The deck has a couple of lines to victory with various redundant pieces, ultimately the goal is to establish a bounce loop with a kill condition online. The main goal is to drop a mana engine, a bounce engine and a kill condition to bounce our kill condition endlessly until your opponents are out of life. The simplest line uses Aluren to cast imperial recruiter/recruiter of the guard>>phantasmal image copying the recruiter>>cavern harpy bouncing image>>image copying recruiter to grab parasitic strix/kalastria healer then pay 1 life to return the bounce creature which then starts the bounce loop to end the game.
Mana Engines are any cards that allow us to either generate infinite mana or cast our creatures for free. The 3 cards in this category are Paradox Engine, Aluren, and Intruder Alarm.
Bounce engines are any cards that allow us to bounce our creatures infinitely using mana generated by one of our mana engines. The cards in this category are Cloudstone Curio and Cavern Harpy.
Kill conditions are creatures that when bounced infinitely with the use of our engines kill the table. Our killed conditions are Kalastria Healer, Parasitic Strix, and Bontu's Monument.
After playtesting for several weeks I've made some changes to the list. Mainly focused on getting other win conditions besides Aluren and reducing the mana curve of the overall list. Namely, adding Intruder Alarm and Paradox Engine have made the deck more consistent as I have more than one way to combo out.
i have seen similar combo lists which used food chain as an infinite mana generator and a win condition via infinite castings of tazri. this and, seen as some key spells here are also enchantments, a copy of zur the enchanter in the 99.
were they left out by choice? how would the deck hold up if prevented to cast enchantments or combo out?
Paradox Engine is mostly there for redundancy in case Intruder Alarm or Aluren get destroyed/exiled and I have no quick ways to get them back on the field. As far as its reliability, I typically have 3-4 dorks and 1-2 rocks by the time engine rolls around so I've never really had an issue winning on the spot or the following turn.
I had Food Chain in the list at one point, but I didn't really like how it interacted with the rest of the deck. Most of the pieces were useless outside of the combo so it just felt better dropping the combo entirely. As for Zur, I actually hadn't even thought about him, he would definitely fit right in since he can grab some pretty crucial combo pieces that have proven a bit tougher to tutor for than I would like. If you were to add Zur in here, what would you pull?
I actually played a game earlier today where I had Intruder Alarm countered once and destroyed twice and I was still able to win. If I remember correctly I used Eternal Witness to grab it after it got countered, then used Dream Stalker to bounce witness to grab alarm after it got blown up and then cloned the witness to grab it again after the second time it got blown up. Then I just finished the combo and won. I was worried at first about running no counterspells, but so far it hasn't hurt the deck too badly. The biggest issue I've seen is dealing with things like Elesh Norn or Humility that just absolutely stop the deck in it's tracks. I may have to up the removal suite a bit to deal with these, but they come up very rarely in my meta so it hasn't been too terrible yet.
Made a few more changes to the list. Shifting to more of a staxy midrange build rather than fast combo. The deck still has the capacity to combo out relatively fast, but the plan now is to create an opportunity rather than just charge in since it runs no counter magic to protect the combo reliably.
- Elves of Deep Shadow
- Wall of Roots
- Bone Shredder
- Chrome Mox
- Tainted Pact
- Necropotence
+ Shrieking Drake
+ Harsh Mentor
+ Manglehorn
+ Kambal, Consul of Allocation
+ Uncage the Menagerie
+ Bontu's Last Reckoning
+ Nature's Claim
Sorry for the short reply but I'm typing from my phone. I don't really like cards like harsh mentor or Thalia in here, outside of a full blown stax package. I would also try my best to fit in a rite of replication, I never saw a game when it resolved with kicker that the game was decided on the spot, even more so when playing allies. A kicked rite on a kalastria healer is 6 drain multiplied by 5 to all players.
On the counter spells, I play a Marchesa artifact deck that has a lot of combo pieces on top of the arcbound synergy and I feel the game plan is similar to yours. I just slammed in there venser, the blue pact, muddle the mixture, commit/memory and mystical teachings, and I think it could be more effective than trying to introduce a stax plan that might make you the most hated right from the start.
No worries, I appreciate the feedback. Stax is my favorite archetype so I may have let it bleed into this build a bit more than necessary. Harsh Mentor is really nice since it stops quite a few combos from ever taking off, same with Thalia. They help stall other players and don't really affect me all that much, that being said I can see the case being made to remove them in favor of a countersuite. I'm going to try the countersuite here over the next few games and see how much I really miss the stax effects. I'll let you know how that goes.
The deck is definitely fun to pilot, I seem to find a new way to pull a win every game.
I'm actually pretty comfortable with the number of dorks I run currently. Tazri nabs me Harabaz Druid and Yisan can grab basically anything else I may need.
So far never, but I think that's more luck than anything else. Usually once Aluren resolves I win. Spell Queller has been fantastic at protecting me on the combo turn. I'm considering adding Grand Abolisher for some extra protection.
Played several games with the countersuite in and I'm not a huge fan. There were a few games where having Kambal or Harsh Mentor would've made a pretty big difference. I dropped Thalia, Kataki, Spirit of the Labyrinth and Bontu's Last Reckoning. I decided to add in some more removal and protection so in come Grand Abolisher, Zur the Enchanter, Bone Shredder and Path to Exile.
Swapped out Paradox Engine with Aura Shards. Engine was less useful than anticipated and shards gives us some more artifact and enchantment hate stapled to creatures, which is nice in a deck this creature heavy.
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Pretty efficient for the most part. I run as many tutors as I can, plus most of the pieces are creatures so Yisan and the recruiters grab most of what I need. If I'm racing to combo I can usually win around turn 4-5. I'm actually thinking of changing over from Tazri to Ramos, since I run so many cheap creatures, I feel like he could threaten commander damage rather quickly.
Mana Engines are any cards that allow us to either generate infinite mana or cast our creatures for free. The 3 cards in this category are Paradox Engine, Aluren, and Intruder Alarm.
Bounce engines are any cards that allow us to bounce our creatures infinitely using mana generated by one of our mana engines. The cards in this category are Cloudstone Curio and Cavern Harpy.
Kill conditions are creatures that when bounced infinitely with the use of our engines kill the table. Our killed conditions are Kalastria Healer, Parasitic Strix, and Bontu's Monument.
1 Arbor Elf
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Caustic Caterpillar
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Serra Ascendant
1 Shrieking Drake
2 Baleful Strix
2 Bloom Tender
2 Cavern Harpy
2 Coiling Oracle
2 Containment Priest
2 Dream Stalker
2 Grand Abolisher
2 Harabaz Druid
2 Harsh Mentor
2 Kalastria Healer
2 Phantasmal Image
2 Priest of Titania
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Riftsweeper
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Bone Shredder
3 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
3 Eternal Witness
3 Imperial Recruiter
3 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
3 Manglehorn
3 Parasitic Strix
3 Reclamation Sage
3 Recruiter of the Guard
3 Shardless Agent
3 Spell Queller
3 Trophy Mage
3 Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
4 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
4 Vizier of the Menagerie
4 Zur the Enchanter
5 General Tazri
0 Mana Crypt
0 Mox Diamond
1 Sol Ring
3 Bontu's Monument
3 Cloudstone Curio
Sorceries
1 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Demonic Tutor
2 Diabolic Intent
2 Regrowth
2 Uncage the Menagerie
Instants
1 Crop Rotation
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Nature's Claim
1 Noxious Revival
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Eladamri's Call
2 Lim-Dul's Vault
3 Beast Within
3 Chord of Calling
3 Fire Covenant
Enchantments
2 Sterling Grove
2 Survival of the Fittest
2 Sylvan Library
3 Aura Shards
3 Intruder Alarm
4 Aluren
Planeswalkers
2 Nissa, Steward of Elements
Lands
0 Ancient Tomb
0 Arid Mesa
0 Bloodstained Mire
0 Breeding Pool
0 City of Brass
0 Command Tower
0 Exotic Orchard
0 Flooded Strand
0 Forest
0 Gaea's Cradle
0 Godless Shrine
0 Hallowed Fountain
0 Island
0 Mana Confluence
0 Marsh Flats
0 Misty Rainforest
0 Overgrown Tomb
0 Plains
0 Polluted Delta
0 Reflecting Pool
0 Scalding Tarn
0 Spire of Industry
0 Stomping Grounds
0 Tarnished Citadel
0 Temple Garden
0 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
0 Verdant Catacombs
0 Watery Grave
0 Windswept Heath
0 Wooded Foothills
Changelog
11 July 2017
- Elves of Deep Shadow
- Wall of Roots
- Bone Shredder
- Chrome Mox
- Tainted Pact
- Necropotence
+ Shrieking Drake
+ Harsh Mentor
+ Manglehorn
+ Kambal, Consul of Allocation
+ Uncage the Menagerie
+ Bontu's Last Reckoning
+ Nature's Claim
12 July 2017
- Thalia, Heretic Cathar
- Kataki, War's Wage
- Bontu's Last Reckoning
- Spirit of the Labyrinth
+ Zur the Enchanter
+ Grand Abolisher
+ Bone Shredder
+ Path to Exile
21 July 2017
- Paradox Engine
+ Aura Shards
14 August 2017
- Nissa, Steward of Elements
- Vizier of the Menagerie
+ Reclamation Sage
+ Serra Ascendant
Modern- Protean Hulk combo WBRG -Mill UB
Commander
URJhoira of the Ghitu-WRG Mayael the Anima-WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain-WBR Kaalia of the Vast-RG Ruric Thar, the Unbowed -UBRNekusar the Mindrazer-W Darien, King of Kjeldor-GFreyalise,Llanowar's Fury-W Nahiri, the Lithomancer-UB Grimgrin, Corpse-Born-UW Brago, King Eternal-WBR Alesha, Who Smiles at Death-UBR Mishra, Artificer Prodigy-BRG Prossh, Skyraider of Kher-WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon-BG Skullbriar, the Walking Grave-WR Tajic, Blade of the Legion-UBG Damia, Sage of Stone-WUB Sharum the Hegemon-RG Wort, the Raidmother-WURZedruu the GreatheartedUGKruphix, God of Horizons-BWG Ghave, Guru of Spores-GUEzuri, Claw of Progress-URMizzix of the Izmagnus-WGSigarda, Host of Herons-BROlivia Valderan-WG Rhys, the Redeemed-UGExperiment KrajRG[mana]OmnatH,LoCUSofRaGE[/aRd]-[mana]BG Nath of the Gilt-Leaf" target="blank">-RG[mana]OmnatH,LoCUSofRaGE[/aRd]-[mana]BG Nath of the Gilt-Leaf-URGMaelstrom Wanderer -
were they left out by choice? how would the deck hold up if prevented to cast enchantments or combo out?
I actually played a game earlier today where I had Intruder Alarm countered once and destroyed twice and I was still able to win. If I remember correctly I used Eternal Witness to grab it after it got countered, then used Dream Stalker to bounce witness to grab alarm after it got blown up and then cloned the witness to grab it again after the second time it got blown up. Then I just finished the combo and won. I was worried at first about running no counterspells, but so far it hasn't hurt the deck too badly. The biggest issue I've seen is dealing with things like Elesh Norn or Humility that just absolutely stop the deck in it's tracks. I may have to up the removal suite a bit to deal with these, but they come up very rarely in my meta so it hasn't been too terrible yet.
- Elves of Deep Shadow
- Wall of Roots
- Bone Shredder
- Chrome Mox
- Tainted Pact
- Necropotence
+ Shrieking Drake
+ Harsh Mentor
+ Manglehorn
+ Kambal, Consul of Allocation
+ Uncage the Menagerie
+ Bontu's Last Reckoning
+ Nature's Claim
On the counter spells, I play a Marchesa artifact deck that has a lot of combo pieces on top of the arcbound synergy and I feel the game plan is similar to yours. I just slammed in there venser, the blue pact, muddle the mixture, commit/memory and mystical teachings, and I think it could be more effective than trying to introduce a stax plan that might make you the most hated right from the start.
If anything, I would add more mana dorks or a Cryptolith Rite to compliment the Paradox Engine/Intruder Alarm package.
How often has Alluren backfired?
I'm actually pretty comfortable with the number of dorks I run currently. Tazri nabs me Harabaz Druid and Yisan can grab basically anything else I may need.
So far never, but I think that's more luck than anything else. Usually once Aluren resolves I win. Spell Queller has been fantastic at protecting me on the combo turn. I'm considering adding Grand Abolisher for some extra protection.
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!