Shed Your Thoughts and Let MTG Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Mind Flayer Flow Through Your Deck

July 27, 2021

Creating content related to tabletop roleplaying games and fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons in particular is Nerdarchy’s bread and butter but we all enjoy plenty of other games too and it’s fun to share those other game experiences from time to time. I wrote a while back about how excited I was for the Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms expansion for Magic: The Gathering and since then the set released, which I’ve been enjoying immensely. Tapping lands for mana to invoke all manner of awesome D&D creatures, magic items and spells brings an extra layer of nerdy satisfaction. Let’s get into it.

Adventures in the Forgotten Realms wins big with this D&D nerd

When I take a break from my Nerdarchy duties one of my go to activities is playing Magic through MTG Arena. For the most part I stick to Standard Ranked games, which are best of one matches using decks limited to the current standard rotation. At the time of this writing the standard rotation includes the Throne of Eldraine set onward, including Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. When the rotation changes in September to accommodate Innistrad: Midnight Hunt I believe the Throne of Eldraine, Theros Beyond Death, Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths and Core Set 2021 will rotate out. This leaves Zendikar Rising, Kaldheim, Strixhaven: School of Mages and Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms for the standard block.

This rotation is going to impact the deck I’ve been playing but not too terribly. There’s always more cards to filter in as replacements (more on this below). I’ve tried out a lot of the Adventures in the Forgotten Realms cards since I’d been saving all my Gold and Wild Cards for a while. I don’t like the Strixhaven set so I didn’t spend any of my earnings on packs or individual cards. And boy am I glad I did!

Adventures in the Forgotten Realms leans hard into Wizards of the Coast’s D&D game. Starting with flavor text on its basic lands meant to represent a Dungeon Master’s description of a location the set incorporates lots of classic elements and iconic qualities of D&D. There’s even a series of cards representing the adventures of a party like You Hear Something on Watch, You Find a Cursed Idol and of course You Meet in a Tavern. Even 5E D&D’s character classes make an appearance in the set in the form of Enchantment — Class cards.

All in all the design team for Adventures in the Forgotten Realms knocked it out of the park, working closely with the D&D team across the board. This is a smart move tying WotC’s two juggernaut properties together more coherently. Collaborating together started in earnest in the opposition direction with 5E D&D books like Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica and Mythic Odysseys of Theros, which of course we covered in great detail too along with the upcoming Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos.

When Adventures in the Forgotten Realms first released I tried my hand at a draft, which is a format I’ve never really enjoyed or been very skilled with but I figured why not? It’s a good way to get some cards and see what they can do. I wound up with two of the rare Yuan-Ti Malison cards, which is a low cost (1U) creature that takes advantage of the Venture Into the Dungeon keyword. How could I resist? I quickly fell in love with the 2/1 Snake Rogue creature and built a deck around it.

Naturally the original decklist I put together undergoes changes all the time. At first it was loaded up with everything I could find to Venture Into the Dungeon but it wasn’t too long before I realized I could blow through dungeon after dungeon primarily with Yuan-Ti Malison and a Fly enchantment. Then it became about protecting my precious Snake Rogue. Yadda yadda yadda it morphed into essentially a Mind Flayer deck, which for me as a big ol’ D&D nerd felt thematically appropriate. When the campaign starts it’s all about the rising yuan-ti threat and getting down into those dungeons.

“Silent. Slithering. Sinister.”

But these dungeon delves are really just a prelude to the greater Horror lurking deeper below (and costing more mana). Early in a match I play mostly on the defensive and chip away a bit of life each turn. Depending on the matchup this might mean cutting it pretty close with my own life total. But before too long (and hastened by Treasure Tokens) the Mind Flayer comes out. Whenever the 3UU creature stealer hits the board I like to speak it’s flavor text out loud to myself.

“Shed your thoughts and let my will flow through you.” — Imagine this is Game of Thrones’ Littlefinger’s voice. Wouldn’t he make a fantastic mind flayer?

Once I incorporated the single Mind Flayer I had at the time into the deck things changed dramatically. Venturing into the dungeon remained a strong strategy but it wasn’t a priority. Instead it’s more like an extra perk each round and a way to facilitate getting my beloved Mind Flayer out there. Since there was already solid creature protection to keep lil’ Yuan-Ti Malison safe the Mind Flayer has a fairly easy time staying out of harm’s way too.

From there the deck kept evolving with lots of tricks not the least of them taking advantage of Thassa’s end of turn power. There’s nothing quite like stealing an opponent’s creature, using it to block their attack then exiling and returning the Mind Flayer to the battlefield to Dominate Monster on another creature. After realizing how potent this combo could be I filtered in a few more cards with come-into-play powers like Dragon Turtle to severely lock down dangerous creatures and Displacer Beast to make those dungeon runs even faster.

mtg adventures in the forgotten realms true polymorph

True Polymorph is an instant costing 4UU that transforms an artifact or creature into a copy of another artifact or creature. “Maybe a little too convincing.” [Art by Steve Prescott]

Creatures

Mind Flayer (3). The star of the show not only for the awesome power but for me it’s so thematic overall. Waiting deeper in the deck until powerful adversaries emerge to take over their minds and turn them against their summoner is very on brand for an illithid mastermind!
Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar (1). How could I not include a Legendary Creature who’s a mind flayer? There’s usually better things to play (or hold onto in response to opponents) but with this fella out there along with a Yuan-Ti Malison enchanted with Fly there’s a lot of deck control going on.
Yuan-Ti Malison (4). I had to learn patience with this one. My instinct is to get it on the battlefield as quickly as possible but depending on the matchup sometimes this means holding onto it until the third round when I have some way to protect it. I’ve played many, many, many matches where victory came simply through this creature chipping away round after round.
Displacer Beast (3). When this Cat Beast comes into play it Ventures Into the Dungeon so it pairs incredibly well with Thassa. I almost never use it’s other power, which simulates the D&D version’s displacement but bouncing it back to your hand. It’s kind of a steep cost.
Wall of Runes (4). Originally this slot was occupied by Secret Door, another 0/4 blue wall with the power to Venture Into the Dungeon for 4U. I quickly came to the realization I never used the power because it costs so much. Instead I swapped it out for this wall, which makes a decent Thassa target as well. Once the standard rotation occurs I’ll have to find something to replace it. Hopefully there’s a better alternative than Secret Door.
Thassa, Deep-Dwelling (3). Holy moley did this card give the deck a quantum leap forward. I’ve already sung the praises of her end of turn power but aside from this the Legendary Enchantment Creature — God can also tap opponents’ creatures and with sufficient devotion becomes an indestructible 6/5 creature, which is incredibly easy to accomplish in a mono blue deck!
Dragon Turtle (1). I could probably count the number of times I’ve attacked or defended with this creature on one hand. As to how many times it’s kept nasty creatures at bay, especially with Thassa, I couldn’t begin to guess.
Thieving Skydiver (1). This was a recent addition just a day or two ago and I am so glad I did. There’s a lot of really annoying artifacts out there and rather than destroy them why not steal them? Earlier today I stole someone’s Blackstaff of Waterdeep straight away and put them on the defensive the rest of the game. Rotating this one out for something else will be painful. I don’t use it very often but when I do it’s a real bomb.
Riddlemaster Sphinx (1). Another more recent addition after I leaned heavily into Thassa’s power. Mid- to late game depending on how mana is going this is devastating to an opponent. Consider this: it’s later in a match. The flying Yuan-Ti Malison completes the last two parts of Dungeon of the Mad Mage in one attack. You set up this card with your Scry 3 then play it for free, bounce a creature then Thassa does her thing and bounces a second creature. This one-off will also rotate out and like Thieving Skydiver require a painful substitution.

Enchantments

Thassa, Deep-Dwelling (3). I think I’ve made my case for why Thassa is absolutely amazing in this deck.
Fly (2). For U you can enchant a creature to give it Flying and whenever it damages an opponent you Venture Into the Dungeon. Not so great for Thassa targets but oh so great for Yuan-Ti Malison! I’ve stuck it on a Wall of Runes once or twice out of desperation too.
Ray of Frost (2). This got added to the deck after getting steamrolled by aggro red decks. Many times over the years I’ve questioned the validity of cards with powers referencing specific colors in this manner. Maybe that’s telegraphing my less than astounding MTG skills but I realized the benefit to this deck because it generally fared poorly against aggro red. It’s come in handy against non-red creatures too and as an added benefit it increases your devotion to blue so Thassa can become a creature quicker. Yay!

Instant

True Polymorph (1). It’s expensive but so worth it to transform a mighty creature into something ridiculous like a Treasure Token. There’s so many shenanigans made possible by this card not the least of them playing it for free by completing Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Plus it features a mind flayer in the amazing art so I had to include it, right?
Bar the Gate (3). What’s better than countering a creature spell and Venturing Into the Dungeon at the same time?
You Find the Villains’ Lair (2). If I’m honest there’s probably many better counterspell options but this comes from the Adventures in the Forgotten Realms set so I like to have it in the deck. Originally I thought it would be ideal since it has a secondary power to draw two cards then discard two cards but I have literally never used that option.
You See a Guard Approach (3). This card is one of the MVPs of this deck. Like the other deck I shared a while back the power to make a creature hexproof is so sweet and I don’t need the amazing Cunning Nightbonder to make it cost a single U to cast. On top of this it can also tap an creature. I primarily use the former power to protect Yuan-Ti Malison and later the Mind Flayer but tapping a creature here and there has made tremendous differences too.

Artifacts

Midnight Clock (2). It’s blue so it helps with devotion, it generates mana and most importantly with all the gods damned mill decks out there it’s a life saver. When the standard rotation takes place losing this card will hurt perhaps the most. I really hope there is a new blue anti-mill card that comes out before then. Have I mentioned how much I hate mill decks?

Lands

Island (24). Once in a while I include nonbasic lands in my decks. Multicolor decks for sure and sometimes when a land with a power lends a specific boost to a deck but in the case of this Mind Flayer deck I’ve had no regrets sticking with good old fashioned islands.

*Featured image — I love the Mind Flayer card so much! While putting this post together I came across a ruling regarding this card. “If Mind Flayer leaves the battlefield or you lose control of it before its Dominate Monster ability resolves, control of the target creature doesn’t change at all.” [Art by Daarken]