MTG Salvation

What the title says, really.

I'm going to be building fairly soon, but I've been crafting a list of possible includes and wanted to get some feedback as to what the deck can, or should, look like.

I'm not going to be going super staxy - I know it's possible, but it's not my jam. Ideally this will be a reasonably competitive, mostly non-combo, deck of value - on a reasonably modest budget. I do have some specific questions:

How heavily do you, or can you, go down the artifact rabbit hole? My leaning is towards a small to modest collection of artifacts to recur for value and benefit to me, detriment to my foes. I have some staples or valuables available already - Nihil Spellbomb, Thornbite Staff, Lotus Petal, Burnished Hart, Filigree Familiar, Scrabbling Claws. Are the wellsprings worth it? I'm happy to take recommendations.

How much ramp do I need to pack? I like that some of the rocks I can run will ramp, but do I need to include staples like Cultivate et al?

The creature package - I mean, I've done golgari attrition before, so I probably won't go Sac for value, so I sort of want my creature and non-artifact spells to hit hard. What recommendations do you have? I tentatively have my copy of All is Dust set aside, In Garruk's Wake, Necromantic Selection, what options do I have for permanents/creatures at a lower segment of the curve?

Any general advice would be appreciated, too. I appreciate that Glissa has a lot of versatility and a variety of ways to build around her, so your thoughts, theories and themes are all valuable information.

Glissa is one of my favorite Legends, which makes me really sad that I haven't been able to stick to a build with her that I truly enjoy keeping around.

I've done:

Deathtouch Tribal
Sac Control
Artifact Goodstuff
Golgari Goodstuff
Artifact Sac
Voltron Fight

and none of them really hit home for me.

However, there are always going to be cards that will work well in Glissa - Executioner's Capsule, Wurmcoil Engine, Mindslaver, etc. If you're going to run Thornbite Staff, I recommend Viridian Longbow to give her the tap ability for free. I like putting a Grafted Exoskeleton, Darksteel Plate, Loxodon Warhammer, and Assault Suit on Glissa and watching her go nuts, personally. Burnished Hart is definitely worth it, and I also like the value that Solemn Simulacrum and Sylvok Replica afford you. The Spellbombs are reasonable value, but I don't expect you'll be seeing much return from Petal, Familiar, or the Wellsprings unless you're running Krark-Clan Ironworks, and then I hope you're running a lot of big guys for that. Spine of Ish Sah is a must, and I always thought Plague Boiler and Grimoire of the Damned were cute additions.

Really, it all depends on how you want to build the deck. If you want to be more Artifact-heavy, I definitely recommend Oblivion Stone, Nevinyrral's Disk, and Danksteel Forge; Platinum ******** and Platinum Empoleon are also cards I like to see in Glissa.

In my very first Glissa build, I ran The Great Machine - Blasting Station, Grinding Station, Salvaging Station, and Summoning Station. I think I got the win off of that combo exactly once, and I used my Sol Ring to make the combo work.

Blightsteel Colossus is a tad redundant, but Steel Hellkite is one of my favorite sweepers in Artifact-heavy decks, and I absolutely love Noxious Gearhulk.

Foundry Inspector, Junk Diver, Myr Retriever, Salvage Titan, Metalwork Colossus, and Scrap Trawler may be good if you want to be more combo/recursion-heavy.

Let me know if you have any questions (if you quote me, I'll see it in my notifications) or what you end up deciding to go with. Hope this helps!

Not sure about the Wellsprings, but Urza's/Mishra's/Conjurer's Baubles draw me a stupid amount of cards, even more so if I happen to have Vedalken Orrery out.

Ramp-wise I'm intentionally NOT running the green ramp spells just because, and I can't say I really ever miss it all.

Artifact count-wise I'm at only 23 artifacts, with another 1 in the form of Wurmcoil Engine and three more in the form of the artifact lands. One could go deeper but it's plenty for me, and one of the rules of the deck is no creatures without deathtouch so that knocks out stuff like Sylvok Replica, etc.

Thanks for the feedback! Lots to respond to.

However, there are always going to be cards that will work well in Glissa - Executioner's Capsule, Wurmcoil Engine, Mindslaver, etc. If you're going to run Thornbite Staff, I recommend Viridian Longbow to give her the tap ability for free. I like putting a Grafted Exoskeleton, Darksteel Plate, Loxodon Warhammer, and Assault Suit on Glissa and watching her go nuts, personally. Burnished Hart is definitely worth it, and I also like the value that Solemn Simulacrum and Sylvok Replica afford you. The Spellbombs are reasonable value, but I don't expect you'll be seeing much return from Petal, Familiar, or the Wellsprings unless you're running Krark-Clan Ironworks, and then I hope you're running a lot of big guys for that. Spine of Ish Sah is a must, and I always thought Plague Boiler and Grimoire of the Damned were cute additions.

This is all valuable stuff. I'd have thought the Petal would be good value as a way to ramp early, but I guess not. I won't be running the Ironworks either - there seems no point outside of running the titans and colossi, and I'm not going to do that. Spine of Ish Sah I want here obviously, it's a case of tracking it down.

Really, it all depends on how you want to build the deck. If you want to be more artifact-heavy, I definitely recommend Oblivion Stone, Nevinyrral's Disk, and Danksteel Forge; Platinum ******** and Platinum Empoleon are also cards I like to see in Glissa.

I'd like to track down the disk and stone as recurrable sweepers anyway, but the Forge I've only got one copy of and Sydri is using it.

Blightsteel Colossus is a tad redundant, but Steel Hellkite is one of my favorite sweepers in Artifact-heavy decks, and I absolutely love Noxious Gearhulk.

This is good news, as I don't want to gouge my wallet for BC. I thought of the Hellkite as a shoe in too, and I also love the Gearhulk.

So I guess the main thing I'm stuck on now is ways to fulfill the first part of Glissa's triggered ability - making creatures die. Obviously she's a ruthlessly efficient killing machine herself, what other options do I have that sit nicely in her deck? There's some good ideas for sweepers here, is it worth going for things like Abrupt Decay, Golgari Charm, Hex, spot removals, creatures with destructive tendencies?

Also, what sort of contingency cards does she need? Given her CMC I'm not too worried about casting her again and again, but every Commander needs some back up. Draw, ramp, regeneration, recursion, what will I need? I guess it's a pretty vague question, any guidance is appreciated though.

As mentioned, Oblivion Stone, Nevinyrral's Disk, and Plague Boiler are great bets for wrath-type effects. Yeah, you'll hit your Glissa, too, but that's only if she isn't indescructible at the time. :^) Executioner's Capsule is solid removal because you get it back every time you use it with Glissa out. Abrupt Decay is always good, and Glissa, herself, is excellent at removing problem creatures. It really depends on the flavor of the deck you want to run, so ultimately, what you decide on should fit in with the rest of the theme.

Quote from Iso »

As mentioned, Oblivion Stone, Nevinyrral's Disk, and Plague Boiler are great bets for wrath-type effects. Yeah, you'll hit your Glissa, too, but that's only if she isn't indescructible at the time. :^)

You'll still get Glissa's trigger on the stack, though. o3o

I am all too aware!

I'm actually running Glissa + Silas in Atraxa when I decided it was going to be an Artifact tokens deck and wanted to throw in Behemoth Sledge and Anointed Procession instead of trying to get my playgroups to let me run them as partners. I haven't tested it yet as I'm still getting the landbase, but that's where my copy of Glissa ended up, if you're curious.

Hilariously, the first time I played my first Glissa deck at my LGS, my promo for the week was the alternate art foil of Glissa.

Quote from Iso »

I am all too aware!

I'm actually running Glissa + Silas in Atraxa when I decided it was going to be an Artifact tokens deck and wanted to throw in Behemoth Sledge and Anointed Procession instead of trying to get my playgroups to let me run them as partners. I haven't tested it yet as I'm still getting the landbase, but that's where my copy of Glissa ended up, if you're curious.

Hilariously, the first time I played my first Glissa deck at my LGS, my promo for the week was the alternate art foil of Glissa.

That is hilarious! Although I definitely prefer the original art. So ominous and badass.

She is surprisingly versatile, so honestly it depends on what you want to do. Compared to the overt power of Meren she might appear weaker but you are also a lot more flexible. Sometimes you just start turning her sideways and no one wants to block.

So I play a grindy controlling mid range version, pretty much the definition of "the rock" style deck. I use a lot of artifact tokens and returning army in a can type creatures. Including those mentioned by others.

I have chosen not to run lots of ramp or tutoring that is typically the strength of green black and Life from the loam is my only dredge card. Instead I have a package of eggs, very minor artifact value cards that typically get value going to the graveyard, so during a game everytime an opponents creature dies, I can trip. This continous amounts of small value, stays under the radar, but it also allows me to hit land drops and just keep finding more threats (If for some reason I don't/can't return them from the graveyard).

It is unsupprisingly good against creature decks but it can really struggle against spell based combo decks and I don't have a lot of instants to interact with more explosive players from other players. What I do have is an endless stream of powerful stand alone threats that win the game if unchecked.

If you give her trample she's near unblockable for your opponent, as trample + deathtouch means nearly all damage goes through. Therefore, Rancor seems like a must.

Nemesis Mask and Tempting Licid give you acces to repeated Lure effects. Even without other buffs, that means she can take out 3 creatures per turn by just swinging: that's some solid board control right there. Only mass token decks could keep up enough creature production.

Quote from Doctor.Hydrogen »

Not sure about the Wellsprings, but Urza's/Mishra's/Conjurer's Baubles draw me a stupid amount of cards, even more so if I happen to have Vedalken Orrery out.

Ramp-wise I'm intentionally NOT running the green ramp spells just because, and I can't say I really ever miss it all.

Artifact count-wise I'm at only 23 artifacts, with another 1 in the form of Wurmcoil Engine and three more in the form of the artifact lands. One could go deeper but it's plenty for me, and one of the rules of the deck is no creatures without deathtouch so that knocks out stuff like Sylvok Replica, etc.

This is all really helpful feedback, thanks heaps. I was hesitant to include the wellsprings anyway, without a way to crack them reliably. The baubles look pretty good value here. Good to hear about the green ramp, too - if I don't have to include it, I'd prefer not to. That way I've got plenty more slots to run what I want to run.

She is surprisingly versatile, so honestly it depends on what you want to do. Compared to the overt power of Meren she might appear weaker but you are also a lot more flexible. Sometimes you just start turning her sideways and no one wants to block.

This is what I'm struggling with, I don't really know where to take her. That being said, I don't really rate Meren. She's slow reanimation at best, and I found her boring to play.

I have chosen not to run lots of ramp or tutoring that is typically the strength of green black and Life from the loam is my only dredge card. Instead I have a package of eggs, very minor artifact value cards that typically get value going to the graveyard, so during a game everytime an opponents creature dies, I can trip. This continous amounts of small value, stays under the radar, but it also allows me to hit land drops and just keep finding more threats (If for some reason I don't/can't return them from the graveyard).

Do you have a decklist I might be able to peruse?

Quote from toctheyounger77 »

This is all valuable stuff. I'd have thought the Petal would be good value as a way to ramp early, but I guess not. I won't be running the Ironworks either - there seems no point outside of running the titans and colossi, and I'm not going to do that. Spine of Ish Sah I want here obviously, it's a case of tracking it down.

The point of Ironworks is not necessarily to make mana, it's to have a sacrifice outlet to get your artifacts in your grave so Glissa can get them back. Making mana is just a bonus.

The point of Ironworks is not necessarily to make mana, it's to have a sacrifice outlet to get your artifacts in your grave so Glissa can get them back. Making mana is just a bonus.

I understand that, I'd just prefer not to run it at present. Most of the artifacts I have piled at present can sac themselves, so I'd prefer to avoid the redundancy of it.

I updated the glissa primer with my list for you.

https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/217127-glissa-the-traitor-recursion?page=8

Quote from Narvuntien »

I updated the glissa primer with my list for you.

https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/217127-glissa-the-traitor-recursion?page=8

Thanks a lot!

A couple of general questions regarding card choices:
How helpful do you find the recursion - Meren, Sheoldred, Trawler, Deathmantle - I assume the last if for infinite combo purposes.

Why are you running Precursor Golem? You're not running any instants or sorceries that benefit you to target him with. I'm clearly no veteran with Glissa, just wondering about his purpose. Considering he's the king of absurd numbers, I just wondered if it were simply for having 3 bodies for 5.

I was going to ask about Panharmonicon but then I counted the strong triggers in this build.

Here's what I have put aside thus far:



This is all really for consideration - nothing here is set in stone. I'm hesitant to have quite as many equipments as are listed here, as equip costs will slow things down. I'd also like to pick up more baubles, so that's a work in progress. The deathtouch creatures I'd potentially cut for more ideal fits, although I do like the monarch ability of Thorn of the Black Rose. I'd like to add more 'death-draw' too - Deathreap Ritual would be awesome here, Harvester of Souls, maybe Grim Haruspex.

The strong ETB triggers are basically what I am using to get value over and over and over again to grind out a game.

The power of Meren is returning things to hand and not in reanimating things, basically a return a creature every turn if not dealt with. Often eats a kill spell meant for something more impactful. When every card you could return is as powerful as a wurmcoil engine your opponents are going to struggle to deal with you.

Sheoldred the whispering one, reanimating cards with powerful ETB or dies triggers while also messing with your opponent. Perhaps I am little extra attached to the card because it was my first mythic.

Nim Deathmantle is a combo card...But stupid things also happen when you have a Myr battlesphere in play and 4 mana up and they can't wrath it away. It combos off with 5 of my creatures and ashnod's altar.

Scrap trawler and Salvaging station are back up glissa,the traitors. You might note I am not even trying to protect glissa, instead I use cards like these to be another glissa. They are the engine that really power my can trip rock draw engine.

Precursor golemn is an underrated gem. It is 5 mana for 9 power and that is good enough... then you can sac and return the original and gain more golemns.

As for your list, its really all over the place :/. And the biggest problem is the overall low power of your cards, if you are going to play mid range then all your cards have to be game winning on their own and force people to answer you. Sure you'll need support cards like Ramp, tutors, wraths, recursion and card draw etc. but those are replaceable and largely interchangeable. Pick your win conditions!

If you want to play equipment (voltron) then you really have to go hard on the equipment, searching equipment, returning equipment and most of all protecting glissa the equipment wielder. You aren't really going to get anywhere without a Sword of Fire and ice, Sword of feast and Famine and the other power equipment.

Aggro Glissa, Looks a a bit like Affinity, Arcbound ravager, cranial plating... go wide robots.

Mid range deck are all about value.. like my powerful ETB and Death triggers. Every time you cast something it has to be having a meaningful impact on board or card advantage.

Ramp, You are green black use your powerful ramp, add lots of mana rocks have a small number of large artifact win conditions and tutor for them.

Control. Typically you'll need to protect glissa more than mid range, then you want to use your ability to recur your wraths (disk and O-Stone) to maximum advantage. You'll need more discard (preferably repeatable) than I use to hit spell based decks (I also suggest Jester's Cap) Then you win with mindslaver lock or my ashnod's combo or something else artifact based.

The strong ETB triggers are basically what I am using to get value over and over and over again to grind out a game.

The power of Meren is returning things to hand and not in reanimating things, basically a return a creature every turn if not dealt with. Often eats a kill spell meant for something more impactful. When every card you could return is as powerful as a wurmcoil engine your opponents are going to struggle to deal with you.

Sheoldred the whispering one, reanimating cards with powerful ETB or dies triggers while also messing with your opponent. Perhaps I am little extra attached to the card because it was my first mythic.

I'd assumed all of this to be the case. Panharmonicon is strong, and the triggers you're repeating are too, it's a quality plan. I probably won't be looking at reanimation to any degree in my build, mostly because I don't have anything spare of the same sort of value as Sheoldred or Meren.

Scrap trawler and Salvaging station are back up glissa,the traitors. You might note I am not even trying to protect glissa, instead I use cards like these to be another glissa. They are the engine that really power my can trip rock draw engine.

I like this plan, too. I don't see the need to protect her - with her CMC and abilities, she's easily recastable, and can hold her own in combat. Besides even if she is a kill target, you have redundancy. I like it.

As for your list, its really all over the place :/. And the biggest problem is the overall low power of your cards, if you are going to play mid range then all your cards have to be game winning on their own and force people to answer you. Sure you'll need support cards like Ramp, tutors, wraths, recursion and card draw etc. but those are replaceable and largely interchangeable. Pick your win conditions!

Oh, I agree with all of this. The cards listed are nowhere near close to a deck. They're just a pile of cards under consideration at present. What I'm really lacking at present is a good array of win cons, as you mentioned. I'd like to pick up a more complete set of baubles and eggs for value, but I'm really hesitant to spend a LOT of money on a build at early stages. Wurmcoil Engine is clear value, but damn it isn't cheap, same with Massacre Wurm and any of the Swords of X and Y.

As it is, I'm not the biggest fan of Voltron, so I'm not really likely to pick up Darksteel Plate, the Swords, any of that stuff. I find it boring, and it seems to me it works better in Mono white where you have cheaper and easier ways to equip and tutor for equipment. It's not my thing. At this point it seems like I'm leaning more towards mid range or Aggro as my preferential builds, so I'd love some recommendations as to what I should be picking up, or what sort of synergies I should be looking for.

I have been messing with a build for a friend. I have noticed that glissa is incredibly mana hungry, so we upped the land count and ramp options. Granted, she is playing glissa as a mix of tribal elf and artifact tech (we've dubbed it "elf tech") . But, it is a pretty strong build, all things considered. Two of the strongest adds to the deck were black market and revel in riches.

Quote from weltkrieg »

I have been messing with a build for a friend. I have noticed that glissa is incredibly mana hungry, so we upped the land count and ramp options. Granted, she is playing glissa as a mix of tribal elf and artifact tech (we've dubbed it "elf tech") . But, it is a pretty strong build, all things considered. Two of the strongest adds to the deck were black market and revel in riches.

I had wondered how strong Black Market would be. Depending on how early you can get in online, it could provide a huge stream of mana. Revel in riches isn't really my jam, I'm not a huge fan of 'win the game' cards, regardless of whether that's your intent using it or not.

I'm planning to visit my LGS this weekend for a crate dig - I'm hoping to grab Wurmcoil Engine, Salvaging Station, some baubles, Arcbound Reclaimer, Panharmonicon, Scrap Trawler, Marionette Master, Dire Fleet Ravager, Deathreap Ritual, Harvester of Souls, Gaze of Granite, Ratchet Bomb, Pernicious Deed...so essentially, I'm picking up the deck lol. Also wondering if it's worth picking up Aetherworks Marvel. Could be a strong addition, as what we're doing will pump out energy pretty quick and get our board state moving more quickly.

Revel in riches isn't about the you win the game clause, at least not for me. IT is there because it generates mana immediately off your opponents creatures dying, which allows you to go that much longer with the thornbite staff ping. It's relevant in my meta because it is more battlecruiser and spellslinger decks aren't as prevalent. There are also something like 8 different meren decks running around and I like dropping it and watching them sweat or bring their shenanigans to a screeching halt while I set up.

That makes sense. Of the two of them, in that instance, I'd probably see more use for immediate 1 than waiting a turn for lots of B.

So I've got a much better set of cards to draw from now. Had an LGS visit last night, and picked up a lot of stuff. See below:



Thus far, artifacts number at 24, creatures at 17. It'd be nice to add Spine of Ish Sah and Salvaging Station but I haven't tracked copies down yet. It'd be nice to add Wurmcoil Engine too, as this is probably the one deck I can really milk it for all its worth, but it's just worth too much.

It seems I've decided to go down the route of grinding value out of mine and my opponents' decks, and I'm pretty happy with how things are looking thus far. Otherwise, I'm not sure what else to add, and still just under 20 places shy, without basic lands. I'm happy enough with the curve, and everything at the top end of the curve justifies its place to a reasonable degree. So what else would you add around what's already here? Is there anything here that hasn't earned a place?

That looks like a nice playable start, you can slowly improve it from there. It takes a long time to work out what works and what doesn't.

No Myr Battlesphere?

See if you can find the Mono Red Darretti commander precon somewhere.