I hope you enjoyed Modern Horizons; we got some excellent upgrades.

Here are some of my general notes and my updates to my paper decks.

—–

Force of Negation: Very nice. Not for every deck, but it’s awesome that we’re getting flexible options we can tailor builds with.

Canopy Lands & Talismans: These are just fantastic. I think there should be a little reservation about the life payment on the Canopies in a heavily life-oriented deck.

Mox Tantalite: Just not good enough. Terrible topdeck. Compares unfavorably to Search for Tomorrow (which already sees no play).

Yawgmoth: Probably not strong enough as a commander to sit with the big dogs. NASTY in Hapatra’s 99.

Plague Engineer: Very narrow. As a stretch, it could name Elf or Human in an extremely inbred meta.

Yuriko: Yuriko got some NICE buffs that give her a lot of extra reach. Changeling Outcast, Faerie Seer, Ingenious Infiltrator, Mist-Syndicate Naga, Fallen Shinobi

Echo of Eons: There’s a lot of hype about this card, but I feel strongly that this card isn’t good enough for full power cEDH, and it’s not an optimal budget substitution. Wheels either need to be played early (you can’t), have mana left over (you won’t), or be played into a payoff (too big of a mana barrier). If your plan A is attempting to Entomb it or loot it away, that’s too clunky of a plan. There are much better cards to do Timetwister-style loops with such as Memory’s Journey or Time Spiral + Narset’s Reversal.

Spice without an obvious home: Hogaak (in the 98/99), Cabal Therapist, Rain of Revelation, Archmage’s Charm

Red & White Forces: Come on.

——

Food Chain Sliver

Pretty massive upgrade to the deck. Added a land, as games are going a little later. I don’t think we want Canopy lands here, as with all the life we pay it’s going to be a net loss to cards seen to pay life each turn. I’ll test them and add them to the stock online list if they stay. I’m keeping Vexing Shusher from the Niv build — it’s a house.

• Add: The First Sliver, LabJace, Timetwister (budget: Goblin Bombardment), Riftsweeper, Extract, Morphic Pool
• Cut: Niv-Mizzet Reborn, Sparkcaster, Hydroid Krasis, Circu, Fire Covenant, Sterling Grove
• Considered: Force of Negation, Nurturing Peatland, Waterlogged Grove

Yisan

Collector Ouphe is a fantastic addition. Force of Vigor also has a lot of potential. Ravenous Slime really wasn’t pulling its weight, and I’d been eyeing Azusa for cuts for a while.

• Add: Collector Ouphe, Force of Vigor, Prismatic Vista
• Cut: Ravenous Slime, Azusa, Snow-Covered Forest
• Considered: Savage Swipe

Paradox Scepter Thrasios

Consultation Edition

Talisman is a little stronger in the early game than Signet, and Signet is better on Engine lines; both are nearly equivalent in power. Canopy lands are good here, we ramp a lot (meaning we can avoid tapping it in a lot of scenarios) and don’t mind going late (so turning our lands into gas later is decent). Thrasios mirrors especially tend to be fairly standoffish and go late — we’d rather have advantage from Rhystic Study than watch our Spell Pierce scale off.

• Add: Talisman of Curiosity, Nurturing Peatland, Waterlogged Grove, Rhystic Study
• Cut: Simic Signet, Gemstone Mine, Yavimaya Coast, Spell Pierce
• Considered: Force of Negation, Tribute Mage

Opus Thief

Turns out LabJace is the truth. Narset’s Reversal is a little reactive for what we’re trying to accomplish here. Talisman is an upgrade to Signet.

• Add: Talisman of Creativity, Fiery Islet, LabJace
• Cut: Azorius Signet, Urborg, Narset’s Reversal
• Considered: Force of Negation

Razakats

• Add: Nurturing Peatland
• Cut: Scrubland
• Considered: Force of Vigor

Animar

Cutting RG lands for UR and UG Canopies!

• Add: Waterlogged Grove, Fiery Islet
• Cut: Grove of the Burnwillows, Spire Garden
• Considered: Pondering Mage (jk never lucky)

Urza

Newly added to my roster!

Playing Time Spiral over Sleight of Hand and doing my darndest to figure out how to cut Voltaic Key.

• Add: Force of Negation, Prismatic Vista
• Considered: Mirrodin Beseiged, Tribute Mage

Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy

My JVP list is morphing into Urza for the time being. I can only be without High Tide for so long, so we’ll see shortly.

• Add: Force of Negation, Prismatic Vista
• Cut: Serum Visions, Snow-Covered Island
• Considered: Echo of Eons (we actually can loot it here! I still ultimately think it’s too clunky)

—–

Much love!

– Shaper