I'm building my first voltron deck, and have no idea where to begin.
So the premise of this thread is simple; what are your suggestions for effective voltron supporting cards? Can be as hipster or as overused as you like
I'm also looking for links to voltron decks that have been successful.
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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
For more Equipment based builds you have Rafiq of the Many as a solid option in a good color combination that gives you ramp, permission, and removal along with your voltron package.
All three of those decks can run the card Dueling Grounds which actually makes the strategy not terrible in multiplayer. Silent Arbiter does the same thing but dies easier.
Along the same lines you have Smoke for Red and Stoic Angel for Bant.
Sigarda, host of herons is a strong voltron, I've had success with her. Load her up with doulbe striking equipment, or go the enchantress route and add the GW enchantress cards.
Zurgo Helmsmasher was pretty fun too. Load him up with equipment, play a whole ton of sweepers, and make sure you have protection for him when it's not your turn. He had some success.
The other voltron general I've played and can comment on is Narset, Enlightened Master. She is very good. However, I'd probably not recommend using her as she's not a lot of fun for your opponents. She can be very griefy. I built her as a superfriends/ aura Voltron build, and I had fun, my wife did not. She got pulled apart summarily, and to be honest I didn't regret it.
I think the info you're looking for really depends on who you want to build around. You can't really go goodstuff in a voltron build. You're looking for how your commander stands ahead of the battlefield, and how best to leverage that advantage to deal 21 damage.
In that respect, you'll want probably three things:
1 - Protection for your general. Standards here are things like Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Gift of Immortality, Darksteel Plate and so forth.
2 - Protection from swarms - Sweepers obviously. White does well here with things like Cataclysm and Divine Reckoning as your general will survive them.
3 - A way to leverage your general's abilities - this is what varies deck to deck and depends who your voltron is.
So my suggestion is to have a look through the decklist database, google a bit, see who looks good to you, and come back with a general you like the look of. Then we can talk specific cards that will work for you. Because your general is the centerpiece of your deck in Voltron (moreso than other build archetypes) it all stems from there.
Likely Bruse and one of the flyers to give me two alternative paths to general damage in the same game - one evasive, one hitting like a truck. However whichever two are chosen its the same colour combination of UWR so I'm not super committed to any particular pair.
Because of this the "one attacker" / "one uptap" etc effects aren't going to work for this build.
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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
RW has a lot of synergy with equipments. Therefore, a large equipment package to beef and protect your general seems the most logical. Sunforger is also in your colors and has a lot more interesting targets with the addition of blue. Add counters to protect key pieces and Academy Ruins and Hanna, Ship's Navigator to get them back.
I play Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest as my voltron general, because he's capable of pumping other creatures, makes blocking more difficult, and because he also gives access to red, Sunforger becomes a viable option.
There's some great information already in your responses, but I'll just note that the three Voltron decks I've played against that I consider remotely "successful" are Rafiq of the Many, Thrun, the Last Troll, and Uril, the Miststalker.
In terms of supporting cards, a lot of great ones have been discussed, but I'd add that the totem armor enchantments are hard to play against: Bear Umbra, Indrik Umbra, and Felidar Umbra come to mind first.
This is more of an interesting take on Voltron than I expected tbh. I like it, because partner makes it a little unconventional. With two options for a massive swing, equipment is probably your best bet. Whispersilk Cloak is good, along with the greaves and boots.
I's kind of a crazy risk, but you could always look at things like Eye of the Storm to increase the number of spells being played. It would make Ishai enormous. Add some prowess enablers to make him massive on your turn, and combined with something like Jeskai Ascendancy you could give him or Kraum an enormous one turn pump. It's crazy but it could work. Get them some trample with Archetype of Aggression, Haunted Cloak, Sword of Vengeance and smash face real good.
Generally got a good idea of which equipment to use, its mostly auras and instant/sorcery pumps and effects that I'm clueless on.
Does Eye of the Storm work? I've been tripped up on the cast vs play thing before. Eye says cast, but I've also heard copies are played which is different in some way. That kind of interaction has tripped me up before and I'm still confused about it.
If it does work, it might not be worth it - just think, one removal spell played means every spell becomes removal and my generals are in big trouble if they're not hexproof... but that said this kind of thinking is exactly what I'm looking for! I think big risk big reward is the only way to make a deck like this work so if the cast/play thing does work out for the deck I'm definitely keen to give it a go.
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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
Don't forget Godo, Bandit Warlord. He's my equipment voltron general and in spite of being mono-R the deck is a lot of fun. Psychotic Fury is a strong inclusion since you're using multicolored commanders.
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EDH playing competitive Magic cast away
Current Decks GTitania midrange RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Generally got a good idea of which equipment to use, its mostly auras and instant/sorcery pumps and effects that I'm clueless on.
Does Eye of the Storm work? I've been tripped up on the cast vs play thing before. Eye says cast, but I've also heard copies are played which is different in some way. That kind of interaction has tripped me up before and I'm still confused about it.
If it does work, it might not be worth it - just think, one removal spell played means every spell becomes removal and my generals are in big trouble if they're not hexproof... but that said this kind of thinking is exactly what I'm looking for! I think big risk big reward is the only way to make a deck like this work so if the cast/play thing does work out for the deck I'm definitely keen to give it a go.
It's probably a matter for a rules judge. Having read the card again, there is every chance it doesn't work the way I'd like it to, which is a shame.
The other option which is similar is Possibility Storm. Which in many ways is a better, if less chaotic card. It means that every time an opponent wants a spell resolved they'll cycle it for something unintended, so I guess it's disruption of a sort. You can use it to your advantage, trading smaller permanents for bigger ones, and smaller spells for bigger ones. It will also immediately trigger Kraum. Also, the wording on the spell is CAST, for both the triggering spell and the spell that resolves, meaning both will trigger Ishai. So, not as exponentially good as EotS would have been but still potentially a 2 for 1 with spells, so should be a winner.
The previous comment about prowess and Jeskai Ascendancy still stands too. You're in Jeskai, I would make use of those if possible, they'll pay dividends. I wouldn't worry too much about auras either, unless you can recur them. Simply because you've got two interchangable Voltrons, and it's not as easy to switch auras as it is equipments.
I’m a pretty frequent Voltron player, and I’ve had success with the below:
Uril, the Miststalker – Easy mode. Run it with a ton of mana and Sunforger, throw in trample auras, and it is hard to lose.
Aurelia, the Warleader – Similar setup, more vulnerable to artifact hate, but gaining haste can help a lot.
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon – Self-explanatory infect deck. Really lacks for inbuilt protection, but it’s the most persistent Voltron build.
Bruna, Light of Alabaster – I’m not sure whether this is Voltron or Control, but she gets there. Probably the better deck if you are facing lots of combo. Vanishing is probably the best card in the format for Voltron, and it’s great with Bruna.
Wydwen, the Biting Gale – I ran this for a long while when the format was still new to me, before Surrak Dragonclaw was released. I wanted to try Surrak in substitute, but I never got it put together. The Flash is something to value really highly in any Voltron general, especially Bruna, and it can be easier to just find it in the Command Zone to begin with.
For your choices, I’d go with Kraum. Haste and Evasion are both highly valuable, especially if you are building the deck around Bruse to give him some Hexproof or other protection already. After making sure your general sticks, the priorities after that are making sure it doesn’t bounce off (evasion) and being able to pick up the attack quickly (Haste or Flash).
In my own little head-space/world, I see voltron as being one of three routes;
1.) combat focused voltron (cast aggressive creatures + equipment + damaged manipulation)
2.) control focused voltron (cast evasive creatures + smaller amount of equipment + control elements)
3.) somewhere between, usually requiring 3-color decks, which is more like a "good-stuff voltron" approach, using the optimal enchantments/equipment/control/creatures per the colors.
I would pick which sort of route out of those three interests you the most.
Personal preference for me is #1, and I have a pretty common formula that I've pushed in to multiple multi-player and 1v1 decks involving a 4cmc general (with haste, evasion, or some combat perk), 20x semi-aggressive creatures, 20x equipment/enchantments, 10x 2cmc or less mana rocks to get the commander out on turn-3, and rest is combat/damage tricks/draw/tutor/etc.
I do also like the more controlling voltron decks and I maintain a Wydwen, the Biting Gale deck, but those decks tend to be much weaker than a combat-focused voltron deck in multi-player, and most of my 1v1 friends do not enjoy playing against draw+go+faerie beats.
In my own little head-space/world, I see voltron as being one of three routes;
1.) combat focused voltron (cast aggressive creatures + equipment + damaged manipulation)
2.) control focused voltron (cast evasive creatures + smaller amount of equipment + control elements)
3.) somewhere between, usually requiring 3-color decks, which is more like a "good-stuff voltron" approach, using the optimal enchantments/equipment/control/creatures per the colors.
I would pick which sort of route out of those three interests you the most.
Personal preference for me is #1, and I have a pretty common formula that I've pushed in to multiple multi-player and 1v1 decks involving a 4cmc general (with haste, evasion, or some combat perk), 20x semi-aggressive creatures, 20x equipment/enchantments, 10x 2cmc or less mana rocks to get the commander out on turn-3, and rest is combat/damage tricks/draw/tutor/etc.
I do also like the more controlling voltron decks and I maintain a Wydwen, the Biting Gale deck, but those decks tend to be much weaker than a combat-focused voltron deck in multi-player, and most of my 1v1 friends do not enjoy playing against draw+go+faerie beats.
I am definitely more inclined towards the control-voltron route. The more aggressive methods seem to be more about "do your thing, do it quickly and hope you don't get wrecked by instant speed answers". I'd rather run a deck that works better in the long term, even if it meant being less effective overall - there is nothing worse than having your quick deck foiled and then watching the others play for the next three hours
I do have experience running red damage doublers, pumps etc so I'm open to putting the best from that into the strategy. Dictate of the Twin Gods at the right time could be pretty sweet - due to the two commanders any global effects are better than they otherwise would be in Voltron.
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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
Sadly, no Artful Dodge through Sunforger. If its the partner commanders you want to use I would go with Ojutai and Bruse. Keep ojutai on the field for a turn or two accumulating counters, attack with both and double strike the bird.
I would avoid instant speed buffs and stick to auras/ equipment. Eldrazi Conscription is a favourite of mine and can be combined with Burse to nearly OHKO people. Umbras are your friend as is Steel of the godhead on an appropriate creature. Bruna, Light of Alabaster is excellent in most cases and significantly more so against opposing Uril or Krond the Dawn Clad decks which she removes all of the auras from. Personally I play Rafiq auras with Bruna as a primary wincon. Also works really well using Sovereigns of Lost Alara to tutor your auras when attacking alone.
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EDH BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern: RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
If you're committed to the partner strategy then I would designate Ishai as the attacker and use Bruce as a pump spell. Ishai gets pretty large on his own and threatens lethal with fewer Voltron pieces than traditional Voltrons like Segarda and Uril, but lack of both green and red greatly reduces the ceiling for explosive hands. This doesn't strike me as good, but I may just be entrenched by my years of one shotting people with Uril. Run a generous amount of card draw and counterspells because Ishai will have to survive many more opponent turns than the traditional Voltrons do. I think your key cards will be double strike enablers like Bruce and Sunhome and protection from creatures effects like Holy Mantle and Spirit Mantle. MLD is also your friend.
Likely Bruse and one of the flyers to give me two alternative paths to general damage in the same game - one evasive, one hitting like a truck. However whichever two are chosen its the same colour combination of UWR so I'm not super committed to any particular pair.
Because of this the "one attacker" / "one uptap" etc effects aren't going to work for this build.
So just to clarify, you will be playing all 3? Or you want to choose between one of Ishai or Kraum? If that's the case, I think the easiest build would be with Ishai. He'll get big quick, because, you know, people play spells.
If it's 'two-headed voltron' like I initially assumed you meant, that really changes the type of cards you'll want in the deck.
Oh a nice back up to as voltron Plan is Nahiri (the mono W one). I have a Nahiri voltron deck that abuses her free equip ability by having a literal wall of Board wipes and MLD to keep the board clear as I beat people with my little Tokens with swords
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This aint your girlfriends meta! This is a man's meta! TURBO META.
So the premise of this thread is simple; what are your suggestions for effective voltron supporting cards? Can be as hipster or as overused as you like
I'm also looking for links to voltron decks that have been successful.
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
For more Equipment based builds you have Rafiq of the Many as a solid option in a good color combination that gives you ramp, permission, and removal along with your voltron package.
All three of those decks can run the card Dueling Grounds which actually makes the strategy not terrible in multiplayer. Silent Arbiter does the same thing but dies easier.
Along the same lines you have Smoke for Red and Stoic Angel for Bant.
These are just the ideas that came to mind atm
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls - Knowledge is Power U [Primer]
R Heartless Hidetsugu - The Art of Ending Games R
GB Ishkanah, Grafwidow - The Cluster HungersBG
Sigarda, host of herons is a strong voltron, I've had success with her. Load her up with doulbe striking equipment, or go the enchantress route and add the GW enchantress cards.
Zurgo Helmsmasher was pretty fun too. Load him up with equipment, play a whole ton of sweepers, and make sure you have protection for him when it's not your turn. He had some success.
Rafiq of the Many, Uril, the Miststalker are both classic voltron. Uril obviously is a pretty simple setup.
The other voltron general I've played and can comment on is Narset, Enlightened Master. She is very good. However, I'd probably not recommend using her as she's not a lot of fun for your opponents. She can be very griefy. I built her as a superfriends/ aura Voltron build, and I had fun, my wife did not. She got pulled apart summarily, and to be honest I didn't regret it.
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born could be an interesting Voltron-esque build.
I think the info you're looking for really depends on who you want to build around. You can't really go goodstuff in a voltron build. You're looking for how your commander stands ahead of the battlefield, and how best to leverage that advantage to deal 21 damage.
In that respect, you'll want probably three things:
1 - Protection for your general. Standards here are things like Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Gift of Immortality, Darksteel Plate and so forth.
2 - Protection from swarms - Sweepers obviously. White does well here with things like Cataclysm and Divine Reckoning as your general will survive them.
3 - A way to leverage your general's abilities - this is what varies deck to deck and depends who your voltron is.
So my suggestion is to have a look through the decklist database, google a bit, see who looks good to you, and come back with a general you like the look of. Then we can talk specific cards that will work for you. Because your general is the centerpiece of your deck in Voltron (moreso than other build archetypes) it all stems from there.
Likely Bruse and one of the flyers to give me two alternative paths to general damage in the same game - one evasive, one hitting like a truck. However whichever two are chosen its the same colour combination of UWR so I'm not super committed to any particular pair.
Because of this the "one attacker" / "one uptap" etc effects aren't going to work for this build.
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
BRGWTana and TymnaBRGW
RTeneb, the EternalR
UBRNekusar, Mind RazerUBR
Rakdos, Lord of Riots
BGWGhave, Guru of SporesBGW
Aurelia, the Warleader
BDrana, Kalastria BloodchiefB
WBROros, the AvengerWBR
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
In terms of supporting cards, a lot of great ones have been discussed, but I'd add that the totem armor enchantments are hard to play against: Bear Umbra, Indrik Umbra, and Felidar Umbra come to mind first.
Currently Playing:
Multiplayer EDH Lists (click italics for a link to the thread!)
[Primer] Lord of Tresserhorn - Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do[Primer] Roon of the Hidden Realm - Rhino Blink
5 Color Tribal Guide (Slivers, Atogs, Allies, Spirits)
Also Playing (most decklists can be found on my profile)
MarathGeistKamahlGrenzoBolasThassaGitrog
PiratesZurVial Smasher&ThrasiosYennettJhoira(cEDH)Strix(Pauper)
Legacy: Maverick
Modern:
Melira PodRIP 1/19/15GWHatebearsThis is more of an interesting take on Voltron than I expected tbh. I like it, because partner makes it a little unconventional. With two options for a massive swing, equipment is probably your best bet. Whispersilk Cloak is good, along with the greaves and boots.
I's kind of a crazy risk, but you could always look at things like Eye of the Storm to increase the number of spells being played. It would make Ishai enormous. Add some prowess enablers to make him massive on your turn, and combined with something like Jeskai Ascendancy you could give him or Kraum an enormous one turn pump. It's crazy but it could work. Get them some trample with Archetype of Aggression, Haunted Cloak, Sword of Vengeance and smash face real good.
Does Eye of the Storm work? I've been tripped up on the cast vs play thing before. Eye says cast, but I've also heard copies are played which is different in some way. That kind of interaction has tripped me up before and I'm still confused about it.
If it does work, it might not be worth it - just think, one removal spell played means every spell becomes removal and my generals are in big trouble if they're not hexproof... but that said this kind of thinking is exactly what I'm looking for! I think big risk big reward is the only way to make a deck like this work so if the cast/play thing does work out for the deck I'm definitely keen to give it a go.
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
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
It's probably a matter for a rules judge. Having read the card again, there is every chance it doesn't work the way I'd like it to, which is a shame.
The other option which is similar is Possibility Storm. Which in many ways is a better, if less chaotic card. It means that every time an opponent wants a spell resolved they'll cycle it for something unintended, so I guess it's disruption of a sort. You can use it to your advantage, trading smaller permanents for bigger ones, and smaller spells for bigger ones. It will also immediately trigger Kraum. Also, the wording on the spell is CAST, for both the triggering spell and the spell that resolves, meaning both will trigger Ishai. So, not as exponentially good as EotS would have been but still potentially a 2 for 1 with spells, so should be a winner.
The previous comment about prowess and Jeskai Ascendancy still stands too. You're in Jeskai, I would make use of those if possible, they'll pay dividends. I wouldn't worry too much about auras either, unless you can recur them. Simply because you've got two interchangable Voltrons, and it's not as easy to switch auras as it is equipments.
Uril, the Miststalker – Easy mode. Run it with a ton of mana and Sunforger, throw in trample auras, and it is hard to lose.
Aurelia, the Warleader – Similar setup, more vulnerable to artifact hate, but gaining haste can help a lot.
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon – Self-explanatory infect deck. Really lacks for inbuilt protection, but it’s the most persistent Voltron build.
Bruna, Light of Alabaster – I’m not sure whether this is Voltron or Control, but she gets there. Probably the better deck if you are facing lots of combo. Vanishing is probably the best card in the format for Voltron, and it’s great with Bruna.
Wydwen, the Biting Gale – I ran this for a long while when the format was still new to me, before Surrak Dragonclaw was released. I wanted to try Surrak in substitute, but I never got it put together. The Flash is something to value really highly in any Voltron general, especially Bruna, and it can be easier to just find it in the Command Zone to begin with.
For your choices, I’d go with Kraum. Haste and Evasion are both highly valuable, especially if you are building the deck around Bruse to give him some Hexproof or other protection already. After making sure your general sticks, the priorities after that are making sure it doesn’t bounce off (evasion) and being able to pick up the attack quickly (Haste or Flash).
1.) combat focused voltron (cast aggressive creatures + equipment + damaged manipulation)
2.) control focused voltron (cast evasive creatures + smaller amount of equipment + control elements)
3.) somewhere between, usually requiring 3-color decks, which is more like a "good-stuff voltron" approach, using the optimal enchantments/equipment/control/creatures per the colors.
I would pick which sort of route out of those three interests you the most.
Personal preference for me is #1, and I have a pretty common formula that I've pushed in to multiple multi-player and 1v1 decks involving a 4cmc general (with haste, evasion, or some combat perk), 20x semi-aggressive creatures, 20x equipment/enchantments, 10x 2cmc or less mana rocks to get the commander out on turn-3, and rest is combat/damage tricks/draw/tutor/etc.
My primary voltron deck is a bit of a homage to my original commander Jeska, Warrior Adept, (most recent decklist here). Last month I re-built one of my earlier voltron commanders and updated her list featuring Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch (decklist here). The same formula has worked very well for me using Mirri the Cursed, Olivia Voldaren, skullbriar, the walking grave, Queen Marchesa, and many others.
I do also like the more controlling voltron decks and I maintain a Wydwen, the Biting Gale deck, but those decks tend to be much weaker than a combat-focused voltron deck in multi-player, and most of my 1v1 friends do not enjoy playing against draw+go+faerie beats.
Links to my most current deck lists;
Primary EDH; Rakka Mar Token Perfection, Crosis Mnemonic Betrayal, Cromat Villainous, Judith Gravestorm, Rakdos Empty Storm, Exava Artifacts, Bant Trash, & Fumiko Voltron!
EDH kept at home; Ruzzian Isset & Rakdos LoR!
EDH (nostalgic/pimp/retired) in storage;
Latulla Burns, Akroma Smash, Jeska Voltron, Rakdos Storm, Bladewing Darghans, Lyzolda Worldgorger, Xantcha Steals your Heart, Jori Storm, Wydwen Permission, Gwendlyn Paradox, Jeleva Warps, & Sigarda Brick!
Legacy Showanimator and High Tide!
WUBRGProgenitus
URGMaelstrom Wanderer
WUBOloro, Ageless Ascetic
WURZedruu, the Greathearted
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher ($100)
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Tactician ($100)
UGKruphix, God of Horizons ($100)(retired)UTalrand, Sky Summoner (French 1v1, $100)
I am definitely more inclined towards the control-voltron route. The more aggressive methods seem to be more about "do your thing, do it quickly and hope you don't get wrecked by instant speed answers". I'd rather run a deck that works better in the long term, even if it meant being less effective overall - there is nothing worse than having your quick deck foiled and then watching the others play for the next three hours
I do have experience running red damage doublers, pumps etc so I'm open to putting the best from that into the strategy. Dictate of the Twin Gods at the right time could be pretty sweet - due to the two commanders any global effects are better than they otherwise would be in Voltron.
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
I would avoid instant speed buffs and stick to auras/ equipment. Eldrazi Conscription is a favourite of mine and can be combined with Burse to nearly OHKO people. Umbras are your friend as is Steel of the godhead on an appropriate creature. Bruna, Light of Alabaster is excellent in most cases and significantly more so against opposing Uril or Krond the Dawn Clad decks which she removes all of the auras from. Personally I play Rafiq auras with Bruna as a primary wincon. Also works really well using Sovereigns of Lost Alara to tutor your auras when attacking alone.
BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
So just to clarify, you will be playing all 3? Or you want to choose between one of Ishai or Kraum? If that's the case, I think the easiest build would be with Ishai. He'll get big quick, because, you know, people play spells.
If it's 'two-headed voltron' like I initially assumed you meant, that really changes the type of cards you'll want in the deck.
This aint your girlfriends meta! This is a man's meta! TURBO META.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith