We’ve all had moments like this.

You’ve played a couple of games with your new deck. It’s so close to perfect—it’s just missing that one card. You know exactly what effect you need. You’ve started scouring your collection and Gatherer, and you’ve been searching for similar decks from past formats to figure out just what that missing card might be. You’re at your wit’s end trying to figure out what fits in to those last few slots. Sometimes, that effect just doesn’t exist, and the project is shelved or reworked. Sometimes, you settle for something that’s close enough. Occasionally, there is a revelation.

Those moments are the reason I play Magic: the moments when all the pieces fall into place, and you stumble into the perfect card or interaction for your pet deck-building project. For me, these moments of inspiration have always felt like level-ups, as though I’ve just identified something unique and important about a particular card or deck and that I understand it on a more meaningful level. Often, these lessons would apply either directly or indirectly to improving other decks and projects—an awesome bonus!

Most examples I have of moments when everything came together are small: the first time I understood that Harrow both fixed my mana and set up threshold; the first time I drafted Eternal Witness and Crystal Shard; the first time I returned Nim Deathmantle to play with Sun Titan; Prismatic Omen plus Emeria, the Sky Ruin; Disciple of Bolas plus Child of Alara or Grimgrin, Corpse-Born. It always seems so obvious in retrospect, but those moments were certainly pivotal in my development as a deck-builder. This week marked the most recent revelation, and I want to take this opportunity to share how a small discovery can have large consequences for a broad range of decks. So what’s the card in question?

This seems to be such a small effect. It’s certainly replaceable, right? After all, it’s just an inefficient filtering effect that’s definitely worse than cards like Sphinx's Revelation or Blue Sun's Zenith—at least in some circumstances. Context is everything, though, and a card that has very little value in most circumstances can very easily turn into an absolute all-star in others. Earlier this week, I had no idea this card existed. Now it’s in every blue deck I have built. Here’s how that happened.

Ephara Draw-Go ? Commander | Carlos Gutierrez

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (10)
• 1 Weathered Wayfarer
• 1 Trinket Mage
• 1 Archaeomancer
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Emeria Angel
• 1 Restoration Angel
• 1 Knight-Captain of Eos
• 1 Sun Titan
• 1 Draining Whelk
• 1 Angel of the Dire Hour

• Planeswalkers (7)
• 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
• 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1 Jace, Memory Adept
• 1 Venser, the Sojourner
• 1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
• 1 Karn Liberated
• 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

• Spells (23)
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Mystical Tutor
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Quicken
• 1 Muddle the Mixture
• 1 Planar Birth
• 1 Merchant Scroll
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Second Sunrise
• 1 Thirst for Knowledge
• 1 Return to Dust
• 1 Faith's Reward
• 1 Cryptic Command
• 1 Rout
• 1 Akroma's Vengeanc
• 1 Planar Cleansing
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Fated Retribution
• 1 Dig Through Time
• 1 Read the Runes
• 1 Sphinx's Revelation
• 1 Decree of Justice

• Artifacts and Enchantments (14)
• 1 Zuran Orb
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Land Tax
• 1 Elixir of Immortality
• 1 Surveyor's Scope
• 1 Compulsion
• 1 Mobilization
• 1 Druidic Satchel
• 1 Rings of Brighthearth
• 1 First Response
• 1 Trading Post
• 1 Pursuit of Knowledge
• 1 Decree of Silence

• Lands (45)
• 1 Terrain Generator
• 1 Vesuva
• 1 Thespian's Stage
• 1 Kjeldoran Outpost
• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 1 Bant Panorama
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 New Benalia
• 1 Flood Plain
• 1 Mistveil Plains
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Adarkar Wastes
• 1 Cephalid Coliseum
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Strip Mine
• 1 Tolaria West
• 1 Temple of Enlightenment
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Springjack Pasture
• 1 Flagstones of Trokair
• 1 Esper Panorama
• 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
• 1 Arid Mesa
• 13 Island
• 8 Plains

Buy This Deck

This is my Draw-Go Ephara deck I’ve written about previously. The deck has changed a reasonable amount since I last wrote about it, but the core game plan is the same. You’re trying to cheat extra lands into play using Surveyor's Scope, Faith's Reward, Second Sunrise, and various fetch lands. Sometimes, you are able to dump a bunch of lands into play with Planar Birth instead after pitching them to Compulsion or discarding to hand size with Compulsion. Regardless, you leverage that mana advantage to make tokens, draw cards, and bury your opponents in Planeswalker advantage, protected by the combination of Knight-Captain of Eos and Soldier tokens.

Read the Runes might not have the same raw power as Blue Sun's Zenith in this list, but it’s so much more flexible, and it functions as part of so many different engines that there’s an enormous upside to playing Read the Runes instead. Sure, you have to jump through more hoops, but the upside on Read the Runes is so much higher, and when it’s bad, it’s really not that much worse than an effect like Stroke of Genius.

All of these crazy interactions led me to wondering whether this is a card that slots into my Child Lands deck. After all, that’s also a deck that likes drawing cards and sacrificing permanents. This may be a little crazy, but I think this may be exactly the card I’ve been looking for in that deck as well.

Child Lands ? Commander | Carlos Gutierrez

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (13)
• 1 Phantasmal Image
• 1 Snapcaster Mage
• 1 Athreos, God of Passage
• 1 Knight of the Reliquary
• 1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 1 Drift of Phantasms
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
• 1 Tilling Treefolk
• 1 Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1 Genesis
• 1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
• 1 Sun Titan

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Liliana of the Veil
• 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1 Kiora, the Crashing Wave

• Spells (17)
• 1 Gamble
• 1 Vampiric Tutor
• 1 Crop Rotation
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Entomb
• 1 Read the Runes
• 1 Life from the Loam
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Diabolic Intent
• 1 Summer Bloom
• 1 Yawgmoth's Will
• 1 Wargate
• 1 Realms Uncharted
• 1 Intuition
• 1 Journey of Discovery
• 1 Faith's Reward
• 1 Ad Nauseam

• Artifacts and Enchantments (11)
• 1 Zuran Orb
• 1 Manabond
• 1 Exploration
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Sylvan Library
• 1 Nim Deathmantle
• 1 Druidic Satchel
• 1 Oblivion Stone
• 1 Crucible of Worlds
• 1 Birthing Pod

• Lands (54)
• 1 Krosan Verge
• 1 Verdant Catacombs
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Wooded Foothills
• 1 Windswept Heath
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Arid Mesa
• 1 Plains
• 1 Volcanic Island
• 1 Taiga
• 1 Bayou
• 1 Tropical Island
• 1 Tundra
• 1 Savannah
• 1 Plateau
• 1 Underground Sea
• 1 Scrubland
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 1 Temple Garden
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Watery Grave
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
• 1 Bazaar of Baghdad
• 1 Phyrexian Tower
• 1 Thespian's Stage
• 1 Slayers' Stronghold
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Magosi, the Waterveil
• 1 Glacial Chasm
• 1 Deserted Temple
• 1 Maze of Ith
• 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
• 1 Kor Haven
• 1 Riftstone Portal
• 1 High Market
• 1 Temple of Deceit
• 1 Volrath's Stronghold
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Petrified Field
• 1 Dark Depths
• 1 Dryad Arbor
• 1 Secluded Steppe
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 1 Diamond Valley
• 1 Cephalid Coliseum
• 1 Vesuva
• 1 Strip Mine
• 1 Tolaria West

Buy This Deck

Once again, Read the Runes just does everything. It functions as a sacrifice outlet for both creatures and lands at instant speed. It turns lands from Life from the Loam into actual cards. It sets you up for enormous blowouts using Faith's Reward. You can use it to sacrifice permanents that are going to die anyway, such as Glacial Chasm and Dryad Arbor, to net a few cards on the cheap. This isn’t Ad Nauseam by any stretch of the imagination, but Ad Nauseam doesn’t do all the cool tricks that Read the Runes can. Once again, this is a case of a card being an awesome role-player and fitting perfectly into every piece of what a deck is trying to do. Let’s see if we can go three for three.

[Cardlist title=Grimgrin Attrition ? Commander | Carlos Gutierrez]

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (35)
• 1 Gravecrawler
• 1 Bloodsoaked Champion
• 1 Phantasmal Image
• 1 Bloodghast
• 1 Nezumi Graverobber
• 1 Reassembling Skeleton
• 1 Blood Artist
• 1 Ashen-Skin Zubera
• 1 Burnished Hart
• 1 Trinket Mage
• 1 Grim Haruspex
• 1 Undead Gladiator
• 1 Cadaver Imp
• 1 Geralf's Messenger
• 1 Reef Worm
• 1 Falkenrath Noble
• 1 Vengeful Dead
• 1 Entomber Exarch
• 1 Krovikan Horror
• 1 Crypt Ghast
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Dimir House Guard
• 1 Evil Twin
• 1 Disciple of Bolas
• 1 Phyrexian Delver
• 1 Sphinx Summoner
• 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1 Havengul Lich
• 1 Corpse Connoisseur
• 1 Veilborn Ghoul
• 1 Soul of Innistrad
• 1 Harvester of Souls
• 1 Vela the Night-Clad
• 1 Steel Hellkite
• 1 Butcher of Malakir

• Spells (7)
• 1 Undying Evil
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Malicious Affliction
• 1 Makeshift Mannequin
• 1 Silence the Believers
• 1 Read the Runes
• 1 Profane Command

• Artifacts and Enchantments (18)
• 1 Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1 Tortured Existence
• 1 Wayfarer's Bauble
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Necromancer's Stockpile
• 1 Nim Deathmantle
• 1 Dark Prophecy
• 1 Unstable Obelisk
• 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Obsidian Battle-Axe
• 1 Mimic Vat
• 1 Grave Pact
• 1 Trading Post
• 1 Dawn of the Dead
• 1 Dictate of Erebos

• Lands (39)
• 1 Thawing Glaciers
• 1 Drowned Catacomb
• 1 Myriad Landscapes
• 1 Thespian's Stage
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 1 Tectonic Edge
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Sunken Ruins
• 1 Deserted Temple
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Vesuva
• 1 Temple of Deceit
• 1 Cabal Coffers
• 1 Tainted Isle
• 1 Crypt of Agadeem
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1 Tolaria West
• 1 Dimir Aqueduct
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 2 Island
• 16 Swamp

Buy This Deck

Enter Read the Runes.

Now I can filter away excess lands and turn my cheap, rebuyable creatures into actual resources that can be used to keep the game under control while I continue to bring the beats. You might think Reprocess is a more commonly played card that does the same thing; you’re mostly right, but there are important distinctions. Reprocess is only ever going to cost 4, but it’s a sorcery and requires you to sacrifice permanents to do anything. Read the Runes has the two important qualities of being an instant and allowing you to mix and match sacrificing extra creatures and just looting into a better hand.

This is an especially powerful combination in this deck because it has a huge suite of answers, but not all of them are useful in every situation. Sometimes, a spot removal spell is better than a Grave Pact—sometimes vice versa. Sometimes, you really need to hit a way to gain life or a Cabal Coffers to be able to cast all your spells. The ability to loot through your deck digging for those cards is a powerful one, and I intend to take full advantage.

Last-Minute #MTGDTK Rundown

Profound Journey is an exciting new tool for Kemba, Kha Regent and Ephara. The ability to rebuy creatures, Equipment, lands, and Planeswalkers alike is super-powerful, even if we’re paying a premium for the flexibility of the effect. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that this card isn’t good enough when you have to pay 7. I also wouldn’t be surprised if it’s among the best cards added to those decks in several sets.

I feel that I should be excited about Risen Executioner, but I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do with it yet. I feel that it should slot into Grimgrin, but I don’t know that I’m interested in paying 10 or more to rebuy this guy as games go late. I think it’s exceedingly likely that you’ll generally have better things to do with your mana unless you can consistently control the contents of your graveyard.

Sunsorch Regent will be slotting directly into my girlfriend’s Oloro, Ageless Ascetic deck. It’s big. It gains life. It stays on her creatures-with-flying-that-are-mostly-owls theme. What more could you ask for?

The last card I’m excited about so far is Ruthless Deathfang. Butcher of Malakir and Grave Pact are awesome. Consequently, I’m willing to believe that a more political, albeit less powerful, version of the effect is also reasonable. At this cost, you’re competing with Reaper from the Abyss, but there are times when spot removal just can’t do what Edicts do. I don’t know if this will stay in many of my decks, but I’ll certainly be giving it a try.