MTG Salvation

I recently cut Eye of Ugin for Maze of Ith. The eye has never impressed me as I never really wanted to play it even in the late game. Maze does exactly what I want this deck to do which is control the board and keep me alive. I've never been sad to have it online and I think it will be pretty much the same in my meta where I get attackers even more.

I also cut Calciform Pools for Boseiju Who Shelters All. One of the weaknesses I've experience while playing this deck is that other control decks will counter my huge sorceries. This might leave me in top deck mode or with a board that is far too wild. Boseiju should help with this.

Maybe this is just a personal thing, but I never did like Maze of Ith because it doesn't produce any mana. It may not be a big deal in the late game, but virtually passing on a land drop on purpose is really annoying in the early game.

Moreso, I think Rasputin Dreamweaver is one of those generals that need to be rushed into play because the advantage of the seven mana boost gets weaker the longer the game stretches on and people get their mana bases established. Kor Haven might be a better choice, or even Mystifying Maze, although I've cut those two as well. Stopping one source of damage isn't usually so significant, and whenever something does take you by surprise, it's usually wearing Lightning Greaves and the maze effects do squat.

I haven't had a chance to test it in paper magic yet so I can't really tell how good or bad it is gonna be. Online I used it to defend myself and as a political tool to help other players. I agree that it is bad in the early game but I disagree with your opinion of its usefulness. Using it to save myself chunks of 5 or 6 life is important because all those swings will add up eventually and using it to make friends is valuable. I will cut it without regret if I find it clogging my land drops or if shroud/hexproof beaters become rampart in my metagame.

I think this is the value of cheap creatures with less powerful ETB effects come in, like Wall of Omens, Pilgrim's Eye, and Sea Gate Oracle. Not only do they smooth out your early game, but they're also a cheap blocker that may make the difference between being attacked or not. And even if you do get attacked, they're there to soak up the damage. :B

I've been in many situations where an opponent conjured up something nasty pretty early in the game, and the only thing that stood in its way was a Pilgrim's Eye. Since it was too early in the game to single out a player that 'should' be attacked, the attacker would just choose the player who doesn't have any blockers.

I ran Pilgrims Eye at one point and I'm running Sea Gate Oracle now. What should you suggest I cut for Eye and Wall of Omens? I like the idea of running them but I the deck feels very tight to me.

The decklist in the first post is now completely up to date.

Here are some:

Sanctum Gargoyle
You don't really need that much artifact recursion, really. If you absolutely want this effect, you can also use Remember the Fallen, which is one-shot, but nets two cards and is almost always relevant when you draw it (because you can just recur a creature--which is usually more important).

Braingeyser
I don't think you need all the draw X spells. When will it be enough? But maybe you'd like to replace this with upcoming Sphinx's Revelation, so maybe keep it for now.

You can cut one or more of the mass removal spells. It's somewhat counterproductive to have so many of them in a deck with this many creatures. I understand that Ghostway combos with them, but maybe you can put in something that will allow you to execute the massive creature swing more consistently than having ALL the sweepers. (Also, some tables get annoyed at the guy who plays too many sweepers, so there might be a slight political advantage to cutting some of these.)

I'm actually in the process of doing a massive update for the first post explaining all the cards I run. I mention in it that I'm cutting braingyser for the new draw x spell so thats a funny coincidence. I could see cutting gargoyle.

I only run three draw x spells and three board wipes if you count worldpurge. I was planning on cutting worldpurge for the new cant be countered one and that is still only three separate board wipes. I think that is actually a low number for a controlling deck... I don't really care if my creatures die because then I can reuse them again. Beat down with all my tiny creatures is Plan D. Plan A is Ghostway Plus Wrath affect to put myself far ahead. Plan B is Eldrazi and Plan C is for my opponents to scoop to my massive card and board advantage.

I haven't had a chance to write a strategy section yet but I will go over it in more detail there.

How has Worldpurge been performing for you? I had thought of using it in conjunction with Ghostway, since that's almost always a win right there (versus leaving your opponents with lands to recover with). I never really tried that route because as you may have observed, you really don't want to cast Worldpurge WITHOUT Ghostway.

I only have one draw X spell in my 99 (Stroke of Genius), and I plan to swap it with the new one because I'm not really a fan of the option to deck your opponent with an infinite draw spell (if you have THAT much mana, I'm sure you can win some other way). Additionally, it can't get stolen by Deflection effects.

No one in my meta game runs Redirect affects so I'm not too worried about them making my spells worse. I had a stroke of genius redirected once and my vengeance was swift.

Worldpurge is an auto win if you have Ghostway but like you said its fairly bad on its own. I was thinking of cutting it for the new Wrath but I want to test it before I commit to running it.

Bruna plays a lot different then Rasputin. My deck loves big mana and wants to control the board so I need tons of resources to do so. The draw x spells help me do this and they're fun. Ill admit I haven't read your primer in full but I want to mention that this deck is not intended to be as competitive as anything in the 'primers metagame.' It is strong and has preformed well for me, but its more about a theme and fun then being the best control deck. It could be tuned to become something of that nature but at the moment it isn't.

I do appreciate all the feedback though. I'm going to add Wall of Omens as soon as I find one in my boxes of stuff. My deck is just more focused on enjoying the game and I love casting cards like Recurring Insight.

Quote from jylichan

How has Worldpurge been performing for you? I had thought of using it in conjunction with Ghostway, since that's almost always a win right there (versus leaving your opponents with lands to recover with). I never really tried that route because as you may have observed, you really don't want to cast Worldpurge WITHOUT Ghostway.

I only have one draw X spell in my 99 (Stroke of Genius), and I plan to swap it with the new one because I'm not really a fan of the option to deck your opponent with an infinite draw spell (if you have THAT much mana, I'm sure you can win some other way). Additionally, it can't get stolen by Deflection effects.

My first post is now MUCH more involved and explains all of my card choices. I had a lot of free time today and I read your prime for Bruna. We might run the same colors but our decks are VERY different lol. Maybe I should run Fact or Fiction over Blue Sun's Zenith? What are your thoughts?

I never meant to refer to my Bruna deck in any fashion. While I did write a Bruna primer, I also pilot a fairly competitive (whatever that means) Rasputin Dreamweaver deck that focuses on making big plays with the massive mana jump that the commander can provide.

I do agree that we don't share the same style. My own deck isn't Control at all. The only counters I run are creatures that work well with blink (Glen Elendra Archmage, Draining Whelk), and I use those to protect my own guys from sweepers, mostly. I'm glad that there are more than a few ways to approach Rasputin a Commander.

If you're running more a control game, there's no 'real' difference between Fact or Fiction and Blue Sun's Zenith. They both draw cards, which in my opinion, is a feature that your deck already has in spades. My suggestion would be to add another way to exploit your blink creatures.

I'm actually surprised that you don't have Mimic Vat in your list. It's generally a very good artifact, but it's especially synergistic with your theme because you can get an ETB trigger every turn.

Another artifact that you may consider is Nim Deathmantle. It allows you to get another ETB trigger off a dying creature for 4. It also makes Rasputin Dreamweaver unkillable by anything that sends him to the graveyard (it costs 3 less to return him with the Deathmantle than the amount he can provide whenever he comes back).

LOL I'm so sorry. I was thinking the wrong thing obviously. I made some cuts that you inspired, I will post them on the first post for everyone else to see as well.

Do you guys think I should run Academy Ruins? I think that it has been suggested before but there are not that many artifacts I would want to reuse except maybe Phyrexian Metamorph. Its good for reusing powerful stuff like Nim Deathmantle or Mimic Vat now that I've added them.

Thoughts?

Quote from XeroxedFool

Do you guys think I should run Academy Ruins? I think that it has been suggested before but there are not that many artifacts I would want to reuse except maybe Phyrexian Metamorph. Its good for reusing powerful stuff like Nim Deathmantle or Mimic Vat now that I've added them.

Thoughts?

Sounds like a good idea. I'll actually test that myself.

I cut Court Hussar for Wall of Omens as well. I think you suggested that? I haven't had a chance to test the deck with the new additions but I'm going to tonight at the local shop. I've got high hopes for the new artifacts. I'll probably slide in a Academy Ruins as well because I now have access to the one I was using in Oona.

Cryptic Annelid is ridiculous in this deck. You don't have access to a lot of relevant tutors, but he does a pretty decent job.

I've considered that guy before. I saw him when pawing through someone's Venser vs Koth looking for stuff for this deck. He is very good at digging super deep into the deck but he costs four mana and doesn't put a card into my hand.

I'm not opposed to testing him though as this deck is more for fun then winning. What would you suggest I cut over him? There are detailed explanations of all the stuff I run so if you're actually interested you can see why I run any particular spell. Maybe this will help you decide.

Quote from XeroxedFool

I've considered that guy before. I saw him when pawing through someone's Venser vs Koth looking for stuff for this deck. He is very good at digging super deep into the deck but he costs four mana and doesn't put a card into my hand.

I'm not opposed to testing him though as this deck is more for fun then winning. What would you suggest I cut over him? There are detailed explanations of all the stuff I run so if you're actually interested you can see why I run any particular spell. Maybe this will help you decide.

I eventually cut Cryptic Annelid just because he didn't really give me a card. You can also consider Soothsaying, which would benefit from the vast quantities of colorless mana your general makes. Nevertheless, Cryptic Annelid is still a good choice. Either can dig for a Terminus when you really need it, anyway.

Yeah I've been interested in Soothsaying for a while now when I saw it in the the 1CMC tricks thread. It is a great mini Sensei's Top, I wish it was an artifact so I could fetch it with Trinket Mage. What would you cut for it though? I always get so attached to all the cards I find it hard to cut stuff.

Just off the top of my head maybe Future Sight? That card is so powerful though.

Well, just try piloting your deck without Future Sight for a while, then see if it's any weaker. My main problem with Future Sight is it encourages you to be greedy and can make you an instant archenemy. And if you're not using it to its full magnificent potential, why have it in at all? Although if you do replace it with Soothsaying, it'll be a bit funny because those two work so well together.

My suggestion would be War Priest of Thune. That it can only destroy artifacts is a bit underwhelming.

I wish War Priest only killed artifacts. Soothsaying is awesome with Future sight but you're right about it being a huge target. I just gotta find a Soothsaying and I'll try it out.

I also just got a Soothsaying after over a year of looking for one (although I admit I never wanted it badly enough to order it off the internet). Been working really great so far. Nobody wants to waste removal on it.

So I went to play a game with this deck on Cockatrice. The game was marked casual EDH and my opponents were Animar, Jarad, and Damia? I can't remember the third one exactly but I recall it being a generic and powerful one.

So I was kicked and ignored before the first land was played for dropping Rasputin. I assumed that was why, But nothing was said. I find this very funny. Do people fear Rasputin? Or is my reputation on Cockatrice just that bad...lol

This is honestly a tad embarassing... But this is the first time I've really thought about any RTR updates for this deck. Jylichan, who I owe a lot to for basically being the only person to help with this deck, mentioned Angel of Serenity in an SCD for his build of Rasputin and it seems like an obvious inclusion.

I need a little bit of helping making the cut, but I'm thinking Braingyser or Future Sight. I would honestly like to keep both of those cards, so I'm open to other suggestions. But I'll do what it takes, so let me know what you guys think.

If I were you, I would take out Braingeyser.