I posted this on mtgcommander.net, but I thought it might be a good idea to post this thread here as well. After the first spoilers from Gatecrash, I knew that I wanted to make an Aurelia deck. I used to pilot a Brion Stoutarm deck that was a lot of fun, and I have been getting feeling the need to make another W/R deck so Aurelia seemed like just the general. I've been thinking of deck ideas for a while and at first I was thinking of making it with as many multiple attack cards as I could. I eventually decided that Aurelia's extra attack was really all I needed, so I took out most of those. My final decision was to take it in the direction of making tokens and buffing them for extra value with Aurelia. I just traded a friend for an Aurelia, so here's my list.
I've had this deck ever since Gatecrash came out, and it's evolved a lot over time, so I figured it was about time to update the description of the deck. I have three favorite decks which I doubt will ever be torn apart, and this is one of them.
I dislike Kiki-Jiki instant win combos, so I purposely avoided putting them into the deck even though this color combination has quite a few of them. The deck used to have some Ashnod's Altar combos, but I've since taken them out as well.
This deck has been pretty successful for me thus far. The synopsis version of how this deck usually plays out is to play some ramp and a couple threats in the early game, hopefully get some tokens of some sort out, then have Aurelia beat some face. It can dish out some heavy damage quickly, but it also has the ability to stay relevant in the long game. I'll usually kill one or two players with commander damage, while dropping the other players to zero with normal damage. The deck can go Voltron in a pinch if needed, though that's really not the focal point of the deck. It's got plenty of threats, and still has the ability to deal with other threats on the board. I've included multiple tap effects to abuse with Aurelia's untap ability, as well as things that benefit from multiple attacks. It's got a tight Sunforger package, although I've had to cut some of my old favorite targets for it. It also has a Ranger of Eos package which I've recently included, and so far have been happy with.
There are a few cards that I'm still thinking about trying out, and any suggestions on the deck are welcome and appreciated! Do you have your own Aurelia deck? I'd love to compare strategies!
The next game with the same players involved a ton of wraths whenever anyone would accumulate a board position. I stayed in with a few triggers from Land Tax and kept my board position with a Nim Deathmantle" target="blank">Nim Deathmantle and Siege-Gang Commander" target="blank">Siege-Gang Commander. I eventually took out Karador, then Grimgrin cast an Army of the Damned then flashed it back. He took out Merike then was banking on Spell Crumpleing Aurelia. I dropped a Cavern of Souls then Aurelia and took him down with her, Firemane Avenger and a few Soldier tokens. Fun times all around.
The deck was a blast to play. I've found that people don't like getting hit with Aurelia very much and do whatever they can to get rid of her as soon as possible. I always feel bad about focusing on one person, but it seems like that's what this deck wants to do, otherwise if you "spread the love" it just pisses everyone off. The deck can still perform well without Aurelia, which is nice, but it really sucks to get her tucked. Is there anything in red/white that can pull her back out of my deck? The only thing I can think of is Gamble, Jester's Cap" target="blank">Jester's Cap, and Planar Portal" target="blank">Planar Portal. I kind of want to put a Sunblast Angel" target="blank">Sunblast Angel into the deck, but that might just be a kneejerk reaction to Grimgrin's deck. I traded for a Hellrider which I decided to put in. I'm also going to trade with a guy next Monday for a Silverblade Paladin which I thought would be good since doublestrike is just nuts in this. That'll give me a week to figure out what to take out for it. The list is getting pretty tight.
The things I did decide to switch -
-Fork
-Reverberate - These were never really doing a whole lot in my games. I still think they might be useful in some situations, but I took these two out and put a Reverberate in instead.
-Moonveil Dragon - This would unfortunately sit in my hand most of the time while I had better things to do. I also always hated to see it in my opening hand and would always Paris it away. I feel like Mirror Entity" target="blank">Mirror Entity does what I wanted this to do, only better.
-Elspeth Tirel" target="blank">Elspeth Tirel - It pains me to take Elspeth out, and maybe I'll put her back in later. It just seems like I always use her to make tokens then the rest of the table makes it a priority to kill her. So it feels like I'm paying five mana to make three 1/1s and directing everyone's attacks at me. I think in the long run I'll get more value out of Assemble the Legion" target="blank">Assemble the Legion
+Assemble the Legion" target="blank">Assemble the Legion - This replaced Elspeth for the reasons above. Hopefully it'll be more resilient and I like how it doesn't really care about wraths unlike the Increasing Devotion that I was also considering.
+Reiterate" target="blank">Reiterate - I still wanted to try out a copy card, but didn't want to take up two slots for fork and reverberate. This is still Sunforger" target="blank">Sunforgerable and has the option of buyback.
+Hellrider" target="blank">Hellrider - I traded for a Hellrider last night. It fits the curve nicely and seems like it would be nuts with Aurelia.
+Foundry Champion - I wanted another form of spot removal, and he seemed to fit what I needed very nicely. We'll see how well he works in practice.
I have a Wasteland that was sitting in in another deck that I wasn't currently using, so I figured why the hell not.
I'm also thinking about Five-alarm Fire now as well. It seems like it would be nice spot removal if nothing else. Has anyone else used this card to any positive effect?
I'm also questioning Crescendo of War. I haven't been able to test it, but the only time I had a chance to cast this, my opponent had more creatures than me thanks to a Grave Titan, so I didn't really find it wise to cast at that time. How do other people feel about Crescendo of War?
-1 Crucible of Worlds - I mostly have this in here to gain value from my fetch lands, which it does quite nicely when I actually do have a fetch land in my graveyard. Otherwise it's been just a dead draw or taking up space in my hand. It works well with some of my other lands, but Sun Titan does that as well (hopefully twice with Aurelia).
-1 Terramorphic Expanse - This isn't as good without the crucible. I'm straight up replacing it with a Thawing Glaciers that I just got.
-1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin - I've only had Emeria go of once in any of my games, making it a CIPT plains most of the time. If I ever add something like Tithe or more plains, I'll put it back in. I'll also keep an eye out to see how many times it would have activated in my future games.
-1 Crescendo of War - I've been on the edge about this card. It seems like it could grab some quick wins, but the times when I've been able to cast it, my opponents had better stuff on the board, making it a dead card in my hand. I've also never wanted to go grab it anytime I cast Enlightened Tutor or never sat there hoping I'd top deck it, so out it goes.
-1 Reiterate - I had a lot of copy cards in my Brion Stoutarm deck with sunforger, and they were a ton of fun. This deck doesn't seem to want them so much. Still a fun card, but I never seem to want to keep the mana open to buy it back. So out for the moment.
+1 Thawing Glaciers - I recently got a judge foil of this, so I'm swapping it out with Terramorphic Expanse.
+1 Command Tower - This should be in pretty much every EDH deck that has more than one color. All my copies were in my other EDH decks, so I completely forgot to put it in here for some reason.
+1 Silverblade Paladin - Double strike with Aurelia out is just straight up awesome. This guy is also Reveillarkable and Sun Titanable. Seems perfect for the deck.
+1 Aura of Silence - I felt like I needed at least one more artifact/enchantment killer. I like that I can search for this with Enlightened Tutor and recur it with Sun Titan.
+1 Boros Charm - This seems like an awesome Sunforger choice and wrath protection.
I haven't had a chance to play with these changes much yet, so let me know if you think any of my cuts/adds/current cards are ridiculous or awesome. I also updated my first post.
What do people think about Viashino Heretic in here versus Hoard-Smelter Dragon? He costs less, can be activated twice a rotation with Aurelia out, and can be brought back with both Sun Titan and Reveillark. After typing all that out, it seems like a clear switch. I'm also thinking of putting in Intrepid Hero for removal. Possibly replacing Foundry Champion.
I'm also going to be getting a Gamble and Charmbreaker Devils soon. I'll have to think more on what to take out for them; I haven't figured that out yet.
-1 Hoard-Smelter Dragon - I straight up replaced this with Viashino Heretic. The heretic comes out faster, costs less to activate, and deals direct damage when blowing something up. Also untaps with Aurelia out.
-1 Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran - Kos was a really decent card. There were a couple games where I got him out, then Aurelia next turn and just absolutely wrecked face. The problem I've been finding with him is a lot of times late game, I wouldn't want to attack with him into somebody's titan. He's also less crazy good when Aurelia isn't out there. I don't know, I was really torn on taking him out and may end up with him back in. What do you guys think?
-1 Hellrider - Hellrider is obviously a good card, but it seemed like whenever I would get him out, he would ping off a couple life, then get outclassed by other things on the board that I didn't want to attack into with him. I replaced him with Sublime Archangel.
-1 Captain of the Watch - An awesome token maker, I took her out because I want my token makers to come out on at least turn 5 right before Aurelia. She would sit in my hand too often when I had a 5 cost token maker, then Aurelia the turn after.
-1 Foundry Champion - Too often I had this guy in my hand with only a couple creatures on the board. I think there is cheaper removal.
-1 Into the Core - This was in the deck as another way to deal with Darksteel Forge or Blightsteel Colosus. I haven't seen those cards in my meta as much anymore. If they start turning up again, this will go back in, but in the meantime, Return to Dust does just as well.
-1 Mentor of the Meek - This guy hasn't done as well as I had hoped he would. There are plenty of creatures plus tokens that make him trigger, but I either never had the mana to activate, or always had other plans for the mana. I replaced him with Wheel of Fortune.
-1 In the Web of War - I've noticed that I never really want to drop In the Web of War turn 5 then Aurelia turn six because it always feels like a wasted turn 5 play. There is almost always a turn 5 token maker or something that I want to play instead. So I never end up playing it until turn 7 anyway, and in that case, why not just play Akroma's Memorial. That was my thinking anyway.
+1 Gamble - This card has been awesome so far. Picks out just the card I need, or fetches a tucked Aurelia. I have yet to throw away the card I've searched for, but I'm sure it's coming and I'm sure I'll be cussing.
+1 Charmbreaker Devils - Haven't actually used him yet, but I thought he would be good with the inclusion of Gamble and as a way to recur cards that I pitch with Sunforger.
+1 Intrepid Hero - I wanted another piece of removal to replace Foundry Champion and in the two games I've used him in so far, he's been a superstar. Can be brought back with Reveillark and Sun Titan, untaps with Aurelia, and in a format full of fatties, he's amazing.
+1 Viashino Heretic - Replaced Hoard-Smelter Dragon. So far I'm pleased with the switch.
+1 Sublime Archangel - She replaced Hellrider and so far has made a good show. She's been the game winner with Aurelia out, and is still amazing without Aurelia on the board.
+1 Sword of Feast and Famine - When I was first putting this deck together, I had loaded it with a bunch of extra turn cards and included this for the infinite attacks. In the end I figured Aurelia's extra attack was really all I needed, so I ended up cutting them and this card with them. I've since realized it was a mistake to cut this awesome sword, so I've brought it back in.
+1 Wheel of Fortune - Amazing card draw, straight up. I feel silly not having this in the original draft of the deck.
+1 Akroma's Memorial - Replaced In the Web of War.
I also got my hands on a Gisela, but I'm still debating on what to replace for her.
I prefer to have a token producer out no later than turn 5 so that I can curve into Aurelia and beat with said tokens. Also preferable if they have a way to not suck later game in case I don't draw one right away. That being said, are there some better token cards that I should consider?
Some that I've been thinking of are - White Sun's Zenith - On turn 5 it would give me 2 2/2s which isn't that great, but not completely horrible either. Plus it will shuffle back in to be used later for an even bigger amount. I was hoping there would be a way to abuse this with Sunforger, but I can't think of any since X would be 0. Entreat the Angels - On turn 5 this will give me 1 4/4 flyer (unless I draw it that turn). Again not terrible with the chance of being completely amazing. Later game it gets even better. I don't have a whole lot to abuse the miracle effect (just the divining top that I can think of...), but still seems like it would be good. Increasing Devotion - Turn 5 would give me 5 1/1s with 10 1/1s coming out later. Seems pretty good.
Would any of these be a better choice than the token producers I've got now? Are there any more that I'm not thinking of?
Thanks for checking out the deck! Waves of Aggression was in the original draft of the deck along with several other extra combat phase cards. Ultimately I took them all out deciding that Aurelia's extra attack was really all I needed. A Ranger package could be decent, I've been trying to fit in a Dragonmaster Outcast. Deckspace is pretty tight, though. Is there anything you would suggest cutting for it?
It's been a while since I've updated my list. I have some time right now, so I figured I'd post again.
-1 Argentum Armor - This basically just cost too much to equip. When it actually got out and was equipped, it was obviously amazing, but I felt like I was tutoring for swords more than this, and it sat in my hand a lot because I didn't want to waste the mana to cast/equip it a lot of the time.
-1 Krenko, Mob Boss - Artos made a good argument and convinced me to switch out Krenko for Increasing Devotion.
-1 Miren, the Moaning Well - I replaced this with a High Market.
-1 Wild Ricochet - I love this card, I really do, but the entire time I've been playing this deck, I've cast it only once and it got countered.
+1 High Market - Replaced Miren, the Moaning Well.
+1 Increasing Devotion - Replaced Krenko.
+1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight - Holy crap, this card. Why did I not have this in earlier? Every time she has successfully been cast, she has pretty much won the game for me. Good without Aurelia, amazing with her, this card is just phenomenal.
+1 Wear // Tear - A very nice removal card. I only wish I could use the Fuse mechanic when I use Sunforger for it.
I think I will be putting in Decree of Justice when I get my hands on one. I haven't had a chance to play much of Theros yet. Are there any cards in that set that would work well with what I have going so far? I'm thinking of finding room for Heliod, God of the Sun and Purphoros, God of the Forge. They both seem like they'd be a good fit.
This deck has still been my go to deck lately. So I figured I should update it on here.
-1 Ashnod's Altar - This card can combo out with a few things in my deck, but I really don't tutor for the combo ever. I believe I've only had all the pieces for a combo with it fall together once, but then it just got interrupted. It does provide some nice mana and it is a nice sacrifice outlet, but I've had quite a few games where I just didn't have any sort of use for it. I don't know, I'm on the fence with this cut, tell me if I'm crazy.
-1 Akroma's Memorial - Never did anything for me.
-1 Rise of the Hobgoblins - I always thought this was a cool card. I also had grand schemes of this being in my graveyard and me bringing it back with Sun Titan but that never happened. It's first strike ability rarely ever came into effect either. I switched this out with Decree of Justice.
-1 Urabrask the Hidden - Urabrask is good, but like other haste enablers, he always felt like a wasted turn five play when Aurelia already comes out with haste. Other people's stuff coming in tapped was good too, but he's just felt way too meh when I've used him.
-1 Ancient Amphitheater - There are a few giants in my deck, but it seems like this comes into play tapped too often.
+1 Godsend - Seems like some nice removal and a nice buff for Aurelia.
+1 Iroas, God of Victory - This deck does a lot of attacking. This card protects those attackers very well. Seems like a good combination.
+1 Kjeldoran Outpost - I'm trying this out. More soldiers never hurt anyone.
+1 Decree of Justice - Replacing Rise of the Hobgoblins. I like the versatility and the cantrip.
+1 Martial Coup - I felt that I needed another mass removal spell. This kills things and makes tokens, seemed like a nice fit.
As always feedback is appreciated. If you think I made a stupid cut or left something amazing out, just let me know. I'll update my original post when i get a chance.
I had some time, so I thought I'd update my Aurelia list on here. The first post is updated with the most current version of the deck.
There have been a decent amount of changes since I last posted any change lists, and if I think about them real hard, I can probably remember what I cut and added in its place, but I'll just post some of the inclusions and reasoning for adding them.
Ranger of Eos - I added a Ranger of Eos package to the deck, and so far I have been pretty happy with it. I've got 5 cards he can tutor up (Mother of Runes, Dragonmaster Outcast, Goblin Welder, Kytheon, and Mikaeus), all of which seemed relevant at different points of the game. They are all Sun Titan and Reveillarkable, and most of them have tap abilities that are abusable with Aurelia's untap.
Mother of Runes - This card is a great grab with Ranger of Eos. She can save so many things, make Aurelia unblockable, and get utapped by Aurelia to be used again. Awesome card.
Dragonmaster Outcast - Makes big flying beaters every turn for most of the game? I'm in.
Goblin Welder - My swords go to the bin quite often. This gets them as well as many other things back while also being able to wreck other people's artifacts. Awesome.
Ancient Den/Great Furnace - Added some artifact lands to the deck to make it easier for Goblin Welder to do his thing.
Mishra's Factory - Easy to make dude, helps Goblin Welder, and helps Kytheon.
Mikaeus, the Lunarch - Mikaeus seemed like a great Ranger target. He's huge lategame, buffs the rest of my team, and can tap more than once with Aurelia.
Kytheon, Hero of Akros/Gideon, Battle-Forged - I'm very happy with Kytheon so far. I've never been upset to see him or grab him with Ranger. He's great turn one, and he's relevant mid-late game as an indestructible dude who is pretty easy to flip in this deck. I've loved his flipped side so far as well. He protects himself by giving me an indestructible blocker, or he can swing in with the rest of the team. Very happy with this card.
Urabrask the Hidden - If you look back in the thread a bit, you'll see that I had formally cut Urabrask for the reason that he seemed like a wasted turn 5 play when Aurelia comes out on turn 6 and already has haste. I think with so many one drops with tap abilities, the haste is a lot more important for other things. Making other people's stuff come in tapped is also super relevant, so Urabrask re earned his place back in the deck.
Council's Judgment - This seemed like a good source of removal. Non targeting exile. At best it can get rid of 4 permanents that aren't mine. When the game gets down to 1 on 1, I always win the vote. I just wish it was an instant that I could Sunforger for.
Outpost Siege - I'm loving the pseudo card draw that red has been getting. This is like a red Phyrexian Arena with the option of burning people tacked on.
Chandra, Pyromaster - More pseudo card draw. Her plus one is also very relevant. Her ult doesn't excite me too much, but it could still come in handy.
Hallowed Burial - I know that tuck isn't a thing for commanders anymore, but I feel like this takes care of so many more problems than just a wrath.
Archangel of Thune - She pumps my team and gains life. Twice with Aurelia. What's not to love? One game I kept untapping her with Gideon and making her indestructable. It was delicious.
Wurmcoil Engine - A great creature in general, even better with Aurelia and/or Archangel of Thune. Also nuts with Goblin Welder.
These are most of the big changes that I remember. I had to cut some cards I love to make room, but I like this version of the deck. Let me know what you think!
*You also may notice that Sensei's Divining Top isn't currently in the list. The reason for this is because I've been playing a lot of games on MTGO lately, and the top just takes up a lot of time due to not being able to just do it while other people are taking their turns. I needed a cut, so while I was playing online, it got chopped. When I start getting together with my offline group again, I'll probably sleeve it back up, but I'm not quite sure what I'll cut for it.
I've been thinking about including Myr Battlesphere in the deck. Does anyone have an opinion on that card in this list?
I know it breaks my rule of tokens coming out before turn six, but I feel like he has a lot of benefits to him that are hard to ignore. He's great on his own, but gets even better with Aurelia's untap and attacking again since he'll keep the +X/+0 that he got on the first attack and be able to tap the myr again on his second attack (assuming I stack the triggers correctly). He's a great army in a can, he wrecks planeswalkers, and can be abused with Goblin Welder. Not sure what I would take out to make room for him though.
I posted this on mtgcommander.net, but I thought it might be a good idea to post this thread here as well. After the first spoilers from Gatecrash, I knew that I wanted to make an Aurelia deck. I used to pilot a Brion Stoutarm deck that was a lot of fun, and I have been getting feeling the need to make another W/R deck so Aurelia seemed like just the general. I've been thinking of deck ideas for a while and at first I was thinking of making it with as many multiple attack cards as I could. I eventually decided that Aurelia's extra attack was really all I needed, so I took out most of those. My final decision was to take it in the direction of making tokens and buffing them for extra value with Aurelia. I just traded a friend for an Aurelia, so here's my list.
1 Aurelia, the Warleader
RAMP
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Coalition Relic
1 Sol Ring
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
REMOVAL
1 Return to Dust
1 Duergar Hedge-Mage
1 Austere Command
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Chaos Warp
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Aura of Silence
1 Viashino Heretic
1 Intrepid Hero
1 Wear // Tear
1 Martial Coup
1 Council's Judgment
1 Hallowed Burial
BUFFS
1 Cathars' Crusade
1 Mirror Entity
1 Sublime Archangel
1 Archangel of Thune
CARD ADVANTAGE/DRAW
1 Land Tax
1 Skullclamp
1 Mind's Eye
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Prophetic Flamespeaker
1 Outpost Siege
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Hero of Bladehold
1 Increasing Devotion
1 Geist-Honored Monk
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Assemble the Legion
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Decree of Justice
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Wurmcoil Engine
TUTORS
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Sunforger
1 Godo, Bandit Warlord
1 Gamble
1 Ranger of Eos
RECURSION
1 Reveillark
1 Karmic Guide
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sun Titan
1 Goblin Welder
GRAVEYARD HATE
1 Stonecloaker
1 Relic of Progenitus
LEADIN' THE WAR
1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1 Inferno Titan
1 Lightning Greaves
1 True Conviction
1 Boros Charm
1 Iroas, God of Victory
1 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
1 Mother of Runes
1 Urabrask the Hidden
1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch
1 Ancient Den
1 Arid Mesa
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Command Tower
1 Great Furnace
1 High Market
1 Homeward Path
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
1 Kher Keep
1 Marsh Flats
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Mistveil Plains
6 Mountain
6 Plains
1 Plateau
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Slayers' Stronghold
1 Spinerock Knoll
1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple of the False God
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Wasteland
1 Windbrisk Heights
I've had this deck ever since Gatecrash came out, and it's evolved a lot over time, so I figured it was about time to update the description of the deck. I have three favorite decks which I doubt will ever be torn apart, and this is one of them.
I dislike Kiki-Jiki instant win combos, so I purposely avoided putting them into the deck even though this color combination has quite a few of them. The deck used to have some Ashnod's Altar combos, but I've since taken them out as well.
This deck has been pretty successful for me thus far. The synopsis version of how this deck usually plays out is to play some ramp and a couple threats in the early game, hopefully get some tokens of some sort out, then have Aurelia beat some face. It can dish out some heavy damage quickly, but it also has the ability to stay relevant in the long game. I'll usually kill one or two players with commander damage, while dropping the other players to zero with normal damage. The deck can go Voltron in a pinch if needed, though that's really not the focal point of the deck. It's got plenty of threats, and still has the ability to deal with other threats on the board. I've included multiple tap effects to abuse with Aurelia's untap ability, as well as things that benefit from multiple attacks. It's got a tight Sunforger package, although I've had to cut some of my old favorite targets for it. It also has a Ranger of Eos package which I've recently included, and so far have been happy with.
There are a few cards that I'm still thinking about trying out, and any suggestions on the deck are welcome and appreciated! Do you have your own Aurelia deck? I'd love to compare strategies!
The next game with the same players involved a ton of wraths whenever anyone would accumulate a board position. I stayed in with a few triggers from Land Tax and kept my board position with a Nim Deathmantle" target="blank">Nim Deathmantle and Siege-Gang Commander" target="blank">Siege-Gang Commander. I eventually took out Karador, then Grimgrin cast an Army of the Damned then flashed it back. He took out Merike then was banking on Spell Crumpleing Aurelia. I dropped a Cavern of Souls then Aurelia and took him down with her, Firemane Avenger and a few Soldier tokens. Fun times all around.
The deck was a blast to play. I've found that people don't like getting hit with Aurelia very much and do whatever they can to get rid of her as soon as possible. I always feel bad about focusing on one person, but it seems like that's what this deck wants to do, otherwise if you "spread the love" it just pisses everyone off. The deck can still perform well without Aurelia, which is nice, but it really sucks to get her tucked. Is there anything in red/white that can pull her back out of my deck? The only thing I can think of is Gamble, Jester's Cap" target="blank">Jester's Cap, and Planar Portal" target="blank">Planar Portal. I kind of want to put a Sunblast Angel" target="blank">Sunblast Angel into the deck, but that might just be a kneejerk reaction to Grimgrin's deck. I traded for a Hellrider which I decided to put in. I'm also going to trade with a guy next Monday for a Silverblade Paladin which I thought would be good since doublestrike is just nuts in this. That'll give me a week to figure out what to take out for it. The list is getting pretty tight.
The things I did decide to switch -
-Fork
-Reverberate - These were never really doing a whole lot in my games. I still think they might be useful in some situations, but I took these two out and put a Reverberate in instead.
-Moonveil Dragon - This would unfortunately sit in my hand most of the time while I had better things to do. I also always hated to see it in my opening hand and would always Paris it away. I feel like Mirror Entity" target="blank">Mirror Entity does what I wanted this to do, only better.
-Elspeth Tirel" target="blank">Elspeth Tirel - It pains me to take Elspeth out, and maybe I'll put her back in later. It just seems like I always use her to make tokens then the rest of the table makes it a priority to kill her. So it feels like I'm paying five mana to make three 1/1s and directing everyone's attacks at me. I think in the long run I'll get more value out of Assemble the Legion" target="blank">Assemble the Legion
+Assemble the Legion" target="blank">Assemble the Legion - This replaced Elspeth for the reasons above. Hopefully it'll be more resilient and I like how it doesn't really care about wraths unlike the Increasing Devotion that I was also considering.
+Reiterate" target="blank">Reiterate - I still wanted to try out a copy card, but didn't want to take up two slots for fork and reverberate. This is still Sunforger" target="blank">Sunforgerable and has the option of buyback.
+Hellrider" target="blank">Hellrider - I traded for a Hellrider last night. It fits the curve nicely and seems like it would be nuts with Aurelia.
+Foundry Champion - I wanted another form of spot removal, and he seemed to fit what I needed very nicely. We'll see how well he works in practice.
Cards I'm thinking about now are the Silverblade Paladin" target="blank">Silverblade Paladin that I'll be getting next week, Sunblast Angel, Gamble" target="blank">Gamble, and Boros Charm" target="blank">Boros Charm.
Comments and suggestions are still welcome!
-Ghost Quarter
+Wasteland
I have a Wasteland that was sitting in in another deck that I wasn't currently using, so I figured why the hell not.
I'm also thinking about Five-alarm Fire now as well. It seems like it would be nice spot removal if nothing else. Has anyone else used this card to any positive effect?
I'm also questioning Crescendo of War. I haven't been able to test it, but the only time I had a chance to cast this, my opponent had more creatures than me thanks to a Grave Titan, so I didn't really find it wise to cast at that time. How do other people feel about Crescendo of War?
-1 Crucible of Worlds - I mostly have this in here to gain value from my fetch lands, which it does quite nicely when I actually do have a fetch land in my graveyard. Otherwise it's been just a dead draw or taking up space in my hand. It works well with some of my other lands, but Sun Titan does that as well (hopefully twice with Aurelia).
-1 Terramorphic Expanse - This isn't as good without the crucible. I'm straight up replacing it with a Thawing Glaciers that I just got.
-1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin - I've only had Emeria go of once in any of my games, making it a CIPT plains most of the time. If I ever add something like Tithe or more plains, I'll put it back in. I'll also keep an eye out to see how many times it would have activated in my future games.
-1 Crescendo of War - I've been on the edge about this card. It seems like it could grab some quick wins, but the times when I've been able to cast it, my opponents had better stuff on the board, making it a dead card in my hand. I've also never wanted to go grab it anytime I cast Enlightened Tutor or never sat there hoping I'd top deck it, so out it goes.
-1 Reiterate - I had a lot of copy cards in my Brion Stoutarm deck with sunforger, and they were a ton of fun. This deck doesn't seem to want them so much. Still a fun card, but I never seem to want to keep the mana open to buy it back. So out for the moment.
+1 Thawing Glaciers - I recently got a judge foil of this, so I'm swapping it out with Terramorphic Expanse.
+1 Command Tower - This should be in pretty much every EDH deck that has more than one color. All my copies were in my other EDH decks, so I completely forgot to put it in here for some reason.
+1 Silverblade Paladin - Double strike with Aurelia out is just straight up awesome. This guy is also Reveillarkable and Sun Titanable. Seems perfect for the deck.
+1 Aura of Silence - I felt like I needed at least one more artifact/enchantment killer. I like that I can search for this with Enlightened Tutor and recur it with Sun Titan.
+1 Boros Charm - This seems like an awesome Sunforger choice and wrath protection.
I'm still looking to add Gamble to the deck once I can find one. A general tutor and way to pull a tucked Aurelia seems good. Also still thinking about Five-alarm Fire. I'm also wondering if Charmbreaker Devils and/or Rakka Mar would fit well in the deck or not. I'm also trying to decide if Sword of Feast and Famine is good enough in here without stuff like Hellkite Charger and Aggravated Assault.
I haven't had a chance to play with these changes much yet, so let me know if you think any of my cuts/adds/current cards are ridiculous or awesome. I also updated my first post.
I'm also going to be getting a Gamble and Charmbreaker Devils soon. I'll have to think more on what to take out for them; I haven't figured that out yet.
-1 Hoard-Smelter Dragon - I straight up replaced this with Viashino Heretic. The heretic comes out faster, costs less to activate, and deals direct damage when blowing something up. Also untaps with Aurelia out.
-1 Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran - Kos was a really decent card. There were a couple games where I got him out, then Aurelia next turn and just absolutely wrecked face. The problem I've been finding with him is a lot of times late game, I wouldn't want to attack with him into somebody's titan. He's also less crazy good when Aurelia isn't out there. I don't know, I was really torn on taking him out and may end up with him back in. What do you guys think?
-1 Hellrider - Hellrider is obviously a good card, but it seemed like whenever I would get him out, he would ping off a couple life, then get outclassed by other things on the board that I didn't want to attack into with him. I replaced him with Sublime Archangel.
-1 Captain of the Watch - An awesome token maker, I took her out because I want my token makers to come out on at least turn 5 right before Aurelia. She would sit in my hand too often when I had a 5 cost token maker, then Aurelia the turn after.
-1 Foundry Champion - Too often I had this guy in my hand with only a couple creatures on the board. I think there is cheaper removal.
-1 Into the Core - This was in the deck as another way to deal with Darksteel Forge or Blightsteel Colosus. I haven't seen those cards in my meta as much anymore. If they start turning up again, this will go back in, but in the meantime, Return to Dust does just as well.
-1 Mentor of the Meek - This guy hasn't done as well as I had hoped he would. There are plenty of creatures plus tokens that make him trigger, but I either never had the mana to activate, or always had other plans for the mana. I replaced him with Wheel of Fortune.
-1 In the Web of War - I've noticed that I never really want to drop In the Web of War turn 5 then Aurelia turn six because it always feels like a wasted turn 5 play. There is almost always a turn 5 token maker or something that I want to play instead. So I never end up playing it until turn 7 anyway, and in that case, why not just play Akroma's Memorial. That was my thinking anyway.
+1 Gamble - This card has been awesome so far. Picks out just the card I need, or fetches a tucked Aurelia. I have yet to throw away the card I've searched for, but I'm sure it's coming and I'm sure I'll be cussing.
+1 Charmbreaker Devils - Haven't actually used him yet, but I thought he would be good with the inclusion of Gamble and as a way to recur cards that I pitch with Sunforger.
+1 Intrepid Hero - I wanted another piece of removal to replace Foundry Champion and in the two games I've used him in so far, he's been a superstar. Can be brought back with Reveillark and Sun Titan, untaps with Aurelia, and in a format full of fatties, he's amazing.
+1 Viashino Heretic - Replaced Hoard-Smelter Dragon. So far I'm pleased with the switch.
+1 Sublime Archangel - She replaced Hellrider and so far has made a good show. She's been the game winner with Aurelia out, and is still amazing without Aurelia on the board.
+1 Sword of Feast and Famine - When I was first putting this deck together, I had loaded it with a bunch of extra turn cards and included this for the infinite attacks. In the end I figured Aurelia's extra attack was really all I needed, so I ended up cutting them and this card with them. I've since realized it was a mistake to cut this awesome sword, so I've brought it back in.
+1 Wheel of Fortune - Amazing card draw, straight up. I feel silly not having this in the original draft of the deck.
+1 Akroma's Memorial - Replaced In the Web of War.
I also got my hands on a Gisela, but I'm still debating on what to replace for her.
I was also hoping for people's opinions on my token producers. Right now I have Hero of Bladehold, Rise of the Hobgoblins, Krenko, Mob Boss, Geist-Honored Monk, Siege-Gang Commander, Knight-Captain of Eos, and Assemble the Legion.
I prefer to have a token producer out no later than turn 5 so that I can curve into Aurelia and beat with said tokens. Also preferable if they have a way to not suck later game in case I don't draw one right away. That being said, are there some better token cards that I should consider?
Some that I've been thinking of are -
White Sun's Zenith - On turn 5 it would give me 2 2/2s which isn't that great, but not completely horrible either. Plus it will shuffle back in to be used later for an even bigger amount. I was hoping there would be a way to abuse this with Sunforger, but I can't think of any since X would be 0.
Entreat the Angels - On turn 5 this will give me 1 4/4 flyer (unless I draw it that turn). Again not terrible with the chance of being completely amazing. Later game it gets even better. I don't have a whole lot to abuse the miracle effect (just the divining top that I can think of...), but still seems like it would be good.
Increasing Devotion - Turn 5 would give me 5 1/1s with 10 1/1s coming out later. Seems pretty good.
Would any of these be a better choice than the token producers I've got now? Are there any more that I'm not thinking of?
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
Thanks for checking out the deck! Waves of Aggression was in the original draft of the deck along with several other extra combat phase cards. Ultimately I took them all out deciding that Aurelia's extra attack was really all I needed. A Ranger package could be decent, I've been trying to fit in a Dragonmaster Outcast. Deckspace is pretty tight, though. Is there anything you would suggest cutting for it?
-1 Argentum Armor - This basically just cost too much to equip. When it actually got out and was equipped, it was obviously amazing, but I felt like I was tutoring for swords more than this, and it sat in my hand a lot because I didn't want to waste the mana to cast/equip it a lot of the time.
-1 Krenko, Mob Boss - Artos made a good argument and convinced me to switch out Krenko for Increasing Devotion.
-1 Miren, the Moaning Well - I replaced this with a High Market.
-1 Wild Ricochet - I love this card, I really do, but the entire time I've been playing this deck, I've cast it only once and it got countered.
+1 High Market - Replaced Miren, the Moaning Well.
+1 Increasing Devotion - Replaced Krenko.
+1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight - Holy crap, this card. Why did I not have this in earlier? Every time she has successfully been cast, she has pretty much won the game for me. Good without Aurelia, amazing with her, this card is just phenomenal.
+1 Wear // Tear - A very nice removal card. I only wish I could use the Fuse mechanic when I use Sunforger for it.
I think I will be putting in Decree of Justice when I get my hands on one. I haven't had a chance to play much of Theros yet. Are there any cards in that set that would work well with what I have going so far? I'm thinking of finding room for Heliod, God of the Sun and Purphoros, God of the Forge. They both seem like they'd be a good fit.
-1 Ashnod's Altar - This card can combo out with a few things in my deck, but I really don't tutor for the combo ever. I believe I've only had all the pieces for a combo with it fall together once, but then it just got interrupted. It does provide some nice mana and it is a nice sacrifice outlet, but I've had quite a few games where I just didn't have any sort of use for it. I don't know, I'm on the fence with this cut, tell me if I'm crazy.
-1 Akroma's Memorial - Never did anything for me.
-1 Rise of the Hobgoblins - I always thought this was a cool card. I also had grand schemes of this being in my graveyard and me bringing it back with Sun Titan but that never happened. It's first strike ability rarely ever came into effect either. I switched this out with Decree of Justice.
-1 Urabrask the Hidden - Urabrask is good, but like other haste enablers, he always felt like a wasted turn five play when Aurelia already comes out with haste. Other people's stuff coming in tapped was good too, but he's just felt way too meh when I've used him.
-1 Ancient Amphitheater - There are a few giants in my deck, but it seems like this comes into play tapped too often.
+1 Godsend - Seems like some nice removal and a nice buff for Aurelia.
+1 Iroas, God of Victory - This deck does a lot of attacking. This card protects those attackers very well. Seems like a good combination.
+1 Kjeldoran Outpost - I'm trying this out. More soldiers never hurt anyone.
+1 Decree of Justice - Replacing Rise of the Hobgoblins. I like the versatility and the cantrip.
+1 Martial Coup - I felt that I needed another mass removal spell. This kills things and makes tokens, seemed like a nice fit.
As always feedback is appreciated. If you think I made a stupid cut or left something amazing out, just let me know. I'll update my original post when i get a chance.
There have been a decent amount of changes since I last posted any change lists, and if I think about them real hard, I can probably remember what I cut and added in its place, but I'll just post some of the inclusions and reasoning for adding them.
Ranger of Eos - I added a Ranger of Eos package to the deck, and so far I have been pretty happy with it. I've got 5 cards he can tutor up (Mother of Runes, Dragonmaster Outcast, Goblin Welder, Kytheon, and Mikaeus), all of which seemed relevant at different points of the game. They are all Sun Titan and Reveillarkable, and most of them have tap abilities that are abusable with Aurelia's untap.
Mother of Runes - This card is a great grab with Ranger of Eos. She can save so many things, make Aurelia unblockable, and get utapped by Aurelia to be used again. Awesome card.
Dragonmaster Outcast - Makes big flying beaters every turn for most of the game? I'm in.
Goblin Welder - My swords go to the bin quite often. This gets them as well as many other things back while also being able to wreck other people's artifacts. Awesome.
Ancient Den/Great Furnace - Added some artifact lands to the deck to make it easier for Goblin Welder to do his thing.
Mishra's Factory - Easy to make dude, helps Goblin Welder, and helps Kytheon.
Mikaeus, the Lunarch - Mikaeus seemed like a great Ranger target. He's huge lategame, buffs the rest of my team, and can tap more than once with Aurelia.
Kytheon, Hero of Akros/Gideon, Battle-Forged - I'm very happy with Kytheon so far. I've never been upset to see him or grab him with Ranger. He's great turn one, and he's relevant mid-late game as an indestructible dude who is pretty easy to flip in this deck. I've loved his flipped side so far as well. He protects himself by giving me an indestructible blocker, or he can swing in with the rest of the team. Very happy with this card.
Urabrask the Hidden - If you look back in the thread a bit, you'll see that I had formally cut Urabrask for the reason that he seemed like a wasted turn 5 play when Aurelia comes out on turn 6 and already has haste. I think with so many one drops with tap abilities, the haste is a lot more important for other things. Making other people's stuff come in tapped is also super relevant, so Urabrask re earned his place back in the deck.
Council's Judgment - This seemed like a good source of removal. Non targeting exile. At best it can get rid of 4 permanents that aren't mine. When the game gets down to 1 on 1, I always win the vote. I just wish it was an instant that I could Sunforger for.
Outpost Siege - I'm loving the pseudo card draw that red has been getting. This is like a red Phyrexian Arena with the option of burning people tacked on.
Chandra, Pyromaster - More pseudo card draw. Her plus one is also very relevant. Her ult doesn't excite me too much, but it could still come in handy.
Hallowed Burial - I know that tuck isn't a thing for commanders anymore, but I feel like this takes care of so many more problems than just a wrath.
Archangel of Thune - She pumps my team and gains life. Twice with Aurelia. What's not to love? One game I kept untapping her with Gideon and making her indestructable. It was delicious.
Wurmcoil Engine - A great creature in general, even better with Aurelia and/or Archangel of Thune. Also nuts with Goblin Welder.
These are most of the big changes that I remember. I had to cut some cards I love to make room, but I like this version of the deck. Let me know what you think!
*You also may notice that Sensei's Divining Top isn't currently in the list. The reason for this is because I've been playing a lot of games on MTGO lately, and the top just takes up a lot of time due to not being able to just do it while other people are taking their turns. I needed a cut, so while I was playing online, it got chopped. When I start getting together with my offline group again, I'll probably sleeve it back up, but I'm not quite sure what I'll cut for it.
I know it breaks my rule of tokens coming out before turn six, but I feel like he has a lot of benefits to him that are hard to ignore. He's great on his own, but gets even better with Aurelia's untap and attacking again since he'll keep the +X/+0 that he got on the first attack and be able to tap the myr again on his second attack (assuming I stack the triggers correctly). He's a great army in a can, he wrecks planeswalkers, and can be abused with Goblin Welder. Not sure what I would take out to make room for him though.
Thoughts on his inclusion?