Unstable Obelisk
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Dec. 9, 2014, 12:45 p.m. by CuteSnail
I have a mono-white deck and had a friend look through It. He noticed I played Unstable Obelisk and suggested I remove it, saying that it was bad.
For those of you who don't know, Unstable Obelisk recently came out in the last commander decks.
I brought up that it's a mana rock and it can deal with Iona, Shield of Emeria and he said "So does Oblivion Stone." So my question is, what do you think of Unstable Obelisk? Is it worth running? What do you think?
If you want to see the deck for context it's the monowhite deck on my wall.
lemmingllama says... #3
In a monocoloured deck, its not bad. I would never use it in a two or three coloured deck. If you have had good experiences with it in your deck, I would suggest to keep it. If you never use it's secondary ability and just use it for the mana rock, then don't bother using it.
December 9, 2014 12:54 p.m.
And in competitive or semi-competitive what would you suggest replacing with it? Is Oblivion Stone a proper replacement?
December 9, 2014 12:54 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
It depends on the deck. If the card has been working for you, continue to test it.
I don't like Oblivion Stone in tournament-level play, but many semi-competitive decks (especially monocolored decks) get away with it.
All Is Dust is another viable option.
December 9, 2014 1:25 p.m.
Another thing to think through is whether the card has synergies in the deck that a solution such as All Is Dust does not. I ditched Unstable Obelisk from the Nahiri pre-con, but kept it in Daretti, Scrap Savant.
December 9, 2014 1:32 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #7
I personally love Nevinyrral's Disk, but both it, Perilous Vault, and Oblivion Stone are a bit too easy to disrupt. You probably want All Is Dust if you are afraid of Iona, Shield of Emeria. Or just running some ways of not allowing them to get it out, like Armageddon.
December 9, 2014 1:41 p.m.
Tiddilywinkus says... #8
I'm not a fan of Unstable Obelisk either. Sure it can destroy a permanent, but at the cost of 10 mana overall, which has a chance of being counter (while unlikely) along with stifled (also unlikely). And what happens when the threat is a hexproof Sigarda, Host of Herons or Narset, Enlightened Master
As a replacement for the obelisk i would go straight past Oblivion Stone and just got straight to Akroma's Vengeance. If you board state is such a dire state that you need to use 7 mana to clear one thing its better to just wipe the board and start anew, just my opinion .
December 9, 2014 1:55 p.m.
I already play All Is Dust because it wraths everything I want: creatures, enchantments and not my equipment.
December 9, 2014 2:11 p.m.
jamesesdad says... #10
White has access to some of the best removal in the game. The obelisk is honestly some of the most inefficient, and should really only be considered for mono black, mono red, or rakdos decks that have no answers for enchantments. even then I'd still only run it if i had room after Karn Liberated, Spine of Ish Sah, and the aforementioned artifact board wipes (disc, o-stone, and perilous vault)
December 9, 2014 4:35 p.m.
jandrobard says... #11
I think it's for green or red that can'd deal with anything. I honestly think it's fairly subpar and you should use his suggestion.
December 9, 2014 5:48 p.m.
a strictly better replacement would be Spine of Ish Sah, which can be reusable as well.
December 9, 2014 6:43 p.m.
I kept a copy in my mono-green 2014 Comm deck simply because green doesn't have a lot of targeted removal and the mana cost is often not an issue.
Epochalyptik says... #2
It really depends on the caliber of the decks you and your friends are running.
In casual decks, it's justifiable because it doubles as a mana rock and removal effect. However, it's very inefficient, and it kind of exists as a last line of defense because of that.
I wouldn't go putting it in anything semicompetitive or tournament level.
December 9, 2014 12:52 p.m.