Volrath's Stronghold

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Xtough on Evil dead ☠️ (Ode to Sheoldred)

4 weeks ago

Thank you. I would try to focus on draw/drain and protecting and accelerating the combos. Potential cuts: Angel of suffering, grave pact, dictate as they protect only if you do something. The same for grim haruspex and morbid Opportunist. Praetors grasp has no synergy. Leaden myr is too slow without haste. Oversold Cemetery is conditionally slow. Doomed Necromancer and Phyrexian Reclamation could be ok as you tutor things into the graveyard, although I would go for Witch's Cottage and Volrath's Stronghold.

Potential inclusions could be Imp's Mischief for protection, cheap targeted removal and mana rocks like Mana Vault, Grim Monolith, Mana Crypt.

I look forward to seeing two new decklists ;) I think for now I am out of ideas but would be interesting to see how this turns out. The deck would be way out if my budget and for my playgroup Sheoldred is not a suitable commander but I really like her in the 99 for my Braids Arisen Nightmare deck. Hope this works and I really like the deck!

Xtough on Evil dead ☠️ (Ode to Sheoldred)

1 month ago

With Dauthi voidwalker and oppression there is also a small discard subtheme. This could work with the apocalypse although I do not like discarding my own cards if I am not in reanimate theme. I would cut scourge of nel toth because it is 6/6 flying for a high cost whichever way. And I would incl Cabal Coffers and stronghold as additional lands. Regarding good lands may I point out Volrath's Stronghold and Lake of the Dead.

fluffyeel on You draw you lose

1 month ago

Some small recommendations I can think of:

• You have a lot of drawing for all parties, but your opponents will also be discarding (quite likely, especially given the Memory Jar). I therefore recommend Megrim, which actually is the reason Memory Jar became the first emergency ban in MTG history. You could also run things like Animate Dead, Reanimate, and Necromancy to take advantage of loading up your opponents' graveyards. Of course, Rise of the Dark Realms is a nice showstopper, though it's quite pricey...
• Archfiend of Despair is a delightful combination of Wound Reflection (already recommended) as well as stopping lifegain. I love using it wherever I can. (It's also a demon, so it synergizes with one of your alternate win cons.)
• You could also consider going more of a snow-covered route, so replacing your basic swamps with the snow-covered kind and going with Extraplanar Lens to amplify your black mana. Crypt Ghast also is another mana accelerator.
• The Meathook Massacre and Massacre Wurm are also "board wipe with benefits" that I highly recommend. I also almost always play Kokusho, the Evening Star in every black deck I run. Archfiend of Despair could also be another fun option for removing things and punishing your opponents.
• Some of your artifacts and tutors could be better. Rather than Wayfarer's Bauble, I could suggest Expedition Map instead. Grim Tutor, Planar Bridge, and Beseech the Queen could also make for fun tutoring.
• I'm not sure if Gemstone Caverns and Mox Diamond are worth it here: sure, they're fast and get you more mana quickly (always a good thing), but the multicolored mana isn't so necessary. There are options I might prefer like Mox Amber, Mana Vault, Volrath's Stronghold...
• For a mono-black deck, Contamination might be a great way to lose all friends. I highly recommend it.

Profet93 on Tsabo Tavoc Havoc

2 months ago

SufferFromEDHD +1

Do you feel you have enough ramp? Your commander costs 7, 2 colored mana + tap for activated ability. No haste to even use it. I actually love your commander, I just wonder how often you get to use him.

Jeska's Will - Draw/Ramp

Spreading Plague - Could be super fun....could backfire.

Command Beacon/Volrath's Stronghold - Recur expensive commander

Crystal Chimes - Recur 25% of your deck

Why run gamble over an omni tutor, low cost?

Thaumatic Compass  ^Flip - Could be too slow, but ensuring basics could be nice. The land transformation works with your defense theme.

No Mercy > Sunstone? - Or do you need the lack of damage?

How has heartless summoning been working for you? You only run 2 creatures, why not just run a Jet Medallion instead? Easier to cast, affects all black spells rather than just 2 cards. Is an artifact so it might be more susceptible to removal but the benefits far outweigh the costs IMO.

Profet93 on Tinybones, The Pickpocket

4 months ago

LivingThing +1

Nice low avg cmc. I don't think you have enough basics to consistently ramp with Cabal Stronghold. Have you considered swapping it for a Volrath's Stronghold or another utility land such as Buried Ruin to recur one of your artifacts?

What is the wincon, commander damage and/or value from thieving opponent's graves? If it is the former, perhaps a Hatred might serve you well? Or if it's the latter, a Strionic Resonator to double up on casting?

Do you feel you have enough draw, especially given your low avg cmc? A Read the Bones could help. I'm unsure if you're into combos but a Helm of Obedience goes with your voidwalker. It also fits on theme, although it's cmc is relatively high for this build.

Should you wish, Arterial Flow and Mind Twist are additional discard effects. Note that mind twist does say random. I love ramping into it early game and just neutering one opponent to make him easy to hit consistently.

Profet93 on Drivnod's Desecration

4 months ago

I'm glad you enjoy the carnival of souls suggestion, freeing up slots is always great! You could potentially run both ayara and dark prophecy although that might be a bit too color intensive. I like ayara simply for her combo potential and lifegain. Given the lack of enchantment removal, it really comes down to - Do you value lifegain and combo potential with some draw (ayara) or lots of card draw thats difficult to remove with build in lifeloss.

IMO, given you're adding carnival of souls which triggers on each creature, you might need some more lifegain. Playtest and see what works best for you.

Regarding lolth, I don't believe she is impactful enough to warrant a slot. 5cmc is a lot and she isn't particularly threatening. I would swap her out personally.

If you're interested in other recursion options, Volrath's Stronghold and Oversold Cemetery might be worth looking into. The former might be a bit tight on your landbase while the latter might be difficult to trigger given you're exiling creatures from your grave for your commander.

So far, cuts seem to be as follows....

Let me know if I missed something.

Mortlocke on The Queen's Egg

5 months ago

Hi Votecat,

• Urza's Saga is amazing in silo but i'm hesitant to include it due to the deck being so demanding regarding colored mana. Sure I could tutor for Mox Diamond, but that depends on the number of lands I have in hand 3 turns from play. I think there is an argument for the Urza's Saga, just not a very compelling one. If I were to slot it in, i'd probably put it in for Volrath's Stronghold maybe.

• Reflecting Pool - I could've sworn this was in the deck. This is a simple oversight. I'm probably going to cut one of the pain lands to make room. Which one would you cut?

• Plaza of Heroes is a really cool card that I honestly didn't know existed. The unfortunate drawback is that this card is a little bit narrow in use due to it practically demanding that my Commander be in play in order to be useful. As great as this land is, I just don't find the argument for its inclusion that compelling. Less so than including Urza's Saga.

I always welcome a rebuttal - please let me know if you think i'm missing something.

Profet93 on Lord Vader's Death Star

5 months ago

legendofa and Crow_Umbra, thank you kindly for your assistance and breaking things down.

Goldberserkerdragon, have you considered the following...

Urza's Incubator - Ramp

Imp's Mischief - Redirects targeted removal, draw and extra turns + can "counter" counterspells.

Unholy Grotto/Volrath's Stronghold - Recursion in your landbase. This can help you bypass commander tax when he inevitably gets targeted

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Color fixing

Shizo, Death's Storehouse - Fear, can be political as well.

Mystic Remora - Draw

Teferi's Protection - Protection for your 6 mana commander.

Damnation - I know you're a token deck but sometimes the board just needs to be wiped.

Lastly, given that kindred discovery is not a may ability, have you ever accidently decked yourself using it?