targus514 on Ketra Exile
1 week ago
Yup I have tested it and it performs fantastic I was shocked that I actually felt like I had a tough matchup with greasefang even with all the exile effects so maybe there is some adjustments to make with the removal suite since I do not want to play rest in peace with ketramose
Ender666666 on Ctrl-G | Fear the Forest
1 week ago
Further regarding Hall of Gemstone, the deck really relies on the rest of the table being able to do crowd control.
DrummerGarrett on A Prison Deck for David
1 week ago
Swap out Hanna, Ship Navigator with something else, since there's no Artifacts in the deck.
doktoras on Mono Blue Delver (Tempo)
1 week ago
Cloudy2024 on grizzly bears the best creature …
1 week ago
thanks for the upvote seshiro_of_the_orochi!
K4nkato on Painting Lotuses
1 week ago
Weekly Results:
Raise the Past: ❌✅❌
Mono W: ✅❌✅
Golgari Midrange: ✅❌✅
Poly_raptor on The Scarab's Fist (Bracket 4)
1 week ago
capwner thank you for the feedback. I will tweak the deck today. I think you are right, just because I don’t know the meta doesn’t mean this deck isn’t competitive.
The issue with the brackets at the moment is that each pod will have slight differences, I’ve played games where I’ve had many a spell forced trying to disrupt a win con. So I don’t class that type of interaction as CEDH. On the other hand, I have been playtesting this deck to tutor up creatures for Hashaton, but on reflection you could just tutor the combo and win.
I think I will cut Thassa's Oracle for Laboratory Maniac, that way the deck HAS to deck itself first. Demonic Consultation can be swapped for another draw/ discard outlet. Tortured Existence looks quite good for the same CMC.
I’ll update the primer and add a section to upgrade to CEDH if people want to build the list differently.
littlepyro2005 on For the Trees
1 week ago
I like the strict theming of this deck. though, sticking so tightly to the theme, you seem a bit shy on answers for your opponents threats. Have you considered Song of the Dryads as a strong connection to your theme, or Assassin's Trophy and Path to Exile as a less thematic answer?
Andramalech on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
Balaam__ I was reliant on this type of feedback sure, but this is alas, a first draft with tomorrow on the horizon- I'll revisit this for sure and answer all questions more in depth tomorrow. I apologize for not having more in depth analysis available right now.
Balaam__ on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
@Andramalech hmm…the latest iteration leaves me scratching my head alright, but not necessarily in a good way. I figure since I have zero experience in the format (and my technical expertise in other formats is…questionable, at best) I’m probably missing something, so feel free to spell it out for me. I should probably have posted this to my profile page instead where I could easily delete it post-reply to hide my shame. Anyway, if I’m way off and there’s some high level technical brilliance at work here, feel free to let me have it with both barrels.
Right, so first things first. I love Reanimator. It’s my favorite archetype, far and away, so that immediately caught my attention. That said, I have concerns. Some (and by some, I mean a large number) of your creatures don’t actually have any ETB triggers that feed into your commander’s ability. Elder Brain, Ulvenwald Captive, Flip Wharf Infiltrator etc etc etc don’t do anything in tandem with the commander (Hunted Horror actually works against you). Same goes for many of the other non-creature permanents, like Crawling Infestation, Mirri’s Guile, Sylvan Library etc etc.
It’s not like there are no contenders that work with Yarok but there are far, far fewer than I would have expected. Perhaps there is a synergy or design motif I’m missing? I’m not sure. In any case, if the body of creatures function well together, separate and apart from the commander’s inherent trait, then all well and good. It’s possible I’m just naïve and assume that EDH builds always want the commander for the commander’s actual ability, when that’s not entirely true.
Secondly, and this may once again betray how little I know of EDH, but I was looking at your commander’s color identity (I hate that term, it sounds so ‘woke’) and by extension your chosen lands and spell pips and whoa boy—a single Blood Moon would be catastrophic. Cyclonic Rift could ‘take care of it’, by which I mean it would bounce it to be replayed the very next turn, and I only saw maybe one or two other ways to deal with any blood moon type effect. Does it see play in commander?
These are preliminary thoughts from someone with no EDH experience, so take them with an ocean’s worth of salt. I do like the deck in principle, but I think there’s work to be done.
kamarupa on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
I don't have the time to review this tonight, but I'll try to take a close look at it tomorrow! And I've made some progress on my brew, too!
Andramalech on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
kamarupa, Balaam__. My secondary submission in the EDH category, I'll be sure to work on the Legacy/etc. build tomorrow. Cheers!
Andramalech on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
kamarupa seems a tall order! Good luck! I'll check in with more in-depth correspondence later.
Sliverguy420 on Gruul Land Destruction
1 week ago
CommanderNeyo: i do like your sideboard suggestions though. just hadn't gotten around to thinking of one yet for the current meta. something else i forgot to mention is that space in the build for finishers is pretty limited, thus i need them to be big enough to potentially finish a game single-handedly before an opponent can restabilize. thats where 6 power and trample (and tokens) from gargaroth come into play. i also need creatures big enough to block any tokens i give my opponent from Beast Within. i joke that this deck is "gruul control" cuz i've had a few games where the opponent just doesn't cast a single spell lol
kamarupa on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
Challenge accepted, Andramalech! I'll take Umbris, Fear Manifest, though I doubt I'll be as speedy as you! We need an EDH judge to decide who brews the better deck! (I think I'm the underdog, having so little experience brewing EDH, lol)
Andramalech on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
Then so be it. kamarupa I challenge you to take up either Umbris, Fear Manifest as an EDH candidate, with the same stipulations, or take up Yarok, the Desecrated with the same challenge- it becomes your choice.
(I don't want to over impose as a first challenge, so I will keep it fairly simple since we already have a semi-metric.)
and in response to your choice, as most Pokemon games go, I will select the other as my choice.
As for Balaam__, we will discuss something after I draft a 60 card list!
kamarupa on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
I think either of those two candidates would result in a more unique deck than your original deck, but I don't think you have to prove yourself by brewing again. Of course, as someone who loves to brew, if that's something you want to do, by all means, go for it!
I also think that, if you took to this challenge without looking at anything other people had already built, I don't think you should think less of yourself for settling on one of the better candidates. Atraxa might not be the best candidate, but clearly, one good enough others choose her as their flavor of choice. That speaks to your good sense as a brewer of decks and I think you should feel really good about that!
Personally, I think the next step isn't necessarily to brew more decks (but again, don't let that stop you!) but to [collectively?] try to come up with a system to keep these challenges going! When I first challenged Balaam__, I thought of it as a fun sort of surprise. But now I think of it as a way to interact with other people here that's a little more engaging than +1-ing decks and making suggestions or giving praise. My first thought is that, now you've been challenged, the next step is to pose a challenge to someone else. However, I do see how that can become insular and also that not everyone is a good candidate to be imposed on. Very curious to hear your thoughts on this.
And ya, second or third support for Bloomburrow. Best set to hit in a while, in my humble opinion. But I love tribes like Squirrels, so it was hard for them to disappoint me, lol
Balaam__ on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
I thought so, it was one of the few that looked good to me (big Redwall fan, and the homage was neat to see). That said, yeah…I think this game is best when WotC appropriates real-world lore and not when they invent their own gobbledegook. My favorite sets are in the 90’s; even the flavor text was peak. Arabian Nights is still the G.O.A.T. if you ask me.
Andramalech on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
It's from a set that I'm very fond of yes, Balaam__. I know you're not fond of newer sets, especially stuff from the last 2 years or so. However, that set you reference is called Bloomburrow, and it happens to improve on some of the best aspects of Llorwyn and Morningtide- the focus on creature types, and investing in their corresponding stories and interactions.
Balaam__ on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
I hadn’t seen Three Tree City before, that’s a great one. Is that from that recent Redwall wannabe set?
Andramalech on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
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EDH traditionally has no sideboard, and any card that references searching outside of the deck fizzles upon resolution, so my playgroup rule zero's that.
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I think you make an excellent point about lands like Ancient Ziggurat and Unclaimed Territory, and my favorite.. Three Tree City. That last candidate is awful for flavor purposes, and I intentionally walk that line like a madman above New York on High-Wire.
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When it comes down to the Commander I chose, my process for these challenges typically starts with a quick search through Gatherer for potential candidates. I like to filter who I think is most viable based on applicable abilities, synergies, etc. and of course- color identity. Atraxa was pretty much an obvious choice, but I'm disappointed I didn't lean into the "do it for the vine" of it all by choosing a harder candidate. So kamarupa, what do you think? Build a follow-up list with Umbris, Fear Manifest or Yarok, the Desecrated? Both are excellent candidates but I think the less colors we provide access to, the less effective and functional the list stands to be. This considered, my deck is so awful. It could be a lot better, and I want to demonstrate that from a flavor standpoint, and separately a mechanical standpoint. Might be able to demonstrate both within the same build, but I digress.
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I want to comment about the MDFCs and the erroneous cards that Balaam__ mentioned. I think that those cards that demonstrate evolution operate on an entendre front, where they represent both change as an evolution as mechanical cards, and both as lore-wise changes. Atraxa is like a Scion of Corruption- so she effectively ruins all that she comes into contact with, it's kind of a beautiful and terrifying tragedy. I found a home for cards like Cloistered Youth Flip. Showing someone horrified and actually from the realm of Innistrad but thematically fitting that Horrors are encroaching upon the living in these dastardly ways.. it's a chef's kiss kind of alignment. I hope it delivers satisfaction to you as it does to me, because I think that's a thematic win.
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I refrained from defending my deck in the slightest because I wanted honest, unbiased feedback and I think that succeeded for you two! Lastly, Thing in the Ice Flip is the perfect inclusion as it's name is Awoken Horror Flip, and it effectively acts as a type-focused Cyclonic Rift that would more than likely win me the game on the spot, and that my friends kamarupa and Balaam__, is what we call a Three-Pointer.
Andramalech on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
Balaam__ I know it's the wrong card game, but you've activated MY TRAP CARD. I fully intended on making a Legacy/Modern list just for you, the moment I saw that you said EDH wasn't really a thing at all for you. Can't really judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree, but what if we asked a crab and let him use a Coral Reef? I think we'd be surprised by the results. It's all a matter of perspective. And both you and kamarupa have so much perspective to offer, so as I said to the formerly mentioned, ...
...Balaam__ challenge accepted.
Balaam__ on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
Disclaimer:
I have never played a single game of EDH and am woefully, eminently under qualified to weigh in on whether this is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ from a format playability perspective—but that doesn’t stop me from forcing my opinion into the comment section anyhow.
kamarupa put quite succinctly what my initial thoughts about the challenge were; Horror type creatures really don’t play well together. At least not in traditional 60 card formats, and not in ‘tribal’ type builds. I’ve tinkered with a couple different variations over the years and nothing ever became of them, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect here in this strange and wondrous format. I think by selecting the specific commander you did, you set yourself up for the best possible start. Atraxa is half an engine in and of itself, and with that one decision you’ve effectively solved the ‘doesn’t play well with others’ dilemma Horror subtype creatures are prone to. I’m curious if that was an obvious choice from the beginning, or if it was one of those delightful ‘Aha!’ moments when you suddenly come across the perfect card. I love those moments.
After that I imagine it was simply a matter of finding the most suitable creatures with the best, most useable/abusable perks and complimenting their strengths/weaknesses with the rest of the supporting spells. The mana base is mostly mathematics and it looks quite nice from the outside. A couple lands I expected to see didn’t make your list—I have no way of knowing if it’s due to them being outclassed in the format, a ban, or if they were simply overlooked, but I was surprised to find Ancient Ziggurat and Unclaimed Territory absent given the fact they can both pay for any creature no matter the color. They’re less useful when it comes to extraneous spells, true, but the deck is creature heavy. Just a thought; if they’re terrible in EDH for some reason do let me know why.
As an aside—no sideboard? Is that even a thing in Commander? I’m so used to building in 60card formats, when I don’t see the little demarcation line at the bottom of the card list separating the mainboard from the sideboard it looks unfinished to me, ha.
Final thoughts: As I said, I have no clue what’s ‘good’ in the format and what isn’t. I have no idea how well this holds up to typical EDH decks (is there a ‘typical’?) or even what a path to improvement might look like. There is no point in me giving a numerical or letter grade to this, but I will say it is pretty much exactly what I so desperately wanted to build in Legacy/Modern but never even came close to assembling. It looks like a blast to play, with no two games ever playing out similar enough to become boring or routine. I think the only thing I don’t like is that you have a number of ‘flip’ cards, like Thing in the Ice Flip—those are such a pain to play with when one sleeves their cards XD
Necramus on Zombies Ate My Neighbors (Zul …
1 week ago
Andramalech Thanks!!!! I agree! I need to get on that alter pronto!! LOL. That would be perfect!
TypicalTimmy on Card creation challenge
1 week ago
The Last Sliver
Legendary Creature - Sliver
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may exile target sliver card from your hand, graveyard or on the battlefield.
Slivers you control have abilities of Slivers you own in exile.
"Evolution, evolved."
6/6
Make a new card for The Ur-Dragon
Andramalech on Zombies Ate My Neighbors (Zul …
1 week ago
This deck is every bit as love-filled as it is corpse-riddled! Necramus this sh@#$%t slaps! Zul Ashur, Lich Lord alter as Shego and we've got ourselves a ball-game.
Tsukimi on Infinite Rulings
1 week ago
Epidilius yes exactly I've enjoyed brainstorming and discussing this with you, it's a fun puzzle! (:
The Mass land destruction is tricky, but I'd say all those things require a fair bit more work than casting stuff like Armageddon. If no one is running insane fast mana or so many tutors then if they get all that (Avacyn AoH, Worldbearer) and don't get anything exiled I feel like they've earned that victory at that point.
This can be managed by introducing a specific tutors and fast mana limit. But you're right - this doesn't prevent ghost quarter recurring and going off 80 times or the 127 grapeshot so that's the third rule to figure out next
Andramalech on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
kamarupa this was definitely a challenge worth having!
I am grateful for the opportunity to have created it. And I even would be interested in selecting a different commander simply for the sake of being more committed to the task! Umbris, Fear Manifest is the one I'm leaning towards the most.
This was a super fun challenge, and I know I turned it around fast, so I'd be interested in further tweaking as you suggested. I look forward to both that further development and all subsequent challenges!
kamarupa on Heart of Darkness Challenge - …
1 week ago
wow! that was fast! I feel like I'm taking as long to pronounce a judgement as it took you to assembly this thing!
I should start out by saying, while I understand the deck building requirements of the EDH format, I'm by no means an expert, so you and whoever reads this should take that into consideration. I fully expect people to disagree with my 'judgements' and really, I hope it leads to constructive discussions.
There's no question you succeeded in having 25%+ Horror creatures, so I think I will start your score at 2.5 plus an additional 1.3 for bringing in 13% more Horrors than the required minimum - so 3.8 for the creature base requirement alone.
I've reviewed all the spells included at least once and I see a few major strategies employed - draw card, self discard/mill, reanimation, & counters. In my mind, the two big obstacles this challenge presented were: 1) Horror as a tribe doesn't lend itself to the Tribal archetype - they tend to be stand-alone or finisher creatures. 2) There aren't a lot of low MV Horror creatures, so it will be extra difficult to create playable synergy. Therefore, I think your strategy of drawing through the deck, filling up your graveyard, and reanimating does a good job of making the tribe synergistic and viable. That aspect (synergy) of the challenge counts for another 33%. I'm giving this a solid 2.8 points (of 3.3) for that. Total is now 6.6
So the final aspect that's left is what I think is the hardest - the overall viability within the format. This is especially difficult for me being an EDH deck. If it were a Standard deck, at least the basic structure of Modern, the format I'm most familiar with, would be the same. Still, I think some elements transcend formats - to me, these include having spells that disrupt opponents, strategies to thwart opponent's disruption, a stable mana-base, and a consistent ability to compete. I see some of all of those things here, but I do have a few concerns - While you've included a lot of ways of cheating bigger creatures into play from the graveyard, the deck still seems a bit short on mana. There are few ramp spells and few lands. I think a few less 4+MV spells and a few more mana-base spells might improve the consistency of the brew. And while I think there's some disruption built into Horror creatures in general, I didn't see quite as many disruption spells as I'd like overall. In Modern, for example, I try to run at least 4x removal-type spells, with more in the sideboard. I figure, in EDH, with 100 spells in a library and no sideboards, most decks should have at least 8 such spells. I counted 6 such non-creature spells here. So it's not that you completely neglected it, but I think it could be a little stronger in that department. And finally, While I think you've made a very good effort to synergize Atraxa's ability with a Horror creature wincon, needing to devote so much space to giving your creature infect or opponents infect counters isn't the most efficient means to a win. I do recognize that the Horror tribe wasn't an easy one to work with and choosing to go EDH made it a lot harder in many respects. So big props there. On the other hand Scryfall.com finds 321 'Horror' type spells, so I do think there was sufficient variety and possibility within the challenge. And a quick google search for "Horror Tribal Tappedout" yielded numerous results, many of which were EDH decks with Atraxa as the Commander. So I think you could have been more creative in that choice. Though I will say you seem to have been more creative than most with how you employed Atraxa. If it's not clear how much I'm waffling on this final aspect, let this sentence make it clear I'm out of my depth lol. All procrastinating aside, I have to give it a score. I guess I'm going to go with my gut instinct - if this deck were to go up against 3 other decks ranging from casual trash to very competitive, I'd guess it would fall in the middle, with high marks for flavor. If this aspect counts for 33% of my final score, I'm giving it 25%, which I consider quite good. So another 2.5 points bring you to a total of 9.1/10. Well done! I think with some solid suggestions and critique from EDH experts, this deck can still improve, but you've got the bones of something decent and meeting the challenge wasn't easy!
Profet93 on Simping for Emo Girls [Ayara]
1 week ago
What kind of suggestions are you looking for? Any budget in mind?
I'm unsure if you have any basics to warrant cabal stronghold. You need 4 basics to break even, 5 to ramp a little. Rather than run it in a deck whose commander is , have you considered swapping it for another utility land? Something like Deserted Temple can be used to untap your coffers (or untap opposing land for political tool) or even a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx which seems perfect here. Thespian's Stage is another potential consideration to copy coffer or opposing utility lands.
Mind Stone > Felwar
How do you deal with artifacts and enchantments? Feed the Swarm
is a versatile tool which can deal with the latter.
How is mox amber treating you? You only have about 6 legendaries.
Andramalech on How to Train yoUr-Dragon
1 week ago
This is pretty cool. I see the influence I had over your build but I like how many Legendaries you've included. Primevals' Glorious Rebirth could be useful!
