Terminate

Instant

Destroy target creature. It can't be regenerated.

Discussion (50)

nUKe13 on nUKe13 Mardu Pyromancer

1 week ago

JacenSolo29 as far as the next update goes, I’m waiting to see if there is anything else that drops from MH2, but I think we have the complete list now.

My first impressions are:

1) Faithless Salvaging - this works better than Thrill of Possibility since it can be cast on an empty hand and the rebound can’t be caught by hand disruption. Instant is nice if we really do want to cast on opponent’s end step. Then, if we draw an instant, we can cast with rebound on the stack to get full value.

2) Prismatic Ending - I personally really REALLY like this. Great against aggro, Humans, Jund, Ponza, Death's Shadow (minus Gurmag Angler ). See (https://strategy.channelfireball.com/all-strategy/home/is-prismatic-ending-the-new-swords-to-plowshares/)

3) Damn - again, LOVE IT! Definitely love the versatility, but I don’t know if it would replace Dreadbore (hits PWs), Fatal Push (instant and cheaper), or Engineered Explosives (can be triggered at instant speed and can be cheaper). Definitely a consideration for spots that previously included Damnation or Wrath of God .

4) General Ferrous Rokiric - I personally really like this. Immune to most removal (specifically EFFICIENT removal) such as Lightning Bolt , Path to Exile , Fatal Push , and Cryptic Command bouncing it. If you play a lot of multicolor spells, like Kolaghan's Command , Kaya's Guile , Kaya, Orzhov Usurper , Nahiri, the Harbinger , Dreadbore / Terminate , and Lightning Helix , then you definitely benefit from having this.

5) Dragon's Rage Channeler - this has a Magmatic Channeler feel to it and couples well with the graveyard-centric focus. If you opt for utility ARTIFACTS, like Mishra's Bauble , Damping Sphere , or Engineered Explosives , ENCHANTMENTS, like Blood Moon , or PLANESWALKERS, like Liliana of the Veil or any of the previously mentioned PWs, then you have an even easier time to activate Delirium. You do have to attack every turn, but having flying as evasion is really nice. Surveil is good if we start running more Flashback spells, like more Lingering Souls or Smiting Helix .

6) Void Mirror - TRON HATE FTW! This would compete with Damping Sphere as far as utility goes, but still really REALLY nice.

7) Obsidian Charmaw - OMG there are SO many Tron hate cards in this set, and I LOVE it. If Tron or Eldrazi Tron get more popular through all the hate from this set, then this would be great to add create a clock.

8) Vindicate - old EDH tech being added to Modern. I like the idea of destroying anything, but sorcery speed and 3 cmc, with everything else that has come into the game (and power creep), makes me unsure of its power. Could be what we need, but 3cmc is already crowded in the list.

9) Flame Blitz - UW/x, Jund, and maybe Tron typically run more PWs, so if we forgo running PWs, ourselves, then this serves as an extremely cheap PW hate card. Cycling is nice if we draw it and the opponent has side boarded out a majority of their PWs.

10) Harmonic Prodigy - if we bring back Young Pyromancer , add in Dark Confidant , and focus on Prowess, then I think this would rather have a home in a Feather, the Redeemed /spell-slinger deck. Still, it would be ok here, with the high spell count we run.

11) Sanctifier en-Vec - I don’t think we want to use this... definitely expect it in Burn or D&T lists against us.

12) Dauthi Voidwalker - now THIS we can use. Basically Sanctifier en-Vec , but unilateral hate and can help against Dredge or other recursion based decks. I like that we can sac on targeted removal and cast one of their spell(s). can conflict with our spells, but we are usually ok. If we get Blood Moon ed, we can usually laugh it off and power through it.

13) Bone Shards - in the primer, I’ve indicated that Mardu Pyro has different variants (spells/grave, PW, and Aristocrat/tokens). I feel this would slot nicely into an token deck, along with Village Rites , Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger , and Afterlife creatures.

14) Fury - at first glance, I’ve been conflicted. Seems ok as protection from aggro strategies, but I wish it had either 1 more toughness, did more damage, hit players, or cost less. It just seems... meh... I’m skeptical, but I’ve definitely been proven wrong before, so I’ll keep my mind open.

15) Mine Collapse - great if we run a bit more heavy on lands and run late. Too bad it doesn’t hit players though... a common theme from cards this set.

16) Arcbound Whelp / Esper Sentinel /Knighted Myr - another idea that has come to fruition from this set is Mardu Affinity. No, we won’t tech for Hardened Scales , but the removal suite that we run, in addition to these new artifact creatures (and lands!) is tempting enough to test some brews.

I hope this gives an idea of what we could change for the deck. The list was roughly done in the order of what we would tech in to the current build, but anything is possible! Let me know what you all think.

Edit: some of the cards (Knighted Myr, Mine Collapse, and Bone Shards) did not have the links set up in TappedOut as of the time of this post, so I do apologize for that.

amicdeep on The Impossible Deck

4 weeks ago

It's a solid start, but there are a couple of changes I would make, first, drop damnation, it's about 35% of your budget and only so, so in this deck. Next I would have a look at your removal packages (over the last year standard has done wanders for budget options)

I would seriously consider Bonecrusher Giant as a solid body and nice removal. It's a really nice hit by bloodbraid due to its duel nature

And Vraska, Golgari Queen it's a card draw engin late game and normally 2 abrupt decays. Which is always welcome.

I would also consider 2 copy's of Chevill, Bane of Monsters as he's solid card advantage and your offen going to be killing stuff.

As your not running dark confident or goyf your probably should be running 2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang as it's a solid mid game beater and late game card advantage engin.

Stone rain is ok but far from ideal in this deck, offen it's a do nothing card.

Putrid Leech , Mortality Spear , Terminate Are all cards I would consider

Also if your running blighting I'm a big fan of Chandra, Acolyte of Flame as she's basically a 2 snap casters mages. (She dose need some help for teh double red mana but it's with the range of workability)

On the subject of plainswalkers apart fro vraska (which is your best budget option) your other solid options are Domri, Anarch of Bolas , ramps, protects against control lists, it pumps and it removes stuff. He's probably the best option. After that there's also Liliana, Waker of the Dead (as close to lilly of veil as where going to get) and Nissa of Shadowed Boughs who is deceptively good over a long Grindy match, bringing back your best creature with counters, and being triggered twice a turn but evolving wilds.

Lastly I would also run a few utility lands. With Ifnir Deadlands , Hissing Quagmire , Raging Ravine and Treetop Village being the best options on a budget.

Hope some of this helps.

TheVectornaut on red and black

1 month ago

I second the idea of cutting down to just 60 cards in 2 colors. Then, I'd try to identify the main gameplan you like to follow when playing the deck. That will inform any cuts, additions, and other revisions you make down the line.

The first archetype that jumps out at me is definitely knights. They are often Mardu () these days, but just Rakdos () should work just fine for casual play. You already have Belle of the Brawl , Barrow Witches , Charity Extractor , Embereth Paladin . Locthwain Paladin , Garna, the Bloodflame , Ogre Errant , Raging Redcap , and Tentative Connection which can definitely fit such a style. Most of the lower cost creatures and spells wouldn't be that bad either. I'll list some cards from the modern card pool under $5 that I think could be strong additions to such a deck.
Ashenmoor Liege , Bloodcrazed Paladin , Cavalier of Flame , Cavalier of Night , Champion of Dusk , Elite Headhunter , Embereth Shieldbreaker , Foulmire Knight , Hanweir Lancer , Hero of Oxid Ridge , Knight of the Ebon Legion , Kulrath Knight , Midnight Reaper , Murderous Rider , Olivia, Mobilized for War , Stormfist Crusader , and Weaselback Redcap are all knight creatures with various effects, costs, and price points that I see as playable. For more general knight synergy, Blacklance Paragon , Fervent Champion , Joust , Sigiled Sword of Valeron , Tournament Grounds , and my favorite, Smitten Swordmaster are options too. Toss in some solid removal like Lightning Bolt , Terminate , or Bedevil and you have the recipe for a strong tribal aggro deck.

The other major archetype I see being possible here is some sort of angel/dragon/demon big stuff deck. The problem is that such a deck is likely to be much slower, making it tougher to keep up in 1v1 games. Plus, a lot of those cards are legendary, so they tend to come with a hefty real-world price tag. Still, I've seen Kaalia of the Vast do some very scary stuff in casual. Such a deck would support your larger creatures as well as spells like Cauldron Dance and Victimize .

Mtg_Mega_Nerds on yeago

1 month ago

Hello yeaGO, Multiple people are having trouble adding cards in the deck edit page (not live edit). When you type a card in, the little load symbol displays for a second, and then it does not recognize the card. For example if you typed in Te or Ter for Terminate it would not show up when it normally would. Can you fix this? You can see other people have the same problems when discussed in the forums. Thanks.

Swebb87 on spitting image vs. terminate

1 month ago

If someone plays a Spitting Image and targets their Hornet Queen , in response I play a Terminate and kill the Hornet Queen . Does the Spitting Image resolve to make the copy or not as I have removed the target?

MontaukMonster on Vampire Budget

1 month ago

Akoum Refuge Bloodfell Caves Terminate Dreadbore

StopShot on I need help choosing another …

2 months ago

@Raging_Squiggle, the cards you suggested removing have benefitted me countless times in cEDH though. Personally, I'd rather remove Terminate first. Holding up less mana every turn to address multiple threats is better as it gives me more flexibility. If you want to advance your boardstate it's better to hold up two 1's and a 2 than two 2's and a 3. Finding ways to do things cheaper without need for ramp is in a way card advantage as I see it and it mitigates how severe a discard cost is when you build your deck around flexibility than tempo. As I said I like playing more reactively than proactively. As for my experiences Lightning Axe 's removal capabilities in commander I find to be on par with Lightning Bolt 's capability in 60 card formats - not capable of removing everything but efficient enough to not get in the way of doing two things at once. Sinister Concoction is telegraphed removal which is incredibly undervalued in multiplayer settings as no one willingly wants to have it proc on their best card in hand, and having that kind of chilling effect on a whole table for one mana is pretty strong. And then there's Molten Vortex which is probably the best thing on earth for removing hatebear after hatebear and bypassing counter spells in blue combo decks. Losing lands to it may seem steep, but the cost is nothing when your opposition is locking you down and locking you out in the first place and if its a dead card I pitch it to the Lightning Axe or Sinister Concoction anyway.

Personally I've grown to loathe "non-black" removal spells. It's not just this combo but its also The Gitrog Monster and Kaalia of the Vast and Nekusar, the Mindrazer and Opposition Agent . I acknowledge there are a lot of non-black targets I can use it on instead, but picking between a Doom Blade and a Murder when Lightning Axe / Dismember takes out more of them for less mana sums up my approach to this. And I do run Chaos Warp , Anguished Unmaking and Generous Gift along with a slew of boardwipes for anything bigger - I just didn't mention I ran them here when the focus of my thread is on small and early game threats where the heavier removal isn't as apt at addressing these problems.

Still, even without the mana ramp the combo can come down on turn three by casting the cards on consecutive turns or on turn four by playing them all at once, and we are talking about competitive black which has plenty of tutors. In the early game holding up 2 or 3 mana for only one answer every turn I find to be a waste. It's not just this combo either as I'm in the company of decks that are looking to end or lock the game before turn six if left in a vacuum. At the same time I still want to acknowledge other non-aggressive strategies do exist and striking the balance is difficult when one set of cards is too slow for my current meta and another set don't go far enough for everything outside of that meta. Personally, I think the small spells still have some merit in all cases whereas the larger spells become an annoying liability when you're put on the clock. It's another reason why I value being reactive than proactive, to value flexibility over tempo, because I'd need to pick a different commander entirely if I want to match the speed my competitors play at. However, my opponents lose much more value than I do when they go headfirst into certain strategies only for them to be thwarted such as with the Witherbloom Apprentice + Chain of Smog combo or with the Auriok Salvagers + Lion's Eye Diamond combo or the Worldgorger Dragon + Animate Dead combo or anything that relies on Doomsday . My deck is built to address this kind of madness, but when I make card decisions I still want to keep more normal metas in mind when picking cards. Cards like Magma Spray and Fatal Push are incredibly narrow, I know that, but what I need to know is which card of that set is the best for taking on problems outside of my own meta.

StopShot on I need help choosing another …

2 months ago

I enjoy playing competitive EDH and one of the recently spoiled Strixhaven cards I already know is going to shake-up my meta and make things difficult for me. Namely Witherbloom Apprentice is the card I'm dreading as it can close out a game if it's controller casts Chain of Smog as it can be copied infinitely if the controller always targets themself with it. It's very likely every BGx deck in my play group is going to run this combo given how easy it is to setup and when you pair the possibility of closing out the game on turn two through Dark Ritual or Sol Ring into a mana rock, it becomes a lethal threat I can't ignore when making deck building decisions. As such, I feel I need to add another one mana creature removal spell in my deck, but I'm stumped over which spell I should include not just to address this potential combo but also have the most practical use outside of it as well.

My current list of removal spells are: Path to Exile , Swords to Plowshares , Sinister Concoction , Dismember , Lightning Axe , Molten Vortex , Red Elemental Blast , Pyroblast and Terminate (I enjoy playing more reactively than proactively.)

The removal spells I'm considering are: Dark Betrayal , Fatal Push , Human Frailty , Lightning Bolt , Magma Spray , Weight of Spires and Seal of Fire . (The last one I'm considering for its use around counterspells by casting it early.)

Notable exclusions are: Deadly Rollick , Defile , Dispatch , Force of Despair , Galvanic Blast , Murderous Cut , Mutual Destruction , Necrotic Wound , Pyrokinesis , Reckless Rage , Skred and Tragic Slip as I feel I don't have the means to meet these card restrictions consistent enough to be useful in my deck, especially in the early game. I'm also not considering two mana removal spells like Go for the Throat because I feel at this point cost effectiveness matters more than removal range.

Of course the best removal spell is going to depend heavily on the meta, but I'm generally trying to figure out which of the spells I'm considering is the best in a competitive environment in general. I'm looking for feedback and second opinions on whether you think any of the spells shines well above the rest through your own play experiences. I appreciate any insight I can get, thanks.