Sky Diamond

Artifact

Sky Diamond enters the battlefield tapped.

: Add to your mana pool.

Discussion (51)

pokemonmasterjal on Thassa, King of Fishe

1 week ago

This is a pretty cool looking deck, however, you may want to consider leaning more heavily into the merfolk theme. You also seem like you want to draw cards so put more draw cards spells in as well. You can also budget by removing some of the expensive cards like Time Warp and Empress Galina . Getting rid of some of the more expensive mana merfolk and putting in some mana rocks like Sky Diamond would work as well.

Bro where is Bident of Thassa at???

Joe_Ken_ on Silent Whispers

1 week ago

Your first combo will only work for infinite colorless mana since lands don't untap with Dramatic Reversal . Swap Command Tower in the combo with something like Sky Diamond or Commander's Sphere if you want the blue mana.

Combo 2. If you have infinite mana then you don't necessarily need Dismiss into Dream to wipe the board since you have infinite mana you can just rebounce the creatures once they are played again with capsize, unless you fell that it is necessary to destroy them then you don't need the dismiss to wipe the board.

Panharmonicon does not need to be in combo 3 since it only works on enter the battlefield triggers and not all ability triggers. You want something like Strionic Resonator to double the triggered ability and it will only happen once unless you have your dramatic scepter combo out.

Joe_Ken_ on Saheeli, The Gifted (AB)

3 weeks ago

I would suggest Muzzio, Visionary Architect since when you have some of your bigger artifacts out you can tap him to dig into your deck to potentially get another big artifact.

Your average CMC is about 4 so maybe 41 lands isn’t very necessary. I always find 35-37 to be a good safe amount for just about any deck.

For the lands you take out you can slot in some more mana rocks in your colors like Talisman of Creativity , Fire Diamond , Sky Diamond , or Firemind Vessel

SideBae on Nicole Broke Ass needs help

1 month ago

Hey man! Grixis is fun. I've got some thoughts... feel free to ignore any/all of them.

1. Your mana base is better than most, but it can still use some work. Consider City of Brass and Mana Confluence . Paying one life for an ETB untapped, chromatic land to generate mana is a great rate, and these two are functionally a second and third command tower. Generally, the one life cost-to-activate is irrelevant.

2. Similar to your land-base, mana rocks are a great way to hit your colors and ramp yourself faster than your opponents. Since you don't have access to dorks, you need to consider more two-mana mana-rocks; these are, in my experience, vastly superior to three-mana rocks. Consider running a few of the following: Talisman of Indulgence , Talisman of Dominance , Talisman of Creativity , Fellwar Stone , Arcane Signet , Mind Stone , Prismatic Lens and/or Coldsteel Heart . The diamonds ( Sky Diamond , Charcoal Diamond and Fire Diamond ) are really just worse Coldsteel Heart s. If you wanna go and bust the bank, Grixis decks often have the critical mass of artifacts necessary to make Mox Opal good; Mox Diamond and Chrome Mox are also great. Also Mana Crypt .

3. In general, one-for-ones like Hero's Downfall and Dreadbore are not going to be powerful enough in a format like EDH. You have three times as many opponents, meaning you're facing approximately three times the number of cards you yourself have available. So you're probably going to want to be able to remove multiple threats with one card -- this is part of the reason Wrath effects are so good. I like that you're running Damnation ; consider Toxic Deluge as another, similar effect that dodges Gaddock Teeg 's restrictions. I've always been a big fan of By Force as mass artifact removal, and Cyclonic Rift is always worth including. Finally, Fire Covenant is a great piece of mass spot removal.

4. One card especially good with Cyclonic Rift is Windfall . Pairing Windfall with a Narset, Parter of Veils (which I think you should definitely run) leads to instant fun. More generally, mass, repeatable card-draw and/or selection is a great thing in EDH and decides most games. Phyrexian Arena is probably the most common way to generate card-advantage in black, but also consider Graveborn Muse , Treasure Cruise or Dig Through Time (I don't recommend both, as delve can get in its own way), Fact or Fiction , Painful Truths (which is quickly becoming one of my favorite cards), Faithless Looting , Dack Fayden and the like.

5. Adding more cards to your counter package seems like a plausible route for improvement. If budget is no object, Mana Drain and Force of Will are the two best counters available. Also consider Force of Negation , which is excellent against combo decks, Dispel , which is great against Ad Nauseam decks, Pyroblast , which is good usually against at least one or two of your opponents and (on the off chance you run Dack Fayden and ult him) can steal a permanent, Flusterstorm , Spell Snare , Spell Pierce and other such cheap 'n efficient counter spells. If you want to go REALLY deep, I've found Counterbalance to be a high variance EDH card that tends to be good more often than not; you're already running Sensei's Divining Top , which is what really makes Counterbalance busted.

6. Lore-wise, Nicol Bolas is good at enrapturing and manipulating other, lesser creatures. Consider a Mr. Steal-yo-Gurl package, which is both flavorful and powerful. Sower of Temptation and Control Magic can both make opposing Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre s into your own threats; Bribery is similarly busted, and does not risk getting removed by a Toxic Deluge or (more likely) Nature's Claim . Also consider Treachery and Corrupted Conscience .

7. Since you're in blue, you have access to the best cantrips in magic. I highly, highly recommend running Ponder and Preordain -- These two don't look like much, but they'll dig you to what you need and past what you don't more efficiently than any other card. Brainstorm is also good, but I'd suggest holding off adding it until you get some more fetch lands in your deck. (Fetch lands' shuffle effect will make sure you don't get stuck with two dead cards on top of your deck.) Prismatic Vista and the off-color fetches like Flooded Strand or Verdant Catacombs are good ways to fill this role.

8. Your general has built-in discard. Another package to consider, therefore, is a Waste Not package. This is a relatively unique package in that it actually does not need the namesake card in order to be good; Raven's Crime , Words of Waste and Syphon Mind are all good in their own right, and made busted when Waste Not is on the field. Stick a Geth's Grimoire in the mix, and you can really go to town (especially with Words of Waste ).

9. Finally, as a kinda fun-z last suggestion, there's a 'Words' combo I've always liked that you may find interesting -- remember, though, it's really not the best. If you pair Words of Wind with Baleful Strix and a lot of mana, you can repeatedly return Baleful Strix to your hand with Words of Wind 's ability and make your opponents keep returning permanents. This would likely work best if your Omniscience was on the field, as it would end up effectively reading: ': Each opponent returns X permanents they control to their owners' hands.' However, this is likely a win-more type of thing.

There're some cards I think you should consider cutting in order to make room for my above suggestions. Wasp of the Bitter End strikes me as likely too weak in a format with three opponents; similarly, since Toll of the Invasion only hits one opponent, this should likely be considered on the chopping block. I think a boardwipe like Toxic Deluge is probably a lot better than Tyrant's Scorn . Lazotep Plating is probably worse than a regular hard counter. Finally, if you like the idea of artifact-based ramp in (2), thirty-eight lands is too many. I recommend cutting three to five, depending on how aggressively ramp-heavy you want your deck to play.

Right. That's all I got. Good luck!

SideBae on Nikki Bella, the Ravager EDH

1 month ago

Hey man! I always liked the idea of Nicol Bolas, the Ravager  ^Flip in EDH. I have some suggestions.

1. Blue Sun's Zenith is an interesting infinite mana outlet, but it is only going to kill one opponent at a time (assuming you have no way to tutor it back out of your deck). I think Exsanguinate is better, if only because it is a 'kill everyone' type of deal.

2. Vintage Xerox cards, like your Brainstorm , are a good way to filter through cards you don't want to get to those you do; cantrips like these seem underwhelming, but are banned in Modern and (some) are restricted in Vintage for a reason. I suggest adding Ponder and Preordain to the mix, as they can provide a lot of card selection and make marginal opening sevens much better.

3. Your lands have, like DemMeowsephs indicates, a lot of room for improvement. If you want your Brainstorm to be the best it can be, land-generated shuffle effects are the way to go. While the Onslaught/Zendikar fetches are the gold-standard here (like Polluted Delta or Scalding Tarn ), they are also roughly to price of gold; slightly more affordable options include Terramorphic Expanse , Evolving Wilds , Prismatic Vista , Bad River , Rocky Tar Pit ... Shock lands ( Steam Vents , Watery Grave and Blood Crypt , for this deck) are a good option, especially since they can be fetched with Bad River or Rocky Tar Pit . Chromatic lands, like City of Brass , Mana Confluence or even a well-timed Reflecting Pool are also great ETB-untapped sources of mana. Finally, I think you're running too many lands; generally, if you aren't a lands-matter oriented deck, you want to run around thirty-three at most. I suggest replacing four or five lands with mana-rocks, which will speed up your deck a lot.

4. Speaking of rocks, I'm glad to see you're already running the signets in addition to Sol Ring . In non-green color identities it's tough to ramp, and their inclusion shows you already recognize how powerful artifact ramp is. I suggest Talisman of Creativity , Talisman of Indulgence and Talisman of Dominance in addition to the signets. Two-mana ramp is significantly better than three-mana ramp, since by turn three you want to be doing things more relevant to the board; this becomes easier if you ramped on two, thus having four mana turn three. To that end, I suggest replacing some of your three-mana ramp with two mana ramp. Options include Prismatic Lens , Thought Vessel , Everflowing Chalice , Coldsteel Heart , Fire Diamond / Charcoal Diamond / Sky Diamond (I like these the least), and the soon-to-release Arcane Signet (hopefully its price will drop once the Throne of Eldraine releases).

5. Mass card-draw is at a premium in EDH, where doing busted things requires that you have a critical mass of busted cards. If you have the money, Wheel of Fortune is a second, better Windfall to pair with your Narset, Parter of Veils . As it has a similar but more powerful effect in conjunction with the Windfall effects, I suggest you bring in Notion Thief from your sideboard. I've always had a soft spot for cards like your Syphon Mind , as draw-threes are also great; consider Painful Truths . That's a card I've been very impressed with in my Tasigur, the Golden Fang list, and I think it'll be good in any three-color black deck. Mystic Remora is a great card that can be an easy Ancestral Recall if you drop it at the right time, especially in less experienced/less cutthroat metas.

6. In Magic, it is perhaps as important to stop your opponents from doing things as it is to do things yourself. If you choose not to run Notion Thief (or even if you do), Night of Souls' Betrayal is a brutal card to consider. Ashiok, Dream Render tends to be a pain for most decks (as the vast majority of decks try to tutor, at least in some way), and a REAL pain for graveyard decks.

7. Grixis, especially with Nicol Bolas-y decks, has access to a whole suite of discard magic not available to other commander identities. It takes a lot of crafting, but building a deck with Waste Not in mind can be really nice. Mass-discard, similar to your Syphon Mind and general's ETB trigger, keeps pressure on your opponents' hands and will help prevent them from killing you. Consider Raven's Crime , which turns late game land-blanks into repeatable one-for-ones, and Words of Waste , which can make your general's +2 all the more brutal.

Right. That's all I got. Good luck!

Optimator on Human Fly

1 month ago

I was just looking your deck over and I think that, considering your commander is 6 CMC and the deck is mostly based around it, you don't have enough ramp. Ashnod's Altar I don't consider because it doesn't work until your commander is out.

I'd recommend any of these: Coldsteel Heart , Sky Diamond , Fire Diamond , Talisman of Creativity , Mind Stone , Darksteel Ingot , Star Compass , Wayfarer's Bauble , Prismatic Lens , Worn Powerstone , Thran Dynamo , Unstable Obelisk , Sapphire Medallion .

NinetyFish on Thopter Dogfights

1 month ago

Nice deck! The artifact theme feels really strong all through the deck.

Dissolve is strictly better than Cancel , or you can lower the CMC with cards like Arcane Denial or Swan Song !

Some extra artifact ramp could definitely help as well, like Sky Diamond , Sapphire Medallion , Thought Vessel , Worn Powerstone , or Wayfarer's Bauble .

SideBae on Holy Swarm

1 month ago

1. I highly suggest Preordain to accompany your Ponder and Brainstorm . One-mana cantrips are great: They'll dig you to lands if you need them, or past them if you don't. Note that these Xerox-style cards allow you to run fewer lands, as it becomes easier to find the lands when you really need them. I suggest you run around thirty-three or thirty-four lands, at most. Similarly, Faithless Looting is great.

2. Windfall deserves to come out of the Maybeboard into the main. I think it's better than Skyscribing , as you can cast it after an opponent tutors and make them discard whatever they got; additionally, if an opponent has more cards than you, Windfall becomes card-positive. Additionally, pairing Windfall with your Narset, Parter of Veils is... good.

3. Mass-draw is always good. Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time are great, though running both is slightly questionable (delving one makes the other tougher to cast). If you run Dack Fayden out of the Maybeboard (I suggest doing that), then delving becomes easier. I see Distant Melody in your Maybeboard; I think the effect is powerful, but Slate of Ancestry is better.

4. One-for-ones like Outnumber are alright in one-on-one games, but in a usual EDH game you typically have three opponents. I think boardwipes, in addition to your Cyclonic Rift , are probably the way to go. Rolling Earthquake is a great red boardwipe in most decks, but I think straight Earthquake is better in this one (it lets your bug-things live). Similarly, By Force is great as artifact-hate.

5. Coat of Arms is an interesting include. I think Shared Animosity is probably better deserving of that slot, if only because it is asymmetric and more affordable mana-wise. Typically you'll have a lot of bug-duders, so not pumping toughness isn't a big deal (they're disposable). However, this may be a meta-call.

6. In colors outside green, ramp is difficult to find but still important. I suggest reexamining your rock-package; there're a lot of good rocks out there. Talisman of Creativity , Mind Stone , Fellwar Stone , the soon-to-release Arcane Signet , Coldsteel Heart , Fire Diamond and Sky Diamond are all good. In general, two-mana ramp is better than three-mana ramp, since by turn three you want to be casting more powerful cards and/or landing a threat. If you have access, Mana Vault and Mana Crypt are excellent ways to turbo-out your general.

7. Depending on your budget, your mana-base can be improved. Prismatic Vista seems really good, especially since fetches massively improve your Brainstorm . Steam Vents is around $11 these days, and is also a good include.

8. If you don't want to run a lot of non-basics, you can craft a sort of blue-moon package into this deck; in my experience, this can shut down a lot of opponents. Back to Basics , Magus of the Moon and Blood Moon are all good ways to take advantage of a basic-based land-base, and punish suckers like me for playing more complicated mana-bases. Cutting a bunch of your colorless lands, like Ghost Quarter or Tectonic Edge , for Snow-Covered Island can end up allowing you access to your colors while still running non-basic hate.

9. Stranglehold is a good way to shut down opponents, similar to Ashiok, Dream Render in UB decks.

10. I don't think Arcanis the Omnipotent is very good. Six-mana is a lot to pay, and having to wait a turn-cycle before you can start drawing cards is a big drawback that gives your opponents a long time to kill him. For six-mana, you want a bigger punch; I suggest bringing out your Consecrated Sphinx or Niv-Mizzet, Parun from your Maybeboard instead.

11. If you pair Battle Hymn or your maybe-boarded Ashnod's Altar with an x-spell, you can get a lot of value. Expansion / Explosion is good, as is Blue Sun's Zenith .

12. Finally, Mr. Steal-yo-Gurl cards are great as a form of spot removal. Vedalken Shackles , Control Magic , Sower of Temptation and Treachery are all great ways to make opposing threats into your threats.

Good luck! Love this general.