MTG Combo: Donate + Illusions of Grandeur

Squee_Spirit_Guide on Barren Glory Storm

2 years ago

Thanks! Epicurus! Donate + Illusions of Grandeur is my kind of combo :)

Epicurus on Barren Glory Storm

2 years ago

That's cute. I'll rank this combo right up there with Donate + Illusions of Grandeur .

Epicurus on K & T Shootin For Second

4 years ago

Two combos to suggest:

Isochron Scepter + Silence + Teferi, Time Raveler

Arcanis the Omnipotent + Mind Over Matter + either Laboratory Maniac or Jace, Wielder of Mysteries

With the Leveler in there, among many other things, the cards in that second combo I just stated all seem relevant.

And finally, because it's wicked fun if you can manage to pull it off, Donate + Illusions of Grandeur .

Ok, that's all I got.

ThallionDarkshine on

6 years ago

This deck looks sweet, and I really like some of the cards you've got in here (especially Lunar Mystic, never knew an effect like that existed), but I feel the deck is somewhat lacking in direction. You've got some sweet stax pieces (Rising Waters and Ward of Bones), some awesome instant/sorcery support (Lunar Mystic and Disciple of the Ring), along with tons of other cool cards. Overall I think you need to pick a theme and stick to it. There are some cool cards in here that don't really have synergy with the deck (Grozoth, Riddlekeeper and small mill package, and the Donate + Illusions of Grandeur combo).

I don't have that much in the way of suggestions, since I don't know which of your themes you want to focus on. However, here are some things that synergize nicely with your commander. Forcing creatures to block is very powerful with Tromokratis, since it forces them to block with their entire team if possible. In addition, preventing their creatures from blocking or tapping them down basically makes him unblockable, giving you a fairly quick kill. Courtly Provocateur can either make utility creatures attack and die or force creatures to block, making your commander's swing into a pseudo-board wipe. Grappling Hook is a repeatable form of this effect that also grants double strike, turning your commander into an incredibly powerful beater.

Now, on to ways to stop creatures from blocking to make Tromokratis unblockable. Tamiyo, the Moon Sage is a great source of card draw that can also tap down troublesome permanents. Frost Titan, while probably the worst of the titan cycle, is still a troublesome card to deal with, and can lock down permanents. If you're willing to commit to running numerous colorless sources (and you've already got a bunch of colorless rocks), Endbringer can prevent big things from attacking, basically give Tromokratis unblockable, and even give you card draw. Fatestitcher is a great card in mono-blue, since not only does it serve as ramp, it can also tap down problematic stuff at instant speed.

Finally, some general blue good stuff. Cyclonic Rift is one of the best removal spells in the format. Whelming Wave can occasionally serve as a one-sided board wipe. I'm not sure if you have a reason for excluding Sol Ring, but otherwise it definitely should be making the cut.

I think you might want to cut back on some of the non-basic lands you've got in here, even if just to slightly improve the odds on Scrying Sheets. Some of the stuff you've got in here (Magosi, the Waterveil) just seems like a worse island in the vast majority of situations.

Sorry if this comment was overly general, let me know what kind of direction you want to take with the deck and I'll try to give you some more specific suggestions.

nobu_the_bard on

8 years ago

Donate + Illusions of Grandeur is alright, but it is a limited combo to employ in a deck where neither of those cards have much utility outside of the combo, particularly for only draining 20 life. They are more useful in a deck like Zedruu the Greathearted, which will have more utility for both of those things.

Owlteeth on

8 years ago

It might not fit the theme of the deck per se, but I love the Donate + Illusions of Grandeur combo. It gains you 20 life, drops your opponents life by 20, and it isn't damage, its life loss. That makes it way harder to deal with. Plus it saps their mana as they worry about the cumulative upkeep.

Unless that isn't legal in edh. That would make me sad.

Scouty on I get your cards and …

8 years ago

You could just make it a casual legacy deck and play Donate + Illusions of Grandeur . That would fit the theme you're going for pretty well

awesomeragle on Demonic Pact / Donate Deck

9 years ago

well I suppose the first observation I have is that you are obviously trying to play this casually, right? As Donate is legacy legal and the rest of your deck does not look like it could compete in Legacy.

This is very similar to the old Donate + Illusions of Grandeur deck so I would look at that for some inspiration.

I have tried my hand at a list that abuses Demonic Pact in a similar way in modern by using Puca's Mischief to give it away.

I hope I have helped!