What a Nightmare! || Umbris "the King of Exile" and Ashiok as Wingman - Comments

[Comment Bot]

What a Nightmare! || Umbris "the King of Exile" and Ashiok as Wingman

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I am thinking of adding Phyrexian Arena or even Necropotence.
I wonder if such a large and aggressive draw and card advantage are needed and/or necessary?
Then you would have to, I think, add another win con related to drawing (and possibly discarding) cards, which in turn would disrupt the current (rather balanced, I believe) card selection in this deck.
Any advice?

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- Swamp [1x]
+ Toxrill, the Corrosive

Now we have two "bombs" for 7 mana: one blue horror 5+2 (Hullbreaker Horror) and one black 5+2 (Toxrill, the Corrosive). Surely some more dual lands would be useful.

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It is time for more experiments

Jon Ireniucs, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

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Recent changes:

--> 1 <--

- Teferi's Ageless Insight
+ Underworld Dreams

// Teferi's Ageless Insight is a very good card when we directly punish our opponents for us drawing cards. Here, however, it doesn't matter as much (possibly Psychosis Crawler, but that's not the main strategy for winning the game). Also, in mid and late game it is moderately useful, especially since there are several other ways to draw cards or play opponents' cards.

// Underworld Dreams combined with Whispering Madness and Windfall can be deadly. It is also very common for opponents to draw extra cards, for which they will be regularly punished. In a control deck, such a small but regular "bite" can be salutary.

--> 2 <--

- Avatar of Woe
+ No Mercy

// Avatar of Woe is a good card. Perhaps it will return to the deck together with Hidden Strings (up to 3 times per turn you will be able to destroy enemy creatures). However, when playing and testing the deck it was often the case that I either discarded it (Wharf Infiltrator trigger) or didn't play it, even in mid and late game because most of the opponents cards were in exile and not in the graveyard. If it appears on the battlefield, it is much easier to destroy than No Mercy (there are more creature removals in opponents' decks, that's obvious).

// No Mercy is a very, very good card that, if not quickly removed from battlefield, gives us plenty of time to develop our game plan.

--> 3 <--

- Psychic Surgery
+ Sire of Stagnation

// Psychic Surgery It has a cheap mana cost and allows us to exile opponents' cards, but it does so far too slowly and too rarely.

// Sire of Stagnation has a much higher mana cost, but is a strong creature with an ability that objectively activates much more often and gives double the benefits. This card can be invaluable at any stage of the game (early in the game, of course, if you have the right ramp, such as Sol Ring and Arcane Signet).

--> 4 <--

- Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar
+ Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant

// Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar would be a much better card in this deck if: one, it was also a commander; two, if the main strategy was primarily based on playing Umbris, Fear Manifest on the battlefield, making it practically indestructible and having Flying, Trample, Lifelink, Unblockable, Menace, Deathtouch. A fairly easy strategy to play (e.g. with Commander's Plate, Lightning greaves or Arcane Flight, etc.), but... boring.

// Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant admittedly is neither Nightmare nor Horror, but is a great card for a control deck. Simply phenomenal. Considering that it can be protected by counterspells or Kaya's Ghostform or Thassa, Deep-Dwelling, wonders can happen on the battlefield. This deck doesn't develop quickly anyway, like Aggro elves for example. Therefore, another expensive creature shouldn't be a problem, especially since if it already appears on battlefield, it makes quite a fuss. That's why I decided to add some more defensive cards, like the No Mercy or Web of Inertia just discussed above (which I've already bought and will be putting in the deck soon).

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Revision 52

Added/removed cards:
-1 Ashiok, Sculptor of Fears
-1 Poison the Cup
+1 Dimir Locket
+1 Hidden Strings
+1 Teferi, Master of Time

Changed amounts:
-1 Island

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COMMENTARY ON THE CHANGES

--> 1 <--

- Ashiok, Sculptor of Fears
+ Teferi, Master of Time

// Ashiok is my favourite planeswalker, but sometimes there is no room for sentiment. Ashiok, Sculptor of Fears has too high mana cost, it takes as much as 5 turns to be able to activate his ultimate ability (which means it practically fails). It is simply too slow in an already slow deck.

// Teferi, Master of Time has a lower mana cost, you can use his ultimate ability much faster, he also gives advantages in opponents' turns and you can use his defensive ability practically right away. Moreover, his first ability interacts with other cards (which should be emphasized a second time: also during the opponents' turns), e.g. Wharf Infiltrator, Psychosis Crawler, Chasm Skulker, Underworld Dreams. Additionally, his ultimate ability (which is easier to achieve) will give a huge advantage (two turns may be enough to win in the later stages of the game), unlike Ashiok, which only allows you to take over the creatures of one opponent (if you could take control of all the creatures in the game: wow, that would be something).

--> 2 <--

- Poison the Cup
+ Hidden Strings

// Poison the Cup is simply a classic EDH removal. Also, it is worth asking yourself how many cards are played with foretell? Playing this card in this way allows your opponents to practically guess what the card is and adjust their game accordingly. There are already enough counter spells, slowdown spells and removals in this deck, so I felt it was better to change this card for one that could provide much more benefit.

// Hidden Strings is a card that would hardly have caught anyone's attention were it not for one fact: the Cipher mechanic. Only about a dozen cards in the entire game have it. And this is already the second card with this mechanic in the deck. I'm thinking of adding a third, as if prepared exactly for this deck, which is Call of the Nightwing. We'll see. Considering that we have a lot of creatures here that opponents can't block, playing and then casting a copy of this card could give huge benefits and opportunities, especially if on the battlefield there will also be Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant. This card would probably allow you to create combos, but as I wrote in the deck description: playing combos that end the game after drawing and playing 2-3 cards rather doesn't interest me.

--> 3 <--

- Island
+ Dimir Locket

// I think there are already enough lands and ramp artifacts in the deck. In the near future I will want to refine the mana base, for example by adding such cards: Command Tower, Sunken Hollow, Watery Grave, Drowned Catacomb, Clearwater Pathway // Murkwater, Fetid Pools and Rogue's Passage (for obvious reasons)

// Dimir Locket is another ramp artifact which has an advantage over the basic island that not only can it add black mana, but also allows, in a critical situation, to draw two cards (either when we are already against the wall, or e.g. to finish off our opponent who has the last remaining life points with Underworld Dreams or Psychosis Crawler).
 

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Revision 53

Added/removed cards:
+1 Web of Inertia

Changed amounts:
-1 Island

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The ramp was previously augmented with artifacts. In addition, the deck is based on card draw, among other things. For these reasons, one less Island, followed by a good defensive card: Web of Inertia can be just priceless in this control deck (i.e. deck based on exile of opponents' cards).

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Revision 54

Added/removed cards:
-1 Lantern of the Lost
+1 Command Tower
+1 Relic of Progenitus
+1 Reliquary Tower

Changed amounts:
-2 Island

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Revision 55

Added/removed cards:
+1 Sunken Hollow

Changed amounts:
-1 Swamp

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Revision 57

Added/removed cards:
-1 Ponder
+1 Avatar of Woe (very good interaction with Hidden Strings, see one of the previous posts)

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Revision 60

Added/removed cards:
-1 Opt
+1 Ponder

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Revision 61

Added/removed cards:
-1 Dimir Locket
+1 Cyclonic Rift (must have in EDH control deck!)

[longin]

Thinking out loud: wouldn't a better solution be to replace Dig Through Time with one of these cards:
- Lim-Dûl's Vault
- Tainted Pact
- Intuition

?

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Revision 62

Added/removed cards:
-1 Kaya's Ghostform
+1 Bloodchief Ascension

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Revision 63

Added/removed cards:
+1 Rogue's Passage

Changed amounts:
-1 Swamp

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Revision 64

Added/removed cards:
-1 Phyrexian Revoker
+1 Fetid Pools
+1 Sheoldred, Whispering One

Changed amounts:
-1 Island