MTG Salvation

When I first saw Lavinia, I was extremely underwhelmed. She's great for constructed, sure, but I was hoping for something a bit more "Commander-y". I pondered more today though, and then I realized something: She is the first commander I can think of that I'd enjoy flickering over and over and over again, and she's in the flicker colors. Flickering is one of my favorite strategies in the game, so now I'm pumped to put this girl to good use. Her effect may seem innocuous and even unimpressive in commander, but consider that it completely shuts down mana rocks and most lynch-pins of infinite combos like Ashnod's Altar, Rings of Brighthearth, and Skullclamp, and it completely neutralizes token swarms and aggro rush decks. And that's just a cursory sample of what she does.

Here's the list I'm planning on trying out post-DGM:



I'm currently running every "Lavninia every turn" combo I can possibly think of:

- Obviously Mistmeadow Witch and Nephalia Smuggler can flicker her every turn for the low, low cost of four mana. Conjurer's Closet and Venser, the Sojourner do the game for free.

- She can bond with Deadeye Navigator to flicker out on command for :1mana::symu:.

- If I have Lavinia + either Archaeomancer or Mnemonic Wall on the battlefield and cast either Ghostly Flicker or Ghostway, I can return the instant to my hand when my creatures get back, setting me up to do it all over again the next turn.

- I can "stick" Cloudshift, Momentary Blink, or Otherworldly Journey onto Isochron Scepter and then flicker away (and maybe even pump her up!) for each turn.

- If desperate, I can bounce Lavinia back to my own hand with Crystal Shard.

The deck is loaded down with awesome creatures to flicker, in case Lavinia gets tucked or I get multiple "flicker engines" onto the table at once. The gameplan is really just to grind the game out until you can start swinging with big fliers for the win (note that if the plan is working they can't chump with weenies, they'll need to have serious beef to defend themselves).

I know I'm missing a few big $$$ cards, but I know I don't have and won't be able to obtain Vendillion Clique, Gilded Drake, Tundra. Thoughts so far?

This is all just IMHO, mind you, but Dramatic Rescue, Augur of Bolas, Blade Splicer, Lone Missionary, Lyev Skyknight, Riftwing Cloudskate, and (though it pains me to say it!) Sun Titan are all less than ideal. Not that they're BAD, but you can do some better.

You need more dig deep in your library - because your 'combo' only needs your commander and one other card, you should be able to dig for it fast! Ponder and Preordain should be right alongside brainstorm, as should Telling Time and Merchant Scroll. Impulse and Flash of Insight are also good dig-deep cards for cheap, and Flash can even be flashback'ed! For the less budget-minded, Mystical Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, and Intuition are your friends.

Muddle the Mixture tutors straight for your Isochron, and when was the last time you didn't want to counter a sorcery or instant? It also can go for several of your flicker spells.

Saving Grasp is a possible choice, too. With all your ETB creatures another flashbacking spell that can bounce is not to be sneered at. Certainly better than Dramatic Rescue.

Trinket Mage is a strong contender for 'awesomest blue creature ever', because of all the good 1cc artifacts available. Expedition Map and Wayfarer's Bauble are both tutorable with him (as is Sol Ring!), and some decent equips like Bonesplitter and Skullclamp as well. I've taken to including artifact lands in my decks that use him as well, in case I need to tutor more colored mana directly. With those in the deck Sun Titan makes more sense - he recurs the sacrifice artifacts, which ramps you faster...

Speaking of that, you need ramp. A lot of your general-based strategies are mana-intensive, not to mention Lavinia costing 5, so the moar you ramp the better. Weathered Wayfarer, the aforementioned Trinket Mage fetching artifact lands, Kor Cartographer, and for the non-budget Land Tax are all possible choices.

Just some thoughts. It has good card choices, but there are others that might well be better, and won't break the bank either.

I balked at pulling Sun Titan, but after looking at the list, you don't have a ton of targets. I'd leave Blade Splicer in as you can bounce that to your heart's content and get an army to actually win the game.

Honestly, as good as he is, Serra Ascendant doesn't really fit in a 'don't pay attention to me until I'm doing stuff' deck. When I'm playing my bounce/flicker deck, I try to do uninteresting bounce at the beginning. I've had people leave my Venser alone because I just keep bouncing Wood Elves (in your case Kor Cartographer who really needs to be in here) and there were bigger threats.

Draw and ramp are both good critiques from iamfanboy. Your bounce engines are good, but mana intensive. I know I've been one land drop away from sealing up a Deadeye lock and then gotten blown out.

Venser, Shaper Savant isn't in your list. I know he's $10, but he stops uncounterable spells, stops so much, and then is one of the best bounce targets ever.

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir would be another good choice. Cast your general on someone else's end step so you can cast Deadeye on your turn, and nobody can do anything about it. Seems good.

Sword of Feast and Famine... it's hard not to include swords for me, so I don't want to recommend you take it out, but think about it. I get that it untaps your lands for bouncing shenanigans, and protects you from two of the most powerful colors in the format. Okay, maybe it should stay.

I've been rocking my bant bounce deck for awhile, but this new general is perfect for it. I may have to try my own version at some point.

Quote from iamfanboy

a bunch of great advice

Thanks! How does this sound?

- Dramatic Rescue, Augur of Bolas, Blade Splicer, Lone Missionary, Lyev Skyknight, Riftwing Cloudskate, Kor Skyfisher, Fabricate, Stonehorn Dignitary, Mistmeadow Witch

+ Impulse, Wayfarer's Bauble, Skullclamp, Relic of Progenitus, Trinket Mage, Aven Riftwatcher, Weathered Wayfarer, Soul Warden, Muddle the Mixture, Dispeller's Capsule

Also dropping a plains and an island for Seat of the Synod and Ancient Den, of course. I thought about tossing in Ranger of Eos as well but I'm not sure I am running enough one-drops to justify him.

Ranger of Eos is a bad idea - you simply don't have enough targets to get real value out of it. Soul Warden isn't really necessary either - lifegain is one of those things that, unless you go infinite on it, doesn't make a difference to being whacked with commander damage... and commanders are liable to be one target your detaining shenanigans miss, and these days the most threatening are hexproof anyway.

I'd probably not ditch Fabricate just yet; after all, it can still (at worst!) fetch an artifact land, and might fetch your Sword. If you were to take it out, then maybe Stoneforge Mystic would be a good bet? But then you'd need more equips, not that it would be a terrible idea anyway - while you may detain all their permanents, you've still gotta swing to win right?

Pilgrim's Eye!

While it's an imperfect solution to ramp in colors that have access to green, in decks that don't and can blink it's a fair whack better than some other available cards. Not as good as Kor Cartographer and/or Sad Robot, but it's still a third card that ETB's to search for a land. And that would be four (including Trinket Mage) that can tutor for lands. Seems legit.

I like this deck a lot, and I could make suggestions like war priest of thune and frost titan but really i think you need better win conditions is all. I used to have a flicker deck for EDH and I found i could control very well but just could never win.

Also don't take out stonehorn dignitary, he's the most fun to flicker out of all of them!