MTG Salvation

So the more that I play with Panharmonicon the more that I realize how stupidly powerful that it is. I'm glad that I rated it the strongest card from Kaladesh in my set review because it's ridiculous how powerful the card can feel once it gets going. Recently I've been jamming it mostly in Blue shells primarily because of Peregrine Drake (and/or Great Whale and/or Palinchron). The idea here is obviously that you get double untap triggers when it ETBs which means 10 mana on turn 5. From there you chain Mulldrifters (which draw 4 cards) into more Peregrine Drakes until you draw either Clone Legion or Expropriate. Sphinx of Lost Truths is also nuts because you can easily pay the Kicker assuming that you have 10 mana, draw 6 cards and then use your last 3 mana on a Sea Gate Oracle/Compulsive Research to draw even more. That way even if you don't combo on turn 5 you'll almost always combo by turn 6 (or 7 if you have to use Great Whale/Palinchron) which is still sweet. Obviously if you want the game to literally end then you can jam Omniscience/Enter the Infinite in order to draw your deck but since that card is expensive and overly oppressive I've been testing other things instead. Anyways, you don't really want to play more than 2-4 "big finishers" and you can use whatever mix you want but I will remind everyone that you do get double ETB triggers with Clone Legion which is sweet. The deck that I threw together in about 5 minutes and have been jamming for the past few days has the basic shell of:



And the last ~16 cards have been changing rather constantly. That being said I'll almost always play with a powerful card draw spell such as Mystic Remora, Trade Secrets, Rhystic Study, Compulsive Research, Fact or Fiction, Recurring Insight, etc. and while the card itself changes you'll probably want something in there to draw extra cards. With respect to permission I'll typically just play 4x Counterspell and call it a day but sometimes I'll jam 1x Forbid or Spell Burst or whatever to spice things up. Also, again, I've ran up up to 4 "big drops" so feel free to jam 2x Clone Legion and 2x Expropriate or 3:1/4:0 splits either way. If you're undecided as to which is better I'll note that Clone Legion is disgusting in decks with Archaeomancer whereas Expropriate loses a touch of its luster since it exiles itself. It still basically always wins the game so it really doesn't matter but it's something to keep in mind.

The manabase doesn't have to be fancy or anything but there's virtually no reason to omit something like a Cloudpost or UrzaTron package so I added one. That being said if you want to run 22x Island or jam some Mage-Ring Networks or whatever then that's perfectly fine too. You definitely don't have to run Cloudpost if you don't want to. Oh, and yes, feel free to add Expedition Map if you want. It's even especially good in Glint-Nest Crane versions of the deck.

For 2 drops I typically opt for Omenspeaker and/or rocks such as Sky Diamond/Prophetic Prism that fix my mana and/or ramp me. Note that Panharmonicon triggers on artifacts which increases the effectiveness of things like Prophetic Prism, Ichor Wellspring and Mycosynth Wellspring. Assuming that you don't go for a Cloudpost package you can always run 4x Phyrexia's Core in the manase to bolster the effectiveness of the latter options since they're rather anemic otherwise. Other potential 2 drops include Cyclonic Rift, Impulse, Vedalken Mastermind (+ Mystic Remora), Merfolk Looter, Arcane Denial and the aforementioned Counterspell.

Other than Expropriate and Clone Legion you can also field things like Time Stretch, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, Void Winnower, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Dichotomancy or any other powerful 7+ CMC spell.

If I want to play "fair" I'll usually opt for things like Omenspeaker, Solemn Simulacrum, Sphinx of Lost Truths, Oblivion Sower, Deadeye Navigator, Diluvian Primordial and other powerful ETB triggers. I do realize that Oblivion Sower is "on cast" and not "ETB" but I really like the card so I don't care. Sphinx of Lost Truths is really good in this deck because it draws a ton of cards and (kicked or not) it'll basically always dig you into your "combo" of Drake + 9 drop. You shouldn't feel bad about running it out unkicked if needed because all you need to do is dig into your combo at which point it's hard to lose.

If I want actual infinite combos I'll use Archaeomancer + Peregrine Drake + Illusionist's Stratagem to generate infinite mana and draw my deck and kill everyone with Blue Sun's Zenith or Laboratory Maniac or Beacon of Tomorrows. You can also use a "Ghostly Flicker" assuming that you have a Sea Gate Oracle/Mulldrifter lying around but Illusionist's Stratagem doesn't have that requirement which is sweet. Otherwise Omniscience and/or Enter the Infinite are straight game wins so feel free to run those over Expropriate/Clone Legion if you want the game to literally end on the spot.

If I want to splash I'll usually play 4x Bounceland and 4x Prophetic Prism because Panharmonicon doubles the draws later on and then I'll splash whatever broken card that I'm trying to add. The only caveat is that you can basically only splash single-colored cards which, for me, tends to be removal moreso than actual threats.

If I want to build around artifacts I'll typically use Seat of the Synod + Glint-Nest Crane + Thirst for Knowledge + Solemn Simulacrum + Myr Battlesphere. The nice thing about this version of the deck is that you get Glint-Nest Crane at 2 CMC to help find Panharmonicon and so between Preordain, Glint-Nest Crane, Thirst for Knowledge and Sea Gate Oracle you'll basically always have a Panharmonicon for turn 4.

If I want something more interactive I'll often build around Crush of Tentacles. It's a bit of a nonbo with Panharmonicon but it's great with Peregrine Drake since it turns it into a fairly reliable 5 drop. Otherwise you can always lean on things like Preordain, Soothsaying, Prophetic Prism and/or Oath of Jace + Archaeomancer to constantly keep the board clear. Engulf the Shore is also amazing if you opt for a 22x Island version of the deck and you can definitely jam 4 and never look back. Otherwise Whelming Wave is "solid" but it's actually reasonably hard to cast on-curve unless you do field something like Sky Diamond or Prophetic Prism at 2 CMC.

If you want spot removal I recommend either Pongify, Rapid Hybridization or Reality Shift. For mass removal you're basically stuck with mass bounce (such as Evacuation) unless you splash for another color (such as Red for Subterranean Tremors) and/or can afford something like All is Dust. All is Dust/Ugin, the Spirit Dragon are clearly ideal since they don't effect your Panharmonicons but even if you have to use something like Nevinyrral's Disk that's still perfectly fine too. After all, you can always play the Capsize + Nevinyrral's Disk combo to keep the board clear until you're ready to combo off.

Nice to see you brewing blue, a color that our group hasn't experimented with. So far it's been the typical Goblins/purphorous decks, Devotion/187 creatures and Green (anything coming into play) with or without LP decks.....

Card is filthy and utterly broken and were not even attempting to be degenerate with it. Were just doing the "obvious" stuff

It's a house in Cube as well.

Quote from H2O4Sho »

Nice to see you brewing blue, a color that our group hasn't experimented with. So far it's been the typical Goblins/purphorous decks, Devotion/187 creatures and Green (anything coming into play) with or without LP decks.....

Card is filthy and utterly broken and were not even attempting to be degenerate with it. Were just doing the "obvious" stuff

It's a house in Cube as well.

Yeah I've been playing it in my Goblin decks as well. I typically opt for something along the lines of:

Panhard & Purphoros? Nice.

So far I've just been jamming it into Blue, Green and/or White decks with exclusively ETB effects, like Eternal Witness, Aura Shards, Primetime etc.
It's dumb, I certainly haven't been doing super-busted things with it yet. I'm going to keep the card from doing busted stuff for now, as I don't want the card to be the perm that EVERYONE on the table wants to kill a.s.a.p.

Quote from slave »

Panhard & Purphoros? Nice.

So far I've just been jamming it into Blue, Green and/or White decks with exclusively ETB effects, like Eternal Witness, Aura Shards, Primetime etc.
It's dumb, I certainly haven't been doing super-busted things with it yet. I'm going to keep the card from doing busted stuff for now, as I don't want the card to be the perm that EVERYONE on the table wants to kill a.s.a.p.

Yeah the card is stupid in Green decks, especially ones with Eldritch Evolution or Birthing Pod. For Green I've been playing things like:



Birthing Pod could obviously be Eldritch Evolution, Lifecrafter's Bestiary, Greater Good, Lurking Predators, literally any good value spell.

Variations of this basically. Obviously you can jam Green Sun's Zenith if you own it because it makes the deck strictly better and clearly you can splash for whatever colors that you desire. Primeval Titan is also strictly better than Realm Seekers/Ulvenwald Hydra but they're solid budget alternatives. Craterhoof Behemoth isn't necessary by any means and could be any big fatty. Soul of the Harvest, Woodfall Primus, Terastodon, etc. would all work fine for example. For 5 drops you don't need Tusk/Titania and you could always run Acidic Slime or whatever instead. Deranged Hermit isn't bad either, especially if you go for an Avenger of Zendikar into Craterhoof Behemoth kill.

Pandemonium seems a thematic fit...

Quote from Thijs1301 »

Pandemonium seems a thematic fit...

True, but I vastly prefer Warstorm Surge given that it's one-sided. Also, now I want to build an Ogre Battledriver + Panharmonicon + Warstorm Surge list . Siege-Gang Commander deals what? 108 damage? Right? Siege-Gang gets +4 power, haste and pings twice for 6 so that's 18. He also puts 6 tokens into play, they each get +4 power (5 total), they each ping for 5 twice and they each swing for 5. That's 108 freaking damage.

Our group is all trying to find a way to abuse this card in a knight deck, but we have all run into issues finding cards to abuse.

WotC really needs to give knights some proper love and on theme....

That green decklist looks fun.

Quote from H2O4Sho »

Our group is all trying to find a way to abuse this card in a knight deck, but we have all run into issues finding cards to abuse.

WotC really needs to give knights some proper love and on theme....

That green decklist looks fun.

Because Knight Tribal isn't viable enough as is?
I think I'd probably start with Juniper Order Ranger and go from there, though I doubt it'd end up a true Knight Tribal deck (probably just something utterly loaded with +1/+1 counters instead).

Quote from CadaverousBl00m »

Quote from H2O4Sho »

Our group is all trying to find a way to abuse this card in a knight deck, but we have all run into issues finding cards to abuse.

WotC really needs to give knights some proper love and on theme....

That green decklist looks fun.

Because Knight Tribal isn't viable enough as is?
I think I'd probably start with Juniper Order Ranger and go from there, though I doubt it'd end up a true Knight Tribal deck (probably just something utterly loaded with +1/+1 counters instead).

Would love to abuse panharmonicon with Thalia's Lieutenant and Recruiter of the Guard

Therein lies the problem with knights. Aggro - midrange in 4 player FFA is ok, but knights play "fair" in a Magic world that has become grossly harsher towards fair decks.

Especially if you want to keep on theme for flavor. I am at the point of trying to make concerted effort and light from within work. They do to a degree, but I am not sure the power is there for the long game

Quote from stylianos »

Quote from Prid3 »

Quote from Thijs1301 »

Pandemonium seems a thematic fit...

True, but I vastly prefer Warstorm Surge given that it's one-sided. Also, now I want to build an Ogre Battledriver + Panharmonicon + Warstorm Surge list . Siege-Gang Commander deals what? 108 damage? Right? Siege-Gang gets +4 power, haste and pings twice for 6 so that's 18. He also puts 6 tokens into play, they each get +4 power (5 total), they each ping for 5 twice and they each swing for 5. That's 108 freaking damage.

I'll take a seat. Panharmonicon is one of my new, favourites. I am just struggling to come up with decklists, as there are too many options to abuse it. A red build with Orge Battledriver... Good one! Feel free to share your list

In an ideal world you'd field 2 very strong pieces of equipment (Umezawa's Jitte, Sword of Fire and Ice, Batterskull, etc.) but Bonehoard foots the bill for budget-minded builds.

This version of the deck is a slow + greedy but you could always shave some of the fat to make room for more 1-2 drops such as ramp or even a strong blocker such as Veteran Brawlers. This deck can also easily support a splash by adding some Bouncelands to the manabase and using Fellwar Stone/Signets/Prophetic Prism over the Worn Powerstones (although you'll need to run the full 4). Otherwise you can run some Pilgrim's Eyes (maybe 2-3) at the 3 CMC slot and jam a basic at which point you should be good to go (unless you want to run 2 basics to give yourself the option of fetching them with Myriad Landscape).

As a random example this deck can easily splash Green for 1x Forest and Kessig Wolf Run and/or Xenagos, God of Revels and/or whatever else with only minor changes.



Note that Pia Nalaar and Pia and Kiran Nalaar are fairly important since they enable you to sacrifice your Mycosynth Wellsprings (and/or Ichor Wellsprings) for value early on even when you fail to draw a Phyrexia's Core. Emrakul's Hatcher is especially good in this list since he curves straight into Chancellor of the Forge. Note that this deck can easily be changed into a Goblin deck using cards like Goblin Matron, Beetleback Chief, Siege-Gang Commander, Goblin Marshal, etc. which means that you can always add things like Shared Animosity and/or Coat of Arms. Do note that Chancellor of the Forge makes goblin tokens so he still works just fine.

If you want the deck to be more resilient to remove In the Web of War is a reasonable alternative to Ogre Battledriver and Kher Keep + Bonehoard (or any piece of powerful Equipment) gives you solid game against decks full of Wraths.





Potential 1 drops: Ingot Chewer
Potential 2 drops: Abbot of Keral Keep, Mogg War Marshal, Stingscourger, Goblin Recruiter
Potential 3 drops: Dualcaster Mage, Goblin Matron, Imperial Recruiter, Manic Vandal, Pia Nalaar, Thopter Engineer
Potential 4 drops: Purphoros, God of the Forge, Panharmonicon, Sneak Attack, Flameshadow Conjuring, Ogre Battledriver, Fanatic of Mogis, Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Beetleback Chief, Flametongue Kavu, Tuktuk Scrapper
Potential 5 drops: Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Siege-Gang Commander, Hoarding Dragon, Emrakul's Hatcher, Mindclaw Shaman, In the Web of War, Zealous Conscripts
Potential 6+ drops: Inferno Titan, Combustible Gearhulk, Godo, Bandit Warlord, Warstorm Surge, Molten Primordial, Chancellor of the Forge

Quote from Xyx »

Today, I had Panharmonicon and cast Woodland Bellower. It fetched Eternal Witness getting back Selvala's Stampede + Wood Elves and Fierce Empath fetching Avenger of Zendikar + Titania, Protector of Argoth. All that from just one Woodland Bellower.

Not to nit pick since the point still stands that harmonicon is nuts, but fierce empath cannot get titania, protector of argoth