Supreme Verdict>Day of Judgment

I am a little worried about color saturation Unfathomable, but I will try it out in the deck as a 1 of for now.

No generation for Unburial Rites?

NotSquishedYet see the Talisman of Dominance, also Unburial Rites is a Gifts Ungiven target for its flashback cost, but I have drawn rites enough to prefer the dominance Talisman over similar lists that play Talisman of Progress.

I did not see that... If I might ask, is one source really enough? Also, I could see Gifts landing it into your hand in many cases where it would be impossible to cast.

Since I've been hosed a lot recently for what I intend to be a constructive, helpful tone, I'm afraid I'll have to go overboard specifying that it really is, and meekly not saying too much at once. I'm sick of it, so I'll leave it up to you to confirm that you understand my intents.

I am curious as to how often you achieve double or triple white mana costs with your mana base. I am also somewhat worried that 5 creatures will often be overwhelmed by removal from decks expecting many more.

NotSquishedYet: I have found that one source is typically enough as it is in there for those circumstances where we draw into Unburial Rites instead of it going to the graveyard via Gifts Ungiven. If you check the oracle text on Gifts Ungiven, it allows the caster to search their deck for up to four cards. This means that I can search my deck for Unburial Rites and a creature like Iona, Shield of Emeria, fail to search for the two other cards and both Unburial Rites and Iona end up going to my graveyard. This is OK with us as the flashback cost for Unburial Rites requires a white mana source instead of black, which we have plenty of.

As for the mana base itself - we do quite a bit of fixing via Expedition Map and Azorius Signet. This is a control deck, and not a race to the tron lands like the R/G variant is. As such, we can play slower and more methodically - hitting our opponents with tempo plays and wrath effects until we are ready to use either Polymorph or Gifts Ungiven + Unburial Rites . Again, Gifts Ungiven is not our only access to our big creatures. I have found that I would rather hold a hand with a Celestial Colonnade and any other land rather than 2 (or even all 3) of the tron lands, because we require that blue and white mana source. The Azorius Signet is typically what powers our extra color mana needs. An ideal hand might look something like this (with absolute required pieces in bold):

• Celestial Colonnade
• Urza's Tower
• Azorius Signet
• Remand
• Timely Reinforcements
• Polymorph/Gifts Ungiven - Either is fine
• Cyclonic Rift/Day of Judgment/Supreme Verdict

To your point about being hit with agro decks - that is why we use Timely Reinforcements, Path to Exile, Spell Snare, Repeal, the wraths and even Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. Timely Reinforcements gives us some lost life back (we expect to lose life early in this deck) as well as provide chump blockers and a sacrificial outlet for Polymorph. The others control the board state.

As for decks that run removal - that is why we play a nice suite of counterspells. I have found I do not have issue controlling removal spells - and once one of our beaters hits the board, it will have immediate effect.

I see. I had never thought to use Gifts that way. Though I am still somewhat doubtful, I am thankful for the explanation. It was quite enlightening as to how this deck functions. ;)

No problem. Give it a playtest sometime and it will click how strong this deck can be. I am certain it is not the greatest deck ever, but it is a fun one to pilot. Careful though if you actually build it, as your playgroup may ban it (like mine has).

Oh, no.... I'm on too much of a budget, and my $3 no-rares combo decks already got banned. Apparently infinite damage on turn 4 isn't fair. ._.

Which is why I'm working on a turn 3 Bant infinite mill deck. :P

I just meant hit the playtest button. $3 no rares infinite damage?

Fair enough. :P Erm... Yes. Technically. There are far too many ways to stop the combo in its tracks, but redundancy helps. I could get a copy or two of the 4 card combo within 6 turns, and try to go off at least four times by turn 10. I could probably post the rusty old list, if you'd like.

I definitely need to get more combo cards for it - a 1 of is all that saved me when I tested it against a $400 burn deck and won.

"Once we have the win condition, we utilize a Path to Exile, Repeal, Karn Liberated, or another method to remove Platinum Angel from the game." Why do you need to remove the Platinum Angel in order to win? You may be mixed-up with Abyssal Persecutor...?

Isn't Talisman of Progress strictly better than Talisman of Dominance in this deck?

verynice47: Apparently I am and cannot read a card correctly. Good catch.

Blue_Flame: I have tried it both ways, and I like the black mana option as I will have a white source available typically. This covers me in case I draw or have Unburial Rites in hand while not detracting from the overall plan in my experience.