I'm not keen on letting the rest of the table have a turn after setting myself to 1 life.
Hah, are you kidding? That was the best part! Set yourself to 1, then dare the table to kill you. And sometimes you die, but more often than not they just have to sit there and take it. (Typically, the deck is stuffed full of defensive stuff like Solitary Confinement, Greater Auramancy, and Platinum Emperion, which I would revive all at once with Open the Vaults, alongside Near-Death Experience and Phyrexian Processor. I could also use Righteous Aura to chip away at my health bit by bit if necessary.)
I've won with an Eldrazi Hanna thanks to Sovereigns of Lost Alara on occasion, and it's pretty awesome. Fits better in the u/w angel though.
My Hanna started off as a pillow fort to instant win deck, usually with tuck/Tunnel Vision (since I could also opt to simply Tunnel Vision myself for an Open the Vaults) or a Mind Over Matter/Temple Bell victory. But that got old pretty quick. I transitioned it for a long while to using Near Death Experience as the wincon, which was awesome. I've also tried Barren Glory with Zur, which was a bit trickier.
One of my favorites, though, is to play Hanna, get a whole bunch of enchantments on the board, wipe creatures... and then play Opalescence and kill my opponents directly. Who needs creatures!
In terms of one-card wincons, here are some good ones:
For ramping in Riku, especially for an instant/sorcery based deck, I would just use some of the standard green stuff. Try to get Breeding Pool and Stomping Grounds so you can grab them with things that search for forests.
Ah, Torpor Orb. Do you know the really beautiful thing about Torpor Orb? It hates on its own answers. An artifact-heavy deck probably runs a non-artifact way to get rid of Stony Silence, since there is so little artifact-based enchantment removal. However, an ETB deck almost certainly uses ETB creatures for artifact removal; they likely aren't running more than 1 or 2 answers to the Orb.
You'll probably want Omniscience so you can cast all that stuff and use abilities and whatnot. Alternately you could get a boatload of mana with Mana Reflection and Boundless Realms, or stack the deck somehow and then use Epic Experiment, though that will also take a lot of mana.
Make sure you can go off in one turn; if people see it coming you probably won't get away with it.
Oh yeah, and if you're using the pacts, might as well use Stranglehold. That way people simply can't cast spells for the rest of the game if you get them to Eternal Dominion. Granted, someone will probably use a dominion to get rid of stranglehold, if they can.
My azami deck makes infinite mana a couple different ways and I'd often win through general damage by equipping azami with sigil of distinction or the already mentioned diviner's wand.
Winning through general damage with azami deserves style points.
Agreed! Another option is to run a lot of merfolk cards and Xenograft. Of course, there are already 57 merfolk wizards, so you might not even need it, but getting your wizard cards to work with merfolks or vice versa could be nice.
Make sure you run Sleep and Opposition. Can't have those pesky blockers getting in the way!
If you need to be able to gain life at will (e.g. with the new esper commander) she can be decent. I'd rather fill the slot with an Exsanguinate, Debt to the Deathless, or Blind Obedience though. If you're looking for blockers/anti-aggro, you want Mother of Runes/Spurnmage Advocate or the like - things with extra utility or that can stop a wide range of things. Blocking a 3/X groundbound creature without dying does not a great blocker make.
For finishers, you want something that can off a board quickly. Sheoldred is a great control/advantage card, but she would take quite a while to kill someone on her own. (Granted if you have more beaters in the graveyard it's a different matter - several cards on here win via fishing out more creatures to help.)
First, since you're running Horde, here are some Elemental finishers:
Avenger of Zendikar - your army can get real big real quick with some land ramp
Liege of the Tangle - as long as you're really sure there aren't any wraths around
The thing to remember about Devotion is that you need all of your creatures to stick around if you want it to work. Thus, Nip Gwyllion may gain you a life when it chumps, but if it does it won't gain you life when you use Gray Merchant.
The other thing is that you definitely want this game to go long. You should be ready to stall the board out until your grey merchants can win the game, and meanwhile draining your opponents' life and keeping them at bay. Thus, stuff like Inkfathom Infiltrator are not your friend. Extort, on the other hand, is very nice. You're also much better off focusing on removal than rituals. It doesn't do you any good to ritual into an Overlord, since you won't have devotion; and it doesn't do any good to ritual to put out a bunch of black creatures if you'll never be able to play your devotion cards. Play for the long game.
Speaking of hexproof creatures, Ascended Lawmage seems great for this deck. I don't think Slippery Boggle is good enough. Silhana Ledgewalker would be better if you were in G.
Idk, i think she's a fantastic mbc commander. She costs six and has a decently sized butt and death touch. The monstrosity mechanic is just an added bonus in my opinion. She also has the benefit of staying in the graveyard and being reanimated and wrathing the board. Having a board wipe in the command zone is never something to downplay.
Yes, it is good to note that with even one Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power, or Nirkana Revenant, you could cast Plague Wind 3 times. Granted, you wouldn't be doing much else, but it's nothing to sneeze at.
Hey all! I'm building a Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts control/voltron deck, and I could use some advice. Two main questions:
1) Assuming I don't want to use a token-based or all-in-artifacts engine, what's the best way to get card advantage in this type of deck? Is tutoring for Phyrexian Arena/Mind's Eye/Necropotence the best way to keep my hand full? Is it enough just to run a bunch of cards like Sign in Blood and Promise of Power, and if so, how many is appropriate?
I think my favorite would have to be Goblin Flectomancer. I love the mad scientist Izzet, and the art, name, mechanics, and flavor text really come together to embody them.
Hah, are you kidding? That was the best part! Set yourself to 1, then dare the table to kill you. And sometimes you die, but more often than not they just have to sit there and take it. (Typically, the deck is stuffed full of defensive stuff like Solitary Confinement, Greater Auramancy, and Platinum Emperion, which I would revive all at once with Open the Vaults, alongside Near-Death Experience and Phyrexian Processor. I could also use Righteous Aura to chip away at my health bit by bit if necessary.)
Good times, good times.
My Hanna started off as a pillow fort to instant win deck, usually with tuck/Tunnel Vision (since I could also opt to simply Tunnel Vision myself for an Open the Vaults) or a Mind Over Matter/Temple Bell victory. But that got old pretty quick. I transitioned it for a long while to using Near Death Experience as the wincon, which was awesome. I've also tried Barren Glory with Zur, which was a bit trickier.
One of my favorites, though, is to play Hanna, get a whole bunch of enchantments on the board, wipe creatures... and then play Opalescence and kill my opponents directly. Who needs creatures!
In terms of one-card wincons, here are some good ones:
For ramping in Riku, especially for an instant/sorcery based deck, I would just use some of the standard green stuff. Try to get Breeding Pool and Stomping Grounds so you can grab them with things that search for forests.
You could also use "group hug" land search/mana doubling cards, but don't come crying to me if you lose before your next turn.
Lastly, you may be able to put the untap spells to great effect with Riku, considering you're aiming for the "one big turn" type of deck.
My general strategy has become to ensure that any resource I don't have access to, neither do my opponents. Deck with no artifacts? Stony Silence. No ETB? Torpor Orb. No graveyard interaction? Relic of Progenitus, Rest In Peace, and/or Ground Seal. No tutoring? Mindlock Orb. (When Aven Mindcensor or Stranglehold aren't available.)
When all it takes is a single card to shut down someone's deck, and especially when that card protects itself from that deck, RUN IT.
Second, look for things that can get you copies of spells. Uyo, Silent Prophet is fantastic here, and you'll want Increasing Vengeance, Reiterate, Twincast, Reverberate, and the like. Not to mention Echo Mage and his buddies.
You'll probably want Omniscience so you can cast all that stuff and use abilities and whatnot. Alternately you could get a boatload of mana with Mana Reflection and Boundless Realms, or stack the deck somehow and then use Epic Experiment, though that will also take a lot of mana.
Make sure you can go off in one turn; if people see it coming you probably won't get away with it.
Oh yeah, and if you're using the pacts, might as well use Stranglehold. That way people simply can't cast spells for the rest of the game if you get them to Eternal Dominion. Granted, someone will probably use a dominion to get rid of stranglehold, if they can.
Agreed! Another option is to run a lot of merfolk cards and Xenograft. Of course, there are already 57 merfolk wizards, so you might not even need it, but getting your wizard cards to work with merfolks or vice versa could be nice.
Make sure you run Sleep and Opposition. Can't have those pesky blockers getting in the way!
First, since you're running Horde, here are some Elemental finishers:
Besides those, some of my personal favorites:
The other thing is that you definitely want this game to go long. You should be ready to stall the board out until your grey merchants can win the game, and meanwhile draining your opponents' life and keeping them at bay. Thus, stuff like Inkfathom Infiltrator are not your friend. Extort, on the other hand, is very nice. You're also much better off focusing on removal than rituals. It doesn't do you any good to ritual into an Overlord, since you won't have devotion; and it doesn't do any good to ritual to put out a bunch of black creatures if you'll never be able to play your devotion cards. Play for the long game.
Here are some good options for this deck:
Remember: the longer the game lasts, the more likely you are to win! (om nom nom life totals)
Yes, it is good to note that with even one Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power, or Nirkana Revenant, you could cast Plague Wind 3 times. Granted, you wouldn't be doing much else, but it's nothing to sneeze at.
1) Assuming I don't want to use a token-based or all-in-artifacts engine, what's the best way to get card advantage in this type of deck? Is tutoring for Phyrexian Arena/Mind's Eye/Necropotence the best way to keep my hand full? Is it enough just to run a bunch of cards like Sign in Blood and Promise of Power, and if so, how many is appropriate?
2) How many of each of the following card types do you experienced control players usually put in a deck?
a) Creature spot removal (Ashes to Ashes, Swords to Plowshares, etc.)
b) Artifact/Enchantment spot removal (Return to Dust, Aura of Silence, etc.)
c) Hand control (Duress, Mind Shatter, Cabal Conditioning, etc.)
d) Sweepers (Wrath of God, Merciless Eviction, Phyrexian Rebirth, etc.)
e) Graveyard hate (Tormod's Crypt, Rest in Peace)
Thanks!