We had a fun Sage of Hours combo deck going in Deck Creation thread but a lot of it is rotating out and gone- namely Bioshift and Corpsejack Menace (and desecration demon in many lists). Bioshift offered a pretty insane interaction with CJM, as it targeted two creatures, then moved the counters, re-placing them on sage and doubling the number moved.
So where does Sage of Hours have a home this standard? Jeskai, Sultai, Esper, Grixis, Bant? Simic?
I saw someone do a homebrew yesterday. He was grinding against a mono black aggro. It seemed pretty good. He ran a lot of search/topdeck manipulation like Taigam's Scheming and Commune with the Gods which goes well with Dig Through Time. He has 4 copies of Hardened Scales, Feat of Resistance, and Solidarity of Heroes. He said the biggest problem was that his own lands did a lot of damage to him, making it harder to win against aggro.
Ordeals were probably the best cards to cast on sage of hours. These cards are good with or without this card, but when I had multiple hardened scales, the card advantage engine took over and would roll me several turns in a row.
They are also an absolute house on a chasm skulker. I rarely took an extra turn unless the opponent had tapped out or left them open to being beaten down.
The deck had troubles with reach (nest was a real problem), and fast aggro decks. I really wanted to add something to make skulker or sage unblockable. Instead I opted to make the deck as consistent as possible. I also don't have a solution yet for aggro decks other than tactics. I'm considering turn to frog or bounce effects.
A few notes on treasure cruise - this card was the reason I went with the ordeal path. If the opponent killed an ordeal creature, I could cast treasure cruise faster. If they didn't, it still found it's way into the yard and I was one more away from treasure cruise. The powerlevel was pretty insane. The second one was always harder to cast though.
So where does Sage of Hours have a home this standard? Jeskai, Sultai, Esper, Grixis, Bant? Simic?
Interesting Abzan options
I'd say probably Bant.
Oooh, Hardened Scales!
RGGruul Aggro
WSoul Sisters
WBTokens
BUGRRestore Balance
BMono-Black Infect
EDH:
RGWMayael, the Anima
GWURoon of the Hidden Realm
BDrana, Kalastria Bloodchief
4 yavimaya coast
5 forest
4 wooded foothills
1 polluted delta
3 island
4 chasm skulker
3 courser of kruphix
3 sage of hours
1 clever impersonator
4 hardened scales
4 ordeal of thassa
3 ordeal of nylea
4 ranger's guile
3 treasure cruise
4 commune with the gods
2 setessan tactics
A couple things to note:
Ordeals were probably the best cards to cast on sage of hours. These cards are good with or without this card, but when I had multiple hardened scales, the card advantage engine took over and would roll me several turns in a row.
They are also an absolute house on a chasm skulker. I rarely took an extra turn unless the opponent had tapped out or left them open to being beaten down.
The deck had troubles with reach (nest was a real problem), and fast aggro decks. I really wanted to add something to make skulker or sage unblockable. Instead I opted to make the deck as consistent as possible. I also don't have a solution yet for aggro decks other than tactics. I'm considering turn to frog or bounce effects.
A few notes on treasure cruise - this card was the reason I went with the ordeal path. If the opponent killed an ordeal creature, I could cast treasure cruise faster. If they didn't, it still found it's way into the yard and I was one more away from treasure cruise. The powerlevel was pretty insane. The second one was always harder to cast though.
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=12077
The ordeals certainly help.
Standard
UR Control
Modern
Merfolk
Burn
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