Step 1:
Starting with the Leyline in play, cast Draw my Deck cards, and then Generic Stuff cards... nothing interesting here. Note that creature type for conspiracy is Shapeshifters...
New Complicated Mana stuff that is not infinite (I really hope not...) Cast False Dawn, drawing the last card in the deck left by Enter the Infinite. Mana Echoes will massive amounts colorless mana on creatures ETB, which Skyshroud Elf will filter into white mana, which false dawn will let us spend as blue (see gatherer for new wording).
Step 4:
Cast Mercy Killing sacrificing 1 doubling season (and imagining it had P/T of 1) to put 2^^^9 Shapeshifters into play, and triggering 2^^^9^2 instances of the Pandemonium. Have all the instances target the Joraga Warcaller, each increasing the damage of the next. The first will put 2^2^^^9 (dont forget the 2^^^9 Furnaces) counters on the warcaller, the second 2^2^^^9*2^2^^^9 and so on 2^^^9^2 times ending in something like 2^2^^^9^2^^^9^2 (not sure on that, but it feels right. Also I have no idea how/if that translates to anything more than 2^^^9). (This step was just about the pumping to prep for Step 6, ignore the tokens)
Step 5:
Activate the ascensions by casting the second Artificial Evolution, doing nothing important with it.
Step 6:
a:
Cast Fossil Find allowing it to be copied, and in groups of two retrieve the Mercy Killing, and Artificial Evolution. For each group of 2, do steps 6b-6e. Once all copies of Fossil Find are exhausted proceed to Step 7.
b:
Cast Mercy Killing, copying it for each Ascension, and targeting each one to a Doubling Season (there should be the same number of ascensions and doubling seasons, so all doubling seasons will be sacrificed). With them all on the stack, move to 6c.
c:
Let one Mercy Killing resolve to create X tokens triggering all X Pandemoniums X times times. Once those Pandemonium triggers are on the stack, proceed to step 6d.
d:
Now, this part feels a little shady, but since X is at least 2^^^9, and since 2^^^9 / 4 is still 2^^^9, we will use the Shapesharer to make X of these tokens into Pandemonium, X into Furnace of Rath, X into Doubling Season, and X into Pyromancer Ascension. This will allow each Mercy Killing resolution to create more tokens, produce more pandemonium triggers, have that damage muliplied by more furnaces, and ultimately put many more +1+1 counters on the Warcaller than the previous Mercy Killing. Once all the damage is done, go to step 6e.
Step 7:
Cast a Single Use Recursion spell, allowing it to be copied by the ascension. For each copy, do Step 6. Repeat for all 12 Single Use Recursion spells. Note: for Bound, sac the tranguild courier and then return it and the fossil find, recasting the courier at each copy. For Preator's Counsel, dont forget to cast the first Artificial evolution before the Fossil Find so the ascensions can all still get activated at each step. For the Ill-gotten Gains, dont forget to pull the next Gains on the last copy.
Step 8:
Fling the Warcaller.
I think this is better than the last version, as each mercy killing now involves a non-static increase in damage, tokens, and counters, between resolutions and should now be much better than Clone Legion thanks to the Shapesharer shenanigans.
...yup... I really hate the word infinite. Now just a clarification so i can be sure, if my deck has ANY path that could lead to infinite damage, I am required to take that path? Or in other words, I cant play the warcaller first to prevent this right?
Edit: Even so i suppose i could sacrifice to the mercy killing and then recur it when I do have the mana.
Step 1:
Starting with the Leyline in play, cast Draw my Deck cards, and then Generic Stuff cards... nothing interesting here. Note that creature type for conspiracy is Shapeshifters...
Step 3:
Lets make that Joraga Warcaller useful by casting Artificial Evolution changing it to pump Shapeshifters instead of elves. Now we have need some mana, so lets make infinite mana by tapping Sol Ring to put 2^^^9 charge counters on Gemstone Array. If the array ever gets down to just 2 counters, remove both to put another on and get 2^(#Doubling Seasons) back. Then use 'some' of that infinite mana and the Shapesharer to change all Dual Natures to anything else in play so we can sacrifice stuff safely.
(Infinite mana is alright with the rules as long as it doesn't result in infinite damage, right?)
Step 4:
Cast Mercy Killing sacrificing 1 doubling season (and imagining it had P/T of 1) to put 2^^^9 Shapeshifters into play, and triggering 2^^^9^2 instances of the Pandemonium. Have all the instances target the Joraga Warcaller, each increasing the damage of the next. The first will put 2^2^^^9 (dont forget the 2^^^9 Furnaces) counters on the warcaller, the second 2^2^^^9*2^2^^^9 and so on 2^^^9^2 times ending in something like 2^2^^^9^2^^^9^2 (not sure on that, but it feels right. Also I have no idea how/if that translates to anything more than 2^^^9). (This step was just about the pumping to prep for Step 6, ignore the tokens)
Step 5:
Activate the ascensions by casting the second Artificial Evolution, doing nothing important with it.
Step 6:
6a:
Cast Fossil Find allowing it to be copied, and in groups of two retrieve the Mercy Killing and Artificial Evolution. For each group of 2, do steps 6b-6e. Once all copies of Fossil Find are exhausted proceed to Step 7.
6b:
Cast Mercy Killing, copying it for each Ascension, and targeting each one to a Doubling Season (there should be the same number of ascensions and doubling seasons, so all doubling seasons will be sacrificed). With them all on the stack, move to 6c.
6c:
Let one Mercy Killing resolve to create X tokens triggering all X Pandemoniums X times times. Once those Pandemonium triggers are on the stack, proceed to step 6d.
6d:
Now, this part feels a little shady, but since X is at least 2^^^9, and since 2^^^9 / 4 is still 2^^^9, we will use the Shapesharer to make X of these tokens into Pandemonium, X into Furnace of Rath, X into Doubling Season, and X into Pyromancer Ascension. This will allow each Mercy Killing resolution to create more tokens, produce more pandemonium triggers, have that damage muliplied by more furnaces, and ultimately put many more +1+1 counters on the Warcaller than the previous Mercy Killing. Once all the damage is done, go to step 6e.
Step 7:
Cast a Single Use Recursion spell, allowing it to be copied by the ascension. For each copy, do Step 6. Repeat for all 12 Single Use Recursion spells. Note: for Bound, sac the trasnguild courier and then return it and the fossil find, recasting the courier at each copy. For Praetor's Counsel, dont forget to cast the first Artificial evolution before the Fossil Find so the ascensions can all still get activated at each step. For the Ill-gotten Gains, dont forget to pull the next Gains on the last copy.
Step 8:
Fling the Warcaller.
I believe this is better than the last version (2^^^^^15 damage last time), as each mercy killing now involves a non-static increase in damage, tokens, and counters, between resolutions and should now be much better than Clone Legion thanks to the Shapesharer shenanigans.
Thanks for doing the math. I could enjoy doing that much damage in a game
I do have a (long) question though. Your count seems to be solely based off of the number of creatures in play. My understanding was that while the creatures in play are notable, the real damage was in the combo between the Joraga Warcaller, Furnace of Rath, and Pandemonium, of which both enchantments should be at the same number as the Pyromancer Ascensions. This combo would lead the incoming creatures to pump up the Warcaller at a much much faster rate than the number of incoming creatures, as each creature causes a trigger, and each trigger should take the Warcaller from p/t of X to (x*2^y)*x*y where y is the number of Furnaces, Pandemoniums, and Ascensions. Then each casting of mercy killing should create a far larger number of tokens then the Clone Legion does, all of which increase the number of tokens from the next Mercy Killing. Finally, in the end those elf tokens all become Doubling Seasons thanks to Cytoshape.
Was my understanding wrong?
Edit: The math is wrong. This should be more accurate: (X*2^W)*XY*(2^Z) where W is the furnaces, Y is the pandemoniums, and Z is the doubling seasons.
Step Four:
Cast Insurrection allowing it to be copied by the Ascensions. Let 1 resolve to give our creatures haste and continue to Step Five.
Step Five:
Tap all the Kiki-Jikis targeting Doubling Season. For each set of Doubling Seasons coming into play, they trigger all the Pandemoniums. For each those triggers, target the Joraga Warcaller, letting the damage be multiplied by all the Furnace of Raths. As they individually resolve, the damage will be converted into +1 counters on the Warcaller thanks to Vigor, pumping all the creatures thanks to Conspiracy, and increasing the next ammount of damage. Let all the triggers resolve and move on to Step Six.
Step Six:
Now tap all the Living Infernos targeting the Joraga Warcaller again. As they resolve they will again pump each other, each dealing increasing damage.
Step Seven:
While Insurrections are on the stack, let 1 resolve to give all creatures haste, and then repeate steps Five and Six.
Step Eight:
Cast Mercy Killing and copy it for all the active Pyromancer Ascensions (which should be a fraction of the current number, although still a large number), each targeting a different Doubling Season. As they individually resolve, use the damage from the Pandemonium like before, and then since a creature died, all the Death's Presence tigger putting many +1 counters onto the Joraga Warcaller, increasing the number of tokens made by the next Mercy Killing resolution. Let all the triggers resolve and move to Step Nine.
Step Nine:
Cast Fossil Find copying it for each Ascension (The first time through this step, they wont all be active, but every other time they all will be).
Step Eleven:
Now cast Cytoshape, activating all the new Ascensions, and changing the large number of boring elf tokens into into Doubling Season. This should put the number of Doubling seasons to an order greater than the number of Ascensions and other cards which will be important when we revisit Step Eight.
Step Twelve:
Repeat Steps Four through Seven. Then allow an additional Fossil Find to resolve getting another Cytoshape and then cast that Cytoshape, using it to just activate the new Ascensions. Then repeat Step Eight copying Mercy Killing for all the Ascensions this time, since there are now always many more Doubling Seasons than Ascensions.
Step Thirteen:
While there are Fossil Finds on the stack, repeat Steps Eleven and Twelve. Each cycle should use up 5 Fossil Finds.
Step Fourteen:
Cast Bound // Determined, copying it for each Ascension. For each copy, sacrifice the Ink-treader Nephilim to bring back the Nephilim and the Fossil Find (ignore the other two cards we could recur). Then Repeat Steps Nine through Thirteen, and then move on to the next copy of Bound // Determined.
Step Fifteen:
Repeat Step Fourteen three times. Then sacrifice on token (doesn't matter which) to Altar of Dementia to mill ourselves, giving access to the last Praetor's Counsel in our library.
Step Sixteen:
Cast Praetor's Counsel, copying it for each Ascension. Each copy will return the whole graveyard, so we need to cast Cytoshape changhing nothing. This will allow the later Cytoshapes to still activate the Ascensions. Then Repeat Steps Nine through Thirteen, and then move on to the next copy of Praetor's Counsel.
Step Twenty:
Start sacrificing things to the Altar of Dementia to mill the opponent, and more importantly to activate the Death's Presence putting an increasing number of counters on the Joraga Warcaller. Start with all the Ascensions, then the Kiki-Jikis, then the Living Infernos, then the Furnace of Raths, then all but one of the Death's Presences, followed by all the Doubling Seasons.
Step Twentyone:
Enter combat, declare the Joraga Warcaller attacking, they dont block and we win.
Attempt #2, I think the infinite combos are gone this time since I removed all the targeted recursion cards. Also, I have reassessed the importance of Cytoshape. Correct me if I am wrong, but for all X greater than some number, 2 * 2^^X ~= 2^^X, so it is more efficient to have a multiple groups of cards at 2^^X each than attempt to repeatedly make them all the same with cytoshape (since the doubling leaves me with the same number I started with). Am I right in this reassessment.
Step Four:
Cast Insurrection allowing it to be copied by the Ascensions. Let 1 resolve to give our creatures haste and continue to Step Five.
Step Five:
Tap all the Kiki-Jikis targeting Doubling Season. For each set of Doubling Seasons coming into play, they trigger all the Pandemoniums. For each those triggers, target the Joraga Warcaller, letting the damage be multiplied by all the Furnace of Raths. As they individually resolve, the damage will be converted into +1 counters on the Warcaller thanks to Vigor, pumping all the creatures thanks to Conspiracy, and increasing the next ammount of damage. Let all the triggers resolve and move on to Step Six.
Step Six:
Now tap all the Living Infernos targeting the Joraga Warcaller again. As they resolve they will again pump each other, each dealing increasing damage.
Step Seven:
While Insurrections are on the stack, let 1 resolve to give all creatures haste, and then repeate steps Five and Six.
Step Eight:
Cast Mercy Killing and copy it for all the active Pyromancer Ascensions (which should be a fraction of the current number, although still a large number), each targeting a different Doubling Season. As they individually resolve, use the damage from the Pandemonium like before, and then since a creature died, all the Death's Presence tigger putting many +1 counters onto the Joraga Warcaller, increasing the number of tokens made by the next Mercy Killing resolution. Let all the triggers resolve and move to Step Nine.
Step Nine:
Cast Fossil Find copying it for each Ascension (The first time through this step, they wont all be active, but every other time they all will be).
Step Eleven:
Now cast Cytoshape, activating all the new Ascensions, and changing the large number of boring elf tokens into into Doubling Season. This should put the number of Doubling seasons to an order greater than the number of Ascensions and other cards which will be important when we revisit Step Eight.
Step Twelve:
Repeat Steps Four through Seven. Then allow an additional Fossil Find to resolve getting another Cytoshape and then cast that Cytoshape, using it to just activate the new Ascensions. Then repeat Step Eight copying Mercy Killing for all the Ascensions this time, since there are now always many more Doubling Seasons than Ascensions.
Step Thirteen:
While there are Fossil Finds on the stack, repeat Steps Eleven and Twelve. Each cycle should use up 5 Fossil Finds.
Step Fourteen:
Cast Bound // Determined, copying it for each Ascension. For each copy, sacrifice the Ink-treader Nephilim to bring back the Nephilim and the Fossil Find (ignore the other two cards we could recur). Then Repeat Steps Nine through Thirteen, and then move on to the next copy of Bound // Determined.
Step Fifteen:
Repeat Step Fourteen three times. Then sacrifice on token (doesn't matter which) to Altar of Dementia to mill ourselves, giving access to the last Praetor's Counsel in our library.
Step Sixteen:
Cast Praetor's Counsel, copying it for each Ascension. Each copy will return the whole graveyard, so we need to cast Cytoshape changhing nothing. This will allow the later Cytoshapes to still activate the Ascensions. Then Repeat Steps Nine through Thirteen, and then move on to the next copy of Praetor's Counsel.
Step Twenty:
Start sacrificing things to the Altar of Dementia to mill the opponent, and more importantly to activate the Death's Presence putting an increasing number of counters on the Joraga Warcaller. Start with all the Ascensions, then the Kiki-Jikis, then the Living Infernos, then the Furnace of Raths, then all but one of the Death's Presences, followed by all the Doubling Seasons.
Step Twentyone:
Enter combat, declare the Joraga Warcaller attacking, they dont block and we win.
Alright, start with the hand of black lotus, show and tell, omniscience, and enter the infinite, plus anything else. Cast the hand in that order to draw your deck. Cast all the remaining cards from the singles set. Now cast all copies of doubling season and pyromancer ascension, followed by 1 clone legion, doubling all of our creatures, giving us 64 new doubling seasons and 64 new pyromancer ascensions. To make the math a little easier, I will ignore the copies of the other cards from here on as well as the original doubling seasons and pyromancer ascensions. Also, for now choose not to trigger pandemonium.
Now cast the next another clone legion, giving around 2^64 copies of doubling season and pyromancer ascension, and activating the first 64 pyromancer ascension. Then the pandemonium trigers happen, but ). Now cast anther clone legion, allowing it to be copied 64 times. I think this ends up with (2^^64)^(2^64) or 2^^64^^2 (rounding down a fair bit) copies of both cards, but I am not positive yet. This also ends up with 2^64 active copies of pyromancer ascension. Now, cast the final clone legion. This should give (2^^2^^64^^2)^(2^^64^^2), although, again, I am not positive and I am not sure how to join the layers of tetration...
Moving on, now that we have used up all our clone legions, cast a cytoshape targeting the ink-treader nephilim and thus targeting all the field. Now for this and every following cytoshape that targets the nephilim, for all the copies that target non-token creatures, have that copy choose to turn into itself. This will leave all pieces of the combo intact. For all copies targeting our tokens, we will choose either doubling season or pyromancer ascension and make all of them that card. In this case, we will make them into pyromancer ascension. Now cast another cytoshape, this time targeting transguild courier and making it into itself, thus activating all (2^^2^^64^^2)^(2^^64^^2) of the ascensions.
Now we will cast bound // determined, using the 5 color transguild courier to sacrifice to Bound, and then returning the 4 cards in the combo and the courier, bound // determineds recasting the courier after the combo to set up for the next Bound. This should allow for X more iterations of the combo. Repeat for the next three bound // determineds.
On the very last iteration of the combo, things will go a little different. First we will actually use the pandemonium trigger. We will set it up so that the triggers form a circuit allowing the damage to grow after each trigger. Second, we not cast the 2 cytoshape leaving all the tokens as [c]doubling season[c] instead.
Now, we will sacrifice the tokens, starting with the largest one (at the end of the circuit) to the altar of dementia milling the opponent, and then moving the +1/+1 counters to the next largest doubling season via death's presence. Repeat this until all doubling seasons are gone, moving the tokens to vigor.
If I copy a Cytoshape on the stack, is the chosen creature copied (the non-legendary creature) or does that get selected at resolution?
For example, if I cast Cytoshape targeting Ink-treader Nephilim and choosing to make it a copy of itself while having 2 other creatures (A and B) in play, will I be forced to make both other creatures a copy of Ink-treader Nephilim, or can I make creature A a copy of creature B?
Profusion of Dust 3UB
Enchantment ~ Processor
Devoid (This card has no color.)
Skip your draw step.
Put a card an opponent owns from exile into that players graveyard: Draw a card.
Your maximum hand size is two.
But that's what was confusing. When characterizing Christian views on the afterlife, and saying, "Well, most religions seem to share the same views," you somehow managed to make such a declaration when your own religion does not share the same views.
Again, that's what was puzzling. You said Christians believe certain things about the afterlife. Well, Mormons don't share those beliefs, so either you don't believe Mormons are Christian, or you were making those statements while somehow not thinking about Mormon beliefs about the afterlife.
Mmmmm, no. Most of Christianity is greatly dissimilar to Mormonism. A person familiar with Mormonism would not necessarily be familiar with the more orthodox Christian denominations, to say nothing of the more dissimilar (read: weird) denominations such as Gnostic Christianity.
Now, in your case, you do seem to be familiar with more orthodox Christian views, but you can't simply say, "I'm familiar with Mormonism, therefore I'm familiar with Christianity as a whole." That doesn't work.
I was not going to mention the Mormon views in depth as many non-Mormons are not deeply familiar with them (you are an exception, not the norm). As far as how it fits into the statements I made, I do not believe Mormonism to be entirely dissimilar to more normal Christian views specifically regarding the afterlife in terms of risk/reward (they are very different from a doctrinal point of view).
Both have a tiered reward system (there are multiple final destinations for the soul), Mormons just have more tiers.
Both have a definite best place, that is restricted to the faithful.
Both believe that one is cut of from the presence of God if one does not reach the highest tier.
I will admit that the spirit prison/paradise concept is quite a break from normal Christianity, (although it does bear resemblances to the traditional heaven/hell split for saints vs. everyone else) I don't believe that it invalidates the comparison as it is not a sure guarantee to get into the top tier, mainly just a 'safety net' for those who don't ever even get a fair chance (for example those in oppressive countries without religious freedom).
The conversion from the standard Christian view to Mormonism is not so complex, think along the lines of(another analogy!!!) a pass/fail(Traditional) class vs a letter grade system(Mormonism) class. You still want an 'A' over a 'C' if you can get it, even though both are passing grades. And in the case of Mormonism the payout for getting an 'A' vs a 'B' is the difference between becoming a God and just becoming an angel. That is no minor difference, one that I (you may not however, another assumption...) consider somewhat comparable to the standard heaven/hell division.
Now as for that statement that I am most familiar with Christianity, I still stand 100% behind it. Hypothetically lets say that the Mormon faith comprises 10% concepts in the CHRISTIAN super-class of religions. That means that I am at a 10% for CHRISTIANITY without any other knowledge of the standard views. Now compare that to the amount I know of JUDAISM, MUSLIM, or BUDDHISM. I would only feel comfortable giving myself a 5% knowledge in those as I know a few basics, but non of the deeper ideas (especially any recent concepts they may have gained). Thus while I may only comprehend 10% of CHRISTIANITY, that is greater than my 5% knowledge of the JUDAISM, MUSLIM, or BUDDHISM meaning that I am in fact most familiar with CHRISTIANITY despite the point that I only know Mormonism (and in reality I know of other CHRISTIAN faiths too so 10% is low).
1 Black Lotus
1 Show and Tell
1 Omniscience
1 Enter the Infinite
Boring Stuff: 11
1 Opalescence
1 Leyline of Anticipation
1 Conspiracy
1 Sol Ring
1 Shapesharer
1 Vigor
1 Joraga Warcaller
1 Parallel Thoughts
1 Skyshroud Elf
1 Mana Echoes
Interesting Stuff: 8
1 Furnace of Rath
1 Pandemonium
1 Pyromancer Ascension
1 Mercy Killing
1 Fossil Find
2 Artificial Evolution
1 Transguild Courier
4 Dual Nature
4 Copy Enchantment
Doubling Seasons: 8
4 Doubling Season
4 Primal Vigor
Single Use Recursion: 12
4 Bound // Determined
4 Praetor's Counsel
4 Ill-gotten Gains
Filler: 8
8 Wastes
Finisher: 1
1 Fling
Inital Hand:
Leyline of Anticipation, Black Lotus, Show and Tell, Omniscience, Enter the Infinite, and 3 other random cards.
Step 1:
Starting with the Leyline in play, cast Draw my Deck cards, and then Generic Stuff cards... nothing interesting here. Note that creature type for conspiracy is Shapeshifters...
Step 2:
Alternate casting Dual Nature and Doubling Season as mentioned before to get 2^^^9 Doubling seasons, then cast the Furnace of Rath, Pandemonium, and Pyromancer Ascension, bringing them all up to 2^^^9 copies.
Step 3:
Lets make that Joraga Warcaller useful by casting Artificial Evolution changing it to pump Shapeshifters instead of elves.
New Complicated Mana stuff that is not infinite (I really hope not...) Cast False Dawn, drawing the last card in the deck left by Enter the Infinite. Mana Echoes will massive amounts colorless mana on creatures ETB, which Skyshroud Elf will filter into white mana, which false dawn will let us spend as blue (see gatherer for new wording).
Step 4:
Cast Mercy Killing sacrificing 1 doubling season (and imagining it had P/T of 1) to put 2^^^9 Shapeshifters into play, and triggering 2^^^9^2 instances of the Pandemonium. Have all the instances target the Joraga Warcaller, each increasing the damage of the next. The first will put 2^2^^^9 (dont forget the 2^^^9 Furnaces) counters on the warcaller, the second 2^2^^^9*2^2^^^9 and so on 2^^^9^2 times ending in something like 2^2^^^9^2^^^9^2 (not sure on that, but it feels right. Also I have no idea how/if that translates to anything more than 2^^^9). (This step was just about the pumping to prep for Step 6, ignore the tokens)
Step 5:
Activate the ascensions by casting the second Artificial Evolution, doing nothing important with it.
Step 6:
a:
Cast Fossil Find allowing it to be copied, and in groups of two retrieve the Mercy Killing, and Artificial Evolution. For each group of 2, do steps 6b-6e. Once all copies of Fossil Find are exhausted proceed to Step 7.
b:
Cast Mercy Killing, copying it for each Ascension, and targeting each one to a Doubling Season (there should be the same number of ascensions and doubling seasons, so all doubling seasons will be sacrificed). With them all on the stack, move to 6c.
c:
Let one Mercy Killing resolve to create X tokens triggering all X Pandemoniums X times times. Once those Pandemonium triggers are on the stack, proceed to step 6d.
d:
Now, this part feels a little shady, but since X is at least 2^^^9, and since 2^^^9 / 4 is still 2^^^9, we will use the Shapesharer to make X of these tokens into Pandemonium, X into Furnace of Rath, X into Doubling Season, and X into Pyromancer Ascension. This will allow each Mercy Killing resolution to create more tokens, produce more pandemonium triggers, have that damage muliplied by more furnaces, and ultimately put many more +1+1 counters on the Warcaller than the previous Mercy Killing. Once all the damage is done, go to step 6e.
e:
Repeat 6b and 6c until all Mercy Killings are resolved. Then cast Artificial Evolution to activate all the new Ascenions.
Step 7:
Cast a Single Use Recursion spell, allowing it to be copied by the ascension. For each copy, do Step 6. Repeat for all 12 Single Use Recursion spells. Note: for Bound, sac the tranguild courier and then return it and the fossil find, recasting the courier at each copy. For Preator's Counsel, dont forget to cast the first Artificial evolution before the Fossil Find so the ascensions can all still get activated at each step. For the Ill-gotten Gains, dont forget to pull the next Gains on the last copy.
Step 8:
Fling the Warcaller.
I think this is better than the last version, as each mercy killing now involves a non-static increase in damage, tokens, and counters, between resolutions and should now be much better than Clone Legion thanks to the Shapesharer shenanigans.
So I guess my new question is does anyone know of a good way to filter colorless mana into blue mana repeatably?
Edit: Think i have it... back in a bit.
Edit: Even so i suppose i could sacrifice to the mercy killing and then recur it when I do have the mana.
1 Black Lotus
1 Show and Tell
1 Omniscience
1 Enter the Infinite
Boring Stuff: 8
1 Opalescence
1 Leyline of Anticipation
1 Conspiracy
1 Sol Ring
1 Gemstone Array
1 Shapesharer
1 Vigor
1 Joraga Warcaller
1 Furnace of Rath
1 Pandemonium
1 Pyromancer Ascension
1 Mercy Killing
1 Fossil Find
2 Artificial Evolution
1 Transguild Courier
Dual Natures: 8
4 Dual Nature
4 Copy Enchantment
4 Doubling Season
4 Primal Vigor
Single Use Recursion: 12
4 Bound // Determined
4 Praetor's Counsel
4 Ill-gotten Gains
Filler: 11
11 Wastes
Finisher: 1
1 Fling
Inital Hand:
Leyline of Anticipation, Black Lotus, Show and Tell, Omniscience, Enter the Infinite, and 3 other random cards.
Step 1:
Starting with the Leyline in play, cast Draw my Deck cards, and then Generic Stuff cards... nothing interesting here. Note that creature type for conspiracy is Shapeshifters...
Step 2:
Alternate casting Dual Nature and Doubling Season as mentioned before to get 2^^^9 Doubling seasons, then cast the Furnace of Rath, Pandemonium, and Pyromancer Ascension, bringing them all up to 2^^^9 copies.
Step 3:
Lets make that Joraga Warcaller useful by casting Artificial Evolution changing it to pump Shapeshifters instead of elves. Now we have need some mana, so lets make infinite mana by tapping Sol Ring to put 2^^^9 charge counters on Gemstone Array. If the array ever gets down to just 2 counters, remove both to put another on and get 2^(#Doubling Seasons) back. Then use 'some' of that infinite mana and the Shapesharer to change all Dual Natures to anything else in play so we can sacrifice stuff safely.
(Infinite mana is alright with the rules as long as it doesn't result in infinite damage, right?)
Step 4:
Cast Mercy Killing sacrificing 1 doubling season (and imagining it had P/T of 1) to put 2^^^9 Shapeshifters into play, and triggering 2^^^9^2 instances of the Pandemonium. Have all the instances target the Joraga Warcaller, each increasing the damage of the next. The first will put 2^2^^^9 (dont forget the 2^^^9 Furnaces) counters on the warcaller, the second 2^2^^^9*2^2^^^9 and so on 2^^^9^2 times ending in something like 2^2^^^9^2^^^9^2 (not sure on that, but it feels right. Also I have no idea how/if that translates to anything more than 2^^^9). (This step was just about the pumping to prep for Step 6, ignore the tokens)
Step 5:
Activate the ascensions by casting the second Artificial Evolution, doing nothing important with it.
Step 6:
6a:
Cast Fossil Find allowing it to be copied, and in groups of two retrieve the Mercy Killing and Artificial Evolution. For each group of 2, do steps 6b-6e. Once all copies of Fossil Find are exhausted proceed to Step 7.
6b:
Cast Mercy Killing, copying it for each Ascension, and targeting each one to a Doubling Season (there should be the same number of ascensions and doubling seasons, so all doubling seasons will be sacrificed). With them all on the stack, move to 6c.
6c:
Let one Mercy Killing resolve to create X tokens triggering all X Pandemoniums X times times. Once those Pandemonium triggers are on the stack, proceed to step 6d.
6d:
Now, this part feels a little shady, but since X is at least 2^^^9, and since 2^^^9 / 4 is still 2^^^9, we will use the Shapesharer to make X of these tokens into Pandemonium, X into Furnace of Rath, X into Doubling Season, and X into Pyromancer Ascension. This will allow each Mercy Killing resolution to create more tokens, produce more pandemonium triggers, have that damage muliplied by more furnaces, and ultimately put many more +1+1 counters on the Warcaller than the previous Mercy Killing. Once all the damage is done, go to step 6e.
6e:
Repeat 6b and 6c until all Mercy Killings are resolved. Then cast Artificial Evolution to activate all the new Ascenions.
Step 7:
Cast a Single Use Recursion spell, allowing it to be copied by the ascension. For each copy, do Step 6. Repeat for all 12 Single Use Recursion spells. Note: for Bound, sac the trasnguild courier and then return it and the fossil find, recasting the courier at each copy. For Praetor's Counsel, dont forget to cast the first Artificial evolution before the Fossil Find so the ascensions can all still get activated at each step. For the Ill-gotten Gains, dont forget to pull the next Gains on the last copy.
Step 8:
Fling the Warcaller.
I believe this is better than the last version (2^^^^^15 damage last time), as each mercy killing now involves a non-static increase in damage, tokens, and counters, between resolutions and should now be much better than Clone Legion thanks to the Shapesharer shenanigans.
I do have a (long) question though. Your count seems to be solely based off of the number of creatures in play. My understanding was that while the creatures in play are notable, the real damage was in the combo between the Joraga Warcaller, Furnace of Rath, and Pandemonium, of which both enchantments should be at the same number as the Pyromancer Ascensions. This combo would lead the incoming creatures to pump up the Warcaller at a much much faster rate than the number of incoming creatures, as each creature causes a trigger, and each trigger should take the Warcaller from p/t of X to (x*2^y)*x*y where y is the number of Furnaces, Pandemoniums, and Ascensions. Then each casting of mercy killing should create a far larger number of tokens then the Clone Legion does, all of which increase the number of tokens from the next Mercy Killing. Finally, in the end those elf tokens all become Doubling Seasons thanks to Cytoshape.
Was my understanding wrong?
Edit: The math is wrong. This should be more accurate: (X*2^W)*XY*(2^Z) where W is the furnaces, Y is the pandemoniums, and Z is the doubling seasons.
The offensive clones have been removed in this version, and I really hope that is the last infinite combo.
1 Black Lotus
1 Show and Tell
1 Omniscience
1 Enter the Infinite
1 Opalescence
1 Ink-treader Nephilim
1 Vedalken Orrery
1 Conspiracy
1 Mirror Gallery
1 Altar of Dementia
1 Vigor
1 Joraga Warcaller
1 Insurrection
1 Mercy Killing
1 Clone Legion
1 Fossil Find
1 Death's Presence
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Pyromancer Ascension
1 Living Inferno
1 Furnace of Rath
1 Pandemonium
2 Cytoshape
4 Dual Nature
4 Copy Enchantment
Doubling Seasons: 12
4 Doubling Season
4 Primal Vigor
4 Parallel Lives
Single Use Recursion: 12
4 Bound // Determined
4 Praetor's Counsel
4 Ill-gotten Gains
Filler: 4
4 Parallel Evolution
Inital Hand:
Black Lotus, Show and Tell, Omniscience, Enter the Infinite, and 3 other random cards.
Step One:
Cast Black Lotus, Show and Tell, Omniscience Enter the Infinite in that order to draw your deck, putting one Praetor's Counsel back. Then cast all the cards that we only care about having 1 of, namely: Opalescence, Vedalken Orrery, Mirror Gallery, Ink-treader Nephilim, Vigor, Joraga Warcaller, and Altar of Dementia. Finally cast Conspiracy naming elf as the creature type.
Step Two:
Cast a Dual Nature and then a Doubling Season. Repeat 7 more times, with the 4 Copy Enchantments as Dual Natures and the 4 Primal Vigors as Doubling Seasons. Then cast the 4 Parallel Lives.
Step Three:
Cast Living Inferno, Furnace of Rath, Pandemonium, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Death's Presence, and Pyromancer Ascension allowing them all to be copied many times. Now that we are done with non-token permanents, cast Cytoshape targeting the Ink-treader Nephilim, changing all the Dual Natures, Primal Vigor, and Parallel Lives into Doubling Seasons, and leaving everything else as they are. Then cast the 4 Parallel Evolutions followed by another Cytoshape leaving everything as it is. This will activate all the Ascensions.
Step Four:
Cast Insurrection allowing it to be copied by the Ascensions. Let 1 resolve to give our creatures haste and continue to Step Five.
Step Five:
Tap all the Kiki-Jikis targeting Doubling Season. For each set of Doubling Seasons coming into play, they trigger all the Pandemoniums. For each those triggers, target the Joraga Warcaller, letting the damage be multiplied by all the Furnace of Raths. As they individually resolve, the damage will be converted into +1 counters on the Warcaller thanks to Vigor, pumping all the creatures thanks to Conspiracy, and increasing the next ammount of damage. Let all the triggers resolve and move on to Step Six.
Step Six:
Now tap all the Living Infernos targeting the Joraga Warcaller again. As they resolve they will again pump each other, each dealing increasing damage.
Step Seven:
While Insurrections are on the stack, let 1 resolve to give all creatures haste, and then repeate steps Five and Six.
Step Seven:
Cast Clone Legion copying it for each Ascension. For each of the new Pandemonium triggers target the Joraga Warcaller (we will target it every time we do noncombat damage). This will inrease our count of Doubling Season, Living Inferno, Furnace of Rath, Pandemonium, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Death's Presence, and Pyromancer Ascension (ignore the rest they dont matter).
Step Eight:
Cast Mercy Killing and copy it for all the active Pyromancer Ascensions (which should be a fraction of the current number, although still a large number), each targeting a different Doubling Season. As they individually resolve, use the damage from the Pandemonium like before, and then since a creature died, all the Death's Presence tigger putting many +1 counters onto the Joraga Warcaller, increasing the number of tokens made by the next Mercy Killing resolution. Let all the triggers resolve and move to Step Nine.
Step Nine:
Cast Fossil Find copying it for each Ascension (The first time through this step, they wont all be active, but every other time they all will be).
Step Ten:
Let 4 resolve to randomly Fossil Find (and in a non-targeted manner) return Clone Legion, Mercy Killing, Insurrection, and 1 of the Cytoshapes. With the remaining Fossil Finds on the stack proceed to the next step.
Step Eleven:
Now cast Cytoshape, activating all the new Ascensions, and changing the large number of boring elf tokens into into Doubling Season. This should put the number of Doubling seasons to an order greater than the number of Ascensions and other cards which will be important when we revisit Step Eight.
Step Twelve:
Repeat Steps Four through Seven. Then allow an additional Fossil Find to resolve getting another Cytoshape and then cast that Cytoshape, using it to just activate the new Ascensions. Then repeat Step Eight copying Mercy Killing for all the Ascensions this time, since there are now always many more Doubling Seasons than Ascensions.
Step Thirteen:
While there are Fossil Finds on the stack, repeat Steps Eleven and Twelve. Each cycle should use up 5 Fossil Finds.
Step Fourteen:
Cast Bound // Determined, copying it for each Ascension. For each copy, sacrifice the Ink-treader Nephilim to bring back the Nephilim and the Fossil Find (ignore the other two cards we could recur). Then Repeat Steps Nine through Thirteen, and then move on to the next copy of Bound // Determined.
Step Fifteen:
Repeat Step Fourteen three times. Then sacrifice on token (doesn't matter which) to Altar of Dementia to mill ourselves, giving access to the last Praetor's Counsel in our library.
Step Sixteen:
Cast Praetor's Counsel, copying it for each Ascension. Each copy will return the whole graveyard, so we need to cast Cytoshape changhing nothing. This will allow the later Cytoshapes to still activate the Ascensions. Then Repeat Steps Nine through Thirteen, and then move on to the next copy of Praetor's Counsel.
Step Seventeen:
Repeat Step Sixteen three times.
Step Eighteen:
Cast Ill-gotten Gains, copying it for each Ascension. For every copy but the very last, only return the Fossil Find. Then Repeat Steps Nine through Thirteen, and then move on to the next copy of Ill-gotten Gains. On the last copy of Ill-gotten Gains, return both the Fossil Find and another Ill-gotten Gains if there is one.
Step Nineteen:
Repeat Step Eighteen three times.
Step Twenty:
Start sacrificing things to the Altar of Dementia to mill the opponent, and more importantly to activate the Death's Presence putting an increasing number of counters on the Joraga Warcaller. Start with all the Ascensions, then the Kiki-Jikis, then the Living Infernos, then the Furnace of Raths, then all but one of the Death's Presences, followed by all the Doubling Seasons.
Step Twentyone:
Enter combat, declare the Joraga Warcaller attacking, they dont block and we win.
How does this perform?
1 Black Lotus
1 Show and Tell
1 Omniscience
1 Enter the Infinite
1 Opalescence
1 Ink-treader Nephilim
1 Vedalken Orrery
1 Conspiracy
1 Mirror Gallery
1 Altar of Dementia
1 Vigor
1 Joraga Warcaller
1 Insurrection
1 Mercy Killing
1 Clone Legion
1 Fossil Find
1 Death's Presence
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Pyromancer Ascension
1 Living Inferno
1 Furnace of Rath
1 Pandemonium
2 Cytoshape
4 Dual Nature
4 Copy Enchantment
4 Clever Impersonator
Doubling Seasons: 12
4 Doubling Season
4 Clone
4 Vesuvan Doppelganger
Single Use Recursion: 12
4 Bound // Determined
4 Praetor's Counsel
4 Ill-gotten Gains
Inital Hand:
Black Lotus, Show and Tell, Omniscience, Enter the Infinite, and 3 other random cards.
Step One:
Cast Black Lotus, Show and Tell, Omniscience Enter the Infinite in that order to draw your deck, putting one Praetor's Counsel back. Then cast all the cards that we only care about having 1 of, namely: Opalescence, Vedalken Orrery, Mirror Gallery, Ink-treader Nephilim, Vigor, Joraga Warcaller, and Altar of Dementia. Finally cast Conspiracy naming elf as the creature type.
Step Two:
Cast a Dual Nature and then a Doubling Season. Repeat 11 times, with the 4 Copy Enchantments and 4 Clever Impersonators as Dual Natures and the 4Clones and 4 Vesuvan Doppelgangers as Doubling Seasons.
Step Three:
Cast Living Inferno, Furnace of Rath, Pandemonium, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Death's Presence, and Pyromancer Ascension allowing them all to be copied many times. Now that we are done with non-token permanents, cast Cytoshape targeting the Ink-treader Nephilim, changing all the Dual Natures into Doubling Seasons, and leaving everything else as they are. Then cast another Cytoshape leaving everything as it is. This will activate the ascensions.
Step Four:
Cast Insurrection allowing it to be copied by the Ascensions. Let 1 resolve to give our creatures haste and continue to Step Five.
Step Five:
Tap all the Kiki-Jikis targeting Doubling Season. For each set of Doubling Seasons coming into play, they trigger all the Pandemoniums. For each those triggers, target the Joraga Warcaller, letting the damage be multiplied by all the Furnace of Raths. As they individually resolve, the damage will be converted into +1 counters on the Warcaller thanks to Vigor, pumping all the creatures thanks to Conspiracy, and increasing the next ammount of damage. Let all the triggers resolve and move on to Step Six.
Step Six:
Now tap all the Living Infernos targeting the Joraga Warcaller again. As they resolve they will again pump each other, each dealing increasing damage.
Step Seven:
While Insurrections are on the stack, let 1 resolve to give all creatures haste, and then repeate steps Five and Six.
Step Seven:
Cast Clone Legion copying it for each Ascension. For each of the new Pandemonium triggers target the Joraga Warcaller (we will target it every time we do noncombat damage). This will inrease our count of Doubling Season, Living Inferno, Furnace of Rath, Pandemonium, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Death's Presence, and Pyromancer Ascension (ignore the rest they dont matter).
Step Eight:
Cast Mercy Killing and copy it for all the active Pyromancer Ascensions (which should be a fraction of the current number, although still a large number), each targeting a different Doubling Season. As they individually resolve, use the damage from the Pandemonium like before, and then since a creature died, all the Death's Presence tigger putting many +1 counters onto the Joraga Warcaller, increasing the number of tokens made by the next Mercy Killing resolution. Let all the triggers resolve and move to Step Nine.
Step Nine:
Cast Fossil Find copying it for each Ascension (The first time through this step, they wont all be active, but every other time they all will be).
Step Ten:
Let 4 resolve to randomly Fossil Find (and in a non-targeted manner) return Clone Legion, Mercy Killing, Insurrection, and 1 of the Cytoshapes. With the remaining Fossil Finds on the stack proceed to the next step.
Step Eleven:
Now cast Cytoshape, activating all the new Ascensions, and changing the large number of boring elf tokens into into Doubling Season. This should put the number of Doubling seasons to an order greater than the number of Ascensions and other cards which will be important when we revisit Step Eight.
Step Twelve:
Repeat Steps Four through Seven. Then allow an additional Fossil Find to resolve getting another Cytoshape and then cast that Cytoshape, using it to just activate the new Ascensions. Then repeat Step Eight copying Mercy Killing for all the Ascensions this time, since there are now always many more Doubling Seasons than Ascensions.
Step Thirteen:
While there are Fossil Finds on the stack, repeat Steps Eleven and Twelve. Each cycle should use up 5 Fossil Finds.
Step Fourteen:
Cast Bound // Determined, copying it for each Ascension. For each copy, sacrifice the Ink-treader Nephilim to bring back the Nephilim and the Fossil Find (ignore the other two cards we could recur). Then Repeat Steps Nine through Thirteen, and then move on to the next copy of Bound // Determined.
Step Fifteen:
Repeat Step Fourteen three times. Then sacrifice on token (doesn't matter which) to Altar of Dementia to mill ourselves, giving access to the last Praetor's Counsel in our library.
Step Sixteen:
Cast Praetor's Counsel, copying it for each Ascension. Each copy will return the whole graveyard, so we need to cast Cytoshape changhing nothing. This will allow the later Cytoshapes to still activate the Ascensions. Then Repeat Steps Nine through Thirteen, and then move on to the next copy of Praetor's Counsel.
Step Seventeen:
Repeat Step Sixteen three times.
Step Eighteen:
Cast Ill-gotten Gains, copying it for each Ascension. For every copy but the very last, only return the Fossil Find. Then Repeat Steps Nine through Thirteen, and then move on to the next copy of Ill-gotten Gains. On the last copy of Ill-gotten Gains, return both the Fossil Find and another Ill-gotten Gains if there is one.
Step Nineteen:
Repeat Step Eighteen three times.
Step Twenty:
Start sacrificing things to the Altar of Dementia to mill the opponent, and more importantly to activate the Death's Presence putting an increasing number of counters on the Joraga Warcaller. Start with all the Ascensions, then the Kiki-Jikis, then the Living Infernos, then the Furnace of Raths, then all but one of the Death's Presences, followed by all the Doubling Seasons.
Step Twentyone:
Enter combat, declare the Joraga Warcaller attacking, they dont block and we win.
How does this perform?
The plan is to get as many doubling seasons in play as possible, and the trick will be to use cytoshape and ink-treader nephilim to reshape my field repeatedly between pyromancer ascension and doubling season.
1 black lotus
1 show and tell
1 omniscience
1 enter the infinite
1 opalescence
1 ink-treader nephilim
1 transguild courier
1 vedalken orrery
1 death's presence
1 vigor
1 pandemonium
1 altar of dementia
4 doubling season
4 pyromancer ascension
3 cytoshape
4 clone legion
Recusion: 32
4 pull from the deep
4 vengeful rebirth
4 woodland guidance
4 treasured find
4 restock
4 all suns' dawn
4 bound // determined
4 praetor's counsel
1 fling
Alright, start with the hand of black lotus, show and tell, omniscience, and enter the infinite, plus anything else. Cast the hand in that order to draw your deck. Cast all the remaining cards from the singles set. Now cast all copies of doubling season and pyromancer ascension, followed by 1 clone legion, doubling all of our creatures, giving us 64 new doubling seasons and 64 new pyromancer ascensions. To make the math a little easier, I will ignore the copies of the other cards from here on as well as the original doubling seasons and pyromancer ascensions. Also, for now choose not to trigger pandemonium.
Now cast the next another clone legion, giving around 2^64 copies of doubling season and pyromancer ascension, and activating the first 64 pyromancer ascension. Then the pandemonium trigers happen, but ). Now cast anther clone legion, allowing it to be copied 64 times. I think this ends up with (2^^64)^(2^64) or 2^^64^^2 (rounding down a fair bit) copies of both cards, but I am not positive yet. This also ends up with 2^64 active copies of pyromancer ascension. Now, cast the final clone legion. This should give (2^^2^^64^^2)^(2^^64^^2), although, again, I am not positive and I am not sure how to join the layers of tetration...
Moving on, now that we have used up all our clone legions, cast a cytoshape targeting the ink-treader nephilim and thus targeting all the field. Now for this and every following cytoshape that targets the nephilim, for all the copies that target non-token creatures, have that copy choose to turn into itself. This will leave all pieces of the combo intact. For all copies targeting our tokens, we will choose either doubling season or pyromancer ascension and make all of them that card. In this case, we will make them into pyromancer ascension. Now cast another cytoshape, this time targeting transguild courier and making it into itself, thus activating all (2^^2^^64^^2)^(2^^64^^2) of the ascensions.
Now the combo can begin.
The goal of the combo is to start with X activated pyromancer ascensions, cast clone legion copied X times, and then while all are on the stack, cast cytoshape targeting the ink-treader nephilim, switching all the pyromancer ascensions into doubling season, and then letting all X clone legions resolve, making more doubling season. After the cloning has resolved, cast another cytoshape tagetting the ink-treader nephilim again and switch all the doubling seasons into pyromancer ascensions. Then cast another cytoshape targeting transguild courier and making it into itself to reactivate all the pyromancer ascensions.
Note: At the end of the combo I will have a large number of activated pyromancer ascensions.
Alright, start of casting pull from the deep copying it X times for the ascensions. For every 2 copies, grab one clone legion and 3 cytoshapes and cast the combo (should be X/2 times). Repeat for the next three pull from the deeps, followed by the 4 restocks, followed by the 4 all suns' dawn.
Now cast treasured find copying it X times for the ascensions. For every 4 copies, grab one clone legion and 3 cytoshapes and cast the combo (should be X/2 times). Repeat for the next three treasured finds, the 4 woodland guidances and finally all 4 vengeful rebirths (dealing the damage to any creature you control but vigor).
Now we will cast bound // determined, using the 5 color transguild courier to sacrifice to Bound, and then returning the 4 cards in the combo and the courier, bound // determineds recasting the courier after the combo to set up for the next Bound. This should allow for X more iterations of the combo. Repeat for the next three bound // determineds.
Finally use praetor's counsel to fuel to combo, allowing another X iterations. Repeat 3 times for the remaining praetor's counsels.
On the very last iteration of the combo, things will go a little different. First we will actually use the pandemonium trigger. We will set it up so that the triggers form a circuit allowing the damage to grow after each trigger. Second, we not cast the 2 cytoshape leaving all the tokens as [c]doubling season[c] instead.
Now, we will sacrifice the tokens, starting with the largest one (at the end of the circuit) to the altar of dementia milling the opponent, and then moving the +1/+1 counters to the next largest doubling season via death's presence. Repeat this until all doubling seasons are gone, moving the tokens to vigor.
Finally, fling the very large vigor.
Anyone have an idea of how that compares to other attempts?
For example, if I cast Cytoshape targeting Ink-treader Nephilim and choosing to make it a copy of itself while having 2 other creatures (A and B) in play, will I be forced to make both other creatures a copy of Ink-treader Nephilim, or can I make creature A a copy of creature B?
Profusion of Dust 3UB
Enchantment ~ Processor
Devoid (This card has no color.)
Skip your draw step.
Put a card an opponent owns from exile into that players graveyard: Draw a card.
Your maximum hand size is two.
I was not going to mention the Mormon views in depth as many non-Mormons are not deeply familiar with them (you are an exception, not the norm). As far as how it fits into the statements I made, I do not believe Mormonism to be entirely dissimilar to more normal Christian views specifically regarding the afterlife in terms of risk/reward (they are very different from a doctrinal point of view).
Both have a tiered reward system (there are multiple final destinations for the soul), Mormons just have more tiers.
Both have a definite best place, that is restricted to the faithful.
Both believe that one is cut of from the presence of God if one does not reach the highest tier.
I will admit that the spirit prison/paradise concept is quite a break from normal Christianity, (although it does bear resemblances to the traditional heaven/hell split for saints vs. everyone else) I don't believe that it invalidates the comparison as it is not a sure guarantee to get into the top tier, mainly just a 'safety net' for those who don't ever even get a fair chance (for example those in oppressive countries without religious freedom).
The conversion from the standard Christian view to Mormonism is not so complex, think along the lines of(another analogy!!!) a pass/fail(Traditional) class vs a letter grade system(Mormonism) class. You still want an 'A' over a 'C' if you can get it, even though both are passing grades. And in the case of Mormonism the payout for getting an 'A' vs a 'B' is the difference between becoming a God and just becoming an angel. That is no minor difference, one that I (you may not however, another assumption...) consider somewhat comparable to the standard heaven/hell division.
Now as for that statement that I am most familiar with Christianity, I still stand 100% behind it. Hypothetically lets say that the Mormon faith comprises 10% concepts in the CHRISTIAN super-class of religions. That means that I am at a 10% for CHRISTIANITY without any other knowledge of the standard views. Now compare that to the amount I know of JUDAISM, MUSLIM, or BUDDHISM. I would only feel comfortable giving myself a 5% knowledge in those as I know a few basics, but non of the deeper ideas (especially any recent concepts they may have gained). Thus while I may only comprehend 10% of CHRISTIANITY, that is greater than my 5% knowledge of the JUDAISM, MUSLIM, or BUDDHISM meaning that I am in fact most familiar with CHRISTIANITY despite the point that I only know Mormonism (and in reality I know of other CHRISTIAN faiths too so 10% is low).