I would like to see a Skullclamp in your deck because card draw is always nice.

Have you thought about Shred Memory as another transmute card for Earthcraft?

also what about Null Rod?

Skullclamp was in the early drafts of the deck. I found losing the creatures to it created less food for Food Chain, resulting in a win taking another turn at times. I do still think it could be a solid draw mechanic mid game, but for me it was often a dead card due to the amount of wheels and board wipes that can happen in my playgroup.

Shred Memory! I'm so glad someone else noticed that! I wrestle with putting it in a lot. It really is a great way to get Earthcraft like you said. It's also a low mana cost card fitting the decks theme. My struggle is that it doesn't have enough synergy with other cards. It could be used to tutor Goblin Bombardment which is a win con, but nothing else aside from tutors. I try to avoid tutoring for another tutor, unless the mana cost is free for one of them or at least reduced.

Null Rod is an interesting suggestion I've never even considered due to deck originally running Blasting Station and a few other artifacts as a win con for infinites I have since removed. Again due to lack of synergy, creating too many dead cards. I think that could actually be a useful addition and will play test it this weekend to see how it goes! Thanks for the suggestion.

A friend of mine runs Null Rod and it is horrifying when he plays it.

@Weirdhat So when I had Chromatic Lantern or Lotus Petal out earlier on Null Rod was a dead fish. However mid-late game, or against artifact heavy decks, the extra protection for 2 mana was welcome due to not needing the fixing or additional mana anymore.

Thanks again for the suggestion. Null Rod is officially part of the Sideboard.

Sol Ring by the way, not Lotus Petal. Sorry about that typo.

Well I did not read your full explanations but I think your (well 99.5.% of people actually) are miss playing Food Chain+Prossh, the Skyraider of Kher thinking they can just sack prossh for then use said mana to recast prossh but it don't work that way, food chain requires you to EXILE the creature THEN you get mana, but if you exile prossh and say "instead of exiling prossh I'll put him back in the command zone" (which is the thing every one says) now food chain is still waiting on a creature to get exiled and will not produce mana. However you can do it just as good with the 2 altars Phyrexian Altar+Ashnod's Altar so you should look into that. Ok that's my 2c worth on the matter

so if you path to exile your general you dont get to search your deck for a basic land?or swords your general you dont get the life??

if you put your general the general zone that is.

I always thought it gets exiled but it up to you weither you want to keep it there or place it in the command zone once it get exiled. e.g. oblivion ring...

Yesi beleave so, I actually asked about Chrome Mox AND Godsend and nether of them get the effect of you return the commander to the command zone. I'll ask about path and swords next time I call the 1(800) number lol

Nope it's an "instead of" effect not a "when" effect

If a Commander would be put into a graveyard or exile from anywhere, its owner may choose to move it to the command zone instead. Details

This is a replacement effect; the creature never goes to the graveyard and will not trigger such abilities.Commanders will move to the library or hand as normal; only transitions to Exile or the Graveyard may be replaced.
so with all that said (c&p from the rules ) if it never hits the grave it never gets exiled and anything that require you to exile a creature never happens

i believe those cards dont get the effect because the card needs to stay exiled... you can exile your command but it stays exiled that way you would get the effect of chrome mox or godsend its just the fact that no one ever would... the general has to get exiled then go to the command zone by choice because other wise wouldnt everyones commander just have shroud to exileing effects do to the fact that they could not be exiled? as per what you are saying.

food chain, path to exile, and swords just need the creature to go to exile not stay there. the cards you are talking about require the creature to stay in exile for them to produce their effect.

No they never go into exile so food chain DOSE NOT WORK! I don't know about path and swords but food chain says "exile a creature you control: add X mana to your mana pool" so the exile IS THE COST and without going into exile (putting your commander back in the command zone is a REPLACEMENT effect) you get no mana

Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile still work cause they are to diferent effects of the same spell not not a cost and result you can tell a cost (like in food chain) by the : after the cost (exiling your creature) where as in path and swords there is a . instead which makes one not reliant on the other so as far as swords/path cares it sent a card to exile it don't care if it gets there or not

But I will call 1(800) 324 6496 tomorrow and find out for sure

117.11. The actions performed when paying a cost may be modified by effects. Even if they are, meaning the actions that are performed don't match the actions that are called for, the cost has still been paid.

If you exile Prossh, Skyraider of Kher to pay for Food Chain's ability's activation cost, but put Prossh, Skyraider of Kher into the command zone instead, you have still paid the cost. You'll get seven mana of any one color that you can spend only on creature spells.

Ok you call wizards and tell them their game support people are giving out false information and I'll call them back tomorrow night and IFS they say they was wrong and you are right I'll let it drop but till then YOU ARE WRONG cause you never actually exile the creature so no mana from food chain that simple

HAHA this is fun.

and also why I don't run food chain in my prossh deck. not that's its to complicated for my tiny sized brain but that's its over played and boring.

@Kozelek: You can tell me that I'm wrong, but that doesn't change whether I'm wrong or not. The rules speak for themselves.

117.11. The actions performed when paying a cost may be modified by effects. Even if they are, meaning the actions that are performed don't match the actions that are called for, the cost has still been paid.

614.6. If an event is replaced, it never happens. A modified event occurs instead, which may in turn trigger abilities. Note that the modified event may contain instructions that can't be carried out, in which case the impossible instruction is simply ignored.

614.6 merely describes how a replacement effect works. 117.11 is the important rule here, since it explains how replacement effects work with payments.

In this case, we have a replacement effect (commander returning to command zone) modifying an action (exiling a creature) performed when paying a cost (the activation cost of Food Chain's ability.

Food Chain's ability is considered activated regardless of whether the creature is exiled or not, so long as the cost is considered paid (which 117.11 states that it is).

Yes and replacing the exile means it WAS NOT EXILED the cost still requires an exile to give you mana, no exile, no mana! I'm not sure why you are not seeing that but I'll call them tomorrow and talk to them AGAIN about this, till then I'm sorry AetherOcean (again) for filling your deck comment feed with this argument (AGAIN) but I refuse to back down when I know I'm right (and after 16 years playing im usualy right)

I'll direct you again to 117.11, this time in its entirety:

---

117.11. The actions performed when paying a cost may be modified by effects. Even if they are, meaning the actions that are performed don't match the actions that are called for, the cost has still been paid.

Example: A player controls Psychic Vortex, an enchantment with a cumulative upkeep cost of "Draw a card," and Obstinate Familiar, a creature that says "If you would draw a card, you may skip that draw instead." The player may decide to pay Psychic Vortexs cumulative upkeep cost and then draw no cards instead of drawing the appropriate amount. The cumulative upkeep cost has still been paid.

---

Although Prossh, Skyraider of Kher may not have been exiled, Food Chain's ability's activation cost is still considered paid, per 117.11. This rule literally states that costs are still considered paid even if the actions they call for have been modified by other effects.

And how long you've been playing the game has no absolute bearing on how right you are about the rules. It may make you more familiar with the rules, but the rules stand regardless of what you or your experience says.

this gets tricky because there are cards that say for instance "whenever a creature dies, draw a card" now when your command is "killed" this ability would not trigger with your commander if you choose to put them into the command zone because in order for a creature to "die" it has to hit the grave yard. which your commander never does , so no draw effect.

now that being said this is also the only reason why I am up in the air about this argument. I see both sides on this so I guess ill have to do some more digging myself.