Stubborn Denial

Instant

Counter target noncreature spell unless its controller pays {1}.

Ferocious — If you control a creature with power 4 or greater, counter that spell instead.

Discussion (48)

Architect112 on Blighty McBlight Face

3 days ago

This excellent! Just the feedback I was looking for. Thank you!

I completely forgot about Baral, Chief of Compliance. I agree with removing the Stubborn Denial and Sailor of Means. I do worry about the three U for Archmage's Charm if I splash white but the Thraben Inspector is very enticing.

I will rework it a bit more. Again thanks!

wallisface on Blighty McBlight Face

4 days ago

Nice brew, looks very fun! Some thoughts:

• Stubborn Denial feels like it's only going to be useful after you're already in a position of power. You're unlikely to have 1 free mana during the turn you Shape Anew, so really its only useful turns after that, when you've got a bunch of untapped lands anyway. I'd replace it for more solid countermagic, like the 4th copy of Counterspell, and then perhaps Archmage's Charm to help with control & card-draw.

• Bounce spells are generally seen as pretty weak, because in general they're costing you cards from your hand, and not costing your opponents any actual material. If you're fine splashing a secondary colour, I'd suggest adding either black or white for the additional removal options they provide, and so remove Cyclonic Rift and Stern Dismissal - destroying/exiling a think is a lot more useful than bouncing it. I could see Rift still being useful as a sideboard option, if your meta runs those.

• I don't think you need Sailor of Means... he's kindof slow and you already have lots of options for getting artifacts. If you end up splashing white, you could run a few Thraben Inspector (this cards good enough to probably also replace Press for Answers).

• I think you want the full playset, possibly more, of the Karfell Harbinger. On that topic, I think Baral, Chief of Compliance is a strict upgrade to that card, so I would suggest maybe running something like 4x Baral, and 2x Karfell (or even 4 of each, and drop to 20 lands). It looks like your deck wants the mana acceleration, so make sure you get it!

• Drop Rogue's Passage, you don't need it. Blightsteel is already a massive creature with trample and infect, so even if the opponent has blockers they won't for long - you're already in a winning spot so there's no need to "win more". It would be better to hold up mana for control magic than risk tapping everything down just to get him hit with a Path or the likes.

multimedia on jodah archmage eternal

1 week ago

Hey, nice list of cards on a budget. You have several good cards, but also many stinkers.

Do you really play this deck? Or it is a deck you made here for fun? I ask because I don't see how this deck can win a game or consistently function well enough in a real game of multiplayer Commander. If Jodah gets disrupted you're done because your deck is relying way too much on Jodah. Problem is Jodah will be an instant target for removal when he's on the battlefield as your opponents can't let him stick around letting you take over the game. You want your deck to be able to function in gameplay without Jodah.

There's a basic deck structure you can use for a causal Commander deck that's a starting point for building a deck.

• 36-38 lands (Exotic Orchard, Path of Ancestry)
• 20-25 creatures (Faeburrow Elder, Maelstrom Archangel)
• 12 or more ramp sources (Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone)
• 10 or more draw/tutor sources (Temur Ascendancy, Conflux)
• 10 or more removal/board wipes/counterspells (Beast Within, Stubborn Denial, Austere Command)

This structure doesn't cover everything, just the basics to help to make a functioning deck. For example with Jodah you will want to dedicate quite a few card spots for protection such as Boros Charm and Swiftfoot Boots for him and the big stuff you cheat onto the battlefield. Some areas such as number of lands, lands used in the manabase and ramp become much more important than others. Especially when playing five colors, needing one of each color to cast spells with Jodah and having many high mana cost cards you want to cast.

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You have Command Tower which is good, one of the best lands in Commander. When playing five colors then more color fixing from lands in the manabase and ramp sources that can make any color of mana are areas to focus more on and allocate more funds to make gameplay better with or without Jodah.

• Arcane Signet
• Fellwar Stone
• Exotic Orchard
• Path of Ancestry
• Faeburrow Elder
• Jegantha, the Wellspring
• Commander's Sphere

For lands on a budget if basic lands are the lands you count on most then include ramp and other lands that have interaction with basic lands.

• Cultivate
• Farseek
• Cinder Glade
• Canopy Vista
• Prairie Stream
• Sunken Hollow
• Smoldering Marsh

Glade and the four others are called Tango lands and they care about you controlling two or more basic lands for them to ETB untapped. Farseek can search for any one Tango land and put it onto the battlefield tapped.

You have Jungle Shrine which is good, it's called a Tri land and on a budget these lands are some of better lands you can play for color fixing. Consider more Tri lands?

• Savage Lands
• Frontier Bivouac
• Mystic Monastery
• Opulent Palace
• Crumbling Necropolis
• Seaside Citadel

I can continue with more advice in another comment. Would you like me to continue?

Good luck with your deck.

Last_Laugh on Animar, morph scute swarm

2 weeks ago

27 non-creatures is crazy high. I understand you wanting counters to boardwipes but there's zero reason to run Cultivate type effects here. I'd also suggest counterspells over something like Akroma's Memorial. Swan Song and Stubborn Denial are 2 really good ones here.

Sakura-Tribe Elder, Wood Elves, Birds of Paradise, Beastcaller Savant (works like morph thanks to haste), and even stuff like Cloud of Faeries/Peregrine Drake (which also work with Morph/Cloudstone) will serve you much much better.

Feel free to check out my list for ideas. Upvotes on any of my decks are appreciated. Animar, Gaea's Hemorrhoid ⫷PRIMER⫸

amicdeep on

2 weeks ago

i second Unearth as a must run. it brigs back skaab constantly, id also run Egon, God of Death  ^Flip his face side is another solid beater (like skaab) but most importantly he's also a solid turn one mill engin. he's also targetable with unearth which is nice. Rotting Regisaur also fits in this bracket

considering your tying to get down the big fatties, id also look at some protection for them. Stubborn Denial seems pretty well suited to the deck.

theres also probably an argumnet for more of a controling them with the deck Rotting Rats style. with skaab being the midrange wincon.

another possibility for the deck is Narfi, Betrayer King ok weird i know. but hes a relevant lord, an easiy reanimate target that's instant speed. and he's legendary so multiples i the gy are solid exile targets.

finaly you now have access to Persist as a secondary game plan. reanimate big stuff is pretty much what this card is made for,

zapyourtumor on Indestructible Kitchen

2 weeks ago

Turn Aside is too narrow, since it basically only answers removal. I'd swap it out for Stubborn Denial, since you should be turning on ferocious consistently with Rise and Shine and Ensoul Artifact (it's unfortunate that Asmor doesn't turn it on though).

multimedia on Double Trouble : Budget High-power Kalamax

3 weeks ago

Hey, you're welcome and nice changes.

Archmage > Rashmi > Hippocamp. Archmage is a noninstant that's really good and yes you're undervaluing him.

Archmage with Kalamax draws two cards for the first instant you cast on a turn no matter what instant you cast. That's better than drawing one card from Hippocamp only on opponent's turns or putting one card into your hand/potentially being able to cast one spell each turn for no mana cost from Rashmi. This part of Rashmi's ability misses a lot when you're casting mostly low CMC instants. Some times you want to cast a sorcery and an instant on your turn or cast more than one instant on any player's turn which you draw from Archmage for each spell, Rashmi and Hippocamp don't.

Drawing a card or more whenever you copy an instant or sorcery is a huge plus with Archmage especially with Reversal, Kalamax and Ral. Draw three cards just by casting Reversal as the first instant on a turn. Archmage interacts with Fork combos with Kalamax where you can draw as many cards as you want, just not your entire library. Neither Rashmi or Hippocamp can do that.

It's possible you will cast Archmage or Artist after you cast Kalamax which means you potentially can't cast an instant that turn. You're right, this could be a problem, but is it so much of a problem to not play these cards? Not at all, it's worth that small amount of risk because Archmage or Artist the next turns will give you so much value. Wanting to cast noninstants is a good reason to play more budget one drop instants such as Stubborn Denial because of Kalamax since then you only have to leave up one mana or Drum to cast an instant to response to an opponent's action.

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You're right, the strategies and combos with Kalamax are high PL especially since you can combo for only two mana with a Fork whenever any opponent casts any instant or sorcery. Taking away the manabase the PL of Kalamax with combos is around 8, but unfortunately you need a consistent manabase for the deck to function. Without it all the color requirements for the cards are too difficult make. It's the less than ideal lands in the manabase that make both of our Kalamax decks lower PL and casual.

There's nothing wrong with playing casual Kalamax since you don't have to try to win with a combo turn 4-6. That's a huge advantage of playing Kalamax as a Commander which is from nowhere you can combo win, even from an opponent casting any instant or sorcery. Being a good multiplayer Commander player doesn't mean that you have to win as fast as possible. It's about being patient, letting all players play Magic and choosing the best time to strike. Someone has to win at a casual table, but to pacify opponents win at turn 20 rather than turn 4.

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Honestly, on a budget green is the problem color with Kalamax. We need green to cast him, but we really don't need green for anything else since all the combos are red or blue, draw/removal can come from just red or blue and ramp can come from more mana rocks and Artist really helps. The way we have both built our decks is very greedy on a budget. We want a green source turn two to cast a turn two green ramp spell, but if we want better consistency then we shouldn't play those green ramp spells and should instead play more colorless mana rocks that can for sure be cast.

You've reduced the green amount of sources from lands too much. Your deck is 32 lands with 19 red sources, 17 blue, 13 green with 13 ramp sources. 13 green sources from lands is barely enough to have a green source turn four. A problem is you want a green source turn two for land ramp. I've recently added the budget Reveal lands that care about an Island: Frostboil Snarl and Vineglimmer Snarl. Each are less than $2, you should consider also adding them to help with color fixing.

TheMeadiator on Unbroken Dragons

1 month ago

I'm glad to see Thunderbreak Regent in here! He helps deter control players from slinging target spells too freely. Honestly though, the best option for gruul against control is to get your creatures to stick and hit face fast. So for me that card is Rhythm of the Wild. Make your big dragons unable to be countered, and make them come in with haste or hit stronger tomorrow. I know it's not from Tarkir, but it's pretty powerful. I'd probably run 3-4 of them.

I suppose it depends on whether your opponent plays from their graveyard or not and your curve, but perhaps Burn Away might have a maybe slot? Again high cmc though. Naturalize is always an option for sideboard? And Tormenting Voice is good for digging for answers. It's nice to have options.

For a similar effect as Rhythm of the Wild in Tarkir, there's always Surrak Dragonclaw, but he needs a blue splash and takes a dragon slot. And if you decide to splash blue, then you could run your own control and counters like Stubborn Denial, but now we're getting a bit far from your original concept.