I don't know, 3 Azusa's is a bit much, you'd be surprised how often that legendary rule comes up. Even with 2, I saw the second copy more often than I wanted to. Dead / Gone also seems a bit strange instead of Dismember. Relying on an early red so much seems odd, especially since the 3 CMC of the split isn't even permanent removal. You're weakening your position against a multitude of decks to have a slightly better edge against things like Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines that are unable to be removed otherwise. If you are going for an off-color answer anyway, there's definitely better options. Sure you can still answer Magus of the Moon with it's front, but almost any form of creature removal kills that.

Anyway, Altered Ego sees play in quite a few top 8 decks already, just in their sideboards. It is a fetchable answer to Archon of Cruelty and an uncounterable threat you can dump excess mana into (you can also copy an opponent's hexproof/shroud creature if that ever comes up). However, I like it mainly because you can copy your own Primeval Titan to chain into 2 titans with a singular amulet (can still usually only haste 1) or pretty often 3+ titans with double amulet. Being able to make a second titan so easily is really nice, and it happens to help with 2 of the deck's weaknesses. In fact, it is so powerful, that it devalues Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion quite a bit, essentially making it unnecessary in a lot of situations you would lean on it otherwise - to the point where I cut the win-more card.

It is possible to play into removal with the clone, but you shouldn't be playing that aggressive against an unknown deck, decks where you suspect Solitude or an opponent with open mana for removal. Always play for an actual second Primeval Titan first before trying to copy against those types of decks. Playing into something you shouldn't is what I would call a misplay, not a bad card.

Atraxa, Grand Unifier is a bit situational, but it is similar to Cultivator Colossus in what it does for the deck. It's recently seen top 8 play (which is what inspired the recent changes), albeit alongside Dramatic Entrance to cheat it into play. Instead of that, I am playing Timeless Lotus which I feel has arguably more synergy with the deck and the way I want to play it (as more of a midrange deck). It is capable of fixing our mana to cast Atraxa, Grand Unifier, and we also have Eldritch Evolution or Scapeshift to bring it or the land dependant Cultivator Colossus into play, depending on which is best.

Elvish Reclaimer is admittedly a bit slow, but it does almost everything you could possibly want (albeit slightly worse than other options). If you are capable of paying an extra mana at some point in the game, it is worth it as turns go on, being a psuedo-extra land card, mana fixing, better Expedition Map which puts the target into play, or a decent sized body (can even threaten pumping it and never actually investing mana into it to deter attacks). Hell, you can even pact for it when missing a bounce and unable to pay for pact, using its ability in response, returning that bounce to hand) provided you can actually pay for the pact AFTER the ability resolves).

The inclusions make the deck far less linear and complicate the lines a lot more (because amulet titan isn't complicated enough already...) I'm not saying they are a strictly better upgrade, as I am trading a little bit of consistency for resilience/explosiveness.

That being said, I think just dismissing all of the changes as "bad" because it "isn't what the pros are doing" is a little laughable. Am I stretching the limits of the deck a little right now? Absolutely. Is every new card you've never seen in an amulet shell automatically bad? Absolutely not. We'd still be playing with Hive Mind if that was the case (never liked the concept of combo pieces which do nothing on their own - so glad people moved away from that archetype).

http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=44016&d=524711&f=MO

Top 8 evidence right there.

I also really like the new Dramatic Entrance builds, about time that card got some respect!

@jacobgrossman never seen dramatic entrance before and 1 clone in 1 deck in one mtgo event doesnt make my argument wrong. it actually the only card of the 3 that i would play but i still dont think its amazing, if the deck had a chod of calling effect or something i could see it or evcen atraxa being played but thats it

Wow, that's actually really close to my list prior to this most recent update. As a disclaimer, current list is me going all in on the "big boi" strategy, and I don't suggest trying to run it. I just wanted to get all my "relevant" avenues to the goal in, so I could playtest what works and doesn't. I've already cut some as I found them to be not as powerful as some other options. I went down to the bare minimum of the core cards I liked, and stuffed in a bunch of stuff from there.

Updated the list to where it is in my current playtesting.

Also, magwaaf, this is the deck that inspired a lot of people to experiment, myself included.

https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=43840&d=523604&f=MO

It was during a challenge league, so the sideboard may look a little dubious, since there's generally less archetypes. I also see at least 10 other decks that use Altered Ego in the main / sideboard, in recent events, so it seems validated as an option to me.

https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=42264&d=512972
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=43182&d=519118
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=43072&d=518347
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=42838&d=516621
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=42805&d=516390
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=43466&d=521069
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=43458&d=521023
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=43414&d=520743
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=43653&d=522299
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=44016&d=524711
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=44005&d=524635
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=43756&d=523047
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=43513&d=521387

and yet the other version is stil the one seeing better placements

https://old.starcitygames.com/decks/158426 this is a much better list

im also obviously not talkin about your board so you don't ned to twist things.

sorry but you are taking bad advice and playing bad cards. 1 clone in the board has been the best advice. stick to what is winning, there is a reason for it

It was a little too greedy, so I reverted to something less greedy. However, after cutting all the fat, I found myself with enough room to play around with the main support color, and is basically the best currently.

We get access to one of the best turn 2 cards when we don’t quite have all the pieces, in the form of Eladamri's Call and one of the best hate cards in the format, Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines.

There’s also plenty of other cards like Dragonlord Dromoka or Yasharn, Implacable Earth that could fit, but I’m not in need of what they provide the deck currently.

Right now, with our higher than usual Forests and other mainboard cards that let us play through Blood Moon easier (went for consistency over greed) we don’t really need to dedicate slots to improving those matchups as much. This let me slot in Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines which is arguably an improved Torpor Orb and Defense Grid since we mainly want it against the mirror and evoke elementals.

I’ll have to update the decks description a bit, since this is what I am happy with for now.

I did toy around with the Timeless Lotus idea though, and I have gotten that pretty close to where I like it through playtesting, although that’s a far cry from this deck’s initial iteration, so I’ll make a separate iteration for that.

Timeless Lotus version, there's actually quite a few directions the deck could go, thanks to Storm the Festival.

Timeless Lotus

Modern nbarry223

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Hmm, The One Ring seems like a decent option, since it basically reads as a temporary fog / anti-discard effect, with draw 4 you lose 3 life tacked on (also resets land drops and untaps lands) against most decks.

I’ll have to play around a bit, since that 4 mana “I haven’t won yet” card is always something the deck has been looking for (have been looking at stabilizing green creatures for ages).

I also like Stone of Erech since replacement effects are the best form of gravehate, but it only hits things coming from the battlefield, so it is a little narrower.

The One Ring is just nuts. People have been packing if into all sorts of decks I would expect, like Tron, and those I don't, like this one and Omnath. Its actually so good and so universally popular with so little deck building restrictions, it reminds me of Arcum's Astrolabe. I wonder if a ban is coming? Not in a bad way, I love the card and think it's great!

Yeah I don’t plan to invest in it just yet, and I’m also not sure if I would want 4 copies, because while it is great at digging and stalling, it doesn’t win on its own.

It reminds me of Urza's Saga where I was very skeptical of the card (definitely thought it was getting banned) but eventually came around because the value is too much to pass up.

Haha most definitely, I was the same

Have you ever thought of adding Ghalta, Primal Hunger?

Yes, I’ve looked at it before. It doesn’t do enough in my opinion. My baseline for justifying a beefy creature is Primeval Titan which is capable of chaining itself into more (essentially goes off at 7 mana most of the time) and swinging same turn it comes into play.

Ghalta, Primal Hunger is a creature without any protection that costs ~10 mana unless I am already super far ahead. If I am already far enough ahead that it is a comparable cost to Primeval Titan I’d much rather have something that does something the turn it comes down to help win that turn. If my board isn’t already big, I probably can’t cast it.

It’s unfortunately a win-more card, and a less impressive one than something like Mosswort Bridge or Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion is due to the tutorability of lands in the deck.

So I’m thinking:

-1 Elvish Reclaimer
-1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
-1 Scapeshift
-1 Cultivator Colossus

In that order for The One Ring while playtesting. I’ll probably start with 2 copies and adjust as necessary.

I won’t be investing in any physical copies until hype dies down a bit and I am more confident it won’t get banned, but I’m thinking I will end up running 2+ copies.

I see 3 run a lot of the time. I would cut Elvish Reclaimer, Phyrexian Metamorph, and either Scapeshift or 1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking.

How do you feel about only running 3 monkeys?

I actually like only running 3 grazers. It’s a great card, but drawing into it always feels bad, and I’d much prefer something like Explore. I only regret trimming it against the other monkey.

Initially, I swapped it for an Elvish Reclaimer because he’s super versatile and does almost the same thing. As long as my extra land cards remain at a high enough total, it is all a matter of preference and/or meta calls, since they all have their respective pros and cons.

I’ve actually come to really like Phyrexian Metamorph in here, although that was definitely my 5th choice. It is so good in the scam matchup, being castable through Blood Moon and able to clear a Fury while becoming its own threat. It is also great against Archon of Cruelty which can be another issue for the deck.

Even against decks without those trouble cards, it allows for some nice tempo plays as an early threat alongside Tireless Tracker when we switch up our gameplan.

Also, if I end up cutting Scapeshift, some of the additional value I get from running both haste enabling lands is diminished. I’ve grown to like running both (again) as it really does enable a lot of winning lines. I almost wish I could run a larger deck without minimizing my Amulet of Vigor openers in all honesty, there’s so many great utility cards the deck wants to play, but I really want the explosive openers. There’s plenty of replacement options for the “categeries” of cards, aside from Amulet of Vigor so we can scale up everywhere but there.

Scapeshift is also dependent upon running Cultivator Colossus to be anywhere worth it as well, so some small changes may end up making large ripple effects.

It’s also funny how I changed the deck to be pretty far from this iteration - but it slowly transitioned back.

I think I’ve settled on this 75 for now. Mosswort Bridge went back in because if I am facing The One Ring it’s ability to dig for our own is our greatest weapon, far more valuable than double strike.

It’ll probably change a bit more, since I don’t particularly like Cultivator Colossus without Scapeshift and without Scapeshift I don’t actually need both haste enabling lands (although the various lines can sometimes be invaluable).

Open to suggestions if anyone has any.

Why don't you like the Colossus without Scapeshift? Does it not let you chain a bunch of lands out like a fifth Titan?

It does, but it will often whiff with not enough lands in hand. Scapeshift helps get around this by finding bouncelands alongside Tolaria West to fill your hand up.

I don’t like Cultivator Colossus in general when you draw it, and thanks to Altered Ego it is outclassed by Primeval Titan at 2+ amulets anyway. However, Scapeshift serves as a better second copy when drawn into, so it sort of makes it worth playing in my opinion.

It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it makes a “bad” card better. I want my threats to be around the same density as all the other parts of the combo to maximize chances of assembling it, so our beefy plant with no evasion that’s more costly and relies on other variables to even produce value is unfortunately a necessary evil currently. It can definitely go over the top of other decks, so it isn’t necessarily a bad card, but it is win-more-esque.

It may get cut in favor of the fourth copy of The One Ring or something along those lines, since I really do dislike the card.

Well, Mosswort Bridge is back in, too much passed up value in being able to pivot my win-more card to a defensive card when my opponent plays The One Ring with my own hideaway copy of The One Ring to equal their immunity with my own, essentially negating it.

We get to more reliably chain them than any other deck not built to infinitely chain the protection, so we will definitely come out on top of it comes down to a resource battle like that.

I'm still debating which 2 out of Questing Beast, Phyrexian Metamorph, and Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines I like best in the mainboard. Questing Beast and Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines both "answer" The One Ring in their own ways, while having some other uses/benefits. Phyrexian Metamorph is amazing against Rakdos Scam, which is one of the tougher matches otherwise, so I don't see myself cutting the 2 copies anytime soon.

I honestly forgot about the can't be prevented clause on Questing Beast even though I already had a copy from playtesting it as a 4 mana staller (similar to what The One Ring does for the deck now).