Staff of Nin

Artifact

At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card.

: Staff of Nin deals one damage to target creature, player or planeswalker.

Discussion (50)

Spirits on Angels, Demons, and Dragons, oh my.

3 weeks ago

Hi MURSEisHere,

Fellow Kaalia of the Vast player, Kaalia, Mirror Breaker. I'm more combo-centric, but you've got a fun looking deck here.

You have a couple lands that might come in tapped, but in my opinion Amulet of Vigor isn't giving you enough value, a blocker sometimes, or a mana sometimes. In playing, I would count the number of activates and utility. Did it untap a permanent (y/n), and did you end up utilizing that untapped (y/n). If yy <= 50% it should go.

What about a Bloodgift Demon for some extra draw, or good ole Phyrexian Arena since you need to refill your hand for Strionic Resonator. Demonlord Belzenlok I also prefer over either of those, since he ETB draws, sometimes 2 cards.

Hellkite Tyrant is really nice, can accumulate mana rocks.

Shock lands are really good, Godless Shrine, Sacred Foundry and Blood Crypt. There's the new Savai Triome it's ok because of it's cycling for late game (I wouldn't run it, but it's borderline).

Caves of Koilos, Battlefield Forge, Sulfurous Springs are reasonably affordable (except Sulfurous Springs) and help with the mana-fixing in 3-color mardu commander.

Razaketh, the Foulblooded is high-power, he is a single card combo enabler if you go down that path with a Leonin Relic-Warder or something in the future.

Lyra Dawnbringer or Whip of Erebos can give you some lifelink, and Whip of Erebos adds a reanimator to trigger off ADD with ETB a second time, for a reasonable price.

The talisman's are very cheap, and the best 2-mana rocks Talisman of Hierarchy / Talisman of Conviction / Talisman of Indulgence, superior to the Signets (except Arcane Signet) and an upgrade to Commander's Sphere. Fellwar Stone also isn't bad, but Chromatic Lantern has it's upside too.

Hall of the Bandit Lord can give you another haste. It enters tapped, so it's not the greatest.

A tutor package would allow you to reduce the number of ADD, taking out the lower power ones, and tutoring the higher power ones, it creates a more consistent play, but also takes away the fun of that randomness.

Already mentioned Amulet of Vigor, but also Gideon, Martial Paragon isn't doing much for you, unless he's a personal favorite, I would cut him.

Staff of Nin is high cost, go Phyrexian Arena CMC3, Necropotence draw a bunch or Bloodgift Demon CMC1 cheaper and can be free cast with Kaalia of the Vast instead. Bloodgift Demon is the slowest of the bunch.

Tyrant's Familiar doesn't trigger off the turn that Kaalia of the Vast plays him, since he enters tapped an attacking. So unless you hard casting for CMC7, your not getting the benefit from him and only hits creatures, there are a variety of other dragons that hit any target. Bogardan Hellkite. Theres the new M21 dragon Terror of the Peaks, he doesn't ETB himself (boo) although, but under a Ghostway could be a win.

Angelic Skirmisher doesn't trigger properly with Kaalia of the Vast, I could see it being a finisher perhaps the next turn, but if it's really connecting for value (2+ big creatures), is it just unnecessary mass overkill vs. something like a Hellkite Tyrant which delivers immediate value as an example. I'll often Wishclaw Talisman a Hellkite Tyrant with a Kaalia of the Vast trigger on the stack and steal back my Wishclaw Talisman.

Hope you find something helpful or to think about!

Optimator on White Token Army

3 weeks ago

Your average CMC is pretty high and you're only running 4 ramp pieces. I usually aim for 6-10 in a deck, personally. Consider Prismatic Lens, Star Compass, Marble Diamond, Wayfarer's Bauble, Guardian Idol, Coldsteel Heart, Burnished Hart, Tithe, Verge Rangers. With no budget there is always Land Tax, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault

You have a lot of really great interaction but, as you mentioned, you are low on card advantage/draw. White is obviously not great at this but you do have options. Endless Atlas, Mind's Eye, Slate of Ancestry, Staff of Nin, Sandstone Oracle, Alms Collector, Palace Jailer, Palace Sentinels, Arch of Orazca, Geier Reach Sanitarium, Bonders' Enclave, Conqueror's Galleon  ^Flip, Mind Stone, Hedron Archive, Farsight Mask, Loreseeker's Stone. With no budget there is Sword of Fire and Ice

A Solemn Simulacrum could smooth things out too.

Mangara, the Diplomat will be a staple soon enough so maybe gun for one of those when they come out.

Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor on Insight into Budget Card Draw ...

3 weeks ago

Hmm that is a pretty vague request. Card draw engines come in all shapes and sizes depending on your strategy. What type of deck are you trying to build? Regardless, here are some of my favorite general ones in each color:

Black: Greed, Arguel's Blood Fast  ^Flip, Underworld Connections

Green: Colossal Majesty, Lifecrafter's Bestiary, Rowen, Elemental Bond

Red: Vance's Blasting Cannons  ^Flip, Outpost Siege, Furious Rise

Blue: Monastery Siege, Kumena's Awakening, and many, many more

White: Hahahahaha...white doesn't draw cards. Mentor of the Meek and Dawn of Hope are about it

Colorless: Staff of Nin, Book of Rass, Conqueror's Galleon  ^Flip, Trading Post

shadow63 on Insight into Budget Card Draw ...

1 month ago

Staff of Nin and Thought Reflection are personal favorites

king-saproling on Brisela, The Worst Idea I've Ever Had

1 month ago

You might like these: Sequestered Stash, Skyship Weatherlight, Bottled Cloister, Bonders' Enclave, Codex Shredder, Mesmeric Orb, Bonder's Ornament, Planar Portal, Planar Bridge, Bag of Holding, Staff of Nin, Sculpting Steel, Millikin, Conqueror's Galleon  ^Flip, Anvil of Bogardan

NorinTheWise on Norin's ETB Extravaganza

1 month ago

Profet93

Thanks for all the awesome suggestions, you got me back into hardcore brewing mode! I have been workshopping this deck for a long time and am excited about the direction it has taken. Although the deck could be slightly more consistent without it, I am proud of how well the decks sub theme of playing other peoples cards is integrated.

First off, I dove head long into solving the card draw problem. I added your suggestions: Hedron Archive, Outpost Siege, Arch of Orazca, and Humble Defector. I also took on the card draw challenge by changing the deck up a little bit and going big mana/artifact. I added cards like Thran Dynamo, Hedron Archive, Curse of Opulence, and Ugin, the Ineffable. (Ugin can be a powerhouse in this deck with almost half the spells being colorless.) With having more mana I added spells like The Immortal Sun and Tower of Fortunes which can now be played and/or activated far earlier than their respective curve.

Personally I am not a fan of Plainswalkers as a whole in the game of MtG. I don't like the way they slow down the game. I added Ugin mainly for his passive ability, with the bonus of his card draw, but otherwise have shied away from plainswalkers in most of my decks. Thus, Chandra, Torch of Defiance isn't really my cup of tea. I even opted for The Immortal Sun instead of Staff of Nin in order to shut down others plainswalkers.

I added Buried Ruin, it was a great reccomendation.

I have opted away from Goblin Matron since I have very few Goblins and it feels more situational in that case.

I have been debating Flametongue Kavu since the beginning but just couldn't figure out what I wanted to get rid of to add it. But with all of the positive feedback I have seen on that card I am finally hopping on the bandwagon!

I am still debating Volcanic Offering. I think it will depend on my playgroup more than anything. Kind of a side board card for me.

Your Norin deck is fantastic as well, I enjoyed looking it over. I will right a few suggestions I have in the comments soon!

Cheers!

Optimator on Torbran Musings

1 month ago

All owned:

Humble Defector - Khorvath's Fury - Vance's Blasting Cannons  ^Flip - Tormenting Voice - Faithless Looting - Cathartic Reunion - Thrill of Possibility - Outpost Siege - Wild Guess - Shreds of Sanity - Staff of Nin - Farsight Mask - Tamiyo's Journal - Seer's Sundial - Ghirapur Orrery - Loreseeker's Stone - Magnifying Glass

Not owned but worth considering:

Mind's Eye - Arcane Encyclopedia - Endless Atlas - Magus of the Wheel - Arch of Orazca - Bag of Holding - Smuggler's Copter - Crown-Hunter Hireling

I really like Chandra, Flamecaller. Seems like planeswalkers would be hard to defend though?

Anarkhy on Kozilek, turn1 big boi

2 months ago

Update: trying out Cloudpost and Glimmerpost

took out Arcane Lighthouse and Staff of Nin