Swords to Plowshares

Instant

Exile target creature. Its controller gains life equal to its power.

Discussion (50)

Talismancer on Skies

1 week ago

While this deck has long been the better version of my Birds deck, that doesn't mean it couldn't be improved, and with play a few things have stuck out to me 1) Never having the right coloured mana. I own so many decks that upgrading them all with better mana bases is impossible, but I have finally conceded that this is one of my favourites and therefore should have something better than Tranquil Cove for dual mana. Note, still limited by a mix of what I had, what I could source, and what I could afford for the about £30 I was prepared to spend on these modifications.

-4 Tranquil Cove

-2 Island

-2 Plains

+4 Hengegate Pathway  ^Flip

+3 Glacial Fortress

+1 Hallowed Fountain

While I was buying cards, I decided to look into what did and didn't get played in this deck. Emeria Angel is a fantastic card, but it turns out that the 4 mana cost is too high, I'd rather be playing more smaller things. Also wanting to put it off until I could use the landfall made for poor play decisions, so it's being cut. In it's place needs to go removal. Sadly proxied for the time being.

-4 Emeria Angel

+4 Swords to Plowshares

The last two changes are cards I discovered while having a search. Warden of Evos Isle is the underrated MVP of this deck, I always misjudge how good it is. However being in White as well as Blue, it turns out that there's a cheaper Bird that does the same effect, with a little extra upside.

-4 Warden of Evos Isle

+4 Watcher of the Spheres

Last on the changes list are my blue enchantments. Favorable Winds and Gravitational Shift are both perfectly good cards, but the former is always a tad underwhelming for not having a body, and the latter is actually too much mana. so they're getting swapped for Empyrean Eagle which has a body and gives the boost too, at an acceptable 3 mana.

=3 Favorable Winds

-1 Gravitational Shift

+4 Empyrean Eagle

Doombeard1984 on All hail...The Overlord

1 week ago

So, I personally would build from scratch. The amount you would cut from that deck being offered is substantial. Now, with some of the expensive stuff I have, you can consider some alternatives for sure. Gaea's Will is similar to Yawgmoth's Will but much more budget friendly, and the aforementioned Patriarch's Bidding is now cheap as chips. For tutoring, Diabolic Tutor , Beseech the Queen , Mastermind's Acquisition and Gamble are but some of the cheaper tutor cards you can use. Liliana Vess is also an option. There are many options, just be aware of either higher cost, or potential downside. Of course, our commander Sliver Overlord is a tutor himself, which is very useful. With interaction, well I went heavy on counter magic, but there are a plethora or removal type spells. Joy of being in 5 colours. Utter End , Beast Within , Vindicate , even you basic Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile offer you some interaction. I also like Akroma's Will as an alternative to Teferi's Protection . Can also double up as a win con. With the lands, whilst I do have a couple of OG duals and all the shocks, the bond lands (if your pod is 3 or 4) are all good. With fetches, you just need to make sure you have the land types on the card. Shocks are defo good. There was a couple lands in BFZ I think Canopy Vista that are fetchable, and in a pinch, triomes work. Otherwise, basics are ok too, but not ideal.

malacai on In the Spirit of Tribal Decks

2 weeks ago

Based on this list I would make the following chnages to Ranar.

Out -> In

• Invocation of Saint Traft -> Cathars' Crusade

• Ash Barrens In a two color deck the basic land cycling isn't needed. -> Adarkar Wastes

• Cryptic Caves You have access to blue for card draw.

• Endless Sands -> Mystic Gate

• Myriad Landscape Unless you need a cheap shuffle effect scroll rack, top, ponder, brain storm the fetch isn't needed in a two color deck. -> Nimbus Maze

• Survivors' Encampment The color fixing at the cost of tapping a creature in a two color deck doesn't seem worth the effrot. My want to keep in if you add in Eldrazi Displacer . -> Reliquary Tower

Cosmos Charger -> Eldrazi Displacer

Drogskol Reaver -> Yorion, Sky Nomad

Drogskol Cavalry -> Thassa, Deep-Dwelling

Empyrean Eagle -> Felidar Guardian

Geist of Saint Traft -> Charming Prince

Radiant Purge -> Path to Exile

Misdirection -> Swords to Plowshares

Rally the Ranks -> Reality Shift

Ichor Wellspring -> Counterspell

Synthetic Destiny -> Dovin's Veto

Profet93 on Estrid's En-Stax-Ments

2 weeks ago

Voodoo_Gremlin

1. +1 for the cool name that got me into looking at the deck
2. Wincon #5 is hilarious. You're funny
3. On Thin Ice - How has it performed for you? For me, the card is on thin ice as they can remove it to re-use their etb. Given you're ramp/strategy is enchanting lands, I'm sure your meta will be wise to add some form of LD and therefore could be a 2 for 1. I get that it's 1 mana enchantment synergy, but I would run Swords to Plowshares personally as instant speed permanent exile outweighs the enchantment synergy IMO
4. Where is Wincon #3, am I missing something?
5. Norns Annex - People will always pay life, and it has no synergy aside from a slight pillowfort. How relevant is it really? Wouldn't you rather prioritize more draw or interaction in it's place?

multimedia on Zombie Drain Deck

2 weeks ago

Hey, well done on a low budget.

Some budget cards to consider adding and then I'll explain why I'm suggesting these:

• Master of Death
• Carrion Feeder
• Wonder
• Tormod, the Desecrator
• Undead Augur
• Midnight Reaper
• Unmarked Grave
• Patriarch's Bidding

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Master of Death and Carrion Feeder is a casual budget self-mill engine to get Zombies into your graveyard to embalm them with Scarab. Master of Death surveil 2 each time it ETB which is you look at the top two cards of your library and choose to put them into your graveyard (self-mill) or keep them on top of your library in any order. Carrion Feeder is the one drop Zombie repeatable sac outlet who grows in power with a +1/+1 counter each time it sacs.

Carrion Feeder sacs Master of Death who can at your next upkeep return to your hand for the cost of 1 life. Master of Death returns and you repeat the interaction by casting Master for three mana. Having a Zombie sac outlet is also helpful to sac any Zombie who's going to be exiled by an opponent such as from Swords to Plowshares , one of the most popular instant creature removal spells in Commander. By sacing the Zombie in response to exile it dies and goes to the graveyard instead thus you can embalm it with Scarab.

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You can take even more advantage of Master of Death being saced by Carrion Feeder and by Master able to return itself to your hand from your graveyard. Each time you cast Master of Death you create a 2/2 Zombie with Diregraf Colossus making Master a repeatable Zombie source to cast. Each time Master of Death is saced by Feeder it dies which triggers Undead Augur and Midnight Reaper to draw a card for repeatable draw. Each time Master of Death leaves your graveyard to return to your hand or you embalm a Zombie with Scarab it triggers Tormod, the Desecrator to create a 2/2 Zombie.

Self-mill from surveil can also get Wonder into your graveyard which when that happens and you control just one Island then all creatures you control have flying. Wonder gives Scarab and all Zombies flying evasion to make it easier to attack and do combat damage to your opponents. Unmarked Grave can tutor for and put Wonder or any other nonlegendary card into your graveyard which is powerful with Wonder. Self-mill can get many Zombies into your graveyard to then cheat many Zombies onto the battlefield at the same time with mass reanimation from Patriarch's Bidding . Bidding is also excellent quick recovery from an opponent's board wipe.

If interested in any of these suggestions then I offer more advice including cuts to consider, some other budget card upgrades and budget land options. Good luck with your deck.

MystikSwordzManZ on Mayael the Chaos Machine

2 weeks ago

I'll suggest cards such as Elemental Bond and Swords to Plowshares . Perhaps even Serra's Emissary for the pure fun of it. Also Garruk's Uprising is nice.

Finalzesture on Whims of fate- Aminatou for Beginners

3 weeks ago

Thanks for the feedback Chasedrk1! If I was to use your advice; I'd use Approach of the Second Sun over Entreat the Dead since they both are good at ending drawn out games but Approach requires a lot less setup compared to Entreat the dead. Solitude also looks like a splendid choice but if people are on a budget, I'd Recommend Cavalier of Dawn Instead. It's a reusable Generous Gift over Swords to Plowshares so it hits more targets but it's a bit harder to cast. I'd reccomend adding a Mystic Gate over an Island if you chose to go the Cavalier route.

Kaya, Ghost Assassin can be replaced but I'd prefer replacing it with another card that can provide card advantage. For maximum compression; I would reccomend Jace, Wielder of Mysteries as it can draw more cards than Kaya, and be a more synergistic with cards like Oath of Teferi and Spark Double

If you want to min-max; I reccomend replacing Palace Jailer with Solitude and Court of Ambition with Phyrexian Arena and maybe find room for Smothering Tithe And/or Archaeomancer's Map that said, I think effects that "discard" from your opponents hand are either valued as too weak or too mean in commander. I for one like it as an "underdog effect" and I think discarding cards is fine if you get value in some other way like if you're running shrines or Kaya. Discarding cards can be just as effective as a counterspell if done right. Your opponents can't cast spells if they don't have any (with sufficient graveyard hate)

DjJD on Aggro Knight Tribal

4 weeks ago

Hi! Since you mentionned wanting a removal, here is my suggestion : Swords to Plowshares is probably the best in white in my opinion. Because I'm a (extreme!) budget player, I use alternatives and really enjoy Blessed Alliance , Condemn and Wing Shards to remove attackers. Chee