Sefris of the Kind of Obvious Ways

[yeti1069]

Cuts & Adds

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

CUTS

1 Gravebreaker Lamia

1 Oriq Loremage

2 Island

1 Grimoire of the Dead

1 Fellwar Stone

ADDS

1 Solitude

1 Entomb

1 Cephalid Coliseum

1 Glasspool Mimic

1 Master of Death

1 Dimir Signet

Approximate Total Cost:

I like the effect from the Lamia, and a 4/4 lifelink has been relevant on occasion, but spending 5 mana for the effect just feels bad, and it's rare that I want to bring it back with Create Undead. The deck doesn't really take advantage of the cost reduction for casting spells from the graveyard, either, so overall I've just not been super happy with it. Solitude comes in as another piece of removal. The ability to flash it in may be relevant, and the possibility (though slim) of casting it for free is super good. It did, in fact, make an appearance in the first game after I added it, and made a huge impact: one player brought a stronger deck to the table than anyone else, and started very fast. I ended up exiling Sun Titan(!!!) to put the brakes on a little bit, and it ended up being super relevant that I did.

Oriq Loremage for Buried Alive or Entomb. Oriq is slow, needing to tap, isn't a good reanimation target because of that, and I've felt kind of bad the few games where I've had it online. If the deck is already chugging along, taking the time to tutor up a reanimation target every turn is time consuming and a little obnoxious. On the other hand, doing it once, for high impact, is a little more palatable, I think. The real choice is between the ability to assemble a combo in the graveyard (and do I want to have that ability, since it will ratchet up the power level significantly), or the versatility of the instant speed effect?

Also strongly considering pulling Yawgmoth, Thran Physician from another deck to bring in here, but I'm not sure what I would cut for it yet. The deck could definitely use another 1-3 sac outlets, and having some additional card draw is welcome for when the deck isn't quite chugging along. The fact that it is also removal, and ALSO a discard outlet makes it even more of a powerhouse here than it is in other decks. Just not sure who loses: Marchesa, The Black Rose, Meren, of Clan Nel Toth, or Tymna, the Weaver.

Additionally, I'm thinking the deck could really use one mass reanimation spell. Living Death is likely the best option, as it also serves as a board wipe, and it's one of the lowest CMC options for the effect, but I may want to look at something more one-sided. This would likely take the place of Grimoire of the Dead . I like the idea of the card, but it's slow, expensive, and highly telegraphed. Every time I've drawn it, I've groaned. For now, I'm slotting in Master of Death to try it out.

Fellwar for Dimir Signet is due to having a game recently where Fellwar wasn't making the colors I needed, and feeling like a Signet is more likely to get me where I need to be. We'll see...

[yeti1069]

Overcharged Amalgamis a distinct possibility. I'd likely bring it in for Render Silent (which probably should have been Disallow anyway).

Yeah, definitely want an "ETB: Counter target spell." on a creature, and Amalgam seems like the best option in these colors, since it can also act as an instant speed sac outlet, and can set itself up for repeated use.

Just had a game where it would have come in useful. Serra's Emissary would have also saved me, but I didn't have enough life to keep surveilling with Doom Whisperer. As it turned out, it was my next card, with me at 1 life, facing a Jaya's Immolating Inferno.

Also of note from that game: if Sefris (I did) has the ability to stop the explosive Gruul player from generating 20 mana in combat, that's probably the best thing to do.

Doom Whisperer was an all-star this game (although I did CHUG through my life total).
Cataclysmic Gearhulk, always on my mind as a potential cut, saved the game earlier by forcing the Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient player to give up most of his board, choosing between Xenagos, God of Revels and Asceticism, breaking some mana rocks, and limiting him to one big fatty on the table. I lost a bit, but had Reveillark out, so I was able to get back Sefris and Ravenous Chupacabra, which killed Klauth since he kept Xenagos over hexproof.

Overall, this was a banner game for the deck! Started off kind of slow, and everyone was way behind Klauth. Sefris got removed in a boardwipe aimed at Klauth to slow him down, and had to be replayed for 5. Then I was able to build up incremental board presence, and really started chugging along with Doom Whisper and a Spark Double as Sefris #2. I was able to control the game a bit with some timely creature removal, the board wipe, and quite a bit of reanimation. The only things I was really lacking this game were enchantment removal (came kind of late), and life gain, really. May be worth looking into some source of life padding, aside from 1 per dungeon trip.

Well, the lack of repeatable sac outlets hurt, since I ended up with both Reveillark and Karmic Guide without any way to go off with them, and then Reveillark got exiled (after doing a lot of work).

[yeti1069]

Cuts & Adds

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

CUTS

1 Doomed Necromancer

1 Propaganda

ADDS

1 Fell Stinger

1 Welcoming Vampire

Approximate Total Cost:

I have not activated the Necromancer yet, despite drawing it in several games. In most, I ended up pitching it to the yard, and on the couple of occasions that I actually put it into play, I think I just ended up sacrificing it to something else for venture triggers before it came online. It gets replaced by the Stinger for some additional card draw.

Propaganda has occasionally been useful, but it's not something I'm ever specifically looking for and without other ways to tax or impede attacks, it has occasionally been kind of pointless, and the deck has a fair amount of removal. Instead, I bring in another flyer, and more card drawing.

The theme here is due to my finding myself with few/no cards in hand, which is super relevant with some of the straight discard outlets, plus I've had some awkward situations where Tortured Existence forced me to keep a creature in my hand that I would have rather played, since it was my only creature in hand, and I needed it to use TE each turn. More draw means I should be in these situations less frequently.

Once I get a copy of Overcharged Amalgam I'll be bringing that in for Render Silent.
When I can find another copy, I'll swap Utter End for Anguished Unmaking.
Still want a mass reanimate in here, and still unsure of which card that should be. I don't think this deck has enough sac outlets, or value, for Living Death to be as one-sided as it can be in some of my other lists, like Varina, but it may be the right card since it also doubles as a board wipe. This is even more the case, since I'm contemplating adding Repository Skaab, which would allow for loops of any mass reanimate spell. Not sure what I would cut for the Skaab.

[yeti1069]

Considering adding one of: Panharmonicon, Thassa, Deep-Dwelling, or Debtors' Knell.

In regard to the first two, I have around 25 ETB creatures in the list, and almost 30 that would care about being flickered (Reveillark and the clones). For Knell, I feel like I could use some redundant reanimation that doesn't lean on Sefris, and having something resilient to board wipes would be good. That said, it is 7 mana, with no way of cheating it out.

Thassa I think is the #1 candidate, since it's a creature, and therefore can trigger Sefris if being discarded or sacrificed, and can be reanimated. Not sure what I would cut for any of these.

Also debating whether I should move some of the looting effects off of creatures and onto either instants like Dihada's Ploy [/card], or enchantments like Unfulfilled Desires [/card] [/card].

[yeti1069]

Have not yet pulled the trigger on any of the changes I'm weighing, but had a game last night that both demonstrated the value of Cataclysmic Gearhulk, and the risk of holding back too much (as well as what happens when the deck has neither a discard nor a sac outlet available).

Played against Slimefoot, the Stowaway, Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver, and Rin and Seri, Inseparable.
Other players had very little interaction, so it was falling on me to keep Slimefoot from comboing off, and slowing things down in general. Think I ended up Gearhulking 3 times during the game, and cast a Wrath, but all of my attention going toward Slimefoot meant that Wilhelt was able to keep chugging along. The boardwipes slowed him down a bit, but being able to make a bunch of tokens each time and keep Wilhelt in play to draw a card meant that he was outpacing everyone.

Rin and Seri blew up Sefris fairly early after the first Gearhulk, which was definitely a mistake, and was likely due to a little saltiness at having the board they had been assembling blown up.

Had a choice with the first Gearhulk of either losing Sefris or Viscera Seer and let the Seer go, thinking I'd get it back in short order, which never happened, as I was unable to really chug through the dungeon.

My second big mistake was not countering something Slimefoot played with Glen Elendra Archmage. I had only 1 mana up, and wanted to hold off in case something really dangerous came through, but forgot that triggering Sefris would have made a Treasure token, so I would have had mana anyway. That mistake ending up costing everyone about 15 life over the course of the game, and meant that when Wilhelt was finally able to swing out, I couldn't block enough damage to survive.

My best play of the game was using Entomb in response to Cyclonic Rift to trigger Sefris and reanimate Karmic Guide then Hostage Taker to exile my Sheoldred, Whispering One that Wilhelt had acquired via Ghoul's Night Out, which meant Sheoldred came into play on my side when the Rift resolved. That left me with the Praetor in play, Gearhulk, Sefris, Karmic, and Hostage Taker in hand for the following turn...which never came (see above).

Really could have used a mass reanimate in this game, as my yard was well stocked, but couldn't complete dungeons fast enough to keep up. Ideally, I'd prefer a 1-sided mass reanimate since I don't have much that will clinch a win on the spot, nor ensure that whatever everyone else recurs will be neutralized the way that my Varina deck can. Living Death continues to seem like the best call, but I don't love the risk of losing Sefris at the same time.

In this game, Panharmonicon wouldn't have done anything, but both Thassa and Debtor's would have been valuable. Very likely would have Gearhulk'ed every turn with Thassa until I could start pulling ahead or someone managed to throw a wrench into that plan, which would have been unlikely.

[Chromaticus]

I was thinking about this deck this morning - does Araumi of the Dead Tide potentially have a place? You have so many ETB effects.

[yeti1069]

I was thinking about this deck this morning - does Araumi of the Dead Tide potentially have a place? You have so many ETB effects.

It's an interesting card, but I don't feel like I have enough junk in my yard most of the time to comfortably be exiling 3 cards at a time, Then, as a reanimator deck, it mostly doesn't want to be paying full freight for its fatties. Some of the utility creatures would be worth encoring, but then they're gone forever. I just don't know if this does quite what the deck wants to be doing.

I think if I were doing a lot of self mill it would make sense, but since Sefris only cares about a single creature going to the yard, I felt like indiscriminate mill would be more of a detriment than a boon.

[yeti1069]

Thinking about swapping Baleful Strix for Alchemist's Apprentice. Strix is better in general as both a blocker and an evasive flyer for when that's needed, but the Alchemist can trigger Sefris at instant speed and draws the same card, albeit not immediately much of the time. Ideally, I'd prefer something that draws more than one card, but I don't think there's anything for that value at 2 mana.

Just going to proxy up a new copy of Yawgmoth, Thran Physician to replace Dimir House Guard. DHG can sac itself, which is occasionally useful, tutors and triggers Sefris at the same time, has evasion, and can save itself from a lot of removal with regeneration, but card draw + removal and a discard outlet is almost definitely going to be more worthwhile.

I'd really like a one-sided mass reanimation spell, but there aren't many options that I'm aware of, and they all come with downsides. So thinking I may just put some more cheap recursion options in. Choosing from amongst: Animate Dead, Necromancy, Corpse Dance, Wake the Dead, Agadeem's Awakening, Persist, and Reanimate. Figure I should add Agadeem's and 2 of these. One should be an enchantment to recur with Sun Titan. The other...not sure. Wake the Dead is one-sided and instant speed, but the timing can be restrictive, and none of the bodies are sticking around. Persist is cheap, and often its downside will be less problematic than Reanimate's (taking 6-8 damage can be problematic at times), but there are some key cards Persist can't recur. Corpse Dance is highly restrictive in what it gets, but I can sometimes stack the graveyard as desired, and it has repeatability...and is an instant.

Could use some help cutting 3-4 cards for the reanimate spells + Thassa, Deep-Dwelling. Probably will drop Unburial Rites for one of these. I like the card, but it's expensive to cast.

Also considering Curse of the Swine as a one-sides board wipe. Open to suggestions on other good options.

Gift of Doom may be a good addition here as well as a protection piece for Sefris and instant-speed sac outlet.

Also considering adding in Vault of the Archangel as an option for lifegain when needed.
Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire should probably also be in here.

[yeti1069]

Considering the following cuts and adds:

Considered Adds/Cuts

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

CUTS

1 Baleful Strix

1 Dimir House Guard

2 Swamp

1 Unburial Rites

1 Serra's Emissary

1 Plains

1 Necromantic Selection

1 Noxious Gearhulk

1 Utter End

1 Render Silent

ADDS

1 Alchemist's Apprentice

1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

1 Agadeem's Awakening

1 Phyrexian Tower

1 Necromancy

1 Thassa, Deep-Dwelling

1 Vault of the Archangel

1 Curse of the Swine

1 Wake the Dead

1 Anguished Unmaking

1 Overcharged Amalgam

Approximate Total Cost:

Serra's Emissary is a great card, and has saved my ass a few times, but I rarely reanimate it, and unless it's coming in as a response to a game-winning spell or alpha strike, it will often get removed before it does anything. Other times, it can just feel mean against tables without much interaction.

Noxious Gearhulk has been solid, and the life gain has been welcome, but it's high on the curve, and I feel like I already do have a fair amount of removal, so can stand to lose this. May come back in at some point.

Probably could also stand to cut 3 or 4 other cards for some more mana rocks, but I haven't felt the lack of ramp too badly. It's really been about being able to afford multiple spells per turn, especially if Sefris gets removed once or twice.

Overall, this drops the curve of the deck a bit, though 3 of the adds are X spells, so that's not a real point necessarily, and I do a little dance on CMC for interaction, going from a 4 mana removal spell to 3 mana, and a 3 mana counterspell to 4, but that counter is on a creature, so it comes with other synergies, including the potential of reanimating at instant speed. Down 3 basics, and up two colorless lands, which isn't ideal, given Sefris' requirements and wanting him down early. May end up dropping one or more of the colorless lands if I find too many hands don't work.

[yeti1069]

Trying a few of the changes (will document later).

One change I hadn't considered, but came across while looking for other cards was Body Double. That got me an early Archon of Cruelty, and I was able to reanimate the actual Archon on the same turn, which put a damper on the opponent getting most underway, and put me pretty far ahead. Archons got to swing twice, which just further widened the gap. I like that Body Double is a creature, has 0 power, and can "reanimate" from any graveyard, as well as leaving the base creature in the yard, allowing for doubling up, and meaning I don't need much of a board presence to utilize the clone.

Drew Thassa and the Amalgam, but they came up late enough in the game that I didn't need them.

Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker's doubling up ability came in BIG this game, as an opponent went down to 2 life in the process of stealing, tapping, and generally messing with my board, but I discarded 3 cards to Nezahal, Primal Tide, triggering Sefris and moving into Dark Pool to drain everyone for 2 in response to their final piece of interaction.

Further consideration on the previous cuts/adds has me thinking Generous Gift is maybe better than Anguished Unmaking, and Tragic Arrogance is in for Curse of the Swine at the moment. Arrogance can remove noncreature permanents, which is nice, and doesn't target, but isn't one-sided, and will often leave behind dangerous targets due to lack of alternative choices. Curse is absolutely one-sided and exiles, but does target, can be mana-intensive vs a big board, and is useless vs token swarms. I think I'll stick with Curse (once I find or proxy another copy), and lean on the Gearhulk for the Tragic Arrogance effect.

[yeti1069]

Just had a brutally dominating game against a fair amount of removal (all aimed at my stuff), board wipes, AND grave hate.
Tortured Existence was the MVP by MILES. It allowed me to save Syr Konrad from a Bojuka Bog, then allowed me to reclaim pieces in the yard in response to Cling to Dust multiple times. Not to mention, ya know, triggering Sefris every turn. Also, w/ Konrad in play, every activation deals 2 damage to each opponent! Add in the 1 from Dark Pool, and 1 more from Sefris's Create Undead trigger at the end of the dungeon, and I was slugging everyone for 10/turn cycle for 4 mana!

Some highlights included using TE to venture in response to an opponent trying to have their creature fight Sefris. Went into Fungi Cavern (Lost Mine) to give that creature -4/-0 to save my commander.

In response to a board wipe, discarded Radiant Solar to its ability to venture twice, then with THAT trigger on the stack, activated TE to discard Reveillark to the yard and return the angel to my hand. Sefris completed a dungeon with the 2nd venture and returned Reveillark. Board wipe, and big R returned Sefris and a Phantasmal Image (no other targets), which copied Sefris and died, netting me another venture (3rd on the turn).

Overall, the deck felt overwhelming even with a turn 3 board wipe from one player that would have seriously set me back, except for Tortured Existence allowing me to bin Sefris, get it back, and replay it on my turn.

Ultimately, I think we saw either 3 or 4 board wipes, and I had 3 or 4 spot removal aimed at Sefris (x2 or 3), and Syr Konrad (x1), as well as having my graveyard exiled, and 3 or 4 attempts at removing individual cards from my yard (snagged one).

Other notes: drew Thassa, but the only ETB I had was Fell Stinger without fodder to sacrifice, so I chucked her to the bin to save Konrad in response to Bojuka Bog. Would have done some work later.

[yeti1069]

Have had a few games now where someone else played a Rule of Law or heavy stax effect like Winter Orb and found Sefris to be best suited for leveraging those effects. Considering adding some stax to the deck to slow everyone else down. Maybe Archon of Emeria? Some anti-noncreature tech?

Or will that be too unfun?

[yeti1069]

Game report:

Sat down to play via Spelltable, for a "high-powered, mid game." Everyone was saying they wanted to play a game that went to turn 8+, so I busted out Sefris vs Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Vadrik, Astral Archmage, and Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist.

1: Mirri played Sigarda's Aid. Vadrik played Sol Ring. I opened with land, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet.
2: Heliod played Blind Obedience, which made me kind of sad, since it meant my treasures would come in tapped. Mirri played some equipment. I dropped a land, Nadaar, Selfless Paladin, ventured into Lost Mine, and passed.
3. Everyone played their commanders, and I played a land and Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker, I swung Nadaar at Heliod, since he'd be gaining life anyway, and made 2 tapped treasures.
4. Mirri took a poke at Heliod for 7 commander. Heliod played Walking Ballista for X=1, because they were stuck on 3 lands. Smelling the combo, I countered it with Arcane Denial. Then he played some 1-drop creature that could sac for to get an artifact back from the yard. Vadrik played Birgi, God of Storytelling // Harnfel, Horn of Bounty. I played a land, Sefris, and Thassa, Deep-Dwelling. Swung Nadaar at Heliod, ventured and gave both Mirri and Vadrik -4/-0 until my next turn. EOT I flickered Nadaar to venture and completed the dungeon, drawing a card.
5. Mirri swung at me with Commander's Plate and some other equipment on Mirri, so I couldn't block, but only took 3 damage, thanks to the -4 from the dungeon. Heliod played Rule of Law, and Vadrik commented that, if not for that, he would have won on his turn.

With two decks primed to combo off on turn 5, I felt like maybe they had seriously misrepresented their intentions for the power level of this game.

6. Mirri swung at Vadrik, after he announced being able to win if not for the enchantment. Heliod played Enlightened Tutor in their upkeep to get a Sol Ring, then played a creature, as a blocker, I guess? Vadrik didn't do much. I played Glen Elendra Archmage, swung Nadaar at Heliod to venture, and passed.
7. Mirri swung at Heliod, and equipped a Robe of Stars. Heliod tried to get back Walking Ballista with their sacrifice creature, but I played Overcharged Amalgam to counter the ability, and triggered Sefris, making treasures. Vadrik played a big draw spell that I let resolve, because I felt save with Glen Elendra out. On my turn I dropped a land, and swung at Vadrik to put some damage through. Ventured and gave Vadrik -8/-0. After combat, I cast Fell Stinger, and exploited itself, which also triggered Sefris to complete the dungeon. Raised the Stinger again, to draw a total of 5 cards for 4 life.

By this point, Heliod was getting low on life, and Vadrik was getting big. I lost track a little of what happened during which turns, but from here on I ventured into Tomb of Annihilation to put pressure on hands/life totals/resources. Somewhere in here I activated Geier Reach Sanitarium to discard Karmic Guide, which I later rezzed at instant speed with Necromancy to get Fell Stinger back and draw some more cards. Vadrik misplayed, moving from untap directly to declaring his commander as attacking me, without announcing combat. I made him back up, and used Thassa to tap down the commander. Wouldn't have done so normally, but after he declared his intention of swinging 21 commander at me, I changed my mind.

On my turn after that, I swung at Heliod to kill him, and put some more damage on Vadrik. This left Mirri in the position of killing either me or Vadrik, but since Rule of Law was gone, and Vadrik had been making noise ever since it showed up about being able to win if not for that, he decided Vadrik had to go, also figuring his board was protected behind Robe of Stars. On my turn, I played Hostage Taker, targeting Commander's Plate to remove the protection and allow for blockers. Mirri activated Robe with no additional mana available, and I removed his commander with Swords to Plowshares in response to the activation. Mirri scooped, saying they didn't have a way to fight through my board state.

Overall, I was very happy with how the deck performed. It was able to stop one deck from comboing off twice, and piggybacked on the Rule of Law to hold a big spellslinger deck at bay. Interestingly, I never got any of the big bombs to reanimate, and only actually reanimated 2 or 3 times with Sefris all game. Seriously considering some stax pieces here, like Rule of Law, but I think adding them would take the deck from being on the edge of not too fun, to downright miserable territory, so may not do that. Near the end, I also missed not having a sac outlet, as I had Karmic Guide in the yard, and Reveillark in hand, but had no way to sacrifice anything. May need to revisit upping the sac outlet count.

[yeti1069]

Also, I'm often finding situations where I'm holding a board wipe, and there are some creatures that need to be removed, but wiping the board sets me back further than anyone else, because I have the biggest/best board state. It may be getting close to the point that I bring Cyclonic Rift back in. Otherwise, I think I need to find some other options for 1-sided board wipes.

[Chromaticus]

I feel like this deck got some good hits with the connive mechanic, especially the 2 drop one that triggers on second spell.

[yeti1069]

I feel like this deck got some good hits with the connive mechanic, especially the 2 drop one that triggers on second spell.

Ledger Shredder? Yeah, looks good! I pulled one in my prerelease pack, and added it to the deck, but have yet to see it. Otherwise, I generally feel like triggering Sefris on my own turn isn't too hard--the difficult part is getting triggers each other turn/at instant speed, and connive just doesn't cut it for that, so I'm not likely adding much else from the set. Some other folks I've spoken to who run Sefris place an emphasis on filling the graveyard, and have some self-mill effects. For them, something like the head of the family with connive X might be a good fit, but I try to just send one (creature) card to the yard a turn. It means grave hate is less of a blowout, and I'm rarely without creatures to send to the yard one way or another for a trigger. It also helps the deck play a little differently from other graveyard decks, like Meren (who I also have built).

[Chromaticus]

There's also the new Dogged Detective as another Master of Death.

[yeti1069]

There's also the new Dogged Detective as another Master of Death.

You know, I hadn't thought about DD in that context, but I think I may swap him for Master and see if it triggers often enough. Saving a mana on that would be fantastic.

[Kelzam]

Curious where you're at on adding Stax effects now a few months later? I've had the Sefris precon sitting around since last summer and just recently played it and had a blast, then remembered your thread here on the forums. I play in a fairly high power level environment that can border on cEDH, but isn't quite there. I think my biggest question is if you were going to add Stax pieces, what would you cut from the deck?

Oh! It doesn't look like your OP list has been updated? I didn't see Yawgmoth or a few other swaps that I saw you mention a few posts above.

[yeti1069]

Curious where you're at on adding Stax effects now a few months later? I've had the Sefris precon sitting around since last summer and just recently played it and had a blast, then remembered your thread here on the forums. I play in a fairly high power level environment that can border on cEDH, but isn't quite there. I think my biggest question is if you were going to add Stax pieces, what would you cut from the deck?

Oh! It doesn't look like your OP list has been updated? I didn't see Yawgmoth or a few other swaps that I saw you mention a few posts above.

The most up-to-date list is on Moxfield: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/pidOkfkEXEes3DPDHboZmA

Hadn't been getting much discussion here, so haven't been on top of edits.

Depends on your meta, but I'd add some of: Deafening Silence, Arcane Laboratory, Rule of Law, Archon of Emeria, since the deck can break parity on those very easily. Could go heavier on stax with Winter Orb and such, but need to have some engine pieces out first, and if someone else has a way to get around it, or remove your important pieces with it out, you can end up in a bad position. I'd probably remove some of the intermediate value pieces, add stax and some more counterspells maybe.

Could also focus heavily on discard or wheels, where you don't mind discarding so much, because you get to reanimate stuff.

[Chromaticus]

Wondering about Yorion, Sky Nomad in this deck as an over the top blink effect / wrath protection if you can trigger Sefris of the Hidden Ways at instant speed.

There is also the new White Plume Adventurer as a way to get into the super spicy dungeon. Don't know how that works once you complete that dungeon - can you re-enter the undercity once completed?

[yeti1069]

Wondering about Yorion, Sky Nomad in this deck as an over the top blink effect / wrath protection if you can trigger Sefris of the Hidden Ways at instant speed.

There is also the new White Plume Adventurer as a way to get into the super spicy dungeon. Don't know how that works once you complete that dungeon - can you re-enter the undercity once completed?

I've include Sarevok's Tome and Seasoned Dungeoneer as my initiative enablers. The Undercity is super strong, so I may look to include a few others. If you're not already in The Undercity and trigger a venture, even if you've completed The Undercity, you don't get to go back in. That can be a little awkward here, since there's so much venturing. It's very easy to finish Undercity and have a trigger sending you into one of the other dungeons immediately.

Yorion has been a consideration. Also looking at one-shot effects like Lae'zel's Acrobatics for this. Yorion I haven't been high on because I feel like a lot of the time I'm just not going to want it, but I could be wrong on that. I know some other Sefris players lean very heavily into blinking and sliding.

[Chromaticus]

Ordered my list and based it off of yours, so you'll have a test buddy pretty soon here!

I think this deck is going to hit that sweet spot of mini-goals and value engines that I ADORE in a game of magic.

Side note, but sometimes I feel like my deck "doing its thing" can be more satisfying than the win. And if that thing is winning the game in an infinite combo or lock, I instantly despise it, and want it out of the deck immediately.

So, for instance, in this deck, if I return Master of Death and I am able to discard it to Ledger Shredder with Sefris of the Hidden Ways, especially if I happen to be in The Undercity… oh man. Give me 1000 of that feeling versus playing a big 'ol Torment of Hailfire or Kiki Combo.

Add to that this deck really can't win the game out of nowhere, and I look forwards to getting that feeling a dozen times in a single game. Sweet!!

[yeti1069]

Awesome!

I think you'll enjoy it. The deck can really hum now, pieces come together, and games generally play out differently, especially with how few tutors I'm running. Sometimes it can feel mean, like in a game I had a few nights ago where I got Doom Whisperer out turn 4, and Sheoldred before my turn 5 came around. No one really had any removal, although one player had been holding a Lightning Bolt from the get go, and only bothered to use it on Sefris after Sheoldred made a full trip around the table. They did it in response to the last room in a dungeon, which was good, denying a reanimation, but it was way too late by that point.

Ledger Shredder has been fantastic! By turn 5 or 6 it starts to trigger on basically every turn, and becomes a threat in its own right fairly quickly. I actually forget about the Master of Death trigger on upkeep about half the time, which is annoying, but it's been good when remembered.

[Smashadams83]

Hello, I've been playing sefris a ton lately and it has turned into one of my favorite decks. I'm primarily using magister Sphinx and archfiend of despair as ways to close games out. The amount of value sefris provides is really great. I don't have any infinite combos in the deck (that I tutor for) and I've found that blink effects like eerie interlude , glorious protector , and cosmic intervention have been amazing. If I resolve one of these in response to a wipe, I will almost certainly win the game as i can pull ahead with my etb effects and venture further. Also living death is amazing and so is incarnation technique. Here is my deck list

https://www.moxfield.com/decks/bJiqv7PY_0aQciQXiyEeDg

I love sefris and enjoy chatting about this deck so lmk if you have any questions about it ! I also put a brief primer/description in the decklist to explain some of my thought process with inclusions in the list.