Ixidor a great change of pace to your normal commander. He's clever and crafty, and loves to keep your opponents guessing.
Is he the greatest commander? Maybe not, but that doesn't mean he can't pack a punch. Ixidor can be suprisingly versatile, and his ability allows you to bluff regardless the morphs you have on the field.
Reasons to play Ixidor:
You like being tricksy
The idea of knowning more about the battlefield than your opponent sounds exciting
You like to bluff
Reason's not to play Ixidor:
You don't like to bluff
You want to be a target
You don't like morph
Deck Dynamics:
This deck is filled with subtle synergies. The list is kinda huge, so I'll go over the major ones:
Ixidor
If it wasn't immediately obvious, Ixidor's a prime component. He's obviously useful for flipping morphs and he's really good at it. Some of the subtle things about Ixidor can be missed though. When playing him it's integral to always make sure to leave the mana untapped that you need to activate his ability. This can't be forgotten, even if you don't intend to flip a morph. The mere fact that it's untapped keeps your opponents on their toes. For all they know your Dulcet Sirens could very well be a Willbender or Voidmage Apprentice. This is something that should almost always be exploited. What your opponents don't know could kill them.
Another small interaction Ixidor has is his synergy with Manifest cards. He can flip most noncreature permanent manifest just as easily as creature ones, something that the manifest mechanic doesn't normally allow.
Lastly, don't forget you can flip your opponents face down creatures as well. This is particularly useful with Ixidron and depending on your play group you might be able to make some sortof trade to flip an opponents valuable creature
Riptide Entrancer & Maelstrom Djinn
The moment I cast either of these two I typically swing with them, especially in the early game. My opponent is given a choice: take the chance with the Entrancer, or risk losing a creature to the Djinn. Of course, this is boardstate dependent, sometimes your opponent can block a 5/6 with impunity. But other times, this can be pulled off. If you swing with your other big creatures like your Slipstream Serpent your opponent may be less likely to put up the blocker. Keep in mind this is basically a mind game, and there's never a guarantee it will work out.
Vesuvan Shapeshifter
Combos with all morphs ever. He basically speaks for himself. The most noteworthy is the pickles combo he has with Brine Elemental. Locking your opponent out of the game for a measly 2 mana.
Ixidron
Ixidron synergizes with both Ixidor(who can flip non-morph cards) as well as all blink cards ever. It's easy to flip a morph up with either Deadeye Navigator or Conjurer's Closet. Also he's also my favorite pseudo-boardwipe. If a commander is face down, it's pretty tricky to get him face up again short of killing him. He virtually guarantees that you can lock out an opponents commander for a few turns.
Bounce & ETB & Flicker
This deck is full of bouncers. Some of them are spells, but most of the time they're reusable permanents. They serve two purposes, to return and reuse either morphs or ETBs. There are numerous ETB effects in this deck, but I'm particularly fond of the leave the battlefield effects. Both Floodgate and Nevermaker are ever present threats that can never be truly eliminated, and with cards that have flicker/bounce abilities such as Deadeye Navigator and Crystal Shard respectably, they can be used at a moments notice.
Anyway's I'd love to here everyone's thoughts!
Big thanks to both rhakee and DnLL. Their threads have been hugely useful in making my own Ixidor deck.
Ixidor; As Reality Fades
1x AEther Adept
1x Augury Owl
1x Body Double
1x Brine Elemental
1x Chromeshell Crab
1x Clever Impersonator
1x Coral Trickster
1x Deadeye Navigator
1x Drake Familiar
1x Dulcet Sirens
1x Fathom Seer
1x Floodgate
1x Gilded Drake
1x Glen Elendra Archmage
1x Ixidron
1x Kheru Spellsnatcher
1x Maelstrom Djinn
1x Man-o'-War
1x Mischievous Quanar
1x Mistfire Weaver
1x Monastery Loremaster
1x Nevermaker
1x Quickling
1x Quicksilver Dragon
1x Riptide Entrancer
1x Riptide Survivor
1x Shaper Parasite
1x Sea Gate Oracle
1x Slipstream Serpent
1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1x Thousand Winds
1x Tradewind Rider
1x Unblinking Bleb
1x Vedalken Mastermind
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
1x Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1x Voidmage Apprentice
1x Voidmage Prodigy
1x Willbender
1x Cloud Key
1x Cloudstone Curio
1x Conjurer's Closet
1x Crystal Shard
1x Extraplanar Lens
1x Mimic Vat
1x Sol Ring
1x Soul Foundry
1x Thran Dynamo
1x Vedalken Shackles
1x Wash Out
1x Write into Being
1x Equilibrium
1x Leyline of Anticipation
1x Mark of Eviction
1x Monastery Siege
1x Training Grounds
1x Halimar Depths
1x Riptide Laboratory
34x Snow-Covered Island
1x Terrain Generator
1x Winding Canyons
1x Zoetic Cavern
1x AEtherize
1x Capsize
TappedOut
So you want to play Ixidor:
Ixidor a great change of pace to your normal commander. He's clever and crafty, and loves to keep your opponents guessing.
Is he the greatest commander? Maybe not, but that doesn't mean he can't pack a punch. Ixidor can be suprisingly versatile, and his ability allows you to bluff regardless the morphs you have on the field.
Reasons to play Ixidor:
This deck is filled with subtle synergies. The list is kinda huge, so I'll go over the major ones:
Ixidor
If it wasn't immediately obvious, Ixidor's a prime component. He's obviously useful for flipping morphs and he's really good at it. Some of the subtle things about Ixidor can be missed though. When playing him it's integral to always make sure to leave the mana untapped that you need to activate his ability. This can't be forgotten, even if you don't intend to flip a morph. The mere fact that it's untapped keeps your opponents on their toes. For all they know your Dulcet Sirens could very well be a Willbender or Voidmage Apprentice. This is something that should almost always be exploited. What your opponents don't know could kill them.
Another small interaction Ixidor has is his synergy with Manifest cards. He can flip most noncreature permanent manifest just as easily as creature ones, something that the manifest mechanic doesn't normally allow.
Lastly, don't forget you can flip your opponents face down creatures as well. This is particularly useful with Ixidron and depending on your play group you might be able to make some sortof trade to flip an opponents valuable creature
Riptide Entrancer & Maelstrom Djinn
The moment I cast either of these two I typically swing with them, especially in the early game. My opponent is given a choice: take the chance with the Entrancer, or risk losing a creature to the Djinn. Of course, this is boardstate dependent, sometimes your opponent can block a 5/6 with impunity. But other times, this can be pulled off. If you swing with your other big creatures like your Slipstream Serpent your opponent may be less likely to put up the blocker. Keep in mind this is basically a mind game, and there's never a guarantee it will work out.
Vesuvan Shapeshifter
Combos with all morphs ever. He basically speaks for himself. The most noteworthy is the pickles combo he has with Brine Elemental. Locking your opponent out of the game for a measly 2 mana.
Ixidron
Ixidron synergizes with both Ixidor(who can flip non-morph cards) as well as all blink cards ever. It's easy to flip a morph up with either Deadeye Navigator or Conjurer's Closet. Also he's also my favorite pseudo-boardwipe. If a commander is face down, it's pretty tricky to get him face up again short of killing him. He virtually guarantees that you can lock out an opponents commander for a few turns.
Bounce & ETB & Flicker
This deck is full of bouncers. Some of them are spells, but most of the time they're reusable permanents. They serve two purposes, to return and reuse either morphs or ETBs. There are numerous ETB effects in this deck, but I'm particularly fond of the leave the battlefield effects. Both Floodgate and Nevermaker are ever present threats that can never be truly eliminated, and with cards that have flicker/bounce abilities such as Deadeye Navigator and Crystal Shard respectably, they can be used at a moments notice.
Anyway's I'd love to here everyone's thoughts!
Big thanks to both rhakee and DnLL. Their threads have been hugely useful in making my own Ixidor deck.