Thoughts on Endless Atlas?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Aug. 19, 2018, 11:09 p.m. by Forkbeard
Curious to hear some opinions on Endless Atlas as it seems like it could be a decent, consistent source of draw in mono colour decks.
Have any of you tried it out yet and if so, what's your verdict on this card? Worthy inclusion or a wasted slot?
Tbh I think it could also go in a lot of duel or tri color decks too. Simply put, if you're running a cheap Mana base (because let's face it, good Mana bases are expensive) youre still running at least 5-10 basics in each color your running for tri color decks.
August 20, 2018 2:31 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #4
Even with 10 basics you would need to go through over 25% of your deck on average to turn on the draw. By the time you have seen 25% of your deck draw as slow as this isn't going to make much difference. Of course if you are running green and land ramp the numbers change a bit. I personally don't think it should be run with fewer than 24 basics of the same name in the deck. This is usually going to mean a monocolored deck, though some two color with extreme budget mana bases and a heavy skew to one color may fit the bill.
I think it is a fine draw engine for monocolored decks in red, green, and white though.
August 20, 2018 4:02 a.m.
Gidgetimer: You can get away with a lot less if you're supplimenting your basic count with cards like Terramorphic Expanse, Evolving Wilds, Ash Barrens, the panorama, etc. There are enough budget fetch options these days to to make it work. But yeah, these are pretty much counted as basics in a lot of lists.
August 20, 2018 8:48 a.m.
It's mostly a card for Boros, mono white or mono red decks because there are not enough quality options to draw cards cheaply or repeatedly in those colors.
The other three colors have so many better options for card advantage that I expect it to show up almost exclusively in Red/White colored decks. That said you really do still need a lot of the same basic (or cards that find them like fetch lands) for the Atlas to be worth running at all...probably at least 15-20. Casting it but not being able to activate it for a long time would be such a bummer, and could easily make you lose the game. As a result the opportunity cost feels too high to run the Atlas in almost any multicolored deck. You are usually better off with more reliable card advantage spells. Unless there are no alternatives available in your slice of the color pie, it's simply not that great. Careful consideration is definitely required when adding this card to your random EDH deck since it's not even going to work in most decks.
August 20, 2018 11:13 a.m.
Even in two colors I don't feel the cost would be that terrible to make it worthwhile, especially if you are on a budget. Evolving Wilds/Terramorphic Expanse, Ash Barrens, the slow fetches, Panoramas, Myriad Landscape, Armillary Sphere, Wayfarer's Bauble, Solemn Simulacrum and your on-color Landcyclers all give you options to get basics onto the field.
August 20, 2018 5:58 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #8
I think people may have been missing the point on my statement that it would take 24 lands with the same name to be worth while. I am aware of Terramorphic Expanse et al. And they are how I got to 25% of the deck needing to be seen before you turned on the atlas with 10 basics.
I guess I should have said "24 of a basic or ways to find it". The thing is that with 12 virtual copies of a basic you need to get 1/4 of them out. Ergo you need to see on average 1/4 of the deck. This is 25 cards, or 18 turns with no extra draws. Even if you run 5 virtual copies instead of the 2 I figured on, it is still 20 cards. I figure that you would need 24 virtual copies to make it worth while. This puts it at 1/8 of the deck on average seen to turn it on. This is turn 5.5 assuming no extra draws when you can start activating it. And even then it is a 4 mana cantrip and won't generate advantage for another turn.
I think the card has a good place in mono-colored decks that are not blue or black. I don't feel the card generates enough advantage to change your deck building to accommodate it. So if you have 24 virtual copies of a single basic in a multicolored deck it can be fine, but I have a hard time imagining a deck that does.
enpc says... #2
Was looking at this card the other day. Seem strong in a monocoloured deck, yeah. However I think that even a dual colour deck would struggle a bit unless it had a really basic heavy land base.
Seems like a good "Paradox Engine in any colour" enabler.
August 19, 2018 11:29 p.m.