Unsummon

Instant

Return target creature to its owner's hand.

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
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Oldschool 93/94	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (45)

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

2 weeks ago

1 card sub + found another relevant combo

Replaced Spark Double with Orvar, the All-Form. Spark double and Sakashima are great cards with awesome text, in this deck they effectively do the same thing. I don't think the deck needs redundancy here. Seeing both of these cards in your hand is undesirable because they are relatively expensive mana-wise. A faster card needs to go in one of these slots. I chose to take out Spark Double rather than Sakashima because the text on Sakashima is better. Incoming Orvar. Orvar benefits from Unesh's cost reduction making it only 2 mana to cast. He is a cheap sphinx which is good enough and the rest of the text is an outstanding bonus. The first ability on Orvar synergizes extremely well with Unsummon, Snap, Ghostly Flicker, and especially Chain of Vapor. The second ability isn't as important, but it is not an unhappy thing to see.

Found another almost infinite combo that includes Dockside Extortionist. But wait this is a mono-blue deck, what gives?? Dockside is huge in the format right now, and with Phantasmal Image you can make one if your opponent has one. In Unesh this can be a win condition. Here is the order of events:

Initial conditions:

• Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign is on the field.
• Cloudstone Curio is on the field.
• Phantasmal Image is on the field as a copy of Dockside Extortionist.
• There are ~6 artifacts and enchantments on your opponents' side of the field

Steps

1. Cast a sphinx. This triggers Cloudstone Curio returning Phantasmal Image to your hand. This also triggers Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign, you pull sphinxes, changelings, bounce spells, Thassa's Oracle, and counter magic if possible from the BFOF.
2. Play Phantasmal Image as a copy of Dockside Extortionist to regain mana equal to or greater than the combined cost of the sphinx and Phantasmal Image.
3. Continue to play sphinxes until you can win the game with Thassa's Oracle.
4. Repeat until Thassa's Oracle win is online.
5. Cast Thassa's Oracle

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

3 weeks ago

That's a fair point about meta, that explains our different stance on the card. I don't usuaully play against players who are full blue. My opponnents usually splash it.

I haven't noticed the loss of Imprisoned in the Moon, because Gilded Drake feels so much better. I think an argument can be made to put both in the deck. I am theoretically playing around with the Unsummon slot right now, I haven't been able to physically test it out much in my games.

I appreciate you noticing that detail about Universal Automaton, I will have to make it more clear. Universal Automaton dosn't trigger Cloudstone Curio, but it can be targeted by it. That means when Universal Automaton and Cloudstone is on the field while you cast non-artifact Sphinxs, you can double your Unesh triggers and storm count for free.

Have you ever tried playing MTG on 'Tabletop Simulator' from Steam? You can pull a deck list from tappedout or moxfield and play it virtually at no expense for testing, it's quite easy and convenient.

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

1 month ago

Minor Revision

• Replaced Rewind with Unsummon. Rewind is expensive, and like Treachery it feels bad when it doesn't resolve. The main reason to include Rewind over another counterspell is that it can gain additional mana in combination with mana doublers. However this usually only happens when you counter your own spell which is not always ideal. Unsummon keeps the value train rolling baby. This mana cheap spell keeps the win con rolling. So it keeps the deck faster and more focused.
• Replaced Cryptic Command with Mystical Tutor. Cryptic command is an expensive spell to hold up. With other recent additions making the deck fast, it is probably better to speed the deck up more and win the race to a wincon rather than defend against other wincons. This card will mostly end up fetching Rite of Replication, but it can also grab your only board wipe Cyclonic Rift, Ghostly Flicker for value, or a piece of interaction.
• Replaced Swiftfoot Boots with Trickbind. Swiftfoot boots feels a little slow with the 1 cmc equip cost. It is easier to defend Unesh with some of the other additions like Unsubstantiate or Unsummon (these also defend against a boardwipe while the boots don't. Trickbind is included because it can stop a lot of cEDH combos that don't rely on spells resolving. This spell can also be tutored by recently added tutors Spellseeker and Mystical Tutor.

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

1 month ago

GHoag I respect the Mystical Tutor choice, and I think it is good in my build too. I think I like Spellseeker in my build more because I like that the tutored card goes directly to my hand rather than the top of the library. I also like that Spellseeker’s ability is ETB. It can benefit from Panharmonicon, and it can also benefit from cost reduction of Defiler of Dreams and Sapphire Medallion. In conclusion, I think Spellseeker’s synergies and utility are worth the extra 2 cmc in my build.

I do really like Irenicus's Vile Duplication, but because I am going to go with spellseeker for now, I’ll keep Sakashima in. I am not sure which suite is more powerful, I will have to try out both in the near future to make a better conclusion.

I do like Unsubstantiate more than Unsummon. I think the 1 more cmc is definitely worth the versatility. I still want to squeeze in Trickbind, this spell is very strong depending on the pod. Maybe it is better to keep it in the binder until I think I need it.

If I may, what did you decide to take out for Isochron Scepter and Dramatic Reversal?

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

1 month ago

Okay... one more. Doing a lot of thinking today.

• In the Solemn Simulacrum spot, I am going to run Unsummon vice Metallic Mimic

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

1 month ago

GHoag, thank you very much for the compliment! A lot of time and effort went in to considering these changes. Also, thank you for your perspective, it is incredibly useful to talk through decisions more thoroughly.

I agree on Solemn Simulacrum. I think it is a pet card of mine that I need to let go of. I would much prefer to have faster ramp in this slot. 4 cmc feels like such a high cost every time. I'll have to do some math when considering Mox Opal. I am not sure how frequently it will be online in the early game, obviously it is still great in mid/late game though. I like the idea of throwing Metallic Mimic back in because of the low CMC. It helps with the beat down plan, and helps with getting more FoF's.

I am also still considering Cryptic Command as a possible cut. I think it's actually good because of the different modes, even at 4 cmc. It is a very versatile card. Unsubstantiate is an intersting proposal. In that vein we can also consider the 1 cmc Unsummon. I am hesitant on An Offer You Can't Refuse, because allowing another cEDH deck 2 more mana could be a big swing in their favor.

I think you might be right about Sea Gate Restoration  ^Flip. Having actual islands is important to the deck. I can understand why shutting off High Tide in the early game could be the difference between winning and losing. You can actually draw more than 7 without max hand size. My thoughts were if you hit that card during a big chain of sphinxes, you could draw many many cards. But at 7 CMC I think you definitely want to doing something else. Reward is not worth the risk here. The other thought I had, if it is in your discard when you cast Scholar of the Lost Trove, you could get great value by casting it for free. Then again, I think casting the artifacts/instants from your graveyard for free is more valuable. I'll likely put an Island back in this slot.

For the fetches, the main positive is deck thinning. My thought is, the biggest negative is that it makes all of your Islands more valuable during FoF's. If you make your islands TOO valuable, your opponent could starve you of lands on your FoF's. I might be overevaulating this threat right now, but I am not sure. I definitely need to play test this more.

favgameisundertale on Adventure and eye of the …

1 month ago

Polaris That's not true. It only cares that it's in exile, not how it got there. Since it's in exile (under Eye of the Storm), you are able to cast the creature, you just aren't able to cast the instant/sorcery part while Eye of the Storm is out.

However with enough mana and something like an Unsummon exiled under EotS, you could potentially cast any instant or sorcery you want returning the creature to your hand, casting the instant/sorcery part, copying the other cards exiled under EotS.. most likely using Brazen Borrower as it has flash so you can put it out before the Unsummon resolves.

wallisface on 10$ Merfolks

3 months ago

Very well done for the price restriction.

Vapor Snag > Unsummon, though not sure if it puts the deck over budget. Witness Protection might be another good option for a more permanent answer to a problem.