I want to talk about Mr. Arcum Dagsson, unquestionably one of the most powerful generals in the Commander metagame. I'll talk about my card choices, deck composition, how to win, and, for those of you who hate Mr. Dagsson, the weak points of the deck and how to beat him. There used to be an excellent 1v1 Arcum primer but it seems to have disappeared. The other "primer" doesn't really qualify for the term, IMO.
My Arcum deck is beloved to me for a few reasons -- if you find these persuasive, you should give this Coldsnap badass a shot.
1. Reliability - When your general tutors and puts the card directly into play, your deck gets you what you need, all the time.
2. Power - A well-made Arcum deck is a threat every game, all the time, from turn two onward.
3. Resilience - You can fill your deck with silver bullets and get them on the board right when you need them, and there's no better color in magic at protecting itself than U.
4. It plays the two best colors in magic - U and X.
Of course, with great power comes great hate from the table. The problem with Arcum, if you can call it that, is it's very tough not to play the best Arcum deck you can because as soon as you shuffle up people will be eyeing you (or should be) as the #1 threat at the table. There are better choices for mono blue that don't paint you as quite the hate target if you aren't trying to win every game you play. If this kind of situation doesn't appeal to you, simply choose another general; for me, it's right where I want to be -- in the driver's seat.
You should also probably not play Arcum on a budget. Many of its best cards are in the $10+ dollar range, with more than a few over the $30 level. Unlike many other generals there is a huge disparity in power between a budget- and a non-budget-list.
What Arcum Tries to Do
Regardless of your overall strategy, every Arcum deck wants to lay islands, mana-rock acceleration, and little artifact weenies and accelerate into playing your general. Once you have a decent amount of mana -- say, 5 or 6 -- some artifact weenies, and preferably someway of giving Arcum haste, drop your nasty geezer and pull out whatever devilish effects you've packed in and win the game.
However, there are different ways the Arcum player can go about doing said winning.
Control, Combo, or Aggro?
Personally I see Arcum's strengths as a combo/control deck. I suppose you could go for an aggro build but I don't think that suits Arcum's strengths -- after all, you're removing creatures from the board and adding non-creatures in their place. That doesn't scream aggro to me. Plus, as I said above, it's not going to be the best Arcum deck which is going to get you unfairly hated off the table. And no one is going to listen to your complaints that "you're not that kind of deck!"
My deck has elements of both control and combo, but I lean more toward the combo side. There are versions that focus around cards like Winter Orb that bring the game to a screeching halt after establishing good board position, which is definitely a possibility. I myself opt more toward putting a few cards in play that end the game very quickly. When you win, this at least allows the table a quick death so they don't spend 15 turns loathing you waiting for you to end the misery.
Of course, the beauty of the 100-card singleton format is you can build both (or even include aggro for all three) into your deck and merely slightly lean one way or the other. Another of Arcum's strengths is his adaptibility to any game situation if you've built your deck well -- you can very easily slide from combo to control or vice versa if the game state demands it.
The deck can be grouped into several sub-areas. I'll list the cards in these areas to give a sense of the ratio and purpose of these overall groups before delving into card-by-card discussion.
Acceleration is key for Arcum as he's trying to win as fast as possible. God-hand draws usually include one mana dude, a mana rock, and Ancient Tomb, and a few lands that produce U. This draw will be fast and very tough to deal with.
I play less card drawing than many blue decks. Once I hit four mana I'm not looking to draw more cards unless I have a dead hand, which is bad news. I love stuff like Frantic Search since it's free, as well as low-investment, high-return cards like Ancestral Vision, Scroll Rack, and Sensei's Divining Top. The only heavy-investment spells are Fact or Fiction which is obviously EOT'd, and Recurring Insight, which is a last-ditch effort to turn around a losing cause.
Tutors are the renewable energy of good combo decks. Most of these are pretty obvious choices in blue decks, with Intuition and Transmute Artifact being that much better with the amount of recursion in the deck, and Planar Portal hooking onto some of the infinite combos in the deck to allow you to draw all the cards you need. Tezz functions as both tutor and win condition.
These cards mess with your opponents, many of which can be instant-speed tutored into play with Arcum. Instant-speed creature disruption (Cryptic Command to tap all dudes, Evacuate, and Time Stop) are essential to avoid alpha strikes from fast aggro decks. Much of the other cards (e.g. Trickbind, Pithing Needle) are a brick in the gears of other fast decks. I run all three land-on-land crime cards for maximum effectiveness.
The other side of the disruption coin is one of blue's trademarks. Many of these spells are A-List EDH staples for good reason. I run less of these kinds of cards than many blue decks and it's because I focused on spells that "do something else" or are answers for particular problems. I think generic counterspells are generally kind of bad cards in multiplayer.
The artifact weenies that recur have ridiculous synergy with Arcum, and Time Spiral and Academy Ruins are just good.
Everything Else
The rest of the cards fall into the "these win the game" category (e.g. Darksteel Forge) or are obvious "good card" inclusions (e.g. Time Spiral), all of which will be discussed below.
How To Win
There are two ways to play my decklist. The first is to assemble one of several game-winning combos as fast as possible, which is almost disappointingly easy. Tutoring out the Darksteel Forge + Nevinyrral's Disk is very, very easy for this deck and there are very few answers once this gets online.
I prefer to play the slow burn version, going to the Disk/Forge combo when all else fails. I like to play the rattlesnake game where I continually (hopefully) answer threats to my well-being with well-timed Arcum activations to grab silver bullets. You've got 60 power of dudes? Ensnaring Bridge. Casting a game-ending spell? Null Brooch. Got way too much mana and are outpacing me? Winter Orb. You look like a combo deck? Jester's Cap. Play a problem permanent? Pithing Needle. And so on. It's more fun for me and (I assume) more fun for the table than simply racing to Disk/Forge. I've assembled what I think is a resilient and powerful set of silver bullets that either my general or Mystical Tutor can go get to answer the table's threats.
There are two ways (well, really 1.5 ways) to get infinite mana in the deck.
There are other combos and synergies in here but these are the important ones to understand to play (and play against) Arcum.
How Not To Lose
There are few simple rules to abide by to ensure maximum winning.
1. Protect Arcum
You do not want Arcum tucked with Oblation, Hinder, Spell Crumple, Spin Into Myth and the like. It's very difficult to go get him back without Planar Portal, which, in turn, is very difficult to go get without Arcum. Just don't let it happen. Similarly, if the group can keep Arcum off the table it's much more difficult to win. One of my favorite plays is Hall of the Bandit Lord into Arcum tapping to go get Lightning Greaves. It's a bit slower but if you sense targetted removal coming your way, it's a good way to go. Naturally, making him an artifact with Karn, Silver Golem or Mycosynth Lattice to take advantage of Darksteel Forge is always a thumbs-up kind of play. (Of course, by that point, you should win.)
2. Don't get Pithing Needled, Jester's Capped, etc.
A good player will know what to name with Pithing Needle or go take out of your deck (e.g. Darksteel Forge, Mycosynth Lattice, Power Artifact), after which it's much, much more difficult to win. Luckily not enough people play these kinds of effects and even fewer really know what to do with them.
3. Keep Arcum untapped until the last minute
You should silver-bullet only at EOT before your turn or when there is no other choice but to do it right then. Keep Arcum and some of his fodder alive and untapped for as much of the game as possible to maximize your rattlesnake potential. If you escape to EOT unscathed, when you do tutor, get something that adds to your resiliency unless you're going for the win on your turn.
4. Don't antagonize the board
People are going to hate you enough already. Turn 3 Propaganda or turn 2 Winter Orb, for example, don't help you win, don't answer threats, and make people angry. Plus it's simply better Magic to let people commit time and resources into a board full of creatures before you play Ensnaring Bridge. In general, try to be somewhat passive unless you have the God draw. Don't counterspell things you don't absolutely HAVE TO counter. And so on. Play nice until it's too late for your poor opponents.
Individual Card Choice Discussion
Arcanis the Omnipotent - Admittedly he doesn't see a lot of play. The casting cost is high and right in the area where you're looking to play significant threats. He's more of a "save me from a bad hand" card. I'd suggest not playing him without Lightning Greaves on the board.
Arcbound Reclaimer - He recurs artifacts and gets eaten by Arcum. A must.
Epochrasite - Re-usable fodder for Arcum. Can also chump block very effectively.
Manakin - Accelerates and is Arcum fodder. Perfect card.
Master Transmuter - Helps you get clunky big artifacts into play. Still more fodder for Arcum. To be honest she works better in decks that want to play things like Blightsteel Colossus or Inkwell Leviathan, what she mostly does for me is get a Darksteel Forge that's stuck in my hand into play.
Millikin - Accelerates, Arcum fodder. Also works with Myr Retriever and Junk Diver to get the card back, as well as with Top to get unwanted crap off the top of your deck.
Memory Jar - A good target for Arcum if you are looking for answers. You could draw into counterspells or bounce. Good to EOT get with Arcum and give yourself a new hand to play with. Added synergy with the recursion in the deck.
Mindslaver - With all the recursion this card is stupidly good.
Nevinyrral's Disk - Part win condition, part protection, 100% ridiculously good.
Nuisance Engine - Guaranteed Arcum fodder every turn for cheap. I love this card.
Null Brooch - No doubt one of the eyebrow-raisers in here, it can be tutored for with Arcum to counter something you just have to counter. Added bonus with this play is it can't be counterspelled back. It's a surprisingly useful silver bullet.
Pithing Needle - No deck should be without it. That it can be Arcumed onto the table makes it even better.
Planar Portal - Hooks into infinite combos as well as just makes your deck better.
Sol Ring - Hmm. Don't remember why I included this one.
Spine of Ish Sah - Arcum gets this at instant speed that can't be countered. Add Karn, Silver Golem to eat him with Arcum and rinse and repeat!
Voltaic Key - Makes your mana rocks better, allows multiple activations of Arcum with Mycosynth Lattice, and allows multiple activations of Nevinyrral's Disk if the board just keeps playing those annoying hasted threats.
Winter Orb - I keep this in reserve for emergency Arcum activations. It turns an opponent's "if I untap, I win" into "%@!" Many Arcum builds center around this sort of card to control the board, but I don't play that way. If your hand is terrible it can be dropped early to slow everyone else down, but you won't be popular.
Ancestral Vision - Great turn one play, fairly bad the rest of the time.
Time Spiral - Symmetrical effects that are anything but symmetrical are just great. Was much more fun with Tolarian Academy but there's nothing not to like about this card.
Time Stop - If you're playing U and don't run this card I don't know what to say to you. Saves you from so many problematic situations. "Sorry? What? That spell will win you the game? Oh. I think I'll just take a turn instead."
Transmute Artifact - Very versatile. Hooks into Myr Retriever etc. for card advantage + tutor, or you can make X = 0 and put whatever artifact you need from your deck into the yard. Extra fun when you transmute said Retriever.
Trickbind - I play a Japanese trickbind because people think I'm BSing them when I tell them what it does. Then they look it up and slump their shoulders as their game-winning turn just stops.
Wipe Away - The only cards that Wipe Away can't save you from say "protection from blue" or "shroud". It takes care of the rest. So good.
Future Sight - Makes your deck better. Obviously good with Top.
1. Things that tap to attack Blightsteel Colossus is good, sure. But it doesn't synergize with anything else the deck is doing except maybe Master Transmuter. Attackers aren't needed. We're playing blue!!
2. Some other counterspell
I feel I'm playing the best counterspells in EDH and also that I don't want more cards that don't help me win the game. I'd rather nullify whatever you cast after it's on the table by Arcumming out Pithing Needle or Ensnaring Bridge.
3. Memnarch
I like this guy, but he was much more fun with Tolarian Academy. Since the most broken land ever printed was yanked, he never sees play. Too expensive to do not that much.
4. Consecrated Sphinx, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, and other big bombs
These are great cards, but I can't cheat them into play (strike 1), they have power and toughness and can't be eaten by Arcum (strike 2), and they don't make my win conditions more effective (strike 3). If they were artifact creatures ... then we'll talk.
6. Rocket Launcher or Goblin Cannon
I've talked about it, but it's not currently in my deck list. I'm trying out a few new things and I might put this guy back in. It's obviously good.
8. Clone, Phyrexian Metamorph
Clone was in my list for a long long time but never got used. Since Arcum can eat the Metamorph I'm seriously looking for a spot to put him in. If annoying Hexproof generals are a big part of your metagame, I'd suggest adding one or both.
9. Tolaria West
There are better ways to go get lands I really need, which actually doesn't happen very often. CITP can be very frustrating and I rarely want to spend 1UU at sorcery speed to tutor up a land. Blech.
If there are any other cards you think I should be playing, feel free to give me a hard time.
Thanks for reading! I hope this has given some insight into one of the better generals out there, as well as some tips to those of you looking to beat him. Comments, suggestions, and questions are very much appreciated.
Holy cow! Nice deck! All I can really think of is to watch out for cards like Shattering Spree, and Creeping Corrosion. Also you might think about All is Dust maybe? But yeah, once again great deck great combos and synergy!
This looks like a Blue Karn Edh with some Stax. Are you sure you have enough spells for Force of Will to worth a slot. In 60 cards you need 17 blue spells to alternate cast on turn Zero/1.
This looks like a Blue Karn Edh with some Stax. Are you sure you have enough spells for Force of Will to worth a slot. In 60 cards you need 17 blue spells to alternate cast on turn Zero/1.
I've never needed to cast FoW on turn 0 or 1. Also there are 36 blue cards in my deck. It's been rare that I haven't been able to pitch to it. If the game state looks like I'm going to need to use it I don't play out every blue card in my hand. If I'm feeling good about playing all my spells I'll either have some way to go get a blue card (eg Scroll Rack) or not be particularly concerned about FoWing. The worst it's been has been when it was in my hand and not needed, which is obviously good for me.
@macman456: Thanks! I haven't given All Is Dust a serious look but I've thought about it. Generally the Disk does the same thing but spares my stuff. The 4 mana destroy all brown cards are the most dangerous early when I have mana rocks and maybe a weenie out. People usually save them to try to hit more stuff, which usually gives me enough time to have an answer.
The other "primer" doesn't really qualify for the term, IMO.
Well considering I am the other Primer how am I suppose to take this when I read it lol. I believe mine deserves the title Primer, and all decks Primers or not can learn from each other.
Now mine is a different case as I use Arcum in multiplayer
I am not exactly a fan of Beacon of tomorrow I figure for what 1 more you can have a Time Streach though it doesn't go back in, and I would say the deck needs a couple more artifact creatures. Also at least 1 of the Jaces should be run He has saved me games so many times, both forums have I mean.
What I do Love
Arcanis the Omnipotent I had thought about this for a while and I have to say I can really see it. Mind Over Matter I thought about it while I looked at this card and I can see it. This type of deck can easily have a full hand non-stop
Things I am considering and you may also want to consider
Sundering Titan I admit this is wear 1v1, but this could really hurt a player if it hits early or at the right time. Sunder After a short time Arcum have your mana base set so this makes them start over while you continue to play and do what you want. Evacuation I am having to consider this against quick decks, and When I feel a Wrath effect is about to happen and I don't have that counter ready.
Anyways Nice deck I like where you went with it :).
I don't like Nuisance Engine in Daggson decks. I'm a fan of Myr Turbine because you get Daggson fodder with no mana investment. My Daggson deck is more of a prison deck that locks everybody out with Winter Orb and Static Orb, so th no mana thing is what gets the thumbs up over Nuisance Engine or Diamond Kaleidoscope. I also swear by Unwinding Clock. Whenever I get Myr Turbine, Thousand-Year Elixr and Unwinding Clock with Daggson out I usually have the board completely locked down by the time my turn comes around again.
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Now Playing:
Standard
RogueDeckWins (mono-B aggro)
AngelDusk G/W/U control)
Land of Confusion (B/R/u Blightning Beatdown
Shore/Bind (G/U aggro w/ mistbind clique)
Casual
Hostile Takeover (U/B Tutor)
Stompy (Mono-G super aggro)
Here's the thing...at it's heart, Arcum is a prison-combo deck. You delay your opponents until you can combo out with Forge/Disk/Lattice. Everything else is gravy, but locking down the board is your end-goal.
To that extent, there's a lot of cards in your decklist that are great cards, but not needed. If it doesn't help you slow your opponents or assemble to combo, I vote for cutting it.
That's applicable to:
-future sight
-mind over matter
-Faerie Mechanist
-Arcanis
-Ancestral Vision
-Beacon of Tomorrows
-time spiral
-time stop
-recurring insight
I'd add the following:
-plague myr (another 1cc mana producer)
-timetwister
-spell crumple (hinder #2)
-thoughtcast
-Swiftfoot boots (protect arcum)
-kuldotha forgemaster (kinda like a 2nd arcum)
-Buried Ruin (get back artifacts)
-Inkmoth Ruin (artifact man-land
-Mishra's Factory (artifact man-land)
-mana crypt
I run about 13 cheap artifact creatures to weld with Arcum, and primarily focus on protecting myself and Arcum until I can combo out.
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"Never let your sense of morals keep you from doing what is right" -Salvor Hardin
Ok, im kinda busy now but i will tell one nasty trick in Arcum decks that i havent c anyone comment it, and its GG when it docks.
Static Orb + Icy Manipulator
Some maybe at first thought will think thats crap stuff, all i tell thats in these 2 slots (tinkerable via Dagsson) u might cutting out stuff like propaganda, winter orb, evacuation, ensnaring bridge, just to name some, and the lock is so damn hard.
Dont forget to trade Filigree Sages for Voltaic Construct, and Nuisance Engine 4 Myr Turbine like people already noted. I´m thinking about All is Dust too... looks good...
I use Beacon of tomorrow over Time Stretch in my build just because it hard-combo with Portal Planar.
Im using Plague Myr and its a must. buried Ruin sound good too.
Myr Turbine over Nuisance Engine is a good catch...completely forgot about that card.
I'm cutting my Spine of Ish Shah for Thousand Year Elixir. The one-of removal is cute, but not as useful as I had hoped. Thousand Year plus Hall of Bandit Lord and two sets of 'Boots assures I have haste for my Arcum within the first few turns.
I cut Power Artifact...mainly because there's no way to tutor for it. Being unable to get one part of any infinite combo negates its utility. Finding artifacts is no problem, but nothing fetches enchantments.
Static Orb has been pretty good, but draws all the hate you could ever want. I consider it and Winter Orb only when I'm almost ready to combo out and need to stall for a turn a two.
Having 6 counterspells (Drain, Force, Cryptic, Pact, Hinder, Spell Crumple) has made the deck much more stable. I'd love to fit another counter or two in, but am short on room as it is.
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"Never let your sense of morals keep you from doing what is right" -Salvor Hardin
Phyrexian Metamorph is a must! Lots of success in my build at least. Even if you copy a creature, its still an artifact! Testing Spellskite now. Looks promising!
After playing Arcum at GenCon, I've decided on a few more changes.
-I cut everything non-essential to the Arcum Combo. Why bother with Power Artifact when you can just win?
-Swiftfoot boots are amazing. Those plus Lightning Greaves, Thousand Year Elixir, and Hall of the Bandit Lord ensure that your Arcum works right away.
- I added: Personal Tutor (grabs a lot of the sorcery-artifact fetch spells), Spell Skite (the misdirection ability is clutch), Misdirection (again, protect your Arcum), and Static Orb (lock down more)
I can't emphasize enough the importance of not diluting this deck with junk and win-more cards. Enchantments that aren't Propaganda are worthless to your core combo, and wastes of space. At this point, I run seven counterspells and one Skite, which almost always ensures I have at least one way to protect Arcum at any given time.
Finally, I've had a lot of people tell me to run additional artifact acceleration. However, I've found that between Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, and the handful of mana-producing artifact creatures, I've had no trouble casting Arcum early. I still think that mana rocks do not have enough utility, and that frankly this deck does not have the space. The only card I'm still considering is Kuldotha Forgemaster as a "backup" Arcum for the combo...but I need to find a slot to run him.
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"Never let your sense of morals keep you from doing what is right" -Salvor Hardin
Played Arcum again today in a mini tournament. When I have the mana-dudes and a way to protect early-Arcum (boots, etc), the combo goes off quite smoothly. However, without an obvious way to cover the general, the hate from other players will easily keep this deck from assembling any part of its answers.
Static Orb was amazing, and kept the board shut down for two turns while I comboed out. Memnarch was once again mediocre. While he's great late-game...he's somewhat a win-more card. If I already have Lattice in play, the game should be basically over. At the moment, I'm running seven counters and one win condition via Karn. I'm hesitant to add more big creatures that don't necessarily help the combo, but being very resistant on Karn has been a bit harrowing. Spell Skite was a life-saver today when it re-directed a Swords that was meant for Karn.
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"Never let your sense of morals keep you from doing what is right" -Salvor Hardin
Myr Turbine over Nuisance Engine seems like an improvement. Only sad part is my Engine is foil and my Turbine isn't, and I'm trying to foil the deck out.
Becaon of Tomorrows - Yes it's infinite turns at 14 mana with Planar Portal but I can win long before 14 mana with other cards, and it's fairly bad on its own.
Hurkyl's Recall - I can't believe I never considered this card before. Recall plus Mycosynth Lattice = ruin someone's day. It's essentially a one card combo given how easily Arcum vomits artifacts onto the board.
Goblin Cannon - Back in on a trial basis. Instant-win with Power Artifact shenanigans.
oh yeah, the list in the op isnt updated yet. and how consistently does tge goblin cannon combo come out?
It's dependent upon drawing Power Artifact. As some have said, it's the least tutor-able card in the deck, along with creatures and planeswalkers. But if you draw it, it's simply a matter of having Arcum get the rest of the combo for you.
Nice deck. A friend is interested in building a similar deck (his first EDH deck).
Curious, though: Why no Seat of the Synod or Darksteel Citadel? A land that can be eaten by Arcum (when needed) seems like an obvious choice to me. Or do you think they're too susceptible to artifact / non-basic land removal, which will obviously be present the second time you play against the same players?
Nice deck. A friend is interested in building a similar deck (his first EDH deck).
Curious, though: Why no Seat of the Synod or Darksteel Citadel? A land that can be eaten by Arcum (when needed) seems like an obvious choice to me. Or do you think they're too susceptible to artifact / non-basic land removal, which will obviously be present the second time you play against the same players?
You can't sac those to Arcum unless you animate them with Tezzeret. Animating them with Karn of course kills them. So it takes quite a few shenanigans to eat a land with Arcum and the danger of your opponent hitting your Seat of the Synod with Ancient Grudge on turn one isn't worth the almost non-existent benefit they provide.
You can't sac those to Arcum unless you animate them with Tezzeret. Animating them with Karn of course kills them. So it takes quite a few shenanigans to eat a land with Arcum and the danger of your opponent hitting your Seat of the Synod with Ancient Grudge on turn one isn't worth the almost non-existent benefit they provide.
Oops, I somehow missed that Arcum requires an artifact creature.
Karn is fun but only deals with a few things that I can't deal with in other ways, plus the only way to go get him is via Planar Portal. For 13 mana I should be able to figure out a way to win instead of remove one problem card.
I'm not sure how much I'm going to like maze, but I guess we'll see. Factory simply wasn't in because I didn't have one until now (needed an Antiquities printing). I can't justify removing any more islands for X lands, so I removed some CIPT blue producers. Cycling is nice but usually not awesome in this deck since the curve is always so tight. They're only great when I've kept a hand I shouldn't've.
Update of first post coming soon with current decklist.
I want to talk about Mr. Arcum Dagsson, unquestionably one of the most powerful generals in the Commander metagame. I'll talk about my card choices, deck composition, how to win, and, for those of you who hate Mr. Dagsson, the weak points of the deck and how to beat him. There used to be an excellent 1v1 Arcum primer but it seems to have disappeared. The other "primer" doesn't really qualify for the term, IMO.
My Arcum deck is beloved to me for a few reasons -- if you find these persuasive, you should give this Coldsnap badass a shot.
1. Reliability - When your general tutors and puts the card directly into play, your deck gets you what you need, all the time.
2. Power - A well-made Arcum deck is a threat every game, all the time, from turn two onward.
3. Resilience - You can fill your deck with silver bullets and get them on the board right when you need them, and there's no better color in magic at protecting itself than U.
4. It plays the two best colors in magic - U and X.
Of course, with great power comes great hate from the table. The problem with Arcum, if you can call it that, is it's very tough not to play the best Arcum deck you can because as soon as you shuffle up people will be eyeing you (or should be) as the #1 threat at the table. There are better choices for mono blue that don't paint you as quite the hate target if you aren't trying to win every game you play. If this kind of situation doesn't appeal to you, simply choose another general; for me, it's right where I want to be -- in the driver's seat.
You should also probably not play Arcum on a budget. Many of its best cards are in the $10+ dollar range, with more than a few over the $30 level. Unlike many other generals there is a huge disparity in power between a budget- and a non-budget-list.
What Arcum Tries to Do
Regardless of your overall strategy, every Arcum deck wants to lay islands, mana-rock acceleration, and little artifact weenies and accelerate into playing your general. Once you have a decent amount of mana -- say, 5 or 6 -- some artifact weenies, and preferably some way of giving Arcum haste, drop your nasty geezer and pull out whatever devilish effects you've packed in and win the game.
However, there are different ways the Arcum player can go about doing said winning.
Control, Combo, or Aggro?
Personally I see Arcum's strengths as a combo/control deck. I suppose you could go for an aggro build but I don't think that suits Arcum's strengths -- after all, you're removing creatures from the board and adding non-creatures in their place. That doesn't scream aggro to me. Plus, as I said above, it's not going to be the best Arcum deck which is going to get you unfairly hated off the table. And no one is going to listen to your complaints that "you're not that kind of deck!"
My deck has elements of both control and combo, but I lean more toward the combo side. There are versions that focus around cards like Winter Orb that bring the game to a screeching halt after establishing good board position, which is definitely a possibility. I myself opt more toward putting a few cards in play that end the game very quickly. When you win, this at least allows the table a quick death so they don't spend 15 turns loathing you waiting for you to end the misery.
Of course, the beauty of the 100-card singleton format is you can build both (or even include aggro for all three) into your deck and merely slightly lean one way or the other. Another of Arcum's strengths is his adaptibility to any game situation if you've built your deck well -- you can very easily slide from combo to control or vice versa if the game state demands it.
The Deck List
1 Arcum Dagsson
Creatures - 16
1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
1 Arcbound Reclaimer
1 Epochrasite
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Faerie Mechanist
1 Filigree Sages
1 Junk Diver
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Manakin
1 Master Transmuter
1 Millikin
1 Myr Retriever
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Silver Myr
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Trinket Mage
Artifacts - 21
1 Darksteel Forge
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Grim Monolith
1 Jester's Cap
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
1 Mindslaver
1 Mycosynth Lattice
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Nuisance Engine
1 Null Brooch
1 Pithing Needle
1 Planar Portal
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Voltaic Key
1 Winter Orb
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Beacon of Tomorrows
1 Capsize
1 Cryptic Command
1 Evacuation
1 Fabricate
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Frantic Search
1 Force of Will
1 Hinder
1 Intuition
1 Mana Drain
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Recurring Insight
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Spiral
1 Time Stop
1 Transmute Artifact
1 Trickbind
1 Wipe Away
Enchantments - 4
1 Future Sight
1 Mind Over Matter
1 Power Artifact
1 Propaganda
Planeswalkers - 2
1 Karn Liberated
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Dustbowl
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Remote Isle
1 Strip Mine
1 Svyelunite Temple
1 Wasteland
23 Island
Deck Composition and General Strategy
The deck can be grouped into several sub-areas. I'll list the cards in these areas to give a sense of the ratio and purpose of these overall groups before delving into card-by-card discussion.
Dudes that Accelerate
Non-Dude Acceleration
Land Acceleration
Acceleration is key for Arcum as he's trying to win as fast as possible. God-hand draws usually include one mana dude, a mana rock, and Ancient Tomb, and a few lands that produce U. This draw will be fast and very tough to deal with.
I play less card drawing than many blue decks. Once I hit four mana I'm not looking to draw more cards unless I have a dead hand, which is bad news. I love stuff like Frantic Search since it's free, as well as low-investment, high-return cards like Ancestral Vision, Scroll Rack, and Sensei's Divining Top. The only heavy-investment spells are Fact or Fiction which is obviously EOT'd, and Recurring Insight, which is a last-ditch effort to turn around a losing cause.
Tutors are the renewable energy of good combo decks. Most of these are pretty obvious choices in blue decks, with Intuition and Transmute Artifact being that much better with the amount of recursion in the deck, and Planar Portal hooking onto some of the infinite combos in the deck to allow you to draw all the cards you need. Tezz functions as both tutor and win condition.
These cards mess with your opponents, many of which can be instant-speed tutored into play with Arcum. Instant-speed creature disruption (Cryptic Command to tap all dudes, Evacuate, and Time Stop) are essential to avoid alpha strikes from fast aggro decks. Much of the other cards (e.g. Trickbind, Pithing Needle) are a brick in the gears of other fast decks. I run all three land-on-land crime cards for maximum effectiveness.
The other side of the disruption coin is one of blue's trademarks. Many of these spells are A-List EDH staples for good reason. I run less of these kinds of cards than many blue decks and it's because I focused on spells that "do something else" or are answers for particular problems. I think generic counterspells are generally kind of bad cards in multiplayer.
The artifact weenies that recur have ridiculous synergy with Arcum, and Time Spiral and Academy Ruins are just good.
Everything Else
The rest of the cards fall into the "these win the game" category (e.g. Darksteel Forge) or are obvious "good card" inclusions (e.g. Time Spiral), all of which will be discussed below.
How To Win
There are two ways to play my decklist. The first is to assemble one of several game-winning combos as fast as possible, which is almost disappointingly easy. Tutoring out the Darksteel Forge + Nevinyrral's Disk is very, very easy for this deck and there are very few answers once this gets online.
I prefer to play the slow burn version, going to the Disk/Forge combo when all else fails. I like to play the rattlesnake game where I continually (hopefully) answer threats to my well-being with well-timed Arcum activations to grab silver bullets. You've got 60 power of dudes? Ensnaring Bridge. Casting a game-ending spell? Null Brooch. Got way too much mana and are outpacing me? Winter Orb. You look like a combo deck? Jester's Cap. Play a problem permanent? Pithing Needle. And so on. It's more fun for me and (I assume) more fun for the table than simply racing to Disk/Forge. I've assembled what I think is a resilient and powerful set of silver bullets that either my general or Mystical Tutor can go get to answer the table's threats.
There are two ways (well, really 1.5 ways) to get infinite mana in the deck.
Power Artifact + Grim Monolith = Infinite Colorless
Add
Gilded Lotus + Filigree Sages = Infinite U
(Alternately, Power Artifact on Filigree Sages + Gilded Lotus produces infinite U without the Monolith.)
Hooking Planar Portal into this engine draws and plays your entire deck (don't go get lands not named Reliquary Tower), at which point you should win.
Hooking Capsize into infinite U is obviously good.
Other win conditions include:
Mindslaver + Academy Ruins - It's not going to make you popular, but it works.
Mycosynth Lattice + Karn, Silver Golem = Pay 1, destroy target land.
Karn, Silver Golem or Tezzeret the Seeker + Lots of Artifacts = the rare but effective red zone win. Add Darksteel Forge for that extra layer of unstoppability.
Planar Portal + Beacon of Tomorrows = 14 mana infinite turns. Should force a concession if backed by Force of Will.
If you want to get cute...
Infinite mana + Jester's Cap + Mycosynth Lattice + Filigree Sages + Academy Ruins = Remove all other libraries from the game. Heh... Good old 10 card combos.
Mind Over Matter + Gilded Lotus + Arcanis the Omnipotent = draw and play your deck v.2.
There are other combos and synergies in here but these are the important ones to understand to play (and play against) Arcum.
How Not To Lose
There are few simple rules to abide by to ensure maximum winning.
1. Protect Arcum
You do not want Arcum tucked with Oblation, Hinder, Spell Crumple, Spin Into Myth and the like. It's very difficult to go get him back without Planar Portal, which, in turn, is very difficult to go get without Arcum. Just don't let it happen. Similarly, if the group can keep Arcum off the table it's much more difficult to win. One of my favorite plays is Hall of the Bandit Lord into Arcum tapping to go get Lightning Greaves. It's a bit slower but if you sense targetted removal coming your way, it's a good way to go. Naturally, making him an artifact with Karn, Silver Golem or Mycosynth Lattice to take advantage of Darksteel Forge is always a thumbs-up kind of play. (Of course, by that point, you should win.)
2. Don't get Pithing Needled, Jester's Capped, etc.
A good player will know what to name with Pithing Needle or go take out of your deck (e.g. Darksteel Forge, Mycosynth Lattice, Power Artifact), after which it's much, much more difficult to win. Luckily not enough people play these kinds of effects and even fewer really know what to do with them.
3. Keep Arcum untapped until the last minute
You should silver-bullet only at EOT before your turn or when there is no other choice but to do it right then. Keep Arcum and some of his fodder alive and untapped for as much of the game as possible to maximize your rattlesnake potential. If you escape to EOT unscathed, when you do tutor, get something that adds to your resiliency unless you're going for the win on your turn.
4. Don't antagonize the board
People are going to hate you enough already. Turn 3 Propaganda or turn 2 Winter Orb, for example, don't help you win, don't answer threats, and make people angry. Plus it's simply better Magic to let people commit time and resources into a board full of creatures before you play Ensnaring Bridge. In general, try to be somewhat passive unless you have the God draw. Don't counterspell things you don't absolutely HAVE TO counter. And so on. Play nice until it's too late for your poor opponents.
Individual Card Choice Discussion
Arcanis the Omnipotent - Admittedly he doesn't see a lot of play. The casting cost is high and right in the area where you're looking to play significant threats. He's more of a "save me from a bad hand" card. I'd suggest not playing him without Lightning Greaves on the board.
Arcbound Reclaimer - He recurs artifacts and gets eaten by Arcum. A must.
Epochrasite - Re-usable fodder for Arcum. Can also chump block very effectively.
Etherium Sculptor - Accelerates you and gets eaten by Arcum.
Faerie Mechanist - Arcum fodder with card advantage.
Filigree Sages - Ridiculous combo piece. See above.
Junk Diver - Chumps fliers, recurs artifacts, and is Arcum Fodder. Perfect card.
Karn, Silver Golem - Sees less play than you might think, but provides two win conditions (+ Mycosynth Lattice or in the red zone).
Manakin - Accelerates and is Arcum fodder. Perfect card.
Master Transmuter - Helps you get clunky big artifacts into play. Still more fodder for Arcum. To be honest she works better in decks that want to play things like Blightsteel Colossus or Inkwell Leviathan, what she mostly does for me is get a Darksteel Forge that's stuck in my hand into play.
Millikin - Accelerates, Arcum fodder. Also works with Myr Retriever and Junk Diver to get the card back, as well as with Top to get unwanted crap off the top of your deck.
Myr Retriever - Arcum fodder that recurs. Amazing.
Phyrexian Revoker - Pithing needle on a stick that Arcum can eat. Love him. Plus he looks like an evil Sebastien the crab.
Silver Myr - Accelerates, Arcum fodder. Fantastic.
Solemn Simulacrum - 2 for one that feeds Arcum. He's even better than usual in here.
Trinket Mage - Good, but not as amazing as you might think. Gets Pithing Needle more often than not, also gets Sol Ring and Sensei's Divining Top.
Darksteel Forge - An all star. Wins games. You don't want this in your hand if possible since it's so expensive. Don't let it get Capped, either.
Ensnaring Bridge - Silver bullet for the sudden alpha strike. You can lay it early if you're taking lots of early beats.
Gilded Lotus - What's not to like? Accelerates and is part of the infinite mana combo. Good target for Arcum if you're trying to slow roll the table.
Grim Monolith - Ridiculous card. Awesome acceleration, is awesome with Voltaic Key, and helps make infinite mana.
Jester's Cap - IMO an EDH staple, yet no one plays it. You can silver bullet another combo deck if you know what they're up to.
Lightning Greaves - I don't have to explain this, do I?
Mana Vault - Acceleration. Great card.
Memory Jar - A good target for Arcum if you are looking for answers. You could draw into counterspells or bounce. Good to EOT get with Arcum and give yourself a new hand to play with. Added synergy with the recursion in the deck.
Mindslaver - With all the recursion this card is stupidly good.
Mycosynth Lattice - All-star combo piece.
Nevinyrral's Disk - Part win condition, part protection, 100% ridiculously good.
Nuisance Engine - Guaranteed Arcum fodder every turn for cheap. I love this card.
Null Brooch - No doubt one of the eyebrow-raisers in here, it can be tutored for with Arcum to counter something you just have to counter. Added bonus with this play is it can't be counterspelled back. It's a surprisingly useful silver bullet.
Pithing Needle - No deck should be without it. That it can be Arcumed onto the table makes it even better.
Planar Portal - Hooks into infinite combos as well as just makes your deck better.
Scroll Rack - Makes your deck better. No brainer.
Sensei's Divining Top - See above.
Sol Ring - Hmm. Don't remember why I included this one.
Spine of Ish Sah - Arcum gets this at instant speed that can't be countered. Add Karn, Silver Golem to eat him with Arcum and rinse and repeat!
Voltaic Key - Makes your mana rocks better, allows multiple activations of Arcum with Mycosynth Lattice, and allows multiple activations of Nevinyrral's Disk if the board just keeps playing those annoying hasted threats.
Winter Orb - I keep this in reserve for emergency Arcum activations. It turns an opponent's "if I untap, I win" into "%@!" Many Arcum builds center around this sort of card to control the board, but I don't play that way. If your hand is terrible it can be dropped early to slow everyone else down, but you won't be popular.
Ancestral Vision - Great turn one play, fairly bad the rest of the time.
Beacon of Tomorrows - I chose this extra turn card over e.g. Time Stretch because with Planar Portal and 14 mana you take infinite turns.
Capsize - Re-usable bounce that only gets better when it turns into a win condition. Amazing.
Cryptic Command - A great, versatile utility card. Occasionally the UUU is a burden.
Evacuation - Saves your ass many, many times.
Fabricate - It's the best artifact in your deck all the time.
Fact or Fiction - Great EOT card advantage that synergizes with recursion.
Frantic Search - A free spell that improves your hand and can dump stuff in the 'yard.
Force of Will - #1 groan-eliciter from people who think they've got your number.
Hinder - Tucks generals as well as stopping anything else. Great card.
Intuition - Gets the best card in your deck and puts two more in the 'yard to get with Myr Retriver etc.
Mana Drain - Simply retarded.
Mystical Tutor - Whatever instant/sorcery you need (next turn) for U. Most commonly gets Time Spiral.
Recurring Insight - Sometimes it's a boat anchor in your hand at 4UU, other times it can save a do-nothing hand from certain destruction.
Thirst for Knowledge - Recursion / card draw.
Time Spiral - Symmetrical effects that are anything but symmetrical are just great. Was much more fun with Tolarian Academy but there's nothing not to like about this card.
Time Stop - If you're playing U and don't run this card I don't know what to say to you. Saves you from so many problematic situations. "Sorry? What? That spell will win you the game? Oh. I think I'll just take a turn instead."
Transmute Artifact - Very versatile. Hooks into Myr Retriever etc. for card advantage + tutor, or you can make X = 0 and put whatever artifact you need from your deck into the yard. Extra fun when you transmute said Retriever.
Trickbind - I play a Japanese trickbind because people think I'm BSing them when I tell them what it does. Then they look it up and slump their shoulders as their game-winning turn just stops.
Wipe Away - The only cards that Wipe Away can't save you from say "protection from blue" or "shroud". It takes care of the rest. So good.
Future Sight - Makes your deck better. Obviously good with Top.
Mind Over Matter - Sure ain't bad with Arcanis the Omnipotent, Planar Portal, and Gilded Lotus.
Power Artifact - IMO this card should be banned. The only thing it ever does is make an infinite mana combo with one other card.
Propaganda - Early game insurance if you absolutely need it, and a big problem for token/weenie decks otherwise.
Karn Liberated - Since some cards can't be destroyed, he's great to have as backup. Plus he's discard in blue, and an unlikely but possible win condition.
Tezzeret the Seeker - He tutors, generates tons of mana off mana rocks, and can win the game. Sounds like a card that should be in the deck.
Academy Ruins - One of the best lands in EDH, it's even better in Arcum.
Ancient Tomb - Ditto. If this is in your opening hand, you should win.
Blinkmoth Nexus - When you absolutely must have that artifact weenie to eat.
Dustbowl - Cabal what? Nope.
Hall of the Bandit Lord - So fantastic. Giving Arcum haste is how to win games.
Inkmoth Nexus - Same as goes for Blinkmoth Nexus, it can also be a hilarious win condition with Planar Portal and Beacon of Tomorrows.
Lonely Sandbar - Landcycling is great.
Minamo, School at Water's Edge - Extra activations of Arcum, Arcanis, and Academy Ruins is simply good.
Reliquary Tower - Nice to have for when you draw your deck off of Planar Portal or Mind Over Matter.
Remote Isle - Landcycling is great.
Strip Mine - Gaea's what? Nope. In duels also sets back an opponent with a slow draw.
Svyelunite Temple - At first this card looks like a strictly worse island, until you play Temple go, Ancient Tomb, Grim Monolith, sac temple for Power Artifact, Planar Portal, portal for Goblin Cannon, win the game, go.
Wasteland - Valawhat? Nope.
Island - Why not play the best basic land?
Why Aren't You Playing...
1. Things that tap to attack
Blightsteel Colossus is good, sure. But it doesn't synergize with anything else the deck is doing except maybe Master Transmuter. Attackers aren't needed. We're playing blue!!
2. Some other counterspell
I feel I'm playing the best counterspells in EDH and also that I don't want more cards that don't help me win the game. I'd rather nullify whatever you cast after it's on the table by Arcumming out Pithing Needle or Ensnaring Bridge.
3. Memnarch
I like this guy, but he was much more fun with Tolarian Academy. Since the most broken land ever printed was yanked, he never sees play. Too expensive to do not that much.
4. Consecrated Sphinx, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, and other big bombs
These are great cards, but I can't cheat them into play (strike 1), they have power and toughness and can't be eaten by Arcum (strike 2), and they don't make my win conditions more effective (strike 3). If they were artifact creatures ... then we'll talk.
5. Mishra's Workshop
Cuz I'm poor.
6. Rocket Launcher or Goblin Cannon
I've talked about it, but it's not currently in my deck list. I'm trying out a few new things and I might put this guy back in. It's obviously good.
7. Scrying Sheets + Snow-Covered Islands
At 22 Islands, I don't think Scrying Sheets is good enough.
8. Clone, Phyrexian Metamorph
Clone was in my list for a long long time but never got used. Since Arcum can eat the Metamorph I'm seriously looking for a spot to put him in. If annoying Hexproof generals are a big part of your metagame, I'd suggest adding one or both.
9. Tolaria West
There are better ways to go get lands I really need, which actually doesn't happen very often. CITP can be very frustrating and I rarely want to spend 1UU at sorcery speed to tutor up a land. Blech.
If there are any other cards you think I should be playing, feel free to give me a hard time.
Thanks for reading! I hope this has given some insight into one of the better generals out there, as well as some tips to those of you looking to beat him. Comments, suggestions, and questions are very much appreciated.
EDH: U Arcum Dagsson (primer!) U
EDH: U Arcum Dagsson (primer!) U
EDH
BWG Doran Suicide Tempo BWG
BUW Sharuum Midrange Control BUW
I've never needed to cast FoW on turn 0 or 1. Also there are 36 blue cards in my deck. It's been rare that I haven't been able to pitch to it. If the game state looks like I'm going to need to use it I don't play out every blue card in my hand. If I'm feeling good about playing all my spells I'll either have some way to go get a blue card (eg Scroll Rack) or not be particularly concerned about FoWing. The worst it's been has been when it was in my hand and not needed, which is obviously good for me.
@macman456: Thanks! I haven't given All Is Dust a serious look but I've thought about it. Generally the Disk does the same thing but spares my stuff. The 4 mana destroy all brown cards are the most dangerous early when I have mana rocks and maybe a weenie out. People usually save them to try to hit more stuff, which usually gives me enough time to have an answer.
EDH: U Arcum Dagsson (primer!) U
Well considering I am the other Primer how am I suppose to take this when I read it lol. I believe mine deserves the title Primer, and all decks Primers or not can learn from each other.
Now mine is a different case as I use Arcum in multiplayer
I am not exactly a fan of Beacon of tomorrow I figure for what 1 more you can have a Time Streach though it doesn't go back in, and I would say the deck needs a couple more artifact creatures. Also at least 1 of the Jaces should be run He has saved me games so many times, both forums have I mean.
What I do Love
Arcanis the Omnipotent I had thought about this for a while and I have to say I can really see it.
Mind Over Matter I thought about it while I looked at this card and I can see it. This type of deck can easily have a full hand non-stop
Things I am considering and you may also want to consider
Sundering Titan I admit this is wear 1v1, but this could really hurt a player if it hits early or at the right time.
Sunder After a short time Arcum have your mana base set so this makes them start over while you continue to play and do what you want.
Evacuation I am having to consider this against quick decks, and When I feel a Wrath effect is about to happen and I don't have that counter ready.
Anyways Nice deck I like where you went with it :).
EDH Deck
URGThe Group HugsWUG
Standard
RogueDeckWins (mono-B aggro)
AngelDusk G/W/U control)
Land of Confusion (B/R/u Blightning Beatdown
Shore/Bind (G/U aggro w/ mistbind clique)
Casual
Hostile Takeover (U/B Tutor)
Stompy (Mono-G super aggro)
Ghost of Jimi Hendrix 4 president 2012!
To that extent, there's a lot of cards in your decklist that are great cards, but not needed. If it doesn't help you slow your opponents or assemble to combo, I vote for cutting it.
That's applicable to:
-future sight
-mind over matter
-Faerie Mechanist
-Arcanis
-Ancestral Vision
-Beacon of Tomorrows
-time spiral
-time stop
-recurring insight
I'd add the following:
-plague myr (another 1cc mana producer)
-timetwister
-spell crumple (hinder #2)
-thoughtcast
-Swiftfoot boots (protect arcum)
-kuldotha forgemaster (kinda like a 2nd arcum)
-Buried Ruin (get back artifacts)
-Inkmoth Ruin (artifact man-land
-Mishra's Factory (artifact man-land)
-mana crypt
I run about 13 cheap artifact creatures to weld with Arcum, and primarily focus on protecting myself and Arcum until I can combo out.
Optimal Arcum-Control
Teferi, Lockdown Mage
Animar, Aggro-Combo Beatdown
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV: Total Control
5-Color Control
Static Orb + Icy Manipulator
Some maybe at first thought will think thats crap stuff, all i tell thats in these 2 slots (tinkerable via Dagsson) u might cutting out stuff like propaganda, winter orb, evacuation, ensnaring bridge, just to name some, and the lock is so damn hard.
Dont forget to trade Filigree Sages for Voltaic Construct, and Nuisance Engine 4 Myr Turbine like people already noted. I´m thinking about All is Dust too... looks good...
I use Beacon of tomorrow over Time Stretch in my build just because it hard-combo with Portal Planar.
Im using Plague Myr and its a must. buried Ruin sound good too.
I love Arcum.
:: COMMANDER ::
DAGSSON
:: LEGACY ::
MERFOLK
BURN
AFFINITY
MONO BLACK AGGRO
10land STOMPER
:: STARDARD ::
BURN!!!
AND A LOT OF PAUPER..
Black Magic, beating ya face since ´95, man!!! - Take it Legacy!!!
My Electronic Music!!!
http://www.mp3.com/preg and
http://myspace.com/sensorialdinamicz
:):jug::lock::chillpill::weird::rofl::no::hifive::jam::crazy::banana::dance::bunny::spamlock::cheers::nike:
I'm cutting my Spine of Ish Shah for Thousand Year Elixir. The one-of removal is cute, but not as useful as I had hoped. Thousand Year plus Hall of Bandit Lord and two sets of 'Boots assures I have haste for my Arcum within the first few turns.
I cut Power Artifact...mainly because there's no way to tutor for it. Being unable to get one part of any infinite combo negates its utility. Finding artifacts is no problem, but nothing fetches enchantments.
Static Orb has been pretty good, but draws all the hate you could ever want. I consider it and Winter Orb only when I'm almost ready to combo out and need to stall for a turn a two.
Having 6 counterspells (Drain, Force, Cryptic, Pact, Hinder, Spell Crumple) has made the deck much more stable. I'd love to fit another counter or two in, but am short on room as it is.
Optimal Arcum-Control
Teferi, Lockdown Mage
Animar, Aggro-Combo Beatdown
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV: Total Control
5-Color Control
Dump:
-I cut everything non-essential to the Arcum Combo. Why bother with Power Artifact when you can just win?
-Swiftfoot boots are amazing. Those plus Lightning Greaves, Thousand Year Elixir, and Hall of the Bandit Lord ensure that your Arcum works right away.
- I added: Personal Tutor (grabs a lot of the sorcery-artifact fetch spells), Spell Skite (the misdirection ability is clutch), Misdirection (again, protect your Arcum), and Static Orb (lock down more)
I can't emphasize enough the importance of not diluting this deck with junk and win-more cards. Enchantments that aren't Propaganda are worthless to your core combo, and wastes of space. At this point, I run seven counterspells and one Skite, which almost always ensures I have at least one way to protect Arcum at any given time.
Finally, I've had a lot of people tell me to run additional artifact acceleration. However, I've found that between Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, and the handful of mana-producing artifact creatures, I've had no trouble casting Arcum early. I still think that mana rocks do not have enough utility, and that frankly this deck does not have the space. The only card I'm still considering is Kuldotha Forgemaster as a "backup" Arcum for the combo...but I need to find a slot to run him.
Optimal Arcum-Control
Teferi, Lockdown Mage
Animar, Aggro-Combo Beatdown
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV: Total Control
5-Color Control
Static Orb was amazing, and kept the board shut down for two turns while I comboed out. Memnarch was once again mediocre. While he's great late-game...he's somewhat a win-more card. If I already have Lattice in play, the game should be basically over. At the moment, I'm running seven counters and one win condition via Karn. I'm hesitant to add more big creatures that don't necessarily help the combo, but being very resistant on Karn has been a bit harrowing. Spell Skite was a life-saver today when it re-directed a Swords that was meant for Karn.
Optimal Arcum-Control
Teferi, Lockdown Mage
Animar, Aggro-Combo Beatdown
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV: Total Control
5-Color Control
Out:
In:
Myr Turbine over Nuisance Engine seems like an improvement. Only sad part is my Engine is foil and my Turbine isn't, and I'm trying to foil the deck out.
Becaon of Tomorrows - Yes it's infinite turns at 14 mana with Planar Portal but I can win long before 14 mana with other cards, and it's fairly bad on its own.
Phyrexian Metamorph - Seems much better than Faerie Mechanist.
Spin Into Myth - Replaces Jester's Cap. Purely a metagame choice for me.
Mind Over Matter - This card sat in my hand more often that it did something.
Arcanis the Omnipotent - Ditto.
Hurkyl's Recall - I can't believe I never considered this card before. Recall plus Mycosynth Lattice = ruin someone's day. It's essentially a one card combo given how easily Arcum vomits artifacts onto the board.
Goblin Cannon - Back in on a trial basis. Instant-win with Power Artifact shenanigans.
Palladium Myr - More mana dudes seems good. Can't decide between him and Plague Myr.
Buried Ruin - Seems a good card but I'm wary about lowering the island count.
EDH: U Arcum Dagsson (primer!) U
The point of the mana myr is to consistently have Arcum out by turn 3, with fodder ready to go. Palladium Myr doesn't do that.
I run both in mine, however.
It's dependent upon drawing Power Artifact. As some have said, it's the least tutor-able card in the deck, along with creatures and planeswalkers. But if you draw it, it's simply a matter of having Arcum get the rest of the combo for you.
Power Artifact + Grim Monolith + Goblin Cannon
This one is preferable as you only need to Arcum out one other card (the Monolith).
Power Artifact + Filigree Sages + Gilded Lotus + Goblin Cannon
This combo requires one extra card but on the other hand gives you infinite blue, which means Capsize also wins you the game instead of the Cannon.
EDH: U Arcum Dagsson (primer!) U
Curious, though: Why no Seat of the Synod or Darksteel Citadel? A land that can be eaten by Arcum (when needed) seems like an obvious choice to me. Or do you think they're too susceptible to artifact / non-basic land removal, which will obviously be present the second time you play against the same players?
G Pumped Elvish Warriors G
GW Infectious Slivers WG
WU Milling Allies UW
Legacy:
UB Hex-Depths BU (combo-control)
G NO/Aggro Elves G
Commander:
WUBRG Sliver Army GRBUW (multiplayer)
WUG Rafiq the Exalted GUW (1-on-1 voltron)
GU Edric's Circus UG (multiplayer tokens)
B Relentless Rats B (multiplayer combo)
UB Sygg, the Punisher (in progress)BU
UBR Nicol Bolas, Elder Dragon Highlander RBU (in progress)
You can't sac those to Arcum unless you animate them with Tezzeret. Animating them with Karn of course kills them. So it takes quite a few shenanigans to eat a land with Arcum and the danger of your opponent hitting your Seat of the Synod with Ancient Grudge on turn one isn't worth the almost non-existent benefit they provide.
EDH: U Arcum Dagsson (primer!) U
Oops, I somehow missed that Arcum requires an artifact creature.
I see you have Inkmoth Nexus and Blinkmoth Nexus. What about Mishra's Factory (animate for 1)? I guess Stalking Stones (6 to animate), Urza's Factory (7 for a token), Gargoyle Castle (5 + sac it for a token), Dread Statuary (4 to animate) cost too much mana to be useful.
G Pumped Elvish Warriors G
GW Infectious Slivers WG
WU Milling Allies UW
Legacy:
UB Hex-Depths BU (combo-control)
G NO/Aggro Elves G
Commander:
WUBRG Sliver Army GRBUW (multiplayer)
WUG Rafiq the Exalted GUW (1-on-1 voltron)
GU Edric's Circus UG (multiplayer tokens)
B Relentless Rats B (multiplayer combo)
UB Sygg, the Punisher (in progress)BU
UBR Nicol Bolas, Elder Dragon Highlander RBU (in progress)
Out: Karn Liberated
In: Spellskite
Karn is fun but only deals with a few things that I can't deal with in other ways, plus the only way to go get him is via Planar Portal. For 13 mana I should be able to figure out a way to win instead of remove one problem card.
In:
Mishra's Factory
Mystifying Maze
Out:
Lonely Sandbar
Remote Isle
I'm not sure how much I'm going to like maze, but I guess we'll see. Factory simply wasn't in because I didn't have one until now (needed an Antiquities printing). I can't justify removing any more islands for X lands, so I removed some CIPT blue producers. Cycling is nice but usually not awesome in this deck since the curve is always so tight. They're only great when I've kept a hand I shouldn't've.
Update of first post coming soon with current decklist.
EDH: U Arcum Dagsson (primer!) U