I am noticing that it is harder to get Isochron Scepter in hand than it is Dramatic Reversal, sometimes delaying a turn or even two. Maybe it is important to consider Fabricate more seriously.

Considering Lotus Petal well.

I already considered Petal. While the card is definitely a cEDH grade mana rock, it finds itself in a position it normally doesn't because of Jewelled Lotus. Jewelled Lotus also requires sacrifice, but it really helps power out Unesh, so it gets the nod. Petal can help us power out Unesh, but it requires sacrifice, so it doesn't work as well with the Dramatic Scepter combo like Mox Diamond (or Mox Amber, even) does.

You could try it, it has upside (eg, free to cast to increase storm count for Aetherflux Reservoir). However, as long as one of the main goals is the Dramatic Scepter combo, I don't think it's as good as the other, more permanent mana rocks.

The more I goldfish after these adjustments, the more I'm convinced the deck is on the right track.

I've begun noticing the same thing as you, in that "additional copies" (ie, tutors) of Dramatic Reversal and Isochron Scepter would be helpful. I suspect Fabricate and Merchant Scroll are the next cheapest tutors that allows to grab Isochron and Dramatic, respectively. Let me know your thoughts, though.

The next part, however, I'm much more certain of: I'm going to posit that the deck is much stronger with Panharmonicon, Virtue Of Knowledge AND Reflections Of Littjara in the deck. I'm not done, so hear me out: I'll explain it all. The next thing that's become apparent is that the deck ALSO functions EVEN BETTER when we have both Sakashima AND Spark Double, as well. These cards all offer us similar effects, but things start to get REALLY out of control when we start stacking them. Eg, cast Unesh, next turn cast Reflections Of Littjara followed by Universal Automaton for free and get a copy, plus two Unesh triggers, next turn cast Spark Double copying Unesh twice for three Unesh triggers them cast Glasspool Mimic targeting the Spark Double (because it isn't legendary), get two more copies of Unesh so all Sphinxes we cast from now on between five Uneshes and Reflections Of Littjara now creates ten FoF triggers (AKA, 40% of the deck), etc, etc.

This is just one example and there are MANY possible combinations and cast orders that can - and will - unfold, but basically, not only does having all these similar effects provide us with n increased chance of getting them on deck (seeing them in the first place, first one eats a counter spell but we land the second, etc) these effects also stack very nicely when coupled with our other "copy target creature" creatures in the deck. It's basically like Rite Of Replication never left the deck, but easier to find and also doesn't cost nine mana.

Thoughts?

GHoag here is where I am at on this list: I think it is pretty close to capped and playtesting is a constant reminder that there are stronger options for my commander (but I am determined)! I can’t help but wonder if there are better options that require some out of the box thinking.

So I like what you posit because it requires me to think more. The main pro to this take is that these effects stacking gives you exponentially more FoFs which in theory sounds awesome, and in more casual play this would be the more fun (and probably stronger) way to go.

The 2 main cons: 1) These cards can be mana-intensive. If you play mana intensive spells that don’t benefit immediately, it won’t help you if your opponent wins the game before your next turn. We only need to FoF enough to reach a combo or a combo tutor which makes me think adding tutors are the way to go. 2) It makes the deck more reliant on Unesh. The deck only needs to FoF enough to reach Isoscepter combo, so maybe you don’t have to FoF a lot if a couple more tutors are added. If Unesh isn’t on the table due to removal and your deck is all in on the copy “Unesh triggers plan,” the deck will probably be dead in the water in CEDH.

A counter point can be made, I am going to argue with myself below:

• Me 1) The deck isn’t more reliant on Unesh because you have copies of him.
• Me 2) I think a counter to THAT is that it still relies on the first Unesh cast
• Me 1) How likely is it that the first Unesh doesn’t hit the table and sticks around for a turn? Creature counters are low in the meta, there are better targets for removal than Unesh, and if he is targeted it is likely we protect him with counter magic.
• Me 2) That’s a good point, I think this needs to be playtested more, I wish there was a way for me to just jam more games.

My gut tells me these additions would be too slow, but it is a route worth exploring. I am still debating Fabricate or even Tezzeret the seeker as a one card addition that will make the main win con online far more often. Tezzeret can hit other artfacts and is essentially the same cost if you are grabbing Isochron Scepter with it, but nets you mana if you hit atherflux, panharmonicon, cloudtsone curio etc.

Because we have a lot of great mana rocks I have been considering the Hullbreaker Horror combos, but I don’t think these pan out in Unesh because it only generates infinite colorless, infinite colorless doesn’t have any outlets. I feel the same way about using the power artifact+grim monolith combo.

Still not too sure about lotus petal, it might be better than mix amber though when we are considering opening hand situations.

Minor rev and other rambling

It is getting oh so much harder to justify substitutions. Lotuscon is a week out and I feel the heat.

• Replace Thran Dynamo with Tezzeret the Seeker. This sub is about artifact tutoring and mana. The deck needed at least one more way to tutor Isochron Scepter, and other artifacts. Tezzeret does this. But tezzeret is also versatile, and it has the potential to do thran dynamos job better than thran dynamo. The +1 ability can target man vault, grim monolith, and basalt monolith. It doesn't always do this better than thran, but lets talk about the downsides to thran. As mentioned above, less versatility. But the mana cost for thran is quite high. At 4 cmc I want to play game winning cards. Thran can help power out Unesh. BUT, if thran is in your opening hand and it is your path to casting Unesh, there are better plans in the deck and you should mulligan that hand anyway. Tezzeret can be any of our game winning artifacts, for 1 more mana than thran. Thran is nice for quality of life during the game, but it does not win the game. One other great thing about Tezzeret in Unesh, is that he actually can have some decent blockers to keep him around for more than 1 turn, so he is also still great DURING the game. Almost all of the upside of thran dynamo AND some on this card.

I have also thought about replacing Dream Eater with something less expensive like Sakashima's Student or Metallic Mimic. Dream eater is the most replacable sphinx in the deck, and it is HARD to justify a replacement still. For one, this creature is removal. Play this to remove a stalwart stax piece and win the game on the same turn. Also, Surveil 4 is almost another Unesh trigger by itself, and this ability benefits from our awesome cards Panharmonicon and Virtue of Knowledge. Dream eater helps in so many ways that I fell as though it can't come out.

I have also heavily considered Merchant Scroll and Fabricate. It is hard to justify replacing anything for these cards. In the current revision, I think we see the combos as fast as possible without inundating our ability to interact.

I really like the card Submerge. I think it is better than Rapid Hybridization. Main targets for this slot are stax creatures such as Collector Ouphe, and commanders. The 'forest' part of Submerge's cost is going to be online a lot (probably). Zero mana interaction is better than 1 mana interaction. As a kicker, some decks in the format can effectively use the 3/3 creature that rapid hybridization gives them. This substitute is probably coming, but I am still contemplating.

I thought I'd hate Tezz because it's one CMC more than Thran Dynamo and two more than Fabricate, so on paper, it's inferior. However, I quickly realized that since I joined in on theory crafting, the deck has gotten decidedly more artifact heavy, meaning that Tezzeret, The Seeker acts not only as a tutor and mana ramp, but it also can act as a threat on its own with enough Artifacts on board. In reality it's ultimate is never going to be as good as any of our combo wincons, but it LOOKS like a bomb when pulled as part of the four cards in an Unesh FoF trigger, which means that many opponents will make the exact mistake we look for that makes FoF decks so fun to play: They put Tezz in his own pile, often giving us other goodies that we need more, such as additional Sphinxes, rocks, Counterspells, etc.

As for Dream Eater, it's just much of an "all star", IMO. Like you said, when it's ETBs are triggered an additional time by Panharmonicon or we're getting additional copies of it with their own ETBs with Reflections Of Littjara, things get pretty nuts quickly.

Fabricate is the next step over Merchant Scroll. The reason being that both Muddle The Mixture and Mystical Tutor act as 2nd and 3rd copies of Dramatic Reversal, whereas only Muddle The Mixture acts as a 2nd copy of Isochron Scepter, so we'd want Fabricate to balance that out, of the two. However, for now, for reasons mentioned by both you and myself above, Tezzeret The Seeker is worth some goldfishing and playtesting prior to giving Fabricate a shot, IMO.

Finally, as Simic-heavy as my local is, I don't think I'd run Submerge: The last cEDH table I sat at was Najeela, a mono red deck I can't remember the Commander of, but it was artifact shenanigans, Yuriko and myself on Circu, Dimir Lobotomist. I think that seeing Submerge would just feel bad too often. That said, this is a meta call and if you see a ton of Collector Ouphe as you've asserted, then yeah, it's probably the right call.

Anyway, if I don't post again until Lotuscon, good luck, have fun and let me know how you do afterwards!

GHoag Thank you for the good wishes! I intend to record what happens the best I can so I can accurately report on the games. Whatever happens I couldn’t have done as well without you! I do have one big question for you below, if nothing else please help me settle the Palinchron debate.

I got to playtest Tezzeret the Seeker last night and in my limited experience he is VERY good in this deck. I can’t say I would want to see Thran dynamo more than tezzeret in almost any situation. He is an absolute lightning rod. If your opponents know you have dramatic reversal in hand, they have to counter the tezzeret or they will simply lose the game. They can’t wait to see what the ‘-x’ ability grabs (unless they run Stifle or Disallow which isn’t common right now), because the Isochron Scepter just enters the field. If the opponents don’t know you have dramatic reversal in hand it is even more precarious for the opponents, because they don’t know if you are about to win the game or not. Furthermore they should still probably counter it because of the +1 ability alone. Untapping a mana vault every turn is extremely valuable.

Dream Eater performs remarkably well also. It did so well, that it was actually the target of Phantasmal Image at times. Bouncing a Kraum or a Talion to their owners hand feels really good, shutting down their card advantage and setting up my own.

Fabricate is definitely the next tutor to go in if I were to add another one. Still debating what comes out for it. Muddle more likely grabs Isochron Scepter because there is one less artifact tutor than spell tutor. I think I am happy with the tutor base after adding Tezzeret though.

Admittedly submerge is awful against non-green and even 4-5 color decks, because they often don’t run many basic lands except dual-lands. It is definitely a meta choice. Rapid Hybridization is more expensive but meta flexible. Since I don’t know exactly what the meta will be at lotscon and there is no sideboarding allowed I’ll probably go with the more flexible card.

This week my top debate is Palinchron. In the current rev it is starting to feel clunky. Requiring 6 lands on the field seems like a tall order in cEDH, doable only in slower games. He is also clunky because I can’t tutor him or recur him from the graveyard, without exploring the addition of Body Double. Questioning Palinchron also brings Aetherflux Reservoir into question, because Palinchron is the biggest payoff for aetherflux. Without Aetherflux there is no back-up win-con to Thassa’s Oracle which is monumentally important. So taking out Aetherflux is not an option. The Aetherflux/Palinchron wincon is slower than Isoscepter and hard to know when to go for. Though Palinchron is clunky, he is currently the best payoff to aetherflux, and it assists Thoracle. BUT thoracle doesn’t need the help of infinite mana in this deck because I am noticing that I can get to the bottom of the deck before I have 6 lands in play. So I just need a card to be an Aetherflux Reservoir Payoff.

That all said: I posit Shrieking Drake vice Palinchron. This card combos with Defiler of Dreams and Aetherflux Reservoir to have infinite spell casts, life, and damage. Shrieking drake is more innocuous and FAR less expensive therefore making him less risky to run. Shrieking drake also has the versatility of returning a Sphinx to my hand to be cast again. The biggest downside to this choice is that there is less infinite mana combo redundancy than with Palinchron. I think this downside is mitigated by Unesh getting through a lot of the deck very quickly, without needing the help of infinite mana. After briefly exploring the addition of Body Double, I think this course could be doable if we replace Sphinx of Lost Truths. Body double gives me combo safety with Palinchron, makes the combo only require 5 lands in play if I am doing it with Body Double, and has the versatility of copying anything in ANY graveyard. Worth noting, copying things in an opponents graveyard is not often the best choice. The biggest cons here is this makes the deck generally more expensive to play, and body double doesn’t further plan to get through the deck.

I think playtesting is required to know which of the two paths (body double or shrieking drake) is best to take. But with limited time, my gut tells me the Shrieking Drake path is better because it is still lower to the ground, and has synergy with the 20% rule.

Excellent news on Tezzeret! I'll sub it in for Thran Dynamo immediately and continue goldfishing.

As for your "top debate", for me, that's no question. I cut Palinchron fairly quickly after adding it. This is because I was rarely happy to see it. This is simply because, as you pointed out already, it's mana intensive but the main problems are that it requires another mana intensive spell like Panharmonicon, Virtue Of Knowledge or Reflections Of Littjara to go off but also that the card on its own is pretty terrible in a vacuum, as it doesn't trigger Unesh's FoF and it's a combo piece that screams "combo piece" out loud because it has no other practical application. And, while less mana intensive than Omniscience, it's worse simply because 1) it requires another card to function properly and 2) it's much easier to remove a creature than an enchantment across the color pie (only green and white do it well, red and black don't really do it at all and blue can really only bounce them).

I also don't think Body Double is good enough as it can't target artifacts like Scholar which is very valuable.

Finally Aetherflux Reservoir stays in. At least in my build, but likely yours as well. You still have Cloudstone Curio and Universal Automaton and lots of scenarios that can be abused to make lots of/infinite casts. The other thing about casting a lot of Sphinxes in this situation is that not only are we building our "Storm count" (it's not technically a Storm card, but it is, if y'know what I'm saying) but we're churning through our deck. Once we find a way to assemble the Dramatic Scepter combo at this point, it's essentially game: We now have infinite blue mana, a boatload of life and presumably a huge clutch with a bunch of cheap/free interaction and Thassa's Oracle in hand. With an empty deck, we simply cast Thassa's Oracle, put the ETB on the stack, then, holding priority, put three Aetherflux Reservoir activations on the stack. It's a double redundancy and with a huge clutch, infinite mana and a bunch of interaction in hand, the rest of the table will likely concede at this point (if they haven't already seen the writing on the wall at an earlier stage).

Minor Rev:

• Replace Palinchron with Shrieking Drake for reasoning mentioned in my previous comment.

Two Big Milestones

• Tappedout's competitive meter finally agrees with me. REV 37 marks the first rev where tappedout thinks Unesh is 100% competitive. This is a big confidence boost going in to the tournament (even if the competitive meter is likely flawed).
• Rev 37 also marks an all time low in deck average CMC of 2.51. This in insane drop from the original upload of this deck 5 years ago, which was in excess of 3.5 cmc. It is also an impressive drop of .5 from the revision 2 months ago. Making this deck has had its highs and its lows, but it feels like the dedication to Unesh is paying off, especially in this past year.

Following lotuscon I will do 2 things:

1. Using all of the extra cards I have acquired over the years, I am going to release another list/guide for fun & casual Unesh so I can keep the spirit of Unesh alive in EDH.
2. Update this guide to be a primer for cEDH, fringe as it may be.

Another combo involving dockside

I was thinking more deeply on the implications of Shrieking Drake. It is important to note that this ability doesn’t target. So it can return Phantasmal Image to your hand without it being sacrificed. That being said here is the combo:

Initial Conditions

• Panharmonicon is on the battlefield under your control.
• Dockside Extortionist is on the field under an opponent’s control.
• 1 blue and 1 colorless available
• Opponents have at least 4 artifacts/enchantments
• Phantasmal Image and Shrieking Drake

Steps:

1. Cast Phantasmal Image, ETB as Dockside Extortionist and generate a lot of treasure due to Panharmonicon trigger.
2. Cast Shrieking Drake. Panharmonmicon trigger. The first ability returns Phantasmal Image to your hand, the second returns Shrieking Drake.
3. Return to step 1.

Without the shrieking drake.. doubling a dockside ability with phantasmal image just once is going to be insane value.

Without Panharmonicon on the field, you can double the trigger by performing this loop just once. it is crazy how when Dockside is in the format, we are able to abuse it even though it isn’t in our deck.

Lotuscon Game 1 Highlights

• Seat 1 Tymna/Thrasios
• Seat 2 Tymna/Kodama
• Seat 3 Tayam
• Seat 4 Unesh (Me)

Opening hand was solid after 1 mulligan. Ancient Tomb, Sol Ring, Basalt Monolith, Jeweled lotus, Tezzeret the seeker, Fierce Guardianship, Ghostly Flicker.

Turn 1, everyone plays a land. I play Ancient Tomb, Sol ring, Basalt Monolith and pass.

Turn 2, everybody ramps. I draw an Island. I play Jeweled Lotus and crank out Unesh. From the FoF I grab Urza’s Incubator and Reliquary tower and play both.

Turn 3, Seat 1 plays Grand Abolisher. We see a rule of law come down from seat 2. Devoted Druid comes down from seat 3. This is a combo piece, but he can only play one spell each turn so the table is safe. I draw and play polluted delta to fetch an island and play ghostly flicker targeting Unesh and Basalt Monolith. It resolves and I grab Universal Automaton and an Island from the FoF.

Turn 4, everyone plays one of their commanders and passes due to rule of law. I play Universal Automaton grabbing Spellseeker and Otawara from the FoF.

Turn 5, Seat 1 tries to go off tainted pact hitting Necromancy. Uses Boseiju Chanel ability to destroy rule of law, then plays entomb targeting razaketh. Then plays Necromancy targeting the razaketh. I respond with Otawara targeting the necromancy and he doesn’t have enough mana to replay it and win the game. Seat 2 gets out Kodama. Seat 3 combos off using devoted druid, tayam, and shield mate. He goes to get Carson feeder, cauldron familiar and Sam wise to infinitely drain life from the table. The table had no interaction to stop this combo.

Had I seen my own turn 5, I would have played an island and had Isoscepter combo would be online with Spellseeker targeting dramatic reversal followed by tezzeret -2 to get isochron, netting infinite colorless mana. Having no more blue sources after that. I would have been stuck unable to get through my deck.

Initial thoughts on this game: This game had very low amount of interaction from the rest of the table. Reliquary Tower not being a blue source screwed me over, but it is debatably moot because I didn’t make it to the turn where it screwed me over. Playing last in turn order was a big drawback.

Game 2

• Seat 1: Unesh (Me)
• Seat 2: Thrasios/Vial Smasher
• Seat 3: Ob Nixilis, Kingpin
• Seat 4: Tymna/Kraum

Opening hand, mulligan to 6: Urza’s Saga, Ledger Shredder, Gemstone Caverns (rip), Orvar, Island, Phantasmal Image, Master of winds (pitching master of winds.

Turn 1: I play Urza’s saga, seat 2 plays training grounds, seat 3 plays ragavan, seat 4 ramps.

Turn 2: I draw isochron Scepter and play Ledger Shredder. Seat 2 plays thrasios, seat 3 uses cabal ritual to play ob nixilis, and seat 4 flashes in bow masters followed by Serra ascendant on his turn.

Turn 3: Urza’s saga gets Jeweled Lotus to get out Unesh (grabbing consecrated Sphinx and an offer you can’t refuse. Then cast arcane signet, holding mana for an offer you can’t refuse. Seat 2 thrasios and vial smasher are both on the field. Seat 3 plays mayhem devil and kedarekt parasite. Seat 2 & 3 have a lot of value on the table locked and loaded for the next turn, seat 4 swings Serra ascendant and passes.

Turn 4: I cast consecrated sphinx, it resolves and I grab Tezzeret and Cavern of souls for the FoF. Play cavern of souls and pass (unfortunately not holding blue for the counter spell). Seat 2’s turn was long and complicated but after a lot of spells and interaction, his win is ultimately cut short by a force of negation from seat 4. Orcish bowmasters was killed in the chaos, and I end up drawing a lot of cards from consecrated sphinx. Seat 3 takes the game on turn 4 with insane ob nixilis value, rituals into casting all will be one. I counter with fierce guardianship, which is redirected by deflecting swat, I cast pact of negation targeting all will be one, he casts reverberate copying my pact to counter my pact. Everything resolves and seat 3 wins by pinging everyone to death with ob nixilis and all will be one.

WOW. Fast game, but a lot happened this game. Similar to game 1, had I seen turn 5 I would have a window to win the game by using Muddle the Mixture to grab Dramatic Reversal. One turn too slow again. Unfortunate to see Cavern of Souls screwing me on the blue mana this game. I am not sure I could’ve played this one any better. On to round 3 still hopeful I can grab a couple wins today.

Game 3 disappointment

• Seat 1: Kraum/Tymna
• Seat 2: Dihada
• Seat 3: Unesh (Me)
• Seat 4: Tivit

Game 3 is a lesson I didn’t need to learn again. But it is the lesson of mulligans in cEDH. I kept second seven with island and mana vault and no other lands. Luckily the rest of the table was slow on mana too BUT, I missed too many land drops and couldn’t play Unesh before Tivvit player went off on turn 9 or 10.

Game 4

• Seat 1: Unesh (me)
• Seat 2: Rona, Herald of Invasion
• Seat 3: Tymna/Kodama
• Seat 4: Winota

Kept 6, Island, Island, Misty Rainforest, Polluted Delta, Sapphire Medallion, Frantic Search, Ghostly Flicker

Turn 1: Seat 2 plays a Remora, seat 3 plays avacyns pilgrim, seat 4 ramps with chrome mod and plays leonin arbiter.

Turn 2: I play sapphire medallion allowing the fish to draw a card. Seat 3 plays destiny spinner, seat 4 plays Borodin.

Turn 3: I fetch a land paying 2 for leonin arbiter and pass. Seat 2 plays lim-duls vault and stacks their deck at my end step, then plays Rona on their turn. Seat 3 plays Tymna.

Turn 4: I frantic search, netting the mana I need to cast Unesh for 5, keeping defiler of dreams and an island on the FoF. Rona combos with mox opal, conquerers flail, and displaces kitten to generate infinite mana and storm count to then ad naus into a brain freeze followed by a thoracle win.

Sheeeeesh.. I could have left a mana open (and not cast Unesh) to prevent the win with a rapid hybridization targeting Rona. But in my experience that is generally not the right play. Keeping a hand without fast ramp is not the answer. Unesh really needs the artifacts to boost him out before turn 4.

With that I am going to drop before the final round and play something more casual for now. This experience definitely solidifies Unesh as heavy fringe for cEDH. Maybe it is true that the current list isn’t capped, but I don’t think it can become a whole turn faster without some serious work, and without new cards being printed.

Signing out for the day, peace <3

Check out the new casual page!

https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/unesh-the-strong-casual-commander/

This is my devious little casual list. This list takes advantage of pods that can’t punish you for not combining off in an early turn. It uses land ramp and insane value generation to go infinite (without having infinite combos) thanks to dream halls. If you won’t to be the bane of your casual pods, I highly recommend you give this list a shot. it is stinkyy

Descriptions for this deck, and an updated cEDH guide will be coming soon.

Three things to address on the Lotuscon results: 1. At four pods total, I feel that not only is this a very small sample size and equally importantly, 2. Based on your description of the event, you came very close to winning a couple of these pods, which means that, while you didn't win, you were certainly in contention and likely could have stolen a pod or two had you drawn slightly better or events unfolded just a little bit differently. 3. Unesh is widely regarded as a High Power tier-level Commander. The fact that we were able to tune the deck and elevate it to the point where it was hotly contending with cEDH-tier Commanders at a cEDH event tells me that not only are/were we on the right track, but we're even pushing against the perceived powe lr ceiling of Unesh, which is in my opinion, quite an achievement unto itself.

More importantly though, have you seen the preview for the new Ixalan set card Mobile Throne? It's nuts. It either replaces Virtue Of Knowledge or Panharmonicon, or it gets added in addition to the others for additional added-triggers redundancy. What do you think?

Sorry: Preview name was incorrect. The card name is actually Roaming Throne. It's better than both Panharmonicon and Virtue Of Knowledge,

GHoag yeah Roaming Throne goes in. I value the adventure mode on Virtue of Knowledge so I think I would sub out Panharmonicon.

Funnily enough, I actually came to a similar conclusion through my own goldfishing back in November on a flight to Toronto (was bored so I basically did it the entire time for the 5 hour flight). However, I cut Reflections Of Littjara, as I was running that plus Panharmonicon and Virtue Of Knowledge.

The more I goldfished, the more I found I liked have clones and Panharmonicon type cards, as it only helps the deck snowball faster and faster.

Reflections of Littjara is good in a heavy counter play meta.

But even then I still think it's the worst of the Panharmonicon-like cards

MINOR REV

• Sub out Panharmonicon for Roaming Throne. Roaming throne is Panharmonicon but better, moving on.
• Sub out Sphinx of Lost Truths for Conspiracy Unraveler. Lost truths has been the weakest link for a while, being able to pay 0 mana for a sphinx is better than paying mana and drawing a few extra cards.

Long time no update I know, I had to take a break after lotuscon. Will still be updating guide content at some point.

One more sub

• Bringing CMC down.. Replace Scholar of the Lost Trove with Gitaxian Probe. This one was hard, but as several people brought up to me the cmc here is high for cEDH, and I agree. Sure it means you will have to prioritize pile choosing better, but resolving this spell doesn’t win the game. At 5 cmc average, the spell is too expensive.