Thassa's Oracle

Creature — Merfolk Wizard

When this enters the battlefield, look at the top X cards of your library, where X is your devotion to blue. Put up to one of them on top of your library and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. If X is greater than or equal to the number of cards in your library, you win the game. (Each {U} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to blue.)

Combos

• Paradigm Shift + Thassa's Oracle
• Temur Sabertooth + Thassa's Oracle
• Deadeye Navigator + Thassa's Oracle
• Mirror-Mad Phantasm + Thassa's Oracle + Unearth
• Spellseeker + Thassa's Oracle
• Enter the Infinite + Omniscience + Thassa's Oracle
• Stroke of Genius + Thassa's Oracle
• Inverter of Truth + Thassa's Oracle
• Enter the Infinite + Thassa's Oracle
• Cephalid Illusionist + Nomads en-Kor + Thassa's Oracle

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (49)

TypicalTimmy on A Discussion of Staples

4 hours ago

We all know that certain cards are staples in this format, such as Sol Ring and Mana Crypt if it is affordable. However staples also have a little bit of fluidity in that they have color restrictions. If you are playing a deck that contains {B} and you are not playing Necropotence, you are running decidedly below your potential.

Unfortunately cards such as Crypt and Potence are very expensive, so not all players can have them.

In this thread, I'm not so much focused on the financial aspect, but the physical aspect.

I'd like to ask, what makes a staple? Now yes, casual play and competitive play are two different beasts. Competitive decks will be leagues behind if they lack specific cards, whereas casual decks will be slightly hindered but not really all that far off. Especially if there is a budget the friends adhere to.

Let's take for example Lightning Bolt. It is both financially cheap and resourcefully cheap as well. It is instant speed and works wonders as removal. Unfortunately, in many cases, it doesn't serve a great enough impact to win the game. Yes it can take down something such as a Thassa's Oracle or bolt a Sorin Markov so the opponent can't -3 you immediately. However, in the majority of plays, it serves as little more than a bump in the road to victory. Meanwhile, a card such as Path to Exile sees far fewer targets, but it'll remove that massive gargantuan 15/15 Ramos, Dragon Engine or Edgar Markov. So while Path has fewer total available targets then Bolt, it's impact is far greater and more disruptive.

• (Although I prefer Swords to Plowshares. I'd rather give my opponent some life that will be gone in a turn or two, then a land of their choosing that they keep for the rest of the game.)

Similarly, a really good card in terms of mechanics is Scour from Existence. What hinders it is the mana value of {7}. If it cost less, I'd expect to see it slotted into nearly every deck. The same applies to All is Dust. Yes, Wrath of God and Damnation are superior in that they cost less, however they also do less and are restrained to their own colors.

Mechanics, timing, color restrictions... These all play a role in what becomes a staple, and what doesn't.

So I'm curious, what are some staples across EDH that people know of, and do you have any opinions on what cards SHOULD be staples, that currently aren't?

wallisface on When does Primal Surge's repetition …

1 week ago

When a spell starts resolving, no other triggers even join the stack until it has finished resolving. So in this case, you resolve Primal Surge to its completion, then check to see what other triggers go on the stack. As you’ll likely have many numerous etb triggers from whatever else exists in the deck, you’ll order Thassa's Oracle’s trigger amongst all the other ones, and then start resolving these.

While any effect is being carried out, no other effects can enter it - they wait patiently for the effect to be resolved, and then get a chance to be added to the stack.

TheOfficialCreator on When does Primal Surge's repetition …

1 week ago

The specific rules interaction I am wondering about is in regards to Primal Surge and Thassa's Oracle.

My current understanding would be that in a deck with no other nonpermanent cards, I would be able to play my entire deck, then Thassa's Oracle would trigger and I would win the game.

But I do see how this view could be flawed if Thassa's Oracle's ETB hits the stack before Primal Surge repeats after playing it, or during choosing whether or not to play the next card.

Thanks in advance!

FireMind42 on Hoax Storm v2

1 week ago

sylvannos Oh my god thank you so much! Sorry for the late response, but I really appreciate all the advice. Paradoxical Outcome is absolutely insane now that you mention the Mox synergy, and I have no idea how I missed Tinker in my original deck building phase.

As for your other suggestions, there are two elements of the deck I want to maintain which I forgot mention in the original post.

• I want to keep the deck U/R because when I started playing in RTR I was obsessed with the Izzet. In Highschool I had the chance to draft MM13 for a friend's b-day, and after getting passed multiple copies of Gifts Ungiven,Grapeshot,Peer Through Depths, and Manamorphose, I managed to Grapeshot for lethal in nearly every single game. That was when I fell in love with Magic, and I thought Storm was just the coolest archetype because it fully embodies the absolute chaos that is U/R.

• As for Thassa's Oracle, I have never really liked "you win the game cards," and I prefer to win with damage for flavor reasons. I love the feeling of counting up Storm count before casting lethal, and imagining I am a Planeswalker wielding fire and lightning to blast my opponent to dust (lol). Plus, cards that just end the game immediately tend to make opponents more frustrated than if they were killed by damage. Although that is just my experience haha

I will be experimenting with this build and I am already thinking of ways I can use your recommendations, I've always been a very casual player but I have a big interest in competitive magic so thanks again for the advice. I will be back soon for some more tips! :)

Thanks for the warm welcome, I am VERY excited to be playing such a complex format!

-Ya boi

FireMind

sylvannos on Hoax Storm v2

3 weeks ago

To start with, there's a few cards that have better Vintage equivalents. Overmaster and Spell Pierce should be the 3rd. and 4th. copies of Force of Will. Leftover space from cutting those can be Red Elemental Blast, Pyroblast, or Flusterstorm. You don't need Faithless Looting because we have Paradoxical Outcome, Sensei's Divining Top, Gush, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, and Brainstorm to choose from. Merchant Scroll also belongs in here, because you can use it to grab Ancestral Recall at the very least. Usually you want it to make sure you have protection in hand by grabbing countermagic.

Library of Alexandria isn't good in this deck. And you're not the type that needs 8x {UR} sources, so Steam Vents can go, along with a few copies of Volcanic Island (1 or 2). Replace all of these with four copies of Scalding Tarn and basic lands. Or even just play 6x fetches. You need to be able to shuffle after using Brainstorm, Ponder,and Sensei's Divining Top.

From here, you have a solid U/R Storm shell. However, I wouldn't play straight "Modern U/R Storm, but Power 9" dot dec. 2 mana is a lot for Goblin Electromancer, there are easier ways of winning than Grapeshot, and so on. The question then becomes "Where to go from here?"

• Paradoxical Outcome is just the nuts. By bouncing moxen and cheap artifacts, it's a ritual (since you can replay everything for {0}, untapping it all) and it's a draw spell. However, Paradoxical Outcome requires Mox Opals, Lotus Petal, Lion's Eye Diamond, etc. so you'll have to cut rituals (likely Seething Song). The upside is you get an extremely powerful engine that can often end the game with a single Paradoxical Outcome.
• Thassa's Oracle is the new hotness for Vintage combo cards. You can win the game by casting Brain Freeze on yourself, then casting Thassa's Oracle. It also opens up more combos using Demonic Consultation and Doomsday. Sometimes you've just drawn a bunch of cards and have ~3 cards left in your deck.
• Tinker is too good in Storm not to play it. You're either getting Memory Jar, Bolas's Citadel, Time Vault (Voltaic Key is already good in Storm when combined with Mana Vault and friends), or a random wincon like Sphinx of the Steel Wind boarded in for game 2. Bolas's Citadel will essentially flip the top half of your deck into play.
• You can also play draw 7s (Wheel of Fortune, Timetwister, Memory Jar, Diminishing Returns) in combination with Narset, Parter of Veils and Hullbreacher.
• Mana Drain is good, but you may find it too slow if you make any of the above changes. It definitely does more work in a more control-oriented Storm deck with Narset, Parter of Veils, Dack Fayden, Grim Tutor, etc.
• Lastly, there's the question of Underworld Breach, Yawgmoth's Will, Monastery Mentor, or some combination of these. Underworld Breach will mean you can stay in two colors. Playing black for Yawgmoth's Will allows you to play Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Yawgmoth's Bargain, Necropotence, Doomsday, Tendrils of Agony, and hardcasting Bolas's Citadel. Monastery Mentor both scales up and goes sideways. A single token is enough to kill someone combined with Paradoxical Outcome or a draw 7. Monastery Mentor is like casting Tarmogoyf and Empty the Warrens for three mana and one card.

Hope this helps! Welcome to MtG's oldest and greatest format.

Licecolony on Najeela, the Blade-Blossom

1 month ago

Nature's Lore, Three Visits, Masked Vandal, Heroic Intervention, Boros Charm, Species Specialist, Kargan Intimidator, Dusk / Dawn, Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip, Kindred Discovery, Kindred Dominance, Kindred Summons, Bojuka Bog, Scavenger Grounds are all worth consideration

I'd take out: Sol Ring Most of your mana costs are colored. Explore replace with better ramp as suggested above. Derevi, Empyrial Tactician not sure what this does here. Thassa's Oracle you're not looking to mill yourself out. Brainstorm only good if you can shuffle your library regularly such as with fetch lands. Demonic Consultation you're not looking for specific combo pieces Spell Pierce. You want to be spending your mana early, not keeping this up. Same with Mana Drain. Rally the Ranks. If you're gonna do this kind of effect, use something nicer like Realmwalker Coastal Piracy. Doesn't seem as good here as Kindred Discovery

Also think you can cut a couple lands given that your mana curve stops at 6. Or replace them with lands like Glasspool Mimic  ^Flip and Bala Ged Recovery  ^Flip

ToxicMCTV on 97 Lands: The First Sliver's Trickery

1 month ago

add a Laboratory Maniac for draw protection, or maybe a Thassa's Oracle

legendofa on Infinite combo too slow

1 month ago

Necrosis24 Lots to go over with your suggestions, but they all sound good. I'm going to steer away from the Champion of Lambholt/Overwhelming Stampede angle, but only because my other paper decks are pretty creature-centric and I want to try something else. Jace, Wielder of Mysteries will fit in nicely, maybe upgraded to/supplemented with Thassa's Oracle if I get this running right.

Epidilius That's a good straightforward method, and I've seen it used before. I'm going into a new meta environment (I just moved), and while I expect most people to be decent about it, there's always a small chance that someone will insist it plays out, especially with an unpredictable outcome.