Sign in Blood

Sorcery

Target player draws two cards and loses 2 life.

Discussion (51)

sitri_ on How Life Becomes Death

3 days ago

Thanks for the explanations.

Also, consider Connections is using a land every time you want a card. So it is really:

4 mana for 1 card same turn

5 mana for 2 cards over 2 turns

6 mana for 3 cards over 3 turns

7 mana for 4 cards over 4 turns

8 mana for 5 cards over 5 turns

vs

2 mana and 1 turn for 2 cards

I'm not super high on Sign in Blood, but I think Underworld Connections needs to be on the field for 5 turns before I start considering it as being the better draw.

sitri_ on How Life Becomes Death

3 days ago

I am making a Karlov deck right now, awaiting cards from online purchase, so I am very interested in others takes on refinements.

I hadn't considered Peer into the Abyss is that working out well for you? You should have life to burn and it seems awesome if it does. In a similar vein, I really don't like Underworld Connections. Bolas's Citadel and Necropotence seem so much better, but the latter is pretty pricy. I'd probably run Sign in Blood type cards over Connections.

Nighthawk Scavenger is a strait upgrade to Vampire Nighthawk I bought a scavenger but haven't figured out where to slot it in my deck yet.

I don't understand Tree of Perdition. What is that doing for you?

I like what you have going. Please feel free to critique mine over at The Fat Man

shadowmoses514 on Helmsmasher

4 days ago

Another Mardu deck? How many aggro Mardu decks do you need?

1st, What's the purpose of Approach of the Second Sun? Zurgo is an aggresive 7/2, who is looking to close the game in a couple quick swings. This is anti-synergy. You should replace it w/ ramp to get your cmdr out faster.

2nd, replace Ancient Craving with Sign in Blood or Night's Whisper It's one less card, but half the mana. This allows you to be more impactful in your early turns if you would rather draw instead of tutor.

3rd, I've played Phyrexian Rebirth in Sharuum, it's not that good at all. Replace it with Tragic Arrogance or Single Combat.

Finally, this deck really doesn't play to Zurgo's strengths' at all. Zurgo is an aggressive commander that has to attack. You should be finding ways to keep him alive, and push combat through trample effects, deathtouch, flying etc. Zurgo wants to be suited up w/ armor from either equips or enchantments that allow him to kill in 2/3 hit, and get extra combat steps to kill your opponent quickly.

trippy_mcfly on Mono Black Death Plague

1 week ago

Cool deck. I'm here to offer some suggestions after you pointed me here from your other deck.

Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip is a powerful commander and generates insane advantage in 4-player games. Let's take a look at this deck and see what it is doing, and then streamline it. I see three main objectives of this deck:

1 - RAMPING.

This is pretty much a primary objective of any commander deck, since if your only source of mana is playing one land per turn, you're going to fall way behind. Your main ramping plan for this deck is to double lands, using Cabal Coffers, Cabal Stronghold, Caged Sun, Crypt Ghast, Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power, and Nirkana Revenant. This is super cool and probably a pretty strong plan. We want to try to maximize this plan. How can we do that?

All of these cards want you to load up on basic swamps, which you did. We want to make sure we are playing a basic swamp every turn. Solemn Simulacrum is definitely a worthwhile add. Liliana of the Dark Realms is very helpful and I'm happy to see her in this deck. Often times Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is a worthwhile add for decks with Cabal Coffers. I think it is worth it here. Although you yourself don't have many non-swamps that will benefit from Urborg, you are likely going to be stealing people's lands with Tergrid, and counting those as swamps will be helpful for you.

How else can we keep getting swamps onto the battlefield to power up this strategy? Card draw. The more cards in your hand the higher the chance you will have a swamp to play every turn. Night's Whisper and Sign in Blood are great for this. Disciple of Bolas is solid too. Dread Presence loves swamps and is a must-add. I would add Phyrexian Arena, which is great card draw for you. Necropotence, one of the craziest cards in the game, is also a worthwhile addition. Not as good but worth consideration are Yawgmoth's Bargain and Null Profusion. Two other well-known card draw machines in black are Dark Confidant and Bolas's Citadel. You have some costly spells in your deck, so they might be a bit of a liability. If you want to include them, Sensei's Divining Top pairs very well with them.

Just because you are mainly ramping with land doubling doesn't mean there isn't room for other ramping as well. You have Black Market, which I have never personally tested, but is probably decent. Black has some explosive, single-turn ramp with Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, and Culling the Weak. These cards would do well in letting you get out expensive plays ahead of schedule, mainly Tergrid. Artifact ramp is also great in any deck. I would add Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, Jeweled Lotus, and Jet Medallion. I would consider adding even more artifact ramp as well. Getting down Tergrid as early as turn 1 or 2 is just so good.

2 - SACRIFICE AND DISCARD.

Once you have Tergrid out, sacrifice and discard become powerful effects that let you take control of your opponent's permanents. This is insane advantage and if left unchecked for very long will win you the game. Syphon Mind while Tergrid is in play not only puts you up 4 cards in comparison to each opponent (since they each went down 1 and you went up 3), but also could net you 3 more cards if they discard permanents that then go onto your field. That's insane. Let's take a look at all the cards you have that enable Tergrid:

SACRIFICE:

Archfiend of Depravity - A one-sided, almost board wipe that repeats every turn? Pretty solid. Getting the creatures onto your field with Tergrid? That is nuts. The one issue is that some commander decks won't have that many more than 2 creatures on the field when this comes down, and if they do, then this card and/or Tergrid become a big target, but if you survive the turn, this and your commander will put you ahead so far.

Butcher of Malakir - Similar to Archfiend. If this guy sticks around for a bit, you're going to be at such an advantage. It costs 7 which is a bit high and very vulnerable to something like Mana Drain, so I wouldn't be super upset if you cut it, but it is great with Tergrid.

Gatekeeper of Malakir - This guy only costs three and steals a creature if Tergrid is on the field. Love it.

Phyrexian Obliterator - If someone is dumb enough to deal damage to this guy, then you're getting a lot of their permanents! I don't love this card for you. People will just leave it alone and then you just hit someone for 5 each turn or leave up a blocker, which is a bit slow.

Sheoldred, Whispering One - Similar to Archfiend. If this guy sticks around for a bit, you're going to be at such an advantage. It costs 7 which is a bit high and very vulnerable to something like Mana Drain, so I wouldn't be super upset if you cut it, but it is great with Tergrid.

Torment of Hailfire - Expensive and liable to be countered but if it resolves then you will get a ton of value!

Dictate of Erebos - I like it. Let's say you have 10 mana. Cast Tergrid, then somebody goes to kill him. Flash this card in. Now, you at least get 3 of your opponents creatures on the way out!

Grave Pact - I like this as well. You can't flash it in, but if you put this card on the field, then people will have to kill this before Tergrid comes down or else end up giving you their creatures.

The Eldest Reborn - Immediate impact with Tergrid on the field, pretty good value on its own. Definitely a keep.

DISCARD:

Liliana, Defiant Necromancer - You need to flip her first, but once flipped she is great.

Syphon Mind - Great.

Torment of Hailfire - Expensive and liable to be countered but if it resolves then you will get a ton of value!

The Eldest Reborn - Immediate impact with Tergrid on the field, pretty good value on its own. Definitely a keep.

... and that's it. We need more cards that are busted with Tergrid! The following would be great adds to your deck: Smallpox, Dark Deal, Liliana's Triumph, Plaguecrafter, Soul Shatter, Mire in Misery, Innocent Blood, Vona's Hunger, Death Cloud, Burglar Rat, Demon's Disciple, Fleshbag Marauder, Elderfang Disciple, Liliana, Waker of the Dead, Bottomless Pit, Fraying Omnipotence, Rotting Rats, Cunning Lethemancer, Merciless Executioner, and a personal favorite: Smokestack.

Notice that all of these cards are typically even trades (ex: I play Elderfang Disciple, going down 1 card, everyone else goes down 1 card.) These aren't great on their own since it costs you mana to do so, and, in the case of discard and sacrifice, the opponent gets to choose an asset that they are least upset to get rid of, making them actually below-even trades. However, they become insanely busted with Tergrid. (ex: I play Elderfang Disciple, going down 1 card in hand for a measly 1/1. But, I get a Carpet of Flowers, basic plains, and Birds of Paradise on my field? Now that's an amazing play). Therefore, the ones that are recurring are better, since they give you more chances to make sure they resolve while Tergrid is on the field. (ex: I play Cunning Lethemancer and my opponent kills Tergrid. Later in the turn I play Tergrid again, albeit for 7 mana now due to commander tax. Next turn, with the Lethemancer trigger, I get some great value!)

Here are some other cards that work well with Tergrid, although they only target one opponent: Sudden Edict, Hellish Rebuke, Pharika's Libation, Diabolic Edict, Duress, Thoughtseize, Hymn to Tourach, Chain of Smog, Despise, and Divest.

Notice that in the absence of Tergrid, these cards are negative trades. They set you and an opponent back by putting you both down one card. The other two opponents are left untouched. Seeing them early in the game is not particularly helpful since you'd rather spend the early game ramping. They are great and slowing down whoever is winning, but at the expense of your own board. There is a trade-off here, since these can be leveraged politically. "Each opponent discards a card"" can give you tons of value with Tergrid on the field but makes you 3 enemies. "Target opponent discards a card"" gives you not as much value in general but you can leverage this to make someone else the common enemy or make a deal with a player ("if you don't attack me next turn I won't target you with my Duress"). Things like Duress can also target specific cards, which is an added benefit for you and an added detriment to the opponent.

I would run some from each category, probably with an emphasis on maximizing Tergrid value.

3 - DRAIN AND GAIN.

Blood Artist and other cards gain you one life and drain your opponent one life. This is cool and certainly an interesting archetype of a deck. It doesn't synergize with Tergrid particularly well. I personally would not use this strategy at all in this deck and maximize the Tergrid plan. However, Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond is an awesome combo and an unexpected way to finish the game for you while people are busy dealing with Tergrid. If you want to keep this, I would trim some of the other cards, such as Exsanguinate and maybe Underworld Dreams.

---

So, now that we know what the 3 objectives are, and have maybe cut the third, we have a bit more of a plan. I've suggested adding some card draw and mana rocks for ramp, and tons more Tergrid synergy. What are the cuts? I would say anything that doesn't fit in with the objectives, so basically any card I haven't mentioned already, unless it gives great value on its own. I'll go through some:

Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor are incredible cards and provide great value. Diabolic Tutor, Scheming Symmetry, and Shrouded Lore are worse tutor effects and should probably be moved to the maybe board. Sudden Spoiling is interesting and stops somebody from comboing off on their turn so is probably worth it. Reanimate is good value and should probably stay, same with Animate Dead. Demonic Vigor protects creatures but not Tergrid, unless you want him going to your hand. This is risky but probably fine. I could see him getting countered and then removed from your graveyard which puts you back majorly, but I could also see you avoiding commander tax. Worth looking into. Undying Evil is strictly better since it has instant speed and keeps him on the field. We might also want to protect him with Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots

Coffin Queen is too expensive and vulnerable. Drana, Liberator of Malakir is cool for aggressive strategies and can help you close out the game but is out of place in this deck. Falkenrath Noble is an overcosted Blood Artist. Gonti, Lord of Luxury is a value creature that if you can get his ETB many times, which your deck can't really do. Grave Titan isn't worth it in this deck. Gravedigger is fine but might be a bit slow. Helldozer is probably not worth it unless you want to pick on somebody lol. Korlash, Heir to Blackblade is not worth it. Massacre Wurm might not be worth it. Nighthowler isn't worth it. Opposition Agent is always a good add. Phage the Untouchable is too slow and vulnerable. Sepulchral Primordial might not be worth it. Skirsdag High Priest is probably not worth it. Syr Konrad, the Grim is not worth it. Wight of Precinct Six is not worth it. Tainted Strike is not worth it. Lashwrithe is not worth it. That's about 15 cuts right there.

Props to you for building Tergrid and having an interesting ramp strategy. I think if you go more in on the Tergrid plan by cutting unrelated cards for cards that ramp or are good with Tergrid then your deck will be a lot more reliable. After all, the most fun part of this deck is going off with Tergrid!

Hope this helps.

Balaam__ on Red black knights

2 weeks ago

ModernMonday: Alright, so I think / Knights is an awesome design to build around, although it should be noted it’s not really tournament caliber on the competitive meter, especially not in the current Modern landscape. That said, you can certainly make something semi-competitive if you make wise choices. Think, ‘kitchen table competitive’.

At a glance, you already have some great cards here but you’ve also got a few that don’t really add much to your strategy. Terminate is solid (although if you include fetchlands than Fatal Push is arguably better). Echoing Return is not that helpful. You don’t really have a single key creature that is absolutely essential to your gameplan, and you’re also not running a 30-of Persistent Petitioners style deck. I’d cut it.

Night's Whisper or Sign in Blood > Foreboding Fruit if you’re in black. Red has lots of draw spells, some with additional options like Cathartic Pyre. Speaking of Red, Lightning Bolt is a class A spell all around. It retains its usefulness no matter when it’s drawn.

Aside from that, Knights <3 equipment. There are tons of Modern legal equippables that can augment your knights in various ways. Something like Shadowspear comes to mind, and then there are Knight-specific equips that give a bonus to that creature type (like Steelclaw Lance which you already have).

Lastly, as a general rule of thumb it’s better to pick a smaller number of specific creatures that work well together and run 3-or 4-ofs as opposed to a whole bunch of different creatures at 1 or 2 copies apiece. Your consistency is increased and the deck becomes more streamlined when you can reliably draw into something predictable and useful each turn. I’d pick maybe 4 or 5 different Knights you especially like and run 4 copies each. Hope this helps. Pay attention to the feedback various users give; there’s a plethora of extremely knowledgeable individuals on this site, and I know I myself have been given fantastic suggestions by other users that I’d never have thought of, and my decks have been markedly improved just from other people’s advice.

Omniscience_is_life on Olivia, Crimson Bride Commander

2 weeks ago

The more sources of ramp, card draw, and removal you have, the more competitive your deck will be. I would stretch for 13ish sources of solid card draw--such as the likes of Jeska's Will, Cathartic Reunion, and Sign in Blood--a similar amount of cheap ramp (just more of what you've already got going on, like Thought Vessel and Millikin), and 10ish efficient removal effects like Abrade, Deadly Rollick, Terminate, and Force of Despair.

Also, remember that each time you reanimate a sub-par creature, you're missing out on spending that trigger on a game-ender; try and make it so all your huge reanimation targets do lots of work and immediately have an impact. It's also worth noting that Olivia returns the creature to play already attacking, so if it has an attack trigger (like Drana, the Last Bloodchief or Master of Cruelties) that effect actually won't happen.

Like what you're doing here overall, though--keep it up! :3

cyeRunner on Serra's Descendants, competitive Angel Tribal

1 month ago

Upvoted!

What do you think about running Seraph of the Scales ? Deathtouch seems quite good against Murktide Regent or Archon of Cruelty and you still have 2x 1/1 Blockers left after it dies.
For your Maybeboard: Night's Whisper seems like a better Sign in Blood to me in this deck since it's easier to cast.
Also a single Kaya, Orzhov Usurper in the sideboard seems nice in the current Meta: "+1" against Living End and other Graveyard strategies and "-1" against Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Dragon's Rage Channeler.

Omniscience_is_life on Bubonic Rat Epidemic

1 month ago

Exiling can be prevented by hexproof, as long as the exiling effect is targeting :/

Desert is not legal in Pioneer, so I would suggest a Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip in its spot. If you're intent on a land that kills stuff, maybe a Sunscorched Desert?

I'm wondering if replacing Sign in Blood for a permanent that draws cards is worth it--do you think being able to recast a Golden Egg or Spare Supplies or something is good enough?