‘Twas a game of Commander, when all through the shop
Not a Sol Ring was stirring, nor even a BoP;
The big decks were shuffled by the players with care,
In hopes that St. Sheldon soon would be there;
Old Arix was nestled along the sea bed,
While visions of one-shots danced in his head.
I've been intrigued by Arixmethes since he was first spoiled but it took me until now to actually figure out how to build a deck around him. What I ended up coming up with is a lot of fun and reasonably powerful.
Main tenets of what the deck does:
Arixmethes is a land before he becomes a creature, so using effects that bounce all creatures or nonland permanents work well with him as it allows him to stay on the battlefield.
Arixmethes has 12 power, so any effect that can double his power (or give him infect) allows him to one-shot opponents if unblocked, often out of seemingly nowhere.
Arixmethes is a powerful ramp spell, so I want as much 2-cmc ramp as is (reasonably) possible in order to get him out on turn 3 consistently, allowing me to have 6-7 mana on turn 4.
Play ramp and draw cards!
What the deck doesn't do:
Play a lot of artifacts or enchantments. This allows my big bounce spells to affect my board minimally.
Play infinite combos. Yes, I can make infinite G with Pemmin's Aura on Arixmethes, and can also do it with Freed from the Real, but that's not the goal of the deck.
Play a bunch of landfall stuff. That's really the easy route to go in a UG land deck and I wanted this deck to play differently. Also, both Roil Elemental and Rampaging Baloths don't work well with my bounce spells.
Finally, a couple of card specific notes:
I'm normally loathe to play Cyclonic Rift, since I feel that it's overplayed and unbalanced for the format, however it's just another mass bounce spell in this deck, so I don't feel too bad about playing it. Yet.
Thespian's Stage can copy Arixmethes with counters much the same way that it can copy Dark Depths. While the copy of Arixmethes won't be my commander, it can still be a good surprise attacker and get an opponent who's not expecting it.
I welcome any thoughts or card suggestions you might have for cards I've missed or strategies the deck could play. Thanks for reading!
With all those cycling lands Life from the Loam could be useful. In fact, if you invested a little more into the graveyard a teensy bit you could squeeze in a Seasons Past/Mystical Tutor late game grind package. Recurring Crush of Tentacles each turn along with whatever else seems like a solid path to victory.
I'd run the other playable cantrips, too, like Preordain and Serum Visions. Boring, but effective.
Yavimaya Hollow is a bit too expensive to justify acquiring one just for this deck and I don't think the deck has room for any more cantrips after this update.
I think you want more 2 cmc spells that you can cast for UG. Growth Spiral and Simic Signet are good ways to get Arixmethes out on turn 3, but are also good follow-ups when you cast your general as they let you immediately use your mana.
I think you want more 2 cmc spells that you can cast for UG. Growth Spiral and Simic Signet are good ways to get Arixmethes out on turn 3, but are also good follow-ups when you cast your general as they let you immediately use your mana.
I'm already playing Growth Spiral. And I don't want signet because I don't want artifact ramp for the reasons I described above. Also, Arixmethes enters the battlefield tapped.
Manglehorn has artifacts enter the battlefield tapped, so it slows down the fast mana of my opponents by a step and is really great against mana vaults and the like.
Because you're looking for a 2->4 land-based ramp package, the two biggest missing cards I see are Sakura-Tribe Elder and Nature's Lore. They're both a couple bucks, so I understand if they've been excluded for budget reasons. Nature's Lore does have the upside of being able to fetch Breeding Pool or Tropical Island, though. I might look at them over Kodama's Reach and Cultivate if you can't find non-ramp room to fit them in. I know it's heresy to suggest cutting those two, but they're not very useful if you're streamlining your ramp package to land a T3 Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle and you're not playing the 1-mana dorks.
Speaking of dorks, there's plenty of two mana dorks with upside if you want more 2cc acceleration and you're willing to take a few more risks with the ramp. Priest of Titania, Incubation Druid, and Gyre Sage all pop to mind immediately, but I'm sure there's more.
I'm not sure if I'm a fan of Toothy, Imaginary Friend. He doesn't seem to be reliable card draw for his investment, which I assume is what he's in the deck for? With the mana you'll be throwing around, and assuming you don't want to play him on curve (since that's the same turn you'd play Arix), it might be better to look for another x-mana instant draw spell. You already have Blue Sun's Zenith, so maybe Pull from Tomorrow or Stroke of Genius?
Finally, since you're running so light on artifacts and enchantments, perhaps some more of green's global enchantment/artifact destruction would be in order? Bane of Progress, certainly, with all the bounce spells. Creeping Corrosion, Seeds of Innocence, and Rampage of the Clans are other favorites of mine. I also agree with an above poster that Manglehorn over Reclamation Sage seems unusual. I love Manglehorn and I agree with your analysis of its effects on artifact ramp, but Rec Sage's ability to hit enchantments shouldn't be discounted. Given the deck structure, I might try to fit in both.
Because you're looking for a 2->4 land-based ramp package, the two biggest missing cards I see are Sakura-Tribe Elder and Nature's Lore. They're both a couple bucks, so I understand if they've been excluded for budget reasons. Nature's Lore does have the upside of being able to fetch Breeding Pool or Tropical Island, though. I might look at them over Kodama's Reach and Cultivate if you can't find non-ramp room to fit them in. I know it's heresy to suggest cutting those two, but they're not very useful if you're streamlining your ramp package to land a T3 Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle and you're not playing the 1-mana dorks.
I'm not so tied to getting a T3 Arixmethes that I'm going to cut those cards and I really don't have any more room for ramp. I'm fine giving up a dab of speed for the card advantage of Cultivate and Reach as I've already cut all the other multi-land fetch effects. I could maybe see cutting Pir's Whim or Tempt with Discovery for Steve or Lore though. (Don't have a Lore at hand, though. Steve is still in the reject pile for the deck.)
I'm not sure if I'm a fan of Toothy, Imaginary Friend. He doesn't seem to be reliable card draw for his investment, which I assume is what he's in the deck for? With the mana you'll be throwing around, and assuming you don't want to play him on curve (since that's the same turn you'd play Arix), it might be better to look for another x-mana instant draw spell. You already have Blue Sun's Zenith, so maybe Pull from Tomorrow or Stroke of Genius?
I can't just cut all my creatures for spells, alas, and Toothy is a good balance of midgame value and card draw. Also, it triggers when it leaves the battlefield, not when it dies, so I can get repeatable value off of Toothy with any of my mass bounce spells. The couple of times I've played him, he's never been worse than a Mulldrifter.
Finally, since you're running so light on artifacts and enchantments, perhaps some more of green's global enchantment/artifact destruction would be in order? Bane of Progress, certainly, with all the bounce spells. Creeping Corrosion, Seeds of Innocence, and Rampage of the Clans are other favorites of mine. I also agree with an above poster that Manglehorn over Reclamation Sage seems unusual. I love Manglehorn and I agree with your analysis of its effects on artifact ramp, but Rec Sage's ability to hit enchantments shouldn't be discounted. Given the deck structure, I might try to fit in both.
Once again, the issue is space. I only have so many slots, so if I go to slot in more utility, then I have to cut creatures, ramp or draw. I could see the slot being best as a mass wipe though, such as Rampage, especially since I can just easily bounce the tokens out of existence. Hmm... Rampage is tempting. Also instant...
I think you want more 2 cmc spells that you can cast for UG. Growth Spiral and Simic Signet are good ways to get Arixmethes out on turn 3, but are also good follow-ups when you cast your general as they let you immediately use your mana.
I'm already playing Growth Spiral. And I don't want signet because I don't want artifact ramp for the reasons I described above. Also, Arixmethes enters the battlefield tapped.
Manglehorn has artifacts enter the battlefield tapped, so it slows down the fast mana of my opponents by a step and is really great against mana vaults and the like.
Oh woops, totally missed the ETB tapped.
I guess you can bounce most enchantments.
Deck looks fun. Would proliferate be useful to keep the general as a land before an Evacuation?
Greater Good is something I play with almost every natively 7+ power commander. It's a smooth draw 9 with ya boi Sleepy Beachfront Real Estate.
It's an interesting thought, but I don't think it works well with all the bounce stuff. I'll think on it yet. I have yet to draw the delve spells in a game, so maybe if they don't play well I'll cut one of them for it.
There's some cool flavour here. I really like that side of Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle myself. And this is a cool idea, too. I don't really have a ton of suggestions, but there are a couple of things that come to mind.
Short of another double strike iteration, you could try Pathbreaker Ibex. He definitely benefits from haste or flashing him in EOT, but if you can make him work he ends games in the most savage way possible. Having a 24/24 island is great, but giving all of your other creatures +12/+12 is brutal. I've always found him superior to c[]Thunderfoot Baloth[/c] for what it's worth.
Have you considered using the bounce mechanic to get some leverage from your end as well as hampering your opponents? You could look at things like Cloudstone Curio (obvs), Temur Sabertooth or Wirewood Symbiote to not only cast multiple spells but get yourself some great ramp, draw or just general protection.
Purely as a discussion point, I wonder what the critical mass of 2 CMC instants is to consider Isochron Scepter? You currently have 9, and some of them are pretty decent tech. Not saying it's a shoe in, but it might be worth a thought, it could give you some good value. I guess if you were interested you could look at space for Dramatic Reversal, but it's not my style, and looking at the deck it doesn't seem like yours either.
Short of another double strike iteration, you could try Pathbreaker Ibex. He definitely benefits from haste or flashing him in EOT, but if you can make him work he ends games in the most savage way possible. Having a 24/24 island is great, but giving all of your other creatures +12/+12 is brutal. I've always found him superior to Thunderfoot Baloth for what it's worth.
The problem with Ibex is that it doesn't effect the board immediately, whereas Baloth does. Yes, it's a crazy strong effect, but I'm not really looking to swing with a bunch of creatures, so I'd rather just have more sources of trample and a small buff.
Have you considered using the bounce mechanic to get some leverage from your end as well as hampering your opponents? You could look at things like Cloudstone Curio (obvs), Temur Sabertooth or Wirewood Symbiote to not only cast multiple spells but get yourself some great ramp, draw or just general protection.
I'm not quite sure what you're suggesting I do with these cards other than use them for a few more etb triggers. Honestly, I would rather just get those incidentally off of the mass bounce spells than lean into it too much and get blown out by a Torpor Orb or Tocatli Honor Guard. I think this idea is taking things one step too far.
Purely as a discussion point, I wonder what the critical mass of 2 CMC instants is to consider Isochron Scepter? You currently have 9, and some of them are pretty decent tech. Not saying it's a shoe in, but it might be worth a thought, it could give you some good value. I guess if you were interested you could look at space for Dramatic Reversal, but it's not my style, and looking at the deck it doesn't seem like yours either.
The problem with Scepter here is that I'm bouncing things reasonably often and resetting the Scepter isn't exactly good value vs just playing out my cards normally.
Seems like a good deck for Jace TMS. I know that Jace + Oracle of MD is my favorite card-pair in EDH. You also might want Courser of Kruphix.
Bane of Progress + your bounce spells would be tough for your opponents to keep artifacts/enchantments without counterspells.
Jace would be a bit hard to protect, I think, and I don't think he's worth running just for one other card in the 99, or two if I put in Courser. Bane of Progress has been a consideration, but I decided to go with Rampage of the Clans as it's an instant and cheaper to cast.
Well this is a cool deck. I've been working on a Tatyova, Benthic Druid idea that also breaks symmetry of the "return all nonland permanent" cards like Devastation Tide. I should probably consider Toothy as well.
Well this is a cool deck. I've been working on a Tatyova, Benthic Druid idea that also breaks symmetry of the "return all nonland permanent" cards like Devastation Tide. I should probably consider Toothy as well.
Thanks! Tatyova is definitely an all-star in this deck. And Toothy is great! I would recommend all the removal/exile spells that give tokens in exchange as we can bounce them into oblivion.
With all the return to hand stuff, maybe prioritize creature etb ramp more. I know spell-based ramp takes counters off your general, so it's a balance, but as good as Azusa is, she might be better off as Wood Elves or Yavimaya Dryad here as either one can get your forest-named duals and when you Whelming Wave you get to reuse them.
With all the return to hand stuff, maybe prioritize creature etb ramp more. I know spell-based ramp takes counters off your general, so it's a balance, but as good as Azusa is, she might be better off as Wood Elves or Yavimaya Dryad here as either one can get your forest-named duals and when you Whelming Wave you get to reuse them.
Oops! I forgot to update the list here when I made my most recent change. Azusa has been replaced by Goreclaw, and I do try to focus on the reusable effects, but I also need to focus on 2CMC ramp, and there's not much of it at that cost.
My local playgroup is too wise to be tempted these days, and I finally got my hands on a Portal version of Nature's Lore, so yet another 2-CMC ramp spell joins the pile.
Freed from the Real can only be used to make infinite mana and doesn't have the protection/evasion/1-shot uses of Pemmin's Aura, so I cut it for a narrow but hilarious counterspell that can protect my commander.
Not a Sol Ring was stirring, nor even a BoP;
The big decks were shuffled by the players with care,
In hopes that St. Sheldon soon would be there;
Old Arix was nestled along the sea bed,
While visions of one-shots danced in his head.
1x Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle
Creature (18)
1x Abominable Treefolk
1x Coiling Oracle
1x God-Eternal Rhonas
1x Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
1x Ice-Fang Coatl
1x Kederekt Leviathan
1x Kiora's Follower
1x Lotus Cobra
1x Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1x Oracle of Mul Daya
1x Panglacial Wurm
1x Rhonas the Indomitable
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep
1x Tatyova, Benthic Druid
1x Thassa, God of the Sea
1x Thunderfoot Baloth
1x Toothy, Imaginary Friend
Enchantment (7)
1x Burgeoning
1x Exploration
1x Marit Lage's Slumber
1x Mystic Remora
1x Pemmin's Aura
1x Rancor
1x Sylvan Library
1x Blackblade Reforged
1x Fireshrieker
1x Grafted Exoskeleton
1x Inquisitor's Flail
Instant (17)
1x Beast Within
1x Berserk
1x Blue Sun's Zenith
1x Brainstorm
1x Counterspell
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Dig Through Time
1x Evacuation
1x Force of Vigor
1x Growth Spiral
1x Heroic Intervention
1x Mana Drain
1x Mystic Confluence
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Rampage of the Clans
1x Swan Song
1x Teferi's Response
Sorcery (14)
1x Coastal Breach
1x Crush of Tentacles
1x Devastation Tide
1x Explore
1x Farseek
1x Into the North
1x Nature's Lore
1x Ponder
1x Preordain
1x Rampant Growth
1x Search for Tomorrow
1x Seasons Past
1x Wash Out
1x Whelming Wave
1x Alchemist's Refuge
1x Breeding Pool
1x Dark Depths
1x Deserted Temple
1x Frostwalk Bastion
1x Lumbering Falls
1x Misty Rainforest
1x Mosswort Bridge
1x Rogue's Passage
1x Scrying Sheets
1x Simic Growth Chamber
11x Snow-Covered Forest
11x Snow-Covered Island
1x Strip Mine
1x Thespian's Stage
1x Tropical Island
1x Wasteland
Planeswalker (2)
1x Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
1x Kiora, the Crashing Wave
I've been intrigued by Arixmethes since he was first spoiled but it took me until now to actually figure out how to build a deck around him. What I ended up coming up with is a lot of fun and reasonably powerful.
Main tenets of what the deck does:
- Arixmethes is a land before he becomes a creature, so using effects that bounce all creatures or nonland permanents work well with him as it allows him to stay on the battlefield.
- Arixmethes has 12 power, so any effect that can double his power (or give him infect) allows him to one-shot opponents if unblocked, often out of seemingly nowhere.
- Arixmethes is a powerful ramp spell, so I want as much 2-cmc ramp as is (reasonably) possible in order to get him out on turn 3 consistently, allowing me to have 6-7 mana on turn 4.
- Play ramp and draw cards!
What the deck doesn't do:- Play a lot of artifacts or enchantments. This allows my big bounce spells to affect my board minimally.
- Play infinite combos. Yes, I can make infinite G with Pemmin's Aura on Arixmethes, and can also do it with Freed from the Real, but that's not the goal of the deck.
- Play a bunch of landfall stuff. That's really the easy route to go in a UG land deck and I wanted this deck to play differently. Also, both Roil Elemental and Rampaging Baloths don't work well with my bounce spells.
Finally, a couple of card specific notes:
- I'm normally loathe to play Cyclonic Rift, since I feel that it's overplayed and unbalanced for the format, however it's just another mass bounce spell in this deck, so I don't feel too bad about playing it. Yet.
- Thespian's Stage can copy Arixmethes with counters much the same way that it can copy Dark Depths. While the copy of Arixmethes won't be my commander, it can still be a good surprise attacker and get an opponent who's not expecting it.
I welcome any thoughts or card suggestions you might have for cards I've missed or strategies the deck could play. Thanks for reading!magicjudge.tumblr.com
GWU Angus Mackenzie's Fog of War GWU / B Sheoldred's Sleepless Cemetery B / R Ashling's Purifying Pilgrimage R
U Unesh's Sphinx Storm U / R Ib's Goblins: What It Says On The Tin R / UR Okaun & Zndrsplt Flip Out UR
Oathbreaker: UB Ashiok's Persistent Nightmare UB
RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH
UFblthpU
BRXantchaRB
BGVarolzGB
URWZedruuWRU
I'd run the other playable cantrips, too, like Preordain and Serum Visions. Boring, but effective.
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK
1x Stormsurge Kraken
1x Simic Sky Swallower
1x Baral's Expertise
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Krosan Grip
1x Preordain
1x Life from the Loam
1x Seasons Past
1x Heroic Intervention
1x Mystical Tutor
magicjudge.tumblr.com
GWU Angus Mackenzie's Fog of War GWU / B Sheoldred's Sleepless Cemetery B / R Ashling's Purifying Pilgrimage R
U Unesh's Sphinx Storm U / R Ib's Goblins: What It Says On The Tin R / UR Okaun & Zndrsplt Flip Out UR
Oathbreaker: UB Ashiok's Persistent Nightmare UB
Is there a strong reason to use Manglehorn over Reclamation Sage or even Trygon Predator.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
Manglehorn has artifacts enter the battlefield tapped, so it slows down the fast mana of my opponents by a step and is really great against mana vaults and the like.
magicjudge.tumblr.com
GWU Angus Mackenzie's Fog of War GWU / B Sheoldred's Sleepless Cemetery B / R Ashling's Purifying Pilgrimage R
U Unesh's Sphinx Storm U / R Ib's Goblins: What It Says On The Tin R / UR Okaun & Zndrsplt Flip Out UR
Oathbreaker: UB Ashiok's Persistent Nightmare UB
Speaking of dorks, there's plenty of two mana dorks with upside if you want more 2cc acceleration and you're willing to take a few more risks with the ramp. Priest of Titania, Incubation Druid, and Gyre Sage all pop to mind immediately, but I'm sure there's more.
I'm not sure if I'm a fan of Toothy, Imaginary Friend. He doesn't seem to be reliable card draw for his investment, which I assume is what he's in the deck for? With the mana you'll be throwing around, and assuming you don't want to play him on curve (since that's the same turn you'd play Arix), it might be better to look for another x-mana instant draw spell. You already have Blue Sun's Zenith, so maybe Pull from Tomorrow or Stroke of Genius?
Finally, since you're running so light on artifacts and enchantments, perhaps some more of green's global enchantment/artifact destruction would be in order? Bane of Progress, certainly, with all the bounce spells. Creeping Corrosion, Seeds of Innocence, and Rampage of the Clans are other favorites of mine. I also agree with an above poster that Manglehorn over Reclamation Sage seems unusual. I love Manglehorn and I agree with your analysis of its effects on artifact ramp, but Rec Sage's ability to hit enchantments shouldn't be discounted. Given the deck structure, I might try to fit in both.
I'm not so tied to getting a T3 Arixmethes that I'm going to cut those cards and I really don't have any more room for ramp. I'm fine giving up a dab of speed for the card advantage of Cultivate and Reach as I've already cut all the other multi-land fetch effects. I could maybe see cutting Pir's Whim or Tempt with Discovery for Steve or Lore though. (Don't have a Lore at hand, though. Steve is still in the reject pile for the deck.)
I can't just cut all my creatures for spells, alas, and Toothy is a good balance of midgame value and card draw. Also, it triggers when it leaves the battlefield, not when it dies, so I can get repeatable value off of Toothy with any of my mass bounce spells. The couple of times I've played him, he's never been worse than a Mulldrifter.Once again, the issue is space. I only have so many slots, so if I go to slot in more utility, then I have to cut creatures, ramp or draw. I could see the slot being best as a mass wipe though, such as Rampage, especially since I can just easily bounce the tokens out of existence. Hmm... Rampage is tempting. Also instant...
magicjudge.tumblr.com
GWU Angus Mackenzie's Fog of War GWU / B Sheoldred's Sleepless Cemetery B / R Ashling's Purifying Pilgrimage R
U Unesh's Sphinx Storm U / R Ib's Goblins: What It Says On The Tin R / UR Okaun & Zndrsplt Flip Out UR
Oathbreaker: UB Ashiok's Persistent Nightmare UB
Came out of the sea
He ate all the others
But he didn't eat me...
Greater good is something I play with almost every natively 7+ power commander. It's a smooth draw 9 with ya boi Sleepy Beachfront Real Estate.
Oh woops, totally missed the ETB tapped.
I guess you can bounce most enchantments.
Deck looks fun. Would proliferate be useful to keep the general as a land before an Evacuation?
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
Nope. Removing counters from Arixmethes is optional when I cast spells, so I don't need help in doing that.
magicjudge.tumblr.com
GWU Angus Mackenzie's Fog of War GWU / B Sheoldred's Sleepless Cemetery B / R Ashling's Purifying Pilgrimage R
U Unesh's Sphinx Storm U / R Ib's Goblins: What It Says On The Tin R / UR Okaun & Zndrsplt Flip Out UR
Oathbreaker: UB Ashiok's Persistent Nightmare UB
It's an interesting thought, but I don't think it works well with all the bounce stuff. I'll think on it yet. I have yet to draw the delve spells in a game, so maybe if they don't play well I'll cut one of them for it.
magicjudge.tumblr.com
GWU Angus Mackenzie's Fog of War GWU / B Sheoldred's Sleepless Cemetery B / R Ashling's Purifying Pilgrimage R
U Unesh's Sphinx Storm U / R Ib's Goblins: What It Says On The Tin R / UR Okaun & Zndrsplt Flip Out UR
Oathbreaker: UB Ashiok's Persistent Nightmare UB
Short of another double strike iteration, you could try Pathbreaker Ibex. He definitely benefits from haste or flashing him in EOT, but if you can make him work he ends games in the most savage way possible. Having a 24/24 island is great, but giving all of your other creatures +12/+12 is brutal. I've always found him superior to c[]Thunderfoot Baloth[/c] for what it's worth.
Have you considered using the bounce mechanic to get some leverage from your end as well as hampering your opponents? You could look at things like Cloudstone Curio (obvs), Temur Sabertooth or Wirewood Symbiote to not only cast multiple spells but get yourself some great ramp, draw or just general protection.
Purely as a discussion point, I wonder what the critical mass of 2 CMC instants is to consider Isochron Scepter? You currently have 9, and some of them are pretty decent tech. Not saying it's a shoe in, but it might be worth a thought, it could give you some good value. I guess if you were interested you could look at space for Dramatic Reversal, but it's not my style, and looking at the deck it doesn't seem like yours either.
Bane of Progress + your bounce spells would be tough for your opponents to keep artifacts/enchantments without counterspells.
I'm not quite sure what you're suggesting I do with these cards other than use them for a few more etb triggers. Honestly, I would rather just get those incidentally off of the mass bounce spells than lean into it too much and get blown out by a Torpor Orb or Tocatli Honor Guard. I think this idea is taking things one step too far.
The problem with Scepter here is that I'm bouncing things reasonably often and resetting the Scepter isn't exactly good value vs just playing out my cards normally.
Jace would be a bit hard to protect, I think, and I don't think he's worth running just for one other card in the 99, or two if I put in Courser. Bane of Progress has been a consideration, but I decided to go with Rampage of the Clans as it's an instant and cheaper to cast.
magicjudge.tumblr.com
GWU Angus Mackenzie's Fog of War GWU / B Sheoldred's Sleepless Cemetery B / R Ashling's Purifying Pilgrimage R
U Unesh's Sphinx Storm U / R Ib's Goblins: What It Says On The Tin R / UR Okaun & Zndrsplt Flip Out UR
Oathbreaker: UB Ashiok's Persistent Nightmare UB
You can easily put freed from the real/ Pemmin's Aura on ley weaver and gained infinite mana. and use lore weaver to kill everyone with draw
Hadn't thought of these two. Interesting
magicjudge.tumblr.com
GWU Angus Mackenzie's Fog of War GWU / B Sheoldred's Sleepless Cemetery B / R Ashling's Purifying Pilgrimage R
U Unesh's Sphinx Storm U / R Ib's Goblins: What It Says On The Tin R / UR Okaun & Zndrsplt Flip Out UR
Oathbreaker: UB Ashiok's Persistent Nightmare UB
old thread
old thread
old thread
R Zada Arcane Storm
RBU Marchesa
GWU Estrid
GWR Samut?
URB Kess
(R/W)(U/B) Akiri & Silas
BWR Alesha
R Neheb Dragons
G Nylea Wurms
W Darien
U Tetsuko
Thanks! Tatyova is definitely an all-star in this deck. And Toothy is great! I would recommend all the removal/exile spells that give tokens in exchange as we can bounce them into oblivion.
magicjudge.tumblr.com
GWU Angus Mackenzie's Fog of War GWU / B Sheoldred's Sleepless Cemetery B / R Ashling's Purifying Pilgrimage R
U Unesh's Sphinx Storm U / R Ib's Goblins: What It Says On The Tin R / UR Okaun & Zndrsplt Flip Out UR
Oathbreaker: UB Ashiok's Persistent Nightmare UB
WUBRG Some of these decks can actually win games...WUBRG
How I know I should build a deck:
Oops! I forgot to update the list here when I made my most recent change. Azusa has been replaced by Goreclaw, and I do try to focus on the reusable effects, but I also need to focus on 2CMC ramp, and there's not much of it at that cost.
magicjudge.tumblr.com
GWU Angus Mackenzie's Fog of War GWU / B Sheoldred's Sleepless Cemetery B / R Ashling's Purifying Pilgrimage R
U Unesh's Sphinx Storm U / R Ib's Goblins: What It Says On The Tin R / UR Okaun & Zndrsplt Flip Out UR
Oathbreaker: UB Ashiok's Persistent Nightmare UB
WUBRG Some of these decks can actually win games...WUBRG
How I know I should build a deck:
1x Tempt with Discovery
1x Freed from the Real
1x Nature's Lore
1x Teferi's Response
My local playgroup is too wise to be tempted these days, and I finally got my hands on a Portal version of Nature's Lore, so yet another 2-CMC ramp spell joins the pile.
Freed from the Real can only be used to make infinite mana and doesn't have the protection/evasion/1-shot uses of Pemmin's Aura, so I cut it for a narrow but hilarious counterspell that can protect my commander.
magicjudge.tumblr.com
GWU Angus Mackenzie's Fog of War GWU / B Sheoldred's Sleepless Cemetery B / R Ashling's Purifying Pilgrimage R
U Unesh's Sphinx Storm U / R Ib's Goblins: What It Says On The Tin R / UR Okaun & Zndrsplt Flip Out UR
Oathbreaker: UB Ashiok's Persistent Nightmare UB