Stronghold Biologist
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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Highlander Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Planar Constructed Legal
Planechase Legal
Premodern Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Stronghold Biologist

Creature — Human Spellshaper

(Blue)(Blue), Tap, Discard a card: Counter target creature spell.

DreadKhan on Zur the enchanter $100 budget

1 year ago

Cool idea with good execution!

Not sure if you are 100% satisfied with your mana base, some stuff like Esper Panorama, Darkwater Catacombs, Skycloud Expanse, and Ash Barrens can help fix your mana, I always find Zur is a hassle to get out without stretching the budget. There are also somewhat worse options like Obscura Storefront, it's worse than Arcane Sanctum but not by a ton. I recently found out about Planar Atlas, but this looks like exactly what Zur needs to get out faster, but I do run Signets and Signet Lands, so I have more use for colourless arguably. If you're using a Sun Titan, any lands that fetch something before going to the Graveyard become pretty strong in my experience, but Myriad Landscape is hilarious if you can recur it.

Not sure if it's outside your budget, but Mirrormade is the cheapest Copy Enchantment I know of that Zur can fetch, and it can also copy an artifact, so if there is a ramp rock out Zur can find mana. Another way Zur can ramp you is The Restoration of Eiganjo  Flip, which also turns into a creature. Dance of Many is a pretty interesting option if someone has a really big body out against you, not sure if you face many Blightsteels.

If you like to run Rule of Law effects in Zur, you might enjoy using a little Moderation to fuel you, it's a nice cheap card. If you can draw enough cards, Stronghold Machinist and/or Stronghold Biologist are pretty interesting cards. Obviously better with Necropotence though.

If you have Vanishing on Zur, you can fetch Out of Time to wipe the board in a shockingly thorough manner, if the board is full nothing is coming back. Obviously better if you can copy it before it goes away, but Copy Enchantment and Estrid's Invocation are both pretty pricey, and there are few things as good as copying All That Glitters. Another weird thing you could do is combine Spy Kit with Cornered Market, nobody can play creatures, if you have Zur out then you should be set.

If Propaganda or Ghostly Prison are too pricey, War Tax can be an interesting alternative, it's especially useful in a Rule of Law deck where you can't play multiple Sorcery speed spells, this lets you use spare mana to hassle whomever you want, it's non-targeted and scales with the game.

I always wonder if non-cEDH Zur decks should consider running Honden of Seeing Winds and Sanctum of Calm Waters to draw cards, Zur can find you a few other Shrines if you ever draw into a Draw engine, none better than Sanctum of Stone Fangs. I guess you'd have to decide how much work 2-3 cards per turn is worth, at least once it's set up it doesn't use more resources.

legendofa on Lets Shape the Spell

2 years ago

I would suggest an option that includes and , with as a possible third color.

isn't great. Mageta the Lion is a repeatable board wipe, and the other two I would consider are Avenger en-Dal and Devout Witness as targeted removal options.

has a couple of interesting control options. Waterfront Bouncer, Trickster Mage, and maybe Alexi, Zephyr Mage are passable tempo options, Stronghold Biologist and Stronghold Machinist are more color-heavy, and Dreamscape Artist hits color fixing and ramp, unusual for blue.

Spellshapers are generally mana-heavy, but Undertaker gives you a lot of freedom in what you discard, allowing you to switch cards in your hand and graveyard as needed. Notorious Assassin and Greel, Mind Raker are further control options.

offers mostly burn and evasion. Seismic Mage is repeatable land destruction, and Hammer Mage eats artifacts.

is, as always, the best at color fixing, with Greenseeker, Harvest Mage, and Silverglade Pathfinder. Rushwood Herbalist and Dawnstrider protect your creatures, and Jolrael, Empress of Beasts works well with the red options.

Snickles@EDH_only on Voidchant Sliver

5 years ago

For sizing, the bigger counter point is simply color logic - I know of not a single blue 3/2 for 2 blue mana. the closest comparison is Gilded Drake , which while a 3/3 for 2, is given to your opponent as opposed to kept on your side of the field. searching the gatherer for creatures costing "UU", the majority are 2/2s, with a few 1/2s, 2/1s, and the odd 1/4 or 4/1.

I am forced to agree with cdkime - "sliver" is more than a powerful enough mechanic to begin with. especially since morph is less useful to slivers than any other tribe, as the creatures face down have no creature type. the ability to turn face up is much better for triggered creatures, such as Voidmage Apprentice or Weaver of Lies . Creatues without a "when this card turns face up" typically just have a larger mana cost that can be paid over 2 different turns, and that's it.

random tidbit for you Flooremoji, Stronghold Machinist and Stronghold Biologist are two sides of the same picture.

triproberts12 on With this Ideal we Endure

5 years ago

The first thing I would recommend is finding a way to copy your namesake card the turn it's cast. Copies aren't cast, so both will resolve! It's pretty expensive, so having onboard ways are the best. Primal Amulet  Flip is probably the best. If you utilize spell based ramp and tutors, you should be able to flip it. Swarm Intelligence , The Mirari Conjecture could also work.

Since you're not planning on using your hand or lands into the late game, you might as well have onboard tricks that use those resources.

To use your hand, you could play Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace , Words of Waste , Null Brooch , Restore Balance , Jolrael, Empress of Beasts , Mageta the Lion , Stronghold Machinist , Stronghold Biologist , Greel, Mind Raker , Alexi, Zephyr Mage , Notorious Assassin , Knollspine Invocation , Pyromancy , and Magus of the Balance .

To wreck everyone else's hand Mindslicer , Bottomless Pit , Creeping Dread , Necrogen Mists , and Oppression work.

To destroy lands, you could use Desolation , Destructive Flow , and Mana Vortex .

goldlion on Baral Ultra Budget Hate

5 years ago

After reading your commander I immediately went to the list for a madness deck I'm working on. Here's some cards I could see that might fit. I especially like the idea of playing off the discard.

ERoss8 on Card Art Easter Eggs

5 years ago

GoblinsBeatElves I believe Legacy Weapon has a similar feature. Almost every object in the art is an actual magic card (can’t actually name them though, to lazy to look up)

Also, Stronghold Machinist and Stronghold Biologist basically have them same art, just shifted to the left and right

Snickles@EDH_only on Magic Art Pairs

7 years ago

Stronghold Biologist and Stronghold Machinist are part of the same art set. kinda want a playmat of it at some point, actually. and their flavor texts mirror / match each other perfectly

Shamen3mill on *help* Eternal Dominion EDH *help*

7 years ago

If you're really looking for things to remove: Fork, Increasing Vengeance, Reiterate.

You're playing with an Epic spell, much as I applaud it, it's important to understand that after the first cast of the spell, that's it, all of your hand is dead. It bears mentioning because it's just that much of a down-side.

The majority of your casts of Dominion is going to be during the upkeep, no fork, no howl of the horde, no dualcast mage.

They're nice on the first cast, yes, but the same mana can be put into abilities that you put into place in turns prior, and can continue to affect the future casts of it.

Additionally, you need more pillows. Windborn Muse, Elephant Grass, things that keep people from punching your face in.

If you want cards that Synergize well with the fact that you're running an Epic spell, I'd look into the Spellshaper creature type. Most of their abilities aren't all that impressive, but it does allow for using the cards in your hand for more than Epic would normally allow you too. Most notably Stronghold Machinist and Stronghold Biologist

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