Anguished Unmaking

Anguished Unmaking


Exile target nonland permanent. You lose 3 life.

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Anguished Unmaking Discussion

Ojallday on Dealing with politics as an …

2 weeks ago

I have a friend that ran Markov who had a similar problem. Due to the nature of the deck you drop all of your creatures and kill one player. His solution was to transition to a mid-range strategy. Simply put he would cast early game threats to put pressure on other players, but they didn't win him the game or kill a player, so that he could win the game on later turns. Since I don't know how you are losing I'll put forward a few ways players stop Markov decks and how to counter those strategies.

First, are players killing you when all of you creatures are tapped down? Keep some of your creatures back as blockers, this is obvious and the strategy goes against how agro players operate in most formats but is needed in multiplayer environments. Along the same lines are white spells that can untap all of your creatures on other players turns like Battle Cry and Call to Glory leading to fun combat tricks to kill off important creatures and more importantly save your life total.

Second, are players board wiping constantly to knock down your board state? This was the problem my friend had and after two board wipes he would be out of cards in hand with no board state top decking hoping for some sort of Windfall. There are a few ways to counter this which can be focused on individually or can be mixed for similar results. Making it so your creatures don't die is one method featuring spells like Boros Charm and Teferi's Protection. Another is mass reanimation spells like Faith's Reward, Patriarch's Bidding and Living Death. Finally are flexible spells that essentially replace the creatures you lost. Those being Reprocess, Plumb the Forbidden or Village Rites.

Third, playing politics. Like you said there is not much stopping the rest of the table from ganging up on you, you can however influence other players decisions based on how you play and how others at your table play as well. Hold back threats, it's tempting to dump your hand and start swinging but as you mentioned this makes you a huge target. Instead put down a Coat of Arms or another value spell and hold the rest of your mana open for interaction, which leads to my next point interaction. You have some of the best removal spells in the game in your colors like Fracture,Dreadbore, Anguished Unmaking and Swords to Plowshares all of which are great bargaining chips to use as favors for other players, as well as being useful to take care of things causing problems for you. Last of all are less card choices but more how you address the table, having a good pokerface helps a lot with this. At the start of the game address the commanders others are playing and talk to the group about the powerful synergies they employ. Whenever an important combo or synergy price is played by an opponent point it out to the other players and if it's very strong stress it needs to be dealt with, which may incline the other players to use spells on it, reducing what they can use against you and making it so you don't have to deal with the problem. When a Tutor is cast discuss what spell the player could be gettng, this will draw attention to them and away from you. Finally when players address your board shift focus away from it, point out another player with the winning board state or the deck that won the last game. Downplay that you are a threat until you are ready to win the game. Keep in mind you are still an agro deck, so you can always lean into dumping your hand to kill a player fast if the game match up calls for it.

This final section is just general deck construction. Vampire selection: make sure you vampires are doing more that entering the battlefield to create an extra Vampire through eminence. Things like Blood Artist and Viscera Seer give value when opponents interact with the board and thing like Twilight Prophet draws cards. There are also the vampire lords that buff all of your vampires and tokens. Things that have synergy with your strategy are good includes too like Sanguine Bond, Impact Tremors or Goblin Bombardment and go a long way. Finally is "normal" card advantage that doesn't rely on you having vampires out and will shine in the early game as well as add value late game, Greed, Phyrexian Arena and Wheel of Misfortune.

I hope some of my thoughts help you work out a good game plan.

nbarry223 on Viga-BOOM! (Turn 2)

4 weeks ago

Hmm, strongly considering moving Sigarda, Host of Herons to the main in place of Questing Beast. With Riveteers Charm moving to the side, and becoming a very useful target due to all the flexibility, I'm going to want more access to which makes Firespout a solid option that I can make space for.

-1 Questing Beast
+1 Sigarda, Host of Herons

-1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
-1 Anguished Unmaking
+1 Riveteers Charm
+1 Firespout

and I'll probably try to find a way to make space for more 5 color lands. Any opinions? I really do like Questing Beast but Sigarda, Host of Herons has more relevance overall. Its casting cost is a little difficult for what I wanted the slot to be for though, so I'm not completely sold on the idea. Another option would be to replace Doomskar with Firespout, but I'd like to have both if at all possible.

There's just so many good options, it's hard to squeeze in all the things I want to do...

Edit: I guess I could cut Necromentia for the Firespout instead, since that's probably my least used card.

DreadKhan on DecadAnce

1 month ago

Neat deck idea, I assume you're hoping to make the deck a bit stronger, so I took a look at the stuff you were concerned with.

You could try some Changelings maybe, there are some 1 drops like Universal Automaton and Changeling Outcast, which are all types and cost 1 mana for an otherwise useless creature. Maskwood Nexus is slower than all heck, but it's really strong in here I suspect.

If you want removal in White, Generous Gift will deal with most permanents, and giving them a 3/3 is usually good if you're stopping a combo/removing something huge. Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are very good removal if you are concerned with creatures in particular. Vanishing Verse is really interesting (but flubs vs multi-coloured stuff), Anguished Unmaking is really powerful but is pricey, while Vindicate is the king of sorcery speed solutions. If your meta has a lot of big creatures, Despark isn't a bad option, but it's dead vs low MV stuff, so probably not mainboard. Not quite 'removal', but Plague Engineer is a good 'sideboard' card vs any decks that use x/1 creatures, especially stuff like Elves. You could consider Dismember, you've got some life gain I guess?

To sneak out a Black 3 drop, you might run some Dark Ritual for big turn 1 plays. It can also sneak out a Maskwood Nexus. Culling the Weak also exists, and sacrificing a creature might not bother you here.

Hope some of this is helpful!

Gidgetimer on The "A" Team (Tayam Rube Goldberg Combo)

1 month ago

Hey, thanks for taking the time to comment. First I am going to address the questions and then move onto the suggestions.

Gift of Granite is there to combo with Tayam and Devoted Druid. Making her toughness 4 allows you to tap for mana and untap by placing a -1/-1 counter 3 times completely fueling infinite Tayam activations. There are other card that can enable this line, but I like the aura because I can find it off of Lost Auramancers and flash I feel is the most useful of the +0/+2 for a single mana enchantments.

Oblivion Ring is there as a removal that can be returned with Tayam. Returning Eternal Witness to return an Anguished Unmaking might be a slightly stronger play, but would require more mana and more cards to have been milled if we encounter mid-combo permanent based disruption.

Lotus Bloom is there to make 3 mana incase we are able to establish a "counters only" loop with Tayam. You can repeatedly do the loop returning the Lotus Bloom until you are able to find one of the altars, or one of the Druid lines. It enables more varied versions of the engines. I have not taken the time to list them with all the other ones because I feel the primer is long enough at this point, I should probably put it in the line where I mention counters only engines. I'm not sure of another similar card outside of LED (price prohibitive) that would fill a similar role.

Pull from Eternity is because I am paranoid about things getting exiled and the entire fragile machine falling apart. I have never had it happen. I have actually never had a single integral piece exiled. But it is a security blanket for me. I might be making the deck strictly less powerful by doing this, but power level is quite high enough for my meta.

Sun Titan and Angelic Renewal are both good cards, but I'm not sure what I would cut for them. There is just so much redundancy already and i'm not sure that they would make any of the lines more resilient or more compact.

Soul-Guide Lantern is a great suggestion! There are so many new and varied variations of activated graveyard exile effects that I haven't kept up with all of them. I pulled the Tormod's Crypt from a M21 booster when I was intending to order a Nihil Spellbomb for the deck and just slotted it in and left it. I will definitely have to order a Lantern.

nbarry223 on Viga-BOOM! (Turn 2)

1 month ago

I'm definitely thinking Riveteers Charm will end up replacing Anguished Unmaking when it's released. It is non-targeted removal, so it actually hits more things, plus Abrupt Decay already covers all the low CMC targets that may be issues. Riveteers Charm also gives me a wishable form of gravehate and also has a built in card advantage mode, so the swap seems like a no brainer.

The only real downside is that is a little harder to produce than , but I don't see that as a major concern. I guess exiling also eliminates some graveyard abuse, but that's more of a side effect than a requirement for the slot.

LunchBox1211 on dragon tribal is glorious

1 month ago

Some more cards to consider (as per your request): Old Gnawbone. Read the card. That's a lot of treasure when all your creatures have a ton of power. | Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund. Gives your dragons haste, untaps them, and (in the odd case you are playing a Dragon ditto), steals your opponent's dragons. Forever. | Dragon's Hoard, if you want another mana rock that works well with dragons. I also like Component Pouch, especially in a deck where your commander in all 5 colours, but that's mostly just me. | Rishkar's Expertise. Refill your hand, cast something for free. Genesis Ultimatum allows you to cheat in more stuff, but doesn't allow you to refill your hand, and it costs more to cast. | Farseek, especially if you decide to run the Tri-cycle lands (which I recommend). I'm going to avoid talking about lands, but cards like Spara's Headquarters and Raugrin Triome are really nice, especially for 5-colour decks. And, yes, Farseek can find Spara's Headquarters. Headquarters is both a plains, and an island. Rampant Growth and Nature's Lore can also fill this "2-mana sorcery that ramps" slot, depending on what you can find (if this is paper). Three Visits is just Nature's Lore, but Lore's name communicates the mechanics of the card better. | Swords to Plowshares/Path to Exile. Exile a creature, for 1 mana, at instant speed. I like Swords better for commander because I find that life is less of an advantage than an extra land. Other removal options include - and are not limited to - (and I may have mentioned some of these already, so sorry if I did) Beast Within, Generous Gift, Anguished Unmaking, Assassin's Trophy, Despark, Chaos Warp, Wear / Tear, Hide / Seek, Bedevil, Vindicate, Baleful Mastery, and Vanishing Verse. | Patriarch's Bidding, if you want some mass reanimation. | I didn't see very many board wipes. Granted, you want more pin-point removal than board wipes, but you still might want a few. I'll recommend Farewell (6 mana to get around indestructible, and nuke many different target, AND act as graveyard hate), Merciless Eviction (for planeswalkers), Cleansing Nova (cheaper than Farewll, and probably easier to find, but less flexible), Cyclonic Rift (7 mana to get all of your opponents permanents off the board, and set them back a few turns as they reset), Supreme Verdict (only hits creatures, but uncounterable, and cheap to cast) and/or Vanquish the Horde (for token decks). You do have Ruinous Ultimatum and Descent of the Dragons (or Crux of Fate, if you happen to get it), and I like to run 3-4 total, so choose the ones that most effectively clear the table in your playgroup. Although I have seen and heard some people run as low as 2.

For both the removal and board wipe sections, choose whatever quantities and options are working best at removing the threats you frequently go up against. If you are building this in paper (specially if the deck is sleeved), I'd recommend asking your playgroup if it is OK for you to print out proxy copies of cards for playtesting, then (once you have decided what options you like) buying those cards. Ask your friends first, though, I know not everyone is OK with proxies.

These are all just suggestions to get your mind thinking. You don't have to run all of these, but they are here if you need inspiration or help.

If you want, I can link some of the dragon/tribal decks I've made on tappedout, just as a reference point for what I like.

LunchBox1211 on dragon tribal is glorious

1 month ago

I would like to say, before I say anything else, that the first few decks people build often have a bunch that could be fixed, so if it seems like I wrote an essay, I'm not trying to be overly critical. My first deck was a mono-white Angel Tribal Lifegain deck that had no real payoff for gaining life. Needless to say, it had a lot that could have been done, and my next deck was one of the Commander Pre-Cons from C18. I'd also like to say that these are just observations.

For cuts, I can see a few. Several of the planeswalkers seem only sort-of related, so you could get away with dropping some of them (like Gideon Blackblade and Ajani Steadfast). I'm not sure why Blackblade Reforged is in. It is great for go tall decks, where you want 1 really big creature (usually made big using equipments and/or auras), but in a go wide deck like this one, I'm not sure if you need it. Plus, dragons are fairly big on their own. | Chaplain's Blessing. I know gaining 5 life might seem good, but I've come to realize that gaining a bunch of life isn't very good without something like Aetherflux Reservoir. And at that point, I think a better option is to build around Aetherflux Reservoir, not dragons. | Not entirely sure what Bag of Holding is doing. | There are a few dragons that don't seem to be doing much, with the way your deck currently is. There doesn't seem to be a lot of instants/sorceries for Backdraft Hellkite get back. There aren't a lot of +1/+1 counter synergies, so Enduring Scalelord isn't doing a ton. There aren't a lot of artifacts, so Hellkite Igniter isn't getting the absurd amount of damage output that I've done with it, myself. It does have haste, but a 5/5 hasty flyer for 7 isn't super great. Unless you can give it deathtouch, most things in commander aren't bothered by Shockmaw Dragon's combat damage trigger. There aren't a lot of 2-colour spells for Niv-Mizzet Reborn to see off the top. | Dictate of Erebos can be brutal, but usually in aristocrat-style decks, where you want your own things to die.

Some other things I've noticed: Crux of Fate is a cheaper Descent of the Dragons that is also one sided. | About the Sarkhan question, I've always thought that Sarkhan the Masterless is kind of funny, and he can act as a deterrent for attacks (or a magnet, depending on board state). | 5 mana counterspells seems nice, but often end up being rather underwhelming, more often than not. | Fight effects (like Clash of Titans) are nice, but in a 5-colour deck, you also have cards like Path to Exile, Bedevil, Anguished Unmaking, Generous Gift, or Chaos Warp, that don't need you to have a big creature, and don't need you to put that creature at risk. | I feel like you could use a bit more ramp. I'd recommend a few of the guild signets from Ravnica, Arcane Signet and Farseek. | The Ur-Dragon was the out-of-the-box Commander for a 5-colour dragon tribal commander deck from C17. Usually he is the head of a dragon tribal deck, but he's still powerful in the 99.

All of this is just my opinion, with my own biases, and I'm still learning a fair bit myself, so take it with a grain of salt. Playtest it, see what works and what doesn't. See what you like, and what you don't. I will admit that I prefer more aggressive play as opposed to a slower, more control heavy style, so that may influence my choices, and I've also been (partially) traumatized by a few planeswalker decks before, so I don't really like them that much (although I do like the concept and design of them).

Lastly, I don't know if you have any pet cards or any cards that you are running because you like them (even if it may be not as good), so if a personal favorite is listed among the cuts, feel free to ignore that. Magic IS about having fun, at the end of the day. And, yes, Dragon Tribal is glorious!

DawnsRayofLight on Isshin, Two Heavens as One

1 month ago

I might drop some of the Samurai like these:

1x Nezumi Bladeblesser

1x Norika Yamazaki, the Poet

1x Peerless Samurai

1x Heiko Yamazaki, the General


Hero of Bladehold (she is rediculous with Isshin, 4 tokens out with +2/0)

Boros Charm: protection

Fireflux Squad: pretty good with the tokens

Aerial Surveyor: Can help with ramp

Some other adds:

Sword of the Animist: ramp

Rakdos Signet, Orzhov Signet: Ramp

Phyrexian Arena: try to get this while it is a bit low for now thanks to a recent reprint

Some suggested drops:

1x The Shattered States Era: There are better cards

1x Touch the Spirit Realm: pretty good, but there are better

1x Wanderer's Intervention: both this and the below have better cards you can use: Infernal Grasp, Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Despark, Anguished Unmaking, Bedevil, Baleful Mastery, Hero's Downfall, Dreadbore, Damn, Winds of Abandon

1x You Are Already Dead

1x Debt to the Kami

1x Deflecting Palm

1x Disenchant

1x Sword of Hours: there are better cards

1 Ecologist's Terrarium: there are better cards

It is looking good!!

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