So here is my deck and also this will be a bit of a journey as I will keep adding to this as time goes on.
The background of this deck is that the first deck I ever made as a kid was a pinger deck with lots of Tim's. That is no where near competitive now (not sure it was back then) so I decided to make my first commander deck in that style. At this point I discovered a two things
1) My social group dislikes commander
2) They like legacy, and are happy for people to run proxies
I get a lot of comments for "uniqueness" of this deck when I play. Think it might be a backhanded compliment haha!
Pre-history
Played and refined it in some 1v1 against a friend of mine, H. I think it was 2 wins and 2 losses. My commander was Dracogenius, but I slowly began to see that Keranos might be the better option.
Recent History
I started playing at a store in their commander league, which is most similar to archenemy. There is a lot of multiplayer afterwards. Commander League 1: we had a victory, and my deck worked very well. Since nearly everyone else runs ramp or combo (lots of tutoring, blah) I was quite good at disrupting things long enough for us to get on top. Keranos worked well. Multiplayer games: played two 4p games and I won both. That being said, the first game was a bit of a Bradbury, where I felt that I got ignored until it was too late. Firemind and Curiosity came out, along with haste (from another opponents deck). I couldn't fry them all without decking myself but it gave me a lot of power. Social Multiplayers: I ran once with Keranos where I got owned by my friends D's deck (took on two of us and nothing we could do). I lost another 3p game with Dracogenius where I got totally blue-blocked for mana. That being said I did manage to Wojak-deathtouch and own the game for a peroid of time, but I couldn't hold it without mana for my counters. Commander League 2: Ran Dracogenius with reasonable success, but Keranos would have worked better. Once again my deck stalled well enough for other's ramps to get going. Social Multiplayers: It got called early but I was in a very strong position, and Dracogenius was doing very well at controlling the board. Woj&deathtouch came out again. Fun.
My "want to buy" board is long, I feel like I could remove 5-10 cards for better ones and it would dramatically improve the deck.
I am not in a position where I can really spend money on cards. If I keep playing at the store regularly I might put another $20 into it. I thought maybe land but, also, maybe a price of progress instead with some other cards.
Things I need to work on
1) Who is my best commander?
2) How is my deck in relation to my sideboard?
3) If I am going to spend $10-20, what is the best way to do it? And what cards should get dropped?
4) Do I have too much land? It was left over from Dracogenius days where you couldn't really have too much. If Keranos is running things, should I trim it?
edit: note to myself
5) I think I need more ramp. I should be able to do that with fairly cheap artifacts. If I am trying to hit 5 or 6 cmc as fast as possible, there is no reason not to put 'izzet signet' etc in this deck.
Your manabase could do with some cheap upgrading. Highland Lake, Izzet Guildgate, Swiftwater Cliffs, Wandering Fumerole to start.
Thanks for the feedback. I was wondering the same thing, but also thinking I might just run the price of progress instead. Some of my playgroup only run non basic so it can get pretty devastating. I guess it largely comes down to my commander. I rarely have an issue with Keranos. Whereas Dracogenius you really want 'correct' mana.
Not to self - I think I might need to get flametongue in there. Drop searing spear? I'm not sure... I also might be better with +1 island and -1 mountain. Charisma and Pemmin's aura are very blue reliant
Today the old deck was played (aside from Soul-Scar and jeska. Gees Soul-Scar is amazing). I had three games in a three player multiplayer. Each person won one each. I won via Firemind and curiosity that will soon be closed to me due to me thinking infinite loops are lame.
I learnt that my deck really does sit in no man's land in multiplayer. It can't go alpha too early, it's not good enough. There are no combos. I also need more counters and to save them for game changing spells like boardwipes. My direct damage spells needs to be cut to an extent, I already do that via creatures.
I only got one deathtouch artifact in three games so I'm half I went for the spike even though I think it's overcosted for what I will use it for.
Dracogenius came out but couldn't get going, making me wonder if kumano will be worth it.
Things might be different if I could get some return from charisma.
I did exile 8 creatures through, that was fun.
Annoying moment was the amount of "Enchant permanent" a player was running that could actually deal with Keranos!
Had four casual multiplayer (4-5 people) games last night. Won one. So I guess stats say it was even but it didn't feel like it. The only game I won was because one player put himself on one life to finish his friend in about turn 4, and then I was matched up with Animar which was simple for me to control.
However, it's clear that once I attain a decent board state, destruction decks are going to board wipe, token decks are going to generate 50 to infinity tokens a turn, omniscience comes out of Riku decks (man that was brutal)... all I can really do is hang on and try to take down the alpha and hope I can be seen as the worst. I was genuinely surprised how often someone could declare themselves 'in front' then take down 3-4 other opponents.
Annoyingly, the artifacts haven't smoothed my mana as much as I'd hoped, with only 2 games where I didn't have mana issues. Price of progress really lit the board up when it came out though.
I can perhaps retool it to take advantage of some infinite combos, maybe the firemind belongs in there. I really struggle with enchantments too, maybe I need more bounce. Or... probably leave it for now and just see what happens.
I think I need to add Bonfire of the damned back into things, given the amount of tokens that actually get played. It's such a mana suck though.
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1x Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
1x Cunning Sparkmage
1x Flametongue Kavu
1x Frostwielder
1x Gelectrode
1x Goblin Sharpshooter
1x Grim Lavamancer
1x Izzet Staticaster
1x Kamahl, Pit Fighter
1x Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
1x Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
1x Prodigal Pyromancer
1x Prodigal Sorcerer
1x Puppeteer
1x Razorfin Hunter
1x Rootwater Hunter
1x Suq'Ata Firewalker
1x Thornwind Faeries
1x Viashino Fangtail
1x Vithian Stinger
1x Vizier of Tumbling Sands
1x Vulshok Sorcerer
1x Wojek Embermage
1x Zuran Spellcaster
Planeswalker (1)
1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Instant (22)
1x Brimstone Volley
1x Broken Concentration
1x Burst Lightning
1x Cancel
1x Cerulean Wisps
1x Counterflux
1x Counterspell
1x Dismiss
1x Dissipate
1x Double Negative
1x Electrolyze
1x Exclude
1x Incinerate
1x Insidious Will
1x Izzet Charm
1x Lightning Blast
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Punishing Fire
1x Redirect
1x Rewind
1x Searing Spear
1x Shock
1x Bonfire of the Damned
1x Curse of the Swine
1x Volcanic Hammer
Commander (1)
1x Keranos, God of Storms
Enchantment (4)
1x Curiosity
1x Ophidian Eye
1x Pemmin's Aura
1x Sigil of Sleep
Artifact (4)
1x Basilisk Collar
1x Gorgon Flail
1x Gorgon's Head
1x Neko-Te
Land (41)
20x Island
1x Izzet Boilerworks
19x Mountain
1x Sulfur Falls
1x Arcane Denial
1x Arrester's Admonition
1x Brainstorm
1x Dagger Caster
So here is my deck and also this will be a bit of a journey as I will keep adding to this as time goes on.
The background of this deck is that the first deck I ever made as a kid was a pinger deck with lots of Tim's. That is no where near competitive now (not sure it was back then) so I decided to make my first commander deck in that style. At this point I discovered a two things
1) My social group dislikes commander
2) They like legacy, and are happy for people to run proxies
I get a lot of comments for "uniqueness" of this deck when I play. Think it might be a backhanded compliment haha!
Pre-history
Played and refined it in some 1v1 against a friend of mine, H. I think it was 2 wins and 2 losses. My commander was Dracogenius, but I slowly began to see that Keranos might be the better option.
Recent History
I started playing at a store in their commander league, which is most similar to archenemy. There is a lot of multiplayer afterwards.
Commander League 1: we had a victory, and my deck worked very well. Since nearly everyone else runs ramp or combo (lots of tutoring, blah) I was quite good at disrupting things long enough for us to get on top. Keranos worked well.
Multiplayer games: played two 4p games and I won both. That being said, the first game was a bit of a Bradbury, where I felt that I got ignored until it was too late. Firemind and Curiosity came out, along with haste (from another opponents deck). I couldn't fry them all without decking myself but it gave me a lot of power.
Social Multiplayers: I ran once with Keranos where I got owned by my friends D's deck (took on two of us and nothing we could do). I lost another 3p game with Dracogenius where I got totally blue-blocked for mana. That being said I did manage to Wojak-deathtouch and own the game for a peroid of time, but I couldn't hold it without mana for my counters.
Commander League 2: Ran Dracogenius with reasonable success, but Keranos would have worked better. Once again my deck stalled well enough for other's ramps to get going.
Social Multiplayers: It got called early but I was in a very strong position, and Dracogenius was doing very well at controlling the board. Woj&deathtouch came out again. Fun.
My "want to buy" board is long, I feel like I could remove 5-10 cards for better ones and it would dramatically improve the deck.
1x Crackling Drake
1x Drift of Phantasms
1x Fledgling Mawcor
1x Goblin Electromancer
1x Guttersnipe
1x Jeska, Warrior Adept
1x Jori En, Ruin Diver
1x Kumano, Master Yamabushi
1x Living Inferno
1x Magmatic Force
1x Mercurial Chemister
1x Niv-Mizzet, Parun
1x Soul-Scar Mage
1x The Locust God
1x Willbreaker
1x Commander's Sphere
1x Glaring Spotlight
1x Isochron Scepter
1x Izzet Cluestone
1x Izzet Signet
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Sol Ring
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Sword of Kaldra
1x Thornbite Staff
Enchantment (5)
1x blood moon
1x Confiscate
1x Firemind's Research
1x Jace's Sanctum
1x Take Possession
1x Vance's Blasting Cannons
1x Blue Sun's Zenith
1x Chaos Warp
1x Commit
1x Disallow
1x Ionize
1x Negate
1x Price of Progress
Sorcery (6)
1x Beacon Bolt
1x Clear the Mind
1x Invoke the Firemind
1x Mizzium Mortars
1x Treasure Cruise
1x Vandalblast
I am not in a position where I can really spend money on cards. If I keep playing at the store regularly I might put another $20 into it. I thought maybe land but, also, maybe a price of progress instead with some other cards.
Things I need to work on
1) Who is my best commander?
2) How is my deck in relation to my sideboard?
3) If I am going to spend $10-20, what is the best way to do it? And what cards should get dropped?
4) Do I have too much land? It was left over from Dracogenius days where you couldn't really have too much. If Keranos is running things, should I trim it?
edit: note to myself
5) I think I need more ramp. I should be able to do that with fairly cheap artifacts. If I am trying to hit 5 or 6 cmc as fast as possible, there is no reason not to put 'izzet signet' etc in this deck.
Pauper: UR Puzzle Pieces
EDH: UB Phenax, God of Deception UR The Locust God UR Saheeli the Gifted WBG Anafenza, the Foremost
Thanks for the feedback. I was wondering the same thing, but also thinking I might just run the price of progress instead. Some of my playgroup only run non basic so it can get pretty devastating. I guess it largely comes down to my commander. I rarely have an issue with Keranos. Whereas Dracogenius you really want 'correct' mana.
5x Keranos, God of Storms
Pinging Creatures (19)
2x Razorfin Hunter
3x Cunning Sparkmage
3x Gelectrode
3x Goblin Sharpshooter
3x Izzet Staticaster
3x Prodigal Pyromancer
3x Prodigal Sorcerer
3x Rootwater Hunter
3x Suq'Ata Firewalker
3x Thornwind Faeries
3x Vithian Stinger
3x Vulshok Sorcerer
4x Flametongue Kavu
4x Frostwielder
4x Jeska, Warrior Adept
4x Wojek Embermage
5x Kumano, Master Yamabushi
6x Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
8x Magmatic Force
Support Creatures (4)
1x Soul-Scar Mage
3x Puppeteer
3x Tandem Lookout
3x Visor of Tumbling Sands
Land (36)
1x Command Tower
17x Island
1x Izzet Boilerworks
16x Mountain
1x Sulfur Falls
1x Lightning Bolt
3x Electrolyze
Counters (8)
2x Counterspell
2x Redirect
3x Broken Concentration
3x Cancel
3x Counterflux
3x Dissipate
3x Double Negative
3x Exclude
4x Dismiss
4x Insidious Will
4x Rewind
Other instants (4)
1x Cerulean Wisps
2x Izzet Charm
2x Price of Progress
3x Chaos Warp
4x Commit
Enchantment (5)
1x Sigil of Sleep
1x Curiosity
3x Charisma
3x Ophidian Eye
3x Pemmin's Aura
Sorcery (2)
2x Curse of the Swine
3x Invoke the Firemind
Planeswalker (1)
4x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Mana Artifact (8)
2x Fire Diamond
2x Izzet Signet
2x Sky Diamond
3x Commander's Sphere
3x Darksteel Ingot
3x Izzet Cluestone
3x Izzet Keyrune
3x Izzet Locket
1x Basilisk Collar
1x Gorgon's Head
2x Swiftfoot Boots
2x Gorgon Flail
3x Neko-Te
3x Quietus Spike
Last five removed (5)
1x Burst Lightning
1x Viashino Fangtail
1x Kamahl, Pit Fighter
2x Punishing Fire
3x Zuran Spellcaster
Removed (10)
1x Bonfire of the Damned
2x Searing Spear
1x Brimstone Volley
1x Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
1x Incinerate
1x Grim Lavamancer
1x Lightning Blast
1x Niv-Mizzet, Firemind
1x Redirect
1x Shock
1x Volcanic Hammer
My current deck, hated making those cuts
Not to self - I think I might need to get flametongue in there. Drop searing spear? I'm not sure... I also might be better with +1 island and -1 mountain. Charisma and Pemmin's aura are very blue reliant
I learnt that my deck really does sit in no man's land in multiplayer. It can't go alpha too early, it's not good enough. There are no combos. I also need more counters and to save them for game changing spells like boardwipes. My direct damage spells needs to be cut to an extent, I already do that via creatures.
I only got one deathtouch artifact in three games so I'm half I went for the spike even though I think it's overcosted for what I will use it for.
Dracogenius came out but couldn't get going, making me wonder if kumano will be worth it.
Things might be different if I could get some return from charisma.
I did exile 8 creatures through, that was fun.
Annoying moment was the amount of "Enchant permanent" a player was running that could actually deal with Keranos!
However, it's clear that once I attain a decent board state, destruction decks are going to board wipe, token decks are going to generate 50 to infinity tokens a turn, omniscience comes out of Riku decks (man that was brutal)... all I can really do is hang on and try to take down the alpha and hope I can be seen as the worst. I was genuinely surprised how often someone could declare themselves 'in front' then take down 3-4 other opponents.
Annoyingly, the artifacts haven't smoothed my mana as much as I'd hoped, with only 2 games where I didn't have mana issues. Price of progress really lit the board up when it came out though.
I can perhaps retool it to take advantage of some infinite combos, maybe the firemind belongs in there. I really struggle with enchantments too, maybe I need more bounce. Or... probably leave it for now and just see what happens.
I think I need to add Bonfire of the damned back into things, given the amount of tokens that actually get played. It's such a mana suck though.