It's tough to be a human on Innistrad. Between vampires, werewolves, demons, zombies, and geists (and Eldrazi, hueh hueh), you're bound to get eaten a million different ways. To top it all off, odds are you won't even get to enjoy the peaceful sleep of death, what with the ghoul-raising and geist-becoming many corpses are subjected to.
Right now, all of those problems fade into the background because, hey, guess what? Our fearless protector and slayer of all things evil, Avacyn, has just gone bonkers, and is culling us like sheep. What's a mere mortal to do?
Shelter under Sigarda's amber-hued wings, that's what. Even though she knows going toe-to-toe with big sister Avacyn is a suicide mission, Sigarda's doing it for us. And you know what? We're a resourceful, plucky, and courageous bunch. We just might get through this somehow.
This deck is GW Human tribal with Sigarda, Heron's Grace as its general. Sigarda acts as a pseudo-Asceticism, granting Hexproof to all of our Human creatures. She can also create 1/1 Human Soldier creature tokens in a pinch by exiling one card from our graveyard. Exiling lands, instants or sorceries doesn't hurt too much, and can produce a warm body for blocking or attacking. She also grants US hexproof, which is seriously underestimated as an ability.
The deck wins by playing plenty of value weenies and pumping them via anthem effects like Cathars' Crusade and Equipment such as Sword of Feast and Famine to deal lethal damage. Our humans are supported by a cast of angels such as Archangel of Thune, and further bolstered by tribal Human support cards such as Gallows at Willow Hill. The deck also has numerous ways of generating Human, Soldier, and Angel creature tokens with which to swarm our opponents.
Although many of our Humans may get sent to the graveyard, we can recur them with cards like Angel of Glory's Rise. There is an adequate, though not overwhelming, amount of removal, ramp, draw, and tutoring, much of which are tacked as abilities onto Human creatures.
This is a casual deck, not meant to go toe to toe with others at competitive tables. There are OP cards such as Gaea's Cradle in the deck, but these cards are bottlenecked by the general frailty of some of our creatures. I've tried to use Humans wherever possible, so some card choices such as Thraben Doomsayer are somewhat lacklustre (compared to Avenger of Zendikar, for example). The joy of playing this deck lies in getting tons of value out of our weenies and their support cards, having them interact in fun ways with each other and with our opponents' boards (eg. the fun new "Investigate" mechanic from Shadows Over Innistrad), pumping them up alongside an army of creature tokens, and swinging in for lots of damage when we see or can make an opening. The deck can be fairly resilient with a decent recursion suite, allowing us to recover from a blowout.
With that being said, don't expect to compete with Derevi or Damia.
Karametra, God of Harvests: Has the potential to front the most explosive Human tribal deck, as every creature cast ramps you. Like Sigarda or Avacyn, a little slow to get going, but rapidly overtakes the board when she comes online. Also a pain to get rid of if she resolves.
Saffi Eriksdotter: An inexpensive protection measure for the most valuable creatures on your battlefield. Forces your opponent to spot remove something twice, but her ability is limited, which makes protecting an entire army difficult.
Avacyn, Angel of Hope: The queen mother of protection (and resident butcher of Humans). ALL YOUR PERMANENTS are protected from the majority of black, red, and green's removal suite. She is mono-colour, limiting your deckbuilding options, and costs a full 3 mana more than either of the Sigardas. If anything, I'd prefer her as one of the 99.
Sigarda, Host of Herons: A fabled voltron general who loves to be suited up in Equipments, Auras, and all sorts of fancy gizmos. Her Hexproof and anti-edict ability makes her tough to get rid of without wasting a wrath. In terms of strictly protecting Humans though, she doesn't do half as fair a job as Sigarda ver. II.
Deck history
After cracking a Sigarda, Heron's Grace during my second Shadows Over Innistrad draft, I decided it would be fun to build a deck around her. Although she's not as seemingly powerful as OG Sigarda at first glance, the protection she can afford the rest of your battlefield makes her a contender for a great general, at least in my humble opinion. It's my hope that other Sigarda aficionados on the forums can help me tweak this deck into something the entire Selesnya community can be proud of.
The deck in its current form is fairly close to my original conception of it. The challenge of Human tribal, which I've already referred to, is the lack of direct support for them (ie. few direct "When a Human ETBs..."). As a result, there are sub-par cards, and a few flavourful though not very competitive additions (Tamiyo's Journal).
A little about me
I've been playing Magic since Theros block, and got into EDH a few months ago after burning out with Standard and Modern. EDH is now my favourite format alongside Limited, simply because of its social aspect and the potential for every game to generate novel experiences. Thus far the only decks I own are the 5 preconstructed Commander 2015 decks, so this deck will mostly be a theorycrafting exercise and something to play occasionally on Cockatrice. Hopefully I can afford to construct it IRL someday soon.
"Avacyn'sSigarda's holy warriors kept hope alive in her darkest hours. Now they will carry that hope across Innistrad."
Weathered Wayfarer: A staple white mana fixing card that also happens to be a Human. Super powerful in being able to grab utility lands (ie. Wasteland, Gaea's Cradle).
Ulvenwald Tracker: Small and underappreciated, Ulvenwald Tracker usually finds a home in R/G monster decks. Protected with Sigarda, he's an efficient reusable Prey Upon on a stick.
Mikaeus, the Lunarch: Before being unceremoniously offed by his distant cousins, this guy was Avacyn's second-in-command. Takes more work to pump our army, but he fits the theme and can be cast at any point in the game. Cast early, he's a reliable force multiplier. Cast later, he can be a beater all on his own. Benefits greatly from any of the other +1/+1 counter generators.
Mother of Runes: Helps keep Sigarda alive, which helps keeps the rest of our army alive. Great for letting Sun Titan attack without fear.
Auriok Champion: A solid blocker against decks running black or red. Flies under the radar to gain us a surprising amount of life (her ability triggers any time a creature ETBs), and triggers Archangel of Thune's ability.
Duskwatch Recruiter: A new addition from Shadows Over Innistrad. Sort of like a mini-Garruk, Caller of Beasts, provides card advantage by letting us dig for more Humans or Angels. We don't want him to flip, which is fairly easy in EDH.
Hanweir Militia Captain: Because of the deck's lower curve and ability to create creature tokens, she flips pretty reliably. Getting blown out by a wrath is always a risk decks like ours take, but left unchecked, she can become huge.
Knight of the White Orchid: Great in the early game and less so later on, he's an effective blocker that, when coupled with Odric, Lunarch Marshal, can grant first strike to our entire army and turn them into an impenetrable wall.
Tajuru Preserver: Fills OG Sigarda's role as an anti-edict on a stick. Mostly here because I don't want to run OG Sigarda. Chalk it up to personal taste.
Bastion Protector: Because so much rides on our general, this lady helps keep Sigarda in the air and swinging harder.
Bygone Bishop: The Investigate mechanic from Shadows Over Innistrad isn't revolutionary and is outclassed by almost every other draw mechanic used in EDH. With that said, drawing cards off Investigate is immensely more fun than just vanilla draw. With quite a few other creatures under 3 CMC, we'll be Investigating quite a bit.
Court Street Denizen: This brawler helps solve the quandary of board stalls, which impact weenie decks more than others. With so many ways to get a white creature on the field, we'll frequently be tapping down our opponents' best blockers. Sigarda, Luminarch Ascension and Thraben Doomsayer allow us to abuse her ability at instant speed to tap down dangerous attackers.
Devout Chaplain: The Chaplain fills the same role Ulvenwald Tracker does, but for artifacts/enchantments. She's much tougher to activate, but man is it glorious when it works.
Eternal Witness: Human and recursion. Including her in the deck is a no-brainer.
Mentor of the Meek: Another underappreciated card, he nevertheless usually eats removal as soon as he gets played. Card draw for very minimal cost.
Somberwald Sage: She makes lots of mana, but is pretty fragile. It's a toss-up whether Shaman of Forgotten Ways is the better mana dork for this deck, but for now I'll take the one extra mana. She has the benefit over Shaman in that she's probably less of a target for spot removal.
Tireless Tracker: An even better Investigator than Bygone Bishop, he also pumps himself whenever we sacrifice a Clue token and has the potential to get SWOLE. Basically a Seer's Sundial on a stick.
Yavimaya Elder: Our Solemn Simulacrum. Draws a card and finds us two lands. In slower games, can act as a disincentive for our opponents to attack, as tutoring lands in exchange for chump blocking isn't something they usually want us to do.
Yisan, the Wanderer Bard: Used in place of Birthing Pod because a) He's Human, and b) We don't generally want to be sacrificing our creatures. Yisan may be slow, but left unchecked, he'll build our army.
Hero of Bladehold: One of our best attackers, she also builds our army. Suit her up with a Sword and let her go to town. With [card[Court Street Denizen[/card] on the field, she's a very potent threat.
Angel of Finality: On Innistrad, the most coveted afterlife is the lack of one. None of our opponents should have access to their graveyards, especially with how prevalent graveyard strategies are.
Odric, Lunarch Marshal: Will win us the game if protected. Have an angel on the field? All our Humans now have flying while attacking.
Archangel of Thune: Has the potential to steal the game away from a dominant opponent by making our army HUGE. Synergizes well with Odric, granting everyone flying and lifelink, with each instance of lifelink triggering her ability.
Karametra, God of Harvests: Flavour-wise, she's one of the few Theros gods who generally sympathizes with the plight of Humans (Ephara being another). If she resolves, the game can quickly run away in our favour.
Sun Titan: A fattie that recurs a sizable chunk of our deck. Bringing back Eternal Witness lets us recur him if he ever bites the dust.
Angel of Glory's Rise: Nothing better than bouncing back with this the turn after a board wipe. If we just happen to be playing against Zombie tribal, bonus!
Angel of Serenity: The Swiss Army Knife of angels. Acts as removal or recursion, and often both.
Avacyn, Angel of Hope: Once she lands, we're in a very good spot. Making all of our things indestructible can end the game fairly quickly.
Sol Ring: Auto-include in most EDH decks. Drop it turn one and watch the next few turns go buttery smooth.
Skullclamp: Any deck that can reliably generate 1/1 creature tokens should pack this.
Lightning Greaves: Helps mitigate the downside of cards like Ulvenwald Tracker or Devout Chaplain by giving them haste. Oh, also helps protect Sigarda, which gives our entire army hexproof/shroud.
Sword of the Animist: Great at any point of the game, as it has the potential to put us one turn ahead in mana every turn. If we can stick it onto a 1-drop turn 3 and begin swinging, we can really pull ahead.
Gallows at Willow Hill: Probably the most fun card in the deck. Not as good as the Tracker, but oozes flavour. The one drawback is it gives our opponent a token to block Sigarda with, but the price is well worth its utility and flavour.
Spear of Heliod: Deters attacks more effectively than most people give it credit for. Later in the game, it becomes super easy to leave 3 mana open. Oh, and it's an anthem.
Sword of Feast and Famine: Protects the equipped creature from some of the best removal spells in the game, and lets it get past some of the biggest creatures. Resets our lands for the second Main phase, and forces the opponent to discard. One of the best Mirrodin swords.
Tamiyo's Journal: Definitely not a Mind's Eye, but it's fun and flavourful (we don't have to be competitive ALL the time), and can be a pretty reliable repeatable tutor if we have a Bishop or Tracker in play and our opponents leave it on the field too long.
Evolutionary Leap: Often dismissed as a bad Survival of the Fittest, this can generate overwhelming card advantage if we're sacrificing creature tokens to grab one of our stellar creatures off the top of the deck.
Luminarch Ascension: Providing angel backup, landing this on turn 2 is a dream, but automatically paints a target on our back. Best dropped if we're sitting just below top spot in terms of threat level.
Sylvan Library: Paying 4 or 8 life to draw up to two extra cards per turn is nothing when we have so many ways to gain life.
Aura Shards: The most effective enchantment/artifact removal in the game.
Song of the Dryads: Against decks that pack little to no enchantment removal, this card absolutely wrecks, even permanently getting rid of enemy generals. Otherwise, it's still great removal and can turn that Urborg into a harmless Forest.
Cathar's Crusade: Potentially more broken than Archangel of Thune, given the right conditions. So much of our deck is inexpensive, and there are several ways to generate creature tokens. This can go bonkers.
Swords to Plowshares: Arguably the best creature spot removal in the game. Letting an opponent gain life isn't such a big deal when our general flies and hits like a truck.
Eladamri's Call: It's an instant-speed creature tutor and it's in our exact colours, meaning many other decks don't have access to it. Score.
Beast Within: Destroys. Anything. For 3 mana. They get a 3/3, but I'm sure whatever we took out was worth it.
Krosan Grip: Cuts right through counterspells and combos to kill whatever needs killing.
Return to Dust: A nicely-costed artifact/enchantment removal spell.
Council's Judgment: Awesome removal that lets us play a little politics. Has the potential to exile as many enemy permanents as there are players.
Tragic Arrogance: Tables routinely underestimate this card, until their boards are left with one creature token. Often, this can be used to keep Sigarda alive and clear the board for her to swing in.
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes: Mostly great for his ability to turn a lowly weenie into a huge fattie, he can also generate considerable card advantage. His ult is rarely necessary, but oh, the fireworks!
Elspeth, Sun's Champion: Unceremoniously offed by her "patron", Elspeth lives on as an awesome top-end planeswalker who can shift between token generator and wrath at will.
Command Beacon: Sigarda is 5 CMC, and while we can deal with Commander Tax better than some other colours, Command Beacon lets us get her out in a pinch.
Gaea's Cradle: A completely broken card, capable of pulling our deck far, far ahead.
Gavony Township: A bit expensive, it's still a great late-game mana sink. Great flavour.
Homeward Path: While it doesn't stop Thada Adel, this is our trump card for all of those nasty blue theft decks.
Mistifying Maze: Not as efficient as Maze of Ith, this card has the benefit of destroying attacking creature tokens and resetting any creatures with +1/+1 counters on them.
Selesnya Sanctuary: EDH staple. We're not a super competitive deck, so this land's alright. Make sure to bounce a land that's already been tapped for mana.
This deck is all about the grind. We play small creatures, so we have to play them in the right sequence and find ways to increase their power. We play lots of creatures, so preparing for the inevitable board wipe should always be top of mind. The deck's greatest strength is its toolbox construction. We have answers a lot of things our opponents may throw at us.
Therefore, playing this deck requires operating on two frequencies at the same time. On the one hand, we should be populating our board with efficient attackers. On the other, we should working to generate card advantage for ourselves and answer our opponents' threats. Green and white give us access to resilience and ramp, letting us pull ahead on offense while holding up answers.
This being a new deck, I haven't played it enough to see how it matches up against various other archetypes. I imagine that it can go punch for punch with other midrange decks, and can put up a fight against aggro decks. Being such a creature-heavy deck, it wouldn't fare too well against dedicated control decks. And despite its lower overall CMC, we do want to be tapping out every turn, making stax a total nightmare. We also play most of our deck at sorcery speed, and don't have the disruption to fight dedicated combo decks.
We want to have an opening hand with ramp or draw. Ideally, that'd be a Sol Ring and a Sylvan Library. This allows us to spend the first few turns paving the way for Sigarda and the Humans that'll win the game for us. We should play permanents that take a while to get going, such as Hanweir Militia Captain and Luminarch Ascension.
The first 5-6 turns of the game are where we'll be able to tell how well we're accelerating. We're in a good spot if we're several lands up on the opposition and have begun to populate our board with creatures. While it's tempting to dump our hand of weenies, a board wipe is always around the corner, so we should always be wary and be careful not to overcommit.
By the end of the first stage of the game, we should have played a powerful spell (or more) that can carry us through the mid- and late-game, such as Mirari's Wake, Tamiyo's Journal or Sword of Feast and Famine. The early game should be all about putting us several turns ahead of our opponent. We need to do anything and everything that we can to dump lands onto the field or draw cards.
Sigarda should be cast as early as possible, and protected via Lightning Greaves or Bastion Protector. She provides a powerful layer of protection so that our Humans can do their thing. By this stage of the game, our opponents will likely have brought out their generals and begun executing their game plan, so we need to be ready to tutor up or dig for answers to keep them on their heels. Casting and protecting an Ulvenwald Tracker or Devout Chaplain really isn't a silly idea, as it forces our opponents to play more carefully unless they have removal.
The mid game is where we begin massing creature tokens and buffing our creatures with +1/+1 counters. Key pieces here are Sun Titan for recursion, Duskwatch Recruiter to keep our hand filled with creatures, and Evolutionary Leap to generate further card advantage. This is the time to break out as many anthem and pump effects as possible.
Anthems and +1/+1 counter effects can turn our army of weenies into a huge threat fairly quickly (eg. Cathars' Crusade + Elspeth, Sun's Champion). The key late in the game is to keep beating face, while holding our recursion and protection spells, or the tutors required to fetch them. Sigarda is a huge threat on her own, especially when coupled with Bastion Protector. At this point, it's simply about beating face without overextending, and holding answers to our opponents threats.
Good read. I especially like the inclusion of Tamiyo's Journal. That card alone makes me want to build a deck around clues. I'm always a fan of tribal lists and this one is pretty thematic with the current set and all. Nice job
Investigate has to be one of my favourite mechanics from any recent set. It's fun and not broken, and there's the potential to shoehorn it into an "artifacts matter" deck.
Sigarda 2.0 isn't the most competitive general, so if you have any recommendations for how to make the deck better, please post them.
Similar to what I came up with for Sigarda, though this looks like it uses angels pretty heavily as a crutch. I was expecting a few more humans, too - you only have 21. There are plenty of good ones left to use!
Just so you know, Odric, Lunarch Marshal does not give other creatures protection. It's one of the few keywords not listed.
Thanks for catching my oversight regarding Odric 2.0.
By all means, I'd love to jam more humans in the deck. Please make recommendations and I'll playtest them. I didn't realize how many angels I was running until you pointed them out. They come with powerful effects. I don't think there are any Humans that can do what Angel of Glory's Rise, Angel of Serenity and Archangel of Thune can do.
I did consider creatures like Darien, King of Kjeldor and even Captain Sisay, but for reasons, this is the deck I ended up with. But this is an early stage of the deck, and it can definitely stand to get major improvements.
Sure, the angels are good, but it's a human tribal deck, yes? If I was going all-out on theme, I'd use more synergistic cards, even if they were lower power. It just seems when you tutor for a card in this deck, it's more likely to be a non-human, which is odd for tribal. (All decks are a personal creation, so feel free to disregard any feedback I offer. I love building for maximum flavor. Doesn't mean you have to.)
Angel of Glory's Rise is amazing for a human deck. But Luminarch Ascension - it's a good card, but how does it benefit humans? I think it's here because it makes angels. Archangel of Thune - this isn't a lifegain deck, and again just feels like it's here because it's good. You could still put +1+1 counters on humans with Thalia's Lieutenant or Juniper Order Ranger. Or some other kind of pump - Goldnight Commander would work if you find yourself making tokens, or Mirror Entity at least counts as a Human. Avacyn, Angel of Hope feels like a flavor fail - this version of Sigarda is rising up to fight against her! Frontline Medic can make the team indestructible. Not all the time, but he's a human, and is protected by Sigarda.
Couple ideas for worthy humans: Champion of Lambholt - can be a wincon, and Sigarda protects her from pesky removal. Captain of the Watch - spawns tokens, and gives a boost to the tokens Sigarda makes. Knight-Captain of Eos - human fog! Riders of Gavony - hose other tribes and provide limited protection Odric, Master Tactician - the other Odric can make combat go smoothly. Archetype of Courage - kind of like an anthem Dragonscale General - even if you don't have a +1+1 counter strategy, this guy rewards aggressive strategies or using activated abilities.
I misread Champion of Lambholt. I didn't realize she made ALL of our creatures unblockable. Will test.
Captain of the Watch is another one I was eyeing originally. Like some of the other cards you've pointed out, this one seems very good upon closer inspection. Will test.
I'm not sure Riders of Gavony would make the cut over the two Odrics and Court Street Denizen. Seems great against other tribal decks but may be lacklustre vs others.
Archetype of Courage just seems too squishy for what it does, especially because I already have True Conviction. Being both an enchantment and a creature makes it especially vulnerable.
I really like other aspects of your build! I'm totally putting Ajani, Mentor of Heroes and Evolutionary Leap into my own deck - GW can use any "card draw" it can get, and Ajani works great with my +1+1 counters subtheme. Your removal suite is strong - I like the politics of Council's Judgement and Tragic Arrogance.
Your praise of Court Street Denizen makes me want to look at it again. I really like the effect of tapping down a board, and I have Elite Scaleguard, but the denizen is a little more versatile. Rider of Gavony is definitely situational, but we have a lot of tribes in my group.
Have you considered Ulvenwald Mysteries for draw after a boardwipe? If you have other Clues out you'll get a token as well. I'm a big fan of how well the clues work so far - there's usually extra mana available to crack a Clue. I also enjoy Eerie Interlude to protect my army and/or retrigger ETB humans.
I'm actually testing without Ajani right now to lower the curve. Council's Judgment has been ok so far. Haven't hit more than 1 permanent with it, but there's always that dream. I think Tragic Arrogance is pretty amazing, but YMMV.
Denizen is bonkers under any situation. She's helped me get through numerous stalls.
I had Ulvenwald Mysteries in the deck originally, but I was unimpressed with it for the most part. I'll give it another go. Like you said, it'd be pretty nuts in a board wipe. Will also try Interlude.
Why run Tajuru Preserver over Sigarda, Host of Herons? They essentially have the same effect except one is a 5/5 flier with hexproof. She's more expensive, sure, but she's just a better card. If your opponent is planning on making you sac things anyway they'll just point removal at the Preserver. They can't do that with Sigarda.
No Gideons? They all become humans when they become creatures and they're all decent. I've been playing Kytheon myself and he's quite good. Flipping him is easy and he's never threatening enough to become a target but he offers a lot of value. You can +2 as a sort of removal, +1 protects Sigarda or any other creature and untapping it makes combat much more profitable, and just getting a 4/4 hexproof, indestrucitble, prevent-all-damage beater for 1 mana is pretty good too. Gideon Jura is good if you need to control, Champion of Justice demands an answer or it can win the game, and Ally of Zendikar is a good token producer/anthem effect.
Glare of Subdual is pretty great too. I think it's a little better than Court Street Denizen. Last game I played it kept two Ulamogs off me for a while and bought me valuable time.
Den Protector is a redundancy for Eternal Witness. Not as good but it is a bigger body (3/2 with some evasion) and hey, you might even have a "gotcha" moment when they target removal at your Morph and it flips into a hexproof human.
My deck is more of a hatebears deck so understandably they play differently but sometimes you need to pivot to a control position and I think these cards help.
Yes, I also think Sigarda 2.0 is overlooked as a general. She's super fun to play and fills the role of beat stick and enchantment.
Saffi Eriksdotter is a sweet card. I just haven't gotten around to testing her yet. My reservation with her is that she's a creature that broadcasts what she's going to do, versus, say, an instant like Ajani's Presence. I also run Mom, which suffers from the same drawback, but Mom's ability is reusable. Like some of the other suggestions, I'm willing to try them all, but it's slow going, because I don't have this deck IRL and am mostly playing it on Cockatrice for the time being.
I'm running the Preserver over Sigarda 1.0 because I want to avoid the awkward situation of wanting 2.0 out on the field for her tribal hexproof when 1.0 is also out. The hope is that the Preserver is out at the same time as 2.0, so his squishiness isn't so much of an issue. However, all of these fears may just be in my head. It's worth testing her.
I'm using Yisan right now instead of Pod because I want the creatures to stick around, even if I had a chain. I'd use Pod in a heartbeat in a deck with a ton of ETB creatures, like the ZenN's Jenara Bant Value Town deck, which makes great use of it and Survival of the Fittest. With a Pod and Mom in play, do I sac her to find Duskwatch Recruiter? On the other hand, I have no issue saccing a Solemn Simulacrum for a Mulldrifter, and continuing that chain. IMHO Pod doesn't fit in this deck.
I do have issues with spot removal, but right now I'm looking for a decent repeatable tool like Ulvenwald Tracker or Gallows at Willow Hill. I did have Angel of Serenity in here, which is like a Fiend Hunter/Banisher Priest on steroids, but as per Spitfirefox's suggestions, I'm trying to rely less on angels as a crutch except where absolutely necessary (ie. Angel of Finality, Angel of Glory's Rise). So far I have 9 cards that can remove creatures. I tried Pentarch Paladin and Intrepid Hero but found them too unwieldy or their focus too narrow. I may be wrong about the Hero though. Will have to try him out again.
If you want some more of that Odric v2.0 goodness, you can add Concerted Effort to get the same vibe but for other boons as well. If you include Sword of Vengeance, then having a creature equip it means that all your creatures get the boons. Having Concerted Effort means you could probably add other humans like Beloved Chaplain. You know all his attacks are gonna hit. Also, with Concerted Effort, all your creatures have protection from creatures.
Yeah, Glare of Subdual is too broken not to include in a creature-heavy deck. It's basically an Opposition, which is such a broken card.
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Right now I'm looking for ways to deal with decks that run Cyclonic Rift and other blue shenanigans. Gaddock Teeg would work, but he doesn't benefit from Sigarda and doesn't really fit the deck. I've even been looking at maybe running Nevermore.
Human-centric answers are: Stormfront Riders would give you a token for every creature returned to your hand, so your board wouldn't be empty. Grand Abolisher or Dosan the Falling Leaf means they can't play it on your turn.
My favorite creature protection cards are Ghostway and Eerie Interlude. They will put your creatures back on the board at the end of the turn (also triggering ETB effects).
Lapse of Certainty would buy you a turn. Often in my group the blue player saves Rift for a lethal attack against him, and he usually doesn't have enough mana up to counter a counterspell. Your idea to use Nevermore is a pretty versatile solution if you know what to expect from your opponents.
Yes! I've been testing with Abolisher and Dosan. Unfortunately, they'll just cast it NOT during my turn.
I can deal with stuff getting bounced back to my hand. It's just that the blue player now has a fully stocked battlefield, and at that point it's usually GG. All the work spent building up my board just to auto-lose to a single spell that can be easily tutored.
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After thinking about it some more, I've come to the conclusion that unless I'm willing to play some out of flavour cards (Gaddock Teeg) or dedicate a portion of the deck to feel-bad blue hate (Tsunami), I'll just have to live with the possibility of being blown out by Cyclonic Rift and similar cards.
As fun as it would be to play Stormfront Riders to mitigate a Rift, getting a bunch of 1/1 tokens while my opponent retains her winning board state leads to the same conclusion as if I hadn't gotten any tokens. Looking at my current list, I only have 8 creatures that have ETB effects.
I guess this is just something that battlecruiser decks have to deal with.
So over the past week I've been testing with some new cards. This is a small(ish) update.
Sword of Light and Shadow: Even more recursion. I haven't actually drawn it in any games yet, but I imagine it's both a game-changer and a huge target for artifact removal.
Tormod's Crypt: Angel of Finality was just exhausting herself as the only graveyard hate in the deck. Crypt has been an all-star in every other deck I've played, because it costs, literally, nothing, and can be recurred with Sun Titan, acting like a Relic of Progenitus on roids.
Captain of the Watch: Like Spitfirefox suggested, this card puts the deck ahead in any situation. Playing from behind, she creates board parity, and while ahead, she just ups the deck's threat level. Suddenly Sigarda's Soldier tokens aren't so token-y.
Champion of Lambholt: A lot of people disregard her until she's a 4/4 and suddenly, they can't block my army. That first ability tends to be forgotten a lot. She's won me a few games already.
Goldnight Commander: Plays solidly in the deck and can get out of hand when something like Hero of Bladehold or Elspeth, Sun's Champion is out. For 4 mana, he's fairly broken in the right decks, especially if creatures can be given trample (this deck doesn't).
Grand Abolisher: This dude makes it possible to win in a turn if you can come up with lethal damage through Cathars' Crusade. But he's also just a cheap way to protect big plays, like Aura Shards for a ton, or casting a wrath. Super solid.
Knight-Captain of Eos: So not only can he sac the tokens he brings with him to fog, he can sac a good number of other creatures in the deck, including the tokens Sigarda makes. With him out and protected, the deck can stare down almost any board state without fear.
Ranger of Eos: As per guild McCommunist's recommendation, Ranger's found his way into the deck and is performing solidly. Faster than Yisan, the fact that he can grab both Mom and Weathered Wayfarer is pretty nuts. Super clutch.
Glare of SubdualAnother one of McC's recommendations, this card is outperforming Court Street Denizen. The number of times I've been able to tap down a creature that was about to deal me lethal damage is already too many to count.
Ulvenwald Mysteries: Hasn't seen action yet, but if Spitfirefox is right, it should help me recover from board wipes.
I tend to avoid tutors but Ranger of Eos is pretty narrow and is great card advantage in this build, especially if you have bonuses out for playing more creatures like Cathars' Crusade. Targets in my deck include (obviously some are better choices):
What are your thoughts on the Odrics? Odric, Lunarch Marshal can give people flying fairly reliably, sometimes vigilance (not sure how useful the hexproof is for protecting Sigarda if it's only for part of the turn), and is effective the turn he comes down. Has he been working out for you? Odric, Master Tactician looks like a wincon on paper but so far he's turning up when I don't have enough creatures to trigger him and can be slow without haste, clearly telegraphing my intent. Might be better for a token-spamming or R/W build.
I run the same grave hate as you, and I threw in Containment Priest to block any cheaty tricks. Obviously a nonbo with Sun Titan and Yisan, the Wanderer Bard, but easy enough to play around those, and your other tutors put cards in your hand.
I think Odric 2.0 is the best fit for this build. Odric 1.0's Battalion ability is tough to pull off. I actually find myself usually just attacking with Sigarda and other creatures with evasion (which Odric grants), rather than attacking with my whole board. Odric 1.0 would be good with Frontline Medic, but I don't run the card.
Anyone find any cool Humans to test for this deck since Eldritch Moon? Haven't been active for a while, but came back to MtG recently and played this deck, and it still performs solidly at casual tables.
"A storm is coming, Sigarda thought."
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Avacyn'sSigarda's holy warriors kept hope alive in her darkest hours. Now they will carry that hope across Innistrad.""In these halls there is no pass or fail. Your true test comes with the first full moon."
"The protective wards of the church have weakened, and no one can tell us why. It's time to look to our own defenses."
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls - Knowledge is Power U [Primer]
R Heartless Hidetsugu - The Art of Ending Games R
GB Ishkanah, Grafwidow - The Cluster HungersBG
Investigate has to be one of my favourite mechanics from any recent set. It's fun and not broken, and there's the potential to shoehorn it into an "artifacts matter" deck.
Sigarda 2.0 isn't the most competitive general, so if you have any recommendations for how to make the deck better, please post them.
Just so you know, Odric, Lunarch Marshal does not give other creatures protection. It's one of the few keywords not listed.
By all means, I'd love to jam more humans in the deck. Please make recommendations and I'll playtest them. I didn't realize how many angels I was running until you pointed them out. They come with powerful effects. I don't think there are any Humans that can do what Angel of Glory's Rise, Angel of Serenity and Archangel of Thune can do.
I did consider creatures like Darien, King of Kjeldor and even Captain Sisay, but for reasons, this is the deck I ended up with. But this is an early stage of the deck, and it can definitely stand to get major improvements.
Angel of Glory's Rise is amazing for a human deck. But Luminarch Ascension - it's a good card, but how does it benefit humans? I think it's here because it makes angels. Archangel of Thune - this isn't a lifegain deck, and again just feels like it's here because it's good. You could still put +1+1 counters on humans with Thalia's Lieutenant or Juniper Order Ranger. Or some other kind of pump - Goldnight Commander would work if you find yourself making tokens, or Mirror Entity at least counts as a Human. Avacyn, Angel of Hope feels like a flavor fail - this version of Sigarda is rising up to fight against her! Frontline Medic can make the team indestructible. Not all the time, but he's a human, and is protected by Sigarda.
Couple ideas for worthy humans:
Champion of Lambholt - can be a wincon, and Sigarda protects her from pesky removal.
Captain of the Watch - spawns tokens, and gives a boost to the tokens Sigarda makes.
Knight-Captain of Eos - human fog!
Riders of Gavony - hose other tribes and provide limited protection
Odric, Master Tactician - the other Odric can make combat go smoothly.
Archetype of Courage - kind of like an anthem
Dragonscale General - even if you don't have a +1+1 counter strategy, this guy rewards aggressive strategies or using activated abilities.
I misread Champion of Lambholt. I didn't realize she made ALL of our creatures unblockable. Will test.
Captain of the Watch is another one I was eyeing originally. Like some of the other cards you've pointed out, this one seems very good upon closer inspection. Will test.
Knight-Captain of Eos is another sleeper. Will test.
I'm not sure Riders of Gavony would make the cut over the two Odrics and Court Street Denizen. Seems great against other tribal decks but may be lacklustre vs others.
Odric, Master Tactician deserves a shot too. Will test.
Archetype of Courage just seems too squishy for what it does, especially because I already have True Conviction. Being both an enchantment and a creature makes it especially vulnerable.
Will also test Dragonscale General.
Your praise of Court Street Denizen makes me want to look at it again. I really like the effect of tapping down a board, and I have Elite Scaleguard, but the denizen is a little more versatile. Rider of Gavony is definitely situational, but we have a lot of tribes in my group.
Have you considered Ulvenwald Mysteries for draw after a boardwipe? If you have other Clues out you'll get a token as well. I'm a big fan of how well the clues work so far - there's usually extra mana available to crack a Clue. I also enjoy Eerie Interlude to protect my army and/or retrigger ETB humans.
Denizen is bonkers under any situation. She's helped me get through numerous stalls.
I had Ulvenwald Mysteries in the deck originally, but I was unimpressed with it for the most part. I'll give it another go. Like you said, it'd be pretty nuts in a board wipe. Will also try Interlude.
I think Saffi Eriksdotter is definitely worth considering in the deck, she's just a great card in general and she combos with a ton of things (Sun Titan, Angel of Glory's Rise, Reveillark, even Timely Hordemate). If you don't want to go the combo route she's still a good value creature.
Why run Tajuru Preserver over Sigarda, Host of Herons? They essentially have the same effect except one is a 5/5 flier with hexproof. She's more expensive, sure, but she's just a better card. If your opponent is planning on making you sac things anyway they'll just point removal at the Preserver. They can't do that with Sigarda.
No Gideons? They all become humans when they become creatures and they're all decent. I've been playing Kytheon myself and he's quite good. Flipping him is easy and he's never threatening enough to become a target but he offers a lot of value. You can +2 as a sort of removal, +1 protects Sigarda or any other creature and untapping it makes combat much more profitable, and just getting a 4/4 hexproof, indestrucitble, prevent-all-damage beater for 1 mana is pretty good too. Gideon Jura is good if you need to control, Champion of Justice demands an answer or it can win the game, and Ally of Zendikar is a good token producer/anthem effect.
Birthing Pod is excellent if you have a chain.
Banisher Priest? Fiend Hunter? They're both removal and with hexproof they're a lot less fragile.
Glare of Subdual is pretty great too. I think it's a little better than Court Street Denizen. Last game I played it kept two Ulamogs off me for a while and bought me valuable time.
Den Protector is a redundancy for Eternal Witness. Not as good but it is a bigger body (3/2 with some evasion) and hey, you might even have a "gotcha" moment when they target removal at your Morph and it flips into a hexproof human.
Ranger of Eos is bonkers. It draws two live cards. Targets in my deck include Champion of the Parish, Kytheon, Ulvenwald Tracker, and Mother of Runes. You could also run Planar Guide, Nova Cleric, Avacyn's Pilgrim, Signal Pest, Children of Korlis, Devoted Caretaker, Dryad Militant, the list goes on.
My deck is more of a hatebears deck so understandably they play differently but sometimes you need to pivot to a control position and I think these cards help.
Saffi Eriksdotter is a sweet card. I just haven't gotten around to testing her yet. My reservation with her is that she's a creature that broadcasts what she's going to do, versus, say, an instant like Ajani's Presence. I also run Mom, which suffers from the same drawback, but Mom's ability is reusable. Like some of the other suggestions, I'm willing to try them all, but it's slow going, because I don't have this deck IRL and am mostly playing it on Cockatrice for the time being.
I'm running the Preserver over Sigarda 1.0 because I want to avoid the awkward situation of wanting 2.0 out on the field for her tribal hexproof when 1.0 is also out. The hope is that the Preserver is out at the same time as 2.0, so his squishiness isn't so much of an issue. However, all of these fears may just be in my head. It's worth testing her.
I'm using Yisan right now instead of Pod because I want the creatures to stick around, even if I had a chain. I'd use Pod in a heartbeat in a deck with a ton of ETB creatures, like the ZenN's Jenara Bant Value Town deck, which makes great use of it and Survival of the Fittest. With a Pod and Mom in play, do I sac her to find Duskwatch Recruiter? On the other hand, I have no issue saccing a Solemn Simulacrum for a Mulldrifter, and continuing that chain. IMHO Pod doesn't fit in this deck.
I do have issues with spot removal, but right now I'm looking for a decent repeatable tool like Ulvenwald Tracker or Gallows at Willow Hill. I did have Angel of Serenity in here, which is like a Fiend Hunter/Banisher Priest on steroids, but as per Spitfirefox's suggestions, I'm trying to rely less on angels as a crutch except where absolutely necessary (ie. Angel of Finality, Angel of Glory's Rise). So far I have 9 cards that can remove creatures. I tried Pentarch Paladin and Intrepid Hero but found them too unwieldy or their focus too narrow. I may be wrong about the Hero though. Will have to try him out again.
Glare of Subdual is an awesome find. I had forgotten about that card. Will test in place of Court Street Denizen.
Before my current round of testing, I had a decent amount of recursion. I'm on the fence about whether I need more, but I think Sword of Light and Shadow is better as redundancy for Eternal Witness or Sun Titan than Den Protector.
Definitely testing Ranger of Eos. Grabbing any two of Mom, Tracker, Wayfarer, or Mikaeus is pretty sweet. So is new Gideon.
Yeah, Glare of Subdual is too broken not to include in a creature-heavy deck. It's basically an Opposition, which is such a broken card.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
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Right now I'm looking for ways to deal with decks that run Cyclonic Rift and other blue shenanigans. Gaddock Teeg would work, but he doesn't benefit from Sigarda and doesn't really fit the deck. I've even been looking at maybe running Nevermore.
Anyone have ideas?
My favorite creature protection cards are Ghostway and Eerie Interlude. They will put your creatures back on the board at the end of the turn (also triggering ETB effects).
Lapse of Certainty would buy you a turn. Often in my group the blue player saves Rift for a lethal attack against him, and he usually doesn't have enough mana up to counter a counterspell. Your idea to use Nevermore is a pretty versatile solution if you know what to expect from your opponents.
I can deal with stuff getting bounced back to my hand. It's just that the blue player now has a fully stocked battlefield, and at that point it's usually GG. All the work spent building up my board just to auto-lose to a single spell that can be easily tutored.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
As fun as it would be to play Stormfront Riders to mitigate a Rift, getting a bunch of 1/1 tokens while my opponent retains her winning board state leads to the same conclusion as if I hadn't gotten any tokens. Looking at my current list, I only have 8 creatures that have ETB effects.
I guess this is just something that battlecruiser decks have to deal with.
Sword of Light and Shadow: Even more recursion. I haven't actually drawn it in any games yet, but I imagine it's both a game-changer and a huge target for artifact removal.
Tormod's Crypt: Angel of Finality was just exhausting herself as the only graveyard hate in the deck. Crypt has been an all-star in every other deck I've played, because it costs, literally, nothing, and can be recurred with Sun Titan, acting like a Relic of Progenitus on roids.
Captain of the Watch: Like Spitfirefox suggested, this card puts the deck ahead in any situation. Playing from behind, she creates board parity, and while ahead, she just ups the deck's threat level. Suddenly Sigarda's Soldier tokens aren't so token-y.
Champion of Lambholt: A lot of people disregard her until she's a 4/4 and suddenly, they can't block my army. That first ability tends to be forgotten a lot. She's won me a few games already.
Goldnight Commander: Plays solidly in the deck and can get out of hand when something like Hero of Bladehold or Elspeth, Sun's Champion is out. For 4 mana, he's fairly broken in the right decks, especially if creatures can be given trample (this deck doesn't).
Grand Abolisher: This dude makes it possible to win in a turn if you can come up with lethal damage through Cathars' Crusade. But he's also just a cheap way to protect big plays, like Aura Shards for a ton, or casting a wrath. Super solid.
Knight-Captain of Eos: So not only can he sac the tokens he brings with him to fog, he can sac a good number of other creatures in the deck, including the tokens Sigarda makes. With him out and protected, the deck can stare down almost any board state without fear.
Ranger of Eos: As per guild McCommunist's recommendation, Ranger's found his way into the deck and is performing solidly. Faster than Yisan, the fact that he can grab both Mom and Weathered Wayfarer is pretty nuts. Super clutch.
Glare of SubdualAnother one of McC's recommendations, this card is outperforming Court Street Denizen. The number of times I've been able to tap down a creature that was about to deal me lethal damage is already too many to count.
Ulvenwald Mysteries: Hasn't seen action yet, but if Spitfirefox is right, it should help me recover from board wipes.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion: She's a 3rd wrath and can pump out defenders/attackers.
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Mikaeus, the Lunarch
Mother of Runes
Spurnmage Advocate
Thraben Inspector
Ulvenwald Tracker
Veteran Explorer
What are your thoughts on the Odrics? Odric, Lunarch Marshal can give people flying fairly reliably, sometimes vigilance (not sure how useful the hexproof is for protecting Sigarda if it's only for part of the turn), and is effective the turn he comes down. Has he been working out for you? Odric, Master Tactician looks like a wincon on paper but so far he's turning up when I don't have enough creatures to trigger him and can be slow without haste, clearly telegraphing my intent. Might be better for a token-spamming or R/W build.
I run the same grave hate as you, and I threw in Containment Priest to block any cheaty tricks. Obviously a nonbo with Sun Titan and Yisan, the Wanderer Bard, but easy enough to play around those, and your other tutors put cards in your hand.
I'm testing Thraben Heretic as additional graveyard hate. It's either her or Wheel of Sun and Moon, which I'll test in a bit.
Some things I'm testing out:
Courageous Outrider is pretty dang solid.
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa is a solid closer and breaks stalemates. Also useful for punishing opponents who cast wraths.
Selfless Spirit, if tutored with Chord of Calling or flashed with Winding Canyons, nullifies a wrath.
Winding Canyons is great for setting up combat tricks like flashing in a fattie like Sun Titan to block with.
Akroma's Memorial is a solid buff with very relevant keywords.