Messages

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Deck Comments / Re: Nethroi, Apex of Death - Comments

« on: January 12, 2021, 09:54:37 pm »

Each member of my playgroup creates a new deck every year and the Timmy in me loved this card at first sight. I haven’t played a graveyard strategy, so the idea of having a bunch of creatures enter the battlefield at once is exciting!
To explain a bit more, my playgroup loves to play optimized decks with these restrictions:
1 - No positive mana rocks (Sol ring, mana crypt, mana vault, jeweled lotus, etc.)
2 - Avoid t2 to t4 wins with 3 cards or less
3 – Additional banned list as we play 2 headed giants with 45 starting life (scheming symmetry as an example)

I went through a lot of trial and error (like all of us with our deck) and what I realized was that I had to many ramp creatures and spells. I would start top decking and finding able to mutate Nethroi, Apex of death; however, nothing worth reanimating in the graveyard.
The main idea is to use your creatures to mill and hopefully get a dredge card in the graveyard. Entomb may help getting that Life from the loam and assure you a land drop every turn.
The flashback spells help you utilize those creatures in your graveyard in case you need a removal, ramp or just additional mill.

There is only 1 combo in this deck that will help you win the game on the spot. You need:
Yahenni, Undying Partisan/Greater Good; Karmic Guide; Reveillark: This will allow you to reanimate any power 2 or less creature an infinite amount of times. Now you can search for:
Acidic Slime: Land + Enchantment + Artifact board removal
Ravenous Chupacabra: Creature removal

Although, I’ve usually win just by using Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite with a board of creatures.

Cards I’m considering adding:
•   Scourge of the Skyclaves (this increases the amount of power you can reanimate)
•   Egon, God of Death // Throne of Death
•   Renegade Reaper
•   Mesmeric Orb

What changes would you guys suggest for my deck that are not Tutors?

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Xyris, The Writhing Storm

« on: April 15, 2020, 04:12:19 pm »

Thank you all!

I made additional changes. I added some turn 1 ramp that will help in form of enchantments that will allow me to use Guided Passage effectively. Not having creatures will make my opponents either give me The Locust God or Purphoros, God of the Forge, two cards that can kill in this deck.

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Xyris, The Writhing Storm

« on: April 14, 2020, 06:51:36 am »

Thank you so much for such a fast response. It really seems you went into the deck and reviewed it. Hope you liked most of it.

My playgroup has banned the turn 1 mana rocks, such as sol ring, mana vault, and most moxes. Dorks are certainly allowed and I prefer not to run them in this build because:
1. They are more susceptible to damage removals. (Which is abundant in my meta)
2. Most rocks provide somewhat of a color fixing as most dorks only give G.
3. Rocks are not impacted by most board wipes played frequently in my meta.

Remand is unreliable however has worked fine for now. Bounce a high costing spell, then wheel it out at least it gives an insight into what is coming next. This is something that will be changed for something better.

Wheel of fate is somewhat unreliable. Announcing it ahead of time may not be the best play and so many things may happen in 4 turns. Reforge the Soul is something I'm considering as the Miracle Cost is just so tempting!!!

The lands are currently being tested out. I've used that +1/+0 and the scry has been used rarely. These are easy swaps for future fetch lands I'll get my hands on.

Again, thank you so much for reading it. Hope you like the brew and if you try it out, let me know how it goes.

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Commander Deck Reviews / Xyris, The Writhing Storm

« on: April 14, 2020, 05:52:40 am »

https://deckstats.net/decks/140857/1609253-xyris-the-writhing-storm/en

Good day guys,

I want to show you guys my Xryis Deck that I've been brewing and I have to say it is one of the most fun decks I've played in a while.

So the idea of the deck is rather simple and I'll explain the categories I've separated these cards in.

1. Ramp. We all know ramp is crucial in commander and especially with one that costs 5CMC. I decided to go with rocks, rather than elves for the following reason:
    a. Creatures are more susceptible to board wipes and damage removal.
    b. Rocks provide color fixing that is key in a 3 color deck.
    d. Burgeoning is fantastic in this deck as you will always be having lands to play and so will the other players.
    c. I'm not adding sol ring, mana vault, moxes etc. as these are banned in my playgroup.

2. Removals.
    a. Target removals are a few, however, they are effective. Beast Within, Chaos Warp and Expel from Orazca are permanent removals and two may help with indestructible ones
    b. Cyclonic Rift and Mizzium Mortars are spells that may target one or many cards. I love them for their diversity.
    c. Board wipes that return permanents to hand are the best here, as you will soon find out why.
    d. Your reliable counters. Use them wisely as these are usually just to protect your commander or key pieces. Rarely use them to prohibit gameplay, unless it's another turn spell or winning card.

3. Planeswalkers
    a. Garruk, Wildspeaker is a phenomenal Planeswalker for this deck. It helps you ramp at the beginning and is a finisher in the mid or late game. Fantastic card.
    b. Jace Beleren is an outstanding card draw for you and the board. This last one is why we have run it.

4. Let's Draw: Allows everybody on the table to draw cards, therefore activating your commander's ability and getting those such desired snake tokens.

5. Wheels: These are phenomenal drawing engine cards. I love the risk they impose, they can kill strategies or give opponents winning hands.
    a. The idea is constantly change your opponents hand, disrupting their strategies, making them exhaust mental power and you get to put tons of tokens.

6. Alternate Commander is the Locust God. This is your other token enabler that either can help you or substitute your commander if she gets to pricey.

7. Damage Dealers. This is a win condition. You deal damage with every token that enters the battlefield. These three are auto-include in this deck.

8. Buffers.
    a. Haste enablers are phenomenal, Fervor and Fires of Yavimaya are fantastic as they only support you.
    b. Shared Animosity, Coat of Arms, Obelisk of Urd, Konda's Banner on your commander all buff significantly your tiny snake babies.
    c. Curse of Predation is something I'm trying out, this can be an easy out for something like Wheel of Fortune if you have it available.

9. Run your Fetch lands if you have them. I don't have any available, therefore I'm using Shock, Pain, Check, Tri lands and snow-covered for Into the North.


So, how does this deck plays? This is fun.

Turn 1, if your lucky your only 1 drop in the list.
Turn 2-4 You will ramp yourself with what you got.
Turn 4-5 Play your commander and wish for nobody to remove her from the game.
Turn 5-7 Use your political skills to not get anybody upset. Ask, who wants to draw 3 cards by getting hit with my commander? There is usually a card junky in your team that will want to get it.
Turn 5- forward. Start using your wheels, damage on entry and buffers to create many powerful snakes.

Your attacks will depend on your board states.
If you Stomping Grounds, Goblin Bombardment or Purphoros, God of the Forge, attack only with your commander to generate less hate, have someone draw and then wheel for additional damage.
If you have haste and buffers, wheel first and then attack with your legion of snakes.

Again, this deck has been extremely fun and most of my friends who have played against it feel pressured as I become THE THREAT out of nowhere and win the game.

Sorry for the long post and the poor usage of bullet points, this is my first somewhat deck tech I've done.

So, what do you think? Any suggestions (besides free counters, fetch lands, wheel of fortune or timetwister) that you can recommend to make this a faster and more consistent deck?

So these edits were done taking into consideration the turn 1 mana ramp and other cards:
Out: Sakura-Tribe Elder, Remand, Expel from Orazca, Exotic Orchard, Konda's Banner, Castle Vantress
In: 2 Snow-covered Forests, Lotus Petal, Utopia Sprawl, and Wild Growth. These provide some creatureless turn 1 ramp that will help cast my commander in t3.
Guided Passage: pretty much a tutor for the only two creatures in the deck. The Locust God or Purphoros, God of the Forge. It's an opponent who chooses; however, the decision will be difficult.

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: [EDH / Commander] Siona, Captain of the Pyleas - Combo deck ~ Need Suggestions

« on: March 29, 2020, 12:00:53 am »

Revision 14

Added/removed cards:
-1 Reviving Melody
-1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
-1 Unbreakable Formation
-1 Whip Silk
+1 Flickerform
+1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
+1 Renegade Rallier
+1 Safehold Elite

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Commander Discussion / Re: Deckstats Community EDH Brew-a-thon

« on: March 22, 2020, 01:22:32 am »

Estrid, the Masked.
1. Enchantress based
2. Opalescence, Parallax Tide and Parallax Wave are a must
3. Enchanted Evening and Helix Pinnacle

Don't want a STAX build and nothing crazy like MOAT as I'm currently trying to optimize her enough for my playgroup. These guys are not CEDH; however, run optimized builds.

Hope you guys can help!

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Commander Discussion / Re: Humble Commander

« on: March 20, 2020, 12:12:48 am »

We had that same fear at the very beginning. We decided to try it out with only uncommon commanders and interesting enough you have a good amount of them.

Not to say that we aren't going to keep it as it is, we may change it; however, we have just started and we are loving our humble decks.

Some cards that we are reviewing are:
* Skullclamp
* Ashnod's Altar
* Cabal Coffers

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Commander Discussion / Humble Commander

« on: March 19, 2020, 11:59:04 pm »

Hello dear forum!

This is a commander idea that I insisted my playgroup to try out and interesting enough, it has proven to be extremely fun.

The idea came as some members of our playgroup were tired of the optimized decks we play with. This would serve to relieve the stress of winning fast and handicap our strategy with very strong restrictions. We decided to call this idea HUMBLE COMMANDER as we can only use common and uncommon cards.

Besides banning the rare and mythic cards, some additional cards have also been banned.
  a) 1 and 2 cmc tutors that have a rare future print (Wordly, Mythic, Enlighted, Demonic, etc).
  b) Sol ring is banned as well
  c) No infinite combos allowed
  d) Commander has to be uncommon as well

I wanted to share this idea with the forum, as we have tons of fun and a good challenge to brew up these new decks.

What do you guys think of this idea and the following decks my playgroup and I are playing?

Slimefoot, the Humble Stowaway.
https://deckstats.net/decks/140857/1560746-slimefoot-the-humble-stowaway?lng=en

Syr Konrad, the Humble Grim
https://deckstats.net/decks/142935/1584116-humble-konrad

Siona, Humble Captain of the Pyleas
https://deckstats.net/deck-21184862-c18699269ed8f45f1bc245ae7a9948ee.html

Adeliz, the humble SpellSlinger
https://deckstats.net/decks/150673/1561345-adeliz-the-humble-spellslinger/en

The humble reanimator
https://deckstats.net/decks/150673/1575770-humble-reanimator/en

Rona, Humble Disciple of Dix
https://deckstats.net/decks/152315/1585791-humble-disciple-of-dix

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Slimefoot of the UNCOMMON Stowaway - HELP NEEDED

« on: March 19, 2020, 04:49:11 am »

So, after running some rounds with my friends, I noticed that this deck is strong in our Humble meta if you set it up properly. Life with Golgari Germination and a Sac Outlets is a great finisher if you have a pinger.

I decided to remove the fungal tribe as the counters took just too many turns for me to be able to create Saprolins or die to removal. The new additions give me tokens upon entry or death that I can use for mana, other spells or ping my opponents.

What do you guys think?

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Slimefoot of the UNCOMMON Stowaway - HELP NEEDED

« on: February 28, 2020, 05:41:44 pm »

So, here is a question for the community...

Should I ramp up with elves that are creatures that I'm able to sac for spells or should I use spell ramp that will fetch me a land that will stay longer on the battlefield?

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Slimefoot of the UNCOMMON Stowaway - HELP NEEDED

« on: February 23, 2020, 04:44:14 am »

Thank you!

I was thinking about that Korozda Guildmage and I believe it deserves a slot. It helps me recycle and create saps that I can use.
Syr Konrad, the Grim is an automatic in!

The Sap spells you mentioned are in the deck already and they sure look like fun. Instant and with convoke!

Can't wait to try this out and see what my other friends are brewing in their heads.

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: Slimefoot of the UNCOMMON Stowaway - HELP NEEDED

« on: February 22, 2020, 07:52:43 pm »

I forgot all about ashnod's altar. I'll see what I can remove to put that in! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Sad to say that Doubling Season is something not allowed. No rares or mythics allowed for this deck.

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Commander Deck Reviews / Slimefoot of the UNCOMMON Stowaway - HELP NEEDED

« on: February 22, 2020, 07:07:07 pm »

https://deckstats.net/decks/140857/1560746-slimefoot-of-the-uncommon-stow/en

This is a special build I'm trying to craft. My playgroup and have a challenge to build a deck with only common and uncommon cards (as the latest print), basic lands + 1 command tower.

So, I tried to combine an aristocrat/tribal with Slimefoot.

This isn't the type of deck I usually play. My idea is to ramp, create as many saps as I can, try to attack with them and use their death effect to ping my opponents down. This will also keep my health up and draw me cards to keep myself in the game.

Please help me making this a better deck. Please keep in mind the following:
* Sol ring is banned
* No Rares or Mythics allowed
* Only basics lands + 1 Command tower
* Recommend a card and suggest what I should take out.

Thank you once again for your help guys! You are awesome!

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: [EDH / Commander] Siona, Captain of the Pyleas - Combo deck ~ Need Suggestions

« on: February 19, 2020, 03:52:28 pm »

@Red_Wyrm and @Sylvester12 what would you recommend me to take out to add those cards. Reclamation Sage and Eternal Witness are some of them. I also wanted to avoid Sun Titan due to his high cmc cost; however, I'm going to give him a try and see if I keep holding him in my hand or actually sees play.

My playgroup is interesting. We are not cEDH players; however, we play with highly optimized decks that seeks to win. We also play Two headed giant commander (partners chosen randomly) at 45 life to be able to get more games during the evening. Hope this small info helps any recommendations.

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Commander Deck Reviews / Re: [EDH / Commander] Estrid will castrate you commander

« on: February 18, 2020, 05:48:59 am »

As another enchantment lover, I would recommend adding the following:
Setessan Champion: Enchantress effect that draws and becomes bigger with every other enchantment you play. It is less color intensive as its cost is 2G
Estrid's Invocation: becomes any other enchantment you want that's in the battlefield, once per turn! Just amazing as it transforms to what you may need at the moment.
Calix, Destiny's Hand is an amazing PW that will allow you to see the top 4 and keep an enchantment, make an enchantment a banishing light or recover all your enchantments from the graveyard
Ancestral Mask, How did this not make the cut?
Flickering Ward may become a WW draw a card if you have an enchantress in play and protects your creatures

I hope these help!