I play some walls/rattlesnakes. Stuff like Baleful Strix or Spellskite. I'm also a fan of Maze of Ith. My defenses are often merely discouraging or soft, but that's usually enough to send people elsewhere.
I feel like that's too much investment for Rings, specifically. You're a 3 mana buy-in with 2 per trigger, and realistically, it's like a ghetto Untamed Wilds. You'd have to do this three times before being a little better than that, mana-wise.
I'm still a fan of EW/TE in all but the most developed mana bases. There are very few decks I would not run them in.
I have a soft spot for date-stamped foils. I used to hate them, but now, they often remind me of the prereleases I've gone to, the vast majority of which have been exciting/pleasant.
When I dismantle a deck, it's usually because I've had my fun with it, and it's time to move on to something new. There's only so many times I could cast Maelstrom Wanderer before calling retiring the deck. Same with tutoring flying creatures with Isperia the Inscrutable. Or blowing people up with Neheb, the Eternal.
The other times I take apart a deck is when it's an idea that does not seem to have a viable execution. I did this most recently with O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami, where I wanted to put other players in a bind of attacking me (and suffering OK's vengeful exile ability), or to punish them for not attacking me (with cards like Luminarch Ascension). Sadly, there were not enough cards to execute the strategy, and players would often dance around OK's punishment with removal (despite my best efforts to protect OK and/or give him haste). I have many other decks that have failed in execution, OK only being the most recent.
As for feeling bad that I've spent money on it... well, no. I've had my fun with the cards I played in my decks; I got a value of joy out of them incommensurate to the money I paid. Further, these cards aren't 'used up' or anything; many I owned before from previous EDH decks, and will be stored away to be played again in another. Even in decks that are relatively short-lived, such as in OK's case, I had Luminarch Ascension in many decks before OK, and will play it again in the future. Any singles I bought to include in OK will have the same life cycle, finding their way into decks, being dismantled and stored away, only to resurface again.
My perspective on it might be different, though. I often buy cards long before they live in an EDH deck, some of which I think because they are neat in form or function. Case and Point, I think I've owned a Defiler of Souls for around 8 years now, but it only just found its way into a deck in the last month (Niv-Mizzet Reborn has no mono-coloured creatures, and Defiler gets drawn by Niv). I've also spent so much money on Magic over the time I've played that, at this point, any regret for an individual purchase or set of purchases would be a bucket of water next to a lake.
I have long advocated for Iona's banning. She adds nothing to the game, except to make people reconsider monocolour decks which are almost by definition, already in a weaker position.
It's cards like this that remind you how not often they print first strike aggressively.
There are so many playable ways to give First Strike to your whole team that Kwende is, IMO, super-dangerous in creature decks that happen to include cards like Odric, Lunarch Marshal, or any of the cards mentioned so far.
Even if imprint itself has recieved some changes, the rules of linked abilities are still in place.
607.1. An object may have two abilities printed on it such that one of them causes actions to be taken or objects or players to be affected and the other one directly refers to those actions, objects, or players. If so, these two abilities are linked: the second refers only to actions that were taken or objects or players that were affected by the first, and not by any other ability.
607.2a If an object has an activated or triggered ability printed on it that instructs a player to exile one or more cards and an ability printed on it that refers either to “the exiled cards” or to cards “exiled with [this object],” these abilities are linked. The second ability refers only to cards in the exile zone that were put there as a result of an instruction to exile them in the first ability.
linked abilities are one of the messiest parts of the rules, but I honestly don't think there is a concise way to express on each card that abilities are linked and don't refer to anything else. Imprint, I believe, was their attempt to make these connections clearer, but even that falls short of clearly expressing the intent of linked abilities, cause if you play imprint cards exactly as written, you could still Saheeli, Sublime Artificer a Knowledge Pool into a Mimic Vat and glitch the game out.
Weird. I'm not saying your wrong; I think I just want to be clear on this matter.
Mimic Vat functions on its own just fine with its two abilities. One, the Imprint ability, and then the activated ability. That makes sense.
1. "When Mairsil, the Pretender enters the battlefield, you may exile an artifact or creature card from your hand or graveyard and put a cage counter on it."
2. "{T}: Exile target creature and put a +1/+1 counter on Shauku. Activate this ability only once per turn."
3. "{3}, {T}: Create a token that’s a copy of a card exiled with Mimic Vat. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step. Activate this ability only once per turn."
For abilities 2 and 3, Rule 201.4b states that that name reference basically mean "this card" or, in this case, Mairsil (instead of "Shauku" or "Mimic Vat").
Rule 607.1a states that "An ability printed on an object within another ability that grants that ability to that object is considered to be “printed on” that object for these purposes." I take this to mean that both abilities 2 and 3 are "printed on" Mairsil.
Rule 607.2, previously cited, states that "If an object has an activated or triggered ability printed on it that instructs a player to exile one or more cards and an ability printed on it that refers either to “the exiled cards” or to cards “exiled with [this object],” these abilities are linked. The second ability refers only to cards in the exile zone that were put there as a result of an instruction to exile them in the first ability."
Ability 1 and ability 2 are activated or triggered abilities that exile one or more cards. Check, seems okay.
Ability 3 uses the words "Exiled with [this object]". Check, seems okay.
I would conclude that these abilities are linked, even though they were never intended to be. I don't understand why are the exiled cards not considered linked.
(nb. This is really hard for me to grok. This is less argument, and more exploratory logic.)
cc: @DirkGently
Edit: So, I asked some judges and they said that Linked abilities are never divorced from their source, and that Mimic Vat essentially has a serial number for its triggered ability, and will only make copies of things with that serial number. My interpretation of the rules is incorrect; though it might make sense in English, it does not make sense in Magicese.
Each permanent with an imprint ability also has an ability that refers to the "exiled card(s)." These two abilities are linked. The second ability refers only to cards exiled as a result of the imprint ability, not by any other ability.
Sorry, I thought that sort of thing worked at one point too.
I think you were once right, but the rules have changed and what you're stating is no longer correct.
The oracle text on Mimic Vat is as follows:
Imprint — Whenever a nontoken creature dies, you may exile that card. If you do, return each other card exiled with Mimic Vat to its owner’s graveyard.
{3}, {T}: Create a token that’s a copy of a card exiled with Mimic Vat. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.
1. The activated ability on Mimic Vat states that you create a token copy of a card exiled with Mimic Vat. It does not say it has to be the imprinted card.
2. Imprint is an obsolete keyword. There is no reference to "Imprinted" cards anymore. The activated ability is linked to specific cards in exile, but there's no additional rules baggage around "Imprint". Specifically, in the current comprehensive rules doc, the only entry for "Imprint" is in the glossary, and it's as follows (Current Comprehensive Rules):
Imprint
“Imprint” used to be a keyword ability. It is now an ability word and has no rules meaning. All cards printed with the imprint keyword have received errata in the Oracle card reference.
If you could tell me where you found the Imprint ruling you cite in your post, I'd be grateful, but I have a deep suspicion that it is obsolete. Unless you can find compelling evidence that it works the way you say, I can't say I believe your stance that it simply doesn't work.
The fact that players use too few interactive/reactive/defensive cards to stop combo is a whole other topic and more of a problem than combo is.
I think that part of the problem is that these cards only stop the first player to combo off. The cards mentioned that you seem to be agreeing with are Force of Will and Nature's Claim. These aren't really solutions; in a four player pod, they stop a player. Instead of "Be the first player to combo off", the game becomes "Be the first player to combo off while others have no answers".
I'm sympathetic to your arguments, but I don't think this one really holds water. "Play more answers" isn't going to shut down combo in EDH.
In my experience, the only way that's worked is to play with people who are like-minded about the kinds of games you want to play, and to talk to each other about what we find okay and not okay in the game. If you can't come to an agreement, then it might be wise to not play with that person. I realize this is probably of no help to those who go to their LGS and just throw down with strangers.
Mimic Vat
This card is good because it give you easy recurring etb value. This card is amazing because it hoses things like persist entirely by accident.
Very close to soft-banned in my group. It has always been bonkers, and I think it's so thoroughly explored that no one really finds it interesting anymore.
The last time I played it, it was very groan-worthy with Seedborn Muse on the table and a Mystic Snake in the bucket.
Edit: The only thing left I want to explore with this card is having it in a Mairsil, the Pretender deck. You can use it to play any creature or artifactpermanent that was exiled by the current iteration of Mairsil, and I think that's kind of neat, especially once you start involving cards like Eater of the Dead or Shauku, Endbringer. Or Withered Wretch. Really, it makes for some very weird interactions.
Black - My favourite colour, has always given me a kind of appreciation for life-as-resource or cards-with-drawbacks gameplay
1. The Abyss (My favourite card of all time! I try to play it semi-frequently)
2. Greed
3. Abyssal Persecutor
4. Demonic Tutor
5. Promise of Power
Maelstrom Wanderer without Food Chain is good fun. I really liked it. My biggest problem was card draw when MW got answered in a way that was not easily dealt with (like Song of the Dryads), but, that wasn't so hard to shore up.
I'm still a fan of EW/TE in all but the most developed mana bases. There are very few decks I would not run them in.
I think Flameblade Adept might be exciting if you chain together some Wheels. Maybe in Nekusar?
When I dismantle a deck, it's usually because I've had my fun with it, and it's time to move on to something new. There's only so many times I could cast Maelstrom Wanderer before calling retiring the deck. Same with tutoring flying creatures with Isperia the Inscrutable. Or blowing people up with Neheb, the Eternal.
The other times I take apart a deck is when it's an idea that does not seem to have a viable execution. I did this most recently with O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami, where I wanted to put other players in a bind of attacking me (and suffering OK's vengeful exile ability), or to punish them for not attacking me (with cards like Luminarch Ascension). Sadly, there were not enough cards to execute the strategy, and players would often dance around OK's punishment with removal (despite my best efforts to protect OK and/or give him haste). I have many other decks that have failed in execution, OK only being the most recent.
As for feeling bad that I've spent money on it... well, no. I've had my fun with the cards I played in my decks; I got a value of joy out of them incommensurate to the money I paid. Further, these cards aren't 'used up' or anything; many I owned before from previous EDH decks, and will be stored away to be played again in another. Even in decks that are relatively short-lived, such as in OK's case, I had Luminarch Ascension in many decks before OK, and will play it again in the future. Any singles I bought to include in OK will have the same life cycle, finding their way into decks, being dismantled and stored away, only to resurface again.
My perspective on it might be different, though. I often buy cards long before they live in an EDH deck, some of which I think because they are neat in form or function. Case and Point, I think I've owned a Defiler of Souls for around 8 years now, but it only just found its way into a deck in the last month (Niv-Mizzet Reborn has no mono-coloured creatures, and Defiler gets drawn by Niv). I've also spent so much money on Magic over the time I've played that, at this point, any regret for an individual purchase or set of purchases would be a bucket of water next to a lake.
Mimic Vat functions on its own just fine with its two abilities. One, the Imprint ability, and then the activated ability. That makes sense.
Let's consider Mairsil, the Pretender, with a Mimic Vat and a Shauku, Endbringer in the exile zone with a cage counter on both of them.
Mairsil has three abilities:
1. "When Mairsil, the Pretender enters the battlefield, you may exile an artifact or creature card from your hand or graveyard and put a cage counter on it."
2. "{T}: Exile target creature and put a +1/+1 counter on Shauku. Activate this ability only once per turn."
3. "{3}, {T}: Create a token that’s a copy of a card exiled with Mimic Vat. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step. Activate this ability only once per turn."
For abilities 2 and 3, Rule 201.4b states that that name reference basically mean "this card" or, in this case, Mairsil (instead of "Shauku" or "Mimic Vat").
Rule 607.1a states that "An ability printed on an object within another ability that grants that ability to that object is considered to be “printed on” that object for these purposes." I take this to mean that both abilities 2 and 3 are "printed on" Mairsil.
Rule 607.2, previously cited, states that "If an object has an activated or triggered ability printed on it that instructs a player to exile one or more cards and an ability printed on it that refers either to “the exiled cards” or to cards “exiled with [this object],” these abilities are linked. The second ability refers only to cards in the exile zone that were put there as a result of an instruction to exile them in the first ability."
Ability 1 and ability 2 are activated or triggered abilities that exile one or more cards. Check, seems okay.
Ability 3 uses the words "Exiled with [this object]". Check, seems okay.
I would conclude that these abilities are linked, even though they were never intended to be. I don't understand why are the exiled cards not considered linked.
(nb. This is really hard for me to grok. This is less argument, and more exploratory logic.)
cc: @DirkGently
Edit: So, I asked some judges and they said that Linked abilities are never divorced from their source, and that Mimic Vat essentially has a serial number for its triggered ability, and will only make copies of things with that serial number. My interpretation of the rules is incorrect; though it might make sense in English, it does not make sense in Magicese.
The oracle text on Mimic Vat is as follows:
{3}, {T}: Create a token that’s a copy of a card exiled with Mimic Vat. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.
1. The activated ability on Mimic Vat states that you create a token copy of a card exiled with Mimic Vat. It does not say it has to be the imprinted card.
2. Imprint is an obsolete keyword. There is no reference to "Imprinted" cards anymore. The activated ability is linked to specific cards in exile, but there's no additional rules baggage around "Imprint". Specifically, in the current comprehensive rules doc, the only entry for "Imprint" is in the glossary, and it's as follows (Current Comprehensive Rules):
“Imprint” used to be a keyword ability. It is now an ability word and has no rules meaning. All cards printed with the imprint keyword have received errata in the Oracle card reference.
If you could tell me where you found the Imprint ruling you cite in your post, I'd be grateful, but I have a deep suspicion that it is obsolete. Unless you can find compelling evidence that it works the way you say, I can't say I believe your stance that it simply doesn't work.
I'm sympathetic to your arguments, but I don't think this one really holds water. "Play more answers" isn't going to shut down combo in EDH.
In my experience, the only way that's worked is to play with people who are like-minded about the kinds of games you want to play, and to talk to each other about what we find okay and not okay in the game. If you can't come to an agreement, then it might be wise to not play with that person. I realize this is probably of no help to those who go to their LGS and just throw down with strangers.
The last time I played it, it was very groan-worthy with Seedborn Muse on the table and a Mystic Snake in the bucket.
Edit: The only thing left I want to explore with this card is having it in a Mairsil, the Pretender deck. You can use it to play any
creature or artifactpermanent that was exiled by the current iteration of Mairsil, and I think that's kind of neat, especially once you start involving cards like Eater of the Dead or Shauku, Endbringer. Or Withered Wretch. Really, it makes for some very weird interactions.It's always for a reason, though. Cards with Delve, Life from the Loam, and in rare cases, Panglacial Wurm.
1. Tithe
2. Swords to Plowshares
3. Austere Command
4. Sun Titan
5. Aura of Silence
Blue - My second favourite colour; so many powerful cards to choose from.
1. Mana Drain
2. Mystic Remora
3. Glen Elendra Archmage
4. Temporal Mastery
5. Mystical Tutor
Black - My favourite colour, has always given me a kind of appreciation for life-as-resource or cards-with-drawbacks gameplay
1. The Abyss (My favourite card of all time! I try to play it semi-frequently)
2. Greed
3. Abyssal Persecutor
4. Demonic Tutor
5. Promise of Power
Red - I appreciate the high-risk high-reward cards the most, though, they often do not suit gameplay in EDH.
1. Final Fortune
2. Dictate of the Twin Gods
3. Blasphemous Act
4. Vandalblast
5. Knollspine Dragon
Green - The colour I find with the least exciting identity, even if the cards are usually solid. Often, it's the out-of-pie cards I like.
1. Sylvan Library
2. Eureka
3. Ulvenwald Tracker
4. Seasons Past
5. Berserk
Multicolour
1. Nicol Bolas
2. The Scarab God
3. Sliver Queen
4. Merciless Eviction
5. Cruel Ultimatum
Artifact
1. Mana Crypt
2. Coat of Arms - I'm actually a huge sucker for tribal effects, despite what the rest of my lists would suggest.
3. Platinum Angel
4. Urza's Incubator
5. Darksteel Forge
Land
1. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - I really liked Theros-block mechanics that rewarded monocolour. I would have liked to see more of that.
2. Myriad Landscape - +1 on Nykthos' note.
3. Rogue's Passage
4. Maze of Ith
5. Phyrexian Tower
Definitely not a deck for Reliquary Tower.