Okay, I can admit when my instincts are wrong. I actually drew into Dead of Winter a lot but it was rarely ever a relevant play, which is unfortunate. Defile also underperformed. Sorry, Modern Horizons, you were junk for me. Both are out.
On the bright side, Scheming Symmetry looks bonkers. Not only does it have obvious political implications ("you find enchantment removal for me, I'll find a wrath for you"), with Erebos out in the late game it might as well be a Grim Tutor, which I only don't run due to financial reasons. I really like this card and fully expect it to perform admirably.
I've made some other cuts as well. Dark Depths never activated, and upon further reflection I realized that it was superfluous. Blanking enemy creature removal is one of the strong suits of the deck, and Marit Lage is a magnet for Swords to Plowshares and friends. I never drew Withering Wisps, but I'm sure it would perform only slightly worse than Pestilence. However, I'm cutting the Snow-Covered Swamps for simple basics and as a result Wisps is unplayable. Aesthetics matter.
As for what to put in, since I'm in a new meta that I suspect to be more competent in both play and deckbuilding, I'm retrying Shrouded Lore. I think I'll be able to pull some political shenanigans down here. Malicious Affliction is back in over Defile, and Star Compass is just another cheap mana rock to enable a turn 3 Erebos. With the 8 cheap rocks, I have approximately a 55% chance (if I did the math right) to see one by turn two, which means that about half the time I should be able to power him out a turn early.
Finally got settled into my new place after the move and got a chance to go to the nerd store that Sheldon himself sometimes plays at. I'm excited to play in a more competent meta than what existed in my home town. Cities are so nice, you guys.
Scheming Symmetry goes straight into Erebos. Besides the obvious political implications, but it's a one mana topdeck tutor that can be immediately drawn with Erebos out making it a makeshift Grim Tutor. This pleases me.
Toxic Deluge is far superior to Dead of Winter, yes, but why not run both? If you only have one spot obviously it goes to Toxic Deluge, but Dead of Winter could be an excellent supplemental removal spell and is well worth testing in my opinion. Three mana is just such a great price for a scaling wrath effect, but maybe mana cost is somewhat irrelevant in a deck that can generate so much mana.
On another note, Glacial Chasm is hilarious. Not only do some decks just automatically lose to it due to not being able to answer it, it interacts wonderfully with Pestilence/Withering Wisps.
Modern Horizons is here and with it comes a very important question: is it time to play Snow-Covered Swamps?
Withering Wisps has always tempted me into running them, but now with Dead of Winter seeing print the argument is becoming more compelling. Dead of Winter isn't the best wipe, but at three mana it's incredibly efficient. Mutilate is functionally similar, and while it scales much better due to the presence of Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, it still often only hits for the number of Swamps I have. That single point of mana makes a lot of difference against, say, Gaddock Teeg or token decks. As for Wisps, it's a similar story. A cheaper, conditional Pestilence. I think it's time to make the switch. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of any of the artwork for them. I guess at least the Ice Age version looks like an actual Swamp, if poorly executed. The struggle is real.
Also from Horizons is Defile. I love cheap removal and it's very difficult to get cheaper than this. It scales reasonably well and gets around indestructible/regeneration. When's the last time you saw someone regenerate a creature?
While we're talking about additions, what do we think about Dark Depths? Most of us already run Thespian's Stage so adding the other half of the combo seems plausible as an alternative win condition. The token is black, after all.
Finally, while I haven't been able to play much recently, I did manage to get in a game and threw Polluted Bonds back in to fill the open slot and man, did it perform. I went second and landed it on turn 4, so it generated quite a bit of life for me and lowered life totals enough to squeeze out a barely lethal Torment of Hailfire before facing lethal attacks after my turn. I liked it a lot.
As for cuts, well, I think it's time for Praetor's Grasp, Smallpox, Malicious Affliction, and Reliquary Tower to go. Grasp was always hit or miss and I haven't used it to preempt a combo in a long time. Smallpox feels too mean and the indiscriminate nature of it doesn't help with politics. Affliction is being traded out for other removal. And Tower, while useful with a general that draws cards, is generally superfluous. I think I'm running too many mana producing lands and Tower seems to be the weakest one.
I dislike the change from a design perspective, but I like it from a pragmatic one. While it can be abused by combo decks, the vast majority of players don't play in cEDH environments and will likely only see the positives to the change.
I want to believe that Everdream is good because it's very, very cool, but I think it'll end up being a worse Whispers of the Muse. Turning all your spells into cantrips is somewhat efficient for 2U but I would be wary about the conditional nature of it.
Defile looks at all Swamps you control, not just Snow-Covered Swamps. I think you're underrating the card compared to Tragic Slip, though. Slip is obviously much better in your deck than in mine, but I would think there are times where Morbid can't be triggered so the Slip is insufficient. Defile has a longer ramp up but should be able to keep reasonable pace with the toughness of problematic creatures like Gaddock Teeg or Anafenza the Foremost.
Archmage's Charm seems great. The first two modes are fairly self-explanatory, but now mono-blue finally has a somewhat reasonable answer to fast mana, and it's way better than just blowing that Ring up. This had better be part of a cycle or I am going to riot.
You might reconsider Forge of Heroes (I made the same mistake with Sarkhan), Oathbreakers are not specifically speaking "commanders". There's a lot of ambiguity in what this actually does in this format. By RAW, it's a non-basic Wastes, though.
On the bright side, Scheming Symmetry looks bonkers. Not only does it have obvious political implications ("you find enchantment removal for me, I'll find a wrath for you"), with Erebos out in the late game it might as well be a Grim Tutor, which I only don't run due to financial reasons. I really like this card and fully expect it to perform admirably.
I've made some other cuts as well. Dark Depths never activated, and upon further reflection I realized that it was superfluous. Blanking enemy creature removal is one of the strong suits of the deck, and Marit Lage is a magnet for Swords to Plowshares and friends. I never drew Withering Wisps, but I'm sure it would perform only slightly worse than Pestilence. However, I'm cutting the Snow-Covered Swamps for simple basics and as a result Wisps is unplayable. Aesthetics matter.
As for what to put in, since I'm in a new meta that I suspect to be more competent in both play and deckbuilding, I'm retrying Shrouded Lore. I think I'll be able to pull some political shenanigans down here. Malicious Affliction is back in over Defile, and Star Compass is just another cheap mana rock to enable a turn 3 Erebos. With the 8 cheap rocks, I have approximately a 55% chance (if I did the math right) to see one by turn two, which means that about half the time I should be able to power him out a turn early.
- Dead of Winter
- Defile
- Dark Depths
- Withering Wisps
+ Scheming Symmetry
+ Shrouded Lore
+ Malicious Affliction
+ Star Compass
On another note, Glacial Chasm is hilarious. Not only do some decks just automatically lose to it due to not being able to answer it, it interacts wonderfully with Pestilence/Withering Wisps.
Withering Wisps has always tempted me into running them, but now with Dead of Winter seeing print the argument is becoming more compelling. Dead of Winter isn't the best wipe, but at three mana it's incredibly efficient. Mutilate is functionally similar, and while it scales much better due to the presence of Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, it still often only hits for the number of Swamps I have. That single point of mana makes a lot of difference against, say, Gaddock Teeg or token decks. As for Wisps, it's a similar story. A cheaper, conditional Pestilence. I think it's time to make the switch. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of any of the artwork for them. I guess at least the Ice Age version looks like an actual Swamp, if poorly executed. The struggle is real.
Also from Horizons is Defile. I love cheap removal and it's very difficult to get cheaper than this. It scales reasonably well and gets around indestructible/regeneration. When's the last time you saw someone regenerate a creature?
While we're talking about additions, what do we think about Dark Depths? Most of us already run Thespian's Stage so adding the other half of the combo seems plausible as an alternative win condition. The token is black, after all.
Finally, while I haven't been able to play much recently, I did manage to get in a game and threw Polluted Bonds back in to fill the open slot and man, did it perform. I went second and landed it on turn 4, so it generated quite a bit of life for me and lowered life totals enough to squeeze out a barely lethal Torment of Hailfire before facing lethal attacks after my turn. I liked it a lot.
As for cuts, well, I think it's time for Praetor's Grasp, Smallpox, Malicious Affliction, and Reliquary Tower to go. Grasp was always hit or miss and I haven't used it to preempt a combo in a long time. Smallpox feels too mean and the indiscriminate nature of it doesn't help with politics. Affliction is being traded out for other removal. And Tower, while useful with a general that draws cards, is generally superfluous. I think I'm running too many mana producing lands and Tower seems to be the weakest one.
- Praetor's Grasp
- Smallpox
- Malicious Affliction
- Reliquary Tower
+ Dead of Winter
+ Withering Wisps
+ Polluted Bonds
+ Dark Depths
Very glad I got out of competitive Magic, though.
I want to believe that Everdream is good because it's very, very cool, but I think it'll end up being a worse Whispers of the Muse. Turning all your spells into cantrips is somewhat efficient for 2U but I would be wary about the conditional nature of it.
What do you think of Waterlogged Grove and, by extension, Horizon Canopy?
Finally, something for Erebos!
slander lol
It could be super greedy in such a colored mana hungry deck, though.