MTG Salvation

Quick history: I used to run a Gisela deck focused on one-shotting people and making fun combos with Gisela (think Heartless Hidetsugu, Pyrohemia, etc) and it became my signature deck among the people I played with. Gisela was my favorite legendary creature of all time, RW my favorite color combination, this my favorite deck. I even snagged a shout-out on DailyMTG's Command Tower when it was relatively new for the two card combination of Gisela, Blade of Goldnight and a bloodrushed Wrecking Ogre.

However, everybody knew about my Gisela and how I used her and games would warp around her. As soon as I'd play her, the objective for everyone else was to kill her, steal her, or copy her. Games with her lost all of their fun. I ended up scrapping that deck because I just couldn't get any sort of fun game out of it and using the parts to build my current Brion Stoutarm deck. The old deck list can be found here: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/216561-gisela-beats-of-goldnight

Ever since I took my old Gisela deck apart, I've been trying to figure out how best to put a more effective one back together. The conclusion I've come to is to not rely on Gisela: build the deck so Gisela puts it into overdrive, but do not by any means make it so dependent on her that it's just a pain to play when you can't bust her out. However, this doesn't mean you don't want to play her, you do, so bring in access to enough card advantage and ramp that you can regularly jam her out as well as anything else in your deck. What strategy in RW can make the most effective use of lots of mana, being geared towards creatures and value? I think it's Midrange.

According to MTGS's Wiki, "Midrange decks are aggressive decks that flip the standard aggro-control deck archetype by attempting to control the early game, then going aggressive with large creatures in the mid to late game." We're less so controlling in the early game as this describes, though we hold a small variety of spells which preserve our own board state. The thing about Midrange in Commander is that it needs to keep a steady supply of resources to stay aggressive and not be bogged down decks with superior resources. So to remedy RW's deficiency, I've brought in as much "card advantage" as red can offer (Alhammarret's Archive throws it into overdrive) and am focusing a great deal on life-gain. Life-gain is looked down upon often because, for the vast majority of the time, it does nothing but prolong the inevitable and help you not-lose rather than helping you win. Yes, we're using it to not-lose, but we're mostly using that as buffer to allow us to survive and win. Well of Lost Dreams is another good reason to run obscene amounts of life-gain. Additionally, recurring and copying creatures and other permanents will give us steam to power through the late game and help us stay active.

So our four main resources: Red pseudo card advantage, life-gain, recursion and copying.


Card Considerations

• Smoldering Crater/Drifting Meadow/Blasted Landscape - With Alhammarret's Archive, these turn into colorless Divinations.
• Command Beacon - Over the long game, Gisela's Commander tax can make her super expensive. This can negate it once.
• Sea Gate Wreckage - Good tech for if A. someone's running a discard theme, or B. you play everything out.
• Mind Stone - Mana and cards are good. This can do both in small quantities.
• Angelic Renewal - Recursion that is recurrable with Sun Titan and Emeria Shepherd.
• Pulsemage Advocate - More recursion, could be good for playing politics.
• Marshal's Anthem - Hurray recursion!
• Archangel of Thune - Let's make our guys bigger.
• Victory's Herald - Makes combat really good for us.
• Endbringer - It can do a lot, but what I'm most intrigued by is his card-drawing ability.
• Eldrazi Displacer - We already run a lot of ETB effects, including a blink engine can push us farther down that path.
• Wastes - In case I decide to include the two directly above this.

This deck has only had one game thus far. It was a three player game versus two well-tuned control decks (Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper and Dralnu, Lich Lord) and it beat both of them.

Cards Choices coming soon.

Comments, concerns, suggestions and constructive criticism are appreciated!

No new games to report on at this time. However, lots of solitaire-ing the deck has been done and changes will be made. I should be getting some play time for this deck as well as my new Ayli Deck next Sunday, January 31st.

Cuts

• Emeria, the Sky Ruin - I run 13 basic Plains and 1 Sacred Foundry in the deck. Outside of running green, that number's not reliable for getting Emeria online.
• Temple of Triumph - I think the Scry lands are great, but I don't like lands entering the battlefield tapped in a mana-hungry deck like this where an untapped lands can make all of the difference.
• Sword of the Animist - Without a creature or a good avenue for attack, this card's useless. If we were using a lot of tokens in this deck, I'd keep it. However, most of our creatures are too valuable to gamble with in unprofitable attacks. Additionally, it takes more mana to move equipment around and I'm afraid we just won't have the mana to spare at critical points.
• Seer's Sundial - This was the least efficient source of card advantage for the deck, I'm cutting it to make the deck a little less mana hungry.
• Angelic Skirmisher - Fun card, useful, but expensive without providing any immediate benefit.
• Batterskull - Batterskull's great and I'd normally keep it, but I'm building an Oros equipment deck and this is my only copy. If I get another Batterskull, I'll put it back in here.
• Riot Control - We should be gaining enough life/preventing enough damage to largely negate the need for Fog effects. This might be re-included later if I find we need them after all.

Adds

• Blighted Steppe - Built in psuedo-Congregate sounds nice for when I need it. Otherwise, it's just a land. Note: it produces colorless mana in case I decide to include Endbringer and Eldrazi Displacer.
• Battlefield Forge - It makes red, it makes white and it makes colorless. I'll take it. Note: with Gisela on the field, the damage is completely prevented.
• Strionic Resonator - This deck thrives on triggers. For the really big, crucial ones, Resonator ensures extra value.
• Anger - Serves as a card we can pitch to red's looting abilities and provides the team with haste while it's in the 'yard.
• Cradle of Vitality - As previously stated, this deck aims to gain a lot of life. Cradle turns that life into extra Mmmph for our attacks. The dream play here is to land a Sun/Inferno Titan with this, Angelic Chorus, and Warstorm Surge, Chorus trigger resolves first, then Cradle adds 6 +1/+1 counters and Warstorm Surge blasts an opponent for 12.
• Hedron Archive - We're mana hungry and need ways to provide card advantage. This helps a little for both.
• Flamerush Rider - After Flameshadow Conjuring, this is probably my favorite card to be printed in the last two years. More copies of creatures means more triggers and more value.

I'm seriously thinking about adding in Eldrazi Displacer and Endbringer, plus some Wastes, for all of the value they can provide. Endbringer especially can gives a card each turn with enough mana. Thoughts, anyone?

Ever thought about trying out Repercussion ? It can get you some extra mileage out of your burn stuff, and if you play Gisela you can double damage done to the creature and then quadruple the damage done to the opponent. Also, combines with Balefire Dragon for ridiculous amounts of damage.