General Ideas: Parallax Wave Opalescence Combo
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One of my favorite ever of my Golos, Tireless Pilgrim decks was the mono white one that focused on assembling a bunch of enchantments and Serra's Sanctum or Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx to power out a Plea for Guidance for the opalesence combo.
This combo has some fragility issues but it's one that I just really dig, because of how it doesn't require a bad third card to work and uses enchantments to do all kinds of nonsense. You can do things like make infinite mana by blinking your own Gilded Lotus with Oblivion Ring.
Much like my prior thread for Living Plane I'm a bit at a loss as to the most fun deck to build around this concept. Golos was a bit overpowering to be honest, because of his ability to make up for any bad draw by doing golos things.
I'm open to 1-3 colors, but kinda prefer 1-2 for this build, since going 1-2 colors would enable me to splash and keep Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx potentially relevant.
I don't think there's a great mono-white option here outside of Heliod, God of the Sun, and that might ultimately be the right way to go, but I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts.
This combo has some fragility issues but it's one that I just really dig, because of how it doesn't require a bad third card to work and uses enchantments to do all kinds of nonsense. You can do things like make infinite mana by blinking your own Gilded Lotus with Oblivion Ring.
Much like my prior thread for Living Plane I'm a bit at a loss as to the most fun deck to build around this concept. Golos was a bit overpowering to be honest, because of his ability to make up for any bad draw by doing golos things.
I'm open to 1-3 colors, but kinda prefer 1-2 for this build, since going 1-2 colors would enable me to splash and keep Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx potentially relevant.
I don't think there's a great mono-white option here outside of Heliod, God of the Sun, and that might ultimately be the right way to go, but I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts.
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So, I have a pair of oddball suggestions: Ghost Council of Orzhova or Obzedat, Ghost Council. They're 2 colors, but the primary thing that drew me to them was the fact that Opalescence/Parallax Wave doesn't win the game on its own, but it does provide infinite blinking. So, if you have a general whose ETB ability can kill the table when repeated infinite times, well, that simplifies things. As far as I can tell, these two are the only ones who are 2 or less colors, have white in their color identity, and don't require additional mana (Siona, Captain of the Pyleas can fetch all the auras out of your deck, which will certainly have some way of comboing built in, but you'd still have to cast them, for example). As an added bonus, they have double pips in both white and black, which can be helpful for building up devotion to Nykthos.
I really do like Obzedat, Ghost Council as a design, that's a suggestion that would have completely slipped so I very much appreciate it. I have kinda enjoyed my Athreos Orzhov enchants deck but he's just so dang slow as a card advantage engine that you almost have to build the deck to work entirely without him, and it's kinda boring as a result (and it really needs a ton of non-enchantment stuff to work, so isn't a great plain enchantress shell).Wallycaine wrote: ↑3 years agoSo, I have a pair of oddball suggestions: Ghost Council of Orzhova or Obzedat, Ghost Council. They're 2 colors, but the primary thing that drew me to them was the fact that Opalescence/Parallax Wave doesn't win the game on its own, but it does provide infinite blinking. So, if you have a general whose ETB ability can kill the table when repeated infinite times, well, that simplifies things. As far as I can tell, these two are the only ones who are 2 or less colors, have white in their color identity, and don't require additional mana (Siona, Captain of the Pyleas can fetch all the auras out of your deck, which will certainly have some way of comboing built in, but you'd still have to cast them, for example). As an added bonus, they have double pips in both white and black, which can be helpful for building up devotion to Nykthos.
Playing Obzedat as a kinda incidental sweeper-proof finisher that helps with a little incidental lifegain is a really solid idea.
...and y'know Ghost Council of Orzhova actually has some advantages of bringing a sac outlet to Academy Rector in the zone, which really simplifies things. Gonna have to noodle on that.
As someone who's been running a more toned down enchantment-focused Brago, King Eternal list for years now, i'm gonna throw him into the discussion.
- He can "reset" enchantments, ranging from Parallax Tide, Parallax Wave to Ancestral Knowledge , Mystic Remora and Shimmer...
- The amount of triggers you can get off of him is just obscene. Especially with Skybind.
- You can barf out a lot of value fast, since he resets all your rocks.
- Draw on already great enchantments goes a long way with him. Think Confounding Conundrum, Oath of Jace, Spreading Seas
- Split triggers with him? *chef's kiss* Detention Sphere, Journey to Nowhere, Oblivion Ring, ...
I actually have this combo in an enchantment based Gisela, Blade of Goldnight deck. It is basically a group slug deck. I keep meaning to type up the list and put it on here, maybe I'll get that done soon.
The goal isn't necessarily that particular combo but I've pulled it off multiple times and it is pretty rough when it happens. Being able to keep the board clear of creatures and then swing with a bunch of enchantments (maybe with various damage doubler effects) is pretty fun.
The Obzedat deck sounds cool too. I ran an Obzedat deck for a few years, it recently got cannibalized to make my Liesa, Shroud of Dusk deck. My Obzedat deck wasn't enchantress based but I could totally see that being a fun angle.
The goal isn't necessarily that particular combo but I've pulled it off multiple times and it is pretty rough when it happens. Being able to keep the board clear of creatures and then swing with a bunch of enchantments (maybe with various damage doubler effects) is pretty fun.
The Obzedat deck sounds cool too. I ran an Obzedat deck for a few years, it recently got cannibalized to make my Liesa, Shroud of Dusk deck. My Obzedat deck wasn't enchantress based but I could totally see that being a fun angle.
EDH Decklists
Phage | Braids | Kiku | Yawgmoth | Chandra | Jin-Gitaxias | Sakashima the Impostor I Rilsa Rael | Eloise | Killian | Liesa | Nalia de'Arnise | Zara | Kotori | Hanna | Nahiri | Risona | Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Abomination of Llanowar | Pharika | Mina & Denn | Chromium, The Mutable
Phage | Braids | Kiku | Yawgmoth | Chandra | Jin-Gitaxias | Sakashima the Impostor I Rilsa Rael | Eloise | Killian | Liesa | Nalia de'Arnise | Zara | Kotori | Hanna | Nahiri | Risona | Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Abomination of Llanowar | Pharika | Mina & Denn | Chromium, The Mutable
Man that feels like almost a fair way to use Brago, blinking enchantments. The interaction with Skybind is legit, and I love that card.Toshi wrote: ↑3 years agoAs someone who's been running a more toned down enchantment-focused Brago, King Eternal list for years now, i'm gonna throw him into the discussion.Anyhow, curious to see what you'll end up with. Keep brewing!
- He can "reset" enchantments, ranging from Parallax Tide, Parallax Wave to Ancestral Knowledge , Mystic Remora and Shimmer...
- The amount of triggers you can get off of him is just obscene. Especially with Skybind.
- You can barf out a lot of value fast, since he resets all your rocks.
- Draw on already great enchantments goes a long way with him. Think Confounding Conundrum, Oath of Jace, Spreading Seas
- Split triggers with him? *chef's kiss* Detention Sphere, Journey to Nowhere, Oblivion Ring, ...
Probably my favorite wins with Golos were when I'd be making so much mana I could lock everyone out with Heliod, God of the Sun tokens and Skybind, making 10+ dudes a turn and skybinding my Serra's Sanctum every cycle.
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Crazy Monkey Arcane Themes
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Daxos the Returned also creates enchantment tokens, if you'd prefer black enchantments to blue and constellation triggers at instant speed.
Commander Decks
Kemba | Kytheon | Talrand | Unesh | Teferi | Geth | primer Zada | Krenko | Torbran | Patron Orochi | Ghalta | Gargos | Medomai | The Count | Xenagos | Nikya | Jaheira, Artisan | Trostani | Athreos | Jarad | Ivy | Nin | Krark & Sakashima | Feather | Osgir | Gisela | Roon | Chulane | Sydri | Ertai | Mairsil | Vial & Malcolm | Prossh | Marath | Marisi | Syr Gwyn | Riku | Riku | Animar | Ghave | Tasigur | Muldrotha | Rayami | Zedruu | Yidris | Kynaios & Tiro | Saskia | Tymna & Kydele | Atraxa | Akiri & Silas | Sisay | Ur Dragon | Bridge | Horde | Najeela | Genju | Traxos
Kemba | Kytheon | Talrand | Unesh | Teferi | Geth | primer Zada | Krenko | Torbran | Patron Orochi | Ghalta | Gargos | Medomai | The Count | Xenagos | Nikya | Jaheira, Artisan | Trostani | Athreos | Jarad | Ivy | Nin | Krark & Sakashima | Feather | Osgir | Gisela | Roon | Chulane | Sydri | Ertai | Mairsil | Vial & Malcolm | Prossh | Marath | Marisi | Syr Gwyn | Riku | Riku | Animar | Ghave | Tasigur | Muldrotha | Rayami | Zedruu | Yidris | Kynaios & Tiro | Saskia | Tymna & Kydele | Atraxa | Akiri & Silas | Sisay | Ur Dragon | Bridge | Horde | Najeela | Genju | Traxos
I'm always almost building daxos and then I don't. He's so weird. But a decent idea for sure.Crazy Monkey wrote: ↑3 years agoDaxos the Returned also creates enchantment tokens, if you'd prefer black enchantments to blue and constellation triggers at instant speed.
This is one of the Combos I run in my Grand Arbiter Augustin IV Deck. It's very enchantment focused as a lot of the good tax cards seem to be enchantments. Arbiter provides cost reduction for you and slows down your opponents.
Yes, people do groan sometimes, but still, I think he's a good Commander for this strategy.
Running blue and white gives you Enchanted Evening which I adore. It's so much mana with Serra's Sanctum and gives you a full reset/win with Cleansing Meditation or Aura Thief.
Another interesting Commander for the Opalescence Combo might be Aminatou, the Fateshifter.
Ardeyn
Yes, people do groan sometimes, but still, I think he's a good Commander for this strategy.
Running blue and white gives you Enchanted Evening which I adore. It's so much mana with Serra's Sanctum and gives you a full reset/win with Cleansing Meditation or Aura Thief.
Another interesting Commander for the Opalescence Combo might be Aminatou, the Fateshifter.
Ardeyn
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folding_music glitter pen on my mana crypt
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I've been staring at the new Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider and thinking about how Parallax Wave interacts with him (ie, ludicrously) - with an enchantment-based build like this, would you be open to running big creatures which help you combo out, or would you stick to utility creatures only?
So that was actually something I did not love about the Golos build is that I had a ton of creatures I liked blinking and that made for a kinda wrong-half problem sometimes where I'd get the creatures and not enough blink, because I was doing too much. If I play big creatures it'll probably be utility stuff like Archon of Falling Stars who I found to really be good in Athreos, Shroud-Veiled and Doomwake Giant who is an enchantment.folding_music wrote: ↑3 years agowith an enchantment-based build like this, would you be open to running big creatures which help you combo out, or would you stick to utility creatures only?
Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider / Doubling Season are pretty darn good with the wave effects but I can't think of that many other counter things i would want to do except maybe Quarantine Field.
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Opalescence makes enchantments into creatures so any creature removal you have in the deck in theory will have more targets.
It also makes your own enchantments into creatures (so does Starfield of Nyx) so creature protection also works for you. For example Mother of Runes would offer enchantment protection as well.
As far as the commander it depends if you want to lean into an enchantment theme more or if you are just looking at key pieces as you've included.
If the idea is to slam down Opalescence, then you'd probably want a commander that can kill creatures so that you can remove opponents enchantments.
Merieke Ri Berit, Marath, Will of the Wild, Triad of Fates are examples for this idea.
Otherwise if you lean into enchantments more then there are obvious ones like Ghen, Arcanum Weaver or Estrid, the Masked.
If you had Odric, Lunarch Marshal as your commander then you can look for the indestructible and hexproof elements to protect enchantments potentially if you have Opalescence or Starfield of Nyx. Then you can follow it up with a board wipe while retaining most of your board.
This idea is a bit more janky and requires quite a few cards to get protection, so is more suited to casual games which might be perfect.
Alright so hear me out on this last suggestion. If you did lean into using Opalescence as a way to remove opponents enchantments with creature removal, then I think you could go with Sydri, Galvanic Genius as a way to also turn opponents artifacts into creatures and then you have a way of removing most permanents with your targeted creature removal in the deck. It would be a very heavy control deck as you are looking to remove creatures, enchantments and artifacts that your opponents cast.
It also makes your own enchantments into creatures (so does Starfield of Nyx) so creature protection also works for you. For example Mother of Runes would offer enchantment protection as well.
As far as the commander it depends if you want to lean into an enchantment theme more or if you are just looking at key pieces as you've included.
If the idea is to slam down Opalescence, then you'd probably want a commander that can kill creatures so that you can remove opponents enchantments.
Merieke Ri Berit, Marath, Will of the Wild, Triad of Fates are examples for this idea.
Otherwise if you lean into enchantments more then there are obvious ones like Ghen, Arcanum Weaver or Estrid, the Masked.
If you had Odric, Lunarch Marshal as your commander then you can look for the indestructible and hexproof elements to protect enchantments potentially if you have Opalescence or Starfield of Nyx. Then you can follow it up with a board wipe while retaining most of your board.
This idea is a bit more janky and requires quite a few cards to get protection, so is more suited to casual games which might be perfect.
Alright so hear me out on this last suggestion. If you did lean into using Opalescence as a way to remove opponents enchantments with creature removal, then I think you could go with Sydri, Galvanic Genius as a way to also turn opponents artifacts into creatures and then you have a way of removing most permanents with your targeted creature removal in the deck. It would be a very heavy control deck as you are looking to remove creatures, enchantments and artifacts that your opponents cast.
Just had an idea, maybe you could combine this with the Living Plane deck idea. Instant speed exiling all enemy lands, forever, could be a thing.
EDH Decklists
Phage | Braids | Kiku | Yawgmoth | Chandra | Jin-Gitaxias | Sakashima the Impostor I Rilsa Rael | Eloise | Killian | Liesa | Nalia de'Arnise | Zara | Kotori | Hanna | Nahiri | Risona | Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Abomination of Llanowar | Pharika | Mina & Denn | Chromium, The Mutable
Phage | Braids | Kiku | Yawgmoth | Chandra | Jin-Gitaxias | Sakashima the Impostor I Rilsa Rael | Eloise | Killian | Liesa | Nalia de'Arnise | Zara | Kotori | Hanna | Nahiri | Risona | Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Abomination of Llanowar | Pharika | Mina & Denn | Chromium, The Mutable
Hmm, if I went with the kodama/ravos build there's something to be said for.kodama trigger ramping parallax wave into opalescence. I wish the orzhov partners were...something else lolRuiner wrote: ↑3 years agoJust had an idea, maybe you could combine this with the Living Plane deck idea. Instant speed exiling all enemy lands, forever, could be a thing.
Definitely a good thing to think about, appreciate it. Might be I could do just kodama plus whatever white partner and give up on the doomwake dream, or slot enough creatures in that ravos has a purpose.
I mean, if you're going Abzan Living Plane, you might as well embrace Ravos, Soultender and go nuts with him.
Golgari Charm, Kaervek, the Spiteful, Night of Souls' Betrayal, Doomwake Giant, ... there are some friends to be made.
- hyalopterouslemur
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If you have something that upon entry does damage/creates a token/makes an opponent lose life/gives an opponent a poison counter/mills, you have a win condition. If you go with red, you have a ton of options, or just Purphoros, God of the Forge.
In white, I know Blade Splicer exists, just it takes a whole turn to use it.
In white, I know Blade Splicer exists, just it takes a whole turn to use it.
Thanks to Feyd_Ruin for the avatar!