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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Looking for some help regarding my Galea deck

« il: Aprile 29, 2024, 08:05:32 pm »

Looking carefully through the decklist, I see that you have 2 cards that draw when enchantments ETB, and 4 that draw when enchantments are cast... and yet barely over 1/10th of your deck is enchantments.

One thing to remember is that card advantage is a secondary minor form of ramp. 1/3 of your deck is solely for ramp and/or draw, so I feel like you could easily thin that out just a small amount to potentially free up space.

All that glitters, Nettlecyst both buff from every artifact and enchantment
Danitha Capashen, Paragon is an amazing cost fixer for both auras and equipment, AND she's knight.
Halvar, God of Battle gives all enchanted or equipped creatures double strike AND a once per turn free attach.
Sigarda's Aid should be an auto add in any equip/aura deck
Silkguard is great protection with the added bonus of possibly buffing up creatures
Strong Back is a great aura that makes it easier to equip or enchant one creature, AND buffs them for every aura/equip on it
Spectral Steel is a decent aura that also doubles as recursion for an aura or equipment
Helm of the Gods buffs for every enchantment you control and is super cheap to play and equip
Knight of Autumn is both great removal or a self-buffer/small lifegain, AND a Knight

I'll have more suggestions as I review more ideas, but I really think you have a solid build, it just needs to synergize better and add more of what makes the deck work well.

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Is this deck build too strong? (Xyris, the writhing storm)

« il: Novembre 14, 2023, 04:10:02 am »

Lower budget decks tend to do much better in a casual setting to avoid resentment.  As a rule I try to keep my truly casual decks under $150. If I want to play something that costs more I ask the table if they are OK with something more competitive. While expensive doesn't always mean good, it is a fairly accurate judge of the "strength" of a card. No Cyclonic Rift, Mana Crypt, or other things that really jack up the value.

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Prepping for a casual budget tournament

« il: Novembre 14, 2023, 03:54:34 am »

Hey Budget Queen! 

This looks like a fun deck, nice job. 

I admit I haven't taken the time to read through all the posts, I see you got a lot of good tips.  I did pick up on a couple things for your tournament specifically though. 

1. (I think) You mentioned that when you have played, board wipes are a problem.  Is this specific to your meta?  Maybe it is in my playgroup, I don't play with the "public" much at all anymore, but we have mostly taken board wipes out of our decks, favoring more aggressive play and not slowing down the sessions.  We would rather have someone win in 40 minutes and play again, than drag out a 3-4 hour game full of wipes.  I kind of felt like that was where EDH was heading in general, so I felt like dedicating a lot of card slots to protection from wipes seemed unnecessary to me, but I realize every meta/group is different. 

2.  You are very focused on lowering your curve / lowest CMC cards you can for the slot of what you want the card to do.  In general, I know this is a good idea.  However, I feel like if there are a specific couple of cards that you like/will help your deck win and they are on the higher side of CMC, it's ok to have a few in.  What you really don't want is a hand full of 6 CMC cards on turn 6, because if that's the case you're probably toast.  But if you have 1 CMC 6 card in your hand on turn 6+ and it's a potential finisher for you, It's perfect.  I guess my point is, I wouldn't be too committed to getting the lowest CMC thing in the deck.  Sometimes there are very important reasons you would want the higher MV card for what it does for the deck.  To me it's "Spend the mana you need to spend to do the thing you need to do", not "spend less mana to hope to do the thing you do". 

As for a card I LOVE in EDH that I don't think gets enough credit, is Wedding Ring!  I think it may be a bit pricey $ these days, but I would look into it.  In current EDH world, I feel there is usually at least 1 player at the table drawing a ton of cards, and often you have multiple good choices which player you want to "align" with.  In my experience, it is very useful to make the player who is dominating early game sort of not look at you as a threat until you start popping off, buying you valuable time as your opponents beat each other up.  Especially in mono white where you may be a little slower to get your board set up and maybe not quite drawing a ton or ramping a ton, IMO the value is very hard to see by reading the card but the way it plays in-game is huge. 

Just my thoughts, enjoy!

Unfortunately board wipes do seem to be rather prevalent in the LGS where I play most often. But the indestructible in the deck also allows ME to cast board wipes much more freely. Nothing more satisfying than giving everything indestructible and then playing Wrath of God. Dick move? Yes. But still effective. I feel that the general rule in my playgroup and a good portion of the meta at the LGS says to have at least one board wipe in the deck. Even with the $100 budget I'm still expecting quite a few.

I'm not against more expensive CMC cards as long as they are worth the mana they cost. Because this deck really is quantity over quality keeping the overall curve down is really important. I'd much rather have a hand full of cheap 2 or 3 cost and maybe the occasional one that costs more than that. Abdel needs lots of cards on the field for his effect to work, so in this case being able to play more for less is ideal. That all being said, I'm not afraid of including high CMC cards if they work exceptionally well in the deck. I.E. Defiler of Faith, The Eternal Wanderer, Pegasus Guardian // Rescue the Foal, Rabble Rousing, Knight-Captain of Eos, and the new addition of Akroma's Memorial. I feel like if Abdel himself wasn't 5 CMC I would be able to use other cards with higher CMC, but playing him gets costly quick, especially if I had to add any commander tax onto that.

I didn't even know the Wedding Ring card existed! That's a cool concept. It would be especially potent against my wife's Black/Green Lifegain/Witherbloom deck... and fitting that her and I both get a copy of a wedding ring. If it wasn't such a high $$$ card I would likely pick one up to use. I may still grab one for this deck eventually, but for now it's far out of my budget both for what I can fit in the deck and what I myself can afford to buy.

Edit: Now I really wanna get a wedding ring card for both me and my wife. (I really like the Doctor Who version)... maybe that'll be my anniversary present for her this year. Thank you for introducing me to this card!!!!

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Prepping for a casual budget tournament

« il: Novembre 13, 2023, 10:03:04 am »

Ok, updated list now that I know all the rulings (hopefully).

https://deckstats.net/decks/208937/3106465-white-blink-token-swarm-budget

Changes:
Flicker Wisp replaced with Restoration Angel
Roving Harper replaced with Felidar Guardian (Hate losing the draw, but needed to cut from somewhere)
Lay Down Arms replaced with Journey to Nowhere
Prison Sentence replaced with Oblivion Ring
1 Plains replaced with Fiend Hunter (Hoping that Flywheel and Shaku make up for the loss of mana)
Brute Suit replaced with Flywheel Racer
Thundering Chariot replaced with Honor-worn Shaku

Edit: With the addition of Infinite Combos and the potential for infinite mana along with that, I realized I needed a sort of "win-con" to actually be able to use the infinite tokens. Therefore I added in Akroma's Memorial. Due to it's high cost and the fact I have to stay under $100, I had to do a few other adjustments to drop the total price.

Replaced Flawless Maneuver with 1 Plains. (I don't really like dropping below 33 mana... so I added it back in)
Replaced Panharmonicon with Akroma's Memorial (Really good card, but I needed to drop the total value... In the non $100 budget version it will definitely stay in)
Kabira Takedown // Kabira Plateau for 1 Plains (I was literally $0.13 over $100, so I dropped this to get below that.)

Total cost: $99.92

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Prepping for a casual budget tournament

« il: Novembre 13, 2023, 09:13:38 am »

Gonna try to contribute at your list a bit!

But I'm probably the least experienced aroud as far as deckbulding is concerned, I'm only proposing some interactions with single cards you might have missed, hoping I'm in the right

I've some personal questions, first of all, given the fact you have tried the deck some times:  At what point of your plans do your games end? At which turn? 6th turn? 12th? And how many permanents were you usually able to amass under Abdel? Where you at that point far from a winning position or relatively close?


Aside from this, back to your list:

Random wincon thoughts:
I really liked cathars crusade, but I get the budget problem... (and really like the cloudshift replace)
Moreover, I'm not sure how much mass removal is played in your pod, and so how much is viable the idea of closing out the game with some very huge soldiers. Maybe it is less powerfull than I thought, if you put it out. Wasn't it enough for the crusade to hit the battlefield to immediatly puts you in a favorable spot to win? (after a couple blinks more)

I think restoration angel was a combo piece with Abdel... I'm in the wrong? Like felidar guardian! With a third piece of the like of cloudshift / Ephemerate. Or far traveler too. I'd suggest to swap it back, putting the flickerwisp out.
The combo should work like this:
1)Preparation: you cast the felidar guardian (or the angel), his etb targeting abdel, blinks abdel. Abdel exiles the felidar guardian under him and everything else he was already exiling.
2) Starting point: Abdel exiling felidar guardian targeted by a blink effect (far traveler, cloudshift...)
3) resolve the blink, abdel exits and enters back, all permanents (most importantly felidar guardian ("fg")) he was exiling enter the battlefield.
4) Arrange triggers on the stack as you wish: fg's trigger targeting abdel first, abdel's trigger after.
5) Resolve abdel's trigger exiling fg (and creating one soldier)
6) Resolve fg's trigger exiling abdel
7) so returning abdel and fg on the battlefield
repeat 348579834759 times creating 348579834759 soldiers.
9) Hope none has a response.


Removal
I'm gonna stress again on the likes of oblivion ring, fiend hunter, journey to nowhere, leonin relic-warder
They are not at all temporary removal with abdel, with a bit of work included...!!! Look at that:
1) you cast oblivion ring (obr), his etb tirggers targeting and exiling what you want
2) later you cast Abdel; his etb triggers and exiles obr. Obr's leave the battlefield trigger (ltbt) triggers and unfortunately returns what was exiled.
3) This is a new starting point though.
4) You blink Abdel while he is exiling the obr. (with far traveler or cloudshift)
5) Resolution: Abdel exits and returns back
6) "Sort of state base action": Obr enters back
7) You have at this point their two etbs to put on the stack as you desire: obr's first (stating his target) and abdel's second
Resolve Abdel's trigger, exiling obr.
9) Obr's ltbt triggers and returns nothing on resolution.
10) Finally you resolve the obr's etb and exile his targets. Forever.

At this point every time you blink Abdel (blink and not flicker, like flickerwisp) you have a free removal under it. With a bit of preps you have so gained a far better Loran of the third path. But I don't know if this is so reliable as I make it seems.
I'd slot in an oblivion ring and a journey to nowhere, slotting out a prison sentence and a lay down arms.


Michellanea
I'd slot out a brute suit for a Honor-Worn Shaku (Mana!!!!)
I'd slot out a thundering chariot for a Flywheel Racer (mana!!!)
In the protection section I'd consider Your temple is under attack and Blacksmith's Skill
Ashnod's altar would probably be a good mana card, with a bit of preparation...: helping you cast the most expensive spells exploiting some soldiers...
Hero of goma fada Morganator 2.0 suggested seems better to me than selfless spirt, but maybe I'm overstimating your capability to blink at instant speed when you need it.
Maybe a justiciar's portal?

Ok I'm out sorry for the wall of text XD

I haven't actually kept track of what turn the deck "takes off." I just know that the wins it has are a complete victory with masses of unavoidable token damage. I'll do some test playing and see where the turns start to make or break the game.

I... need a rules check on the interaction between Abdel and cards that blink him. At first I thought if Oblivion Ring or something else returned to play after having been exiled by him that it couldn't exist on the field at the same time as him because it requires him to leave play, but like you stated the full blink effect is exile and immediately return him to play. This drastically changes things... But I feel like there's targeting issues somewhere that aren't immediately obvious. (The stack makes things so damn complicated).

If it does work like you say and both can target the other than there is absolutely no reason they shouldn't be included.

Cathars' Crusade: I still have it in my Maybeboard cause I'm not sure if I fully want to take it out or not. I have til the end of the month to get this set up, so it's still going to have to do a lot of testing.

Edit: I looked it up on Commander Spellbook. It's a known infinite combo loop... So it looks like I'm doing some revamping again.

Edit 2: I double checked the ruling and.. holy shit!! I had no idea Oblivion Ring, Journey to Nowhere, and Fiend Hunter worked like that!!! Slotting them in immediately!!!

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Prepping for a casual budget tournament

« il: Novembre 12, 2023, 02:44:58 pm »

Here's the changes so far:

Out:
Cathars' Crusade: CMC was too high Replaced with Odric, Master Tactician.
Restoration Angel: CMC was too high and the effect was usually only helpful once. Replaced with Cloudshift.
Seller of Songbirds: Flyers were nice but Knight-Captain of Eos needed a spot.
Soul Warden, Soul's Attendant, Order of Whiteclay, and Karmic Guide: removed lifegain/recursion subthemes.
Ichor Wellspring: I have lots of effects that synergize with creature ETBs so I replaced it with Circuit Mender.
Pilgrim of the Ages: Replaced with Liquimetal Torque to combo with Loran.
Lae'zel's Acrobatics: I love the possible double blink, but not for 4 CMC. Replaced with Ephemerate.
Angelic Gift: Replaced with Lembas.
Campfire 💔: I love this card, but all the indestructible makes it much less helpful.
1 Plains: Replaced with Holdout Settlement.

In:
Cloudshift*
Ephemerate*
Holdout Settlement*
Circuit Mender*
Loran of the Third Path*
Liquimetal Torque
Odric, Master Tactician
Knight-Captain of Eos*
Roving Harper
Panharmonicon*
Selfless Spirit
Flawless Maneuver*
Lembas*

* = I don't own yet but I plan to get soon.

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Prepping for a casual budget tournament

« il: Novembre 12, 2023, 01:33:58 pm »

Your point about not wanting things to stay on the field during your opponents’ turns applies to anything with an aura attached, so you might consider cutting them.

All the auras in the deck have ETB effects. So while I can use them to enchant one of my own creatures or nullify one of my opponent's, I often bounce them to exile with Abdel. Having the option to make a potential "super soldier" with Nurturing Spirit has actually won me a couple of games. Angelic Gift could easily be replaced by something better, but giving a creature flying isn't terrible. It's primarily there for its ETB card draw and the fact it only costs 2 mana.

I don't know how to quote multiple people in one post without going back in and editing it, so I'll just reply to Morganator without the quotes...

I have zero attachment to the lifegain and recursion. They had proved useful in the past and the burst healing from Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant are nice once I start generating a few soldiers every turn, but they aren't absolutely necessary. The recursion is just because my friend group runs lots of removal and they know to take out Abdel's 'entourage' before he can get them to safety. The Order of Whiteclay worked nicely with all my vehicles and tap abilities, but he is definitely not a must have either.

As far as Campfire goes...  I'm stubborn about that card. It is so helpful with running two commanders, and it's the poor woman's Command Beacon. Should I take it out? Probably... Am I going to? 😅😅 Probably not.

Edit: I took it out. 😭 I am replacing it with a Flawless Maneuver when I get one.

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Prepping for a casual budget tournament

« il: Novembre 11, 2023, 04:26:29 am »

Looks like a fun deck to play. And I always like other people playing monowhite!

I have a few suggestions for cards to add. Tocasia's Welcome is great carddraw in a deck that makes tokens, especially if they can do so on opponent's turns.

You can make use of your tokens better if you can decide how your opponent has to block with Odric, master tacticion or if your creatures have haste with Crashing Drawbridge. Both can be (part of) your wincon.

And I also support the forementioned Knight-Captain of eos. That card is way better than it looks, especially if you can keep it safe from removal like in your deck.

Hmmm... I hadn't thought about using Odric, Master Tactician. He would be an amazing potential win-con or an effective way to deal with annoying creatures that I can force my opponent to block with. Crashing Drawbridge is an amazing card and I just got one finally! I can absolutely see the use for it, especially once I get a couple pre-combat blinks going.

Hi!

One day I'm gonna wield a Mono White Abdel too! Glad to see your list!

For the removal slots, have you tried oblivion ring or journey to nowhere or fiend hunter?
Are they worth in your perspective?

As for Oblivion Ring, Journey to Nowhere, and Fiend Hunter... I had both O ring and the Hunter in the deck several iterations ago. I took them both out as having a static Nontoken creature/enchantment on the field makes it a target. I feel the fact that they're temporary removal removes a lot of their usefulness.

One benefit of having Abdel blink everything out at the end of my turn is that it offers those cards a layer of protection. They have to kill Abdel first in order to get to his "entourage." So having cards that have to remain in play during my opponents turn just makes them that much more vulnerable.

I don't usually use Lightning Greaves anymore, but a 0 mana equip means that you could tap a creature for an activated ability, flicker it, then equip the Greaves and activate it again on the same turn.  If you are mass flickering by exiling with your commander then flickering him the 0 mana equip means you can activate each creature flickered.

As far as cuts go, I always end up cutting Cathar's Crusade from my token decks.  It is stupendously powerful, but it has a very high mana cost and keeping track of so many tokens that end up all having a different number of +1/+1 counters on them gives me a headache.  Also usually by the time I cast it I do not need it to win. 

Edit: just realized Greaves is a bit higher $$value than I thought it was.

LOL Edit 2: Now I noticed that you don't have many creatures with tap abilities in there, so Loran would be the only thing greaves would really help.

I do already own lightning greaves, two of them, actually. But, like you said, it is an expensive card. I also felt it wasn't especially helpful given that it was in the deck more for its shroud than its haste. Plus having it equipped during the end phase prevents Abdel from being the target for the Far Traveler blink, so the protection it provides is more of a hinderance than a help.

As far as Cathars' Crusade goes, I just got it a few days prior to posting this, so I haven't had the opportunity to test it out. I have a plethora of + and - dice, so keeping track wouldn't be an issue, but I could easily forsee the mana cost being a problem. Taking it out would also free up $10 towards the overall budget of the deck, so I'll consider it 'on the chopping block.'

While I'm loving all the suggestions on what to put in... I still have zero idea on what to take out 

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Prepping for a casual budget tournament

« il: Novembre 09, 2023, 10:46:09 pm »

Not sure if you may want to put this also in the deck..  Rumor Gatherer but it scry's for every creature except for the 2nd one which allows you to draw. I personally like it when I am in some sort of token deck because of the constant scrying aspect. Per example: If it does see 4 creatures enter the battlefield you'll get a scry,draw,scry,scry. Most people forget the creature entering you scry effect after you draw the card.

It was already in the deck 

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Prepping for a casual budget tournament

« il: Novembre 09, 2023, 08:10:37 pm »

Cards I already own that plan to put in:
Roving Harper
Selfless Spirit
Liquimetal Torque (if I can get a Loran)
Skyscanner (maybe???)

Cards I don't own but plan to put in:
Flawless Maneuver
Circuit Mender
Panharmonicon (Need!!!)
Knight-Captain of Eos
Ephemerate
Loran of the Third Path (Need!!!)
Lembas
Cloudshift
Holdout Settlement

With those choices mostly picked out now I need to figure out what to take out... I'm open to any suggestions!

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Prepping for a casual budget tournament

« il: Novembre 09, 2023, 02:22:34 am »

You could possibly also add Wingmate Roc, Cloudgoat Ranger, Promise of Loyalty, and Knight-Captain of Eos (Great budget fog on a stick).

While all of these cards have amazing effects, their mana costs are super high...

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Prepping for a casual budget tournament

« il: Novembre 09, 2023, 02:20:40 am »

You're about $20 under budget so you can take this opportunity to get some of the slightly more expensive cards to fill in these gaps. Selfless Spirit and Eagle of Deliverance are about a dollar and will protect you from boardwipes. Hero of Goma Fada is an option at $0.50, but I don't think you're using enough instant-speed blink effects to make it good protection. Lena, Selfless Champion is protection with a nice ETB, but her mana cost is kinda high for what she does.

Flawless Maneuver is one of the best choices, but it will eat a significant portion of that budget. I think you can safely put this in.

Card draw is also very useful for recovering from boardwipes. How is this deck for card draw? You have a few repeatable options through Inspiring Overseer, Priest of Ancient Lore, and Spirited Companion. Fitting in more card like them will help  and they won't break the bank. Circuit Mender, Combat Thresher, Roving Harper, Skyscanner, and Wall of Omens are simple choices. There is also Farsight Adept, Resistance Squad, and Welcoming Vampire, but they come with downsides. More card draw is rarely a bad thing in any case.

I didn't think about Selfless Spirit. It's cheap and I already own one, so I'll definitely put it in. The Eagle is good... But his mana value is rather high. I'll get one and give it a test to see if it's effect is worth the high mana cost.

Flawless Maneuver is an amazing card in white in general. I don't have one as of yet and it is on my list. I just wish I didn't have to drop $10-15 to get one.

I already have Combat Thresher and Wall of Omens in the deck. I especially love that blinking the Thresher turns it into a 3/3 Doublestrike even if you cast it for the prototype cost. It has been an amazing defender or pinch hitter in some situations.

I think I'll put in Roving Harper for sure... But I'm on the fence about Skyscanner. I'm trying to stick with white creatures to synergize with Defiler of Faith and Oketra's Monument... But the extra card draw would definitely be appreciated.
I want to add in Circuit Mender but despite the large amount of Neon Dynasty I own I still don't have one.

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Prepping for a casual budget tournament

« il: Novembre 08, 2023, 07:04:59 am »

A bit on how the deck plays:

Right now it focuses on getting ETB cards onto the field and then at least one card that lets Abdel force tap to allow for him to blink back onto the field with his background. Every time he exiles a bunch of stuff he creates a handful of soldiers and then when he blinks out all the cards he exiles come back in and trigger their ETB effects again. I use lots of token generators that add flying creatures, and Mondrak is in there to make things absolutely ridiculous. I use vehicles that have crew 1 so I can also throw a 1/1 token into it for a little extra firepower.

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Commander Deck Reviews / Prepping for a casual budget tournament

« il: Novembre 08, 2023, 06:52:15 am »

A few months back I made this mono-white budget friendly blink deck cause I thought the idea was cool. I found out that a LGS is going to be hosting a casual tournament with the stipulation that the decklist must be under $100 (TCG Player). I've played this deck quite a bit since I made it back in July, and it has a 50/50 win rate. I modified it quite a bit to fit my current playstyle and added what I felt the deck was lacking. Right now it seems that the main issue the deck faces is heavy amounts of mass removal or being too slow to get set up at times. I added in a bit more ramp and reduced the overall mana curve, but it still feels lacking. The maybeboard list on there is simply cards I don't own but would consider adding if I did (keeping to the $100 budget limit).

Before anyone suggests taking out campfire... I cannot stress just how much I love this card when running multiple commanders. Not only does it help me forgo a potential huge tax from playing them from the command zone after removal or a boardwipe, but it also adds a bit of "graveyard protection" against exile. The fact that I can spend a single mana to gain life just seals the deal for me.

Otherwise... I'm not overly attached to any one specific card as long as a suitable replacement is suggested!

[Edit]
I know that adding blue would open the door for more blink options and everything that blue brings to the table, I've opted to keep this specific deck mono-white to keep it nice and simple and because I like that the only thing I need to blink Abdel is just have a way to tap him.

Thank you for your help in advance!!!
https://deckstats.net/decks/208937/3106465-white-blink-token-swarm-budget

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Triggered Mill

« il: Luglio 10, 2023, 11:02:39 pm »

Another thing I could do is drop white and switch to a black background for more tutors and some other mill options.

Personally I would do this... As you have only 5 white cards in the deck and your background offers little to no utility. Black would offer several mill options, tutors, Syr Konrad, the Grim, and a plethora of other goodies that you can play with. You could even chuck in Captain N'Ghathrod for some extra mill + recurring your opponents stuff. The Blue/Black horror deck they both came from was actually super good at what it was designed for. I do like Zellix + Background more as the commander as the utility to create more horrors with mill effects is nasty. Especially with the combos you mentioned.