MTG Salvation

I'm going to necro this to pose two new questions that've been bugging me about this deck.

I recently realized that Gifts Ungiven was on the banned list, and that makes me very sad. I don't believe I'm doing anything too broken with the card, but I suppose I should find a replacement. I'm thinking about Fact or Fiction, but what do you all suggest?

Also, I FINALLY got a copy of Lightning Greaves, but am not really sure what to cut for it. Suggestions?

Mind's Eye>>>>>>>>>Seer's Sundial. Replace Gifts with Fact or Fiction. You can easily remove Wall of Omens for Greaves, and cut Hedron for either Thran Dynamo or Gilded Lotus, IMO.

Quote from PrideOfTheClouds

Mind's Eye>>>>>>>>>Seer's Sundial. Replace Gifts with Fact or Fiction. You can easily remove Wall of Omens for Greaves, and cut Hedron for either Thran Dynamo or Gilded Lotus, IMO.

Ah, Mind's Eye. I really need to get a copy of that.
I was already thinking of cutting Wall of Omens, so thank you for confirming that feeling.
The hedron is really only in there because I have nothing better for that slot. I've looked into getting a hold of a Gilded Lotus, but to no avail as of yet. Once I buy all the Archenemy decks, I suppose I'll put Thran Dynamo in as a stand-in.

Quote from Prince Tristan

One of the redeeming things about UW is their ability to play boobs.

A boob is a Wall Of Denial, named so after our UW EDH players ability to play it, clone it, and somehow avoid damage while being a tit.

Hahaha, wow, I think I have Wall of Denial. I have no idea how I forgot to put it in this deck. It fits perfectly.

Whether casual or competitive, this deck should have a Mistmeadow Witch.

Also, consider ditching Meloku and Jwar Jwar for creatures with ETB abilities (e.g. Venser, Gilded Drake).

I don't see the point of Mistmeadow Witch, to be honest. It's anti-synergetic with Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, and I see three total creatures, one of which will shortly be retiring, that would benefit from the Witch's inclusion. I'm not quite sure why I should add Venser either. A one off soft counter seems rather weak in a multiplayer game. I think Gilded Drake has merits though. Why should I remove Meloku and Jwar Isle Sphinx?

In this sweeper-happy format, shroud doesn't offer that much protection. That's why I would cut the Sphinx. It's not the kind of creature that's a fat target for Treachery and the like.

How has Meloku worked for you? Bouncing one's own lands is a steep cost in multiplayer where, again, the prevalence of wrath effects means your Illusion tokens are not long for this world. Though I suppose he does work decently with your ETB-ability lands.

You're sure you don't want to include Venser? He's perfect for combo #3.

In my GAA deck, I also play in an aggro casual group. So I made mine around the basis of holding people off till i get big fatties out. Check out my deck list in my signature to see some cards you could use for your deck. I don't have really any combo synergy in mine because it doesn't wanna win that way but GAA is good for that.

I would recommend Rhystic Study instead of Mind's Eye. Cheaper and no activation cost to you, although less reliable if your opponents want to pay the extra cost.

Quote from Bravemonkey

I would recommend Rhystic Study instead of Mind's Eye. Cheaper and no activation cost to you, although less reliable if your opponents want to pay the extra cost.

Why not run both? To make room, I'd cut Tidings.

I'm definitely going to get myself copies of Rhystic Study and Mind's Eye. Meloku has actually been pretty decent in my experiences. He's not really a win-con more than he is a bounce outlet. And it's always nice to have chump blockers that fly. And on second thought, I think Venser is actually a decent card for this deck. Thanks!

I've made a few changes, reflected in the original post. Random question: Which do you consider more pimp? The Stronghold Mox Diamond or the FTV: Relics Diamond?

EDIT: I'm thinking of adding Desertion, Mulldrifter, and Time Stretch. What do you guys think? I'm almost definitely going to put Time Stretch in because I already have the Mnemonic Wall + Crystal Shard combo in the deck.

Considering adding a new combo into the deck. Ensnaring Bridge + Bottled Cloister. I don't really feel too great about losing my hand to a stray shatter, though. THoughts? Any way I can effectively protect the combo?

Quote from Prince Tristan

Having just reformed my failed Isperia deck into August, I'm on the lookout for cards that cost UW and thus benefit more from your generals ability. I'd like to personally focus more on citp effects and blinking (Venser , Ghostway , Voidmage Husher and so on).

A card that I found while doing so is Vanish Into Memory, which I think would work splendid in this deck.

Hmmm, I did consider Vanish into Memory at some point, but I disregarded it due to a lack of decent targets. However, with the printing of Precursor Golem, there are some ridiculously stupid tricks I can pull.

I too might move the deck more towards a blinking type deck, though I plan to make a more casual Sharuum deck for that purpose. I'd love to see your Isperia list though.

Quote from Black_Megatog

I too might move the deck more towards a blinking type deck...

Whether you do or not, Venser, the Sojourner should be added to this list straight-away. To make room, I'd axe Chronomantic Escape. Among other things, you only get a discount on it if you choose to hard-cast it.

Quote from Meritocracy

Whether you do or not, Venser, the Sojourner should be added to this list straight-away. To make room, I'd axe Chronomantic Escape. Among other things, you only get a discount on it if you choose to hard-cast it.

I did happen to pull Venser from a pack and I am strongly considering adding it to my list. It just happens to be another one of those cards that is amazingly anti-synergetic with Kira, Great-Glass Spinner, which has given me pause.

Here's the thing about Venser, though- if his ultimate goes off, you win the game. Even if the ability gets countered, you still get the counters. And he tends to work well in that he can make your stuff unblockable to alpha swing.

You should probably look to add Arcanis the Omnipotent, Sensei's Divining Top/Future Sight/some cost reducer for the combo. Wasteland>Dust Bowel>Tectonic Edge, so I'd pick one of the two depending on the availability. Jace TMS is also an auto for me, but his price tag is a reasonable deterrent. Also, why no Cryptic Command?

Those were just the initial things that jumped to mind based on a quick scan.

Gah! I keep forgetting you run Kira. But why, though? Again, with all the sweepers flying around, its ability isn't going to help appreciably.

I tried Kira in a prison-type deck with Hanna, but found that the shroud hurt me more than it hurt the opponent. Defenitely drop it.

Quote from giallarhorn

Here's the thing about Venser, though- if his ultimate goes off, you win the game. Even if the ability gets countered, you still get the counters. And he tends to work well in that he can make your stuff unblockable to alpha swing.

You should probably look to add Arcanis the Omnipotent, Sensei's Divining Top/Future Sight/some cost reducer for the combo. Wasteland>Dust Bowel>Tectonic Edge, so I'd pick one of the two depending on the availability. Jace TMS is also an auto for me, but his price tag is a reasonable deterrent. Also, why no Cryptic Command?

Those were just the initial things that jumped to mind based on a quick scan.

Yeah, I see that. I'm thinking that Kira might as well leave to give the two Vensers a shot. The more I play, the less I see Kira being useful and the more I see her as just a hindrance to what my deck is aiming to do.

All those cards aren't in right now solely because I don't own them. I like Arcanis a whole lot and I definitely need Sensei's diving top, and am considering Magus of the Future for redundancy as well. I'm questioning his fragility though. Wasteland is too expensive for my taste, but I can probably pick up a dust bowl. And finally, I don't have a cryptic command because I had quit the game during the lorwyn block and have a dirth of singles from that era.

Ghostly Prison and/or Propaganda?

I've considered them. I actually do want to add them. I just forgot to put them on the desired list.

New changes for a new year!

Spelltithe Enforcer > Draining Whelk

Part of my plan to make the deck less aggressively antagonistic and more rattlesnake-like. Rather than taxing everyone at the table, I'll just take out a major threat and make a giant beatstick in the process.

Loxodon Gatekeeper > Mirror Entity

Another plan to make Augstin less of the dominating evil force at the table. I needed the Mirror Entity for my combo, anyways.

Kira, Great Glass Spinner > Mistmeadow Witch

Mistmeadow Witch plays so many utility roles, but she couldn't come in until I made the decision to remove the card that creates incredible disynergy with her. Sorry Kira. Perhaps now you'll get to be one of generals though!

Cataclysm > Venser, the Sojourner

I found that this was TOO much of a board reset. I don't want to lose my artifacts of all things seeing as how they produce most of my mana after an Armageddon effect like Cataclysm. Venser is just incredibly fun in casual.

Chronomantic Escape > Austere Command

I cracked an Austere Command so I figured that I might as well play around with it. I like the additional wrath and the ability to tutor it up with Ethereal Usher if need be. The fact that it slides right into the spot where Chronomantic Escape was on the curve is just gravy.

Deck seems pretty fun, if you are still active on this thread you may want to update the list for banned cards like Gifts Ungiven.