I know you may think it's obvious, and for good reason, because it was true. But, the reason I asked was because the other Arcum Primer ran gilded lotus and referred to dynamo as "subpar mana rock"
I suspect you already know the answer but I'm more than happy to confirm it for you.
The short version: the dynamo is faster and I'm all about speed baby.
The long version: the two artifacts essentially do the same thing - create 3 mana. Not only is this deck monocolor, most of the spells are colorless, so the fact that the lotus produces blue is redundant in a deck that is so rarely hurting for colored mana. If I had gilded lotus in here, 95% of the time I drew it I'd wish it was the dynamo instead. The lotus is fine in casual lists, but the dynamo is far more efficient and clearly a better choice in an optimized list.
Those alters look sick! Do you remember who made them for you?
A company called Altered Prints. As far as I know, they haven't made those kind of cards for quite some time due to legal issues. I was pretty fortunate to get a few sweet foils when I had the chance. I have a ghave, guru of spoils foil that's pretty sweet too, and a gorgeous avacyn.
Just went through this thread but I must have missed it somewhere. No mention at all of Millikin? Seems like the kind of effect this deck is looking to max out on.
Oops yeah I've always had millikin in the deck. That must have disappeared accidentally during one of my edits. Thanks for catching that.
Ah, that makes a million times more sense then any other explanation I could come up with. Come to think of it, I've ogled the pix of your incredibly pimped out deck before and have actually seen that you do run Millikin.
Now for an absurdly subtle point: I think Pongify is ever so slightly better than Rapid Hybridization because it makes a token with only one creature type instead of two. Coat of Arms is a thing in this format and there's recently been a very playable frog printed. The two spells are going to be identical damn near 100% of the time, but it's an inexpensive change to make so it's at least worth considering.
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You would never guess, at the terrifying sight of the man, that Hunding was as charming a companion as one could wish for.
Now for an absurdly subtle point: I think Pongify is ever so slightly better than Rapid Hybridization because it makes a token with only one creature type instead of two. Coat of Arms is a thing in this format and there's recently been a very playable frog printed. The two spells are going to be identical damn near 100% of the time, but it's an inexpensive change to make so it's at least worth considering.
I'll playtest the two and see which one performs better.
Bwahahaha, just kidding.
I changed it to pongify. Thanks for the input.
You're right about him being easy to cast but a vanilla 10/10 creature isn't really all that powerful. I use the blightsteel because it can one-shot people, regardless of their life total. And if I have darksteel forge in play, it usually means that I have disk in play too and the game is essentially over so adding a 10/10 creature to that isn't really gonna change anything. I'd regret having metalwork colossus in my hand most of the time.
I think I'm going to use him in my casual game with friends, though. They hate infect, and infinite combos. So for political reasons, I'm looking for ways to use this deck and find more "friendly" win conditions. It's slower, yes, but a more enjoyable (for them) casual game, without pissing people off.
I think I'm going to use him in my casual game with friends, though. They hate infect, and infinite combos. So for political reasons, I'm looking for ways to use this deck and find more "friendly" win conditions. It's slower, yes, but a more enjoyable (for them) casual game, without pissing people off.
I can understand people getting annoyed by combos but I don't know why infect gets so much hate.
Well, I can't speak for the whole population who hates infect, but in my small circle, I can understand it. They find a card which does AWESOME things, and they want to build a deck around it. Nevermind that it costs 8 mana to cast it, and has little support as far as synergistic companions go.
So here comes the infect mechanic, which can work WAY faster than they are prepared for. No longer are they able to sit around for the first 4 or 5 turns building their "base," ramping their mana and whatnot. They don't have 40 life to play with anymore, they have 10. They play a slow game, thinking that the game SHOULD take longer because, hell, it's commander, not standard.
I don't see it that way, though. For me, it's just another twist on the game that I either have to deal with, or use myself. Some twists are harder to deal with than others. And the hardest ones to deal with tend to be the best ones to use.
Thank you for the card suggestions. I am familiar with most of them, and will look up the others. Much appreciated.
I know it has been some time since this primer was put up but I’m hoping there is still life in this thread. Could you possibly post an updated deck list for your build after having seen so many relevant cards come through in recent sets of the past couple years?
I have my own arcum deck that consistently goes turn 3 win and has done turn 2’s without even casting my general.
My build is significantly different though primarily in win cons and such but have a majority of the same staple must haves. Having read a solid portion of the discussion though I do disagree on some of your assessments on cards such as unwinding clock or elixir of immortality.
My deck list before some current tweaking won a 96 player tornament and that’s with me trying to restrain myself on a budgetary front. I’ve also never seen anyone else ever play arcum in any of the shops I frequent so it is a bit frustrating trying to find references up to speed with my play style.
With cards such as paradox engine, citanul flute, the synergy of junk diver/myr retriever/workshop assistant (only 2 are really needed), the way the whole game changes off of just dropping a mycosynth lattice, and so many other viable options, I’m mainly looking for some other players who may have another outlook im missing on certain combos or synergies I may have over looked or would benefit the deck as a whole.
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worn powerstone
thran dynamo
or gilded lotus
I've often considered swapping the dynamo for the powerstone.
My G Yisan, the Bard of Death G deck.
My BUGWR Hermit druid BUGWR deck.
Those alters look sick! Do you remember who made them for you?
My G Yisan, the Bard of Death G deck.
My BUGWR Hermit druid BUGWR deck.
Ah, that makes a million times more sense then any other explanation I could come up with. Come to think of it, I've ogled the pix of your incredibly pimped out deck before and have actually seen that you do run Millikin.
Now for an absurdly subtle point: I think Pongify is ever so slightly better than Rapid Hybridization because it makes a token with only one creature type instead of two. Coat of Arms is a thing in this format and there's recently been a very playable frog printed. The two spells are going to be identical damn near 100% of the time, but it's an inexpensive change to make so it's at least worth considering.
Bwahahaha, just kidding.
I changed it to pongify. Thanks for the input.
My G Yisan, the Bard of Death G deck.
My BUGWR Hermit druid BUGWR deck.
Additionally, if you're short on colored mana you can tap it, use colorless to return it to your hand, and lay it again for another blue mana.
Edit: for reference, Oboro, palace in the clouds
My G Yisan, the Bard of Death G deck.
My BUGWR Hermit druid BUGWR deck.
My G Yisan, the Bard of Death G deck.
My BUGWR Hermit druid BUGWR deck.
My G Yisan, the Bard of Death G deck.
My BUGWR Hermit druid BUGWR deck.
I think I'm going to use him in my casual game with friends, though. They hate infect, and infinite combos. So for political reasons, I'm looking for ways to use this deck and find more "friendly" win conditions. It's slower, yes, but a more enjoyable (for them) casual game, without pissing people off.
One of my old favorite cards that I used to use in this deck was lifeline. It benefits everyone so it's a great political card that rarely gets destroyed, and it's ridiculously good with arcum. So you might consider that. The best is when you have lifeline and bottle gnomes in play. My earlier versions had altar of dementia which was insane with lifeline.
If you want a more aggro version of arcum, some cards to consider are wurmcoil engine, lodestone golem, memnarch, darksteel colossus, myr battlesphere, platinum angel, platinum emperion, duplicant, and steel hellkite.
My G Yisan, the Bard of Death G deck.
My BUGWR Hermit druid BUGWR deck.
So here comes the infect mechanic, which can work WAY faster than they are prepared for. No longer are they able to sit around for the first 4 or 5 turns building their "base," ramping their mana and whatnot. They don't have 40 life to play with anymore, they have 10. They play a slow game, thinking that the game SHOULD take longer because, hell, it's commander, not standard.
I don't see it that way, though. For me, it's just another twist on the game that I either have to deal with, or use myself. Some twists are harder to deal with than others. And the hardest ones to deal with tend to be the best ones to use.
Thank you for the card suggestions. I am familiar with most of them, and will look up the others. Much appreciated.
soul of new phyrexia (this could be amazing with nevinyrral's disk) and endbringer are two other considerations.
My G Yisan, the Bard of Death G deck.
My BUGWR Hermit druid BUGWR deck.
+1 whir of invention
-1 impulse
My G Yisan, the Bard of Death G deck.
My BUGWR Hermit druid BUGWR deck.
Modern: Jund Midrange BRG
Legacy: Shardless Bug BUG
Haha! I'm going to build this.
I have my own arcum deck that consistently goes turn 3 win and has done turn 2’s without even casting my general.
My build is significantly different though primarily in win cons and such but have a majority of the same staple must haves. Having read a solid portion of the discussion though I do disagree on some of your assessments on cards such as unwinding clock or elixir of immortality.
My deck list before some current tweaking won a 96 player tornament and that’s with me trying to restrain myself on a budgetary front. I’ve also never seen anyone else ever play arcum in any of the shops I frequent so it is a bit frustrating trying to find references up to speed with my play style.
With cards such as paradox engine, citanul flute, the synergy of junk diver/myr retriever/workshop assistant (only 2 are really needed), the way the whole game changes off of just dropping a mycosynth lattice, and so many other viable options, I’m mainly looking for some other players who may have another outlook im missing on certain combos or synergies I may have over looked or would benefit the deck as a whole.