So, a short time ago I rebuilt my Maelstrom Wanderer deck. It's really boring; I mean, It is the exact build I used before, but there's really nowhere near the amount of cards printed lately to shake it up enough for me to enjoy. So, I'm looking at something else. I still want similar colors, but not nessisarily RUG. I play entirely build-around commanders and I really enjoy the ones that really work well with cards that would never go in anything else. I enjoy decks where you let people read some of the cards and they question "why would you ever use this?" until you show them the commander.
It's Yasova. I'm building Yasova, but how? Voltron/Control? Combo-ish styled recursion and just goodstuff for Value? Political control? Theme of some sort, like Warriors, or power 4 or greater, or just generally steal all the things? So many options.
I've been looking at a couple of different commanders, but none have really sparked enough interest for me to want to build them.
Yasova Dragonclaw - Looks interesting. In the same colors, but different playstyle. Problem is, it doesn't do a whole lot. All the lists I've seen are just theft decks. She's small, meaning you have to buff her just to steal anything worth while, but then you have little to do with what you stole but sacrifice it. I've seen a build or two that used a couple of gifting cards to give the cards to different people. I really want to be able to sac the creatures as a way to buff Yasova, but I don't know of a way to do that. Birthing Pod and the like seem fun, but it's little more than good stuff. I like the art, the ability, and my foil, but I just don't see anything to spark my interest.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest - Another foil Commander in my collection I've yet to have that spark of creativity for. Voltron doesn't seem half bad, but I lost interest in voltron strategies a long time ago and none have interested me since. I've also been looking for a use for my Jeskai Ascendancy I've had for years and have never used; maybe pingers or some sort of modern-like combo. Just never seen a spin on Shu Yun that interested me and I'm not going to build a whole deck to use one enchantment.
Ruric Thar, the Unbowed - Honestly, I completely forgot he existed until I watched an episode of Commander Clash and watched it destroy the other decks in the game. Granted, it won't play anywhere near as good as it did in that vid, but It seemed interesting... at first. It doesn't seem like there's really much to work with here. There are so few cards that work well with his ability that It's basically just a typical Grull deck with a few seemingly odd card choices. Watching it preform really made me want to build it, but looking at all the decklists was just a disappointment. Not to say the lists were bad or anything, but I just didn't find anything interesting.
Muldrotha, the Gravetide - Probably the only commander I've listed that I actually had an urge to build. I recently helped my brother convert his deck from The Mimeoplasm to Muldrotha. Helped him playtest it and It really made me want to see just how bad I could break it. Unfortunately, between how casual my playgroup is, its popularity and how often I'd have a mirrormatch, and the fact that I just helped my brother build one means that I'm going to put it on hold for a while.
Anyone know of any cards, or lists, that may give me a bit of inspiration towards these commanders? Something a bit out of the ordinary?
Of the ones you listed, She Yun is intriguing because you could use him as a political tool by granting double strikes. See my signature for a sample deck list.
I have a a yasova commander (the deck was built with cards lying around so there are some things that are just supposed to fill holes inside, an horrible manabase, and it's not super competitive, but it works well enough), so I thought I'd give my opinion on her.
She doesn't strike me as an extremely build-around commander, quite the opposite actually (so maybe not what you want). I think its strengths lies in its flexibility and variety. Her ability is pretty useful and can be used in a lot of ways (and in particular, what you'll do with her depends a lot on what your opponents are playing), but as you said, it's not something that does enough to build a whole deck around (not to mention you can't predict what you'll steal when you build the deck). It's also worth noting she's relatively cheap to cast with a slightly interesting body for its cost (with innate trample). While it's not big enough on its own to be a threat in all games, +2/+2 or +3/+3 might be all it takes to threaten someone with commander damage and it isn't that hard to pull off even without building a voltron deck (there actually are a lot of lands that can help increase yasova's power, e.g. opal palace or kessig wolf run, and a couple creatures that are reasonably good regardless of the commander, like forgotten ancient or thunderfoot baloth).
Games can go a lot of different ways, which is something I like with her. Sometimes I'll find a way to abuse her ability to a great extent, sometimes I suddenly look like I'm playing voltron, othertimes I'll play her merely to deter attackers and bait removal before setting up some disgusting value engine, or perhaps not play her at all if I have better things to do with my mana. It's not unusual for her to be very discreet until you realize an opponent has just the right thing for you to take hold of the game (I tend to joke about how karador is yasova's best card, and I once permanently stole a kess to play overwhelming stampede twice the turn after, it's certainly a lot funnier way to end the game than a craterhoof).
Basically, I see her as a versatile tool in the command zone rather than a keystone of my strategy.
There are some cute synergies and some good or borderline cards that aren't usually used in conjunction with threaten effects which can do a few slightly surprising or amusing things with her, but that's nowhere near a tel-jilad stylus in a grenzo, dungeon warden deck. For instance, while it might seem obvious to some, I've seen a lot of people not immediately realize you can permanently steal their threatened creatures with a bazaar trader, ghostly flicker, conjurer's closet or deadeye navigator (even commanders!), flamerush rider can also turn into a weird convoluted way to kill legendary creatures that people don't typically expect.
Unfortunately, that also means she tends to be unfocused and err into the tasteless-goodstuff-side. Personally, I play her with a great amount of ETB creatures that are good on their own and add purpose to the occasional blinkers that can trick with yasova, but I'm sure some people would find that unoriginal and boring.
I think it's a great commander, but perhaps not what you're looking for.
EDH BGU Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Lurking Zombies. GBG Sapling of Colfenor - Forest Growth and Destruction. RWU Zedruu the Greathearted - Blinking and trading. GWB Teneb the Harvester - Enchantments, you lose life I gain life. RRR Neheb the Eternal - Ping people for mana burn.
See, this is why I like commander: I posted this thread yesterday looking for inspiration on those commanders, and looking through my binders I found a beyond bulk rare. I found a card that I've never seen used even in draft. I found Death's Presence and it's exactly what I was looking for and now I'm building Yasova Dragonclaw.
Now I need to figure out how to build it. Voltron/Control? Combo-ish styled recursion and just goodstuff for Value? Political control? Theme of some sort, like Warriors, or power 4 or greater, or just generally steal all the things? So many options.
There’s a thread buried in the multiplayer section by Jayshivajai (something like that) called something like Yasova, the Controlling Creature Thief. It seemed quite good.
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If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
Here is a write up I did for yasova a few months back. It explains some “secret tech” I’ve found with her, and why I exclude some common cards others like.
Yasova is hands down my favorite commander. I built her as a temur control type deck, literally controlling their creatures and board with steal effects. One of the best parts of her is that she scales really well to various groups because she works off of whatever your opponents are playing. The biggest downside to her is that she can end up drawing a lot of hate. My deck is fairly meta specific now, and has changed over the last year or so because I need to be more resistant to the hate she draws now. Apparently people don't like you playing with their stuff.
All that said I still highly recommend her, and hope to give you some tips.
First thing first this is a very mana intensive deck. Her ability is not cheap to use, and you still want to be able to use it, and cast other spells. As such you need a lot of ramp. The good news is you are in green. I run somewhere in the area of 4-5 ramp spells, and 6-8 dorks and rocks. I actually prioritize spells and rocks over mana dorks in this deck, just because you are already fairly vulnerable to board wipes, and not having creature based ramp helps a little.
I don't run her as a voltron commander, but you want some pump spells. [[Heroes blade]] is a great one as it auto equips to her if it is on the board. The boots are good for protection. [[Loxodon Warhammer]] is a fun one, as it gives her some more teeth if you decide to swing. [[Rancor]] is good value and returns if something were to happen to her (spoilers it will), and [[Bear Umbra]] is just value in those situations as well. [[Wolfir silverheart]] is another one that I like and don't see to much. Like I said, we aren't a voltron deck, so we don't want to much. We are not trying to steal their biggest creatures with Yasova, as much as their utility creatures, and usually they are smaller. We have other ways of taking large creatures.
You mentioned conjurers closet and bazaar trader which are just straight value for her. Fun fact on willbreaker, is that yasovas ability targets, so if willbreaker is out that ability will trigger with yasova, and you can basically steal for free. Also note, that yasova does not have to attack, her ability just triggers during the combat phase. You want your standard steal things [[Zealous Consripts]], [[Desertion]][[Molten Primal]] And if you are running some of these creatures, [[Blade of Selves]] can be good fun for value. [[Dead-eye Navigator]] is a great flicker effect for value and to keep things permanently.
You also want things that will just straight up steal. [[control magic]] isn't terrible but can be replaced with other things as well. [[Helm of obedience]] is a fun one that doubles as a sac outlet. One of my personal favorites is [[Dominating licid]]. I have pissed off so many people with this guy.
Most of the good sac outlets have already been mentioned but I will add [[Greater Gargadon]]. He is a good one that lets you sac anything to him, and the end result is a big scary creature. [[Evolutionary Leap]] and [[goblin bombardment]] are also favorite's of mine as they are cheap/free to use once on the board and have an effect that is rarely useless.
Personally I don't like [[Roil elemental]] or [[Dominus of Fealty]]. Both of them are fairly expensive/difficult to get out, and don't impact the board as much as other things I have seen. I removed both after a game or two were both were stuck in my hand and I kept wanting to cast/use other things over them. Obviously you need to make your own deck and experiment, but I found they just weren't great.
There’s a thread buried in the multiplayer section by Jayshivajai (something like that) called something like Yasova, the Controlling Creature Thief. It seemed quite good.
Been looking at that list, along with others, since before I posted this thread. I don't quite like it, tbh. It honestly doesn't seem very controlling with only 10 total answers in the deck: 1 counter, 3 targeted removal, 5 board wipes, and dissipation field which I would never use. Now, I realize that Yasova herself and mass theft spells are removal along side a sac outlet, but I just require a great deal more instant speed interaction for my tastes.
There's also quite a few cards that I really want to use, some immediately useful while some others I need to find uses for them.
Food Chain - Seems like one of the best sac outlet I can feed my opponents' creatures into, but playing control will severely limit its actual usefulness.
Temur Ascendancy - seems useful. Gives haste and draws me a card whenever I play Yasova. There are a couple of other creatures I would like to run if it actually goes in the deck, Ovinomancer for example that also gives me a use for the mana I'd get off of Food Chain.
Overburden - It's a good card for control. They put a creature on the board, bounce a land, and then you kill/exile/bounce said creature. It adds tempo loss to every nontoken creature you remove.
Basically, I'm fighting between cards that support the control aspect and cards that support having bunches of creatures in the deck. I'm also having problems with recursion. Control already has a hard time, but when you don't have a way to recur any of your things without losing more than you're getting back (*Cough* Holistic Wisdom), then control is very finite and doesn't function hardly at all in a multiplayer setting.
It's Yasova. I'm building Yasova, but how? Voltron/Control? Combo-ish styled recursion and just goodstuff for Value? Political control? Theme of some sort, like Warriors, or power 4 or greater, or just generally steal all the things? So many options.
I've been looking at a couple of different commanders, but none have really sparked enough interest for me to want to build them.
Yasova Dragonclaw - Looks interesting. In the same colors, but different playstyle. Problem is, it doesn't do a whole lot. All the lists I've seen are just theft decks. She's small, meaning you have to buff her just to steal anything worth while, but then you have little to do with what you stole but sacrifice it. I've seen a build or two that used a couple of gifting cards to give the cards to different people. I really want to be able to sac the creatures as a way to buff Yasova, but I don't know of a way to do that. Birthing Pod and the like seem fun, but it's little more than good stuff. I like the art, the ability, and my foil, but I just don't see anything to spark my interest.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest - Another foil Commander in my collection I've yet to have that spark of creativity for. Voltron doesn't seem half bad, but I lost interest in voltron strategies a long time ago and none have interested me since. I've also been looking for a use for my Jeskai Ascendancy I've had for years and have never used; maybe pingers or some sort of modern-like combo. Just never seen a spin on Shu Yun that interested me and I'm not going to build a whole deck to use one enchantment.
Ruric Thar, the Unbowed - Honestly, I completely forgot he existed until I watched an episode of Commander Clash and watched it destroy the other decks in the game. Granted, it won't play anywhere near as good as it did in that vid, but It seemed interesting... at first. It doesn't seem like there's really much to work with here. There are so few cards that work well with his ability that It's basically just a typical Grull deck with a few seemingly odd card choices. Watching it preform really made me want to build it, but looking at all the decklists was just a disappointment. Not to say the lists were bad or anything, but I just didn't find anything interesting.
Muldrotha, the Gravetide - Probably the only commander I've listed that I actually had an urge to build. I recently helped my brother convert his deck from The Mimeoplasm to Muldrotha. Helped him playtest it and It really made me want to see just how bad I could break it. Unfortunately, between how casual my playgroup is, its popularity and how often I'd have a mirrormatch, and the fact that I just helped my brother build one means that I'm going to put it on hold for a while.
Anyone know of any cards, or lists, that may give me a bit of inspiration towards these commanders? Something a bit out of the ordinary?
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain
B Toshiro Umezawa
BG Pharika, God of Affliction - Necromancy and Politics
WWW The Church of Heliod
WBR Zurgo, Helmsmasher
RG Wort, the Raidmother
UBR Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
UG Vorel of the Hull Clade
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
She doesn't strike me as an extremely build-around commander, quite the opposite actually (so maybe not what you want). I think its strengths lies in its flexibility and variety. Her ability is pretty useful and can be used in a lot of ways (and in particular, what you'll do with her depends a lot on what your opponents are playing), but as you said, it's not something that does enough to build a whole deck around (not to mention you can't predict what you'll steal when you build the deck). It's also worth noting she's relatively cheap to cast with a slightly interesting body for its cost (with innate trample). While it's not big enough on its own to be a threat in all games, +2/+2 or +3/+3 might be all it takes to threaten someone with commander damage and it isn't that hard to pull off even without building a voltron deck (there actually are a lot of lands that can help increase yasova's power, e.g. opal palace or kessig wolf run, and a couple creatures that are reasonably good regardless of the commander, like forgotten ancient or thunderfoot baloth).
Games can go a lot of different ways, which is something I like with her. Sometimes I'll find a way to abuse her ability to a great extent, sometimes I suddenly look like I'm playing voltron, othertimes I'll play her merely to deter attackers and bait removal before setting up some disgusting value engine, or perhaps not play her at all if I have better things to do with my mana. It's not unusual for her to be very discreet until you realize an opponent has just the right thing for you to take hold of the game (I tend to joke about how karador is yasova's best card, and I once permanently stole a kess to play overwhelming stampede twice the turn after, it's certainly a lot funnier way to end the game than a craterhoof).
Basically, I see her as a versatile tool in the command zone rather than a keystone of my strategy.
There are some cute synergies and some good or borderline cards that aren't usually used in conjunction with threaten effects which can do a few slightly surprising or amusing things with her, but that's nowhere near a tel-jilad stylus in a grenzo, dungeon warden deck. For instance, while it might seem obvious to some, I've seen a lot of people not immediately realize you can permanently steal their threatened creatures with a bazaar trader, ghostly flicker, conjurer's closet or deadeye navigator (even commanders!), flamerush rider can also turn into a weird convoluted way to kill legendary creatures that people don't typically expect.
Unfortunately, that also means she tends to be unfocused and err into the tasteless-goodstuff-side. Personally, I play her with a great amount of ETB creatures that are good on their own and add purpose to the occasional blinkers that can trick with yasova, but I'm sure some people would find that unoriginal and boring.
I think it's a great commander, but perhaps not what you're looking for.
There is token generators like Monastery Mentor, Talrand, Sky Summoner, Young Pyromancer.
Buffs for the tokens from Jeskai Ascendancy, Sage of the Inward Eye, Iroas, God of Victory.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest would be able to give some double strike around and even attack himself.
BGU Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Lurking Zombies.
GBG Sapling of Colfenor - Forest Growth and Destruction.
RWU Zedruu the Greathearted - Blinking and trading.
GWB Teneb the Harvester - Enchantments, you lose life I gain life.
RRR Neheb the Eternal - Ping people for mana burn.
Now I need to figure out how to build it. Voltron/Control? Combo-ish styled recursion and just goodstuff for Value? Political control? Theme of some sort, like Warriors, or power 4 or greater, or just generally steal all the things? So many options.
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain
B Toshiro Umezawa
BG Pharika, God of Affliction - Necromancy and Politics
WWW The Church of Heliod
WBR Zurgo, Helmsmasher
RG Wort, the Raidmother
UBR Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
UG Vorel of the Hull Clade
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
Yasova is hands down my favorite commander. I built her as a temur control type deck, literally controlling their creatures and board with steal effects. One of the best parts of her is that she scales really well to various groups because she works off of whatever your opponents are playing. The biggest downside to her is that she can end up drawing a lot of hate. My deck is fairly meta specific now, and has changed over the last year or so because I need to be more resistant to the hate she draws now. Apparently people don't like you playing with their stuff.
All that said I still highly recommend her, and hope to give you some tips.
First thing first this is a very mana intensive deck. Her ability is not cheap to use, and you still want to be able to use it, and cast other spells. As such you need a lot of ramp. The good news is you are in green. I run somewhere in the area of 4-5 ramp spells, and 6-8 dorks and rocks. I actually prioritize spells and rocks over mana dorks in this deck, just because you are already fairly vulnerable to board wipes, and not having creature based ramp helps a little.
I don't run her as a voltron commander, but you want some pump spells. [[Heroes blade]] is a great one as it auto equips to her if it is on the board. The boots are good for protection. [[Loxodon Warhammer]] is a fun one, as it gives her some more teeth if you decide to swing. [[Rancor]] is good value and returns if something were to happen to her (spoilers it will), and [[Bear Umbra]] is just value in those situations as well. [[Wolfir silverheart]] is another one that I like and don't see to much. Like I said, we aren't a voltron deck, so we don't want to much. We are not trying to steal their biggest creatures with Yasova, as much as their utility creatures, and usually they are smaller. We have other ways of taking large creatures.
You mentioned conjurers closet and bazaar trader which are just straight value for her. Fun fact on willbreaker, is that yasovas ability targets, so if willbreaker is out that ability will trigger with yasova, and you can basically steal for free. Also note, that yasova does not have to attack, her ability just triggers during the combat phase. You want your standard steal things [[Zealous Consripts]], [[Desertion]][[Molten Primal]] And if you are running some of these creatures, [[Blade of Selves]] can be good fun for value. [[Dead-eye Navigator]] is a great flicker effect for value and to keep things permanently.
You also want things that will just straight up steal. [[control magic]] isn't terrible but can be replaced with other things as well. [[Helm of obedience]] is a fun one that doubles as a sac outlet. One of my personal favorites is [[Dominating licid]]. I have pissed off so many people with this guy.
Most of the good sac outlets have already been mentioned but I will add [[Greater Gargadon]]. He is a good one that lets you sac anything to him, and the end result is a big scary creature. [[Evolutionary Leap]] and [[goblin bombardment]] are also favorite's of mine as they are cheap/free to use once on the board and have an effect that is rarely useless.
Personally I don't like [[Roil elemental]] or [[Dominus of Fealty]]. Both of them are fairly expensive/difficult to get out, and don't impact the board as much as other things I have seen. I removed both after a game or two were both were stuck in my hand and I kept wanting to cast/use other things over them. Obviously you need to make your own deck and experiment, but I found they just weren't great.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/22-03-18-yasova-dragonclaw/
Been looking at that list, along with others, since before I posted this thread. I don't quite like it, tbh. It honestly doesn't seem very controlling with only 10 total answers in the deck: 1 counter, 3 targeted removal, 5 board wipes, and dissipation field which I would never use. Now, I realize that Yasova herself and mass theft spells are removal along side a sac outlet, but I just require a great deal more instant speed interaction for my tastes.
There's also quite a few cards that I really want to use, some immediately useful while some others I need to find uses for them.
Food Chain - Seems like one of the best sac outlet I can feed my opponents' creatures into, but playing control will severely limit its actual usefulness.
Temur Ascendancy - seems useful. Gives haste and draws me a card whenever I play Yasova. There are a couple of other creatures I would like to run if it actually goes in the deck, Ovinomancer for example that also gives me a use for the mana I'd get off of Food Chain.
Overburden - It's a good card for control. They put a creature on the board, bounce a land, and then you kill/exile/bounce said creature. It adds tempo loss to every nontoken creature you remove.
Basically, I'm fighting between cards that support the control aspect and cards that support having bunches of creatures in the deck. I'm also having problems with recursion. Control already has a hard time, but when you don't have a way to recur any of your things without losing more than you're getting back (*Cough* Holistic Wisdom), then control is very finite and doesn't function hardly at all in a multiplayer setting.
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain
B Toshiro Umezawa
BG Pharika, God of Affliction - Necromancy and Politics
WWW The Church of Heliod
WBR Zurgo, Helmsmasher
RG Wort, the Raidmother
UBR Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
UG Vorel of the Hull Clade