I Gain 20 Life, U Lose 20 Life

by tleung84633 on 14 June 2014

Main Deck (60 cards)

Creatures (6)


Sorceries (4)


Enchantments (4)


Land (22)

Sideboard (15 cards)

Creatures (4)


Sorceries (5)

Instants (4)


Artifacts (2)

Submit a list of cards below to bulk import them all into your sideboard. Post one card per line using a format like "4x Birds of Paradise" or "1 Blaze", you can even enter just the card name by itself like "Wrath of God" for single cards.


Deck Description

A new take on an old twist (commonly known as Trix). A combo deck that relies on Illusions of Grandeur and Donate.

How to Play

Play Illusions of Grandeur and you gain 20 life, then Donate it to your opponent (needs to pay 2 mana the first turn, then 4 the next turn, then 6, etc.) until he/she can no longer pay the mana cost and the enchantment is sacrificed and he/she loses 20 life...or Boomerang it back to his/her hand immediately for an instant win.

Augur of Bolas/Impulse/Frantic Search help look for the cards, but if you want to make it Legacy Legal, you can always replace Frantic Search for Ponder/Preordain.

Use Vapor Snag/Mana Leak/Counterspell to delay your opponent until you find Illusions/Donate. You can also play Steel Golem and then donate him for further stalling to buy more time...but you should be good with life once Illusions comes out (+20 life!).

Deck Tags

  • Control
  • trix
  • Life Gain
  • Life Drain

Deck at a Glance

Social Stats

14
Likes

This deck has been viewed 5,527 times.

Mana Curve

Mana Symbol Occurrence

044000

Card Legality

  • Not Legal in Standard
  • Not Legal in Modern
  • Legal in Vintage
  • Not Legal in Legacy

Deck discussion for I Gain 20 Life, U Lose 20 Life

This is my take on the old "Trix" deck. It's a great way to play and win rather than using the old "use creatures to deal 20 damage". What do you guys think? Thanks for any input! I really appreciate it! =)

0
Posted 14 June 2014 at 06:06

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interesting concept, why the chanceries?

1
Posted 23 June 2014 at 23:36

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Oh, the chanceries are there for extra mana since the optimum number is 5 mana. Once you have 4 mana (and 1 in your hand), you can play illusions (but don't have enough mana to donate it yet). Once it rolls around to your turn again, untap the 4 mana, tap 2 for the upkeep, play a land (3 open now), and donate it. Now on his turn, he'll have to immediately pay 4 mana (as opposed to getting it donated immediately and only having to pay 2 mana initially).

0
Posted 24 June 2014 at 04:55

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ok, thanks, makes sense now:)

1
Posted 24 June 2014 at 07:39

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As I'm quite new to MTG I do have a short question concerning this deck. As we all know, everyone starts with 20 life. But, if you donate the Illusions to your opponent, he would have 40 life until he cannot afford the upkeep and loses the 20 life again. This would mean he still has 20 life left.

I'm sorry for my misunderstanding, but what's the trick of this combo?

Edit:

I think I got it, finally.

1: I play Illusion and gain 20 life. Lifebase ist 40 for me and 20 for the opponent
2: I donate the Illusions to my opponent. I have still 40 life, my opponent has 20 life.
3: Wait for my opponent who is no longer able to pay the upkeep or boomerang Illusions to my opponents hand.
4: He loses 20 life and the game is over?

Am I right?

BTW: first post ever...hurray!

1
Posted 24 June 2014 at 10:11

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Heheh. Thanks for the post! With Illusions, when you play it, you gain 20 life. After you donate it, your opponent becomes the controller, so all of the effects now hit him. In essence, he never gained 20 life (the card says: when Illusions comes into play, gain 20 life). Since he never had control of it when it came into play, he doesn't get the 20 life. Same goes for Steel Golem. You cannot play creatures until you donate it to him. After that, you get to play creatures (not that you need any heheheh).

0
Posted 24 June 2014 at 10:19

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You got it! Just in case he plays some refuge lands to gain 1 life, vapor snag always pings him back down.

0
Posted 24 June 2014 at 10:30

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Great, thank you very much for the quick response!

Absolutely deadly combo!!

Is there a way to switch frantic search to make this deck playable for legacy?

1
Posted 24 June 2014 at 10:35

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Yeah, I put that in the description ;-) You can take them out for 1 ponder (restricted in legacy - you only get 1) + 3 preordain (or 4 if you don't want the ponder). Cards are in the sideboard. Ponder/Preordain do the same thing. Search for cards. I just like Frantic Search since it's a "free" card since you can untap your lands (but you still have to discard 2 cards so you don't actually get +1 card advantage...).

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Posted 24 June 2014 at 10:38

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My fault. But thanks for the explanation!

I love your deck. As I am looking for a new deck, this one looks absolutely great.

1
Posted 24 June 2014 at 10:40

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Ponder is not actually restricted in legacy, legacy only has a banlist!. As for the trick with boomerang, the illusions go back to your hand, but it still works. just to clarify!

1
Posted 24 June 2014 at 15:30

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Oh yes, good catch. I forgot that the opponent is the controller, but I'm still the owner. Well, the boomerangs can still bounce their creatures back....or their lands, so to slow them down 1 turn on the Illusion's cumulative upkeeps heheh.

1
Posted 24 June 2014 at 19:32

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you can bounce the illusions as well, doesn't matter that they go to your hand, they are still leaving play on the opponents side

1
Posted 24 June 2014 at 21:12

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Oh yes, good point!

1
Posted 24 June 2014 at 23:28

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Sapphire Medallion.
Takes combo down from 7 mana to 5 mana.
Most people play it in Trix.

1
Posted 25 June 2014 at 14:38

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I sideboarded 2 of them for now. Have to figure out what to replace. Good addition! Time to check out your other decks heheh.

0
Posted 25 June 2014 at 21:45

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Yep, second turn Sapphire Medallion rocks in a mono blue deck.
Especially with the donate/illusions combo.

4
Posted 26 June 2014 at 02:45

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Illusions of Grandeur...

"Killing some people since Urza's Destiny -set."

0
Posted 11 July 2014 at 16:07

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I am still wondering how he is paying the mana for the combo.

1
Posted 11 July 2014 at 18:14

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Do you mean Illusions + Donate? Let's assume you play a land each turn. So by turn 4, you have 4 lands. Play Illusions and gain 20 life. Turn 5 rolls around, you have to tap 2 lands for the cumulative upkeep and put down another land (3 untapped now). Then donate it to your opponent. Now it's his turn and the cumulative upkeep goes up by 2 again, so he has to tap 4 lands...then 6...then 8, until he can't pay the upkeep and KA-BLAMMO! Explodes and he loses 20 life. ;-)

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Posted 11 July 2014 at 19:20

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Crap, missed that. 99 out of 100 people use to run the old trix deck with Sapphire Medallion...so I assumed you needed it for the combo to work. I have a deck very close to it, on Magic Vault...with Medallion....cause I thought you needed it for the cumulative upkeep. I am dumb.

I hate to post my decks on other people's decks...but could you look at this, then, and see if i do not even need the Sapphire Medallion?

http://www.mtgvault.com/jessie/decks/the-goodwill-store/

If it isn't even needed...maybe I could add the Augur card.

1
Posted 12 July 2014 at 01:09

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really? I had no idea so many people using trix used sapphire medallion. maybe I should up it from the sideboard to the main...

0
Posted 12 July 2014 at 01:12

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Thing is...i am searching (yahoo and google) old school trix decks...and only about half of them have the Sapphire in them.
I am feeling like a total idiot now. Maybe, in my mind, I made up the fact that everyone used Sapphire in the Trix decks.

Almost every deck, that i have seen that used Sapphire was dual color. Like red/blue Trix deck. And green/blue oath of druids/trix deck.

So, just ignore my comments. I am dumb :)

1
Posted 12 July 2014 at 01:24

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Wha-? Someone who makes such good decks CAN'T be dumb. I DO think sapphire medallion is great in this deck. I just haven't figured out what to replace it with yet.

0
Posted 12 July 2014 at 02:55

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You boost my ego! :)
IT isn't needed, the Medallion, i just always thought it was.

I love the Steel Golem/Donate you have going on.
Frantic Search...is banned. So is Mystic Tutor (what I run in my Trix deck)...it is very hard to get a search engine for the Donate, that isn't banned.

What about Puca's Mischief...maybe it has a place? Not sure. It isn't absolutely needed either. Key I have learned...only put in cards that must be in a deck...and try to make every card have 2 purposes. So, with that in mind. Your deck is very, very solid!

Anyways, love the deck!!

1
Posted 12 July 2014 at 03:01

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Jessie, please don't say that you are dumb. You are as smart as all others around here. Maybe even a *bit* smarter.
: )

1
Posted 12 July 2014 at 08:55

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There's a reason Forrest Gump said, "Stupid is as stupid does". Since when have you done anything stupid except put up decks that people copy and proxy? Yes, Frantic Search is banned, so that's why I sideboarded preordain and ponder. Yes, you have a very good point - try to make every card have 2 purposes. Thanks a lot for the compliment! =)=)=)

1
Posted 12 July 2014 at 09:14

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