Stroke of Midnight

Instant

Destroy target nonland permanent. Its controller creates a 1/1 white Human creature token.

Tokens

• Human 1/1 W

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Freeform	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Pre-release	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Standard	Legal
Standard Brawl	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (34)

seshiro_of_the_orochi on Raffaaaaq My Opponents I Guess

1 week ago

Hey, so I find some time now.

In general, the list looks totally playable. Your mana curve is ok, maybe a little heavy on the 4, considering your commander is a 4-drop itself. I can see you took big parts from the {G}{W}{U} Karlov Manor precon. What you added are many pillowfort cards like Propaganda, which is a good idea considering this is basically a voltron list.

Here's a general overview of what I think you could improve on:

• The deck is really light on both lands and ramp. Having your land count at around 36 would be good to consistently draw enough lands. I counted eight pieces of ramp, and some of them are 4+ mana. Maybe try to get closer to ten pieces, and add in more cheap ones. Exalted wants you to have many cheap creatures, so adding in some mana dorks would work in your favour by synergizing with Sublime Archangel and similar cards. Cultivate and Kodama's Reach never get old, but Rampant Growth, Farseek and the recent Shared Roots would be great here. Btw, to give your clue strategy more versatility, you could add in Inspiring Statuary.

• You are also light on removal, both targeted one and boardwipes. Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Stroke of Midnight, Generous Gift and Beast Within are great spells with tons of reprints, so just get some of them. They are great additions. Regarding wipes, Divine Reckoning and Single Combat are very powerful for a holtron strategy, but even something as simple as Day of Judgment would be a great fit.

• Now to the voltron pieces: The ones you have work fine, but you have few ways to get Rafiq through to deal damage. Aqueous Form and Rancor are easy additions. What's more, you really want to protect Rafiq, so add in some hexproof. Swiftfoot Boots is great here. There are lots of auras like Timely Ward that shield your voltron from death, and even some instant protection would do a fine job for you: Snakeskin Veil, Ranger's Guile and similar cards would be great for that.

Finally, here's a card I like a lot: Angelic Exaltation.

I guess my comment became longer than I planned. If you have questions or don't agree, let me hear it.

DreadKhan on Cecil Dark Knight/Paladin

1 month ago

I like something like Loran's Escape, Blacksmith's Skill, or even Galadriel's Dismissal as a way to protect your Commander after they're flipped. Dismissal is one of the best White cards ever printed, able to protect your creature(s) from removal/wipes, as well as being able to fog any an attack AND remove that player's blockers until their next turn, meaning it can also serve as player removal. I have no idea what they were thinking, but it's not even a GC atm.

If you want versatile removal in Orzhov I don't think you should lean into Black for it, Withering Torment and Feed the Swarm are both pretty bad compared to Anguished Unmaking, Generous Gift, Stroke of Midnight, or even Vindicate if you really like sorcery speed options. I'd even run something like Winds of Abandon over either, you lose a bit of versatility to get a much stronger removal effect that can double as a one-sided board wipe by the time you have a board ready to swing with.

Optimator on Kill The Poor

5 months ago

Promise of Loyalty

Ruinous Ultimatum

Baron Bertram Graywater

Demand Answers

Palantir of Orthanc

Kellogg, Dangerous Mind

Kulrath Knight

Bedevil

Stroke of Midnight

Anguished Unmaking

Take the Bait

Fracture

Despark

Get Lost

Soul Shatter

Baleful Mastery

DreadKhan on Outlaw Communism

9 months ago

Neat deck idea, but I feel like you probably want more mana sources, definitely some more lands (I'd aim for 36-40 for a 4 mana Esper Commander that you 'need' to have out for your deck to work), and possibly some of the Talismans (some or all of Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Hierarchy, and Talisman of Progress would be obvious options to consider that help with fixing). My issue is that it's pretty easy to just kill your Commander, at which point you've got a bunch of auras that do very little. You can also throw in some cards to help protect your Commander, more of those could also shave off recasting, but remember something like Swiftfoot Boots needs adds an effective mana to the cost of your Commander (where Lightning Greaves does not), effectively adding 1 to her cost.

You're also pretty light on interaction of some sorts, but I'm guessing you're really, really counting on having your Commander out and stealing the problem creatures, but not everything is a creature in my experience! In White you have access to Generous Gift and Stroke of Midnight, this kind of card can solve a lot of stuff if you're desperate, regardless of the card's type. Maybe removal could be 'Secret Police', ie those who make problems 'go away' forever? I guess you could have Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker in charge?

Eldrazi Conscription can steal something bigger for you, and make it a HUGE problem fwiw.

Weird idea, but have you thought about some cards that can steal creatures for you regardless of the creature's scale? Sower of Temptation, Callous Oppressor, and Thalakos Deceiver are pretty cheap for what they do. You might also try something like Rite of Replication or Cryptoplasm, copying something like a Blightsteel Colossus can also solve the issue, at least for you.

bankrupt_on_selling on Mayael the anima: Big stomp

10 months ago

It's a new card I don't have but I love the "beast within" style cards so Stroke of Midnight seems like a good addition.

Crow_Umbra on Is Enchantment Destruction in Black …

1 year ago

I'm pretty excited for Withering Torment in my Black aligned decks that don't have access to White or Green. Three mana is hefty, but it's not nearly as flexible as something like Stroke of Midnight, for a comparable CMC & rarity. I wouldn't replace Feed the Swarm, but might run it as a compliment in more Grixis leaning color combos.

Picking the option to destroy a creature feels less ideal, especially when compared to other creature-centric removal options in Black like Bitter Triumph, Go for the Throat, or Infernal Grasp. If anything, Withering Torment is just Infernal Grasp with enchantment removal stapled onto it for 1 more mana.

I'm seeing more artifact heavy commanders more frequently in my main play group, like Brenard, Ginger Sculptor, Ygra, Eater of All, a Dr. Who Historic Duo, and Rocco, Street Chef, to name a few. Given this uptick in these varied artifact strats, I'm shifting towards more artifact punishing interaction or removal, than I am enchantment focused stuff.

Crow_Umbra on

1 year ago

All good, happy to help a newer player. What you described sounds like some pretty common issues I encountered pretty early on with Isshin, and still occasionally encounter every so often. In regards to your different points:

1. I think you have a decent enough amount of ramp. I think a couple of things can help further in this regard: changing out your two Signets for other 2 mana rocks like Talisman of Indulgence, Talisman of Hierarchy, Fellwar Stone, and Arcane Signet. Additionally, I think you can change out your 3 mana rocks like Darksteel Ingot for the stuff I mentioned. I think also trimming some of your higher cost creatures can help. Keeping a low curve can help you redeploy faster, if most of your creatures are in the 1-4 mana range. Etali is fun, but it's super boom or bust.

2. Having a couple more instant speed options to help you against boardwipes can be a huge help. It's not really budget, but Clever Concealment is an excellent option, especially since you will likely have multiple creatures to help cast this with the Convoke mechanic. There are other instant speed "counters" like Tibalt's Trickery and Reprieve which can help.

3. I think Thorough Investigation can be swapped for either Tocasia's Welcome or Chivalric Alliance. It's kinda slow for draw, since you still have to pay mana into the Clue tokens to draw 1 card at a time. Not the most budget, but Skullclamp is an excellent & repeatable option that you can feed some of your 1/1 tokens to. I'd recommend adding in Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant, Firemane Commando, and Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser as swaps with your Etali, The Master, and Elder Brain. Those 3 are all splashy, but can sit in your hand if you don't have the mana for them, which relates to some of your mana issues. Nelly, Karazikar, & Firemane all work in conjunction with the Breena you already have in your 99, and can help (or force) aggro away from you.

I think you can and should put Iroas back in there. His Menace anthem also helps to make your board harder to block, which acts as an additional layer of protection. He can help close out games if you have a strong enough board state. I think you can maybe swap him for either Righteous Cause or Blade of Selves.

Some other potential swaps: Bankrupt in Blood can swap out for Deadly Dispute (Lower creature investment needed, instant speed, and nets a treasure). Generous Gift & Stroke of Midnight can swap with any of your more narrowly focused/highly specific removal. The tokens they gift your opponents are largely inconsequential. Soul Partition is another versatile option that can either protect one of your permanents, or (temporarily) remove a threat.

Lastly, I think you can swap Mardu Shadowspear, Pulse Tracker, and Vicious Conquistador for some the 3 creatures I mentioned in bullet 3. I think you're on the right track with their group slug effects, but as smaller 1/1s they are easily blocked and killed. Mostly suggesting this as alternative if you would prefer to keep your 3 higher end creatures I suggested as swaps.

I hope this is all helpful, my apologies for writing you an essay.

DreadKhan on Sisay- CEDH Build

1 year ago

I'm not sure if you should be running that many guild Signets, why not just run more Green ramp that is better at fixing your mana? Artifacts do better in cEDH than more casual games, but you'll be feeding Dockside. I'd even run Talismans over Signets if you feel desperate for 2 mana rocks, Talisman of Indulgence is a more useful card in most situations than Rakdos Signet. Also Fellwar Stone exists fwiw.

Similarly, I'm not sure if you should run ETB tapped Fetches in a cEDH deck, but I will admit the fixing is nice. Stuff like Rocky Tar Pit belong in more casual games, at least in my experience.

I can see you have tons of combos in here, but I can't help but mention Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, she synergizes incredibly well with Sisay, Emiel and a Haste source (like Samut), usually netting you infinite mana and as many cards as you want (by flickering your Sisay, who should be the strongest creature). I only mention it because I think you've got everything Selvala needs to work, and she's a Legendary mana dork that can make any colours of mana.

If you're hoping to play cEDH I would recommend you run at least a couple Counters, some relatively affordable ones (that still hit relevant stuff reliably) are Swan Song, An Offer You Can't Refuse, and maybe Pact of Negation or even Flusterstorm. If these are too pricey you can also try Arcane Denial or Dispel. I would definitely run Dispel over Lightning Greaves in a deck like this, people don't run Sorcery speed answers very often in cEDH, so they'll just wait until you're going to equip the Greaves and then Swords you.

Do you have a plan for Opposition Agent? I feel like if people resolve one you're going to be having a very bad time, unless I'm missing a bunch of removal, and people love Oppo in cEDH. You might consider some of the more versatile removal options, stuff like Generous Gift, Stroke of Midnight, and Beast Within can hit pretty near anything you need gone.