Im thinking of placing No Mercy in my The Ur-Dragon Commander deck to deter my oponent from attacking me while I have nothing on the field because my EDH deck is very slow being 5 colors. I want to know what you guys think about the card No Mercy is it worth having in my deck or should I go for more ramp instead. That being said I also have Ghostly Prison and Propaganda
Moat is very expensive to purchase in paper. Magus of the Moat is much more reasonable to buy, and there are other variants and alternatives, which aren't quite as powerful.
One point I will give to No mercy is your opponents can still attack each other making it more political.
When you play Moat you may make your opponents a lot more frusterated and all gang up on you.
Teferi's Moat is a decent Moat replacement against a multiplayer table where you can hide behind the pillowfort while keeping from angering certain players depending on which colour you pick.
i would sprinkle a couple of the propaganda/ghostly prison, but mostly focus on your colour-fixing and ramp.
Magus of the moat does the same thing you'd want actually, and is useful even if you draw it late-game since dragons mostly have flying (i can think of like 4 dragons that don't fly, so that's not many).
Also, island sanctuary. I used it waaaaaaay back in the day. it's not amazing, but it can be pretty good.
Edit: i checked it, and there are 9 dragons that don't fly (but many of them has an ability that makes them fly), not including changelings.
One point I will give to No mercy is your opponents can still attack each other making it more political.
When you play Moat you may make your opponents a lot more frusterated and all gang up on you.
I want to second this point that if you want to sit back early in the game you need to allow other people to do their attacking. If you play Moat or magus of Moat they will be frustrated and more likely take it out on you.
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Island Sanctuary is my pillow of choice, but it depends on your ability to draw cards outside of the draw step, so (of course) I never use it in monowhite or even Boros.
Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Mudslide is something between moat and propaganda, making you need to pay 2 to untap each non-flying creature. It can also disrupt non-flying creatures with tap abilities, like elves.
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EDH BGU Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Lurking Zombies. GBG Sapling of Colfenor - Forest Growth and Destruction. RWU Zedruu the Greathearted - Blinking and trading. GWB Teneb the Harvester - Enchantments, you lose life I gain life. RRR Neheb the Eternal - Ping people for mana burn.
I'm going to advocate against No Mercy personally. All it achieves is that your opponents will wait till they get a net advantage before they swing. So, instead of swinging for 4 damage, they'll wait till they can hit double digits and swing for 22, knowing that creature died fulfilling its purpose and hurting the crap outta you. Besides, if they're running reanimation you're giving them a potential death trigger with things like Kokusho, the Evening Star, a fresh body, and a possible ETB trigger. To some extent the idea of forting out does the same; they know if they have a Krosan Grip you're out for the count, so you're really just prolonging the inevitable onslaught, rather than presenting an actual threat.
I'm going to suggest that as well as, or instead of, waiting to hit your curve for dragons and building a fort to make this work, hit the ramp hard, and work in some ways to cheat dragons into play early. That's really the only way your plan of raining hellfire on people becomes unexpected and puts the heat on the table - when people see you tapping out for a dragon bang on curve, you're inviting them to counter or hold up removal, so get them unexpected, and get them early.
There's plenty of ways to do this. There's plenty of ramp spells about, and plenty that can pick up any coloured land, or any specific land you'd like. Burgeoning could be really gross to hit your colours, Collective Voyage is crazy ramp in any game[/c], Spoils of Victory, Farseek, Hour of Promise, choose your poison, we all know the names, use them liberally - you need to with pentacoloured decks, especially if you can't afford fetches and duals.
I don't necessarily think the idea of a fort is entirely without merit, but I would definitely be hesitant to add too much. You need your colours anyway, so it seems intuitive to me to do this and do it well, to the point where you're defying your supposed curve and keeping your opponents scrambling for resources and answers.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
When you play Moat you may make your opponents a lot more frusterated and all gang up on you.
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
Might as well go Sphere of Safety at that point too.
Magus of the moat does the same thing you'd want actually, and is useful even if you draw it late-game since dragons mostly have flying (i can think of like 4 dragons that don't fly, so that's not many).
Also, island sanctuary. I used it waaaaaaay back in the day. it's not amazing, but it can be pretty good.
Edit: i checked it, and there are 9 dragons that don't fly (but many of them has an ability that makes them fly), not including changelings.
Legacy - Solidarity - mono U aggro - burn - Imperial Painter - Strawberry Shortcake - Bluuzards - bom
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
I want to second this point that if you want to sit back early in the game you need to allow other people to do their attacking. If you play Moat or magus of Moat they will be frustrated and more likely take it out on you.
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If you really want to screw with players, follow up Sanctuary with Mystic Decree (if in blue) or somehow cheat out Sandwurm Convergence (if in green); in the latter case, you'll think of something, since white has Replenish and Academy Rector and green has Eureka, Hypergenesis, Genesis Wave...Regardless of what you do, this makes it so no one can attack you. You will want Fountain Watch, Sterling Grove, or Greater Auramancy, though.
On phasing:
BGU Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Lurking Zombies.
GBG Sapling of Colfenor - Forest Growth and Destruction.
RWU Zedruu the Greathearted - Blinking and trading.
GWB Teneb the Harvester - Enchantments, you lose life I gain life.
RRR Neheb the Eternal - Ping people for mana burn.
Fog Bank, Deadly Recluse, and Baleful Strix come to mind.
And most people won't swing their big'uns at you if you've got a Soul Snare in play.
- Rabid Wombat
Most of the great recommendations have already come up regarding forts - Ghostly Prison, Propaganda, Sphere of Safety, Soul Snare, Magus of the Moat. There's also Glacial Chasm, and Solitary Confinement.
I'm going to suggest that as well as, or instead of, waiting to hit your curve for dragons and building a fort to make this work, hit the ramp hard, and work in some ways to cheat dragons into play early. That's really the only way your plan of raining hellfire on people becomes unexpected and puts the heat on the table - when people see you tapping out for a dragon bang on curve, you're inviting them to counter or hold up removal, so get them unexpected, and get them early.
There's plenty of ways to do this. There's plenty of ramp spells about, and plenty that can pick up any coloured land, or any specific land you'd like. Burgeoning could be really gross to hit your colours, Collective Voyage is crazy ramp in any game[/c], Spoils of Victory, Farseek, Hour of Promise, choose your poison, we all know the names, use them liberally - you need to with pentacoloured decks, especially if you can't afford fetches and duals.
Cheat cards - Cryptic Gateway, Belbe's Portal, Quicksilver Amulet, Dream Halls, Fist of Suns, Jodah, Archmage Eternal, Garruk, Caller of Beasts, Genesis Wave, Selvala's Stampede, Flash....on and on, there's tons of this stuff, pick what works best for you and work around it.
I don't necessarily think the idea of a fort is entirely without merit, but I would definitely be hesitant to add too much. You need your colours anyway, so it seems intuitive to me to do this and do it well, to the point where you're defying your supposed curve and keeping your opponents scrambling for resources and answers.