Ebondeath Dracolich, Relentless Voltron

[Dunadain]

Oh duh I failed to see the reminder text on blitz. Derp.

wait... THIS is why we don't agree?!?! XD

classic internet conversation where two people are talking through eachother, lol

[pokken]

wait... THIS is why we don't agree?!?! XD

classic internet conversation where two people are talking through eachother, lol

My brain glosses over italicized stuff super bad lol. Sorry!

I'm not sure it's quite strong enough but it makes a lot more sense now lol.

I read the card no %$#% like five times.

[Dunadain]

wait... THIS is why we don't agree?!?! XD

classic internet conversation where two people are talking through eachother, lol

My brain glosses over italicized stuff super bad lol. Sorry!

I'm not sure it's quite strong enough but it makes a lot more sense now lol.

I read the card no %$#% like five times.

It happens to all of us, just look how amped up I got over Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed, forgetting you can't activate the ability whenever you want.

[TheGildedGoose]

Alright, after some brief testing, here's a more refined stab.

Vorpal Sword is the real deal. I highly recommend it.

I changed up the draw package a bit to focus more on big shot draw. Maybe Night's Whisper is more efficient, but Stinging Study is instant speed and draws more cards in a single slot. Promise of Power is just as efficient and has the same rider. In the early game we want to focus on developing our mana, deploying our swords, and being aggressive. In the mid to late game is when we're going to be concerned with drawing cards, so to me, it makes more sense to focus on that period for our draw package.

Cruel Bargain and Infernal Contract are a hoot.

Here For a Good Time, Not a Long Time

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commander:

1 Ebondeath, Dracolich

Land: 37

1 Ancient Tomb

1 Bojuka Bog

1 Bonders' Enclave

1 Cabal Coffers

1 Castle Locthwain

1 Demolition Field

1 High Market

1 Phyrexian Tower

1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

1 Volrath's Stronghold

1 War Room

1 Witch's Clinic

25 Snow-Covered Swamp

Ramp: 11

1 Arcane Signet

1 Charcoal Diamond

1 Coldsteel Heart

1 Everflowing Chalice

1 Fellwar Stone

1 Jet Medallion

1 Liquimetal Torque

1 Mind Stone

1 Sol Ring

1 Star Compass

1 Thought Vessel

Zombie: 2

1 Bladewing's Thrall

1 Poxwalkers

Fleshbag: 3

1 Demon's Disciple

1 Fleshbag Marauder

1 Merciless Executioner

Spot Removal: 14

1 Baleful Mastery

1 Deadly Rollick

1 Erebos's Intervention

1 Feed the Swarm

1 Go for the Throat

1 Heartless Act

1 Infernal Grasp

1 Malicious Affliction

1 Swift End

1 Oubliette

1 Power Word Kill

1 Price of Fame

1 Sheoldred's Edict

1 Victim of Night

Board Wipe: 7

1 All Is Dust

1 Blood on the Snow

1 Crux of Fate

1 Damnation

1 Decree of Pain

1 Mutilate

1 Toxic Deluge

Beatstick: 10

1 Lashwrithe

1 Nightmare Lash

1 Shadowspear

1 Sword of Feast and Famine

1 Sword of Fire and Ice

1 Sword of Forge and Frontier

1 Sword of Hearth and Home

1 Sword of Sinew and Steel

1 Umezawa's Jitte

1 Vorpal Sword

Draw: 10

1 Cruel Bargain

1 Hostile Negotiations

1 Infernal Contract

1 Mask of Griselbrand

1 Necropotence

1 Promise of Power

1 Read the Bones

1 Skeletal Scrying

1 Stinging Study

1 Yawgmoth's Will

Tutor: 5

1 Dark Petition

1 Demonic Tutor

1 Grim Tutor

1 Imperial Seal

1 Vampiric Tutor

Approximate Total Cost:

[Dunadain]

Alright, after some brief testing, here's a more refined stab.

Vorpal Sword is the real deal. I highly recommend it.

I changed up the draw package a bit to focus more on big shot draw. Maybe Night's Whisper is more efficient, but Stinging Study is instant speed and draws more cards in a single slot. Promise of Power is just as efficient and has the same rider. In the early game we want to focus on developing our mana, deploying our swords, and being aggressive. In the mid to late game is when we're going to be concerned with drawing cards, so to me, it makes more sense to focus on that period for our draw package.

Cruel Bargain and Infernal Contract are a hoot.

Looks good, how's Hostile Negotiations treating you? I saw it during spoilers but it seemed worse than Ambition's Cost to me, instant speed is nice tho.

I think we'll agree to disagree on card draw, even in the late game, cheap draw allows you to cast your draw spell and then still do something with the rest of your mana allowing you to keep up the pressure, which is a pretty big deal for a voltron deck. However, I know I'm in the minority here, most people I talk to will take Stinging Study over Sign in Blood any day.

You've convinced me to try Vorpal Sword and Cruel Bargain/Infernal Contract.

[TheGildedGoose]

Looks good, how's Hostile Negotiations treating you? I saw it during spoilers but it seemed worse than Ambition's Cost to me, instant speed is nice tho.

It's better in decks that abuse the graveyard more, but it's still an instant speed draw three. I usually let the whole table discuss Fact or Fiction because it's a lot of fun, but I think this one is best left to one person. As the name suggests, you can bully people with it. "Give me the revealed three or I will come after you" in a Voltron deck seems like it would be a legitimate threat. If you need something in particular that's good against one person but bad against someone else, barter with the latter against the former. It's been pretty hit or miss, but the floor of "draw threeish" and ceiling of "get exactly what you need at instant speed six cards deep" in black seems good.

I think we'll agree to disagree on card draw, even in the late game, cheap draw allows you to cast your draw spell and then still do something with the rest of your mana allowing you to keep up the pressure, which is a pretty big deal for a voltron deck. However, I know I'm in the minority here, most people I talk to will take Stinging Study over Sign in Blood any day.

That's fair. I've been having an internal debate about ramp vs. cantrips in the early game for a while now, so I've been experimenting with one over the other (early ramp, late draw or late ramp, early draw) so that's where my head has been. I think Night's Whisper clones are great, no doubt.

You've convinced me to try Vorpal Sword and Cruel Bargain/Infernal Contract.

I killed two players back to back by activating it when I hadn't connected with them before. It's very satisfying.

Contract and Bargain aren't great, to be clear. They're extremely efficient at what they do, but completely dead before you're under 20 life. That said, I think looking at four cards is a decent way to find something you need where you would've died anyway. They're mostly there for fun. I'm playing the deck closer to Suicide Black than MBC. If you play them I would include more lifelink sources. The deck can be aggressive with its life total beforehand, and adding those in makes it all the more useful.

[Dunadain]

Contract and Bargain aren't great, to be clear. They're extremely efficient at what they do, but completely dead before you're under 20 life. That said, I think looking at four cards is a decent way to find something you need where you would've died anyway. They're mostly there for fun. I'm playing the deck closer to Suicide Black than MBC. If you play them I would include more lifelink sources. The deck can be aggressive with its life total beforehand, and adding those in makes it all the more useful.

I've been thinking that some more lifelink would be nice Shadowspear is probably the obvious next best option.

Also, I've been testing Entomb and I'd highly recommend, it's not really a tutor per-se, just think of it as a second copy of Bladewing's Thrall that only costs B

[Chromaticus]

The new sword is a slam dunk!

[Dunadain]

The new sword is a slam dunk!

Probably, not even close to as good as Sword of Forge and Frontier or Sword of Fire and Ice, but still probably an easy include.

I'm also really excited for The One Ring and Invasion of Fiora, but I'm going to hold off until each of them have the full set revealed before reviewing them.

[Chromaticus]

This deck could want Invasion of Innistrad — it's a removal spell that you can knock out on one hit with Ebondeath, Dracolich that then is a never ending supply of bodies / a place to dump mana.

[Dunadain]

Aight, MOM spoilers are done (I think) so let's do a set review (there's a lot)

Invasion of Ravnica is probably slightly better than Introduction to Annihilation, but Karn Liberated is still the go-to for any permanent removal.


Bladed Battle-Fan, we don't really need protection spells, and this isn't that good of an equipment

Breach the Multiverse is a big dumb spell. This deck can certainly get that kind of mana, but we don't have any particular synergies with it either.

Deadly Derision 4 mana is too much for a removal spell, I suppose if you're on a tight budget it might be worth consideration

Failed Conversion I'm just bringing this card up, because I don't understand how this card got printed, it's awful. it could cost and I still wouldn't even CONSIDER it.

Invasion of Fiora heck yeah! MOST of the time you're going to be choosing both on the front half, but flexibility is nice. the back does a little of everything, menace makes it a great thing to slap a sword on, deathtouch makes it a great blocker, the on-attack ability can pick off planeswalkers/battles, and the last ability can draw you the occasional card (though I doubt it will be very reliable)

Invasion of Innistrad, I'm very reluctant to play removal spells with an MV of 3. This one has an MV of 4, which makes it a really tough sell. It DOES, however, get around indestructible. Of course the only reason we re talking about the card is because it has a backside, which is kind of amazing in this deck, 2 free bodies, and more bodies whenever you have 3 mana available, and a little bit of targeted graveyard hate. It's also an enchantment which means it's a great way to rebuild after a board wipe. I think it's good, but this is the one I'm the most unsure of (in my defense, battles are a brand new card type).

Render Inert It's a cantripping planeswalker kill spell, and it enables battles, it also has tons of niche use-cases. I can also be cycled as it doesn't need to target a permanent with counters on it. I'm not impressed, but if you want to run it, the cantriping option should make it playable

Sheoldred, probably the best Fleshbag Marauder option to date? though you do pay a premium for it. Seems like a defensible card in the mid game, and a great engine in the late game. Even if it ends up being mid, I'm stoked to try it out.

Sword of Once and Future, The final sword! I was kind of low on it at first, but the more I think about it, the more I think it'll actually be pretty decent, we run a decent number of MV<=2 spells, and even if we don't have any to flashback, Surveil 2 each turn is a great way to find some while also increasing our card quality. (man surveil is so much better than scry).

Bitterthorn, Nissa's Animus, Sword of the Animist was already borderline playable, this one is more pricey, but comes with it's own body. Not planning on running it, but probably a decent option on a budget.


Alright, that's all the cards I wanted to talk about from the set. The introduction of battles, however, could make some older cards more attractive now. Notably, black is actually the best color at taking counters off of permanents. The cards were already decent tech against planeswalkers, and some of them might even be effective against +1/+1 counter decks, with the addition of battles, (and the fact that it looks like the list will likely be running 1-2) it might be worthwhile to look at some of the options:

Aether Snap is token hate, battle enabler, and planeswalker hate all in-one

Hex Parasite cheap, reusable, targeted, and a body

Thief of Blood, expensive, and inflexible, but you get a giant creature out of it.

Vampire Hexmage, efficient, but it's one-target, one time.

and, of course, the brand-new Render Inert

Honestly, looking at this list, nothing is all that appealing. If you want something for planeswalkers, I'd actually recommend The Elderspell, sure we don't have any planeswalkers to benfit from it, but it's a 2 mana wipe for all planeswalkers. that spell is wild.

Render Inert and Hex Parasite are also probably fine.


And that's MOM! Pretty good set for us overall, imo. Couple these new cards with some ideas I've been rattling around in my head, and expect a pretty substantial deck-update here soon.

[Chromaticus]

Got a fun game in with this deck tonight — had both Nightmare Lash snd Lashwrithe equipped to an EOT Ebondeath, Dracolich to lethal a player for 23 commander damage.

Funny interaction- Sword of Forge and Frontier eciled both Bladewing's Thrall and Poxwalkers on the first hit, making them permanently inaccessible.

[Chromaticus]

Thoughts on The One Ring for this deck? You had mentioned it in passing -- I also wanted to see if you had given any more thought to the battles.

[Dunadain]

Thoughts on The One Ring for this deck? You had mentioned it in passing -- I also wanted to see if you had given any more thought to the battles.

Sorry! I haven't been on the forum as much recently as my kid was born.

I have played exactly 1 game with The One Ring and I didn't even draw it, lol. Obviously I'll wait until I have more experience with it before passing verdict. Considering how it's looking to become an EDH staple, however, I'm pretty confident that it will be good.

I have thought about (and played with) the battles some more and Invasion of Fiora // Marchesa, Resolute Monarch is great, honestly the front half is a fair price for a board wipe (obviously, Damnation is much better, but you'll find that Damnation is an absurdly efficient board wipe, and nothing else in black holds a candle to it). Invasion of Innistrad // Deluge of the Dead has been less impressive, still playable, but I prefer more efficient removal.

And while I'm here, let's catch up on the new lotr set.

Should probably cover the new Ring bearer mechanic first. I don't think, on it's own, that it's something this deck is all that interested in. The first ability is pretty useless, as Ebondeath, Dracolich is already legendary and likely the biggest creature at the table. The second is nice, especially if you can discard something like Bladewing's Thrall, but it's not true card advantage, and in most situations, it's significantly worse that true card advantage. Third ability is also kind of useless when we expect Ebondeath, Dracolich to kill anything that tries to block it (still, get's rid of indestructible blockers I suppose). And the final ability will often be irrelevant as we primarily win via Commander damage.

We CAN make one of our other creatures the ring bearer, and the mechanic is a lot more valuable if you do, but we don't always have other creatures, and oftentimes, if we do, those are staying behind on blocking duty.

Having said that, the Ring Bearer mechanic doesn't exist in a vacuum, if a card has a lot of other utility while also introducing the ring bearer, then we might consider it.

The Black Gate I don't think the discount on mana makes it better than the no restrictions Rogue's Passage, but colored mana is a lot easier to squeeze into a mana base. Easy include if you aren't running Cabal Coffers, defensible include if you are.

The One Ring I've talked about it a lot at this point, lots of card draw, and a little bit of protection. I think this is really good. Notably, we don't have any great methods of abusing it, but, tbh, I don't think you need to.

Call of the Ring Probably the best ring bearer mechanic, as it's basically a 2 mana Phyrexian Arena that also drains twice as much of our life. I think it's probably decent, but 2 life every turn really does add up, so be careful.

Gollum, Patient Plotter I think having to sacrifice another creature to recur him makes him too unreliable.

Haunt of the Dead Marshes Strict upgrade to Persistent Specimen, but Persistent Specimen was never up for consideration a scry 1 doesn't make it that much better.

Orcish Bowmasters This card is just generically good. not really the kind of thing this deck is looking for, but it's so generically good that I would still consider it

Andúril, Flame of the West Ironically, I feel this card would be better without the legendary clause (at least for us). There's a numbr of equipment that give you tokens, and so far I still think the only one worth running is Lucille

Barad-dûr I'm as sucker for utility lands, especially colored utility lands. However, if you are running Cabal Coffers then this doesn't provide enough to justify it over a regular swamp. Additionally, this card will most likely enter tapped in the early game, which is when you need untapped lands the most.


Pretty banger set over all I'd say.

[Dunadain]

*Clap* *Clap* Set Review!

I promise to post some new game summaries soon, but for now let's look at WOE spoilers, we didn't get a lot, but there is one card I'm excited about.

Beseech the Mirror A four mana tutor is a lot, we aren't playing Grim Tutor already, and we aren't likely to be able to pay the Bargain cost often.

Lord Skitter's Blessing I know it looks like a Phyrexian Arena for , but it only does anything if =we have an enchanted creature, meaning once the creature we slap the Wicked Role token on dies, then it just sits on the field looking pretty.

Rowan's Grim Search Another option in the 3-MV single-shot draw camp, the fact that it's an instant probably makes it one of the better ones, even if you never pay the bargain cost. I'd still avoid it, but it's an option when on a budget.

Shatter the Oath 5 is too much to be spending on removal, and we don't really care about the wicked role token. It is, however, one of our few answers to enchantments.

Virtue of Persistence removal stapled onto a late-game value engine sounds great! But... the removal spell is pretty bad, and the value engine doesn't really work well with the deck, it'll be great if your opponents have sweet stuff in their gy or if you have a Plaguecrafter in the yard, otherwise it's not that great. Quadrant theory blah blah blah, it might still be good.

The Irencrag Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! I am unreasonably excited about this card. Realistically it's not that much of a game changer, but the vorthos in me loves having a mana rock that turns into an equipment in the late game. You definitely aren't going to want to transform it the first time Ebondeath, Dracolich comes out, maybe not the second, but it's a nice little bit of reach. You probably won't be missing out on much if you can't get your hands on a copy, but it is the most brain-dead include if you can.

Tegwyll's Scouring Another 6mv wipe, you'll almost never be able to cast it with flash, but a sorcery speed 6 mana wipe with upside is already playable.

Throne of Eldraine Maybe I'm too obsessed with keeping a lean ramp package, 4 mana from a 5MV rock is an insane rate, AND it's a value engine. but this deck has a lot of colorless spells that the card can't cast, and at 5 mana, we've already done all the ramping we need.


And that's WOE!

Kind of a dud for us tbh, The Irencrag is great, and Virtue of Persistence/Tegwyll's Scouring might be playable.

[TheGildedGoose]

I think you're too cold on Beseech the Mirror. A floor of Diabolic Tutor isn't completely awful (though admittedly it isn't great) but the upside seems extremely good. You might have to up your mana rocks a bit and you also run a plethora of equipment to sacrifice in a pinch, so that upside of a free spell is starting to look real good. Damnation to then recur Ebondeath, Dracolich on a clear board, Baleful Mastery to remove a blocker, or just Yawgmoth's Will to just go off all seem really strong for free. I would've been very high on this card in Erebos, but then again, I also ran a lot of enchantments.

[Dunadain]

I think you're too cold on Beseech the Mirror. A floor of Diabolic Tutor isn't completely awful (though admittedly it isn't great) but the upside seems extremely good. You might have to up your mana rocks a bit and you also run a plethora of equipment to sacrifice in a pinch, so that upside of a free spell is starting to look real good. Damnation to then recur Ebondeath, Dracolich on a clear board, Baleful Mastery to remove a blocker, or just Yawgmoth's Will to just go off all seem really strong for free. I would've been very high on this card in Erebos, but then again, I also ran a lot of enchantments.

Mayhaps, I'll give it a shot.

[Dunadain]

Most people won't care, but I just learned they printed a UW version of Lucille.



As someone that didn't care for TWD, I'll be looking to pick one up.

[Dunadain]

I'm not prepared to make any changes to my list yet, but The One Ring and Beseech the Mirror have both been surprisingly underwhelming.

I think we might be too "casual" for The One Ring, we have exactly 0 ways to get rid of the ring once we play it, and the deck is built to go the distance, so the damage adds up. We can trivially take 1 damage a turn from something like Phyrexian Arena. but once we are getting to 5+ life a turn, we are in real danger. On the flip side, it does function fine as a 4 mana sorcery speed Teferi's Protection, then it can just sit on the field until we are a bit later in the game and decide the lifeloss is worth it to close out the game (or we have Batterskull running and can negate most of the life loss). I'm not quite sure that it is bad per se, but in my mind I was expecting it to be a "super Phyrexian Arena, but it's really not.

Beseech the Mirror in general is far more powerful than I originally gave it credit in my set review, this card is seeing a lot of play in both vintage and legacy. But specifically for this deck, I'm not so sure. The deck doesn't really need tutors, we are only running Imperial Seal, Vampiric Tutor and Demonic Tutor because those cards are blatant design mistakes, any black deck should be running them. I use those three tutors to grab land drops or a mana rock quite often, so Beseech the Mirror not being able to smooth out my early games makes it much worse than those 2 options. Additionally, the bargain cost almost always hurts, while I usually have a mana rock to sacrifice to it, it's usually a mana rock that I would have preferred to keep around. The only times I feel good about the bargain cost is in the very late game (at which point actually casting the tutored card wouldn't have been that big of a sacrifice anyways), or I have a treasure from Black Market Connections (in which case the card is great, but that's only 1 card in the 99).

Again, both are fine, I'm not going to cut them immediately, but I wanted to hear other people's thoughts.

Also, The Irencrag has been surprisingly relevant, even more so than I originally thought, I am very pleased with that card.

Edit: also I never really talked about Sword of Once and Future, but it's been really good.

[TheGildedGoose]

No comment on The One Ring. It doesn't spark joy.

I think Beseech the Mirror is best in combo, good in control, and okay in aggro/midrange. It's definitely at its weakest here, since you have fewer bombs and a slimmer toolbox, though I think it's worth extensive testing before cutting it since it's such a strong card generally. I'm pretty surprised you're not into sacrificing mana rocks for the bargain, though, but it may be a function of having fewer juicy targets than, say, Erebos. I wouldn't be shocked to see it not have a place here, but with all those rocks and potentially redundant equipment...

On the other hand, some of your equipment are juicy targets in and of themselves. A surprise! Lashwrithe will knock more than one player out of the game, and a Beseeched Sword of Feast and Famine surely pays for itself immediately.

Beseech got me to take another look at my dead Erebos list, actually. I'm positively salivating over a Beseeched Yawgmoth's Will into a Beseeched Crypt Ghast into absolute bananas. I want to find a win condition for four mana or less (other than Pestilence/Withering Wisps) but I'm drawing a blank.

The Irencrag is such a slam dunk print, absolutely perfect for this deck. The only realistic way it could be better here would be to make it +2/+2 for equip 2.

[Dunadain]

So apparently there's a few more LOTR cards being released.

Minas Morgul, Dark Fortress Is Epic, it costs the same as Rogue's Passage, it taps for colored mana, and it only needs to be activated once each time your commander dies then he's unblockable forever.

There ARE some downsides: it enters tapped, it can theoretically still be blocked by opposing flyers with shadow, though that will be extremely rare (ironically, I wouldn't be surprised if the most common way this happens is when an opponent is also running their own Minas Morgul, Dark Fortress) and Ebondeath, Dracolich can no longer block for you once you put a shadow counter on him. In general, Ebondeath isn't blocking anyways, but when you have Batterskull out it becomes a lot more likely you'd like to block. Pretty sure that's just "but sometimes" thinking, and even if that situation does come up, you can just not activate Minas Morgul, Dark Fortress.

Nazgûl Battle-Mace: no +2 power = IDGAF

On a more serious note, I have seen two people say that this card is great and will likely become a staple in voltron decks and I can't figure out why. It's ridiculously expensive, and it doesn't buff stats. Yes, Annihilator is a powerful ability. But, realistically, Lucille's sac trigger will be a more powerful effect more often than not. If it gave a stat boost, or if the option to pay 3 life weren't there, than I'd be more interested. As is, I don't think it's really all that good, and I certainly don't think it's something that Ebondeath, Dracolich wants.

Edit: I just reread Nazgûl Battle-Mace and realized the stealing permanents ability triggers whenever your opponent sacrifices a on-token permanent, it doesn't have to be a permanent sacced by the anihilator trigger (suddenly the 3 life alternative clause seems a lot more reasonable). This means you can punish people for playing fetchlands and you can break up infinite Ashnod's Altar type combos. Still don't think it's worthwhile in Ebondeath, Dracolich, but it's much more potent than I originally thought.

[Dunadain]

*clap* *clap* Set Review!

Bitter Triumph : This is going to be a new monoblack staple. We're usually going to pay the 3 life, but it will feel sweet when you get to discard Bladewing's Thrall while casting the spell.

Grasping Shadows // Shadows' Lair: Not sure how to rate this one, but it certainly requires testing. The good news is that, the deck is attacking with exactly1 creature more often than not, deathtouch is largely irrelevant but lifelink is fantastic. and the card draw is great. The bad news is that it's a bit clunky. You get the lifelink for three turns, then the card draw afterwards, when you actually want it the other way around: card draw in the early game, lifelink when Ebondeath, Dracolich has a lot of power and you need to gain back some of the life you've lost. None of the triggers are a "may" so if it's time for the card to transform it will transform, you don't get to keep the lifelink and stock up more counters, even if that's what you want. i really wish they had designed it so, once you used up all the counters, it flips back to the enchantment side, but it is not to be. Also, it seems a bit overpriced, maybe I'm just a biased observer, but this card totally could have been 3 mana, maybe even 2. As I said, certainly requires testing, but I'm not sure if it's good.

Join the Dead : playable removal spell, but not the cream of the crop.

Malicious Eclipse : playable, but it's competing with Decree of Pain so unless you think you need multiple -2/-2 wipes, than it's not going to make the cut.

Tarrian's Journal // The Tomb of Aclazotz . The back side is fairly useless, and the front side is only good if we have some sort of zombie out (saccing Ebondeath to draw a card is pretty inefficient. Though, it's a free sac outlet to hold up against removal even when it isn't drawing you cards, and it's awfully efficient. It can also sacrifice artifacts, so you can use it to trade in mana rocks in the late game.

Hidden Necropolis I don't think these are very good, especially in Ebondeath, where A) we have a lot of removal and boardwipes that we likely won't want to cast when flipped off of discover (yes, the cad can go to your hand if you don't want to cast it right away, but if you do that, your missing out on a lot of value) and we have swamp-type synergies. I'd run The Dross Pits before this one, but I'd prefer to run neither.

Volatile Fault A neat permutation of the Ghost Quarter type lands. I think for Ebondeath, Field of Ruin and Demolition Field are preferable, as they can be traded in for basic swamps when we have something like Cabal Coffers out.

And that's all I'm seeing in Ixalan. Bitter Triumph seems great. Grasping Shadows // Shadows' Lair and Tarrian's Journal // The Tomb of Aclazotz deserve testing and a couple other honorable mentions. Not a bad haul all things considered

[Dunadain]

Several months late I give the promised game summary!

Played a 3 player game today against Jodah, the Unifier and Lathril, Blade of the Elves.

Everyone had an aggressive start, and life totals dropped fast. Jodah, the Unifier cast Urza's Ruinous Blast which put him squarely in the lead, but on my turn I cast Damnation which put everyone back on equal footing, except Lathril had some card that let her draw a card whenever a creature she controlled dies (There are a number of these effects, I don't remember which one it was) so she had a full grip.

I decided to kill Jodah even though Lathril had a full grip because Jodah had a Blackblade Reforged and was pretty clearly gunning for me, took me two turns to kill him, and a removal spell to keep the Blackblade Reforged from connecting, but I got there, second main I went hellbent casting Mutilate and recast Ebondeath to knock down Lathril again. Lathril killed Ebondeath again and I spent the next two turns activating War Room and casting a Night's Whisper to drag myself back to 5 cards in hand. I drew ANOTHER board wipe and cast it, once again bringing Ebondeath back. Took a few more turns but that was the moment I turned the corner and pulled ahead of Lathril on-board and in-hand.

Pretty text-book example of what makes the deck so great, I was able to quickly kill the go-tall deck while keeping it off-balance with spot-removal, then I was able to out grind the go-wide deck with a flurry of boardwipes and card draw. Get you a deck that can do both XD.

Card I'm currently considering: The Mycosynth Gardens, didn't pay any attention to it during spoiler season, because we aren't an artifact deck, but it's a land that can permanently become a copy of any equipment. honestly sounds kind of sick and I'm kicking myself for not noticing it sooner.

[TheGildedGoose]

Have you considered Volrath's Stronghold (if you own one) or Unholy Grotto? Those lands are sweet for Voltronish decks.

[Dunadain]

Have you considered Volrath's Stronghold (if you own one) or Unholy Grotto? Those lands are sweet for Voltronish decks.

I typed up a response this morning and it would seem I didn't submit it???

Anyways, the long and short of it was that their aren't that many creatures to recur, and many of the creatures come with their own built-in recursion.

Sure, it might still be handy from time to time, but we're running: Defile, Mutilate, Dead of Winter, Cabal Coffers, Lashwrithe, and Nightmare Lash. I just don't think they are better than a basic swamp.