Sun Titan

Creature — Giant

Vigilance

Whenever this enters the battlefield or attacks, you may return target permanent card with converted mana cost/mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.

Discussion (45)

Tzefick on White seems to be moving …

5 days ago

While the effect in essence is powerful, especially for white. I don't think this is a good route to achieve it for white. It becomes too mana intensive to achieve card draw, and the worst part would be to cast this, only to have another player nuke it with a Reclamation Sage or well... a Counterspell .

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Personally I always found it a bit puzzling, seeing as white is bad at card draw and mana acceleration, the "solution" is often to pair card draw with high mana costs - either through straight cost ( Staff of Nin , Mind's Eye ) or through activations - like Dawn of Hope .

Red gets their impulse draw on a 4-mana enchantment Outpost Siege with no additional investment and red is the second worst color in Magic to draw cards.

If WotC had made Dawn of Hope with a 1 mana activation, I think it would have been an interesting card. As it is, it's pretty poor. And yes it can create tokens at a very poor rate as well, but that is unrealistic to matter in constructed formats, so that isn't much of a positive.

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I believe it would be more interesting to attempt to craft a better solution for white's lack of card draw than simply putting high costs and drawbacks on it.

White has always been a combat focused color and I think it would be appropriate to create at least some kind of synergy that results in card advantage. We have cards like Sun Titan and Bishop of Rebirth that directly reanimates smaller permanents/creatures whenever they attack. However this is bound behind there being anything in your graveyard and seeing how white doesn't deal in discarding, or selfmilling, or having an oversized hand the only way they get cards into their graveyard is by casting them and having them destroyed - or utilize a small array of artifacts like Key to the City .

What if we made other mechanics that combines with White's strengths and ideology?

Now we're just entering brainstorm mode

brainstorm Show

One time combat-trigger

Conquer X (This creature enters the battlefield with a Conquer counter on it. Whenever it deals combat damage to a player, you may remove a Conquer counter from it. If you do, Scry X then draw a card.)

Building up to benefit

Whenever a creature you control attacks, put a Scout counter on X.

Remove three Scout counters: Draw a card.

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This plays well into white board wide strategies and plays fairly well with their ability to protect their creatures through indestructible and with Reconnaissance .

Protect the king / Luminarch Ascension

White has a taste for combat, but also for defending themselves - having the highest amount of Vigilance creatures and enablers.

At the beginning of each opponent's end step, if you didn't lose life this turn, put a counter on WhatsHisFace.

Then either

Remove X counters: gain card advantage (draw, scry , self-mill)

--Or--

At the beginning of your turn, if there are X counters on WhatsHisFace, do A. If there are Y counters, do B (instead or in addition).

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It could be

Lawmaking

Enchantment

At the beginning of each opponent's end step, if you didn't lose life this turn, put a counter on Lawmaking.

At the beginning of your upkeep, if Lawmaking has at least 2 counters on it, you may have each player mill three cards. Then if it has at least 5 counters on it, you may draw a card. Then if it has at least 10 counters on it, you may return a permanent card from your graveyard to the battlefield.

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There's some milling to enable white's reanimation tools, there's straight card draw for a moderate amount of effort, there's a large payoff for having it stick around for a long time that also ties in with the self-milling.

It would be better to restrict the condition to only count combat damage dealt to you, so you cannot just be kept out with a Pestilence or afflict or any kind of non-combat damage that white has limited means to counter. But then again it would require the opponents to play white's game of creature combat to counter this enchantment. That is not necessarily a bad thing, having a card that "forces" the opponent to play at a game white is already pretty good at, and if they don't you reap some benefits.

symmetrical draw

We have already seen Secret Rendezvous as a way for white to get card draw by giving a similar benefit to an opponent - which in a multiplayer format is not as bad as it is in a 1v1 scenario. However this card is giving more advantage to that opponent than it does you. The white player is down 3 mana and a card and then both players draw 3, leaving the white player at net +2 and the other at +3 cards with no payment.

It could be more interesting if the opponent had to do something to get their benefit.

Picture

New rendezvous

Sorcery

You draw two cards and target opponent draws a card.

That opponent may pay or have you create a Treasure. If they do, you and that opponent each draw three cards instead.

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This means if they want the goodies, they'll have to pay up or grant you some additional benefits to get their part - both prosper the most when they are willing to give fair compensation.

The catch-all with the Treasure could be removed so the White player can choose to just draw 2 and have an opponent who can't or wont pay the draw 1. Pretty similar to Divination but that card is already seen as poor in blue - at least in the Commander format.

However the Treasure token does present itself as a possibility for white early mana ramp in addition to the card draw, if you target someone who cannot pay the mana. The choice between giving the caster a Treasure and netting two cards for yourself is a deal that most players would take.

Anyhow, that's just a brainstorm on ideas how to give white some card draw/advantage mechanics that ain't just plastering high costs on a card draw engine. I would love to see some more creativity in that direction.

Not to discredit your suggestion Mcat1999, it is a strong card for multiplayer formats, but I also feel like it is a trap. Both in terms of gameplay and in design. The latter mostly because simply gating card draw behind mana requirements is just attempting to fix one of white's issues by forcing them to do something else they are poor at performing.

MagicMarc on An old elephant learns new tricks

1 week ago

I don't know how much combo-ish stuff you want to put in the deck. So forgive any of the following suggestions in case they are not in theme or style for the deck. I just wanted to point out some synergies you could use in case you wanted to add them to the deck.

Adding Gift of Immortality to the deck can provide recurring protection as well as more graveyard triggers. You can also use it as a recursion engine with any creatures with ETB abilities. Combined with Sun Titan and Ashnod's Altar you can get Infinite colorless mana, Infinite ETB/LTB triggers and infinite sacrifice and death triggers.

Adding Fiend Hunter to your Sun Titan and Ashnod's Altar provides infinite sacrifice and graveyard triggers as well as infinite colorless mana. The hunter by itself is useful removal.

The last one is good for repeated table wipes of permanents. You can combine Oblivion Stone with your Sun Titan and keep wiping stuff out over and over again as needed.

Arcaneful on Elephant's Graveyard (Boros Reanimator Combo)

1 week ago

@RazortoothMtg

Thanks for all the suggestions!!

I ended up cutting a ton of Flashback cards from the deck honestly, as well as a few escape ones. They do make a spirit, but they ended up being a little less impactful than I liked. However, Prismatic Strands / Rally the Peasants might make their way back in.

I think while I do have a few humans, 7 may be a few too low. If I was running more hatebears like Drannith Magistrate I would maybe reconsider human tribal cards.

I didn't realize Angelic Renewal goes infinite with Sun Titan but it appears you're right! Good call!

For another sac outlet I've been toying with Martyr's Cause , and I think I'll add it back in. It gives good protection to us from X spells or just damage based removal as well. It doesn't make the Angelic Titan combo win, but Altar of Dementia / Goblin Bombardment should be fine with that.

Pheonix subthemes sound pretty fun actually! Rekindling seems really good especially.

That's all really helpful! Thank you so much!

DemonDragonJ on Strixhaven spoiler season

1 week ago

Black and white are my two favorite colors in this game, so, naturally, I am excited about the cards in the black and white deck.

Tempting contract is nice, but very unreliable, so I am not certain if I can put it into any of my current decks.

Felisa, fang of Silverquill is nice, but nothing spectacular, and I notice that many cards that are associated with Silverquill generate inkling tokens, just as many cards that are associated with Quandrix generate fractal tokens.

I do not like the wording on combat calligrapher; would it really have taken up too much space to write “whenever a creature attacks one of your opponents, its controller creates…etc.?”

Return to Dust has already been reprinted numerous times, so I dearly wish that WotC had instead reprinted Heliod's Intervention in this set, since that card has been printed only once, and is better in the majority of situations.

Guardian archon is definitely a great card, but its controller shall need to find a way to “flicker” it to truly get great value from it, but that should not be difficult to do, in white. I also like that this is the second card in the game with the text “secretly choose an opponent” and “activate this ability only once,” after Stalking Leonin .

Nils, discipline enforcer is a perfect example of white’s authoritarian nature, and he will definitely be annoying for many players whose decks rely upon putting +1/+1 counters on their creatures; I have a deck with Atraxa, Praetors' Voice as the general, so he could definitely hinder that deck, if I cannot deal with him, quickly. At least he does not have flash, because that would make him ridiculous.

Promise of loyalty will definitely lead to some very complicated political dealings in games that have more than two players, so I will be interested to see how it works.

Sponsorship scholar is another example of how card advantage works in white, and, even better, it allows players to search for any basic lands, not merely plains! Finally, WotC is making white more powerful and helping it to reach the other colors in terms of power!

I really like author of shadows; first, that artwork is amazing, and, second, the effect is very sinister, and will definitely turn the tide of a game, if used properly.

Bold plagiarist is the latest in a long line of cards that punish players who seek to gain advantage, but, at least, this one does not actually stop them from gaining advantage; it merely copies their advantage. Why is it that the opponent is the one who places the counters on the plagiarist, and not the controller of the plagiarist?

In a similar manner, cunning rhetoric is a continuation of black’s ability to discourage an opponent from attacking one’s self, and punishing them, if they do.

Fain, the broker, has serious potential for powerful combos, and could definitely lead to major shifts in games if used properly.

Incarnation technique would be good for either my Mimeoplasm or my Teneb, the Harvester decks, but I cannot remove and existing cards to make room for it.

With keen duelist, I first am very glad that there are still black wizards in this game, now that warlocks are a creature type, and, second, a symmetrical Dark Confidant will definitely lead to some major politics and bargains between players, and it should go without saying that the best way to use it is with the ability to manipulate your own deck, such as with Crystal Ball or Sensei's Divining Top .

Stinging study is a nice way to take advantage of a general with a higher casting cost, especially if that general has been sent back to the command zone at least once, and has become too expensive to reliably recast; given that that card costs 5 mana to cast, I say that a player should have a general with a converted mana cost of at least 5 to truly get good value from it.

Inkshield is like Batwing Brume on steroids, but its high mana cost does mean that it will require strategy and careful timing to be used most effectively; I personally think that it could have cost 4 mana and still have been perfectly balanced.

As for the reprints, did we really need another reprint of Zetalpa, Primal Dawn or Sun Titan ? However, the reprints of Utter End , Oblation , Magister of Worth , and Mikokoro, Center of the Sea are all welcome, and I am glad that WotC has finally reprinted Deathbringer Liege , because that card very badly needed to be reprinted.

Overall, WotC has really increased the quality of this year’s Commander product, compared to those from previous years, so I hope that every Commander product has this level of quality, from this point forward.

RazortoothMtg on Elephant's Graveyard (Boros Reanimator Combo)

1 week ago

I'm not sure how exactly Quin plays yet, but I'm trying to come up with something with him too so I'll throw some cards I thought were interesting at you. Sentinel's Eyes seems decent, with Quin out it gives you two 3/2s for , which is pretty good. Battle Screech is just a generally strong tokens card so it fits with the token support, but also gives you a 3/2 (for free!). Same with Increasing Devotion , although thats definitely a lower power level just because of the mana cost. Prismatic Strands / Rally the Peasants are both also pretty strong cards that also will just throw in a 3/2 with Quin.

You have quite a few humans, so maybe throw in Bruna, the Fading Light  ^Flip, and if you want to meld, Gisela, the Broken Blade ? Bruna's solid on her own, but I might just be biased because I love meld. Angel of Glory's Rise too, depending on how many humans you end up with. You could also play things like Resurrection and Breath of Life , or even Gate to the Afterlife / God-Pharaoh's Gift . Angelic Renewal goes infinite with Sun Titan and a sac outlet, which you should probably have at least one more of. Ashnod's Altar is the go too, but I think its pretty expensive nowadays, so maybe Blasting Station , Dark-Dweller Oracle , or Grafted Exoskeleton

A bunch of the phoenixes seem decent, since they always return. I think the best ones would be Flamewake Phoenix , Rekindling Phoenix , and Skyfire Phoenix . Flamewake seems great since with Quin your spirits activate ferocious, the others I'd be more skeptical about.

Well I hope that's at least somewhat helpful lol

MacPocho93 on Awaken the Blood Avatar (Commander) Deck

1 week ago

SultaiBroodLord I did not see Fury Storm in the decklist... My bad. That said, i have to say i don't like resurrection effect very much in this style commander (my opinion to be clear) because i don't see the value in res a Teysa, Orzhov Scion and such effect cause i need to spend more resources to make it work... I would rather res a Sun Titan or a Chancellor of the Forge if i have to...

forneyt on An Elephant never forgets

2 weeks ago

Sun Titan would be really good with your commander (especially if you add lands like Terramorphic Expanse ). Other notable cards are Eternal Dragon (cycle + return to hand = commander's spirits + draw), Bygone Bishop (drawing cards is good and is a spirit), and Kataki, War's Wage (you only have 3 artifacts, so this spirit is extra good!). There are also tons of spirits in the Kamigawa block that are probably budget friendly that may warrant a look. They have Soulshift, which allows you to return a spirit with a lower CMC to your hand from the graveyard when they die. There are also several removal and protection options in that block, if you decide to look into adding spirit synergy.

Coward_Token on Strixhaven spoiler season

3 weeks ago

Elite Spellbinder: White taxing pseudo-discard

Rip Apart: Surprisingly edgy name for a boros card

Venerable Warsinger: yay, finally more Sun Titan s!

"Potion of Empowerment": Potentially explosive. Instant too!

Beaming Defiance: I don't know why it took so long for white to get an unconditional hexproof spell. Now where's my bleached Heroic Intervention ?!

Thunderous Orator: I wish this plane skipped on Kor, they just look like creepy humans here.

Returned Pastcaller: No super innovative design space here, but that mana cost tho

Radiant Scrollwielder: unofficial commander potential right here

Lorehold Excavation: self-milling is moving into boros, although I think red could do it on it's own; it can already get cards to the graveyard rapidly trough rummaging & wheeling

Reconstruct History: It's boros Concentrate + 1, kinda.

Velomachus Lorehold: spellslinger voltron gooooo. MV 7 is kinda oof tho