Thank you Shane.Allen! I see you have some powerful commander decks too...any ideas on how to further improve mine?

It's pretty much solved and sometimes it wins on turn 2 with Land Equilibrium but if that doesn't happen and the game takes really long I often find myself unable to regain control again. What do you think of Mystical Tutor to search for a specific reset button? Any cards that could be replaced with better ones?

Winterblast I like Mystical Tutor, its best used after the lock when you need to grab a finisher. I'm not the biggest fan of Padeem, Consul of Innovation I much better like Blind Obedience and Dramatic reversal are really much better cards for the price. Windfall is also a great card if you need to refill your hand. It's really a great looking deck.

Padeem is for protection, he usually does a great job. There's nothing better that gives artifacts hexproof at the moment...

Crazy awesome deck. I don't know much about playing stax, but this looks oppressive. My concern looking at it would be that with a lot of cheap spells and a commander who makes them cheaper, wouldn't you want more card draw to keep you rolling through the deck?

The only card suggestions I could think of that might be somewhat relevant to your deck are: Ivory Mask, Karmic Justice, Open the Vaults, Linvala, Keeper of Silence.

Cheers!

Thanks HOPMONSTER, card draw is indeed not too much in here...there's scroll rack, divining top, windfall. I've thought about Pull from Tomorrow, because it draws X and can turn the late game (if it gets so far).

Ivory mask is too expensive for that effect.

Karmic justice has been moved in and out of the deck several times, it mistly did next to nothing...at best someone lost one permanent to it, at worst the opponents played around it anyway, for example by exiling everything important with Consulate Crackdown. Padeem is better protection imo, because he also draws cards, maybe Hanna's Custody would be an option too

Open the vaults is too expensive for a two sided effect, I think Sun Titan is a much better recovery tool

Linvala...good, but there is Cursed Totem which is an artifact (and I'd like to use artifacts over coloured spells here to avoid mana problems and to be able to cast as much as possible with workshop, tomb and city and the mana artifacts), it costs only 2 and I don't need the one sided effect of Linvala because I play no creature with an activated ability myself ;)

What I might remove is Strionic Resonator because it is too situational. Pointing out the little card draw will probably make me cut this card.

What do you think of Force of Will?

youngfischer too little blue in the deck and it is really bad with all the taxing spheres and stuff because it's card disadvantage and not free either.

Hey just curious if you tried out Ward of Bones and what you think of it? I'm trying it in my mostly creatureless Teferi, Temporal Archmage deck since it can come out turn one or two, I kind of like it more than Land Equilibrium but I'm not sure about it yet

That makes sense. I actually have this deck build. Play-testing it now. However, I think I am going to add Inkmoth Nexus for your blinkmoth nexus as it has infect. I also have most the ETB effects. Though I suppose it makes more sense since you are playing humility.

dlamars I had it in the deck in the beginning, before I owned a Land Equilibrium, then I played them both and then I cut ward of bones. One problem is that it allows the opponents to have one more of every type than you have, while land equilibrium doesn't. If I have 0 lands with land equilibrium, no one can play a land until I do (the great part is, that according to the ruling you can't play the land and use the mana before sacrificing it). Another problem is that I usually have more of every other permanent type than everyone else, so apart from limiting the land supply the effects of ward of bones have often been completely useless.

youngfischer I play both, inkmoth and blinkmoth. Inkmoth is great with elspeth and jitte and blinkmoth is just a useful flying blocker, returning with Crucible of Worlds.

I've just bought Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and I probably put him in the deck as soon as the order arrives. Not sure what to cut for it though...maybe Cataclysm because ugin is a great mass removal too, or Words of Wind (although this helps a lot with removing certain pieces that might prevent my own plays while slowing down the opponents, for example bouncing a Cursed Totem or Ensnaring Bridge for one action then playing it again), or Sapphire Medallion because I have already reduced the coloured spells very much.

I forgot to mention that ward of bones only prevents playing the cards from one's hand, land equilibrium prevents the lands from being put into play, no matter how they came into play...with ward you can still use search stuff like solemn, wood elves and with land equilibrium these won't be able to cheat extra lands into play!

It is funny that you mention cataclysm because that card is actually another card I thought about replacing. I also have a Ulamog, the ceaseless hunger deck and I would have no problem with that card. There are a few other aggro decks as well that could care less about it. With our meta that we have anyway. One problem that you actually mention with this deck is that you just have to be patient with it with larger groups. Because if you play your big cards too soon, you get targeted quick.

Cataclysm is awesome if you manage to get a constellation of various card types which results in a lock when everyone sacrifices. It also kills all planeswalkers (which no other spell in the deck can do). It was better in the build which included the cards of the maybe list, but it's still a reset button for when I'm not fast enough in the early game.

Cutting words of wind is an option because it's also not as good as it was with the cards on the maybe list but it's still a possible turn 2 win: for example turn 1 mana crypt, trinisphere; turn 2 words of wind...and then skip every draw and no one can play anything until all opponents have drawn their whole deck. It's also possible to do the same when cataclysm reduces the board to words of wind and some taxing sphere and/or augustin, so that's another reason for keeping both cards.

At the moment I think it will be the medallion that gives way for Ugin because it only helps in casting coloured spells and only of one colour. I might put it in my Jhoira deck instead

Also. You went with irrigated farmlands instead of the celestial colonnade. Do you feel that the cycling mechanic has value?

Yes, it's awesome youngfischer...firstly these lands are fetchable and secondly I can play the land and use the cycling later because of Mana Breach and Overburden and with Crucible of Worlds it's even better. celestial colonnade has a really high activation cost and comes into play tapped, which is both bad for a manland...the 4/4 body is irrelevant because these lands are not suitable for a quick kill anyway, they mostly serve as recurring blockers. Colonnade also has a ridiculous price because it's played in modern and standard and here it's definitely not worth that high price. Maybe when it's out of standard it makes sense to buy one, but I don't know which of the lands it could replace. Mishra's Factory because it flies? Blinkmoth Nexus because it's a bigger blocker? Any other land that comes into play untapped? Is it better than any of the lands in the deck at all?

Hey Winterblast

I really like the Deck you came up with.

I have a few questions I'd like to ask you: What do you think of Boardwipes la Terminus?

And maybe you could give me your thoughts on the following Cards: Clever Impersonator, Grasp of Fate, Copy Enchantment, Static Orb, Defense Grid,Winter Orb.

And what do you think about single target removal like Detention Sphere, Oblivion Ring and Swords to Plowshares?

I think Nevermore would also be a nice option in this deck.

Thank you VitalisStacs!

I think I have explained somewhere in the comments why I removed winter orb. Keeping permanents tapped is worse than completely removing them, for example with mass land destruction and constant sacrificing effects and it also can't compete with the effect of Land Equilibrium, which prevents multiple lands from even entering the battlefield. Same with static orb, it isn't strong enough to be worth the two-sided effect. Both cards are very weak in the early game and that is where I want to establish control.

I don't play mass removal for creatures because it's a one time hit and doesn't prevent further creatures from being played. Also, it's often just the commander or another recurring creature, probably a combo piece, that is really a problem. I think it's more efficient to disable what creatures are supposed to do than repeatedly clearing the table.

Clever impersonator is a bad Phyrexian Metamorph here, simply because of double blue and not being an artifact (everything that can't be cast with Mishra's Workshop has to be A LOT better than an artifact alternative imo). Grasp of fate is also a problem because of double white. Copy enchantment has too few targets in the deck and defense grid is too situational imo.

As for spot removals...I play a few targetable removals, for example Engineered Explosives, Umezawa's Jitte and Karn Liberated. World Queller can also get rid of certain card types, especially when I don't have one of that type in play at the moment. The good aspect of these cards is that they are all reusable. Playing a spot removal as instant or sorcery in a game of 3 or 4 players means giving card advadvantage to all players who are not losing a spell or permanent. In this deck I never want to trade 1:1 because I wouldn't be able to control the whole table if I did so.

hey winterblast i like your deck - especially because you use gaaIV not with the orbs but the sacrifice while (since braids is gone) azorious is in the best shape with the most sac-cards.

thank you for mechanized production as a great find.

when going for sac-stax imo green can be a problem as it is the color that has the fastest ramp and is often permanent based. have you ever tried Hibernation? maybe its not a problem for you but for me it was always worth it to have silver bullets against the own decks biggest weakness even if those cards are dead against everything else

in the same vein i wonder why you do not run Null Rod and/or Stony Silence as rockramp is the next dangerous thing besides elves.

i dont like ugin in a stax deck as its too much mana for my likes. also cutting Cataclysm is a sin in my eyes.if you want another finisher (that has no built in wipe to take over the game bu anyway)you could try Archon of the Triumvirate as its castable with gaaVI discount.

XD

sry being offtopic - i dont get how to implement a link in my deckdescription - any help?

Thanks elfric! I always thought the tapping variants are not as cool because they leave the permanents intact, so when the whole table works together and one important piece is destroyed, everything works again...keeping up with constant sacrificing and bouncing is more stressful imo because the resources actually vanish instead of just being disabled.

I can't play null rod because that's the death of my own deck. It completely relies on the speed of artifacts and the ability to play quite freely with few or even no lands. That's why Land Equilibrium and the other cards around it are my favourite pieces here. A quick start of an opponent with mana rocks is undesired, that's why I followed the suggestions of Kiyomeii and removed some cards for a few 1 mana counterspells. I played it the first time in this version today and it's indeed cool to counter a mana rock on turn one or two, if I can't open with a taxing sphere.

I put cataclysm in my deck Chairman Meow now, it feels better there with Brimaz...It had the potential to reduce the board to a locked situation here, but just as often it would not help in handlung the biggest threats of all opponents at all. I still like Ugin despite his mana cost, because I often have shitloads of colorless mana and he has a targeted removal for +, controllable boardwipe for - and a game winning ultimate after 2 times +.

I don't think I will use color specific hate in here because I'm not having problems with a particular colour. It's also not sure if someone even plays green on the table and I don't want a completely dead card then, even less because it's a coloured spell (artifacts on the hand could at least make mana with Metalworker).

I think links in the description are made with html but I'm not sure

elfric I've updated the deck again...Ugin out and Helm of Obedience combo in. Don't need another late game reset button when I play combo again (didn't want to do that here but it's too good compared to worrying about how to keep controlling the game forever). I think Ugin will go into Workshop Party when I put that deck together again.

Have you considered Telepathy? It's awesome in multiplayer games and lets you see what threats you need to take care of so you can use your cards.

Snap157 I play it in another of my decks Thieves of the Multiverse, which runs 20 counterspells...there it's interesting to know what is on the hands. Here I have so much global disruption that I don't need to waste a slot for looking at people's hands. What would you say is to be cut?

At this point the question is always: what will be cut and why exactly is the replacement better in the deck?

My next possible change would be Mechanized Production and Pithing Needle out and Future Sight and Cloud Key in (because that would be card advantage, cost reduction AND a possible infinite combo)

i would swap the manlands and maybe tolaria west as they are suboptimal at their primary job: mana

crystal vein is such a good card as it gives you a much greater choice than any manland that always and only taps for a colorless. dont always blow it early. have the option for when you need them.for example Ruins of Trokair is much better than tolaria west. both etb tapped but ruins can give an additional mana once. these effects can beef up the timing flexibility.

I've removed the Mishra's factory and blinkmoth nexus, thanks elfric for pointing at the fact that lands are first for mana and second for utility. The only creature I really need is the infect flyer, not the ground blocker or normal flyer.

Tolaria west is simply a tutor for tabernacle (no way to find that in this deck other than by drawing it) or for engineered explosives (which trinket mage can also find). The rest of the time it's just a slow land, that's true.

$4000*