Phenax, God of Deception

[krichaiushii]

Phenax, God of Deception

I took a long hiatus from Commander, and a longer one from deckbuilding. 

A Phenax deck is fairly self-explanatory, but this one has the subthemes of Walls tribal and combat trickery.   I built this during the first Theros block, and haven't looked at it in years.

Typing the list up exposed several obvious holes (no sol ring - what was I thinking?). 

So, comments and card recommendations are welcome.  Presume I have access to any nonfoil card that is under $20 when making suggestions.

Thank you,

[Rinzler]

Just at a glance, you have some random dimir good-stuff in here, like mindleech mass.   Think about taking those out for cards that focus on your strategy more.  Also maybe it's just me, but I think taking out leyline of the void and planar void could help a lot and open more possibilities.  A lot of these cards I'm suggesting don't work well when the void effects are out.


More ramp - You need more acceleration, with artifacts like dimir signet, arcane signet, talisman of dominance, commander's sphere, and other similar effects.  This deck won't do squat until you get Phenax out, so this will help.
Charix, the Raging Isle - He's a 4 mana 0/17 my guy.  Seems like a good fit.
Command tower - Seems like you missed this commander staple.  Cheap land that does everything you need.
Duskmantle guildmage - He can drain your opponents' life very quickly and cheaply.
Keening stone - A fun card that can quickly take someone out of the game if they have enough cards in the graveyard.
Diluvian primordial, sepulchral primordial - Both of these are very well suited to commander and lend themselves nicely to your strategy.
Things like wight of precinct six - They will get massive very fast.
Glacial wall is better than several of the walls you have.  There are also better walls in the world than the ones you run, just an fyi.
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind - It can take any nice creatures you mill along the way
Guiltfeeder is fun, but might not be great if you play against lots of black decks.
Protection for Phenax! - Cards like swiftfoot boots, lightning greaves, and darksteel plate prevent removal of your commander, as this deck won't do much without him.

Anyways, it was fun to find these cards!  Hope you use some! 

[pizzacat]

You should play a commander that says "do x draw a card". Also just proxy kekw

[bishopsuey]

Endbringer could also be useful... but... imho (no offense!) Phenax is one of those commanders who got outpaced by the last years of cards. Sen Triplets got outpaced, too. Way too damn slow those guys. For example.. you can mill a multiplayer Session by far better with Locust God on Wheels AND do serious dmg besides if they have mill protection.

[krichaiushii]

Thank you, everyone. 

Time for a serious revision, despite Phenax being outpaced.  Luckily, I have many of the suggested cards, so shifting things should not prove too difficult (finding said cards in my boxes, though...)

I love that Charix is a bulk rare.

[krichaiushii]

Shopping done.

First round of changes made:

- Burnished Hart
- Wall of Deceit
- Guard Gomazoa
- Jace's Ingenuity
- Mindleech Mass
- Gomazoa
- Kaijin of the Vanishing Touch
- Halimar Wavewatch

+ Wall of Runes
+ Court of Cunning
+ Diluvian Primordial
+ Increasing Confusion
+ Maddening Cacophony
+ Relic Golem
+ Amaranthine Wall
+ Charix, the Raging Isle

Next (and final for the year) round of purchases will include the basic mana rocks for this deck, a few land upgrades, Sepulchral Primordial, and maybe some other cards.  Definitely better sleeves.