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Thread: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

  1. #1

    [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    One of the cards from War of the Spark looks like a pretty strong combo piece.

    3BBB

    Legendary Artifact

    You may look at the top card of your library any time.

    You may play the top card of your library. If you cast a spell this way, pay life equal to its converted mana cost rather than pay its mana cost.

    {T}, Sacrifice ten nonland permanents: Each opponent loses 10 life.
    Sure, 6 mana is a lot, but the citadel is basically combining Channel and Yawgmoths' Bargain in a single card which is strong enough to enable a win if it resolves from an empty board and hand. Although there is a challenge because 'play off the top' means that topdeck lands aren't ideal.

    That means it could work in some kind of GB "Belcher" deck approach where there just aren't very many lands in the deck.


    4 Land Grant
    2 Bayou
    4 Lotus Petal
    4 Chrome Mox
    4 Elvish Spirit Guide
    4 Manamorphose
    4 Dark Ritual
    4 Cabal Ritual
    4 Lion's Eye Diamond
    ...
    4 Bolas's Citadel
    4 Tendrils of Agony


    Another option for dealing with the 'top deck land' issue would be a package of Thoughtlash and Enlightened Tutor to exile any undesired cards off the top while going off and Aetherflux Reservoir as a way to offset the life costs.

    It might also be possible to get to a critical mass of filter cards like Ponder,Brainstorm and Preordain to both set up the combo turn, and then draw lands while going off.

    I expect we'll see people trying Sensei's Divining Top/Bolas's Citadel decks in vintage.

  2. #2

    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    You could also run some combination of Charbelcher with Mana Severance.

  3. #3
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    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    The modern list that I saw making some round was: https://scontent.fsdu5-1.fna.fbcdn.n...09&oe=5D2D72BF

    Not sure how good it is or if it can be converted into a better legacy list.

  4. #4

    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    Quote Originally Posted by Cire View Post
    The modern list that I saw ...
    Not sure how good it is or if it can be converted into a better legacy list.
    There are certainly card-for-card upgrades like Transmute Artifact and Volcanic Island.

  5. #5
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    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    Quote Originally Posted by rufus View Post
    There are certainly card-for-card upgrades like Transmute Artifact and Volcanic Island.
    I mean fair . . . also I guess we could play Gamble/Goblin Welder or even enlightened tutor for consistency.

  6. #6
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    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    That Modern shell is all Trash and no Treasure (for Legacy). I wouldn't bother trying to port that shell into Legacy. We have access to so much better library manipulation, rituals and combo enablers that you could use entirely different deck engines.

    Some relevant interactions with Bolas's Citadel that you can't do in Modern:

    -Entomb + Goblin Welder + artifact (e.g. Mox Diamond, Great Furnace, Lion's Eye Diamond)
    Put it into play on turn 2 with mana still open.

    -Show and Tell
    Self-explanatory

    -Brainstorm
    Don't like your top card? Put the top 3 in your hand, then take any two cards in your hand and stack them in the order you want to cast them

    -Ponder/Preordain
    Don't like your top card? Reorder them and draw one you don't want (to remove it from the library), or shuffle your library.

    -Lim-Dul's Vault
    Don't like your top card? Reorder your library.

    -Scroll Rack
    Don't like your top card? Stack the top few cards of your deck

    -Enlightened Tutor/Personal Tutor
    Literally choose your top card to cast anything for free

    -Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Culling the Weak...
    Hardcast Citadel

    -Thought Lash
    Get rid of cards you don't want for free

    With all the library manipulation available, there's no need to play it in a 2-land deck. With enough cantrips you can get rid of unwanted topdecks (e.g. lands, extra Citadels) as needed to keep the chain going. A higher land count and cantrips also make the deck more consistent.

    I'm surprised no one's mentioned Aetherflux Reservoir. Seems like an auto-include. You'll never run out of life, and you have the back-up win condition of burning them for 50. EDIT: Nevermind, I just noticed Reservoir in the bottom of the OP.

  7. #7

    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    Quote Originally Posted by FTW View Post
    ...

    I'm surprised no one's mentioned Aetherflux Reservoir. Seems like an auto-include. You'll never run out of life, and you have the back-up win condition of burning them for 50. EDIT: Nevermind, I just noticed Reservoir in the bottom of the OP.
    As long as the curve is low enough, Tendrils of agony is better.

  8. #8

    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    Im wondering in a non rhetorical way, how is this better than ad nauseum?

    Comparability:
    - you already want to run a lot of acceleration to cast it early
    - 1 mana more
    - artifact i.e. different ways of finding it (? Relevant?)
    - cast instead of draw (can brick on lands vs still need to pay to cast)

  9. #9

    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    Quote Originally Posted by Daize View Post
    Im wondering in a non rhetorical way, how is this better than ad nauseum?

    Comparability:
    - you already want to run a lot of acceleration to cast it early
    - 1 mana more
    - artifact i.e. different ways of finding it (? Relevant?)
    - cast instead of draw (can brick on lands vs still need to pay to cast)
    You don’t need to win in one go. Also like previously mentioned you can weld it in or snt. Let’s you run 4 tendrils.
    Quote Originally Posted by Laser Brains View Post
    With the printing of Gigantosaurus, Thrashing Brontodon and Steel Leaf Champion the deck has evolved from good to very competitive. Anyway, give it a few play tests if you are interested and let me know what you think.

    Winter Maze
    Quote Originally Posted by CptHaddock View Post
    With veteran explorer I know that I 100% will not enjoy a 30 minute grindfest against someone who can barely afford dual lands and believes that their deck can cast a 10 mana 8/8.

  10. #10

    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    Quote Originally Posted by Daize View Post
    Im wondering in a non rhetorical way, how is this better than ad nauseum?

    Comparability:
    - you already want to run a lot of acceleration to cast it early
    - 1 mana more
    - artifact i.e. different ways of finding it (? Relevant?)
    - cast instead of draw (can brick on lands vs still need to pay to cast)
    I think the advantages are (1) artifacts are easier to find and cheat into play than instants (2) you can use the cards you get to gain life and keep going.

    Another big downside is that it's vulnerable to instant-speed removal.

  11. #11

    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    I don't see this card being good enough for Legacy. Maybe in some kind of Welder deck?

    It's more likely that it could find a place in Modern. I would want to test it out in the Lantern or Whir Prison shells. They have so many free or one cost artifacts that it could be a pretty sick card in a deck like that and open them up to pivoting from a control game-plan to a combo win. Also, with Whir you don't need to pay three black and you can put only one or two copies in the deck since you get to tutor for it.

  12. #12
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    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    Yeah, I could see this as a value engine in some kind of creative Goblin Welder deck. It reminds me of the card Future Sight. Charbelcher's no-land or low-land conditions are too stringent. With the same all-in shell, you could play Spanish Inquisition, which is banking on always hitting BBB, whereas Bolas's Citadel is demanding 3BBB. It would be fun with Fastbond, but that's obviously not available in this format.

  13. #13
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    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    Would white be a useful splash color for Children of Korlis, similar to what Tin Fins has done in the past? I'm not sure a 6 mana artifact is better than just playing Ad Nauseam and Angel's Grace together, which is a clear win on the spot. This artifact creates a storm engine (provided you can find a way to push aside lands on top) that costs life similar to Ad Nauseam.

    So why not both? It should be fairly easy to manage a deterministic win once you resolve one of the combos.

    4x Children of Korlis
    4x Ad Nauseam
    4x Angel's Grace
    4x Bolas's Citadel


    EDIT: Another way to manage the lands issue would be with Endless Horizons, but would require 4x Scrubland and 4x Godless Shrine to make the black mana requirement work alongside Lotus Petals and Lion's Eye Diamonds. Adding another expensive piece at 4 mana seems pretty difficult to pull off, but it's interesting to have something that takes all (or most) of your lands out of your deck so the Citadel is highly likely/guaranteed to draw you gas. You won't miss any land drops after you resolve Endless Horizons, either. You would guarantee at least 9 land drops.
    Brainstorm Realist

    I close my eyes and sink within myself, relive the gift of precious memories, in need of a fix called innocence. - Chuck Shuldiner

  14. #14

    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Safety View Post
    Would white be a useful splash color for Children of Korlis, similar to what Tin Fins has done in the past? I'm not sure a 6 mana artifact is better than just playing Ad Nauseam and Angel's Grace together, which is a clear win on the spot. This artifact creates a storm engine (provided you can find a way to push aside lands on top) that costs life similar to Ad Nauseam.

    So why not both? It should be fairly easy to manage a deterministic win once you resolve one of the combos.

    4x Children of Korlis
    4x Ad Nauseam
    4x Angel's Grace
    4x Bolas's Citadel
    I'm pretty skeptical on resolving ad nauseam in this deck on its own, but I would definitely watch someone run this on twitch.
    Quote Originally Posted by Laser Brains View Post
    With the printing of Gigantosaurus, Thrashing Brontodon and Steel Leaf Champion the deck has evolved from good to very competitive. Anyway, give it a few play tests if you are interested and let me know what you think.

    Winter Maze
    Quote Originally Posted by CptHaddock View Post
    With veteran explorer I know that I 100% will not enjoy a 30 minute grindfest against someone who can barely afford dual lands and believes that their deck can cast a 10 mana 8/8.

  15. #15
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    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    i think it could be fun to run a deck with


    4 goblin welder
    4 trash for treasure
    4 ghoulcaller's bell
    4 codex shredder
    4 lantern of insight
    4 lotus petal
    4 mox opal
    4 bolas's citadel
    4 faithless looting
    1 paradox engine
    1 aetherflux reservoir
    1 drafna's restoration
    1 orbs of warding
    1 ensnaring bridge
    1 wurmcoil engine


    this could be an interesting take on using these cards. not sure if it's any good! entomb could also be good here, but looting is also pretty interesting here as it's still in color.
    -rob

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    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    Quote Originally Posted by kinda View Post
    I'm pretty skeptical on resolving ad nauseam in this deck on its own, but I would definitely watch someone run this on twitch.
    You would need Angel's Grace at the same time or risk going low on life and having a CoK active to recoup the life loss. Ideally it would be multiple CoK to pair with Citadel or AG + Ad Nauseam, the former drawing a bunch of cards and the latter drawing your whole deck. You avoid the trouble of reanimating Griselbrand but you add on the trouble of working around Citadel. Angel's Grace allows you to play a bunch of cards with Citadel until you can't pay for the top card in life anymore. AG + AN is just a modern combo that wins the game on the spot for 6 mana, something Legacy could do easily but is slower than traditional ANT and a lot slower than TES. Once you start brewing with an inefficient engine like Citadel I think you have to dig pretty deep to make it work, and even then it's likely not as powerful as what's already available (Griselbrand or ANT/TES engines.)

    EDIT:Ancestral Knowledge seems to be pretty good with Citadel as well. You can exile the lands to and likely 'storm' off.
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    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    Quote Originally Posted by Daize View Post
    Im wondering in a non rhetorical way, how is this better than ad nauseum?

    Comparability:
    - you already want to run a lot of acceleration to cast it early
    - 1 mana more
    - artifact i.e. different ways of finding it (? Relevant?)
    - cast instead of draw (can brick on lands vs still need to pay to cast)
    It casts the spells for you, like you say, that seems like an absurd advantage. Pay 1 mana extra, get [edit: potentially] 15 mana back.

    This is my favorite card in this set, I hope no one breaks it so we can have fun with it. I'll try it in Grixis Painter first, with LED and Transmutes to find it and Welder to cheat it into play. Also may try it in Bizarro Stormy.

  18. #18

    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    Quote Originally Posted by pettdan View Post
    It casts the spells for you, like you say, that seems like an absurd advantage. Pay 1 mana extra, get 15 mana back.

    This is my favorite card in this set, I hope no one breaks it so we can have fun with it. I'll try it in Grixis Painter first, with LED and Transmutes to find it and Welder to cheat it into play. Also may try it in Bizarro Stormy.
    Using this thing to cast Emrakul .
    Quote Originally Posted by Laser Brains View Post
    With the printing of Gigantosaurus, Thrashing Brontodon and Steel Leaf Champion the deck has evolved from good to very competitive. Anyway, give it a few play tests if you are interested and let me know what you think.

    Winter Maze
    Quote Originally Posted by CptHaddock View Post
    With veteran explorer I know that I 100% will not enjoy a 30 minute grindfest against someone who can barely afford dual lands and believes that their deck can cast a 10 mana 8/8.

  19. #19
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    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    Quote Originally Posted by kinda View Post
    Using this thing to cast Emrakul .
    Well, it's a possibility. Maybe if you run living wish and brainstorm, you can then wish for emrakul if you have a brainstorm in hand/top card of library, put emrakul on top and cast it. I guess a list with children of korlis can get there too, more easily. But just running 4 tendrils seems better.. Or maybe a mix.

  20. #20

    Re: [SCD]Bolas's Citadel

    The nice thing is that the first tendrils does not need to be lethal.
    Bolas's citadel + tendrils -> you pay 4 life, but win 4

    If you add other spells, besides the initial requirement of being able to pay 4, each tendrils help you to cast more spells.

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