Super Secret Sunday #3: Never coming back

Welcome to another edition of the Magic Show....I mean SUPER SECRET SUNDAY! Where we discuss some underutilized cards, under the radar strategies, and under-thought thoughts.

Today we are going to look at a couple of Black cards. There are some very good reasons to go Black in Commander. I can't tell you why people never go back, but that's really a discussion for another time.


We have a spicer right off the bat here. I like card advantage. I love disruption. This tight little package has been ripping up my pauper cube. If you are playing Hymn to Tourach already, then good on you. You know how destructive this effect can be. It's time to add a second copy.
Casting this on the play often comes down to whether they want to keep an early accelerant/equipment or be down on cards. I have seen my fair share of opponents discarding two lands and being choked on mana while you deploy threats.






I am a big fan of free information. I like to play cards like Gitaxian Probe and Duress because they let me get that information, but still break even on cards. Most people don't have the sniper skills to play Cabal Therapy in Commander. If this sounds like you then try Brain Pry. You can name the card you are most scared of and draw if you miss. Just like the Therapy, you name the card on resolution, not when you cast it.You can combine this with other Duress effects for sure hits or wait for them to present some sort of tutor effect so see what they searched up.
Even if you end up just cycling it, the free information let's you play around what your opponent has and makes it that much easier to set up a winning line of play.




Infernal is a strange one. Honestly, I don't run this card in any decks, but a friend recently saw it and asked if it had any potential or if it was just dead in a singleton format. The truth is: this is probably going to sit in your hand until you have no other cards, which is very situational. However, having another tutor effect when your hand is almost empty can be very powerful. At the very least you can cash this to get a Swamp at almost any point, which isn't so bad. I have been known to Diabolic for lands on many occasions since Black can have some trouble getting it's lands going without a persistent card draw engine. This is probably the sketchiest card I have presented here so far on Super Secret Sundays, but not for long....






And.........we've hit a new high on the all-time sketchiest tech list. I never see anyone playing this card anymore. Perhaps its appeal has been eroded through time, bannings, and the coming of functional reprints. To me, this card is still a ton of fun. If you are in the TL;DR crowd, shame on you, but I understand. Here is how it works in Commander:
You name a card in your deck. Then exile the top 6 cards of your library. If the named card is there, scoop 'em up, you've lost. If it isn't in the top 6 you start exiling cards off the top until you find it. Put it into your hand and everything else goes away.
I know it sounds bad. Why would I play a card that will just make me lose, Grandpa? Well let's say you already have about 19 cards out of your deck. Pretty typical for turns 6-10. You have a 6/80 chance of losing, and probably another 6/80 chance of not having enough cards left in your deck to win once everything is all said and done. That's a 15% chance that every goes horribly wrong and you lose BECAUSE you cast this card. The other 85% percent of the time you get an instant speed demonic tutor for B. Now, take into account that even if this card were something else, you're reasonably likely to lose about half the downside games anyway (assuming you have a competitive matchup), so you are really only hurting yourself about 8% of the time. Now the question of whether or not you should play Consultation becomes clear: Will casting this make you win in the other 92% of games? It's tough to say. Even if you do end up winning, it might be unclear whether Consultation was THE reason you won.
Even if you are very risk averse, you can still name a basic land off this and be almost guaranteed for the drawback not to matter.
At best, this is an instant speed DT that can get you the answer you need, even with a threat still on the stack (think Pact of Negation). At worst, this is a quirky and fun tutor card that leads to great stories no matter how the game turns out. 

If you didn't like all the nonsense going on in Demonic Consultation, but you thought it was on the right track, then this for you. You can't lose automatically. The chance of drawing out later is minimized because you can stop exiling cards whenever you want. It's still an instant-speed trump-tutor. You can't ever hit two of the same card, either. You still end up showing your opponent what you tutored for and half your deck in the process, but that's not so bad. It does cost TWICE as much as consultation while still only being half as fun, but some would call that a plus. Basically...play this. It's too good not to.








This is the last card for today and probably the safest and most consistent of the tutors I have presented. It's the one I am sure you are most likely to play and see others play. Largely because its additional cost isn't very hard to plan for and it's price tag is low compared to other top quality tutors. If you are on a budget and must have tutor effect, then this is what you're looking for. A great compliment to Diabolic Tutor and also a decent stand-in for Demonic Tutor. Pretty solid. Nothing fancy.





That's all for today young ones. Hope you found something you liked. Until next time.
Peace out. A-town down.....or whatever it is you kids say.
Paaaassssssssssss.