This deck is all about using the marginalized cards that you won't normally see in EDH (with a few exceptions of course).
One theme I can see pursuing is group hug hand size cards, since an opponent with more hands makes gerrardo gain me some extra life (marginal, but let's work with what we've got!)
For creatures there must be some neat stuff that just doesn't get played. The first one I can think of is chimeric sphere which is almost strictly worse than chimeric staff - heck i could run both. The clockwork creatures probably deserve a look too
Truce isn't really all that stunning as they can choose to gain the life which you then deduct when you attack.
As for Truce, I don't know too many players who would rather have 4 life than 2 cards, especially not when the "dramatic consequence" of drawing those cards is that I might gain 2 more life during my upkeep
Oh god...this deck is going to make me look up almost every single card in it.
I don't have too much to add to this deck, but I can share an interesting Gerrard lifegain deck that someone posted at The Source. Apparently it's actually a really good deck in multiplayer...I've been meaning to mess around with it, but haven't yet had the chance. It's not all "creative" cards, but it definitely has a ton of them... It ought to give you a lot of ideas.
There are tons of cards in this deck I didn't know without looking them up, and several of the ones I did know I've never seen played in EDH before. Seems like it ought to be helpful.
I don't want it to be a lifegain deck really. Gerrards ability should just help keep me stabilized, and then maybe a card here and there like spirit loop.
I started an evolving decklist to keep track of the cards people have recommended that I'd like to put in and any new ones I think up. It should be easier once I go through my commons and my jankrare binder
Yeah I will need some equipment to make gerrard more imposing, however I think the kaldratron is a bit busted, and its really not much fun when someone assembles it. If I find the deck is desparingly weak I could always add it, but I've put kaldratron in 3 decks so far and all of them got disassembled for being boring to play ><
I've made a deck out of it and will hopefully get to try it out tomorrow. There wasn't enough gas to go with the group hug hand size thing. I would need blue to do it effectively. I still play truce tho!
I loaded in lots of effects that make it pointless to attack me - those white prevent/redirect spells. I'm trying to limit the mana needed to do things since I will probably want to be tapping my mana for gerrard's ability when he swings fairly often.
I probably need to build a decent suite of equipment/enchants to buff him more since a 3/4 is not exactly going to have anyone quaking in their boots. I would probably avoid stonehewer giant and kaldratron, but maybe add some tatsumatsa, o'naginata, quest for the holy relic, etc
Gerard's best win conditions are Test of Endurance and Felidar Sovereign, which usually aren't played in EDH. If you don't like the idea of the auto-win, please ignore.
For mana acceleration, you all know people love using Sol Ring, Coalition Relic, Thran Dynamo, Gilded Lotus, etc. How about the less used Sisay's Ring, Ur-Golem's Eye, Armillary Sphere, Journeyer's Kite (used a little bit, but still budget), Gift of Estates/Tithe (you know there will be a green mage with Exploration or other mana ramping cards!).
One card I always try to put in, but always end up cutting is Icy Manipulator.
Urborg would be kind of marginal since it'll often help my opponents solve mana problems and only be relevant for me if I ever draw it with the mob. I played them together in a teneb deck briefly where urborg was useful for my own mana too. In monowhite just seems like it'll be useless 99.9% of the time and even harmful to me sometimes.
I do run michiko atm, and I think I would run rashida if I had her. I don't have a veteran bodyguard but i have the newer morphing bodyguard I think - I was going to try and run that and other similar stuff with pariah's shield but the shield is too expensive to play and equip, and just straight up bad most of the time ><
I also picked up a knight of dawn which is neat Will try to make my actual decklist soon and then look for ways to tweak
I've updated the list to reflect my current build. It needs much more play before I can say too much about it.
Offhand though I think it will need to have mana sources pumped up and the # of dudes requiring mana (i.e. witch hunter, zealous inquisitor..) reduced. I'll also probably want to find a decent suite of equipment to make gerrard more threatening. I've got a few enchants that do it but those are obviously more vulnerable.
But yeah as I set it out the challenge is making a functional deck without using the easy/obvious cards so it'll take some work to pare it down.
One thing I want to do is find a way to abuse banding a little bit. So far me elite banding combo was putting abu jafar into a band... now I did it with a benalish, but if I had helm out and could band him with gerrard we'd be in business!
o man zhalfirin crusader! I know I used to have that card but damned if I found any :(. Reduced to playing zealous inquisitor for now.
I do have cooperation tho, but enchant creature's are just so fragile that I dont want to overdo it, and currently I'm running a couple as gerrard-pump. Coop could replace benalish hero maybe, but hero is just such a classic.
I added most of the nice ROE stuff I've picked up into this deck - gideon, student, transcendant.
From the few games I've gotten in with Gerrard I can say that he is usually played for the life gain ability. His tapping ability has not been worth the mana sink yet.
The deck is starting to coalesce a bit but I'm not sure if I want to focus it more or keep it kind of random. There's some tension between mana hungry cards like zhalfirin crusader and gerrard's tap ability - and with those the lack of mana accel/fetch in the deck. I could run the full suite of available artifact/white mana fetchers to improve my mana quality and focus more on it being a "big mana" white deck (which supports gerrard for sure).
But there's a charm to cards like serra avenger.
I had to drop icatian moneychanger and benalish hero because they were never, ever, ever relevant. I like playing junk, but I need to have a way to make it matter ><
I have decided to make gerrard capashen my general - and noticed this could be the first gerrard deck on the board.
Now the challenge I'm posing is to make a creative deck. That means I don't want to use a single EDH "staple" or cards that are "optimal".
What do I mean?
I will not use swords to plowshares. I will use reprisal and afterlife.
This deck is all about using the marginalized cards that you won't normally see in EDH (with a few exceptions of course).
Current decklist:
1 Gerrard Capashen
Creatures (23):
1 Student of warfare
1 Samurai of the Pale Curtain
1 Serra Avenger
1 Jothun Grunt
1 Devout Lightcaster
1 Knight of Dawn
1 Haazda Shield mate
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
1 Masako the Humorless
1 Zealous Inquisitor
1 Intrepid Hero
1 Transcendant master
1 Zhalfirin Crusader
1 Angry Mob
1 Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
1 Dawn Elemental
1 Witch Hunter
1 Pentarch paladin
1 Kiyomaro, First to Stand
1 World Queller
1 Myojin of Cleansing Fire
Pump (7)
1 Light from Within
1 Charge Across the Araba
1 Cradle of Vitality
1 Empyrial Plate
1 Armored Ascension
1 Helm of Chatzuk
1 Quietus Spike
Prevention (8)
1 Temper
1 Scars of the Veteran
1 Shining Shoal
1 Blood of the martyr
1 Dawn Charm
1 Invulnerability
1 Righteous Aura
1 Jade monolith
Removal (13)
1 Saltblast
1 Planar Cleansing
1 Mass Calcify
1 Retribution of the Meek
1 Gideon Jura
1 Radiant's Judgment
1 Afterlife
1 Cage of Hands
1 Aurification
1 Gossamer Chains
1 karmic justice
1 Patricia's Scorn
1 Ray of distortion
1 well of lost dreams
1 reconnaissance
1 Debt of Loyalty
1 Phyrexian processor
Mana (5)
1 Thunder Totem
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Extraplanar lens
1 Gift of Estates
1 Gauntlet of Power
Land (39)
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Urza's Factory
37 Plains
Truce isn't really all that stunning as they can choose to gain the life which you then deduct when you attack.
Two big Gerrard Capashen cards would be Cradle of Vitality and Well of Lost Dreams. You can't really call them overplayed.
Commander BLOG: The Crazy 99
Gonti ; Sissay
As for Truce, I don't know too many players who would rather have 4 life than 2 cards, especially not when the "dramatic consequence" of drawing those cards is that I might gain 2 more life during my upkeep
I'm definitely going to run charge across the araba and temper too.
What I will need more of are decent/interesting white creatures that walk the line between decency and being unpopular. i.e. dawn elemental
I don't have too much to add to this deck, but I can share an interesting Gerrard lifegain deck that someone posted at The Source. Apparently it's actually a really good deck in multiplayer...I've been meaning to mess around with it, but haven't yet had the chance. It's not all "creative" cards, but it definitely has a ton of them... It ought to give you a lot of ideas.
1 Gerrard Capashen
Lands:
21 Plains
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Kor Haven
1 Forbidding Watchtower
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 New Benalia
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Drifting Meadow
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
1 Springjack Pasture
Creatures:
1 Soul Warden
1 Martyr of Sands
1 Children of Korlis
1 Revered Unicorn
1 Monk Realist
1 Preacher
1 Devout Witness
1 Jasmine Seer
1 Wishmonger
1 Wall of Reverence
1 Academy Rector
1 Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Windborn Muse
1 False Prophet
1 Atalya, Samite Master
1 Pentarch Paladin
1 Felidar Sovereign
1 Darien, King of Kjeldor
1 Eternal Dragon
1 Sol Ring
1 Ivory Tower
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Sun Droplet
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Coalition Relic
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Marble Chalice
1 Jinxed Choker
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Well of Lost Dreams
1 Illuminated Folio
1 Lifeline
1 Citanul Flute
1 Book of Rass
1 Planar Portal
Enchantments:
1 Inheritance
1 Genju of the Fields
1 Oath of Lieges
1 Righteous Aura
1 Planar Collapse
1 Words of Worship
1 Planeswalker's Mirth
1 Recumbent Bliss
1 Cessation
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Cradle of Vitality
1 Celestial Convergence
1 Aurification
1 Enduring Renewal
1 Boon Reflection
1 Angelic Chorus
1 Gift of Estates
1 Dust to Dust
1 Congregate
1 Gerrard's Wisdom
1 Replenish
1 Landbind Ritual
1 Rout
1 Proclamation of Rebirth
1 Ancestral Tribute
1 Invincible Hymn
1 Storm Herd
Instants:
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Scent of Jasmine
There are tons of cards in this deck I didn't know without looking them up, and several of the ones I did know I've never seen played in EDH before. Seems like it ought to be helpful.
Other cards you might want to consider include Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant, Beacon of Immortality, Patron of the Kitsune, Righteous Cause, Feudkiller's Verdict, Invulnerability, Terashi's Grasp, Skull of Orm, and Nova Pentacle.
I started an evolving decklist to keep track of the cards people have recommended that I'd like to put in and any new ones I think up. It should be easier once I go through my commons and my jankrare binder
Sword of Kaldra, Shield of Kaldra, Helm of Kaldra, i don't think you could call them staples but i have seen them in a few decks.
Stonehewer Giant and Stoneforge Mystic if you want more equipment. Again i don't think you call them staples but i have seen them in a few decks.
UB Grimgrin, Corpse-BornUB
WRG Marath, Will of the Wild GRW
RGOmnath, Locus of RageGR
WBTeysa, Orzhov ScionBW
URThe Locust GodRU
W(W/R)RAkiri, Line-SlingerW(W/R)R
I loaded in lots of effects that make it pointless to attack me - those white prevent/redirect spells. I'm trying to limit the mana needed to do things since I will probably want to be tapping my mana for gerrard's ability when he swings fairly often.
I probably need to build a decent suite of equipment/enchants to buff him more since a 3/4 is not exactly going to have anyone quaking in their boots. I would probably avoid stonehewer giant and kaldratron, but maybe add some tatsumatsa, o'naginata, quest for the holy relic, etc
If you are gonna play this, run Urborg, Tomb of Yagwmoth (you totally can, because technically it doesn't produce mana). Play Expedition Map to tutor it up. Then run Karma
Terra Eternal to protect Urborg
Silly dumb cards
For mana acceleration, you all know people love using Sol Ring, Coalition Relic, Thran Dynamo, Gilded Lotus, etc. How about the less used Sisay's Ring, Ur-Golem's Eye, Armillary Sphere, Journeyer's Kite (used a little bit, but still budget), Gift of Estates/Tithe (you know there will be a green mage with Exploration or other mana ramping cards!).
One card I always try to put in, but always end up cutting is Icy Manipulator.
*Mayreturn*
I have some EDH cards and rare Magic basic lands (APAC, EURO, ARENA, etc) so message me if you're looking.
Number of members banned after I posted a BTR: 7
Looking for honest buyers, sellers, and traders.
Crusading Knight is good for this too.
Some other goofy cards that I don't see played much:
Veteran Bodyguard
Masako the Humorless
Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
Purity
Rashida Scalebane
Silver Seraph
Gustcloak Savior
Hunted Lammasu
Most recently looking at Morinfen!
I threw in worn powerstone as one artifact source, and thunder totem
I do run michiko atm, and I think I would run rashida if I had her. I don't have a veteran bodyguard but i have the newer morphing bodyguard I think - I was going to try and run that and other similar stuff with pariah's shield but the shield is too expensive to play and equip, and just straight up bad most of the time ><
I also picked up a knight of dawn which is neat
I think you mean Weathered Bodyguards. Kjeldoran Royal Guard does something similar as well.
I like the idea of using basing a deck around non-standard cards. I may try and do something like this as well.
Most recently looking at Morinfen!
Offhand though I think it will need to have mana sources pumped up and the # of dudes requiring mana (i.e. witch hunter, zealous inquisitor..) reduced. I'll also probably want to find a decent suite of equipment to make gerrard more threatening. I've got a few enchants that do it but those are obviously more vulnerable.
But yeah as I set it out the challenge is making a functional deck without using the easy/obvious cards so it'll take some work to pare it down.
One thing I want to do is find a way to abuse banding a little bit. So far me elite banding combo was putting abu jafar into a band... now I did it with a benalish, but if I had helm out and could band him with gerrard we'd be in business!
edit: Cooperation, Formation - for giggles. Well, actually Cathedral of Serra is for giggles.
Trade/Sell me your Demonic Attorney!
I do have cooperation tho, but enchant creature's are just so fragile that I dont want to overdo it, and currently I'm running a couple as gerrard-pump. Coop could replace benalish hero maybe, but hero is just such a classic.
I couldn't believe that helm of chatzuk is rare!
From the few games I've gotten in with Gerrard I can say that he is usually played for the life gain ability. His tapping ability has not been worth the mana sink yet.
The deck is starting to coalesce a bit but I'm not sure if I want to focus it more or keep it kind of random. There's some tension between mana hungry cards like zhalfirin crusader and gerrard's tap ability - and with those the lack of mana accel/fetch in the deck. I could run the full suite of available artifact/white mana fetchers to improve my mana quality and focus more on it being a "big mana" white deck (which supports gerrard for sure).
But there's a charm to cards like serra avenger.
I had to drop icatian moneychanger and benalish hero because they were never, ever, ever relevant. I like playing junk, but I need to have a way to make it matter ><
Deck still very much a work in progress!