When you cast Conduit of Ruin, you may search your library for a colorless creature card with converted mana cost 7 or greater, reveal it, then shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.
I understand that searching your library is a 'may' ability, but let's say you have Kozilek, Butcher of Truth in your library and you chose to search it; can you choose "failure to find" in order to simply get a shuffle from Conduit's ability?
So in the example given, lets say it is just down to us (2 players, HIM vs ME) and it is his turn. His Sheoldred trigger goes on the stack, then I choose my Braids Trigger, he receives priority and passes back since he has no additional triggers to add and then I add my Sheoldred trigger leaving the stack looking like this:
So I know if I have Sheoldred, Whispering One and Braids, Cabal Minion in play, During my upkeep I would choose the order in which these triggers resolve. So I could choose Sheoldred to return a creature and then sac that creature to Braids' trigger.
Does ownership of the triggers matter? So let's say my opponent has a Sheoldred of his own via Phyrexian Metamorph. Now the stack has to resolve:
Sheoldred 1 (mine)
Sheoldred 2 (his)
Braids
Does he, as the active player, determine the order of resolution or does something else happen?
I think the problem here came from me being new to this group and the other players siding with the Athreos guy who quite clearly did not like that his stuff went to the Graveyard.
He was butt hurt about it the rest of the night. He's one of those "If things had been different..." people. "Variance! The Cards Hate Me!"
I. Introduction
This deck is born of the "untap, go" philosophy. It evolved with the dictate that All spells must be cast-able at instant speed. This may be a pipedream; but I'm a dreamer. This deck is mine and I haven't seen others like it. It has received criticism as it doesn't run Bitterblossom, Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize. Undoubtedly, Bitterblossom is a powerful card, however, in my personal experience, mid-late game Bitterblossoms were often dead cards. T2 is ideal, T3 is ok, T4 is the last turn I generally want to see one. This deck once was "Grixis Fae" but it distilled into mono-blue. The mind games associated with "Untap, Go" keep the deck interesting.
This deck thrives on knowing what your opponent is going to do, rather than guessing and playing around answers they may not have. It avoids color screw, it exploits the limited "flying" presence of modern, and it lets you pull off some interesting tricks. It achieves consistency through draw and does it all... whenever!
II. Card Choices
Spellstutter Sprite Counterspell on a body. Do not under-estimate the value of a flying 1/1. If you can stop a Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek early on you are golden. With board support, Spellstutter never loses her relevance. Keep in mind that Mutavault can tap and activate itself if you need to extend the reach on your Spellstutter's ability to counter.
Snapcaster Mage The Honorary Faerie. The only non-faerie creature in the deck yet no one is going to question his inclusion. If you're playing blue, this guy is probably there. The ability to re-use a counterspell or a Vapor Snag is invaluable.
Mistbind Clique Awesome tempo, when it sticks. Do not get fixated on tapping the opponent's lands down during their untap step. Always remember that you can cast her at your opponent's end of turn to have a 4/4 flying beater for your next; or have a surprise blocker. Keep in mind that Mutavault can tap and activate itself if you need a faerie to Champion. I like to champion a Spellstutter when possible.
Quickling Re-using your Snapcaster, Mistbind, Vendilion, or Spellstutter all sound good to me. Saving them from a lethal block also sounds good to me; not to mention the 2/2 flying body. In a pinch, if you championed a Spellstutter, Quickling can act as a counterspell.
Scion of Oona On top of adding lethality to your existing Faerie, he protects them from spot removal. This can help shield your Champion faeries or protect a mutavault from a Fulminator MageGhost Quarter. Champion, Familiar's Ruse, and Quickling do not target, so the shroud he grants has no negative impact there.
Vendilion Clique Draw too much land? Draw something else. Opponent tutor something? Make them draw something else. The versatility of this card is great, not to mention it's 3 power on a flying body.
Cryptic Command Counter + Draw are the common picks here. Tapping down Aggro or Bouncing a Phyrexian Obliterator is also relevant. Do you have any "feel good" plays?" (Assuming you missed the counter) One of mine is responding to a Jund player using Liliana's +1 with no cards in hand, Cryptic Command-ing Lili back to their hand and drawing a card. They discard the Lili and I have 1 more choice for my discard. It may not be a good play, but it feels good
Familiar's Ruse Counter a spell and re-use one of your ETB effects later. Ruse returning Snapcaster, Snapcaster targeting Ruse, Ruse returning Snapcaster.
Remand / Mana Leak Your choice here. Remand gets you a card which helps for the consistency, but mana leak ends it.
Shadow of Doubt Instant Speed card draw. I 'm still unsure of this card's inclusion. Instant speed, draws, and I love responding to a fetch with it. It slows down Tron's Expedition Map and Bloom Titan's ramping/Summoner's Pact
Spell Pierce An excellent stop against early Thoughtseize, Inqusition, or Turn 4 Twin.
Think Twice Instant speed card draw with flashback. This card is fills the void of those turns that you are not sure what you need to do with your open mana and helps to keep your hand full.
Vapor Snag Re-use your ETB effects, bounce Goyfs, Obliterators, etc.
Island Rated Best Card in Magic the Gathering for the last 20 years. Mutavault Manlands are always good. The tribal synergy in this deck cannot be ignored. Cavern of Souls This deck is largely tribal so this just makes sense. It doesn't work well with Cryptic and Shadow of Doubt in the early game.
III. Matchups
Admittedly, I have not had a large test bed for this deck. I am hoping that putting it out here I will be able to collect more info from new perspectives.
Jund
The hand disruption can be pretty harsh here. If you are able to Spell Pierce or Spellstutter your way into the mid game you will be in a much better position as Jund cannot deal with the flying of this deck. Scion of Oona is very important in this matchup as the majority of their removal is spot; compounding his value is the +1/+1 for other Faeries. This can drastically speed up the clock on a deck that will soon be in Top-Deck mode. Shadow of Doubt works wonders here as well. So much so that I have snap-casted Shadow of Doubt against Jund. If you have your Scions in place, Mistbind and Cryptic Command take their tolls quickly. Snag threats like Goyf and Tasigur.
Affinity
Anything you can do to slow them down. Affinity is FAST. Mana Leak is excellent here as they can hardly afford the extra mana. Spell Pierce does work. Annul could be a good sideboard card. Hurkyl's Recall is a speed bump; it is most effective when they have activated man-lands. Dropping a spellstutter to surprise block a Inkmoth Nexus/Blinkmoth Nexus is always worth it. Baiting them to sac all their artifacts (with Arcbound Ravager) and then snagging or Commanding a bounce can be game changing.
Burn
Keeping to the "All Instant Speed" casting theme here, I have not found a reliable way to deal with burn.
We must break the rule in favor of Dragon's Claw or Kraken's Eye. Possibly Spellskite. The combination of the Dragon's Claw and the Spellskite essentially translate to, "Pay 1 life, counter Lightning Bolt." Eidolon of the Great Revel can be exceptionally problematic.
Let's say I have 4x Spellstutter Sprites on the field and I cast Mistbind Clique during my opponent's upkeep. Mistbind resolves, Enters the Battlefield, and the Champion trigger goes on the stack. My opponent responds by Go For the Throat-ing my Mistbind; What happens to the Champion trigger?
Can I still champion I Faerie to tap down my opponent's lands?
- If I can still champion they faerie (since my mistbind is gone) do I get the faerie back?
Johnny has a Midnight Guard on the table.
Johnny enchants him with Song of the Dryads.
Johnny then enchants him with Squirrel Nest.
Finally, Johnny destroys the Song of the Dryads with Reclamation Sage's ETB.
Johnny then wishes to tap Midnight Guard, produce a squirrel, untap Midnight Guard, repeat.
Squirrel Nest reads "Enchanted land has.."
Midnight Guard is not a land. Midnight Guard can not activate the ability.
Johnny argues that it works.
lIf I use Food Chain, exiling Towering Baloth to add 9xG to my mana pool and I have Omnath, Locus of Mana on the field. Will the mana, added by Food Chain, retain the "must be spent on creatures" clause as phases and end and turns pass?
Mainly asking so I know if I have to keep track of 2 mana pools (Food Chain and Normal Mana) instead of just one, lol.
Question:
Jerry then wants to activate Scion of the Ur-Dragon's ability in-between the First Strike and Normal Strike to put Dragon Mage into his Graveyard.
Jerry's goal is to kill Brian AND draw 7 new cards.
Can he do this?
Timing really.
If I have Perplexing Chimera soulbond-ed to Deadeye Navigator, and one of my opponents casts Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger can I choose to exchange control of the Chimera and the Vorinclex spell, then with the ability on the stack bounce the Chimera netting me a Chimera and a Vorinclex (assuming it resolves).
I understand that searching your library is a 'may' ability, but let's say you have Kozilek, Butcher of Truth in your library and you chose to search it; can you choose "failure to find" in order to simply get a shuffle from Conduit's ability?
--Top--
3: Sheoldred 1
2: Braids 1
1: Sheoldred 2
--Bottom--
Furthermore, if he also had a Braids (Braids 2), it would (could) look like this:
--Top--
4: Sheoldred 1
3: Braids 2
2: Braids 1
1: Sheoldred 2
--Bottom--
Alternating between us in APNAP order until there are no triggers to add to the stack.
Does ownership of the triggers matter? So let's say my opponent has a Sheoldred of his own via Phyrexian Metamorph. Now the stack has to resolve:
Sheoldred 1 (mine)
Sheoldred 2 (his)
Braids
Does he, as the active player, determine the order of resolution or does something else happen?
My opponent casts Drown in Sorrow.
I respond with Natural Affinity. Resolve, Resolve.
Is it correct that Mikaeus sees each Creature Land die and returns them to the battlefield as Land with a +1/+1?
What if it is Wrath of God instead of Drown in Sorrow? Will the land still return or is Mikaeus dying at the same time going to stop that?
That's never come up but good point
I think the problem here came from me being new to this group and the other players siding with the Athreos guy who quite clearly did not like that his stuff went to the Graveyard.
He was butt hurt about it the rest of the night. He's one of those "If things had been different..." people. "Variance! The Cards Hate Me!"
*sigh*
I miss my old play group. (recently moved)
My opponent is playing Athreos, God of Passage as his commander, on the field, and 9 of his creatures die.
I pay all the life necessary to prevent him from recurring his 9 dead creatures (27 life total) to his hand.
Can I use Children of Korlis's ability to recover the life I paid?
The group argues that it was paid as a cost, not lost by other means, and therefore does not count.
I. Introduction
This deck is born of the "untap, go" philosophy. It evolved with the dictate that All spells must be cast-able at instant speed. This may be a pipedream; but I'm a dreamer. This deck is mine and I haven't seen others like it. It has received criticism as it doesn't run Bitterblossom, Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize. Undoubtedly, Bitterblossom is a powerful card, however, in my personal experience, mid-late game Bitterblossoms were often dead cards. T2 is ideal, T3 is ok, T4 is the last turn I generally want to see one. This deck once was "Grixis Fae" but it distilled into mono-blue. The mind games associated with "Untap, Go" keep the deck interesting.
This deck thrives on knowing what your opponent is going to do, rather than guessing and playing around answers they may not have. It avoids color screw, it exploits the limited "flying" presence of modern, and it lets you pull off some interesting tricks. It achieves consistency through draw and does it all... whenever!
II. Card Choices
Spellstutter Sprite Counterspell on a body. Do not under-estimate the value of a flying 1/1. If you can stop a Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek early on you are golden. With board support, Spellstutter never loses her relevance. Keep in mind that Mutavault can tap and activate itself if you need to extend the reach on your Spellstutter's ability to counter.
Snapcaster Mage The Honorary Faerie. The only non-faerie creature in the deck yet no one is going to question his inclusion. If you're playing blue, this guy is probably there. The ability to re-use a counterspell or a Vapor Snag is invaluable.
Mistbind Clique Awesome tempo, when it sticks. Do not get fixated on tapping the opponent's lands down during their untap step. Always remember that you can cast her at your opponent's end of turn to have a 4/4 flying beater for your next; or have a surprise blocker. Keep in mind that Mutavault can tap and activate itself if you need a faerie to Champion. I like to champion a Spellstutter when possible.
Pestermite This beauty can interrupt Exarch/Twin, untap a Mutavault, or tap down things like an incoming Goyf/Obliterator
Quickling Re-using your Snapcaster, Mistbind, Vendilion, or Spellstutter all sound good to me. Saving them from a lethal block also sounds good to me; not to mention the 2/2 flying body. In a pinch, if you championed a Spellstutter, Quickling can act as a counterspell.
Scion of Oona On top of adding lethality to your existing Faerie, he protects them from spot removal. This can help shield your Champion faeries or protect a mutavault from a Fulminator MageGhost Quarter. Champion, Familiar's Ruse, and Quickling do not target, so the shroud he grants has no negative impact there.
Vendilion Clique Draw too much land? Draw something else. Opponent tutor something? Make them draw something else. The versatility of this card is great, not to mention it's 3 power on a flying body.
Cryptic Command Counter + Draw are the common picks here. Tapping down Aggro or Bouncing a Phyrexian Obliterator is also relevant. Do you have any "feel good" plays?" (Assuming you missed the counter) One of mine is responding to a Jund player using Liliana's +1 with no cards in hand, Cryptic Command-ing Lili back to their hand and drawing a card. They discard the Lili and I have 1 more choice for my discard. It may not be a good play, but it feels good
Familiar's Ruse Counter a spell and re-use one of your ETB effects later. Ruse returning Snapcaster, Snapcaster targeting Ruse, Ruse returning Snapcaster.
Remand / Mana Leak Your choice here. Remand gets you a card which helps for the consistency, but mana leak ends it.
Shadow of Doubt Instant Speed card draw. I 'm still unsure of this card's inclusion. Instant speed, draws, and I love responding to a fetch with it. It slows down Tron's Expedition Map and Bloom Titan's ramping/Summoner's Pact
Spell Snare Stopping Goyfs since 2006. Goyf, Bob, Liliana, Terminate, Cranial Plating, Lightning Helix, Pyroclasm, Merfolk.
Spell Pierce An excellent stop against early Thoughtseize, Inqusition, or Turn 4 Twin.
Think Twice Instant speed card draw with flashback. This card is fills the void of those turns that you are not sure what you need to do with your open mana and helps to keep your hand full.
Vapor Snag Re-use your ETB effects, bounce Goyfs, Obliterators, etc.
Island Rated Best Card in Magic the Gathering for the last 20 years.
Mutavault Manlands are always good. The tribal synergy in this deck cannot be ignored.
Cavern of Souls This deck is largely tribal so this just makes sense. It doesn't work well with Cryptic and Shadow of Doubt in the early game.
III. Matchups
Admittedly, I have not had a large test bed for this deck. I am hoping that putting it out here I will be able to collect more info from new perspectives.
Jund
The hand disruption can be pretty harsh here. If you are able to Spell Pierce or Spellstutter your way into the mid game you will be in a much better position as Jund cannot deal with the flying of this deck. Scion of Oona is very important in this matchup as the majority of their removal is spot; compounding his value is the +1/+1 for other Faeries. This can drastically speed up the clock on a deck that will soon be in Top-Deck mode. Shadow of Doubt works wonders here as well. So much so that I have snap-casted Shadow of Doubt against Jund. If you have your Scions in place, Mistbind and Cryptic Command take their tolls quickly. Snag threats like Goyf and Tasigur.
Affinity
Anything you can do to slow them down. Affinity is FAST. Mana Leak is excellent here as they can hardly afford the extra mana. Spell Pierce does work. Annul could be a good sideboard card. Hurkyl's Recall is a speed bump; it is most effective when they have activated man-lands. Dropping a spellstutter to surprise block a Inkmoth Nexus/Blinkmoth Nexus is always worth it. Baiting them to sac all their artifacts (with Arcbound Ravager) and then snagging or Commanding a bounce can be game changing.
Burn
Keeping to the "All Instant Speed" casting theme here, I have not found a reliable way to deal with burn.
We must break the rule in favor of Dragon's Claw or Kraken's Eye. Possibly Spellskite. The combination of the Dragon's Claw and the Spellskite essentially translate to, "Pay 1 life, counter Lightning Bolt."
Eidolon of the Great Revel can be exceptionally problematic.
--More to come--
IV. Deck Example
3x Cryptic Command
1x Familiar's Ruse
2x Remand
2x Shadow of Doubt
2x Spell Snare
4x Think Twice
3x Vapor Snag
Creature (19)
4x Mistbind Clique
3x Pestermite
2x Quickling
2x Scion of Oona
2x Snapcaster Mage
4x Spellstutter Sprite
2x Vendilion Clique
21x Island
3x Mutavault
4x Dragon's Claw
2x Annul
3x Negate
3x Hurkyl's Recall
2x Spellskite
1x Scion of Oona
Can I still champion I Faerie to tap down my opponent's lands?
- If I can still champion they faerie (since my mistbind is gone) do I get the faerie back?
Contaminated Ground resolves targetting a Darksteel Citadel that is enchanted with Ensoul Artifact
Friend A says the Ensoul will fall off. Leaving a Darksteel Citadel, Land - Swamp
Friend B says it is now a 5/5 Artifact Creature Land - Swamp
Johnny enchants him with Song of the Dryads.
Johnny then enchants him with Squirrel Nest.
Finally, Johnny destroys the Song of the Dryads with Reclamation Sage's ETB.
Johnny then wishes to tap Midnight Guard, produce a squirrel, untap Midnight Guard, repeat.
Squirrel Nest reads "Enchanted land has.."
Midnight Guard is not a land. Midnight Guard can not activate the ability.
Johnny argues that it works.
Mainly asking so I know if I have to keep track of 2 mana pools (Food Chain and Normal Mana) instead of just one, lol.
What if Kruphix, God of Horizons converts the Food Chain generated mana into colorless?
Jerry activates Scion of the Ur-Dragon's ability and puts Atarka, World Render into his Graveyard.
Jerry attacks Brian withScion of the Ur-Dragon.
Brian does not declare a block.
Brian has 10 life remaining.
Question:
Jerry then wants to activate Scion of the Ur-Dragon's ability in-between the First Strike and Normal Strike to put Dragon Mage into his Graveyard.
Jerry's goal is to kill Brian AND draw 7 new cards.
Can he do this?
If I have Perplexing Chimera soulbond-ed to Deadeye Navigator, and one of my opponents casts Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger can I choose to exchange control of the Chimera and the Vorinclex spell, then with the ability on the stack bounce the Chimera netting me a Chimera and a Vorinclex (assuming it resolves).