Hi, i'd recommend Baleful Strix as an upgrade over tidehollow. I currently have a deck that used to be based off of Reap Intellect, but I quickly discovered it wasn't good enough in 1v1 scenarios Sharing is Caring.

All I can say about my deck is that it's fun to play, but it doesn't feel worth investing any more into as it is. I'm getting the sense that competitive cards, like Thoughtseize, didn't really fit with what I wanted to do with the deck, so I've designed it to be more for multiplayer games. The range of competitive cards is both wide and narrow at the same time, so I don't know what you'll end up deciding to do.

Honestly, this isn't a good modern deck.

Have you considered Mystical Teachings UB? It has a tool box of 1 ofs, and some good finishers, such as Pearl Lake Ancient or Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

Err Sharing is Caring is not my deck... let me rename it to I once reaped, but now I weep.

dahhahm: Baleful Strix is far superior to Tidehollow Strix, but there's only 1 problem: It's not modern legal. I really wish it was. Reap Intellect was my first mythic I pulled so it has a special place in my heart, but it's too slow. I'm trying to make this deck at least semi-competitive for LGS modern tournaments, so speed is a big problem.

LeaPlath: I know it isn't very good yet, but it's a work in progress. Do you know what the problems are? I'm not really sure and would love some suggestions.

Mystical Teachings is a good card, but 4 mana seems too slow. I don't really want to spend 4 mana to find a removal or a counter because fetching a counter seems pointless and searching removal is redundant because I could have drawn removal instead. That said, it may not work in my current deck, but like you suggested, with some various 1 ofs, such as Far / Away or Extirpate, it could be good.

But then we're going back to my old deck Join Me and Together We Shall Win which ran Drift of Phantasms and used the transmute to fetch a card for every scenario because cmc=3 had everything. That deck didn't work because a single turn 4 card after skipping turn 3 is never enough to win. The deck was too slow and because of it I have stopped running 3-4 mana tutors because they aren't enough. Mystical Teachings is a 4 mana version of Drift of Phantasms and since the flashback cost is so high, it is actually inferior to Drift of Phantasms because it has no legs. It will suffer from lack of speed every time. Thanks for the comment though!

Think is, Teachings is an instant and hits much much much more. Drift is unplayable pretty much, as it doesn't advance your game plan, doesn't have instant speed tutor, dies to all but 1 of the common removal spells.

With teachings, you can get Consuming Vapors, Pearl Lake Ancient, Mana Leak, Cryptic Command, Snapcaster Mage, etc. It provides you with 2 for 1s, or a stream of 1 for 1s, lets you keep mana open etc. It is build around, but the deck can also function fine without it.

Then in turn, it makes splashing another colour viable, cause in esper, you can get White Sun's Zenith or Path to Exile, in red it can get Terminate or Lightning Bolt or the like. In green, Abrupt Decay etc.

I see. That's actually a pretty cool card, if I build around it. It does have a lot of potential, but I feel it changes the deck too much and increases the cost. I do like the idea though and I'll update the budgetless to reflect a build around Mystical Teachings. It's a cool card with some great interaction, but takes a lot of mana to abuse and a large paycheck to afford all of the awesome pieces it interacts with.

It also seems to deteriorate the stealing aspect of the deck, but I've always known that stealing wasn't a competitive practical deck. To fully maximize its use I'd need to remove both Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and Dimir Doppelganger because neither can be searched for or combo with Mystical Teachings.

So because I still want to steal I will not be running Mystical Teachings. Building around it would definitely make a much stronger deck that could handle a lot more, but at the cost of flavor. In the end, this just isn't the deck for it, but thanks for the suggestion because it is definitely an interesting card if nothing else.

Nice deck, man. It gave my Tron deck a run for it's money, though I pulled out the victory. You might consider running a Slaughter Pact in here as well as Pact of Negation. While they do hit you on your upkeep, there are times when threats need to be materialized immediately.

I'm glad to hear it fared well against your deck. When / how did your deck take over, and could my sideboard stand a chance to change the outcome?

My only problem with Slaughter Pact is that it's $10, when Doom Blade is 10 cents. It is really good and when I get around to finishing the primer I'll add this card in a section for non-budget swaps. I'd definitely run it if it was less expensive though. MM2015 reprint to reduce price? If it drops to $5-$6 then I'll replace Doom Blade because I do need it for those few times.

Pact of Negation is good, but much better in a combo deck such as storm because they try to win before having to pay the cost. It could be good in the sideboard here, but it's also expensive and the 5 mana shuts me down on the next turn. It also can't be played in the first 4 turns (because I'll lose) so because of that I don't think i'd run it.

The way my deck took over was landing Platinum Emperion. You drew into a Dismember, which wasn't too useful. He was eventually Doom Bladed, but it took a turn or two. Also, when your deck tried to copy things in my graveyard, I would simply respond with Academy Ruins. However, it was very close, and I came very close to losing.

Could your sideboard handle my deck? Potentially. The issue is not really your build: it's very strong and very fun to play. The game really came down to chance,i since we both run control shells, mine with 9 counters and yours with 8 (though I gotta say, Duress on T1 was a bitch to recovery from). The one card I'm on the fence about for you is Rune Snag vs Mana Leak. While Rune Snag can be better late game, I would side in Relic of Progenitus against you, to ensure that it was less effective. And I'm not the only one running SB graveyard-hate. But in game 1, it has the opportunity to be extremely effective. It's a hard call to make.

I like Rune Snag mostly because I can send it to the grave without regrets when using Dimir Charm. It's personal preference, and I still prefer Rune Snag. I actually used to run Mana Leak but didn't like it in late game, which this deck has a lot of potential to reach.

I don't mind graveyard hate because their hate is just more cards that fill their deck that I just don't really care about. I am somewhat graveyard dependent, but I can survive without it just fine and sometimes would rather face grave hate than another threat to my life.

Thanks for the feedback though. I'm going to try and find a way to trade for some Slaughter Pact if I can find any because I think you're right - it belongs in here. I'll test it for a while and find out. It may interfere with my Index + Polluted Delta because the mana cost is different than my counters, but we'll see how it works.

Change the Rune Snags to Mana Leak. Leak is a superior spell, and isn't worse if you haven't seen any more of them.

Run 1 Slaughter Pact and 1 Victim of Night.

Mystic Speculation is better than Index, but I'd rather just run Serum Visions.

Drown in Sorrow doesn't hit many deck in modern, because it's not an aggro dominated format. I would maybe run 1, maximum.

I worry about hitting the lands for Victim of Night but I'll try it. 1 Slaughter Pact actually sounds right, so I'll try to trade for 1.

I have recently been leaning towards Mystic Speculation but I'm going to do more playtesting first. My only problem with Serum Visions is price tag for a playset, but yes I would rather run it.

Is Black Sun's Zenith any better than Drown in Sorrow? I would say modern does have a lot of aggro in it, but I don't know. If neither Black Sun's Zenith or Drown in Sorrow are worth running, then what should I run for token and aggro strategies?

Ratchet Bomb destroys tokens and aggro. AEtherize is also good for tokens.

More Ratchet Bomb then? I could do that. How many? What about 1-2 Illness in the Ranks? I don't think so, but I've been wrong in the past.

AEtherize is too much mana. Enough said.

Speaking of being wrong, I think I will change Rune Snag for Mana Leak. A lot of people have told me to change them and if the entire community says to do something, then it's the right move. I think the real advantage comes to sideboarding. I can side out 1 Mana Leak with no regrets, whereas with Rune Snag I run 4 or 0.

I think Ratchet Bomb is really good, but if testing isn't showing that, don't take my word. Illness in the Ranks screws Abzan's Lingering Souls tokens, but against BW tokens, it's meh, since they are usually running a lot of pump spells to counteract that. I suppose that's what counterspells are for, but you COULD splash red for Pyroclasm. Inserting a singleton Blood Crypt would do the trick.

If I splashed red, I would also have access to Terminate and Lightning Bolt, but I just don't want to splash red. I would need more than just a single Blood Crypt to make it work. I would need 4 more fetches and to max out Watery Grave to make sure I hit my base colors, which is more than I'm willing to do. Way to expensive. Plus, grixis control is already a thing and I like originality. If I was to build a competitive deck, grixis control would be my weapon of choice, but I don't want my deck to be traditional.

I understand. That's how I am in Standard play. Hmmm... I feel like Bomb is your best option, then, especially for tokens. For aggro, I am not sure. Ratchet Bomb would then be one turn faster than Oblivion Stone, and that's assuming they have no 2-drop threats... What about walls? You could run meat shields like Disowned Ancestor or something to absorb damage until you can stabilize.

I've tried meat shields before and don't like them. I think I finally have it all figured out though.

I pull 3 Drown in Sorrow from the sideboard to put 2 Black Sun's Zenith and 1 more Ratchet Bomb into the sideboard.

I pull 2 Doom Blade for some combination of Victim of Night and Murderous Cut.

I pull 4 Index for 2 Sage of Epityr and 2 Mystic Speculation. I will still run Dimir Charm because it is versatile and sets up my Murderous Cut. It also has flavor.

I guess that settles it for me, but please keep the comments rolling! This has been very helpful! I still need help improving this deck!

Honestly, I say run Illness in the Ranks, because in addition to being decent against Abzan and good against BW Tokens, it makes it impossible for Twin to combo unless they run Breaching Hippocamp, which is terrible and only played when the Twin player expects to see Illness in the Ranks, which is rare.

Also, I think Tasigur, the Golden Fang is better than Dimir Doppelganger, and well worth the price. I would run 2-3 Tasigurs if possible, because although he is expensive, he is also ridiculously good in these kinds of decks, and one of the best ways you could use your budget. If you do decide to add Tasigur, I think that Thought Scour becomes better than Sage of Epityr, because it's a cantrip that supports all of your Delve spells. You could also try to rock some synergy with Think Twice, although we're getting a little Christmaslandy there.

I agree that both Sage of Epityr and Dimir Doppelganger need replacements (I also replaced Dimir Charm and I have replaced them with Serum Visions, Thought Scour, and the new liliana from origins in the version I'm working towards, Delver of Dimir. The only reason I don't have Tasigur, the Golden Fang in that deck is because he's a legendary so doesn't run well with lili, and his delve hurts the delve of Murderous Cut, which is my main delve card. I may run 1-2 though because he is really good. If lili is over $30, I will almost definitely run taz instead.

I agree that Illness in the Ranks is good, but token decks will have anthems that boost their tokens, I can already handle twin Deceiver Exarch and abzan tokens though Jace, Architect of Thought, and Illness in the Ranks doesn't affect nontoken aggro decks, which is where I struggle. I also have Ratchet Bomb to handle all tokens in one shot so I need to kill their normal aggro creatures, which is why I know I need something like Drown in Sorrow or Black Sun's Zenith, but I don't know which to run. 1 of each sounds like a bad idea to me.

After some thought, I do like the idea of Tasigur, the Golden Fang in Delver of Dimir because he hits hard, which is something I seriously lack, can recycle cards giving me a better late game and a way to generate more card advantage in midrange, and is a 4/5 body that I can potentially play on turn 2 and play on turn 4 consistently.

That's a lot of benefits for a not very expensive card. I may try to trade for 2 if I can find 2 cards to cut. Any help of what to cut would be great, but not for this deck. I try to only work on the new version and leave the old versions of my deck as is, so this deck will have no more updates. Delver of Dimir will be the main version from now on.

But yeah, I need help cutting. I don't know what to replace because I want to keep the 2 lili, even though they haven't come out yet.

Nice write up and display. How do you add the upvote button at the end of the description? I'd very much like to do the same for my decks!

Wow, this deck is ancient. I completely forgot about it. I'll share a deck with you with instructions.

Cool ty for the sharing in advance !

I was updating my recent deck and wanted to add an "UPVOTE" button, chancing upon your deck in the process.

Here's the deck am working on. Still updating the description atm:

Unleash the Horde!

Commander / EDH Cloudius

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