Topics

1

Commander Deck Reviews / Etrata, Deadly Fugitive

« on: September 05, 2024, 12:31:54 pm »

Etrata, Deadly Fugitive
Just a deck I had sitting around and forgot to put up on here, but with manifest dread being a thing coming up I figure I should probably track changes on this one.
Given that Etrata kinda pushes you into this weird 3 way Assassin, Morph, Theft build this deck will probably remain one of my lower powered ones, so more casual oriented suggestions that still smooth out the jankiness would be welcome.

2

Deck Reviews / [Modern] Zada's Energy Revolt

« on: May 25, 2024, 12:22:11 pm »

Zada's Energy Revolt

I don't know too much about the Modern format, but I was hoping to give it a try when Modern Horizons 3 comes out. Aether Revolt and Galvanic Discharge caught my eye and I wanted to try making it work with Zada going nuts on energy production. Essentially just get 4 creatures, more or less as needed, Zada included, and Galvanic Discharge her to do so to each of them killing only one of your own creatures. Aether Revolt currently isn't on here but it's an enchantment that increases non combat damage dealt by 2 if a permanent you control left play that turn and also deals damage equal to the amount of energy you gain, meaning each Galvanic Discharge will blast your opponent in the face for 5.
As I stated though, I don't really know the format so I'm not sure how effective the idea would actually be in practice and am open to ideas on how to improve it.

3

Commander Deck Reviews / Yarus, Roar of the Old Gods

« on: March 03, 2024, 12:28:35 am »

Yarus, Roar of the Old Gods

I was mostly inspired to build this by the Over/Under article on EDHRec hyperfocusing on Yarus's second ability and not saying a word about his third.
After playing several games with this deck it's pretty clear that that is the main draw of Yarus, as you have a million other ways to get cards. Is someone running Grave Pact or dropping Fleshbag Marauder variants? Well thanks for the flip. Board wipes? Thanks for the flip. Swinging in at me or try blocking? You got it, thanks for the flip.
The deck runs both Blasphemous Act and Showstopping Surprise specifically to turn things face up if people aren't doing the job for you, and Marauding Raptor accomplishes the same while also dropping the cost.
Sac outlets allow for cheap or even free flips, so Evolutionary Leap and Perilous Forays allow me to get even more long term advantage without actually losing anything in exchange.
The Marauding Raptor, along with Yarus and the Ashcloud Phoenix form a usually game ending combo, with Fortune Thief and Pyrotechnic Performer allowing you to tip the odds of survival in your favor while the various +1/+1 triggers allow for a way to shut the loop off if it would kill you first while still allowing you to drop everyone into an easy kill range.

The main issue, that I can see, is that the list of viable cards for Yarus is just so shallow that there's not much room for variation. That said I am wondering if anyone sees ways I can improve this even more. The cards that are currently in the maybeboard are ones I'm either lacking but want, just don't know how to fit in, or am just generally on the fence about.

4

Commander Deck Reviews / Ayara, Widow of the Realm

« on: April 04, 2023, 10:08:18 am »

Ayara, Widow of the Realm

A deck I'm planning to buy up the bits to build once the next set comes out. The main wincon being Ayara, Furnace Queen, any of the free sac outlets, and Combat Celebrant on the field or in the graveyard for infinite combat steps, though the usual sacrifice/reanimate strategies are present as well.
Suggestions for improvements would be welcome.

5

Commander Deck Reviews / Alandra, Sky Dreamer

« on: April 03, 2023, 01:08:59 am »

Alandra, Sky Dreamer

I've been working on this deck a lot lately, though I had to remake the decklist to get it to post into the right section, it's honestly been kind of fun to play because people aren't generally expecting the blue deck to smash their face with giant fliers.
The game plan is simple, draw 2 every possible turn to flood the board, then do some heavy drawing to swing a swarm of ~20/20 Drakes at everyone. I recently put in Jace, Wielder of Mysteries and Laboratory Maniac as backup plans as well because there have been a couple times where I couldn't afford to do a massive draw due to not having the cards left because they're almost all already in hand.
Pending any better reveals, I'm already planning to swap Wavebreak Hippocamp and Peregrine Drake out for Faerie Mastermind and Invasion of Segovia // Caetus, Sea Tyrant of Segovia when they become available. I'm just not sure what other sorts of changes I could make to the deck at this point, so I'd welcome some advice.

6

Commander Deck Reviews / Ashnod the Uncaring

« on: November 06, 2022, 04:23:53 am »

Ashnod the Uncaring

Basically create a ton of random tokens, dig and ramp hard for Riptide Shapeshifter to pop out both Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer and Mirage Phalanx (the only Artificer and Soldier in the deck itself), or just luck into those two while digging. Turn all tokens into something massive be it 10/10 Eldrazis, giant X/X Flying Zombies or whatever else may be on hand with the Mirage Phalanx such as the Nesting Dragon, Professional Face-Breaker, or the Phalanx itself.

One thing I'm not certain on is my recursion options. For cards like Doomed Necromancer my understanding is that, while the original ability can't target themselves or the other sacrificed creatures due to the timing of targeting and paying the cost, the copy ability created by Ashnod should be able to target them as they will be in the graveyard at that point. Is this correct?

7

Commander Deck Reviews / Delina, Wild Mage

« on: October 01, 2022, 08:05:11 am »

Delina, Wild Mage

Basically a mono-red dragon deck, though perhaps a bit light on the dragons since most of the good ones are out of color or rather pricey. Meaning half the wincons are unfortunately not Dragons.
The main idea is to get out at least one of my luck manipulation cards, Krark's Other Thumb is rule 0'd in with my group, though I sub it out for Reckless Barbarian when people don't want to deal with me rolling 2-6 dice for every die I'd have rolled otherwise.
After that I try to win by damage ETBs from Fanatic of Mogis, Storm Caller, Red Dragon, or by stealing everyone's artifacts with a swarm of Hellkite Tyrant. Harmonic Prodigy helps with the former two options by not only allowing Delina to trigger twice and net even more of them, which helps all around, but also doubling their own ETBs. I've also occasionally managed wins off of Hellkite Igniter swarms boosted by the metric ton of treasure the deck pumps out.
I'm toying with the idea of working in Clockwork Fox to enable better Jeska's Will ramp in the second main phase, along with drawing a ton of cards, but giving opponents cards is still a pretty big gamble I'm not sure I should take.
Similarly, I'm thinking of working in Blasphemous Act to pair with Wrathful Red Dragon as another wincon, though it not being instant is kind of a bummer as I can't stack up a bunch of WRDs and keep them long enough to get a ton of triggers off of each hit.

Any advice or recommendations, preferably not exceeding $10, are welcome.

8

Commander Deck Reviews / Neera, Wild Mage

« on: May 27, 2022, 10:48:00 pm »

Neera, Wild Mage
Tried putting together a Neera combo deck. Right now I can't get the deck to display her as it keeps changing Neera, Wild Mage to "Neera, Fancam Filterer" for some reason.
Basically the idea is to draw and ramp until I get Neera, Wild Mage and Displacer Kitten out, along with something to do damage based on spell casting. So Ral, Storm Conduit, Guttersnipe, or Aria of Flame. Maybe Sorcerer Class if I've had the chance to fully level it. I'm open to more suggestions along that line, especially non creatures since those keep the combo going. Redundancies on Displacer Kitten if possible would also be nice.
Cast a spell, stack Neera, damage, and Displacer Kitten triggers in that order with the Kitten targeting Neera, a "new" Neera will then see the spell cast by the "old" Neera allowing the cycle to repeat until victory.

9

Commander Deck Reviews / Ziatora, the Incinerator

« on: May 17, 2022, 03:10:07 am »

https://deckstats.net/decks/168446/2545812-ziatora-the-incinerator/en

At the moment I'm building this with theft in mind, with various ways to take advantage of opponents' creatures from there. There's a slight Pirate subtheme to the deck to help Coercive Recruiter, though the lack of green Pirates and lack of blue in this deck does keep me from going all out on that.
Prowling Geistcatcher, Olivia Voldaren, and Conjurer's Closet are ways to keep things I steal on a more permanent basis.
Chatterfang + Pitiless Plunderer and any damaging death trigger serve as one win con, while Cranial Plating on Ziatora can quickly wipe people out through commander damage.

Does anyone have any suggestions to improve this? Preferably <$10 cards as usual.

10

Commander Deck Reviews / Jon Irenicus, Shattered One

« on: April 22, 2022, 12:44:20 am »

Jon was leaked for the upcoming Baldur's Gate set and I felt the need to build a deck for him. Since he's not on this site yet, long story short is each turn you give up to one of your creatures to an opponent, give them 2 +1/+1 counters, Goad them forever, and they can not be sacrificed and to take advantage of it he draws you a card whenever creatures you own but do not control attack.
https://deckstats.net/decks/168446/2522600-jon-irenicus#show_description

I'm looking for more ideas on what to put in here, aside from stuff that would automatically draw the game like Bronze Bombshell or Phylactery Lich. Sure, that'd be funny, but I'd like games to actually be playable.

11

General Magic / Captain's Claws on an opponent's creature interaction

« on: April 21, 2022, 09:04:06 pm »

If somehow I control a Captain's Claws but it is attached to an opponent's creature, who gets the token when the creature attacks? If I get the token, would it still be attacking even though it isn't my turn?

12

General Magic / Question about Hordewing Skaab & Teferi's Ageless Insight

« on: March 11, 2022, 04:17:04 am »

So let's say I have both Hordewing Skaab and Teferi's Ageless Insight out and hit 3 other players in combat. Under normal circumstances I would draw 3 then discard 3, but with that enchantment out I draw 6 and discard how many? 3 cards or 6?

13

Commander Deck Reviews / Chatterfang, Squirrel General

« on: November 23, 2021, 05:54:19 am »

Chatterfang, Squirrel General
Essentially the idea is to pump out a ton of whatever token I can, as cheap and quickly as possible, swarming everyone with squirrels. Pennon Blade and Cranial Plating are there for swift commander damage kills
I'm looking for cheap, both in terms of mana cost and money, upgrades to this.

14

Commander Deck Reviews / Katilda, Dawnhart Prime

« on: October 20, 2021, 05:16:35 am »

Katilda, Dawnhart Prime

Managed to get Katilda in a pack, felt like trying to build her. At the moment this is all just stuff I have laying around and I'm wondering if there are any decent cards worth looking into for her. Preferably under $10.
At the moment the basic idea is if everything's a mana dork I can just overrun people quickly, so I'm thinking I probably need more draw power to take advantage of it but I can't think of much for that. Most of the green draw I can think of wants big things, which Humans aren't, and White draw... Exists maybe?

15

Commander Deck Reviews / Grumgully, the Generous

« on: October 06, 2021, 11:18:09 pm »

Grumgully, the Generous
Fairly straightforward deck. Big dumb smashy gets bigger and smashier.

Two infinite combo win conditions exist as well if overwhelming force doesn't work.
Persist Bombardment sustained by Grumgully or Renata, with Signal the Clans to tutor up any of the three Persist creatures.
There's also Ivy Lane Denizen infinitely dumping out tokens, with either Samut or Impact Tremors to instantly end it, along with the Magus of the Order to make sure I find whatever missing creature piece I need. If I end up needing to wait, Heroic Intervention and Tibalt's Trickery are there to save myself from a board wipe.