MTG Salvation

Quote from Vissah »

I`m really into just being the best combo deck I can be, specially game 1. After that I don`t mind changing or playing a bit more midrange because games turn out a lot like that.
I play the same style with Reanimator so what kind of list would you suggest if I just want to combo off as fast and cinsistent as possible.

OK, here we go:
Living End is a good Deck for game 1 in particular when your opponent tries to fill the boards with many creatures very fast. (Elves / Bogles / 8Wack Goblins)
And it is much better against hand disruption than Ad Nauseam, Vizier Combo or Saheli Cat, because you need 1 Cascade spell as the payoff and thats it. I would agree that it is very easy to achieve the combo so it is in my opinion the most consistent combo deck. I like to play both cascade spells 4x but many play only 3 Demonic Dreads. But the combo does not directly win you the game and the opponent has the option to interact with it. You still need to attack with the creatures and when you Cascade for 4 creatures with Demonic Dread your opponent can play a wrath card or burn you to death. (For example Affinity sacrifices all creature Artifacts to Arcbound Ravager and they can basically keep their board if you don't have the Faerie Macabre) Which brings me to my next point: Imagine you play against a "normal deck" with black Interaction for destroying creatures, attacking the hand and so on. They will interact with you, they will Push / Bolt their own creatures on the board Or will Thoughtseize /Thoughscour themselves for that juicy Gurmag Angler Boy who hols up your 4/4s. If your opponent knows what he is doing and has a game plan against Living End, he will interact with you even in game 1, because he can. You do get some really free Game 1s with T3 Cascade and reanimate a 6/4 , two 4/4s and a 3/4 and your opponent just scoops or does not have an out, but that is not the case against most non super linear decks. On the other hand the games against Hollow One and Grixis Deaths Shadow are among the most interactive matches I ever had and I love it. Thats one reason you see Faerie Macabres and Fulminator Mages in the main board on basically all the lists. You want interaction, because it is often worth it / you need it because the opponent hits harder / is faster. (Storm / GrishoalBrand / BridgeVine)

One of the big upsides of Living End (in my opinion) is that you don't fold to hate automatically. Your main gameplan has already 2 sides: Kill everything on the board AND put everything from your GY back to the field. The opponent has a Rest in Peace and 3 creatures on the board? OK, Cascade into living End, wipe the board and start casting your stuff. Even a small living end can win you the game when you wipe the opponents board. Then you also have the Land-destruction plan which is awesome against Tron and Ux-Control Decks. They don't care about their creatures -> hit the lands.

I feel like Living End is not a usual Reanimator deck at all, at least not to me. It is much more interactive and flexible and plays super interesting cards like faerie Macabre and Ricochet Trap while being in my favorite colors black and red.
Edit: It may also be noticed, that the living end combo disrupts other combos like Saheli, Vizier or Kiki-Angel.

Ok, this is my OC-deck for the modern format highlighting the card Myr Superion and Grand Architect
This deck exists for around 7 days now and is still in the making, but here is the current version:

Cards that I am still unsure to play: 4x Polluted Delta. I could play Scalding Tarn and a basic mountain but I consider cutting all the fetchlands. I am not sure if its worth it but you can of course make point for playing them.
The split of 2 Serum Visions and 3 Relic of Progenitus is also not fix
The sideboard is kind of thrown together only fix things are the 1 lightning bolt, 2 of the Damping Spheres and the 2 Spellskites.
I have little experience playing artifact based decks in modern so I would like to have some advice on side boarding.

I like the color and the mana costs. I am not sure if the wording is clear enough though. Damage to opponent is also called combat damage and this would mean no player can't lose life to attacking creatures, but I am sure that is not what you wanted to happen here. I would suggest the following wording:
Whenever a creature would deal combat damage to another creature prevent that damage. Then each of those creatures deals damage to itself equal to its power.
The problem still stands: What happens when 1 creature attacks and is blocked by three creatures. Then each blocker deals damage to itself. I think that it is ind of strange to "mess" with the basic rules of combat, it gets confusing very quickly. But i still like the idea to push those toughness higher than power creatures.
Here is my newest edition to my Elemental cycle (I hope you don't get tired of it)
Rakdos Elemental 1(B/R)(B/R)
Creature - Elemental
When Rakdos Elemental enters the battlefield, target opponent discards a card if B was spent to cast Rakdos Elemental
When Rakdos Elemental enters the battlefield, it deals 2 damage to target player or planeswlker if R was spent to cast Rakdos Elemental
Evoke (B/R)
2/1

Maybe I have to change the second ability so you can only deal damage to a player, but idk for sure.

Quote from void_nothing »

Simic Elemental is, bluntly, absurd. Man-O'-War would still be one of the best Limited cards in a set if reprinted today. It might even see Constructed play if a blue tempo deck were supported. That, but for 1GU and as a 3/4, would easily be the best creature in a set. That but more flexible still by allowing you to put the counter on any creature is just icing on the cake made entirely of icing. That and it has two useful modes for one mana would make it just unholy.

Selesnya Elemental is fine; the full mode, without building around, is 2GW for a 3/3 and two 1/1s, which is fair at rare for Limited and might not even make a Constructed splash. If you're going to use a one-off populate without keywording it, I guess this is the place to use it.

In all honesty: I am so thankful for your comment. I don't play limited or sealed very much and can often not grasp all these influences on those formats. My strategy until now was to put two fitting common cards, each a little powered down together and put a body under it.
I am especially interested in how I can make the Simic one more fair. As references I used The Instant unsummon and "powered it down" to sorcery speed. Combined with the card effect of Arbor Armament also now at sorcery speed and without reach. I am not sure how powerful that +1/+1 counter is, for me it was not that good, at least in constructed. I thought about what happened to Reflector Mage in standard and thought this creature would be similar but not as good so i can give him the 2/3 body. I see how that is too much on its own. Do you (or any one) think(s) that changing he mana cost to
2(G/U)(G/U) will be enough ta balance it, or should I also lower the stats?
In general I guess I have to rethink the strategy because some common cards are just good and can not get another upside justified by different rarity. (Ponder, Serum Visions...)
I think it is hard to balance a card with a specific concept so you don't make it too good, but also don't miss out on a good rare card that is actually playable in constructed. Normally I don't mind to create an OK card, but as a cycle I don't want to really push some colors and let the others get crap versions of their card. Thank you very much for you comments and interest.

Edit: Here is another one:
Rakdos Elemental 1(B/R)(B/R)
Creature - Elemental
When Rakdos ELemental enters the battlefield, target opponent discards a card if B was spent to cast Rakdos Elemental
When Rakdos ELemental enters the battlefield, it deals 2 damage to target player or planeswlker if R was spent to cast Rakdos Elemental
Evoke (B/R)
2/1

Quote from InfinityDie »

Pen and Paper 1
Artifact (M)
At the beginning of your upkeep, each player puts a +1/+1 counter on target creature they control and draw a card. Then, if your life total is equal to or less than half of your starting life total, transform ~
Some wars are won with the diplomat speaking words of peace...
/////////////
Shield and Sword
Artifact
Creatures you control have lifelink and double strike
...and others are won when the knight stabs the diplomat

I think it is ok balanced but it has a really big impact on the game. If your opponent(s) don't play creatures they are in massive disadvantage and if everyone does, much more cads will be drawn. This would mostly fit in a commander set where the chance of removing this is higher but also can benefits a large amount of the players. (and keeps you from getting attacked.) I like it

My newest edition to the Guild Elementals. (I honestly want to think of a cool name for each of these, but I am just not good at it.
Golgari Elemental 3
Creature - Elemental
When Golgari Elemental enters the battlefield, target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn if B was cast to spend Golgari Elemental
When Golgari Elemental enters the battlefield, you gain 4 life if G was cast to spend Golgari Elemental
Evoke
2/4

My initial thought was 2(B/G)(B/G) but I looked at all existing cards with these mana costs and they are really bad, so I did not want to make a creature that is so much better compared to these. I thought about adding defender to the creature BUT it did not fit in the card space! I wanted to have these Stats so that the -2/-2 makes sense, because it drains 2 from a creature (I just realized that i accidentally wrote -1/-1, sorry.) and the 4 life should be represented in the toughness. I think I will make a full cycle of these but I don't want to rush it. I really hope WOTC brings back evoke, it was my favorite mechanic. I also want to make a design for enchantments with evoke but that is a bit more in the future
Here is another one:
Simic Elemental 1(G/U)(G/U)
Creature Elemental
When Simic Elemental enters the battlefield, you may put a +1/+1 counter on target creature if G was spent to cast Simic Elemental.
When Simic Elemental enters the battlefield, return another target creature to its owner's hand if U was spent to cast Simic Elemental.
Evoke (G/U) (You may cast this spell for its evoke cost. If you do, it's sacrificed when it enters the battlefield.)
2/3

I was thinking about removing the "another" in the second effect, but then you can pay 1(G/U)(G/U) again and again to put another counter on something else. This payoff for infinite mana is nice but I can not say if that would be a mayor problem in specific formats, but at least you have to pay U as well. If this was safe, I really want to change that so you can repeat the effect for the +1/+1 counter. It would mean I created a spell that says:
Sorcery - G
put a +1/+1 counter on target creature
buyback 1U
Here is another one:
Selesnya Elemental 2(G/W)(G/W)
Creature Elemental
When Selesnya Elemental enters the battlefield,
create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token if G was spent to cast Selesnya Elemental.
When Selesnya Elemental enters the battlefield,
create a token that's a copy of a creature token if W was spent to cast Selesnya Elemental.
Evoke (G/W) (You may cast this spell for its evoke cost. If you do, it's sacrificed when it enters the battlefield.)


I ran into 2 problems here: First i think the abilities are too bad if you play it for the evoke cost at least compared to the other. But i did not want to make a special token with lifelink that does not exist (yet) or does not fit the elemental idea. Second these are all triggered abilities, which may be hard for a casual player to understand, but on the other hand you have to learn them eventually and these are not too complicated. I like this one the least because it feels too weak for a rare but I want to make a cycle of them. I had to change the others if I want to lower the power level which I don't think is absolutely necessary.
I wish I could give the Golgari Elemental Defender and Reach and the Selesnya Elemental Vigilance but the text is too stuffed then.
Now that all the green colored Elementals are done i will get really hard for me to find the right pictures / flavors for the rest (if I really do all)
Posts merged. Please don't double post in a short period of time.

^
|| Thank you for your post and your point of view. I agree that Boros would also be very fitting and I think I get your point. I would like to point to some cards that may underline my color choice. Red for the artifact part is well established and obvious, no further explanation here. The point that would speak for Red / White is the card Wear // Tear and Wispmare. The following cards would support my point of Red / Green: Hull Breach , Back to Nature because green is there specifically to destroy enchantment and on the other hand the white card Fragmentize which can destroy both an artifact and enchantment for only W. Last point is my understanding of the Gruul Clan(s) that their goal is to destroy all unnatural and still need a creature that reflects that strive.
Newest Card in the category Evoke with 2 colors:
Golgari Elemental 3
Creature - Elemental
When Golgari Elemental enters the battlefield, target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn if B was cast to spend Golgari Elemental
When Golgari Elemental enters the battlefield, you gain 4 life if G was cast to spend Golgari Elemental
Evoke
2/4

I am honestly sorry to not have included the artist before, I just forgot to add it.

One thing I don't understand at all: Why do WOTC always choose to print a full cycle of lands even though there is only like 1 or 2 good of them. Why don't they printed these 5:
Horizon Canopy G/W
Celestial Colonnade W/U
Creeping Tar Pit U/B
Blackcleave Cliffs B/R
Copperline Gorge R/G

In all these reprint sets they do stupid stuff like printing crap rares no one plays, just for completing a cycle.

Quote from tiasian »

Debilitater 3BB
Enchantment Artifact Creature - Shaman
Deathtouch
Creatures your opponents control get -0/-2.
2B , : Remove all counters from target creature.
2/4

Costs could maybe use tweaking, but uh the abilities and typline stay. Sorry.

Enchantment + Artifact Creature together does not fit well. The card seems to be really good, because of the on going effect to auto kill creatures. Maybe make it cost 3BBB instead. The problem with the 2/4 stats are, that this is bolt and push proof. you could make it a 2/3 instead and black tends to struggle with killing black creatures so maybe you can change the ability slightly as well. My suggestion:

Debilitater 3BBB
Enchantment Creature - Shaman
Deathtouch
Nonblack creatures your opponents control get -0/-2.
2B , : Remove all counters from target creature.
2/3

Here is my newest card. Inspiration was a phoenix (illusion) that is created by a mage, so the picture does not fit too well. Maybe I just throw that concept overboard, because red illusion looks so strange but on the other hand WOTC started that madness when they printed a red Merfolk.
Spectral Phoenix 1 R R
Creature - Phoenix Illusion
Flying, haste
Spectral Phoenix can't block.
1R, Discard Spectral Phoenix: Spectral Phoenix deals 2 damage to target creature.
2RR: Return Spectral Phoenix from your graveyard to your hand.
2/2


|| thanks for pointing out the spelling mistake, I corrected it : )
|| It does specifically say it can't block so that you cant just let him block for ever. That was not very red in my opinion.
|| I think 1R, Discard is fine, because the damage is based on an ability so you don't cast anything
|| which is hard for blue to interact with. And otherwise it would be too good compared to shock
\/

He dies because you cast living end when he enters the battlefield. That trigger goes off, when he is already been cast. (Bloodbraid Elf would live because cascade triggers while cast so BBE is still on the stack.)

What I do not like with expansion // explosion is that it is not good against settle the wreckage , spreading seas ans also can get troublesome with Remand because the can eventually cast it again. It cool, because it can hit non blue stuff for RR but I can not really think of any meaningful interaction with that card besides blue decks. (If there is, please tell me)

Quote from vandergahast_ »

Im also looking for a good sideboard strategy against Spirits and Merfolk, so far I've tried Ricochet Trap , Anger of the Gods Hollow One and Dead // Gone . And im not particulary happy with either of them, with Dead // Gone responsible for the most stolen wins, but its still clunky.

The hard part against Merfolk are not the creatures in m opinion. They play Spreading Seas, some counter spells and lately a really good Mistcaller I personally play with the following strategy: In my 60 cards after sideboarding I have 2-3 Ricochet Traps for Spreading Seas and the counter spells and also 2 Dead // Gone and 2 Shriekmaw to hit the Mistcaller or other good creatures. I throw out all my Fulminator Mages and my Beast Withins and mostly the Faerie Macabres in favor for Ingot Chewer because I often see Relic of Progenitus as their hate option and even if they don't have it, I can destroy their AEther Vial. But when I know they have Surgical Extraction as their graveyard hate I do like the Fearie Macabre to stay in. I do NOT side in Anger of the Gods, because they are busy keeping you from Living Ending so they will not get a really large board.
Spirits is very hard. I wrote that a while ago. They have all the tools to hurt you and my recommendation there would be to really out pace them, be faster and try living ending turn 2 or when they are tapped out. In this matchup I also cut the fulminator mages and put play 3 Ingot Chewers , 2 Shriekmaws and 2 [Krosan Grip[/card] after side board. I do play 2 Archfiend of Ifnir in my 75 and think this card is really good there. But I am still very lost when I have to play against the deck...

Beyond my Local Card Shop and some good friends I did not play very much in the past months. I can post my list, so you can say what you think of it. My last tournament play was a while ago, around the time the KCI showed up. There I went 4-1 with loosing to spirits and winning against Dredge, Hollow One, Death's Shadow and Bogles

I do not like to play more cyclers because if there is a problematic game state, cycling on will mostly not solve them
Faerie Macabre in the Main is a must in my opinion. Against every deck with Snapcaster Mage in it, Hollow One and now Dredge Vine. Also all the Death's Shadow decks that kill their own creatures in response to Living End or if they milled themselves with Thoughtscour / Grim Flayer.
I like the Ingot Chewer because at worst hes a 3/3 for R and can hit main board stuff like AEther Vial, Relic, Ensnaring Bridge, Hollow Ones, Arcbound Ravagers, Chalice of the Void on 0 or nowadays KCI pieces.
The 1 Shriekmaw is good against decks I really struggle against that is Hatebears / Death Taxes, Infect and Humans. It really shines there, but is a problem if the opponent does not play any creatures you can get a 3/2 for 1B but have to kill some of your own creatures eventually, so I only play 1.
I considered cutting the fourth Fulminator Mage to the sideboard but I am not sure what then will go in the Main then.
I play 2 Brindle Boars in the side, but I am not completely happy with them in the burn matchup, but I also like them in Mathups where the opponent only plays Basic Lands so I can at least swap out the fulminator mages. Dead Gone is really nice against humans, spirits, merfolk and burn.
There really needs to be a split card like Wear // Tear but with 1R // G because I always feel like gambling if the opponent has Leyline or Relic. Leyline is much worse

I am not sure what the Deadshot Minotaurs are for. Did you play them because of your manabase, budget or do you really want them? For me this would be the first card to cut completely. I also hate it when the Hollow One player starts with a leyline of the void, I otherwise really like the matchup. I personally play at least 3 Faerie Macabres in my total 75 for Hollow One, Dredgevine and Deatsh's Shadow decks. What was your experience with only two Fulminator Mages in the main? I always played 4 because of the control decks and tron. Maybe cut the strange Soul Spike for a Krosan Grip?

Thank you for the results and story, I would like to exchange opinions/ hear your thoughts.

Reminds me of Living Death but you don't have to sacrifice your own creatures. In the end I think it would be fine. Giving the mana cost it looks like a card for commander anyway. That should be fine, giving that it is a multiplayer format and the chances of other players profiting from it is high.
Maybe the wording could be: Until end of turn, each creature returned this way gains "At end of turn, exile this creature unless you sacrificed three other creatures this turn." For the flavor maybe something that refers to short span of (after)life.


Woodland Creeg
Land
Add U to yourmana pool.
Landfall - If you had a land enter the battlefield under your controll this turn, add G to your mana pool instead.
With this one I am pretty much changing the colors from River of Tears but with saying landfall.

I am sorry that I already posted it, but maybe this is the better place for a custom card than an own thread.

Gruul Elemental 2 <- Name still not sure / not fitting for the mechanics. I would like to have something more generic nature based

Creature - Elemental
When Gruul Elemental enters the battlefield,
destroy target artifact if R was spend to cast Gruul Elemental.
When Gruul Elemental enters the battlefield,
destroy target enchantment if G was spend tocast Gruul Elemental.
Evoke (You may cast this spell for its evoke cost.
If you do, it's sacrificed when it enters the battlefield.)
3/2


I was inspired by Ingot Chewer and Fragmentize and the card Wear // Tear Another member in the forum mentioned the card Hull Breach which is very similar. I already changed the 3/3 stats to 3/2 so it is not completely better than Ingot Chewer because it is anyways. But now it dies to Shock in Standard and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben in Modern.

Thank you very much for the feedback. Text version is now edited. I was not pleased, that this is ingot chewer but only better, so I really like the idea of you and make it a 3/2 so it dies to Thalia (for Modern and such) and Shock (for standard). You are also 100% right that it would belong more in a Lorwyn block area, but honestly I was not able to come up with a better name at that point and (self shaming on me) I was a bit too exited for Gruul Clan in the next set. My first Idea was Burning-Tree Elemental, but someone used that name before. I will think of a better name and edit the card.
New Version:

Gruul Elemental 2
Creature - Elemental
When Gruul Elemental enters the battlefield,
destroy target artifact if R was spend to cast Gruul Elemental.
When Gruul Elemental enters the battlefield,
destroy target enchantment if G was spend to cast Gruul Elemental.
Evoke (You may cast this spell for its evoke cost.
If you do, it's sacrificed when it enters the battlefield.)
3/2