Grand Arbiter Augustin IV.
Just looking at the text on his card makes people groan. However, most people only really care about the pseudo-Sphere of Resistance effect he brings to the table.
His juicy primary text gets left by the wayside. Let's break it down.
White spells you cast cost 1 less to cast: This is ok, I guess. But white generally doesn't use cost reduction, right?
Blue spells you cast cost 1 less to cast: Now this is what I call ~spicy~. Storm players got pretty excited about Baral, Chief of Compliance. We've got that same effect right here!
Spells your opponents cast cost 1 more to cast: The classic. While most Arbiter shells are built around preventing your opponents from playing the game at all,
we're generally ok allowing them to play it a little. This ability makes it harder for opponents to storm off, and it makes holding up countermagic more annoying for our opponents.
So, we've got a commander that makes our spells cheaper and makes it harder for our opponents to interact with us?
*WARNING* MEME CARDS ARE HERE TO STAY *WARNING*
I see you, ready to point out how terrible I am at deckbuilding. Well guess what pal,
you can't stop me from playing the following trash card: Pursuit of Knowledge.
H o L e Y M o L e Y just look at that card. It's godlike. I'm physically incapable of removing it from my deck.
Game Plan
The game plan is pretty similar to the myriad of other high tide decks floating around.
You spend your opening turns playing artifact ramp cards, some minor card selection, and tutors.
You can play your commander to slow down your opponents if you want. Obviously, this isn't a casual deck.
We've got a little gimmick and we're trying our best to make it work.
What's important to preserve is the element of surprise. Your greatest strength while piloting this deck is that no one expects a high tide list.
So don't go balls to the wall with card draw spells until you're ready to win (or if you don't care about the meme value of surprising people). Brainstorm, Serum Visions: fine. Plenty of blue control lists run those cards. Candelabra of Tawnos, Mystical Tutor-ing for High Tide: you're looking hella sus right now.
Your primary wincon is drawing your deck with big mana, Sphinx's Revelation or Blue Sun's Zenith and Laboratory Maniac.
Alternatively, generate a massive storm count and then use Aetherflux Reservoir to mow down your opponents.
The tertiary win condition is casting high tide multiple times with recursion and then winning off of palinchron's infinite mana + locking your opponents out with Capsize.
As long as you end up taking a thirty minute turn, you're doing ok.
so I hope you're ready for a wild ride!
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The decklist.
1 Transmute Artifact
1 Trinket Mage
1 Retract
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Enlightened Tutor
Artifact Ramp
1 Mox Diamond
1 Chrome Mox
1 Sapphire Medallion
1 Helm of Awakening
1 Sol Ring
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Mana Vault
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Grim Monolith
Other Nnnnice Artifacts
1 Candelabra of Tawnos
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Aetherflux Reservoir
1 Memory Jar
Why is our opponent trying to cast things
1 Mana Drain
1 Swan Song
1 Mystic Confluence
1 Silence
1 Arcane Denial
Manabase
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
22 Snow-Covered Island
2 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Tundra
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Pull from the Deep
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Call to Mind
Wheels
1 Time Reversal
1 Timetwister
1 Windfall
1 Time Spiral
1 Tolarian Winds
High Tide and how to find it
1 High Tide
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Personal Tutor
1 Dizzy Spell
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Intuition
Filtering
1 Preordain
1 Serum Visions
1 Dig Through Time
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Pieces of the Puzzle
1 Impulse
1 Peer Through Depths
1 Frantic Search
Straight Card Draw
1 Recurring Insight
1 Compulsive Research
1 Ideas Unbound
1 Deep Analysis
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Pursuit of Knowledge
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Capsize
1 Palinchron
1 Future Sight
1 Mind's Desire
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Sphinx's Revelation
Even linear combo decks need utility
1 Baral, Chief of Compliance
1 Turnabout
1 Snap
1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
da b0ss
1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
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I see you, ready to point out how terrible I am at deckbuilding. Well guess what pal,
you can't stop me from playing the following trash card: Pursuit of Knowledge.
H o L e Y M o L e Y just look at that card. It's godlike. I'm physically incapable of removing it from my deck.
If anyone else has ever tried this, are there any other white cards we can use to make this better? Mono blue is grade-A lame.