Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 184 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 186 Notice: Undefined index: mtga in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-streamdecker/public/class-wp-streamdecker-public.php on line 190

Can Evolving Door be a viable card in casual?

 

I won’t lie, this was one heck of a month-long, trial-and-error deck-building session to reach a convincingly coherent list, and it’s not because Evolving Door is that bad of a card.

Don’t get me wrong, this card is far from being playable in competitive Magic, solely on the wombo combo of requiring a little too much for the possible value.

But in a low-budget casual Legacy decklist? It works, but there are still so many variables building around such a card.

Before we talk about the deck-building process, let’s check the decklist, which is one of latest versions of the deck that has some functionality:

 

 

Let’s delve into the Twilight Zone experience of building Chasing Door.

 

Cast and colors: Two words, infinite questions, a quest for the best answers possible.

 

Take a look at Evolving Door:

 

 

This three-mana card got me good. In a matter of minutes I went from “Holy macaroni on a stick this card is awesome!” to “…I just trapped myself into another case study to see if this might work, didn’t I?”

I first understood this card to have a potential color-based Birthing Pod-like effect. When the initial hype died down, I began to see the huge elephant in the room—the killjoy realization that you need to cast the creature as part of the resolution. Gone was the idea of using creatures with flash as pieces of interaction. However, I will not go down without a fight. I decided on a tap out-control style of deck, so I needed to address the first issue I found while building, which is that no mana means no chance to play the creature you tutored for. Veteran Explorer, by ramping up with two untapped basics when it dies, circumvents this limitation and lets you play your tutored two-colored creatures.

 

 

The cast clause isn’t the only problem that needs to be addressed. I, as many others, love tutoring for answers. So, let those answers be creatures, if not for the fact that most of the more useful effects are printed on monocolored ones. 

Another issue is that colorless (devoid and artifact, specifically) creatures can tutor up monocolored ones. Even though the answer was easy to find, Devoid took some more time and research. I figured out how the rulings regarding this ability worked. As soon as I confirmed that I could use Devoid as I intended, a playset of Blisterpod joined the playset of Perilous Myr and three Filigree Familiar as a way to start the color chain, cashing in also on the built-in sacrifice clause of Evolving Door. 

 

                      

 

I also found an interesting interaction between Adventure Creatures and Evolving Door. You can tutor up the creature part, then choose to cast the Adventure part, and  with three Murderous Rider you get accessto a re-tutorable removal option. I chose Entomber Exarch and Shigeki, Jukai Visionary for their flexibility and closed the monocolored creature suite.

 

                      

 

 

I had, at this time, a solid Golgari base. While searching for bicolor creatures to add, I thought, “Why not add Meren of Clan Nel Toth?” She provides access to the experience mechanic and her strong graveyard recursion/reanimation effect could soft reset our chain any time it is needed. The same went for Baloth Null, which presented good recursion and a considerable body, and Hag Hedge-Mage, which joined a (less powerful) hand disruption and recursion.

 

                      

 

 

It seemed all good, except something felt odd. Then, it dawned on me while looking at some old school Jund decks—it needed a third color, something that could push the chain a little further. I had to choose between Abzan, Jund, or Sultai.

I went with Abzan first. White provides lots of choices in terms of removal, but little to no presence on board except for Siege Rhino. It’s a good enough finisher but that couldn’t justify white as a third color.

 

 

Jund was lackluster. Red had Broodmate Dragon and Murderous Redcap, but outside those two cards there weren’t any good creatures I could put to good use. Also, it was slow.

 

           

 

Those results drove me towards Sultai. Blue helped a lot in terms of card advantage (three Filigree Familiar aren’t enough to draw and graveyard recursion was good and dandy up until it gets exiled). A playset of Coiling Oracle covered more potential ramp (one of the other names for the deck was Hungry Hungry Doors, just to drive home how mana-hungry the deck is) and card advantage, being able to be tutored up if needed as well as being a good natural draw in both early and late game. It also provides more ways to interact with your opponent’s board through Selkie Hedge-Mage and Dinrova Horror.

 

                      

 

Playing Sultai provides three copies of Fabricate that can help find artifacts like Evolving Door and a single copy of Nuisance Engine to restart the color chain. Sultai also has Muldrotha, the Gravetide, a finisher that plays cards from the graveyard, so it’s in line with the recursion sub-theme, and has a huge body.

 

At this point, the deck was fully defined. When I reviewed the list, I found that I had shifted towards a Simic base more than a Golgari base, so it was an easy choice to divide the ten basic lands for the Veteran in four islands, four forests, and only two swamps. The rest was a playset of Guildless Common (did I stress enough how mana-hungry the deck is?) and a playset of Opulent Palace, with four gainlands divided in one Jungle Hollow, one Dismal Backwater, and two Thornwood Falls.

 

                      

 

           

 

Researching Evolving Door clarified why the card is bad in competitive Magic. It’s clunky, requires a lot in order to work efficiently, and the output doesn’t match with the speed and power of Modern, and neither with the linearity of Pioneer, Legacy, and Vintage are completely out of the equation.

 

It shines in casual, where the card has a lot of fun interaction to give and encourages a lot of messy, trial-and-error building to bypass its limitations. My research showed why the card came out the way it is—it was never meant as a color-based Birthing Pod, despite that being my first thought. It’s just a way for green to enjoy some wacky tutors, maybe going up to find a nice five-colored creature to show off.

 

 

If you want to build around Evolving Door, prepare for a lot of ruling surfing and embrace yourself for any possible new discovery in terms of interaction. And order some takeout, you will need it.

 

Trust me.

 

As always, this was Fabio, your friendly neighborhood casualist, signing out for now!

 

Image Copyright: (c) 1995-2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC, All Rights Reserved