"I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." -- Bhagavad Gita (XI,32)
Introduction
Hello Everyone!
This thread is dedicated to the Child of Alara, sometimes called the nuclear baby or boom baby. Recently I returned to Magic, having being away since the Urza's Block, and this is my first foray into EDH/Commander. When I first read about Commander/EDH I knew it was a format for me becuase of it's stark contrast to the mono colored speed decks that were all the rage when I left magic before.
As I was looking for EDH Commanders I immediately fell in love with this card as its five colors allow me to do pretty much what ever I want to without being tied to a specific trick (IE-Sliver Queen=Slivers). It's power also lets me control board tempo which I like a lot.
This thread will eventually be broken down into several sections presenting information about the Child of Alara Card, Why someone should or should not play it, Deck List Ideas and Strategies, my personal Deck List, and Card Options. Commander Overview
Let's begin with a general overview of this commander:
Child of Alara represents one of the few five color commanders for EDH/Commander. It was printed in Conflux (2009) as a mytic rare, in the Alara Block. It has yet to be reprinted.
Mana Cost:WUBRG
Child of Alara has a casting cost of one mana of each color, which can be very demanding on your mana base if it is not optimized toward 5 color casting. This means many non-basic lands, which in turn means that any Child deck is vunerable to non-basic land hate.
The upside is you have acess to every card in the Magic world to comprise your deck of.
Creature Type:Legendary Creature - Avatar Nothing super amazing here. No cards currently use the Avatar type for targets or effects.
Power/Toughness:6/6
A fair beater, and combined with the Child's ability has the potential to go unblocked often.
Ability 1:Trample
Not hateful considering power 6.
Ability 2:"When Child of Alara dies, destroy all nonland permanents. They can't be regenerated."
A Nevinyrral's Disk on Legs, with only indestructable permenants and lands surviving. The downside is that it has to hit the graveyard in order to activate, which negates the EDH/Commander benifit of having your Commander bounce to back to the command zone for free. This creates the need for some utility cards to keep the Child working for you, but the ability to wipe the board at will is why your playing Child of Alara in the first place.
[/spoiler] Why Play Child of Alara?
Reasons why to play Child of Alara:
1. You enjoy the diversity granted by Child of Alara's color profile.
2. You enjoy having direct acess to a board wipe
3. You prefer a commander that can be used in varying ways (Voltron, Control, Beatdown) instead of one straightforward direction or combo.
4. You don't mind or like combos and coming up with ways to send the Child to the graveyard and then get it back out.
5. You like land, as it is the only thing that will automatically survive your Commanders power.
6. You don't have a issue, or enjoy Goodstuff
Reasons why you should not play Child of Alara:
1. You dislike having to deal with 5 colors.
2. You dislike non-basic land.
3. You want a commander that has fancier abilities, or more abilities.
4. You want a commander to do your winning for you, or dislike combos.
5. You dislike having to deal with a extra mechanic of digging the Child out of the Graveyard, instead of just being able to recast your commander from the command zone.
6. Wiping the board is not your style.
7. You dislike Goodstuff or the appearance of Goodstuff.
Early game three three things need to be accomplished. The first is building a 5 color mana base. By using cards like Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Oracle of Mul Daya, Burgeoning, and Exploration you can basically lay down land as fast as you pull them. Chromatic Lantern will let the lands you do throw down work more for you.
The second part is finding a good recursion tool such as Volrath's Stronghold, Genesis, Disturbed Burial, Corpse Dance, or Recall to get the Child out of the graveyard.
The third objective is the sacrafice outlet. This just allows us to control when it hits the grave instead of hoping that someone kills it in combat. Sac tools to look for are High Market, Phyrexian Tower, Miren, the Moaning Well, and Trading Post.
Meanwhile you should have been using the toolbox cards, lockdown, and speedbumps to mitigate what your opponents have been throwing at you. If your hand has run stagnant hopefully you have pulled cards like Tolarian Winds, Time Spiral, Time Reversal, and Shattered Perception, which allow you to keep a fresh supply of useful cards.
At this point you are ready to reset the board with Child, and hopefully you have something like Smoke, Ward of Bones, or Frozen Aether to drop right away and lock things down, and a Feldon's Cane effect to flip everything that the Child is going to kill back into your deck.
Mid / Late Game:
So now you have wiped the board, and have control. Time to put those cards like Dragonmaster Outcast and Budoka Gardener into play. Its even better if you can use Alchemist's Refuge to throw them down before your turn. This is also the perfect time to use all of the time distortion cards you have such as Time Stretch and Stitch in Time.
By this time you should also have enough land to buyback at will, and have at least one good buyback card in your hand, preferably Forbid or Capsize.
Dragon Mage: Prepare to have a few Feldon's Cane effects, as cards will be flying into the graveyard fast with this guy. If attacking after a Time Reversal or Time Spiral effect its could be possible to eventually deck someone who was unprepared.
Marit Lage: Utilizing the combo below, a 20/20 indestructible creature can never be a bad thing.
Combos:
This deck uses few combos, relying more on cards that work by themselves; however I have outlined the combos I know of below.
Dark Depths and Thespian's Stage: A well known combo to cheat Marit Lage into play. Thespian's copys Dark Depths (but with no counters on it) and when the legend rule takes effect you kill off the real Dark Depths and sac the Thespian's Stage version for a free Marit. {Note: Dark Depths is a Legend so it can be tutored for with a Vesuvan'ed Captian Sisay.}
Riftstone Portal + Any discard / sac effect: Get Portal in graveyard while qualifying for another effect.
Construction Zone - Please Ignore
[Spoiler=Work in Progress]
Decklist Ideas/Strategies
Instead of talking about specific cards at this point I feel it nessesary to discuss decklist ideas and over-arching strategys that I feel work well with Child of Alara. Below are some general ideas and strategies that everyone is familiar with and I venture to explain how they icould positively meld with Child of Alara
.
[spoiler=Child of Alara Decklist Ideas]
Aggro/Beatdown
Raw Aggro:
A Raw Aggro Child deck could focus on several large creatures that are tooled up to survive the Childs wipe effect, mass token generation, or large creatures with a speedy mana base to repopulate the battlefield after the wipe takes effect. I would also add the use of poision counter creatures in here as well.
Voltron:
Voltron would rely on pumping up the Child in the hopes that other players would rather take the damage than suffer its wrath effect. Eventually they would need to block/kill the Child and take the board wipe, or succumb to death by Commander damage.
Control
Classic Control
When I talk about Classic Control I am referring to decks using cards with Counterspell and Boomerang mechanics to stall the board until one can activate a win condition. This strategy is less effective in EDH in general, and I do not feel it suits Child of Alara as a primary strategy; however as a secondary strategy it could be useful.
Toolbox:
In a multiplayer game you never know what will be thrown at you, and toolbox is the way to be prepared. A good Toolbox deck would select cards that back up the Child's ability to control the pace of the game. Cards with buyback, flashback, and dredge are great mechanics for this. Keep in mind this is different than prison becuase it responds to other threats as they occur instead of attempting to lock out other players from creating threats in the first place.
Pillowfort, Prison, Tax, Punisher :
To me these are all the same. The only difference is the scale to which you lock other players down. This can be accomplished pretty easily with Child of Alara if combined with the right cards. Wiping the board followed by dropping a Smokestack or Ward of Bones type card can be downright devious.
Warning: Some players might not be into this style of play so it is best that you speak with your group first. A good friend of mine compares this type of game to watching someone play solitare.
Card Mechanics that are part of this strategy:
Create Upkeep
Cause permenants to come into play tapped
Prevent spells or permenants from being cast
Effect the number of items that can be untapped in the untapped phase
Recursion
Sac & Recur:
Due to the fact that the Child only works if it hits the graveyard, it's a solid bet that every Child of Alara deck will have some sort of sac and recursion mechanic to get the Child into the grave and then back in the hand, or the Command Zone. Lands are generally accepted as the best methods of sacraficing the Child, however there are plenty of ways to do it. The upside of being forced to have these mechanics to fully utilize the Child is that the engines are in place for other Sac & Recur shennanigans. This also has good synergy with Reanimator effects.
Other
Ramp / Big Mana:
Having access to (or better yet the requirement of) all 5 colors makes ramp almost a nessessity, but I see this more as a mechanic then a strategy. I consider this best used in conjunction with one of the above strategies.
Group Hug:
A worthwhile strategy, however Child to me seems totally Anti Pro-Group. Dropping a Howling Mine will not restore confidence in other players after you just wiped the board.
Stealy, Mill, Lifegain:
Again, all useful but should be utilized in conjunction with another overall strategy.
[/spoiler] My Child of Alara Deck
[Spoiler=Deck Background]
Preface: I designed this deck to be used Multiplayer or 1v1.
[/Spoiler]
[spoiler= Deck Version 1]
Hey, good to see you again and I am glad to see you decided to do some posting here as well. I dont know how much you want to rely on the power of your commander but some of the cards I tend to see in child decks are:
Phyrexian Tower its another nice sacrifice outlet for your commander. Whenever possible sac outlets that dont get blown up by your commander's effect are nice to pick up.
Miren, the Moaning Well another sac outlet land. It costs a little more to activate but it doesnt get blown up either.
Genesis after placing your commander in your graveyard you need a way to get them back into play. This gives a nice way to do that.
Corpse Dance a nice way to recur your commander from the graveyard. Just sacrifice them before end of turn and execute another wrath effect.
Worthy Cause another sacrifice outlet that your commander wont take out. Whenever possible run sac outlets that will stick arround.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I plan on using the Childs power every time its advantageous, but I want the deck to stand on its own without it. All of those are good suggestions. I am suprised I did not find Worthy Cause and Corpse Dance when I did my first search. Perhaps I did but didn't connect their usefulness. I am pretty sure I have at least one copy of each of those. The lands are interesting as well. I am wondering now if they would be more advantagous than some of the other lands I am currently running.
Genisis seems a little slow to me due to the fact that it has to be sacked to work, and I have a ton of other options for getting stuff back to my hand. I could be wrong though.
Overall though is the meta in the right direction?
Genisis seems a little slow to me due to the fact that it has to be sacked to work, and I have a ton of other options for getting stuff back to my hand. I could be wrong though.
Well, you don't need to use Genesis until you've used Atomic Baby to put him in the graveyard anyway, so needing to sac it shouldn't be an issue. I think the idea is that it's just one extra way to get Child back to your hand.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"[Screw] you and the green you ramped in on." - My EDH battle cry. If I had one. Which I don't.
Samurai :
Do you run it with other Spirit type cards? If I go with something like that I am afraid I will pull a bunch of stuff out to flesh out a whole mechanic. Otherwise it does seem like a cheap way to get some speedbumps.
Dechs:
I went back and looked and saw that right now I only have 3 cards to pull the child out of the graveyard. Volrath's Stronghold, Disturbed Burial, and Recall. I had thought that I had more but then again I have been combing over this deck for a few weeks and I am going cross-eyed.
Theoretically I could pull the Glacial Chasm and a Mountian for the Tower and the Well, then add Genesis and Corpse Dance for the two cards I was short. The Chasm was a idea I was working on and is probably the land I am least attached too.
Samurai :
Do you run it with other Spirit type cards? If I go with something like that I am afraid I will pull a bunch of stuff out to flesh out a whole mechanic. Otherwise it does seem like a cheap way to get some speedbumps.
I run it strictly as a means to remove child from my graveyard and back into my command zone. Too often, i found myself getting one reset out of him and then i'd have to wait for someone to bojuka bog me or wait for a time spiral.
also, you have emrakul, the aeons torn in your list. That guy has been placed on the multiplayer banned list; so pending how your meta follows the list you may need to replace him.
I always like to encourage Phyrexian Metamorph as well as its usually considered the most powerful clone out there. It can be recovered as well with things like Academy Ruins which is really handy. I think its got more power than your current clones as well so its worth consideration at that.
Moltensteel Dragon / Allosaurus Rider in your list is sort of an odd addition to your list. Generally speaking I would recommend staying away from creatures that only beat with no other function.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is banned according to the official EDH rules. If you guys run different rules then it is fine but I thought I would point it out in case you are sticking to the official rules.
Cloud of Faeries its sort of an odd addition to your list. The only list I have ever seen it in and agreed with its addition has generally speaking been an Edric, Spymaster of Trest list. It just doesn't pack that much power here.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn - The "banned" list is one of the most confusing parts of EDH. I will just need to have something sideboard to sub in, but hes too cool of a card not to try to use amongst friends.
Cloud of Faeries was for the Untap two, figuring it could be useful as a land untap.
Moltensteel Dragon was mostly for the Phyrexian mana because its a totally new mechanic to me.
The Allosaur was because I should have a ton of land out, might as well make use of it. Also I could throw it down by discarding two green cards.
Samurai:
Now, I may have missed a few things but I thought that the only time you could choose to send the commander back to the command zone was when they would normally be put into the graveyard from play. Is this also the case "when ever the commander would be exiled from the game, instead place the commander back into the commander zone"? If it is that case too then yea, the spirit land makes a lot of sense.
Samurai:
Now, I may have missed a few things but I thought that the only time you could choose to send the commander back to the command zone was when they would normally be put into the graveyard from play. Is this also the case "when ever the commander would be exiled from the game, instead place the commander back into the commander zone"? If it is that case too then yea, the spirit land makes a lot of sense.
Thanks everyone.
-Wiz
yup, it works with exile now too.
"If a Commander would be put into a graveyard or exile from anywhere, its owner may choose to move it to the command zone instead. Details
This is a replacement effect; the creature never goes to the graveyard and will not trigger such abilities.
Commanders will move to the library or hand as normal; only transitions to Exile or the Graveyard may be replaced.
If a card is put into the exile zone face down from anywhere, and a player is allowed to look at that card in exile, the player must immediately do so. If it's a commander owned by another player, the player that looked at it turns it face up and puts it into the command zone. "
~Taken from mtgcommander.net
Playtest!
So i got to play some games this weekend against my friends Captain Sisay deck.
1: Yes this is going to be a Multi-Player EDH Deck, however personally I want it to work well one on one as well. These games were just test card selection and to remember if we were playing the game right.
2: In his defense after we played these games he had the ah-hah moment where he spent a bunch of time learning all the new cards that were out there. I expect to be in for more trouble next time. Overall though, I learned a lot of good things. The first of which is my friend (who introduced me to blue control ages ago) hates watching me play solitaire.
3. Please excuse the wacky formatting. I have this idea that I could make a primer in the back of my head so I am experimenting with BBcode.
The games went like this:
First game the deck worked well. Defensive in the beginning, I did not have much on the board, but the decks defensive cards like the walls and things worked well. What sealed the first game was when he cast his commander and I had a doppelganger in my hand. I already had thespian's stage out so I tutored for Dark Depths using my vesuvan Sisay and threw out Marit Lage. Needless to say things did not last much longer than that. One of the biggest issues other then re-learning what can and can't be done with the stack was my buddy casting Crovax, Ascendant Hero and how he interacted with the board. This effect made me question the viability of Ertai, Wizard Adept and Dragonmaster Outcast.
Game two proved to me the need for more card manipulation. With all of the deck manipulation, tutoring, and brainstorming going on now in magic I should be able to find a few more things to help with that. I spent the whole game trying to get something decent to use one of the methods to either pillow-fort or disk or something and it never came. I also made some dumb mistakes. I vesuvan'ed his commander again, and when I tutored, I tutored for something dumb so when I wiped with the child, I had no way to get it out of the graveyard. I should have tutored for Volrath's Stronghold and I would have been in good shape. Eventually though he recovered and swarmed for the win.
The third game things went too right.. Mid game I had it locked down hard. Disk in play, Capsize, Shattering Pulse, and Allay in my hand. Roughly 12 mana on the board. I then draw into Ward of Bones. I Disk, then drop the Ward. A few turns go on and I can see my friend is both upset and pissed. I draw Frozen Aether which would lock things down harder but I decide not to cast it. Oddly enough something went right and I drew the disk again. After 5 or so turns since I dropped the ward I drop the disk and wipe the board.
The game continues on and eventually plays out with a ton of dragon tokens and a 14/14 and (2) 13/13 Elemental Tokens courtesy of the Gardner for the win.
Take Away Lessons:
1: Learn the Game Again.
So we had all sorts of game mechanic issues due to the way we used to manipulate the stack, and how things have changed. I had briefly read over the comprehensive rules, with most of my information coming from articles and reports I have read recently. As well as a huge post somewhere on here I believe about what rules had changed in each edition. If I could, I would like to jot down some rules questions and if someone doesn't mind helping a returning nub it would be much appreciative.
1: When combat damage is dealt, it used to be that After damage was declared, but before it was dealt things could happen, like sacrifice a mogg fanatic, or giant growth a creature. Is this true now?
2: Can you still preform actions in other players end steps or your own upkeep step (before the draw). For instance my buddy used Sisay's ability in my end step so she was available to block if needed during my main phases. Also, I was using the top in my upkeep phase so I could draw what I topped for. Is this legit still?
3. If I ran Sylvan Library, how does the top interact with it. How far does it let me dig.
3. Explain all this targeted/non-targeted stuff. If its non-targeted (IE the card does not state that the caster will target something) its a blanket effect that ignores protection, shroud, hexproof, or any other rules that would otherwise protect it.
4. When Nevinyrral's Disk resolves, is it on the top or the bottom of the cards that its effects destroyed. Sames goes for Child of Alara.
5. When a Commander is recast from the hand instead of the graveyard, do you have to pay the additional mana. (I'm guessing no, since it was not played from the commander zone)
2: Definitely need more board wipes. Relying on just the Child and Disk alone was too risky.
3. Need some more small/medium creatures. Preferably 2/2 or up. 2-4 mana.
Against any sort of swarm deck I can see that I will be out numbered quick. A token generating combo would be useful too.
4. Card Draw. Multiple times I found myself asking for Thieving Magpie, Ophidian, or Shadowmage Infiltrator. Hilarious too because the first and second card were used in the tournament deck by the guy who designed the 3rd card. The deck overall needs more draw. A lot more draw.
5. Continue focusing on optimization. Find cards that do multiple things, all of which are specific, needed avantages to the deck.
Card Considerations:
Major cool added cards since the original posting:
Ral Zarek: Got him randomly in a repack. He seemed pretty cool so I threw him in.
At this point I am only proxying Sensei's Divining Top, Demonic Collusion, Shattered Perception, and Obelisk of Alara.
The following cards did not perform at the level I expected them too:
Palinchron: Yea he has bounce, and yea hes free... but there has to be something better. At this level it feels like hes a Durkwood Boar.
Stuffy Doll: Crovax took him out on me. The idea behind adding him was that he would survive the child's effects, but I am realizing now that: A. He is still pretty vunerable, and B: Unless I can flicker him somehow his power is only good against ONE target, which is not very savvy for Multi-player.
Ertai, Wizard Adept: Hes a 1/1 and unlike the Dragonmaster, his effectiveness is based off him sticking around for a while. I doubt his survivability in the future.
Riku of Two Reflections: I did play him in one game, however I was having issues in finding things to Riku.
Genju of the Realm: This is a holdover from when my deck idea was man-lands since Child did not touch them. I drew him once and I think I ended up Tolarian Winding him.
Smoke: Also got it in a repack. It was from Unlimited and looked cool, but definitely can be replaced. For two mana though I am on the fence with its lock-down power.
Ghostly Prison: This card makes me paranoid. For some reason I feel I should be playing Norn's Annex but then I remind myself I don't really have Planeswalkers. It's on the radar for upgrade/removal.
Counterspell: I feel this slot could prove more useful with a different card in it.
Overall I think the deck is going well, however I know that I am probably overlooking some obvious card or combo which is why I am posting on the Salvation! Below are my ideas for swapping cards in and out. Some cards I have no idea what would be the best to swap to, or if I should swap.
!! Work in Progress !!
"I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
-- Bhagavad Gita (XI,32)
Introduction This thread is dedicated to the Child of Alara, sometimes called the nuclear baby or boom baby. Recently I returned to Magic, having being away since the Urza's Block, and this is my first foray into EDH/Commander. When I first read about Commander/EDH I knew it was a format for me becuase of it's stark contrast to the mono colored speed decks that were all the rage when I left magic before.
As I was looking for EDH Commanders I immediately fell in love with this card as its five colors allow me to do pretty much what ever I want to without being tied to a specific trick (IE-Sliver Queen=Slivers). It's power also lets me control board tempo which I like a lot.
This thread will eventually be broken down into several sections presenting information about the Child of Alara Card, Why someone should or should not play it, Deck List Ideas and Strategies, my personal Deck List, and Card Options.
Commander Overview
Let's begin with a general overview of this commander:
Child of Alara represents one of the few five color commanders for EDH/Commander. It was printed in Conflux (2009) as a mytic rare, in the Alara Block. It has yet to be reprinted.
Cool nuclear baby art is provided by Steve Argyle who has brought us other cool art such as Liliana of the Veil and Nevinyrral's Disk .
Mana Cost:WUBRG
Child of Alara has a casting cost of one mana of each color, which can be very demanding on your mana base if it is not optimized toward 5 color casting. This means many non-basic lands, which in turn means that any Child deck is vunerable to non-basic land hate.
The upside is you have acess to every card in the Magic world to comprise your deck of.
Creature Type: Legendary Creature - Avatar
Nothing super amazing here. No cards currently use the Avatar type for targets or effects.
Power/Toughness: 6/6
A fair beater, and combined with the Child's ability has the potential to go unblocked often.
Ability 1:Trample
Not hateful considering power 6.
Ability 2: "When Child of Alara dies, destroy all nonland permanents. They can't be regenerated."
A Nevinyrral's Disk on Legs, with only indestructable permenants and lands surviving. The downside is that it has to hit the graveyard in order to activate, which negates the EDH/Commander benifit of having your Commander bounce to back to the command zone for free. This creates the need for some utility cards to keep the Child working for you, but the ability to wipe the board at will is why your playing Child of Alara in the first place.
[/spoiler]
Why Play Child of Alara?
Reasons why to play Child of Alara:
1. You enjoy the diversity granted by Child of Alara's color profile.
2. You enjoy having direct acess to a board wipe
3. You prefer a commander that can be used in varying ways (Voltron, Control, Beatdown) instead of one straightforward direction or combo.
4. You don't mind or like combos and coming up with ways to send the Child to the graveyard and then get it back out.
5. You like land, as it is the only thing that will automatically survive your Commanders power.
6. You don't have a issue, or enjoy Goodstuff
Reasons why you should not play Child of Alara:
1. You dislike having to deal with 5 colors.
2. You dislike non-basic land.
3. You want a commander that has fancier abilities, or more abilities.
4. You want a commander to do your winning for you, or dislike combos.
5. You dislike having to deal with a extra mechanic of digging the Child out of the Graveyard, instead of just being able to recast your commander from the command zone.
6. Wiping the board is not your style.
7. You dislike Goodstuff or the appearance of Goodstuff.
My Current Decklist
MTGDeckbuilder.net Link
1 Child of Alara
Basic:
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Mountain
Utility:
1 Maze of Ith
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Rishadan Port
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Unstable Frontier
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Riftstone Portal
Three Color Land:
1 Arcane Sanctum
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Jungle Shrine
1 Savage Lands
Sacrifice Outlets:
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 High Market
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
Five Color Land:
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Grove
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Meadow
1 Rupture Spire
1 Command Tower
1 Crystal Quarry
1 Transguild Promenade
1 Reflecting Pool
Other:
1 Vesuva
1 Scorched Ruins
Land Destruction
1 Dust Bowl
1 Wasteland
Recursion Land:
1 Academy Ruins
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Petrified Field
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Dark Depths
Speed Bumps:
1 Wall of Denial
1 Fog Bank
1 Palinchron
1 Stuffy Doll
I like what you have there:
1 Vesuvan Doppelganger
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
Ramp:
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Budoka Gardener
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
Recursion:
1 Genesis
Beatdown:
1 Dragon Mage
1 Utvara Hellkite
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
Cool Effects:
1 Riku of Two Reflections
1 Jace's Archivist
1 Lighthouse Chronologist
1 Ertai, Wizard Adept
Planeswalkers:
1 Ral Zarek
Ramp:
1 Burgeoning
1 Exploration
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Crucible of Worlds
Buyback Toolbox:
1 Reiterate
1 Disturbed Burial
1 Corpse Dance
1 Allay
1 Constant Mists
1 Forbid
1 Capsize
1 Hammer of Bogardan
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Mystic Retrieval
1 Shattered Perception
1 Worthy Cause
1 Memory Crystal
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Demonic Collusion
Hand Flipping:
1 Tolarian Winds
1 Time Spiral
1 Time Reversal
Recursion:
1 Life from the Loam
1 Recall
1 Feldon's Cane
Cool Effects:
1 Trading Post
1 Obelisk of Alara
1 Trade Routes
1 Genju of the Realm
Backup Wipe:
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
Lockdown:
1 Ward of Bones
1 Frozen Aether
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Smoke
Time:
1 Exhaustion
1 Stitch in Time
1 Time Stretch
Card Advantage:
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Counterspell
Maybe Board
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Tsabo Tavoc
1 Primeval Bounty
1 Quest for Ancient Secrets
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Gaea's Blessing
1 Magistrate's Scepter
1 Collective Blessing
1 Worldslayer
1 Magus of the Disk
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
1 Crop Rotation
1 Windfall
1 Strip Mine
1 Sol Ring
1 Sylvan Library
My Strategy
Early game three three things need to be accomplished. The first is building a 5 color mana base. By using cards like Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Oracle of Mul Daya, Burgeoning, and Exploration you can basically lay down land as fast as you pull them. Chromatic Lantern will let the lands you do throw down work more for you.
The second part is finding a good recursion tool such as Volrath's Stronghold, Genesis, Disturbed Burial, Corpse Dance, or Recall to get the Child out of the graveyard.
The third objective is the sacrafice outlet. This just allows us to control when it hits the grave instead of hoping that someone kills it in combat. Sac tools to look for are High Market, Phyrexian Tower, Miren, the Moaning Well, and Trading Post.
Meanwhile you should have been using the toolbox cards, lockdown, and speedbumps to mitigate what your opponents have been throwing at you. If your hand has run stagnant hopefully you have pulled cards like Tolarian Winds, Time Spiral, Time Reversal, and Shattered Perception, which allow you to keep a fresh supply of useful cards.
At this point you are ready to reset the board with Child, and hopefully you have something like Smoke, Ward of Bones, or Frozen Aether to drop right away and lock things down, and a Feldon's Cane effect to flip everything that the Child is going to kill back into your deck.
So now you have wiped the board, and have control. Time to put those cards like Dragonmaster Outcast and Budoka Gardener into play. Its even better if you can use Alchemist's Refuge to throw them down before your turn. This is also the perfect time to use all of the time distortion cards you have such as Time Stretch and Stitch in Time.
By this time you should also have enough land to buyback at will, and have at least one good buyback card in your hand, preferably Forbid or Capsize.
If things get out of hand, wipe with the Child again, flip your graveyard in your deck and start over.
This deck uses regular damage and Commander damage as it's win conditions.
If Child can go unblocked early game there is the potential that you can deal the last bit of commander damage needed after a wipe later in the game.
Regular damage is provided by two main options:
Fatties:Palinchron and what ever you have copied with Vesuvan Shapeshifter, Vesuvan Doppelganger, and Phyrexian Metamorph.
Tokens: Dragonmaster Outcast, Budoka Gardener, and Utvara Hellkite will all produce great tough creatures in short order. If you were able to Riku of Two Reflections them when cast, you now have twice as many. Throwing these down after a wipe can build a large army in short order.
Dragon Mage: Prepare to have a few Feldon's Cane effects, as cards will be flying into the graveyard fast with this guy. If attacking after a Time Reversal or Time Spiral effect its could be possible to eventually deck someone who was unprepared.
Marit Lage: Utilizing the combo below, a 20/20 indestructible creature can never be a bad thing.
This deck uses few combos, relying more on cards that work by themselves; however I have outlined the combos I know of below.
Dark Depths and Thespian's Stage: A well known combo to cheat Marit Lage into play. Thespian's copys Dark Depths (but with no counters on it) and when the legend rule takes effect you kill off the real Dark Depths and sac the Thespian's Stage version for a free Marit. {Note: Dark Depths is a Legend so it can be tutored for with a Vesuvan'ed Captian Sisay.}
Crucible of Worlds and...
{Note that this could work short term with Life from the Loam as well}
Trading Post and Hammer of Bogardan: Discard Hammer for life, then use its unique buyback to put it in hand.
Riftstone Portal + Any discard / sac effect: Get Portal in graveyard while qualifying for another effect.
Construction Zone - Please Ignore
[Spoiler=Work in Progress]
Decklist Ideas/Strategies.
[spoiler=Child of Alara Decklist Ideas]
Aggro/BeatdownA Raw Aggro Child deck could focus on several large creatures that are tooled up to survive the Childs wipe effect, mass token generation, or large creatures with a speedy mana base to repopulate the battlefield after the wipe takes effect. I would also add the use of poision counter creatures in here as well. Voltron would rely on pumping up the Child in the hopes that other players would rather take the damage than suffer its wrath effect. Eventually they would need to block/kill the Child and take the board wipe, or succumb to death by Commander damage.
ControlWhen I talk about Classic Control I am referring to decks using cards with Counterspell and Boomerang mechanics to stall the board until one can activate a win condition. This strategy is less effective in EDH in general, and I do not feel it suits Child of Alara as a primary strategy; however as a secondary strategy it could be useful. In a multiplayer game you never know what will be thrown at you, and toolbox is the way to be prepared. A good Toolbox deck would select cards that back up the Child's ability to control the pace of the game. Cards with buyback, flashback, and dredge are great mechanics for this. Keep in mind this is different than prison becuase it responds to other threats as they occur instead of attempting to lock out other players from creating threats in the first place. To me these are all the same. The only difference is the scale to which you lock other players down. This can be accomplished pretty easily with Child of Alara if combined with the right cards. Wiping the board followed by dropping a Smokestack or Ward of Bones type card can be downright devious.
Warning: Some players might not be into this style of play so it is best that you speak with your group first. A good friend of mine compares this type of game to watching someone play solitare.
Card Mechanics that are part of this strategy:
RecursionDue to the fact that the Child only works if it hits the graveyard, it's a solid bet that every Child of Alara deck will have some sort of sac and recursion mechanic to get the Child into the grave and then back in the hand, or the Command Zone. Lands are generally accepted as the best methods of sacraficing the Child, however there are plenty of ways to do it. The upside of being forced to have these mechanics to fully utilize the Child is that the engines are in place for other Sac & Recur shennanigans. This also has good synergy with Reanimator effects.
OtherHaving access to (or better yet the requirement of) all 5 colors makes ramp almost a nessessity, but I see this more as a mechanic then a strategy. I consider this best used in conjunction with one of the above strategies. A worthwhile strategy, however Child to me seems totally Anti Pro-Group. Dropping a Howling Mine will not restore confidence in other players after you just wiped the board.
Again, all useful but should be utilized in conjunction with another overall strategy.
[/spoiler]
My Child of Alara Deck
[Spoiler=Deck Background]
Preface: I designed this deck to be used Multiplayer or 1v1.
[/Spoiler]
[spoiler= Deck Version 1]
1 Meteor Crater
1 Crystal Quarry
1 Vesuva
1 Savage Lands
1 Arcane Sanctum
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Jungle Shrine
1 Rupture Spire
1 Scorched Ruins
1 Terrain Generator
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Transguild Promenade
1 Unstable Frontier
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Grove
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Meadow
1 Command Tower
1 Petrified Field
1 Riftstone Portal
1 Forest
1 Island
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Reflecting Pool
1 High Market
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Maze of Ith
1 Rishadan Port
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Academy Ruins
1 Dark Depths
Creatures:
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Vesuvan Doppelganger
1 Child of Alara
1 Moltensteel Dragon
1 Budoka Gardener
1 Consuming Aberration
1 Dragon Mage
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Utvara Hellkite
1 Wall of Denial
1 Palinchron
1 Riku of Two Reflections
1 Ertai, Wizard Adept
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Lighthouse Chronologist
1 Primordial Hydra
1 Allosaurus Rider
1 Fog Bank
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Cloud of Faeries
1 Trading Post
1 Exploration
1 Genju of the Realm
1 Burgeoning
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Capsize
1 Life from the Loam
1 Disturbed Burial
1 Constant Mists
1 Hammer of Bogardan
1 Forbid
1 Reiterate
1 Allay
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Demonic Collusion
1 Tolarian Winds
1 Shattered Perception
1 Counterspell
1 Memory Crystal
1 Feldon's Cane
1 Time Spiral
1 Exhaustion
1 Time Reversal
1 Mystic Retrieval
1 Recall
1 War Tax
1 Stitch in Time
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Trade Routes
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Beacon of Immortality
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Ward of Bones
1 Staff of Domination
1 Time Stretch
1 Rewind
Maybeboard
1 Privileged Position
1 Chamber of Manipulation
1 Scion of the Ur-Dragon
1 Shimian Specter
1 Cathedral Membrane
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Collective Blessing
1 Trace of Abundance
1 Portcullis
1 Stasis
1 Walking Atlas
1 Caustic Tar
1 Eternity Vessel
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Clone
1 Skyshroud Elf
1 Temporal Manipulation
1 Render Silent
1 Reminisce
1 Mana Maze
1 Primeval Titan
1 Summer Bloom
1 Whim of Volrath
1 Eon Hub
1 Time Warp
1 Power Conduit
[spoiler= Deck Version 2]
Basic:
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Mountain
Utility:
1 Maze of Ith
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Rishadan Port
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Unstable Frontier
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Riftstone Portal
Three Color Land:
1 Arcane Sanctum
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Jungle Shrine
1 Savage Lands
Sacrifice Outlets:
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 High Market
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
Five Color Land:
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Grove
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Meadow
1 Rupture Spire
1 Command Tower
1 Crystal Quarry
1 Transguild Promenade
1 Reflecting Pool
Other:
1 Vesuva
1 Scorched Ruins
Land Destruction
1 Dust Bowl
1 Wasteland
Recursion Land:
1 Academy Ruins
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Petrified Field
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Dark Depths
Speed Bumps:
1 Wall of Denial
1 Fog Bank
1 Palinchron
1 Stuffy Doll
I like what you have there:
1 Vesuvan Doppelganger
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
Ramp:
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Budoka Gardener
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
Recursion:
1 Genesis
Beatdown:
1 Dragon Mage
1 Utvara Hellkite
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
Cool Effects:
1 Riku of Two Reflections
1 Jace's Archivist
1 Lighthouse Chronologist
1 Ertai, Wizard Adept
Planeswalkers:
1 Ral Zarek
Ramp:
1 Burgeoning
1 Exploration
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Crucible of Worlds
Buyback Toolbox:
1 Reiterate
1 Disturbed Burial
1 Corpse Dance
1 Allay
1 Constant Mists
1 Forbid
1 Capsize
1 Hammer of Bogardan
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Mystic Retrieval
1 Shattered Perception
1 Worthy Cause
1 Memory Crystal
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Demonic Collusion
Hand Flipping:
1 Tolarian Winds
1 Time Spiral
1 Time Reversal
Recursion:
1 Life from the Loam
1 Recall
1 Feldon's Cane
Cool Effects:
1 Trading Post
1 Obelisk of Alara
1 Trade Routes
1 Genju of the Realm
Backup Wipe:
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
Lockdown:
1 Ward of Bones
1 Frozen Aether
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Smoke
Time:
1 Exhaustion
1 Stitch in Time
1 Time Stretch
Card Advantage:
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Counterspell
Maybe Board
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Tsabo Tavoc
1 Primeval Bounty
1 Quest for Ancient Secrets
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Gaea's Blessing
1 Magistrate's Scepter
1 Collective Blessing
1 Worldslayer
1 Magus of the Disk
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
1 Crop Rotation
1 Windfall
1 Strip Mine
1 Sol Ring
1 Sylvan Library
[/spoiler]
[/Spoiler]
Phyrexian Tower its another nice sacrifice outlet for your commander. Whenever possible sac outlets that dont get blown up by your commander's effect are nice to pick up.
Miren, the Moaning Well another sac outlet land. It costs a little more to activate but it doesnt get blown up either.
Genesis after placing your commander in your graveyard you need a way to get them back into play. This gives a nice way to do that.
Corpse Dance a nice way to recur your commander from the graveyard. Just sacrifice them before end of turn and execute another wrath effect.
Worthy Cause another sacrifice outlet that your commander wont take out. Whenever possible run sac outlets that will stick arround.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
I plan on using the Childs power every time its advantageous, but I want the deck to stand on its own without it. All of those are good suggestions. I am suprised I did not find Worthy Cause and Corpse Dance when I did my first search. Perhaps I did but didn't connect their usefulness. I am pretty sure I have at least one copy of each of those. The lands are interesting as well. I am wondering now if they would be more advantagous than some of the other lands I am currently running.
Genisis seems a little slow to me due to the fact that it has to be sacked to work, and I have a ton of other options for getting stuff back to my hand. I could be wrong though.
Overall though is the meta in the right direction?
Thanks,
-Wiz
Someone suggested that card for my version of child and I found that it is worth the slot.
My Blog - contains my decklists
Uril, The Miststalker
Frankie Peanuts - needs to move to multiplayer.
Well, you don't need to use Genesis until you've used Atomic Baby to put him in the graveyard anyway, so needing to sac it shouldn't be an issue. I think the idea is that it's just one extra way to get Child back to your hand.
Pristaxcontrombmodruu!
Do you run it with other Spirit type cards? If I go with something like that I am afraid I will pull a bunch of stuff out to flesh out a whole mechanic. Otherwise it does seem like a cheap way to get some speedbumps.
Dechs:
I went back and looked and saw that right now I only have 3 cards to pull the child out of the graveyard. Volrath's Stronghold, Disturbed Burial, and Recall. I had thought that I had more but then again I have been combing over this deck for a few weeks and I am going cross-eyed.
Theoretically I could pull the Glacial Chasm and a Mountian for the Tower and the Well, then add Genesis and Corpse Dance for the two cards I was short. The Chasm was a idea I was working on and is probably the land I am least attached too.
Thank you both,
-Wiz
I run it strictly as a means to remove child from my graveyard and back into my command zone. Too often, i found myself getting one reset out of him and then i'd have to wait for someone to bojuka bog me or wait for a time spiral.
also, you have emrakul, the aeons torn in your list. That guy has been placed on the multiplayer banned list; so pending how your meta follows the list you may need to replace him.
My Blog - contains my decklists
Uril, The Miststalker
Frankie Peanuts - needs to move to multiplayer.
Moltensteel Dragon / Allosaurus Rider in your list is sort of an odd addition to your list. Generally speaking I would recommend staying away from creatures that only beat with no other function.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is banned according to the official EDH rules. If you guys run different rules then it is fine but I thought I would point it out in case you are sticking to the official rules.
Cloud of Faeries its sort of an odd addition to your list. The only list I have ever seen it in and agreed with its addition has generally speaking been an Edric, Spymaster of Trest list. It just doesn't pack that much power here.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
Phyrexian Metamorph is amazing. Will add.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn - The "banned" list is one of the most confusing parts of EDH. I will just need to have something sideboard to sub in, but hes too cool of a card not to try to use amongst friends.
Cloud of Faeries was for the Untap two, figuring it could be useful as a land untap.
Moltensteel Dragon was mostly for the Phyrexian mana because its a totally new mechanic to me.
The Allosaur was because I should have a ton of land out, might as well make use of it. Also I could throw it down by discarding two green cards.
Samurai:
Now, I may have missed a few things but I thought that the only time you could choose to send the commander back to the command zone was when they would normally be put into the graveyard from play. Is this also the case "when ever the commander would be exiled from the game, instead place the commander back into the commander zone"? If it is that case too then yea, the spirit land makes a lot of sense.
Thanks everyone.
-Wiz
yup, it works with exile now too.
"If a Commander would be put into a graveyard or exile from anywhere, its owner may choose to move it to the command zone instead. Details
This is a replacement effect; the creature never goes to the graveyard and will not trigger such abilities.
Commanders will move to the library or hand as normal; only transitions to Exile or the Graveyard may be replaced.
If a card is put into the exile zone face down from anywhere, and a player is allowed to look at that card in exile, the player must immediately do so. If it's a commander owned by another player, the player that looked at it turns it face up and puts it into the command zone. "
~Taken from mtgcommander.net
My Blog - contains my decklists
Uril, The Miststalker
Frankie Peanuts - needs to move to multiplayer.
Basic:
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Mountain
Utility:
1 Maze of Ith
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Rishadan Port
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Unstable Frontier
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Riftstone Portal
Three Color Land:
1 Arcane Sanctum
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Jungle Shrine
1 Savage Lands
Sacrifice Outlets:
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 High Market
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
Five Color Land:
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Grove
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Meadow
1 Rupture Spire
1 Command Tower
1 Crystal Quarry
1 Transguild Promenade
1 Reflecting Pool
Other:
1 Vesuva
1 Scorched Ruins
Land Destruction
1 Dust Bowl
1 Wasteland
Recursion Land:
1 Academy Ruins
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Petrified Field
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Dark Depths
Speed Bumps:
1 Wall of Denial
1 Fog Bank
1 Palinchron
1 Stuffy Doll
I like what you have there:
1 Vesuvan Doppelganger
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
Ramp:
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Budoka Gardener
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
Recursion:
1 Genesis
Beatdown:
1 Dragon Mage
1 Utvara Hellkite
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
Cool Effects:
1 Riku of Two Reflections
1 Jace's Archivist
1 Lighthouse Chronologist
1 Ertai, Wizard Adept
Planeswalkers:
1 Ral Zarek
Ramp:
1 Burgeoning
1 Exploration
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Crucible of Worlds
Buyback Toolbox:
1 Reiterate
1 Disturbed Burial
1 Corpse Dance
1 Allay
1 Constant Mists
1 Forbid
1 Capsize
1 Hammer of Bogardan
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Mystic Retrieval
1 Shattered Perception
1 Worthy Cause
1 Memory Crystal
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Demonic Collusion
Hand Flipping:
1 Tolarian Winds
1 Time Spiral
1 Time Reversal
Recursion:
1 Life from the Loam
1 Recall
1 Feldon's Cane
Cool Effects:
1 Trading Post
1 Obelisk of Alara
1 Trade Routes
1 Genju of the Realm
Backup Wipe:
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
Lockdown:
1 Ward of Bones
1 Frozen Aether
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Smoke
Time:
1 Exhaustion
1 Stitch in Time
1 Time Stretch
Card Advantage:
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Counterspell
Maybe Board
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Tsabo Tavoc
1 Primeval Bounty
1 Quest for Ancient Secrets
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Gaea's Blessing
1 Magistrate's Scepter
1 Collective Blessing
1 Worldslayer
1 Magus of the Disk
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
1 Crop Rotation
1 Windfall
1 Strip Mine
1 Sol Ring
1 Sylvan Library
Playtest!
So i got to play some games this weekend against my friends Captain Sisay deck.
1: Yes this is going to be a Multi-Player EDH Deck, however personally I want it to work well one on one as well. These games were just test card selection and to remember if we were playing the game right.
2: In his defense after we played these games he had the ah-hah moment where he spent a bunch of time learning all the new cards that were out there. I expect to be in for more trouble next time. Overall though, I learned a lot of good things. The first of which is my friend (who introduced me to blue control ages ago) hates watching me play solitaire.
3. Please excuse the wacky formatting. I have this idea that I could make a primer in the back of my head so I am experimenting with BBcode.
The games went like this:
First game the deck worked well. Defensive in the beginning, I did not have much on the board, but the decks defensive cards like the walls and things worked well. What sealed the first game was when he cast his commander and I had a doppelganger in my hand. I already had thespian's stage out so I tutored for Dark Depths using my vesuvan Sisay and threw out Marit Lage. Needless to say things did not last much longer than that. One of the biggest issues other then re-learning what can and can't be done with the stack was my buddy casting Crovax, Ascendant Hero and how he interacted with the board. This effect made me question the viability of Ertai, Wizard Adept and Dragonmaster Outcast.
Game two proved to me the need for more card manipulation. With all of the deck manipulation, tutoring, and brainstorming going on now in magic I should be able to find a few more things to help with that. I spent the whole game trying to get something decent to use one of the methods to either pillow-fort or disk or something and it never came. I also made some dumb mistakes. I vesuvan'ed his commander again, and when I tutored, I tutored for something dumb so when I wiped with the child, I had no way to get it out of the graveyard. I should have tutored for Volrath's Stronghold and I would have been in good shape. Eventually though he recovered and swarmed for the win.
The third game things went too right.. Mid game I had it locked down hard. Disk in play, Capsize, Shattering Pulse, and Allay in my hand. Roughly 12 mana on the board. I then draw into Ward of Bones. I Disk, then drop the Ward. A few turns go on and I can see my friend is both upset and pissed. I draw Frozen Aether which would lock things down harder but I decide not to cast it. Oddly enough something went right and I drew the disk again. After 5 or so turns since I dropped the ward I drop the disk and wipe the board.
The game continues on and eventually plays out with a ton of dragon tokens and a 14/14 and (2) 13/13 Elemental Tokens courtesy of the Gardner for the win.
Take Away Lessons:
1: Learn the Game Again.
So we had all sorts of game mechanic issues due to the way we used to manipulate the stack, and how things have changed. I had briefly read over the comprehensive rules, with most of my information coming from articles and reports I have read recently. As well as a huge post somewhere on here I believe about what rules had changed in each edition. If I could, I would like to jot down some rules questions and if someone doesn't mind helping a returning nub it would be much appreciative.
1: When combat damage is dealt, it used to be that After damage was declared, but before it was dealt things could happen, like sacrifice a mogg fanatic, or giant growth a creature. Is this true now?
2: Can you still preform actions in other players end steps or your own upkeep step (before the draw). For instance my buddy used Sisay's ability in my end step so she was available to block if needed during my main phases. Also, I was using the top in my upkeep phase so I could draw what I topped for. Is this legit still?
3. If I ran Sylvan Library, how does the top interact with it. How far does it let me dig.
3. Explain all this targeted/non-targeted stuff. If its non-targeted (IE the card does not state that the caster will target something) its a blanket effect that ignores protection, shroud, hexproof, or any other rules that would otherwise protect it.
4. When Nevinyrral's Disk resolves, is it on the top or the bottom of the cards that its effects destroyed. Sames goes for Child of Alara.
5. When a Commander is recast from the hand instead of the graveyard, do you have to pay the additional mana. (I'm guessing no, since it was not played from the commander zone)
2: Definitely need more board wipes. Relying on just the Child and Disk alone was too risky.
3. Need some more small/medium creatures. Preferably 2/2 or up. 2-4 mana.
Against any sort of swarm deck I can see that I will be out numbered quick. A token generating combo would be useful too.
4. Card Draw. Multiple times I found myself asking for Thieving Magpie, Ophidian, or Shadowmage Infiltrator. Hilarious too because the first and second card were used in the tournament deck by the guy who designed the 3rd card. The deck overall needs more draw. A lot more draw.
5. Continue focusing on optimization. Find cards that do multiple things, all of which are specific, needed avantages to the deck.
Card Considerations:
Major cool added cards since the original posting:
Ral Zarek: Got him randomly in a repack. He seemed pretty cool so I threw him in.
Wasteland: Buddy loaned me one.
At this point I am only proxying Sensei's Divining Top, Demonic Collusion, Shattered Perception, and Obelisk of Alara.
The following cards did not perform at the level I expected them too:
Palinchron: Yea he has bounce, and yea hes free... but there has to be something better. At this level it feels like hes a Durkwood Boar.
Stuffy Doll: Crovax took him out on me. The idea behind adding him was that he would survive the child's effects, but I am realizing now that: A. He is still pretty vunerable, and B: Unless I can flicker him somehow his power is only good against ONE target, which is not very savvy for Multi-player.
Ertai, Wizard Adept: Hes a 1/1 and unlike the Dragonmaster, his effectiveness is based off him sticking around for a while. I doubt his survivability in the future.
Riku of Two Reflections: I did play him in one game, however I was having issues in finding things to Riku.
Genju of the Realm: This is a holdover from when my deck idea was man-lands since Child did not touch them. I drew him once and I think I ended up Tolarian Winding him.
Smoke: Also got it in a repack. It was from Unlimited and looked cool, but definitely can be replaced. For two mana though I am on the fence with its lock-down power.
Ghostly Prison: This card makes me paranoid. For some reason I feel I should be playing Norn's Annex but then I remind myself I don't really have Planeswalkers. It's on the radar for upgrade/removal.
Counterspell: I feel this slot could prove more useful with a different card in it.
Crystal Quarry: Unimpressed.
Replacement Ideas:
Mirari's Wake: Expensive, but Ramp and +1/+1.
Tsabo Tavoc: Dead Legends. Nuff Said.
Primeval Bounty: Tokens, Life, and +1/+1 Counters.
Quest for Ancient Secrets: Long Term Feldon's Cane, could be known as the Child Countdown.
Elixir of Immortality: Life + Cane
Gaea's Blessing: Replaces itself, Double Shuffle + Cane
Magistrate's Scepter: Moar Turns.
Collective Blessing: +3/+3
Worldslayer: Disk Equipment, Stays on board.
Magus of the Disk: Disk on Legs
Supreme Verdict: Can't Be countered Wrath
Wrath of God: Wrath of God
Crop Rotation: Sack a Land, Tutor for Dark Depths.
Windfall: Tolarian Winds
Strip Mine: Strip Mine
Sol Ring: Sol Ring
Sylvan Library: I have one, a cool Italian Legends one. The card drawing mechanic that was lost on me 10 years ago is now so apparent it's as if it has fallen on my head.
Moorland Haunt: Another way to reset the Child while its in the graveyard.
Final Thoughts:
Overall I think the deck is going well, however I know that I am probably overlooking some obvious card or combo which is why I am posting on the Salvation! Below are my ideas for swapping cards in and out. Some cards I have no idea what would be the best to swap to, or if I should swap.
Swaps:
Palinchron: ?
Stuffy Doll: ?Stay?
Ertai, Wizard Adept/Riku of Two Reflections -> Magus of the Disk
Genju of the Realm -> Elixir of Immortality or Gaea's Blessing
Smoke: ?
Ghostly Prison: Stays for now.
Counterspell -> Sylvan Library
Crystal Quarry -> Strip mine or Moorland Haunt
If you have a chance, please give some feedback and feel free to add any ideas/concerns you have. Thank you for taking the time to read my thread.
-- Wizard of Id