MTG Combo: Notion Thief + Windfall

Daedalus19876 on The High Arcana: Circu Citadel cEDH

4 years ago

FaiberJC: Hmm. Well, the primary combos are laid out in the deck description, but I can re-list them here ;) Aetherflux Reservoir + Bolas's Citadel + Sensei's Divining Top , Demonic Consultation + Thassa's Oracle , Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter , Notion Thief + Windfall .

Regarding your group's rules about creature type... It's certainly possible for this list (you only lose Thing in the Ice  ^Flip, which isn't that important anyway, and which I'd replace with Dark Confidant). But the kind of meta where those rules exist is not one where this deck would be polite to play. I feel like I need to clarify, this is a deck that tries to win as quickly and brutally as possible, often on turns 1-3. Tribal synergies are not the goal here.

The deck will certainly have a lot more trouble if you try to build it without any of the powerful mana rocks. I'd cut Ad Nauseam if you don't have any of those cards, and add many more 2-mana rocks to compensate.

Lilbrudder on Commanders by Power Level [EDH Tier List]

8 years ago

Combo decks need several elements to be tier 1.

1) 10+ good tutor effects

2) 15+ good Ramp spells

3) At least one mana efficient and easy to assemble combo, but preferably 2-3.

4) Several ways to protect or recur your combo(s).

5) Good card advantage engines

So lets me how Azami does:

1) Lacking other colors (particularly black) she fails the first criteria by a wide margin.

2) Having only rocks and High Tide she also does poorly on criteria 2 since she lacks the rituals of grixis or the mana dorks of BUG.

3) Dramatic reversal + Isochron Scepter is a fine combo but it requires 3+ cards to go off and/or have azami in play beforehand. Her being 5 mana makes this way too many hoops to jump through. Compare this to food chain, doomsday, or boonweaver and it becomes far less impressive. Mind Over Matter is way too expensive so thats another fail.

4) She does a good job of protecting her win condition, but her recursion is suspect to nonexistent. She gets a barely passing grade on this criteria.

5) Azami does well with card advantage and receives a passing grade, but even in this she is outclassed by Necropotence,Ad Nauseam, and Notion Thief + Windfall .

So that is 2 out of 5 essential features. That means she is far too slow and inconsistent as a combo general.

To be fair control is more her thing. The problem is control is kind of weak in multiplayer and she is severely outclassed by Edric, Spymaster of Trest and Leovold, Emissary of Trest as a control general.

She is middle of the pack tier 2 at best. The scepter combo puts her beyond a couple other generals within her tier, but there are still combo generals within tier 2 that are close to a turn faster on average at getting to thier win condition and Damia, Sage of Stone is arguably still better as a control general.

Lilbrudder on A Heart Three Sizes Too Small

8 years ago

trinitok I love Show and Tell!! I think Proteus Staff could be good but I will need to test it out some.

I also like Glen Elendra Archmage. Since it gives my deck added protection against disruption. I just dont know how to fit it in.

I didn't mean to suggest that Notion Thief + Windfall was anything more than an additional control feature, although it does allow me to combo off without fear.

As for the other cards they really diverge from what this deck is about. Sidisi needs a minimum of 35 creatures cards to be consistently useful as a commander. If I went more artifact or spell heavy I might as well just make a Damia, Sage of Stone Deck since sidisi would be pretty useless. This deck uses the etb effects of creatures as spells. Any non-creature cards have to be good in all situations

Lilbrudder on A Heart Three Sizes Too Small

8 years ago

trinitok Thank you for the amusing and insightful feedback. I probably need to revise my descriptions a bit. I agree that Laboratory Maniac is a somewhat flimsy wincon on its own so I probably need to take my own advice and use something like Notion Thief + Windfall beforehand to kill everyone elses hand first.

In most cases this deck will win with Craterhoof Behemoth a bunch of other creatures that include zombie tokens since this deck can build an impressive board state very quickly and Craterhoof Behemoth is really easy to get into play.

With all the tutors in the deck Buried Alive + Victimize or Living Death is pretty easy to assemble but I see your point. I originally had Tooth and Nail to assemble it but 9 mana proved to be a bit unweildy to pull off and still have counterspell protection.

With regards to the graveyard dependence I am actually pretty stingy with what goes in my graveyard until I go for the win and I generally prefer to outresource opponents and win the long game rather than combo quickly. If someone resolves a Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void. I have a number of ways to destroy it (ex. Maelstrom Pulse and Reclamation Sage) but they are definiely problematic. I'll look into diversifying a bit. As for your other suggestions:

I would definitely run rector but unfortunately it is white :-(

I definitely see the need for more ramp but I am not sure what else to run?

Earthcraft is intriguing but unfortunately only works with basic lands.

I am using Life from the Loam instead of Crucible of Worlds due to its dredge ability but crucible is almost too good to pass up.

I am not a fan of Blasting Station but I like the idea of using an infinite combo to kill the board by milling them or through damage. Do you know of some creature based combos that would work besides Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Triskelion ?

trinitok on Sen Stooges

8 years ago

wagnerr2, thank you for commenting. I see a lot of people are suggesting Trinket Mage. I know it is great for ramping, but when I ran it way back when it just didn't do as much as I wanted. I really want to like the card, but every time I use him he just doesn't do as much as I really need. Does that make sense? It's not that I am ever mad that he showed up, but he is not usually the thing I want. Because of my former experience with him, I just stopped running him.

You are 100% correct in that I am looking something to replace disk/forge combo. That Notion Thief + Windfall looks pretty darn sexy. Might just roll with that hehehe thank you for the suggestion! Thank you again for commenting! Do you have any other suggestions?