So, I've never played with Ertai's Meddling before, and when I started constructing this post I thought I knew exactly how it worked. Boy, was I wrong! Ertai's Meddling isn't intuitive at all, and I did not know I would be spending the next several hours poring over old rules questions in order to learn how it works. Just to make sure anyone reading this is on the same page, here's what you need to know about Ertai's Meddling:
"The player puts it onto the stack as a copy of the original spell." is an extremely misleading sentence. Ertai's Meddling doesn't create a copy of the exiled spell and then cast it like Isochron Scepter. Ertai's Meddling literally puts whatever physical card it exiled back onto the stack from exile. Only now, the card Ertai's Meddling returns isn't itself anymore. Oh no. That card is instead a copy of whatever it happened to be whenever Ertai's Meddling first exiled it. In many cases, there won't be any difference. If I cast Grizzly Bears, and it gets exiled by Ertai's Meddling, that Grizzly Bears is going to be a regular Grizzly Bears when it returns from exile. But if I controlled a Conspiracy naming Sliver whenever I cast Grizzly Bears, Grizzly Bears will still be a Sliver when it's put back onto the stack even if Conspiracy is no longer on the battlefield.
(I don't know if Grizzly Bears will continue being a Sliver once it hits the battlefield. Text changing effects like Artificial Evolution make it so that creatures that have their text changed while they are on the stack continue having their text changed once they enter the battlefield. Conspiracy isn't a text changing effect though, so it may work differently. Grizzly Bears is for sure still a Sliver while it is on the stack though.)
In tune with my second bullet, if you use Ertai's Meddling to exile a spell that targets something, when you remove the last delay counter and put the exiled spell back onto the stack, you don't change any of the spell's targets; the spell will have exactly the same targets as when it first got exiled. This is because, despite the exiled card being a new spell, the exiled card still becomes identical to whatever it was whenever it first got exiled, and that includes what it targeted. As a result, spells returning from exile are sometimes going to fizzle; if none of the things an exiled spell initially targeted are still hanging around, the exiled spell will have no effect and will be put into its owner's graveyard once it resolves.
Spells that target other spells on the stack like Counterspell are almost guaranteed to do this. Spells that target cards on the battlefield (like Doom Blade) might also fizzle. It just depends on whether the creature Doom Blade targeted is still on the battlefield or not.
Unlike Delay, if you exile an X spell with Ertai's Meddling, the exiled spell will remember its X value when it returns from exile. This is because, again, the exiled spell becomes an exact copy of whatever it happened to be when it got exiled.
Something else I thought was worth mentioning: when you remove the last delay counter from a card exiled by Ertai's Meddling, you don't actually cast the exiled card. You just put it onto the stack. In most cases, this is exactly the same as casting a spell; a spell put onto the stack (like with Twincast) resolves the same whether you cast it or not. The only difference is that stuff which cares about players casting spells won't take effect. For example, Forgotten Ancient won't get a +1/+1 counter when a spell exiled with Ertai's Meddling is put onto the stack. Iona, Shield of Emeria also won't stop cards of the named color from returning since nothing is being cast. As far as I'm aware, Ertai's Meddling is the only card in all of Magic that puts spells onto the stack from another zone without ever actually casting them. (And, on an unrelated note, that may have implications for Mr. Bones.)
Finally, if you exile a spell with Ertai's Meddling and you lose the game before that spell returns, the exiled spell will stay in exile forever. This is because the player who cast Ertai's Meddling is the one who controls the delayed trigger that removes delay counters. And once that player has lost the game, they're out. They won't continue creating triggered abilities.
Is that everything? I think that's everything. About the only thing I'm unsure of is whether or not a Commander exiled by Ertai's Meddling will still get delay counters if it's put into the command zone instead of into exile. Intuition tells me no, but nothing about Ertai's Meddling is all that intuitive, and there was a relatively recent response to a rules question stating that commanders exiled by Ertai's Meddling would in fact get delay counters despite those counters not doing anything. It being the only answer of its kind makes me skeptical though.
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After having built decks that I thought would be as much fun as possible to play against only to have these experiences consistently ruined by players with no regard for good gameplay, I'm now bitter and jaded, and I just want to punish my opponents for their lack of skill and for their complete dependence on lame two-card combos. Naturally, a three-color control deck armed to the teeth with removal, sweepers, and countermagic seemed like a perfect fit. Hence, this deck. It's classic Bant control. (Though maybe Esper would suit me better? I'm unsure.)
My rendition doesn't follow all of your advice to a T, but I tried to keep everything as close to the original as possible, especially when it came to some of the more unusual cards like Pulse of the Fields and Telepathy; I definitely wanted to give those an honest go. That said, I think the biggest difference between your take and mine is that, when the time comes, I am perfectly happy to do the thing or play the card that gives me a commanding lead even if it makes me public enemy number one. After all, virtually no other deck is better equipped to defend itself when in that position anyway.
One card I'm particularly fond of is Rest in Peace. I love playing powerful hate cards that can single-handedly shut down players for building their decks in a hyper-linear fashion, especially if fair decks aren't punished in the process. Sure, just about everyone uses their graveyard to some extent, so a card like Rest in Peace is going to be a little annoying for everyone, but why should I care if I make myself the mortal enemy of the Muldrotha player when their entire deck centers around the graveyard? Experience has taught me that, when it comes to certain decks, it's always feast or famine. You either do everything in your power to stop them, or they completely take over the game, and there's nothing you can do about it, no in-between. Investing as little as two mana to stop an entire deck like that is too worthwhile (and too satisfying) for me not to do even if it makes me a target. And what can Muldrotha do about it anyway? Only focus me? Good luck with that; my entire deck is removal, and theirs is offline. And if my other opponents know what's best for them, they'll leave that Rest in Peace alone. Hell, they may even kick Muldrotha while they're down so that, once they've lost the game, they can then safely dispose of my Rest in Peace later.
One of my biggest concerns right now is that my deck won't generate enough card advantage. Single shot X spells like Sphinx's Revelation and Blue Sun's Zenith can be great, but they're also a bit situational. They require a lot of mana to be worthwhile, and every turn I have to react to some other player is a turn where I'm spending mana and unlikely to cast them. Permanent based card advantage seems like it might be worth pursuing, but it's difficult to support those sorts of cards while simultaneously playing sweepers like Cleansing Nova, Hour of Revelation, and Fracturing Gust. So, right now, I'm not sure what I should do. I'm going to play a good number of games before making any serious changes, but I'm currently contemplating cutting all the noncreature sweepers in favor of more Return to Dust variants so that I might play more artifacts and enchantments.
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Hey, Dirk. Have you ever considered playing Very Cryptic Command, specifically this version, or is having to constantly ask for your opponents' permission not worth the hassle?
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Dirk, have you given much thought to Howling Mine? I suspect your deck may be the perfect home for it since 1.) it masquerades as an innocent group hug card, and 2.) it helps keep you topped off while simultaneously fueling opponents who are much more likely to use their resources against one another than they are to use them against you (due to the construction of your deck), subtly making it an even more powerful Phyrexian Arena.
Something I find myself asking quite often is "What cards are the best of their kind?" Like, what cards are the best at gaining life, ramping, etc.? Often, these questions are difficult for me to answer, and determining which cards are the best at drawing cards is no exception, especially given the existence of cards like Howling Mine.
See, I find Howling Mine rather peculiar. At 2 mana, Howling Mine boasts one of the most impressive cards-drawn-to-mana-spent ratios for its CMC. Few other cards are as good as the Mine at drawing that don't also cost buckets of mana. Provided you can't tap the Mine however, the fact that it also funnels cards to opponents can't be ignored, especially given the multiplayer nature of Commander. But if, somehow, it were possible to ensure the cards it gave couldn't be used against you, Howling Mine's downside wouldn't be a downside at all. In fact, it would be a tremendous upside. Opponents pouring gasoline on each other would only further your own goal.
This is why I find cards like Howling Mine and Forbidden Orchard so intriguing and so difficult to evaluate. While their potential downsides may look terrible, it may also be possible that furthering your opponent's goals also furthers your own goal, making cards of this sort better than virtually anything else you could play in their respective categories (since the downsides of these cards are obviously used to balance their upsides, mana efficiency in Howling Mine's case), and I can't think of a deck more likely to be in that position than your take on Phelddagrif.
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New version is up! Mostly just making the glossary prettier, in order to curry the favor of the primer committee. I can't believe how much work this takes =/
Haha. Just be glad I stepped down from the Primer Committee. I was like their strictest member.
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I have to say that your opponents sound unlike most people I've played. Generally if I have something that makes me near invincible (constant mists for example, which I cut for that reason) I find my opponents are all the more motivated to find a way through, especially before it becomes 1v1 and they have no way to win. I'd expect them to be attacking with at least their commanders, provided no one else is a bigger, more immediate threat. Not to just go "well screw it, may as well play for second". Although really, 100 life isn't that crazy, I'm sure most decks can still beat that if they have a reasonable endgame.
Eh, I boiled down human psychology into a single sentence, so I probably didn't do any justice explaining their behavior.
Something I've noticed from playing years of Commander is that there's this interesting point where players will often attack me if I have too much life because it looks threatening (or the most life. That's a fun excuse ), but if I have an excess of life to the point where attacking me feels futile, opponents will usually direct their attacks elsewhere. I guess this is because, at a certain life total, the strategic benefits of attacking one opponent with 20 life are much more apparent than attacking a different opponent with 300 life. I was wondering if the same principle might apply to a card like Seasons Past.
I get what you're saying about Constant Mists though. Cards like that can potentially serve as deterrents, but seemingly have the opposite effect instead. Recently, I built a Memnarch deck, and Memnarch possesses similar qualities. While he could serve as a deterrent by threatening to steal my opponent's most valuable cards if they aggress me, more often Memnarch intimidates my opponents to the extent that they aim all of their firepower in my direction (and rightly so) since they fear Memnarch will create some kind of insurmountable advantage if they don't collectively work to stop him.
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I describe in detail why I prefer wildest dreams over seasons past in the card glossary. Basically it's that recursion is bad because it means your opponents know what's in your hand, so they'll force you to use it before they deploy their wincons. Seasons past is great in the 1v1 game, but by that time you can usually dump a ton into wildest dreams anyway. And you can use wildest dreams early/mid to get a board wipe or critical removal or w/e for cheap. Also you can't run seasons past with mystical tutor unless you want to instantly become the threat (although it is sweet). Mostly, it's just too powerful and it reveals the cards, so it makes you the threat. Also, slow vs competitive.
In this instance, have you considered that perhaps your opponents knowing that you have a grip full of removal serves as a useful deterrent?I've certainly played games where, after gaining hundreds of life with something like Grim Feast, my opponents don't want to attack me anymore because doing so seems like a futile effort to them. Similarly, with enough removal in hand to dissuade opponents (and a lack of incentives on your side of the board to make attacking you more enticing than other opponents), wouldn't a card like Seasons Past encourage opponents to attack you even less?
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(I don't know if Grizzly Bears will continue being a Sliver once it hits the battlefield. Text changing effects like Artificial Evolution make it so that creatures that have their text changed while they are on the stack continue having their text changed once they enter the battlefield. Conspiracy isn't a text changing effect though, so it may work differently. Grizzly Bears is for sure still a Sliver while it is on the stack though.)
Spells that target other spells on the stack like Counterspell are almost guaranteed to do this. Spells that target cards on the battlefield (like Doom Blade) might also fizzle. It just depends on whether the creature Doom Blade targeted is still on the battlefield or not.
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
After having built decks that I thought would be as much fun as possible to play against only to have these experiences consistently ruined by players with no regard for good gameplay, I'm now bitter and jaded, and I just want to punish my opponents for their lack of skill and for their complete dependence on lame two-card combos. Naturally, a three-color control deck armed to the teeth with removal, sweepers, and countermagic seemed like a perfect fit. Hence, this deck. It's classic Bant control. (Though maybe Esper would suit me better? I'm unsure.)
My rendition doesn't follow all of your advice to a T, but I tried to keep everything as close to the original as possible, especially when it came to some of the more unusual cards like Pulse of the Fields and Telepathy; I definitely wanted to give those an honest go. That said, I think the biggest difference between your take and mine is that, when the time comes, I am perfectly happy to do the thing or play the card that gives me a commanding lead even if it makes me public enemy number one. After all, virtually no other deck is better equipped to defend itself when in that position anyway.
One card I'm particularly fond of is Rest in Peace. I love playing powerful hate cards that can single-handedly shut down players for building their decks in a hyper-linear fashion, especially if fair decks aren't punished in the process. Sure, just about everyone uses their graveyard to some extent, so a card like Rest in Peace is going to be a little annoying for everyone, but why should I care if I make myself the mortal enemy of the Muldrotha player when their entire deck centers around the graveyard? Experience has taught me that, when it comes to certain decks, it's always feast or famine. You either do everything in your power to stop them, or they completely take over the game, and there's nothing you can do about it, no in-between. Investing as little as two mana to stop an entire deck like that is too worthwhile (and too satisfying) for me not to do even if it makes me a target. And what can Muldrotha do about it anyway? Only focus me? Good luck with that; my entire deck is removal, and theirs is offline. And if my other opponents know what's best for them, they'll leave that Rest in Peace alone. Hell, they may even kick Muldrotha while they're down so that, once they've lost the game, they can then safely dispose of my Rest in Peace later.
One of my biggest concerns right now is that my deck won't generate enough card advantage. Single shot X spells like Sphinx's Revelation and Blue Sun's Zenith can be great, but they're also a bit situational. They require a lot of mana to be worthwhile, and every turn I have to react to some other player is a turn where I'm spending mana and unlikely to cast them. Permanent based card advantage seems like it might be worth pursuing, but it's difficult to support those sorts of cards while simultaneously playing sweepers like Cleansing Nova, Hour of Revelation, and Fracturing Gust. So, right now, I'm not sure what I should do. I'm going to play a good number of games before making any serious changes, but I'm currently contemplating cutting all the noncreature sweepers in favor of more Return to Dust variants so that I might play more artifacts and enchantments.
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
Something I find myself asking quite often is "What cards are the best of their kind?" Like, what cards are the best at gaining life, ramping, etc.? Often, these questions are difficult for me to answer, and determining which cards are the best at drawing cards is no exception, especially given the existence of cards like Howling Mine.
See, I find Howling Mine rather peculiar. At 2 mana, Howling Mine boasts one of the most impressive cards-drawn-to-mana-spent ratios for its CMC. Few other cards are as good as the Mine at drawing that don't also cost buckets of mana. Provided you can't tap the Mine however, the fact that it also funnels cards to opponents can't be ignored, especially given the multiplayer nature of Commander. But if, somehow, it were possible to ensure the cards it gave couldn't be used against you, Howling Mine's downside wouldn't be a downside at all. In fact, it would be a tremendous upside. Opponents pouring gasoline on each other would only further your own goal.
This is why I find cards like Howling Mine and Forbidden Orchard so intriguing and so difficult to evaluate. While their potential downsides may look terrible, it may also be possible that furthering your opponent's goals also furthers your own goal, making cards of this sort better than virtually anything else you could play in their respective categories (since the downsides of these cards are obviously used to balance their upsides, mana efficiency in Howling Mine's case), and I can't think of a deck more likely to be in that position than your take on Phelddagrif.
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
Something I've noticed from playing years of Commander is that there's this interesting point where players will often attack me if I have too much life because it looks threatening (or the most life. That's a fun excuse ), but if I have an excess of life to the point where attacking me feels futile, opponents will usually direct their attacks elsewhere. I guess this is because, at a certain life total, the strategic benefits of attacking one opponent with 20 life are much more apparent than attacking a different opponent with 300 life. I was wondering if the same principle might apply to a card like Seasons Past.
I get what you're saying about Constant Mists though. Cards like that can potentially serve as deterrents, but seemingly have the opposite effect instead. Recently, I built a Memnarch deck, and Memnarch possesses similar qualities. While he could serve as a deterrent by threatening to steal my opponent's most valuable cards if they aggress me, more often Memnarch intimidates my opponents to the extent that they aim all of their firepower in my direction (and rightly so) since they fear Memnarch will create some kind of insurmountable advantage if they don't collectively work to stop him.
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!
Trap your friends in an endless game with this 23-card combo!