Captain Sisay is an infamous toolbox-style general, traditionally one of the strongest styles of generals in EDH because such generals can offer up a consistent gameplan. It's obvious why Zur, Arcum, and Scion of the Ur-Dragon strike fear into the hearts of EDH players.
But what happens when you bring those decks over to the Duel Commander (French) 1v1 meta? Do they all hold up? Where does Sisay stand?
It turns out that Sisay stands tall, backed by the strength of some of the best Legends that naturally shut down win-conditions and dominate games, but she has to make it to the mid-game to get there. Because of this, I play Sisay as a ramp-style control deck that benefits both from having strong Selesnya hate options and from having some of the best removal cards in Magic. She is geared and ready to fight any top deck.
If this sounds like something that would interest you, read on, fellow hater of fun—err, fellow Selesnya stalwart!
Pre-Primer Thread: Ye Olden Days
Surging Chaos is the grandfather of Sisay combos. For years, he maintained a Sisay primer that adhered to the default ban list (and, later, the Salvation ban list) that was big mana and flashier than a pervert in Central Park. It was among the best decks in that meta and had performed very well in tournaments, a dominant force that inspired numerous Sisay players to always aim high and to go 110% in.
October 2011: Pardon My French
My deck began as an adaptation from a multiplayer Sisay list inspired heavily by Surging Chaos that would be smoothly ported to the French banlist. Few changes were required at first, as my playgroup had built a very fast and cutthroat meta, so my curve was already pretty optimally low.
This build was focused on playing the best, syngergized rampers in magic (elves) and getting quickly to Elesh Norn and Iona lockdowns and combos. This version of the deck curved a bit high but was able to get away with it--for the most part. I still maintained a bigger Legendary pool and hadn’t yet determined which Legends were worth keeping and which should be cut for more versatile cards.
Even though the deck was fresh, it had been discussed for months in Surging Choas’s old thread (and many of the combos were cut), and I decided to branch off to focus on the French ban list, creating this here thread in October, 2011.
November 2011 to February 2012: The “Can You Beat Edric?” Test
Edric was the new kid in town, and quickly made enemies of everyone around him. Every single deckbuilder now had to build with Edric in mind, which meant more spot removal, more sweepers, and lower overall curves. Sisay was no exception. Many dubious cards were considered to help make this matchup more fair (and begun playing even more elves), which diluted the power of the deck vs. other decks.
Slowly, the meta began to adjust, and every deck began running an increasing amount of removal of all varieties, and even r/x began to be played. This meant a lot more hate for Sisay and her elves and bears, so I began to make adjustments for way more shroud and protection effects while looking with more scrutiny at my more vulnerable creatures.
March 2012: Inspired by Maverick Legacy
G/W Maverick began to dominate in Legacy tournaments everywhere, and the lists helped me fine-tune Sisay so that I was running somewhat redundant copies of my ramp creatures, hate bears, protectors, beaters, and bombs. Interestingly, even Loyal Retainers and Elesh Norn topped a few lists, so I decided to put him back in to once again cheat out Norn.
I finally felt comfortable in the meta, able to contend and beat most aggro-control builds, but my matchups against big-mana and combo decks began to suffer. My win/loss record begun looking worse and worse.
April 2012: The Rise of Extinction Builds and the Splintering of Sisay
The Cockatrice meta was soon split halfway between aggro-control builds and decks designed to obliterate aggro-control builds. This often meant a 60/40 matchup against the former and an automatic game loss against the latter. Without counter backup or targeted discard, Sisay and other mid-range decks relying heavily on their general began to slide solidly into Tier B.
Despite sampling many new protection cards and trying to more securely layer shroud effects, mass removal kept Sisay solidly in that lower tier. Times were bad for our Selesnya hero.
May 2012: Top Tier Combo Decks are Top Tier for a Reason
Though the extinction builds were still a thorn in our side, there was also a rise in combo decks and big mana decks that simply outraced us and left themselves less vulnerable in the process. I reacted in two ways, first attempting to add more specific, meta-conscious cards that could combat certain popular combo decks, and second attempting to emulate those styles of decks with tricks of my own.
Slowly, the matchups began improving as tweaks were made and our win conditions made clearer, more consistent, but the deck still had much to learn.
June 2012: First Major Tournament Experience
I placed in the top 10 of a major Salvation tournament, despite squaring off against mostly extinction builds. Some experimental changes were made in order to outrace combo decks and be less vulnerable to creature kill, and these changes seemed to pay off. The deck seems to have been heading in the right direction.
September 2012: Sisay 2.0
Generie Peco placed in the top 8 of a major tournament running a list inspired by my mid-range control build in a developing meta with a lot of mid-range decks. Meanwhile, another major in-person tournament was dominated by big mana and extinction builds, mirroring what was happening on Cockatrice. I opined that my Sisay build would be obliterated in the latter setting.
So, once again, I sought to overhaul the deck, coming at it with fresh eyes and slashing away everything that didn’t contribute to our three win cons. Sisay 2.0 was born, almost a year after the launch of the French primer thread.
December 2012: Everything Old is New Again
After a revolutionary banning of Edric, red-based decks receded almost immediately and the number of pyroclasm, -2/-2 effects, and wrath cards all but disappeared in short order, thus allowing aggro and elf-based decks to exist again. With extinction builds almost themselves extinct, it became clear that running Rampant Growth effects over elves was no longer the optimal way to play Sisay in the meta, so I had to bring back many cards that were, for a long time, major liabilities.
With mana dorks back in the deck, we found our speed again and could finally once more take major advantage of Gaea's Cradle and reliably outramp nearly every other deck. But Edric's banning didn't just eventually allow creature-based decks to thrive again; white/blue control decks quickly began dominating tournaments in this slowed down meta. This meant, sadly, having to reevaluate some of our combos, recognizing that few if any could even resolve against many of the top tier decks. Good stuff began replacing narrow stuff, and the deck shifted focus to take full advantage of Cavern of Souls against control decks.
July 2013: The Stuff of Legends
With Wizards changing the official Legend rule to allow multiple copies of Legends to exist on either side of the field and for the option to play two Legends yourself and keep one, Sisay gained a solid boost in power. U/W/X decks began dropping clone effects now that they no longer killed, and we found a surprisingly easy to assemble combo in Thespian Stage and Dark Depths, both pieces of which are easiest to tutor out in Sisay. Couple this with the fact that the combo is nearly impossible to stop short of Stifle, the deck gained another powerful early "oops I win" condition.
February 2014: The New Gods
The meta changed drastically with the introduction of indestructible gods with relevant abilities. Not only that, but late 2013 would also bring on some extremely viable new decks with Commander 2013. But wait, there's more: Loyal Retainers became banned, all but taking away one of our combos. Nevertheless, some smart bans later on started to make the meta extremely diverse, and it began to make sense to play combo as one of many competitive archetypes in a format increasingly balanced by aggro. Sisay retooled to remove some of the more specific hate cards from previously threatening top decks and instead focus more on winning rather than hosing, creating an overall more consistently threatening deck.
December 2015: The Shell Game
After many many months of observing and obsessing over statistics of cards played in the most well-attended DC tournaments, I revisited the deck with a fresh perspective, no longer married to the niche cards I'd been championing for years. Per the wise advice of many Sisay players before me, the deck saw the biggest transformation ever in a single update, swapping nearly 2 dozen cards out to make room for the essential Elfball suite of cards. This meant more heavily embracing the green side of the deck, all but taking out all removal cards. Using a proven competitive shell while still leveraging what makes Sisay unique (mainly, easier access to Norn, Teeg, and Jitte), the deck's consistency and threat factor improved by a larger margin than ever before. All combos were removed, Planeswalkers were finally embraced, and the majority of enchantments and sorceries became creatures.
June 2016: The Aftermath of the Elfball Nerf
Shortly after participating in a global Cockatrice-hosted tournament with over 50 combatants and placing in the top 8, one of the most impactful rounds of bannings ever took place. Yisan and Titania were quickly becoming the unbeatable go-to deck, made all the more explosive by Gaea's Cradle. Yisan was banned as a commander and Gaea's Cradle also got the axe. This violently shook the very core of Sisay (whose optimal line of play would almost always have a turn 4 Cradle into a turn 5-to-6 win), so the deck itself had to shift in a major way. Though the risk of being blown out increased, the deck hesitantly embraced "fast mana" options such as Mox Diamond and even Gemstone Caverns to counter-balance the loss of Cradle. There was also a huge shift away from running any ETBT lands and tweaking the creature package once again to be (slightly) less elfball-centric. Weakened but not defeated, Sisay soldiered on.
June 2017: 20 HP Is a Total Game-Changer
When the change to 20 HP was announced, I made some quick adjustments to my deck, but got obliterated in the new meta by the now viable burn strategy. It was discouraging, to say the least; having a board of weenie creatures and playing for the mid-game was no longer a viable option for Sisay where other ramp decks outclassed her. I took a break, believing Sisay was dead in the water in this new meta with Zurgo and Vial Smasher dominating tournaments. Well, Vial Smasher got the banhammer, and players began making smart adjustments to blunt Zurgo (though still very much tier 1). I was among them, for the first time ever adding walls, life gain, and more removal to survive the early game. Re-focusing on what Sisay does best, the deck was trimmed of all fat and made aggro viable with a main "I win" button game plan of the Dark Depths / Thespian Stage combo, which is both very easy to assemble and very difficult to disrupt. Sisay once again found her footing.
Why Play Sisay?
- You're looking for a toolbox general that can be tuned for any meta
- You want to play must-answer bombs that can win the game almost immediately
- G/W Maverick is your style of deck
- You like a deck that can win with its general in a few turns, but has enough backup tutoring / threat density to do without
- You're looking for something competitive but underrepresented and often unknown to most Duel Commander metas
Why Not Play Sisay?
- The seemingly-schizophrenic nature of the deck may be stressful given all of the constant high-stakes decision-making
- The deck has a very high learning curve, as optimal tutor choices require a ton of meta knowledge
- If you're playing IRL: There's a 90% chance that you'll be shuffling your deck every turn, which makes opponents (understandably) upset
- To get the most of out a competitive Captain Sisay build, you're pretty much required to spend near or over 1k if you don't already own some of the staples
- Your Maybeboard will be comically oversized and you'll always second-guess your 99
Why Did I Choose Sisay?
If you're like most Duel Commander players, you made your way over to this variant after playing epic, big mana 4-hour multiplayer games with the default banlist. And if you're anything like me, you're a Johnny who wants to prove that Blue isn't the only big bad color in EDH town.
I chose Sisay as my main general because I've always favored G/W in magic. I'm a huge fan of the creature interactions and the mixture of beating face and being able to pull off out-of-nowhere wins with ostensibly underdog tactics. My choice was also informed by the consistency factor, and no other general satisfied both my inner Johhny and need for limiting the luck element of the game.
How to Win
Like most decks with green, your primary goal is to have a turn 1 ramp permanent. The Sisay difference is that you also want have a protection permanent on turn 1 and/or two (an early Mother of Runes can be the difference maker in many matches) before Sisay enters on turn 3. Sometimes Sisay can enter on turn 2, though you usually don't want to over-commit if you know your opponent is playing a lot of removal.
With Sisay on the board and active (and, ideally, protected), you have access to a line of plays that will lead to an inevitable victory in 95% of circumstances. This is primarily how your tutor target chains will go:
Matchup: Heavy Control or Creatureless Combo Example Commanders: Keranos, God of Storms, Narset, Enlightened Master, The Gitrog Monster Odds of Winning: Not Great, 40/60
Start with Gaddock Teeg 90% of the time and Saffi Eriksdotter 10% of the time (especially if you suspect your opponent has Toxic Deluge ready). Especially in this matchup, you want to prioritize Teeg and Eriksdotter as early tutor targets; if they can hit the board on turn 2 or 3, that's ideal. This sets you up against most mass removal and Planeswalkers options. Often, following up with Hokori, Dust Drinker makes sense if your opponent tapped out, but your primary goal at this rate is to get Dragonlord Dramoka onto the board and seal the game with a slew of uncounterable spells from there on out.
Matchup: Elfball and Creature Combo Example Commanders: Nissa, Vastwood Seer, Meren of Clan Nel Toth, Animar, Soul of Elements Odds of Winning: Moderate, 50/50
Begin with Linvala, Keeper of Silence nearly 100% of the time, but occasionally you'll want Umezawa's Jitte very quickly instead. This is pretty much the only matchup in which you actually do want to go all-in ramp and otherwise overcommit to losing card advantage. There are ramp decks in the meta that are faster than yours, and Linvala isn't even a guaranteed shut-off valve; she does, however, slow down the game enough so that you can follow up with Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite shortly after to all but completely hinder your opponent's potential to dig themselves out.
Matchup: Aggro and Midrange Example Commanders: Anafenza, the Foremost, Kytheon, Hero of Akros, Jenara, Asura of War Odds of Winning: Favorable, 60/40
Start with Gaddock Teeg 50% of the time since opponents often have Wrath/mass LD options very early game, Umezawa's Jitte 25% of the time if you opponent's board is full of early weenies, Gisela, the Broken Blade 15% of the time for a big defensive body to prep you for the next big tutor (likely Dragonlord Dromoka), and 10% of the time you actually want to nab Yavimaya Hollow first, especially against G/W/B Midrange. Elesh Norn is your win condition in pretty much 100% of these matchups.
In ALL of the above matchups, there's opportunity to go for the Dark Depths / Thespian's Stage option, but it's rarely something to prioritize. Rather, I go for it if the land tutor opportunity presents itself and the coast seems relatively clear or if I just have the perfect hand for it. Likewise, if the opportunity presents itself, you can try for the Brisela combo. Thankfully, these creatures are very useful on their own, so there's less downside to going after these targets in the mid-game.
And that's pretty much the gist of it! Ramp very early and often, use your many tutors to set up the perfect early disruption (Sanctum Prelate set to 3 and Gaddock Teeg on the board is unbeatable in quite a few control matchups), and play Sisay to strategically hinder your opponent to death. In the vast majority of games, a turn 5-ish Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is your ticket to victory.
Legendary Creatures Gaddock Teeg:
Teeg stops wraths, mass LD effects, most Planeswalkers, Opposition, Cryptic Command, Force of Will, Wildfire, all of which you're likely to encounter against top decks. Blanking your opponent's key cards or the ones that might bring him back into the game certainly has its place in the meta. Also, he carries a sword like a champ.
Saffi Eriksdotter:
She allows you to play your general and blank either a spot removal spell or a mass removal spell. She also provides key protections for your bombs and is especially amazing with Sun Titan. Getting both Saffi and Titan on the board should almost certainly be GG.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence:
She completely shuts down your opponent's mana dorks (very prevalent), their utility creatures (you'll encounter pingers and searchers and other obnoxious jerks), and is a nice-costed flier. If shrouded, she will probably be sufficient in beating elfball, can seriously hinder Iname's progress, and outright stops generals like Arcum.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite:
Simply resolving her is enough to beat most of the aggro-control decks in the format. Whatever they have that survives will be forced to chump block your now huge army. She also combos with Living Plane for instant victories.
Sigarda, Host of Herons:
Hexproof is always relevant. Cannot be sacrificed means that Sigarda can only die via wrath. If you have Saffi or Teeg in play as well, Sigarda can win games with just a few swings. Great against Thrax and Liliana. Carries a sword better than any other creature in the deck.
Iona, Shield of Emeria:
Some games are volatile back and forth slugfests and you may get to 9 mana naturally to hard cast her. In all likelihood, however, you're cheating her out early on with Survival of the Fittest and Loyal Retainers. Getting her on the field by turn 4 will result in a win almost 100% of the time against mono-colored decks.
Creatures Sylvan Safekeeper:
Better than Mother of Runes and Devoted Caretaker, because he works the turn he comes into play. Also fetchable via Green Sun's Zenith, unlike the above two. Most removal in this format is instant speed, so it's vital to get protection creatures active immediately.
Scavenging Ooze:
Very easily fetchable and can obliterate reanimator decks like Karador and Iname. Can randomly become a huge beater in stalled games, too, and the lifegain is sometimes relevant.
Sakura-Tribe Elder:
Sac-Me Tribe Elder is not just another copy of Rampant Growth, but can also be used to chumpblock early damage. He helps us get to a turn 3 Sisay, and fixes our mana like a boss. Great utility creature that effectively has haste.
Stoneforge Mystic:
Fantastic toolbox card that fetches Haste/Protection for your key creatures. Steelshaper's Gift with a body, and thus something your opponents will almost certainly try to answer if she resolves.
Qasali Pridemage:
When your creatures stick early on, you'll probably only have 1 to attack with at any given time. At the worst, he's a good beater. But really, you'll probably be popping him immediately to answer a sword or Phyrexian Arena or something diabolical. More fetchable with GSZ than Harmonic Sliver, and combos with Sun Titan.
Fierce Empath:
What to do with all of our mana? How about playing a chump blocker who ups our mana count for Gaea's Cradle while tutoring out a Titan? This guy does work.
Knight of the Reliquary
Becomes huge fast, especially with 7 fetch lands in your deck. No opponent wants this around. Solid in every matchup, especially since she can nab key lands like Gaea's Cradle.
Loyal Retainers:
Combos with Survival and Iona, or whichever other Legend you need in play for cheap. Also, if drawn into, it's likely to have a target in the graveyard. Pricey as hell, but not an issue if you're playing on Cockatrice.
Primeval Titan:
More often than not, resolving Prime Time means that your subsequent draws are all amazing and castable. This is an additional perk to the fact that Prime Time will wins games with a few swings on his own, but he brings all of your man lands into play, too, growing your army as he attacks.
Sun Titan:
Interacts with the majority of the deck, will probably win you the game if he resolves. Very castable with all of our safe ramp.
Artifacts Expedition Map:
Fetches you Cavern of Souls against blue, fetches you anything else you need otherwise. Great toolbox card for a deck with so many useful lands.
Relic of Progenitus:
Best graveyard hate card in the format because it replaces itself, IMO. Can often beat Iname on its own, and completely backbreaking for Karador, two decks that are never going away and are otherwise nearly impossible to stop.
Grim Monolith:
If resolving your bombs is enough to prompt GGs, resolving them several turns quicker than you should be able to is a more efficient GG.
Umezawa's Jitte:
Auto-include in any creature based French deck, which is just about all of them. At worst, it blows up your opponent's Jitte. At best, it wipes all your opponent's creatures from existence and shortens your opponent's life substantially. Also combos with Living Plane to snipe your opponent's lands.
Lightning Greaves:
Hasted Sisay is probably GG. Protected anything else is as close to GG as you're going to get, especially since we run Titans. Shroud is just icing on the cake.
Sword of Fire and Ice:
Pinging the majority of creatures to death, giving card advantage, and giving protection from the most common EDH color are what makes this arguably the best sword in the format.
Sword of Feast and Famine:
Relevant protections, and forces your opponent to make ill-timed plays to prevent themselves from discarding useful cards. Also allows you to play multiple synergistic cards on one turn that probably protect each other, as opposed to needing to wait two turns.
Enchantments Utopia Sprawl:
Safer mana elf. Most decks can't stop this or will have to save their answers for, say, Survival of the Fittest. Arguably better than Llanowar Elf.
Wild Growth:
Even better than Utopia Sprawl which means it's that much better than a more vulnerable mana dork option.
Sterling Grove:
Great toolbox card that doubles as protection for Survival of the Fittest. Can fetch removal or Sylvan Library, too. Almost always useful.
Journey to Nowhere:
A 2-mana Swords to Plowshares with a lower drawback. Some decks have no means of interacting with it, or have to answer it and then have fewer ways to deal with your real threats.
Lignify:
If someone plays their general unprotected, this alone can beat certain decks and is even better than STP. One of our few ways to slow down Animar, this card is a must for any Green deck.
Steely Resolve:
If this sticks, you can safely get away with playing your general and, consequently, winning. Can also be used to prevent opposing generals from being equipped, if needed. Difficult card to play effectively, but proven great in this instant-speed-removal-heavy meta.
Sylvan Library:
Great draw-fixing, especially given all the shuffling. Opponents never want to see this card resolve and will try to kill it at all costs.
Nevermore:
Can beat certain decks that have no means of interacting with it. If not calling their general, you can name other "meta known" cards that you might be concerned about.
Oblivion Ring:
Better in a meta where combo is King, but still something that can hit most every card on the field. Sisay struggles against Planeswalkers, so this is a good out and highly tutorable.
Living Plane:
Wins the game with Elesh Norn and will probably win the game with Linvala. Also boosts your Gaea's Cradle, given you a ton of mana quickly. Can be dangerous though if played at the wrong time, so play with caution.
Instants Tithe:
Helps superbly in ensuring you have enough mana to cast your game-enders. Can help you keep risky hands, too.
Mana Tithe:
Catches opponents by surprise every time. Also may cause your opponents to wait a turn later to play their key spells. This card is fantastic.
Path to Exile:
Not the best answer in the world, but our deck is hurting for cheap answers that deal with decks like Zur who are often setting up early with Lightning Greaves.
Nature's Claim:
Think of this as a one-mana counter spell for artifacts and enchantments that gives your opponent 4 life, a negligible amount considering how much you need to kill their swords and that you're on your way to winning extravagantly somehow in the mid-game, anyway.
Worldly Tutor:
This is sadly card disadvantage, but still too valuable not to include for being one mana. Tutoring for silver bullets or whatever is needed at the time is wonderful.
Enlightened Tutor:
Same as Worldly Tutor, able to grab so many useful things. Never a dead draw.
Eladamri's Call:
A better Worldly Tutor, in my opinion. One mana more, but replaces itself and allows you to play whatever you tutored that turn, supposing you have the additional mana.
Last Breath:
Great removal that exiles all of your opponents' hate bears, utility creatures, mana dorks, most beaters, and several generals (Zur, Sygg, Doran, etc.).
Selesnya Charm:
With more big ramp decks in the meta, it's great to have a card that exiles bombs with no drawback. Also allows us some interesting combat tricks, and if nothing else can make a sword carrier. Very versatile card.
Congregation at Dawn:
Yet another creature tutor, can set you up with synergistic creatures. Get's better as the game goes on.
Beast Within:
The drawback is negligible next to being able to destroy any permanent, especially Planeswalkers and Humility.
Sorceries Steelshaper's Gift:
For one mana, this card is too good not to include. It's a narrower Enlightened Tutor, but you'll use equipment (Greaves, at least) no matter the matchup.
Green Sun's Zenith:
Superb tutor, often getting you Teeg, Sylvan Safekeeper, or Dryad Arbor. Gets Prime Time in the late game.
Nature's Lore:
A safer mana dork that improves future draws.
Three Visits:
A safer mana dork that improves future draws.
Into the North:
A safer mana dork that improves future draws.
Farseek:
A safer mana dork that improves future draws.
Rampant Growth:
A safer mana dork that improves future draws.
Edge of Autumn:
A safer mana dork that improves future draws.
Sylvan Scrying:
Even better than Expedition Map. More redundancy for Cavern of Souls is awesome sauce.
Tariff:
One of your few means of answering Animar and Geist, and is often useful against decks that tap out to play something large. Great card, almost always one-sided.
Kodama's Reach:
A safer mana dork that improves future draws.
Cultivate:
A safer mana dork that improves future draws.
Tooth and Nail:
Casting for 9 is difficult, but can soundly end games for 7 mana by cheating out Iona or tutoring up a Titan and, say, Sylvan Safekeeper.
Planeswalkers Elspeth, Knight-Errant:
A must answer card. This will take all of your opponent's focus to deal with, and can win games on its own.
Garruk Wildspeaker:
Allows our obnoxious bombs to be played sooner, so for this deck is a must answer card.
Legendary Lands Gaea's Cradle:
Can provide a much-needed boost to get to Norn faster. Highly fetchable.
Eiganjo Castle:
Can be tutored by Sisay to ensure you have enough mana for Norn and Iona. Can randomly make Sisay survive Pyroclasm and other burn effects. Great card.
Yavimaya Hollow:
Lots of killing spells and combat in this meta. Worth it. Can even be tutored out early to protect Sisay if no other means is available.
Animar, Soul of Elements (Notable player: Jester831):
Outlook: 35/65
How to: After Animar resolves, you're about to lose. This deck is just faster and your Animar answers are too few. But it's not completely hopeless! Best case scenario: you cheat Norn into play early and win on the spot. Be mindful of combo pieces (kill Wirewood Symbiote on sight), and pray for a fast, combo-rific hand.
Iona color: 50% Green, 40% Red, 10% Blue
Geist of Saint Traft (Notable player: Gaka):
Outlook: 40/60
How to: As is the case against most aggro-control decks, you've got too many must-answer threats for them to deal with. Still, Geist is a threat that you almost certainly CAN'T deal with unless you resolve the right creatures. Tariff is about your only hope of stopping a resolved Geist. The way to go about this matchup is just to ramp and play more/bigger threats and hope your opponent does go super voltron in the early game.
Iona color: 60% Blue, 40% White
Doran, the Siege Tower:
Outlook: 45/55
How to: This one is tough because Doran has so many wonderful removal options, and can discard your removal spells handily. Try to play what you can, and don't be afraid to kill mana dorks to slow down the deck a turn or two. As is often the case, ramping into Norn is still your best bet here.
Iona color: 40% White, 40% Black, 20% Green
Zur the Enchanter (Notable player: Omgmakeme):
Outlook: 50/50
How to: You play enough instant speed removal to deter Zur for a little while, but the best Zur decks play enough ramp to continue to recast him. Nevermore and Lignify are big studs here to keep the deck in check. Just play your threats aggressively and make it so the Zur player never feels comfortable tapping out.
Iona color: 35% Black, 33% Blue, 32% White
Thraximundar (Notable players: Fluxuate, Abnormality):
Outlook: 50/50
How to: Without the emphasis on weenies as before, this matchup becomes a lot closer. Still, Thrax has lots of counters and spot removal ready for Sisay. If you can resolve Sigarda or get any sort of fast rampy start, you'll probably win. Resolving an early Nevermore is also GG.
Iona color: 90% Black, 10% Blue
Jenara, Asura of War (Notable player: kwiznek):
Outlook:50/50
How to: This deck is a triple threat in Jenara, Oath, and Humility, and the latter will almost certainly be a played due to all of the tutoring. But we run enough man lands, equipment, and land control to stay toe-to-toe with out opponent--sometimes. If you can stick an early shroud affect in this matchup, you can almost certainly win. I find the aggro-based version equally challenging, and obviously we want to focus on Norn in that matchup.
Iona color: 80% White, 20% Blue
Iname, Death Aspect (Notable player: Evergreen):
Outlook: 55/45
How to: With some of your better exile removal effects, you can null most of the tricks that this deck can pull off by ridding of the recurring creatures. Linvala and Scavenging Ooze are all-stars here, and your priority should be getting them into play asap. This deck is fast, but has to focus a ton of removal (especially targeted discard) on your board to prevent Surival and Nevermore from stealing the game early.
Godo, Bandit Warlord (Notable player: Hunter245):
Outlook: 55/45
How to: Linvala is an all-star in this matchup. You just have to make sure you can get her in hand. Removal doesn't help much in this matchup because of sheer redundancy, so you just need speed and a little luck to get to Linvala and then Norn.
Lyzolda, the Blood Witch:
Outlook: 55/45
How to: This used to be significantly more difficult when we played a bunch of vulnerable weenies but is much more even now. Nevertheless, Sisay is still vulnerable, and a good discard package can still make it difficult to get your bombs into play. That said, Sigarda can win this match on her own, and ramping into Norn before you're in the red is practically GG.
Iona color: 95% Black, 5% Red
Vendilion Clique:
Outlook: 55/45
How to: This used to be way more favorable for us when we were more weenie-focused, but should still be in your favor more often than not just by virtue of our deck being so tuned and having so much mana available to recast Sisay. Clique just doesn't have enough counters in the end.
Ezuri, Renegade Leader:
Outlook: 60/40
How to: Linvala is an all-star in this matchup. Pretty much everything that's been said for Godo can be said for this matchup. Ezuri has tons of ramp redundancy, so you just need to try to get to the end-game quicker and pick off anything that looks like it's part of a combo or will help deal lethal to you. If you can survive long enough, Elesh Norn entering the fray is GG.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary:
Outlook: 60/40
How to: For the elfball variant, just get Linvala into play early. You can't lose. And generally speaking, Sisay is just much quicker than Momir, who will require probably 7 mana to safely play the general (to hold counter backup for removal). Jitte and Norn are also top tutor targets in this matchup.
Iona color: 70% Green, 30% Blue
Arcum Dagsson
Outlook: 60/40
How to: You can outrace this deck. Still, make sure that Arcum doesn't come down hasted. The deck runs few answers and is very combo-focused, so have no fear of resolving threats in this matchup. Be aggressive, but be mindful of Arcum's potential 2 turns down the road and budget mana appropriately.
Sygg, River Cutthroat:
Outlook: 60/40
How to: Drop threats. Lots of 'em. Don't be shy in this matchup, or else you'll lose great things to inevitable discard. Also, putting down creatures as blockers that will inevitably become giant beaters means you've got a surer gameplan in this matchup (Norn dominates this matchup). Still, getting through both counters and discard isn't easy always easy, but you can usually power Sisay though the removal.
Iona color: 60% Black, 40% Blue
Karador, Ghost Chieftain:
Outlook: 65/35
How to: Karador is a bit too slow for Sisay as far as combo decks go and doesn't run much in the way of disruption. You can pretty much goldfish this one, but you still have to be smart about your removal. Your graveyard hate is a major pain for this deck, and your exile effects can prohibit the deck from winning. Elesh Norn takes this one most of the time.
Iona color: 40% Black, 30% Green, 30% White
Isamaru, Hound of Konda:
Outlook: 65/35
How to: This is pretty much a match of Solitaire. Just ramp into Elesh Norn (and destroy threats as they come). Occasionally Isamaru will go nuts with great draws, so you can't be afraid to trade creatures in combat in the early turns of this matchup.
That is indeed a sexy list. There are probably two or three cards that I would switch around (mostly due to personal preference) but the list is adapting very successfully to the dramatically different French meta of today. I might look into detailing my thoughts on a few cards, while offering suggestions as well. Probably no point in posting my list as it would be very similar to this one.
Good luck on the new Primer, Riley.
P.S. Linvala looks great on the banner but Iona looks so out of place! She's decked out in armour. Haha.
Emmara is like the worst parts of Legends and Homelands got pregnant, aborted the fetus, tossed it in the trashcan, set it on fire and wrapped the corpse in a Dragon's Maze pack wrapper.
@Drama Turtle: I may put Stoneforge Mystic in there in place of Iona. She does look extremely awkward and begging to be rusty!
I gotta give credit to Evergreen! Even when I've made it so his General can't be cast, he still manages to take me to turn 30. So much resiliency! If you guys haven't had an opportunity to see his awesome Iname, Death Aspect build, find him on Cockatrice and ask for a match. You'll be wowed! And angry, if he hits a turn 1 Thought Seize, turn 2 Hymn to Tourach, and Turn 3 Iname against you like he did in our first match. -_-
So far, I'd say that Nevermore is testing very well for me. Like with Revoker, it helps to know the meta (naming key pieces or things that will blow you out) if their General is already cast, but if it's not? You can really castrate a lot of decks. Even those decks that can interact with it are going to have to make the tough choice of killing that or the Jitte that's wrecking them.
I also stuck in Great Sable Stag, which totally pulled its weight. When Evergreen and I were in topdeck mode, I kept drawing creatures but he kept drawing answers, and Stag really stole the game. He should be great against all of my bad black and blue matchups.
I finally got to use Mana Tithe. Love love love. Speaking of, Tithe has also worked wonders for me. Such a great suggestion that was! Getting to that crucial 7 mana for Norn (or just getting extra mana in general) will steal a lot of games. She's been game-ending about 90% of the time when she hits the field. So good.
Muse, muse.. I'll save it for the first two posts. Just wanted to point out the new adds and let everyone know they're testing well.
Sweet, new thread! Thanks a bunch for posting my list.
I've played a bunch of games today, and am certain I'm going to have a lot of changes. I'm going to try to focus on a combat-oriented list, so I'll probably be making a number of structural changes to the deck, so hopefully I'll have an update for you soon!
I haven't tested this much, but it's reasonably changed (i've adopted a bunch of riley's changes, and some more aggressive changes of my own). I think Sable Stag is a good decision too, and may need it in my list as well. I decided on Dauntless Escort in the last slot for now just because I want to test it (dont ask why, but that card keeps floating in and out of this deck even though no one plays wrath - I'm convinced it has to be good somehow)
There are some non-bos in the deck, such as Teeg + GSZ, Elspeth, Pattern, and Mirran Crusader + Sylvan Safekeeper. I'll have to see how problematic these are in practice.
I am kind of amazed at [...] the fact that somebody on this thread called Mind's Eye, Mirari's Wake, Decree of Pain, Desertion, AND Scroll Rack, all before they were officially spoiled. I will edit this post VERY shortly with the username of this user who deserves at least all of the cookies. Probably more cookies than that.
Updated the first two posts quite a bit. Quick hits:
Added:
- Section for "Cards That Might be Added" to my build, with some cards and explanations
- Explanations for why every card in the deck is in the deck
- Explanations for why certain known Sisay Staples aren't in the deck
- A list of 10 High-Tiered generals and our Outlook against them (How to Play Against Them guide coming soon)
- merdock271's updated list, which is pretty friggin' hot
EDIT: merdock, we run so many creatures that Aether Vial might not hurt either of us. Do you have any experience running it? Oddly, I'd never even thought to try it until now.
Yeah, I thought about Aether Vial (actually for the first time when I was making this build, since it's the natural counterpart to serra avenger). The reason I'm not sure on it is that it's not really clear what number you want to stop it on/we have really diverse creature costs so it may not actually be that consistent.
I actually cut llanowar and fyndhorn from my deck. I found green mana dorks that tap for green to be a little awkward in the deck. If you need the ramp though, all the elves are generally fine: nothing exciting though.
I actually tried Krosan Grip also (it's what I replaced with nature's claim). 3 mana is a lot in this deck, and is really hard on the tempo. Yes, nature's claim can get countered, but it's cheap to play and if it gets countered you usually still have a great deal of mana to do something else with. Also, the deck taps out a lot, so ending a turn with 3 mana up is suspicious and potentially wasteful. Note that all the instants in the deck cost 1...
I actually tried Krosan Grip also (it's what I replaced with nature's claim). 3 mana is a lot in this deck, and is really hard on the tempo. Yes, nature's claim can get countered, but it's cheap to play and if it gets countered you usually still have a great deal of mana to do something else with. Also, the deck taps out a lot, so ending a turn with 3 mana up is suspicious and potentially wasteful. Note that all the instants in the deck cost 1...
Not to nitpick but Eladamri's Call costs two and me and Riley both run Beast Within which costs three.
I do however agree with you, Nature's Claim is just too good to cut for Krosan Grip and its been brought up multiple times on the old thread.
Haha, yeah, forgot about Eladamri's call when I was talking about instants...
I don't run beast within anymore because I found it was bad in my deck, which often tries to win by beating down with 2/2s and 3/3s and whatnot. The token doesnt even die to Norn, so playing Norn to try to swing for lethal gets a lot harder when they have a random beast.
Krosan Grip is cool, and a good card. If you (you = whoever is reading this and may or may not care about this) really need the artifact and enchantment hate in your meta, i could see running it alongside nature's claim, but that's about as far as I'd go (definitely don't cut nature's claim for it).
Krosan Grip is cool, and a good card. If you (you = whoever is reading this and may or may not care about this) really need the artifact and enchantment hate in your meta, i could see running it alongside nature's claim, but that's about as far as I'd go (definitely don't cut nature's claim for it).
Agreed. It's definitely meta-dependent.
Things like Pithing Needle seem less common in the French meta, but mostly because the majority of top decks don't have generals with activated abilities. In a developing meta, you see that card a ton more because of activated ability generals running rampant. Even when it comes to the creatures in the deck, French decks are all "lol look at my expendable beaters and/or dudes with comes into play effects!", so it's not worthwhile for most decks to run.
When it comes to other must answer artifacts/enchantments like Vedalken Shackles, the opponent will often rely on it in desperation against aggro and will likely be forced to tap out for it, putting us exactly within range to answer with Shards, our two destructo-creatures, and definitely Claim.
Again, the amount of Swords etc is pretty even with the amount of answers we run, but SOMETIMES you play against decks that are hardly running any artifacts, or maybe just signets. This makes Grip less and less valuable to the French meta, in my opinion.
Swapped Mentor of the Meek for Scryb Ranger and found room for Tariff, which I've seen on french Isamaru builds. I like it! It doesn't target, so that's ultra-important in many circumstances.
Also, thank you to Sess for reminding me how much I hate Bribery. I'd almost forgotten. =P
EDIT: Sometimes I miss the added turn 1 ramp insurance of Fyndhorn Elves, but I've got so many things to do on turn 1 that I dunno. It's certainly an awful top deck. It maaaaaay go back in, but not anytime soon.
Surprised to see you cutting Mentor of the Meek so fast. Especially for something as underwhelming as Scryb Ranger. What were your results of testing Mentor? Was it bad? Mediocre? How often was it relevant? Dead draw?
I don't think I can get away with him in this meta. Admittedly, my only experience was drawing him late in a game and immediately pitching him to Survival of the Fittest to get something actually useful to pull myself out of a bind. He's a one-card draw engine, but a 2/2 creature for 3 who has no form of evasion and (consequently) can't even block in those circumstances seems like a sub-optimal 3-drop to me.
Ultimately, I think he'd only work against other slow, mid-range decks, against which I already have a pretty favorable matchup (and the fact that.. those other decks don't exist lol). No one else is going to give me either the time to capitalize on him or the opportunity to play a three drop where I'll need answers (and available mana) instead.
I may be wrong, but I think he's too slow and vulnerable overall for this meta, for this particular deck. He definitely wants blue support, and I think he could shine in the right Geist build.
Scryb is highly useful and can beat most Blue-based decks by being a flying pro-blue creature, very important against Edric, Sygg, and Clique. The protection in general means that he'll "get there" vs. control heavy decks. At worst, it carries a sword and gives me an extra tutor with Sisay.
Scryb also seems good to me.
-He blocks well vs decks where blocking is a relevant form of disruption
-He carries a Jitte well vs decks where connecting with a Jitte is a valid win condition
-With a Llanowar elves in play he can net 2 mana a turn
-Gives you a double Sisay activation
@Riley: In that case I'm going to continue to try him out since my build is more of a mid range combo deck.
@Land Tax: I've personally never considered it for this deck but I know awhile back it was talked about by Riley but never panned out. I can't remember his reasoning for cutting it.
Decided to cut Devoted Caretaker (again) and Swiftfoot Boots (again). Re-added Fyndhorn Elves and Arbor Elf. I was getting a turn 1 accelerator maybe 1 in 8 games, and that's just abysmal. The other cards were worst versions of cards this deck already has, so they were cut.
Just to note: Jester831's Animar is serious busness! Two Eldrazi's swinging at me on turn 4 is tough to beat, especially when I had removal in hand. Pro-white is a beating. Only games I managed to take were when he was land-screwed and I got to Norn quickly, and another where I had Tariff in my opener (forcing him to sac Animar) and set him back enough to get to Norn. Animar with mention to Jester will definitely be added to the "Top Decks" section.
Ditto to Azaami. Even if she has weak matchups vs. a lot of the top decks, she can still be a huge pain in Sisay's ass.
My opponents have unanimously been a little too delighted every time I use Path to Exile. I'm putting Lignify back in. That always played extremely well for me, and especially in this meta where removal is limited and it has to be used to kill MY stuff, Lignify is just better for me vs generals. Being fetchable certainly helps. Also, it's Green "removal" which can be important at times.
Also giving Seal of Cleansing a shot. I may have underestimated the amount of artifacts/enchantments I need to deal with. It's fetchable and, at the very least, destroys my opponent's mana fixers/rampers, which is almost always an optimal play if there's nothing else to destroy. Arbor Elf was dropped for this, but I may try to make room for him again.
I'm considering taking out Phyrexian Revoker, because he hardly has an impact. Usually I'll just try to null their Jitte (and I can just tutor for it, so whatever?), supposing they have a Jitte. Peacekeeper would be much more usable in many more matchups for my build, and would be most likely to come in for him. Or one of the above cuts. I'll think on it some more.
EDIT: Evergreen also suggested Idllyic Tutor in place of Academy Rector. I've played them both very extensively, and I honestly couldn't tell you which is better. It just.. depends. I'll think about it.
EDIT 2: What is Saffi's purpose in the deck? Pyroclasm and Wrath Insurance to save one creature? I don't overextend like I used to, and the large majority of my opponents have responded to the aggro-control meta by using aggro creatures themselves, not by sweeping the board. Because it MIGHT be useful against Uril is not a good case for her (if my opponent lands a turn 1 Orcish Lumberjack, I've got bigger problems than Pyroclasm!). I've used Saffi once in something like the last 50 games, and I certainly never looked to tutor for her. Without Pattern of Rebirth or the Yosei combo, she's just not good enough.
So, on second thought, Path to Exile is going back in. Even if sometimes giving my opponent an extra land can bite me in the ass, there are far worse things, like letting Zur swing or letting Edric get away with the game because I didn't have an instant speed answer in my hand.
Also, I should note that Contamination lock is fairly common, which is another reason I really like Seal of Cleansing, or like the idea of it, anyway. Maybe I just want Ronom Unicorn instead? I think I prefer the diversity of Seal, given that I run into Stax builds regularly enough, too.
EDIT 3: Should I be running Thrun? I just find him so slow, and he doesn't have evasion. Great Sable Stag has been testing so well for me, and I can't say that I was ever pleased with Thrun when I played him. I don't know!
Duel Commander Rules
Duel Commander Mega-Thread
Duel Commander Mega-Thread
Here's my current list;
1 Captain Sisay
Artifact
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Expedition Map
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Nim Deathmantle
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Thousand-Year Elixir
Creature
1 Acidic Slime
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Karmic Guide
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Mentor of the Meek
1 Mirror Entity
1 Mother of Runes
1 Peacekeeper
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Primeval Titan
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Reveillark
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Sun Titan
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
Legendary Creature
1 Arashi, the Sky Asunder
1 Dosan the Falling Leaf
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Glissa Sunseeker
1 Hokori, Dust Drinker
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Mangara of Corondor
1 Myojin of Life's Web
1 Reya Dawnbringer
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Saffi Eriksdotter
1 Yosei, the Morning Star
1 Aura Shards
1 Dense Foliage
1 Steely Resolve
1 Sterling Grove
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Sylvan Library
Instant
1 Beast Within
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Krosan Grip
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Worldly Tutor
Sorcery
1 Farseek
1 Into the North
1 Nature's Lore
1 Rampant Growth
1 Sylvan Scrying
1 Three Visits
Land
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Arid Mesa
1 Brushland
1 Command Tower
1 Flooded Strand
1 High Market
1 Homeward Path
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Savannah
14 Snow-Covered Forest
4 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Temple Garden
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Gaea's Cradle
That is indeed a sexy list. There are probably two or three cards that I would switch around (mostly due to personal preference) but the list is adapting very successfully to the dramatically different French meta of today. I might look into detailing my thoughts on a few cards, while offering suggestions as well. Probably no point in posting my list as it would be very similar to this one.
Good luck on the new Primer, Riley.
P.S. Linvala looks great on the banner but Iona looks so out of place! She's decked out in armour. Haha.
I gotta give credit to Evergreen! Even when I've made it so his General can't be cast, he still manages to take me to turn 30. So much resiliency! If you guys haven't had an opportunity to see his awesome Iname, Death Aspect build, find him on Cockatrice and ask for a match. You'll be wowed! And angry, if he hits a turn 1 Thought Seize, turn 2 Hymn to Tourach, and Turn 3 Iname against you like he did in our first match. -_-
So far, I'd say that Nevermore is testing very well for me. Like with Revoker, it helps to know the meta (naming key pieces or things that will blow you out) if their General is already cast, but if it's not? You can really castrate a lot of decks. Even those decks that can interact with it are going to have to make the tough choice of killing that or the Jitte that's wrecking them.
I also stuck in Great Sable Stag, which totally pulled its weight. When Evergreen and I were in topdeck mode, I kept drawing creatures but he kept drawing answers, and Stag really stole the game. He should be great against all of my bad black and blue matchups.
I finally got to use Mana Tithe. Love love love. Speaking of, Tithe has also worked wonders for me. Such a great suggestion that was! Getting to that crucial 7 mana for Norn (or just getting extra mana in general) will steal a lot of games. She's been game-ending about 90% of the time when she hits the field. So good.
Muse, muse.. I'll save it for the first two posts. Just wanted to point out the new adds and let everyone know they're testing well.
Duel Commander Mega-Thread
I've played a bunch of games today, and am certain I'm going to have a lot of changes. I'm going to try to focus on a combat-oriented list, so I'll probably be making a number of structural changes to the deck, so hopefully I'll have an update for you soon!
Any ideas from anyone would be great!
I haven't tested this much, but it's reasonably changed (i've adopted a bunch of riley's changes, and some more aggressive changes of my own). I think Sable Stag is a good decision too, and may need it in my list as well. I decided on Dauntless Escort in the last slot for now just because I want to test it (dont ask why, but that card keeps floating in and out of this deck even though no one plays wrath - I'm convinced it has to be good somehow)
There are some non-bos in the deck, such as Teeg + GSZ, Elspeth, Pattern, and Mirran Crusader + Sylvan Safekeeper. I'll have to see how problematic these are in practice.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/sisay-edh-3/
Actually, screw dauntless escort, I'll change it to Sable Stag. That card is just a good call.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=7373857
Commanders:
Basandra, Battle Seraph | Diaochan, Artful Beauty | Mayael the Anima | Nath of the Gilt Leaf | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Raksha Golden Cub | Rayne, Academy Chancellor | Roon of the Hidden Realm
Added:
- Section for "Cards That Might be Added" to my build, with some cards and explanations
- Explanations for why every card in the deck is in the deck
- Explanations for why certain known Sisay Staples aren't in the deck
- A list of 10 High-Tiered generals and our Outlook against them (How to Play Against Them guide coming soon)
- merdock271's updated list, which is pretty friggin' hot
EDIT: merdock, we run so many creatures that Aether Vial might not hurt either of us. Do you have any experience running it? Oddly, I'd never even thought to try it until now.
Duel Commander Mega-Thread
Worth considering though...
Not to nitpick but Eladamri's Call costs two and me and Riley both run Beast Within which costs three.
I do however agree with you, Nature's Claim is just too good to cut for Krosan Grip and its been brought up multiple times on the old thread.
I don't run beast within anymore because I found it was bad in my deck, which often tries to win by beating down with 2/2s and 3/3s and whatnot. The token doesnt even die to Norn, so playing Norn to try to swing for lethal gets a lot harder when they have a random beast.
Krosan Grip is cool, and a good card. If you (you = whoever is reading this and may or may not care about this) really need the artifact and enchantment hate in your meta, i could see running it alongside nature's claim, but that's about as far as I'd go (definitely don't cut nature's claim for it).
Agreed. It's definitely meta-dependent.
Things like Pithing Needle seem less common in the French meta, but mostly because the majority of top decks don't have generals with activated abilities. In a developing meta, you see that card a ton more because of activated ability generals running rampant. Even when it comes to the creatures in the deck, French decks are all "lol look at my expendable beaters and/or dudes with comes into play effects!", so it's not worthwhile for most decks to run.
When it comes to other must answer artifacts/enchantments like Vedalken Shackles, the opponent will often rely on it in desperation against aggro and will likely be forced to tap out for it, putting us exactly within range to answer with Shards, our two destructo-creatures, and definitely Claim.
Again, the amount of Swords etc is pretty even with the amount of answers we run, but SOMETIMES you play against decks that are hardly running any artifacts, or maybe just signets. This makes Grip less and less valuable to the French meta, in my opinion.
Swapped Mentor of the Meek for Scryb Ranger and found room for Tariff, which I've seen on french Isamaru builds. I like it! It doesn't target, so that's ultra-important in many circumstances.
Also, thank you to Sess for reminding me how much I hate Bribery. I'd almost forgotten. =P
EDIT: Sometimes I miss the added turn 1 ramp insurance of Fyndhorn Elves, but I've got so many things to do on turn 1 that I dunno. It's certainly an awful top deck. It maaaaaay go back in, but not anytime soon.
Duel Commander Mega-Thread
Updated list.
1 Captain Sisay
Artifact [2]
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Nim Deathmantle
Creature [23]
1 Acidic Slime
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Benevolent Bodyguard
1 Devoted Caretaker
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Karmic Guide
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Mentor of the Meek
1 Mirror Entity
1 Mother of Runes
1 Peacekeeper
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Primeval Titan
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Reveillark
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Sun Titan
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
Legendary Creature [17]
1 Arashi, the Sky Asunder
1 Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile
1 Dosan the Falling Leaf
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Glissa Sunseeker
1 Hokori, Dust Drinker
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Mangara of Corondor
1 Myojin of Life's Web
1 Reya Dawnbringer
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Saffi Eriksdotter
1 Yosei, the Morning Star
1 Aura Shards
1 Steely Resolve
1 Sterling Grove
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Sylvan Library
Instant [8]
1 Crop Rotation
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Nature's Claim
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Tithe
1 Worldly Tutor
Sorcery [7]
1 Farseek
1 Into the North
1 Nature's Lore
1 Rampant Growth
1 Steelshaper's Gift
1 Sylvan Scrying
1 Three Visits
Land [37]
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Arid Mesa
1 Brushland
1 Command Tower
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Flooded Strand
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 High Market
1 Homeward Path
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Savannah
12 Snow-Covered Forest
4 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Temple Garden
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Wooded Foothills
Ultimately, I think he'd only work against other slow, mid-range decks, against which I already have a pretty favorable matchup (and the fact that.. those other decks don't exist lol). No one else is going to give me either the time to capitalize on him or the opportunity to play a three drop where I'll need answers (and available mana) instead.
I may be wrong, but I think he's too slow and vulnerable overall for this meta, for this particular deck. He definitely wants blue support, and I think he could shine in the right Geist build.
Scryb is highly useful and can beat most Blue-based decks by being a flying pro-blue creature, very important against Edric, Sygg, and Clique. The protection in general means that he'll "get there" vs. control heavy decks. At worst, it carries a sword and gives me an extra tutor with Sisay.
Duel Commander Mega-Thread
-He blocks well vs decks where blocking is a relevant form of disruption
-He carries a Jitte well vs decks where connecting with a Jitte is a valid win condition
-With a Llanowar elves in play he can net 2 mana a turn
-Gives you a double Sisay activation
Why does no one run Land Tax?
@Land Tax: I've personally never considered it for this deck but I know awhile back it was talked about by Riley but never panned out. I can't remember his reasoning for cutting it.
Just to note: Jester831's Animar is serious busness! Two Eldrazi's swinging at me on turn 4 is tough to beat, especially when I had removal in hand. Pro-white is a beating. Only games I managed to take were when he was land-screwed and I got to Norn quickly, and another where I had Tariff in my opener (forcing him to sac Animar) and set him back enough to get to Norn. Animar with mention to Jester will definitely be added to the "Top Decks" section.
Ditto to Azaami. Even if she has weak matchups vs. a lot of the top decks, she can still be a huge pain in Sisay's ass.
Duel Commander Mega-Thread
My opponents have unanimously been a little too delighted every time I use Path to Exile. I'm putting Lignify back in. That always played extremely well for me, and especially in this meta where removal is limited and it has to be used to kill MY stuff, Lignify is just better for me vs generals. Being fetchable certainly helps. Also, it's Green "removal" which can be important at times.
Also giving Seal of Cleansing a shot. I may have underestimated the amount of artifacts/enchantments I need to deal with. It's fetchable and, at the very least, destroys my opponent's mana fixers/rampers, which is almost always an optimal play if there's nothing else to destroy. Arbor Elf was dropped for this, but I may try to make room for him again.
I'm considering taking out Phyrexian Revoker, because he hardly has an impact. Usually I'll just try to null their Jitte (and I can just tutor for it, so whatever?), supposing they have a Jitte. Peacekeeper would be much more usable in many more matchups for my build, and would be most likely to come in for him. Or one of the above cuts. I'll think on it some more.
EDIT: Evergreen also suggested Idllyic Tutor in place of Academy Rector. I've played them both very extensively, and I honestly couldn't tell you which is better. It just.. depends. I'll think about it.
EDIT 2: What is Saffi's purpose in the deck? Pyroclasm and Wrath Insurance to save one creature? I don't overextend like I used to, and the large majority of my opponents have responded to the aggro-control meta by using aggro creatures themselves, not by sweeping the board. Because it MIGHT be useful against Uril is not a good case for her (if my opponent lands a turn 1 Orcish Lumberjack, I've got bigger problems than Pyroclasm!). I've used Saffi once in something like the last 50 games, and I certainly never looked to tutor for her. Without Pattern of Rebirth or the Yosei combo, she's just not good enough.
So, on second thought, Path to Exile is going back in. Even if sometimes giving my opponent an extra land can bite me in the ass, there are far worse things, like letting Zur swing or letting Edric get away with the game because I didn't have an instant speed answer in my hand.
Also, I should note that Contamination lock is fairly common, which is another reason I really like Seal of Cleansing, or like the idea of it, anyway. Maybe I just want Ronom Unicorn instead? I think I prefer the diversity of Seal, given that I run into Stax builds regularly enough, too.
EDIT 3: Should I be running Thrun? I just find him so slow, and he doesn't have evasion. Great Sable Stag has been testing so well for me, and I can't say that I was ever pleased with Thrun when I played him. I don't know!
Duel Commander Mega-Thread
If both are amazing, why not run both?