Voltaic Key

Artifact

, : Untap target artifact.

Discussion (51)

Rocketman988 on Primer: Kozilek Great Distortion of the Boardstate

6 days ago

You mentioned being impressed with Manifold Key when testing, but Voltaic Key is still in the list. Did the self untap of Voltaic Key win out or is the change just not reflected in the list?

zwells3 on Arcane Encyclopedia or Arcane Signet?

4 weeks ago

Mirari is generally a slow, overcosted artifact mainly used to sink extra mana into and it does not gain you card advantage in any meaningful way. Arcane Encyclopedia is similar in that it is mainly useful if you happen to have a bunch of generic mana sitting around, but even then it is not repeatable unless you have a Voltaic Key etcc. Arcane Signet is nothing at all like the other two cards you are considering in its place. It is a 2 CMC colour producing rock. If you're asking which of these is "best" it almost certainly the signet.

In reading some of your comments, the encyclopedia's "repeated use" is certainly outmatched by Rhystic Study , Mystic Remora , Necropotence , Sylvan Library , Phyrexian Arena , Dark Confidant etc. You're right in that it is colourless and can be activated at instant speed, though I would say that Sensei's Divining Top does this much better.

The upkeep cost of Mystic Remora is pennies compared to its taxing effect on your opponents. Also, you have multiple turns before it costs even the same amount as the encyclopedia.

ScionsStillLive on I Hate You and So Should You

1 month ago

Replace Voltaic Key with Manifold Key

SideBae on Eldrazi Horror

1 month ago

I'm surprised no one has mentioned it, but Timesifter happens to be one of the dumbest cards to run in colorless EDH. Most other decks are going to be doing their best to keep their curves reasonable, but since you have just buckets of colorless mana-producers your curve is going to run very high. If you run Sensei's Divining Top too, you can probably take around 80 percent of the extra turns.

Sculpting Steel is an excellent way to copy whatever your biggest mana-producer is.

I've never liked the tron lands in EDH. My reasoning is mainly that the reward is too difficult to obtain in a singleton, ninety-nine card deck, and that running more non-basics leaves you more open to attack from Back to Basics , Ruination and Wasteland . Many colorless decks already run a lot of non-basics, but you don't want to run more than you have to. I also think you're running a few too many lands, since you're also (ideally) going to be getting a lot of mana from your rocks. I think you should just do a straight trade of the tron lands for other accelerants.

There're also a few other colorless lands to consider. Cryptic Caves , I think, is better than Seraph Sanctuary ; typically you'd only gain one-ish life off the latter, and the ability to cycle Cryptic Caves late game can be very relevant. Ancient Tomb is a BOMB in most decks, especially colorless ones; if you have the ability to acquire it, run it. Thespian's Stage or Vesuva can copy a good land you want more of; Thespian's Stage is especially funny if you run Dark Depths , which also happens to interact favorably with your Mirage Mirror . Also Blast Zone . And Scorched Ruins .

In general, you want to run more two-mana rocks and fewer three-mana rocks. I don't like Pristine Talisman , Seer's Lantern , etc. simply because if you ran two-mana rocks instead, you could land the rock turn two, untap, play a land, and then land a four-mana spell like Thran Dynamo or Hedron Archive . There're enough two-mana rocks you can run in a colorless deck that I think you may find yourself playing a turn behind where you could be, unnecessarily. Some examples: Thought Vessel , Coldsteel Heart , Everflowing Chalice , Fellwar Stone , Grim Monolith (if you're rich) and Hedron Crawler ... I think replacing the aforementioned and other three-mana rocks with some of these is definitely worth trying. If you wanted, Metalworker is probably the best three-mana dork-rock ever made, though he is around $50 these days.

I strongly agree with multimedia: You should definitely run Voltaic Key and/or Manifold Key , and Mystic Forge seems like it'll be a powerhouse.

Tamiyo's Journal and Oracle's Vault are good ways to generate card-advantage in colorless decks. Same goes for Staff of Nin , Mind's Eye (which goes well with Victory Chimes , if you want to leave that in) and Karn, Scion of Urza .

My last suggestion's relevance will depend largely upon your moral compass. I have no issue being a grade-A douche in games, since they're just games, and a good person in important matters; you might feel otherwise. Stax, if you're like me, is the way to go with colorless decks that makes them way better, mainly because you have so much more mana than anyone else at the table can make. Consider some or all of the following: Lodestone Golem , Trinisphere , Thorn of Amethyst , Sphere of Resistance , Chalice of the Void (to be cast on X = 1), Winter Orb (especially good with your rocks and if you run something like Clock of Omens ... Relic of Progenitus is good against a lot of decks, and can cycle for a card when it isn't. Grafdigger's Cage is similar. Finally, you may have luck with Tangle Wire , although that can isn't at its best in the modern day.

Right. Good luck!

multimedia on Eldrazi Horror

1 month ago

Hey, good version of Kozilek.

Eye of Ugin , Buried Ruin , Sanctum of Ugin , Ancient Tomb , Inventors' Fair and Cryptic Caves are all colorless lands to consider adding. Eye is a repeatable Eldrazi Tutor. Buried can recur Expedition Map which is an artifact to consider adding since it can tutor for one of the Urza lands or Eye or any other land. Crucible of Worlds lets you reanimate Buried which then lets you recur Map. This can be an engine to assemble and tutor for all the powerful colorless lands to help to cast Eldrazi.

Consider Mystic Forge ? It's powerful card advantage for colorless. Manifold Key and/or Voltaic Key are good support for Forge and all the colorless mana rocks generating lots of ramp especially Basalt Monolith as a cheaper way to untap it. Everflowing Chalice scale ability is good with colorless mana rocks or just play it as a two drop mana rock. Worn Powerstone is a good colorless mana rock. Both these rocks can be upgrades.

---

Cards to consider cutting:

• Encroaching Wastes
• Haunted Fengraf
• Phyrexia's Core
• Seraph Sanctuary
• Zoetic Cavern
• Darksteel Ingot
• Guardian Idol
• Sisay's Ring
• Pristine Talisman
• Hand of Emrakul
• Skittering Invasion
• Ulamog's Crusher

Good luck with your deck.

Zomgasa on Treasure!!

1 month ago

I don't understand what these cards do for you. Wheel of Fortune Fevered Visions Well of Ideas Zur's Weirding Dire Fleet Hoarder Jace's Archivist Pitiless Plunderer Howling Mine Temple Bell Venser's Journal Revitalize Minds Aglow

Maybe add: Metalworker Voltaic Key Forcefield Ethersworn Canonist Phyrexian Metamorph Karn, Silver Golem Tidehollow Sculler Mindslaver Vault of Whispers Hex Parasite Crawlspace Ancient Den Vedalken Orrery Batterskull Clock of Omens Triskelion Time Sieve Scourglass Stuffy Doll Nim Deathmantle Magister Sphinx Worldslayer Norn's Annex Darksteel Forge Tidehollow Strix Soul Conduit Darksteel Myr Sol Ring War Report Mycosynth Lattice

Oh, and land.

SideBae on BragoSTAX

1 month ago

Hey man! I got a few suggestions:

1. Vintage Xerox-style cards are very powerful in EDH. Ponder and Preordain belong in pretty much any blue deck, and Brainstorm is good if you put in three or four more fetch lands to prevent yourself from getting Brainstorm -locked. Between them, these three will make sure you get to what you need and past what you don't; they may not look good, but they're busted. Some fetches (outside the Zendikar/Onslaught cycles) to consider: Grasslands , Flood Plain , Bad River (which will all grab your Hallowed Fountain and Prairie Stream ), Evolving Wilds , Prismatic Vista , etc.

2. Swords to Plowshares is the best spot-removal in the game... I suggest running it, even though I'm generally against one-for-ones in EDH as usually they're simply not efficient enough; however, Swords to Plowshares is one mana, does not ramp your opponent like Path to Exile , and a single one-for-one is alright.

3. Narset, Parter of Veils is an EXCELLENT card I see you're running. Consider universal mass-draw to accompany her: Timetwister is the best, but as it costs the same as a used car, Windfall is a much more common option.

4. You've got a good amount of artifact ramp, but there're some other rocks you should consider. Talisman of Progress is a really good two-mana mana-rock you should consider, and Voltaic Key / Manifold Key pair well with your Mana Vault and Basalt Monolith . Even if your general is flickering the vault so it enters untaps, the keys will make two additional mana.

5. Whir of Invention is an artifact-tutor to consider. If you have access, Transmute Artifact and Reshape are also great. These will get whatever Stax piece you need, or, more likely, find your Isochron Scepter if you have Dramatic Reversal in hand.

6. Silence is a good form of combo-protection. On the turn you want to go off, it can be difficult to ensure that you're not facing any counter magic. Silence is a must-counter that you can use to blank an opponent's turn if necessary.

7. There are some other flicker-able cards in your colors you should consider. Watcher for Tomorrow is a good way to Impulse every time you trigger your general. Rishadan Cutpurse is similar to your Rishadan Footpad , though being less mana to cast is significant; since Rishadan Footpad is four mana, it'll be competing with your general to be cast. I'm not sure if it's quite good enough for a final list, but I've seen Ichor Wellspring in a lot of Brago lists. If you choose to run snow-covered basics, Arcum's Astrolabe seems straight better than the wellspring. Finally, Snapcaster Mage can be BUSTED if you have the funds to get ahold of it.

8. I see you have the Archaeomancer + Temporal Manipulation loop. Have you considered Savor the Moment instead of Temporal Manipulation ? If you flicker your general and three mana in rocks, you can pull off the loop with less mana (your general untaps the mana and himself).

9. Depending on your meta, Devout Lightcaster seems like a pretty busted flicker target. Similarly, consider Chill , Sphere of Law and Tidal Control .

Good luck! Hope this helps.

jaymc1130 on EDH “auto adds”?

1 month ago

Gemstone Caverns always makes my lists for the games where it's in your opener and provides serious value.

Mana Confluence in basically any deck that isn't mono colored.

Ancient Tomb usually makes the cut for me in decks that have enough 2 cmc rocks to cast, other colorless cards I'd like to come down earlier than expected, and wheel effects I'd like to play by turn 2 after dumping most of an opening hand.

Karn, the Great Creator is very close to making the cut for me given the value generated from stopping a litany of artifact based combo archetypes and ability to provide serious utility resilience for decks that utilize an artifact based combo themselves.

Manifold Key and Voltaic Key aren't quite auto adds, but I really like to fit them into decks that run Mana Vault, Grim Monolith, Sensei's Divining Top, Sol Ring, and Mana Crypt.