell and go for Rancor :)

I love the pain lands. I run Shivan Reef in a budget storm deck and usually the damage I need to take is the same as an untapped shock land. The downside is it can't be fetched, but if I'm not paying for shocks I'm definitely not paying for fetches either :)

TheEvilWizard on Tiamat

1 week ago

try adding self-damaging lands, like Shivan Reef and thriving lands, like Thriving Grove

Kazierts on Budget Izzet Dragons

4 months ago

Love to see people trying to brew dragons. They seem such a fun tribe but can be a bit too heavy to play.

Before I suggest something, I have to say I loved the idea of Call to the Kindred. It's probably a bit slow, but the idea of enchanting the smalller dragons to cheat bigger ones seems really fun.

Now, onto my suggestions.

  • I've both had friends who tried to build dragons and trying to build dragons myself. From these experiences, I can say, for sure, that Dragonlord's Servant is a trap. A much better option is Orb of Dragonkind. It does almost the same thing while allowing you to potentially splash one or two dragons that don't fit the color identity and can serve as a "tutor" for another dragon late game.
  • Dragonmaster Outcast, despite being capable of summoning a token, is more of a buildaround card. It's literally gonna take at least six turns for his effect to become, but seven for it to have a chance to activate. Since you already have Slumbering Dragon, I'd suggesting increasing it to three copies and cutting the Dragonmaster.
  • While I initially wanted to build a Dragon deck with in it because of Silumgar's Scorn, Counterspell is just better in every situation.
  • I don't know how it would affect your budget, but Shivan Reef would do wonders for this deck.
  • Pyroclasm is just better Cinderclasm.

If anything would increase your budget too much, let me know and I'll try to find better options.

Last_Laugh on SomeBODY ONCE TOLD ME

4 months ago

Ok, fine lol I'll actually post something meaningful instead of jokes. Marchesa is one of my favorite commanders and I've been playing her for almost 8 years now.

Metallic Mimic and Vigean Graftmage both allow you to abuse etb/death triggers on everyone's turn instead of once per round.

Gray Merchant of Asphodel/Kokusho, the Evening Star and their lifegain feel counterproductive but with Mikaeus, Unspeakable Symbol, or the 2 cards above, it'll end games fast without a single concern for being on the Throne.

Goblin Bombardment needs to be in the deck. It's a free sac outlet that only 2 colors can reliably deal with and it enables an infinite damage combo with Mikaeus and Glen Elendra. The combo also equals infinite mill with Altar of Dementia and infinite colorless mana with Ashnod's.

Chaos Warp also needs a spot. It's one of only 2 reasonably costed answers to enchantments in these colors. Don't let cards like Solemnity or Rest in Peace wreck your day. Granted if you ever see Solemnity, tutor up Flayer of the Hatebound and immediately murder the table.

I'd also suggest more life loss with your lands/ramp like Shivan Reef (and its ilk), City of Brass, Mana Confluence, off color fetches, and Talisman of Indulgence, Talisman of Dominance, and Talisman of Creativity. Be sure to run Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth though.

Anyways, let me know if you're picking up what I'm putting down, I can make more suggestions for both additions and cuts. You've already seen my list (and ty for the upvote).

zapyourtumor on Grixis Cat Pact

4 months ago

Manabase.

You can reduce costs on your lands by cutting shocks and bad lands like Crumbling Necropolis for other decent dual lands. Here are some of my suggestions:

Painlands: Shivan Reef

Slowlands: Shipwreck Marsh, Haunted Ridge, Stormcarved Coast

Pathway lands: Clearwater Pathway  Flip, Blightstep Pathway, Riverglide Pathway

Temple lands: Temple of Malice, Temple of Epiphany

Of course, if you can afford them I'd keep in as many shocks as possible, but crumbling necropolis isn't great. I removed brackets around some of the lands because I ran out of suggestion space.

Core Cards

Harmless Offering is only good if you have something to donate, which is why I suggest going down to 3 at most. In my version I actually only play two, which I doesn't really make sense until I introduce my next card suggestion...

Teferi's Time Twist: This card definitely requires a bit more of a build around, but my deck ran 3. Why is it so good? We can use it to reuse our Demonic Pact at instant speed, which means we now have 5 cards that prevent us from losing to pact. This means it gives us a 4 CA swing + 4 life + removes something for only 2 mana. It also synergizes well with other cards like Phyrexian Scriptures and Snapcaster Mage (although the latter is pretty expensive).

Abyssal Persecutor isn't good enough, in my opinion. The ceiling is only a 2BB 6/6 flyer, and the plan of reducing your opponent to 0 life and then destroying/donating it seems pretty dubious. And if you donate it to your opponent ahead of time, they have tons of ways to answer it, such as removing it themselves or sacrificing it. Removing Persecutors would help to focus your deck a bit.

Control Package

In general, I'd say you have too much dig and tutors and not enough control pieces.

Counterspells

3-4x Counterspell seems like a no-brainer. Yes, it is slightly harder on the mana than Mana Leak, but it is just so much better. It's also not that expensive (unlike Cryptic or Charm).

Drown in the Loch is a very good removal spell and counterspell in modern for any UBx deck, I'd run at least three of these as well. Drown and CS let you also cut Mana Leak.

Removal and Sweepers

Terminate is a decent card, but not super efficient and efficiency is important. Lightning Bolt is a staple removal spell, and also gives you an alternate win condition of burning them out with Demonic Pact, flickering pact multiple times, and bolts to the face. It's rare but it has come in handy for me before.

Fatal Push is another one that's worth a few spots. Remember, if you run Drown you don't need as much other removal.

I do honestly like Radiant Flames in this deck, I've run some in my pioneer version for a while. Straight Damnation may be better, but Flames lets you curve out into Pact.

Discard

Duress is not good. Thoughtseize is really expensive, but Inquisition of Kozilek is quite affordable, a great card, and also just a really good modern staple in general. I'd pick up 4 for sure. You frequently want to take cards with 0-3 cmc anyways, and the life loss on Thoughtseize hurts.

Tutors and Dig

Expressive Iteration is modern's premier card advantage spell right now. While it isn't always great with counterspells, you can frequently exile a removal spell or a pact or something else to cast on your turn. I would cut the other dig/draw spells for more of these.

Painful Truths is honestly not bad. It may be better to relegate 1-2 †o the sideboard for slower, grindier matchups, but it seems too slow for the maindeck. Dark Petition seems ok but I don't think it's good enough either.

Memory Deluge is a great instant speed dig spell for any control deck. I'd replace the Petitions and stuff with these. You shouldn't need any dig past EI and Deluge.

Other stuff

I do like the idea of Persecutor as an additional win condition that wins through combat damage, but something less combo oriented seems better to me. My pioneer deck ran 2 Sprite Dragons along with some Bloodthirsty Adversary in the side to be able to win through combat. Murktide would be a good choice for an alternate wincon but it's pretty expensive. I think Sprite Dragon or maybe Dragon's Rage Channeler may be decent sideboard choices for this role.

forneyt on

4 months ago

Okay, thanks for the clarification haha. I think in the case of a more casual environment, Izzet Charm is great because it provides you different options, so it is rarely a dead card. Keep in mind that Izzet Charm only counters noncreature spells, whereas Mana Leak counters any spell, which is why having a couple of each is good. Mutiny looks like a fun, on-theme card, but it is very conditional, so I would suggest only doing 1 mainboard and maybe 1 sideboard. My issue with Illusory Wrappings is that if you enchant the creature and then bolt it, that is a 2-1 exchange in your opponent's favor (your enchantment [1] + your removal [1] for their creature [1]). A good replacement could be Polymorphist's Jest, which is an instant so you could swing in with your creatures then use it as a combat trick to take out more of your opponent's creatures with 1 spell. That is intensive and conditional, so that should probably be a 1-of in mainboard or max 2 in sideboard.

A couple Shocks should be plenty because it's a budget build, but no more than 2 of each because they are inefficient. Although, I think Shock would be better than Opt in this deck because you want to maximize damage, so perhaps you could push those out and replace them with Shocks and Izzet Charms. Once you have the budget for Skullcrack, the Shocks should be the first to go. I also believe that Guttersnipe, while it is undoubtedly a good card, should be replaced with Soulfire Grand Master because 3 mana is a lot when you have so many creatures in the deck. The Electrostatic Fields are cheaper, and they can be good blockers (on theme) and are resistant to opponents' Lightning Bolts, unlike Guttersnipe.

Classic Counterspell could also be good in this deck once your mana base is secure. Negate is also an amazing counterspell in the right meta, and it's cheap! One in the mainboard and/or a couple in the sideboard could prove valuable. Counterspells are important, but they are only helpful if they are applicable and castable. Make sure you have some variety and not too many with severe restrictions. So 4x Counterspell is good, but 1x Counterspell, 1x Mana Leak, 1x Negate, and 1x Izzet Charm is better. The 1x Mana Leak takes away the restriction without taking away the variety, the 1x Negate allows the mana flexibility of Mana Leak without the mana restriction at the expense of restrictive targets, and 1x Izzet Charm allows for greater variety in plays, but it's hard to beat the power of Counterspell so it deserves its spot.

That brings me to your mana base. My biggest suggestion is to avoid lands that don't tap for because almost all of your spells use in some way, and you can get mana screwed really easily if you don't have access to it. The pain lands would be perfect for your deck: Shivan Reef and Battlefield Forge. They provide you with your colors and come into play untapped, which is huge. In my opinion, Nephalia Academy is not helpful and you might as well have a Wastes instead because at least that can be tutored if a creature gets Path to Exiled. But I have some other utility lands to suggest for you.

If you find yourself building up a good board presence, Castle Embereth would be very helpful. If you find that your opponents are going wider, Surtland Frostpyre could be a good boardwipe. Geier Reach Sanitarium would be good to cycle dead draws, but it doesn't tap for a helpful color. Needle Spires and Wandering Fumarole are great manlands in your colors, and although Celestial Colonnade doesn't tap for , it can be the difference between staying behind and pulling ahead in longer matchups and is worth an include. Temple of Epiphany and Temple of Triumph are decent Turn 1 plays, as they can let you plan your next turn and counterstrike. Also, the longer I look at Soulfire Grand Master, the more I think it's perfect for the deck. If you take advantage of the lifelink it gives, the pain lands will be absolutely no trouble. It also allows you to recast your spells as you go into the late game in longer matchups, which is amazing. Keep in mind that for Mutiny, the opponent's creature is doing the damage, so you won't gain life.

Anyway, a solid manabase would be 4x Shivan Reef, 4x Battlefield Forge, 2x Raugrin Triome, 1x Needle Spires, 1x Wandering Fumarole, 2x Temple of Triumph, 1x Temple of Epiphany, 1x Celestial Colonnade, 3x Mountain, 1x Plains, 1x Island. About a third of these land come into play tapped instead of half as your deck currently stands, they all tap for relevant colors, and several give you some utility if your spells fall short. Some of the numbers will need to be tweaked depending on what your spells are, but this should be a great improvement! And all of these lands are around a dollar, many are less than a dollar (except for Celestial Colonnade, which is only a couple dollars, but it's really that good). Depending on the requirements, you may need to switch a Mountain for an Island, but your dual lands should cover it well.

Last_Laugh on Quodan

4 months ago

Saw your question on Marchesa's manabase and didn't want to hijack that deck thread.

Your lands are really important and can help you focus a LOT less on life loss and staying off the Throne. Shivan Reef, Underground River, Sulfurous Springs, Mana Confluence, City of Brass, and Ancient Tomb all belong in the deck. Your off color fetches and your 3 shocks also help (I run all 9 fetches I can and regularly fetch an untapped shock on turn 1, even with nothing to cast). If you run your off color fetches, be sure to throw in Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth though.

Boseiju, Who Shelters All is meta dependent but Hall of the Bandit Lord and haste in general is honestly less important than immediately getting +1+1 counters via something like Sage of Fables, Metallic Mimic, Vigean Graftmage, etc. Haste will get a counter when it enters on your turn if you can safely swing but does jack when it comes back on opponent's end steps, whereas the immediate counter protects them always.

Phyrexian Tower, High Market, Strip Mine, and Forge of Heroes are all good utility lands here also.

Feel free to check out my list for ideas. Upvotes on any of my decks are appreciated. Every Masochist Needs a Marchesa to Love Them

multimedia on Spellweaver: The Deck

7 months ago

Hey, I'll first comment here then at a later time at your Zombie deck.

The theme you have here is called Spellslinger and with Spellslinger you want less creatures than normal, more instants as well as sorceries. Spellslinger is essentially control in Commander therefore the cards you tap out for need to be impactful. If you're new to the Spellslinger idea then overall with less than $200 budget you've done well so far, but you forgot Command Tower. You have several really nice cards, but also some stinkers that could be upgraded on a budget.

Consider more lands and ramp? To keep mana open at all times when you cast noninstant spells. 31 lands is low, not really enough land when you want to be making your land drops each turn. My advice is try 36 lands and 12 or more ramp sources. If you don't want to add more lands than instead add more low 1-2 CMC draw or best a combination of both.

If your primary win condition is Niv enchanted by Curiosity then you're going to want ways to shuffle all the cards in your hand back into your library. You'll want this effect to be able to keep drawing and doing damage with Niv since Niv only does damage to one target for each trigger. Ophidian Eye is another Curiosity. Each opponent will have 40 or more life thus you won't consistently have enough cards in your library to end all your opponents with Niv's damage without having more draw. Psychosis Crawler can help since it makes each opponent lose 1 life each time you draw a card.

Curiosity/Ophidian Eye is a may, you don't have to draw when you do damage with Niv. Because you can stop the combo then you can stop drawing so you don't draw from an empty library and lose the game. Stopping the combo also lets you cast a creature or sorcery to shuttle all cards from your hand back into your library to keep drawing and continue the combo. Whirlpool Warrior has this effect at least twice and Whirlpool Rider is only two mana.

The better cards for this effect are not budget options: Valakut Awakening  Flip, Winds of Change and Echo of Eons flashback. Awakening is an instant and Winds is only one mana.

Consider streamline/cut the creature base down to the 10-15 best creatures, less creatures the better and use the other spots for more instants?

A streamlined example of the current creature base (sorted by CMC):

  • Goblin Electromancer
  • Birgi, God of Storytelling
  • Guttersnipe
  • Veyran, Voice of Duality
  • Palladium Myr
  • Archmage Emeritus
  • Galazeth Prismari
  • Talrand, Sky Summoner

I'm also suggesting some creatures upgrades who most have better interaction with Niv:

Tandem Lookout soulbond to Guttersnipe/Electrostatic Field can draw a lot of cards because Lookout cares about any damage that the paired creature does and Guttersnipe does 2 damage to each opponent. You draw a number of cards equal to the number of opponents you have each time Guttersnipe triggers. Lookout is Curiosity, but the draw is not a may, you have to draw and Lookout can change who it's soulbond unlike auras.

Tandem Lookout can be soulbond to Niv, but it's risky because you can't stop the combo because you can't stop the draw without help. You'll need an instant way to shuffle all cards from your hand back into your library or an instant way to kill/bounce Lookout before you draw the rest of your library. If you don't do this you will lose the game from trying to draw from an empty library since you'll draw your entire library. Drawing your entire library can enable a win condition of Laboratory Maniac or Jace, Wielder of Mysteries and Jace has the advantage that he can draw card/cards to trigger Niv.

I've suggested a lot of card upgrades and hopefully given you advice to think about. Let me know your thoughts and if you would like me to continue in another comment including more cuts to consider. Good luck with your deck.

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