Inexorable Tide, Contagion Engine and Contagion Clasp

In this forum I'm gonna discuss the three cards listed above and both their benefits and drawbacks and also which decks and scenarios they work best in. Everything posted in this forum comes from persornal experience.

1.Inexorable Tide - Best used in creature heavy decks and other decks that don't run alot of instants because then it pretty much becomes a proliferation engine (please forgive the pun). The only thing you should watch out for is when you get mana flooded because you'll be drawing lands instead of cards you can cast.

2. Contagion Engine - People consider it slow I call it late game support. There are two decktypes in which you can safely run this card - creature heavy decks in whch you'll have such a field position that even if you're taking damage you'll still last long enough to play and control decks because you can kill off your opponent's creatures and last long enough to play it Inexorable Tide would still be good but the thing about Contagion Engine is if you're throwing countermagic and removal down or doing nothing else you can tap Contagion Engine and proliferate. Plus it proliferates twice but it also functions

3.Contagion Clasp - I guess it's good in the early game especially if you have a planeswalker out but I find the proliferation too slow.

I look forward to feedback.

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Date Posted: Mon Aug/15/11 at 8:10pm

Contagion Clasp is good for the fact that you can kill off a threatening creature early when against white weenie.

Why is Inexorable Tide only good in creature heavy decks. You seem to love Tezzeret. Why not use him to search some low cost artifacts to proliferate with.

[Edited by Turbine on 15/Aug/11 at 8:10PM]

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Date Posted: Mon Aug/15/11 at 8:18pm

I'm surprised that Tezzeret's Gambit, Plaguemaw Beast, or Viral Drake weren't talked about. They all have their place as well. I love that Gambit can be used as colorless draw, Plaguemaw works great in token saproling decks, and Viral doesn't have to be tapped so as long as you have mana, you could proliferate as much as you want. Infinite mana = Infinite Proliferate. Each has their place sure, but people will always find uses beyond the widely accepted ones that are often more original and better than the usual uses.

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Date Posted: Mon Aug/15/11 at 8:32pm

I do with Tumble Magnet when needed. You never know when an Eldrazi will be staring down at you. And the reason Tide is better in decks that don't run alot of instants is that if you're playing it in control you'll eventually run out of creatures to kill or counter therefore not being able to proliferate

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Date Posted: Mon Aug/15/11 at 8:36pm

W@W Podcaster

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I think that the review of Inexorable Tide was not entirely correct. I view it as a corner case combo card. Something like Djinn of Wishes, or a charge counter deck would use Inexorable Tide. If it is used with Planeswalkers, those walkers must have VERY good ultimate abilities. I could see Inexorable Tide in a deck with Nicol Bolas, Jace the Mindsculptor, AND Chandra Nalaar. Or other Planeswalkers like those.

Date Posted: Mon Aug/15/11 at 8:42pm

Any deck that uses alot of permanents would benefit from Inexorable Tide.

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Date Posted: Mon Aug/15/11 at 8:55pm

Any deck that uses a lot of permanents can use Inexorable Tide? That makes no sense. You only want Inexorable Tide if you have things to proliferate, like powerful Planeswalkers as Hungry suggested. Besides, if you made a deck full of Archmage Ascensions and instants, you could still use Inexorable Tide even though its not a permanent heavy deck.

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Date Posted: Mon Aug/15/11 at 9:19pm

Let me rephrase that. Any deck that uses alot of permanents with COUNTERS would be ideal with Inexorable Tide

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 6:26am

_{^{Plaguemaw Beast has potentiol to be an infinite proliferation engine. Tezzeret's Gambit is good but I don't use it because I don't need drawpower plus I prefer permanent proliferation. Same thing for Spread the Sickness and Fuel for the Cause.}}

Some instant heavy decks can run Inexorable Tide depending on what kind they are.

[Edited by MechanistLegend on 16/Aug/11 at 7:38AM]

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 6:45am

reaper

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plaguemaw beast, enduring renewal, intruder alarm, memnite/ornithopter/any zero zero is your infinite prolif. there are other ways as well and I will post them on the combo side soon

Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 6:56am

@reaper

I'm curious to see what your non-infinite combos are like.

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 9:32am

Mechanist, you don't need drawpower? Maybe I'm the only one, but I can never get enough draw power lol Nothing is more painful than sitting through a game and continuously topdecking lands

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 9:44am

Aaaah, Intruder Alarm, helping people make combos since 8th edition

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 9:47am

I have a trick. Let's say I have 3 Tezzies in the same spot in my deck. I take them and put one on top, one in the middle and one on the bottom. Now I would get in trouble for this but I shuffle and I always let my opponent cut so I figure I won't.

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 11:57am

@mechanist: nice insult, try this one: I'm curious as to what your feasible combos look like.

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 12:30pm

@Jester

You're just mad that I made Hovermyr, Lux Cannon, and Contagion Engine work in a competitive setting after you insulted it. Also I'm not insulting anything.

[Edited by MechanistLegend on 16/Aug/11 at 1:37PM]

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 12:41pm

Where did Lux Cannon and Hovermyr come from? And if you're making those all work together and no one can do anything about it, then you are most certainly NOT in a competitve setting.

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 1:35pm

I back it up by plaing blue/black control artifact. I use countermagic and removal to last long enough to play the Engine and I use Engine and Unwinding Clock to build up counters on Lux Cannon. I make Hovermyr and/or Vault Skirge 5/5s. And I usually side - out the Cannon and Clock for Go for the Throat and Doom Blade as needed. Plus in addition to 3 Contagion Engines I also use Life's Finale with Haunting Echoes in side-board so I can do Haunted End at my Liesure. And if I wipe the board and I have no creatures Tezzeret will either make one of my noncreature artifacts a 5/5 like a Tumble Magnet that has no counters left on it and beat my opponent to death while also using Tezzeret's ultimate when I can.

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 2:47pm

I seriously doubt that such a deck could work in a competitive setting. What do you consider competitive? If you're playing with a bunch of newbs at FNM, it's not competitive. If you're playing at Regionals or Nationals, it's competitive.

Also, cheat shuffling is usually discouraged by the Magic community. Why don't you go and take your "act" to Vegas. Show us your decklist and the veterans can decide whether it's actually good.

Finally, Mechanist, you are really beginning to act either like a troll or a 10 year old. I can't believe you seriously wrote "You're just mad" in a comment. Don't act like an expert if you've only been playing since Alara Reborn.

EVERYONE NEEDS CARD ADVANTAGE YOU FUCKING IDIOT! (Sorry, just had to get that out of my system)

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 8:18pm

I'd reeeeeeally appreciate it you guys got back to the subject the forum was talking about.

P.S. Turbine if this is about the comment I posted about you in the list I already apologized

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 8:37pm

There really isn't much more to talk about. There are a lot of cards that can proliferate, and some work better in certain scenarios than others, but I don't know how much of a point there is to trying to nail down a strict definition of when some are better than others. Someone will always find a use for a proliferation card that we can't think of, so finding unique uses for proliferation seems like a better use of time than trying to shove them into black and white categories. And where do we post unique interactions of cards that generate great effects? In the combos section. So this forum really has little use, which is probably why it got so off track.

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 8:40pm

Competitive in my FNM means a bunch of noobs getting beaten to a pulp by another noob (me) who actually knows the latest band list.

14 out of 23 people came with Caw-Blade. Epic. Fail.

The others were the ugliest rogue decks I've ever seen. One only had 14 mana in it. 14 MANA!!!!

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 8:51pm

krowbar28

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I like throne of geth, its cheap, it proliferates, and works as an effective sac engine for wellsprings.

Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 9:14pm

Throne of Geth, another potential infinite proliferate engine ceap mana wise and money wise.

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 10:36pm

@Captain

I posted this Forum so I could share my opinons and experiences and recieve feedback about other player's opinions and experiences.

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 10:54pm

My point is that hypothetical discussion about uses almost always gets you nowhere (not to mention that a lot of your points made through opinions and experiences are incorrect). Whats far more efficient and helpful is finding specific scenarios where proliferating engines work well. And those should go in the combo section. This isn't a slam on you, this is really more because of how the site is set up. In a few days, this thread will have been buried under the weight of other combos and threads, and then who will see this discussion and flow of ideas? No one. But next time someone is making a deck and wants to use say Inexorable Tide, all they need to do is search at the top, and all combos will pop up. Its the combos that help people in the long run, because members who do not frequent this site as much as you or I (I guess someone has to have a life), and newer members will most likely never see this thread.

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Date Posted: Tue Aug/16/11 at 11:32pm

@Captain

I guess you have some points, one last qusstion.

WHAT IS TURBINE'S DEAL? if he doesn't like my combos he could just explain why and leave it at that. But he unnecisarily insults me and my combos. If he we're right in front of me I'd strangle him. So I wanna know what's his beef?

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Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 1:30am

lin sivvi

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you're combos have lacked much power and much creativity, both of which him and I have come to expect on this site.

Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 8:42am

That still doesn't explain or justify why he feels the need to be such a jerk about them.

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Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 9:38am

I think there is no other way to say this, Mechanist: frankly you baffle me. Most people figure it out when they are told that things they post aren't combos. But you just keep posting combos that seem to make the same mistake over and over. And I think that it's because you're convinced that despite some people's assertations about how long you've been playing, you refuse to except the noob title and rest firmly that you know what your talking about. And thats admirable in some respects, but not in the respect that you often don't know what you're talking about. I would have thought that someone who has only been playing for the past 2 years would be eager to learn from people who have been playing since the beginning, but you seem to keep traveling along your own path, oblivious to any attempts on the veterans part to move you towards being a stronger Magic player.

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Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 12:14pm

I am willing to learn and accept advice when it's being given.

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Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 1:31pm

gericault5

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@mechanist

This is a forum, dedicated to a game-you are taking turbines insults way to seriously. Though I can understand why, you get insulted by him on your combos workability and creativity, and then he goes post things like his SD combo,Thallid with life and limb, emrukel and beastmaster. So you end up saying to yourself what is his problem with me, his combos are crap, what gives him the right to talk about mine. Like I said its understable, you see it from your point of view, -you don't know his sense of sarcasm, you don't know the history of the SD combo. I can go on, but ultimatly who gives a fuck.

So what if he's acting like a child and being a dick. Seriously, if he or anyone is being a dick do their opinions on your combo really matter to you, its an online forum dedicated to a card game, you don't like what anyone says, skip over it and go to the next comment or press the back button,

Everyone on this website at some time or another have posted some good combos and that same person has also posted crap. All of us have offered good suggestions, as well as bad. So my advice to you and everyone for that matter. Just keep posting your combos- accept the postive criticism, disregard the negative or pointless, ask your questions, make your statements, and move on, learning what you can along the way, and if someone doesn't like you doing that, let them deal with it.

Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 3:05pm

Way to steal the show...bamboosling us with facts and logic...grumble grumble...

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Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 3:36pm

@ Gericault

You say he has a point for being angry about my sarcastically horrible combos, but he actually thought that they were good.

@ DyingJester

Logic is for smart people.

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Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 6:06pm

gericault5

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Turbine. You misunderstand. I was writting that part from my perspective saying how I understand based on how I am viewing things. I actually don't know how he views it. Oh and he did not say they were good only it will be good with his suggestions.

Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 6:16pm

Even with his suggestions, the combo would still suck. Thallid and Life and Limb. He said to add proliferation and mana accel. A Contagion Engine would let you proliferate twice. . .and get 1 1/1 token. And Life and Limb makes your lands vulnerable to any creature destruction. Pyroclasm, dead. Pestilence, dead. Shrivel, dead. Plague Rats, dead. Wrath of God, dead. Day of Judgement, dead. Earthquake, dead. Ashen Firebeast, dead. Lightstone Minefield, no attacking. Bloodfire Colossus, dead. Bloodfire Dwarf, dead. Bloodfire Infusion, dead. Bloodfire Kavu, dead. Breath of Darigaaz, dead. Caldera Hellion, dead. Unless you are planning to win the turn you play Life or Limb, you're screwed (both figurative definitions).

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Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 7:32pm

lin sivvi

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for the record logic isn't for smart people, its for people not on drugs ☺

Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 7:33pm

I'm not high. . .but you guys gotta help me! I CAN'T SEE MY FACE!

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Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 8:32pm

gericault5

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not missing to much there :P

Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 8:50pm

@gericault: We all posted in the forum about three cards that are ultimately fail...I don't think any single one of us can claim intellegence...or even fake it at this point...

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Date Posted: Wed Aug/17/11 at 8:50pm

Oops I meant @ Turbine...damn contacts lenses...

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Date Posted: Fri Aug/19/11 at 1:49pm

EPIC

TROLL!!!

[Edited by MechanistLegend on 19/Aug/11 at 1:51PM]

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Date Posted: Fri Aug/19/11 at 3:28pm

@ Mechanist:

BE POSITIVE! 37 people call me a $hithole of a nerd every day. You know what I say to them back?

Yeah, I'm a nerd. I'm a nerd who's WAAAY more awesome than you are. You know why?

Then I pull a mysterious object out of my backpack and show them this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLVXmsbVwUs

0_0 is the only thing that comes close to describing their faces.

(BTW, that's not me in the video. I'm 13.)

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Date Posted: Fri Aug/19/11 at 4:18pm

@Pie

You've earned a place in my book as awesome.

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Date Posted: Fri Aug/19/11 at 8:23pm