Spectacular Showdown

Combos Browse all Suggest

Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Alchemy Legal
Archenemy Legal
Arena 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
Oathbreaker Legal
Planar Constructed Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Spectacular Showdown

Sorcery

Put a double strike counter on target creature, then goad each creature that had a double strike counter put on it this way. (Until your next turn, those creatures attack each combat if able and attack a player other than you if able.)

Overload (You may cast this spell for its overload cost. If you do, change “target” in its text to “each”.)

DreadKhan on Anax and Cymede, Spell Slinger

6 days ago

It's always cool to see how someone solves the Anax and Cymede puzzle! They end up being a better Commander than people expect, especially if you can generate a board to benefit from his buff (and you can trigger them a few times).

I have an A+C list, I use Crown of Flames and Flickering Ward to generate A+C triggers, as well as trigger other cards. In that list I use the few creatures that care about enchantment ETBs (so Mesa Enchantress, Kor Spiritdancer, and Sram, Senior Edificer, but I also found Gandalf, White Rider pretty handy, Scry isn't as good as Draw, but he's easy to trigger and buffs my whole board each time, which stacks with A+C's triggers! FWIW it's easier to find an Aura than it is an Instant/Sorcery in Boros (Sunforger is a bad card IMHO, but some people swear by it). I value these Auras so highly I almost always hold up mana to bounce them in a pinch. I almost never tutor for it, but I also run Ghitu Firebreathing, it's a got Flash, which means for every 3 mana you can pump into the effect you can pump your creatures not just on your turn, but also in preparation for blocking. It's niche I admit, but there are only so many playable Auras that bounce themselves for cheap!

I'm not sure if you're interested in equipment, but Inquisitor's Flail plays pretty well with A+C's First Strike and Vigilance, and it stacks with other doubling effects like True Conviction/Spectacular Showdown. Two-Handed Axe is great for A+C, if you have 7 mana you can swing in at 8 power with Double Strike with no other support!

If you want to take a look at my A+C list, it's Staxdrop! (Snowdrop Vorthos Deck), it's a Vorthos deck so it has some unusual elements like hard Stax effects and numerous board wipes, so that part might not be relevant to your deck!

legendofa on How Do You Feel About …

7 months ago

plakjekaas That's possible. But to me, Battle - Duel or Battle - Riot or Battle - Skirmish or whatever seem more like instants or sorceries, or maybe enchantments. Alpha Brawl, Spectacular Showdown, Massive Raid, these all share that flavor space (and I wish I could come up with some non-red examples off the top of my head). All of these could potentially be reprinted as story spotlights in some future set, like Renewed Faith from Onslaught to Amonkhet.

Conflict is everywhere in a game about conflict, and I'm sure I'm thinking too small, and biased by what we have now instead of what could be coming in the future. Looking at current story spotlight cards, some that I would consider as flavorfully battles are Battle at the Bridge, Battle for Bretagard (these even have Battle in the name), Eiganjo Uprising, Hostile Takeover, Hour of Glory, Mage Hunters' Onslaught, Rampage of the Clans, Storm the Citadel, and The Fall of Kroog. These can easily be thematically redesigned as battle cards.

So I'm not saying you're wrong, but those types of events just don't fit my current mental picture of a battle. That's why I said battles probably aren't a strictly necessary addition to the game--they're mechanically new and interesting, but what flavor space can they carve out for themselves? Or will they simply take over this flavor space, and we're going to see less major-combat-themed cards of other types?

jarncards on Instigate

9 months ago

Spectacular Showdown. Here is the best card in your deck. keep in mind the doublestrike will also cause Firkraag's second ability to trigger twice per hit your opponents get on each other. Avatar of Slaughter, Total War, and Disrupt Decorum are probably the other best ones for killing everything.

Each of these are also good considerations depending on how you build. Agitator Ant | Baeloth Barrityl, Entertainer | Chaos Dragon | Goblin Spymaster | Sly Instigator | Goblin Diplomats | Grand Melee | Master Warcraft | Total War | War's Toll |

IHATENAMES on Slaughter Festival

10 months ago

Ideas.

Anger : haste is a powerful keyword.

Stormfist Crusader card draw on creature. Maybe better phyrexian arena.

I feel like this is one of those decks that I would focus in a game. Mainly because it can feel annoying to play against. Some sort of Crawlspace or goading card likeSpectacular Showdown or perhaps Baeloth Barrityl, Entertainer might be important. Good luck and hope you aren't at my table!

DreadKhan on BBEG Deck Ideas

1 year ago

I feel like you could also look into running a lot of wipes, stax or other salt inducing things, such that the deck will naturally end up the archenemy and everyone will unite against them. Do the other decks compete with one another? If so, something that does Goad or Goad-like effects would be cool. TBH, if I had to pick a commander to try out as an Archenemy type deck, I'd be very tempted to go with Kresh the Bloodbraided. 5 mana for a 3/3 isn't very spicy, but he quickly can get very, very out of hand, it's not unusual for you to do something like Mandate of Abaddon or Phyrexian Scriptures and then one shot people one at a time with your gigantic Kresh. Lots of cards synergize with Kresh, ranging from Grim Feast and anything that works with/is Rite of the Raging Storm. Big Goad effects like Disrupt Decorum and Spectacular Showdown also add a nasty surprise, and Insurrection is a great turn-around-is-fair-play type effect for an Archenemy. You can even make the deck on the cheap using stuff like Fleshbag Marauder (there are a bajillion at this point, especially if you'll pay 4 for a 4 power one), these generate a lot of power if you also have Savra, Queen of the Golgari (or something similar) out. Pestilence and similar effects are very good in here, they let you both clear out weenie blockers while also pumping Kresh ever bigger by winnowing away the chaff. Kresh will quickly crush everyone, you just need to add fun stuff like evasion or trample to make his immense power count. If you build this right it should be quite scary to play against, and the odd Fling can be a nice way to punish the players for killing Kresh.

Another great option might be Sauron, the Dark Lord, the more the party does the bigger the 'threat' gets, and it's almost impossible to remove Sauron. It's easy to sneak in some powerful Changelings to work as a better base army, but the whole 'orc army' thing is in and of itself very stereotypical in D&D. I like Grixis because you get Blue, meaning you have access to the odd counter. In particular I'd look into stuff like Stronghold Machinist, effect-on-a-stick creatures are good for an Archenemy because they tend to soak up the opponent's cards, even something like Royal Assassin is card advantage over time. Since the Army can get pretty big you can use Voltron stuff with it, and if you use Anthems (Berserkers' Onslaught, Dauthi Embrace, and Whip of Erebos come to mind) they'll work on both the Army and Sauron, which is cool Big Bad energy for the deck.

Rocketman988 on Defile Me Daddy Rakdos

1 year ago

Spectacular Showdown is also awesome- it can goad all opponents while adding double strike counters to all your creatures, which won't count towards Rakdos's non-demon count. Nyx Lotus seems like it may do more for you than Belbe's Portal, since Belbe's effect only works for cheating out specific creatures, but Nyx could be used to pay for anything in the deck!

DreadKhan on unthinkable apocalypse

1 year ago

I'm not certain the Commander has enough explosive power to consistently win vs 2 decks, but I have very good results in 1 v 1 with my Rakdos deck, and it often has spare cards by the end of the game, be it wipe or removal, because the deck just runs so much of those, with lots of the removal hitting more than 1 target (I love stuff like Phyrexian Purge, Fire Covenant, Make an Example, and Volcanic Offering can each be a terror of a card, and a deck running all of them has lots of pinpoint removal that will clear lots of stuff out. Ashes to Ashes and Reckless Spite also exist fwiw, and if you aren't certain you'll have creatures out, Tergrid's Shadow can do a bit of work, as can Plaguecrafter or Demon's Disciple, cards Sedris can recur for 2B even. Another value card is Dredge the Mire, which can cheat in the 3 worst creatures in people's graveyards, note certain creatures will kill you if you control them, so check before playing! Necromantic Selection not only clears the field, it also gives you back the best thing, this is extra juicy if you use some sort of Indestructible creature(s) that won't die. If you consistently have a fairly big creature, or one with Deathtouch and Lifelink, Chandra's Ignition is one sided by definition, one of many cards that shines brightly with Basilisk Collar (which is also very good with Jaya Ballard, Task Mage or even good old Banshee, Jaya's 6 damage wipe really is amazing if you've got Collar on her, though it'll kill her too). If you expect to have multiple opponents, Goad is a very strong effect, Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant is potentially pretty solid, lots of card draw. There is also Kardur, Doomscourge that will force everyone's hand. Spectacular Showdown is a great card if you've actually got a board of your own to finish people off, keep in mind that on your next turn, you not only won't have been attacked by any pre-existing creature, everyone else will have swung for the fences with Double Strike, and they will likely have nothing left to defend with, making your Double Strikers very effective. Another Goad source that is great with a creature heavy board is Agitator Ant, which is hilarious a lot of the time. If you're using Goad effects, War Tax can let an opponent have a way around them, if there is a tax to attack Goad fails, and War Cadence is absolutely devastating with Goad, even a tax of 1 to block can make blocking impossible for weenie decks, and you can use either on anyone's turn.

As you've got access to Blue, there are a few non-Rakdos tricks you can use, the most hilarious I know of is Mass Diminish, note that it lasts until your next turn and have a good laugh. There is also Sudden Spoiling, which is powerful but lasts for that turn, or Polymorphist's Jest, which is similarly a 1 turn solution. I use Mass Diminish more aggressively, to make a player hyper-vulnerable to attackers (and make them unable to counter attack), getting two casts is just savage. Visions of Duplicity can create some chaos with it's two casts, Cultural Exchange is obscene if someone else has better creatures. Bident of Thassa is glorious if you want both of it's effects, forcing people to attack is incredibly mean, and this doesn't require you to run a weenie like Goblin Diplomats, but that's also a fun card fwiw. If you're going to run Oriq Loremage, you might slip in a huge creature to Unearth, something like Dragon Tyrant can be huge and not break the bank, Double Strike and Firebreathing are really good together, and you won't have to pay the upkeep with Unearth, he's dead before that matters.

I was looking at your land count and average Mana Value and I think you probably are running too few lands at this point, it's very tempting to cut them, but 30 is probably too few for a MV that is over 2.5. You might get away with adding 2 mana ramp, but I'd still aim for at least 36 lands (or MDFCs that count as a land, you probably already have the best two MDFCs in those colours, but people also run Malakir Rebirth  Flip) to ensure you can consistently cast stuff. There is a smattering of ways you can run less lands/ramp, but these all come with downsides, but in Grixis you can run 4 solid Bounce Lands, Dimir Aqueduct and Guildless Commons should be in here as well if you want a lower land count, these let you hit another land drop when you draw them. You might also run stuff like Thran Dynamo or Worn Powerstone to help you hit higher MVs sooner, ramping by only 1 mana feels bad compared to hitting a land drop most of the time, there is also Gilded Lotus, but hitting 5 mana can be rough. Coalition Relic can charge for 1 turn, Skyclave Relic is super versatile/rugged, and Everflowing Chalice can be huge if you want, 6-10 mana is absurd but sometimes comes up. Cantrips like Ponder and Preordain are also good at digging for a land, but I know in Talrand it stings pretty bad when you Preordain and don't find a land and I needed one. As for some cards to remove, I'll take a look, but if I'm trying to build a deck that can handle attention, I look first at cards that will hurt only 1 player, unless that card will almost certainly end that player, either right away or in a few turns.

A few to consider removing (I may be missing why you have them in, so user discretion is advised or something): Archive Trap, Outpost Siege, Palace Siege, Ponder, Preordain, Haunting Echoes, Cruel Ultimatum (this seems insanely hard to cast, and hits only 1 player, unless you can copy it I'd run Captive Audience if I want to hose one player hard), Cranial Extraction, Cormela, Glamour Thief, Kess, Dissident Mage, Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger, Lobber Crew, Loyal Subordinate, Nekusar, the Mindrazer, Obeka, Brute Chronologist, Phenax, God of Deception, Runo Stromkirk  Flip, Spear Spewer, and Thermo-Alchemist.Some maybe cards include Angrath, Captain of Chaos, and Cryptolith Fragment  Flip (for another land, maybe a better rock, there is Thought Vessel, but fixing is sweet in Grixis).

Hope some of this is helpful!

Forkbeard on Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm: Double Dragon

2 years ago

Oh this is a lot to process, ha. Here's some thoughts around the suggestions.

  • Genesis Wave - love the card, definitely tempted as another 'sneak into play' option.
  • Equilibrium - also love this card and use it to great effect in my simic elf deck, but I'm not sure that I can justify it in here due to the already hefty casting costs on all these dragons. More on that later...
  • Sylvan Library & Mana Vault - undeniably amazing cards, I just don't have spares laying around just now. Our play group allows proxies but we have specific rules around them; a maximum of 3 nonland proxies per deck and you have to own a real copy of it. I've opted for Doubling Season, Parallel Lives & The Great Henge for those slots. I'm already running Worldly Tutor in here.
  • Shifting Shadow - this is a VERY interesting card, I've never seen it before! I wouldn't play it without Miirym on the table but I do think this card is neat.
  • Mana Echoes - an awesome card and I've used it to great effect in mass token swarm decks + sliver combos, but I'm not convinced it's a great call in a dragon brew. Might be worth trying but I'm not sure what I'd cut for it.
  • Rhythm of the Wild - another beaut of a card and I had it in here, but having played the deck a few times now I absolutely want/need my tokens to have haste as well.
  • Spectacular Showdown - in my experience with the deck so far, win-more stuff like this isn't needed. The dragons _are_ the finishers.

  • Alright so about the hefty casting cost problem of dragons in general. Yeah. Now that I've had a chance to play the deck a bit, I'm running into the same problems I had with Atarka. With so much ramp + treasure support (treasures are particularly rampant in my playgroup), Commander in general is so fast these days and this deck had a very difficult time keeping up. I really like the brew I have here, but I need to consistently ramp to have any hope of getting this battlecruiser off the ground. I need to start thinking about fast mana (Ancient Tomb, Mana Crypt etc) because I'm finding that some games don't go beyond 5 turns these days. Dark times for a Timmy like me.

    Load more
    Have (1) JordanSanFran
    Want (0)