This decklist was inspired by a topic from a few months back asking for ideas of what to put in a Dragon Ball Z-themed deck. I suggested a few ideas in said topic and was later inspired to try my own hand at building a Dragon Ball-themed deck.
A martial arts theme is a must, which made Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest a perfect fit. Monk tribal is heavily emphasized, though if absolutely necessary I could branch out to creatures beyond Monks, especially Warriors.
Beyond martial arts, two things DB is known for is shooting fireballs and flying, so we obviously want to include burn spells and cards that grant flight. Some favorites of mine include Burning Anger, Soul's Fire, Levitation, Stratus Walk, and View from Above.
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Glad to see this became a thing. I tried to brew up a DBZ deck using the level up guys, but man they're just too crappy.
I've got concerns about the power level of this deck. Its one thing to run with a theme, but another to have the deck do bugger all on the table. For me a big part of the fun of themed decks is finding some way within the theme to becomes as strong as possible.
I'd suggest dumping the monk theme. You already have one theme, and the deck is an aggressive combat orientated deck in EDH. It can't really handle any other self imposed nerfs
Whats the win condition here? If it's simply combat with creatures, are the creatures your running and the buffs your running strong enough to get the job done?
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EDH RRGrenzo plays your deck, GGYeva's mono green control, WW9-tails trys desperately for monowhite not to suck RWBUTymna and Kraum's saboteur tribal, UWG Kestia's Enchantress Aggro, RUB Jeleva casts big dumb spells, RGB Vaevictis' big critters can kill your critters hard
Martial arts are key to the imagery of Dragon Ball, and Monks are the iconic martial arts class. That said, I'd consider running some tribal support like Door of Destinies, or adding in creatures besides Monks such as Warriors.
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MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Interesting in concept, I'm not getting too much that visually strikes me as DBZ. Where are all the spiky haired protagonists, or the feeling of powering up (that isn't just expressed through Auras that get you 2-for-1'nd)? Still, cool idea.
I feel like green is kind of a must for DBZ, it and red is where you'll find all the muscle (and the clear Dragon Jugan, the Rising Star). Without looking through anything I feel like Raymond Swanland's art full of spikes and lightning will point you in the right direction. Him and Daarken. Clan Defiance is the first card I randomly think of when hurling fireballs, and Kresh the Bloodbraided practically walked out of DBZ (all of his arts work, of course, though Swanland's version is what sprang to mind).
While Goku and Vegeta are the faces of DBZ, consider that traditional Dragon Ball was highly diverse in its cast yet still rooted in martial arts. Krillin and Tien were both bald. Philosophically, martial arts and discipline also lean blue moreso than green. And DBZ's power up techniques feel more red to begin with.
Note that only half of the enchantments are Auras; the rest are global. Prowess provides powering up, but some additional outlets might be a good idea. Captive Flame?
If more DBZ flavor is desired, Infiltration Lens is probably a good start.
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
if you are looking for another orb to get all 7, there are a bunch of others that are actually quite useful. stuff like Mindlock Orb, Torpor Orb, Witchbane Orb, or Zuran Orb if you ever put in a land package. Winter orb seems like it would hurt you quite a bit.
i would think it would awesome if you could find space for one of the spirit dragons, like Fenrir Rex had mentioned. IMO Yosei, the Morning Star would fit the theme and playstyle well.
While Goku and Vegeta are the faces of DBZ, consider that traditional Dragon Ball was highly diverse in its cast yet still rooted in martial arts. Krillin and Tien were both bald. Philosophically, martial arts and discipline also lean blue moreso than green. And DBZ's power up techniques feel more red to begin with.
Note that only half of the enchantments are Auras; the rest are global. Prowess provides powering up, but some additional outlets might be a good idea. Captive Flame?
If more DBZ flavor is desired, Infiltration Lens is probably a good start.
Captive Flame is worth considering, I'll ponder out some flavorful ideas that don't push you into Jund or Gruul. I do like the old-school roots from Dragonball, and you've got something that certainly matches the flavor of Dragonball's original World Martial Arts tournaments, though you very quickly lose track of monks and any real mention of martial arts as soon as you add the "Z" to it.
So I suppose now I must get semantic: are you trying to build Dragonball Z (completely with Saiyans and monstrous alien invasions) or sticking to Dragonball? I see the OP mentions just Dragonball, so I think I jumped the gun.
I would prefer to stick with more traditional martial arts Dragonball, if possible. The Monk tribal is easy to build around as a lot of them have noncreature spells matter abilities like prowess to help tie the whole decklist together. Then it's just a matter of finding the right noncreature spells. I'm looking for more instants and sorceries to play with Mirari. I'm also looking for that seventh Dragon Ball. Since most of the current DBs are represented by silvery spheres, I'm trying to keep consistent with that aesthetic. Crystal Ball is a deviant, but the DBs look like they're made of crystal anyway, so it works.
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MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
I would prefer to stick with more traditional martial arts Dragonball, if possible. The Monk tribal is easy to build around as a lot of them have noncreature spells matter abilities like prowess to help tie the whole decklist together. Then it's just a matter of finding the right noncreature spells. I'm looking for more instants and sorceries to play with Mirari. I'm also looking for that seventh Dragon Ball. Since most of the current DBs are represented by silvery spheres, I'm trying to keep consistent with that aesthetic. Crystal Ball is a deviant, but the DBs look like they're made of crystal anyway, so it works.
You got it. Orbs Of Warding is probably my favorit orb (turning off a number of haymakers and reducing damage to boot, but I assume the fact that it's Orbs plural is a problem). The image shows three of them, so you could also claim it's just the three star dragonball. Jaya Ballard, Task Mage strikes me as something fairly dragonbally and shows the steady progression of powering up with nothing but cards and mana.
Banefire is boring, but a huge uncounterable fireball is certainly the feeling that you get when you finally see Goku and friends hurling fully powered Kamehamehas (or when you see the Turtle Hermit hucking them earlier). The same feeling can be gotten with other X spells, and you definitely want a sweeper or two, so big red Comet Storm and the like works.
I personally would start pulling planeswealkers for more instants and sorceries (I don't know that you have enough support for them here, and in my experience planeswalkers don't last long enough in EDH to make a huge impact). You should also consider representing some of the monsters (Piccolos minions, the Red Ribbons cyborgs) to give you some late game muscle. Innistrad's larger blue zombie Skaabs work well enough for cyborgs.
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Naturally, such a deck wants to have seven orb or sphere-like artifacts, of which I've currently included six: Mesmeric Orb, Winter Orb, Crystal Ball, Static Orb, Icy Manipulator, and Mirari.
A martial arts theme is a must, which made Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest a perfect fit. Monk tribal is heavily emphasized, though if absolutely necessary I could branch out to creatures beyond Monks, especially Warriors.
Beyond martial arts, two things DB is known for is shooting fireballs and flying, so we obviously want to include burn spells and cards that grant flight. Some favorites of mine include Burning Anger, Soul's Fire, Levitation, Stratus Walk, and View from Above.
Input and suggestions welcome.
3 Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest
Creatures
1 Monastery Swiftspear
1 Pride Guardian
1 Serra Ascendant
2 Jeskai Student
2 Serene Master
2 Soulfire Grand Master
2 Elusive Spellfist
3 Dragon Bell Monk
3 Monastery Mentor
4 Lotus-Eye Mystics
4 Mistfire Adept
4 Ojutai Exemplars
4 Student of Ojutai
5 Strongarm Monk
5 Dragon-Style Twins
5 Sage of the Inward Eye
6 Narset, Enlightened Master
Artifacts
1 Infiltration Lens
2 Swiftfoot Boots
2 Mesmeric Orb
2 Winter Orb
3 Crystal Ball
3 Static Orb
4 Icy Manipulator
5 Mirari
2 Stratus Walk
3 Gift of Immortality
3 Jeskai Ascendancy
4 Levitation
4 Skywise Teachings
4 Splinter Twin
5 Burning Anger
6 True Conviction
Instants
2 View from Above
2 Lightning Helix
3 Soul's Fire
4 Swift Kick
4 Warleader's Helix
5 Brawl
Planeswalkers
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4 Chandra, the Firebrand
4 Narset Transcendent
5 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
5 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
8 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
4 Resurrection
4 Rite of Replication
Land
1 Command Tower
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Mystic Monastery
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Swiftwater Cliffs
1 Tranquil Cove
1 Wind-Scarred Crag
10 Island
10 Mountain
10 Plains
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
I've got concerns about the power level of this deck. Its one thing to run with a theme, but another to have the deck do bugger all on the table. For me a big part of the fun of themed decks is finding some way within the theme to becomes as strong as possible.
I'd suggest dumping the monk theme. You already have one theme, and the deck is an aggressive combat orientated deck in EDH. It can't really handle any other self imposed nerfs
Whats the win condition here? If it's simply combat with creatures, are the creatures your running and the buffs your running strong enough to get the job done?
RRGrenzo plays your deck, GGYeva's mono green control, WW9-tails trys desperately for monowhite not to suck
RWBUTymna and Kraum's saboteur tribal, UWG Kestia's Enchantress Aggro, RUB Jeleva casts big dumb spells, RGB Vaevictis' big critters can kill your critters hard
Arena Standard
UUUU Tempo, since before it was cool
Various Wx decks running Fountain of Renewal and Day of Glory
Anything I can cram Chaos Wand in to
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
I feel like green is kind of a must for DBZ, it and red is where you'll find all the muscle (and the clear Dragon Jugan, the Rising Star). Without looking through anything I feel like Raymond Swanland's art full of spikes and lightning will point you in the right direction. Him and Daarken. Clan Defiance is the first card I randomly think of when hurling fireballs, and Kresh the Bloodbraided practically walked out of DBZ (all of his arts work, of course, though Swanland's version is what sprang to mind).
Note that only half of the enchantments are Auras; the rest are global. Prowess provides powering up, but some additional outlets might be a good idea. Captive Flame?
If more DBZ flavor is desired, Infiltration Lens is probably a good start.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
if you are looking for another orb to get all 7, there are a bunch of others that are actually quite useful. stuff like Mindlock Orb, Torpor Orb, Witchbane Orb, or Zuran Orb if you ever put in a land package. Winter orb seems like it would hurt you quite a bit.
i would think it would awesome if you could find space for one of the spirit dragons, like Fenrir Rex had mentioned. IMO Yosei, the Morning Star would fit the theme and playstyle well.
edit** Spirit Mantle looks cool too
[EDH In Development] Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Queen Marchesa | Ruhan of the Fomori | Yahenni, Undying Partisan
[EDH Retired] Ertai, The Corrupted | Sigarda, Host of Herons | Tariel, Reckoner of Souls | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
[Modern] Stuffy Doll Combo Burn | Demigod of Revenge
Captive Flame is worth considering, I'll ponder out some flavorful ideas that don't push you into Jund or Gruul. I do like the old-school roots from Dragonball, and you've got something that certainly matches the flavor of Dragonball's original World Martial Arts tournaments, though you very quickly lose track of monks and any real mention of martial arts as soon as you add the "Z" to it.
So I suppose now I must get semantic: are you trying to build Dragonball Z (completely with Saiyans and monstrous alien invasions) or sticking to Dragonball? I see the OP mentions just Dragonball, so I think I jumped the gun.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
You got it. Orbs Of Warding is probably my favorit orb (turning off a number of haymakers and reducing damage to boot, but I assume the fact that it's Orbs plural is a problem). The image shows three of them, so you could also claim it's just the three star dragonball. Jaya Ballard, Task Mage strikes me as something fairly dragonbally and shows the steady progression of powering up with nothing but cards and mana.
Banefire is boring, but a huge uncounterable fireball is certainly the feeling that you get when you finally see Goku and friends hurling fully powered Kamehamehas (or when you see the Turtle Hermit hucking them earlier). The same feeling can be gotten with other X spells, and you definitely want a sweeper or two, so big red Comet Storm and the like works.
I personally would start pulling planeswealkers for more instants and sorceries (I don't know that you have enough support for them here, and in my experience planeswalkers don't last long enough in EDH to make a huge impact). You should also consider representing some of the monsters (Piccolos minions, the Red Ribbons cyborgs) to give you some late game muscle. Innistrad's larger blue zombie Skaabs work well enough for cyborgs.