This is the deck for when I don't want to think too much, want to watch the world burn, or want to have Wonder Woman as my commander. It's semi-budget, i.e. Voltron without swords - trying to use Akroma's firebreathing AND trample, relevant protections in a format dominated by green and blue, and damage doublers to rack up 21 general damage quickly.
Hey, but I thought Akroma was white! Where did red Akroma come from?
Then read this:
Short answer - Black (not blue) Ixidor creates an Akroma who's supposed to destroy first, protect a very distant second (or not at all :p) as opposed to her normal-timeline white counterpart.
Long answer - here.
Why I play Akroma:
Some men just want to watch the world burn. Seriously, though, sometimes the simple, direct approach is refreshing, especially since my other go-to decks are Barrin, Master Wizard and Ephara, God of the Polis.
Dodges counterspells. For your opponents, Akroma is this clock ticking down to 8 mana, find a way to answer it or die. Note that Mindbreak Trap and other "non-counter"counterspells still work, so beware.
Dodges tuck. What do most tuck spells have in common? They either target and are blue or white(Bant Charm, Oblation, Spin into Myth) or counter (Hinder, Spell Crumple) and are thus useless against Wonder Woman Akroma. Of course, Terminus and Chaos Warp are why I run sac outlets.
Despite being quite budget, Akroma is quite good against many commanders usually regarded as "overpowered" (read, blue). This is by no means a free pass, though, Akroma has weaknesses and I HAVE lost, embarrassingly, to Azorius decks before. Multiple times.
Wincons:
Akroma with sufficient damage doublers and enough Mountains on board is THE wincon. This is voltron, right?
Notably, resolved Savage Beating or Grafted Exoskeleton on an unblocked Akroma is auto-win.
Beatdown with Malignus/Avatar of Slaughter/Taurean Mauler is possible if Akroma is out for whatever reason, but these lack Akroma's protection, ease of pump (firebreathing) or trample, so...it's going to be difficult.
There is also an Insurrection, but I'm not sure if I have ever won with it.
How I play:
I think voltron decks are quite similar to combo, in that they essentially focus on assembling their game winning plan, only stopping to answer the most serious threats to their plan. Basically, this deck is constantly in hand-vomit mode - the goal is to reach 8 mana ASAP, then 21 general damage ASAP. Vomit all the mana rocks, then all the damage doublers, then Akroma herself. The only thing I usually hold back is Grafted Exoskeleton for the surprise factor. Other than that, I have no qualms dumping a, say, Fireshrieker onto the board on T3. If it lives, it lives, if not - Akroma can self-pump given enough red mana and even a completely unboosted Akroma, with only the RRR needed to cast her, will win in 3 turns. If Akroma dies, cast her again. And again. Until one player loses. That's what all the mana accel is for (:
I hardly (if ever) run Akroma as a morph. Due to the mana accel, 6 mana and 8 mana is not very different, and I run Akroma because the protections are very relevant in EDH.
Why don't I run/cards I've tried:
Swords of X and Y: Too pricey, and not really in keeping with what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to amass enough damage doublers and red mana to drop Akroma and the next turn one-shot somebody, and for 5 mana (3 to cast, 2 to equip), I'd rather have Fireshrieker or Inquisitor's Flail which cost much less (in $$ terms, I mean) and give a larger boost than +2/+2. The only one I could consider is SoFaF, for an Akroma which is essentially only vulnerable to red and artifacts. If they printed a Sword of Red and Black, that would be the best (I think the only things I fear from Green are Lignify and Song of the Dryads), but it doesn't exist, unfortunately.
Heartless Hidetsugu: I had a Hidetsugu deck at the time I built this, but I since dismantled it as it was even more linear than Akroma. Hidetsugu runs a lot of the same stuff as Akroma (Grafted Exoskeleton), but due to his symmetrical nature, I need a way to not kill myself - which Akroma doesn't need.
Urabrask the Hidden: At 5 mana, it's a bit too expensive for a haste enabler, and usually Akroma is not too worried about surprise/chump blockers. Most fliers are blue or white, so it's a no go anyway, and she even has trample to boot.
Other red control cards (Grand Melee, Price of Glory, Citadel of Pain, Blood Moon): This deck needs 2 things above all else: mana accel and damage doublers. There simply isn't much room for these cards, awesome as they are. Bedlam is the only "no blocking" effect I run, because it's straightforward, and War's Toll finds a home because it makes the opponent unable to attack and leave chump blockers behind. Stranglehold because counters don't touch Akroma and I could care less what the opponent does on his turn, but extra turns hurt. Also, usually there are 1-2 cards that can touch Akroma in even a blue/white deck like Duplicant or Spine of Ish Sah and I don't want to let the opponent tutor for those.
Things I might find a home for eventually:
Nothing, really. If a red creature with as much voltron potential as Akroma (protections, ease of pump, trample) was printed, it'd replace Taurean Mauler or Malignus - but I haven't found one. Suggestions would be welcomed, though (:
Oh, and I play on MTGO, so prices/availability of cards might be a little different as compared to paper. Also, not French banlist - but all I'd need to do would be take out the SDT (maybe some red draw like Faithless Looting could replace it) and nerf the mana accel a little.
I love Akroma, Angel of Fury with a sick passion. I have currently two decks active with her, and a history of different builds. I have a video hosted with one of my designs (the video needs updating with about 4x new cards). My second build is less voltron and more battlecruiser - I took its video down because I'm building a Duel Decks EDH: Akroma (white vs red), where the decks are equivalent in power.
For starters I love your list.
While I see the comment regarding its price, I highly suggest that you can get a Guantlet of Might from the ABU collectors or international edition. It has square boarders but most people don't mind you playing it. You can even clip the edges although that ruins the cards value. Just make sure you can't see the gold peeking out the back of your sleeves. Usually you can snag one on eBay for $25 to $35, or from a site like abu for ~40ish
edit: nvm about the above comment as I just remembered that you play mtgo
If you get the 3rd mana doubler, then consider Sculpting Steel. It is usually an iffy-inclusion, but a potential duplicate mana-doubler is usually game ending.
You may also like Granite Grip and Claws of Valakut. Assuming you hit every land drop and (for example sake) cast Akroma on turn-8. On Turn-9 you drop your 9'th Mountain, enchant akroma, then swing + firebreathing for exactly 21. You can obviously ramp into this and pump firebreathing / double damage / etc in other ways. These weak variants of Blanchwood Armor are almost always a completely spontaneous bomb, even if you snap it on your Inkmoth Nexus. Noone ever expects to see these. Although do note that in my builds I usually run about 4x non-basic's and Ruination so I have lots of mountains.
Journeyer's Kite is an auto-include I run in all of my mono-red decks, even 1v1, because it does help landfalls. If someone resolves a Bane of Progress against you before you land or attack with Akroma, then you've probably lost all of your support. (just as an example but Bane of Progress kills 36 permanents out of your 100 card deck) Your lands are the harder-to-remove permanent, and all you need with Akroma is mana to firebreath, so the lands are the most important thing. So with that in mind, also consider a Torpor Orb since most of your support is vulnerable to very common etb-removal.
More draw is always good - especially the 4 mana ones like Coercive Portal (which I already have!) and Outpost Siege, or the one-shot Memory Jar. Thing is...what to cut?
To that end, do pure haste enablers such as Battle Rampart and the like do anything for you? Usually I cast Akroma immediately at 8 mana, so on the turn I cast Akroma I won't have enough spare mana to kill the opponent anyway... If so, they can make space for the draw power.
Do you find you need a Akroma replacement in case of nonsense like Nevermore? What do you think of Mana-Charged Dragon? It's like Akroma without the protections.
This is going to be hard to make cuts as many cards you run are all fantastic. I would sit down and break the permanents down by type and evaluate possible additions from card-type.
For example I love Stranglehold, and it is a very important card to have in a few decks. But it doesn't really make Akroma win. Comparing Stranglehold to Outpost Siege and think about which one you would prefer to have in an opening hand.
Another example would be War's Toll, which is an excellent card, but not as consistent as you may want. Avatar of Slaughter and Insurrection are also not very reliable in a 1v1 design, especially when the mana investment in those two could be the lethal for firebreathing up Akroma.
Seething Song effects are great but I would consider Koth of the Hammer as the pseudo ramp effect since he is going to give you more options. He is still good acceleration even if your only running 20ish mountains.
When it comes to Akroma being ultimately dealt with (like your Nevermore or if she got Terminus'd for example) I typically rely on a few extra beaters or a handful of big x-spells (which you already have). All-In voltron/general damage with Akroma works great but can be a somewhat glass-cannon, so I tend to go mid-range semi-linear with about 5 to 8 big creatures and enough utility to make use of my equipment; Stormbreath Dragon Thundermaw Dragon (also great for tapping down blockers for akroma) Tahngarth, Talruum Hero (not as useful without the equipment / swords of protection) Hoard-Smelter Dragon for repeat artifact removal Inferno Titan Wurmcoil Engine
My opinion on the numbers there although is going to be inappropriate for your design since I tend to run more equipment. You may want more creatures instead of just 5ish beaters.
If your opponents do resolve a Nevermore although I think you can just morph Akroma out, may need to double check althoug
Also consider Karn Liberated as an ideal replacement for the Spine of Ish Sah. Ugin, the Spirit Dragon would make for an excellent addition too for enchantment removal. All is Dust would also make for a good situational board wipe that also hits problem enchantments.
You're running Mono red so I'd totes add Blood Moon. The ability to just win the game for 4 mana is quite nice.
Nah, I'm still quite attached to my utility lands. Besides, I don't think Blood Moon is a generally powerful effect, more of a situationally powerful one. There's the price to consider too...
702.36a Morph is a static ability that functions in any zone from which you could play the card it‘s on, and the morph effect works any time the card is face down. "Morph [cost]" means "You may cast this card as a 2/2 face-down creature, with no text, no name, no subtypes, and no mana cost by paying {3} rather than paying its mana cost." (See rule 707, "Face-Down Spells and Permanents.")
By the very nature of Nevermore and morph having "no name" then yes you can still land Akroma
Yea sieze has been spiking in price recently due to narset. The foil one is almost impossible to find.
Wild Ricochet is good in some metas but usually too situational. I almost always run Reiterate in all my mono-red decks, and maybe one more copy spell. Fork is my preference as it makes the spell red. There is an argument here to be made regarding making a spell red when a creature may be pro-red, but the commonness of pro-red vs the opponent finding pro-red vs your specific deck is highly situational. Reverberate will make a normal copy of the spell and keep the spells colors.
Shunt is a highly situational card that I sometimes slip in my decks that I know will be played in muli-player, but for 1v1 it may not be worth the cut.
Another card I've been slipping in my Akroma decks is Temur Battle Rage as another potential 1-hit kill when investing 5 mana in the firebreathing.
702.36a Morph is a static ability that functions in any zone from which you could play the card it‘s on, and the morph effect works any time the card is face down. "Morph [cost]" means "You may cast this card as a 2/2 face-down creature, with no text, no name, no subtypes, and no mana cost by paying {3} rather than paying its mana cost." (See rule 707, "Face-Down Spells and Permanents.")
By the very nature of Nevermore and morph having "no name" then yes you can still land Akroma
Yea sieze has been spiking in price recently due to narset. The foil one is almost impossible to find.
Wild Ricochet is good in some metas but usually too situational. I almost always run Reiterate in all my mono-red decks, and maybe one more copy spell. Fork is my preference as it makes the spell red. There is an argument here to be made regarding making a spell red when a creature may be pro-red, but the commonness of pro-red vs the opponent finding pro-red vs your specific deck is highly situational. Reverberate will make a normal copy of the spell and keep the spells colors.
Shunt is a highly situational card that I sometimes slip in my decks that I know will be played in muli-player, but for 1v1 it may not be worth the cut.
Another card I've been slipping in my Akroma decks is Temur Battle Rage as another potential 1-hit kill when investing 5 mana in the firebreathing.
Temur Battle Rage - that's great! I now know what to replace the "haste package" (Lightning Mauler, Battle Rampart) with. Haste usually "only" nets me 6 extra commander damage because I usually cast Akroma once I get to 8 mana - which I would get with double strike.
Any other good enchantment removal you use that isn't a colourless planeswalker? Maybe Unstable Obelisk?
Took out most of the haste enablers and miscellaneous red goodstuff in favour of draw power and double strike. Aim is now to kill on the turn after Akroma drops! I found Wrecking Ogre, which is at the very least 6 damage for 5 mana and can be used as a beater in a pinch. Protection (that isn't swords) is rather useful to let Akroma survive 1 turn, I'm even considering Mask of Avacyn but it's probably too expensive. Anyway, there is enough mana accel to not worry about paying 7RRR or even 9RRR to recast Akroma. Also upped the land count and brought in Valakut to kill random utility guys, since this deck really wants to hit its land drop every turn to recast Akroma again and again. Mana-charged Dragon isn't in stock at my usual bot, so Taurean Mauler gets to stay in for a while. Hall of the Bandit Lord might also make way for another Mountain at some point.
Not bad, the deck is more focused, I managed to kill Ezuri with Temur Battle Rage the turn before I would have died to an elf horde. So there's that.
I've been greatly enjoying Commune with Lava in my design. With a mana-doubler out it has given me some very massive plays following an opponents turn.
With the rules change in tuck I've been slightly annoyed at seeing Akroma loose one of the better reasons to run. IMO this is actually bad for us as most players will exchange their tuck spells for more cost efficient removal and counters. While she still can't be touched by things like Prison Term I have seen more players in my groups change from Hinder and whatnot to Evacuation effects, and opponents dropping two 3cmc counter spells for cheaper 2cmc means quite a bit in a game of tempo.
True - on one hand, as a voltron-ish build, Akroma does welcome the loss of tuck (Chaos Warp exists), but on the whole, I think it's a net negative as people replace Oblations with Nevermores or Council's Judgment as the "answer everything" spell of choice. Blue doesn't matter too much as Akroma can't be countered, short of Mindbreak Trap. I guess I don't have to run "Akroma replacements" anymore like Taurean Mauler or Malignus, though, and thus there are 2 free spots. Maybe more ramp/draw or hexproof, like Mask of Avacyn? I do need to find more enchantment hate beyond Spine of Ish Sah and Chaos Warp, though. Avatar of Slaughter will probably make way for Berserkers' Onslaught when the price drops, too.
Good day Mr. DustBunny, what would you remove if Sword of Feast and Famine will be included? Is lotus bloom an acceptable replacement for Mana Crypt? Thanks. Planning to make this as my first EDH deck since I so love the new art of Akroma.
Maybe Vedalken Orrery for SoFaF? I mainly run damage doublers instead of the swords, the reason why I wanted SoFaF was to give Akroma protection from black/green. The Orrery hasn't been very impressive so far.
Any sort of mana ramp works, just find the best within your budget. Mana Crypt is obviously better because of the surprise factor, but I play on MTGO where it's cheaper compared to Lotus Bloom. If in paper of course Lotus Bloom works too.
Hey I like your deck idea! I just wanted to ask if you think Trailblazer's boots was worth a shot? I use it in a Kemba build granted its equipment heavy. It almost always ensures Khemba is unblockable and its cheap. SO I'd imagine your Akroma would almost always be unblockable with it.
Is blazing shoal something you'd try to punch through for a one shot or not worth the slot? I'm just wondering about throwing it in to pitch a card too especially with double strike going.
Hey I like your deck idea! I just wanted to ask if you think Trailblazer's boots was worth a shot? I use it in a Kemba build granted its equipment heavy. It almost always ensures Khemba is unblockable and its cheap. SO I'd imagine your Akroma would almost always be unblockable with it.
Is blazing shoal something you'd try to punch through for a one shot or not worth the slot? I'm just wondering about throwing it in to pitch a card too especially with double strike going.
Akroma has trample, flying, and protection from white and blue. With these, I usually don't have a problem with her getting chump blocked, and even if she is I can just pump her power. Kemba doesn't have any of these, so I imagine unblockable would be more important for her. I'd rather run shroud/hexproof granting equipment as a voltron deck just dies when your general gets shut down. Of course, Whispersilk Cloak is something I run
Blazing Shoal I haven't tried, but with card draw at a premium in red and the CMC of most of my stuff not being very high, I don't think it compares very favourably to say Temur Battle Rage.
Awesome list man, its super solid! Moreover, i love the double down on double damage : ) The only switches i made was:
valakut --> mountain (have yet to see valakut in a non-scapeshift/prime time be worth the ETB tapped)
hoard smelter --> hellkite tyrant (why destroy when you can take mwa hahahah, at 4 per destroy it would take a bit of mana to blow it all up)
hoarding dragon --> braid of fire (quite a few instants//morphs and akroma to gobble up that delicious R mana).
spine of ish sah --> ugin dragonblast (hi, sac all ur shiz....:P)
Awesome list man, its super solid! Moreover, i love the double down on double damage : ) The only switches i made was:
valakut --> mountain (have yet to see valakut in a non-scapeshift/prime time be worth the ETB tapped)
hoard smelter --> hellkite tyrant (why destroy when you can take mwa hahahah, at 4 per destroy it would take a bit of mana to blow it all up)
hoarding dragon --> braid of fire (quite a few instants//morphs and akroma to gobble up that delicious R mana).
spine of ish sah --> ugin dragonblast (hi, sac all ur shiz....:P)
Generally any mana ramp is pretty solid. Gauntlet of Might and Braid of Fire would definitely find a home, but I am a bit stingy with tix in general Usually, I replace worse ramp with better ramp, so Mana Geyser would probably come out for the Gauntlet. Koth I am on the fence about, he is definitely decent ramp but either turns my Mountains into creatures or is only good with a decent number of mountains out. I don't like Grinning Ignus - I prefer my relatively vulnerable creature-based ramp to be able to accelerate repeatedly.
Which reminds me, Seize the Day is dropping in price. Should be picking up a copy (:
Nothing fancy, basically upgrading the ramp package and adding in cards that should have been in from the start, but weren't due to budget concerns.
Usually my drawpower is ok for now, just want to hit 8 mana ASAP and cast Akroma.
Would the new Command Beacon be any good on the off-chance Akroma ever gets stopped in order to avoid having to pay for 10?
If I can pay 8 mana, the land/mana rock density in this deck is usually high enough such that I can pay 10 and even 12 mana the next turn. Plus, the last time I tried to cut down on Mountains it didn't end well. Akroma is quite red mana-hungry, and things like Gauntlet of Might/Extraplanar Lens thrive on having Mountains around. So I don't think it would find a home...
Hello again. I just wanted to poke back in here and shout out an idea that I was considering while brewing up another Akroma devotion / artifactless variant.
Thinking more on your current list, all she really needs to secure a win seems to typically be just her surviving for a turn.
Have you ever considered Final Fortune? There are other variants too (Last Chance/Warrior's Oath). I don't think sundial combo's are worth running here, and I wouldn't run more than 2 of these effects max, but final fortune could be such a blow-out (for either you or the opponent).
This may be a suicide mission, but I suppose that depends on your opponents ability to answer Akroma (if they even can on the turn you cast her + this). If they can't, or were hoping to untap and use sorcery speed wipes, then this may be another window for 1-shot. If they are in the colors or known to have instant speed answers, then this could just be a dead card in hand.
I'm going to stick a single Final Fortune in the brew I'm tinkering with and see how it plays out. The issue for me although is that I still play mutiplayer and my decks are all tuned for such
Well, I almost exclusively play Akroma in 1v1 (for multiplayer, I usually use Barrin or Arjun), so Final Fortune and friends are quite useful. They could easily replace the more expensive double strike cards such as Berserker's Onslaught and Dictate of the Twin Gods. Cards that grant "double strike" without actually saying double strike are always useful (: I guess I could mitigate some of the risk by playing them on the second main phase, because if the opponent has an answer to Akroma, he probably would have used it before/during the combat step rather than after combat damage was dealt.
Double damage voltron
This is the deck for when I don't want to think too much, want to watch the world burn, or want to have Wonder Woman as my commander. It's semi-budget, i.e. Voltron without swords - trying to use Akroma's firebreathing AND trample, relevant protections in a format dominated by green and blue, and damage doublers to rack up 21 general damage quickly.
Hey, but I thought Akroma was white! Where did red Akroma come from?
Then read this:
Short answer - Black (not blue) Ixidor creates an Akroma who's supposed to destroy first, protect a very distant second (or not at all :p) as opposed to her normal-timeline white counterpart.
Long answer - here.
Why I play Akroma:
Wonder WomanAkroma. Of course, Terminus and Chaos Warp are why I run sac outlets.Here's my list (by function):
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
Killswitches
1 Assault Strobe
1 Berserkers' Onslaught
1 Dictate of the Twin Gods
1 Fireshrieker
1 Furnace of Rath
1 Grafted Exoskeleton
1 Gratuitous Violence
1 Inquisitor's Flail
1 Wrecking Ogre
1 Savage Beating
1 Seize the Day
1 Temur Battle Rage
Protection/unblockable
1 Bedlam
1 Champion's Helm
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Vedalken Orrery
1 Whispersilk Cloak
MOAR MANA
1 Burnished Hart
1 Caged Sun
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Expedition Map
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Fractured Powerstone
1 Gauntlet of Might
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mind Stone
1 Palladium Myr
1 Soulbright Flamekin
1 Sol Ring
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Star Compass
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Coercive Portal
1 Godo, Bandit Warlord
1 Hoarding Dragon
1 Outpost Siege
1 Reforge the Soul
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Staff of Nin
1 Wheel of Fortune
Utility
1 Banefire
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Comet Storm
1 Chaos Warp
1 Hoard-Smelter Dragon
1 Molten Disaster
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Rolling Earthquake
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Vandalblast
1 Word of Seizing
Lands
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Homeward Path
1 Kher Keep
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Strip Mine
1 Temple of the False God
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
28 Mountain
Wincons:
Akroma with sufficient damage doublers and enough Mountains on board is THE wincon. This is voltron, right?
Notably, resolved Savage Beating or Grafted Exoskeleton on an unblocked Akroma is auto-win.
Beatdown with Malignus/Avatar of Slaughter/Taurean Mauler is possible if Akroma is out for whatever reason, but these lack Akroma's protection, ease of pump (firebreathing) or trample, so...it's going to be difficult.
There is also an Insurrection, but I'm not sure if I have ever won with it.
How I play:
I think voltron decks are quite similar to combo, in that they essentially focus on assembling their game winning plan, only stopping to answer the most serious threats to their plan. Basically, this deck is constantly in hand-vomit mode - the goal is to reach 8 mana ASAP, then 21 general damage ASAP. Vomit all the mana rocks, then all the damage doublers, then Akroma herself. The only thing I usually hold back is Grafted Exoskeleton for the surprise factor. Other than that, I have no qualms dumping a, say, Fireshrieker onto the board on T3. If it lives, it lives, if not - Akroma can self-pump given enough red mana and even a completely unboosted Akroma, with only the RRR needed to cast her, will win in 3 turns. If Akroma dies, cast her again. And again. Until one player loses. That's what all the mana accel is for (:
I hardly (if ever) run Akroma as a morph. Due to the mana accel, 6 mana and 8 mana is not very different, and I run Akroma because the protections are very relevant in EDH.
Why don't I run/cards I've tried:
Swords of X and Y: Too pricey, and not really in keeping with what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to amass enough damage doublers and red mana to drop Akroma and the next turn one-shot somebody, and for 5 mana (3 to cast, 2 to equip), I'd rather have Fireshrieker or Inquisitor's Flail which cost much less (in $$ terms, I mean) and give a larger boost than +2/+2. The only one I could consider is SoFaF, for an Akroma which is essentially only vulnerable to red and artifacts. If they printed a Sword of Red and Black, that would be the best (I think the only things I fear from Green are Lignify and Song of the Dryads), but it doesn't exist, unfortunately.
Heartless Hidetsugu: I had a Hidetsugu deck at the time I built this, but I since dismantled it as it was even more linear than Akroma. Hidetsugu runs a lot of the same stuff as Akroma (Grafted Exoskeleton), but due to his symmetrical nature, I need a way to not kill myself - which Akroma doesn't need.
Urabrask the Hidden: At 5 mana, it's a bit too expensive for a haste enabler, and usually Akroma is not too worried about surprise/chump blockers. Most fliers are blue or white, so it's a no go anyway, and she even has trample to boot.
Other red control cards (Grand Melee, Price of Glory, Citadel of Pain, Blood Moon): This deck needs 2 things above all else: mana accel and damage doublers. There simply isn't much room for these cards, awesome as they are. Bedlam is the only "no blocking" effect I run, because it's straightforward, and War's Toll finds a home because it makes the opponent unable to attack and leave chump blockers behind. Stranglehold because counters don't touch Akroma and I could care less what the opponent does on his turn, but extra turns hurt. Also, usually there are 1-2 cards that can touch Akroma in even a blue/white deck like Duplicant or Spine of Ish Sah and I don't want to let the opponent tutor for those.
Things I might find a home for eventually:
Nothing, really. If a red creature with as much voltron potential as Akroma (protections, ease of pump, trample) was printed, it'd replace Taurean Mauler or Malignus - but I haven't found one. Suggestions would be welcomed, though (:
Things I'm too cheap to splash the money for:
Gauntlet of MightaddedSword of Feast and Famine - see above.
Oh, and I play on MTGO, so prices/availability of cards might be a little different as compared to paper. Also, not French banlist - but all I'd need to do would be take out the SDT (maybe some red draw like Faithless Looting could replace it) and nerf the mana accel a little.
Comments welcomed!
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
22/2/15:
Out:
Stranglehold
War's Toll
Lightning Mauler
Viashino Heretic
Insurrection
Ghitu Encampment
Rogue's Passage
Battle Rampart
Greater Gargadon
In:
Coercive Portal
Staff of Nin
Assault Strobe
Hoard-Smelter Dragon
Wrecking Ogre
Temur Battle Rage
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
2x Mountain
11/4/15:
Out:
Avatar of Slaughter
Taurean Mauler
Malignus
In:
Berserkers' Onslaught
Steel Hellkite
Commune with Lava
2/11/15:
+ Braid of Fire
+ Gauntlet of Might
+ Seize the Day
- Seething Song
- Mana Geyser
- Commune with Lava
5/11/15:
- Braid of Fire
+ Outpost Siege
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
For starters I love your list.
While I see the comment regarding its price, I highly suggest that you can get a Guantlet of Might from the ABU collectors or international edition. It has square boarders but most people don't mind you playing it. You can even clip the edges although that ruins the cards value. Just make sure you can't see the gold peeking out the back of your sleeves. Usually you can snag one on eBay for $25 to $35, or from a site like abu for ~40ish
edit: nvm about the above comment as I just remembered that you play mtgo
If you get the 3rd mana doubler, then consider Sculpting Steel. It is usually an iffy-inclusion, but a potential duplicate mana-doubler is usually game ending.
You may also like Granite Grip and Claws of Valakut. Assuming you hit every land drop and (for example sake) cast Akroma on turn-8. On Turn-9 you drop your 9'th Mountain, enchant akroma, then swing + firebreathing for exactly 21. You can obviously ramp into this and pump firebreathing / double damage / etc in other ways. These weak variants of Blanchwood Armor are almost always a completely spontaneous bomb, even if you snap it on your Inkmoth Nexus. Noone ever expects to see these. Although do note that in my builds I usually run about 4x non-basic's and Ruination so I have lots of mountains.
Myriad Landscape is great for ramping faster. Commander's Sphere should make its way in place as mana ramp that replaces itself later.
Seize the Day is 7-mana for 12 extra general damage at the very least, or if you firebreath +1 (8 mana) your 3x combat steps = 21 akroma damage.
You might also like Rage Reflection as another doublestrike effect.
I would also suggest a bit more draw effects. Staff of Nin, Mind's Eye, Coercive Portal, Outpost Siege, and Chandra, Pyromaster are worth considering. If you are reliably getting a mana-doubler out then Memory Jar usually nets you quite a few cards if it survives a turn to let you untap. That also opens the doors for Goblin Welder shenanigans with the jar and things like Duplicant and/or Burnished Hart.
Journeyer's Kite is an auto-include I run in all of my mono-red decks, even 1v1, because it does help landfalls. If someone resolves a Bane of Progress against you before you land or attack with Akroma, then you've probably lost all of your support. (just as an example but Bane of Progress kills 36 permanents out of your 100 card deck) Your lands are the harder-to-remove permanent, and all you need with Akroma is mana to firebreath, so the lands are the most important thing. So with that in mind, also consider a Torpor Orb since most of your support is vulnerable to very common etb-removal.
Links to my most current deck lists;
Primary EDH; Rakka Mar Token Perfection, Crosis Mnemonic Betrayal, Cromat Villainous, Judith Gravestorm, Rakdos Empty Storm, Exava Artifacts, Bant Trash, & Fumiko Voltron!
EDH kept at home; Ruzzian Isset & Rakdos LoR!
EDH (nostalgic/pimp/retired) in storage;
Latulla Burns, Akroma Smash, Jeska Voltron, Rakdos Storm, Bladewing Darghans, Lyzolda Worldgorger, Xantcha Steals your Heart, Jori Storm, Wydwen Permission, Gwendlyn Paradox, Jeleva Warps, & Sigarda Brick!
Legacy Showanimator and High Tide!
More draw is always good - especially the 4 mana ones like Coercive Portal (which I already have!) and Outpost Siege, or the one-shot Memory Jar. Thing is...what to cut?
To that end, do pure haste enablers such as Battle Rampart and the like do anything for you? Usually I cast Akroma immediately at 8 mana, so on the turn I cast Akroma I won't have enough spare mana to kill the opponent anyway... If so, they can make space for the draw power.
Do you find you need a Akroma replacement in case of nonsense like Nevermore? What do you think of Mana-Charged Dragon? It's like Akroma without the protections.
Myriad Landscape and Seize the Day are awesome suggestions, thanks! Rage Reflection is a bit expensive for what it does, though. I find 3 mana stones too slow - though if I wanted one I'd use Darksteel Ingot for the indestructible.
Mountains are tech, but I find all the utility lands I retain vital. Ancient Tomb, Nykthos and Temple of the False God ramp, Boseiju cos sometimes I really need Chaos Warp to get through, Ghost Quarter/Strip Mine for Maze of Ith, Kher Keep to defeat edicts, Homeward Path for Cultural Exchange/Vedalken Shackles, and Miren as a cheap High Market. Only utility lands I could replace would be Rogue's Passage (expensive) and Ghitu Encampment. Usually, when I cast Akroma I have about 5 Mountains, so Granite Grip and friends are a nice thought, but I could only see myself using them as a way to use up colourless mana once Akroma is out.
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
For example I love Stranglehold, and it is a very important card to have in a few decks. But it doesn't really make Akroma win. Comparing Stranglehold to Outpost Siege and think about which one you would prefer to have in an opening hand.
Another example would be War's Toll, which is an excellent card, but not as consistent as you may want. Avatar of Slaughter and Insurrection are also not very reliable in a 1v1 design, especially when the mana investment in those two could be the lethal for firebreathing up Akroma.
Seething Song effects are great but I would consider Koth of the Hammer as the pseudo ramp effect since he is going to give you more options. He is still good acceleration even if your only running 20ish mountains.
When it comes to Akroma being ultimately dealt with (like your Nevermore or if she got Terminus'd for example) I typically rely on a few extra beaters or a handful of big x-spells (which you already have). All-In voltron/general damage with Akroma works great but can be a somewhat glass-cannon, so I tend to go mid-range semi-linear with about 5 to 8 big creatures and enough utility to make use of my equipment;
Stormbreath Dragon
Thundermaw Dragon (also great for tapping down blockers for akroma)
Tahngarth, Talruum Hero (not as useful without the equipment / swords of protection)
Hoard-Smelter Dragon for repeat artifact removal
Inferno Titan
Wurmcoil Engine
My opinion on the numbers there although is going to be inappropriate for your design since I tend to run more equipment. You may want more creatures instead of just 5ish beaters.
If your opponents do resolve a Nevermore although I think you can just morph Akroma out, may need to double check althoug
Also consider Karn Liberated as an ideal replacement for the Spine of Ish Sah. Ugin, the Spirit Dragon would make for an excellent addition too for enchantment removal. All is Dust would also make for a good situational board wipe that also hits problem enchantments.
Links to my most current deck lists;
Primary EDH; Rakka Mar Token Perfection, Crosis Mnemonic Betrayal, Cromat Villainous, Judith Gravestorm, Rakdos Empty Storm, Exava Artifacts, Bant Trash, & Fumiko Voltron!
EDH kept at home; Ruzzian Isset & Rakdos LoR!
EDH (nostalgic/pimp/retired) in storage;
Latulla Burns, Akroma Smash, Jeska Voltron, Rakdos Storm, Bladewing Darghans, Lyzolda Worldgorger, Xantcha Steals your Heart, Jori Storm, Wydwen Permission, Gwendlyn Paradox, Jeleva Warps, & Sigarda Brick!
Legacy Showanimator and High Tide!
Really? Didn't know that! Anyone can confirm?
I'm locked out of MTGO due to technical issues (again), so no testing, but likely I'll make these cuts when MTGO decides to stop being an ass:
Out:
Stranglehold
War's Toll
Taurean Mauler
Viashino Heretic
Ghitu Encampment
Rogue's Passage
In:
Coercive Portal
Staff of Nin
Mana-Charged Dragon
Hoard-Smelter Dragon
2x Mountain
I still need to fit in Seize the Day, but why did its price suddenly spike on MTGO? Will wait on it... maybe Narset's to blame?
Also, do you make much use of redirect spells like Wild Ricochet for protecting Akroma? I'm guessing you rely more on Swords of X and Y?
Nah, I'm still quite attached to my utility lands. Besides, I don't think Blood Moon is a generally powerful effect, more of a situationally powerful one. There's the price to consider too...
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
By the very nature of Nevermore and morph having "no name" then yes you can still land Akroma
Yea sieze has been spiking in price recently due to narset. The foil one is almost impossible to find.
Wild Ricochet is good in some metas but usually too situational. I almost always run Reiterate in all my mono-red decks, and maybe one more copy spell. Fork is my preference as it makes the spell red. There is an argument here to be made regarding making a spell red when a creature may be pro-red, but the commonness of pro-red vs the opponent finding pro-red vs your specific deck is highly situational. Reverberate will make a normal copy of the spell and keep the spells colors.
Shunt is a highly situational card that I sometimes slip in my decks that I know will be played in muli-player, but for 1v1 it may not be worth the cut.
Another card I've been slipping in my Akroma decks is Temur Battle Rage as another potential 1-hit kill when investing 5 mana in the firebreathing.
Links to my most current deck lists;
Primary EDH; Rakka Mar Token Perfection, Crosis Mnemonic Betrayal, Cromat Villainous, Judith Gravestorm, Rakdos Empty Storm, Exava Artifacts, Bant Trash, & Fumiko Voltron!
EDH kept at home; Ruzzian Isset & Rakdos LoR!
EDH (nostalgic/pimp/retired) in storage;
Latulla Burns, Akroma Smash, Jeska Voltron, Rakdos Storm, Bladewing Darghans, Lyzolda Worldgorger, Xantcha Steals your Heart, Jori Storm, Wydwen Permission, Gwendlyn Paradox, Jeleva Warps, & Sigarda Brick!
Legacy Showanimator and High Tide!
Nice! So only Chaos Warp worries me, then.
Temur Battle Rage - that's great! I now know what to replace the "haste package" (Lightning Mauler, Battle Rampart) with. Haste usually "only" nets me 6 extra commander damage because I usually cast Akroma once I get to 8 mana - which I would get with double strike.
Any other good enchantment removal you use that isn't a colourless planeswalker? Maybe Unstable Obelisk?
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Out:
Stranglehold
War's Toll
Lightning Mauler
Viashino Heretic
Insurrection
Ghitu Encampment
Rogue's Passage
Battle Rampart
Greater Gargadon
In:
Coercive Portal
Staff of Nin
Assault Strobe
Hoard-Smelter Dragon
Wrecking Ogre
Temur Battle Rage
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
2x Mountain
Took out most of the haste enablers and miscellaneous red goodstuff in favour of draw power and double strike. Aim is now to kill on the turn after Akroma drops! I found Wrecking Ogre, which is at the very least 6 damage for 5 mana and can be used as a beater in a pinch. Protection (that isn't swords) is rather useful to let Akroma survive 1 turn, I'm even considering Mask of Avacyn but it's probably too expensive. Anyway, there is enough mana accel to not worry about paying 7RRR or even 9RRR to recast Akroma. Also upped the land count and brought in Valakut to kill random utility guys, since this deck really wants to hit its land drop every turn to recast Akroma again and again. Mana-charged Dragon isn't in stock at my usual bot, so Taurean Mauler gets to stay in for a while. Hall of the Bandit Lord might also make way for another Mountain at some point.
Not bad, the deck is more focused, I managed to kill Ezuri with Temur Battle Rage the turn before I would have died to an elf horde. So there's that.
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
I did tinker with Dragon Tempest for a bit too but it seemed just like a generically situational haste outlet. If I had access to Rite of Replication to combo like it does with Scourge of Valkas then this would be more interesting. But for Akroma Hall of the Bandit Lord is just better.
With the rules change in tuck I've been slightly annoyed at seeing Akroma loose one of the better reasons to run. IMO this is actually bad for us as most players will exchange their tuck spells for more cost efficient removal and counters. While she still can't be touched by things like Prison Term I have seen more players in my groups change from Hinder and whatnot to Evacuation effects, and opponents dropping two 3cmc counter spells for cheaper 2cmc means quite a bit in a game of tempo.
Links to my most current deck lists;
Primary EDH; Rakka Mar Token Perfection, Crosis Mnemonic Betrayal, Cromat Villainous, Judith Gravestorm, Rakdos Empty Storm, Exava Artifacts, Bant Trash, & Fumiko Voltron!
EDH kept at home; Ruzzian Isset & Rakdos LoR!
EDH (nostalgic/pimp/retired) in storage;
Latulla Burns, Akroma Smash, Jeska Voltron, Rakdos Storm, Bladewing Darghans, Lyzolda Worldgorger, Xantcha Steals your Heart, Jori Storm, Wydwen Permission, Gwendlyn Paradox, Jeleva Warps, & Sigarda Brick!
Legacy Showanimator and High Tide!
Probably:
- Avatar of Slaughter
- Taurean Mauler
- Malignus
+ Berserkers' Onslaught
+ Armillary Sphere
+ Commune with Lava
unless I can find good enchantment removal that isn't a colourless planeswalker?
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
- Avatar of Slaughter
- Taurean Mauler
- Malignus
+ Berserkers' Onslaught
+ Steel Hellkite
+ Commune with Lava
other than DTK new cards, Steel Hellkite for removal.
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Any sort of mana ramp works, just find the best within your budget. Mana Crypt is obviously better because of the surprise factor, but I play on MTGO where it's cheaper compared to Lotus Bloom. If in paper of course Lotus Bloom works too.
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Is blazing shoal something you'd try to punch through for a one shot or not worth the slot? I'm just wondering about throwing it in to pitch a card too especially with double strike going.
Akroma has trample, flying, and protection from white and blue. With these, I usually don't have a problem with her getting chump blocked, and even if she is I can just pump her power. Kemba doesn't have any of these, so I imagine unblockable would be more important for her. I'd rather run shroud/hexproof granting equipment as a voltron deck just dies when your general gets shut down. Of course, Whispersilk Cloak is something I run
Blazing Shoal I haven't tried, but with card draw at a premium in red and the CMC of most of my stuff not being very high, I don't think it compares very favourably to say Temur Battle Rage.
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
valakut --> mountain (have yet to see valakut in a non-scapeshift/prime time be worth the ETB tapped)
hoard smelter --> hellkite tyrant (why destroy when you can take mwa hahahah, at 4 per destroy it would take a bit of mana to blow it all up)
hoarding dragon --> braid of fire (quite a few instants//morphs and akroma to gobble up that delicious R mana).
spine of ish sah --> ugin dragonblast (hi, sac all ur shiz....:P)
Also was wondering if you had tested Koth of the Hammer, Gauntlet of Might, and Grinning Ignus? These seem like they may have a home here but i wouldn't venture as to what they might replace.
Anyway thanks for the list, loads of fun!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it haha.
Generally any mana ramp is pretty solid. Gauntlet of Might and Braid of Fire would definitely find a home, but I am a bit stingy with tix in general Usually, I replace worse ramp with better ramp, so Mana Geyser would probably come out for the Gauntlet. Koth I am on the fence about, he is definitely decent ramp but either turns my Mountains into creatures or is only good with a decent number of mountains out. I don't like Grinning Ignus - I prefer my relatively vulnerable creature-based ramp to be able to accelerate repeatedly.
Which reminds me, Seize the Day is dropping in price. Should be picking up a copy (:
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
+ Braid of Fire
+ Gauntlet of Might
+ Seize the Day
- Seething Song
- Mana Geyser
- Commune with Lava
Nothing fancy, basically upgrading the ramp package and adding in cards that should have been in from the start, but weren't due to budget concerns.
Usually my drawpower is ok for now, just want to hit 8 mana ASAP and cast Akroma.
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Hidetsugu - Combo Damage
Ezuri - Elfball
Theorycrafting:
Selvala - "A hunter must hunt."
Selvala - Budget
- Braid of Fire
+ Outpost Siege
If I can pay 8 mana, the land/mana rock density in this deck is usually high enough such that I can pay 10 and even 12 mana the next turn. Plus, the last time I tried to cut down on Mountains it didn't end well. Akroma is quite red mana-hungry, and things like Gauntlet of Might/Extraplanar Lens thrive on having Mountains around. So I don't think it would find a home...
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Thinking more on your current list, all she really needs to secure a win seems to typically be just her surviving for a turn.
Have you ever considered Final Fortune? There are other variants too (Last Chance/Warrior's Oath). I don't think sundial combo's are worth running here, and I wouldn't run more than 2 of these effects max, but final fortune could be such a blow-out (for either you or the opponent).
This may be a suicide mission, but I suppose that depends on your opponents ability to answer Akroma (if they even can on the turn you cast her + this). If they can't, or were hoping to untap and use sorcery speed wipes, then this may be another window for 1-shot. If they are in the colors or known to have instant speed answers, then this could just be a dead card in hand.
I'm going to stick a single Final Fortune in the brew I'm tinkering with and see how it plays out. The issue for me although is that I still play mutiplayer and my decks are all tuned for such
Links to my most current deck lists;
Primary EDH; Rakka Mar Token Perfection, Crosis Mnemonic Betrayal, Cromat Villainous, Judith Gravestorm, Rakdos Empty Storm, Exava Artifacts, Bant Trash, & Fumiko Voltron!
EDH kept at home; Ruzzian Isset & Rakdos LoR!
EDH (nostalgic/pimp/retired) in storage;
Latulla Burns, Akroma Smash, Jeska Voltron, Rakdos Storm, Bladewing Darghans, Lyzolda Worldgorger, Xantcha Steals your Heart, Jori Storm, Wydwen Permission, Gwendlyn Paradox, Jeleva Warps, & Sigarda Brick!
Legacy Showanimator and High Tide!
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU