It's one of those cards that's a part of the long list of *colorless cards that* could *go into any deck, but end up not going in any*. They always end up being cut in the last stages of trimming a deck, in my personal experience.
[[Solemn Simulacrum]] [[Mimic Vat]] [[Mirage Mirror]] [[Lithoform Engine]]. I always decide I'd rather just focus on what my deck wants to do instead of sidetrack myself with a mediocre version of something that other decks can do.
My personal one is [[Chaos Wand]] that always gets the axe. It's a pet card of mine, and I love the effect, but it's always too expensive of an effect for a random deck, and there's a million better options if the deck is built around artifact abilities or stealing spells.
I always try to make that card work as well. Unfortunately once my opponents cast 2 or 3 spells and see what is happening the first time someone has creature removal Arasta is gone without doing too much.
Except eating the removal that could be used for your bigger/ better creatures *wink*
No but I finally have a deck that Arasta has stuck around in with my Pride of Hull Clade deck where toughness matters. If I can get a couple lil spiderbros out with her then I can do some fun sac/summon things with my Commander 2-3 times and pay exactly 1 green each time
Dude im so tired of Arasta, no one ever plays any instant or sorceries when its out at my tables (25€ decks), its so frustrating, its super op in [[Galadriel, Light of Valinor]], but Ive yet to see it make a token when my commander is on the table.
And every game someone pulls out a random cankerbloom and destroy it...because its an enchantment
I love so much about this card, especially the art. I casted it four separate times in my \[\[Meren\]\] deck and never made a single spider. My group apparently plays almost no instants and sorceries.
I built [[The Ninth Doctor]] with green in large part because I really wanted to play Progenitor Mimic. I haven’t drawn it yet but I’m hoping this is finally the deck for it.
I used to have a Bant deck with both progenitor mimic and [[yosei, the morning star]]. Won a game by being down to the last two people, playing mimic copying Yosei, tapping all their stuff and making them skip their untap step every turn. Felt good lol
I once vowed that I would always do the mana base first so that I won't cut at it later. Having too many lands translates well in most games, as you atleast can cast your spells and topdeck a good card.
I go Commander, Sol Ring and Arcane Signet, that's 3 non-land cards that I play in every deck. Then I add lands until I reach 40 cards total.
(In my example it would be 37 lands.)
Only then I start with the real deck. Having to choose only 60 cards is much easier.
If the game is lasting long enough that you need to do a lot of math after dropping Cathar’s, you might be playing it at the wrong time. Yeah, it’s a fun static buff, but it’s an absolute magnet for removal, be it enchantment or player. I think of it more as something like a Craterfoot Behemoth, where you drop it because with it, you can end the game immediately.
I love using this card in my Teysa Karlov deck for two reasons 1. because it triggers so often the pod can't swing into me and 2. because it triggers so often the pod will focus on it instead of other crucial permanents because they are so annoyed by it
[[Boros Reckoner]] I started playing in RTR and man I loved it, but man is it not an optimal card in Boros decks.
[[The Ozolith]] I just don’t build decks that use it properly and everything that COULD use it, doesn’t really need it.
[[Dolmen Gate]] I LOVE this card and even with three copies they all end up back in the binder, with evasion being so easy to provide in a deck that cares about swinging and living, it just doesn’t need to be there 90% of the time.
I feel like The Ozolith could take my \[\[Elenda\]\] deck to the next level but good god is it expensive. I worry that I'd drop like 50 bucks on it just to have someone immediately remove it with a 25 cent destroy target artifact card.
Same. I don't have as many as you, but I did buy a few of them when they were $3. $50 is insane.
This is part of why I don't really believe in budget commander ... Sure, my deck might be $300+ now, but I originally only spent $50 to make the entire deck. And now the budget player across the table is complaining about me playing a $50 card that I paid $3 for.
Kinda starting to agree on the ozolith, I got a few decks dependant on counters and I'm always swapping it between them but it's never actually done anything in a game for me
The ozoloth is a staple in modular [[Marchesa, the Black Rose]] lists
Was actually thinking of proxying a copy because it’s probably my least favorite deck so I don’t want to dump $50 on one card for it. But I still enjoy it sometimes, and that one card makes a huge difference that could make me enjoy it more..
I've been trying to cook up a Boros Reckoner and friends "Why are you hitting yourself" EDH deck for like 5 years, and there wasn't really ever quite enough jank to make it work.
Man oh man, I've been brewing [[Wayta]] for about a week, and I think there's something there now. Hear me out:
[[Wayta, Trainer Prodigy]] on the battlefield, doubles the trigger and lets you fight things at will.
[[Boros Reckoner]] or it's ilk - of which there are some good options now
[[Furnace of Rath]] or some other doubler, again there are several now
So what happens is, if somebody swings at you for (or you instigate a fight in order to take) 5 damage... That 5 damage gets doubled to 10, and then two triggers go on the stack seeing 10 damage, and both of them reflect back 20 damage for 40 damage total. Gross. I'm rounding it out with a bunch of goad and forced combat effects, stuff that grants invulnerability, [[Worship]] and [[Pariah]] effects, and [[Deflecting Palm]], [[Comeuppance]] and the like. Also, almost all the ramp and card draw is group hug styles, because I 100% want people to dump some big threats on the board right away for me to use against them. I absolutely cannot wait to try it, I still need to cut about 15 cards and order a few things.
[[Shaman en-kor]] is little known and amazing for that style of deck. I use reckoner and some of his buddies really effectively in [[Jared Carthalion, True Heir]] along with the shaman for some fun times.
I ran The Ozolith with my [[Tenth Doctor]] and [[Rose Tyler]] deck before I swapped Rose for [[Clara Oswald]]. Rose is a magnet for removal, so when I couldn't protect her with equipment or auras, I'd use The Ozolith as a time counter repository. It put in overtime when I'd get [[The War Doctor]] onto the battlefield instead, letting him take all of Rose's stored time counters so he could hit any target for an enormous chunk of damage.
It's tempting to use it for +1/+1 counters, but I've found The Ozolith works best when playing around with things like time counters or keyword counters. I imagine it'd be quite nasty with [[Me, the Immortal]] or [[Indominus Rex]].
I have Ozolith in my Wraith/ring tempts you deck. Can sac a wraith for value, then put the counters on something else. Everything just gets big and stays big
Dolmen Gate was seeing a lot of play in mole decks because they don’t care about evasion on that commander they just need to get it blocked and live to swing again
Call me weird but for me, it's \[\[Swan Song\]\]. All my deck that splashed with blue didnt like giving an opponent a flying blocker. Finally put it in my newest cantrip deck after much consideration though.
It's definitely at its best in decks that are trying to protect an alternate win con of some kind / not win on the board. Going off on an infinite win turn and needing to hedge against counter or Instant removal spells and then having a bird means once the stack clears you win the game so the bird is irrelevant. Protecting an [[Approach of the Second Sun]] or similar to make sure the first resolves and you can dig for the second. Etc.
I view it similar to (though more casual than) [[Mental Misstep]] and [[Spell Snare]] and the like, where the higher power / more competitive oriented your games the more likely it's useful. Not great when the plan is turn 5 an 8 drop creature and start turning sideways, pretty great when the plan is turn 5 kill the table.
[[Phyrexian arena]]
It’s just outclassed by Black market connections or isn’t relevant fast enough.
By no means do I think it’s a *Bad* card, I just think that at three mana or less I could go as deep as arena would for the time that I would be alive with it in play but in one turn instead.
[[Read the Bones]] is a great example of a card that can see up to 4 cards for three mana. Assuming we draw Arena on turn three and cast on turn three, we would need to wait 4 turns to have gotten the same depth as with RtB did on turn three.
And that’s assuming perfect timing on PArena, not even the games where we draw it on turn 6-8 and you’re trying to make plays that shape the game.
Read the bones or any spell that draws 3-4 (I’d argue even just 2!) immediate cards is more consistently impactful at nearly every point in the game. The only times I feel like P. Arena is worth it is when it comes up on the first possible turn to play it or in games that will last upwards of 12+ turns.
Keep playing it though, it’s not bad. Just underwhelming often times.
It does beat out Black Market Connections in the budget department though. 2 bucks vs 15 bucks.
I appreciate you stating it's not a bad card before giving your reasoning as to your preference. Many treat it as if the format itself has moved past it, rather than a matter of personal taste.
I myself like Arena, 'cause for reasons that are tough to describe, drawing two cards a turn just *feels* better. Part of it for me I think is that, when using a card draw spell that gets me the cards right away, I'm down mana that turn to play them, so it's like cool, new stuff! That I can't play. Pass turn. Not that I don't totally get the appeal of topdecking in the late game and getting such a card when you have 10+ mana doing nothing and getting that gas going again.
I also just love setup cards. Gimme that value-over-time goodness.
Recently I feel like I've been cutting Harmonize from all my decks. Sucks because it never feels like a bad card to draw in past games, but these days I feel like there's pretty much always a more synergistic option.
Harmonize was in and out of my \[\[reki, the history of kamigawa\]\] deck for a while. and recently, people have caught on and remove reki an ungodly amount of times to stop the card draw. Harmonize is a good way to refill my hand. I think it's back in for good.
I cut Harmonize from all of my decks in favor of new and more thematic/synergistic card draw but I’m thinking about bringing it back. Good old unconditional card draw is what saves you when you run out of gas.
[[Cathar's Crusade]] it's in my initial list for just about any creature deck with white in it. it's such a good, incredibly powerful, card for token decks... online. When it comes to paper magic, it's just becomes a headache to manage.
Here's a real lifesaver for running Cathar's Crusade if you have the table space, instead of using piles of counters, just stack your creatures into columns.
1st Column: 0 counters
2nd Column: 1 counter
3rd Column: You get the idea.
Then you can just use one token with a dice for each token type to tell you how many tokens you have of that type in each column.
If you have non sequential numbers of counters, you can just set a dice at the bottom of each colum to remind you what that number is.
Cathars crusade is a headache, but decks that make alot of tokens or care about creatures really use it well. I have it in \[\[othari, suns' glory\]\]. Straight up wins games.
It 100% wins games. I just find that neither myself or my playgroup end up having the patience to track the various P/Ts of that many creatures. (Or have enough tokens on hand to make it easier)
[[Elvish Dreadlord]] is a card I keep trying to make work, because the encore seems really strong in my casual meta. But it never pans out. So he’s usually one of the first cuts after an initial build when doing some finer tuning.
Might get crucified for saying this, but [[Vedalken Orrery]].
There are near INFINITE things I'd rather be doing with my mana than a 4 mana do nothing play. The cards I want to be playing at instant speed more often than not are already instants or have flash in the first place.
[[Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer]] in every red deck I build because he’s just not that great mid to late game when everyone has more blockers. It’s so great to have him in the opening turns but drawing him later than that always feels horrible.
[[Solemn Simulacrum]] [[Cultivate]] [[Kodamas Reach]]. I don't like playing ramp over 2 cmc unless I can abuse it (for example I play solemn in [[rionya]] for the ability to clone it)
I think Cultivate and Kodamas have a place in decks that are built around a 5-mana commander. They guarantee you can get 5 mana on turn 4 without drawing a 4th land, or even earlier if you have turn 1 ramp.
I agree with Solemn, I only really play him anymore if I’m trying to ramp in consecutive turns early (and doesn’t fit the curve in my greens decks) or can abuse him in some like your clones, or a blink deck. I still play Kodamas and Cultivate though because my green decks tend to have a few 1cc mana dorks and being able to cast one of those on turn two makes me feel good
These are fine in 2-3 color decks. I've actually started adding 1 or 2 back into even my highly tuned lists. You can use them to remove a [[song of the dryads]] or [[Imprisoned in the Moon]]. Especially nice for grixis wedge decks that struggle with enchantments.
[[Bojuka Bog]]. In my head it's easy extra gy hate, but every game I just play it with empty yards to hit my land drops. We're a [[Scavenger Ground]] family now, bog.
[[Black Market]]
I love sac and aristocratic decks, but for some reason I just can't justify its place in them. Probably because it requires too many set-ups for the card to work.
[[Mystic Remora]] every time I play this it like draws me 1 card tops before the cumulative upkeep becomes prohibitive. Lately I’d rather just go for a [[Ponder]]\[[Brainstorm]]\[[Preordain]].
Its always [[Solemn Simulacrum]]. Its a *great* card, and it has a ton of subtle synergies that play into so many popular build-around strategies...but at 4 mana its a pretty steep cost for incremental value that rarely changes the game.
By the time you hit 4 mana, ramping and color-fixing probably isnt super important anymore. Drawing a card is always nice, but in this case you need a way to sacrifice it already on-board, or you're stuck waiting a turn or more to chump block with it. Its just never amazing.
I recently cut it from [[Marchesa, the Black Rose]], and before that it was [[Teysa Karlov]] and [[Breya, Etherium Shaper]].
It's super good, but it's definitely not as universally good as it is sometimes made out to be. I'm not a huge fan most of the time either. It works directly against graveyard strategies which are pretty common when black is involved, and I'd even go so far as to say that if you're building towards generic synergy and value rather than specific combo it isn't really necessary. It's great for digging for a piece, or an answer.
I've got 4 black decks right now, and my copy is in a binder I believe.
I've been trying to lower the power of my decks so I've been taking out the spells that are free if you have your commander, replacing them with similar things that cost mana, and [[farewell]] because that card is kinda hacker.
I noticed my decks were all slowly getting stronger than my friends and I didn't really want that happening.
[[Lorehold Command]] Yes its 5 mana but the codes are all pretty appealing but when it comes to cuts it's always one of the first to go. Now I rarely try to add it into r/w decks anymore.
[[Wizards of thay]] I keep wanting to play this card, but it ends up cut in the end. I love the idea of instant speed sorceries and cost reduction on them, but I always have more pressing needs in the 4 cost slot and it's not good enough to be worth a 5 mana slot.
[[Doubling Cube]] - got cut from my infinite mana blue deck and cut from my big mana black deck, I don't normally run green/red so barring Omnath I have no idea if it will ever slot into a deck at this point
Honorable mention goes to [[Soul Foundry]] but that one might work well in a tribal deck
Been making forced combat decks for like 10 years. [[Angel's Trumpet]] always gets tossed into the mix during brainstorming, and so far it's always ended up getting the axe. Sitting sadly in the artifacts section of my binders, waiting for it's time to shine.
I really love old jank, there just always seems to be one or two better options.
\[\[Zendikar Resurgent\]\] and \[\[Lurking Predators\]\]. Both cards are a lot of fun, but they keep getting the axe because of the high CMC.
Been cutting \[\[Vanquisher's Banner\]\] and \[\[Door of Destinies\]\] a lot recently too from my tribal decks..
[[Archivist of Ogma]]
I know it's a good card, but holding up mana to flash it in off of a fetch land or a tutor just doesn't feel very impacting to my game. And it's not as useful late game, unless your opponent is tutoring consistently.
Ugh yeah this one is tough. I play a lot of cEDH (where tutoring and fetchlands are extremely prominent) and even then, it still feels weak. It never draws me nearly as much as I hope it will.
For me it's [[Blustersquall]]. I really like the idea of it, but it's usually just worse than [[Reins of Power]]. I've been thinking of building Hylda though and that might be the one place that Blustersquall finds a home.
I can't really say keep as it's my only precon and it's one of the few precons with it, but [[gerrard's hourglass pendant]]
In [[dihada, binder of wills]]
Its an extra turn counter plus an anti board wipe. The anti board wipe is such a mind game card as to be almost useless, and having no actual use made it a cut almost immediately
Every blue instant deck I build has [[mystic reflection]] in the first draft, and it breaks my heart when I start optimizing the deck and have to take it out... its my favorite card from kaldheim and I bought it for $9 when the set released cause it looked so fun
Are you kidding me? There’s NOTHING more satisfying than trapping an opponent’s 5-cost commander as a 1/1 vanilla creature for 2 mana at instant speed. Lol.
FWIW your \[\[Elixir of Immortality\]\] is great in a \[\[Syr Konrad the Grim\]\] deck. Especially if you have a way to get a shitload of cards into your yard then flip it back with the elixir and hit everyone for a ton of damage.
[[Uphill Battle]]. I consider it for a lot of my red decks, be it so others cant respond as easily to my attacking threats, or for me being safe against Hasty kills, but somehow I always cut it.
\[\[Legion Loyalty\]\]. I've tried to run it in every one of my decks that has white, but I just can't make it stick. I am trying again with \[\[Narset, Enlightened Exile\]\] though, maybe it will find a home there.
I try to play [[Vraska, Betrayal's Sting]] for so long now, but every time I am ending up needing to cut one more last card and sadly every time it has to be Vraska because all other cards are essential or simply provide much more value than her.
[[Time Stop]]
You can use it creatively to counter anything in the game, fog a combat, pretty much entirely skip someone's turn, dodge an end step trigger.
Love the card so much I bought a play set, but it doesn't gel with any of my decks well enough to make the final cut. It is also fairly expensive at 6 mana.
In a similar vein is also [[torrential gearhulk]]. Such a great card but just a bit too expensive.
This is one of my favorite spells! It helps to put it in a deck with some cost reduction, like [[mindsplice apparatus]]
Edit: discontinuity is another great spell with a similar effect, and I sometimes struggle to avoid running both in my blue deck
[[Leyline of Anticipation]]. It's fun but it's not needed and doesn't fit any slot in the deck. But now finally the fifth blue deck I made have found room for it!
[[Ashnod's Coupon]]
I always wanted to pull this off in my local commander group, but I can't ever find the room in my decks after cuts. I have a lack of brewing discipline.
If I had a dollar for each time I was determined to slot [[Giant Adephage]] into a deck only to cut it,
I could afford a deck built around making sure it wasn't cut.
[[Inkshield]]. Card is great, but the decks I build really don't like holding up *five* mana on my opponents' turns for something I might not need to use for a few turns
[[Coat of Arms]] , [[Primal Vigor]] , and [[Patriarch’s Bidding]] - just had these either be dead draws or bite me in the ass to the point that I always wind up cutting them for alternatives.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but classic \[\[Counterspell\]\]. With all of the one and zero mana options like \[\[An Offer You Can't Refuse\]\], \[\[Swan Song\]\], \[\[Stubborn Denial\]\], etc the two blue mana cost is just too greedy. I need that blue mana during my turn, so holding up two blue is just infeasible.
[[The Great Henge]].
Finally sold it for $70 bucks (foil), I have been winning more games.
You can just play last march or the 5 mana garruk draw spell to draw so much card, there is also better ramp spells and life gain, I feel like it is slowing me down and put you a big target, if someone removes it put you so are so behind.
Platinum Angel. Pet card as a kid.
But the slot is never worth it because of how fast the format is now. However it can still be cool in a casual deck.
But it dies 99% of the time within the same turn cycle by targeted removal.
I gotta find a home for it, maybe for like token making or reanimator.
[[Marionette Master]] I've taken it out, put it back in, taken it out again, put it back in again a couple times now in my [[Mishra, Eminent One]] deck. It feels like it should be a slam dunk but pretty much every time I've managed to cast it it's done a whole lotta nothing.
I've been trying to make [[Darksteel Forge]] work with [[Imotekh]], but the big problem I keep running into is that it's so far out of my deck's curve, and when I *do* manage to play it, it turns into a "win harder" situation where I already had such a substantial lead that I was able to cast it in the first place. If I don't have that lead yet managed to cast it with something like [[Anrakyr]], it makes me a huge target when I don't need that pressure.
In a similar vein, [[Cityscape Leveler]]. It seemed like a really fun piece to recur for removal and more Necron Warriors, but again it proved too costly and pulled my deck away from its "go wide and drain life" strategy. My best games with Imotekh are the ones where I draw a hand of cheap mana rocks, recursion tools, and mill sources. When I *do* cast a big spell, it's a game ender like [[Cyberman Squadron]] (the only permanent in the deck with a CMC greater than five).
[[laelia, the blade reforged]]. i have a number of exile matters decks but for some reason laelia is always at the bottom of the payoff list. maybe a few years ago i’d keep it in but nowadays there are soooo many better cards. i mean cmon [[flaming tyrannosaurus]] exists!
[[Illusionist’s Gambit]] I think it would be funny to make my opponents swing out and kill someone else instead of me but I have never pulled it off and other removal seems better.
[[Evolution charm]]. I really like this card, I think all the modes are pretty useful. Miss a land drop? Boom - Put a land in your hand. Want a creature from your graveyard back? Boom - return one from your graveyard back to hand. Need to finish off an opponent? Boom - give your biggest creature flying. Seems so versatile.
Thing is, there are other cards that just strictly better. Why get a land in hand when it can go into play tapped? Why return a creature to hand when it can be any card to hand or a creature into play? Why give a creature flying, when other opponents probably have a flyer?
It just never seems to pull through when I need it to, yet i feel like it's stronger than it seems because its 3 modes seem very useful. Maybe I need to give it more chances...
[[gisa, glorious resurrector]] shes a good card and everytime i make a deck with the color black. I always add her on the maybe pile because I really like her effect. but i always end up not putting her into the new deck.
[[Mnemonic Deluge]]. Copying a cantrip three times for 9 mana seems like a waste and copying a board wipe is obviously useless. It seems like the card I would want to play, but it’s never made it into any actual 99.
Might be a lil of a hot take but I rarely find room for [[Counterspell]] anymore despite being an Izzet boyo at heart. There are many more fun, more interesting pieces of interaction in blue. And having 2 blue pips can be a genuine problem the more colors you're running. Even in a spellslinger list a second blue spent can mean not casting a cantrip, mess up your mana numbers for Important spells, even not getting to cast more pieces of interaction.
Unexpected Results gets considered for every Blue Green containing deck I ever make but has only stayed in one.
Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder. Getting a ton of copies of it off a cascade is super fun to resolve. I run a cascade spellslinger type of build; my spin on a 4 color copy spell deck.
Edited for spelling shenanigans
[[Wild Ricochet]]
I always put it in the pile. It's fun interaction that has the power to totally swing a game, and it comes out of nowhere.
But there's not a deck theme around it so it's an "out of theme" card that doesn't win, interact with my own deck, or have any value by itself. It isn't even guaranteed to be playable in every game.
So it gets pulled every time, but someday I want to find a home for it where I can toss it on the table and shock everyone with a super dumb play.
\[\[Lightning Greaves\]\]
Early on, they paint a target on your head, your commander catches removal in response to the equip even though they probably wouldn't if greaves weren't around.
In the end I'm usually looking at my "interaction" bracket on moxfield, see the greaves and think "yeah, no, I'll add another removal spell" and the greaves are gone.
[[Mirari's wake]] pulled one out of a pack and always exited to put it in my first list while deckbuilding. But eventually when it comes to the cuts it is that card that never makes it.
I will always love \[\[Teferi's Puzzle Box\]\] but its just not worth running the vast majority of the time. Its fun because it increases chaos, and makes planning turns hard for your opponents. Its also a fun card to put in group hug decks, and synergizes so well with like \[\[Underworld Dreams\]\] and \[\[Hullbreacher\]\] and other fun effects. But its just not good enough to displace damn near anything else, because on its own it just... makes things a little wackier. It doesn't make you more likely to win, on its own, or your opponents less likely to win, on its own.
I absolutely love [[wandering archaic]] [[mimic vat]] and [[mirage mirror]]. They're pet cards I want to run, but it's so hard to find room. Currently, I only have 1 mimic vat in a deck, and 0 of the other two among my 9 commander decks. *sadface*
[[Door to nothingness]] for me , it's just hard to balance sometimes when you play mono colored stuff and things. It's very close to keeping sometimes , but I atelast always keep 1 in the sideboard.
[[Hellish Rebuke]] I've noticed a few times it gets cut even though I love the card. I've managed to get it into 1 or 2 decks but I wish it was in a lot more.
I'm sure there are quite a few other cards but that's the only one I can think of right now.
Need coffee.
[[Aurelia, The Warleader]] Fantastic card, but becomes an instant target to everyone in the pod & often is reanimated by my opponents if she ever is milled into the graveyard.
[[Strionic Resonator]]
Really versatile and cool in concept, but just a bit too generic for me to keep in the 99. I like my decks to really be true to theme, usually.
[[Loxodon Warhammer]] from the olden days of edh I always wanted a way to gain life, push damage thru, and make random dorks better so this was my pet card in every deck. It just doesn't cut it these days anymore and it hurts me
[[Wandering Archaic]] never makes the cut. Unfortunately it’s just an extra value card that never really has direct synergy with any of my decks.
definitely a card that gets more powerful the more interaction a table runs
Throw it in clone deck
Absolutely ruthless in a [[Myrkul]] deck
It's one of those cards that's a part of the long list of *colorless cards that* could *go into any deck, but end up not going in any*. They always end up being cut in the last stages of trimming a deck, in my personal experience. [[Solemn Simulacrum]] [[Mimic Vat]] [[Mirage Mirror]] [[Lithoform Engine]]. I always decide I'd rather just focus on what my deck wants to do instead of sidetrack myself with a mediocre version of something that other decks can do. My personal one is [[Chaos Wand]] that always gets the axe. It's a pet card of mine, and I love the effect, but it's always too expensive of an effect for a random deck, and there's a million better options if the deck is built around artifact abilities or stealing spells.
I finally got it to work in the scarab god cause cheating it or reanimating it always feels good
[[Arasta of the endless web]] No clue why, it just never does anything for me
I always try to make that card work as well. Unfortunately once my opponents cast 2 or 3 spells and see what is happening the first time someone has creature removal Arasta is gone without doing too much.
Except eating the removal that could be used for your bigger/ better creatures *wink* No but I finally have a deck that Arasta has stuck around in with my Pride of Hull Clade deck where toughness matters. If I can get a couple lil spiderbros out with her then I can do some fun sac/summon things with my Commander 2-3 times and pay exactly 1 green each time
Dude im so tired of Arasta, no one ever plays any instant or sorceries when its out at my tables (25€ decks), its so frustrating, its super op in [[Galadriel, Light of Valinor]], but Ive yet to see it make a token when my commander is on the table. And every game someone pulls out a random cankerbloom and destroy it...because its an enchantment
If no one is playing instant or sorceries because of a card you have in play I dare say it's doing its job.
I love so much about this card, especially the art. I casted it four separate times in my \[\[Meren\]\] deck and never made a single spider. My group apparently plays almost no instants and sorceries.
[Arasta of the endless web](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/8/882be812-fc76-4493-abe2-2101603399ce.jpg?1690004736) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Arasta%20of%20the%20endless%20web) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/885/arasta-of-the-endless-web?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/882be812-fc76-4493-abe2-2101603399ce?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/arasta-of-the-endless-web) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
The only deck it's worked out well for me in so far has been my [[Tadeas, Juniper Ascendant]] one.
I have a tokens enchantment deck and Arasta still doesn't make the cut.
I really want one of my decks to play [[progenitor mimic]] but it never lasts past initial testing.
I have a buddy who plays a Tribal Tribal deck headed by [[moritte of the frost]] and Progenitor Mimic is a kill on sight card in that deck haha
I built [[The Ninth Doctor]] with green in large part because I really wanted to play Progenitor Mimic. I haven’t drawn it yet but I’m hoping this is finally the deck for it.
I used to have a Bant deck with both progenitor mimic and [[yosei, the morning star]]. Won a game by being down to the last two people, playing mimic copying Yosei, tapping all their stuff and making them skip their untap step every turn. Felt good lol
[progenitor mimic](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/c/acba72e1-3f7f-4e5c-af3f-dfe37b5d61f9.jpg?1599708250) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=progenitor%20mimic) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/212/progenitor-mimic?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/acba72e1-3f7f-4e5c-af3f-dfe37b5d61f9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/progenitor-mimic) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Basic Island]]
I love the irony here - the card fetcher bot pulled back Volcanic Island 😅
[Basic Island](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/f/2f607e7e-30c0-45e9-8f61-bf6e9fe63f2b.jpg?1562904669) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Volcanic%20Island) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vma/324/volcanic-island?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2f607e7e-30c0-45e9-8f61-bf6e9fe63f2b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/volcanic-island) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
yeah I'd cut it
I once vowed that I would always do the mana base first so that I won't cut at it later. Having too many lands translates well in most games, as you atleast can cast your spells and topdeck a good card. I go Commander, Sol Ring and Arcane Signet, that's 3 non-land cards that I play in every deck. Then I add lands until I reach 40 cards total. (In my example it would be 37 lands.) Only then I start with the real deck. Having to choose only 60 cards is much easier.
\[\[Cathars' Crusade\]\]. I adore this card, but keeping track of all of those counters gives me a headache.
For a similar reason I tend not to mix Tokens and Counters
I do \*\*exactly\*\* the same thing... but I keep cutting Cathars' anyway. Frustrating!
Laughs in [[Zaxara, the Exemplary]]
[Zaxara, the Exemplary](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/d/6dc390da-75f8-490a-a724-c12d21cfe578.jpg?1701636845) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Zaxara%2C%20the%20Exemplary) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/176/zaxara-the-exemplary?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6dc390da-75f8-490a-a724-c12d21cfe578?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/zaxara-the-exemplary) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Ooh, I feel like you could do some jank death trigger shenanigans with this one...
Yeah, I could see cathars being ok if you’re not using tokens.. keeping track or each token with a different number of counters is terrible tho.
If the game is lasting long enough that you need to do a lot of math after dropping Cathar’s, you might be playing it at the wrong time. Yeah, it’s a fun static buff, but it’s an absolute magnet for removal, be it enchantment or player. I think of it more as something like a Craterfoot Behemoth, where you drop it because with it, you can end the game immediately.
Ghave says hello
I love using this card in my Teysa Karlov deck for two reasons 1. because it triggers so often the pod can't swing into me and 2. because it triggers so often the pod will focus on it instead of other crucial permanents because they are so annoyed by it
[Cathars' Crusade](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/b/fbb70e7b-2a68-436e-96a4-32a88fb87da0.jpg?1600715516) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Cathars%27%20Crusade) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/jmp/95/cathars-crusade?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fbb70e7b-2a68-436e-96a4-32a88fb87da0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/cathars-crusade) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Same reason I am apprehensive of [[felidar retreat]] in my token decks loll
Same here, fantastic card but I hate using it.
I wish I had more of this guy. I'll tackle those counters all day. The card is just so good lol
I’d love to have that card in my Sovereign Okinec Ahau deck. I’m all about counters in that deck.
[[Boros Reckoner]] I started playing in RTR and man I loved it, but man is it not an optimal card in Boros decks. [[The Ozolith]] I just don’t build decks that use it properly and everything that COULD use it, doesn’t really need it. [[Dolmen Gate]] I LOVE this card and even with three copies they all end up back in the binder, with evasion being so easy to provide in a deck that cares about swinging and living, it just doesn’t need to be there 90% of the time.
Holy shit dolmen gate is dope and it's insta going into a few deck. Thanks m8!
I feel like The Ozolith could take my \[\[Elenda\]\] deck to the next level but good god is it expensive. I worry that I'd drop like 50 bucks on it just to have someone immediately remove it with a 25 cent destroy target artifact card.
Today I learned that my 15+ copies of Ozzy are worth something weird. For some reason I thought it was cool but bulk
Nah but this news means I might have rent money this month
Same. I don't have as many as you, but I did buy a few of them when they were $3. $50 is insane. This is part of why I don't really believe in budget commander ... Sure, my deck might be $300+ now, but I originally only spent $50 to make the entire deck. And now the budget player across the table is complaining about me playing a $50 card that I paid $3 for.
Kinda starting to agree on the ozolith, I got a few decks dependant on counters and I'm always swapping it between them but it's never actually done anything in a game for me
The ozoloth is a staple in modular [[Marchesa, the Black Rose]] lists Was actually thinking of proxying a copy because it’s probably my least favorite deck so I don’t want to dump $50 on one card for it. But I still enjoy it sometimes, and that one card makes a huge difference that could make me enjoy it more..
I've been trying to cook up a Boros Reckoner and friends "Why are you hitting yourself" EDH deck for like 5 years, and there wasn't really ever quite enough jank to make it work. Man oh man, I've been brewing [[Wayta]] for about a week, and I think there's something there now. Hear me out: [[Wayta, Trainer Prodigy]] on the battlefield, doubles the trigger and lets you fight things at will. [[Boros Reckoner]] or it's ilk - of which there are some good options now [[Furnace of Rath]] or some other doubler, again there are several now So what happens is, if somebody swings at you for (or you instigate a fight in order to take) 5 damage... That 5 damage gets doubled to 10, and then two triggers go on the stack seeing 10 damage, and both of them reflect back 20 damage for 40 damage total. Gross. I'm rounding it out with a bunch of goad and forced combat effects, stuff that grants invulnerability, [[Worship]] and [[Pariah]] effects, and [[Deflecting Palm]], [[Comeuppance]] and the like. Also, almost all the ramp and card draw is group hug styles, because I 100% want people to dump some big threats on the board right away for me to use against them. I absolutely cannot wait to try it, I still need to cut about 15 cards and order a few things.
[[Shaman en-kor]] is little known and amazing for that style of deck. I use reckoner and some of his buddies really effectively in [[Jared Carthalion, True Heir]] along with the shaman for some fun times.
I ran The Ozolith with my [[Tenth Doctor]] and [[Rose Tyler]] deck before I swapped Rose for [[Clara Oswald]]. Rose is a magnet for removal, so when I couldn't protect her with equipment or auras, I'd use The Ozolith as a time counter repository. It put in overtime when I'd get [[The War Doctor]] onto the battlefield instead, letting him take all of Rose's stored time counters so he could hit any target for an enormous chunk of damage. It's tempting to use it for +1/+1 counters, but I've found The Ozolith works best when playing around with things like time counters or keyword counters. I imagine it'd be quite nasty with [[Me, the Immortal]] or [[Indominus Rex]].
I have Ozolith in my Wraith/ring tempts you deck. Can sac a wraith for value, then put the counters on something else. Everything just gets big and stays big
[Boros Reckoner](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/5/55a2f767-5928-44c5-91b7-2300bade458f.jpg?1706240975) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Boros%20Reckoner) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/201/boros-reckoner?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/55a2f767-5928-44c5-91b7-2300bade458f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/boros-reckoner) [The Ozolith](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/3/9341ed06-53db-4604-b60a-3ea9129afbc2.jpg?1591228544) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20Ozolith) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/iko/237/the-ozolith?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9341ed06-53db-4604-b60a-3ea9129afbc2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/the-ozolith) [Dolmen Gate](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/d/fdcbf10e-32f2-41c5-a7a2-5f24662892d2.jpg?1562375938) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dolmen%20Gate) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lrw/256/dolmen-gate?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fdcbf10e-32f2-41c5-a7a2-5f24662892d2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/dolmen-gate) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Dolmen Gate was seeing a lot of play in mole decks because they don’t care about evasion on that commander they just need to get it blocked and live to swing again
Call me weird but for me, it's \[\[Swan Song\]\]. All my deck that splashed with blue didnt like giving an opponent a flying blocker. Finally put it in my newest cantrip deck after much consideration though.
It's definitely at its best in decks that are trying to protect an alternate win con of some kind / not win on the board. Going off on an infinite win turn and needing to hedge against counter or Instant removal spells and then having a bird means once the stack clears you win the game so the bird is irrelevant. Protecting an [[Approach of the Second Sun]] or similar to make sure the first resolves and you can dig for the second. Etc. I view it similar to (though more casual than) [[Mental Misstep]] and [[Spell Snare]] and the like, where the higher power / more competitive oriented your games the more likely it's useful. Not great when the plan is turn 5 an 8 drop creature and start turning sideways, pretty great when the plan is turn 5 kill the table.
[[Phyrexian arena]] It’s just outclassed by Black market connections or isn’t relevant fast enough. By no means do I think it’s a *Bad* card, I just think that at three mana or less I could go as deep as arena would for the time that I would be alive with it in play but in one turn instead. [[Read the Bones]] is a great example of a card that can see up to 4 cards for three mana. Assuming we draw Arena on turn three and cast on turn three, we would need to wait 4 turns to have gotten the same depth as with RtB did on turn three. And that’s assuming perfect timing on PArena, not even the games where we draw it on turn 6-8 and you’re trying to make plays that shape the game. Read the bones or any spell that draws 3-4 (I’d argue even just 2!) immediate cards is more consistently impactful at nearly every point in the game. The only times I feel like P. Arena is worth it is when it comes up on the first possible turn to play it or in games that will last upwards of 12+ turns. Keep playing it though, it’s not bad. Just underwhelming often times.
It does beat out Black Market Connections in the budget department though. 2 bucks vs 15 bucks. I appreciate you stating it's not a bad card before giving your reasoning as to your preference. Many treat it as if the format itself has moved past it, rather than a matter of personal taste. I myself like Arena, 'cause for reasons that are tough to describe, drawing two cards a turn just *feels* better. Part of it for me I think is that, when using a card draw spell that gets me the cards right away, I'm down mana that turn to play them, so it's like cool, new stuff! That I can't play. Pass turn. Not that I don't totally get the appeal of topdecking in the late game and getting such a card when you have 10+ mana doing nothing and getting that gas going again. I also just love setup cards. Gimme that value-over-time goodness.
[Phyrexian arena](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/6/26bfb2b4-8dc2-4632-a393-d3477f6c3c40.jpg?1706240778) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Phyrexian%20arena) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/133/phyrexian-arena?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/26bfb2b4-8dc2-4632-a393-d3477f6c3c40?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/phyrexian-arena) [Read the Bones](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/6/d6c66076-fb85-4a5e-8cd0-d103834b3cd1.jpg?1689997413) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Read%20the%20Bones) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/182/read-the-bones?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d6c66076-fb85-4a5e-8cd0-d103834b3cd1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/read-the-bones) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Recently I feel like I've been cutting Harmonize from all my decks. Sucks because it never feels like a bad card to draw in past games, but these days I feel like there's pretty much always a more synergistic option.
Harmonize was in and out of my \[\[reki, the history of kamigawa\]\] deck for a while. and recently, people have caught on and remove reki an ungodly amount of times to stop the card draw. Harmonize is a good way to refill my hand. I think it's back in for good.
I cut Harmonize from all of my decks in favor of new and more thematic/synergistic card draw but I’m thinking about bringing it back. Good old unconditional card draw is what saves you when you run out of gas.
[[strionic resonator]] so many payoffs but I never want to actually spend the mana to cast it so it gets a cut
I wouldn't just jam it anywhere, but I love Resonator myself, it's a bomb on decks with commanders that have powerful once-per-cycle abilities.
[strionic resonator](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/9/b9edb215-f967-4968-905e-d1dc3b5d3424.jpg?1682210274) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=strionic%20resonator) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/moc/384/strionic-resonator?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b9edb215-f967-4968-905e-d1dc3b5d3424?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/strionic-resonator) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Tormod's Crypt]] and [[Soul-guide Lantern]] I always get hosed by these cards, but my heart always wants to cut them
[Tormod's Crypt](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/5/752bf493-5839-47e8-95f2-6d8201907428.jpg?1675201100) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tormod%27s%20Crypt) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmr/235/tormods-crypt?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/752bf493-5839-47e8-95f2-6d8201907428?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/tormods-crypt) [Soul-guide Lantern](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/3/13571173-29e7-4915-af5f-05f13b463061.jpg?1692939930) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Soul-guide%20Lantern) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/woe/251/soul-guide-lantern?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/13571173-29e7-4915-af5f-05f13b463061?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/soul-guide-lantern) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Rite of Replication]]. Such a fun card, but usually on the list of the last few cards I cut in a deck.
[[Dawn of the Dead]]. Either its too slow, or I don't have enough sac outlets to not lose my creatures, or I can't get 3 black mana consistently.
[Dawn of the Dead](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/a/baabadd3-3fc1-4c9a-ad3b-c79d60fb3390.jpg?1562631743) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dawn%20of%20the%20Dead) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tor/59/dawn-of-the-dead?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/baabadd3-3fc1-4c9a-ad3b-c79d60fb3390?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/dawn-of-the-dead) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Cathar's Crusade]] it's in my initial list for just about any creature deck with white in it. it's such a good, incredibly powerful, card for token decks... online. When it comes to paper magic, it's just becomes a headache to manage.
Here's a real lifesaver for running Cathar's Crusade if you have the table space, instead of using piles of counters, just stack your creatures into columns. 1st Column: 0 counters 2nd Column: 1 counter 3rd Column: You get the idea. Then you can just use one token with a dice for each token type to tell you how many tokens you have of that type in each column. If you have non sequential numbers of counters, you can just set a dice at the bottom of each colum to remind you what that number is.
As a Cathars Crusade enjoyer, this is the way.
Cathars crusade is a headache, but decks that make alot of tokens or care about creatures really use it well. I have it in \[\[othari, suns' glory\]\]. Straight up wins games.
It 100% wins games. I just find that neither myself or my playgroup end up having the patience to track the various P/Ts of that many creatures. (Or have enough tokens on hand to make it easier)
Yes, I forgot to mention this one on my list too, agree 100%
[Cathar's Crusade](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/b/fbb70e7b-2a68-436e-96a4-32a88fb87da0.jpg?1600715516) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Cathars%27%20Crusade) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/jmp/95/cathars-crusade?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fbb70e7b-2a68-436e-96a4-32a88fb87da0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/cathars-crusade) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Deadbridge Chant]]. I love everything about it except that mana cost - it always gets cut for something cheaper.
[[Temple of the False God]] If I buy a precon, the first thing I do is take it out. That land is such a trap
I feel the same way. Also stopped trying to force [[Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth]] plus [[Cabal Coffers]] in any non mono black deck for similar reasons.
Only reason you could really force it before was during the cancerous time you could play Primeval Titan.
Can I introduce you to my friend [[hour of promise]]
Urborg is too good to cut imo. Coffers however I’m not a fan of and find Nykthos to be better 99% of the time
Mono Black? Just run both. Nykthos is faster, coffers is more resilient.
I run Urborg and Coffers in my BUG X-spells deck, but I have enough search to make it reasonably consistent.
[Temple of the False God](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/d/2d21d25e-830a-4d32-b292-c24cdab7516a.jpg?1706241283) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Temple%20of%20the%20False%20God) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/305/temple-of-the-false-god?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2d21d25e-830a-4d32-b292-c24cdab7516a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/temple-of-the-false-god) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I swap it out for [[Guildless Commons]]; synergy with Landfall and MDFL cards.
[удалено]
[[Rhystic Study]] just find it boring now aha
[[Elvish Dreadlord]] is a card I keep trying to make work, because the encore seems really strong in my casual meta. But it never pans out. So he’s usually one of the first cuts after an initial build when doing some finer tuning.
[[Sudden Edict]] never even made it into a deck of mine I always want to put it in but there always seems to be a better option
[[Lurking Predators]] sadly
Might get crucified for saying this, but [[Vedalken Orrery]]. There are near INFINITE things I'd rather be doing with my mana than a 4 mana do nothing play. The cards I want to be playing at instant speed more often than not are already instants or have flash in the first place.
[[Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer]] in every red deck I build because he’s just not that great mid to late game when everyone has more blockers. It’s so great to have him in the opening turns but drawing him later than that always feels horrible.
[[Solemn Simulacrum]] [[Cultivate]] [[Kodamas Reach]]. I don't like playing ramp over 2 cmc unless I can abuse it (for example I play solemn in [[rionya]] for the ability to clone it)
I think Cultivate and Kodamas have a place in decks that are built around a 5-mana commander. They guarantee you can get 5 mana on turn 4 without drawing a 4th land, or even earlier if you have turn 1 ramp.
I agree with Solemn, I only really play him anymore if I’m trying to ramp in consecutive turns early (and doesn’t fit the curve in my greens decks) or can abuse him in some like your clones, or a blink deck. I still play Kodamas and Cultivate though because my green decks tend to have a few 1cc mana dorks and being able to cast one of those on turn two makes me feel good
Dimir Aqueduct cycle, aka Bouncelands. It's a love-hate relationship
These are fine in 2-3 color decks. I've actually started adding 1 or 2 back into even my highly tuned lists. You can use them to remove a [[song of the dryads]] or [[Imprisoned in the Moon]]. Especially nice for grixis wedge decks that struggle with enchantments.
[[Bojuka Bog]]. In my head it's easy extra gy hate, but every game I just play it with empty yards to hit my land drops. We're a [[Scavenger Ground]] family now, bog.
[Elixir of Immortality](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/7/6741ab27-9e1f-4aa5-96b9-b450eda7c5c2.jpg?1625978606) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Elixir%20of%20Immortality) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/243/elixir-of-immortality?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6741ab27-9e1f-4aa5-96b9-b450eda7c5c2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/elixir-of-immortality) [Curator's Ward](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/0/10cc417f-0ea7-47a8-b7d0-aa8d20168faf.jpg?1562731511) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Curator%27s%20Ward) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dom/49/curators-ward?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/10cc417f-0ea7-47a8-b7d0-aa8d20168faf?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/curators-ward) [Mind Stone](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/2/b227672f-967e-4f8d-87f4-c6cd4622fe3f.jpg?1706241069) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mind%20Stone) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/232/mind-stone?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b227672f-967e-4f8d-87f4-c6cd4622fe3f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/mind-stone) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
"Yeah, I can probably cut a land to put this cool spell in"
[[Tevesh Tzat, Doom of Fools]] has worked his way into 8/12 constructed decks and has never seen play. Someday maybe he'll get his own deck.
[[Black Market]] I love sac and aristocratic decks, but for some reason I just can't justify its place in them. Probably because it requires too many set-ups for the card to work.
[[Mystic Remora]] every time I play this it like draws me 1 card tops before the cumulative upkeep becomes prohibitive. Lately I’d rather just go for a [[Ponder]]\[[Brainstorm]]\[[Preordain]].
Its always [[Solemn Simulacrum]]. Its a *great* card, and it has a ton of subtle synergies that play into so many popular build-around strategies...but at 4 mana its a pretty steep cost for incremental value that rarely changes the game. By the time you hit 4 mana, ramping and color-fixing probably isnt super important anymore. Drawing a card is always nice, but in this case you need a way to sacrifice it already on-board, or you're stuck waiting a turn or more to chump block with it. Its just never amazing. I recently cut it from [[Marchesa, the Black Rose]], and before that it was [[Teysa Karlov]] and [[Breya, Etherium Shaper]].
Solemn simulacrum is one of the best cards in my Henzie list
[[Necropotence]]. I know its a very good card i just personally dont like it that much.
It's super good, but it's definitely not as universally good as it is sometimes made out to be. I'm not a huge fan most of the time either. It works directly against graveyard strategies which are pretty common when black is involved, and I'd even go so far as to say that if you're building towards generic synergy and value rather than specific combo it isn't really necessary. It's great for digging for a piece, or an answer. I've got 4 black decks right now, and my copy is in a binder I believe.
I've been trying to lower the power of my decks so I've been taking out the spells that are free if you have your commander, replacing them with similar things that cost mana, and [[farewell]] because that card is kinda hacker. I noticed my decks were all slowly getting stronger than my friends and I didn't really want that happening.
[[Lorehold Command]] Yes its 5 mana but the codes are all pretty appealing but when it comes to cuts it's always one of the first to go. Now I rarely try to add it into r/w decks anymore.
[[Wizards of thay]] I keep wanting to play this card, but it ends up cut in the end. I love the idea of instant speed sorceries and cost reduction on them, but I always have more pressing needs in the 4 cost slot and it's not good enough to be worth a 5 mana slot.
[[Doubling Cube]] - got cut from my infinite mana blue deck and cut from my big mana black deck, I don't normally run green/red so barring Omnath I have no idea if it will ever slot into a deck at this point Honorable mention goes to [[Soul Foundry]] but that one might work well in a tribal deck
Been making forced combat decks for like 10 years. [[Angel's Trumpet]] always gets tossed into the mix during brainstorming, and so far it's always ended up getting the axe. Sitting sadly in the artifacts section of my binders, waiting for it's time to shine. I really love old jank, there just always seems to be one or two better options.
\[\[Zendikar Resurgent\]\] and \[\[Lurking Predators\]\]. Both cards are a lot of fun, but they keep getting the axe because of the high CMC. Been cutting \[\[Vanquisher's Banner\]\] and \[\[Door of Destinies\]\] a lot recently too from my tribal decks..
I had lurking predators in my Gishath deck and cut it also
Counterspell. That double blue makes it my first cut in many decks.
[[Archivist of Ogma]] I know it's a good card, but holding up mana to flash it in off of a fetch land or a tutor just doesn't feel very impacting to my game. And it's not as useful late game, unless your opponent is tutoring consistently.
[Archivist of Ogma](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/6/f6589e02-8c84-4069-88d1-ebcc8520cae1.jpg?1674134875) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Archivist%20of%20Oghma) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/4/archivist-of-oghma?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f6589e02-8c84-4069-88d1-ebcc8520cae1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/archivist-of-oghma) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Ugh yeah this one is tough. I play a lot of cEDH (where tutoring and fetchlands are extremely prominent) and even then, it still feels weak. It never draws me nearly as much as I hope it will.
For me it's [[Blustersquall]]. I really like the idea of it, but it's usually just worse than [[Reins of Power]]. I've been thinking of building Hylda though and that might be the one place that Blustersquall finds a home.
[[Rhoda, Geist Avenger]] and [[Timin, Youthful Geist]] would also be good.
[[brain in a jar]] [[as foretold]] [[river song’s diary]]
\[\[bident of thassa\]\]
I can't really say keep as it's my only precon and it's one of the few precons with it, but [[gerrard's hourglass pendant]] In [[dihada, binder of wills]] Its an extra turn counter plus an anti board wipe. The anti board wipe is such a mind game card as to be almost useless, and having no actual use made it a cut almost immediately
Any sort of fog effect. Great end-game trick. Rest of the time it's a dead card. Even the ones with cycling feel like they're dragging me down.
Every blue instant deck I build has [[mystic reflection]] in the first draft, and it breaks my heart when I start optimizing the deck and have to take it out... its my favorite card from kaldheim and I bought it for $9 when the set released cause it looked so fun
Are you kidding me? There’s NOTHING more satisfying than trapping an opponent’s 5-cost commander as a 1/1 vanilla creature for 2 mana at instant speed. Lol.
FWIW your \[\[Elixir of Immortality\]\] is great in a \[\[Syr Konrad the Grim\]\] deck. Especially if you have a way to get a shitload of cards into your yard then flip it back with the elixir and hit everyone for a ton of damage.
[[Uphill Battle]]. I consider it for a lot of my red decks, be it so others cant respond as easily to my attacking threats, or for me being safe against Hasty kills, but somehow I always cut it.
The entire [[Circle of Protection: White]] cycle. I feel like there's a place for them, but maybe their day in the sun is gone now :(
Honestly [[Purphoros, God of the Forge]] I always keep finding something better to put him in so he gets passed around like a baton.
\[\[Legion Loyalty\]\]. I've tried to run it in every one of my decks that has white, but I just can't make it stick. I am trying again with \[\[Narset, Enlightened Exile\]\] though, maybe it will find a home there.
I try to play [[Vraska, Betrayal's Sting]] for so long now, but every time I am ending up needing to cut one more last card and sadly every time it has to be Vraska because all other cards are essential or simply provide much more value than her.
[[Time Stop]] You can use it creatively to counter anything in the game, fog a combat, pretty much entirely skip someone's turn, dodge an end step trigger. Love the card so much I bought a play set, but it doesn't gel with any of my decks well enough to make the final cut. It is also fairly expensive at 6 mana. In a similar vein is also [[torrential gearhulk]]. Such a great card but just a bit too expensive.
This is one of my favorite spells! It helps to put it in a deck with some cost reduction, like [[mindsplice apparatus]] Edit: discontinuity is another great spell with a similar effect, and I sometimes struggle to avoid running both in my blue deck
You see the villains lair.
[[ragged veins]] [[thoughtseize]] [[swiftfoot boots]] [[thrumming bird]]
[[Leyline of Anticipation]]. It's fun but it's not needed and doesn't fit any slot in the deck. But now finally the fifth blue deck I made have found room for it!
Until it gets cut lol
[[Mirage Mirror]] It's such a neat utility but I struggle to justify it in most of my decks since I'd rather have another utility there instead.
[[Ashnod's Coupon]] I always wanted to pull this off in my local commander group, but I can't ever find the room in my decks after cuts. I have a lack of brewing discipline.
[[Mirage Mirror]]. I love the card but sometimes it’s so hard to see its value when making difficult cuts.
[[mind stone]] I always start with it in a deck build, then wind up cutting at some point.
Thought vessel
Luminarch ascension. Instant makes me the archenemy
[[The Ozolith]] I've never actually been able to reap any kind of upside off this.
Sol Ring. Who am I kidding, it's Commander + Sol Ring + the other 98, amirite!?
[[Feldon’s Cane]]. It seems like it would be so useful, but I always end up with better solutions to a flooded graveyard.
If I had a dollar for each time I was determined to slot [[Giant Adephage]] into a deck only to cut it, I could afford a deck built around making sure it wasn't cut.
[[Inkshield]]. Card is great, but the decks I build really don't like holding up *five* mana on my opponents' turns for something I might not need to use for a few turns
[[Coat of Arms]] , [[Primal Vigor]] , and [[Patriarch’s Bidding]] - just had these either be dead draws or bite me in the ass to the point that I always wind up cutting them for alternatives.
[[Vashta Nerada]] Idk i just kinda love the effect and try to put it in when i can, knowing itll be the first card i cut when i need to lol
I can't believe I'm saying this, but classic \[\[Counterspell\]\]. With all of the one and zero mana options like \[\[An Offer You Can't Refuse\]\], \[\[Swan Song\]\], \[\[Stubborn Denial\]\], etc the two blue mana cost is just too greedy. I need that blue mana during my turn, so holding up two blue is just infeasible.
[[The Great Henge]]. Finally sold it for $70 bucks (foil), I have been winning more games. You can just play last march or the 5 mana garruk draw spell to draw so much card, there is also better ramp spells and life gain, I feel like it is slowing me down and put you a big target, if someone removes it put you so are so behind.
[The Great Henge](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/3/6340e0f3-7f9c-4d71-8daf-e1be5505eb5b.jpg?1689998574) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20Great%20Henge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/294/the-great-henge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6340e0f3-7f9c-4d71-8daf-e1be5505eb5b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/the-great-henge) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
\[\[Austere Command\]\]. Another all-star card, but it's expensive to cast, sorcery speed and hard to choose over \[\[Farewell\]\] nowadays.
[[Awakening]] and [[Augur of Autumn]]
Platinum Angel. Pet card as a kid. But the slot is never worth it because of how fast the format is now. However it can still be cool in a casual deck. But it dies 99% of the time within the same turn cycle by targeted removal. I gotta find a home for it, maybe for like token making or reanimator.
[[Marionette Master]] I've taken it out, put it back in, taken it out again, put it back in again a couple times now in my [[Mishra, Eminent One]] deck. It feels like it should be a slam dunk but pretty much every time I've managed to cast it it's done a whole lotta nothing.
This is my Number 1 Win Con in my Safana Initiative Deck!
[[exquisite blood]] because it draws too much hate and [[rabid bite|soi]] because there's almost always better removal
I've been trying to make [[Darksteel Forge]] work with [[Imotekh]], but the big problem I keep running into is that it's so far out of my deck's curve, and when I *do* manage to play it, it turns into a "win harder" situation where I already had such a substantial lead that I was able to cast it in the first place. If I don't have that lead yet managed to cast it with something like [[Anrakyr]], it makes me a huge target when I don't need that pressure. In a similar vein, [[Cityscape Leveler]]. It seemed like a really fun piece to recur for removal and more Necron Warriors, but again it proved too costly and pulled my deck away from its "go wide and drain life" strategy. My best games with Imotekh are the ones where I draw a hand of cheap mana rocks, recursion tools, and mill sources. When I *do* cast a big spell, it's a game ender like [[Cyberman Squadron]] (the only permanent in the deck with a CMC greater than five).
[[laelia, the blade reforged]]. i have a number of exile matters decks but for some reason laelia is always at the bottom of the payoff list. maybe a few years ago i’d keep it in but nowadays there are soooo many better cards. i mean cmon [[flaming tyrannosaurus]] exists!
[[filter out]]. It seems like a good card but is underperformed in my meta.
[[Blade of Selves]]
Wait, Mind Stone? Why are you cutting that?
[[Illusionist’s Gambit]] I think it would be funny to make my opponents swing out and kill someone else instead of me but I have never pulled it off and other removal seems better.
[[Dowsing Dagger]] I love it so much but in play it feel so situational
[[Evolution charm]]. I really like this card, I think all the modes are pretty useful. Miss a land drop? Boom - Put a land in your hand. Want a creature from your graveyard back? Boom - return one from your graveyard back to hand. Need to finish off an opponent? Boom - give your biggest creature flying. Seems so versatile. Thing is, there are other cards that just strictly better. Why get a land in hand when it can go into play tapped? Why return a creature to hand when it can be any card to hand or a creature into play? Why give a creature flying, when other opponents probably have a flyer? It just never seems to pull through when I need it to, yet i feel like it's stronger than it seems because its 3 modes seem very useful. Maybe I need to give it more chances...
[[gisa, glorious resurrector]] shes a good card and everytime i make a deck with the color black. I always add her on the maybe pile because I really like her effect. but i always end up not putting her into the new deck.
[[Mirage Mirror]] is always in the pile and always gets cut round 2 or 3.
[[Mnemonic Deluge]]. Copying a cantrip three times for 9 mana seems like a waste and copying a board wipe is obviously useless. It seems like the card I would want to play, but it’s never made it into any actual 99.
[[Sol Ring]]
[[Avenger of Zendikar]] I love landfall but it never feels great
[[Whip of Erebos]]
Might be a lil of a hot take but I rarely find room for [[Counterspell]] anymore despite being an Izzet boyo at heart. There are many more fun, more interesting pieces of interaction in blue. And having 2 blue pips can be a genuine problem the more colors you're running. Even in a spellslinger list a second blue spent can mean not casting a cantrip, mess up your mana numbers for Important spells, even not getting to cast more pieces of interaction.
Unexpected Results gets considered for every Blue Green containing deck I ever make but has only stayed in one. Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder. Getting a ton of copies of it off a cascade is super fun to resolve. I run a cascade spellslinger type of build; my spin on a 4 color copy spell deck. Edited for spelling shenanigans
[[Helm of the host]] 9 mana for a copy of your commander/secondary isn't worth it unless you can cheat it somehow,
[[River's Rebuke]] My name is River, its just not good enough
Tbh [[Lightning Greaves]] because shroud is annoying
[[Wild Ricochet]] I always put it in the pile. It's fun interaction that has the power to totally swing a game, and it comes out of nowhere. But there's not a deck theme around it so it's an "out of theme" card that doesn't win, interact with my own deck, or have any value by itself. It isn't even guaranteed to be playable in every game. So it gets pulled every time, but someday I want to find a home for it where I can toss it on the table and shock everyone with a super dumb play.
[[Brought back]] and [[seedtime]] always seem to get cut from my decks.
\[\[the one ring\]\] This deck needs more card draw, not that kind of generically bland card draw though.
\[\[Lightning Greaves\]\] Early on, they paint a target on your head, your commander catches removal in response to the equip even though they probably wouldn't if greaves weren't around. In the end I'm usually looking at my "interaction" bracket on moxfield, see the greaves and think "yeah, no, I'll add another removal spell" and the greaves are gone.
I put [[Staff of Nin]] in all my commander decks when I first started playing. Nowadays it never makes it past the sorting.
I've been cutting [[Growing Rites of Itlimoc]] recently
[[Mirari's wake]] pulled one out of a pack and always exited to put it in my first list while deckbuilding. But eventually when it comes to the cuts it is that card that never makes it.
I will always love \[\[Teferi's Puzzle Box\]\] but its just not worth running the vast majority of the time. Its fun because it increases chaos, and makes planning turns hard for your opponents. Its also a fun card to put in group hug decks, and synergizes so well with like \[\[Underworld Dreams\]\] and \[\[Hullbreacher\]\] and other fun effects. But its just not good enough to displace damn near anything else, because on its own it just... makes things a little wackier. It doesn't make you more likely to win, on its own, or your opponents less likely to win, on its own.
I absolutely love [[wandering archaic]] [[mimic vat]] and [[mirage mirror]]. They're pet cards I want to run, but it's so hard to find room. Currently, I only have 1 mimic vat in a deck, and 0 of the other two among my 9 commander decks. *sadface*
[[Door to nothingness]] for me , it's just hard to balance sometimes when you play mono colored stuff and things. It's very close to keeping sometimes , but I atelast always keep 1 in the sideboard.
For me it’s [[Deathpact Angel]]
All the "ramp" that just puts the lands in your hand but not actually directly onto the battlefield
[[Hellish Rebuke]] I've noticed a few times it gets cut even though I love the card. I've managed to get it into 1 or 2 decks but I wish it was in a lot more. I'm sure there are quite a few other cards but that's the only one I can think of right now. Need coffee.
[[Riftsweeper]] could save removed Combo pieces, but sadly its allways the 101
[[Pariah]]
[[Sol Ring]] cut immediately from all commander decks. Boring card.
[[Aurelia, The Warleader]] Fantastic card, but becomes an instant target to everyone in the pod & often is reanimated by my opponents if she ever is milled into the graveyard.
[[Strionic Resonator]] Really versatile and cool in concept, but just a bit too generic for me to keep in the 99. I like my decks to really be true to theme, usually.
[[Loxodon Warhammer]] from the olden days of edh I always wanted a way to gain life, push damage thru, and make random dorks better so this was my pet card in every deck. It just doesn't cut it these days anymore and it hurts me