It's practically been rendered obsolete by Painter's Servant. But Shifting Sky used to be the way to get this effect. And it still works. All the color-hosing cards I chose to exclude from this list because they're too situational suddenly have a lot more potential. Actually, most color-hosers will have more potential when combined with Shifting Sky. Hydroblast can hit any nonland permanent. Protection from a color becomes stronger. In short, Shifting Sky opens up a lot of options with cards that mention specific colors. Which color-affecting cards you choose is up to you. But if you want to be competitive, it would be best to stick with cards that can actually do something without Shifting Sky, otherwise you've got a bunch of dead cards because you can't get your key enchantment into play.#154: Power Surge
Power Surge has the honor of being an enchantment that can, over time, deal enough damage to kill an opponent all by itself. And I mean realistically. I've done it, actually. It doesn't need a lot of support either. The classic combo with Power Surge is Candelabra of Tawnos. If you can't find a sink to tap your own lands (or if you can, but don't want to), use those lands to fuel Candelabra untapping your opponent's lands at the end of your turn. Cutting off your opponent's access to spells is another way to go about it. Some opponents will do it to themselves, which makes those matchups very easy indeed. If the opponent has something to sink excess mana into freely, Power Sink won't be doing damage. But even this seemingly perfect solution can backfire on an opponent if you also use Manabarbs or play a removal spell to get rid of the mana sink. Power Surge is mostly forgotten because it's such an old card that hasn't been in really competitive decks for a long time, but that just gives you the element of surprise.#153: Moat
When this list featured Island Sanctuary, I was compelled to compare it to Moat. Well, here's the legend itself. Moat is one of the most famous and popular enchantments of all time. Back in the day, it was typically used alongside Serra Angel. With Moat holding off attacks by nonflying creatures and Serra Angel beating the opponent down, he was in trouble unless he could get rid of one of those cards (and quickly). These days, your odds of running into a flying attacker the Angel can't compete with are higher, but you can also run your own big fliers. Aside from the issue of flying attackers, it can't do anything to protect you against direct damage and the like. But in any control deck that can use it, Moat at least buys time for you to prepare without being overwhelmed. And when it comes to doing that, Moat does it best.
When this list featured Island Sanctuary, I was compelled to compare it to Moat. Well, here's the legend itself. Moat is one of the most famous and popular enchantments of all time. Back in the day, it was typically used alongside Serra Angel. With Moat holding off attacks by nonflying creatures and Serra Angel beating the opponent down, he was in trouble unless he could get rid of one of those cards (and quickly). These days, your odds of running into a flying attacker the Angel can't compete with are higher, but you can also run your own big fliers. Aside from the issue of flying attackers, it can't do anything to protect you against direct damage and the like. But in any control deck that can use it, Moat at least buys time for you to prepare without being overwhelmed. And when it comes to doing that, Moat does it best.#152: Despondency
Here's another somewhat "forgotten" enchantment. I haven't seen it in a long time. Actually, the last time I saw anyone use Despondency was when I used it myself in a Necro deck at least nine years ago. But I don't think it's nostalgia. I really think Despondency is an underappreciated card. It's the generic black "make an opponent's creature weaker" enchantment with the enormous bonus of bouncing back to your hand when it dies. This list needs some representative from this class of enchantment and Despondency is really the best one, so here it is. Despondency can either shut down or weaken an opponent's creature and come back to do it again if the creature dies or if Despondency is destroyed somehow, which you can do yourself quite easily if you have a sacrifice outlet. I always used Despondency with Claws of Gix. If I had something to do with all my mana, I did it. If not, I could get a boost from this life gain engine. Good times.
Here's another somewhat "forgotten" enchantment. I haven't seen it in a long time. Actually, the last time I saw anyone use Despondency was when I used it myself in a Necro deck at least nine years ago. But I don't think it's nostalgia. I really think Despondency is an underappreciated card. It's the generic black "make an opponent's creature weaker" enchantment with the enormous bonus of bouncing back to your hand when it dies. This list needs some representative from this class of enchantment and Despondency is really the best one, so here it is. Despondency can either shut down or weaken an opponent's creature and come back to do it again if the creature dies or if Despondency is destroyed somehow, which you can do yourself quite easily if you have a sacrifice outlet. I always used Despondency with Claws of Gix. If I had something to do with all my mana, I did it. If not, I could get a boost from this life gain engine. Good times.#151: Chance Encounter
I've chuckled at gigantic decks used to support Battle of Wits. And I've always thought it unfair that Mortal Combat was so underpowered. But I've been scared by Chance Encounter. Those luck counters can build up quickly. Chance Encounter gets ranked above those other two because it doesn't constrain deckbuilding as much as they do. You'd only use this card in a coin-flipping deck anyway. And if you're using a coin-flipping deck, you don't need to throw in specific cards for Chance Encounter. Because it offers an easy route to winning the game (quite literally), pretty much any coin-flipping deck will be including Chance Encounter. If you've never encountered such a deck, I don't know what to tell you other than to go build one. It's unlike any other deck and will either amuse or annoy your opponents as you repeatedly flip coins.
I've chuckled at gigantic decks used to support Battle of Wits. And I've always thought it unfair that Mortal Combat was so underpowered. But I've been scared by Chance Encounter. Those luck counters can build up quickly. Chance Encounter gets ranked above those other two because it doesn't constrain deckbuilding as much as they do. You'd only use this card in a coin-flipping deck anyway. And if you're using a coin-flipping deck, you don't need to throw in specific cards for Chance Encounter. Because it offers an easy route to winning the game (quite literally), pretty much any coin-flipping deck will be including Chance Encounter. If you've never encountered such a deck, I don't know what to tell you other than to go build one. It's unlike any other deck and will either amuse or annoy your opponents as you repeatedly flip coins.
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