I play in the same meta as Nensou and there's literally no reason to play things to stifle Armageddon since no one plays it and mass LD in general is frowned upon.

My apologies for trying to offer a suggestion. It may not be relevant in your meta, but occasionally people do destroy lands. In EDH, Flagstones of Trokair is superior to a normal Plains in every way unless something like Burning Earth is out. Anyways, it is a way to improve your deck. At worst, it is just a fancy land that people get confused about and need to read. At best, it gives you enough mana to Swords to Plowshares the Eldrazi that the Jhoira of the Ghitu player just popped out after wrecking your board.

@Mewgle It's still strictly better than a Plains , isn't it? Unless people play lots of Blood Moon , Magus of the Moon and other nonbasic hate, I see no reason not to play it. To me, the advantages seem better than the "disadvantages" (i.e. the fact that there's no point, which is a flawed argument).

He's not running it because it negatively impacts Land Tax , Thawing Glaciers and Emeria, The Sky Ruin , and that's just based off looking at his deck and not necessarily considering his play group. Short of mass land destruction, no one is going to willingly target Flagstones because it literally is a wasted effort and waste of resources; we all get it, flagstones replaces itself. It's never going to be a target for Weathered Wayfarer as in the grand scheme of things, this isn't a unique land that's going to have an immediate/eventual impact on the game (again, short of mass land destruction). It also hurts against things like Burning Earth , Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon , so if it's only something that's going to offer potential insurance for infrequent scenarios over immediate utility, why bother?

In many cases, yes, the land is better than a plains, but that's primarily when you get to run multiples. I used to run a playset in my modern/casual soldiers deck but have since scrapped them because of the change to the legendary rule. Used to be able to fetch out 2 plains in a go, the rule change made it only one, and each additional activation/fetch was a result of pulling 1 of the other 2 of the card in the deck, not very good odds.

@TurboFagoot

If mass land destruction is an issue in one's meta, those cards keeps it at bay. What's one Plains compared to all of your land?

Having one land post-'Geddon isn't saying much. The player who 'Geddons the field should be solidifying a winning position. Using mass land destruction in an attempt stall is a literal waste of time, as it slows the game to a complete crawl.

I'm forgoing the upside of Flagstones of Trokair because it's miniscule. One tapped land isn't going to immediately plunge me ahead.

And calling my opinion wrong just because it's not the same as yours? What the hell?

@GlistenerAgent, lemmingllama

Flagstones of Trokair is not strictly better than a Plains, it pretends to be. Does it have the Plains basic land type? No, it doesn't. An actual Plains will fuel Emeria, The Sky Ruin , Flagstones itself won't and nobody in their right mind will use targeted land destruction on it so it can get an actual Plains. Mistveil Plains is a better Plains than Flagstones. It enters tapped, but at least it has the basic land type.

The Plains enters the battlefield tapped. Not very helpful against an Eldrazi being cast with haste. And wouldn't a Jhiora of the Ghitu player have more than just mass land destruction and a single Eldrazi suspended?

At worst, it's a utility-less nonbasic that taps for White. At best, it's one lone tapped Plains. Not going to help much against the player about to win or the player ahead in mana with mana rocks.

This argument over Flagstones of Trokair is ridiculous. It's his EDH deck, if he decides that land is not viable or useful enough for him then that's his right. Leave it be.

On to suggestions, and I apologize in advanced if you have already had these in and removed them. I've watched this deck grow and evolve over the year and I can't remember everything that's been changed.

Basilisk Collar cheap cmc, great early game control for your early creatures, admittedly a little lack luster in later games, but redundancies on death-touch and life-link are always helpful in this format, I've found.

Quietus Spike A little cheesy, but a nice way to get back in the game if you're lagging behind.

Elbrus, the Binding Blade  ^Flip - The cmc on this one does make you hesitate a bit, but getting it out and making contact only once gains you Withengar Unbound  ^Flip , the murdering of multiplayer games if you can keep him protected.

Strata Scythe takes advantage of all your plains.

Some creatures you might find useful:

Aven Mindcensor Nice flyer you can flash in on the end of your opponents turn and have him ready to go for equipments. Also restricts your opponents to the top four cards of their library, rendering any type of tutor or fetch useless unless they're lucky

Linvala, Keeper of Silence AKA, Linvala, F*** my wallet. Another nice bit of control rendering your opponents creatures half useless. Phyrexian Revoker can also do this, but he's limited to one names source.

Imposing Sovereign Slows down your opponent. If you run into a lot of creature hate, Blind Obedience is another option that does the same thing.

And lastly, MOAR MANAS!

Extraplanar Lens made most powerful by swapping out regular plains for Snow-Covered Plains This may put a slight damper on Strata Scythe , so I would only swap them in if your opponents aren't running plains and therefore cannot leech from them anyways.

Gauntlet of Power 'Ware, will help your opponents too if you aren't careful.

Pearl Medallion

Have fun!

Elbrus, the Binding Blade  ^Flip can't be used becuase withengar is black... I know this may sound rediculous but, yea, no, he cant use it. otherwise every deck in commander could run it, and.... that's just not the case

Hmmm, as I've understood it (and my meta understands it) the color identity is declared via casting cost or unless otherwise stated.

For example Hypergenesis , Living End , and Ancestral Vision . These cards have had their color identity declared for them in their text. Withengar does not unless it's had some revised oracle text I haven't seen.

But I could very well be wrong. I'm at work and the actual MTG rulings are filtered and blocked, so I can't double-check the rulings until later. If it is so, then just disregard the suggestion. :D

Yeah, you are wrong. Withengar has a colour indicator in its typeline.

@Evee142

On the fence about Basilisk Collar . I want to keep the number of Equipment without P/T boosts to a minimum. Eight-and-a-Half-Tails ' frail, 2/2 body isn't much on it's own.

Quietus Spike is in the same boat as Basilisk Collar , which is why I dropped back in the spring. It may find a spot in the deck again someday.

Elbrus, the Binding Blade  ^Flip , unfortunately, has a Colour Identity of Black. Wizards done away with the "CARDMNAME is COLOR" template and introduced the Colour Indicator, which is that colored dot at the beginning of the typeline.

I shot down the idea of using Strata Scythe before because of my mana base being too diluted with utility lands... but this was before the release of Theros, which gave us the amazing Burnished Hart . I've also been trying out Knight of the White Orchid lately for additional ramp. Strata Scythe might be a usable option if I can consistently have enough Plains on the battlefield for a worthwhile P/T boost.

Unsure about Aven Mindcensor . On one hand, it's a good tutor hate card. On the other hand, I don't want to use up a slot that could be used for Equipment support or a back-up threat.

No interest in Linvala, Keeper of Silence . I'd rather kill off any problematic creatures.

No interest in Imposing Sovereign . I've used Loxodon Gatekeeper and Blind Obedience before. Didn't really like them. I prefer Ghostly Prison effects to slow down opposing creatures.

Extraplanar Lens and the Snow basics were dropped shortly after my Plains count hit 20. Inconsistent Plains count during games frustrated me... But like my stance on Strata Scythe , this was before the addition of Burnished Hart . There's a chance Extraplanar Lens could be used again.

No interest in Gauntlet of Power . I don't like how it helps opponents.

@Evee142

Forgot to mention Pearl Medallion .

Never been a fan it. Always felt like I wanted a mana rock instead, especially since a good portion of the deck is colorless. Although, I've never used it before. Perhaps I'm missing out?

I use Jet Medallion in my own deck, and it often makes the difference between a removal/OTK/going faster than the asshole combo decks I'm normally up against. It works for me. If you're curious in testing it, I'd just proxy it and play a few fun games to see how you like it. It's not fetchable, at least for me, but when I pull it I can get beefy stuff on the field by turn two (Skithiryx!).

do you mean Pearl Medallion ?

No I meant Jet Medallion , the effect is exactly the same for black is it is white for Pearl Medallion . I run a Skittles, Taste the Dark Side [Infect] as my main EDH deck, so running white would be silly :D

There's also Emerald Medallion , Sapphire Medallion , and Ruby Medallion

Why do you have Rest In Peace in this deck? You have quite a few cards that have abilities to bring cards back from the graveyard.

@rak8886

Rest in Peace is an answer to decks that heavily rely on graveyard-based strategies.

True, it'll stop Tarmogoyf.

I have never seen someone play goyf in commander....

Tarmogoyf is absolutely terrible in Commander...

Didn't know that until you guys told me. But I just realized that Rest In Peace works great against Lazav because his ability won't trigger.

Silent Arbiter is a really awesome card, especially with Maze of Ith. Also, eight-and-a-half tails can block with protection too.

@rak8886

Silent Arbiter doesn't stop opponents that have no issues attacking with only one creature. There are plenty of powerful creatures that are good on their own.

I prefer Ghostly Prison effects.

Right, but if you have maze of ith and silent arbiter on the battlefield, then the opponent wouldn't be able to attack.

rak8886 Sooooo, Asceticism , Swiftfoot Boots , Lightning Greaves , Uril, the Miststalker , Whispersilk Cloak , Insert any random hexproof/shroud item here. What was that about Maze of Ith ?

I mean not to be mean but you CANNOT rely on Maze. It's beyond easy to get around. Hell, opposing 8.5s can make it a white permanent and give themselves protection.

Arbiter is good in conjunction with Prison effects, that being said, he's a creature and he suffers from the same issues all creatures do; they die VERY easily. (Especially in EDH...)

commander is multiplayer soooooooooooo Elbrus, the Binding Blade  ^Flip yes it's legal with black side =3 because the main side is an artifact