This is the fifth iteration of this decklist after many EDH games and playtesting. It has run the gamut from no combos, to all combos, to alternate win combos, to all creatures, to no creatures! So that being said I consider it always a 'work in progress' as it can always get better, more refined, and become more consistent. Against non-blue and non-combo decks it can win fairly quickly baring a bad aggro matchup. Card choices and explanations of all combos soon!
needed that alternate win-con a few times, so i put it back in. helps if oona gets tucked or someone prevents library searching and I cant tutor her back.
UPDATED decklist in opening post! . The changes are mostly due to these cards being "dead" a lot of the time. I basically replaced them with cards that for the lack of a better term "do more" when played. Post-change play testing has shown a much quicker and more resilient game plan, with some faster plays and more consistency. I think the deck needs to focus on more counterspells and less big effects in the future but I'm gonna play test it this way for now and see what develops. What do you guys think?
-1 Halimar Depths - too slow, I hate CIPT lands
-1 Phyrexian Altar - redundant sac effects, tends to be a dead card
-1 Opposition - this may come back at some point, but is VERY often a dead card
-1 Mortarpod - great synergy, hard to assemble the combo unless your opponents are sleeping
-1 Exsanguinate - doesn't really win the game unless you have infinite mana in which case why wouldn't I just cast Oona and win ( unless someone played cursed totem or something lol )
-1 Vedalken Orrery - redundant flash effect, often a dead card and leyline is still in since I need one of these effects and is potentially on the table turn 1. Teferi can handle giving creatures flash now
-1 Ashes to Ashes - too slow, but may come back if there's more of a need for targeted exile
-1 Words of Waste - replaced with superior discard effect Myojin of Night's Reach
-1 Pact of Negation - can't stand to have to waste 5 mana after playing this
-1 Muddle the Mixture - better tutors abound
-1 Disturbed Burial - too mana intensive to get one critter back and doesn't even put them into play
-1 Power Artifact - gets countered or destroyed instantly , every time
-1 Grim Monolith - no power artifact, no grim, and I get early fast mana with lotus bloom now
+1 Unearth - amazing in this deck : replaces disturbed burial, for retrieving anything from snapcaster mage to grand architect for the LOW price of one mana with no drawbacks, plus since it cycles for 2 colorless is never a dead card
+1 Diabolic Tutor - additional tutoring without reveal
+1 Beseech the Queen - additional tutoring plus potential colorless tutoring
+1 Homeward Path - get back my stolen creatures!
+1 Snapcaster Mage - finally got my hands on one of these. Double up my spells! one of the best creatures ever printed
+1 Time Warp - replacing exsanguinate which only prolongs the game. Time Warp is definitely a game winning card instead
+1 Myojin of Night's Reach - replaces words of waste. Although words is amazing, this is more of a sure thing and only requires initial 8 mana to clear all hands
+1 Scroll Rack - divining top's best friend - this thing sorts through your deck VERY quickly to get you those next few cards you need. works great with shuffle effects also
+1 Lotus Bloom - potential 0 drop turn one and an additional three colored mana on turn 4 .. sounds good. Plus, Tezzeret can tutor this for 0 and drop it right away as the real deal lotus
+1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls - tap to draw effects are awesome especially when the creature doesnt require haste, Oona is a wizard, plus there are 4 other wizard creatures in the deck for 6 total wizards.
+1 Desertion - one of the best counter spells. This is essentially an instant commander steal for when someone plays a commander you can't deal with, or to grab troublesome artifacts.
+1 sword of war and peace - sometimes Oona needs to beat down, and this lets her do it in three turns, plus it can gain you life. Sounds good. The protection from red and white makes Oona much stronger against a LOT of decks : animar, riku, sharuum, thrax, rafiq, niv-mizzet, etc etc etc
+1 Jace's Archivist - a wizard for Azami and instant discard for the table. Can kill people if they are low on cards in their deck from Oona also, and refill your empty hand if an opponent has been drawing a lot of cards.
+1 Life's Finale - needed another source to wipe the board with. Any better ones out there? I tried pestilence but didn't work too well injuring myself also lol
dont you sac helm of obedience after its used, even if you didnt get a creature when you milled a player? therefore you cant untap it with tezzeret the seeker
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EDH decks in cockatrice, look me up under hoborobot
dont you sac helm of obedience after its used, even if you didnt get a creature when you milled a player? therefore you cant untap it with tezzeret the seeker
From the rules errata for helm:
10/1/2008: If an effect like that of Leyline of the Void prevents cards from being put into your opponent's graveyard, the process described in the first sentence of Helm of Obedience's effect will never stop. Your opponent's entire library will be exiled, even if X is 1.
The card states you will sacrifice it after x cards go to the graveyard or you get a creature. Since none of those effects are satisfied, the helm is never sacrificed. It is not part of the activation cost.
Consider Bloodghast instead of Reassembling Skeleton. Assuming you're hitting your land drops he'll recur himself and save you 2 mana per turn.
While that sounds promising and I do really like bloodghast ( also one of my favorite daarken pieces of art ) reassembling skeleton is superior. Since I'm not playing crucible or land sac effects, I would only get one 'ghast activation per turn. With the skeleton I can do it as many times as I can afford to pay mana for.
After switching to Damia for a while, I realized the Oona deck is just way more focused and deadly. I'm going back to playing Oona. I'll have my revised decklist up soon.
Another combo with glen elendra archmage is with diabolic servitude to have a continuous persister. i used to use this in the first development of my Oona deck along with Puppeteer Clique but found it too slow for my playgroup. You might have better luck with it. With a sac outlet the effect can be really backbreaking for your opponents to deal with.
How has the Chancellor of the Spires been for you? I have found it to be fairly expensive for the effect it does, and without a way to recycle it becomes less good. Perhaps you can explain him? As a one-shot effect currently, I don'tsee it pulling its weight like a manastone or another tutor would. It could also be a pet card of yours too. Thats what EDH is all about.
I just recently took out Jace of my mono-Blue deck as he never seemed to live, even in the lategame. People seemed to have an irrational hatred for the dude, and he was just a bad Brainstorm.
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In love with Black since I first began playing Avatar of Woe.
In love with Blue since Cryptic Command was printed.
How has the Chancellor of the Spires been for you? I have found it to be fairly expensive for the effect it does, and without a way to recycle it becomes less good. Perhaps you can explain him? As a one-shot effect currently, I don'tsee it pulling its weight like a manastone or another tutor would. It could also be a pet card of yours too. Thats what EDH is all about.
I just recently took out Jace of my mono-Blue deck as he never seemed to live, even in the lategame. People seemed to have an irrational hatred for the dude, and he was just a bad Brainstorm.
Planeswalkers in general are really weak in the format. I've seen a lot of decks with JtMS and while he's really good he will die. Granted if he sticks he is a huge amount of advantage so I suppose if people arn't running tiny creatures to end your walkers you should abuse them.
I would work on the manabase a little and try to get some fetches or more dual lands (Salt Marsh, Secluded Glen, Underground River, Reflecting Pool) it seems you might have trouble getting the right color of mana when you need it, oona is notorious for being colored mana hungry. Also try a little more targeted removal like Rend Flesh and Go for the Throat. Your deck seems to rely on Oona being on the board so i would also run a Ripetide Laboratoryto save her from tuck or theft. I don't like the maindeck Dispel, how about Counterspell or Negate in its place? Take a look at my Oona deck too and tell me what you think.
How has the Chancellor of the Spires been for you? I have found it to be fairly expensive for the effect it does, and without a way to recycle it becomes less good. Perhaps you can explain him? As a one-shot effect currently, I don'tsee it pulling its weight like a manastone or another tutor would. It could also be a pet card of yours too. Thats what EDH is all about.
I just recently took out Jace of my mono-Blue deck as he never seemed to live, even in the lategame. People seemed to have an irrational hatred for the dude, and he was just a bad Brainstorm.
People often play rite of replication. If you cast chancellor targeting their rite in the graveyard, you can get an infinite amount of chancellors ( it's effect doesn't remove the card from the graveyard ). The last chancellor that comes into play can target a different spell of your choosing. You would be surprised how often this actually occurs! I have won a couple games this way which is why I have a soft spot for the ol' fellow. I have also found that a body attached to an effect is better than just the effect ( chancellor vs. Memory plunder in this case ) while other times it can be a hindrance ( people using bribery to get my rune scarred demon )
I would work on the manabase a little and try to get some fetches or more dual lands (Salt Marsh, Secluded Glen, Underground River, Reflecting Pool) it seems you might have trouble getting the right color of mana when you need it, oona is notorious for being colored mana hungry. Also try a little more targeted removal like Rend Flesh and Go for the Throat. Your deck seems to rely on Oona being on the board so i would also run a Ripetide Laboratoryto save her from tuck or theft. I don't like the maindeck Dispel, how about Counterspell or Negate in its place? Take a look at my Oona deck too and tell me what you think.
I could probably use more spot removal, not sure what I would sub out for it though. Riptide lab sounds awesome I must get that asap!! Dispel is the cheapest hard counter for during your own turn when you're trying to combo out, it has saved my ass many times! Sometimes you only have that one mana left and u can bluff them out
Me: rings
Them : force!!! Bizatch you only got one mana!!
Me: dispel!! Suck it!!! Hahaha
Basically. Although sometimes it goes:
Me : oona
Them : red elemental blast!!!
Me ( no cards in hand ) : goes to cry in corner
I would work on the manabase a little and try to get some fetches or more dual lands (Salt Marsh, Secluded Glen, Underground River, Reflecting Pool) it seems you might have trouble getting the right color of mana when you need it, oona is notorious for being colored mana hungry. Also try a little more targeted removal like Rend Flesh and Go for the Throat. Your deck seems to rely on Oona being on the board so i would also run a Ripetide Laboratoryto save her from tuck or theft. I don't like the maindeck Dispel, how about Counterspell or Negate in its place? Take a look at my Oona deck too and tell me what you think.
As for what to cut for Rend Flesh and Go for the Throat, I would say take out Words of Waste and Disturbed Burial.
Words of waste is crazy good I would never cut that. In fact, I suggest you try it out! It is completely backbreaking, especially against players that don't rely on much draw. Its not as "hey I'm a target" like myojin of night's reach or mindslicer, it's an enchantment so it's more difficult to destroy and it only effects your opponents! I have both rend flesh and go for the throat in my "maybe" box for now but I don't often have that much trouble with creatures aside from that damn Linvala, keeper of silence who I'd rather exile anyway. Also, disturbed burial should eventually become unearth as that is a way more efficient card in my deck.
Speaking of linvala, that could be a really awesome general in a mono-white control deck.. Hmmm /starts brewing
Words of Waste + Consecrated Sphinx is actually a virtual hard lock. You pay the trigger cost during their draw step ensuring that that person never draws another card again once you have the Sphinx online, as the player that is currently in their draw step has to discard before moving to their main phase and getting silly things like priority. Also good synergy with cards like Thought Reflection and other static draw effects, turning cards that you perhaps don't need to create card advantage and hard decisions for your opponents. It's a very good
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In love with Black since I first began playing Avatar of Woe.
In love with Blue since Cryptic Command was printed.
UPDATED decklist in opening post! . The changes are mostly due to these cards being "dead" a lot of the time. I basically replaced them with cards that for the lack of a better term "do more" when played. Post-change play testing has shown a much quicker and more resilient game plan, with some faster plays and more consistency. I think the deck needs to focus on more counterspells and less big effects in the future but I'm gonna play test it this way for now and see what develops. What do you guys think?
-1 Halimar Depths - too slow, I hate CIPT lands
-1 Phyrexian Altar - redundant sac effects, tends to be a dead card
-1 Opposition - this may come back at some point, but is VERY often a dead card
-1 Mortarpod - great synergy, hard to assemble the combo unless your opponents are sleeping
-1 Exsanguinate - doesn't really win the game unless you have infinite mana in which case why wouldn't I just cast Oona and win ( unless someone played cursed totem or something lol )
-1 Vedalken Orrery - redundant flash effect, often a dead card and leyline is still in since I need one of these effects and is potentially on the table turn 1. Teferi can handle giving creatures flash now
-1 Ashes to Ashes - too slow, but may come back if there's more of a need for targeted exile
-1 Words of Waste - replaced with superior discard effect Myojin of Night's Reach
-1 Pact of Negation - can't stand to have to waste 5 mana after playing this
-1 Muddle the Mixture - better tutors abound
-1 Disturbed Burial - too mana intensive to get one critter back and doesn't even put them into play
-1 Power Artifact - gets countered or destroyed instantly , every time
-1 Grim Monolith - no power artifact, no grim, and I get early fast mana with lotus bloom now
+1 Unearth - amazing in this deck : replaces disturbed burial, for retrieving anything from snapcaster mage to grand architect for the LOW price of one mana with no drawbacks, plus since it cycles for 2 colorless is never a dead card
+1 Diabolic Tutor - additional tutoring without reveal
+1 Beseech the Queen - additional tutoring plus potential colorless tutoring
+1 Homeward Path - get back my stolen creatures!
+1 Snapcaster Mage - finally got my hands on one of these. Double up my spells! one of the best creatures ever printed
+1 Time Warp - replacing exsanguinate which only prolongs the game. Time Warp is definitely a game winning card instead
+1 Myojin of Night's Reach - replaces words of waste. Although words is amazing, this is more of a sure thing and only requires initial 8 mana to clear all hands
+1 Scroll Rack - divining top's best friend - this thing sorts through your deck VERY quickly to get you those next few cards you need. works great with shuffle effects also
+1 Lotus Bloom - potential 0 drop turn one and an additional three colored mana on turn 4 .. sounds good. Plus, Tezzeret can tutor this for 0 and drop it right away as the real deal lotus
+1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls - tap to draw effects are awesome especially when the creature doesnt require haste, Oona is a wizard, plus there are 4 other wizard creatures in the deck for 6 total wizards.
+1 Desertion - one of the best counter spells. This is essentially an instant commander steal for when someone plays a commander you can't deal with, or to grab troublesome artifacts.
+1 sword of war and peace - sometimes Oona needs to beat down, and this lets her do it in three turns, plus it can gain you life. Sounds good. The protection from red and white makes Oona much stronger against a LOT of decks : animar, riku, sharuum, thrax, rafiq, niv-mizzet, etc etc etc
+1 Jace's Archivist - a wizard for Azami and instant discard for the table. Can kill people if they are low on cards in their deck from Oona also, and refill your empty hand if an opponent has been drawing a lot of cards.
+1 Life's Finale - needed another source to wipe the board with. Any better ones out there? I tried pestilence but didn't work too well injuring myself also lol
I really think you are moving the deck in the wrong direction and making it much weaker by cutting Grim Monolith and Power Artifact. A little tip when it comes to playing those cards is to make sure you have counter back-up when you drop them. Pact of Negation is sooo good at this, as is Force of Will. Maybe we just play our decks differently so these cards are more valuable to me but i would never cut them or consider playing Azami or a Sword over them. I've also played a lot with Desertion and ending up cutting it because its way to hard to keep four mana up consistently in my deck. Just my 2 cents, let me know how the changes work for you.
I honestly think you're trying to do too much with the deck, and the efficiency will suffer greatly for it. However I am looking at it from a competitive playgroup stance, if your group is very casual combo-oona is probably THE least fun deck to play.
If you are indeed playing in a more hardcore fashion with friends/peers than I highly suggest returning some of the combo elements. Oona at heart is a very simple deck concept; Draw, tutor, disrupt, combo. There is truly nothing more to the deck aside from attempting to play it properly (which is the fun of the deck). Attempting to change the deck from that archetype (however boring it may be) really kills the deck. It begs the question, if you're not playing Oona for being Oona, why not choose another general? I'd look at Dralnu or Wrexial as more u/b goodstuff decks that rely less on such a singular focus as comboing off quickly.
I'm not sure why you guys seem to think I'm doing less comboing, if anything there are more interactions in the deck now. I still have two infinite combos to assemble ( grand architect + pili-pala , and basalt monolith + rings of brighthearth ) I added more tutors, more recursion, and more draw. In fact with this build I won three games in a row last night, one on one match vs mimeoplasm, a 4 player game vs rafiq mayael and teysa, and another game with those same 4 players. A really sweet combo I pulled was suspending lotus bloom, when it came into play saccing it for mana, using academy ruins to put it on top of my deck, using tezzeret to put it on the field and sacking it for mana again. I won the next turn. There are lots of broken plays to be had. I won one game with yawgmoth's will simply recurring d-tutor to get the other half of a infinite mana combo. I could try to squeeze power/grim back in to have 3 infinite mana combos somehow if you guys dont think it's overkill. Btw azami is nuts with her archivist and snapcaster out I was drawing 3 cards on my opponents end step every time. Seems good! Sure waste your removal on that, then I'll play my combo and win.
Btw desertion is awesome, but the mana cost sucks. It was useful a couple times tho. Helps greatly against memnarch and sharuum!!
I'm not sure why you guys seem to think I'm doing less comboing, if anything there are more interactions in the deck now. I still have two infinite combos to assemble ( grand architect + pili-pala , and basalt monolith + rings of brighthearth ) I added more tutors, more recursion, and more draw. In fact with this build I won three games in a row last night, one on one match vs mimeoplasm, a 4 player game vs rafiq mayael and teysa, and another game with those same 4 players. A really sweet combo I pulled was suspending lotus bloom, when it came into play saccing it for mana, using academy ruins to put it on top of my deck, using tezzeret to put it on the field and sacking it for mana again. I won the next turn. There are lots of broken plays to be had. I won one game with yawgmoth's will simply recurring d-tutor to get the other half of a infinite mana combo. I could try to squeeze power/grim back in to have 3 infinite mana combos somehow if you guys dont think it's overkill. Btw azami is nuts with her archivist and snapcaster out I was drawing 3 cards on my opponents end step every time. Seems good! Sure waste your removal on that, then I'll play my combo and win.
It's more that Grim/Power is better than architect/pila in pretty much every way possible.
This is the fifth iteration of this decklist after many EDH games and playtesting. It has run the gamut from no combos, to all combos, to alternate win combos, to all creatures, to no creatures! So that being said I consider it always a 'work in progress' as it can always get better, more refined, and become more consistent. Against non-blue and non-combo decks it can win fairly quickly baring a bad aggro matchup. Card choices and explanations of all combos soon!
Please, I welcome all comments and feedback.
Cards I am lacking of note :
- mana drain
- underground sea
- Volrath's Stronghold
I know I need these cards I just don't have them yet.
Changelog
December 14 , 2011
-1 sword of war and peace
What I really need is sword of feast and famine
-1 pili-pala
-1 grand architect
-1 unearth
Combo is too fragile, though it makes colored mana, but replaced with more rugged combo ( see below )
-1 dire undercurrents
great card, dead a lot of times. Too many times to stay in the deck for now :-(
-1 life's finale
replaced with pestilence to clear smaller hordes while not killing oona
-1 jace's archivist
its good but a huge underperformer
+ grim monolith
+ power artifact
this lets me go infinite much earlier and on the turn i play it. it gets countered a lot.. but its still good. also combos with basalt monolith.
+ leyline of the void
+ helm of obedience
needed that alternate win-con a few times, so i put it back in. helps if oona gets tucked or someone prevents library searching and I cant tutor her back.
+ steal enchantment
oh, this little gem does a LOT. seeing as b/u cant deal with enchantments, well ill just take that aura shards or mana reflection, thanks guy!
+ pestilence
old school sweeps, it works wonders against a lot of decks.
+ promise of power
solid black draw card. mini-necro effect plus creature token is nice late game.
+ riptide laboratory
bounce snapcaster mage? save oona? lots of tricks to be had here
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11/23/2011 Card Changes
UPDATED decklist in opening post! . The changes are mostly due to these cards being "dead" a lot of the time. I basically replaced them with cards that for the lack of a better term "do more" when played. Post-change play testing has shown a much quicker and more resilient game plan, with some faster plays and more consistency. I think the deck needs to focus on more counterspells and less big effects in the future but I'm gonna play test it this way for now and see what develops. What do you guys think?
-1 Halimar Depths - too slow, I hate CIPT lands
-1 Phyrexian Altar - redundant sac effects, tends to be a dead card
-1 Opposition - this may come back at some point, but is VERY often a dead card
-1 Mortarpod - great synergy, hard to assemble the combo unless your opponents are sleeping
-1 Exsanguinate - doesn't really win the game unless you have infinite mana in which case why wouldn't I just cast Oona and win ( unless someone played cursed totem or something lol )
-1 Vedalken Orrery - redundant flash effect, often a dead card and leyline is still in since I need one of these effects and is potentially on the table turn 1. Teferi can handle giving creatures flash now
-1 Ashes to Ashes - too slow, but may come back if there's more of a need for targeted exile
-1 Words of Waste - replaced with superior discard effect Myojin of Night's Reach
-1 Pact of Negation - can't stand to have to waste 5 mana after playing this
-1 Muddle the Mixture - better tutors abound
-1 Disturbed Burial - too mana intensive to get one critter back and doesn't even put them into play
-1 Power Artifact - gets countered or destroyed instantly , every time
-1 Grim Monolith - no power artifact, no grim, and I get early fast mana with lotus bloom now
+1 Unearth - amazing in this deck : replaces disturbed burial, for retrieving anything from snapcaster mage to grand architect for the LOW price of one mana with no drawbacks, plus since it cycles for 2 colorless is never a dead card
+1 Diabolic Tutor - additional tutoring without reveal
+1 Beseech the Queen - additional tutoring plus potential colorless tutoring
+1 Homeward Path - get back my stolen creatures!
+1 Snapcaster Mage - finally got my hands on one of these. Double up my spells! one of the best creatures ever printed
+1 Time Warp - replacing exsanguinate which only prolongs the game. Time Warp is definitely a game winning card instead
+1 Myojin of Night's Reach - replaces words of waste. Although words is amazing, this is more of a sure thing and only requires initial 8 mana to clear all hands
+1 Scroll Rack - divining top's best friend - this thing sorts through your deck VERY quickly to get you those next few cards you need. works great with shuffle effects also
+1 Lotus Bloom - potential 0 drop turn one and an additional three colored mana on turn 4 .. sounds good. Plus, Tezzeret can tutor this for 0 and drop it right away as the real deal lotus
+1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls - tap to draw effects are awesome especially when the creature doesnt require haste, Oona is a wizard, plus there are 4 other wizard creatures in the deck for 6 total wizards.
+1 Desertion - one of the best counter spells. This is essentially an instant commander steal for when someone plays a commander you can't deal with, or to grab troublesome artifacts.
+1 sword of war and peace - sometimes Oona needs to beat down, and this lets her do it in three turns, plus it can gain you life. Sounds good. The protection from red and white makes Oona much stronger against a LOT of decks : animar, riku, sharuum, thrax, rafiq, niv-mizzet, etc etc etc
+1 Jace's Archivist - a wizard for Azami and instant discard for the table. Can kill people if they are low on cards in their deck from Oona also, and refill your empty hand if an opponent has been drawing a lot of cards.
+1 Life's Finale - needed another source to wipe the board with. Any better ones out there? I tried pestilence but didn't work too well injuring myself also lol
1 Oona, queen of the fae
Oona's Armaments
2 Lightning greaves
Oona's Combo Pieces
3 Ashnod's altar
4 Rings of brighthearth
5 Basalt monolith
6 Grim Monolith
7 Power Artifact
Mana Stones
8 Lotus Bloom
9 Sol ring
10 Mana vault
11 Dimir signet
12 Talisman of dominance
13 Darksteel ingot
14 Gilded lotus
Power Spells
15 Knowledge Exploitation
16 Time Warp
17 Rite of Replication
Acceleration
18 Leyline of anticipation
19 Scroll Rack
20 Sensei's divining top
Alternate Win
21 Leyline of the Void
22 Helm of Obedience
Tutors
23 expedition map
24 Vampiric tutor
25 Demonic tutor
26 Beseech the Queen
27 Diabolic Tutor
28 Lim-dul's vault
29 Trinket mage
30 Fabricate
31 Tezzeret the seeker
Board Control
32 Oblivion stone
33 Damnation
34 Pestilence
35 Capsize
36 Evacuation
37 All is dust
38 Gilded drake
39 Snapcaster Mage
40 Thada adel, acquisitor
41 Phyrexian metamorph
42 Teferi, Mage of zhalfir
43 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
44 Myojin of Night's Reach
Counters
45 Dispel
46 Stifle
47 Force of will
48 Spell crumple
49 Hinder
50 Faerie trickery
51 Perplex
52 Desertion
Draw
53 Necropotence
54 Rhystic study
55 Phyrexian arena
56 Fact or fiction
57 Jace,the mind sculptor
58 Bloodgift demon
59 Promise of Power
60 Consecrated sphinx
Recursion
61 Yawgmoth's will
62 Beacon of unrest
Lands
63 Riptide Laboratory
64 Homeward Path
65 Mystifying Maze
66 Bojuka Bog
67 Reliquary Tower
68 Buried Ruin
69 Academy Ruins
70 Tolaria West
71 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
72 Cabal Coffers
73 Strip Mine
74 Tectonic Edge
75 Ghost Quarter
76 Drowned Catacomb
77 Darkslick Shores
78 Creeping Tar-Pit
79 Watery Grave
80 Darkwater Catacombs
81 Sunken Ruins
82 Swamp
83 Swamp
84 Swamp
85 Swamp
86 Swamp
87 Swamp
88 Swamp
89 Swamp
90 Island
91 Island
92 Island
93 Island
94 Island
95 Island
96 Island
97 Island
98 Island
99 Island
100 Island
KAALIA SMASH!
Intet dreams of times ahead
and more
From the rules errata for helm:
10/1/2008: If an effect like that of Leyline of the Void prevents cards from being put into your opponent's graveyard, the process described in the first sentence of Helm of Obedience's effect will never stop. Your opponent's entire library will be exiled, even if X is 1.
The card states you will sacrifice it after x cards go to the graveyard or you get a creature. Since none of those effects are satisfied, the helm is never sacrificed. It is not part of the activation cost.
While that sounds promising and I do really like bloodghast ( also one of my favorite daarken pieces of art ) reassembling skeleton is superior. Since I'm not playing crucible or land sac effects, I would only get one 'ghast activation per turn. With the skeleton I can do it as many times as I can afford to pay mana for.
-1 blue sun's zenith
-1 armillary sphere
-1 nefarious lich
-1 donate
-1 confiscate
-1 steal artifact
-1 praetor's grasp
-1 knowledge exploitation
-1 worn powerstone
+1 thwart
+1 dispel
+1 stoic rebuttal
+1 life's finale
+1 ashnod's altar
+1 opposition
+1 frozen aether
+1 pestilence
+1 gilded drake
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StaffAnother combo with glen elendra archmage is with diabolic servitude to have a continuous persister. i used to use this in the first development of my Oona deck along with Puppeteer Clique but found it too slow for my playgroup. You might have better luck with it. With a sac outlet the effect can be really backbreaking for your opponents to deal with.
I just recently took out Jace of my mono-Blue deck as he never seemed to live, even in the lategame. People seemed to have an irrational hatred for the dude, and he was just a bad Brainstorm.
In love with Blue since Cryptic Command was printed.
-----------------------------
Standard: Bahahaha. What a waste.
Modern: 4CC
Legacy: Dredge, UB Control
EDH:
UB Dralnu, Lord of Griefer Turns
UErtai, Wizard Adept
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StaffPlaneswalkers in general are really weak in the format. I've seen a lot of decks with JtMS and while he's really good he will die. Granted if he sticks he is a huge amount of advantage so I suppose if people arn't running tiny creatures to end your walkers you should abuse them.
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StaffPeople often play rite of replication. If you cast chancellor targeting their rite in the graveyard, you can get an infinite amount of chancellors ( it's effect doesn't remove the card from the graveyard ). The last chancellor that comes into play can target a different spell of your choosing. You would be surprised how often this actually occurs! I have won a couple games this way which is why I have a soft spot for the ol' fellow. I have also found that a body attached to an effect is better than just the effect ( chancellor vs. Memory plunder in this case ) while other times it can be a hindrance ( people using bribery to get my rune scarred demon )
I could probably use more spot removal, not sure what I would sub out for it though. Riptide lab sounds awesome I must get that asap!! Dispel is the cheapest hard counter for during your own turn when you're trying to combo out, it has saved my ass many times! Sometimes you only have that one mana left and u can bluff them out
Me: rings
Them : force!!! Bizatch you only got one mana!!
Me: dispel!! Suck it!!! Hahaha
Basically. Although sometimes it goes:
Me : oona
Them : red elemental blast!!!
Me ( no cards in hand ) : goes to cry in corner
Where can I find your deck to take a look at it?
As for what to cut for Rend Flesh and Go for the Throat, I would say take out Words of Waste and Disturbed Burial.
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StaffWords of waste is crazy good I would never cut that. In fact, I suggest you try it out! It is completely backbreaking, especially against players that don't rely on much draw. Its not as "hey I'm a target" like myojin of night's reach or mindslicer, it's an enchantment so it's more difficult to destroy and it only effects your opponents! I have both rend flesh and go for the throat in my "maybe" box for now but I don't often have that much trouble with creatures aside from that damn Linvala, keeper of silence who I'd rather exile anyway. Also, disturbed burial should eventually become unearth as that is a way more efficient card in my deck.
Speaking of linvala, that could be a really awesome general in a mono-white control deck.. Hmmm /starts brewing
In love with Blue since Cryptic Command was printed.
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Standard: Bahahaha. What a waste.
Modern: 4CC
Legacy: Dredge, UB Control
EDH:
UB Dralnu, Lord of Griefer Turns
UErtai, Wizard Adept
UPDATED decklist in opening post! . The changes are mostly due to these cards being "dead" a lot of the time. I basically replaced them with cards that for the lack of a better term "do more" when played. Post-change play testing has shown a much quicker and more resilient game plan, with some faster plays and more consistency. I think the deck needs to focus on more counterspells and less big effects in the future but I'm gonna play test it this way for now and see what develops. What do you guys think?
-1 Halimar Depths - too slow, I hate CIPT lands
-1 Phyrexian Altar - redundant sac effects, tends to be a dead card
-1 Opposition - this may come back at some point, but is VERY often a dead card
-1 Mortarpod - great synergy, hard to assemble the combo unless your opponents are sleeping
-1 Exsanguinate - doesn't really win the game unless you have infinite mana in which case why wouldn't I just cast Oona and win ( unless someone played cursed totem or something lol )
-1 Vedalken Orrery - redundant flash effect, often a dead card and leyline is still in since I need one of these effects and is potentially on the table turn 1. Teferi can handle giving creatures flash now
-1 Ashes to Ashes - too slow, but may come back if there's more of a need for targeted exile
-1 Words of Waste - replaced with superior discard effect Myojin of Night's Reach
-1 Pact of Negation - can't stand to have to waste 5 mana after playing this
-1 Muddle the Mixture - better tutors abound
-1 Disturbed Burial - too mana intensive to get one critter back and doesn't even put them into play
-1 Power Artifact - gets countered or destroyed instantly , every time
-1 Grim Monolith - no power artifact, no grim, and I get early fast mana with lotus bloom now
+1 Unearth - amazing in this deck : replaces disturbed burial, for retrieving anything from snapcaster mage to grand architect for the LOW price of one mana with no drawbacks, plus since it cycles for 2 colorless is never a dead card
+1 Diabolic Tutor - additional tutoring without reveal
+1 Beseech the Queen - additional tutoring plus potential colorless tutoring
+1 Homeward Path - get back my stolen creatures!
+1 Snapcaster Mage - finally got my hands on one of these. Double up my spells! one of the best creatures ever printed
+1 Time Warp - replacing exsanguinate which only prolongs the game. Time Warp is definitely a game winning card instead
+1 Myojin of Night's Reach - replaces words of waste. Although words is amazing, this is more of a sure thing and only requires initial 8 mana to clear all hands
+1 Scroll Rack - divining top's best friend - this thing sorts through your deck VERY quickly to get you those next few cards you need. works great with shuffle effects also
+1 Lotus Bloom - potential 0 drop turn one and an additional three colored mana on turn 4 .. sounds good. Plus, Tezzeret can tutor this for 0 and drop it right away as the real deal lotus
+1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls - tap to draw effects are awesome especially when the creature doesnt require haste, Oona is a wizard, plus there are 4 other wizard creatures in the deck for 6 total wizards.
+1 Desertion - one of the best counter spells. This is essentially an instant commander steal for when someone plays a commander you can't deal with, or to grab troublesome artifacts.
+1 sword of war and peace - sometimes Oona needs to beat down, and this lets her do it in three turns, plus it can gain you life. Sounds good. The protection from red and white makes Oona much stronger against a LOT of decks : animar, riku, sharuum, thrax, rafiq, niv-mizzet, etc etc etc
+1 Jace's Archivist - a wizard for Azami and instant discard for the table. Can kill people if they are low on cards in their deck from Oona also, and refill your empty hand if an opponent has been drawing a lot of cards.
+1 Life's Finale - needed another source to wipe the board with. Any better ones out there? I tried pestilence but didn't work too well injuring myself also lol
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StaffIf you are indeed playing in a more hardcore fashion with friends/peers than I highly suggest returning some of the combo elements. Oona at heart is a very simple deck concept; Draw, tutor, disrupt, combo. There is truly nothing more to the deck aside from attempting to play it properly (which is the fun of the deck). Attempting to change the deck from that archetype (however boring it may be) really kills the deck. It begs the question, if you're not playing Oona for being Oona, why not choose another general? I'd look at Dralnu or Wrexial as more u/b goodstuff decks that rely less on such a singular focus as comboing off quickly.
Btw desertion is awesome, but the mana cost sucks. It was useful a couple times tho. Helps greatly against memnarch and sharuum!!
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StaffIt's more that Grim/Power is better than architect/pila in pretty much every way possible.