#arcane adaptation

This card is nearly a direct upgrade to the card Conspiracy, and for several reasons.  Being blue is fine, being two mana cheaper to cost is good, and how your creatures don’t lose their other types is pretty nice if you want to support multiple tribes.  By itself it doesn’t do too much, but mixed in with tribal cards, it’ll make anything in your deck synergize.  And really, that makes this card a strong contender for any tribal deck in blue.

Aside from Arcane Adaptation mostly being a dead draw, seems like it could be solid. Maybe sideboard it and use the Mastermind thing to wish it (or draw a much needed answer if necessary).

Most of my posts are about a few cards that complement, stack, or can replace each other (because who needs 7 Fogs in the same turn?). This post is a bit different, a question that's been crawling around my head for a little while. If you're building a Pirate deck, Admiral Beckett Brass is currently the default commander for it. She gives them +1/+1 and if you happen to get three pirates to go through, you strengthen your board by taking something from your opponent. Yet ever since she was spoiled there was a question of "Is Admiral Beckett a good card?" She's roughly $3, but sold out at my local stores (likely because she is the default go-to commander). So. What if we took it the other way? Instead of making a deck then choosing a Commander, what sort of deck would we build if we started with her as a Commander? And this is the part where things get counterintuitive. Edgar Markov just had a vampire deck primarily in red and black, with tertiary white (only 4 white vampires were included). Vampires often do have evasion, and there are 7 vampires that include blue (each of them notably has flying, but one cannot deal combat damage to a player). Edgar's deck did include somewhere around 12 non-creature spells that would require White in the color identity, but some of them (Boros/Orzhov Signet) have pretty straightforward replacements (Izzet/Dimir Signet). You would need to include Conspiracy and Arcane Adaptation to make the Vampires pirates, but vampires do have more Tribal support that also covers evasion, pumping, or a go-wide strategy, which is currently the main things lacking with Pirates as a tribe, and thus what holds Admiral Beckett back. Conspiracy, Arcane Adaptation, and a few tutors could seemingly change an Edgar Markov vampire deck into a feasible Admiral Beckett Brass deck. Even without her on the field as your commander, you have vampires with evasion, things like Captivating Vampire (instead of Captivating Crew for Pirates) to steal blockers and build up your forces, and can add some token generation to replace what you lost with Edgar (Bloodline Keeper, Call the Bloodline). There are three major things to keep in mind when mulling over this alternative strategy. First, wouldn't it be easier to just give my pirates evasion? And the answer is a strong maybe. Maybe giving them flying or menace will get them through, and maybe a card will come out in Rivals that supports outpacing your opponent with pirates. Secondly, couldn't my opponent make this moot with a well-timed Naturalize/Go for the Throat? Yes. But the same is likely true for building a naturally-Pirates deck. Lastly, if we think of the deck without the Commander, which 99 card deck is better? Currently vampires do have more of a history and support, so do make for a better deck than pirates, even when sacrificing a few spots so they become pirates. I would greatly appreciate it if someone more skilled in number crunching could check my assumptions, to verify viability, but if I get an Admiral Beckett and an Edgar Markov deck, I'm going to have some temptation to change it to a pirated "Pirate" deck. Let me know your thoughts in the replies!

Or really any tribe is available now, Aurochs, for example. Or cast the Arcane choosing slivers, and then drop Shadow Sliver, so slivers can’t block other creatures after Dormant Sliver gives them defender. Suddenly their creature spells are only good for drawing cards!

"Each Vampire I control, you say? Thankfully, every creature is a Vampire!" Maybe you're playing a b/u token zombie deck, maybe you're playing a Sultai token ...probably also zombie deck, or snakes, w/e. But suddenly you have a LOT of Vampires, and target opponent is losing one life for each of them.