Where is Ancestral Knowledge? Seems like the perfect fit for this deck- puts Griffins in exile while potentially setting up future card selection...? Is it a possible alternative to Manipulate Fate, or is the Fate just better?
You are playing commander, and boo hoo your commander does not have any blue it its cost/identity. However, you do have access to red. An opponent plays something horrible that simply can't resolve if you are to have any hope of winning...
A lot of people simply write this card off as just another wacky red chaos spell and spurn it as a result. Take a second look. Think about commanders like Brion Stoutarm (with built-in life gain), Kaervek the Merciless (with built-in burn), Wort the Raidmother (a combo piece that needs protecting), Kaalia of the Vast (committing to an early board position)- Mages' Contest works well with them all. With 40 life to bid with and plenty of ways of offsetting life loss, this really is the little red counterspell that could (and that few people expect). Here's the trick- always bid more than your opponents, and threaten (or just bluff) burn if they bid themselves to a burnably low life total.
Red/White gets the obvious advantage here with Sunforger- as long as you have RW open and Sunforger equipped to a creature, you essentially have a counterspell on hand. Cards like Jotun Grunt, Mistveil Plains and Junktroller play really nice here as well. White's general focus on life gain makes Mages' Contest an important consideration in any RW commander deck, especially those with a suite of Sunforger instants.
Red/Black can pile up burn and drain effects to tip the bidding scales in your favor. X spells like Kaervek's Torch, Fireball, Consume Spirit, Soul Burn, Devil's Play, etc will make your opponents very nervous about bidding themselves to a low life total.
If you are playing red without blue and want access to a counterspell, consider Mages' Contest.
Off to the races! Leyline of the Meek's synergy seems easily broken with so many awesome token generators in white, especially with Intangible Virtues hanging around. Here's what I got so far...
Lingering Souls- Good enough to splash black for? Probably better than Midnight Haunting if so (even at sorcery speed), but I really want Spectral Procession to always cost 3... w/b fetches, filters and duals are too much $ to only support the flashback on 4 cards in the deck. Maybe Caves of Koilos?
Cloudgoat Ranger- Same as the Monk, but maybe better or worse- one extra token, body not subject to change... then again, vigilance is better than never-flies-but-could-if-you-can't-find-an-anthem-which-is-unlikely (though between flying spirit tokens and Intangible Virtue, there's enough of both flying and vigilance going around that this probably wont matter), and the monk's body will almost always be bigger anyway, but the Ranger is less likely to die to a Pyroclasm or Volcanic Fallout...?
So it is a Punishing Fire thing... I knew that combo was good back when it was legal in modern, but I thought that it wouldn't be as good in legacy. I guess I was wrong.
When I have an Animate Dead ETB trigger on the stack and activate a Strionic Resonator, do I choose which creature the aura attaches to? If the aura leaves play, does the enchanted creature get sacrificed, or both? What about Strionic-ing Dance of the Dead and Necromancy- same effect?
Leyline of Legends2WW
Enchantment (R)
If Leyline of Legends is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield.
Legendary creatures you control get +1/+1.
Legendary creatures with no abilities have hexproof and are indestructible. Where might and myth converge.
Can I cast Lumithread Field or Zoetic Cavern (or any other non-creature card with morph) as a morph creature as though it had flash if I control Prophet of Kruphix? It isn't a creature card, but my opponent doesn't know that, and I am casting it as a morph creature...?
Strongly considering squeezing in Dawn Charm and Blasphemous Act somewhere but not sure what to cut. Comments, suggestions and constructive criticism welcome.
@Jaytothen- You have been added to the fan club- your statement fits the criteria for membership. I cannot suggest to you enough to check out Worzel and Thomil... check the op to learn all about them.
@DakmorQueen- WOTC probably has no idea this thread exists, and probably thought of printing an Ergamon planar card on their own. Probably...
I said I like them- I'm not in love with them. They aren't great by any stretch of the imagination, but they serve their purpose of being mildly entertaining, mostly through art references to cards/spells. I read a lot of other comics, and these aren't my favorite by a long shot (my favorites comics tend to have been published by Slave Labor Graphics back in the '90s)- frankly these MTG comics could use a lot of improvement, but I don't have high expectations of an MTG comic. They do their thing well enough, but they aren't as good as the Path of the Planeswalker web comics / graphic novels, which had better stories and better art (most of the time).
I like these comics, especially because they come with an alt-art card, but would it kill WOTC to put some really good, playable promo cards in with them this time around? Faithless Looting, Standstill, Electrolyze and Turnabout- ok cool. not high value cards, but still playable in multiple formats. Treasure Hunt isn't my favorite, but sure, it makes for good flavor. Arrest? Feast of Blood? OGRE ARSONIST? Yeesh- what a waste. Please WOTC, put a desirable standard rare in with the comics once- just once... try it, you might like it. I'm not asking for Deathrite Shaman or Boros Reckoner- but would putting some more Immortal Servitudes or Blasphemous Acts into circulation really be that bad? Including more standard/modern playable rares might actually sell enough comics to get people interested in this storyline/product- of my playgroup, I seem to be the only one remotely interested.
Enter Mages' Contest.
A lot of people simply write this card off as just another wacky red chaos spell and spurn it as a result. Take a second look. Think about commanders like Brion Stoutarm (with built-in life gain), Kaervek the Merciless (with built-in burn), Wort the Raidmother (a combo piece that needs protecting), Kaalia of the Vast (committing to an early board position)- Mages' Contest works well with them all. With 40 life to bid with and plenty of ways of offsetting life loss, this really is the little red counterspell that could (and that few people expect). Here's the trick- always bid more than your opponents, and threaten (or just bluff) burn if they bid themselves to a burnably low life total.
Red/White gets the obvious advantage here with Sunforger- as long as you have RW open and Sunforger equipped to a creature, you essentially have a counterspell on hand. Cards like Jotun Grunt, Mistveil Plains and Junktroller play really nice here as well. White's general focus on life gain makes Mages' Contest an important consideration in any RW commander deck, especially those with a suite of Sunforger instants.
In Red/Green, you have the choice of either gradually offsetting the life lost to bidding with cards like Leyline of Vitality, Courser of Kruphix, and Essence Warden, or with big one-shot life gain effects like Nourishing Shoal, Pelakka Wurm or Fruition.
Red/Black can pile up burn and drain effects to tip the bidding scales in your favor. X spells like Kaervek's Torch, Fireball, Consume Spirit, Soul Burn, Devil's Play, etc will make your opponents very nervous about bidding themselves to a low life total.
If you are playing red without blue and want access to a counterspell, consider Mages' Contest.
4x Doomed Traveler
4x Raise the Alarm
4x Midnight Haunting
4x Spectral Procession
4x Hero of Bladehold
4x Increasing Devotion
4x Leyline of the Meek
4x Honor of the Pure
4x Intangible Virtue
4x Windbrisk Heights
20x Plains
Here's stuff I'm thinking about-
Lingering Souls- Good enough to splash black for? Probably better than Midnight Haunting if so (even at sorcery speed), but I really want Spectral Procession to always cost 3... w/b fetches, filters and duals are too much $ to only support the flashback on 4 cards in the deck. Maybe Caves of Koilos?
Geist-Honored Monk- Seems good, but at 5 cmc Increasing Devotion seems better.
Cloudgoat Ranger- Same as the Monk, but maybe better or worse- one extra token, body not subject to change... then again, vigilance is better than never-flies-but-could-if-you-can't-find-an-anthem-which-is-unlikely (though between flying spirit tokens and Intangible Virtue, there's enough of both flying and vigilance going around that this probably wont matter), and the monk's body will almost always be bigger anyway, but the Ranger is less likely to die to a Pyroclasm or Volcanic Fallout...?
Is four Windbrisk Heights too much? 4 seems good to get early Hero of Bladeholds and Increasing Devotions, and to help put out Leyline of the Meeks that I don't see in my opening hand, but the etb tapped thing messes with tempo, and this deck needs every tempo advantage it can get...
Should I make space for removal/utility, or just keep going on the all-in tokens track? Maybe sideboard removal/utility suggestions?
I look forward to your feedback!
I'm still having trouble finding a legacy decklist using GotB- links?
Enchantment (R)
If Leyline of Legends is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield.
Legendary creatures you control get +1/+1.
Legendary creatures with no abilities have hexproof and are indestructible.
Where might and myth converge.
Minotaur of Silence-
Creatures-
4x Boros Reckoner
4x Spitemare (Reckoners 5-8)
2x Balefire Liege
The Stick-
4x Isochron Scepter
The Lock-
4x Silence
The Burn-
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Lightning Helix
4x Boros Charm
4x Pyroclasm
4x Volcanic Fallout
The Budget Lands-
2x Slayer's Stronghold
4x Battlefield Forge
8x Mountain
8x Plains
Strongly considering squeezing in Dawn Charm and Blasphemous Act somewhere but not sure what to cut. Comments, suggestions and constructive criticism welcome.
@DakmorQueen- WOTC probably has no idea this thread exists, and probably thought of printing an Ergamon planar card on their own. Probably...
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=226553