This is a mini-guide to using one of the best 2-drops there is: Isochron Scepter. Included in this thread is a list of cards that not only fit on the stick, they work well with it.
Why did you make this?
When it comes to Commander, most people look at Isochron Scepter and immediately compare it to it's banned relative: Panoptic Mirror. And then they read the stick and see that it is limited to Instants with a CMC of 2 or less, and it costs 2 to activate. Some players will remember the dreaded No Stick (Stick+Counterspell/Mana Drain), the bane of all noobs everywhere. Experienced players will see it as a secondary Yosei-lock via Silence/Orim's Chant. Very few look past these traits, to the stick's hidden potential.
Isochron Scepter is like it's distant cousin, Sunforger (which I also have a guide for). With close to 800 cards capable of fitting under it, there's quite a few options that people overlook in favor of more competitive options like the afore-mentioned No Stick. However, there is a problem: Stick is limited in uses/turn. This is a huge drawback in a format based around multiplayer, especially when the bomb spells start dropping left and right past a certain turn. For this reason the Stick is often tested but quickly removed. Stick also has the drawback of Imprinting the spell you want to use, thus exiling it.
This doesn't do it justice, as there is a plethora of spells out there that can not only be good on the Stick, but can slide under most players' radar. That's what this guide is for: The forgotten spells that make Stick a potent resource.
Ok, but why not just list everything that goes under it?
There's a lot of Limited chaff and a handful of X spells. Realistically, no one is going to put Aggressive Urge under the Stick when you have other options of equal or greater value, and very few people are going to prefer Emerge Unscathed over Brave the Elements. But most people are also going to miss spells like Test of Faith because of how small their effects see. These spells are terrible as a one-shot effect, but being able to reuse them via Stick can turn the game around without tripping your opponents' panic button.
This is the Stick's potential: Small effects that accumulate quickly over a short period of time. Even better, Isochron Scepter was errata'ed in M10 to say "cast the copy". This means it triggers Storm and allows for Kicker costs to be paid. It takes experience to recognize just how quickly those cards generate tempo or other resources.
A card this versatile should never be underestimated, as it can change the flow of a game within a few turns.
How many of these should I use?
Only as many as you feel will be useful. Loading a deck top to bottom with 1/2-drop Instants isn't going to help much when you don't have the Stick in hand, but some of those Instants are going to be useful anyway (Tragic Slip, Path to Exile). Obviously running only 3 or 4 means you often won't have the spells in hand when you want to put them on the Stick, but running 15+ would mean you will have a lot of dead draws from time to time. I recommend between 7 and 12 cards for the Stick itself, and maybe 2 or 3 effects to tutor it up.
Word of advice: If you were going to include the card anyway don't count it against the afore-mentioned recommended number. But if you wouldn't run the card without Stick, think carefully about it. It's easy to get carried away, but some spells just aren't going to fit.
What about XXXXX? Why didn't you list it?
I'm very particular about certain things. Notably, color-hate spells are something I almost never consider. Spells like Pyroblast are things I avoid like the plague largely because they play off of the metagame. Because the metagame varies so wildly from playgroup to playgroup, I avoid even listing these cards without a very good reason. Because of this factor, I leave most cards like that to your judgement. But there are a few hate spells that caught my eye.
With the obvious spells like Path, Swords, Orim's Chant, and Silence, White is a shoe-in for the Stick as-is. However, spells like Judge Unworthy and Pollen Lullaby have a wonderful edge in White. Specifically, Judge Unworthy turns Stick into a deck manipulator and a potential shiv, and the Lullaby not only has Clash's deck manipulation effect, it stops your opponent cold regardless of the Clash's results. Scout's Warning can be used as a quick combat trick or a cheap draw mech, and Tithe thins your deck remarkably fast.
There is a lot of overlap as well. I personally wouldn't run either Test of Faith or Ethereal Haze if I was using Pollen Lullaby simply so I can cut down on the odds of a low Clash, and between Razor Barrier and Shelter it's a matter of if I can protect my non-Creatures or if I need the extra draw effect. Then you get spells like Vengeful Dreams, which I wouldn't even consider unless I ran Black or Blue as well. And then you have Disempower/Disenchant, which is a can of worms (both may not be worth running, but both can do some real damage on the Stick).
A noteworthy exception to my hatred of color restrictions is Celestial Purge. Exiling is good, but being able to hit any RB is back-breaking for either color. It gets even better if you have a way to change the color of a permanent.
To say Blue is lacking for Isochron Scepter targets is to say magma is cold. This is THE color for the Stick, as you have a veritable arsenal of options. From deckmanipulation to handsculpting to counterspells to bounce to removal, you have everything you need. Spells like Words of Wisdom can be used if the Stick intimidates your opponents into blowing it up ASAP, whereas spells like Visions of Beyond and Cerulean Wisps are there for those who don't want to play group hug.
And then you have your No Stick. With a Mana Drain on it. In 1v1, resolving that combo means game over. You also have a decent tutor, and access to every Clone effect that can target the Stick. If your deck runs Blue, consider using the Stick heavily.
If Blue can be the best, Black is #2. Mana Drain on a stick is awesome, but Vampiric Tutor on a stick is game-ending if you can protect it for a few turns. Hell, you can control the entire game with Word of Command by forcing certain spells. You have several flexible removal spells, and it can even act as a kill mech via Tainted Strike. And if you were wondering why Cabal Ritual was listed over Dark Ritual, one word: Threshold.
Now this list will raise some eyebrows. Red's obvious strength is damage, but only a handful of burn spells are worth using on the Stick. Skred and Weight of Spires act as Red's best spot removal, but most people would think it strange to include Incinerate or Lash Out. The reason is simple: Red has limited options.
When it comes to Stick, Lightning Bolt is a rather mediocre choice. Every time you use StickBolt you will be wishing you had Incinerate instead. Then you get Lash Out and Magma Jet. Why run either? Deck manipulation. Red has even less of it than White does, so Clash and Scry are welcome abilities for Stick. The fact that they come attached to burn spells is gravy. Galvanic Blast seems worse than Lightning Bolt, but the difference between 3 and 4 damage is worth the effort it takes to set up G.Blast. And then there's Spawning Breath, which seems out of place. The purpose is twofold: Pick off weakened beaters or chump tokens while churning out mana/chump blockers at the same time. This single trait put Spawning Breath on similar grounds to Raise the Alarm.
But even as limited as Red is, the color has some startling spells. Final Fortune seems risky to even run, much less put on Stick. But proper abuse (read: Platinum Angel) means you now have infinite turns. Fork, Increasing Vengeance, and Reverberate serve the same purpose as Twincast (although IV is a little bit less useful on Stick than any of it's relatives). Magnetic Theft is amusing against Voltron generals, as you can steal a vital piece of equipment temporarily, or just deny them that equipment whenever they try to swing. Ignorant Bliss and Crimson Wisps are valuable card draw, each with a different purpose (although the Wisps is less useful than Bliss)
The rituals are a bit mixed. Desperate and Pyretic are inferior to Cabal outright because they lack the Threshold benefit, but even Brightstone is risky. It turns Stick into a Red Gaea's Cradle, but goblins are about as fragile as it gets, so the effort to use Brightstone would be even higher risk than Cradle normally is (largely because Stick is an Artifact and Red has little in the way of protecting either Artifacts or Creatures)
Lastly, we have Price of Progress, Firestorm, Fling, and Unstable Footing. Price is easily the most reliable, but FlingStick and Firestorm are dangerous toys capable of tipping the entire game in your favor if used right (Memory Jar or some beatsticks backed by recursion). And while Unstable Footing looks bad, it's actually a great mid-game burn effect for Stick (you can kick the copy, unlike other effects that copy the spell).
All-in-all, Red has useful toys for the Stick. Not many, but enough to get by.
There's also a number of Giant Growth effects, although Scent, Vines, Strength in Numbers, and Might of the Masses are better than most of them. Green has a very narrow pool of tricks, but there's some deadly ones out there.
Sprout and Vitality Charm are two odd cases. Both of these effects are narrow, low-powered, and easily ignored. But both of them serve a huge purpose. The Charm can be used in Tribal on some deadly creatures, like saving some of Mayael's horde from a Murder or granting trample. But the tokens produced by Sprout and Charm can fuel Skullclamp almost endlessly, and can help improve Might of the Massess and Strength in Numbers dramatically.
Then we have the 2 color hate spells: Reap and Seedtime. Seedtime is obviously powerful, effectively putting the threat of a Lighthouse Chronologist on an Artifact, something Blue traditionally has issues destroying (although bounce effects suck). Resolving SeedStick turn 2 (or turn 1 with Sol Ring) means you can put the Blue players in a delicate predicament: Either they hold counterspells to prevent you from taking extra turns, or they never cast a Blue spell at all until Stick is gone.
Reap is an unusual spell in that it's the only one capable of returning more than 1 card (of any type) from your graveyard to your hand without exiling itself. It combos with Darkest Hour, Dralnu's Crusade (if there's a Goblin player opposite you), Nightcreep (another Stick target), and the Kormus Bell+Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth combo. This turns Reap from a Regrowth or Restock into a Praetor's Counsel. And if you happen to be playing a Kingmaker-stye deck with a Black player as your ally, the card because a nigh-limitless recycling factory.
While Green is limited, it's tricks are down-right terrifying.
It goes almost without saying that if a mono-colored can get this kind of mileage out of Stick, a multicolored one will get even more out of it. And it's true. On top of each color's spells are a list of multicolored exclusives, many of which are more potent than the rest of the options.
Charms are, without a doubt, the cream of the crop. A CharmStick means you have 3 spells instead of one, and your opponents now have to play around that versatility. Add in Copy Artifact, Sculpting Steel, and Phyrexian Metamorph and you have a set of Swiss Army Knives waiting to solve your every problem.
Shadow of Doubt is a poor-man's Stranglehold, but put it on a Stick and you now have one of the best anti-toolbox combos you can get, punishing those foolish enough to tutor in your presence while improving your own position. Combining it with something like New Horizons and you can cripple an opponent without actually hitting them.
Reknit and Manamorphose are odd ones. Reknit actually protects Stick (how many spells out there say "Destroy target Artifact, it can't be regenerated"?), while Manamorphose filters your mana and cantrips. Most people will ignore these spells until they realize that both effects are vastly more annoying than they should be.
Multicolored decks have far more options than a mono-colored one does, so exploit the hell out of Stick while you have the chance!
Think of Split cards as Charms. Barring the ones that cheat (Bound/Determined, Research/Development, Odds/Ends), that's really all they are as far as Stick is concerned.
I say they cheat because you can cast either side of a Split card each time you use Stick. SplitStick is incredible, being able to churn out quick 3/1s or recovering your graveyard, or even recovering expended Stick targets. If ever there were a reason to do 5-color Stick, it's because of multicolor spells.
UUU Talrand, Sky Summoner // (W/U)(W/U)(W/U) Grand Arbiter Augustin IV // RRR Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker // (R/G)(R/G)(R/G) Wort, the Raidmother // URG Riku of Two Reflections // RWU Ruhan of the Fomori
Quote from Mark Rosewater »
In response to your Lightning Blast, I'll eat this burrito.
Quote from slipknot72102 »
This is why I started playing magic in the first place. It wasn't PT aspirations just making noobs cry by doing things that are perfectly fair.
I run it in my Jarad deck with quite a few different targets, including Entomb (which is my ideal target for it). It has done pretty wonderful things for me!
Great list and primer. Much appreciated; I'm always looking for decks to slot a Scepter into, and this should help a ton.
You're welcome! My friend runs it in his Damia deck (Cyclonic Rift, Counterspell, Memory Lapse, Visions of Beyond, and a couple of others for targets), which inspired this list.
Your green, black and blue lists have a messed up tag somewhere.
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UUU Talrand, Sky Summoner // (W/U)(W/U)(W/U) Grand Arbiter Augustin IV // RRR Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker // (R/G)(R/G)(R/G) Wort, the Raidmother // URG Riku of Two Reflections // RWU Ruhan of the Fomori
Quote from Mark Rosewater »
In response to your Lightning Blast, I'll eat this burrito.
Quote from slipknot72102 »
This is why I started playing magic in the first place. It wasn't PT aspirations just making noobs cry by doing things that are perfectly fair.
I run Stick in my MUC deck and it's amazing, setting a Arcane Denial or even a classic High Tide under there is still as much fun as ever, great primer there Sinfire.
Awesome guide. As someone that has recently started experimenting with the stick in my EDH deck it is much appreciated.
And I'd like to ask a question of everyone here, if I may, which art of Isochron Scepter do you like best?
Personally I traded in my IvG one to get this beauty.
The FtV art isn't bad, but I dunno..just something I really like about the FNM art. Also apparently the most expensive version of the card.
I changed my mind first I was in love with the "alternate" FNM art just like you. Then as FTV came out I changed to the original art. I can't remember why I did like the alternate art more first, perhaps just because it was alternate/different
As the times goes on I see more FNM as original foil ones. That's one of the point's why I changed to orgiginal besides the fact that I did not see the real beauty of the original foil before I had it in my hands. Just Wow!
In terms of prices I think orig. Mirrodin foils are the most expensive ones.
I compared some of them on ebay. Especially If you can find some pimpy foreign ones.
I didn't realize how long it had been since I last updated this, so I fixed it up.
Isochron Scepter got love. A lot of it. Every single split/charm spell from GTC/DGM is helpful (although Fuse doesn't work with Stick), and Theros gave every color some more Scry spells to help Stick's deck manipulation tricks.
I didn't realize how long it had been since I last updated this, so I fixed it up.
Isochron Scepter got love. A lot of it. Every single split/charm spell from GTC/DGM is helpful (although Fuse doesn't work with Stick), and Theros gave every color some more Scry spells to help Stick's deck manipulation tricks.
And sorry about the Necro.
I was under the 'impression' (see what I did there?) that when it came to fuse cards both sides of the spell were added up for the CMC.
I was under the 'impression' (see what I did there?) that when it came to fuse cards both sides of the spell were added up for the CMC.
For certain effects, yes (Dark Confidant, Dark Tutelage, Ad Naus). But otherwise they follow the same rules as other Split spells (unless WotC randomly changed the rules on Split cards while I wasn't looking).
4/15/2013: In every zone except the stack, split cards have two sets of characteristics and two converted mana costs. If anything needs information about a split card not on the stack, it will get two values.
Isochron sees a spell with 2 CMCs: One that is higher, and one that fulfills its imprint requirement. That last part is all it cares about.
Great guide, I don't disagree with how great stick is because I love the card to death and 1 on 1 it's great. However in a singleton multiplayer format it's not a great card. As you said Sin in multiplayer games it tends to get blown up and from my experience it's on the same round it comes in at. I don't think I would waste deck slots on it simply because A.) Stick is better in 1 on 1 games B.)Better as 4 ofs and C.) Easily removed. Now with that being said cards like tanglewire are awesome with stick/boomerang or stick/counterspell with arcane lab so if you can hold the board down it could work but I wouldn't drop stick 2nd turn in MP
Great guide, I don't disagree with how great stick is because I love the card to death and 1 on 1 it's great. However in a singleton multiplayer format it's not a great card. As you said Sin in multiplayer games it tends to get blown up and from my experience it's on the same round it comes in at. I don't think I would waste deck slots on it simply because A.) Stick is better in 1 on 1 games B.)Better as 4 ofs and C.) Easily removed. Now with that being said cards like tanglewire are awesome with stick/boomerang or stick/counterspell with arcane lab so if you can hold the board down it could work but I wouldn't drop stick 2nd turn in MP
I assure you it's significantly better than you think. People don't tend to target it unless you imprint a counterspell/massive resource under it (IME, people ignore it when it has Cabal Ritual or Cremate under it, but go after it immediately when they see Tolarian Winds or any Counterspell).
I assure you it's significantly better than you think. People don't tend to target it unless you imprint a counterspell/massive resource under it (IME, people ignore it when it has Cabal Ritual or Cremate under it, but go after it immediately when they see Tolarian Winds or any Counterspell).
It might depend on the group too. I just know back in the day it didn't matter what was imprinted on it, it still got blown up and this was before EDH too. As far as STP goes I think that would put a bigger target on stick than even counterspell or winds. I might get 1 soon just to try it.
It might depend on the group too. I just know back in the day it didn't matter what was imprinted on it, it still got blown up and this was before EDH too. As far as STP goes I think that would put a bigger target on stick than even counterspell or winds. I might get 1 soon just to try it.
Definitely. Players who were around for when it was in Standard/Extended know how dangerous it can be and may try to take it out ASAP, while newer players won't always recognize the value of something like Scout's Warning or Surgical Extraction on a Stick.
This I can say without a doubt: Stick is one of the best sources of repeatable card draw, a solid mana rock (for BR anyway), an efficient token producer, an excellent rattlesnake, a good removal spell, decent (but not great) graveyard hate, and one of the best reusable counterspells ever. People have many good reasons to get it off the table, so play at your own risk.
This is a mini-guide to using one of the best 2-drops there is: Isochron Scepter. Included in this thread is a list of cards that not only fit on the stick, they work well with it.
Why did you make this?
When it comes to Commander, most people look at Isochron Scepter and immediately compare it to it's banned relative: Panoptic Mirror. And then they read the stick and see that it is limited to Instants with a CMC of 2 or less, and it costs 2 to activate. Some players will remember the dreaded No Stick (Stick+Counterspell/Mana Drain), the bane of all noobs everywhere. Experienced players will see it as a secondary Yosei-lock via Silence/Orim's Chant. Very few look past these traits, to the stick's hidden potential.
Isochron Scepter is like it's distant cousin, Sunforger (which I also have a guide for). With close to 800 cards capable of fitting under it, there's quite a few options that people overlook in favor of more competitive options like the afore-mentioned No Stick. However, there is a problem: Stick is limited in uses/turn. This is a huge drawback in a format based around multiplayer, especially when the bomb spells start dropping left and right past a certain turn. For this reason the Stick is often tested but quickly removed. Stick also has the drawback of Imprinting the spell you want to use, thus exiling it.
This doesn't do it justice, as there is a plethora of spells out there that can not only be good on the Stick, but can slide under most players' radar. That's what this guide is for: The forgotten spells that make Stick a potent resource.
Ok, but why not just list everything that goes under it?
There's a lot of Limited chaff and a handful of X spells. Realistically, no one is going to put Aggressive Urge under the Stick when you have other options of equal or greater value, and very few people are going to prefer Emerge Unscathed over Brave the Elements. But most people are also going to miss spells like Test of Faith because of how small their effects see. These spells are terrible as a one-shot effect, but being able to reuse them via Stick can turn the game around without tripping your opponents' panic button.
This is the Stick's potential: Small effects that accumulate quickly over a short period of time. Even better, Isochron Scepter was errata'ed in M10 to say "cast the copy". This means it triggers Storm and allows for Kicker costs to be paid. It takes experience to recognize just how quickly those cards generate tempo or other resources.
A card this versatile should never be underestimated, as it can change the flow of a game within a few turns.
How many of these should I use?
Only as many as you feel will be useful. Loading a deck top to bottom with 1/2-drop Instants isn't going to help much when you don't have the Stick in hand, but some of those Instants are going to be useful anyway (Tragic Slip, Path to Exile). Obviously running only 3 or 4 means you often won't have the spells in hand when you want to put them on the Stick, but running 15+ would mean you will have a lot of dead draws from time to time. I recommend between 7 and 12 cards for the Stick itself, and maybe 2 or 3 effects to tutor it up.
Word of advice: If you were going to include the card anyway don't count it against the afore-mentioned recommended number. But if you wouldn't run the card without Stick, think carefully about it. It's easy to get carried away, but some spells just aren't going to fit.
What about XXXXX? Why didn't you list it?
I'm very particular about certain things. Notably, color-hate spells are something I almost never consider. Spells like Pyroblast are things I avoid like the plague largely because they play off of the metagame. Because the metagame varies so wildly from playgroup to playgroup, I avoid even listing these cards without a very good reason. Because of this factor, I leave most cards like that to your judgement. But there are a few hate spells that caught my eye.
The List
W
There is a lot of overlap as well. I personally wouldn't run either Test of Faith or Ethereal Haze if I was using Pollen Lullaby simply so I can cut down on the odds of a low Clash, and between Razor Barrier and Shelter it's a matter of if I can protect my non-Creatures or if I need the extra draw effect. Then you get spells like Vengeful Dreams, which I wouldn't even consider unless I ran Black or Blue as well. And then you have Disempower/Disenchant, which is a can of worms (both may not be worth running, but both can do some real damage on the Stick).
A noteworthy exception to my hatred of color restrictions is Celestial Purge. Exiling is good, but being able to hit any RB is back-breaking for either color. It gets even better if you have a way to change the color of a permanent.
U
And then you have your No Stick. With a Mana Drain on it. In 1v1, resolving that combo means game over. You also have a decent tutor, and access to every Clone effect that can target the Stick. If your deck runs Blue, consider using the Stick heavily.
B
Make no mistake, the B Stick has options galore.
R
When it comes to Stick, Lightning Bolt is a rather mediocre choice. Every time you use StickBolt you will be wishing you had Incinerate instead. Then you get Lash Out and Magma Jet. Why run either? Deck manipulation. Red has even less of it than White does, so Clash and Scry are welcome abilities for Stick. The fact that they come attached to burn spells is gravy. Galvanic Blast seems worse than Lightning Bolt, but the difference between 3 and 4 damage is worth the effort it takes to set up G.Blast. And then there's Spawning Breath, which seems out of place. The purpose is twofold: Pick off weakened beaters or chump tokens while churning out mana/chump blockers at the same time. This single trait put Spawning Breath on similar grounds to Raise the Alarm.
But even as limited as Red is, the color has some startling spells. Final Fortune seems risky to even run, much less put on Stick. But proper abuse (read: Platinum Angel) means you now have infinite turns. Fork, Increasing Vengeance, and Reverberate serve the same purpose as Twincast (although IV is a little bit less useful on Stick than any of it's relatives). Magnetic Theft is amusing against Voltron generals, as you can steal a vital piece of equipment temporarily, or just deny them that equipment whenever they try to swing. Ignorant Bliss and Crimson Wisps are valuable card draw, each with a different purpose (although the Wisps is less useful than Bliss)
The rituals are a bit mixed. Desperate and Pyretic are inferior to Cabal outright because they lack the Threshold benefit, but even Brightstone is risky. It turns Stick into a Red Gaea's Cradle, but goblins are about as fragile as it gets, so the effort to use Brightstone would be even higher risk than Cradle normally is (largely because Stick is an Artifact and Red has little in the way of protecting either Artifacts or Creatures)
Lastly, we have Price of Progress, Firestorm, Fling, and Unstable Footing. Price is easily the most reliable, but FlingStick and Firestorm are dangerous toys capable of tipping the entire game in your favor if used right (Memory Jar or some beatsticks backed by recursion). And while Unstable Footing looks bad, it's actually a great mid-game burn effect for Stick (you can kick the copy, unlike other effects that copy the spell).
All-in-all, Red has useful toys for the Stick. Not many, but enough to get by.
G
Sprout and Vitality Charm are two odd cases. Both of these effects are narrow, low-powered, and easily ignored. But both of them serve a huge purpose. The Charm can be used in Tribal on some deadly creatures, like saving some of Mayael's horde from a Murder or granting trample. But the tokens produced by Sprout and Charm can fuel Skullclamp almost endlessly, and can help improve Might of the Massess and Strength in Numbers dramatically.
Then we have the 2 color hate spells: Reap and Seedtime. Seedtime is obviously powerful, effectively putting the threat of a Lighthouse Chronologist on an Artifact, something Blue traditionally has issues destroying (although bounce effects suck). Resolving SeedStick turn 2 (or turn 1 with Sol Ring) means you can put the Blue players in a delicate predicament: Either they hold counterspells to prevent you from taking extra turns, or they never cast a Blue spell at all until Stick is gone.
Reap is an unusual spell in that it's the only one capable of returning more than 1 card (of any type) from your graveyard to your hand without exiling itself. It combos with Darkest Hour, Dralnu's Crusade (if there's a Goblin player opposite you), Nightcreep (another Stick target), and the Kormus Bell+Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth combo. This turns Reap from a Regrowth or Restock into a Praetor's Counsel. And if you happen to be playing a Kingmaker-stye deck with a Black player as your ally, the card because a nigh-limitless recycling factory.
While Green is limited, it's tricks are down-right terrifying.
Multicolor Cards
Charms are, without a doubt, the cream of the crop. A CharmStick means you have 3 spells instead of one, and your opponents now have to play around that versatility. Add in Copy Artifact, Sculpting Steel, and Phyrexian Metamorph and you have a set of Swiss Army Knives waiting to solve your every problem.
Shadow of Doubt is a poor-man's Stranglehold, but put it on a Stick and you now have one of the best anti-toolbox combos you can get, punishing those foolish enough to tutor in your presence while improving your own position. Combining it with something like New Horizons and you can cripple an opponent without actually hitting them.
Reknit and Manamorphose are odd ones. Reknit actually protects Stick (how many spells out there say "Destroy target Artifact, it can't be regenerated"?), while Manamorphose filters your mana and cantrips. Most people will ignore these spells until they realize that both effects are vastly more annoying than they should be.
Multicolored decks have far more options than a mono-colored one does, so exploit the hell out of Stick while you have the chance!
Split Cards
I say they cheat because you can cast either side of a Split card each time you use Stick. SplitStick is incredible, being able to churn out quick 3/1s or recovering your graveyard, or even recovering expended Stick targets. If ever there were a reason to do 5-color Stick, it's because of multicolor spells.
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
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StaffAs for the hate spells, maybe you could start a separate section at the end for hate spells that people might want to run should the meta call for it?
You're welcome! My friend runs it in his Damia deck (Cyclonic Rift, Counterspell, Memory Lapse, Visions of Beyond, and a couple of others for targets), which inspired this list.
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa
Fixed it. I must have misclicked somewhere.
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa
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And I'd like to ask a question of everyone here, if I may, which art of Isochron Scepter do you like best?
Personally I traded in my IvG one to get this beauty.
The FtV art isn't bad, but I dunno..just something I really like about the FNM art. Also apparently the most expensive version of the card.
UBBreya's Toybox (Competitive, Combo)WR
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I changed my mind first I was in love with the "alternate" FNM art just like you. Then as FTV came out I changed to the original art. I can't remember why I did like the alternate art more first, perhaps just because it was alternate/different
As the times goes on I see more FNM as original foil ones. That's one of the point's why I changed to orgiginal besides the fact that I did not see the real beauty of the original foil before I had it in my hands. Just Wow!
In terms of prices I think orig. Mirrodin foils are the most expensive ones.
I compared some of them on ebay. Especially If you can find some pimpy foreign ones.
Isochron Scepter got love. A lot of it. Every single split/charm spell from GTC/DGM is helpful (although Fuse doesn't work with Stick), and Theros gave every color some more Scry spells to help Stick's deck manipulation tricks.
And sorry about the Necro.
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa
I was under the 'impression' (see what I did there?) that when it came to fuse cards both sides of the spell were added up for the CMC.
It's Hip to be a Square
For certain effects, yes (Dark Confidant, Dark Tutelage, Ad Naus). But otherwise they follow the same rules as other Split spells (unless WotC randomly changed the rules on Split cards while I wasn't looking).
Isochron sees a spell with 2 CMCs: One that is higher, and one that fulfills its imprint requirement. That last part is all it cares about.
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa
I assure you it's significantly better than you think. People don't tend to target it unless you imprint a counterspell/massive resource under it (IME, people ignore it when it has Cabal Ritual or Cremate under it, but go after it immediately when they see Tolarian Winds or any Counterspell).
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa
It might depend on the group too. I just know back in the day it didn't matter what was imprinted on it, it still got blown up and this was before EDH too. As far as STP goes I think that would put a bigger target on stick than even counterspell or winds. I might get 1 soon just to try it.
Definitely. Players who were around for when it was in Standard/Extended know how dangerous it can be and may try to take it out ASAP, while newer players won't always recognize the value of something like Scout's Warning or Surgical Extraction on a Stick.
This I can say without a doubt: Stick is one of the best sources of repeatable card draw, a solid mana rock (for BR anyway), an efficient token producer, an excellent rattlesnake, a good removal spell, decent (but not great) graveyard hate, and one of the best reusable counterspells ever. People have many good reasons to get it off the table, so play at your own risk.
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa