DSICLAIMER: I’m aware that Saskia, the Unyielding is not T1 or T2, however my goal is to make this deck as efficient and lethal as possible. Please keep this in mind with suggestions on the deck. Many thanks in advance!
This is my deckteck on Saskia, the Unyielding. The article will flow as follows:
- Background on the deck history
- What archetype I was looking for and how I arrived to this list
- Brief overview on how to play the deck
- List
- Card choices grouped by card-type w/ explanation
- Cards I’ve recently cut and cards I’d like to try
I’ve been playing Saskia since the deck was released. My goal was to keep this deck as my “casual” (the meaning of casual varies from playgroup to playgroup) multiplayer deck, meaning to me that there will be no infinite combos, no super-oppressive lockdown, or nothing unfair. This doesn’t mean that the deck still can’t have a good chance at winning and have potential to win VS cutthroat decks. Politics are often underrated in EDH.
At first I made it a creature-based deck and attempted to go wide with tokens and such, extra combat phases, other cute stuff of the sort. The deck was extremely weak to wipes though and took a while to build a threatening board presence. Being that those strategies require win-more cards for extra combat phases and such, dead cards would often be drawn and that personally is not acceptable for me. I would either lose to flyers, attrition, or to opponents who I wasn’t attacking. Combo is a huge weakness for the deck; however we have to simply accept this. Being that the advantages of the general are most profitable with attacking and maintaining a proactive game plan, I simply accept the risk of losing to combo. If we’re being reactive and playing an overall control role, we’re losing. This doesn’t mean the deck can’t assume the control role at all; it actually needs to sometimes being that the deck is more of a midrange list however once parity is met, it switches over to the beats role and does so quite well.
When working with the various builds, I realized that the deck plays best with a midrange mentality. Granted this midrange strategy can get blown-out to Counterspells, it still feels like the best direction to go. Playing larger threats felt stronger and more effective. To compensate for the higher curve, ramp was needed. To make the deck flow better and survive in attrition-based battles, draw power was required. With all of those components in check I felt that one more was necessary in the equation: burn. Being that we are in Red, I wanted to take advantage of a few solid cards that would help lower player’s life total or cause potential for blowout plays. I was strictly drawn to cards that effected all opponents or players, with the exception of a couple spot-removal cards. I wanted to keep my list for multiplayer strictly, so in order to be as competitive as possible we needed to present threats and play cards that could make huge impacts in regards to life total swings.
Opening hand must consist of some sort of ramp, whether it is a one, two, or three drop spell/creature. If the quickest ramp spell is a 3-drop, there should be a 1 or 2 drop card in the hand as well. If you’re playing “Land, Go” then the deck will fall behind and it will be hard to play catch-up. Depending on the opponents, you either want to ramp into a big threat or hold up mana for removal. Being that the deck plays a midrange style, it isn’t bad to ramp or cast draw spells on the first few turns, drop a board-wipe, then start casting threats. I personally tend cast Saskia only when I’m confident that my attack will kill at least one player, or generate enough of a life-swing to gain a very large advantage.
With that being said, I’ve arrived at the following list below:
Dark confidant - Controversial; Two drop that draws which is why I run it, but can shoot you in the foot if you flip a high CMC card. Curve is on the low side so I haven’t really been hurt too much by it yet; replaceable
Bloom Tender - Great ramp in a four-color deck, cast Saskia, the Unyielding for free virtually
Devoted Druid - Great two drop ramp, can help hit a T3 five drop
Silverblade Paladin - This is a win-more card, but can really help put the beats on; replaceable
Shaman of Forgotten Ways - Helps us cast our high CMC creatures; also provides a small threat with its activated ability. Not replaceable for now
Selvala, Explorer Returned - Underrated, this card is awesome; Yes it give opponents cards, but it maintains parity card-wise while ramping, minimal life-gain, and provide some information. Love this card right now
Courser of Kruphix - Solid midrange card, helps smooth out land drops; not replaceable for now
Hero of Bladehold - This has made its way in and out of the list multiple times, but right not it’s in; Descent threat for a four drop though; Replaceable only with another four drop or less threat
Ogre Battledriver - In and out of the list as well; good haste enabler and the +2 power is nice; not replaceable for now
Oracle of Mul Daya - Should be self-explanatory; smooths out land drops and lets us play extra lands
Zurgo Helmsmasher - In and out of the list as well; insane beat stick that doesn’t easily die on our turn; not replaceable for now
Xenagos, God of Revels - Can set you up for some pretty insane plays; not easily removable and good haste enabler
Thundermaw Hellkite - This card is underrated as well; nice threat with haste and helps tap down any pesky flyers that may get in our way; has potential to affect every opponents board
Ruric Thar, the Unbowed - Recent addition replacing Ob nixilis, unshackled; often gets triggered more but still can hurt us as well; only played a few games with it and so far it’s only been profitable; personally like how you can attack and still have a blocker with Reach; somewhat replaceable
Bane of Progress - great wipe that becomes a solid creature; great value
Aurelia, the Warleader - Haste and enables extra combat phases; I’ve won many games on turns I drop her on the field
Atarka, World Render - Insane beater that gets really out of hand with Xenagos, God of Revels or Aurelia, the Warleader; hasn’t let me down once
Sepulchral Primordial - Being that we play a midrange role, we can get value of opponents threats that have died; haven’t had any blowout plays with it yet however; replaceable
By Force - Recent addition that directly replaced Vandalblast; easier to cast and lets us be selective; not replaceable for now
Green Sun’s Zenith - Recently replaced Chord of Calling because it’s easier to cast and goes back into our deck; the Green creature restriction isn’t much of a problem for this deck
Painful Truths - Descent draw spell; waiting for the cute moment when I can draw 4 with the Converge mechanic due to an opponent’s Rhystic Study or other mana-taxing permanent; replaceable with another card in its category
Debt to the Deathless - Recent addition; life gain is great but I included as more of a mid-late game finisher; hits all opponents and generates great life-total swing; not replaceable for now
Swords to Plowshares - Typical staple; debating replacing with Path to Exile since sometimes the life gain comes back to bite me; debating if letting the opponent ramp is better or worse (it’s conditional); replaceable with a similar card
Noxious Revival - Descent value card; cheaper than Eternal Witness and is virtually free, though it does bring our draw and require a draw to be useful; replaceable
Enlightened Tutor - Descent tutor; grabs our mana rocks or Survival of the Fittest
Boros Charm - Jank, but honestly has over performed; either saves my permeants or the double-strike mode finishes someone off; I’ve yet to burn someone out =]
Aurelia’s Fury - Super jank; a friend suggested this card to help tap down flyers for a lethal attack or even stop an opponent from going off for a turn; of course I can always burn someone or remove a creature; somewhat replaceable
Clip Wings - Originally a metagame call but this card has overperformed as well; helps to rid of flyers that can block mine; also a bit of a pet card due to the fact it has potential to 4-for-1 and effect all opponents which is great for a 2 CMC card
Back to Nature - Descent Enchantment removal for 2 CMC; effects all players so it can x-for-1
Price of Progress - Added this card initially as a joke, but it ended up being super powerful; helps lower life totals for easier lethal attacks; yes it damages us and we only play 6 basics, but often helps more than it hurts
Crackling Doom - Good removal that affects all opponents; the biggest power creature clause is really helpful
Exploration - Just a solid ramp card; 38 lands is enough to constitute this; somewhat replaceable, maybe for Wild Growth or something of the sort; replaceable
Survival of the Fittest - Card is great, however I’ve been thinking of dropping it due to the fact that most of the creatures in the deck are solid threats; sometimes the availability of getting what you need is enough to end the game though; somewhat replaceable
Imperial Seal - This tutor just doesn’t cut it for me. Sorcery speed and top of the deck is not what I’m looking for. When I play a card I want it to impact the game as soon as possible.
Ob Nixilis, Unshackled - This card was pretty good, but players don’t tutor as much as they play non-creature spells (comparing to Ruric Thar, the Unbowed). I might find room for it again.
Reflecting Pool - Might find room for it. By luck of the draw I’ve always had bad luck with this card, drawing it with a colorless land. Out for now.
Siege Behemoth - Insane beater, but 7 CMC is a bit high for this. Plus it requires a board presence already so casting this on an open board can be underwhelming.
Iroas, God of Victory - This always felt like a win-more card and the setup cost requires other creatures. I rather just play an actual standalone threat.
Vandalblast - Great card, but only being able to cast it for 1 or 5 is a huge restriction. Many times I wanted to just spend 3 mana to remove a couple of Artifacts. Replaced by By Force.
Rakdos Charm - Cute card, worst case it 1-for-1’s with an Artifact, but I’m not a fan of spot removal in multiplayer. This was good in my meta for a while when Prossh, Skyraider of Kher was common.
DSICLAIMER: I’m aware that Saskia, the Unyielding is not T1 or T2, however my goal is to make this deck as efficient and lethal as possible. Please keep this in mind with suggestions on the deck. Many thanks in advance!
This is my deckteck on Saskia, the Unyielding. The article will flow as follows:
- Background on the deck history
- What archetype I was looking for and how I arrived to this list
- Brief overview on how to play the deck
- List
- Card choices grouped by card-type w/ explanation
- Cards I’ve recently cut and cards I’d like to try
I’ve been playing Saskia since the deck was released. My goal was to keep this deck as my “casual” (the meaning of casual varies from playgroup to playgroup) multiplayer deck, meaning to me that there will be no infinite combos, no super-oppressive lockdown, or nothing unfair. This doesn’t mean that the deck still can’t have a good chance at winning and have potential to win VS cutthroat decks. Politics are often underrated in EDH.
At first I made it a creature-based deck and attempted to go wide with tokens and such, extra combat phases, other cute stuff of the sort. The deck was extremely weak to wipes though and took a while to build a threatening board presence. Being that those strategies require win-more cards for extra combat phases and such, dead cards would often be drawn and that personally is not acceptable for me. I would either lose to flyers, attrition, or to opponents who I wasn’t attacking. Combo is a huge weakness for the deck; however we have to simply accept this. Being that the advantages of the general are most profitable with attacking and maintaining a proactive game plan, I simply accept the risk of losing to combo. If we’re being reactive and playing an overall control role, we’re losing. This doesn’t mean the deck can’t assume the control role at all; it actually needs to sometimes being that the deck is more of a midrange list however once parity is met, it switches over to the beats role and does so quite well.
When working with the various builds, I realized that the deck plays best with a midrange mentality. Granted this midrange strategy can get blown-out to Counterspells, it still feels like the best direction to go. Playing larger threats felt stronger and more effective. To compensate for the higher curve, ramp was needed. To make the deck flow better and survive in attrition-based battles, draw power was required. With all of those components in check I felt that one more was necessary in the equation: burn. Being that we are in Red, I wanted to take advantage of a few solid cards that would help lower player’s life total or cause potential for blowout plays. I was strictly drawn to cards that effected all opponents or players, with the exception of a couple spot-removal cards. I wanted to keep my list for multiplayer strictly, so in order to be as competitive as possible we needed to present threats and play cards that could make huge impacts in regards to life total swings.
Opening hand must consist of some sort of ramp, whether it is a one, two, or three drop spell/creature. If the quickest ramp spell is a 3-drop, there should be a 1 or 2 drop card in the hand as well. If you’re playing “Land, Go” then the deck will fall behind and it will be hard to play catch-up. Depending on the opponents, you either want to ramp into a big threat or hold up mana for removal. Being that the deck plays a midrange style, it isn’t bad to ramp or cast draw spells on the first few turns, drop a board-wipe, then start casting threats. I personally tend cast Saskia only when I’m confident that my attack will kill at least one player, or generate enough of a life-swing to gain a very large advantage.
With that being said, I’ve arrived at the following list below:
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Jorga Treespeaker
1x Deathrite Shaman
1x Serra Ascendant
1x Dark confidant
1x Bloom Tender
1x Devoted Druid
1x Silverblade Paladin
1x Shaman of Forgotten Ways
1x Selvala, Explorer Returned
1x Courser of Kruphix
1x Hero of Bladehold
1x Ogre Battledriver
1x Oracle of Mul Daya
1x Zurgo Helmsmasher
1x Xenagos, God of Revels
1x Thundermaw Hellkite
1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
1x Bane of Progress
1x Aurelia, the Warleader
1x Atarka, World Render
1x Sepulchral Primordial
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Dragonlord Atarka
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
SORCERY
1x By Force
1x Green Sun’s Zenith
1x Three Visits
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Nature’s Lore
1x Painful Truths
1x Grim Tutor
1x Kodama’s Reach
1x Cultivate
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Read the Bones
1x Wrath of God
1x Damnation
1x Debt to the Deathless
1x Skyshroud Claim
1x Austere Command
1x Insurrection
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Noxious Revival
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Eladamri’s Call
1x Boros Charm
1x Aurelia’s Fury
1x Clip Wings
1x Back to Nature
1x Price of Progress
1x Crackling Doom
ENCHANTEMENTS
1x Exploration
1x Survival of the Fittest
1x Sylvan Library
1x Phyrexian Arena
ARTIFACTS
1x Mana Crypt
1x Sol Ring
1x Sensei’s Divining Top
LANDS
1x Bayou
1x Taiga
1x Badlands
1x Savannah
1x Plateau
1x Scrubland
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Blood Crypt
1x Stomping Ground
1x Temple Garden
1x Godless Shrine
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Windswept Heath
1x Polluted Delta
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Misty Rainforest
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Arid Mesa
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Marsh Flats
1x Flooded Strand
1x Mana Confluence
1x Command Tower
1x City of Brass
1x Exotic Orchard
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Rugged Prairie
1x Strip Mine
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Skarrg, the Rage Pits
1x Kessig Wolf Run
2x Forest
2x Plains
1x Swamp
1x Mountain
CARD EXPLAINATIONS
EXCLUSIONS
Constructive criticism on the deck and post format/content would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking to time to read, hope you enjoy!