<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a> | Art by <a href="https://twitter.com/LightPusher?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Chuck Lukacs</a>)</h6>
<h1>A Rift in Time...</h1>
In this timeline, there's a list of cards which just make Commander players groan. Some want them banned, often making loud declarations in the <a href="https://discord.gg/x5Q5PVg">RC Discord</a>. Others house-ban them so that they will never have to see them again. Others, perhaps the most valiant among us, carry with them a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Voidslime" href="#" target="_blank">Voidslime</a> so that the spell is interrupted by a "fplfmplfmlfblthpfmnsnffl!"
But in another timeline, these cards never existed in the first place. Nobody shouts their names from the rooftops, nobody curses them with their dying breath, and the most valiant among us can save their <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Voidslime" href="#" target="_blank">Voidslime</a> for a more worthy spell. But there's one common curiosity about this timeline: what do they play there, instead?
<hr />
<h2>Unnatural Disaster</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cyclonic Rift"></div></div>
Among the most common and groan-inducing cards in the entirety of the Commander format is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a>. At first glance, it's an innocuous card: a rare from Return to Ravnica, it functions ordinarily as a single-target bounce spell for two mana. But if you continue reading, you'll find it has an Overload cost of seven mana, allowing you to instead return each nonland permanent you don't control to their owner's hands.
At a mere seven mana for an instant-speed board wipe that doesn't even touch the controller, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a> is undeniably a powerful card - arguably the best board wipe in the format; it's such a powerful card that it counts, in a way, as a win condition. When you're locked in a boardstall, with enough power on board to kill multiple or all of your opponents but you just can't find an attack, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a> is the perfect card to cast at your opponent's end step to make sure you can swing in for the win. It also works defensively, allowing you to put an immediate stop to lethal damage by sucking up their army in a sudden storm.
But it's also an incredibly frustrating card, as it effectively resets the game for your opponents, and if you don't manage to eke out a win after casting one, then you just added an hour to your current game. It's such a powerful and potentially egregious card that it is actually <a href="https://www.mtgnexus.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&amp;t=26052">the number one card most often requested to be added to the banlist</a>, according to polling data.
In an alternate timeline where Cyclonic Rift is banned, or perhaps never existed in the first place, what cards would blue players run instead? Well this timeline certainly seems better than the last rift in time created by <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nexus of Fate" href="#" target="_blank">Nexus of Fate</a>, as there are some pretty sweet cards on the list to learn from, should we ever cut Cyclonic Rift from our decks for the sake of our wallets and our friends.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Whelming Wave"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Flood of Tears"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aether Gale"></div></div>
To kick off our list of replacements for <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a>, we have <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Whelming Wave" href="#" target="_blank">Whelming Wave</a>. Like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a>, this card has the potential to be one-sided, as it leaves in its wake all sorts of sea monsters and leviathans. Although this potential for asymmetry is narrow, the card still holds up without it: at four mana with two blue pips, it's blue's closest approximation to <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrath of God" href="#" target="_blank">Wrath of God</a>, a board wipe so iconic that it's the nicknamesake of the card type ("wrath"). Even if your deck only has a handful of cards that will dodge a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Whelming Wave" href="#" target="_blank">Whelming Wave</a>, it'll still save your skin for a fraction of the cost of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a>.
On occasion, you'll see a deck that doesn't even want their board wipes to be one-sided, and for this, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flood of Tears" href="#" target="_blank">Flood of Tears</a> is great. The newly released <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Barrin, Tolarian Archmage" href="#" target="_blank">Barrin, Tolarian Archmage</a> appreciates having a board wipe that bounces your own permanents, and even in the decks that still enjoy breaking symmetry, the card pulls a lot of weight. If you had a reasonable number of permanents returned to your hand with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flood of Tears" href="#" target="_blank">Flood of Tears</a>, then you get an additional permanent out of it to boot! Sure, this could be used to get ahead when rebuilding your board, but from what I hear, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blightsteel Colossus" href="#" target="_blank">Blightsteel Colossus</a> adores staring down at an empty battlefield between you and your opponents. As a honorable mention, we'll also include <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="River&#039;s Rebuke" href="#" target="_blank">River&#039;s Rebuke</a> alongside this card; although it is seldom more powerful than <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a>, it works just as well when one of your opponents in particular needs to be taken down a peg.
One of my personal favorite replacements for <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a> is a very underrated card: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aether Gale" href="#" target="_blank">Aether Gale</a>. When you're feeling threatened by another player's board, or if you want to break a board stall to swing in for the win, taking care of six permanents will usually do the deal. In the situations where it would, sure, you could use Cyclonic Rift, but that's akin to dropping a nuke to take care of a single creature - it's a little overkill. Sometimes you can't afford the two mana extra it'll cost to use the nuke, and unlike <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aether Gale" href="#" target="_blank">Aether Gale</a>, a nuke can't be used to bounce and protect your own permanents if you need it to. It's also fun tech if you're like me and you're trying to recreate that old Jeskai <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Feather, the Redeemed" href="#" target="_blank">Feather, the Redeemed</a> deck from Standard and make it EDH-playable. (Confession: I have not managed to do that)
<hr />
<h2>Tidal Titans</h2>
<a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/cliff-childs-zzzzz121212.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-57924 size-full" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/cliff-childs-zzzzz121212.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="731" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/cliff-childs-zzzzz121212.jpg 1000w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/cliff-childs-zzzzz121212-300x219.jpg 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/cliff-childs-zzzzz121212-768x561.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></a>
<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Engulf the Shore" href="#" target="_blank">Engulf the Shore</a> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/cliffy">Cliff Childs</a>)</h6>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Engulf the Shore"></div></div>
But out of all the potential replacements I've tested for <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a>, none of them have quite as much potential as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Engulf the Shore" href="#" target="_blank">Engulf the Shore</a>. Granted, the card is narrow: it's dependent on the number of Islands that you have and on the toughness of your creatures overall. That means that its true home is in a deck with a lot of high-toughness creatures that'll still have enough Islands for it to make a difference when you need it to, so at least 5 Islands by turn 10. This means that it can only fit in mono-blue and two-color decks, and maybe three-color decks that have a heavy imbalance towards blue.
But when you do find a deck where it shines, it'll be blinding. At instant speed, you can clear a board of your opponents' creatures all while leaving yours untouched - sound familiar? And unlike <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a>, the effect costs a mere four mana. There's no feeling quite like engulfing a board of mana dorks and utility creatures to pave the way for the several Eldrazi Titans that you cheated into play using <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Braids, Conjurer Adept" href="#" target="_blank">Braids, Conjurer Adept</a>.
And as it turns out, there was recently a brand-new card printed with a high toughness who cares about Islands... ooh, and it's a Leviathan, to boot! Everybody make way for <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Charix, the Raging Isle" href="#" target="_blank">Charix, the Raging Isle</a>.
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="The Rising Tide" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Charix, the Raging Isle
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Brass Squire
*1 Burnished Hart
*1 Dreamscape Artist
*1 Hedron Crab
*1 Merfolk Thaumaturgist
*1 Ruin Crab
*1 Scourge of Fleets
*1 Serpent of Yawning Depths
*1 Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Tempest Djinn
*1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
*1 Thassa&#039;s Emissary
*1 Thassa, God of the Sea
*1 Tribute Mage
*1 Trophy Mage
*1 Walking Atlas
*1 Wonder
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
*1 Tale&#039;s End
*1 Counterspell
*1 Engulf the Shore
*1 Fact or Fiction
*1 Delay
*1 High Tide
*1 Narset&#039;s Reversal
*1 Negate
*1 Pongify
*1 Rapid Hybridization
*1 Reality Shift
*1 Swan Song
*1 Twisted Image
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Aether Gale
*1 Curse of the Swine
*1 Fabricate
*1 Flow of Ideas
*1 Ponder
*1 Whelming Wave
*1 Windfall
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Quicksilver Fountain
*1 Bident of Thassa
*1 Blackblade Reforged
*1 Explorer&#039;s Scope
*1 Fireshrieker
*1 Hammer of Nazahn
*1 Lightning Greaves
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Sapphire Medallion
*1 Shadowspear
*1 Skeleton Key
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Strata Scythe
*1 Swiftfoot Boots
*1 Sky Diamond
*1 Sword of the Animist
*1 Trailblazer&#039;s Boots
*1 Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble
*1 Whispersilk Cloak
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 Aqueous Form
*1 Imprisoned in the Moon
*1 Leyline of Anticipation
*1 Mystic Remora
*1 Retreat to Coralhelm
*1 Rhystic Study
*1 Training Grounds
[/Enchantments]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer
[/Planeswalkers]
[Lands]
*1 Castle Vantress
*1 Myriad Landscape
*1 Mystic Sanctuary
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Rogue&#039;s Passage
*1 Terrain Generator
*28 Island
[/Lands]"></div>

Staple Remover - Cyclonic Rift

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="All Hallow&#039;s Eve" href="#" target="_blank">All Hallow&#039;s Eve</a> | Art by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Rush">Christopher Rush</a>)</h6>
<h1>Bump in the Night...</h1>
It was a cool night, on one Hallow's Eve, when a fog descended upon the streets. As little Timmy wandered the roads, he braced himself for a fright; a lone <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crypt Ghast" href="#" target="_blank">Crypt Ghast</a>, or perhaps the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Geist of Saint Traft" href="#" target="_blank">Geist of Saint Traft</a> was bound to ruin his night. 
But as he stepped into the town cemetery, perhaps with less caution than was warranted, Timmy was met with a threat insurmountable: a league of bloodthirsty Vampires, ready to tear him apart. But Timmy did not fear, oh no; as he looked up, the horizon beckoned to him. He answered <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Twilight&#039;s Call" href="#" target="_blank">Twilight&#039;s Call</a>, and from the ground upon which the Vampires walked emerged a legion of beasts. The bloodsuckers quickly retreated, for tonight they had seen the formidable foe that they thought to make their prey. 
Thus is the legend of how <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="All Hallow&#039;s Eve" href="#" target="_blank">All Hallow&#039;s Eve</a> can be wielded to tip the scales in your favor....
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="All Hallow&#039;s Eve"></div></div>
Okay, okay, I know: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="All Hallow&#039;s Eve" href="#" target="_blank">All Hallow&#039;s Eve</a> isn't a staple. The darn thing is hundreds of dollars, on the Reserved List, and is a little too slow for most people's tastes, essentially being a mostly worse version of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Living End" href="#" target="_blank">Living End</a>. But I maintain that it's still a phenomenal card to look at for the Staple Remover series, as Halloween is just a few days away, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="All Hallow&#039;s Eve" href="#" target="_blank">All Hallow&#039;s Eve</a> is a very on-theme representation of a very popular archetype in Commander: <a href="https://edhrec.com/themes/reanimate">Reanimator</a>.
Reanimator decks have a number of staples that they utilize, each one being slightly different, but all with the same goal in mind: getting creatures from somebody's graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. The distinction between these staples isn't really enough to justify each having their own article, so instead I've placed them in three broad categories: single-target reanimation, multi-target reanimation, and mass reanimation. Spoiler alert: Quite a few of the potential replacements are from recent sets, and if this trend continues, this article may get a sequel!
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reanimate"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sheoldred, Whispering One"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Living Death"></div></div>
We start off our selection of single-target reanimation staples with the eponymous Reanimator card - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reanimate" href="#" target="_blank">Reanimate</a>! At just one mana (and a minor life payment), Reanimate will get you any creature from any graveyard onto the battlefield. There's no question as to why this card is the premier Reanimation spell, as its efficiency is simply unparalleled. It is not alone on the royal court, though: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Animate Dead" href="#" target="_blank">Animate Dead</a>, and its little siblings <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dance of the Dead" href="#" target="_blank">Dance of the Dead</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necromancy" href="#" target="_blank">Necromancy</a> are also famous enchantments with a similar utility. They have a dauntingly large amount of text, though, and when translated to layman's terms, all of that text basically reads "this card goes infinite with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Worldgorger Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">Worldgorger Dragon</a>."
But sometimes, single-target reanimation spells don't quite pack enough of a punch. Maybe you've got a couple of haymakers in the 'yard and you just need them out as soon as possible. When that happens, the best use of your mana is to get a Reanimation card that can get out multiple creatures. According to the EDHREC Reanimator page, among the top cards in this category are <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Victimize" href="#" target="_blank">Victimize</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sheoldred, Whispering One" href="#" target="_blank">Sheoldred, Whispering One</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sepulchral Primordial" href="#" target="_blank">Sepulchral Primordial</a>. This is actually the category that is most ripe for the picking: there are a lot of potential cards to fit into this category, many of which can be faster, more reliable, and more accessible than the staples.
Finally, we have the mass reanimation spells: the spells that can return most, if not all, of the creatures from at least one graveyard onto the battlefield under your control, acting as finishers. The most famous of these is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Living Death" href="#" target="_blank">Living Death</a>, which is, sadly, symmetrical, causing your opponents to reanimate their creatures, too. However, you, the Reanimator deck, are almost certain to get the better end of this deal, and with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Living Death" href="#" target="_blank">Living Death</a>, you get a bonus: it acts as a board wipe, too. There's no feeling quite like taking the Token deck down a peg while taking a commanding position in the game, right? Other possibilities include the new <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eerie Ultimatum" href="#" target="_blank">Eerie Ultimatum</a>, although it is limited only to <a href="https://edhwiki.com/wiki/Abzan">Abzan</a> decks, and the recently reprinted <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rise of the Dark Realms" href="#" target="_blank">Rise of the Dark Realms</a> (which makes three staples reprinted in Jumpstart that we're removing! That's gotta be a record).
<hr />
<h2>Frankenstein's Implants</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Diabolic Servitude"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thwart the Grave"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Twilight&#039;s Call"></div></div>
As you might guess, the Reanimator strategy is a crowded one, and sometimes a few hidden gems get lost in the crowd. One of these gems is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Diabolic Servitude" href="#" target="_blank">Diabolic Servitude</a>: intended to be a "fixed" version of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Animate Dead" href="#" target="_blank">Animate Dead</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Diabolic Servitude" href="#" target="_blank">Diabolic Servitude</a> adds a bit more to the brew than a sick name and a saved headache. Upon dying, the creature reanimated with it is exiled and the enchantment is returned to your hand, allowing you to use it once more. The exiling doesn't matter much, as you're not unlikely to have another haymaker in the bin to get with it regardless, giving it a similar utility to <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unburial Rites" href="#" target="_blank">Unburial Rites</a>. In the same vein, we have <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Back for More" href="#" target="_blank">Back for More</a>, which staples a fight spell onto <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zombify" href="#" target="_blank">Zombify</a> and makes it an instant. Taking out the most dangerous creature on the board and replacing it with your own is sure to tip the scales in your favor.
Recent sets have also given us some fun toys, like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thwart the Grave" href="#" target="_blank">Thwart the Grave</a>. This card has a lot to offer: another awesome name, some even cooler artwork, and, if you can take advantage of its mana-reducing ability, an incredibly efficient reanimation effect. In the right deck, it's not unreasonable to assume that this spell could allow two different creatures to cheat death for a mere four or five mana. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dredge the Mire" href="#" target="_blank">Dredge the Mire</a> is another incredibly efficient method of reanimation, with three different creatures being reanimated from your opponents' graveyards for a flat four mana. Now, granted, your opponents are given agency in this choice, but a few decks - especially the recently released <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drana, the Last Bloodchief" href="#" target="_blank">Drana, the Last Bloodchief</a> - are equipped to ensure that they'll pick what's best for you. It doesn't even target, so it gets around those pesky cards such as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ground Seal" href="#" target="_blank">Ground Seal</a>!
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Drana, the Last Bloodchief"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dredge the Mire"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Balthor the Defiled"></div></div>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Twilight&#039;s Call" href="#" target="_blank">Twilight&#039;s Call</a> may have gotten the most involved introduction I will ever give a card within the first few paragraphs of this article. And it's deserving of that - for six mana, you get a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Living Death" href="#" target="_blank">Living Death</a> without the board wipe, with the additional option of paying two extra mana to cast it at instant speed. This ability isn't nothing - in last week's <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/edhrecast">EDHRECast Twitch Stream</a>, casting this card at the end step allowed <a href="https://twitter.com/BudgetCommander?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Tomer</a> of <a href="https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/search?author=39">MTGGoldfish</a> an easy win. Other alternatives include <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Balthor the Defiled" href="#" target="_blank">Balthor the Defiled</a>, a card that's even easier to break parity with than <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Living Death" href="#" target="_blank">Living Death</a>, that can even be in your command zone! I played against Balthor in my very first game of Commander, and the raw power of that Zombie Dwarf will make quick work of your opponents, just as it did with me.
<hr />
<h2>The Journey to Eternity</h2>
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter" src="https://www.mtgpics.com/pics/art/rix/209.jpg" />
Although <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Muldrotha, the Gravetide" href="#" target="_blank">Muldrotha, the Gravetide</a> may have been unseated as EDHREC's most popular commander, it's clear that Magic isn't quite done messing with the graveyards yet. Between the new cards mentioned here, sweet new commanders such as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zareth San, the Trickster" href="#" target="_blank">Zareth San, the Trickster</a>, and even more viable Reanimation cards being printed on the regular, Commander players will have plenty of zombifying spells to toy with in the future. In fact, just last week, Mark Rosewater put out a teaser for a brand-new Reanimation card on <a href="https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/">his Tumblr blog</a>, stating that Commander Legends will have "A card that returns three different cards types from the graveyard to the battlefield (and not a combination we’ve ever done before)".
With this in mind, we can gaze in anticipation to the horizon, watching the sun fall and bring all sorts of undead goodies along with it this Halloween season. As we do, what are your favorite underrated reanimation spells in Magic: the Gathering? There are a lot to choose from, and nothing makes my day more than seeing all of the suggestions down in the comments. Thanks for reading!
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Twas the Night Before Halloween" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]1 Balthor the Defiled[/Commander]
[Creatures]1 Abhorrent Overlord
1 Ayara, First of Locthwain
1 Bog Witch
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Corpse Connoisseur
1 Crow of Dark Tidings
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Doom Whisperer
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Golgari Thug
1 Gorging Vulture
1 Grave Titan
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Harvester of Souls
1 K&#039;rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
1 Magus of the Coffers
1 Midnight Reaper
1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1 Mire Triton
1 Mogis&#039;s Marauder
1 Plaguecrafter
1 Ravenous Chupacabra
1 Razaketh, the Foulblooded
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Sepulchral Primordial
1 Shriekmaw
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Stitcher&#039;s Supplier
1 Syr Konrad, the Grim
1 Vilis, Broker of Blood
1 Withered Wretch
1 Zulaport Cutthroat[/Creatures]
[Instants]1 Cabal Ritual
1 Dark Ritual
1 Entomb
1 Songs of the Damned[/Instants]
[Sorceries]1 Buried Alive
1 Damnation
1 Decree of Pain
1 Dredge the Mire
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Feed the Swarm
1 Funeral Rites
1 Twilight&#039;s Call
1 Mutilate
1 Reanimate[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]1 Altar of Dementia
1 Caged Sun
1 Expedition Map
1 Jet Medallion
1 Mind Stone
1 Perpetual Timepiece
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Sol Ring[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]1 Diabolic Servitude
1 Black Market
1 Necromancer&#039;s Stockpile
1 Phyrexian Arena[/Enchantments]
[Planeswalkers]1 Liliana, Death&#039;s Majesty[/Planeswalkers]
[Lands]1 Bojuka Bog
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Cabal Stronghold
1 Crypt of Agadeem
1 Dakmor Salvage
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
30 Swamp[/Lands]"></div>

Staple Remover - All Hallow's Eve

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Craterhoof Behemoth" href="#" target="_blank">Craterhoof Behemoth</a> | Art by <a href="http://www.rahnart.com/">Chris Rahn</a>)</h6>
<h1>There Was a Sound of Thunder</h1>
There exists no shortage of stories and legends of powerful cards which enter the battlefield and leave it a smoking crater of doom and ruin. Newer players either seek them out or fear them, but us veterans who've been around awhile... well, for us, they just start to get old.
There're quite a few cards which simply end games out of nowhere, with no purpose besides that. In the famous words of one <a href="https://twitter.com/mathimus55?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Matt Morgan</a>, "Bore Score and <del>seven</del> eight years ago, we saw the printing of one card which would join their ranks." That card, of course, is the one and only <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Craterhoof Behemoth" href="#" target="_blank">Craterhoof Behemoth</a>.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Craterhoof Behemoth"></div></div>
When this series was first surmised, I intended it to showcase a sort of scale, to complement the existing <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/salt">Salt Score</a> scale on EDHREC. The idea behind it was that the most ubiquitous cards in EDH would have a high "Bore Score" signifying general player distaste for them due to their style of gameplay and/or mass diffusion into the meta and consistent saturation in the format (in the words of <a href="https://brainstormbrewery.com/author/jason-alt/">Jason Alt</a> on the <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/757024308">EDHRECast Twitch Stream</a>, "Oh boy, you're running <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smothering Tithe" href="#" target="_blank">Smothering Tithe</a>?"). With this original idea in mind, I wanted to specifically target the format's most common win conditions, as I felt that a card gets a lot older a lot quicker when it's the last thing you see every game. While this series has drifted away from that specificity as the core idea, that doesn't mean I can't still give some of the popular win conditions the boot!
So in this week's article, we're going to be analyzing and providing some alternatives for one of green's most popular win conditions, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Craterhoof Behemoth" href="#" target="_blank">Craterhoof Behemoth</a>!
<h6>(I would like to thank <a href="https://twitter.com/mathimus55?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Matt Morgan</a> for the "Bore Score and seven years ago" pun, and I would also like to thank <a href="https://brainstormbrewery.com/author/jason-alt/">Jason Alt</a> for hopefully not firing me for including said pun.)</h6>
There are very few creatures with the raw power that <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Craterhoof Behemoth" href="#" target="_blank">Craterhoof Behemoth</a> holds (which is especially impressive, as it's hard to grip things when you don't have thumbs). With it in your hand and just seven 1/1 creatures on board, you can get a minimum of 76 power on the battlefield, which you may distribute among your opponents as you please. When you do, it'll often take out several of your foes, and whoever is left behind has a severely diminished army as you trample over all of their creatures.
But the Hoof may hold a bit too much power, as it's become quite infamous in the community. It is part of a select few cards, like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Torment of Hailfire" href="#" target="_blank">Torment of Hailfire</a> or the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thassa&#039;s Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Thassa&#039;s Oracle</a>/<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Demonic Consultation" href="#" target="_blank">Demonic Consultation</a> combo, that essentially says "you win!" Many players dislike the playstyle of just having a button to press that achieves the win, instead preferring a more dynamic method of achieving a victory (or maybe they just can't afford the $40 price tag). These players might turn to a long list of alternatives, such as these:
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Coat of Arms"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Colossification"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lure"></div></div>
Out of all of the cards that immediately pump your entire team, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Coat of Arms" href="#" target="_blank">Coat of Arms</a> is the classic. A mainstay in go-wide tribal strategies like Elves or Goblins, this card can bolster your army to nigh-incomprehensible size, effectively squaring the power of a team of 1/1 creatures. Unlike <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Craterhoof Behemoth" href="#" target="_blank">Craterhoof Behemoth</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Coat of Arms" href="#" target="_blank">Coat of Arms</a> doesn't contribute much power itself, nor does it give your creatures any evasion, but it easily makes up for that by being easier to cast, harder to remove, and having a continual effect over the course of the game.
A very fun (and maybe slightly meme-y) card from Ikoria, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Colossification" href="#" target="_blank">Colossification</a> is sure to deliver on its promise: it will make a creature colossal. In a deck filled with evasive creatures, like <a href="https://scryfall.com/@RoseQuartz26/decks/380ea86c-8c02-4b5f-b666-61fd260ca653">the one showcased</a> in <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/staple-remover-rhystic-study/">my previous article</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Colossification" href="#" target="_blank">Colossification</a> can Falcon Punch your poor opponent into oblivion. There are a few hoops to jump through, but none of them are too high; you might have to untap the creature first, or use <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vedalken Orrery" href="#" target="_blank">Vedalken Orrery</a> to flash it in as a combat trick, or maybe you can just <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fling" href="#" target="_blank">Fling</a> the darn thing <a href="https://archidekt.com/decks/53294#Kresh_the_Bloodbraided:_Bloody_Bombardment">Dana Roach style</a>. There are plenty of other deck-specific ways to pump just one creature, such as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Huatli, Radiant Champion" href="#" target="_blank">Huatli, Radiant Champion</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Immaculate Magistrate" href="#" target="_blank">Immaculate Magistrate</a>. Whatever your avenue is, your opponents will likely regret you ever reaching your destination.
One way to ensure you can get damage through is with the classic <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lure" href="#" target="_blank">Lure</a> effect. This card, originally printed all the way back in Alpha, simply forces your opponents to block the enchanted creature with everything they've got that can block. There are other ways to achieve the same effect, such as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Taunting Elf" href="#" target="_blank">Taunting Elf</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tempting Licid" href="#" target="_blank">Tempting Licid</a>, or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gift of the Deity" href="#" target="_blank">Gift of the Deity</a>, which you can tailor to your deck's needs. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lure" href="#" target="_blank">Lure</a> effects can be very versatile, acting as pseudo-evasion when you stick it on some miscellaneous 1/1, allowing you to swing in for a ton of damage. They can act as a one-sided <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrath of God" href="#" target="_blank">Wrath of God</a> when you stick it on a gigantic creature and swing with it. Lure effects can be a really fun way to add versatility to an otherwise stale mono-green stompy strategy, especially with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tempting Licid" href="#" target="_blank">Tempting Licid</a>, as you can swap out what creature you want to take the hit.
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Applied Biophysics</h2>
<h6 style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/7c8dbaf575383a1bb3f42aff8da59364.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-56837 " src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/7c8dbaf575383a1bb3f42aff8da59364.jpg" alt="" width="508" height="373" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/7c8dbaf575383a1bb3f42aff8da59364.jpg 920w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/7c8dbaf575383a1bb3f42aff8da59364-300x220.jpg 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/7c8dbaf575383a1bb3f42aff8da59364-768x563.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 508px) 100vw, 508px" /></a>(<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grand Warlord Radha" href="#" target="_blank">Grand Warlord Radha</a> | Art by <a href="https://www.annasteinbauer.com/">Anna Steinbauer</a>)</h6>
As always, replacing the most powerful cards such as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Craterhoof Behemoth" href="#" target="_blank">Craterhoof Behemoth</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Finale of Devastation" href="#" target="_blank">Finale of Devastation</a> is often much easier said than done, so before you go, I'd like to show you one strategy that utilizes some of these alternatives in a fun and powerful way.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nacatl War-Pride"></div></div>
I have a bit of a confession to make: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nacatl War-Pride" href="#" target="_blank">Nacatl War-Pride</a> is a huge pet card of mine. Like so many other cards from the Time Spiral block, the War-Pride has an incredibly unique effect that we'll probably never see again (likely thanks to the daunting wall of text on the thing). In essence, whenever <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nacatl War-Pride" href="#" target="_blank">Nacatl War-Pride</a> attacks, it clones itself for each creature the defending player controls, then it forces said opponent to assign one creature as a blocker to each of the members of the Pride. This can accomplish a few things: it can act as a mini-<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ezuri&#039;s Predation" href="#" target="_blank">Ezuri&#039;s Predation</a>, taking with it all of your opponent's smaller creatures, while simultaneously clearing the way for your other creatures to smack face, not unlike <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lure" href="#" target="_blank">Lure</a>!
But, if you can find a way to keep those copies around, you can turn one <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nacatl War-Pride" href="#" target="_blank">Nacatl War-Pride</a> into a massive army. There are a lot of ways to do that, most notably by using <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sundial of the Infinite" href="#" target="_blank">Sundial of the Infinite</a> to exile the delayed trigger on the end step, allowing you to keep them indefinitely. This is, of course, only one narrow usage of the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sundial of the Infinite" href="#" target="_blank">Sundial of the Infinite</a>, and if you want to see all of the different ways to abuse that card, I suggest you read <a href="https://wp.me/p86Qwh-eLO">the latest article</a> by <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/author/elijah-klein/">Elijah Klein.</a> Another way to abuse <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nacatl War-Pride" href="#" target="_blank">Nacatl War-Pride</a> is to use the copies multiple times before they expire by attacking with them multiple times in a single turn.
This deck, helmed by <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grand Warlord Radha" href="#" target="_blank">Grand Warlord Radha</a>, aims to do just that: it's the third draft of a deck that looks to abuse cards that trigger on attack or at the beginning of combat by using cards that will give us extra combats. The mana that we produce with Radha in conjunction with cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hellkite Charger" href="#" target="_blank">Hellkite Charger</a> allows us to chain as many combats together as we possibly can, gaining value off of each one. One way to win once we're set up is with the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nacatl War-Pride" href="#" target="_blank">Nacatl War-Pride</a>, allowing us to either overwhelm our opponents or to clear the way for more lethal creatures. Sometimes, it's both!
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Keldon Mobs" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Grand Warlord Radha
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Sakura-Tribe Scout
*1 Taunting Elf
*1 Goblin Instigator
*1 Loyal Apprentice
*1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
*1 Tilonalli&#039;s Summoner
*1 Combat Celebrant
*1 Fierce Empath
*1 Goblin Rabblemaster
*1 Legion Warboss
*1 Reclamation Sage
*1 Runic Armasaur
*1 Tempting Licid
*1 Moraug, Fury of Akoum
*1 Bloodbraid Elf
*1 Fireflux Squad
*1 Marton Stromgald
*1 Neyith of the Dire Hunt
*1 Ogre Battledriver
*1 Acidic Slime
*1 Flamerush Rider
*1 Keeper of Fables
*1 Ohran Frostfang
*1 Tendershoot Dryad
*1 Etali, Primal Storm
*1 Hellkite Charger
*1 Nacatl War-Pride
*1 Savage Ventmaw
*1 Scourge of the Throne
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
*1 Artifact Mutation
*1 Heroic Intervention
*1 Beast Within
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Fresh Meat
*1 Savage Beating
*1 Shared Summons
[/Instants]
[Artifacts]
*1 Skullclamp
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Hammer of Purphoros
*1 Helm of the Host
*1 Eldrazi Monument
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 Wild Growth
*1 Aggravated Assault
*1 Druids&#039; Repository
*1 Fires of Yavimaya
*1 Rhythm of the Wild
*1 Breath of Fury
[/Enchantments]
[Sorceries]
*1 Sylvan Offering
*1 Tempt with Vengeance
*1 Dragon Fodder
*1 Edge of Autumn
*1 Farseek
*1 Into the North
*1 Nature&#039;s Lore
*1 Rampant Growth
*1 Saproling Migration
*1 Harvest Season
*1 Search for Tomorrow
*1 Harmonize
*1 Relentless Assault
*1 Shamanic Revelation
*1 World at War
*1 Ezuri&#039;s Predation
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*1 Castle Embereth
*1 Castle Garenbrig
*1 Command Tower
*1 Fire-Lit Thicket
*1 Grove of the Burnwillows
*1 Highland Weald
*1 Karplusan Forest
*1 Mountain Valley
*1 Stomping Ground
*1 Wooded Foothills
*8 Forest
*6 Mountain
*7 Snow-Covered Forest
*5 Snow-Covered Mountain
[/Lands]"></div>

<hr />
Of course, this is just one way to replace the infamous <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Craterhoof Behemoth" href="#" target="_blank">Craterhoof Behemoth</a> and swing into victory without it. What're your favorite ways to spice up your green, stompy strategy when the Hoof isn't around? Feel free to let us know in the comments, and thank you very much for reading!

Staple Remover - Craterhoof Behemoth

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a> | Art by <a href="http://paulscottcanavan.squarespace.com/">Paul Scott Canavan</a>)</h6>
<h1>One Staple Dropped</h1>
Welcome, one and all, to my debut article here on EDHREC! My name is Jaelyn, and I'm the newest addition to the team. I'm also one of the newest players on the team, as I seriously dove into Magic at the Rivals of Ixalan prerelease. Before that, however, I had noodled around a bit, usually playing with my dad, using cards from the original Ravnica and Time Spiral blocks. I've a bit of nostalgia for this era in Magic design, a nostalgia that will undoubtedly be showcased with these articles! Maybe, while I'm at it, I can gun for <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/author/dana-roach/">Dana Roach</a>'s seat as the resident Hipster EDH deckbuilder.
But of course, what am I even doing with these articles? Well, as the name implies, my intended "road to hipsterdom" is by acting as the EDHREC "Staple Remover"! One of the side effects of Commander's growing popularity is the prevalence of "staples", cards that are so powerful, efficient, and generally good at what they do that they show up in decks across the board, becoming incredibly popular among the EDH community. However, as indicated in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjzPu9FLVmo">recent episode of The Command Zone podcast</a>, there's been some desire among Commander players to replace these staple cards, especially lately. Whatever your motivation for doing so, be it hipster-like tendencies, a desire to spice up your games, or just an abundance of spite, this series will help you do just that!
<hr />
<h2>A Quick Study</h2>
Among the most famous examples of a staple card is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a>, a cheap enchantment that will help you do what nearly every deck wants to do: draw cards.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rhystic Study"></div></div>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a> (and cards like it) scale incredibly well to Commander: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a> will draw you a card every time your opponents cast a spell unless they pay 1 generic mana. Iin a format where you have three opponents, this means you'll get roughly three times as many triggers as you would in other formats!
However, despite its utility, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a> is not a perfect card. EDHREC gives it a <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/salt">Salt Score</a> of 1.96, meaning that it isn't very enjoyable when seen from across the battlefield, likely thanks to the common, very annoying phrase, uttered every single time a spell is cast: "Do you pay the one?" It isn't a very cheap card either, sitting at over $20, and given its presence in Jumpstart and the Mystery Boosters, its reprint equity could very well be used up for a number of sets. The most accessible copies of it also feature art from <a href="https://www.hipstersofthecoast.com/2020/06/wizards-ends-their-relationship-with-terese-nielsen/">a very controversial artist</a>, which turns off many players from wanting to play it.
Luckily for us, throughout the history of Magic: the Gathering, there have been a plethora of cards printed that can fill the same role as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a> without all of the baggage it carries.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shimmer Dragon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="River Kelpie"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Psychic Possession"></div></div>
The trick to removing your staple cards is to select a list of cards that synergize with the rest of your deck. These cards might lack the raw power that staples can hold, but with added synergy, they can create an engine that's on par with (and often superior to) the auto-inclusions. For example, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shimmer Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">Shimmer Dragon</a>, although six mana, can turn all of your spare artifacts in an artifact deck, like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Emry, Lurker of the Loch" href="#" target="_blank">Emry, Lurker of the Loch</a>, into extra card draw, and with a big body to boot. Another exemplary one is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="River Kelpie" href="#" target="_blank">River Kelpie</a>, which can become an incredibly powerful engine in decks that see a lot of reanimation, turning every reanimated creature into a cantrip, while also being resistant to removal on its own.
Among the best generic replacements for <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a> is one that the aforementioned Dana Roach has been championing for some time, and which was also endorsed by <a href="https://youtu.be/HjzPu9FLVmo?t=1308">Murph of the Command Zone</a> podcast: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Psychic Possession" href="#" target="_blank">Psychic Possession</a>. Like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a>, this card fits in just about any deck, and while it may not synergize with your deck any more than the alternatives, it's still a fun card to run alongside or in place of them.
<hr />
<h2>Applied Wizardry</h2>
Of course, it's easy to suggest that somebody replaces their staples, but, in practice, you might run into some difficulties. I like to practice what I preach, and here I'd like to show you one of my personal builds and how it can abuse alternative card draw engines far and beyond what any staple could do!
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Verity Circle"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reconnaissance Mission"></div></div>
These hidden gems from some recent sets can be remarkably powerful in the right build, and while they may seem fairly different from one another, they both have a phenomenal home in one of my favorite decks: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Derevi, Empyrial Tactician" href="#" target="_blank">Derevi, Empyrial Tactician</a>.
In this build, the name of the game is combat damage. We're running as many small, evasive creatures as we can, so we can trigger abilities upon dealing combat damage to an opponent. One of the best abilities to trigger is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reconnaissance Mission" href="#" target="_blank">Reconnaissance Mission</a>. This uncommon from Ikoria is a strict upgrade from <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Coastal Piracy" href="#" target="_blank">Coastal Piracy</a>, and with it, we can swing in, untap our lands with Derevi, and use those lands to play all of the cards we just drew!
But our own permanents aren't the only things that we can untap; we can mess with our opponents' permanents, too. Tapping down any blockers that somebody might have so another person can swing in for lethal is just one of the many political plays that this deck is capable of, and when we want to do that, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Verity Circle" href="#" target="_blank">Verity Circle</a> becomes that much better. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Verity Circle" href="#" target="_blank">Verity Circle</a>, which is a similar powerhouse in decks such as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gadwick, the Wizened" href="#" target="_blank">Gadwick, the Wizened</a>, is a cheaper way for us to get similar value to <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reconnaissance Mission" href="#" target="_blank">Reconnaissance Mission</a> while enabling some in-game strategies which can make for an incredibly interactive and interesting game.
There's one other thing worthy of mention: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Derevi, Empyrial Tactician" href="#" target="_blank">Derevi, Empyrial Tactician</a> has a bit of a bad rap, including a reputation for enabling stax strategies by manipulating cards such as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Winter Orb" href="#" target="_blank">Winter Orb</a> to deny resources to your opponents. I personally don't enjoy playing stax, and neither does my playgroup, so instead I like to use this deck to showcase all of the sweet, new cards which have a hard time slotting into other decks. My decklist changes a lot, but right now, I'm trying out some sweet cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Colossification" href="#" target="_blank">Colossification</a> for the memes, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse" href="#" target="_blank">Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ominous Seas" href="#" target="_blank">Ominous Seas</a> as wincons, and the brand-new <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Angel of Destiny" href="#" target="_blank">Angel of Destiny</a> to catch my opponents off-guard.
So enjoy this <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a>-less list, and note how the alternatives, like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Verity Circle" href="#" target="_blank">Verity Circle</a>, can provide just as much card draw as that classic staple, if not more!
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Tactical Maneuvers" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
[/Commander]
[Evasive Maneuvers]
*1 Aether Figment
*1 Blighted Agent
*1 Departed Deckhand
*1 Escape Artist
*1 Faerie Vandal
*1 Flitterstep Eidolon
*1 Ghostly Pilferer
*1 Gingerbrute
*1 Gudul Lurker
*1 Hope of Ghirapur
*1 Hypnotic Siren
*1 Invisible Stalker
*1 Jhessian Infiltrator
*1 Maraleaf Pixie
*1 Scryb Sprites
*1 Silhana Ledgewalker
*1 Siren Stormtamer
*1 Slither Blade
*1 Spectral Sailor
*1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
*1 Trygon Predator
[/Evasive Maneuvers]
[Reconnaissance Tactics]
*1 Bident of Thassa
*1 Coastal Piracy
*1 Dovin, Grand Arbiter
*1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
*1 Fact or Fiction
*1 Reconnaissance Mission
*1 Sphinx&#039;s Revelation
*1 Verity Circle
[/Reconnaissance Tactics]
[Targeted Assassinations]
*1 Beast Within
*1 Counterspell
*1 Delay
*1 Generous Gift
*1 Pongify
*1 Swords to Plowshares
*1 Unified Will
[/Targeted Assassinations]
[Inspired Charge]
*1 Angel of Destiny
*1 Beastmaster Ascension
*1 Biomass Mutation
*1 Colossification
*1 Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse
*1 Ominous Seas
*1 Scale Up
*1 Willbreaker
[/Inspired Charge]
[Fortifications]
*1 Heroic Intervention
*1 Teferi&#039;s Protection
*1 Teferi&#039;s Veil
[/Fortifications]
[Ramp]
*1 Avacyn&#039;s Pilgrim
*1 Boreal Druid
*1 Druids&#039; Repository
*1 Elvish Mystic
*1 Fertile Ground
*1 Llanowar Elves
*1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
*1 Search for Tomorrow
*1 Sakura-Tribe Scout
*1 Wild Growth
[/Ramp]
[Conscription]
*1 Chord of Calling
*1 Eladamri&#039;s Call
*1 Shared Summons
*1 Regrowth
[/Conscription]
[Clearing the Battlefield]
*1 Fell the Mighty
*1 Slaughter the Strong
[/Clearing the Battlefield]
[Lands]
*9 Forest
*9 Island
*6 Plains
*1 Faerie Conclave
*1 Windswept Heath
*1 Misty Rainforest
*1 Flooded Strand
*1 Hallowed Fountain
*1 Temple Garden
*1 Breeding Pool
*1 Horizon Canopy
*1 Waterlogged Grove
*1 Command Tower
*1 Gavony Township
*1 Reliquary Tower
[/Lands]"></div>

<hr />
Do you have any card advantage engines you like to use in place of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a> and other staples? What decks do you run them in? Be sure to drop a comment, and thank you very much for reading!

Jaelyn Rosenquist

Jaelyn Rosenquist

Staple Remover - Cyclonic Rift

Staple Remover - All Hallow's Eve

Staple Remover - Craterhoof Behemoth

Staple Remover - Rhystic Study