The Lantern Concept (Strategy List) [Primer]

Commander / EDH* Primer

thom-le

Removal 'target' (13)

• 1x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
• 1x Circu, Dimir Lobotomist
• 1x Codex Shredder
• 1x Daxos of Meletis
• 1x Drowned Secrets
• 1x Duskmantle, House of Shadow
• 1x Gonti, Lord of Luxury
• 1x Jace, Memory Adept
• 1x Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
• 1x Lurking Informant
• 1x Mindshrieker
• 1x Nightveil Specter
• 1x Thief of Sanity

Special (5)

• 1x Etali, Primal Storm
• 1x Nascent Metamorph
• 1x Pako, Arcane Retriever
• 1x Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire
• 1x Vance's Blasting Cannons  ^Flip

Top into play (5)

• 1x Djinn of Wishes
• 1x Helm of Obedience
• 1x Impromptu Raid
• 1x Isolated Watchtower
• 1x Oracle's Vault

Lantern itself (2)

• 1x Field of Dreams
• 1x Wizened Snitches

Draw/ put into hand (9)

• 1x Bloodline Shaman
• 1x Candles of Leng
• 1x Dryad Greenseeker
• 1x Narset Transcendent
• 1x Neurok Familiar
• 1x Nissa, Sage Animist  ^Flip
• 1x Nylea, Keen-Eyed
• 1x Predict
• 1x Sindbad

Removal 'each/ opponent'' (9)

• 1x Altar of the Brood
• 1x Dakra Mystic
• 1x Fathom Feeder
• 1x Ghoulcaller's Bell
• 1x Mindleecher
• 1x Psychic Corrosion
• 1x Pyxis of Pandemonium
• 1x Sire of Stagnation
• 1x Vantress Gargoyle

Spyglass (4)

• 1x Meddling Mage
• 1x Phyrexian Revoker
• 1x Pithing Needle
• 1x Sorcerous Spyglass

Not sorted yet (1)

• 1x Petra Sphinx

Commander (1)

Your library (9)

• 1x Abbot of Keral Keep
• 1x Aerial Caravan
• 1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
• 1x Dark-Dweller Oracle
• 1x Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
• 1x Phyrexian Devourer
• 1x Primordial Mist
• 1x Rona, Disciple of Gix
• 1x Thought Lash

Polymorph (3)

• 1x Jalira, Master Polymorphist
• 1x Polymorph
• 1x Proteus Staff

---

INTRODUCTION

NOTE: ALL CARDS ARE LISTED IN THE DESCRIPTION! (Cards listed above are the main ideas - not every card is on top)

Lantern of Insight is a fantastic card, but it has many problems in EDH. The purpose of this side is to show some versatility of looking at the top card and hopefully giving ideas to improve any playable strategy ! It's important to find also other ideas besides the 'Lantern control'-deck!

I really looking forward to improve this page constantly and welcome your suggestions and experience with this card. If there is a possibility to work together on the improvement of this side I'll ask for it!

Lantern itself

The idea behind this very successfully in Modern played deck is that you deploy multiple lock pieces and the opponents are then unable to draw anything that matters. You accomplish that by revealing the top card of every player’s libraries with Lantern of Insight and a number of mill rocks including cards like Codex Shredder. The top card is moving away from the drawing position by activating those specific mill abilites if it’s good or simply keep it there if it’s bad. But knowing the top of the library has many more advantages. Those ideas are described in the following panels.

• Remove key pieces ('Lantern Control')
• Flexible card exiling (often used in red)
• e.g. Abbot of Keral Keep
• Playing from top of library
• Cheat mana costs e.g. Djinn of Wishes, Oracle's Vault
• Combine Polymorph cards e.g. Polymorph, Proteus Staff
• Draw additional cards and/ or put additional cards in hand
• Lock cards away knowing whats coming e.g Pithing Needle

Explaining Lantern Control Show

Strategies based around Lantern of Insight are mostly control decks. I recommend watching this control-guide from CommandCast:

Pseudo Lantern

Cards, that interact with the top of the library anyway

• All cards: Bolas's Citadel, Future Sight, Magus of the Future, Zur's Weirding
• Lands: Courser of Kruphix, Oracle of Mul Daya, Radha, Heart of Keld, Verge Rangers
• Creatures: Crown of Convergence, Garruk's Horde, Mul Daya Channelers, Skill Borrower, Vivien, Monsters' Advocate, Vizier of the Menagerie
• Instants and Sorceries: Elsha of the Infinite, Precognition Field
• Artifacts: Elsha of the Infinite, Mystic Forge, Skill Borrower
• Other: Vampire Nocturnus

Control the hand

In this format it's indeed very hard to remove every card that is important for the opponent, but it's possible to hit very critical combination pieces. To build up a good control board, you have to make sure, that the opponents have no access to card draw besides the one on every turn. Reducing the hand can also lead to a better control play.

• Reducing card draw in general: Spirit of the Labyrinth
• Reducing opponents card draw: Alms Collector, Notion Thief, Narset, Parter of Veils
• Reducing opponents hand size: Gnat Miser, Locust Miser
• Discard hand: Sire Of Insanity, Mindslicer
• Other: Uba Mask

Additional
• Cards that interact with reduced card draw: Whispering Madness, Windfall

Proactive playing

Many cards rely on the card on top of the library. Knowing that could be a key for game advantage. In this list only cards with interaction possibilities are included.

• Card draw - put into hand: Bloodline Shaman, Diviner's Lockbox, Domri Rade, Dryad Greenseeker, Narset Transcendent, Neurok Familiar, Nissa, Sage Animist, Nylea, Keen-Eyed, Predict, Sindbad
• Play from top: Chaos Wand, Djinn of Wishes, Dreamshaper Shaman, Explorer's Scope, Helm of Obedience, Impromptu Raid, Isolated Watchtower, Oracle's Vault, Proteus Staff, Talent of the Telepath, Thought Dissector, Treasure Keeper
• Play from exile (same turn): Abbot of Keral Keep, Aerial Caravan, Chandra, Fire Artisan, Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Dark-Dweller Oracle, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, Ire Shaman, Prophetic Flamespeaker, Spark of Creativity
• Play from exile (any turn): Elkin Bottle, Knowledge Vault, Rona, Disciple of Gix
• Mass Selection: Phyrexian Devourer, Thought Lash, also Necropotence is possible
• combination piece to: Laboratory Maniac, Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
• Weak: Alms, Royal Herbalist
• Other: Primordial Mist, Prophecy (shuffles opponents library)

And don't forget to shuffle the library or change the top card, if required:

• (Fetch-)lands: Arid Mesa, Evolving Wilds, Scalding Tarn, Terramorphic Expanse
• Scry: Bontu the Glorified, Retreat to Coralhelm, Treasure Map  , also many other cantrips...
• Surveil: Doom Whisperer, House Guildmage, Mission Briefing, Price of Fame...
• Others: Citanul Flute, Myr Mindservant and Soldier of Fortune are the best ones to shuffle regulary, Sword of the Animist
• ...but many more are available

On the other hand: always have an instant card draw available!

Notable mentions: Abundance, Coiling Oracle, Herald's Horn, Into the Wilds, Risen Reef, Rowen, Primitive Etchings

Removal: Top of library

Opponent/ Player:

• Each player: Dakra Mystic, Ghoulcaller's Bell, Pyxis of Pandemonium, Vantress Gargoyle
• Each opponent: Fathom Feeder, Mindleecher, Psychic Corrosion
• Other: Sire of Stagnation

Target player:

• Target: Altar of the Brood, Ashiok, Dream Render, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, Circu, Dimir Lobotomist, Gonti, Lord of Luxury
• Attack a specific player: Daxos of Meletis, Nightveil Specter, Thief of Sanity
• Mill (in general) e.g.: Altar of Dementia, Devourer of Memory, Duskmantle Guildmage, Duskmantle, House of Shadow, Jace's Erasure, Jace, Memory Adept, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, Lurking Informant, Nephalia Drownyard, Siren of the Silent Song Sphinx's Tutelage, Thought Scour
• Other: Bitter Ordeal, Extract, Necromentia, Unmoored Ego
• maybe the Manifest-mechanic is useful: Cloudform, Fierce Invocation, Formless Nurturing, Qarsi High Priest, Reality Shift, Wildcall...

Notable mentions: Creeping Chill, Narcomoeba, Pedantic Learning

Special

For some cards you have to set an action to get the best result, otherwise the top of the library is just relevant in case of luck. Cantrips and the Explore-mechanic are not fully listed, because they do not really depend on only the top card of the library (in most times).

• Interaction before action: Etali, Primal Storm, Nascent Metamorph, Pako, Arcane Retriever, Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire, Vance's Blasting Cannons  
• idea: manipulation before upkeep/ attacking/ blocking
• Cantrips: Brainstorm, Ponder, Sensei's Divining Top, Serum Visions...
• Explore mechanic: Deadeye Tracker, Enter the Unknown, Jadelight Ranger, Path of Discovery, Merfolk Branchwalker...
• leads to other strategies Wildgrowth Walker...

Not specified yet

• Intet, the Dreamer, Call of the Wild, Disempower
• Some Sphinx-stuff: Sphinx of Uthuun, Arbiter of the Ideal, Conundrum Sphinx
• All kinds of looting: Merfolk Looter
• Leaving some mana open: Deathgrip, Lifeforce

Intet, the Dreamer

Others

• Dealing with coming threats: Meddling Mage, Phyrexian Revoker, Pithing Needle, Sorcerous Spyglass
• Polymorph: Polymorph, Fireflux Squad, Jalira, Master Polymorphist, Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast, Proteus Staff, Transmogrify
• Further: March of the Machines, Opalescence make those cards to (repeatable) Chaos Warps
• Deceiver Circle: Harsh Deceiver, Qarsi Deceiver, Cruel Deceiver, Brutal Deceiver, Feral Deceiver
• Fateseal (MaRo: Stormscale 8): Mesmeric Sliver, Spin into Myth
• Cards played in 'Lantern Control Modern': Counterbalance, Ensnaring Bridge, Mishra's Bauble

Illus.: Kaja Foglio

Date added	3 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 39 - 0 Rares 10 - 0 Uncommons 3 - 0 Commons
Cards	61
Avg. CMC	3.14
Tokens	Ashaya, the Awoken World, Emblem Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Emblem Narset Transcendent, Manifest 2/2 C
Folders	techs an shit