Political Group Hug

[Nøtaler]

Political Group Hug


I am a few cards over but unsure what ones to remove. It could also use to minor improvements I think.
I am trying to keep this as a deck that wins mostly through politics or getting to second then winning on my own. I want to keep that element but I do still need ways to answer threats that others can't or won't.
I also have some creatures to help push out chump blockers so I can defend myself if needed.

[Aetherium Slinky]

Did you know you can create custom categories in the editor? Basically achieves exactly the same thing as the annotations you've done but in a more readable format.

Now for some cuts:
Noosegraf Mob looks like it's a 6 mana card that doesn't win you the game. Sure it makes tokens but that relies on the actions of other players so it's not guaranteed that you get the tokens when you need them.
Chronomantic Escape is also the same, 6 mana (=most of your mana) for a card that essentially time walks the other players letting you put an extra land in play, effectively. My play group calls this a "glorified turn" when you basically take an extra turn where you only draw a card and drop a land. Not good value.
Vindicate is a sorcery. I think you can just cut it but if you're looking for a replacement I recommend Utter End.

[anjinsan]

I, too, recently made a Breena politics deck, and I really like her.

I agree with the suggested cuts.

Noosegraf Mob isn't just something that "doesn't win you the game" at 6 mana, it's not even that great. It's a 5/5 that shrinks to give you, eventually, five 2/2s. It has some counters synergy... I guess in Breena you want some tokens to pump, too, but for that price there are so many things I'd rather have.

Vindicate is fine, there are just so many better options in black/white now.

I actually really like Chronomantic Escape and run it in my Vega, the Watcher deck. Even there, though, it's frankly not that great. Once per three turns is just too slow (I get it, every other turn would probably be too much, but still) and by the time this hits, the game's unlikely to last long enough for you to get much more out of it, plus people can play around it.

You probably also want to decide how focused on the politics you want to be, and how much on counters and tokens. Breena works fine as a sort of aggro/tempo commander, drawing you cards whilst pumping everything, and that's where cards like Basri Ket or Shaile fit in. If you're going pure politics, I might cut them.

You know, I don't think I have ever seen Cunning Rhetoric before! That is awesome!

Some other ideas of things to cut:
Norn's Annex - it just doesn't seem enough
Curse of Disturbance - I'm borderline on it, I like it, but it's not the strongest Curse... I guess for Breena, maybe
Akroan Horse - I want to like it so much, I used to run it in my Queen Marchesa deck, but people usually just use the 1/1s as chump blockers which is actually the opposite of what you want. It's probably slightly better here (you can use the tokens more) but I'm still not convinced.
Temple Bell - I don't like "full group" hug effects like this. You should already be drawing more from Breena, and nobody will thank you for it as it affects everyone equally.
Hangarback Walker - Again, a counters-to-tokens critter, but there's nothing political about it, it's purely for generating tokens. Just feels a little clunky as a token generator.
Pelakka Predation - Single-target discard in EDH, or a tapped land... potentially useful as a land which can occasionally get rid of an Expropriate or whatever that you *know* someone has for whatever reason, but feels kinda niche to warrant the tapped entry.
Luminarch Aspirant - pretty epic in Standard but, here, one counter per turn...? Even if you're leaning heavily into the counters, it feels pretty tame.

I'm in two minds about Nils... as a purely pillowfort card, he seems a little weak (unless people are pumping their own creatures - which is admittedly possible - it's only one or two creatures and only a small tax, at least until he's been around awhile) and in boosting your enemies, you're potentially helping them kill each other, but maybe they just pay and attack you and deal more damage and thank you very much for helping them kill you. If he gets removed, they just keep the counters. I haven't tried him yet though so I don't know how good he is in practice.

And yep, there is a good reason for all of those cards, but I would so much rather have Wall of Shards instead. :-)

Side-note, but I noticed you have Authority of the Consuls down as pillowfort... I think it is good here (and Blind Obedience, too), but IMO it's not much of a pillowfort card, it only really stops haste (though that can be a big deal). Rather, it's an offensive card since it stops people from playing blockers. I still like it here because it's a way to encourage people to attack each other.

[Nøtaler]

I updated the deck with more of a weight on the politics and pillow fort. I tossed in some ways to win in a 1v1 that is not just smack them, or used to kill someone that needs to be killed before 1v1.
I am debating on taking on Sphere of Safety for Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker. I only like Sphere of Safety a little better because of Karmic Justice but for 5 mana if just seems like it will never get nearly as much value as a creature that says ok if you hit me you have to sacrifice stuff, especially if I also have No Mercy out at the same time.
Thought and/or changes?
Edit- I did change out Sphere of Safety for Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker, just am not sure it is the correct decision yet.
https://deckstats.net/decks/92923/2036601-political-pillow-fort