Which Card Should Replace Mindleech Mass?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on June 21, 2021, 6:07 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
I have a copy of Mindleech Mass in my black/white/blue EDH deck, and I now realize that that card is simply far too expensive for me to be able to reliably cast it, so I am planning to replace it with another card, and my choices are Blizzard Specter , Nightveil Specter , Duskmantle Seer , or Nemesis of Reason .
What does everyone else say about this subject? Which card should I put in the deck in place of Mindleech Mass ?
multimedia says... #3
Hey, out of those choices Nightveil Specter . You already have the better creature for this effect though in Thief of Sanity thus a different card could be added instead?
Other choices that would be upgrades for your deck are Opposition Agent and Notion Thief . These cards are insane especially when you can control what an opponent casts. Cast opponent's card advantage tutors and draw spells to completely take away their advantage and use it for yourself.
June 21, 2021 7:54 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #4
Two users have voted for Nightveil Specter , but I still think that I would like to have one more response, before I make my final decision.
multimedia, this is a very controlling deck, but I could not be that much of a jackass toward my opponents by using such cards; I wish to punish my opponents for being greedy, but not outright stop them from gaining card advantage.
June 21, 2021 8:54 p.m.
I completely agree with multimedia. Everything said was on point.
June 21, 2021 10:26 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #6
Profet93, in that case, are you suggesting that I add Nightveil Specter to the deck, or use one of the other creatures?
June 21, 2021 10:45 p.m.
Personally, I would go with opposition agent if your budget allows it. Fetches, tutors, land ramp in EDH are quite common and being able to get your own value from it is too good to pass up. If not, then the other suggestion of Notion Thief since almost everyone draws or uses wheels. Last choice would be nightveil specter.
June 21, 2021 10:47 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #8
Profet93, I wish to avoid cards that I consider to be degenerate, so I suppose that Nightveil Specter seems to be the most popular choice of the cards that I have mentioned.
I also am wondering if I should keep Szadek, Lord of Secrets in that deck, since he is expensive and has a very strict mana cost, so should I replace him with one of the other cards that I mentioned, such as Nemesis of Reason ?
June 21, 2021 10:59 p.m.
Fair enough. Yes, Nemesis > Szadek seems good. Comes down early and is an attack trigger rather than a damage trigger.
June 21, 2021 11:07 p.m.
multimedia says... #10
DemonDragonJ, you have the right idea with wanting to cut an 8 drop for a another 3 drop creature and more of these ideas would further help gameplay. Ponder about more things you can do before you cast your Commander not after you control it. Something to think about is the amount of high CMC creatures you're playing and if these creatures are really needed or could something else lower CMC better help Sen? The large amount of high CMC creatures is making the avg. CMC 4.0+ which doesn't give you many plays to make before you cast Sen.
Sen is the high CMC creature you want to cast more than the others, but before you can cast Sen you want to cast other cards and hopefully these cards help you to cast Sen or give you another advantage the turn you control Sen. Lots of high CMC creatures doesn't give you as much plays to make before you control Sen. An Arcane Signet for example is going to do more than Szadek, Lord of Secrets because you can potentially cast Arcane before Sen and it can help to cast Sen and opponents spells afterwards.
Another example is Lim-Dul's Vault could replace another high CMC creature such as Drogskol Reaver since you can use Vault to potentially find your best high CMC creature when you can cast it or before that to setup your draws before or after you can cast Sen. Vault can also help to find Chromatic Lantern to make it easier to cast opponent spells.
June 21, 2021 11:52 p.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #11
I'd like to give another suggestion: How about Fallen Shinobi or Silent-Blade Oni ? Both do something similar to Mindleech Mass but can take a slot on your curve much earlier.
June 22, 2021 12:23 a.m.
I'd go with Fallen Shinobi . The ninjutzu cost is lower and it exiles 2 cards from your opponent's deck: you can PLAY one of those cards, so even a land is good.
One could argue that Silent-Blade Oni can give you more options, as you look to an opponent's hand: however it costs more, both in casting and with ninjutzu, with more specific color peeps, and doesn't let you play lands. Moreover, since it will probably come down later in the game, it has more chances to not be relevant anymore.
June 22, 2021 8:49 a.m.
FormOverFunction says... #13
Nightveil Specter is really really great, so I would pick that first. However - I do LOVE punishing fancy cards, and the “take cmc damage” guy looks extremely appealing (it even lets them keep it, so they can’t complain!)
June 22, 2021 5:51 p.m.
I am going to go against the fold and make a case against Nightveil Specter --its ability is frankly mediocre. Imagine if a card read: "Draw a card that you might not have the color of mana to cast, and also that you will lose access to if this creature gets removed." Would you play that card?
There is a reason Thief of Sanity is playable. "Look at the top three cards of your library, some of which you cannot play, but at least one you probably will be able to, then put that card into your hand" is a whole lot better than what Nightveil Specter gives you.
June 22, 2021 6:15 p.m. Edited.
DemonDragonJ says... #15
I have actually replaced three different cards in my black/white/blue deck, and I believe that they were all excellent replacements.
Dromar39 says... #2
I would go with Nightveil Specter
June 21, 2021 6:26 p.m.