BillNyeTheBountyGuy
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Commander
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Commander
The Scarab God
At the beginning of your upkeep, each opponent loses X life and you scry X, where X is the number of Zombies you control.
: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a 4/4 black Zombie.
When The Scarab God dies, return it to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step.
: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a 4/4 black Zombie.
When The Scarab God dies, return it to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step.
Legendary Creature - God
Commander
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Card Advantage
Basim Ibn Ishaq
Whenever you cast a historic spell, draw a card. Basim Ibn Ishaq can't be blocked this turn. This ability triggers only once each turn. (Artifacts, legendaries, and Sagas are historic.)
Whenever Basim Ibn Ishaq deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
Whenever Basim Ibn Ishaq deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
Legendary Creature - Human Assassin
The One Ring
Indestructible
When The One Ring enters, if you cast it, you gain protection from everything until your next turn.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life for each burden counter on The One Ring.
: Put a burden counter on The One Ring, then draw a card for each burden counter on The One Ring.
When The One Ring enters, if you cast it, you gain protection from everything until your next turn.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life for each burden counter on The One Ring.
: Put a burden counter on The One Ring, then draw a card for each burden counter on The One Ring.
Legendary Artifact
The Reality Chip
You may look at the top card of your library any time.
As long as The Reality Chip is attached to a creature, you may play lands and cast spells from the top of your library.
Reconfigure (: Attach to target creature you control; or unattach from a creature. Reconfigure only as a sorcery. While attached, this isn't a creature.)
As long as The Reality Chip is attached to a creature, you may play lands and cast spells from the top of your library.
Reconfigure (: Attach to target creature you control; or unattach from a creature. Reconfigure only as a sorcery. While attached, this isn't a creature.)
Legendary Creature Artifact - Equipment Jellyfish
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Protection from Humans
Pay 1 life, Sacrifice another creature: Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature and draw a card.
, Discard a card: Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
Pay 1 life, Sacrifice another creature: Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature and draw a card.
, Discard a card: Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
Legendary Creature - Human Cleric
Card Advantage
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Card Quality
Kitsa, Otterball Elite
Vigilance
Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
: Draw a card, then discard a card.
, : Copy target instant or sorcery spell you control. You may choose new targets for the copy. Activate only if Kitsa's power is 3 or greater.
Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
: Draw a card, then discard a card.
, : Copy target instant or sorcery spell you control. You may choose new targets for the copy. Activate only if Kitsa's power is 3 or greater.
Legendary Creature - Wizard Otter
Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator
: Draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded an instant or sorcery card this way, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
, Sacrifice Vohar: You may cast target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard this turn. If that spell would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead. Activate only as a sorcery.
, Sacrifice Vohar: You may cast target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard this turn. If that spell would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead. Activate only as a sorcery.
Legendary Creature - Wizard Merfolk Phyrexian
Card Quality
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Combo
Lithoform Engine
, : Copy target activated or triggered ability you control. You may choose new targets for the copy.
, : Copy target instant or sorcery spell you control. You may choose new targets for the copy.
, : Copy target permanent spell you control. (The copy becomes a token.)
, : Copy target instant or sorcery spell you control. You may choose new targets for the copy.
, : Copy target permanent spell you control. (The copy becomes a token.)
Legendary Artifact
Combo
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Counterspell
Counterspell
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Land
Gemstone Caverns
If this card is in your opening hand and you're not the starting player, you may begin the game with Gemstone Caverns on the battlefield with a luck counter on it. If you do, exile a card from your hand.
: Add . If Gemstone Caverns has a luck counter on it, instead add one mana of any color.
: Add . If Gemstone Caverns has a luck counter on it, instead add one mana of any color.
Legendary Land
Susur Secundi, Void Altar
This land enters tapped.
: Add .
Station (Tap another creature you control: Put charge counters equal to its power on this Planet. Station only as a sorcery.)
12+ | , , Pay 2 life, Sacrifice a creature: Draw cards equal to the sacrificed creature's power. Activate only as a sorcery.
: Add .
Station (Tap another creature you control: Put charge counters equal to its power on this Planet. Station only as a sorcery.)
12+ | , , Pay 2 life, Sacrifice a creature: Draw cards equal to the sacrificed creature's power. Activate only as a sorcery.
Land - Planet
Urza's Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains ": Add ."
II — This Saga gains ", : Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost or , put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
I — This Saga gains ": Add ."
II — This Saga gains ", : Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost or , put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
Land Enchantment - Saga Urza's
Land
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Mana
Tezzeret, Cruel Captain
Whenever an artifact you control enters, put a loyalty counter on Tezzeret.
0: Untap target artifact or creature. If it's an artifact creature, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
−3: Search your library for an artifact card with mana value 1 or less, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
−7: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of combat on your turn, put three +1/+1 counters on target artifact you control. If it's not a creature, it becomes a 0/0 Robot artifact creature."
0: Untap target artifact or creature. If it's an artifact creature, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
−3: Search your library for an artifact card with mana value 1 or less, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
−7: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of combat on your turn, put three +1/+1 counters on target artifact you control. If it's not a creature, it becomes a 0/0 Robot artifact creature."
Legendary Planeswalker - Tezzeret
Urza, Lord High Artificer
When Urza enters, create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with "This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control."
Tap an untapped artifact you control: Add .
: Shuffle your library, then exile the top card. Until end of turn, you may play that card without paying its mana cost.
Tap an untapped artifact you control: Add .
: Shuffle your library, then exile the top card. Until end of turn, you may play that card without paying its mana cost.
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer
Mana
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Protection
K-9, Mark I
Negative — As long as K-9 is untapped, other legendary creatures you control have ward .
Affirmative — , : Target legendary creature can't be blocked this turn.
Doctor's companion (You can have two commanders if the other is the Doctor.)
Affirmative — , : Target legendary creature can't be blocked this turn.
Doctor's companion (You can have two commanders if the other is the Doctor.)
Legendary Creature Artifact - Dog Robot
Protection
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Recursion
Dralnu, Lich Lord
If damage would be dealt to Dralnu, sacrifice that many permanents instead.
: Target instant or sorcery card in your graveyard gains flashback until end of turn. The flashback cost is equal to its mana cost. (You may cast that card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
: Target instant or sorcery card in your graveyard gains flashback until end of turn. The flashback cost is equal to its mana cost. (You may cast that card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
Legendary Creature - Wizard Zombie
Emet-Selch of the Third Seat
Spells you cast from your graveyard cost less to cast.
Whenever one or more opponents lose life, you may cast target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard. If that spell would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead. Do this only once each turn.
Whenever one or more opponents lose life, you may cast target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard. If that spell would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead. Do this only once each turn.
Legendary Creature - Wizard Elder
Recursion
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Removal
Ertai Resurrected
Flash
When Ertai Resurrected enters, choose up to one —
• Counter target spell, activated ability, or triggered ability. Its controller draws a card.
• Destroy another target creature or planeswalker. Its controller draws a card.
When Ertai Resurrected enters, choose up to one —
• Counter target spell, activated ability, or triggered ability. Its controller draws a card.
• Destroy another target creature or planeswalker. Its controller draws a card.
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard Phyrexian
Garland, Royal Kidnapper
When Garland enters, target opponent becomes the monarch.
Whenever an opponent becomes the monarch, gain control of target creature that player controls for as long as they're the monarch.
Creatures you control but don't own get +2/+2 and can't be sacrificed.
Whenever an opponent becomes the monarch, gain control of target creature that player controls for as long as they're the monarch.
Creatures you control but don't own get +2/+2 and can't be sacrificed.
Legendary Creature - Human Knight
Lethal Scheme
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for or one mana of that creature's color.)
Destroy target creature or planeswalker. Each creature that convoked this spell connives. (Draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded a nonland card, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.)
Destroy target creature or planeswalker. Each creature that convoked this spell connives. (Draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded a nonland card, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.)
Instant
Removal
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Secret Tech
The Enigma Jewel
The Enigma Jewel enters tapped.
: Add . Spend this mana only to activate abilities.
Craft with four or more nonlands with activated abilities (, Exile this artifact, Exile the four or more from among other permanents you control and/or cards in your graveyard: Return this card transformed under its owner's control. Craft only as a sorcery.)
: Add . Spend this mana only to activate abilities.
Craft with four or more nonlands with activated abilities (, Exile this artifact, Exile the four or more from among other permanents you control and/or cards in your graveyard: Return this card transformed under its owner's control. Craft only as a sorcery.)
Legendary Artifact
Secret Tech
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Wipe
Toxrill, the Corrosive
At the beginning of each end step, put a slime counter on each creature you don't control.
Creatures you don't control get -1/-1 for each slime counter on them.
Whenever a creature you don't control with a slime counter on it dies, create a 1/1 black Slug creature token.
, Sacrifice a Slug: Draw a card.
Creatures you don't control get -1/-1 for each slime counter on them.
Whenever a creature you don't control with a slime counter on it dies, create a 1/1 black Slug creature token.
, Sacrifice a Slug: Draw a card.
Legendary Creature - Horror Slug
Vona's Hunger
Ascend (If you control ten or more permanents, you get the city's blessing for the rest of the game.)
Each opponent sacrifices a creature of their choice. If you have the city's blessing, instead each opponent sacrifices half the creatures they control of their choice, rounded up.
Each opponent sacrifices a creature of their choice. If you have the city's blessing, instead each opponent sacrifices half the creatures they control of their choice, rounded up.
Instant
Wipe
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Maybeboard
Gyruda, Doom of Depths
Companion — Your starting deck contains only cards with even mana values. (If this card is your chosen companion, you may put it into your hand from outside the game for as a sorcery.)
When Gyruda enters, each player mills four cards. Put a creature card with an even mana value from among the milled cards onto the battlefield under your control.
When Gyruda enters, each player mills four cards. Put a creature card with an even mana value from among the milled cards onto the battlefield under your control.
Legendary Creature - Demon Kraken
Maybeboard
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Deck Info
Deck stats
CategoriesQtyOdds
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Deck extras (0)
Description
{"ops":[{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Chef's Story (Skip to Primer for actual deck details)"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"To do the annoying thing where the person who posted the recipe gives a way too detailed life's story about how they came about the specific dish, please allow me this indulgence.\n\nI used to be one of the original pilots of 'Five Color God Stuff', the God tribal deck I assembled back in 2016 hot on the heels of the announcement of Amonkhet as the Egyptian set with the possibility of them printing more Gods. I set out to make a 5 color deck (naturally) to fit all 15 available Gods into one chassis. I had trouble selecting a commander that would fit the desperate, all indestructible enchantment theme. Over the years I've played every variant you could possibly imagine, enchantress, legends, hondens, clerics, board-wipe-tribal. I've died more times than I care to count to my own "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Karona, False God"}},{"insert":" .\n\nAfter losing a lot of games and learning a lot of lessons about playing a deck so thin on creature presence, the deck really doesn't start to have strong cohesion until 2020, with the release of the now maligned "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Golos, Tireless Pilgrim"}},{"insert":". He quickly focused the deck being ramp and card draw in a pinch, as more and more support got printed, we got Kaldheim. Releasing "},{"insert":{"card-link":"The World Tree"}},{"insert":", the last piece needed for the strategy to be incredibly competitive, quickly becoming one of the strongest decks in my playgroup. The deck ran "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Birgi, God of Storytelling // Harnfel, Horn of Bounty"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Underworld Breach"}},{"insert":", and the land untap cards (like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Turnabout"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Zacama, Primal Calamity"}},{"insert":" ) to storm off and summon all the Gods.\n\nUntil one fateful day in 2021 where the Rules Committee made a very upsetting decision to ban him. I understand the reason why he should be banned, he's an overwhelming homogenizing force in the format, where countless strategies would just want him instead of a more flavorful or appropriate commander due to being a 'colorless' land tutor and card draw. I took the banning really hard and was so upset with the direction of EDH and MtG as a whole I quit for many years, leaving the ecosystem entirely.\n\nI have now grieved the loss of my beloved pet deck, and pulled it apart I spent so long with. But it has given me the ability to finally do the other option I had all those years ago, to embark on the impossibly large task of making a deck for each God, assembling the pantheon one step at a time using the knowledge I gained from playing a deck with all of them in it. This is the first in this new quest.\n\nLastly, what's the story behind the name 'One More God Rejected', well to follow along from the Chef's Story above it's a multiple layer play on it. First, it's a reference to the Shin Megami Tensei III battle theme (https://youtu.be/qO6LWQhvzRw?si=B04yHDLwqKWUp04s). The lyric of 'One More God Rejected' not only encapsulates my story above by checking off the first God off the list, rejecting my old Gods deck, but also the story of Hour of Devastation, the set "},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Scarab God"}},{"insert":" is from where Nicol Bolas kills the Gods to turn them into weapons. It even has the line 'I am the bug inside you' and The Scarab God is obviously a big bug. There are more references in the irl version of this deck as I will be getting a proxy of Scarab God that is the demon 'Mot' from Shin Megami Tensei III, an infamous boss from the game that uses a move called 'Beast Eye' to take infinite turns, which we also accomplish here with Magosi and Nexus of Fate. I even have put together a 3d printed deck box in the same styling of Mot to house the deck I'm very pleased with.\n\n________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\nPrimer"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Introduction:"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Scarab God has a unique mode of play at an EDH table being an incredibly flexible and 'prickly' strategy for your opponents to deal with, allowing you to hold up mana for high degrees of interaction, without leaving your board progress completely gimped. This creates this slow grind loop most of time, but the deck holds a number of infinite combos that can explosively end the game.\n\nThe Commander:"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Scarab God"}},{"insert":" wants to build up big boards of zombies to drain down opponents and scry for some powerful card selection once the engine gets going. But to analyze what we're working with we'll go line by line.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"At the beginning of your upkeep, each opponent loses X life and you scry X, where X is the number of Zombies you control."},{"attributes":{"blockquote":true},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nSo unfortunately The Scarab God wasn't printed to be a Zombie God like the War of the Spark Gods ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"God-Eternal Kefnet"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"God-Eternal Bontu"}},{"insert":" , etc.), so he doesn't count himself unless you have a way to change his typing, but generally, it's not worth the one extra value on X to worry about that.\n\nThis is the core of the strategy to win, we are grinding down the table through these upkeep triggers. There are a number of ways to double and even triple dip on this trigger to apply more pressure to a table in a game through cards like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sphinx of the Second Sun"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Shadow of the Second Sun"}},{"insert":" , and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Paradox Haze"}},{"insert":". I skip out on Shadow and Paradox mostly because them being enchantments are hard for the deck to recur in Blue/Black, but feel free to add them if you have more cards with upkeep triggers you like. Just be careful of "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mana Crypt"}},{"insert":", and other cards of its ilk as you can find yourself quickly dead by your own hand.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"{2}{U}{B}: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Create a token that’s a copy of it, except it’s a 4/4 black Zombie."},{"attributes":{"blockquote":true},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nYou're going to be activating this ability a lot in a game if you're doing it right. Not only to reanimate valuable cards from your bin, but also the whole table. This has some quirks to be aware of as most people short-cut their understanding of it to mean 'Eternalize', but that's not true.\n\nFirst, Eternalize removes the mana value of the card, which makes those tokens vulnerable to the likely suspects that hate out low CMC cards ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Culling Ritual"}},{"insert":"), this is not the case for Scarab God tokens. They are 4/4 Black Zombie copies of the original. Meaning they add to devotion working with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gray Merchant of Asphodel"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx"}},{"insert":".\nSecond, they change base power and toughness, which can turn cards that wouldn't normally work in the deck into some powerful options. Getting to go "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mausoleum Wanderer"}},{"insert":", sac to counter, reanimate with Scarab God to make it a 4/4 and counter a second thing, or double tap the original thing is a good feeling. It also can turn other cards that already play with the idea of base power mattering and elevating them in the deck like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Curie, Emergent Intelligence"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Champion of Wits"}},{"insert":".\nThird, them becoming black zombie creatures means you can reliably expect to have a constant flow for other cards effects that care. From the myriad of removal that can't hit black creatures in black to cards like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ayara, First of Locthwain"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cryptbreaker"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cleaver Skaab"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Plague Belcher"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Noxious Ghoul"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gleaming Overseer"}},{"insert":", and many more. \n\nThat all being said, don't underestimate how effective Scarab God can be at hating out other graveyard decks. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Araumi of the Dead Tide"}},{"insert":" can basically never activate if you're being mindful of where their gameplan is at. Any reanimator strategy just crumples with how many activations you can put into stopping them, if anything their "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Entomb"}},{"insert":" is more for you than them.\n\nLastly Scarab God is a steal commander that doesn't get weaker as you eliminate opponents. While often you represent the token using the original card since it's exiled, it's not actually that card, it's a copy. I've had more than a few times where an opponent goes 'Okay I die, but you lose all these cards' and I go 'Sure here are the original cards, thanks for letting me borrow them, but I still have the creatures as they're token copies', and that's a good moment.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"When The Scarab God dies, return it to its owner’s hand at the beginning of the next end step."},{"attributes":{"blockquote":true},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nLast of the goods here, this is the part I think elevates this card beyond just a good commander to a great commander. Unless an opponent has some graveyard hate or exile removal Scarab God is not getting commander tax. I can count on my hands the amount of times I've actually had to pay commander tax. If you pack cards like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lazotep Quarry"}},{"insert":", Exploit cards ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sidisi, Undead Vizier"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fell Stinger"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Overcharged Amalgam"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Repository Skaab"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Profaner of the Dead"}},{"insert":"), and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Phyrexian Tower"}},{"insert":" you can always make sure the exile removal wiffs and you get back Scarab God. \n\nThis can be abused with cards like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Disciple of Bolas"}},{"insert":", where you're effectively drawing 5 and bouncing Scarab God, oodles of value.\n\n________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\nThe Juice:"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"So what are the cards core to our strategy that move the needle the most in the games where they show up and why?\n\n "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sphinx of the Second Sun"}},{"insert":", a creature that gives us another beginning phase. A deceptively valuable proposition for us. Not only can we reanimate this for half price with Scarab God, but it's basically free the turn we play it since we immediately get to untap the turn it lands. This is also on top of giving us a draw and another Scarab God drain proc every turn. If you manage to get it out AND copy it with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Phyrexian Metamorph"}},{"insert":" and friends you can just run away with a game if no one has an answer.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Training Grounds"}},{"insert":", a 1 cmc enchantment that can double the number of activations we can squeeze out of Scarab God is already a great proposition, this is effectively a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rings of Brighthearth"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Illusionist's Bracers"}},{"insert":" for a fraction of the cost with added resilience to disruption as you can just activate Scarab God again over graveyard hate to ensure you secure the reanimate. This also has the added benefit for our other cards that have activatable abilities ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Faerie Mastermind"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cryptbreaker"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Hypnotic Grifter"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Oracle of Dust"}},{"insert":")\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gray Merchant of Asphodel"}},{"insert":" , you know him, you love him, you hate him. Gary closes out games, and if he doesn't he heralds its near end. On this own with Scarab God he's a modest 'Drain 3, gain 9', but quickly can get out of hand with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Massacre Wurm"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Noxious Ghoul"}},{"insert":", increasing the drain, wiping out creature to further drain opponents, and also is a zombie natively. If you play him, sac him from our plethora of options, then reanimate him with Scarab God he just shuts out matches. If you're running "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cleaver Skaab"}},{"insert":" this becomes an existential threat really quickly.\n\n________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\nThe Secret Tech:"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"There are some choice cards that on the surface don't appear to be threatening or strong. But these sleepers will quickly change your opponents evaluation.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Oracle of Dust"}},{"insert":", this modest 3/5 Eldrazi for 5 only does one thing, let's you loot for 2 so long as you return cards from exile to their owner's graveyards. What's the big deal? Well let's think through what our gameplan is. First, Scarab God is exiling creatures from opponents graveyards, meaning this card not only loots for cheaper than other creatures with similar activated abilities, it lets us get back cards that aren't even available for our opponents. Often as games go on countless cards get exiled, with the most likely culprit being "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bojuka Bog"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Boggart Trawler // Boggart Bog"}},{"insert":", which can catapult you back into a game. Oh and for the trouble not only do we get to see another card from our deck, but we get to put another card from our hand into our bin for yet another reanimation target. If you have this and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Training Grounds"}},{"insert":" you are about to run away with the whole game, for {U}{B}{1} you get to reanimate any creature in exile an opponent owns. If that wasn't already juicy enough, you can easily politic with this, 'Oh you have a flashback card that could deal with this exact situation? I can give it back to you no problem if you deal with it.' This card is just so much control. AND on top of all of this there are countless cards that rely on the exile zone to make certain effects work. If any portion of the timing involves a card sitting in exile, even face down, you can pull those cards into the graveyard, shutting them down. Only downside is it's a 5 cmc creature, so we don't often get to see it in a game.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Hypnotic Grifter"}},{"insert":", the close third 'Best 1 CMC' card in the deck (behind "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Training Grounds"}},{"insert":" and the evergreen "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sol Ring"}},{"insert":"). Innocuous, comes out early, and enables some great lines. The secret of this is it costs colorless, a much easier bar to vault than the other looters in the same category. While it can't beat "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Spectral Sailor"}},{"insert":"'s card advantage in a direct sense, it ends up being a more valuable component than it. Do not underestimate the cheaper activation cost, the discard aspect of it for a reanimator style deck, and that this card can get VERY big over time. Sometimes a 10/11 deters attacks without any abilities. And no one will want to blow removal on this dork, even though they see him real time feeding you higher quality cards, reanimation targets, and reducing creature aggression.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Enigma Jewel // Locus of Enlightenment"}},{"insert":", this is your second "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sol Ring"}},{"insert":", and the mana restriction only slightly matters. It sucks that it comes in tapped and it can't 'play' spells, but for the trouble you get another copy of the best card in EDH. But we have ways to still utilize this. First and most obvious is that this alone pays for the colorless of Scarab God, so our worst case scenario is our first activation a round costs {U}{B}, already good enough in my mind. Second is that all our activatables from our other creatures are also helped by this jewel in the same way Scarab God is. But also this mana is not as restrictive as you might think. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dimir Signet"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cabal Coffers"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Urn of Godfire"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Pyramid of the Pantheon"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Candelabra of Tawnos"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cascading Cataracts"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Darkwater Catacombs"}},{"insert":" all allow you to turn that mana into more useful colors or unrestricted forms. And if all that wasn't enough to convince you, in the rare circumstance where you have 4 non-lands with activatables in the bin you can 'reanimate' them using the other side of this. You can assemble a pretty wild super-artifact with this. Only downsides are you shouldn't ever put Scarab God under this card, and that you can only activate each ability once on the flip side (which is two activations due to it copying)\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Nexus of Fate"}},{"insert":", not incredibly secret, instant speed extra turn that shuffles back into the deck is already great on the surface. But this card takes on extra legs in the deck. Beyond just the normal extra turn good stuff of draw, untapping, breaking turn order, but also getting another upkeep trigger let's us drain again and scry. But here is the real secret. Since it shuffles back into the deck, if we're low enough on library and have enough zombies/"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sphinx of the Second Sun"}},{"insert":" effects we can get it back from the library and do it again, causing a brutal loop that can end the game on the spot if someone can't stop us. Not to mention, even if countered it's just going back into the deck to potentially do it again. Plus the added benefit of having insulation from getting milled out protects us from an archtype that's our direct predator.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Suffering"}},{"insert":" on the surface is a decent body that feeds Scarab God, but if you're paying attention this does crazy things with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Nexus of Fate"}},{"insert":". Milling does not cause a player to lose the game, only when they draw from an empty library do they lose. If you mill too much Nexus just flips back into your library. So even worse case scenario where you have Nexus of Fate in hand, you won't die, you get your untap and upkeep, casting Nexus to then shuffle it back into the library and then draw it. This effectively accelerates you to the Nexus of Fate loop while also making it so you're immune to damage. (Watch out for "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Questing Beast"}},{"insert":"s or effects that exile Nexus)\n\n________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\nMana:"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Lands:"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Why 41 lands? The answer starts in this article (https://www.channelfireball.com/article/how-many-lands-do-you-need-in-your-deck-an-updated-analysis/cd1c1a24-d439-4a8e-b369-b936edb0b38a/), but to summarize you want to make sure you don't miss lands drops. This number helps make sure we won't miss land drops for around 6 turns, which is a good spot. Your mana base is the spine of the deck, and it can't stand straight if you don't show it the love it deserves. \n\nAs the game continues to age and expand its card set the number of non-basics that are basically spells and lands increases, which makes running more lands not a problem. Our land count is something closer to 32 with the following cards, reducing our 'dead draws'.\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Agadeem's Awakening // Agadeem, the Undercrypt"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Boggart Trawler // Boggart Bog"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fell the Profane // Fell Mire"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Hydroelectric Specimen // Hydroelectric Laboratory"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Otawara, Soaring City"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sea Gate Restoration // Sea Gate, Reborn"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sink into Stupor // Soporific Springs"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Takenuma, Abandoned Mire"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Waterlogged Teachings // Inundated Archive"}},{"insert":". \n\nBig Mana:"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Call it greedy, but it's just too enticing for a deck that really can use every ounce of mana with all the activatables we have access to.\n\nWe have our normal big mana picks of "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cabal Coffers"}},{"insert":" + "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth"}},{"insert":" to 'mana double' with just lands. This can get a bit sticky if you draw Cabal Coffers with only a couple swamps and no way to tutor out Urborg. You can decide "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Blanket of Night"}},{"insert":" is some additional redundancy to help out, but I find it to not move the needle over tutors.\n\nThe close cousin to Cabal Coffers is "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx"}},{"insert":", which is great on its own, but in our deck all our Scarab God tokens keep their mana and thus their devotion. Making this land quickly scale up. Great alone, great in this deck.\n\nThen lastly we have the couple of lands that tap for slightly more than a normal land, mostly to assist with the support category of our big mana. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dimir Aqueduct"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lotus Field"}},{"insert":". You can decide to go a little riskier and also include "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Scorched Ruins"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lotus Vale"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ancient Tomb"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"City of Traitors"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Temple of the False God"}},{"insert":", and some others like the Urza's lands. Generally the colorless one's don't fit as neatly into the list as I would like, and they're also vulnerable compared to Dimir Aqueduct which allows you to keep the land (and potentially bounce one of the 9 lands that you can use as a card instead of a land) and Lotus Field has some added protection compared to Lotus Vale, even though Lotus Vale is 'faster' by not coming into play tapped.\n\nThen if you couple all that with the following you can capitalize with the following to increase their effect, or to make it easier to get them.\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Urza's Cave"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Deserted Temple"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Candelabra of Tawnos"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Palinchron"}},{"insert":"(a single card 'infinite' if you just happen to have the right lands) are the core cards I use, but you may also want to consider "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Thespian's Stage"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vesuva"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Echoing Deeps"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Copy Land"}},{"insert":".\n\nThis all comes together to provide a lot of mana to dump into Scarab God activations at worst, and at best, lets you play out a whole turns worth of board progression AND hold up interaction, making things very complicated for opponents trying to slow you down. This DOES however mean you need to be careful how you tap lands, as you can really screw yourself out of the bonus mana if you don't have a plan for it or tap out too far on your first interaction if you're not thinking ahead.\n\n________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\nCombos:"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rings of Brighthearth"}},{"insert":" + "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Basalt Monolith"}},{"insert":" - Infinite Colorless Mana\n\tFairly simple, tap the Monlith for {C}{C}{C}, spend {C}{C}{C} to untap the Monolith, copy with Rings for {2} tapping the Monolith in between to net you {C} every time to perform the loop.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rings of Brighthearth"}},{"insert":" + "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Voltaic Key"}},{"insert":" - {3} to untap any artifact\n\tTap Voltaic target itself for {1}, then copy with Rings for {2} to untap a different artifact.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rings of Brighthearth"}},{"insert":" + "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Deserted Temple"}},{"insert":" - {3} to untap any land\n\tTap Deserted Temple target itself for {1}, then copy with Rings for {2} tountap a different land.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rings of Brighthearth"}},{"insert":"/"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lithoform Engine"}},{"insert":" + "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Deserted Temple"}},{"insert":"/"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Candelabra of Tawnos"}},{"insert":"/"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Palinchron"}},{"insert":" + "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Magosi, the Waterveil"}},{"insert":" - {U}{3} and your land drop for an extra turn\n\tTap Magosi to skip your next turn and put a counter on it for {U}, untap it for~{1}, tap Magosi to take an extra turn, copy that extra turn with Rings or Engine.\n\n________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\nPredator Cards:"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\nMeta Analysis:"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sisay, Weatherlight Captain"}},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t{W}{U}{B}{R}{G} searches a CMC 1 - 6 Legendary permanent at instant speed. Vulnerable moments are when Sisay doesn't have the mana for an activation, but if an activation is 'hanging' then you have to watch out for certain crards.\n\tProblem Cards:\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sanctum of All"}},{"insert":" \n\t\t\tThis card requires it be exiled, either through direct means, or through destruction then graveyard hate. As long as it's around Sisay will be going for it.\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Go-Shintai of Life's Origin"}},{"insert":" \n\t\t\tUsually right before going for Sanctum of All the Sisay deck will have gone for this card, not only does it quickly scale up the number of shrines in play, but also can return Sanctum of All from the bin.\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Yorion, Sky Nomad"}},{"insert":" \n\t\t\tIf Sisay has access to {W}{U}{B}{R}{G} Legendary permanents expect Yorion to 'fog' the first set of removal you throw at an assembled board. Either double tap, or look for when the deck is tapped out.\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ertai Resurrected"}},{"insert":" \n\t\t\tIf Sisay has 3 colors, the likely protection piece is Ertai to try and counter the spell or ability, once again, if you seek to interrupt the gameplan it must be at instant speed after tapping out.\n\tGameplan:\n\t\tIf you leave Sisay to their own devices they will quickly out synergy anyone else at the table, eventually assembling a critical mass of draw, discard, ping, and ramp from all the Shrine effects going off. Sisay is most vulnerable when she uses he end step to activate and doesn't hold enough mana to try and stop instant speed removal. You either need to exile problem pieces or Go-Shintai of Life's Origin to avoid having to constantly deal with the same shrine over and over. Without Go-Shintai it doesn't have the creature depth to stop aggression, nor will it want to block with its precious shrines. Careful about assuming the deck is down and out, Sisay can tutor our "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sanctum of Stone Fangs"}},{"insert":" with just 1 other color or grab "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Honden of Cleansing Fire"}},{"insert":" on full board to gain an obscene amount of life. Best counters to Sisay are "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Opposition Agent"}},{"insert":", to steal the tutor and prevent further activations or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tishana's Tidebinder"}},{"insert":" to just lock out Sisay of not only the activation, but the size bonus.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Calamity, Galloping Inferno"}},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\tMake two tokens of any non-legendary creature in the list. Gets around "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Propaganda"}},{"insert":" and Goad effects. Pumps out treasures and direct damage like mad.\n\tProblem Cards:\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Trumpeting Carnosaur"}},{"insert":" \n\t\t\tfor 6 CMC and Calamity the deck gets Discover 5 three times. This is an engine that REQUIRES it be stopped or Calamity will out value the table in short order. Dies to ordinary removal.\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Port Razer"}},{"insert":" & "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bloodthirster"}},{"insert":" \n\t\t\tThere are countless examples, but Calamity loves extra combats and can go infinite or near infinite with even a single one. Stop even one extra combat like they're playing Time Walk.\n\tGameplan:\n\t\tCalamity wants to ramp into the commander then ride it to victory. You need to make sure it's not easy, profitable, or possible to attack. A single turn of value can be a lot of momentum. The deck struggles to remove enchantments if that can inform card selection or counterplay. It can chew through creatures, planeswalkers, and artifacts with many of its strategies. Expect a lot of ETB and 'on death' triggers. If you can manage to keep Calamity off draws it may end up spinning its wheels, at best dealing some damage or making some treasures. While it can't stop Calamity from going infinite, having "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Massacre Wurm"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Meathook Massacre"}},{"insert":" can help dampen efforts. Every time they have a token die they lose life or you gain life. As with other activatable commanders, "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tishana's Tidebinder"}},{"insert":" does its job well, counter the Saddle activation and Calamity becomes a 4/6 non-haste Horse Mount without a rider. \n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Kodama of the West Tree"}},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\tEquipment, Auras, and Counters grant Trample, and Trample helps the deck get in for damage to get a large quantity of basics. \n\tProblem Cards:\n\t\tAny counter doublers.\n\tGameplan:\n\t\tKodama is very straight forward, make big creature, rock in for damage, ramp, repeat. your goal is to deter aggression through effects like Deathtouch, which is not terribly common on the current list with only "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fell Stinger"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sidisi, Undead Vizier"}},{"insert":", both likely already exploited themselves away. You're basically hoping for "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Opposition Agent"}},{"insert":" to steal all the land tutors or for "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sire of Stagnation"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sygg, River Cutthroat"}},{"insert":" to hopefully get value from all the combat and ramp. Our only boardwipe in our current shell is "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cyclonic Rift"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Life's Finale"}},{"insert":" that can possibly stop it, as all others are too close to the ground. You won't be able to cut Kodama on mana at all, it's better to play for card value and avoid just dying to commander damage.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Anhelo, the Painter"}},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\tAnhelo will likely be an instant speed spell slinger deck, expect 1 piece of interaction a turn (not a round). Can't use itself (usually) for Casualty and had Deathtouch to seem to deter aggression.\n\tProblem Cards:\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dogged Detective"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bloodghast"}},{"insert":" & Friends\n\t\t\tThese cards and other of its type enable Casualty and stick around for a long time. Treat it as the other half of the combo with the commander.\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cryptic Command"}},{"insert":" & "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mystic Confluence"}},{"insert":" \n\t\t\tIt's an instant speed spell slinging strategy, expect high value counterspells that generate value beyond just countering.\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Snap"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rewind"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Unwind"}},{"insert":", & "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Frantic Search"}},{"insert":" \n\t\t\tThese are 'free' spells for the deck and allows it to have more juice for later turns, these can also include cards that make treasure tokens.\n\tGameplan:\n\tHolding counterspells don't help you here, because the deck is constantly double dipping on spells. But you will notice a trend with most decks, they are over reliant on their commander and Anhelo is particularly sensitive to this. Most spells they rock need to happen twice to really net them resources. Making the deck play their commander and pass is a good place to be at, because if they're tapped out with no other creatures they're not going to Caualty until they next untap. Anticipate them fiercely guarding ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fierce Guardianship"}},{"insert":") their commander, early and late. One thing the deck is particularly vulnerable to is early and constant creature aggression. While it can cause you lose a lot of creatures with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Make an Example"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tragic Slip"}},{"insert":", & "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vona's Hunger"}},{"insert":", that's to try and keep the way clear for it not die. The deck almost NEVER wants to block with Anhelo, despite it being a deathtouch creature (they will commonly bluff 'I will block you', but losing Anhelo unless it's for lethal, won't happen). This is paired with some of the best Casualty creatures have text saying they cannot block. Your gameplan is going to sound like it's business as usual, but pay attention to these plays as ways to hurt this deck. You want to try and get out "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Noxious Ghoul"}},{"insert":" out and then threaten activations of Scarab God or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cryptbreaker"}},{"insert":" to kill off the 2/X's and Anhelo. Make sure to hold up Scarab God activations to hit "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dogged Detective"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bloodghast"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Forsaken Miner"}},{"insert":", and so on. They're not the best creatures to make 4/4's out of, but they limit options for Anhelo, that being said "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Squee, the Immortal"}},{"insert":" needs to be hit with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Subtlety"}},{"insert":" if you want it removed from Anhelo's options.\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Parhelion II"}},{"insert":" \nWilhelt, the Rotcleaver"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\tUnending hoards of zombies, better tribal support than Scarab God, and infinite combo setups.\n\tProblem Cards:\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rooftop Storm"}},{"insert":" \n\t\t\tThis card with Wilhelt can and will go infinite by accident, it's a must kill or you can expect Wilhelts board to just get too big too fast.\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Diregraf Captain"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Plague Belcher"}},{"insert":", & "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Undead Augur"}},{"insert":" \n\t\t\tThe deck has a philosophy of it doesn't really care about its board, not because it doesn't hurt the deck, but because it hurts everyone else more.\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Undead Warchief"}},{"insert":" \n\t\t\tThe lords for this deck make the large quantity of 2/2's into a big problem, with just two lords Wilhelt may just kill the whole table.\n\tGameplan:\n\t\tThe more common, and the better position Zombie support deck. Look, I know when we're beat, but we have options here. You're not going to beat Wilhelt on board or in raw damage, but we can be cute about it. First, we're not going to be the table villain as long as Wilhelt is vibing, your going to position yourself as the far less threatening zombie deck. Second, there are some symmetrical effects that can sneak up on Wilhelt. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Noxious Ghoul"}},{"insert":" & "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Zombie Master"}},{"insert":" are what we're going to be on the look out for, we can strategically keep other players down while making it look like it's Wilhelt by making zombie tokens here and there to kill off low toughness creatures. We can also hold up black mana to keep the couple of zombies we care about up. When you're ready to 'snap the trap' (like after a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ghoulcaller Gisa"}},{"insert":" activation) you want to either get "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Massacre Wurm"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Meathook Massacre"}},{"insert":", either can clear their board of 2/2s, Massacre Wurm has the added benefit of being played, then sac'd then played again for another -2/-2, and killing off the decayed that spawn after. Only risk is there are too many lords in play, "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Death Baron"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Diregraf Captain"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lord of the Accursed"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cemetery Reaper"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Undead Warchief"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lord of the Undead"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tomb Tyrant"}},{"insert":", and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gisa, the Hellraiser"}},{"insert":" all push the decayed out of range of our low to the ground board wipe. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Callidus Assassin"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Hostage Taker"}},{"insert":" are your friends when dealing with Wilhelt's lords, getting to remove them AND juicing your side of the field is great. Any other destruction effect also plays a similar part if you quickly reanimate them with Scarab God.\n\nAraumi of the Dead Tide"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nTasigur, the Golden Fang"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nQueen Marchesa"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nOmnath, "},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Shorikai, Genesis Engine"}},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\tEasy blockers, plentiful cards, resilient board states. The literal value engine.\n\tProblem Cards:\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Unwinding Clock"}},{"insert":" \n\t\t\tA single artifact mana dork means that Sorikai will draw two, discard one, and make a 1/1 pilot every turn. If you see Unwinding Clock Shorikai is 'going for it' and needs to be stopped.\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dance of the Manse"}},{"insert":"\n\t\t\tThis is the finisher, as Shorikai's bin fills up from activation's you will eventually see this fire, usually getting "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cyberdrive Awakener"}},{"insert":", but it will need some haste enabler or established board.\n\t\t"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Parhelion II"}},{"insert":"\n\t\t\tThis can quickly scale out of control and is worth a removal spell, but an experienced Sorikai pilot will usually bait out removal with this to clear the way for combo pieces.\n\tGameplan:\n\t\tIt's very spiteful, but you bolt the bird here. Artifact decks quickly ramp out of control and Shorikai loves to run cost reducers ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Foundry Inspector"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Etherium Sculptor"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Urza's Incubator"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cloud Key"}},{"insert":", among countless others). Their mana dorks seem innocuous by comparison, but they're more important than first glance due to allowing Unwinding Clock + Shorikai to be free every turn. This compounds into some insane card advantage even if it dies in one turn cycle. This deck has insane card advantage and filtering, making it incredibly consistent. Then throw in that Sorcery speed removal barely does anything, the vehicles are only creatures when the deck wants them to be, so board wipes have to be for Artifacts to really impact the deck. The only simple answer is pressure early, pressure often, and hold disruption for them. Your best friend is "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Faerie Mastermind"}},{"insert":" as it can trigger every turn, netting you a similar number of cards as the Shorikai deck. Nearly every disruption card messes with the deck in some way, "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Orcish Bowmasters"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dauthi Voidwalker"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Consecrated Sphinx"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mesmeric Orb"}},{"insert":" . But none greater than "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Notion Thief"}},{"insert":", which will hold them down, but they're going to make sure you hurt for it, swinging every round into you they don't have a reasonable removal spell for it. This deck can 1 for 1 for days and then some, the only aspect of the deck I find on the weaker side is that they struggle to stabilize when their life total gets low. Sure the same can be said of other decks, but I've seen Shorikai get killed by incidental damage on countless occasions. You will want to communicate with the table to say 'Oh hey the Shorikai deck is ramping and drawing, he's in the lead!' often to fish out early attacks to help here. Once Shorikai is low, you will want creatures with evasion and Scarab God triggers to grind them out. You cannot out control them, if you attempt to do so you will expend all your resources, maybe killing them in the process, but ultimately losing.\n\nGonti, Canmny Acquisitor"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nCaptain N'ghathrod"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n--\n\nNOTABLE EXCLUSIONS"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Heartstone"}},{"insert":"\n\tWhy you may want to include it:\n\t\tReduces activation costs of creature activated abilities by {1}, basically a second copy of "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Training Grounds"}},{"insert":" in terms of function. \n\tWhy I don't include it:\n\t\tIt's symmetrical, costs 2 more for 1 less benefit than Training Grounds. It's just not worth it at this price.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cleaver Skaab"}},{"insert":" \n\tWhy you may want to include it:\n\t\tDouble up your Zombie ETBs at worst and end the game at best when you keep splitting "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gray Merchant of Asphodel"}},{"insert":".\n\tWhy I don't include it:\n\t\tIt's too slow without haste enablers, often getting disrupted before the second or even first activation. 7 cmc to get two copies, most of the time, isn't a good rate.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Notion Thief"}},{"insert":" \n\tWhy you may want to include it:\n\t\tMini-Consecrated Sphinx that hoses basically every deck since everyone wants more cards. If you flash this out in response to a wheel it's basically game over.\n\tWhy I don't include it:\n\t\tYou are going to be the villain, instantly. You will catch every counter spell, removal, disruption, anything and everything. If they don't have creature removal, they will use player removal and just kill you.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gleaming Overseer"}},{"insert":" \n\tWhy you may want to include it:\n\t\tComes with a 1/1, turns your "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Orcish Bowmasters"}},{"insert":" armies into zombies, makes all your Scarab God tokens Menace and Hexproof. Premium protection and threat piece.\n\tWhy I don't include it:\n\t\tMost likely to make the list, but this isn't as much protection for a board as you might think. Boardwipes and sacrifice effects are more common than you think.\n\t\t\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Undead Augur"}},{"insert":" \n\tWhy you may want to include it:\n\t\tRefill your hand whenever someone hurts your board for just 2 little black pips.\n\tWhy I don't include it:\n\t\tYour quantity of zombies is not that high. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fell Stinger"}},{"insert":" does this job better and doesn't need zombies to die. If you have an increased number of zombies, this improves substantially.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Null Elemental Blast"}},{"insert":" \n\tWhy you may want to include it:\n\t\t1 cmc counter or removal, this is probably one of the best removals in the format now considering at worst it hits commanders landing or already on the field.\n\tWhy I don't include it:\n\t\tThe colorless requirement is unfortunately too much with our current mana base. 11 sources means that there were many times where this sat in my hand unusable. Exercise caution, but it is good.\n\n"}]}