Introduction
Welcome to my Rasputin Dreamweaver thread. This is a combo oriented blue and white control deck. It utilizes Rasputin Dreamweaver as ramp and a combo piece. The deck also uses creatures that have triggers when they enter the battlefield as they synergize well with flicker. My build is also intended to be fairly competitive.
Rasputin Dreamweaver, Why him? Rasputin Dreamweaver is one of the coolest blue and white generals in the game. He has awesome art, a nice 4/1 body, and he only has two colored mana in his cost. He is from Legends(OG Swag), a wizard, and goes great with the 'Flicker' mechanic. There are so many things that make him cool and he is very powerful on top of that. His unique ability to create mana when he enters the battlefield makes him the best general for a big mana control deck or a Flickering deck. Mine is a little bit of both.
The Colors of Blue and White:
Blue and White are the best colors for slower control decks. Almost all of the blue and white legends represent slow and ponderous strategies. Blue has access to one of the controversial abilities in the game. I'm sure you've heard of Counterspell. When you combine blue's ability to answer anything on the stack with white's ability to answer anything on the board... You get a very versatile deck. Nothing is a massive problem for a blue/white deck. The colors also balance each others weaknesses very well. White is probably the worst color for drawing cards but blue is the best. Blue is just about the worst color for removing things in a permanent fashion, but white is the best at that. This doesn't mean that there are not any weaknesses though. There are very few super dangerous creatures in the colors. There are a few exceptions, but when it comes to dealing damage, these colors are not very good at it. So you loose out on being aggressive. If you want to play blue/white, you got to take it slow. This brings the discussion to infinite combos. Some people hate them, some people love them. It just makes sense in a control deck like mine. If your deck is slow and reactive, the win should be equally slow to set up. I'm obviously not going to get anywhere trying to attack with all my tiny creatures. My playgroup always seems to be okay with a deck finishing out a game that has gone on far too long. It isn't impossible to win without them, or to remove them from the deck for more friendly options. In doing so, be ready to play really long games.
1. Removing threats.
2. Casting draw X spells/drawing tons of cards.
3. Playing a deck where the main win-conditions are combos.
4. Flickering loops and powerful interactions.
1. Dislike combos
2. Dislike control
3. Love huge creatures.
4. Want to win really fast/aggressively.
Credentials:
Rasputin has a very strong ability. He comes into play with seven dream counters. So he can be flickered with cards like Deadeye Navigator or Conjurer's Closet to return the counters as much as you want. These can be removed to add one colorless mana or to prevent damage dealt to him. You will be using him to make mana 99% of the time, but he can be used as a blocker or he can save himself from burn with his other ability. His ability to protect himself from damage removes a major weakness that X/1s normally have. He also allows you to jump from six mana to a whopping thirteen mana the turn you untap. This reliable 'mana rock' ability makes him great for a control deck that wants to get resources much faster than your enemies.
Lavinia is amazing. Every time I cast her she disrupts so many things. She fits great into a deck like this one. Her ability synergizes great with flicker and other ETB abilities. Rasputin's price has shot up recently, so she is also a great budget option. She cant replace his ability, but she is a good ETB general.
The Arbiter is so politically offensive that I don't see much point in running him outside of playgroups that embrace that style of deck. He is very powerful but he commands a much different strategy then my build. If you want to build u/w stax or hardcore control, then he is your man. This deck is more about progression then regression.
Hanna is great if you want to build around artifacts and enchantments. This is great for the colors as blue and white both have very powerful enchantments. They also go great with artifacts as well.
I first discovered Rasputin Dreamweaverhere. Weebo's deck really inspired me. It had everything I could ever want, an old school legend, ETB abuse, and two of my favorite colors. I also knew that I could tune it into something I really loved playing. The first draft of the deck was mostly about ramping into Kozilek, Butcher of Truth or Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre. This was pretty fun. I even went about cloning the Eldrazi with Sakashima, the Impostor (pre m14 rules change). It was very much a big mana deck. The second draft was all about controlling the board and winning with more efficient creatures like Wurmcoil Engine. Now for the third and final draft I've decided to skip the combat phase as a win condition. When a deck is so good a making games go longer, I find that it is better to just win with a combo. The core of the deck has always remained the same: flicker things. But little cuts and choices here and there have turned a ramp deck into a combol/control deck. These days it is my strongest deck.
Rasputin suffers from the same weaknesses that any general does. You might be sad if he gets tucked, hit with removal, stolen, or otherwise disrupted. He does cost six mana to cast so he can become very expensive if he is forced back into the general zone. The flickering in the deck protects him from removal if you have the mana and something to flicker him, but this cannot be taken for granted. Rasputin is often a combo piece. This makes him a large target for experienced players. The deck is perfectly capable of winning without him, although it will be a little more challenging.
You need to use discretion when casting Rasputin. It is inadvisable to cast him without being able to use his mana. This doesn't mean you cant play his as soon as possible, but doing so must be profitable. You also need to be careful about him dying. At 6 mana he gives you more mana then he costs. At 8 mana he isn't so efficient. Be very wary of opponents that have lots of removal spells or card like Night of Soul's Betrayal or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. These cards are a massive problem for Rasputin and the addition of more efficient removal spells can help mitigate some of these issues.
Rasputin's ability is tough to understand. He cannot have more then 7 dream counters. So there isn't really much point in running any cards that would try to add more. He gives you a mana every turn on your upkeep, but only if he starts the turn untapped. This basically means that he cant attack unless you don't need the mana. I normally keep him back as I always want that extra mana. Attacking isn't a terrible idea, but as beatdown isn't really plan A. I would only use it in emergency situations.
Disclaimer:
This is a combo control deck. Flickering things for value or comboing off is rarely hard, but getting there isn't always so easy. Since you plan to interact with your enemies, a lot of what you plan in any game is determined by what they do and less by some generic play I've described for you. I've had games where I did nothing but play lands until turn five and then cast a Hallowed Burial. You never know what is going to be best until you are playing. Try to think like an Azorius law mage when playing the deck. Slow and steady, double check all the decrees, sub texts, and orders before doing anything drastic.
Mulligans
It is very important to know your playgroup. Mine is small consists of friends and I know their decks pretty well. So I'm not trying to mulligan into anything specific as it isn't really needed. We also don't use the Partial Paris rule, so I keep any hand with mana and something to do with it. In a perfect world you want something to play on every turn. So a good curve with mana is ideal. If your group does use Partial Paris then mulligans are pretty simple. Keep all the early game stuff and mulligan anything you cant cast. Obviously you need mana so make sure you have good sources. Having some ramp is always nice, as long as it is going some where. The most important factor when deciding what to mulligan is creating a game plan. Sometimes its okay to keep something huge like Sphinx's Revelation if you know that you can get to it fairly easily. If you have it, Trinket Mage and 3 lands you can easily keep. Trinket will get Sol Ring and your game plan of a huge Revelation is one drawn land away. Just try to formulate a plan and see if your hand can get there. Having an easy path to combos is never bad either.
Early Game
During the early portions of the game you really want to cast some mana rocks to get your general out faster. Making land drops and getting your mana right is essential for any EDH deck and this one is no exception. You also want to make sure that no one is going too crazy. So don't be afraid to use some of those early game creatures to disrupt their game plan and further your own. There are a multitude of small creatures that help you do this. They smooth your draws, destroy problems, or help on defense. Don't be afraid to flicker some of your stuff if it will help you. Ghostly Flickering a Trinket Mage and a War Priest of Thune is very strong if you now have Top, Sol Ring, and two dead Sylvan Libraries. Who do you think is ahead at that point eh? Overall the point is that taking advantage of the early game is very important. That is why I try to keep the average converted mana cost as low as possible. This allows for taking advantage of all of your mana.
Middle Game
During the middle game you want to drop some bombs. I consider the middle game in this deck when you untap with Rasputin. You want to be casting huge creatures or start setting up engines of flickering. All of the powerful draw spells in the deck really help you to take control and set up these engines. Sphinx's Revelation and Sphinx of Uthunn are all stars here. Once you have seven awesome cards in hand and tons of mana on the board you have set yourself up to take control. A great way to stay in this position is to start flickering either Duplicant or Luminate Primordial. Those guys will keep anything seriously dangerous off the table and make sure you make it until the late game.
Late Game
During the last turns of the game you want to start demoralizing your enemies. This can be accomplished a number of ways. One of which is drawing tons of cards. If you soulbond a Deadeye Navigator with anything as good as Duplicant or Sphinx of Uthunn then most of your opponents will scoop. If they don't, you can start chipping away at their lives with the fliers in the deck and eventually go for one of the combos below. This is the strongest way the deck can win a game.
In the perfect situation you will have Rasputin in play along with Nim Deathmantle and Ashnod's Altar. You need 4 colorless mana to start the combo. You get 2 from sacrificing Rasputin to the Altar so make sure you have two from other sources. When you sacrifice Rasputin the Deathmantle triggers and you pay 4 to return him. Then you remove his 7 mana and repeat. This only makes colorless mana sadly. This combo can win the game though if you have any other Enters the Battlefield creatures in play. You can sacrifice them to your Ashnod's Altar which triggers Deathmantle, you use the infinite floating mana to recur it over and over.
B.) The new legend rules allows for you to get infinite mana with Rasputin Dreamweaver, Nim Deathmantle and any clone. This takes a few steps to get going. I'm going to go over the best case scenario here. Also, a big shoutout to ISBpathfinder. He called my attention to this combo and explained it to me, as I honestly didn't get it.
1.) Have Rasputin in play, preferably with 7 dream counters. Remove and make 7 mana.
2.) Cast your clone and have it enter play as a copy of Rasputin.
3.) When the state based actions kick in, choose to let Rasputin die.
4.) With the Deathmantle trigger on the stack, remove the 7 mana from the clone.
5.) Resolve the trigger returning Rasputin to play. This time, choose for the clone to die.
6.) Repeat steps 4 and 5 alternating between one with counters and one without. Remember to remove them in response to the Nim Deathmantle.
Revillark goes infinite with Karmic Guide and Ashnod's Altar. This combination creates infinite colorless mana and infinite triggers on a creature with power 2 or less. The best target is Venser, Shaper Savant.
Step 1: Have the Ashnod's Altar, Revillark, Karmic Guide, and the creature you want to trigger in play. One could start this combo with Karmic Guide in hand or the 2nd Revillark target in the graveyard, but you would need the mana to cast Karmic Guide.
Step 2: Sacrifice all of your creatures saving Revillark for last. When it leaves play it triggers, you target Karmic Guide and in the best situation Venser, Shaper Savant. They enter the battlefield and Karmic Guide returns Revillark and Venser bounces a permanent. You then sacrifice all of your creatures, saving Revillark for last, and repeating the process.
Stoneforge triggered twice can win you the game as well. It is the same as the first combo listed but it will win you the game if left unanswered. Nim Deathmantle and Mortarpod are a lethal combination with Rasputin. Sac him to deal one damage, then use his mana to recur him with Deathmantle. Use his mana to equip Mortar Pod and repeat.
Why use Stoneforge instead of other tutors? U/W has plenty of options to tutor for artifacts. The reason I use STM instead of other cards is she is a creature. I can recur her from the grave with Karmic Guide and Revillark very easily. I can also flicker her with the engines in the deck to make more use out of one card. Basically, I don't dilute my deck with bad instants and sorcery like Fabricate and Enlightened Tutor. Also you can put the equipments into play so they cant be countered with her activated ability. These cards aren't actually bad, they're just less useful to me then STM is.
Tezzeret can be used to tutor up any of the artifact based combos listed above. If the converted mana cost adds up to four, you're golden. Rasputin + Spawning Pit + Nim Deathmantle = Infinite mana. Rasputin + Mortarpod + Nim Deathmantle = Game over.
Archaeomancer can be replaced with Mnemonic Wall. Crystal Shard can replaced with Venser, the Sojurner to achieve the same infinite turn combo. Conjurer's Closet can replace Crystal Shard in some situations. It requires you to already have an extra turn on the way as you will blink the creature on the end step. This stipulation applies to Venser as well. In addition, Cyclonic Rift can be substituted in for Time Warp. This doesn't exactly win the game on the spot, but it does put your opponents in a bad spot. This combo is very mana intensive so it is a late game win condition.
This is a combo control deck. The archetype is generally very powerful in many formats. When a deck has the ability to answer almost any threat and finish with a combo, it becomes nearly unstoppable. The deck's major strength is that all the cards are powerful. There are a lot of combo pieces, but none of them are bad on their own. This is the key for a powerful combo deck in the format. Another powerful asset to the deck is the high number of creatures. It is a personal belief of mine that creatures are king of EDH. Creatures, by nature, have two more abilities then every other card type. They can attack and block. This is obvious, but it is still important to understand. Sure you can recur creatures easier and flicker them. Just don't forget that early pressure and disruption are the best ways to defeat combo. Having blockers and creatures that double as removal is the perfect way to take 'pressure' out of the equation.
The deck is also very good at committing little to the board. In many situations I find myself winning with the spells I've already played. Things like Deadeye Navigator, Sphinx's Revelation and Luminate Primordial allow for you to get multiple cards for one. This deck always ends up using less resources than most of my other decks.
Weaknesses
The deck's main weakness is to ETB hate. Some specific examples are Torpor Orb and Humility. These cards are obviously a huge problem for a deck like this, but I still find these cards laughable. Torpor Orb rarely sees play because it forces you into a very particular role. You're either in stax, control, activated abilities, or combinations of them all. The Orb can be really amazing at disrupting ETB decks, but I feel most people would rather play ETBs instead of trying to go angular to them. This doesn't mean that you won't come up against Torpor Orb though. Fortunately you're playing white. There are a lot of ways to kill and exile it in white. My personal favorite is Return to Dust.
Humility is very similar to Torpor Orb but it is even more rare. First of all, the card is a rules nightmare. Complicated board states are fun but they don't always serve you. Second of all, it suffers from all the same problems that Torpor Orb does. It just forces you to not play powerful creatures. That sort of reduces the amount of things you can do with it to a level that is just too small. As before you will probably play against one at least once. You still have Return to Dust and other powerful cards like Aura of Silence.
Another weakness the deck has is cards that make it impossible for creatures with low toughness to exist on the battlefield. Things like Aether Flash and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite can be a problem. Despite obvious implications with the general, most of the creatures in the deck are small. You need to keep these creatures around so you can use them over and over. Removal spells can always be added to adjust to the metagame.
The altar provides a sacrifice outlet for the deck. It can be used to ramp your mana if you have useless creatures sitting around. It can also be used in combination with Revillark and Karmic Guide to generate infinite mana and infinite triggers on another creature with two or less power. Its always great to have sac-outlets to protect your creatures from tucking or exile as well. Altar combines with Nim Deathmantle in a great way as well. You can trigger any of your ETB creatures for 2 as you get 2 from the altar.
This is a two drop mana accelerator that also fixes your colors. It helps you cast your general faster and any other spells in between. The fact that it makes colored mana is really nice when your general provides such ample amounts of colorless.
Latern does a lot for my manabase. There is a fairly high number of utility lands in this deck and it helps to boost their power. Plus it is a great ramp spell in addition to its land fixing.
Closet is one of my favorite artifacts in the whole deck. Despite the jokes that can be made about it, it has a very powerful affect in a deck that is based around flickering. You can cast it the turn you play Rasputin and then flicker him on the end step to get your mana back. It goes great with Duplicant, Solemn Simulacrum, Mulldrifter and many others. If you choose to run cards that steal your opponent’s creatures then it allows you to flicker them and keep control of them forever in spite of any clause that might require them to be returned normally. It is really a great card in a lot of decks and it gets overlooked by the more serious players. Its truly the best in Rasputin due to how it interacts with him but I've had success with it in some artifact based decks as well.
This card is an all-star in blue decks. From mono blue to tri color decks this card really helps your game plan. It can be used to protect your guys from removal, bounce enemies creatures when they tap out, and reuse creatures of your own. You should run this for fun and value. It goes great with all of your creatures.
This card is only okay. I run it as another mana rock. It does sometimes survive an Akroma's Vengeance though giving it some reliability where other mana rocks do not. Some of your enemies will want to destroy your artifact mana base when they realize how fast it is pushing you ahead and this guy prevents some of that.
Mimic Vat is another way to reuse creatures in the deck. It has the upside as acting as a mini graveyard hate card as well. This card can really go crazy if your opponents cannot destroy it. It will generate lots of card advantage for you. You can even use your sac outlets to put your own dudes under it.
Deathmantle protects Rasputin and also allows you to always keep a creature on the board. If multiple nontoken creatures are put into your graveyard from the battlefield at the same time, Nim Deathmantle's second ability triggers that many times. You put the triggered abilities on the stack in any order, so you'll determine in which order they resolve. If you pay {4} more than once, each card you paid {4} for will end up on the battlefield under your control, and Nim Deathmantle will end up attached to the last card that returned to the battlefield this way that it could equip. That blurb from the rules text is the other reason why I'm running it.
I love having access to another sac outlet and this one does the trick. Its also nice that Tezzeret can find this and Nim Deathmantle with four loyalty.
Top is awesome in the format and great in a deck like this. You have multiple ways to shuffle your deck, you always want to draw the right cards, and it can be cast off the mana provided by the general. It is also a strong Trinket Mage target if you already have Sol Ring or do not need the mana.
Clamp is an awesome card and another staple. You can grab it with Trinket Mage, Equip it blockers, or use it as a card drawing machine with Ashnod's Altar. Don't be afraid to equip it to Rasputin. Sometimes just floating his mana and drawing some cards can put in a great spot. There is a good amount of recursion as well.
Staple. It makes games hard to lose if cast early. There is no reason not to run it and it is even stronger in a deck with so many uses for the mana and many ways to tutor it out.
This spell is free and the affect is needed to keep some decks in check. It can be easily reused with Sun Titan or Sanctum Gargoyle. This deck likes to exile or tuck things over merely destroying them. Tormod's helps you to accomplish this goal and is another Trinket Mage target.
Pod can win you the game when you're going through infinite combos. It also makes it so Stoneforge Mystic can get you a sac outlet. It is probably the weakest of all the combo pieces. You can equip the germ to Skull Clamp and you can kill x/1s.
Bauble is another mana rock. It gets lands into play so unless mass land destruction is something that is prevalent in your meta its better than an artifact source in play. It is also another Trinket Mage target, although probably the one you will search up the least.
If you can flicker it in response to its trigger you can exile stuff forever. Its also just an awesome beater and card advantage engine. You can use it to get stuff back from your own graveyard as well. This card is pretty much an all star.
This girl is an all star. It combos nicely with Ghostway or any flicker affect and helps me to get more use out of instants and sorcery. This allows you to reuse Draw X spells or answers like Return to Dust. It has never failed me or been a bad draw. The deck has many ways to reuse creatures so this one combos with those to help you reuse other spells as well.
Deadeye is just about the strongest creature in the deck. Everything you do is better when he is in play. Be wary of casting him without a way to protect him though as he will be a huge target. If he resolves he becomes hard to kill and takes over the game. Many people have scooped to him plus Duplicant or Venser, Shaper Savant.
This guy is awesome. He can be cast with Rasputin mana and he really helps keep problem creatures off the board. Unless they have shroud or hexproof he handles anything quite well. No Avacyns or Ionas will be bothering you when you run this guy. I honestly think all decks should be running this guy. Some naysayers note that he is a little expensive for an answer, but I disagree. He might be expensive but he normally gets pretty big. Its later game when you cast him so there are better targets.
This gives us some much needed protection against instants and sorcery. It can be blinked to reset the counter and it can be recurred with Revillark. Very strong card for its mana cost.
This fish does work. It helps you draw cards early when evoked or can really dominate the game if you have repeatable flicker effects. The flying body can also matter sometimes to help you kill a planeswalker get some beat down on. He can also be recurred with Revillark which is a bonus. Mulldrifter is probably my favorite blue creature in the whole format, I used it in conjunction with all the little fliers in the deck to take down an Elspeth Knight-Errant last Wednesday.
This angel is a staple and helps you recover your board after people try to destroy it. If you can flicker it before its echo cost then it is even better. It can allow you to recover so much faster than opponents that there is no reason not to run it. It also dies nicely for your Mimic Vat.
Kor Carto ramps your mana and he goes great with the flicker in the deck. Think of him as a Solemn Simulacrum light. The four drop ramp creatures set up Rasputin perfectly.
This little guy is great. His first strike can protect you from early attackers and his plains fetching ability is great if you do not go first. He can grab Tundra or Hallowed Fountain as well.
This card is so amazing. She shuts down so many things. I'm still in the testing phase on this one. The last time I played with the deck she would have shut down a good 10 to 15 permanents in the late game.
The Leonin provides an answer that is also a creature. When combined with a flicker affect he can remove targets forever. How you do this is by responding to the exile trigger with Crystal Shard returning him to your hand. His leaves play ability triggers but he has not exiled anything yet so nothing returns. Then his exile ability resolves and the target is gone forever. The same engine can be accomplished with flicker affects as well but the last target will stay under him. For instance if you respond to his first exile affect with Ghostly Flicker then he will trigger again when he enters the battlefield from that spells affect. You can choose not to exile if you want or you can use him to 'protect' your own stuff.
This guy is a reusable Swords to Plowshare attached to a large body. It is very good at protecting yourself and exiling problems and goes great with flicker. It also gets better and better as games get bigger. I was very impressed with him in a 5 person game.
See Archeomancer. He does provide a stronger defense for the cost of one more colorless mana but one less blue. That is the only difference. I run them both for redundancy which is important for a control deck.
Metamorph Provides a clone and a way to get yourself a sweet artifact. He is a very versatile staple and can do a lot for you. He can be searched out with Tezzeret or reused with Sanctum Gargoyle to create a General Killing Engine.
The angel provides a way for the deck to play at instant speed. She is versatile and powerful and I've never been sad to have her. She can answer a threat with any creature that has the Enters the Battlefield needed and she can help take down players/planeswalkers due to her flying.
This weird looking creature is amazing. I love just casting it and then using something to flicker it over and over. Most people expect you to evoke it but the deck can do a lot with it in play. It is very much a staple and 'good stuff' but this deck has a very strong suit of creatures to return with it. Because so many of the creatures that it can return are answers it really acts as a strong source of card advantage.
Gargoyle is awesome for there are many artifacts you want to reuse. It can help you rebuild a mana base, return a metamorph or crystal shard, or be searched out with Tezzeret. It’s also a flier that helps with the evasive beat down plan Z. It has swung in to planeswalkers on many occasions.
This Sphinx is amazing here. If you can trigger him twice you drew the better cards out of ten. He is also a large flier that helps defend you or beat for five. He is amazing when cast and triggered once and any amount of flicker really pushes him over the top.
Solemn is an EDH staple and helps non green decks ramp lands very well. He can be flickered, resurrected with Revillark, or used for chump blocking. He is good in lots of decks but his power is amazing here. There are so many ways to get extra value out of him.
This other gargoyle is pretty epic as well. He can really shut off reanimation and since he returns a creature you control he is very versatile. All of this combined with flash really makes him shine. He can be used for reusing and protecting creatures, as a graveyard hate engine, and as a flying attacker/blocker.
This card does so much for the deck. It finds all of our combo pieces, it can protect us with Batterskull, and it is great with flicker. It is also an early game spell so it helps the curve nicely.
Sun Titan is an awesome creature obviously. There are so many things he can reuse in this deck there is no point in listing them all. He comes attached to an awesome body as vigilance is one of the most relevant abilities for a control deck to utilize.
Trinket Mage is awesome in this deck. There are a lot of targets for him and more could be added to make him an answer as well as a card drawer. He normally gets Sol Ring and Top but he is very versatile and he could be used for anything you really want. He is recurred by Sun Titan and Revillark so he can always be used for more value.
Venser is a great answer and can sometimes provide you with a way to answer pesky spells. He is amazing with Deadeye Navigator and isn't half bad on his own. Revillark likes him and so does Riptide Laboratory.
Priest is an answer that is attached to a creature. He allows you to make sure no enchantments ruin your day and the fact that he can be reused over and over makes him an awesome fit. He sometimes is lacking a target, but most decks expect their enchantments to live because they are hard to kill. War Priest puts a chink in their plans.
The wall can provide some defense from early attackers and it replaces itself. It is great in the early game and will cantrip for two mana in the late game. It can be used as a card drawer if you can flicker it. Cards like these give you something to do early. It might seem pointless, but it is way better then doing nothing on turn two.
Venser is amazing with this deck. He has a many targets and all of them are awesome. His ultimate is game winning and his minus one ability can really help you to finish someone off. He is awesome in this deck and many others that plan to use creatures with enter the battlefield abilities.
Tezzeret is amazing in this deck. He can untap mana rocks, search out strong artifacts including a suite of artifact lands. He is a strong source of card advantage and with the high number of artifacts the deck runs his ultimate can provide a surprising and fast clock.
This card is the best board wipe in the format in my opinion. I feel that any deck that aims to take a controlling stance wants this over other wraths. Most creatures are safest in their owner’s decks instead of graveyards. It acts as a 'permanent' solution to generals and can remove anything indestructible or otherwise hard to kill.
Rite of Rep is amazing in a deck with some many valuable creatures. It is a great win condition and will always be a huge blowout when kicked and resolves. You can use Archeomancer to re use it really create a huge board state.
Time Warp enables powerful combos and is a great way to jump ahead of your opponents. You can use it to double the size of your army for lethal attacks or you can use it as a pseudo ramp spell.
Cryptic is a removal spell, counterspell, fog, and cantrip in one card. Did I mention you get two modes each time? It goes great with Archaeomancer and it protects that board position in the late game.
Rift is an amazing removal spell. Early in the game it can remove something for a tempo play. Late game it is an all out game winner. It effectively reduces your opponents mana, as it will be fairly hard for them to get all of their permanents back into play in one turn.
Is an awesome two for one and plays to the decks strengths. It is great when combined with an Archeomancer and another target. It seems like it might be a 'one shot' but it can really help you pull through the middle game. It also helps you to protect your things from removal spells as well.
This is my all time favorite for this deck. It can do so many different things for your deck. You can break the symmetry of wraths to put yourself ahead. You can save your team from opposing wraths. You can even use to create strong card advantage will all your creatures. All for only 3 mana at instant speed.
Right now I'm trying this card out. It isn't bad, but I'm not a huge fan. It can grab some really powerful cards in the end game. But its bad early as you'll never have the chance to draw a land. I always think that when I cast one of these top deck tutors.
This card is a staple and great against so many decks. It can be reused with Archeomancer is great and removing things for good. There is no reason to leave home without it.
I run Sphinx's Revelation and other draw x spells because I feel they are very powerful with the deck. Rasputin’s mana ability really allows them to be either huge draw spells or draw sevens in your turn. This new Ravnica addition is great because it does more then just draw cards. It also makes us a lot harder to kill.
This helps protect you early and is a great removal spell in general. It’s never a bad idea to have something like this around just in case you need it.
Stroke of Genius is easily cast with Rasputin mana and keeps your hand filled. The quickness of the artifact mana combined with Rasputin makes these affects better the one might expect. It’s never fun to have no cards in hand.
The Aura of Silence is a great removal spell that you can play early and keep up for when needed. It can be recurred with Sun Titan as well. It also taxes your opponents for playing their own artifacts and enchantments.
Ruins is great for saving those important artifacts. I have it in here because it is basically free artifact recursion. It gives you a little safety net when trying to combo off with your artifacts.
High Market is great for protecting your creatures from tuck or exile. It also does wonders with recursion as it gives you another sac outlet. Need to trigger your Nim Deathmantle? Well this land is there to help with that.
Kor Haven is a great control card. It gives you a colorless answer to Sword of Fire and Ice and other annoying attackers. It has to target, which can be problematic, but its still a great one.
Tower is great in a deck that can draw way too many cards. It works wonders with Stroke of Genius and Sphinx's Revelation. It might come out one day due to its 'win more' status. A basic land might be better.
Wasteland is in the deck to function as removal for annoying lands. Cabal Coffers and Gaea's Cradle are the most mentioned ones. I like how it doesn't have that scare factor that Strip Mine does.
Very recently I've added some counters to help protect my late-game board position. There are still a few good ones that people can add if they feel the need to add more.
This cards ability to both answer a spell and ramp your mana fits perfectly in this deck. This whole deck revolves around generating large amounts of mana and this spell is perfect. This would be my first addition if I had one.
These are good because they can tuck generals or other spells that you expect to be recurred against you. That is all they do though. A smart opponent will never cast their general or an important spell into your open mana if they suspect these spells.
Now I want to discuss wrath affects. My deck runs the tucking wraths and does so because I feel they are the most powerful in the format. They can get rid of generals and make it so reanimation and recursion isn't a problem. They are symmetrical though and will put your creatures on the bottom too so either look for Ghostway or play it slow, smart, and safe. The best thing to do is not to over extend your board into a wrath that you yourself plan to cast. All of your creatures get value when they enter the battlefield so it isn't the end of the world but it’s still better to keep them in the graveyard if possible. There are other options though. If you feel that traditional wraths are better in your meta game or easier to break then here is a list of them for you.
These are really good because they can handle all your problems. These are they two best wraths at getting the most for your mana. Austere Command allows you to save the stuff you want and kill anything you don't and Vengeance just gets rid of it all. You can cycle Akroma's Vengeance to draw a card if you don't need the board wipe.
This card is awesome because you can keep your creatures until the last minute. Its mana cost is not a huge problem because you can use Rasputin mana to cast it if needed.
The OG McNasty. It’s why they are called 'wraths' after all. It is a strong card and its mana cost is very cheap. It just doesn't do all that much in EDH anymore. There are just better more versatile options and the same goes for Day of Judgment.
On to the fatties. This is one card type that I think the deck could possibly use more of. The deck has been strong at controlling games but weak at finishing them out. I try to run ones that fit in the style of the deck but there are other creatures that don't have Enters the Battlefield triggers that are strong as well.
I don't run this because it has a very negative affect on the game. It’s very strong and promotes a control strategy but your friends will want to play against you even less if they know you plan to use this on them.
This angel is one I can get behind. She protects your board and provides a really strong beater. If you run here there is a large argument for running the wraths that destroy because she allows for another way to break the symmetry of their affect.
You should probably run this card. I don't for many reasons but if you plan to play hyper competitive then this card is very strong. I don't run it for the hate it brings, clones, and it can sometimes get no value at all. But if it does live then you will draw a large amount of cards and it does provide a reasonable body for the deck.
There are also some tutors that one can run but I choose not to. My reasoning behind this is that tutors really reduce the variance of the deck. This is good if that is your goal. I just prefer to have raw card draw instead of tutors. Comboing off as soon as possible isn't really the goal of this deck. To me it is much more fun to just wait until it happens.
Both of these cards are great for finding those artifact combo pieces. You can find room for them pretty easy if you want to try and make the deck faster.
This does a lot of the same things that Azorius Signet does. It helps you ramp into your general faster and fixes your mana. It is unique in its charge counter mana allowing it to tap for two colored mana the turn after you play it. It can be untapped with Tezzeret the Seeker to get more charge counters. All of these factors make it a strong artifact.
I love Recurring Insight. It is easy to cast will all the mana acceleration and almost always draws you a ton of cards. It is easily the best draw x spell in the deck.
His student is a very versatile clone. You can activate Ninjistu multiple times to reuse creatures and it can be a sneaky way to get a clone for two mana. It also has awesome art.
Ulamog is the perfect threat for this deck. It is hard to remove, acts as removal, and provides a huge body. He is really what the control deck needs to end games and keep your opponents on the back foot.
Kozilek is everything this deck wants. Something huge to ramp into, a card drawer, and provides a win condition. He also helps you to shuffle in the graveyard if your deck gets low. He might draw you some hate if you cast him too early though so wait until you are safe.
Future Sight is a slightly controversial inclusion. Most people thing that it eats removal before you get a chance to use it. But it plays differently in this deck. You can sometimes have such a fast mana base that you can get cards off it before you have to pass the turn. It is also among the hardest to kill card type so it does live sometimes.
This guy is a great beater. I can reset it with Ghostly Flicker and it turns any of my small creatures into threats. It is also a target for Stoneforge Mystic
The impostor himself is versatile as well. You can copy other legends with sweet abilities and he can always clone things and then be flickered to get more value out of them. A strong play is flickering him at end of turn and turning him into an Ulamog, The Infinite Gyre or Kozilek, Butcher of Truth. This can surprise your opponents and really smash their board state. This probably wont make you any friends, but it is a good way to get a new game going.
I run crucible to protect my mana base and have an out to mana denial strategies. It goes great with Fetch lands and certain spell effect lands your opponents will want to destroy. It allows you to have access to resources you normally would not have.
This is another mana rock that gets you ahead of your opponents and taps for colored mana. It is powerful and easily cast before of after Rasputin hits the field. Tezzeret loves to untap this one.
The myrs provide a win condition that the deck really needs. If you pair him with Deadeye you can make tons of tokens and their direct damage can kill a player through any defense. It is also powerful to cast Rasputin and then use his mana to cast this. This is a surprising and powerful play.
Evacuation is a great removal spell that can both defend you and help you reuse creatures. It can help get rid of creatures that can’t be removed in another way and is a great way to keep armies off the field until you are ready for them.
I like expedition map a lot. You can find yourself with a large number of cards in your hand with this deck. Map allows you to find Reliquary Tower in those situations and it can be reused easily with Sun Titan or Sanctum Gargoyle to find other lands you might need. It is a great little tutor and it fits into the Trinket Mage package.
Oracle helps your early game draws and he is always extra value when flickered. He also has a good toughness to help defend you as well. Think of him as a Preordain that can be used over and over and block for you.
This card is amazing with Rasputin. It lets you flicker him for more mana and draw a good amount of cards. It can be used to save yourself from attackers or as a way to save one of your own guys from a board wipe.
This sac outlet can easily replace Spawning Pit or Ashnod's Atlar if you want a way to add colored mana to your infinite mana combos. I don't run it because they are very hard to find and I only own one.
This is a section for all the other Rasputin decks on the forums. I owe these guys so much. Without their awesome ideas, input, and decks this list would never be what it is today. Mad props to these guys.
Jylichan's list. Jylichan has gone with a ramp deck. He utilizes Rasputin to ramp into giant splashy spells and creatures.
Pingus' list. Pingus has gone for an attrition style deck. He uses very efficent creatures and cards to win out on value alone. He also uses beatdown as a main win condition.
Xandruh's list. Xandruh has built his deck very similar to mine. It is a flicker/combo deck.
Dracilic's list. Dracilic's deck is a mashup of all the decks. He has big spells, combo, and flicker.
Weebo's list. Weebo's deck is the one that inspired me to play Rasputin.
If you want your list here just post a comment. There are a lot more Rasputin decks on the forums but I tried to put the ones here that I have influenced me a lot. Please forgive me if I forgot someone.
In Ashnod's Altar, Nim Deathmantle, Mimic Vat, Wall of Omens.
I feel these new additions will be more on theme. Altar helps me to further break the symmetry of Tucking wraths. Deathmantle allows me to save and reuse creatures and makes for infinite mana with Rasputin and Ashnod's Altar. Mimic Vat is another way for me to get a hold of more creatures with good enters the battlefield abilities. Wall of Omens costs less the Court Hussar and works better with Flicker.
Out Blue Sun's Zenith
In Sphinx's Revelation
I made this cut because I feel that Sphinx's will do more work for me and fits into the deck better. I can reuse it with Archeomancer and you cant do that with Blue Sun's.
Out BraingyserTectonic Edge
In Angel of SerenityAcademy Ruins As per suggestions, I'm cutting a draw spell for something that has a lot of power and potential. I'll post more notes on this card as I manage to test it. Academy Ruins is an upgrade.
Out Coldsteel HeartPristine Talisman
In SkullclampChromatic Lantern Previously I didn't think Skullclamp needed a slot because there are no creatures that work with it except the general. Now I have a sac outlet so I can get value out of it even without other people attacking me or wrathing the board. Chromatic Lantern is awesome at fixing your mana and this deck runs a lot of colorless lands that can benefit from its added ability.
Out: Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Future Sight, Coalition Relic, Sakashima's Student
Treasure Mage which can grab , Duplicant, Myr Battlesphere and the new Wurmcoil Engine. The mystic is pretty awesome so far with only the 3 targets of Skullclamp, Nim Deathmantle, and Jitte.
Out: Phyrexian Ingester
In: Luminate Primordial
The Primordial is a strict upgrade. It gets the effect for each opponent. Ingester is a huge creature sometimes, but that is the only plus.
Out: Sakashima the Imposter
In: Glen Elendra Archmage
Sakashima's ability is cool but Glen Elendra serves a much more important role. The new legend rule also makes him less unique.
Out: Umezawa's Jitte
I fee like this cut really streamlined the deck. Gilded Lotus is too expensive and Crucible of worlds isn't necessary for the deck to function. I also like the idea of going up to 38 lands. That number always feels more consistent to me.
May 9, 2013
Out: Wurmcoil Engine, Treasure Mage
Lavinia is amazing when compared to Wurmcoil. She does so much more. Mystical Tutor should be great for grabbing all those sorcery based win cons.
June 14, 2013
Out: Expedition Map, Seagate Oracle, and Vanish into Memory
I feel like these new cards will help me protect myself a little better. Seagate Oracle doesn't really do anything and there are no specific lands that I need to grab with Expedition map. Vanish into Memory is a Rasputin staple but it only works well with him.
You can replace Future Sight (I know it's powerful, but it's not very synergistic with the deck), Exclusion Ritual (I've found that relying on Glimmerpoint Stag and Flickerwisp to force value out of this doesn't justify the cost--then again you can just keep it and leave Karn Liberated out), and maybe Augury Owl (more of a 'not good enough' case than anything--try Wall of Omens instead because at least that'll get you a card immediately).
From my experience, Augury Owl, Court Hussar and Azorius Chancery rarely worth their slot.
Azorius Chancery may fancy you because it can produce one more mana than most land but you have to take it's
"bouncing" into account. Since you use Tundra, I suppose you can afford Reflecting Pool. Temple of False God is not bad at all if you really want a land that can produce two mana.
I think you should include, at least, some counter spell Forbid is extremely good if you confident in your draw engine. Glen Elendra Archmage is interesting with a deck that can blink it or bring it back to life.
I'm curious though, how your one-shot-gigantic-draw-engines work for you?
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm sorry this post is so long, I didn't have time to make it shorter.
You can replace Future Sight (I know it's powerful, but it's not very synergistic with the deck), Exclusion Ritual (I've found that relying on Glimmerpoint Stag and Flickerwisp to force value out of this doesn't justify the cost--then again you can just keep it and leave Karn Liberated out), and maybe Augury Owl (more of a 'not good enough' case than anything--try Wall of Omens instead because at least that'll get you a card immediately).
Those are some great points. I'm posting before school and when I have some time tonight Ill post some changes. I think its worth noting that Venser, the Sojurner is my main way of flickering the exclusion ritual and its really good when its a free exile anything every turn.
@pingus the draw x spells have rocked so far. The deck makes tons of mana and using them to draw over ten cards is pretty epic and not that hard. If you get a mnemomic wall you can use them again and again. I would like to find room for glen elendra but this is a paper list and I only have access to one. I wouldn't mind a counter spell, but I find that once I start running them I start relying on them. I like the challenge of answering threats without them but they're just so good at what they do. I'll see what I can do with the list later today.
My easy button wincon is ghostway + world purge. So if you want to run infinite mana then the draw spells can double as a good wincon. Fork and Redirect effects are non existent in my local meta game and I rarely face them on cockatrice. So they do have some upsides and downsides. No deck makes mana quite like a rasputin flicker deck, so youre either drawing a lot or getting blown out lol.
I don't like Worldpurge much because outside of its interaction with Ghostway, there's no other use for it (unless you want to be a dork and reset the board). I also don't go infinite with Time Stretch most of the time. I usually just use the extra turns to attack for lethal with a bunch of dudes.
Totally accurate with the getting blown out. Some pods are just mortified by the idea of someone having access to 13 mana on turn 5. I have no idea why.
I run Worldpurge because I enjoy its affect. Its similar to Upheaval and thats banned. It feels like a rule breaker to me. Time Stretch and infinite mana stuff is stronger, but I normally try to keep this deck not too horrible to play against.
Oracle doesn't sacrifice itself and the first time I flickererd it and it stuck around to block I knew it was gonna be a permanent cut. Sakashima's Student offers much more options then the clone. I can active ninjistu multiple times to bounce creatures to reuse their ETB's.
I'm going to try out a similar deck, just with bant colors. White will probably take a back seat in it for more control and power form blue and green. How do you feel about adding green?
I may in fact just make blue/green itself depending on how well white works out. It's hard to ignore sun titan when I have so many 0/0 clones though. I'm also not totally sold on whites blink effects. Are they really worth it? I feel like they are too focused on just what you have out, and the effects may not be enough to win a game. Karmic guide, reveillark, mistmweadow witch, venser, the sojuourner and sun titan are what white really has to offer in my eyes.
Kaalia's Army of AnnhilationRWB
Obzedat, Ghost Council - Life Gain MattersWB
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Fatty Reanimator ToolboxBG
Nekusar, the Mindrazer - Draw to DieRBU
Marath, Will of the Wild - Token Pump and TapGWR
Roon of the Hidden Realm - Blink to BleedWBG
I think that blink decks are among the most powerful ones in the format. This deck is pretty strong just using blue white. It can be very fast on mana depending on your draw and has lots of card advantage and answers. I love this deck and it wins hard even in the online meta although its less strong then traditional tri-color good stuff.
Bant colors though allow you to run some pretty crazy stuff though. I would start with this list http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=311261
ISB's deck is so strong, I play it on cockatrice quite often and it wins hard. You can cut a few of the cards for some strong blink engines and you've got a massive deck.
If you want to go Simic though, I would suggest looking at my Momir Vig list in the signature. It based around enters the battlefield creatures and you could easily tweak it to include some more engines like Memnomic WallGhostly Flicker or Conjurer's Closet. I would just cut some of the non enters the battlefield dudes for stuff that is centralized around that strategy.
If you dont already use Cockatrice you should download it to test out which deck you like best. Sharuum can be a good blinking deck as well. She just draws a little hate. There are tons of options so if you want to make a paper list its a good place to test out something before you actually make it.
You are right about there being a lot of options. It's hard for me to even choose a 3rd color. The deck will also have to be able to withstand uril's on turn 2 with land destruction, turn 2-3 infinite combo wins, and stax decks. It needs to be agile enough to stop the strong decks while being powerful enough to actually have win conditions.
I actually had a blue/white deck that started as blink/bounce but had to move to combo as the amount of control far outweighed the power/win cons. How do you actually win games in these colors? I figured blue/green using clone type cards would add a lot of power and versatility. The clones can kill commanders, copy a nice creature, or reuse ETB effects. The latter two work really well with green. I figure I could then go white or black, and have opted for white right now for the recursion and blink, but black may take it over.
Oh and thanks for reminding me of cockatrice. I'll have to put a list together on there.
Kaalia's Army of AnnhilationRWB
Obzedat, Ghost Council - Life Gain MattersWB
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Fatty Reanimator ToolboxBG
Nekusar, the Mindrazer - Draw to DieRBU
Marath, Will of the Wild - Token Pump and TapGWR
Roon of the Hidden Realm - Blink to BleedWBG
Your meta sounds... unpleasant. This deck is a little soft to the things you mentioned. I would go for bant as hopefully you will be able to have enough removal for things that your opponents are trying to do.
I normally win with Ghostway with any board wipe. This allows me to be the only one with dudes and hopefully beatdown can get there. If the boardwipe is Worldpurge though its pretty much an auto win.
My wins normally come from people scooping to my Deadeye Navigator or massive card advantage. Sometimes I get an Eldrazi pretty early. But as far as actual threats go I could use one or two more.
So to me it sounds like soft win conditions, which I have nothing against as I don't prefer infinite combos either. Beating people with 5/5's isn't as reliable as I'd like it to be in my meta. People I play with don't always play their strongest decks either, but I have to be ready for when they do.
Also, have you ever tried parallax wave and opalescence for infinite bounce and/or exile (depending on how you stack it). Parallax wave is decent on it's own as it effectively reads "4 CMC, blink up to 5 creatures". It can also save your guys from a board wipe, or get rid of a creature that is really causing you trouble. Opalescence is a dedicated combo piece, although it gives you a nice way to clone, steal or bounce their enchantments.
Kaalia's Army of AnnhilationRWB
Obzedat, Ghost Council - Life Gain MattersWB
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Fatty Reanimator ToolboxBG
Nekusar, the Mindrazer - Draw to DieRBU
Marath, Will of the Wild - Token Pump and TapGWR
Roon of the Hidden Realm - Blink to BleedWBG
Hmmm Parallax Wave sounds fun I have an opalescense. But it wouldn't be super good for killing enchantments in my meta. I need more beaters though, I might re add Myr Battlesphere.
I like this deck to be a slight challenge. It has very few easy ways to win and no counters. My meta is mostly casual and this can hold its own normally. If your friends play decks that are less cutthroat some of the time maybe your blink deck should be for fun. This way you can have fun without worrying about mad combos or mass land destruction.
Parallax wave was the reason I built the first iteration of my blue/white blink/bounce deck. I then realized that blue and white have very few creatures that actually benefit much from an infinite blink like the parallax combo provides. There is venser, shaper savant which is more of a scoop win than anything. There are also plenty of infinite combos but that style bores me to tears. That's why I'm looking at green to provide me with killing power, while retaining the controlly/attrition style with blink/bounce.
I also like my decks to pose a challenge because it keeps me wanting to play them. I think the blue/white I tried had a lot of fun interaction, but was just too difficult to win for me.
Kaalia's Army of AnnhilationRWB
Obzedat, Ghost Council - Life Gain MattersWB
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Fatty Reanimator ToolboxBG
Nekusar, the Mindrazer - Draw to DieRBU
Marath, Will of the Wild - Token Pump and TapGWR
Roon of the Hidden Realm - Blink to BleedWBG
Welcome to my Rasputin Dreamweaver thread. This is a combo oriented blue and white control deck. It utilizes Rasputin Dreamweaver as ramp and a combo piece. The deck also uses creatures that have triggers when they enter the battlefield as they synergize well with flicker. My build is also intended to be fairly competitive.
Rasputin Dreamweaver, Why him?
Rasputin Dreamweaver is one of the coolest blue and white generals in the game. He has awesome art, a nice 4/1 body, and he only has two colored mana in his cost. He is from Legends(OG Swag), a wizard, and goes great with the 'Flicker' mechanic. There are so many things that make him cool and he is very powerful on top of that. His unique ability to create mana when he enters the battlefield makes him the best general for a big mana control deck or a Flickering deck. Mine is a little bit of both.
The Colors of Blue and White:You should play this deck if you like:You should NOT play this deck if you:Credentials:Rasputin's Colleagues
- Lavinia of the Tenth
Lavinia is amazing. Every time I cast her she disrupts so many things. She fits great into a deck like this one. Her ability synergizes great with flicker and other ETB abilities. Rasputin's price has shot up recently, so she is also a great budget option. She cant replace his ability, but she is a good ETB general.- Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
The Arbiter is so politically offensive that I don't see much point in running him outside of playgroups that embrace that style of deck. He is very powerful but he commands a much different strategy then my build. If you want to build u/w stax or hardcore control, then he is your man. This deck is more about progression then regression.- Hanna, Ship's Navigator
Hanna is great if you want to build around artifacts and enchantments. This is great for the colors as blue and white both have very powerful enchantments. They also go great with artifacts as well.Deck History
Deck Lists
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer’s Bauble
2 Azorius Signet
2 Knight of the White Orchid
2 Talisman of Progress
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Chromatic Lantern
4 Kor Cartographer
4 Solemn Simulacrum
0 Adarkar Wastes
0 Ancient Den
0 Arid Mesa
0 Celestial Colonnade
0 Command Tower
0 Flooded Strand
0 Glacial Fortress
0 Hallowed Fountain
8 Island
0 Marsh Flats
0 Misty Rainforest
0 Mystic Gate
0 Nimbus Maze
7 Plains
0 Scalding Tarn
0 Seat of the Synod
0 Sejiri Refuge
0 Skycloud Expanse
0 Tundra
1 Academy Ruins
1 High Market
1 Kor Haven
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Wasteland
Answers
0 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Swords to Plowshare
2 Cyclonic Rift
2 Leonin Relic-Warder
2 War Priest of Thune
3 Aura of Silence
3 Stonecloaker
4 Cryptic Command
4 Glen Elendra Archmage
4 Return to Dust
4 Venser, Shaper Savant
5 Hallowed Burial
5 Pact of Negation
6 Duplicant
7 Angel of Serenity
7 Luminate Primordial
Draw and Filter
1 Sensei’s Diving Top
1 Skullclamp
2 Wall of Omens
4 Fact or Fiction
5 Mulldrifter
7 Sphinx of Uthuun
3x Sphinx’s Revelation
3x Stroke of Genius
2 Momentary Blink
2 Nim Deathmantle
3 Crystal Shard
3 Ghostly Flicker
3 Ghostway
3 Mimic Vat
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Restoration Angel
5 Venser, the Sojourner
5 Conjurer’s Closet
6 Deadeye Navigator
Recursion
4 Archaeomancer
4 Sanctum Gargoyle
5 Karmic Guide
5 Mnemonic Wall
5 Reveillark
6 Sun Titan
Tutors
1 Mystical Tutor
2 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Trinket Mage
5 Tezzeret the Seeker
Random Utility ETBs
5 Lavinia of the Tenth
Sac Outlets
2 Mortarpod
2 Spawning Pit
3 Ashnod’s Altar
Wincons
5 Temporal Manipulation
5 Time Warp
9 Rite of Replication
0 Tormod's Crypt
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
2 Azorius Signet
2 Nim Deathmantle
2 Spawning Pit
2 Talisman of Progress
2 Mortarpod
3 Ashnod's Altar
3 Chromatic Lantern
3 Crystal Shard
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Mimic Vat
5 Conjurer's Closet
Creatures
2 Knight of the White Orchid
2 Leonin Relic-Warder
2 Stoneforge Mystic
2 War Priest of Thune
2 Wall of Omens
3 Stonecloaker
3 Trinket Mage
4 Archaeomancer
4 Glen Elendra Archmage
4 Kor Cartographer
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Restoration Angel
4 Sanctum Gargoyle
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Venser, Shaper Savant
5 Karmic Guide
5 Lavinia of the Tenth
5 Mnemonic Wall
5 Muldrifter
5 Reveillark
6 Deadeye Navigator
6 Duplicant
6 Sun Titan
7 Angel of Serenity
7 Luminate Primordial
7 Sphinx of Uthuun
0 Pact of Negation
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Swords to Plowshares
2 Cyclonic Rift
2 Momentary Blink
3 Ghostway
3 Ghostly Flicker
4 Cryptic Command
4 Return to Dust
4 Vanish into Memory
4 Fact or Fiction
4 Rite of Replication
5 Hallowed Burial
5 Time Warp
5 Temporal Manipulation
3x Stroke of Genius
3x Sphinx's Revelation
Enchantment
3 Aura of Silence
Planeswalkers
5 Tezzeret the Seeker
5 Venser, the Sojourner
Lands
1 Academy Ruins
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Ancient Den
1 Arid Mesa
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Command Tower
1 Flooded Strand
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 High Market
8 Island
1 Kor Haven
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mystic Gate
1 Nimbus Maze
7 Plains
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Skycloud Expanse
1 Tundra
1 Wasteland
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Strengths and Weaknesses
Rasputin Dreamweaver, What tomes are in your Library?
Artifacts:
Creatures:
Planeswalkers:
Sorcery:
Instants:
Enchantment:
Lands:
Rasputin Dreamweaver, I can't find my favorite tome!!
Notable Exclusions:
Other Options and Old Inclusions:
The Cult of Rasputin
Expired Volumes
Change Log:
Out Sculpting Steel, Exclusion Ritual, Worldpurge, Court Hussar
In Ashnod's Altar, Nim Deathmantle, Mimic Vat, Wall of Omens.
I feel these new additions will be more on theme. Altar helps me to further break the symmetry of Tucking wraths. Deathmantle allows me to save and reuse creatures and makes for infinite mana with Rasputin and Ashnod's Altar. Mimic Vat is another way for me to get a hold of more creatures with good enters the battlefield abilities. Wall of Omens costs less the Court Hussar and works better with Flicker.
Out Blue Sun's Zenith
In Sphinx's Revelation
I made this cut because I feel that Sphinx's will do more work for me and fits into the deck better. I can reuse it with Archeomancer and you cant do that with Blue Sun's.
Out Braingyser Tectonic Edge
In Angel of Serenity Academy Ruins As per suggestions, I'm cutting a draw spell for something that has a lot of power and potential. I'll post more notes on this card as I manage to test it. Academy Ruins is an upgrade.
Out Coldsteel Heart Pristine Talisman
In Skullclamp Chromatic Lantern Previously I didn't think Skullclamp needed a slot because there are no creatures that work with it except the general. Now I have a sac outlet so I can get value out of it even without other people attacking me or wrathing the board. Chromatic Lantern is awesome at fixing your mana and this deck runs a lot of colorless lands that can benefit from its added ability.
Out: Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Future Sight, Coalition Relic, Sakashima's Student
In: Stoneforge Mystic, Wurmcoil Engine, Treasure Mage, Umezawa's Jitte, and Batterskull.
Treasure Mage which can grab , Duplicant, Myr Battlesphere and the new Wurmcoil Engine. The mystic is pretty awesome so far with only the 3 targets of Skullclamp, Nim Deathmantle, and Jitte.
Out: Phyrexian Ingester
In: Luminate Primordial
The Primordial is a strict upgrade. It gets the effect for each opponent. Ingester is a huge creature sometimes, but that is the only plus.
Out: Sakashima the Imposter
In: Glen Elendra Archmage
Sakashima's ability is cool but Glen Elendra serves a much more important role. The new legend rule also makes him less unique.
Out: Umezawa's Jitte
In: Mortarpod
Jitte was just a good stuff inclusion and I never wanted to get it Stoneforge Mystic. Mortarpod provides another sac outlet and it sometimes be a win condition with Nim Deathmantle.
March 28, 2013
Out: Gilded Lotus, Evacuation, Myr Battlesphere, Terminus, Crucible of Worlds
In: Time Warp, Temporal Manipulation, Cyclonic Rift, Azorius Guildgate, Kor Cartographer
I fee like this cut really streamlined the deck. Gilded Lotus is too expensive and Crucible of worlds isn't necessary for the deck to function. I also like the idea of going up to 38 lands. That number always feels more consistent to me.
May 9, 2013
Out: Wurmcoil Engine, Treasure Mage
In: Lavinia of the Tenth, Mystical Tutor
Lavinia is amazing when compared to Wurmcoil. She does so much more. Mystical Tutor should be great for grabbing all those sorcery based win cons.
June 14, 2013
Out: Expedition Map, Seagate Oracle, and Vanish into Memory
In: Cryptic Command, Aura of Silence, and Pact of Negation
I feel like these new cards will help me protect myself a little better. Seagate Oracle doesn't really do anything and there are no specific lands that I need to grab with Expedition map. Vanish into Memory is a Rasputin staple but it only works well with him.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Kor Sanctifiers is the only one I am aware of in these colors.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
You can also try replacing some of your 2-mana rocks for more expensive mana rocks that make more mana (Gilded Lotus, Worn Powerstone, Thran Dynamo).
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
Azorius Chancery may fancy you because it can produce one more mana than most land but you have to take it's
"bouncing" into account. Since you use Tundra, I suppose you can afford Reflecting Pool. Temple of False God is not bad at all if you really want a land that can produce two mana.
I think you should include, at least, some counter spell Forbid is extremely good if you confident in your draw engine. Glen Elendra Archmage is interesting with a deck that can blink it or bring it back to life.
I'm curious though, how your one-shot-gigantic-draw-engines work for you?
This deck has been featured in Gathering Magic by Carlos Gutierrez
Those are some great points. I'm posting before school and when I have some time tonight Ill post some changes. I think its worth noting that Venser, the Sojurner is my main way of flickering the exclusion ritual and its really good when its a free exile anything every turn.
@pingus the draw x spells have rocked so far. The deck makes tons of mana and using them to draw over ten cards is pretty epic and not that hard. If you get a mnemomic wall you can use them again and again. I would like to find room for glen elendra but this is a paper list and I only have access to one. I wouldn't mind a counter spell, but I find that once I start running them I start relying on them. I like the challenge of answering threats without them but they're just so good at what they do. I'll see what I can do with the list later today.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
I don't like Worldpurge much because outside of its interaction with Ghostway, there's no other use for it (unless you want to be a dork and reset the board). I also don't go infinite with Time Stretch most of the time. I usually just use the extra turns to attack for lethal with a bunch of dudes.
Totally accurate with the getting blown out. Some pods are just mortified by the idea of someone having access to 13 mana on turn 5. I have no idea why.
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
I run Worldpurge because I enjoy its affect. Its similar to Upheaval and thats banned. It feels like a rule breaker to me. Time Stretch and infinite mana stuff is stronger, but I normally try to keep this deck not too horrible to play against.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
I'm more of an Ulamog type of guy, but I don't judge.
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
I took out Court Hussar and Clone for Sea Gate Oracle and Sakashima's Student.
Oracle doesn't sacrifice itself and the first time I flickererd it and it stuck around to block I knew it was gonna be a permanent cut. Sakashima's Student offers much more options then the clone. I can active ninjistu multiple times to bounce creatures to reuse their ETB's.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
I may in fact just make blue/green itself depending on how well white works out. It's hard to ignore sun titan when I have so many 0/0 clones though. I'm also not totally sold on whites blink effects. Are they really worth it? I feel like they are too focused on just what you have out, and the effects may not be enough to win a game. Karmic guide, reveillark, mistmweadow witch, venser, the sojuourner and sun titan are what white really has to offer in my eyes.
Kaalia's Army of Annhilation RWB
Obzedat, Ghost Council - Life Gain Matters WB
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Fatty Reanimator Toolbox BG
Nekusar, the Mindrazer - Draw to Die RBU
Marath, Will of the Wild - Token Pump and Tap GWR
Roon of the Hidden Realm - Blink to Bleed WBG
Bant colors though allow you to run some pretty crazy stuff though. I would start with this list http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=311261
ISB's deck is so strong, I play it on cockatrice quite often and it wins hard. You can cut a few of the cards for some strong blink engines and you've got a massive deck.
If you want to go Simic though, I would suggest looking at my Momir Vig list in the signature. It based around enters the battlefield creatures and you could easily tweak it to include some more engines like Memnomic Wall Ghostly Flicker or Conjurer's Closet. I would just cut some of the non enters the battlefield dudes for stuff that is centralized around that strategy.
If you dont already use Cockatrice you should download it to test out which deck you like best. Sharuum can be a good blinking deck as well. She just draws a little hate. There are tons of options so if you want to make a paper list its a good place to test out something before you actually make it.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
I actually had a blue/white deck that started as blink/bounce but had to move to combo as the amount of control far outweighed the power/win cons. How do you actually win games in these colors? I figured blue/green using clone type cards would add a lot of power and versatility. The clones can kill commanders, copy a nice creature, or reuse ETB effects. The latter two work really well with green. I figure I could then go white or black, and have opted for white right now for the recursion and blink, but black may take it over.
Oh and thanks for reminding me of cockatrice. I'll have to put a list together on there.
Kaalia's Army of Annhilation RWB
Obzedat, Ghost Council - Life Gain Matters WB
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Fatty Reanimator Toolbox BG
Nekusar, the Mindrazer - Draw to Die RBU
Marath, Will of the Wild - Token Pump and Tap GWR
Roon of the Hidden Realm - Blink to Bleed WBG
I normally win with Ghostway with any board wipe. This allows me to be the only one with dudes and hopefully beatdown can get there. If the boardwipe is Worldpurge though its pretty much an auto win.
My wins normally come from people scooping to my Deadeye Navigator or massive card advantage. Sometimes I get an Eldrazi pretty early. But as far as actual threats go I could use one or two more.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Also, have you ever tried parallax wave and opalescence for infinite bounce and/or exile (depending on how you stack it). Parallax wave is decent on it's own as it effectively reads "4 CMC, blink up to 5 creatures". It can also save your guys from a board wipe, or get rid of a creature that is really causing you trouble. Opalescence is a dedicated combo piece, although it gives you a nice way to clone, steal or bounce their enchantments.
Kaalia's Army of Annhilation RWB
Obzedat, Ghost Council - Life Gain Matters WB
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Fatty Reanimator Toolbox BG
Nekusar, the Mindrazer - Draw to Die RBU
Marath, Will of the Wild - Token Pump and Tap GWR
Roon of the Hidden Realm - Blink to Bleed WBG
I like this deck to be a slight challenge. It has very few easy ways to win and no counters. My meta is mostly casual and this can hold its own normally. If your friends play decks that are less cutthroat some of the time maybe your blink deck should be for fun. This way you can have fun without worrying about mad combos or mass land destruction.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
I also like my decks to pose a challenge because it keeps me wanting to play them. I think the blue/white I tried had a lot of fun interaction, but was just too difficult to win for me.
Kaalia's Army of Annhilation RWB
Obzedat, Ghost Council - Life Gain Matters WB
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Fatty Reanimator Toolbox BG
Nekusar, the Mindrazer - Draw to Die RBU
Marath, Will of the Wild - Token Pump and Tap GWR
Roon of the Hidden Realm - Blink to Bleed WBG
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=441735
Maybe it could help you out. And if youre not opposed to infinite combos theres Cloudstone Curio and Aluren. Its one of my favorites in Momir Vig.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG