I've been on the fence about Leyline for a while. It's very good when it's out, but it's a terrible draw.

I dismissed Kiora's Follower for a while, but I'm open to testing it. Not that I've played recently. On paper, though, it's perhaps better than I gave it credit for.

I can't recall if Pain's Reward was recommended. Maybe it's too expensive for when your commander isn't in play, but 7 cards is 7 cards.

*4

Until you play against an Oloro deck and then use up your cards and resources to give them cards :P

On a side note, I know there was some discussion about Reality Shift and it was dismissed however I think it might be worth mentioning as the card also provides an alternate win condition with Eternal Witness and Deadeye Navigator where you exile your opponents' libraries. And since you win Forbidden Orchard, you can very easily kick start the combo.

no Beast Within?

Surprising that Insidious Dreams is not in the deck. It's great for searching multiple cards/a combo and is down right broken with Damia, Sage of Stone.

You can cast it at the end of you opponents turn, discard down to say 0 cards searching 7 cards from your deck and then Damia, Sage of Stone draws you 7 cards that you tutored for eg your winning combo. The fact that it's instant means there's not much chance for a reaction from other players.

With Damia, Sage of Stone and anything below a 7 card combo in your deck Insidious Dreams becomes it's own win condition.

A card like Insidious Dreams basically screams "counter me or kill Damia" and if either happens, you are probably in huge trouble. Doesn't seem worth the risk if your metagame is too reactive.

Under "card choices explained - Omissions" there is a section about Insidious Dreams.

@Dankey: Pain's Reward is expensive, both in mana and life, for what you get: a chance to draw four cards. Granted, you only lose the life if you also get the cards, but the gamble doesn't really seem worthwhile at 3 mana considering how much life you lose while playing this deck's lands and utility cards.

@enpc: I'm open to testing (or reviewing experience testing) Reality Shift.

@JonnyG21: Beast Within is too expensive as a removal spell. This deck needs to be very mana efficient, and CMC 3 is at an awkward spot on the curve where it's just too expensive to justify a single play in the early game in most cases, and is still expensive enough to interfere with resource budgeting in the midgame.

@WakeTheDrummer: Insidious Dreams is covered in the primer under "Omissions." The tl;dr version is that it costs way too much (both in mana and in the value of the discarded cards) and creates a vulnerability that could blow me out if Damia gets removed.

Soz for not checking the Ommissions, I kinda understand, in my opinion situation the worse case scenario is if they can remove Damia, Sage of Stone between an end step and your upkeep since you don't draw up to 7 cards.

You could discard 3 cards and keep some in hand for counter counterspells. Also even if they counter after you discard your hand, if Damia, Sage of Stone is on the feild you just draw a new grip.

Of course it is your deck and upon review I'm glad to see you've previously looked into it. When I've seen other Damia decks i can't see it in the deck and not even included at all on EDHRec last time I checked. This might indicate everyone feels it's too risky but I personally still think it's worth it.

Came across this gorgeous deck, is this final, and how often do you update the list? I am going to make this, this weekend.

@WakeTheDrummer: I suppose it depends largely on the situation. This is designed to be a competitive deck, so I don't really include big-risk-big-reward cards. I tend to favor more consistent, conservative options if they're available. In a semi-competitive or casual Damia build, I certainly think Insidious Dreams is worth consideration.

@XxFATMAN247xX: The list doesn't really change all that much. Part of that is that I don't really play anymore (if you want to buy this deck, let me know). Part of it is that most new cards just aren't better than anything in the deck. There's also some room for tweaking things according to your meta and your preferences.

You looking to sell the actual deck again Epochalyptik?

I've been meaning to sell it for a while. I just haven't gotten around to it. I should probably update my binder, too.

Oh, I definitely dont have the money for the 2k deck, this is gonna be a deck in the making. I have about 30 cards, the rest will be proxies until the 1st and 15th of every month, spending about 150-200 each paycheck getting the rest I need :)

Oh, I definitely dont have the money for the 2k deck, this is gonna be a deck in the making. I have about 30 cards, the rest will be proxies until the 1st and 15th of every month, spending about 150-200 each paycheck getting the rest I need :)

For reference/discussion:
Leovold, Emissary of Trest

Yeah I was literally just going to link that to you. I'll definitely be using that dude in a 75% capacity. What I don't like is how conditional the card draw is. But what I do like is how much pressure it puts on the opponent if they HAVE to answer what you're doing (i.e combo'ing off) and obviously the mana cost is pretty agreeable.

Upside downside.

I think in reality it might end up like Mystic Remora. Sure it's very conditional card advantage but in reality it always nets you value because opponents want to do stuff and interact with you. Much the same reasoning is applicable here - no draw is concrete but if you're forcing the opponent to answer your board state or lose then it's a different story.

I don't think it belongs in here (definitely not commander, probably not in the 75), but I am excited to switch my budget tasigur combo (really bad idea deck) to a Leovold goodstuff deck. Perfect for budget and is still BUG, which is what I want to play.

Have you thought about Villainous Wealth as an alternate win card to Blue Sun's Zenith in the off chance the Blue Sun gets taken out of the picture?

By itself it also can be a late game mana sink to steal cards from your opponent.

Raging_Squiggle: Straight from the primer:

Villainous Wealth

This card suffers from the same awkwardness and general irrelevance that plagues Exsanguinate. It's not relevant outside of the combo, and it's just a win-more card once the combo is initiated. There are other finishers (e.g., Blue Sun's Zenith) that serve practical purposes as utility cards outside of the combo. Further, it's generally inadvisable to rely on an opponent's resources to win the game. A good combo deck should be able to rely on only itself to guarantee victory.

Have you ever considered Gemstone Caverns? It seems like it has a high ceiling when in your opener and isn't all that bad if you draw it later.

Hey Epochalyptik if there was no ban list, which cards would you change out in favour of Black Lotus and the moxen etc?

What about Recurring Insight instead of Consecrated Sphinx? I find that the sphinx suffers from the same downsides as Damia (namely it's a creature and is therefore very easy to remove) and it does basically the same thing that Damia does at a similiar cmc. On the flip side, Recurring Insight is a sorcery and is much harder to get rid of, plus it gives one cards the moment it's played. Usually it gives me about five cards each time it's cast, and it has rebound. Not sure if my playgroup just plays more spot removal than the tournament level that this deck is made for.

I came upon this deck at the behest of another that credits you as their motivator, and there is a certain quality both their deck and your deck have that flabbergasts me.

Infinite mana doesn't make an auto-win. I have read through this entire description and the only win-con that actually kills an enemy off combo on the spot is Blue Sun's Zenith. Once you go infinite and have sufficient board control, then what? What if you don't have Blue Sun's Zenith or a way to obtain it? Deadeye + Palinchron + Venser?

Blue Sun requires 3 castings and shuffles itself back in on resolution. What is your solution for that? Do you Blue Sun's Zenith targeting yourself first?

The deck has many favorable redundancies to ensure victory and yet don't run more draw X spells? Why?