So, I've been thinking about Sphinx of Foresight, and where to best fit it. I feel like it might actually push Heartless Summoning from a fringe deck to an actual contender. It helps find the enchantment for you to ensure your combo goes off, and then it can come down as a 3/3 flyer with more free scry triggers for two mana if you have nothing better to do.
What combos does Heartless Summoning enable? Hoping they're as degenerate as possible (so they punish opponents as quickly and harshly as possible for leaving Heartless Summoning alone).
So to use Restore Balance I cast Electrodominace for 0 right and it will work?
I wonder if I can work into my Jeskai Control Deck.
You could but Restore Balance cares about the one with the fewest resources and as a Control deck you will probably have more lands and more cards in hand so you have to do the sacrificing and discarding
Electrodominance looks like an excellent card, but to get the most value from it, it needs to be cast for 4-6 mana and that's a lot for modern as I have learned. Mabye a combo deck will crop up with it, which would be really cool, but I can't see it in many decks like assassin's trophy.
Electrodominance looks like an excellent card, but to get the most value from it, it needs to be cast for 4-6 mana and that's a lot for modern as I have learned. Mabye a combo deck will crop up with it, which would be really cool, but I can't see it in many decks like assassin's trophy.
Casting it for 1 to kill a Noble Hierarch and then casting Ancestral Visions isn't high value?
So, I've been thinking about Sphinx of Foresight, and where to best fit it. I feel like it might actually push Heartless Summoning from a fringe deck to an actual contender. It helps find the enchantment for you to ensure your combo goes off, and then it can come down as a 3/3 flyer with more free scry triggers for two mana if you have nothing better to do.
What combos does Heartless Summoning enable? Hoping they're as degenerate as possible (so they punish opponents as quickly and harshly as possible for leaving Heartless Summoning alone).
So, I've been thinking about Sphinx of Foresight, and where to best fit it. I feel like it might actually push Heartless Summoning from a fringe deck to an actual contender. It helps find the enchantment for you to ensure your combo goes off, and then it can come down as a 3/3 flyer with more free scry triggers for two mana if you have nothing better to do.
What combos does Heartless Summoning enable? Hoping they're as degenerate as possible (so they punish opponents as quickly and harshly as possible for leaving Heartless Summoning alone).
So, I've been thinking about Sphinx of Foresight, and where to best fit it. I feel like it might actually push Heartless Summoning from a fringe deck to an actual contender. It helps find the enchantment for you to ensure your combo goes off, and then it can come down as a 3/3 flyer with more free scry triggers for two mana if you have nothing better to do.
What combos does Heartless Summoning enable? Hoping they're as degenerate as possible (so they punish opponents as quickly and harshly as possible for leaving Heartless Summoning alone).
Wait, doesn't Havengul Lich need to pay 1 every time Perilous Myr dies and newly goes to the graveyard?
Not if it's all done in the same turn i think. But the real havengul lich loop is done with myr moonvessel
Of the cards spoiled so far, my picks for potential modern splashes are Sphinx of Foresight and Electrodominance, and i think Sphinx has by far the most potential. Historically, free effects have always been very good. Whether it's a free recursive effect, free cast, cast reduction, or just plain ole free, free stuff is usually very breakable.
Not if it's all done in the same turn i think. But the real havengul lich loop is done with myr moonvessel
Havengul Lich's ability definitely needs to be activated every time you want to cast Perilous Myr from the graveyard. As soon as the creature card leaves the graveyard, it stops being the card targeted with the ability. Dealing 2 damage for every mana you pay is nothing to sneeze at, though.
@Lectrys - I've been looking at some of your ideas for "kiki-pod" with the new POD critter. Have you found any way to make a 3-drop combo without any help? I saw a ranger of eos way, but it's eating a few slots. I'm trying to get the combos without clogging the deck up too much, since you can't rely on this combo too much imo. Same question for 2-drop by itself? Assuming not unless its the ranger.
I saw about Seedcradle Witch - so if I'm right, adding 1 witch + 1 ranger of eos means you can combo from basically anywhere, right? U just have to have 4 mana spare.
Nope, I haven't found any one-turn chains that turn an arbitrary 2-drop or 3-drop into the combo without Ranger of Eos and a 1-drop untapper.
Yes, the Seedcradle Witch and the Ranger of Eos, along with Scryb Ranger, Restoration Angel, and a 3-drop untapper, let you combo from anywhere from a 0-drop to a 3-drop...as long as you have enough resources. Like 2GW and 2 Forests (or a Forest and an unspent land drop). I recommend Phantasmal Image so you can combo off from more 2-creature initial board states and fewer Forests.
Rampage of the Clans seems sweet with Tireless Tracker. Kill opponent's artifacts and enchantments, then get more centaurs than the opponent because you have clue tokens.
or an as alt win con for kci that both destroys and can power through cards like stony silence - at instant speed. also get to draw cards from chrome star, terrarion, and ichor wellspring.
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
Tested Electrodominance in Grixis Midrange-Control against more decks now. Now I'm casting Inquisition of Kozilek the second most often with it (instant-speed targeted discard is hilarious, as always). I typically cast it for low values of X, but I once killed a Dovin, Grand Arbiter and cast a Jace, the Mind Sculptor with it at the same time. I ended up not casting any spells with it once--I needed something dead fast.
Grixis may still not be the best shell for Electrodominance. It's still low on sources of life gain, as usual.
(By the way, Dovin 2.0 hasn't felt very good so far. He's often better off making Thopters, even in creature-heavy decks. He's only ulted once, and it was win-more at the time. He's likely at his best against UW Control, which has trouble killing him and where his ult isn't win-more.)
Sadly, you cannot curtail this chain to turn an arbitrary 3-drop into the combo. This also involves casting a spell, so you can no longer dodge counterspells (I've ended up casting Vannifar on Turn 3 on the play and dodging Spell Queller that way).
You just know your going to drop that Drake, and RIP is going to come down and you'll never get more than a 1/1 out of it.
Sure but if somebody drops RIP against GDS for example they won't be able to play Gurmag Angler at all which are 4 out of their 8 threats and Snapcasters become Ambush Vipers. That's just how it is and the deck is still good and it doesn't make those cards unplayable.
This might be threat 9-12 for GDS. One of the weaknesses the deck currently has is just not finding a threat in time to close out the game with. A 5/5 flyer is a decent one though. Just how to see how it actually plays. After all this is not Delve like the Angler. It only counts instants and sorceries
It needs more spells to descrease the cost of the "adpat" ability to a reasonable mana cost and can still be bolted in response.
It also dies to Fatal Push (and Abrupt Decay if it is even played anymore).
It needs more spells to descrease the cost of the "adpat" ability to a reasonable mana cost and can still be bolted in response.
It also dies to Fatal Push (and Abrupt Decay if it is even played anymore).
I believe, fairly strongly, that "Pteromander" is better than Cryptic Serpent because it can be played on Turn 1. Cheap enough Adapt activations can also be done in response to Bolt. The Flying is also definitely helping (if all else fails, block Spirits' stuff on Turn 4). Who knows: this might even be playable in Blue Moon!
(By the way, Abrupt Decay still sees play according to all the MTGO and tournament results I read. Occasionally, I see a deck with Decay instead of Assassin's Trophy. In a possibly related matter, Lantern Control has dropped out of tournament results lately, and that's a deck that strongly prefers Trophy over Decay.)
OK, I goldfished a Mono-Red ElectrodominanceLiving End list last night several times. (I slightly modified it from a list in New Card Discussion: I put in a Kari Zev's Expertise and replaced the last Greater Gargadon with Sphinx of Foresight.) The deck still makes BR Hollow One and Bridgevine look like paragons of consistency (and I have such poor luck that I consistently discard Hollow One to random discard), but Electrodominance costing only 2 mana and not targeting definitely makes the deck quite a lot faster--and possibly turns the deck into a serious contender. I got a Turn 1 Desert Cerodon 2-3 times in testing.
Dies to Fatal Push is a huge problem (it's the reason Death's Shadow moved from Jund to Grixis). Counting only instants/sorceries is another one - it means Mishra's Bauble and Street Wraith do nothing to reduce its cost, and the EV from Thought Scour is roughly -2 mana instead of -3.
The redeeming factors it has in a mono-blue Delver deck are 1) you can cast it on turn 1 and ninjutsu a Ninja of the Deep Hours on turn 2, and 2) being a 1-drop means you can 2-for-1 yourself catch more stuff with Disrupting Shoal. Delver's day in the sun is long gone though, much less mono-blue Delver's.
What combos does Heartless Summoning enable? Hoping they're as degenerate as possible (so they punish opponents as quickly and harshly as possible for leaving Heartless Summoning alone).
I wonder if I can work into my Jeskai Control Deck.
You could but Restore Balance cares about the one with the fewest resources and as a Control deck you will probably have more lands and more cards in hand so you have to do the sacrificing and discarding
Casting it for 1 to kill a Noble Hierarch and then casting Ancestral Visions isn't high value?
You can loop Myr Retrievers with Altar of the Brood for infinite mill, make infinite shocks with Perilous Myr and Havengul Lich, of just play a bunch of free Myr Superions.
Wait, doesn't Havengul Lich need to pay 1 every time Perilous Myr dies and newly goes to the graveyard?
Not if it's all done in the same turn i think. But the real havengul lich loop is done with myr moonvessel
Of the cards spoiled so far, my picks for potential modern splashes are Sphinx of Foresight and Electrodominance, and i think Sphinx has by far the most potential. Historically, free effects have always been very good. Whether it's a free recursive effect, free cast, cast reduction, or just plain ole free, free stuff is usually very breakable.
Sphinx has insane deckbuilding ramifications, starcitygames already did a big write up on it here: http://www.starcitygames.com/articles/38148_Sphinx-Of-Foresight-Is-Busted.html
TLDR: Sphinx of Foresight is a potential multi-format allstar that just needs the right list.
BG Rock
Modern:
RW Sun & Moon
RBG Dredge
RWG Burn
Legacy:
W Death & Taxes
Havengul Lich's ability definitely needs to be activated every time you want to cast Perilous Myr from the graveyard. As soon as the creature card leaves the graveyard, it stops being the card targeted with the ability. Dealing 2 damage for every mana you pay is nothing to sneeze at, though.
Nope, I haven't found any one-turn chains that turn an arbitrary 2-drop or 3-drop into the combo without Ranger of Eos and a 1-drop untapper.
Yes, the Seedcradle Witch and the Ranger of Eos, along with Scryb Ranger, Restoration Angel, and a 3-drop untapper, let you combo from anywhere from a 0-drop to a 3-drop...as long as you have enough resources. Like 2GW and 2 Forests (or a Forest and an unspent land drop). I recommend Phantasmal Image so you can combo off from more 2-creature initial board states and fewer Forests.
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Grixis may still not be the best shell for Electrodominance. It's still low on sources of life gain, as usual.
(By the way, Dovin 2.0 hasn't felt very good so far. He's often better off making Thopters, even in creature-heavy decks. He's only ulted once, and it was win-more at the time. He's likely at his best against UW Control, which has trouble killing him and where his ult isn't win-more.)
There is an alternate 2-drop-into-combo chain for Prime Speaker Vannifar decks:
Turn 2-drop into Deceiver Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Exarch into Restoration Gearsmith, recur and cast Exarch, untap Vannifar
Turn Gearsmith into Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, combo off
Sadly, you cannot curtail this chain to turn an arbitrary 3-drop into the combo. This also involves casting a spell, so you can no longer dodge counterspells (I've ended up casting Vannifar on Turn 3 on the play and dodging Spell Queller that way).
Winged Salamander
U
Creature - Salamander Drake
Flying
7U: Adapt 4. This ability costs 1 less for each instant and sorcery card in your graveyard.
1/1
a card that gets better when there are more cheap spells and ways to get them into the GY. its got the recipe right.
ceiling is a U(U) 5/5 flier where it notably requires 2 mana, but can still be deployed turn 1. so the power is certainly there.
4 power. stubborn denial. enough said.
i think this card has real potential. as in a delver that works in modern.
edit: whoops forgot to put that its a base 1/1.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Spirits
Oh well.
This 1/1 Drake looks really sweet though. Stop making me thing Delver is a viable strategy!
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate
Spirits
Sure but if somebody drops RIP against GDS for example they won't be able to play Gurmag Angler at all which are 4 out of their 8 threats and Snapcasters become Ambush Vipers. That's just how it is and the deck is still good and it doesn't make those cards unplayable.
This might be threat 9-12 for GDS. One of the weaknesses the deck currently has is just not finding a threat in time to close out the game with. A 5/5 flyer is a decent one though. Just how to see how it actually plays. After all this is not Delve like the Angler. It only counts instants and sorceries
It needs more spells to descrease the cost of the "adpat" ability to a reasonable mana cost and can still be bolted in response.
It also dies to Fatal Push (and Abrupt Decay if it is even played anymore).
I believe, fairly strongly, that "Pteromander" is better than Cryptic Serpent because it can be played on Turn 1. Cheap enough Adapt activations can also be done in response to Bolt. The Flying is also definitely helping (if all else fails, block Spirits' stuff on Turn 4). Who knows: this might even be playable in Blue Moon!
(By the way, Abrupt Decay still sees play according to all the MTGO and tournament results I read. Occasionally, I see a deck with Decay instead of Assassin's Trophy. In a possibly related matter, Lantern Control has dropped out of tournament results lately, and that's a deck that strongly prefers Trophy over Decay.)
OK, I goldfished a Mono-Red Electrodominance Living End list last night several times. (I slightly modified it from a list in New Card Discussion: I put in a Kari Zev's Expertise and replaced the last Greater Gargadon with Sphinx of Foresight.) The deck still makes BR Hollow One and Bridgevine look like paragons of consistency (and I have such poor luck that I consistently discard Hollow One to random discard), but Electrodominance costing only 2 mana and not targeting definitely makes the deck quite a lot faster--and possibly turns the deck into a serious contender. I got a Turn 1 Desert Cerodon 2-3 times in testing.
Wouldn't that make it pretty broken. You could play it with your Gurmag Angler.
Question is though how many Instant/Sorceries do you need for this to be reasonable to actually adapt. U is the minimum but this good at 2U?
The redeeming factors it has in a mono-blue Delver deck are 1) you can cast it on turn 1 and ninjutsu a Ninja of the Deep Hours on turn 2, and 2) being a 1-drop means you can
2-for-1 yourselfcatch more stuff with Disrupting Shoal. Delver's day in the sun is long gone though, much less mono-blue Delver's.| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.