I've never really been sold on the Medallion line personally. They do what they do well, but they only do one thing(as opposed to say, Jace's Sanctum, or the monuments). In your case WizardMN, they would apply the discount to about 34 of your spells(maybe more if the X spells get discounted), but it could apply the same problem you've had earlier: you have no colored mana of the type needed to cast a spell. It also still falls into the problem of not helping you get your general out faster(like you said with Hall, the first time at least).
Good on you to test it, but I've never had anything spectacular happen.
That's the thing though, Igzex...it's in the right color for running even that CMC and then at least the biggest threat(s) from your hand same turn, so that's almost a non-issue, I'd argue. As for Dunharrow's question(how often do you need that many cards from your GY), my first though would be mill/discard decks, but they have(or dang well SHOULD have) ways to play the cards straight from the GY, so yeah...that would be a good point.
Better than running Reliquary Tower? Most people have been poo-poohing it as an overrated card, so while this is a very POOR alternative, maybe there's that?
None of my decks have a need for it, and I traded my one copy for a card I wanted, so...yeah, I got nothing more.
My LGS group always asks about what type of mulligans are preferred(as everyone has different preferences..shocker, right?)
Anyway, my personal preferred is the standard(?) 'one free mulligan for any reason', followed by mulligans reduced by one card each time. The scrys are usually handled different from group to group, but I usually pass on them...dunno why, they just don't feel right to me personally, but that's my hangup.
Despite their niche uses in early game and against 'all-in' players, I have never liked tax counterspells and avoid them like the plague. Hard pass on this.
So we're all durdling along, partly because people are keeping a good eye out on Vorel(he got some guys out with counters pretty fast, but they died before Vorel could do anything), and partly because the guy who borrowed Merieke wasn't sure what the gameplan was beyond steal, and Nissa was trying to get stuff. I was stuck in a mana drought, which I managed to get through by clamping my extra dudes from casting spells.
Anyway, we start to get in a good spot where things are going to happen; I'd been hitting Blood Artist triggers with my dudes being clamped, and it's kept me happy. Everyone has a significant board state, Merieke is eyeballing Vorel's board for another steal, and then I go for a massive swing spell-wise: I send Yahenni, Undying Partisan over at Nissa with FaF to get through her blockers for the untap trigger. Untap all my lands after having cast some vampires in pre-combat. Tap them all down again to bring out Exquisite Blood and then Malakir Bloodwitch. Ten vampires on my board, which comes out to 10 loss of life to each opponent, and 60 total lifegain for me(I'm now at 105 life).
Vorel is annoyed that he has no way to power his army through my chumps(and isn't keen on getting pinged by Blood Artist AND Falkenrath Noble), so he mitigates the damage to come by casting Acidic Slime to kill my Exquisite Blood. Completely legit.
Merieke then decides the boards of everyone else are getting too scary, so he casts Supreme Verdict, giving me 54 life-loss/lifegain triggers total from Noble and Artist. This is after saccing one chump to Yahenni to keep him on the field, who then sees all the other creatures die on my opponent's sides and goes Super Saiyan.
Take everyone down to around 10 life, gain 54(now at 159 life), and just wait for my next turn, where Yahenni swats Vorel down, while Edgar chops down Merieke, and at that point, "GG" was called.
I'm scared to see how well it will work when I get a Necropotence...
All valid thoughts. The lands run into problems in my deck because I run discount spells(Jace's Sanctum and Baral, Chief of Compliance), so I know exactly what you mean(probably means I should cut one or two of them...).
You also have a good point on Leng...so many times I just have it sit there, not just in my hand(because I already have the tower out), but even out on the field when it's relevant...completely missing the explosiveness I can pull off(perhaps another argument against running Eldrazi as 'library nets'). So if it DOES end up making the cut, keep careful track of your effects.
One more point to make: Glimmer of Genius. Given that you have no way to use energy counters, why not trade that in for Foresee? 2 extra scry for the same CMC seems like a good reason to me, even if you ARE trading an instant for a sorcery. Or, if you feel that's too much of a downgrade, why not Preordain?
Perhaps these cards won't meet your needs, but I see them as very useful in an 'Izzety' deck.
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea - drawing extra cards for the output of a Sol Ring is fun. Leave up two mana for a counter, and if it's not needed, EOT a draw. Obviously, the bad side is that it affects everyone, but that's not a terrible price to pay. Keranos, God of Storms - great guy to help filter out your deck, AND bolt something troublesome. Boseiju, Who Shelters All - seeing as you're wanting to cast a lot of spells, hit this card up pronto. Hall of the Bandit Lord - THIS one, I can understand passing on. It's expensive to pay to get the 1, but it can be useful in a pinch. Think about it, at least. Library of Leng - suppose you don't WANT to discard your hand, but you need that draw spell? Well, now you have a choice. LoL gives more flexibility than people give it credit for. Trickbind - seeing you mention your frustration with High Market made me want to suggest this card. I see you have Disallow, which is good, but you might want to have that extra insurance as well. Dack Fayden - considered the 'go-to planeswalker' for most Izzet decks, and with good reason.
I've got a different strategy in mind(plus a different general) for my Izzet deck, but if you want to look for other ideas, feel free.
Obviously, if someone runs direct damage spells, this is a very nice boost. But it's thoroughly amusing how many people get shocked to discover that two untapped R turn out to be a Nope from red...NOBODY expects a Nope from red, not even with Wild Ricochet or Reverberate out there.
I daresay you can't truly be unhappy to see this in your hand, ever.
In truth, I'm trying to find my copies of the walking stick. I'm also considering a bottle of hooch as well, given that it's on theme and fits into my secondary win-con.
Also worth noting that if you use Child of Alara as your general, you HAVE to let it go to the graveyard for its trigger to happen...putting it back in the command zone won't work. Granted, you'll be in five colors, so you have all the options to rez, but it's worth remembering.
I only have Arcane Lighthouse in one deck(Merieke), and that's because my deck NEEDS to be able to target creatures. If you're running more board wipes, or stuff that works just as well on your own critters, I'd pitch that. Same reasoning for Detection Tower at that rate.
Reliquary Tower is an overrated EDH card. People get greedy and want to hang onto all their cards, but they never go above 4 or 5 in hand. Additionally, sometimes it's just as powerful to discard, and Reliquary takes that option away from you. I run both it and Library of Leng in my Niv deck, but again...it's not out of the question for me to have 14 or so cards in hand for a game with that.
Myriad Landscape - well, how often do you need to color fix? And for two basics? I'd say Myriad is best run in mono-color decks(or Gx decks that love to ramp), so if your deck is neither, that's another contender for pitching.
Homeward Path and Temple of the False God are the most useful of your utility lands. Path is useful for the odd theft/bribery tech you may run into, or for politics if you were NOT the one targeted for theft. Temple is slow, but good more often than not...the only real time you don't want it is in your opening hand with one other land.
End analysis: Reliquary, Arcane/Detection, Myriad, Path/Temple from most pitchable to least.
For a deck like this, where CBXantcha is suggesting creatures no one wants to swing into, you REALLY want Basilisk Collar. Suddenly, ALL your creatures are ones no one wants to swing into.
In something like this too, having Magma Phoenix with the collar is also hilarious. Even though lifegain isn't your primary thing, you can get an insane amount of life, all because one person didn't leave you alone.
People frown on them, but two of the recentcurses could be useful to you as well, encouraging 'redistribution of force', lol.
Unburial Rites - Yes, yes...I know what Edgar says, and how this won't work for it. But it can be useful to bring some bigger vampires back to play for whatever reason.
Attrition - more value for the weenies in case I don't have other uses for them.
Stensia Masquerade - more anthem effects for the vampires aren't bad, yes?
Chromatic Lantern - tri color decks need color fixing now and again...this should help.
Though I usually don't recommend levelers, Transcendent Master can be an option if you ramp hard into him. Loxodon Warhammer was just discussed in the Random Card of the Day thread, and that's always a decent choice. Basilisk Collar should be in just about any deck leaning into lifegain as well. Sword of War and Peace can be useful as well if you can keep your hand full.
Good on you to test it, but I've never had anything spectacular happen.
Better than running Reliquary Tower? Most people have been poo-poohing it as an overrated card, so while this is a very POOR alternative, maybe there's that?
None of my decks have a need for it, and I traded my one copy for a card I wanted, so...yeah, I got nothing more.
Anyway, my personal preferred is the standard(?) 'one free mulligan for any reason', followed by mulligans reduced by one card each time. The scrys are usually handled different from group to group, but I usually pass on them...dunno why, they just don't feel right to me personally, but that's my hangup.
So, I decided tonight was the night to test all the adjustments made to my Edgar Markov deck. I'm squaring off against mini-Nissa, Merieke Ri Berit(my own deck, borrowed by a friend), and Vorel of the Hull Clade.
So we're all durdling along, partly because people are keeping a good eye out on Vorel(he got some guys out with counters pretty fast, but they died before Vorel could do anything), and partly because the guy who borrowed Merieke wasn't sure what the gameplan was beyond steal, and Nissa was trying to get stuff. I was stuck in a mana drought, which I managed to get through by clamping my extra dudes from casting spells.
Anyway, we start to get in a good spot where things are going to happen; I'd been hitting Blood Artist triggers with my dudes being clamped, and it's kept me happy. Everyone has a significant board state, Merieke is eyeballing Vorel's board for another steal, and then I go for a massive swing spell-wise: I send Yahenni, Undying Partisan over at Nissa with FaF to get through her blockers for the untap trigger. Untap all my lands after having cast some vampires in pre-combat. Tap them all down again to bring out Exquisite Blood and then Malakir Bloodwitch. Ten vampires on my board, which comes out to 10 loss of life to each opponent, and 60 total lifegain for me(I'm now at 105 life).
Vorel is annoyed that he has no way to power his army through my chumps(and isn't keen on getting pinged by Blood Artist AND Falkenrath Noble), so he mitigates the damage to come by casting Acidic Slime to kill my Exquisite Blood. Completely legit.
Merieke then decides the boards of everyone else are getting too scary, so he casts Supreme Verdict, giving me 54 life-loss/lifegain triggers total from Noble and Artist. This is after saccing one chump to Yahenni to keep him on the field, who then sees all the other creatures die on my opponent's sides and goes Super Saiyan.
Take everyone down to around 10 life, gain 54(now at 159 life), and just wait for my next turn, where Yahenni swats Vorel down, while Edgar chops down Merieke, and at that point, "GG" was called.
I'm scared to see how well it will work when I get a Necropotence...
You also have a good point on Leng...so many times I just have it sit there, not just in my hand(because I already have the tower out), but even out on the field when it's relevant...completely missing the explosiveness I can pull off(perhaps another argument against running Eldrazi as 'library nets'). So if it DOES end up making the cut, keep careful track of your effects.
One more point to make: Glimmer of Genius. Given that you have no way to use energy counters, why not trade that in for Foresee? 2 extra scry for the same CMC seems like a good reason to me, even if you ARE trading an instant for a sorcery. Or, if you feel that's too much of a downgrade, why not Preordain?
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea - drawing extra cards for the output of a Sol Ring is fun. Leave up two mana for a counter, and if it's not needed, EOT a draw. Obviously, the bad side is that it affects everyone, but that's not a terrible price to pay.
Keranos, God of Storms - great guy to help filter out your deck, AND bolt something troublesome.
Boseiju, Who Shelters All - seeing as you're wanting to cast a lot of spells, hit this card up pronto.
Hall of the Bandit Lord - THIS one, I can understand passing on. It's expensive to pay to get the 1, but it can be useful in a pinch. Think about it, at least.
Library of Leng - suppose you don't WANT to discard your hand, but you need that draw spell? Well, now you have a choice. LoL gives more flexibility than people give it credit for.
Trickbind - seeing you mention your frustration with High Market made me want to suggest this card. I see you have Disallow, which is good, but you might want to have that extra insurance as well.
Dack Fayden - considered the 'go-to planeswalker' for most Izzet decks, and with good reason.
I've got a different strategy in mind(plus a different general) for my Izzet deck, but if you want to look for other ideas, feel free.
I agree completely. I'm trying to find mine(at least the REBs). :\
LMAO, I love it!
I daresay you can't truly be unhappy to see this in your hand, ever.
EDIT:
- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
+ Elixir of Immortality
- Butcher of Malakir
+ Plains
Reliquary Tower is an overrated EDH card. People get greedy and want to hang onto all their cards, but they never go above 4 or 5 in hand. Additionally, sometimes it's just as powerful to discard, and Reliquary takes that option away from you. I run both it and Library of Leng in my Niv deck, but again...it's not out of the question for me to have 14 or so cards in hand for a game with that.
Myriad Landscape - well, how often do you need to color fix? And for two basics? I'd say Myriad is best run in mono-color decks(or Gx decks that love to ramp), so if your deck is neither, that's another contender for pitching.
Homeward Path and Temple of the False God are the most useful of your utility lands. Path is useful for the odd theft/bribery tech you may run into, or for politics if you were NOT the one targeted for theft. Temple is slow, but good more often than not...the only real time you don't want it is in your opening hand with one other land.
End analysis: Reliquary, Arcane/Detection, Myriad, Path/Temple from most pitchable to least.
In something like this too, having Magma Phoenix with the collar is also hilarious. Even though lifegain isn't your primary thing, you can get an insane amount of life, all because one person didn't leave you alone.
People frown on them, but two of the recent curses could be useful to you as well, encouraging 'redistribution of force', lol.
Unburial Rites - Yes, yes...I know what Edgar says, and how this won't work for it. But it can be useful to bring some bigger vampires back to play for whatever reason.
Attrition - more value for the weenies in case I don't have other uses for them.
Stensia Masquerade - more anthem effects for the vampires aren't bad, yes?
Chromatic Lantern - tri color decks need color fixing now and again...this should help.