This is a 1v1 deck I'm building for a tourney the day after thanksgiving. The ban list is normal commander ban list, not French. It's obviously 1v1 and you're allowed a 10 card sideboard. You have to show each other your commander first, then are allowed to sideboard. We start at 40 life instead of 30 and the mulligan is partial paris. It's just 1 round, not best of 3 and you have 60 minutes. I have no idea what the meta will be, commander isn't too popular and most people seem to play multiplayer (myself included). This is the decklist so far:
Ill post my list later when I'm not from my phone. With the standard ban list I run A tax orientes build that is very strong 1v1. I reccomend not running humility as it nullifies grand arbiter. Alsom crucible is bannanas.
Thanks for the tip, I cut Humility and added crucible of worlds. I updated the deck quite a bit and finally built it and sleeved it up
tonight. Even if you don't have time to post your full list, I'd appreciate it if you gave it another look with some pointers. There's a few cards I'm on the fence about and I'm also a bit unsure about the sideboard.
About Humility, I strongly encourage you to reconsider. It's excellent against Zur, Edric, and other creature-centric strategies. Though it nullifies GAAIV, nullifying their whole deck is probably a good enough pay off.
Condemn and Venser, the Sojourner seem iffy, as does Propaganda (Maybe play a wrath or two?) and Azorius cluestone. I feel as if you're missing some of the mana artifacts normally played - like Talisman of Progress or the one that turns into the 2/2 golem - and you're also missing Gideon and Elspeth, Knight Errant for your creatures section
About Humility, I strongly encourage you to reconsider. It's excellent against Zur, Edric, and other creature-centric strategies. Though it nullifies GAAIV, nullifying their whole deck is probably a good enough pay off.
Condemn and Venser, the Sojourner seem iffy, as does Propaganda (Maybe play a wrath or two?) and Azorius cluestone. I feel as if you're missing some of the mana artifacts normally played - like Talisman of Progress or the one that turns into the 2/2 golem - and you're also missing Gideon and Elspeth, Knight Errant for your creatures section
Right now, I have humility in the sideboard and not main deck. We get to see each others general, then sideboard so I could slot it in versus highly creature centric builds. I'm running 5 wraths, is that not enough? (not counting elspeth, sun's champion) I suppose I could replace propaganda with another one like winds of rath.
Condemn is in there because I cannot seem to locate my path to exile, but they're close to the same. What makes you think Venser, the sojourner is iffy? I'll admit he's pretty useless for my deck except for the ultimate. Do you think Elspeth, Knight Errant is a better choice?
And you're right about the mana rocks. I lack a Talisman of Progress and it's too late to order one online, same with the 2/2 creature thing so I'll have to do without on those. Same with Gideon Jura. I just put the cluestone in there in case I flood out and as another blue source if I have winter orb out. However, I've also thought about Mind Stone since the cluestone costs 3 and won't help me power out my general a turn early. Let me know what you think and thanks for the feedback! Also, feel free to let me know what you'd put in the sideboard.
Oh whoops, I didn't see the sweepers. Whoops. That's embarassing.
Perhaps remove austere command, I think 4 sweepers is more than enough. Elspeth is definitely good in the deck, as is mind stone. Trinket Mage, Aven Mindcensor, and Weathered Wayfarer are all great as well.
Armageddon, Cataclysm, and Ravages of War should be pretty good in this deck as well. You could also play Last Breath. Into the Roil is another choice.
For the sideboard I'd put in Humility (if not mained), some graveyard hate, Negate and other counterspells to swap out your remove soul variants for, some more artifact removal like Seal of Cleansing, and (if you have room) propaganda effects. Torpor orb is great depending on your meta. Karma doesn't seem very useful as you don't kill very fast, and Cleanse is just a wrath effect.
Oh whoops, I didn't see the sweepers. Whoops. That's embarassing.
Perhaps remove austere command, I think 4 sweepers is more than enough. Elspeth is definitely good in the deck, as is mind stone. Trinket Mage, Aven Mindcensor, and Weathered Wayfarer are all great as well.
Armageddon, Cataclysm, and Ravages of War should be pretty good in this deck as well. You could also play Last Breath. Into the Roil is another choice.
For the sideboard I'd put in Humility (if not mained), some graveyard hate, Negate and other counterspells to swap out your remove soul variants for, some more artifact removal like Seal of Cleansing, and (if you have room) propaganda effects. Torpor orb is great depending on your meta. Karma doesn't seem very useful as you don't kill very fast, and Cleanse is just a wrath effect.
I was considering cutting austere command due to the high mana cost. Trinket mage grabs my sol ring, mana vault, and top which is always a plus.
I hadn't thought about Armageddon but I suppose with all the draw, crucible, and land tax it could be pretty solid.
Also, how do you feel about forcefield in the sideboard? I'm not sure it's that great, but I just got it this weekend so I kind of want to use it hehe. Also, what about Aetherling for a control mirror? I guess it could become pretty mana intensive with winter orb in play.
I also like your suggestions of Cataclysm, Aven Mindcensor, and seal of cleansing but I don't own them and can't get em in time. It was a tossup for spending my money on 3 10$ cards. I chose Humility, celestial colonnade, and enlightened tutor, opting not to get remand and aven mindcensor among others. And regarding the meta, I'm going in blind. This is my LGS's first ever commander tourney (hence the strange rules, I wanted french banlist) so the meta is quite unknown. It's also the day after thanksgiving in a town that is completely ruled by standard so I'm not even sure how many folks will show up. I know one guy has a mayel deck and the guy that has Edric said he isn't running that deck because he "doesn't want to be that guy." Which almost makes me feel bad for running GA4. Almost... *cough* It's seven bucks to enter so I want to win it hehe. Thanks again for the help and let me know about the proposed changes.
So the tourney is now over and I'm pleased to say that I placed first and went undefeated. I learned a lot both designing and playing the deck. Thanks to all who posted and helped me with the build. I feel I made a few mistakes building the deck and I actually enjoyed playing it enough that I've decided to keep the deck around and improve upon it. Although the tourney was a weird format and not the typical rules, I'm going to post my decklist and experiences so that it might help others.
The sideboard was the toughest part for me to make. I was going into an unknown meta with a new deck. A few explanations for the cards I selected- Cloudcrest Lake seems a little odd, however, it is designed to slot in for Cavern of Souls vs. Non-blue matchups. I used this one quite a bit. Humility in the board is probably wrong. The card is just such a knockout against most decks although it does hose your general, it's still probably worth it. Ghostly Prison is in the board while propaganda is in the main because the deck has more blue sources of mana. I often sided this card in and it could go in the main easily. My intention with true-name was to use it as a blocker but this is a bad idea, I never used the card.
It was a 4 round tourney, best of 1 matches, regular commander ban list. 1 hour time limit, you show your opponent your commander then can sideboard. 10 card sideboard and 40 life. 1 free full mullian if you want or you can start going into partial paris. After the free mull, it's partial paris. Yes, this heavily favors control
Round 1- Amazingly, I got the bye. I never get the bye and I actually didn't want it. I hadn't done much testing with the deck so I wanted a chance to learn it. Anyway, round 1 I ate Wendys spicy chicken nuggets with a frosty and did some trading.
Round 2 vs. Saffi Eriksdotter. This was a tough match and my opponent was good. He landed a turn 1 Serra Ascendant and got in for a few hits. He also managed to get his general on the field, but I dropped an O-ring on the ascendant. Then I got my general out and prettymuch had a full grip of counters. I had at least 4 in my hand and just countered his one play per turn if it was threatening. I got my Jace, the mind sculptor into play and kept drawing more counters.
Eventually, a rest in peace I boarded in came out. I felt like I had the game in hand and my jtms was ticked up quite a bit so I tapped out for a Karn Liberated. He cast a 5/5 creature or something and I bounced it the next turn, dropped winter orb while he was tapped out and it drew a concession staring down a jtms and karn with no threats on board and no mana.
Round 3 vs. Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund. Admittedly, this was a really good matchup for my deck. I boarded in a lot vs. this deck. Humility, ghostly prison, meekstone, chill, rest in peace (in case of reanimate) all went in. My opponent took the full mulligan and then went all the way down to 5. I took a mull and went down to 6, but it was a good hand. I suspect his deck might not have had enough mana in it. Anyway, unfortunately for him, one of my 6 starting cards was winter orb. He managed to draw a few mana and get 2 mana rocks into play. However, I had my general out and the orb along with a few rocks myself. I drew sphinx's revelation and discovered that it's actually kind of a crummy card for the deck. I didn't draw many of my own threats, however, he couldn't really do anything and I had a few counters so he couldn't get a creature out. My Sensei's Divining Top was digging hard and did a lot of work in the game. I also had a land tax out and had to be very strategic in choosing to play land, tax, and top. Sadly, the match was almost won by GA4 doing general damage! On the last turn, I floated a ton of mana, tapped out, cast armageddon and a planeswalker, prompting a concession. Of note, at one point fairly early in the game after I'd dropped a few counters, my opponent offered to concede on the spot if I showed him 3 counterspells in my hand because he had 3 cards in hand. Sadly, I only had 1 so the match grinded on.
Round 4 vs Kaalia of the Vast- Finals. In full disclosure, my opponent and I were both 3-0 and no one else was close in points, so we intentionally drew the match (at my lgs, the top 4 always get the same amount of packs) However, since we were both having fun, we decided to play anyway. I figured this would be a tough matchup. I boarded in prettymuch the same suite I used vs Karrthus but this time I took out a few of the creature only counterspells since I knew they' wouldn't work with Kaalia's cheating creatures into play effect. I started out with a strong 7 and got my general into play quickly due to mana vault. He got out a weathered wayfarer while I tutored for winter orb. He kept coming up 1 mana short for his general and I got a Jace, architect of thought into play. He had one or two utility creatures that didn't pose a threat and I just kept ticking up jace. He almost hit jace but a condemn messed up those plans. I got jace to +9, the ultimated. I took Karn Liberated for myself and picked Master of Cruelties from his deck because he had no creatures in play. This prompted a concession.
So, 4-0 although the bye was cheesy. It was strange not playing against any blue decks. They were out there but I simply didn't get paired with them. There was another GA4 deck but I didn't get to see it and there was also a sharuum combo deck piloted by a very good player that has been playing longer than I have (I started in 95). Before the tourney started, I realized in horror that I forgot to put gainsay in the sideboard. It didn't hurt me but if I were to play again I'd run it in the board.
Takeaway: The deck was a ton of fun to pilot and I really enjoyed it. I had to take cards out of 7 of my other decks and 2 of my full sets just to build it but it was worth it. I actually plan on keeping the deck around and tuning it, even though it competes for powerful blue cards and lands with my multiplayer Lady Sun EDH deck. To be completely honest, I felt like a bit of a jerk playing this deck. My opponents were definitely NOT having fun and all 3 of them conceded in frustration when my victory was in hand. I found myself apologizing multiple times, explaining that I normally don't play blue control and that my multiplayer decks are more casual. Getting everything countered and paying extra mana while untapping one land per turn isn't most folks idea of a good time. However, as Herm Edwards says, "You Play to Win the Game!" (Steve porter play to win the game remix) And I did pay 7 bucks entree fee for the tourney and we were playing for prizes. I will say that I had a lot of fun playing the deck and that it is both fun and powerful enough to tempt me to the dark side I normally play EDH pretty casually (as you can see by some of the decks in my sig) but this was fun and challenging to pilot. I also usually don't play blue, but this deck made me realize that I'm a control player at heart. I just always played discard (mono-black or b/w) control or tempo control. Growing up an only child in a smaller town, I often had to play both decks for testing or just for fun. The one card type that was impossible to play both players with "fairly" were counterspells. Playing this deck completely changed my attitude and makes me like Azorious!:azorius: I made a few mistakes, but luckily they weren't critical ones. I think my biggest problem was figuring out when to pay to untap mana vault. In one game I paid to untap it and prettymuch timewalked myself. I was worried about the damage but in hindsight I realize that if you have even a soft lock, it shouldn't matter. JTMS, divining top, ponder, and brainstorm are also really skill intensive cards so I enjoyed the challenge.
Moving Forward: I made a few mistakes building the deck. I had never played a deck like this before so I included too many wincons. There's 1 or 2 too many planeswalkers. Jace, Memory Adept got boarded out a lot and Venser isn't very useful except for his ultimate. Sphinx's Revelation is bad because you don't want to tapout with winter orb in play and you don't really give a crap about your life total. Bribery also might be a candidate for the cutting board due to 4 sweepers and the fact that you typically win due to frustrating the hell out of your opponent, not creature damage. Temple of the false god was a steaming turd for me. You need 2 colorless early to power out your general, not late. Often by the time you have 5 lands, you'll have winter orb and rising waters in play and if you're untapping one land a turn, it needs to be able to cast blue. It also is a non-bow with sandbagging lands with land tax. Temporal Mastery was also a dud for me the one time I drew it in my opening hand. With all the planeswalkers, brainstorm, top, and jtms, it feels like it would be good. I'm not going to cut it but it's on probation. Cavern of Souls was pretty iffy as well since I only run 3 creatures (all human at least). Feels more like a sideboard card against blue than maindeck. I never drew unexpectantly absent in any of my games but the mana for it seems a little iffy.
I feel that I made some mistakes in the sideboard. True-name Nemesis was a bust and both humility and ghostly prison are probably strong enough to make it to the mainboard. Gainsay should probably be in the board as I mentioned earlier. Angel's grace also seems like a hilarious addition vs combo decks, but it's probably just safer to counter stuff.
There were also some omissions due to the time frame of ordering cards online for the tourney and my budget. I discovered that this deck REALLY likes its early blue mana. With that in mind, I plan on adding Talisman of Progress, tundra, Flooded Strand, and seachrome coast and other fetches when budget allows. Mana drain would be REALLY backbreaking in this build and I hope to get one eventually. Before playing, I didn't own remand and didn't see the value of it but now I see how it works with the build! I'm also considering Cataclysm. It kills my planeswalkers, but setting an opponent back that far with GA4 out is usually a game ender.
So that's the tourney and my takeaway, hopefully it helps the few people that bothered to read the whole post
Aha, playing Winter Orb in GAAIV is pretty much an instant win. There is a reason Orb makes its way onto the French ban list. If you keep it together, will you continue to follow the multiplayer banlist, or will you change it to French?
If you keep it to the standard you have it at currently, have you considered Mana Web for the sideboard or even mainboard? It can be brutal for control matchups if it sticks. It forces them to choose between leaving up mana for counters or playing spells during their turn.
Aha, playing Winter Orb in GAAIV is pretty much an instant win. There is a reason Orb makes its way onto the French ban list. If you keep it together, will you continue to follow the multiplayer banlist, or will you change it to French?
If you keep it to the standard you have it at currently, have you considered Mana Web for the sideboard or even mainboard? It can be brutal for control matchups if it sticks. It forces them to choose between leaving up mana for counters or playing spells during their turn.
Good question, Ophidian Eye. Admittedly, if I had the playgroup to duel, I'd convert it to French banlist because I think it's much more fair. A month before the tourney, I asked if it was french banlist but it wasn't and I recommended it. Therefore, I built a deck to win with the ruleset. I was advised on the forums to build hermit druid but I'm short some dual lands and a few expensive cards. Although I enjoyed playing GA4, if I could have built the ridiculous turn 3 hermit druid deck I might have succeeded in changing the next tourney into french rules Edric would have also been absurd in these rules. I'm currently (but not permanently) in Arkansas and there's just not much of a commander scene at all. Standard is king and EDH games are hard to find. Even when I drive to Memphis, it's random whether I find a game. It's enough to tempt me to try cockatrice, but the screenshots I've seen just look awful lol. I move around a lot and enjoy visiting and living in new places so I always keep a variety of decks of various power levels. GA4 is undoubtedly one of the more powerful and annoying commanders so I think he should be used sparingly or against particularly obnoxious opponents. (You know that guy I'm referring to!) Mana Web looks good, I need more experience with the deck overall and need to play against blue. I think my ultimate goal is to create an "intermodal" deck that can play 1v1 or multiplayer with some quick sideboarding. However, GA4 is powerful and annoying enough that I wouldn't play him except in the more competitive playgroups. (I travel a lot) Thank for the input!
1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
Mana Artifacts- (10)
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Chrome Mox
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Chronatog Totem
1 Azorious Keyrune
1 Azorious Cluestone
1 Sky Diamond
1 Marble Diamond
1 Fieldmist Borderpost
Utility Artifacts (3)
1 Winter Orb
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Sensei's Divining Top
Creatures (1)
1 Snapcaster Mage
Enchantments (8)
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Detention sphere
1 Land Tax
1 aurification
1 Ghostly Prison
1 rhystic study
1 rising waters
1 propaganda
Counters- (14)
1 Force of Will
1 Cryptic Command
1 counterspell
1 force spike
1 mana leak
1 miscalculation
1 daze
1 arcane denial
1 remove soul
1 essence scatter
1 dismiss
1 condescend
1 hinder
1 dissipate
1 enlightened tutor
1 merchant scroll
1 mystical tutor
1 fabricate
Spot Removal (4)
1 Condemn
1 unexpectedly absent
1 disenchant
1 swords to plowshares
Other spells (9)
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 cyclonic rift
1 sphinx's revelation
1 bribery
1 temporal mastery
1 deep analysis
1 fact or fiction
1 ancestral vision
Planeswalkers (7)
1 Karn Liberated
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Tamiyo, The Moon Sage
1 Venser, the Sojourner
Sweepers (5)
1 Wrath of God
1 Day of Judgement
1 Supreme Verdict
1 terminus
1 austere command
1 Maze of Ith
1 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 cavern of souls
1 cephalid coliseum
1 command tower
1 lonely sandbar
1 secluded steppe
1 celestial colonnade
1 tolaria west
1 temple of the false god
1 esper panorama
1 azorius chancery
1 glacial fortress
1 Nimbus maze
6 plains
10 islands
I'm a bit iffy on the sideboard and I'm looking for some feedback.
I was thinking about forcefield, rest in peace, pithing needle, gainsay, meekstone, torpor orb, humility,
jester's cap, invoke prejudice, angel's grace. That's just a rough draft, I also considered throwing in
some color hosers. Karma, cleanse, etc. Two creatures I considered are Aetherling and true-name nemesis
but I figured the nemesis would get caught up in my sweepers too often and I probably wont win on damage anyway.
Cards I'm iffy on are karn liberated, jace, memory adept, and unexpectantly absent, mostly due to mana costs.
Isochron Scepter and Pact of Negation were my final 2 cuts.
Any feedback is much appreciated, the tourney is in less than 3 days!
EDH Decks
RGMarhault Elsdragon (A Touch of Rampage)RG
GWTrostani, Early Bird (Wurm Tribal)GW
RWAgrus Kos, Bumbat Drinkin' BadassRW
RDiaochan, Hateful BeautyR
tonight. Even if you don't have time to post your full list, I'd appreciate it if you gave it another look with some pointers. There's a few cards I'm on the fence about and I'm also a bit unsure about the sideboard.
EDH Decks
RGMarhault Elsdragon (A Touch of Rampage)RG
GWTrostani, Early Bird (Wurm Tribal)GW
RWAgrus Kos, Bumbat Drinkin' BadassRW
RDiaochan, Hateful BeautyR
Condemn and Venser, the Sojourner seem iffy, as does Propaganda (Maybe play a wrath or two?) and Azorius cluestone. I feel as if you're missing some of the mana artifacts normally played - like Talisman of Progress or the one that turns into the 2/2 golem - and you're also missing Gideon and Elspeth, Knight Errant for your creatures section
Right now, I have humility in the sideboard and not main deck. We get to see each others general, then sideboard so I could slot it in versus highly creature centric builds. I'm running 5 wraths, is that not enough? (not counting elspeth, sun's champion) I suppose I could replace propaganda with another one like winds of rath.
Condemn is in there because I cannot seem to locate my path to exile, but they're close to the same. What makes you think Venser, the sojourner is iffy? I'll admit he's pretty useless for my deck except for the ultimate. Do you think Elspeth, Knight Errant is a better choice?
And you're right about the mana rocks. I lack a Talisman of Progress and it's too late to order one online, same with the 2/2 creature thing so I'll have to do without on those. Same with Gideon Jura. I just put the cluestone in there in case I flood out and as another blue source if I have winter orb out. However, I've also thought about Mind Stone since the cluestone costs 3 and won't help me power out my general a turn early. Let me know what you think and thanks for the feedback! Also, feel free to let me know what you'd put in the sideboard.
EDH Decks
RGMarhault Elsdragon (A Touch of Rampage)RG
GWTrostani, Early Bird (Wurm Tribal)GW
RWAgrus Kos, Bumbat Drinkin' BadassRW
RDiaochan, Hateful BeautyR
Perhaps remove austere command, I think 4 sweepers is more than enough. Elspeth is definitely good in the deck, as is mind stone. Trinket Mage, Aven Mindcensor, and Weathered Wayfarer are all great as well.
Armageddon, Cataclysm, and Ravages of War should be pretty good in this deck as well. You could also play Last Breath. Into the Roil is another choice.
For the sideboard I'd put in Humility (if not mained), some graveyard hate, Negate and other counterspells to swap out your remove soul variants for, some more artifact removal like Seal of Cleansing, and (if you have room) propaganda effects. Torpor orb is great depending on your meta. Karma doesn't seem very useful as you don't kill very fast, and Cleanse is just a wrath effect.
I was considering cutting austere command due to the high mana cost. Trinket mage grabs my sol ring, mana vault, and top which is always a plus.
I hadn't thought about Armageddon but I suppose with all the draw, crucible, and land tax it could be pretty solid.
Also, how do you feel about forcefield in the sideboard? I'm not sure it's that great, but I just got it this weekend so I kind of want to use it hehe. Also, what about Aetherling for a control mirror? I guess it could become pretty mana intensive with winter orb in play.
Potential sideboard:
Potential Deck Changes:
Armageddon and Trinket Mage replacing Ghostly Prison and Propaganda which are moved to the sideboard. Austere Command also potentially getting cut, but not sure what to add in.
Replace Azorious Cluestone with Mind Stone and replace venser, the sojourner with elspeth, knight-errant.
I also like your suggestions of Cataclysm, Aven Mindcensor, and seal of cleansing but I don't own them and can't get em in time. It was a tossup for spending my money on 3 10$ cards. I chose Humility, celestial colonnade, and enlightened tutor, opting not to get remand and aven mindcensor among others. And regarding the meta, I'm going in blind. This is my LGS's first ever commander tourney (hence the strange rules, I wanted french banlist) so the meta is quite unknown. It's also the day after thanksgiving in a town that is completely ruled by standard so I'm not even sure how many folks will show up. I know one guy has a mayel deck and the guy that has Edric said he isn't running that deck because he "doesn't want to be that guy." Which almost makes me feel bad for running GA4. Almost... *cough*
EDH Decks
RGMarhault Elsdragon (A Touch of Rampage)RG
GWTrostani, Early Bird (Wurm Tribal)GW
RWAgrus Kos, Bumbat Drinkin' BadassRW
RDiaochan, Hateful BeautyR
First off, the decklist I decided on:
1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
Mana Artifacts- (10)
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Chrome Mox
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Chronatog Totem
1 Azorious Keyrune
1 Azorious Cluestone
1 Sky Diamond
1 Marble Diamond
1 Fieldmist Borderpost
Utility Artifacts (3)
1 Winter Orb
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Sensei's Divining Top
Creatures (2)
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Trinket Mage
Enchantments (7)
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Detention sphere
1 Land Tax
1 aurification
1 rhystic study
1 rising waters
1 propaganda
Counters- (14)
1 Force of Will
1 Cryptic Command
1 counterspell
1 force spike
1 mana leak
1 miscalculation
1 daze
1 arcane denial
1 remove soul
1 essence scatter
1 dismiss
1 condescend
1 hinder
1 dissipate
1 enlightened tutor
1 merchant scroll
1 mystical tutor
1 fabricate
Spot Removal (4)
1 Condemn
1 unexpectedly absent
1 disenchant
1 swords to plowshares
Other spells (9)
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 cyclonic rift
1 sphinx's revelation
1 bribery
1 temporal mastery
1 armageddon
1 fact or fiction
1 ancestral vision
Planeswalkers (8)
1 Karn Liberated
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Tamiyo, The Moon Sage
1 Venser, the Sojourner
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant
Sweepers (4)
1 Wrath of God
1 Day of Judgement
1 Supreme Verdict
1 terminus
1 Maze of Ith
1 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 cavern of souls
1 cephalid coliseum
1 command tower
1 lonely sandbar
1 secluded steppe
1 celestial colonnade
1 tolaria west
1 temple of the false god
1 esper panorama
1 azorius chancery
1 glacial fortress
1 Nimbus maze
1 Adakar Wastes
6 snow-covered plains
10 snow-covered island
(Sideboard)
The sideboard was the toughest part for me to make. I was going into an unknown meta with a new deck. A few explanations for the cards I selected- Cloudcrest Lake seems a little odd, however, it is designed to slot in for Cavern of Souls vs. Non-blue matchups. I used this one quite a bit. Humility in the board is probably wrong. The card is just such a knockout against most decks although it does hose your general, it's still probably worth it. Ghostly Prison is in the board while propaganda is in the main because the deck has more blue sources of mana. I often sided this card in and it could go in the main easily. My intention with true-name was to use it as a blocker but this is a bad idea, I never used the card.
It was a 4 round tourney, best of 1 matches, regular commander ban list. 1 hour time limit, you show your opponent your commander then can sideboard. 10 card sideboard and 40 life. 1 free full mullian if you want or you can start going into partial paris. After the free mull, it's partial paris. Yes, this heavily favors control
Round 1- Amazingly, I got the bye. I never get the bye and I actually didn't want it. I hadn't done much testing with the deck so I wanted a chance to learn it. Anyway, round 1 I ate Wendys spicy chicken nuggets with a frosty and did some trading.
Round 2 vs. Saffi Eriksdotter. This was a tough match and my opponent was good. He landed a turn 1 Serra Ascendant and got in for a few hits. He also managed to get his general on the field, but I dropped an O-ring on the ascendant. Then I got my general out and prettymuch had a full grip of counters. I had at least 4 in my hand and just countered his one play per turn if it was threatening. I got my Jace, the mind sculptor into play and kept drawing more counters.
Eventually, a rest in peace I boarded in came out. I felt like I had the game in hand and my jtms was ticked up quite a bit so I tapped out for a Karn Liberated. He cast a 5/5 creature or something and I bounced it the next turn, dropped winter orb while he was tapped out and it drew a concession staring down a jtms and karn with no threats on board and no mana.
Round 3 vs. Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund. Admittedly, this was a really good matchup for my deck. I boarded in a lot vs. this deck. Humility, ghostly prison, meekstone, chill, rest in peace (in case of reanimate) all went in. My opponent took the full mulligan and then went all the way down to 5. I took a mull and went down to 6, but it was a good hand. I suspect his deck might not have had enough mana in it. Anyway, unfortunately for him, one of my 6 starting cards was winter orb. He managed to draw a few mana and get 2 mana rocks into play. However, I had my general out and the orb along with a few rocks myself. I drew sphinx's revelation and discovered that it's actually kind of a crummy card for the deck. I didn't draw many of my own threats, however, he couldn't really do anything and I had a few counters so he couldn't get a creature out. My Sensei's Divining Top was digging hard and did a lot of work in the game. I also had a land tax out and had to be very strategic in choosing to play land, tax, and top. Sadly, the match was almost won by GA4 doing general damage! On the last turn, I floated a ton of mana, tapped out, cast armageddon and a planeswalker, prompting a concession. Of note, at one point fairly early in the game after I'd dropped a few counters, my opponent offered to concede on the spot if I showed him 3 counterspells in my hand because he had 3 cards in hand. Sadly, I only had 1 so the match grinded on.
Round 4 vs Kaalia of the Vast- Finals. In full disclosure, my opponent and I were both 3-0 and no one else was close in points, so we intentionally drew the match (at my lgs, the top 4 always get the same amount of packs) However, since we were both having fun, we decided to play anyway. I figured this would be a tough matchup. I boarded in prettymuch the same suite I used vs Karrthus but this time I took out a few of the creature only counterspells since I knew they' wouldn't work with Kaalia's cheating creatures into play effect. I started out with a strong 7 and got my general into play quickly due to mana vault. He got out a weathered wayfarer while I tutored for winter orb. He kept coming up 1 mana short for his general and I got a Jace, architect of thought into play. He had one or two utility creatures that didn't pose a threat and I just kept ticking up jace. He almost hit jace but a condemn messed up those plans. I got jace to +9, the ultimated. I took Karn Liberated for myself and picked Master of Cruelties from his deck because he had no creatures in play. This prompted a concession.
So, 4-0 although the bye was cheesy. It was strange not playing against any blue decks. They were out there but I simply didn't get paired with them. There was another GA4 deck but I didn't get to see it and there was also a sharuum combo deck piloted by a very good player that has been playing longer than I have (I started in 95). Before the tourney started, I realized in horror that I forgot to put gainsay in the sideboard. It didn't hurt me but if I were to play again I'd run it in the board.
Takeaway: The deck was a ton of fun to pilot and I really enjoyed it. I had to take cards out of 7 of my other decks and 2 of my full sets just to build it but it was worth it. I actually plan on keeping the deck around and tuning it, even though it competes for powerful blue cards and lands with my multiplayer Lady Sun EDH deck. To be completely honest, I felt like a bit of a jerk playing this deck. My opponents were definitely NOT having fun and all 3 of them conceded in frustration when my victory was in hand. I found myself apologizing multiple times, explaining that I normally don't play blue control and that my multiplayer decks are more casual. Getting everything countered and paying extra mana while untapping one land per turn isn't most folks idea of a good time. However, as Herm Edwards says, "You Play to Win the Game!" (Steve porter play to win the game remix) And I did pay 7 bucks entree fee for the tourney and we were playing for prizes. I will say that I had a lot of fun playing the deck and that it is both fun and powerful enough to tempt me to the dark side
Moving Forward: I made a few mistakes building the deck. I had never played a deck like this before so I included too many wincons. There's 1 or 2 too many planeswalkers. Jace, Memory Adept got boarded out a lot and Venser isn't very useful except for his ultimate. Sphinx's Revelation is bad because you don't want to tapout with winter orb in play and you don't really give a crap about your life total. Bribery also might be a candidate for the cutting board due to 4 sweepers and the fact that you typically win due to frustrating the hell out of your opponent, not creature damage. Temple of the false god was a steaming turd for me. You need 2 colorless early to power out your general, not late. Often by the time you have 5 lands, you'll have winter orb and rising waters in play and if you're untapping one land a turn, it needs to be able to cast blue. It also is a non-bow with sandbagging lands with land tax. Temporal Mastery was also a dud for me the one time I drew it in my opening hand. With all the planeswalkers, brainstorm, top, and jtms, it feels like it would be good. I'm not going to cut it but it's on probation. Cavern of Souls was pretty iffy as well since I only run 3 creatures (all human at least). Feels more like a sideboard card against blue than maindeck. I never drew unexpectantly absent in any of my games but the mana for it seems a little iffy.
I feel that I made some mistakes in the sideboard. True-name Nemesis was a bust and both humility and ghostly prison are probably strong enough to make it to the mainboard. Gainsay should probably be in the board as I mentioned earlier. Angel's grace also seems like a hilarious addition vs combo decks, but it's probably just safer to counter stuff.
There were also some omissions due to the time frame of ordering cards online for the tourney and my budget. I discovered that this deck REALLY likes its early blue mana. With that in mind, I plan on adding Talisman of Progress, tundra, Flooded Strand, and seachrome coast and other fetches when budget allows. Mana drain would be REALLY backbreaking in this build and I hope to get one eventually. Before playing, I didn't own remand and didn't see the value of it but now I see how it works with the build! I'm also considering Cataclysm. It kills my planeswalkers, but setting an opponent back that far with GA4 out is usually a game ender.
So that's the tourney and my takeaway, hopefully it helps the few people that bothered to read the whole post
EDH Decks
RGMarhault Elsdragon (A Touch of Rampage)RG
GWTrostani, Early Bird (Wurm Tribal)GW
RWAgrus Kos, Bumbat Drinkin' BadassRW
RDiaochan, Hateful BeautyR
If you keep it to the standard you have it at currently, have you considered Mana Web for the sideboard or even mainboard? It can be brutal for control matchups if it sticks. It forces them to choose between leaving up mana for counters or playing spells during their turn.
Good question, Ophidian Eye. Admittedly, if I had the playgroup to duel, I'd convert it to French banlist because I think it's much more fair. A month before the tourney, I asked if it was french banlist but it wasn't and I recommended it. Therefore, I built a deck to win with the ruleset. I was advised on the forums to build hermit druid but I'm short some dual lands and a few expensive cards. Although I enjoyed playing GA4, if I could have built the ridiculous turn 3 hermit druid deck I might have succeeded in changing the next tourney into french rules
EDH Decks
RGMarhault Elsdragon (A Touch of Rampage)RG
GWTrostani, Early Bird (Wurm Tribal)GW
RWAgrus Kos, Bumbat Drinkin' BadassRW
RDiaochan, Hateful BeautyR