MTG Salvation

If you're mono black, it might behoove you to check out Legacy's "The Gate" thread. Modern doesn't have access to hymn to tourach, of course, but there are tons of value cards you can run that would stick to the theme. The theme here is basically the same.

Wow. Old school magic cards. I love the deck, sir! In general, the previous poster is correct and there are many better cards that have been printed since your collection that are considered strictly better. However, even within the limits of your collection (probably), there are cards you could run that should be considered better optimized for commander. Therefore, I will focus on older cards that you probably have laying around.

Commander is a multiplayer format usually. Cards like verdant force that were pretty good in 1 on 1 become obscene in multiplayer. Do you have a seedborne muse floating around? If so, it will quickly get out of hand with your general and activated abilities.

Of course, I know they are expensive cards, but back in your day they weren't so expensive. Demonic tutor, vampiric tutor, worldly tutor, and gamble and grim monolith would be great additions. I had several of the tutors laying around from my collection back in those days and I wasn't what anyone woul call rich by any means.


krosan restorer is a good card. It's no worse than any other three mana option like ley druid,indeed it may be the potentially strongest out of all of them! Your graveyard will be full quickly. In a similar vein, far wanderings would be a solid addition. It's barely acceptable at regular cost and quickly goes nuts if you have threshold.

IF you have one, exploration would be a good addition. They still haven't made a better version of this card in magic's history. Mana bond or burgeoning are excellent as well and will help you keep up with modern, more powerful cards.

You seem to have already figured out that repeatable or multi-target removable is pretty darned good in a multiplayer format. I would add hull breach and rack and ruin (or possibly shatterstorm) to the list of removal spells. They are still very very good cards and this is a format of vandalblast and cyclonic rift. Plague wind may also be worth it if you can consistently ramp to it. Flexible removal is also good and you might want to consider aftershock as well.

Ramp: Generally, no comments here. However, I would suggest that fertile ground, overgrowth, and wild growth would be good considerations. They die less often than mana dorks and will provide a nice boost to your mana.

Lands: You really want a strip mine in here. It answers a lot of problems in this format. Wasteland, too, if you have one.

Winding canyons would be a good addition if you have one. Instant speed with your creatures is a good thing to have!

Mossfire valley, shadowblood ridge, and gemstone mine are playable, but you really want cards that don't have too many drawbacks. I think that shivan oasis, urborg volcano, llanowar wastes, and darigaaz's caldera are actually better lands in this format. Certainly current decks play common versions of these lands. No reason you can't run what you probably already have and keep up!

Koskun keep could come out as well. I would also consider mountain valley and rocky tar pit. (of course, bloodstained mire, wooded foothills, and aBUR duals if you have them are natural fits). They are slow fetches, but being able to fetch up the appropriate land is always useful even if you wait a turn.

I would consider terrain generator. You're running 28 basic lands and a very mana hungry deck. Any way of putting extra lands onto the battlefield is a very good thing.



For cards to consider removing for some of the additions I mentioned above.

Subversion: There are decks in which this card would be playable. This deck is not one of them. I think you would be better served by necropotence or attrition for card advantage.

Thundermare: Your fatties are pretty solid, but they aren't game endingly good in just one turn. This sort of card is better used as a hail mary kill one opponent sort of card and your only free way to cheat him in is defense of the heart. If you fetch him and one other card, the other card ends up tapped and likely doesn't have haste. Bollocks!! Speaking of haste, fervor or fires of yavimaya would be a great addition here! (or both...)

Tor wauki: Fun card and wish I had one. But, not here. There are decks where you want to force combat where he would be obscene, but you're not doing that here. Visara, the dreadful, shauku endbringer, or avatar of woe would have much more impact and aren't limited to the combat step.

Vhati il-dal: See above.

Harbinger of night: Unless you're aiming to kill your own guys, this guy seems like a bad addition. If you're after your opponents weenies and utility creatures, then I would consider goblin sharpshooter. He will very quickly clean up the problems!

Wall of souls: This card doesn't seem very good here. Again, you don't seem to be trying to force combat so this sort of rattlesnake card doesn't seem to do much.

In general: You have a lot of utility guys and powerful removal, but winning will become problematic. To be blunt, you need a few more fatties to end the game. If you have them, dragons are always good. But avatar of fury, avatar of might, thorn elemental, etc. become problems for your opponent in a hurry and end the game quickly.

Ali from Cairo would make a beautiful legendary creature and certainly a different playstyle for red!

I normally don't think it is that good, but shape of the wiitigo might be an interesting voltron add. It is a crap ton of counters.

You really want magus of the balance in this deck. It's hugely effective at slowing down the swarms that will be your weakness. I picked up two for some of my white decks and damn, is that card mean. Balance at 7 mana and 2 turns is still pretty busted

Deflecting Palm? Bleh. How about comeuppance instead? If you're going to run a fog effect, this is arguably the meanest one you can run.

That is a ton of instant speed targets. Where is your sunforger?

For a deck that is about making tokens, I see a disturbing lack of some really good ones. Namely, white sun's zenith, decree of justice, kjeldoran outpost, etc. If your plan revolves around getting a divine visitation to make the little tokens big and scary ( a fine plan, I might add) then I would really suggest adding white tutors to go find it such as plea for guidance, enlightened tutor, and idyllic tutor.

Why Neheb, the eternal? It's an excellent card, don't get me wrong, but I don't see you using any ways to abuse the post combat mana. On his own, he hardly seems helpful.

It is a corner case, but if you song of the dryads or imprisoned in the moon a permanent, vesuva enters the battlefield as a copy of whatever that permanent actually was. I run it for that alone!

You ought to know by now that I do enjoy corner case tech! Yes, you are correct, it will certainly need playtesting.

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I am a huge fan of basics, and a few fetch lands is ok if you can get a weathered wayfarer in there. Activating a fetchland, and then in response activating weathered wayfarer for the land is a solid play (if you have the same amount of lands as an opponent). I would remove rupture spire, vivid crag, vivid meadow, exotic orchard, spinerock knoll, and maybe city of brass. If you are going to run cheap enters tapped lands, stick to the ones that tap for two different colors already, like boros guildgate, wind scarred crag, etc.

If you want to cut something for sword of the animist, that's fine, but don't make that something a land. Lands are necessary for everything else.

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A piece for weltkrieg:

Quote from zemanjaski

Sounds very good. I have found that keep casting costs as low as possible is just essential in such a fast, tempo oriented metagame.

this is true.