I'm having a hard time in my local game store, a player is playing a Lavinia, Azorius Renegade deck, where the primary wincon is to lock people out using Lavinia and Knowledge Pool, which prevents his opponents from casting spells. I essentially need to destroy an artifact without casting a spell. I've found a couple of ways to kill Lavinia, with Quicksand or Deem Worthy but neither of those take down the pool, just the Lavinia, which is super easy to just get from the command zone. Since Knowledge Pool is a triggered ability and not an activated one, split second doesn't work so [[card]]Krosan Grip]] doesn't really work. Any answer, preferably in blue and red, would be appreciated!
Unlike the lock with Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, the Lavinia lock can be avoided by spells that can't be countered (assuming you fish them from the pool, of course), which gives you a few ways in red to at least take Lavinia off the table, such as Combust and Exquisite Firecraft, among others. Obliterate takes out pool itself alongside Lavinia (assuming you have 8 lands), and Sphinx of the Final Word lets you cast other instants and sorceries. Wreak Havoc and Vexing Shusher achieve the same effect in red/green decks. A green deck loaded with uncounterable creatures can just muscle its way through the lock.
Oh, and taxes can shut Lavinia's triggered ability off entirely, since they apply after the zero-mana alternate casting cost. In your colors having Damping Sphere, Defense Grid, Lodestone Golem, Sphere of Resistance, or Thorn of Amethyst out beforehand stops the lock from being established in the first place for the taxed spells.
Shattering Spree should work fine. It's a 1 CMC card no matter how often you replicate, so Lavinia isn't likely to interfere. And the replicate copies aren't cast so a single replicate copy can take down the Pool.
Honestly, since you're in blue the best option would probably just be counterspells. Once your Lavinia opponent gets to five or six mana make sure you always have mana up to counter the Knowledge Pool. That way you're not running a bunch of narrow cards that are potentially dead draws when you're not in this situation.
I believe that if you're not casting the spell from your hand then Knowledge Pool's restrictions won't interfere. Bash to Bits and Ancient Grudge can be flashed back to destroy the Pool, or you could cast Welcome to the Fold from exile via Madness to steal Lavinia and give the player a taste of their own medicine. If you don't have a discard enabler already in play when the Pool comes down then you'd have to wait and fill your hand, then discard one of these at end of turn to get them where they need to be.
Eternal Scourge and Misthollow Griffin can both be cast from exile so you can still cast them after they wind up in the Pool.
Assuming this is a Commander deck then casting your commander from the Command Zone should bypass the lock. Maybe add black, run Sedris as your commander, and Unearth whatever you can manage to get into your graveyard? Memnarch is the only mono-blue commander I can think of offhand that would have a meaningful direct effect (stealing Lavinia), but Venser would let you reset things for a turn. Joven as the commander would be a liability in most any other matchup but it may get the point across If you're willing to go green then Freyalise can keep coming back to kill the Knowledge Pool over and over again.
If you can get a Titania's Song in play beforehand then the Knowledge Pool will be negated.
Note that if the Lavinia player gets a Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir out, the third option is closed, since at that point you can't cast the spell from the Pool at all. The first two kinds of solutions would still work, though.
Unlike the lock with Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, the Lavinia lock can be avoided by spells that can't be countered (assuming you fish them from the pool, of course), which gives you a few ways in red to at least take Lavinia off the table, such as Combust and Exquisite Firecraft, among others. Obliterate takes out pool itself alongside Lavinia (assuming you have 8 lands), and Sphinx of the Final Word lets you cast other instants and sorceries. Wreak Havoc and Vexing Shusher achieve the same effect in red/green decks. A green deck loaded with uncounterable creatures can just muscle its way through the lock.
Oh, and taxes can shut Lavinia's triggered ability off entirely, since they apply after the zero-mana alternate casting cost. In your colors having Damping Sphere, Defense Grid, Lodestone Golem, Sphere of Resistance, or Thorn of Amethyst out beforehand stops the lock from being established in the first place for the taxed spells.
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Eternal Scourge and Misthollow Griffin can both be cast from exile so you can still cast them after they wind up in the Pool.
Assuming this is a Commander deck then casting your commander from the Command Zone should bypass the lock. Maybe add black, run Sedris as your commander, and Unearth whatever you can manage to get into your graveyard? Memnarch is the only mono-blue commander I can think of offhand that would have a meaningful direct effect (stealing Lavinia), but Venser would let you reset things for a turn. Joven as the commander would be a liability in most any other matchup but it may get the point across If you're willing to go green then Freyalise can keep coming back to kill the Knowledge Pool over and over again.
If you can get a Titania's Song in play beforehand then the Knowledge Pool will be negated.
Your options include:
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
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