Wrath of God

Sorcery

Destroy all creatures. They can't be regenerated.

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
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (50)

Niko9 on A Discussion of Staples

1 day ago

Honestly, I think that absolutely everything is situational, but maybe to varying degrees. I've had a few decks now that cut Sol Ring all for different reasons. My elfball deck didn't like that it wasn't a creature, my agro deck doesn't have a high curve, and my mill deck just didn't want to slot in something that will probably just get milled and stay dead.

So, I don't know, I think that there really are very few true staples because everything is so dependent on your deck and your metagame. cEDH probably has a better perspective on staples because when you get to that level of optimization you have a better idea about what is necessary to have, and also what you are going to be playing against.

Maybe it's just that the longer I play around with commander the more I get away from the old advice of, these cards are staples, you need this amount of X per deck, the early game is this, and all that. It just all changes so much, and then if people switch decks between games, it changes again. If one player starts playing weenie or something then you are like, shoot, what do I even do with Swords to Plowshares? If someone plays voltron then your Wrath of God becomes a "hey you need to cast your commander again" rather than a bomb. But on the flip side of each example, you'd have the perfect answer.

Ha, sorry for the nonanswer : ) I think it's an awesome topic and I might just be waxing too much on it, like, what even is a staple? Sorry!

TypicalTimmy on A Discussion of Staples

2 days 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?

nbarry223 on Temporary Lockdown

3 days ago

It is more comparable to cards like Culling Ritual that care about CMC than red board wipes that do damage. If you aren't looking to be able to blink your own cards, a more permanent removal option is probably better, since the opponent can get their cards back by removing this card.

Don't get me wrong, it is a playable card, but there's enough comparable options that have other upsides in comparison, that I don't think it is a solid option, unless you plan to profit from by using it to blink your own things as well. Especially because for one more mana you get into the board wipes that basically set the standard for board wipes, like Wrath of God and Damnation.

SufferFromEDHD on Samurai's

2 weeks ago

Big fan of underrepresented tribes. This is a solid list.

Harsh Mercy is a tribal Wrath of God

Radiant Destiny > Day of Destiny

Maybe Rally the Ranks too.

Mutavault the best samurai land in the game!

Rebuff the Wicked this is a permanent heavy list. This card would do serious work.

SufferFromEDHD on Solphim, Approach of the Dominus

2 weeks ago

Blazing Salvo brutal.

Molten Influence neat counterspell.

Breaking Point red Wrath of God is useful.

Harness the Storm secret tech!

Inventors' Fair gotta find that Thrumming Stone

wallisface on U/B control

1 month ago

Some thoughts:

• You're running a LOT of cards as 1-ofs and 2-ofs. This will lead to a really inconsistent (and overall weaker) deck. I'd suggest aiming for more playsets of the things that matter.

• You have a lot of nonbos here. For example, while Solemnity is out, The Birth of Meletis does nothing, and Wedding Announcement  ^Flip will never flip.

• Adding to the above, there's a bunch of cards here that don't make a lot of sense. I can't see what benefits you're getting from Solemnity (its application is very narrow and there will be lots of games its doing nothing), Wedding Announcement  ^Flip (its a bad card, and you have too few creatures to make any use of it), Urza's Sylex (games seldom go long enough for this to ever be able to do anything. The land destruction is irrelevant in a format where 99% the cards cost 0-3 mana).

• Your mana curve feels waay off. Generally speaking, Modern decks can't justify running more than 3-4 cards costing 4 mana, and run nothing above this. You've got a whopping 12 cards costing 4-or-more, but even worse is that most of those cards cost 6-8 mana... that's a really unrealistic cost to pay unless you have a LOT of dedicated control in your deck (which, you don't).

• This whole situation above becomes a lot worse by the comparably tiny quantity of 1 and 2 mana spells you're running... I think a lot of games you're not going to be doing anything until turn 3, which is effectively starting 2 full turns behind your opponent (a really dangerous place to be).

• Some of these cards seem really suboptimal. Borrowed Time and Minimus Containment feel awkward when Prismatic Ending exists. Authority of the Consuls probably hurts you more than helps you (in that its just giving yourself card disadvantage and while it may annoy the opponent, it's not buying you much time). All these 6 and 8 mana cards are just not castable. Melding Urza, Lord Protector  ^Meld needs a really strong plan to be viable, and you don't have anything to support that being successful. It feels like you're relying on Farewell to survive, but no game will go long enough to reach 6 lands - and there are just better options in Day of Judgment or Wrath of God. Even playing those more optimal board wipes, I don't think you can rely on them.

I think my general thought here is that the deck doesn't really have a plan of what it wants to do. I think you need a clearer vision for what you're wanting it to achieve, and then run a realistic (much lower) mana curve towards making that goal happen.

TypicalTimmy on What is Gruul to you?

1 month ago

Gruul wants to attack each and every combat, pushing out as much combat damage as possible. They achieve this through synergy, where things such as enchantments, tribal lords and combat tricks all tie together to maximize the output of damage.

Using greens ramp, and reds fast card advantage, you aim to quickly overwhelm any boardstate.

Your goal, ultimately, is to overpower all other resources. Yes your opponent may have 7 counter spells, 5 targeted removal and 2 wraths but when 1/2 of your deck is mana whether it is lands, dorks or rocks and the other 1/2 is one threatening bomb after another, you inevitably exhaust their 14 spells that can handle it.

Essentially you don't care what lands on the battlefield, only that it does. You don't worry about being set back two or three turns with a Cyclonic Rift or a Wrath of God because you know that not only does your deck have more creatures then most other decks, and sometimes even your entire table combined, you know that your damage potential could literally one-shot the board in excess.

Your wincon is combat damage. Anything else is secondary.

---

I'd love to see this type of question become a forum, where resident experts in their preferred color schemes come forward to talk about them :)

slasherturtle on Equip Me Daddy

1 month ago

This will be long, probably.

The first thing I notice is your land base. It's pretty important for this deck to reliably get Jor out on turn 2 consistently, and you may be a bit short on lands for that. To that point, you also want to limit lands that tap for colorless or enter tapped to only the ones you absolutely need. While the lands that tap for both and enter tapped (like Alpine Meadow or Sacred Peaks) are nice for fixing, they are slow and ultimately it's up to you whether to run those or not. The biggest one that pokes out to me is Reliquary Tower. Not only does it only tap for colorless, I'm also not sure you're going to be drawing enough cards for it to be any better than a basic Plains or Mountain. I'd keep an eye out for Slayers' Stronghold and Sandstone Bridge in playtesting, depending on how often they go off they might also be worse than a basic. All in all though, land base is pretty good, you just need more. Maybe 2-3 more of each basic to get started and tweak from there.

I really like the amount of nonland cards that grab you lands you have (like Wayfarer's Bauble and Navigation Orb). They're better than Evolving Wilds and cheaper than fetch lands, but if you ever do get the chance to pack some fetches in here, I think you could take one or two of those out and replace them with some more equipment or creatures that like them. You can also never go wrong with adding a Solemn Simulacrum.

I really like almost all of your nonland cards and can think of very few cards I'd want to swap for better alternatives, but I think some are pretty safe cuts if you're trying to trim down to 100 cards.

• Some of your Living Weapon cards are really expensive and don't do much other than make an equipped creature, but their cost is so high that you should already have enough to trigger Jor by the time you can even cast them. Others just feel like they won't impact the board enough to warrant a spot in the 99. The ones that stick out to me are:

• Mortarpod, which takes up a 2 drop spot and conflicts with casting Jor

• Sickleslicer, which just feels a bit underwhelming
• Skinwing, which feels exceptionally steeply priced, even for an equipment that grants flying

• Strandwalker, which is also very steep

• There are also some cards which I think either hurt more than they help or don't do you much at all:

• Prophetic Prism doesn't offer you any ramp and takes up a 2-drop spot. As someone with a 2-drop commander, you want to minimize the amount of other 2CMC cards in the deck because they get really awkward, especially in the first four turns. Turn two you're forced to choose between playing your 2-drop and your commander, and then turn 3 you have to decide between whichever you didn't choose and whatever good 3-drops you may have access to. It fucks up your whole curve.

• Shuko equips for free but basically does nothing else after that. The same is true for Leather Armor. It may or may not be worth it, up to you.
• Invulnerability may be slightly overcosted with buyback and you may be better running retroactive protection like Norn's Annex or Ghostly Prison.
• Keen-Eared Sentry may not do as much as it seems. Having Hexproof is nice and makes you feel safe, but I ran Aegis of the Gods in Azor for years and it almost never saved me from anything, not only because having hexproof isn't as strong as it seems but also because people will want to kill it very quickly if they do need to target you.
• I love the amount of repeatable combat effects in this deck, but they are worse than nothing if you don't have a board state that can take advantage of it. Some of those slots may be better used on other equipment or cards that care about them. If I were to cut any, it'd probably be Relentless Assault because it's not repeatable like Akki Battle Squad, Aurelia, and Waves of Aggression. This may also apply to Response / Resurgence since you can't fetch it with Sunforger and it's other half isn't super great.
• As wonderful as Lightning Greaves is for commander protection, it also prevents you from being able to attach any more auras or equipment to whichever creature it's attached to due to Shroud and I tend to not recommend it in Voltron decks. It's also a 2-drop. That one is just personal choice though.
• You may have one or two too many cards that reduce the cost of your artifacts. Yours are all so cheap and you may find yourself better off having something that draws you cards or cares about equipment than a card that only helps if you're trying to cast expensive artifacts. Since it's easy to kill and doesn't do much else, Starnheim Courser may at least be worth a cut, if not also Jhoira's Familiar due to mana cost alone.
• Quietus Spike and Scytheclaw have the same effect, which also isn't good enough to win the game on it's own since the damage cut happens after you deal damage, meaning you can literally never kill someone off of that trigger alone unless you leave them with exactly one life. Since Scytheclaw at least has Living Weapon, you may want to consider cutting Quietus Spike.
• Sword of Feast and Famine is good, but it isn't insane. If you don't already have one it's probably not worth spending 50 bucks on.
• The Ward you get from Amulet of Safekeeping in your Maybeboard might not be worth making all of your living weapon and Assemble the Legion tokens weaker.
• I love Assemble the Legion so much. It is one of my favorite cards in Magic. It may be my favorite enchantment period. It is also balls ass slow, expensive to cast, and doesn't synergize with your strategy. That one is up to you. I'd run it just because I like it, but it'd be the first card I cut if I needed to trim some fat.
• Mask of Immolation gives you an equipped creature, but it doesn't do much else for 2 mana. If it equipped for free it'd be different, but it's equip cost isn't cheap given how weak it's effect is. It's also a 2 drop.
• Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith is much better when you can throw his rocks, which you don't want to do in this deck because you want to keep them attached to things for Jor - meaning you're spending three mana for a guy who gives you one equipment that does nothing a turn.
• Leonin Shikari isn't something I'd say you should take out immediately, but you should keep an eye on it during playtesting. If you find you aren't taking advantage of her ability enough, cut her and replace her with something that isn't a 2-drop.
• Wrath of God may be better than Vanquish the Horde. That's just my opinion though.

All in all, what you keep and what you cut is up to you, this is just what sticks out to me personally. The closer you get to 100, the better. If you're able to cut it down to at least 104 or 105, try just playing without 4 or 5 of the cards you aren't sure about and playtest from there, then use those 4 or 5 as your maybeboard. Also this deck is really cool and I like it a lot.