Really flavorful (a *true* EDH deck, heh heh), and can be quite powerful - I'm keeping this deck around. Nicol's Planeswalker version is a bomb, Slave of Bolas is decent enough to keep in there, especially considering how well it fits the theme.
I can imagine this deck going to the theme song of "Career of Evil" by Blue Oyster Cult.
The direction I've taken here (in case it's not clear): general U/B goodstuff control; the wincon comes almost exclusively from beating down with Nicol.
I don't play Nicol unless I can shroud & haste him right away.
Based on testing [mainly 1v1], I'd say that I don't like / don't feel a need to push the discard theme. No other creatures; I feel that if things are going my way at all, I can seal the deal with Nicol alone, and with General Damage, all I need is 21 [3 swings], so putting together 19 damage from other sources seems like a distraction
The cycle-lands are a new idea.
I don't have the the blue one (I do have the black and the red ones); if the cyclers to turn out be absolutely amazing, then I'll bother getting the blue one.
1 * Nicol Bolas
Basic Land (18)
6 Island
7 Swamp
5 Mountain
Nonbasic Land (22)
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Badlands
1 Blood Crypt
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Desolate Cairns
1 Murky Tidewater
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Steam Vents
1 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Watery Grave
1 Barren Moor
1 City of Brass
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Maze of Ith
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolaria West
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Wasteland
[Nonartifact] Creature (1)
1 Mulldrifter
Artifact Creature (1)
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Beseech the Queen
1 Blatant Thievery
1 Blightning
1 Bribery
1 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Damnation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Dimir Machinations
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Ponder
1 Slave of Bolas
1 Time Spiral
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Yawgmoth's Will
Instant (20)
1 Boomerang
1 Brainstorm
1 Capsize
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Desertion
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Double Negative
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Force of Will
1 Hinder
1 Lim-Dul's Vault
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Reiterate
1 Shred Memory
1 Spelljack
1 Telling Time
1 Terminate
1 Terror
1 Trickbind
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Wipe Away
1 Clout of the Dominus
1 Confiscate
1 Control Magic
1 Future Sight
1 Necropotence
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Rhystic Study
1 Treachery
Artifact (10)
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Dimir Signet
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Izzet Signet
1 Journeyer's Kite
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
Planeswalker (3)
1 Liliana Vess
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
Really flavorful (a *true* EDH deck, heh heh), and can be quite powerful - I'm keeping this deck around. Nicol's Planeswalker version is a bomb, Slave of Bolas is decent enough to keep in there, especially considering how well it fits the theme.
I can imagine this deck going to the theme song of "Career of Evil" by Blue Oyster Cult.
The direction I've taken here (in case it's not clear): general U/B goodstuff control; the wincon comes almost exclusively from beating down with Nicol.
I don't play Nicol unless I can shroud & haste him right away.
Based on testing [mainly 1v1], I'd say that I don't like / don't feel a need to push the discard theme. No other creatures; I feel that if things are going my way at all, I can seal the deal with Nicol alone, and with General Damage, all I need is 21 [3 swings], so putting together 19 damage from other sources seems like a distraction
The cycle-lands are a new idea.
I don't have the the blue one (I do have the black and the red ones); if the cyclers to turn out be absolutely amazing, then I'll bother getting the blue one.
Vintage: Dredge | Legacy: Burn, Goblins, Soldier | Standard: Mono-Red Aggro
Commander: Nicol Bolas, Sliver Overlord, Rafiq
Casual: Selesnya Saproling Smackdown, Izzet Labs, Rebel
Played since June 2004, mostly inactive June 2011 to March 2018
Other usernames include AlanFromRochester, homerthebeerbaron
MTG checklists from Alpha to Ravnica Allegiance - https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/other-magic-products/third-party-products/805324-checklists-for-everything-from-alpha-to-ravnica