Adam Haggerty's Gandalf's cantriping cheap tricks ...
 
Type: Deck Idea
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staStandard
Approx. Value:
$195.35
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Avg. CMC 3.2
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Tarkir: Dragonstorm
releases on April 11, 2025!

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Tarkir: Dragonstorm
releases on April 11, 2025!

Buy on CardKingdom Buy on TcgPlayer
Main Deck - 35 cards, 35 distinct
Columns
Name  Edition $ Type Cost
Rarity Color
Creature (1)
1 Gandalf the Grey
$0.26 Legendary Creature - Avatar Wizard
Instant (25)
1 Archmage's Charm
$1.79 Instant
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
$1.51 Instant
1 Brainstorm
$1.31 Instant
1 Channeled Force
$0.08 Instant
1 Chilling Trap
$0.05 Instant
1 Clairvoyance
$0.15 Instant
1 Creative Outburst
$0.08 Instant
1 Cryptic Command
$7.55 Instant
1 Disrupt
$1.92 Instant
1 Expansion // Explosion
$0.35 Instant // Instant //
1 Flame of Anor
$3.94 Instant
1 Leap
$0.59 Instant
1 Magma Opus
$1.13 Instant
1 Mystic Confluence
$0.70 Instant
1 Opt
$0.15 Instant
1 Peek
$0.30 Instant
1 Prophetic Bolt
$0.12 Instant
1 Quicken
$0.26 Instant
1 Repeal
$0.04 Instant
1 Sapphire Charm
$0.20 Instant
1 Shadow Rift
$1.24 Instant
1 Silundi Vision // Silundi Isle
$0.34 Instant // Land
1 Stream of Unconsciousness
$0.19 Tribal Instant - Wizard
1 Sublime Epiphany
$2.51 Instant
1 Valakut Awakening // Valakut Stoneforge
$9.58 Instant // Land
Sorcery (8)
1 Bond of Insight
$0.14 Sorcery
1 Experimental Overload
$0.07 Sorcery
1 Inscription of Insight
$0.12 Sorcery
1 Merchant Scroll
$4.95 Sorcery
1 Multiple Choice
$0.13 Sorcery
1 Sea Gate Restoration // Sea Gate, Reborn
$33.95 Sorcery // Land
1 Solve the Equation
$2.72 Sorcery
1 Volcanic Vision
$0.26 Sorcery
Enchantment (1)
1 Rhystic Study
$54.36 Enchantment
Sideboard - 71 cards, 71 distinct
Name  Edition $ Type Cost
Rarity Color
Creature (1)
1 Crackling Drake
$0.08 Creature - Drake
Instant (35)
1 Balduvian Rage
$0.18 Instant
1 Bane's Contingency
$0.08 Instant
1 Cerulean Wisps
$3.59 Instant
1 Commit // Memory
$0.44 Instant // Sorcery //
1 Consider
$0.79 Instant
1 Council's Deliberation
$0.08 Instant
1 Crimson Wisps
$3.23 Instant
1 Dig Through Time
$0.48 Instant
1 Diviner's Portent
$0.69 Instant
1 Drown in Dreams
$0.47 Instant
1 Electric Revelation
$0.05 Instant
1 Even the Score
$0.43 Instant
1 Expedite
$0.32 Instant
1 Fleeting Distraction
$0.07 Instant
1 Flow of Knowledge
$0.17 Instant
1 Gush
$5.22 Instant
1 Illusion of Choice
$2.32 Instant
1 Mental Note
$4.47 Instant
1 Needle Drop
$2.57 Instant
1 Obsessive Search
$0.24 Instant
1 Panic
$0.32 Instant
1 Prismari Command
$2.03 Instant
1 Psychotic Fury
$1.67 Instant
1 Pull from Tomorrow
$0.47 Instant
1 Ray of Erasure
$0.18 Instant
1 Reach Through Mists
$0.15 Instant - Arcane
1 Remand
$0.32 Instant
1 Secrets of the Key
$0.05 Instant
1 Stroke of Genius
$0.46 Instant
1 Thassa's Intervention
$0.22 Instant
1 Thought Scour
$0.31 Instant
1 Timely Interference
$0.04 Instant
1 Twisted Image
$0.16 Instant
1 Urza's Command
$0.18 Instant
1 Visions of Beyond
$7.11 Instant
Sorcery (21)
1 Birthday Escape
$0.12 Sorcery
1 Cosmic Epiphany
$0.10 Sorcery
1 Culmination of Studies
$0.21 Sorcery
1 Drawn from Dreams
$0.11 Sorcery
1 Expressive Iteration
$0.60 Sorcery
1 Faithless Looting
$0.38 Sorcery
1 Finale of Revelation
$0.70 Sorcery
1 Gitaxian Probe
$2.99 Sorcery
1 Inspiring Refrain
$0.32 Sorcery
1 Invoke the Firemind
$0.28 Sorcery
1 Magmatic Insight
$0.16 Sorcery
1 Mystic Retrieval
$0.23 Sorcery
1 Overmaster
$1.98 Sorcery
1 Pieces of the Puzzle
$0.09 Sorcery
1 Ponder
$2.23 Sorcery
1 Portent
$0.33 Sorcery
1 Preordain
$0.71 Sorcery
1 Serum Visions
$0.66 Sorcery
1 Sleight of Hand
$0.41 Sorcery
1 Slip Through Space
$0.32 Sorcery
1 Sorcerous Sight
$0.71 Sorcery
Artifact (1)
1 The Magic Mirror
$3.51 Legendary Artifact
Enchantment (1)
1 Trail of Evidence
$0.22 Enchantment
Land (12)
1 Arch of Orazca
$0.26 Land
1 Blasted Landscape
$1.91 Land
1 Bonders' Enclave
$0.50 Land
1 Desert of the Fervent
$0.08 Land - Desert
1 Desert of the Mindful
$0.07 Land - Desert
1 Desolate Lighthouse
$0.09 Land
1 Forgotten Cave
$0.12 Land
1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
$1.59 Legendary Land
1 Lonely Sandbar
$0.26 Land
1 Remote Isle
$0.15 Land
1 Smoldering Crater
$0.09 Land
1 The Biblioplex
$0.18 Land

Notes
 
The above shows the initial cantrips and counterspells that best fit the deck. All of the modal cantripping options are included first to cement our wizards tools, and to exploit gandalf's copy ability. Same for the dfc card draw lands, which won't be factored in the 33 total. Next is the must include rhystic study. Two true tutors make the cut as they reinforce the dramatic reversal plan, act as cantrips, and the deck will essentially be a spell toolbox so super modal. They also are excellent copied. Following this is the most independently bang for our buck 1 mana cantriping instants. To make Gandalf good we must be able to activate as much as we want and when we want, and this requires a critical mass of cheap or free tricks as well as card advantage. our card advantage has to overflow as some amount of the time gandalf is going to take our draw from us, and we have to stay ahead of this. 1 mana cantrips straddle this line well, and as a base can offer 1 mana divinations when copied. Flavor wise it also shows the unpredictable nature and abilities of Gandalf. Incidentally we get 5 quality counterspells this way. The remaining cantrips depend if we want to maximize the most high value independent cards, or build into a graveyard theme.
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