MTG Salvation

Schweineffet has it right, all decks will likely get faster overall, not just combo decks — the entire point of mulligans is to improve the quality of your starting hand.

I am doubtful it will have the same balancing effect as Legacy, though. EDH doesn’t have sideboards for one, but more importantly I just don’t see people aggressively tossing cards to dig for efficient answers vs. digging for something proactive like their own ramp, outside of cEDH. At least the multiplayer aspect will help with archenemy scenarios, as always.

Quote from Rumpy5897 »

This thread reads a lot like what people were saying about London mull in Modern before the event happened. Combo will reign supreme, people will dig out specific cards, your ad here. And then it worked fine, as per the general player consensus and now an official WOTC decree. Ya'll may have ran numbers on trying to dig up a Sol Ring, but those numbers don't account for the fact that Partial Paris is just inherently better than London at sculpting your hand. And guess what? EDH was still pretty playable with Partial Paris around. Tone down the needless alarmism a bit and take it out for a spin. It's seriously going to be fine.

I’m not sure why you think I’m being alarmist. EDH is pretty robust and would survive any number of suboptimal rules changes. You could strike out half the ban list and say “first five mulligans are free”, and we would still be playing it because it’s a fun game.

Quote from MRHblue »

What data did you use to determine 1st turn Sol Ring was less prevalent with PP?

I used math. Excel does Hypergeometric distributions, and I calculated the likelihood of your opening hand containing Sol Ring or Mana Crypt with either method, assuming you were intentionally going to six or five just to find it. I also took a stab at calculating if the hand was "playable" or not, which I assumed meant containing at least 2 lands. The spreadsheets were on my old computer so I don't have it in front of me, but I could recreate it if you think it would be useful to the discussion.

What I can safely say is that if you are willing to go to 5 strictly to find Sol Ring or Mana Crypt, the "First-Free London" mulligan rule is more likely to find them (44.6%) than the old First-Free mulligan (40.8%), Partial Paris (33.2%), or even First-Free Partial Paris (44.3%). And now, your resulting 5-card hand also has a good chance of being decent in its own right since you basically get a 0-mana Faithless Looting tacked on.

So that's the reason for my hesitancy. Feel free to double-check my numbers because I'm just as fallible as anyone.

My first impression is that I like the London mulligan. I don’t like the idea of it being combined with the typical multiplayer policy of “first mulligan is free”.

Back when Partial Paris was a thing, I did a lot of number crunching on different mulligan rules. In reality, Partial Paris was not the boogeyman that it was made out to be, since sculpting around a two-card combo was generally I’ll-advised. It mostly just improved the overall speed and importance of the early turns — though fewer games overall started with Sol Ring than with the “regular” mulligan rule.

I expect the London will do a good job of reducing instances of mana screw etc. I also fear that a “Free London” mulligan policy will greatly increase the number of games involving one or more players screaming out of the gate with fast mana, if they have a commander that rewards such aggressive mulligans (e.g. Urza), which may exacerbate any power discrepancies between decks at the same table.

The “Free London” mulligan is perhaps not as bad as the abomination that was “Free Partial Paris”, but I think the extra card might make it about on par with regular Partial Paris in terms of overall strength.

Huge changes to the cube, three years in the making.

So this cube had a problem that no one else in my playgroup seemed to notice, and that is that the aggro/tempo archetype was simply too strong. There are many possible decks you could build, but if you drafted cheap fliers plus countermagic, or simply snapped up all the Merfolk in a decent size pool, you were a strong favorite. After dabbling around with a handful of hosers, I realized the problem: creature decks' natural predators are slightly larger creature decks, and my cube did not have enough creatures in general to make that a thing. The limited card pool also meant that creature-light control decks did not have the redundancy of tools to deal with an opponent that would just curve out on turns 1-3 and then sit on countermagic and bounce.

Now the creature count has been upped substantially (roughly 40% of the pool, up from roughly 32%), and supported by more Planeswalkers, many of which make creatures. Now the board state is a bigger focus of the game, and those Skyship Plunderers will rarely go uncontested, and control decks will have enough finishers to close out the game before the opponent rebuilds.

Colorless mana Eldrazi and such are out. Dealing with Wastes was such a pain. Dimensional Infiltrator is still here, but he is good enough anyway even without the last ability.

The Polymorph archetype is gone, along with Blightsteel Colossus. It was simply not strong enough. Show and Tell stays in, though, because it is still randomly good in other decks.

With the extra slots, Storm has more support now with the addition of Saheeli, Sublime Artificer, Sai, Master Thopterist, Sentinel Tower, and Aetherflux Reservoir. Saheeli also works great in artifact aggro and even combos with Time Vault. Card is nuts.

So finally the list is up to date, just in time for Modern Horizons. And what a doozy of a set this is going to be.

Quote from rogerandover »

Not much have changed, but just wanted to tell I still play this deck and still loving it. Newest add is Finale of Promise, which looks promising, though I havn't drawn it yet. I cut Commune with Lava for it, since it was always a bit odd to play. And this deck already draws a lot. Bonus Round is properly also a new add, though I've added it a while back. But again, same story, I havn't actually played the card yet. But I imagine it will be all kind of bonkers. As for the decklist, here goes:

Very nice. I'm interested to know how Finale of Promise works out for you. I haven't invested in this card yet, because I remember cutting Shreds of Insanity for only occasionally having two meaningful targets. I also recently cut Mizzix's Mastery to make room for Endless Atlas, and this card reminds me a lot of Mizzix's Mastery. Let me know how it goes.

Bonus Round seems like it might be really good here, though. I'm going to cut something for it -- It's a nice combo with Mizzix's Mastery, for what that's worth.

Seismic Assault is interesting. What's the best story you have from that card?

My two recent changes have been Mizzix's Mastery for Endless Atlas, and Burnished Hart for Worn Powerstone. Endless Atlas is great, you should try it. Worn Powerstone is just filler, but I'm finding it better than Burnished Hart. Burnished Hart was more on theme and randomly relevant with Valakut, but at the end of the day it's twice as much mana for the same amount of ramp compared to Worn Powerstone.

Last Chance continues to impress, as essentially a big ritual spell. I topdecked it the other day and it let me take the victory where I was otherwise dead to rights. Very stylish!

Here is my current decklist:

Every time I discard Squee, Goblin Nabob to a Goblin Lore or Wild Guess... highly satisfying.

Simply not casting any spells when my opponent has an early Mystic Remora. Especially when the other players follow your lead.

Destroying the Howling Mines and still hitting all my land drops while my opponents stall at 4 or 5.

These spark joy

I always thought Storage Matrix was a chaos/griefer card, but the more I think about it, it actually has good practical applications. The card hoses artifact ramp, mana dorks, and aggressive creatures, while minimally impacting land-ramp strategies or slower decks. I plan to use it to try to minimize scenarios where people just run away with the game before it gets off the ground.

Hail Gateway Plaza! A nice surprise since the C18 common land was not what quite we were looking for.

These are some of the better lands in the deck. I wonder how many of these we can play before it starts becoming too sluggish.

I'm liking this deck a lot. When it loses, it loses hardest to creature decks decks (or from political backlash to the stax effects). Paradox Engine and Storm combo decks get hurt the most. Armageddon et. al. let me steal my fair share of games, but not too much. Working as intended!

- Treasure Hunter: Good card, got upgraded
- Lodestone Golem: Hosed myself too much, didn't hose opposing U/x artifact decks enough
- Karmic Guide: Too situational and reactive
- Trading Post: Underperformed in most cases. Usually costs 5 or 6.
- Phyrexian Furnace: New graveyard hate with Remorseful Cleric. Yes, technically Scrabbling Claws is worse, but now I don't have to force people to maintain graveyard order.
- Plains: Replaced with fast mana

+ Trusty Packbeast: strict upgrade?
+ Ranger of Eos: Why wasn't this card in here already?!
+ Remorseful Cleric: This is a godsend, made specifically for this deck!
+ Alms Collector: Has proven to be quite the kick in the nuts. Just watch out for Consecrated Sphinx (and the resulting Trade Secrets scenario) unless you think you can make the first decisive play.
+ Swords to Plowshares: Just too good.
+ Chrome Mox: In for a Plains.

I would like another reset button in case someone gets a really dumb start with mana dorks Thran Dynamos... considering Hour of Revelation?

Long time no update! Here is what has changed over the last year and a half. I'll admit that some of the cuts look questionable.

-Mirari: Too slow.
-Reclamation Sage: Acidic Slime is better at defense, and lets me blow up everyone's lands with Temur Sabertooth in a pinch.
-Citanul Flute: Too expensive, typically prefer any old creature tutor.
-Wolfbriar Elemental: The token strategy almost never works. In fact, it occasionally backfires in my playgroup thanks to Repercussion or Rakdos Charm or whatever. Ursapine is better.
-Genesis: Seems wrong, but never really did that much in practice.
-Snow-Covered Forest: for another sweet land

+Endless Atlas: Instant-speed, repeatable draw that seems to fit right in this deck.
+Runic Armasaur: I have high hopes for this guy. Also considering Heartwood Storyteller?
+Root Out: Increasing the artifact hate as a meta call. This replaces itself like the other ones.
+Acidic Slime: Slightly more competitive endgame option over Reclamation Sage.
+Primal Command: Directly replacing Citanul Flute. Doubles as graveyard hate or artifact removal.
+Desert of the Indomitable: Heeyyyyyy

Ursapine has proven to be reliable. It and Grinning Totem are probably my favorite things about this deck. Thanks for reading!

Quote from rogerandover »

There sure is a place for such a great effect. It reminds me of Jalira, Master Polymorphist, and I think people would try to abuse her by getting a token into play and only have some big juicy fat in their deck she could tutor for. I imagine Reality Scramble should be played kinda the same. And I'm not sure I want to go through those hoops. I mean, it could totally do something awesome and crazy, but I think I would have to rearrange the whole deck, and I couldn't hold that to my heart.

And big question is, would it even work with Squee? Would his replacement effect make Reality Scramble fizzle?

Now I remember the game where I'd won with Last Chance. I played against Heartless Hidetsugu, since got out early in the game, starting to dump lives which he does so well. I don't know how low I was, but I had this "now-or-never" feeling, so it most have been pretty low. With on direct way of winning I play Last Chance with, if I recall correctly, both Wheel of Fortune and Mana Geyser in hand. Cast Geyser for a bunch of mana, Wheel to start the digging, which I find. That was roughly what happened, so I like getting a Last Chance, lol.

I think I agree with you. There are too many creatures (Shard Phoenix, Stuffy Doll, Magus of the Wheel) that I like too much to cut. For other readers, it should work though, since Reality Scramble doesn't check to see where the card went with an "if you do" clause.

That's a sweet Last Chance story. Mine is in the mail, hope I'll have more stories to share!

I have noticed a growing presence of U/x artifact combo decks, though. I'm cutting Coalhauler Swine for Goblin Trashmaster. TBH, the Swine usually underperformed anyway. (Also need to find room to sneak in an Endless Atlas here...)

(EDIT: still brainstorming the polymorph package, simply because I really like the card Hostility and never get a chance to play it. It is worth noting that Angrath's Marauders + Hostility is almost an auto-win with any burn spell.)

Death Spark was too situational, but it was cool. It was at its best when it would lock out random X/1 commanders, which happened exactly one game I can recall.

What do you think about reworking the creature base to accommodate Reality Scramble? Are there any shenanigans we could work in? Angrath's Marauders for example.

Edit: Platinum Empyrion?

Without seeing your deck list I can't say for sure, but 35 seems low. I probably wouldn't cut another land.

When you say you are "flooding more often than not", there are some other things to consider: how prevalent are Howling Mine effects in your playgroup? It's is hard to imagine you flooding consistently unless you are used to drawing a lot of extra cards. It would suck to cut a land, only to find your deck stop working when your playgroup decides to drop Nekusar, for example.

Another thing is, how does your playgroup handle mulligans? Loose mulligans mean you can get away with fewer lands. Do you get more than one "free" mulligan like Sheldon's group? When someone goes down to 5 and still has trouble, do you show mercy and let them draw back up to 7? Just consider the possibility that if your mulligan rules are lax, you may be just be relying on the good graces of your friends if you maintain a land count that is too low.

My general advice in this format is, play more utility lands, and play more cheap card draw. Hope this helps.

My issue with these cards is that I can't decide who should helm my next Wildfire deck.

Xantcha, Sleeper Agent comes out quick and survives Wildfire, ready to wreck shop on an empty board before anyone really gets to play Magic. On the other hand, Lord Windgrace is slower and potentially douchier, and lets you upscale to Death Cloud and Destructive Force. There is no way someone should have to decide between those two things.

And all this after I traded for a Darigaaz Reincarnated. What was Wizards thinking?

Following up, Direfleet Daredevil has been great. He often nets me ramp spells, tutors, and other things mono-red has no business casting. My only regret is that I have no way to recur him, but as a one-time value spell he is solid.

Speaking of which, he won me the last game I played by getting another player's Final Fortune, which was hilarious (to some). It made me want to revisit the Final Fortune idea, so I am cutting Magma Phoenix for Last Chance (which is a sorcery, so i can get it with Recoup if needed).