MTG Salvation

I've noticed a couple Leovold threads on here that seem fairly theme-oriented, and I say pfft. Let's abuse this card.
This decklist is mainly a thought experiment; I'm not planning on building it but you never know.
I threw this together pretty quick and there's definitely some stuff I'm not sure about, but y'know, whatever.
A good start for this deck would be turn 1: mana dork, turn 2: leovold, turn 3: some form of windfall/timetwister/etc to destroy the other player's hands and refill yours.
I'm still relatively undecided on what the best way to win with this guy is, but there's a few options in this list:

leovold, emissary of trest + teferi's puzzle box = your opponent draws on his draw step (and can cast an instant), but then he loses his hand and draws nothing.
leovold, emissary of trest + anvil of bogardan = your opponents draw 1 and discard 1 during their draw step (but they can still cast instants).
leovold, emissary of trest + teferi's puzzle box + teferi, mage of zhalfir = your opponents basically don't draw anymore.
leovold, emissary of trest + anvil of bogardan + teferi, mage of zhalfir = your opponents basically don't draw anymore.
rings of brighthearth + basalt monolith + staff of domination = infinite life + infinite mana + infinite card draw.
rings of brighthearth + basalt monolith + sensei's divining top = infinite card draw.
power artifact + basalt monolith/grim monolith+ staff of domination = infinite life + infinite mana + infinite card draw.
power artifact + basalt monolith/grim monolith + bloodrite invoker = game over
rings of brighthearth + basalt monolith + bloodrite invoker = game over

I was also considering adding prosperity (which works nice with leovold), laboratory maniac, and demonic consultation.

Tezzeret the seeker and dark deal have both been very good in my own build. Highly recommend them.

Quote from Dies_to_Doom_Blade »

Tezzeret the seeker and dark deal have both been very good in my own build. Highly recommend them.

I had 3 planeswalkers listed but I forgot to have '1x' next to them so they were invisible. I love tezzy and wouldn't forget him.
Dark deal escaped my notice though. Excellent suggestion. I added that.

Edit: incidentally, what do you use as a wincon? I'm still undecided. I even considered a hermit druid and necrotic ooze package instead of some of those artifacts, but I dunno.

Lab man combo is probably the best bet but I really didn't want another deck that has that so I'm pretty undeceided. Staff of domination with infinite mana seems like a good bet though.



Edit: sylvan safekeeper, mana drain, and force of will seem missing

Selvala, Heart of the Wilds seems out of place here, especially considering the highest power creature you have is 3, so she will rarely be better than Bloom Tender. Sylvan Safekeeper seems like a great complement to Spellskite for protecting your commander. Toxic Deluge is a card that proved valuable time and time again. Faerie Macabre could also help since you will often be filling your opponents' graveyards, and you will be strapped for mana while you are wheeling.

It could potentially super backfire, but Arcane Laboratory + Winter Orb and friends can seriously hamper your opponents' development and really helps your game plan. Playing against a Winter Orb with no hand is definitely not fun.

So with all those wheel effect you are basically making it so that if a any opponent has access to spot removal then they undo all of your work. Seems like more downside than upside, there

Quote from MrCoupon »

So with all those wheel effect you are basically making it so that if a any opponent has access to spot removal then they undo all of your work. Seems like more downside than upside, there

Teferi's Puzzle Box is essentially an auto-include in the deck. Anvil of Bogardan serves a very similar effect, and is something I had not thought of.
Time Spiral is worth including, as a strong effect even without Leovold on the battlefield, and Jace's Archivist being an instant-speed, repeatable effect is noteworthy.
Windfall is another strong draw engine, but one I honestly would be unlikely to run myself, and is the last 'wheel' I would consider - overly focusing on them makes the deck to easy to disrupt. I do not think Memory Jar is actually worthwhile here - as it ultimately does not affect their hand, the benefits of using it with Leovold are marginally better than activating it normally, and replacing your hand for one turn should not be important, given all the other persistent draw available.


I am currently working on a Leovold, Emissary of Trest heavy control build, with a strong emphasis on discard.
At the moment, it's primary win condition is a reanimation sub-theme, though that may be cut in favor of combo elements after I get to play a few games; it just feels a little to divided at the moment.
One thing I really want to include, though would unfortunately likely be removed after I use it a few times, is Isochron Scepter imprinting Word of Command, with both Mind Over Matter & Seedborn Muse to support it. If I do that, Mishra's Helix probably makes it in as well.


Edit: Kira, Great Glass-Spinner largely cripples your opponents ability to deal with your creatures, using two effects and drawing you two cards for every targeted attempt. A strong consideration if you move to a more creature-centric build.

Thanks for the feedback guys, especially you muspellsheimr. I made a few quick changes.
I almost want to put in the great aurora, just because casting that would be glorious with leovold in play.

Quote from rockondon »

Thanks for the feedback guys, especially you muspellsheimr. I made a few quick changes.
I almost want to put in the great aurora, just because casting that would be glorious with leovold in play.

Leovold gets shuffled into your library (or returned to the Command Zone) when it resolves, so he wouldn't be there to prevent them from drawing cards.

Quote from Cuivienen »

Leovold gets shuffled into your library (or returned to the Command Zone) when it resolves, so he wouldn't be there to prevent them from drawing cards.

Oh right, lol. Oops. I'm gonna go ahead and pretend that was the reason I didnt put it in.

There's a problem with this kind of build: it doesn't do much without Leovold on board. I played against a guy with a very similar deck three days ago and beat him pretty handily despite his nut draw. He went T1 land, Chrome Mox, Nature's Lore -> T2 land, Sol Ring, Transmute Artifact (sac Sol Ring for Teferi's Puzzle Box) -> T3 land, Leovold, Sensei's Divining Top. I StP'ed his general on his turn, played Hokori, Dust Drinker on my turn and suddenly the tide turned - I never let him reach five untapped mana to replay his general.

BTW: Teferi's Puzzle Box stayed on the table until the end and out of four people on my pod it was me that abused Teferi's Puzzle Box the most, not the Leovold player.

I like the list and it seems very evil

There are obviously outs to it, but there are so many ways to just end the game that once you cut off your opponents from drawing, you should be able to win wihout too much hassle.

Have you considered Chains of Mephistopheles? Once you get them empty handed with the first wheel effect, this also prevents them from ever drawing an extra card. It also gives you a little redundancy in case Leovold is not on the field and it gives you another win condition in the form of Mill. It is slow, but you seem to want to play the control game and Chains helps really slow your opponents down, just like Leovold does.

It does prevent you from drawing extra cards, so I suppose that is somethng to think about.

I did have one question though:

Quote from rockondon »

rings of brighthearth + basalt monolith + sensei's divining top = infinite card draw

I seem to be missing something, but how do you get infinite card draw with these 3 cards? I see the infinite mana with the first two cards, but how does Top give you infinite card draw? I am assuming another card or I am missing something really simple.

Quote from WizardMN »

I did have one question though:

Quote from rockondon »

rings of brighthearth + basalt monolith + sensei's divining top = infinite card draw

I seem to be missing something, but how do you get infinite card draw with these 3 cards? I see the infinite mana with the first two cards, but how does Top give you infinite card draw? I am assuming another card or I am missing something really simple.

It's really easy to miss, but with infinite mana you can copy the second ability of sensei's Divining Top every time you activate it, and then draw the top card of your library along with top, and recast top.

Quote from wallycaine »

Quote from WizardMN »

I did have one question though:

Quote from rockondon »

rings of brighthearth + basalt monolith + sensei's divining top = infinite card draw

I seem to be missing something, but how do you get infinite card draw with these 3 cards? I see the infinite mana with the first two cards, but how does Top give you infinite card draw? I am assuming another card or I am missing something really simple.

It's really easy to miss, but with infinite mana you can copy the second ability of sensei's Divining Top every time you activate it, and then draw the top card of your library along with top, and recast top.

Ah, I see. You draw, put it on top (with the copy of the ability), then draw again (with the initial activation) to get it back in your hand. Infinite mana lets you cast it and you can keep on doing it.

See, I knew it was something simple

Quote from WizardMN »

Have you considered Chains of Mephistopheles?

Nope, because it prevents me from drawing more than one card as well.

As for the rings/monolith/top thing, here's how I explained it on my primer:
After making infinite mana with rings and monolith:
1. Activate the top's draw ability, rings trigger.
2. Pay 2 for the rings' triggered ability, copying the draw abilitity. There are now two 'put sensei's top on top of the library and draw a card' abilities on the stack.
3. The first one resolves (the copy) - you draw a card and put sensei's top on top of the library.
4. The second one resolves - draw a card (which will be sensei's top) and since sensei's top is no longer there to be placed on the library, this part of the ability doesn't happen.

Quote from rockondon »

Quote from WizardMN »

Have you considered Chains of Mephistopheles?

Nope, because it prevents me from drawing more than one card as well.

As for the rings/monolith/top thing, here's how I explained it on my primer:
After making infinite mana with rings and monolith:
1. Activate the top's draw ability, rings trigger.
2. Pay 2 for the rings' triggered ability, copying the draw abilitity. There are now two 'put sensei's top on top of the library and draw a card' abilities on the stack.
3. The first one resolves (the copy) - you draw a card and put sensei's top on top of the library.
4. The second one resolves - draw a card (which will be sensei's top) and since sensei's top is no longer there to be placed on the library, this part of the ability doesn't happen.

Regarding Chains: Fair enough. I figured the hit you take might be unacceptable, but sometimes it is a way to control others' draws a little more. Leovold does it better obviously.

Thanks for the explanation. Wallycaine got to it before you, but I appreciate the summary. I should have caught that much earlier when I was reading it over, but for some reason it just didn't click.

i played with a slapped together deck tonight. It did excactly what i wanted, no one had a hand ever.....but then i realized I didnt have a way too win....So im considering moding it into a stax deck with shrieking affliction as one of the wins.

I need more ideas, I dont want o be combo, more grindy

Quote from Underhill83 »

Is there enough discard to Waste Not?
Would be good without Leo on the field, too.

people never have a hand to discard.

I tested Waste Not for a little bit in my competitive Leovold list but I didn't like it. It's only good with wheels effects like Dark Deal, and a lot of the wheels don't even discard.

Good win conditions include Villainous Wealth, Bribery, and Grave Titan if you're into more generic powerful threats.

Quote from Honor Basquiat »

I tested Waste Not for a little bit in my competitive Leovold list but I didn't like it. It's only good with wheels effects like Dark Deal, and a lot of the wheels don't even discard.

Good win conditions include Villainous Wealth, Bribery, and Grave Titan if you're into more generic powerful threats.

Lol, Villainous Wealth and Bribery even go great as far as flavor go as well, lol.

Villainous Wealth is very strong late game and just steals games with style.

Quote from Honor Basquiat »

Villainous Wealth is very strong late game and just steals games with style.

I have NEVER resolved one, poeple suck and always scoop....

Quote from havocentral »

Quote from Honor Basquiat »

Villainous Wealth is very strong late game and just steals games with style.

I have NEVER resolved one, poeple suck and always scoop....

Lol, because it's a game-ender either way .

WOW!!! i cant believe noone noticed this is an illegal deck!!! its 102 cards!!!