been loving this deck went 4/0 and 3/1 with it at two tournaments this week.
almost beat dredge with it. carefully Living end at instant speed with electrodominance gives us an edge we never had before against them with other versions of Living end. you basically fire ball for a small amount and fog at the same time. With cryptic command you can fog, but more importantly open the way for our big 5/5 or 6/4s to go in and hit the dredge player directly. Its no easy win against dredge but is far more favorable than its ever been before. Game 3 i had the guy at 1 life with two sphinxs blocked by 2 narcos that got resusrected on my opponents side. need any of the remaining burn or my last command in the deck to punch through.
I thought about using the snake, but want to keep as many red 1-drops i can. It makes it really easy to play around Blood Moon and still have plenty of digging opportunities. It also keeps an early turn Hollow One open via looting+Wraith or Looting+Cerodon.
I'm thinking of adding Snapcaster Mage to recur Electrodominance so i don't feel like i should hold onto it for an instant Living End during my opponent's EOT. Plus, extra potential digging power is always nice.
Its too bad we cannot work Flayer of the Hatebound into this deck some how, with electrodominance shooting the opponent directly upon reanimation is in sync with what the deck wants to do. Unforantely that exile clause on living end.
I've been netting wins off of the back of Cryptic Command as well. I was skeptic of using it at first, especially running 19 lands. But, it really does kick in the clutch. With all the drawing/cycling in my list, missing a land drop on a turn is few and far between. I've been thinking of cutting Tolaria West, since it never gets transmuted, and replacing them with 2 lands that don't enter the battlefield tapped.
Regarding the UR Electrodominance build (variants on the recently posted 5-0 list of MTGOer Hayseed or as per Nassif's recent CFB video): what has been anyone's experience against Spirits? Any strategic or sideboard advice? Between Wanderer and Queller it seems very hard to combo and I don't see other decent alternative winning lines given the greater velocity of Spirits to build a board presence.
Isn't there an artifact that let's you name a card and it can't be cast?
I'm going to have Chain Reaction and Anger of the Gods in my sideboard. I feel either will give you a decent boost against aggro decks in general. I haven't had much of a problem with aggro decks, but i've landed turn 1 or 2 Hollow One(s) against a decent number of aggro piles when i tested against them.
I thought about using the snake, but want to keep as many red 1-drops i can. It makes it really easy to play around Blood Moon and still have plenty of digging opportunities. It also keeps an early turn Hollow One open via looting+Wraith or Looting+Cerodon.
I'm thinking of adding Snapcaster Mage to recur Electrodominance so i don't feel like i should hold onto it for an instant Living End during my opponent's EOT. Plus, extra potential digging power is always nice.
i've been playing a version of this deck that runs faithless looting, street wraith and hollow one, in addition to the cycling creatures.
it's grixis, primarily UR.
i'll post the list later. got to go to work now but i've done fairly well with it while testing with friends. haven't yet made the plunge to play it when i've got to pay an entry fee yet. not tried electrodominance but I reckon it'll give the deck a boost for sure.
I've been working on a list that uses those cards as well. I'd like to compare lists. Here's my most recent version:
At the least, it's a lot of fun to play. Especially when you add shenanigans to the pile. Dropping a hollow one on first turn, following it up with cycling a couple cards on turn two, then dropping living end off of a 1 damage Electrodominance on turn 3 gets some pretty funny looks and comments.
Is Restore Balance worth testing in a deck like this?
It seems like it could speed up a lethal living end while also stalling until you can find what you need.
Instead of using Vryn's Prodigy and AV, i took a faithless + Hollow One route. There are a couple ways to land a super early hollow one, but it's not as consistent since i took out spirit guides and replaced them with cryptic commands. The extra control has really helped out during mid-game. Esapecially when you start the game with gemstone caverns in your hand. That helps lead to turn 2 as foretold. SSG helped push out turn 1 As Foretold, which made it really easy to win by turn 4 or 5. I've been thinking of adding them back into the list, but i'm not too sure of what to cut.
Augur of Bolas and Glint-Nest Crane, which can only grab specific types of cards. Notably NOT lands (except Darksteel Citadel), meaning if you're stuck on 2 lands they don't dig you out of it.
Silvergill Adept, which does actually see play, albeit not in a very good deck
A 2-drop with literal Preordain (not "Preordain if you close one eye and squint") would 100% see play.
Consistency is key, friend. Here are some pointers to help on that front:
-If you're using 25 land, you should find cards that will help you exploit your land drops even more than you are. Lotus Cobra comes to mind, immediately. It generates mana from just chillin' whenever you drop a land. A fetchland helps it produce 2 mana of any color. Add that free mana to other big mana synergies like using Arbor Elf + Utopia Sprawl, or Garruk Wildspeaker + Trace of Abundance/Utopia Sprawl, you fin yourself well ahead by turn three. I suggest looking up all landfall-esque cards and taking it from there.
-wincons are very important. A Primeval Titan on turn three can very easily turn into a "search your library for 3 land cards and put them onto the battlefield tapped," because of a Path to Exile. The value still isn't bad, plus you hit one of their removal cards. But, you always find yourself wanting to draw another Prime Time. That might just be me, though... P. Titan, i think, should be running your show, as well. Add in some utility lands like Kessig Wolf Run and Inkmoth Nexus, you find yourself threatening lethal damage by turn 4.
-Find all the lines. Figure out your deck, get your best sequences figured out, then you'll know what you need/want to have on the battlefield and on what urns. This comes with learning what the metagame is like where you'll be competing at. Different metas call for different main-deck answers. So you'll have to optimize your list accordingly.
-Sweepers. Cards that will straight up hose other decks. There seems to be lots of humans, dredge, and aggro decks out there. Cue Anger of the Gods. Control decks hate Thrun, the Last Troll. Etc.
I've been working on a Magistrate's Scepter deck for the past 4 months and decided to check out how other people were using Paradox Engine on this site to see if i could find any other cool interactions, win cons, or consistency that i was lacking.
Stirring seems like it could be a good early game dig piece and i love that Wildfire is in your list. how do they work for you? Is Wildfire there to buy time in case you don't have infinite turns set up by turn 3/4?
Dragonlord Dromoka most likely fills a better slot in the deck than Doran, considering you never want to cast Doran almost ever. Lab man also seems overkill since you will be winning the same turn with Akroma's Memorial. Obviously it is useful against an opposing Ensnaring Bridge, but you can just as easily throw in VIvien Reed or a Where the Ancients Tread or something to get around that. Mind Stone can be cut in that case. I would also lean into Vernal Bloom over Heartbeat if you want to hedge your matchups against non-green decks.
Just my two cents.
Vernal Bloom doesn't seem like a bad idea at all. It's 1 mana more than heartbeat, but that might not be a big deal. The only time i can think of it slowing me down is a turn 2 like:
untap, upkeep, draw, drop a land, utopia sprawl untapped land, tap sprawled land, untap with arbor elf, tap sprawled land, drop garruk, untap both lands, can't cast vernal bloom like you can heartbeat.
Thousand year elixer might be a better addition than i originally thought. I'm going to have to look into that as wel....
I still haven't tried out Sarkhan. Lil Bomat Courier gets me the cards i need. Well,, other than that one time it gave me 3 mountains. Cheeky bum. I'll test out Sarkhan regardless, so you can have another opinion on him.
I love Ramunap Ruins. I've had it in my list since i found out about it.
Question: do you guys ever have problems against first strike and/or lifelink in game 1? I lost a match (1-2) against mono-white vial knights because i didn't have my sideboard with me, which had my angers and slagstorms. So i was just curious about how you handle them. Fiendslayer Paladin Tore me up both games i played against it, but once again, no sweeper access screwed me on that front.
It's not hard to hit big mana on turn 3. A Prime Time on turn three can win a game on turn 4/5 just like a RSDemon does, they just do it in different ways. P. Titan through Kessig beats, RSDemon through Primal Surge Combo.
Dropping search for more surges mneans i won't combo through my whole deck. The other surges in my deck will stop my deck from fully cascading onto the battlefield, thus holding up my win with lab maniac + Mind Stone.
I've been netting wins off of the back of Cryptic Command as well. I was skeptic of using it at first, especially running 19 lands. But, it really does kick in the clutch. With all the drawing/cycling in my list, missing a land drop on a turn is few and far between. I've been thinking of cutting Tolaria West, since it never gets transmuted, and replacing them with 2 lands that don't enter the battlefield tapped.
Isn't there an artifact that let's you name a card and it can't be cast?
I'm going to have Chain Reaction and Anger of the Gods in my sideboard. I feel either will give you a decent boost against aggro decks in general. I haven't had much of a problem with aggro decks, but i've landed turn 1 or 2 Hollow One(s) against a decent number of aggro piles when i tested against them.
I'm thinking of adding Snapcaster Mage to recur Electrodominance so i don't feel like i should hold onto it for an instant Living End during my opponent's EOT. Plus, extra potential digging power is always nice.
I've been working on a list that uses those cards as well. I'd like to compare lists. Here's my most recent version:
4 Curator of Mysteries
4 Hollow One
4 Street Wraith
4 Desert Cerodon
Other spells(25):
3 Ancestral Vision
4 Living End
4 Faithless Looting
4 Remand
3 As Foretold
4 Electrodominance
3 Cryptic Command
2 Tolaria West
3 Gemstone Caverns
2 Cascade Bluffs
2 Sulfur Falls
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
2 Mountain
2 Island
No sideboard yet. I'll build it as soon as i get the main 60 where i want it.
At the least, it's a lot of fun to play. Especially when you add shenanigans to the pile. Dropping a hollow one on first turn, following it up with cycling a couple cards on turn two, then dropping living end off of a 1 damage Electrodominance on turn 3 gets some pretty funny looks and comments.
It seems like it could speed up a lethal living end while also stalling until you can find what you need.
That pile reminds me of the list i've been working on since Electrodominance was spoiled :
4 Curator of Mysteries
4 Hollow One
4 Street Wraith
4 Desert Cerodon
Other spells(22):
4 Living End
4 Faithless Looting
4 Remand
3 As Foretold
4 Electrodominance
3 Cryptic Command
2 Tolaria West
3 Gemstone Caverns
2 Cascade Bluffs
2 Sulfur Falls
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Steam Vents
3 Mountain
3 Island
Instead of using Vryn's Prodigy and AV, i took a faithless + Hollow One route. There are a couple ways to land a super early hollow one, but it's not as consistent since i took out spirit guides and replaced them with cryptic commands. The extra control has really helped out during mid-game. Esapecially when you start the game with gemstone caverns in your hand. That helps lead to turn 2 as foretold. SSG helped push out turn 1 As Foretold, which made it really easy to win by turn 4 or 5. I've been thinking of adding them back into the list, but i'm not too sure of what to cut.
In the same category as Augury Owl is Sage of Epityr.
-If you're using 25 land, you should find cards that will help you exploit your land drops even more than you are. Lotus Cobra comes to mind, immediately. It generates mana from just chillin' whenever you drop a land. A fetchland helps it produce 2 mana of any color. Add that free mana to other big mana synergies like using Arbor Elf + Utopia Sprawl, or Garruk Wildspeaker + Trace of Abundance/Utopia Sprawl, you fin yourself well ahead by turn three. I suggest looking up all landfall-esque cards and taking it from there.
-wincons are very important. A Primeval Titan on turn three can very easily turn into a "search your library for 3 land cards and put them onto the battlefield tapped," because of a Path to Exile. The value still isn't bad, plus you hit one of their removal cards. But, you always find yourself wanting to draw another Prime Time. That might just be me, though... P. Titan, i think, should be running your show, as well. Add in some utility lands like Kessig Wolf Run and Inkmoth Nexus, you find yourself threatening lethal damage by turn 4.
-Find all the lines. Figure out your deck, get your best sequences figured out, then you'll know what you need/want to have on the battlefield and on what urns. This comes with learning what the metagame is like where you'll be competing at. Different metas call for different main-deck answers. So you'll have to optimize your list accordingly.
-Sweepers. Cards that will straight up hose other decks. There seems to be lots of humans, dredge, and aggro decks out there. Cue Anger of the Gods. Control decks hate Thrun, the Last Troll. Etc.
I hope some of this info helps you out
I've been working on a Magistrate's Scepter deck for the past 4 months and decided to check out how other people were using Paradox Engine on this site to see if i could find any other cool interactions, win cons, or consistency that i was lacking.
4 Coretapper
3 Master Transmuter
Artifacts(26):
3 Mox Opal
4 Astral Cornucopia
4 Everflowing Chalice
3 Springleaf Drum
3 Throne of Geth
4 Magistrate's Scepter
3 Paradox Engine
2 Myr Turbine
3 Tezzeret's Gambit
3 Whir of Invention
2 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
Land(18):
2 Encroaching Wastes
1 Field of Ruin
3 Gemstone Caverns
2 Dreadship Reef
1 Academy Ruins
1 Inventor's Fair
3 Darksteel Citadel
4 Island
1 Swamp
Stirring seems like it could be a good early game dig piece and i love that Wildfire is in your list. how do they work for you? Is Wildfire there to buy time in case you don't have infinite turns set up by turn 3/4?
Vernal Bloom doesn't seem like a bad idea at all. It's 1 mana more than heartbeat, but that might not be a big deal. The only time i can think of it slowing me down is a turn 2 like:
untap, upkeep, draw, drop a land, utopia sprawl untapped land, tap sprawled land, untap with arbor elf, tap sprawled land, drop garruk, untap both lands, can't cast vernal bloom like you can heartbeat.
Thousand year elixer might be a better addition than i originally thought. I'm going to have to look into that as wel....
I love Ramunap Ruins. I've had it in my list since i found out about it.
Question: do you guys ever have problems against first strike and/or lifelink in game 1? I lost a match (1-2) against mono-white vial knights because i didn't have my sideboard with me, which had my angers and slagstorms. So i was just curious about how you handle them. Fiendslayer Paladin Tore me up both games i played against it, but once again, no sweeper access screwed me on that front.
Dropping search for more surges mneans i won't combo through my whole deck. The other surges in my deck will stop my deck from fully cascading onto the battlefield, thus holding up my win with lab maniac + Mind Stone.