Sylvan Library
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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
Oldschool 93/94 Legal
Planar Constructed Legal
Planechase Legal
Premodern Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Sylvan Library

Enchantment

At the beginning of your draw step, you may draw two additional cards. If you do, choose two cards in your hand drawn this turn. For each of those cards, pay 4 life or put the card on top of your library.

Mortlocke on Is my deck off putting …

2 weeks ago

Baron777,

I run a wide array of decks at varying levels of strength or competitiveness. Every game I start I ask these 3 questions:

  1. What's your mana base? I only care if my opponent has Fetchlands or ABUR Duals or something like that. That will inform me of their budget at least

  2. What're your strongest/most expensive cards? I'm looking for any of the usual suspects of expensive staples like Sylvan Library, Exquisite Blood, Smothering Tithe, Deflecting Swat or Rhystic Study. The inclusion of any tutors and of course land destruction will definitely inform me of the strength of the opponent's deck.

  3. What are your deck's themes? I proudly run an Infect deck, as well as Slivers. There are many players I've encountered who absolutely do not want to see the wonders those decks have to offer. Simply knowing that a player's deck is Mono-blue control, or Stax is enough.

Magic and especially Commander is a social game. Interaction isn't just in the form of an Instant or Sorcery - agreeing on an expected experience together at the table is always the first step.

hyalopterouslemur on MASSIVE EDH RC ban list …

1 month ago

TBH, I usually don't support bans, but in Mana Crypt's case, yeah, it's arguably past time. And I've done basic land, Sol Ring, signet once, but at least I couldn't play anything else with my four mana that turn. Mana Crypt is arguably worse since you now have three mana available on turn 1.

Jeweled Lotus has the same problems as all lotoi: Three mana for nothing is just too much.

Mortlocke says... "This new found RC philosophy which desires to force players into slower games might continue with the sudden banning additional favorites like Mana Drain, Sylvan Library, or Smothering Tithe."

That's actually pretty funny, I actually think of Sylvan Library as somewhat overrated. It's great if you can either double your card draw or consistently scry/reshuffle the rejected cards away, but otherwise, you will have the same two remaining cards, just with a new one on the bottom. Unless you're paying 4 (or 8) life every turn.

Mortlocke on MASSIVE EDH RC ban list …

1 month ago

legendofa,

Maybe they get unbanned in Oathbreaker?

Imma toss a hot take here - even with the inclusion of both Mana Crypt and Jeweled Lotus there will still be no interest in that format.

Is this a false equivalence? As long as the effect is it the same, I don't think it matters too much what the cause is.

Yes. This is very much false equivalence. The reserved list is an official promise from Wizards to the most enfranchised players and stores that the collectables they invested in will maintain their value for as long as the game exists. Mana Crypt and it's banned ilk were never given that protection but were heavily marketed to players as cards to chase after. These cards moved product - but now there is a real possibility that new and exciting cards designed by wizards can just get banned no matter how long they've been marketed and accepted by players - without warning. The introduction of this instability in chase rares now casts a large shadow of uncertainty in our community.

This new found RC philosophy which desires to force players into slower games might continue with the sudden banning additional favorites like Mana Drain, Sylvan Library, or Smothering Tithe. Note: I'm not saying this will happen. I'm just saying that now there is a non-zero chance this could happen.

Players will not stop going after the most efficient cards for their prized decks. They'll just switch to the next best thing - so will the RC decide to just ban that too? When will it end? I do not like this precedent.

Nunu312 on Calling All Doctors!

2 months ago

While I might like to suggest Maskwood Nexus... I don't actually think it helps you considering the lack of non-doctor creatures. It may still be useful though for pushing you over the line to reach 13.

Three Tree City is a card that might be good though.

K-9, Mark I is really good. Your board state is very important to you so forcing people to pay just a little extra to interfere with it might help you edge out a game. But at the same time, several of the doctors have to attack to activate their abilities and this will help them not die when the do so. Psychic Paper and can also do something rather similar, but might also get you that extra doctor you need. Brotherhood Regalia is another similar card.

I like where you're going with Glasspool Mimic  Flip, but it wont bypass legendary. Instead Sakashima the Impostor and Sakashima of a Thousand Faces can both help get around this. Even if they aren't also land.

Similarly Mirror Box is good... but doesn't synergise with what you're doing as you don't have many duplicators for it to work with. I feel like you were going a bit more for Helm of the Host?

All in all though, these are just minor tweaks, the question is what part of the game does this deck operate around? Many of the doctors are spread over a lot of the game, which leads to them being quite unfocused. But I feel you are bringing this towards being a very upkeep centric deck? The question is how to maximise that. It will help Gallifrey Stands go off, but will also help your suspended cards and other triggered effects.

Lithoform Engine could help you in several ways, duplicating doctors, but also duplicating the trigger effect of Gallifrey Stands. While not quite as useful, Annie Joins Up will also double the triggers on your doctors. Roaming Throne is also a trigger doubler... though it's a little dull because it's in every bloody deck now.

Paradox Hazefoil similarly gets you that extra upkeep, but it falls into the problem that a lot of such things do... One extra upkeep per turn is good, but a turn is a long time. While it may be the best option, a way to get creatures into play might be a better slot in your deck?

But there is also another two problems all decks have, mana and getting the right cards. Firstly, mana. You have a lot of expensive cards and you want to be able to cast all of them. Lotus Petalfoil is good... but I don't see it being better than a normal mana rock as you have no ability to recurse it for free. Herald's Horn would probably be better as it can remove about 25% off the cost of all your important cards, and lets you take a peek for them. Leyline of the Guildpact can help with mana fixing, though wont actually set you ahead, as would Three Tree Mascot (which also counts as a doctor). Patchwork Banner is a newer mana rock that helps buff your guys a little. Mirari's Wake is also a solid mana doubler, if a little expensive.

Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy is also very cheap and solid, though works better if you have more mana rocks.

You've got a bit of recursion from The Eighth Doctor, which is more likely to turn up due to your commander, but that means that you can take advantage of the search lands. It would require changing out a lot of the land you do have, but if you use the typed dual lands like Canopy Vista or Godless Shrinefoil (because you may need 1 mana more than 2 life), you can search for them and then recurse the search land like Flooded Strand (which could search for any dual land as long as it's part plains or part island). If you want to find what land works like this it's best to google mtg land or some such, there are whole websites dedicated to it. Considering you're running 5 colours, Bloom Tender and Faeburrow Elder can also help supercharge your mana.

As for getting cards, I feel like you've got a decent search to get the doctors, but you are a little lacking in turn to turn draw. This often means you'll end up sitting in a game with only one card to play a turn and that's not fun. The One Ring is another groan worthy staple for how good it is (and therefore in everything), but only really relevant if you're running proxies. Collector's Vault is something I'm fond of, while it wont give you card advantage, it's cheap and you don't really mind discarding doctors anyway. Sylvan Library is also insanely powerful.

A lot of the search you do use is really expensive as well. Conflux and Diabolic Revelation are good... but they each cost a huge amount of mana, after which you still have to actually cast the cards. These are things that might help you on turn 10+ without a lot of acceleration. Instead something to get your creatures directly onto the battlefield like Victimize or possibly Pyre of Heroes.

Anyway, that's enough from me for now. Remember, look for cards that get you to your win conditions. Omniscience is great, but only if you can cast it AND if you've got the cards to play AND they are cards that lead you to victory. Perhaps 1 mana per turn or 2 cards might have been more useful.

Gidgetimer on Modern Banlist

2 months ago

He was right 4 years ago. Punishing Jund is a Legacy deck and outside of the mana base, three Hymn to Tourach and a single Sylvan Library it is modern legal. At the time of the banning the deck was just too oppressive and consistent to exist in Modern.

fluffyeel on Rafiq of the Many

5 months ago

Equipment and other stabtastic things are fun, and your deck has a lot of my usual favorite toys in those colors. I approve. I do have some thoughts that might help you, though, but some of these are playgroup dependent (or meta-dependent):

000CBomb000 on Draw a Few Format?

5 months ago

I play Old School and in casual games we have a house rule that we draw two each turn, with no discarding required in the first turn only. It has several advantages:

  • dramatically reduces the likelihood of mana flood/screw.
  • it speeds up games, since you generally play a land and cast at least one spell per turn. Otherwise, with typical draw one, players tend to empty their hands quickly and the game slows down dramatically.
  • it decreases the effectiveness of control decks like The Deck, which aren't fun to play against anyway. It increases the effectiveness of Aggro styles, which are more fun. Creatures are really janky in Old School and they need as much help as they can get.
  • it reduces the advantage of Library of Alexandria, Braingeyser, and Jayemdae Tome, and reduces the disadvantage of Mind Twist, any of which can be nearly fatal in Old School matches.

There is even an Old School variant called "Gentleman's Rules" that bans Library and Mind Twist because they are so powerful in single-draw. In double draw, they are not a problem.

The only downsides:

  • cards that punish card draw get much stronger. Chains of Mephistopheles and Underworld Dreams become very strong, almost problematic. If enacted in a tournament, it would definitely change the meta (maybe that's good!). We would likely have to restrict these.
  • Sylvan Library becomes very strong, and may need to be restricted.

Some of those factors may be relevant to Commander. Definitely try it out!

DemonDragonJ on Does Sylvan Library Bypass Angel …

6 months ago

I have both Sylvan Library and Angel of Jubilation in one of my decks, so does the library's ability bypass the angel's restriction? I presume that it does, since the angel prevents players from paying life to activate abilities, while the library's ability is a triggered ability.

What does everyone else say about this subject? Does Sylvan Library bypass Angel of Jubilation?

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