This is my take on Azorious Hatebears. The general principle behind hatebears is to cut opponents off from certain actions or abilities based on an effect in play. Typical hatebear commanders are often white variants as white tends to have a higher concentration of effects that disable opponents play. I chose to play Ephara as a hatebear commander because her abilities are not countered by most of the hatebear tactics and she enables a continuance of cards which hatebear decks can often struggle with.
My own build has a large emphasis on Torpor Orb effects. The idea is to slow down your opponents or pillowfort as you continue to out draw them. I also have a large emphasis in my build on playing with flash allowing you to dodge some wrath effects as well as flash in well timed hatebears.
Why Play Ephara:
This deck has a focus of low cost utility creatures and tokens with an emphasis on moving cards quickly. It will draw a lot of hate from a lot of people as it will probably interfere with what they want to do. One of the great things about a deck like this is that you can customize it to your own playgroup and what tactics see play locally. One of the downsides to that is that you will have to be a little objective with what cards you see people using and ask yourself if it will give you the same results. In a lot of cases, you can substitute cards and still have a very similar feel and play to your list.
Reasons to Like Ephara:
You like drawing cards
You like a low curve
Answering opponents is fun
Having a robust commander sounds good
Reasons to Dislike Ephara
You want to be proactive.
You dont like making people mad.
You are looking for a more traditional control deck.
Alternate Commander Options
Dragonlord Ojutai it is a creature based strategy that has its core in card advantage in the same colors. He tends to be more of a voltron build specializing in ramp, counters, extra turns, and vigilance.
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV he is a bit of a hatebear himself as he ramps you and slows your opponents. He plays as a little more of a classic UW control but also functions as a hatebear himself.
Gaddock Teeg he controls what your opponents can play. He tends to be strong when your meta is unprepaired for him but some cards namely Cyclonic Rift really set him back hard as he tends to rely on over extending and has a hard time drawing cards all that well since a good portion of the draw effects in WG are cut off from his ability.
Edric, Spymaster of Trest he has his roots in drawing cards quickly and moving fast. He has some similarities with Ephara but he also tends to be much much faster in design. His ideal deck is generally a bit unfriendly for most normal games of commander given he can end games by turns 4 to 6.
In the end, I wanted to play a hatebear strategy that allowed me to focus on Torpor Orb and a lot of other strong hatebear tactics. Ephara's ability to give consistent draw to the deck means that you can ideally chain from creature to creature. When Containment Priest first came out I knew that I wanted to mash all of these wonderful hate cards into one deck and hate on people with all of the fun effects I could.
Deckstats for this deck can be found here (last updated 9/29/15).
Card Options:
One Mana
Benevolent Bodyguard he can give a one shot protection effect to stave off spot removal. He is cheap to drop as well.
Cursecatcher he can slow down opponents or catch them off guard with a counter effect.
Doomed Traveler he gives two bodies for one mana. The token flies as well. Two triggers of Ephara for a single mana is a good return but he is hard to control his death trigger in a deck like this.
Judge's Familiar similar to cursecatcher but with flying. You can sometimes catch opponents off guard with effects like this.
Martyr of Frost its counter effect is an amount of mana that opponents do not know about which makes this card fun. Its sort of like a Mana Leak on demand but with the mana your opponents have to spend being unknown to them beforehand.
Planar Guide its sort of like a mass ghostway on a stick. The advantage is that its a creature so ephara can trigger and there is also the fact that it can blank tokens. You can use this as defense vs wraths or even as a fog in a pinch.
Salvage Scout depending on how much you care about Torpor Orb or your artifacts in general, this can be another recovery tool.
Serra Ascendant its a huge beater for very cheap. There is nothing like paying a mana to get a 6/6 flyer and the fact that we can draw a card off of our commander as well is just great.
Soul Warden it doesn't interact well with Torpor Orb effects but it can be some defense vs aggro and token tactics.
Weathered Wayfarer depending on how much you value your utility lands he is a good option. If you want to try to support Emeria, the Sky Ruin in deck he is a good way to tutor for it and set it up.
Two Mana
Aegis of the Gods hexproof is sort of so so in this format but occasionally you might see someone cast Mind Twist or Sorin Markov and be happy to have it. Its generally not an effect you see much of as targeted player cards aren't run as much in this format. If you can flash him in in response to one of these effects though you will feel like a champ but I think it might be too infrequent that you would see them.
Auriok Champion in my opinion, this is a worse version of Soul's Ascendant because its so unlikely that red or black spot removal would be used to kill this in the first place in this format. It also interacts poorly with Torpor Orb but can otherwise be useful against swarm and token tactics to give a life buffer.
Avenger en-Dal defensive removal based utility creature. Its nice that its removal is exile based as it means it chews up indestructible creatures. Its ability isnt cheap though and discarding a card on top of paying 2W seems rough.
Azorius Guildmage both abilities on this guildmage are solid. The ability counter effect can be extremely potent. The downside is that it can take a lot of mana to keep this up.
Containment Priest its ability is incredibly strong and the fact that it has built in flash means its used as a counter effect that continues to do work. This acts as both graveyard hate as well as hate for tutor into play based effects. This card has so much power I just wish I could run two of them. It can counter effects like Chord of Calling as well as reanimation effects like Necromancy.
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails he can protect other effects. You can also use him as a means of attacking through blockers by shifting colors and giving protection which can occasionally be useful for poking at planeswalkers. What is really fun though is that you can even screw with other players and give another player's creature protection from white. Its really sort of a pesky protection effect but the mana to use him adds up quick.
Ethersworn Canonist it can really slow down opponents who try to drop a combo into play in one turn and it hurts players who wheel quite a bit because they wheel and are forced to pass turn for the most part.
Fog Bank reusable blocking defense. Its funny because it just deters attackers really well and requires spot removal or a wrath to get rid of it. It depends on how much you need defenses but it does a good job of being a pillow fort effect and just moving attackers arround it unless they have unblockable or trample.
Gilded Drake it interacts poorly with Torpor Orb but its a very strong effect and its cheap to cast. Even during a Torpor Orb its still a 3/3 flyer for 1U which isn't terrible to be honest.
Grand Abolisher counterspells and responses giving you issues? This guy loves to hate.
Hidden Dragonslayer he is sort of an odd Torpor Orb friendly white Shriekmaw effect. Dropping and flipping him in one shot is sort of spendy though but its nice that he interacts with the commander and gets through Torpor Orb.
Imposing Sovereign hate for haste. It can also give you extra time to make attacks if you want to be more aggressive as your opponents blockers come in tapped.
Kataki, War's Wage for those playing a lot of mana stones, this will negate a lot of the mana they gain from them. Its strong vs artificer decks as well.
Knight of the White Orchid potential ramp on a cheap creature. He doesnt interact with Torpor Orb but he is still a 2/2 for WW with first strike that draws a card from your commander even if he doesnt get the land. The biggest downside is that WW on curve can be rough.
Leonin Arbiter he is like a secondary Aven Mindcensor effect. Its a little smaller and it affects everyone but it should slow people down depending on how much they search their libraries.
Lighthouse Chronologist it can close out games essentially on its own. You really need like 1UUUUUUUU to just in one shot drop and go for it but then you also probably want counter magic to cover for him. He is tricky as he really encourages you to be playing a heavy counter based build to support him.
Meddling Mage its sort of a mean tactic but you can cut someone off from their commander. You really have to commit to cutting someone out of the game ahead of time though which can feel like a rough move.
Merfolk Looter he can move cards in your hand as well as draw a card off of Ephara when he comes in. Not every card is the right card for the situation.
Mistmeadow Witch it can serve as protection and it can also serve as a maze effect. It blanks tokens to boot. I like the utility it gives even if the ability is a little expensive to activate.
Phantasmal Image its the cheapest creature clone out there. The biggest problem I have with it is that it tends to be best with ETB creatures and with this deck's focus on Torpor Orb effects it makes for an awkward duplication of a hatebear considering how easily it is removed.
Precinct Captain its effect is nice but its sort of a small body that is easy to block. I like its effect but its too easy to gum up in this format.
Rootwater Thief if your opponents are playing combo you can use this guy to extract pieces of their combo. Extract effects make it much harder to win assuming you are relying on a few key cards.
Samurai of the Pale Curtain graveyard hate is fun. Unfortunately a permanent is defined by a card in play so if someone is discarding or milling this does not kick in. It does stop a lot of effects still such as Skullclamps draw effect and it potentially interferes with some reanimation such as Undying and Persist.
Snapcaster Mage another strong ETB effect. If you are less worried or less focused on Torpor Orb, adding more ETB effects into the list can work.
Spiketail Hatchling it can catch people who accidentally tap out for effects. It can be really amusing if you give it flash as people dont really expect Force Spike effects.
Spirit of the Labyrinth Since ephara draws us on every upkeep we often can avoid drawing more than one card a turn. This utility creature is very strong vs other draw effects and it really kills wheel effects. If you have the ability to flash it in you will really crush someone now and then with his effect.
Stoneforge Mystic handicapped by Torpor Orb but its ETB is strong. Depending on how much equipment you run as well as how much you focus on Torpor Orb it can be a strong consideration.
Stratus Dancer it works through Torpor Orb and it can counter wraths and spot removal. The best part is that until you use it a few times people probably wont suspect it as your morph.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben slow down the noncreature based decks. It hurts you as well so it is going to come down to how many noncreatures you plan to run. Its only an extra one mana but it slows down a lot of plays when you try to cast more than one spell in a turn.
Thraben Heretic graveyard hate on a stick. Its small scale but its repeatable.
True Believer shroud and hexproof for yourself can be useful at times but its rather rare that it comes up. Sorin Markov and Mind Twist effects are some of the few that come to mind. It can be useful against Vicious Shadows as well but I cant think of a lot of cases outside of those that it really matters.
Vedalken Æthermage assuming you have a few good wizards in deck he can act as a wildcard to go get them. Occasionally you will run into a sliver deck or a deck using changelings that actually casting it will be useful for too.
Void Stalker on demand removal effect. Now that commander tuck has been removed though it lost a lot of its playability.
Voidmage Prodigy on demand counter effect. If you morph it you will probably confuse the heck out of some people too as its not one of the assumed morph targets generally speaking.
Willbender another amusing morph. It comes down to how much targeted removal sees play in your meta.
Alexi, Zephyr Mage it can act as sort of a pseudo wrath in a pinch. It can reflect threats and most people dont really want to be caught in the middle of this effect. Its a good rattlesnake effect once its online and it offers good defense vs token tactics.
Archangel of Thune it can serve as a multi pump anthem that is still a creature. On its own it is really slow so I would suggest looking at a way to reliably gain life multiple times a turn to make the best use of it. It would pair well with Soul Warden paired with some token generation.
Azami, Lady of Scrolls its a card draw creature. Its just a little more expensive than Archivist but the potential to use the tribal draw is nice.
Beguiler of Wills this deck often puts tokens into play. Its sort of an odd creature but if you can flash it in or give it haste its potential to just start taking everyone's creatures.
Blinding Angel its really strong against voltron decks as in a lot of cases the decks try to be more offensive rather than having answers and defense. This can put an end to a non flying voltron commander.
Body Double blue rez that does not target. Its a little bit expensive at five mana but its really hard for opponents to interact with since it does not target. Its a solid effect you dont really find in these colors.
Dragonlord Ojutai some draw on a somewhat aggressive flyer. Its a bit of an odd duck though as its stats arent very good defensively speaking so you want to be more of an aggro build to get away with this as it doesnt sit on defense as well. Its hexproof evasion is a little odd in the 99 for this format.
Empress Galina it hijacks commanders plain and simple. The most fun part of this is that she can steal gods which can be very hard to interact with otherwise.
Fountain Watch an option to protect the noncreature effects you might have. It pairs well with things that give shroud, hexproof, or indestructible such as Lightning Greaves or Eldrazi Monument. It costs one more than Leonin Abunas though so you want it as the second copy or because of enchantments you run.
Godhead of Awe it slows opponents down. Most of our creatures are sort of small as it is so it can buy time against aggro and voltron strategies.
Isperia the Inscrutable it lets you see some information from your opponents as well as toolbox your deck for other flyers. Its a slow effect as you should expect it to take two attacks to one player to really get a trigger. You can always try the mono colored deck for their basic land type if you dont have any other info assuming they have been hitting their land drops.
Perplexing Chimera its an aggravating effect to pass through the field. Its really amazing if you can pair it with Homeward Path assuming you want to run such an effect. This creature should cause some chaos in general and make people second guess casting things.
Reveillark its ability gets through Torpor Orb and it can be good recursion. There is a bit of a question of how much graveyard hate you run though as well before running this guy as well as how many targets you have in deck.
Shattered Angel a lifegain over time effect. Its fairly safe to say that people would rather you gain three life than to miss a land drop.
Stonehewer Giant solid toolboxing assuming you run a big enough equipment toolbox. I would usually say I would want to see 4+ equipment before I would consider him though in a deck like this.
Sunscorch Regent a decent option for a more aggressive build. He gives some power as well as lifegain. His effect is a bit generic but he can get some work done.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir he cuts opponents off from spot removal and counters on your turn and opens you up to flashing utility creatures when they are relevant.
World Queller he can take out problematic effects by slowly eating artifacts or eat through tokens of your own to eat up creatures opponents control. He is a bit slow but his power comes from the fact that you get to choose the mode to trigger each turn. His weakness is being sort of slow to take effect.
Six Mana
Ætherling it can self flicker which draws cards off of Ephara and it can swing through blockers to poke at walker commanders. Its a versatile and robust threat.
Archetype of Imagination it both deprives opponents flyers as well as giving mass evasion to our creatures. The concern is the amount of mana it costs and if you attack someone with the evasion it gives and they use spot removal you might like 4 for 1 yourself.
Consecrated Sphinx genericly strong card draw. It doesnt really interact specifically with this deck but its strong all on its own.
Crovax, Ascendant Hero really good against opposing token strategies as a lot of tokens are not white. A good portion of the hatebears are white but if he would cause issues you can always bounce him to hand with his own ability.
Isperia, Supreme Judge an ok pillowfort effect. Unfortunately its only so dissuading. If it gets blown up it also does nothing so your defense here can disappear at any moment so dont rely on it too much.
Medomai the Ageless it probably gets hit by spot removal but it has the potential of spinning up extra turns. Combine it with flash and haste and it gives the potential for some nice value.
Mirror-Sigil Sergeant so the fun thing with this guy is that just with Ephara in play you double your count of them every turn. He is INCREDIBLY SLOW THOUGH. You have to realize that you cast this thing and until a full turn rotation passes a single spot removal takes him out entirely and you are giving your opponents a reason to do exactly that. That said, once you get like your second batch of clones you are going to be rolling hard. The idea of attacking with 4 4/4 tramplers is kind of a lot of damage. It takes time and it costs a lot to drop but its also a self expanding threat that can encompass a game on its own.
Palisade Giant fun combined with damage prevention or indestructibility. Its sort of mediocre without something of that sort though.
Soul of Theros it has the option of giving a nice size buff to the creatures. Its incredibly slow though as the option of dropping and pumping in one turn is 12 mana to give +2/+2. He really needs to just slow roll into play and be left alone. That said though, mass lifelink and +2/+2 adds up fast.
Sun Titan amazing recovery. Even with Torpor Orb effects he is still really good. He is probably the strongest six drop white creature out there.
Seven and Up
Drogskol Reaver sort of an odd utility lifegain and draw sort of two in one. It works best if you have a lot of lifegain effects in deck. It could be fun with Soul Warden effects.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite this is a great effect as it gives both offensive pump as well as removing a lot of utility and token creatures opponents have. In general it will decrease their ability to output as well as turning your own creatures into output monsters.
Emeria Shepherd an option for recursion. The recursion to hand can be useful as some effects like Grafdigger's Cage and Containment Priest might keep you from bringing creatures directly back into play.
Palinchron its a big flyer who pays for itself. It can also self bounce so you can drop it and have mana up and then bounce it at the end of your opponents turns or during blocks. It can be sort of tricky without being used in an infinite combo.
Sphinx Ambassador its a toolbox effect and in a lot of cases your opponent will guess wrong. The idea here is to pick something generically good rather than the exact thing that would answer your current problem. The less familiar your opponents are with their decks the more effective this generally is.
Akroma, Angel of Wrath She plays offense, defense, and is generally not a big target of spot removal. She just gums up the board in a way that puts you in the lead. She wins in combat against SOOO many things. The downside is that if you appear to be winning people will gun for her.
Avacyn, Angel of Hope She plays offense, defense, and makes all of your things indestructable. She is a HUGE target for people trying to remove her. Generally trying to get her hexproof or shrouded is kind of huge once she is in play. Putting Lightning Greaves on her is a fantastic feeling in general. If you can get mass flash she is really fun to just drop in response to a wrath or removal.
Stormtide Leviathan it can act as defense from aggro strategies as well as being an attacker. I run a lot of mass flying buffs as well so it can defend the line so to speak all on its own. The downside is that if your opponents have spot removal your defense can come crumbling down really fast with it.
Blazing Archon it costs a ton of mana but its the ultimate combat defense. It just says no to literally everything. Lots of token, aggro, and voltron decks tend to run less removal so its a matter of keeping counters to back it.
Iona, Shield of Emeria its a bit of a lame move but its very strong as a hate effect. Generally what I dont like about this effect is that it tends to pick out one person and ask them not to play. While this deck can do stuff like that I dont like her effect as it feels like she does a ton of work or no work at all.
Reya Dawnbringer she is expensive and slow rolling but a rez every turn is also strong. I personally dont really recommend her but if you stick this effect your opponents will start feeling this fast.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur he can act as hand hate as well as a card draw option. He costs a lot of mana but having built in flash is sort of fun. You can flash him in on someone's end step and they just get to pitch their whole hand assuming they dont have spot removal or an unlimited hand size.
I started an Ephara list (to represent the spirit of democracy in my upcoming 300: Rise of an Empire deck), but after some preliminary testing, I decided that Daxos of Meletis was a better fit for my purposes. I did enjoy using the following cards with Ephara, though:
Wow, I'd completely forgotten about Doomsayer! That would be a better fit for me than Icatian Crier since it doesn't need mana to activate. Thanks again, DirkGently!
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How about Hoofprints of the Stag and Voidmage Husher? I just finished an sketch article on my blog about her.. check it latter on.. it is in my signature
It really depends on how much I value the power of the individual token vs just ease of use / being able to draw cards easily. I think that Hoofprints is interesting but it requires sort of a lot of setup and is hard to spam tokens from in general.
Voidmage - I like the card but have found it a little too situational on several occasions. The fact that it bounces back to hand and can draw me cards is good in here but I found it a little underwhelming most of the time in my Derevi deck and I play sort of a draw / go style there.
I started an Ephara list (to represent the spirit of democracy in my upcoming 300: Rise of an Empire deck), but after some preliminary testing, I decided that Daxos of Meletis was a better fit for my purposes. I did enjoy using the following cards with Ephara, though:
You're running more creature spells than I am, so perhaps Promise of Bunrei is worth a look, too.
Ætherling - I actually really like this idea for Ephara. I will probably add it to the list.
Icatian Crier - its a little fragile and I was trying to stay away from creatures that slow churn out tokens. I am also not huge on the discard portion of it but in general have an issue with it just being a creature that slow churns tokens. I would rather an artifact / enchantment that makes tokens given the option.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion she is a really big target but still does a lot of good things. I probably should include her here. I always have an issue sticking her though even for just a full turn rotation but thats because she is good.
Elspeth Tirel people hate on my walkers a little too much and for sun's champ to be questionable, I will probably pass on this variant even though I like it too.
I started an Ephara list (to represent the spirit of democracy in my upcoming 300: Rise of an Empire deck), but after some preliminary testing, I decided that Daxos of Meletis was a better fit for my purposes. I did enjoy using the following cards with Ephara, though:
You're running more creature spells than I am, so perhaps Promise of Bunrei is worth a look, too.
Ætherling - I actually really like this idea for Ephara. I will probably add it to the list.
Icatian Crier - its a little fragile and I was trying to stay away from creatures that slow churn out tokens. I am also not huge on the discard portion of it but in general have an issue with it just being a creature that slow churns tokens. I would rather an artifact / enchantment that makes tokens given the option.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion she is a really big target but still does a lot of good things. I probably should include her here. I always have an issue sticking her though even for just a full turn rotation but thats because she is good.
Elspeth Tirel people hate on my walkers a little too much and for sun's champ to be questionable, I will probably pass on this variant even though I like it too.
Thanks to DirkGently, I swapped out Crier for the Doomsayer. Have yet to test it, but we'll see. If you can only run one version of Elspeth, I'd definitely go with Elspeth 3.0 since you can immediately activate her second ability as a quasi-Retribution of the Meek.
Island Sanctuary? Since you can draw off of your general instead
This is just brilliant. It's like Glacial Chasm was altered just to fit this deck. Good call, Hipster Mike! I might actually cut Swords to Plowshares for Sanctuary in my Daxos list. It can represent the island of Salamis!
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What do we think about Words of Wind in Ephara? With flash creatures (Venser, anyone?) or some of the instant-speed token producers, I think it could be a real blowout.
Island Sanctuary? Since you can draw off of your general instead
I like it but my biggest issue is that you can only activate it off of your start of the turn upkeep draw. If I could drop it into play and then activate it off an ephera draw or something it would be an entirely different matter entirely. It feels a little slow as it stands but on the upside, its really hard for it to randomly go missing as you will know at the start of your turn if you are good for the next turn where some things like Ghostly Prison can go missing and suddenly you die out of nowhere.
What do we think about Words of Wind in Ephara? With flash creatures (Venser, anyone?) or some of the instant-speed token producers, I think it could be a real blowout.
Ohhhhhh nice call. That looks brutal. I will have to add it to the list.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I see that you cut Replenish. What are your thoughts on Recall? With all of your card draw, it could be excellent recursion. It's a bit insane with Land Tax, too, which I noticed you're not currently running.
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I see that you cut Replenish. What are your thoughts on Recall? With all of your card draw, it could be excellent recursion. It's a bit insane with Land Tax, too, which I noticed you're not currently running.
Recall - it involves paying 2U and discarding a card to get a single card back. I wish I could say more about it but its really sort of expensive to try to make it work. If it were at least instant speed I might be willing to give it a shot but I think you are better off just relying on draw power rather than worrying about recursion in this style of deck. I was going to have more of an enchantress feel to it before which was why I was going to include Replenish but with that gone it just didnt add up.
Land Tax - I actually prefer it in decks that have a hard time drawing cards consistently. I could see some benefit of it in here but beyond like 5 lands in play I think we are likely to have a good draw engine fairly regularly with Ephara so I dont really see it being that good here. My own preferences for it are more in decks that struggle to draw extra cards and or use tactics like Scroll Rack and top manipulation a lot.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
What are your thoughts on Recall? With all of your card draw, it could be excellent recursion. It's a bit insane with Land Tax, too, which I noticed you're not currently running.
Land Tax - I actually prefer it in decks that have a hard time drawing cards consistently. I could see some benefit of it in here but beyond like 5 lands in play I think we are likely to have a good draw engine fairly regularly with Ephara so I dont really see it being that good here. My own preferences for it are more in decks that struggle to draw extra cards and or use tactics like Scroll Rack and top manipulation a lot.
Ah, you and I have slightly different uses for Tax. I like to thin my deck with it. I can't count the number of games when I've "outdrawn" U, B, and G players all because of Land Tax. With Ephara and token production, you'll be drawing into more gas with Tax.
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That actuqlly makes some sense, thinning your deck with land tax
What abput the other Elspeths and PW Venser? Your tokens will be able to protect them.
That actuqlly makes some sense, thinning your deck with land tax
What abput the other Elspeths and PW Venser? Your tokens will be able to protect them.
Other Elspeths - Original elspeth is very slow at churning out guys and in my opinion is mostly a trap in my mind in multiplayer EDH because its just so hard to bring walkers up to ult generally speaking and generally I want to be able to control when I get my creature triggers for the tokens. Elspeth 2.0 is alright but 3.0 just seems to have blown her out in terms of quality when it comes to token decks.
Venser - I prefer him a lot more in ETB creature style of decks. I dont see much value in his flicker in here and so we are really looking at him as a bad anthem for unblockable and or his ult which are not things I am willing to include him for.
Heya ISB. I used your Jenara primer extensively when designing my own variation of her. Thanks for that. Anyway, have you thought about Mentor of the Meek? I'm sure you've already considered Heliod also, and I'm assuming you didn't include him because he's too dang mana intensive?
Looks like a lot of fun, actually. I want to add a suite of swords because they're so good with tokens and Humility. With swords and other pumps, Lightmine Field makes attacking with 1 bigger guy pretty good and nobody will attack you.
I'd vote for Elspeth 1, her 2nd ability is also nice on a field of Humility 1/1 dudes. Also, Gideon 1 is pretty incredible with Humility out. I get that your Walkers don't stick around, but you might find you have enough 1/1 blockers that it's not an issue in this deck.
Also, Hallowed Burial and Terminus because if you have a token army, you don't care about tuck vs destroy, but your opponents will.
Heya ISB. I used your Jenara primer extensively when designing my own variation of her. Thanks for that. Anyway, have you thought about Mentor of the Meek? I'm sure you've already considered Heliod also, and I'm assuming you didn't include him because he's too dang mana intensive?
Mentor is good in a lot of ways but I think a lot of the draw I already have is stronger. I would want to see the deck in action before I would really decide more about including him or not but he seems like a strong candidate but he is sort of fragile in general which is the big thing holding me back on him.
Heliod - Four mana per token is really steep to be honest. I run it in my Derevi because vigilance matters a lot more there and I dont expect it to much here.
Looks like a lot of fun, actually. I want to add a suite of swords because they're so good with tokens and Humility. With swords and other pumps, Lightmine Field makes attacking with 1 bigger guy pretty good and nobody will attack you.
I'd vote for Elspeth 1, her 2nd ability is also nice on a field of Humility 1/1 dudes. Also, Gideon 1 is pretty incredible with Humility out. I get that your Walkers don't stick around, but you might find you have enough 1/1 blockers that it's not an issue in this deck.
Also, Hallowed Burial and Terminus because if you have a token army, you don't care about tuck vs destroy, but your opponents will.
It'll louse up your curve, but Silent Sentinel seems good too.
Swords - they would help to connect for some damage a bit more often. I would probably assume that Sword of Feast and Famine is probably going to be the best of them and Fire Ice is probably going to be less impressive than usual because we already have good drawing in a lot of aspects here. Swords are an option for sure but I just didnt feel like I needed it that much here.
Elspeth 1.0 - I have been too disappointed by her too often to be honest. She can also only give me tokens on my turn which is generally where creatures hitting play is more likely to happen as well. If you feel like you would ever want to use her second ability it makes her a little better but its not something I really ever found relevant.
Gideon Jura - I love this walker, but sadly, he is usually underwhelming in a multiplayer game of EDH. I think he is cool though and you might be able to get away with him. I have stopped trying for the most part though to be honest.
Hallowed Burial / Terminus yea... I should probably run one of these in place of Rout here. I really like the instant speed option of Rout but I think the power upgrade is probably better here.
What do you think about Solitary Confinement? We should easily outdraw everybody else with tokens/flash, so having the luxury of not being attacked shoule be awesome.
Myself i'm thinking of a blink/control/combo build, because not running Deadeye Navigator with free creatures (Palinchron, Great Whale, Peregrine Drake) in such deck would be a waste ;-)
Solitary Confinement its a cool card, that being said, I think there is an option to run sort of a pillowfort defense set of stuff here and I think for now I am just going to try to run without that stuff. Those style of defenses can be difficult to set up and are very awkward when they suddenly disappear out of nowhere. I think its a good idea, I just dont know if pillowfort is where I would want to be with this deck yet.
Deadeye / Friends - its an option. In my opinion you really want to buff up your creature count to run that sort of stuff. I feel its sort of a long ways from my own current build but its definitely an option.
I am sort of contemplating shifting my Derevi list into this possibly. I have some mixed feelings still as I enjoy a lot of the elements of Derevi but I sort of feel like this deck would have a lot of similar elements but with better draw.
DECK CHANGES:
Auramancer -> Eldrazi Monument while I think there are still a lot of great enchantments in this deck, keeping Auramancer makes less sense than keeping Replenish. I like the Monument as I have a lot of focus on token production that gives continuous tokens.
Island Sanctuary -> Unexpectedly Absent I have been enjoying Unexpectedly Absent of late and I just like the feel and flexibility of the card. In a pinch, I can buy a single turn or I can try to bury something including commanders deep.
Leyline of Anticipation -> Counterspell I have played with a lot of flash enablers before and I just dont feel like I can benefit enough from Leyline to offset the hatred it tends to bring. More counters are good as well.
Rout -> Terminus I like that I have a lot of draw spaced out over other player's turns so it seems like hitting the miracle should be extra high due to how Ephara works here.
Nevermore -> Weathered Wayfarer as much as I like to cut someone off at the knees, wayfarer gets me my utility lands and keeps me hitting land drops. I think Nevermore is more of a situational card than anything.
I will see if I can come up with a landbase for this too.
I haven't put this together yet but I have been thinking more about doing so. I had a few changes for the list as well.
DECK CHANGE:
Path to Exile -> Oblation I have been enjoying the flexibility over the cheap of late. It seems like the non creatures are what I need to answer more often but I really enjoy the flexibility and ability to commander tuck here.
Seal of Cleansing -> Force of Will well, the seal is ok but I was mostly including that because it was going to be heavier enchantress style early on. I feel like I want FOW more than the seal currently.
Orochi Hatchery -> Acorn Catapult the hatchery is expensive as hell to work with and while it makes a lot more bodies I think cheap bodies at instant speed is more important than the quantity here.
Pentavus -> Martial Coup pentavus seems like a card that I could potentially run away with but at the same time.... its really not achieving more than Consecrated Sphinx would and it costs a ton more mana.... I think its something that can be cut. I like the Coup as a token producer + wrath. I usually shouldnt care much about vanilla wraths here so it seems nice.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I felt like doing a rebuild from the ground up, here is the new list. The new list pushes a little harder on the control rather than the token making. I wanted to build around Torpor Orb / Humility a bit more though as well which was part of the decision to change the build direction a little. Its been like 3-5 months since I put a new list together in real life though so I am hoping to perhaps get something up off the ground in the near future.
Just throwing this out there: Momentary Blink, it basically replaces itself, can save a creature, or redo ETB effects. Granted, it does not work with tokens, but just wanted to mention it.
Banner by Feyd_Ruin
Introduction:
This is my take on Azorious Hatebears. The general principle behind hatebears is to cut opponents off from certain actions or abilities based on an effect in play. Typical hatebear commanders are often white variants as white tends to have a higher concentration of effects that disable opponents play. I chose to play Ephara as a hatebear commander because her abilities are not countered by most of the hatebear tactics and she enables a continuance of cards which hatebear decks can often struggle with.
My own build has a large emphasis on Torpor Orb effects. The idea is to slow down your opponents or pillowfort as you continue to out draw them. I also have a large emphasis in my build on playing with flash allowing you to dodge some wrath effects as well as flash in well timed hatebears.
Why Play Ephara:
This deck has a focus of low cost utility creatures and tokens with an emphasis on moving cards quickly. It will draw a lot of hate from a lot of people as it will probably interfere with what they want to do. One of the great things about a deck like this is that you can customize it to your own playgroup and what tactics see play locally. One of the downsides to that is that you will have to be a little objective with what cards you see people using and ask yourself if it will give you the same results. In a lot of cases, you can substitute cards and still have a very similar feel and play to your list.
Reasons to Like Ephara:
Reasons to Dislike Ephara
Alternate Commander Options
In the end, I wanted to play a hatebear strategy that allowed me to focus on Torpor Orb and a lot of other strong hatebear tactics. Ephara's ability to give consistent draw to the deck means that you can ideally chain from creature to creature. When Containment Priest first came out I knew that I wanted to mash all of these wonderful hate cards into one deck and hate on people with all of the fun effects I could.
Decklist:
1 Ephara, God of the Polis
CREATURES (29)
1 Serra Ascendant
1 Containment Priest
1 Mistmeadow Witch
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Spirit of the Labyrinth
1 Walking Atlas
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Burnished Hart
1 Dominating Licid
1 Haazda Shield Mate
1 Hushwing Gryff
1 Mangara of Corondor
1 Peacekeeper
1 Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
1 Thraben Doomsayer
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Emeria Angel
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Odric, Master Tactician
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Windborn Muse
1 Alexi, Zephyr Mage
1 Empress Galina
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Ætherling
1 Sun Titan
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Sol Ring
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Torpor Orb
1 Acorn Catapult
1 Trading Post
1 Vedalken Orrery
1 Eldrazi Monument
1 Myr Turbine
1 Akroma's Memorial
ENCHANTMENT (8)
1 Rest in Peace
1 Aura of Silence
1 Martyr's Cause
1 Rhystic Study
1 Sacred Mesa
1 Leyline of Anticipation
1 Opposition
1 Parallax Wave
INSTANT (10)
1 Pact of Negation
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Counterspell
1 Mana Drain
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Return to Dust
1 Force of Will
1 Bribery
1 Tragic Arrogance
PLANESWALKER (1)
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
LAND (38)
1 Academy Ruins
1 Arid Mesa
1 Buried Ruin
1 Command Tower
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Gemstone Caverns
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
9 Island
1 Kor Haven
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Mystic Gate
11 Plains
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Tower of the Magistrate
1 Tundra
1 Winding Canyons
Deckstats:
Deckstats for this deck can be found here (last updated 9/29/15).
Card Options:
Benevolent Bodyguard he can give a one shot protection effect to stave off spot removal. He is cheap to drop as well.
Cursecatcher he can slow down opponents or catch them off guard with a counter effect.
Doomed Traveler he gives two bodies for one mana. The token flies as well. Two triggers of Ephara for a single mana is a good return but he is hard to control his death trigger in a deck like this.
Judge's Familiar similar to cursecatcher but with flying. You can sometimes catch opponents off guard with effects like this.
Martyr of Frost its counter effect is an amount of mana that opponents do not know about which makes this card fun. Its sort of like a Mana Leak on demand but with the mana your opponents have to spend being unknown to them beforehand.
Planar Guide its sort of like a mass ghostway on a stick. The advantage is that its a creature so ephara can trigger and there is also the fact that it can blank tokens. You can use this as defense vs wraths or even as a fog in a pinch.
Salvage Scout depending on how much you care about Torpor Orb or your artifacts in general, this can be another recovery tool.
Serra Ascendant its a huge beater for very cheap. There is nothing like paying a mana to get a 6/6 flyer and the fact that we can draw a card off of our commander as well is just great.
Soul Warden it doesn't interact well with Torpor Orb effects but it can be some defense vs aggro and token tactics.
Soul's Attendant same as Soul Warden. Its an option for sustainability but it interacts poorly with Torpor Orb.
Weathered Wayfarer depending on how much you value your utility lands he is a good option. If you want to try to support Emeria, the Sky Ruin in deck he is a good way to tutor for it and set it up.
Aegis of the Gods hexproof is sort of so so in this format but occasionally you might see someone cast Mind Twist or Sorin Markov and be happy to have it. Its generally not an effect you see much of as targeted player cards aren't run as much in this format. If you can flash him in in response to one of these effects though you will feel like a champ but I think it might be too infrequent that you would see them.
Auriok Champion in my opinion, this is a worse version of Soul's Ascendant because its so unlikely that red or black spot removal would be used to kill this in the first place in this format. It also interacts poorly with Torpor Orb but can otherwise be useful against swarm and token tactics to give a life buffer.
Avenger en-Dal defensive removal based utility creature. Its nice that its removal is exile based as it means it chews up indestructible creatures. Its ability isnt cheap though and discarding a card on top of paying 2W seems rough.
Azorius Guildmage both abilities on this guildmage are solid. The ability counter effect can be extremely potent. The downside is that it can take a lot of mana to keep this up.
Containment Priest its ability is incredibly strong and the fact that it has built in flash means its used as a counter effect that continues to do work. This acts as both graveyard hate as well as hate for tutor into play based effects. This card has so much power I just wish I could run two of them. It can counter effects like Chord of Calling as well as reanimation effects like Necromancy.
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails he can protect other effects. You can also use him as a means of attacking through blockers by shifting colors and giving protection which can occasionally be useful for poking at planeswalkers. What is really fun though is that you can even screw with other players and give another player's creature protection from white. Its really sort of a pesky protection effect but the mana to use him adds up quick.
Erayo, Soratami Ascendant bannedEthersworn Canonist it can really slow down opponents who try to drop a combo into play in one turn and it hurts players who wheel quite a bit because they wheel and are forced to pass turn for the most part.
Fog Bank reusable blocking defense. Its funny because it just deters attackers really well and requires spot removal or a wrath to get rid of it. It depends on how much you need defenses but it does a good job of being a pillow fort effect and just moving attackers arround it unless they have unblockable or trample.
Gilded Drake it interacts poorly with Torpor Orb but its a very strong effect and its cheap to cast. Even during a Torpor Orb its still a 3/3 flyer for 1U which isn't terrible to be honest.
Grand Abolisher counterspells and responses giving you issues? This guy loves to hate.
Hidden Dragonslayer he is sort of an odd Torpor Orb friendly white Shriekmaw effect. Dropping and flipping him in one shot is sort of spendy though but its nice that he interacts with the commander and gets through Torpor Orb.
Imposing Sovereign hate for haste. It can also give you extra time to make attacks if you want to be more aggressive as your opponents blockers come in tapped.
Kataki, War's Wage for those playing a lot of mana stones, this will negate a lot of the mana they gain from them. Its strong vs artificer decks as well.
Knight of the White Orchid potential ramp on a cheap creature. He doesnt interact with Torpor Orb but he is still a 2/2 for WW with first strike that draws a card from your commander even if he doesnt get the land. The biggest downside is that WW on curve can be rough.
Leonin Arbiter he is like a secondary Aven Mindcensor effect. Its a little smaller and it affects everyone but it should slow people down depending on how much they search their libraries.
Lighthouse Chronologist it can close out games essentially on its own. You really need like 1UUUUUUUU to just in one shot drop and go for it but then you also probably want counter magic to cover for him. He is tricky as he really encourages you to be playing a heavy counter based build to support him.
Meddling Mage its sort of a mean tactic but you can cut someone off from their commander. You really have to commit to cutting someone out of the game ahead of time though which can feel like a rough move.
Merfolk Looter he can move cards in your hand as well as draw a card off of Ephara when he comes in. Not every card is the right card for the situation.
Mistmeadow Witch it can serve as protection and it can also serve as a maze effect. It blanks tokens to boot. I like the utility it gives even if the ability is a little expensive to activate.
Phantasmal Image its the cheapest creature clone out there. The biggest problem I have with it is that it tends to be best with ETB creatures and with this deck's focus on Torpor Orb effects it makes for an awkward duplication of a hatebear considering how easily it is removed.
Precinct Captain its effect is nice but its sort of a small body that is easy to block. I like its effect but its too easy to gum up in this format.
Rootwater Thief if your opponents are playing combo you can use this guy to extract pieces of their combo. Extract effects make it much harder to win assuming you are relying on a few key cards.
Samurai of the Pale Curtain graveyard hate is fun. Unfortunately a permanent is defined by a card in play so if someone is discarding or milling this does not kick in. It does stop a lot of effects still such as Skullclamps draw effect and it potentially interferes with some reanimation such as Undying and Persist.
Snapcaster Mage another strong ETB effect. If you are less worried or less focused on Torpor Orb, adding more ETB effects into the list can work.
Spiketail Hatchling it can catch people who accidentally tap out for effects. It can be really amusing if you give it flash as people dont really expect Force Spike effects.
Spirit of the Labyrinth Since ephara draws us on every upkeep we often can avoid drawing more than one card a turn. This utility creature is very strong vs other draw effects and it really kills wheel effects. If you have the ability to flash it in you will really crush someone now and then with his effect.
Stoneforge Mystic handicapped by Torpor Orb but its ETB is strong. Depending on how much equipment you run as well as how much you focus on Torpor Orb it can be a strong consideration.
Stratus Dancer it works through Torpor Orb and it can counter wraths and spot removal. The best part is that until you use it a few times people probably wont suspect it as your morph.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben slow down the noncreature based decks. It hurts you as well so it is going to come down to how many noncreatures you plan to run. Its only an extra one mana but it slows down a lot of plays when you try to cast more than one spell in a turn.
Thraben Heretic graveyard hate on a stick. Its small scale but its repeatable.
True Believer shroud and hexproof for yourself can be useful at times but its rather rare that it comes up. Sorin Markov and Mind Twist effects are some of the few that come to mind. It can be useful against Vicious Shadows as well but I cant think of a lot of cases outside of those that it really matters.
Vedalken Æthermage assuming you have a few good wizards in deck he can act as a wildcard to go get them. Occasionally you will run into a sliver deck or a deck using changelings that actually casting it will be useful for too.
Void Stalker on demand removal effect. Now that commander tuck has been removed though it lost a lot of its playability.
Voidmage Prodigy on demand counter effect. If you morph it you will probably confuse the heck out of some people too as its not one of the assumed morph targets generally speaking.
Willbender another amusing morph. It comes down to how much targeted removal sees play in your meta.
Archetype of Courage
Aven Mimeomancer
Aven Mindcensor
Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Daring Apprentice
Daxos of Meletis
Dominating Licid
Eidolon of Rhetoric
Ertai, Wizard Adept
Haazda Shield Mate
Hanna, Ship's Navigator
Hushwing Gryff
Intrepid Hero
Kemba, Kha Regent
Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
Mangara of Corondor
Mirror Entity
Monastery Mentor
Old Man of the Sea
Peacekeeper
Preacher
Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
Soltari Visionary
Spiketail Drakeling
Temporal Adept
Thada Adel, Acquisitor
Thraben Doomsayer
Vryn Wingmare
Wall of Denial
Angel of Jubilation
Angelic Field Marshal
Archangel of Tithes
Archivist
Clever Impersonator
Emeria Angel
Glen Elendra Archmage
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
Heliod, God of the Sun
Hero of Bladehold
Hokori, Dust Drinker
Hundred-Handed One
Jalira, Master Polymorphist
Jazal Goldmane
Leonin Abunas
Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Llawan, Cephalid Empress
Loxodon Gatekeeper
Magus of the Moat
Magus of the Tabernacle
Marble Titan
Odric, Master Tactician
Phyrexian Metamorph
Sakashima's Student
Saltskitter
Talrand, Sky Summoner
Thistledown Liege
Wall of Reverence
Windborn Muse
Wonder
Alexi, Zephyr Mage it can act as sort of a pseudo wrath in a pinch. It can reflect threats and most people dont really want to be caught in the middle of this effect. Its a good rattlesnake effect once its online and it offers good defense vs token tactics.
Archangel of Thune it can serve as a multi pump anthem that is still a creature. On its own it is really slow so I would suggest looking at a way to reliably gain life multiple times a turn to make the best use of it. It would pair well with Soul Warden paired with some token generation.
Azami, Lady of Scrolls its a card draw creature. Its just a little more expensive than Archivist but the potential to use the tribal draw is nice.
Beguiler of Wills this deck often puts tokens into play. Its sort of an odd creature but if you can flash it in or give it haste its potential to just start taking everyone's creatures.
Blinding Angel its really strong against voltron decks as in a lot of cases the decks try to be more offensive rather than having answers and defense. This can put an end to a non flying voltron commander.
Body Double blue rez that does not target. Its a little bit expensive at five mana but its really hard for opponents to interact with since it does not target. Its a solid effect you dont really find in these colors.
Dragonlord Ojutai some draw on a somewhat aggressive flyer. Its a bit of an odd duck though as its stats arent very good defensively speaking so you want to be more of an aggro build to get away with this as it doesnt sit on defense as well. Its hexproof evasion is a little odd in the 99 for this format.
Empress Galina it hijacks commanders plain and simple. The most fun part of this is that she can steal gods which can be very hard to interact with otherwise.
Fountain Watch an option to protect the noncreature effects you might have. It pairs well with things that give shroud, hexproof, or indestructible such as Lightning Greaves or Eldrazi Monument. It costs one more than Leonin Abunas though so you want it as the second copy or because of enchantments you run.
Godhead of Awe it slows opponents down. Most of our creatures are sort of small as it is so it can buy time against aggro and voltron strategies.
Isperia the Inscrutable it lets you see some information from your opponents as well as toolbox your deck for other flyers. Its a slow effect as you should expect it to take two attacks to one player to really get a trigger. You can always try the mono colored deck for their basic land type if you dont have any other info assuming they have been hitting their land drops.
Kjeldoran Royal Guard you can make them indestructible or give them protection from colors using things like Sword of Feast and Famine or Akroma's Memorial and make them soak up combat damage you would otherwise take. Its also really good in combination with Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant after it flips because it negates all damage.
Perplexing Chimera its an aggravating effect to pass through the field. Its really amazing if you can pair it with Homeward Path assuming you want to run such an effect. This creature should cause some chaos in general and make people second guess casting things.
Reveillark its ability gets through Torpor Orb and it can be good recursion. There is a bit of a question of how much graveyard hate you run though as well before running this guy as well as how many targets you have in deck.
Shattered Angel a lifegain over time effect. Its fairly safe to say that people would rather you gain three life than to miss a land drop.
Stonehewer Giant solid toolboxing assuming you run a big enough equipment toolbox. I would usually say I would want to see 4+ equipment before I would consider him though in a deck like this.
Sunscorch Regent a decent option for a more aggressive build. He gives some power as well as lifegain. His effect is a bit generic but he can get some work done.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir he cuts opponents off from spot removal and counters on your turn and opens you up to flashing utility creatures when they are relevant.
World Queller he can take out problematic effects by slowly eating artifacts or eat through tokens of your own to eat up creatures opponents control. He is a bit slow but his power comes from the fact that you get to choose the mode to trigger each turn. His weakness is being sort of slow to take effect.
Ætherling it can self flicker which draws cards off of Ephara and it can swing through blockers to poke at walker commanders. Its a versatile and robust threat.
Archetype of Imagination it both deprives opponents flyers as well as giving mass evasion to our creatures. The concern is the amount of mana it costs and if you attack someone with the evasion it gives and they use spot removal you might like 4 for 1 yourself.
Consecrated Sphinx genericly strong card draw. It doesnt really interact specifically with this deck but its strong all on its own.
Crovax, Ascendant Hero really good against opposing token strategies as a lot of tokens are not white. A good portion of the hatebears are white but if he would cause issues you can always bounce him to hand with his own ability.
Isperia, Supreme Judge an ok pillowfort effect. Unfortunately its only so dissuading. If it gets blown up it also does nothing so your defense here can disappear at any moment so dont rely on it too much.
Medomai the Ageless it probably gets hit by spot removal but it has the potential of spinning up extra turns. Combine it with flash and haste and it gives the potential for some nice value.
Mirror-Sigil Sergeant so the fun thing with this guy is that just with Ephara in play you double your count of them every turn. He is INCREDIBLY SLOW THOUGH. You have to realize that you cast this thing and until a full turn rotation passes a single spot removal takes him out entirely and you are giving your opponents a reason to do exactly that. That said, once you get like your second batch of clones you are going to be rolling hard. The idea of attacking with 4 4/4 tramplers is kind of a lot of damage. It takes time and it costs a lot to drop but its also a self expanding threat that can encompass a game on its own.
Palisade Giant fun combined with damage prevention or indestructibility. Its sort of mediocre without something of that sort though.
Soul of Theros it has the option of giving a nice size buff to the creatures. Its incredibly slow though as the option of dropping and pumping in one turn is 12 mana to give +2/+2. He really needs to just slow roll into play and be left alone. That said though, mass lifelink and +2/+2 adds up fast.
Sun Titan amazing recovery. Even with Torpor Orb effects he is still really good. He is probably the strongest six drop white creature out there.
Drogskol Reaver sort of an odd utility lifegain and draw sort of two in one. It works best if you have a lot of lifegain effects in deck. It could be fun with Soul Warden effects.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite this is a great effect as it gives both offensive pump as well as removing a lot of utility and token creatures opponents have. In general it will decrease their ability to output as well as turning your own creatures into output monsters.
Emeria Shepherd an option for recursion. The recursion to hand can be useful as some effects like Grafdigger's Cage and Containment Priest might keep you from bringing creatures directly back into play.
Palinchron its a big flyer who pays for itself. It can also self bounce so you can drop it and have mana up and then bounce it at the end of your opponents turns or during blocks. It can be sort of tricky without being used in an infinite combo.
Sphinx Ambassador its a toolbox effect and in a lot of cases your opponent will guess wrong. The idea here is to pick something generically good rather than the exact thing that would answer your current problem. The less familiar your opponents are with their decks the more effective this generally is.
Akroma, Angel of Wrath She plays offense, defense, and is generally not a big target of spot removal. She just gums up the board in a way that puts you in the lead. She wins in combat against SOOO many things. The downside is that if you appear to be winning people will gun for her.
Avacyn, Angel of Hope She plays offense, defense, and makes all of your things indestructable. She is a HUGE target for people trying to remove her. Generally trying to get her hexproof or shrouded is kind of huge once she is in play. Putting Lightning Greaves on her is a fantastic feeling in general. If you can get mass flash she is really fun to just drop in response to a wrath or removal.
Stormtide Leviathan it can act as defense from aggro strategies as well as being an attacker. I run a lot of mass flying buffs as well so it can defend the line so to speak all on its own. The downside is that if your opponents have spot removal your defense can come crumbling down really fast with it.
Blazing Archon it costs a ton of mana but its the ultimate combat defense. It just says no to literally everything. Lots of token, aggro, and voltron decks tend to run less removal so its a matter of keeping counters to back it.
Iona, Shield of Emeria its a bit of a lame move but its very strong as a hate effect. Generally what I dont like about this effect is that it tends to pick out one person and ask them not to play. While this deck can do stuff like that I dont like her effect as it feels like she does a ton of work or no work at all.
Reya Dawnbringer she is expensive and slow rolling but a rez every turn is also strong. I personally dont really recommend her but if you stick this effect your opponents will start feeling this fast.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur he can act as hand hate as well as a card draw option. He costs a lot of mana but having built in flash is sort of fun. You can flash him in on someone's end step and they just get to pitch their whole hand assuming they dont have spot removal or an unlimited hand size.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
You're running more creature spells than I am, so perhaps Promise of Bunrei is worth a look, too.
I'm going to recommend the INCREDIBLY OVERPOWERED (in this deck but literally zero other decks) saltskitter. Brimaz is also rad, as is hero of bladehold, and thraben doomsayer.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
It really depends on how much I value the power of the individual token vs just ease of use / being able to draw cards easily. I think that Hoofprints is interesting but it requires sort of a lot of setup and is hard to spam tokens from in general.
Voidmage - I like the card but have found it a little too situational on several occasions. The fact that it bounces back to hand and can draw me cards is good in here but I found it a little underwhelming most of the time in my Derevi deck and I play sort of a draw / go style there.
Ætherling - I actually really like this idea for Ephara. I will probably add it to the list.
Icatian Crier - its a little fragile and I was trying to stay away from creatures that slow churn out tokens. I am also not huge on the discard portion of it but in general have an issue with it just being a creature that slow churns tokens. I would rather an artifact / enchantment that makes tokens given the option.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion she is a really big target but still does a lot of good things. I probably should include her here. I always have an issue sticking her though even for just a full turn rotation but thats because she is good.
Elspeth Tirel people hate on my walkers a little too much and for sun's champ to be questionable, I will probably pass on this variant even though I like it too.
Oh wow... I totally did not realize that deputy couldnt bounce itself. That makes it a LOT worse.
saltskitter - ooooo nice tech!
I will see if I can toy with the list to include some of this stuff
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[Modern] Allies
This is just brilliant. It's like Glacial Chasm was altered just to fit this deck. Good call, Hipster Mike! I might actually cut Swords to Plowshares for Sanctuary in my Daxos list. It can represent the island of Salamis!
Draft my Peasant Cube.
I like it but my biggest issue is that you can only activate it off of your start of the turn upkeep draw. If I could drop it into play and then activate it off an ephera draw or something it would be an entirely different matter entirely. It feels a little slow as it stands but on the upside, its really hard for it to randomly go missing as you will know at the start of your turn if you are good for the next turn where some things like Ghostly Prison can go missing and suddenly you die out of nowhere.
Ohhhhhh nice call. That looks brutal. I will have to add it to the list.
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[Modern] Allies
I did some changes to the list based on some suggestions we had here:
CUT
ADDED:
I am not totally sold on the sanctuary but it seems kind of cool enough to try it over what had been propaganda effects anyways.
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[Modern] Allies
You and I are both running Humility which is just silly with the Sanctuary (or Jace, Architect of Thought, for that matter).
I see that you cut Replenish. What are your thoughts on Recall? With all of your card draw, it could be excellent recursion. It's a bit insane with Land Tax, too, which I noticed you're not currently running.
Recall - it involves paying 2U and discarding a card to get a single card back. I wish I could say more about it but its really sort of expensive to try to make it work. If it were at least instant speed I might be willing to give it a shot but I think you are better off just relying on draw power rather than worrying about recursion in this style of deck. I was going to have more of an enchantress feel to it before which was why I was going to include Replenish but with that gone it just didnt add up.
Land Tax - I actually prefer it in decks that have a hard time drawing cards consistently. I could see some benefit of it in here but beyond like 5 lands in play I think we are likely to have a good draw engine fairly regularly with Ephara so I dont really see it being that good here. My own preferences for it are more in decks that struggle to draw extra cards and or use tactics like Scroll Rack and top manipulation a lot.
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[Modern] Allies
What abput the other Elspeths and PW Venser? Your tokens will be able to protect them.
BRGWTana and TymnaBRGW
RTeneb, the EternalR
UBRNekusar, Mind RazerUBR
Rakdos, Lord of Riots
BGWGhave, Guru of SporesBGW
Aurelia, the Warleader
BDrana, Kalastria BloodchiefB
WBROros, the AvengerWBR
Other Elspeths - Original elspeth is very slow at churning out guys and in my opinion is mostly a trap in my mind in multiplayer EDH because its just so hard to bring walkers up to ult generally speaking and generally I want to be able to control when I get my creature triggers for the tokens. Elspeth 2.0 is alright but 3.0 just seems to have blown her out in terms of quality when it comes to token decks.
Venser - I prefer him a lot more in ETB creature style of decks. I dont see much value in his flicker in here and so we are really looking at him as a bad anthem for unblockable and or his ult which are not things I am willing to include him for.
My issue is that they still get to tap the first time so unless you combo it with something like Blind Obedience or something it can still be awkward.
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[Modern] Allies
Standard Budget Decks Link:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/budget-standard/752237-clownstabbers-budget-decks
I'd vote for Elspeth 1, her 2nd ability is also nice on a field of Humility 1/1 dudes. Also, Gideon 1 is pretty incredible with Humility out. I get that your Walkers don't stick around, but you might find you have enough 1/1 blockers that it's not an issue in this deck.
Also, Hallowed Burial and Terminus because if you have a token army, you don't care about tuck vs destroy, but your opponents will.
Karmic Justice and Martyr's Bond?
It'll louse up your curve, but Silent Sentinel seems good too.
WUBRG Some of these decks can actually win games...WUBRG
How I know I should build a deck:
Mentor is good in a lot of ways but I think a lot of the draw I already have is stronger. I would want to see the deck in action before I would really decide more about including him or not but he seems like a strong candidate but he is sort of fragile in general which is the big thing holding me back on him.
Heliod - Four mana per token is really steep to be honest. I run it in my Derevi because vigilance matters a lot more there and I dont expect it to much here.
Swords - they would help to connect for some damage a bit more often. I would probably assume that Sword of Feast and Famine is probably going to be the best of them and Fire Ice is probably going to be less impressive than usual because we already have good drawing in a lot of aspects here. Swords are an option for sure but I just didnt feel like I needed it that much here.
Elspeth 1.0 - I have been too disappointed by her too often to be honest. She can also only give me tokens on my turn which is generally where creatures hitting play is more likely to happen as well. If you feel like you would ever want to use her second ability it makes her a little better but its not something I really ever found relevant.
Gideon Jura - I love this walker, but sadly, he is usually underwhelming in a multiplayer game of EDH. I think he is cool though and you might be able to get away with him. I have stopped trying for the most part though to be honest.
Hallowed Burial / Terminus yea... I should probably run one of these in place of Rout here. I really like the instant speed option of Rout but I think the power upgrade is probably better here.
Solitary Confinement its a cool card, that being said, I think there is an option to run sort of a pillowfort defense set of stuff here and I think for now I am just going to try to run without that stuff. Those style of defenses can be difficult to set up and are very awkward when they suddenly disappear out of nowhere. I think its a good idea, I just dont know if pillowfort is where I would want to be with this deck yet.
Deadeye / Friends - its an option. In my opinion you really want to buff up your creature count to run that sort of stuff. I feel its sort of a long ways from my own current build but its definitely an option.
I am sort of contemplating shifting my Derevi list into this possibly. I have some mixed feelings still as I enjoy a lot of the elements of Derevi but I sort of feel like this deck would have a lot of similar elements but with better draw.
DECK CHANGES:
Auramancer -> Eldrazi Monument while I think there are still a lot of great enchantments in this deck, keeping Auramancer makes less sense than keeping Replenish. I like the Monument as I have a lot of focus on token production that gives continuous tokens.
Island Sanctuary -> Unexpectedly Absent I have been enjoying Unexpectedly Absent of late and I just like the feel and flexibility of the card. In a pinch, I can buy a single turn or I can try to bury something including commanders deep.
Leyline of Anticipation -> Counterspell I have played with a lot of flash enablers before and I just dont feel like I can benefit enough from Leyline to offset the hatred it tends to bring. More counters are good as well.
Rout -> Terminus I like that I have a lot of draw spaced out over other player's turns so it seems like hitting the miracle should be extra high due to how Ephara works here.
Nevermore -> Weathered Wayfarer as much as I like to cut someone off at the knees, wayfarer gets me my utility lands and keeps me hitting land drops. I think Nevermore is more of a situational card than anything.
I will see if I can come up with a landbase for this too.
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[Modern] Allies
DECK CHANGE:
Path to Exile -> Oblation I have been enjoying the flexibility over the cheap of late. It seems like the non creatures are what I need to answer more often but I really enjoy the flexibility and ability to commander tuck here.
Seal of Cleansing -> Force of Will well, the seal is ok but I was mostly including that because it was going to be heavier enchantress style early on. I feel like I want FOW more than the seal currently.
Orochi Hatchery -> Acorn Catapult the hatchery is expensive as hell to work with and while it makes a lot more bodies I think cheap bodies at instant speed is more important than the quantity here.
Pentavus -> Martial Coup pentavus seems like a card that I could potentially run away with but at the same time.... its really not achieving more than Consecrated Sphinx would and it costs a ton more mana.... I think its something that can be cut. I like the Coup as a token producer + wrath. I usually shouldnt care much about vanilla wraths here so it seems nice.
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[Modern] Allies
1 Ephara, God of the Polis
CREATURES (12)
1 Whitemane Lion
1 Burnished Hart
1 Hanna, Ship's Navigator
1 Trinket Mage
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Heliod, God of the Sun
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Saltskitter
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Ætherling
1 Sun Titan
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
ARTIFACT (12)
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Torpor Orb
1 Acorn Catapult
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Throne of Empires
1 Trading Post
1 Batterskull
1 Myr Turbine
ENCHANTMENT (11)
1 Rest in Peace
1 Aura of Silence
1 Martyr's Cause
1 Mobilization
1 Sacred Mesa
1 Words of Wind
1 Bident of Thassa
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Humility
1 Opposition
1 Mind over Matter
1 Argivian Find
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Mana Drain
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Forbid
1 Hinder
1 Oblation
1 Rootborn Defenses
1 Spell Crumple
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Return to Dust
1 Force of Will
SORCERY (7)
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Fabricate
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Bribery
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Austere Command
1 Terminus
PLANESWALKER (2)
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Academy Ruins
1 Arid Mesa
1 Buried Ruin
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 High Market
12 Island
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
1 Kor Haven
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mystic Gate
10 Plains
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Springjack Pasture
1 Tower of the Magistrate
1 Tundra
1 Windbrisk Heights
Here is the old list:
1 Ephara, God of the Polis
CREATURES (13)
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Whitemane Lion
1 Hanna, Ship's Navigator
1 Stonecloaker
1 Trinket Mage
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Saltskitter
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Ætherling
1 Sun Titan
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
ARTIFACT (13)
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Acorn Catapult
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Mimic Vat
1 Nuisance Engine
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Throne of Empires
1 Trading Post
1 Eldrazi Monument
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Myr Turbine
1 Luminarch Ascension
1 Rest in Peace
1 Aura of Silence
1 Martyr's Cause
1 Mobilization
1 Sacred Mesa
1 Words of Wind
1 Bident of Thassa
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Humility
1 Opposition
INSTANT (15)
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Mana Drain
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Forbid
1 Hinder
1 Oblation
1 Spell Crumple
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Return to Dust
1 Force of Will
1 Martial Coup
1 Fabricate
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Bribery
1 Austere Command
1 Terminus
PLANESWALKER (2)
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
LAND (38)
1 Academy Ruins
1 Arid Mesa
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 High Market
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
1 Kor Haven
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Mystic Gate
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Springjack Pasture
1 Tower of the Magistrate
1 Tundra
1 Windbrisk Heights
EDIT: I scratched the changes and went back to modifying the original list.
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[Modern] Allies
I buy HP and Damaged cards!
Only EDH:
Sigarda, Host of Herons: Enchantress' Enchantments
Jenara, Asura of War: ETB Value Town
Purphoros, God of the Forge: Global Punishment
Xenagos, God of Revels: Ramp, Sneak, & Heavy Hitters
Ghave, Guru of Spores: Dies_to_Doom_Blade's stax list
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Donald's list