What are some ways I can make my Illegal Slivers EDH deck more illegal?
Hey there! I posted this on r/magictcg a while back, but I've seen and received many new ideas for cards and I'd love to see if you have any new ones.
I had my Japanese copy of Sliver Queen in my wallet for years because my friend found it for $2 in a bargain bin, and I thought I could just buy another - not knowing it was Reserve List. Whoops. So I decided to build an Illegal Slivers EDH deck where every card is somehow not quite legitimate, with a few restrictions - no power 9, no OG duals, and if I can help it try to make as much variety between restrictions as possible, all while trying to keep it as a legitimate deck that aims to use Queen as the wincon. But I'm only about a quarter of the way there. Here's what's up:
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Cards from other games with the same or similar names are used; Swamp from Wyvern, Island from Dominion, Ancient Tomb from Pokemon, Xiahou Dun the One-eyed from Wixoss, Karoo from One Piece, Duel Masters copy of Muscle Sliver...
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I'm using relevant illegal MtG prints - World Championship decks, Mystery Booster playtests, an art copy of the Unearth Sliver I keep forgetting the name of, silver borders / acorns, etc. Also Clickslither (from Legions!) instead of Quick Sliver (from Legions!).
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I was looking for a Wheel of Fortune tarot card before I found that lööps sticker and decided to go with that.
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My favorite is that someone originally stole the shipment of Crystalline Sliver promos before they were going to give them out... So if you had a copy of it at one point, it was literally-illegal stolen goods. Eventually they retrieved them and distributed them.
I've got other ideas, and I'm trying to break each rule. Looking for:
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The best single thing from the ban list
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Lutri as companion, or one card used twice
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One ante card
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Planechase and Conspiracy
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The card Unquenchable Fury, to be confused with Unquenchable Fury
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A 30th Anniversary card
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Some oversize cards as regular-size proxies
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An AI generated Sliver as a proxy
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Some configuration of Unfinity Stickers to make a new Sliver card of my own
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A World's Smallest for something like a Night's Whisper
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An Armageddon trading card for Armageddon, a Heart
hstone from WoW TCG, a Force of Will from L5R TCG, a whole bevy of cards from LotR card game... I still also need Sliv-Mizzet.
And once this is all done... Find 100 different card sleeves to wrap these in. I'd also love - LOVE - to get the Queen graded and still use it as my Commander.
So, Tildes - how else can I make this deck even worse? Thanks!
Have you considered including the best oversized card of all?
Chaos Orb (Oversized)
I think I still have mine tucked away somewhere in storage, but back when I still regularly played in-person it was always fun to bring out as a joke. :P
How can I see a picture of this card in scale? Google gave me this result is this for real?
Yeah, that seems about right. It's pretty dang big. From the description:
p.s. Here is another size comparison pic:
https://3.allegroimg.com/s1024/0ca9d7/d07fa9164404800841072f0ae3a3
Wahahaha that's hilarious I love how it's supposed to be played as well! Pure chaos :)
Incidentally, I have a signed print of Fertile Ground by the same artist, Mark Tedin!
I'm jelly. I don't have any signed cards. :(
If I was to try to get one though, I think it would be Brian Snoddy's version of Incinerate, from Mirage. That's one of my favorite pieces of M:TG art. I even drew my own A4 sized copy using charcoal and orange+yellow pencil crayon way back in the day so I could hang that on my wall. :P
Mr Tedin was very nice to chat with :) I asked how the art is decided and he said WotC gives them card titles and basic info, but beyond that they have a Iot of artistic control. I asked if there's anything they're not allowed to draw and he said a few things, like torture and (I forget). And then he was commissioned to draw Torture 🙃
I wonder if the artists post schedules of where they are appearing for signings, maybe you can still get Mr Snoddy to sign it for you. Heres his website contact. He's in Seattle, and it looks like he totally signs. -----> https://www.briansnoddyart.com/contact
LOL
Oh shit... that's awesome. Thanks for sharing that link! I am very very tempted to send him a copy of Incinerate now to get him to sign it for me. I wish I had kept my own drawing of incinerate so I could send that to him to get signed, but I gave it, and a bunch more of my old artwork, to my developmental disabled cousin (who is an artist herself) when she came to visit last time since she liked them so much. That does give me a perfect excuse to draw it again though, and hopefully better this time (since I was only like 14 years old when I drew the first one), and send that to Mr. Snoddy to get signed. :P So thanks again for the link, I am definitely holding on to that one.
Hah! I'm really surprised to hear of someone else owning one of these. I think I got it out of the back of Duelist magazine issue 2, which I only bought because it was on the back of the manual included in Ice Age starter decks.
Brings back some memories for sure.
I actually had no recollection of how I got my oversized Choas Orb, but your comment inspired me to go hunting for answers. According to this site:
http://www.magiclibrarities.net/447-rarities-6-x-9-cards-english-cards-index.html
The oversized Chaos Orb actually came from InQuest #12. And I definitely remember the cover of that issue, so it's probably where I got mine from.
The oversized Black Lotus (which I also have) was from Scrye #15. And I also remember the cover of that issue as well, so it's probably where I got mine from.
And it was the oversized Juzám Djinn, Jester's Cap, and Shivan Dragon that came from Duelist magazine #12, #18, and #21, respectively. But I don't recognize any of those covers... which isn't surprising since I don't actually have any of those oversized cards. :P IIRC a buddy of mine had the oversized Shivan Dragon though.
Huh. I was almost sure I got it out of Duelist #2. If not, I have no idea where I got it. I know I lost it in an abandoned storage locker in 2009 though. I definitely never bought any InQuest issues, though that cover does look familiar.
The only time I used it we'd play rock-paper-scissors to choose who gets to add it to our deck, and we'd represent it with a land card with "Chaos Orb" sharpied onto it.
Despite those other Duelist magazine covers not looking familiar to me, I actually do recognize the #2 one you linked. A bunch of the interior pages are even ringing bells in my mind too. So it's entirely possible that's where it came from, since it's weird I recognize that issue despite never being a huge Duelist magazine person. But I definitely remember that InQuest #12 cover too, it does say "Magic: Monster Chaos Orb inside!" at the top, and I don't think I ever had two of the oversized Chaos Orbs. So I dunno.
And yeah, that's how I'd do it too. A proxy card for the deck (a forest with Chaos Orb written on it), and when I played that I would instead pull out the oversized version from my binder and slam it on the table for a laugh. :P
I don't understand half the things you said but I love the spirit of your post and I'm all invested in your success in building this ridiculous deck!
I can't read much Japanese but the flavor text for the queen is that her kids are always a part of her? Creepy >v< I love it.
What's the plan with this deck, is it possible to play in a tournament or just for kicks with friends? My exposure has been "finding a literal box full of cards someone threw away in a back alley" + "starter packs they gave away at PAX"
Not possible to play in a tournament even in the slightest. It is OP's intention to break as many legality rules as possible. It's clearly for casual play amongst consenting players (as they can always refuse to play against it)
MtG rules note that anything without a proper card back isn't legal for tournaments, and alters must contain the name and mana cost unmodified... So every card except the Crystalline Sliver is, literally by the rules, illegal to run. I tend to just goldfish EDH with myself since the format is kinda unbalanced (due to money, despite being a "casual" format), but it this is mainly for fun and because Slivers are my favorite aspect of Magic. It's been ridiculously enjoyable finding all these cards.
You could take Karn, Silver golem and use some whiteout + a black marker to make it read "Karn, Sliver golem"
You could proxy an expensive card (a land would probably work best) with a post-it note with the name of the card. Then have the card underneath it be cheatyface. Or alternatively put two cards in one sleeve, and have the back one be cheatyface. Or do both! Hide several in your deck
Banding sliver might be hard to get ahold of but qualifies
Plague Sliver is fun as a joke card, but might not actually be worth playing
Banding Sliver is in there! Next to the Dregscape art and Sliv-drazi Monstrosity. (Pic quality is super shitty, thanks imgur.)
Karn is hilarious, I'll probably do that and stick one of the Sliver stickers on his left hand. (I should probably order a few of those.) Looking at Scryfall, I could also totally modify Ancient Silver Dragon to "A... Silver Dragon" and mod the text box to say when "A... Sliver deals damage" lol
Love the concept!
Not sure I understand the assignment, but would a QR code fit? Maybe something that would redirect to a random version of card art?
Maybe an ascii art proxy?
My last really jank MtG experience (broke college student) involved a Ladies' Knight themed deck and debates about what constituted women's clothing, so in honor of that and feudalism making a comeback I'm gonna say knight cards count since they (have)
slivery.Oh man, I could either do a QR code to a card in Gatherer or do a QR code for the art of Shifting Sliver to make it randomly generate or link to a card art yeah. ASCII would be hilarious too. Thanks!
Don't remove another card to make space for it; then you can also break the deck size rule.
I was thinking of doing the conspiracy card that reduces deck size, but that's funnier. Thanks!
How about a digital-only Alchemy card? Most of them are totally possible to do in paper if you're willing to fudge a bit.
Was looking around - Oracle of the Alpha would be a funny way to cheese the Power 9 in, Tezzeret's Reckoning's art makes me laugh and it's just a plain decent draw 3... And then there's Davriel, lmao. Great idea, thank you!
EDIT: Friend reminded me of Faceless Agent, that's definitely the pick to go with one.
I've been thinking about what format changes would make it interesting to play this kind of deck, and I think I've got an inkling.
What else stands out to you all?
You could slip in two of the same card into the 99, but have one be in a different language.
You could have the wrong number of cards - go for 101 or 99 total.
You could add a partner commander, even though your current commander doesn't have partner. Something on brand might be The Prismatic Piper choosing "colorless".
From the banned list, Golos, Tireless Pilgrim would likely be a good, at least somewhat "fair" option.
Have an obvious proxy. Crayon or something.
Do you have a sliver token in your main deck already?