This is not your typical morph deck. There are only 7 actual creatures with morph: Brine Elemental, Exalted Angel, Kheru Spellsnatcher, Stratus Dancer, Vesuvan Shapeshifter, Willbender, Zoetic Cavern. In additional to these creatures, Mastery of the Unseen & Illusionary Mask are the two engines which turn every card in the deck into a potential face-down creature. These 9 cards are the only face-down cards/enablers in the entire deck. The 90 other cards are included to support of these 9. This isn't just a UW Rasputin Dreamweaver deck with a few morph cards mixed in.
The whole point of this deck is to have fun with face-down creatures. Hidden information and forcing your opponents into playing the guessing game might not be the most efficient road to victory, but it's still a lot of fun. This deck wants to durdle as much as possible. This deck has no infinite combos, but it does have instant, blow-out wins. If you want to play a much more powerful version of a Rasputin Dreamweaver deck, then play a combo list. If you want to have fun with face-down creatures then play this list. (Also, I have a lot of nostalgia for very old and expensive cards. This deck was designed to be as old and expensive as possible.)
It's possible to win by durdling long enough to build up a swarm of face-down creatures or stick a few beefy fliers, but the real goal is to successfully insta-kill an opponent with a face-down Serra Avatar or Blightsteel Colossus. And that is where the real fun is found -- with Mastery of the Unseen & Illusionary Mask, any face-down creature represents potential instant death at all times and your opponents have to respect this fact. Watching your opponents squirm and wrestle with this idea throughout the course of a game is already a win in my book.
Ranger of Eos has 5 targets: Abu Ja'far, Mother of Runes, Phyrexian Dreadnought, Serra Ascendant, and Weathered Wayfarer. Each card is good on its own, but the fun begins when Illusionary Mask is in play. Because Ranger of Eos reveals 2 cards at once, no one will know which one is the 12/12 trampling creature or Abu Ja'far or any other combination best fits the current board state. Also, tapping a single plains to activate Illusionary Mask, the face-down creature can represent any of them. The same thing goes for Mastery of the Unseen. With a single plains untapped, all face-down creatures threaten to turn face-up and transform into any of them.
Ghostly Flicker, Restoration Angel, Brago, King Eternal, and Eldrazi Displacer represent another way way in which Rasputin Dreamweaver is the perfect commander for this deck. All flicker effects have the ability to essentially turn any face-down creature face-up. In addition to that, there is the obvious synergy this has with 'enters the battlefield' effects.
It's very easy to make Rasputin Dreamweaver completely busted. This isn't something I want to play with. For this reason, noticeably absent from my list are things like Palinchron, Nim Deathmantle, or Eldrazi Displacer. Edit: With Eldrazi Displacer + Rasputin Dreamweaver is now the only infinite combo in the deck. Eldrazi Displacer is just too perfect not to include.
If there is a single card that is banned from EDH, that card would easily be Gifts Ungiven. Gifts Ungiven is begging to be put into this deck just for the intentional reveal and the different mind games you could play with your opponents on multiple levels. Many times I would probably choose Exalted Angel, Kheru Spellsnatcher, Vesuvan Shapeshifter, and Willbender just to throw as many question marks in the air as possible. It might not be the most powerful 4 I could pick, but it would be a lot of fun. I understand why Gifts Ungiven was banned... but this is also an example of why I am for banning as few cards as possible from EDH and letting playgroups self-police themselves. Gifts Ungiven would be of a completely reasonable power level in my list and yet, I can't play it. What a shame.
edit: I'll add more later (and include my own pic; currently leeching off another thread), but this is the general idea of the deck. This was a combination of my old UW Miracle deck (which was made obsolete by the "tuck rule" change for generals) and some of my previous attempts at more traditional morph decks which are just packed with 20+ morph creatures and not much more.
02/17/2016: Moat --> Meekstone Power Matrix --> Eldrazi Displacer
Meekstone has clear synergy with morph and morph was a leftover remnant from the UW Miracle version of this deck where Entreat the Angels was one of the main win conditions. The new Eldrazi Displacer is one of the best flicker cards ever printed, is a combo piece for infinite mana, and its "EtB tapped" effect can combo with Meekstone.
01/28/2016: Predator, Flagship --> Power Matrix
The Flagship was fine in a version of the deck that was more of a control deck. Power Matrix is better, especially after you tap out to cast Rasputin.
Thinking about putting together an optional list which includes infinite combos... mostly because of this: Whetwheel.
What a great card when you have infinite mana. And because it has morph, it automatically makes every morphed creature a threat of instant death once you draw an infinite mana engine.
I think this is important.
It's the threat of Serra Avatar and Blightsteel Colossus so much fun to play. If a face-down card is actually instant death is really just a bonus. But that threat only comes from creatures played with either Illusionary Mask or Mastery of the Unseen. Whetwheel now brings this threat to traditionally morphed creatures.
Also, it gets a lot more difficult to for your opponents to know which card you just played with Illusionary Mask if you dump infinite mana onto the converted mana cost.
Here are the cards I'm thinking of squeezing into this optional list:
(Staff of Domination is obviously ridiculous with infinite mana. But not so obvious is that is can flip over face-down creatures played with Illusionary Mask by tapping them.)
Moat is out and Meekstone is in. Moat was an old hold-over from the old UW Miracle version of this deck. I paid a lot of money for it and I just liked playing with it, but Meekstone just a makes a lot more sense. Meekstone has direct synergy with the 2/2 morph creatures and Moat occasionally backfired when someone blew up my Akroma's Memorial.
Every single mode on Staff of Domination is used for full effect. It helps you gain life to help support Serra Ascendant and Serra Avatar. And it uptaps your creatures and taps your opponent's creatures when Meekstone is in play.
Eldrazi Displacer breaks my rule for not including any infinite combos in my list, but it's just too perfect for the deck. Combo'd with Rasputin Dreamweaver gives infinite mana, combo'd with any ETB creature for more and more value, and you can even tap down your opponent's creatures for good if you have a Meekstone in play.
All of the tap effects that work with Meekstone also work with Brine Elemental. They compliment each other.
In the same way I find nostalgic value out of the Illusionary mask + Phyrexian Dreadnought combo, I get a similar fuzzy feeling from the inclusion of this combo. They're both here and they both make sense.
BIG UDPATE #3:
Another big change for my list is the inclusion of graveyard theme. This means that the Eldrazi are out and Reveillark, Sun Titan, Karmic Guide, and others are all in. I made this change for a couple reasons:
I had a lot more fun with Serra Avatar and Blightsteel Colossus as my top end. They represent insta-death for your opponents and the Eldrazi don't.
Flicker + Reveillark/Sun Titan/Karmic Guide are just too good.
~ The Morph Deck ~
This is not your typical morph deck. There are only 7 actual creatures with morph: Brine Elemental, Exalted Angel, Kheru Spellsnatcher, Stratus Dancer, Vesuvan Shapeshifter, Willbender, Zoetic Cavern. In additional to these creatures, Mastery of the Unseen & Illusionary Mask are the two engines which turn every card in the deck into a potential face-down creature. These 9 cards are the only face-down cards/enablers in the entire deck. The 90 other cards are included to support of these 9. This isn't just a UW Rasputin Dreamweaver deck with a few morph cards mixed in.
Why play this deck?
The whole point of this deck is to have fun with face-down creatures. Hidden information and forcing your opponents into playing the guessing game might not be the most efficient road to victory, but it's still a lot of fun. This deck wants to durdle as much as possible. This deck has no infinite combos, but it does have instant, blow-out wins. If you want to play a much more powerful version of a Rasputin Dreamweaver deck, then play a combo list. If you want to have fun with face-down creatures then play this list. (Also, I have a lot of nostalgia for very old and expensive cards. This deck was designed to be as old and expensive as possible.)
How does this deck win?
It's possible to win by durdling long enough to build up a swarm of face-down creatures or stick a few beefy fliers, but the real goal is to successfully insta-kill an opponent with a face-down Serra Avatar or Blightsteel Colossus. And that is where the real fun is found -- with Mastery of the Unseen & Illusionary Mask, any face-down creature represents potential instant death at all times and your opponents have to respect this fact. Watching your opponents squirm and wrestle with this idea throughout the course of a game is already a win in my book.
1 Rasputin Dreamweaver
Morph Creatures
1 Brine Elemental
1 Hidden Dragonslayer
1 Kheru Spellsnatcher
1 Stratus Dancer
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Willbender
Creatures
1 Abu Ja'far
1 Mother of Runes
1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
1 Serra Ascendant
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Shapesharer
1 Spellskite
1 Wall of Omens
1 Eldrazi Displacer
1 Trinket Mage
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Restoration Angel
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Brago, King Eternal
1 Ixidron
1 Karmic Guide
1 Mulldrifter
1 Reveillark
1 Vesuvan Doppelganger
1 Sun Titan
1 Serra Avatar
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Brainstorm
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Tithe
1 Mana Drain
1 Telling Time
1 Ghostly Flicker
1 Cryptic Command
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Sphinx's Revelation
Sorcery
1 Timetwister
Enchantment
1 Land Tax
1 Copy Artifact
1 Mastery of the Unseen
1 Kismet
Planeswalker
1 Karn Liberated
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Utility Artifacts
1 Meekstone
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Illusionary Mask
1 Staff of Domination
1 Akroma's Memorial
Mana Rocks
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Mox Diamond
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Azorius Signet
1 Grim Monolith
1 Mind Stone
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Dreamstone Hedron
1 Academy Ruins
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Flooded Strand
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Maze of Ith
1 Mistveil Plains
1 Prairie Stream
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Strip Mine
1 Tundra
1 Vesuva
1 Wasteland
1 Zoetic Cavern
12 Island
12 Plains
Ranger of Eos has 5 targets: Abu Ja'far, Mother of Runes, Phyrexian Dreadnought, Serra Ascendant, and Weathered Wayfarer. Each card is good on its own, but the fun begins when Illusionary Mask is in play. Because Ranger of Eos reveals 2 cards at once, no one will know which one is the 12/12 trampling creature or Abu Ja'far or any other combination best fits the current board state. Also, tapping a single plains to activate Illusionary Mask, the face-down creature can represent any of them. The same thing goes for Mastery of the Unseen. With a single plains untapped, all face-down creatures threaten to turn face-up and transform into any of them.
Trinket Mage Package
Trinket Mage has 7 targets: Phyrexian Dreadnought, Sensei's Divining Top, Meekstone, Everflowing Chalice, Mox Diamond, Mana Vault, and Sol Ring. Trinket Mage represents mana acceleration of all kinds and the deck's main lock-down mechanic, but I also find a lot of value with including the classic Legacy Mask-nought combo in my silly commander deck.
Flicker
Ghostly Flicker, Restoration Angel, Brago, King Eternal, and Eldrazi Displacer represent another way way in which Rasputin Dreamweaver is the perfect commander for this deck. All flicker effects have the ability to essentially turn any face-down creature face-up. In addition to that, there is the obvious synergy this has with 'enters the battlefield' effects.
Intentional Reveal
Trinket Mage, Treasure Mage, Ranger of Eos, Enlightened Tutor, Fact or Fiction, and Sphinx of Uthuun each represent additional mind games you can play with your opponents. After a card is revealed, who knows if the next face-down creature you play is one of the revealed cards or not? Well, you do... and your opponents don't.
It's very easy to make Rasputin Dreamweaver completely busted. This isn't something I want to play with. For this reason, noticeably absent from my list are things like Palinchron, Nim Deathmantle, or Eldrazi Displacer. Edit: With Eldrazi Displacer + Rasputin Dreamweaver is now the only infinite combo in the deck. Eldrazi Displacer is just too perfect not to include.
Gifts Ungiven
If there is a single card that is banned from EDH, that card would easily be Gifts Ungiven. Gifts Ungiven is begging to be put into this deck just for the intentional reveal and the different mind games you could play with your opponents on multiple levels. Many times I would probably choose Exalted Angel, Kheru Spellsnatcher, Vesuvan Shapeshifter, and Willbender just to throw as many question marks in the air as possible. It might not be the most powerful 4 I could pick, but it would be a lot of fun. I understand why Gifts Ungiven was banned... but this is also an example of why I am for banning as few cards as possible from EDH and letting playgroups self-police themselves. Gifts Ungiven would be of a completely reasonable power level in my list and yet, I can't play it. What a shame.
edit: I'll add more later (and include my own pic; currently leeching off another thread), but this is the general idea of the deck. This was a combination of my old UW Miracle deck (which was made obsolete by the "tuck rule" change for generals) and some of my previous attempts at more traditional morph decks which are just packed with 20+ morph creatures and not much more.
Thread | Draft
02/17/2016:
Moat --> Meekstone
Power Matrix --> Eldrazi Displacer
Meekstone has clear synergy with morph and morph was a leftover remnant from the UW Miracle version of this deck where Entreat the Angels was one of the main win conditions. The new Eldrazi Displacer is one of the best flicker cards ever printed, is a combo piece for infinite mana, and its "EtB tapped" effect can combo with Meekstone.
02/03/2016:
Plains --> Hallowed Fountain
Island --> Prairie Stream
More blue sources you can fetch up with Tithe and Kor Cartographer.
01/28/2016:
Predator, Flagship --> Power Matrix
The Flagship was fine in a version of the deck that was more of a control deck. Power Matrix is better, especially after you tap out to cast Rasputin.
Thread | Draft
What a great card when you have infinite mana. And because it has morph, it automatically makes every morphed creature a threat of instant death once you draw an infinite mana engine.
I think this is important.
It's the threat of Serra Avatar and Blightsteel Colossus so much fun to play. If a face-down card is actually instant death is really just a bonus. But that threat only comes from creatures played with either Illusionary Mask or Mastery of the Unseen. Whetwheel now brings this threat to traditionally morphed creatures.
Also, it gets a lot more difficult to for your opponents to know which card you just played with Illusionary Mask if you dump infinite mana onto the converted mana cost.
Here are the cards I'm thinking of squeezing into this optional list:
(Staff of Domination is obviously ridiculous with infinite mana. But not so obvious is that is can flip over face-down creatures played with Illusionary Mask by tapping them.)
Am I missing anything?
Thread | Draft
Meekstone, Staff of Domination, and Eldrazi Displacer were made for this deck and they are all now included in the list.
BIG UPDATE #2:
The Brine Elemental + Vesuvan Shapeshifter combo is in.
BIG UDPATE #3:
Another big change for my list is the inclusion of graveyard theme. This means that the Eldrazi are out and Reveillark, Sun Titan, Karmic Guide, and others are all in. I made this change for a couple reasons:
Thread | Draft