I was looking around for a possible commander for a new EDH deck and esper seemed like a cool combo. I found Sen Triplets and thought it would be a very fun and political commander to play with.
Has anyone played with or against a Sen Triplet EDH deck? Do they tend to draw a lot of hate?
What kinds of cards do you run and what style does the deck play like? Are they entertaining and fun?
A friend of mine runs Sen Triplets, and his control suite is practically perfect. The deck can arch-enemy better than any, and it often has to. The card value is around two grand, so you get what you pay for. The deck is artifact-centric Esper good-stuff.
Esper decks in general tend to draw a lot of hate because they are naturally the best control colors. Triplets can draw hate because you're taking other people's cards and stopping them from playing their own. They're not going to make you as large of a target as Oloro, Sharuum, or Zur, but I wouldn't be surprised if you draw some hate initially until your opponents warm up to the deck.
It seems like it would be a ton of fun to play with, but how political does it get or have the potential to be in a multiplayer setting? I want to try a multiplayer match at my LGS and want to see if I can run it as a crazy control/political deck. I want to be able to mess with people and make deals.
A friend of mine runs Sen Triplets, and his control suite is practically perfect. The deck can arch-enemy better than any, and it often has to. The card value is around two grand, so you get what you pay for. The deck is artifact-centric Esper good-stuff.
Any way you could post some of the cards he runs or a incomplete decklist?
I've actually found the Triplets to draw an unreasonable amount of hate because of the nature of their ability - it itches people in the same way as mindslaver does, it makes them watch you play their stuff for them. And you reveal their hand to boot.
But then, that may have just been that playgroups' feelings rather than general opinion. Still, don't be surprised if people react really strongly to them.
All of the rules allow for your general to be moved to the command zone when he gets put into a place that would be tough to get him back from, GY, Exile, etc. I am sure one day the rules will change and include tuck effects.
I used to run an artifact-centric Sen Triplets build, which I liked quite a bit. However, I think that its a relatively difficult commander to build around. If you're trying to take advantage of the ability to play other people's cards, you're going to need to run a lot more artifact ramp than you typically would, which dilutes the effectiveness of your own control package. In my opinion, cards like Celestial Dawn and Mycosynth Lattice are cute but ineffective, and you're better off taking advantage of the part of Sen Trips ability which prevents an opponent from playing spells or activating abilities.
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"I have seen the true path. I will not warm myself by the fire—I will become the flame."
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
I run artifact-control pretty ladies, with slight pillow-fort protection. Though, I haven't played them in a while because of the collective moans and groans from the peanut gallery when I do.
I think they're a surprisingly strong commander, one which doesn't get the respect they deserve until after experiencing the receiving end of their shenanigans, and then every game with them becomes you vs the world.
Sen Trips is one of my favorite commanders of all time. They are also a TRAP. Here is what's worth knowing about playing them:
1) You will draw an irrational, inexcusable amount of hate. You just will. It's you vs the table. That's just how it is.
2) Decks built to synergize with the Trips' ability are TRAPS. You are going to draw so much hate, they aren't going to live, you aren't going to untap with them, etc., it's not going to happen most of the time. You don't want to build your deck around resolving and then untapping with a card your opponents all don't want to see.
3) Sen Triplets are kind of a bad Teferi in Esper colors in my favorite deck list that uses them. You basically play Esper control and don't really care about resolving them, but if you get into a situation where you are heads up vs another blue Mage or you can just cast them for "free," they can be deadly. You basically just use them to prevent someone from casting spells on your turn in the late game and you will occasionally get a free card or two out of it.
Game plans designed around resolving the Trips and then using your opponents' spells to get advantage are like 95% fail. I can't emphasize this enough.
Long story short, "cast my opponents' spells" deck lists are very disappointing in reality. It's soooooo hard to build a deck around resolving Sen Triplets and having them in play for any length of time in the early/mid game. They won't live... They just won't... There are only so many hex proof/flash enablers you can run without diluting your business spells and they won't often be enough. Try building a deck where the Trips are just gravy on top of whatever else you were already doing, and you'll be a force to be reckoned with.
Sen Trips is one of my favorite commanders of all time. They are also a TRAP. Here is what's worth knowing about playing them:
1) You will draw an irrational, inexcusable amount of hate. You just will. It's you vs the table. That's just how it is.
2) Decks built to synergize with the Trips' ability are TRAPS. You are going to draw so much hate, they aren't going to live, you aren't going to untap with them, etc., it's not going to happen most of the time. You don't want to build your deck around resolving and then untapping with a card your opponents all don't want to see.
3) Sen Triplets are kind of a bad Teferi in Esper colors in my favorite deck list that uses them. You basically play Esper control and don't really care about resolving them, but if you get into a situation where you are heads up vs another blue Mage or you can just cast them for "free," they can be deadly. You basically just use them to prevent someone from casting spells on your turn in the late game and you will occasionally get a free card or two out of it.
Game plans designed around resolving the Trips and then using your opponents' spells to get advantage are like 95% fail. I can't emphasize this enough.
Long story short, "cast my opponents' spells" deck lists are very disappointing in reality. It's soooooo hard to build a deck around resolving Sen Triplets and having them in play for any length of time in the early/mid game. They won't live... They just won't... There are only so many hex proof/flash enablers you can run without diluting your business spells and they won't often be enough. Try building a deck where the Trips are just gravy on top of whatever else you were already doing, and you'll be a force to be reckoned with.
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I'll even go one further and assert that most any deck would benefit from not depending on its commander.
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There are no divisions: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. -Galatians 3:28
Sen Trips is one of my favorite commanders of all time. They are also a TRAP. Here is what's worth knowing about playing them:
1) You will draw an irrational, inexcusable amount of hate. You just will. It's you vs the table. That's just how it is.
2) Decks built to synergize with the Trips' ability are TRAPS. You are going to draw so much hate, they aren't going to live, you aren't going to untap with them, etc., it's not going to happen most of the time. You don't want to build your deck around resolving and then untapping with a card your opponents all don't want to see.
3) Sen Triplets are kind of a bad Teferi in Esper colors in my favorite deck list that uses them. You basically play Esper control and don't really care about resolving them, but if you get into a situation where you are heads up vs another blue Mage or you can just cast them for "free," they can be deadly. You basically just use them to prevent someone from casting spells on your turn in the late game and you will occasionally get a free card or two out of it.
Game plans designed around resolving the Trips and then using your opponents' spells to get advantage are like 95% fail. I can't emphasize this enough.
Long story short, "cast my opponents' spells" deck lists are very disappointing in reality. It's soooooo hard to build a deck around resolving Sen Triplets and having them in play for any length of time in the early/mid game. They won't live... They just won't... There are only so many hex proof/flash enablers you can run without diluting your business spells and they won't often be enough. Try building a deck where the Trips are just gravy on top of whatever else you were already doing, and you'll be a force to be reckoned with.
Just played a game against Merieke today which had Triplets in the 99. I was playing my Thada theft deck.
What happened with Triplets: Triplets played a Cavern of Souls out of my hand. I used Triplets to prevent the Merieke player from casting instants for a turn. Triplets died 3 times.
I ran Triplets a few times, and thought I had a decent good stuff build. But I kept losing to faster decks. Decks with green just stomped me. I still think I simply havent found the right way to build it, but I have so much love for that card. I refused to play or build Sharuum, so she was the next best thing.
I ran this for a few years. It's important that your group play iteratively or you get hosed a lot because the triplets are a "scary" commander to see on the table in colors already associated with infinite combos and lock-out control.
With iterative play, you can get across the (possibly false) idea that you're almost playing group hug. Cast other peoples spells _for_ them instead of against them, meddle with other players doing un-fun things, and generally be politically savvy.
The colors offer some very interesting and powerful effects if you don't get too caught up in all the good stuff, and the commander is a lot of fun to play because you end up casting lots of different cards; cards you maybe wouldn't play yourself. Every game is a bit different.
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Has anyone played with or against a Sen Triplet EDH deck? Do they tend to draw a lot of hate?
What kinds of cards do you run and what style does the deck play like? Are they entertaining and fun?
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Any way you could post some of the cards he runs or a incomplete decklist?
But then, that may have just been that playgroups' feelings rather than general opinion. Still, don't be surprised if people react really strongly to them.
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW
- Nevermore
- Arcane Laboratory
- Descent into Madness
The deck is based on The Raven's repeated cry. It ensures that opponents never do things.If my deck's not getting hated on, I think I'm doing something wrong.
I think they're a surprisingly strong commander, one which doesn't get the respect they deserve until after experiencing the receiving end of their shenanigans, and then every game with them becomes you vs the world.
1) You will draw an irrational, inexcusable amount of hate. You just will. It's you vs the table. That's just how it is.
2) Decks built to synergize with the Trips' ability are TRAPS. You are going to draw so much hate, they aren't going to live, you aren't going to untap with them, etc., it's not going to happen most of the time. You don't want to build your deck around resolving and then untapping with a card your opponents all don't want to see.
3) Sen Triplets are kind of a bad Teferi in Esper colors in my favorite deck list that uses them. You basically play Esper control and don't really care about resolving them, but if you get into a situation where you are heads up vs another blue Mage or you can just cast them for "free," they can be deadly. You basically just use them to prevent someone from casting spells on your turn in the late game and you will occasionally get a free card or two out of it.
Game plans designed around resolving the Trips and then using your opponents' spells to get advantage are like 95% fail. I can't emphasize this enough.
Long story short, "cast my opponents' spells" deck lists are very disappointing in reality. It's soooooo hard to build a deck around resolving Sen Triplets and having them in play for any length of time in the early/mid game. They won't live... They just won't... There are only so many hex proof/flash enablers you can run without diluting your business spells and they won't often be enough. Try building a deck where the Trips are just gravy on top of whatever else you were already doing, and you'll be a force to be reckoned with.
I'll even go one further and assert that most any deck would benefit from not depending on its commander.
What happened with Triplets: Triplets played a Cavern of Souls out of my hand. I used Triplets to prevent the Merieke player from casting instants for a turn. Triplets died 3 times.
Extremely effective. Yup.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
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With iterative play, you can get across the (possibly false) idea that you're almost playing group hug. Cast other peoples spells _for_ them instead of against them, meddle with other players doing un-fun things, and generally be politically savvy.
The colors offer some very interesting and powerful effects if you don't get too caught up in all the good stuff, and the commander is a lot of fun to play because you end up casting lots of different cards; cards you maybe wouldn't play yourself. Every game is a bit different.