Pulling a Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Oath of Teferi in my Dominaria prerelease (and definitely going WU so that I could play both), I got on a brewing tangent for Planeswalkers. I'm most liking the idea of an Azorius superfiends deck.
White has a chunk of PW friendly cards like Call the Gatewatch, Deploy the Gatewatch, Oath of Gideon, plus a lot of aggro control by either mass removal board wipes or pillowfort. Blue has the proliferate cards and a giant suite of control effects. Sounds like a good focused combo to me. After perusing some lists and card searches, I took a look at the Azorius Commanders, and there's a handful of good options, in my opinion, for one reason or another. Now, I can't decide on who might helm all the Jaces, Teferis, Vensers, Tamiyos, etc. Here's my thoughts so far:
Brago, King Eternal: seems good to activate PW (-) abilities, hit someone, then blink them to reset loyalty for the next turn. However, the King has a reputation of stax in my parts. Plus, with his damage trigger, I figure I would have to build a little too much around him to ensure he's protected in combat and gets through. Flying is decent evasion, but not the greatest in multiplayer. Not really digging him.
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV: I like casting things for cheaper and GAA IV seems like a good way to slow down opponents and speed up my spells to gain some advantage while dropping PWs quicker too. Teferi, Hero of Dominaria comes down as a 3-drop? Pretty good to me. Ironically, I view GAA IV as a stax commander too, but less so than the King, at least I've played against fewer GAA IV decks.
Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer: comes out early, or cheaply when needed, and neutralizes the biggest threats. I like that he can directly interact with other commanders and has the political angle if so chosen.
Isperia, Supreme Judge: Great synergy with card draw. I'm liking him a lot, almost everything I would want - a decent body to protect against attacks, synergy with walkers, and card draw - but 6 CMC is getting up there for colors that aren't known to ramp, so commander tax starts to add up. Of course adding lots of mana rocks would naturally help this.
Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage: new guy to the fray, but I'm reallllllly liking him. Has flash himself and allows me to cast walkers at instant speed, protecting them by casting at my opponents end steps. Not to mention that he would provide additional synergy with artifacts I'm sure to use a good chunk of like The Chain Veil. Really synergizes with the control "draw-go" philosophy too, being able to hold up mana to cast artifacts or walkers on end steps or hold up for protection like counterspells, Aetherize, etc., not to mention all the mass draw spells in Stroke of Genius, Sphinx's Revelation, Pull from Tomorrow, and Blue Sun's Zenith.
Of course, I can include any and all of these in the 99, but I'm undecided on the captain of the super squad, so I am curious on others' thoughts on which could make for the best value out of the command zone for an Azorius Superfriends deck. I'd love to hear your experience and ideas! Thanks!
Playing 2 color Superfreinds, while it can work, seems very limiting. Even 3 color is kind of a "why only 3"
Personally 4 color or 5 color is the way to go. Of course depends on PWs you have at your disposal, but green adds in cards like doubling season, and red and black add in a platheror of more PWs that can be used and abused. WIth black you also have access to a lot of tutors (Like Demonic and Vampiric tutor) red and black allows you to access Nicol Bolas PWs U/W can also allow for pillowfort but i feel adding in G or B can make that pillowfort better. plsu with more focus on more PWs card like Humility is a good idea. Dueling Grounds, Crawlspace. Sphere of Safety is a great card with a few extra enchantments as well. You also have green cards that make killing PWS very difficult. (Such as damage reduction and fog effects.
I know you said you didn't really dig him, but Brago is far and away the best Superfriends commander in UW - indeed, I'd say he's the only real reason to limit yourself to the two colours for that type of deck. Getting two uses out out your planeswalkers each turn is much more powerful than anything the other options provide. It's not that hard to find someone who doesn't have a flyer in order to get the hit in (and many of the Azorius walkers can get a blocker out of the way anyway), while a few cards like Lightning Greaves to protect him are easy to fit in (if someone kills him with a Wrath, that's no problem, as it means there's nothing to attack your 'walkers).
I'm on board with most things you said, but a few things about Brago, King Eternal.
If you blink PWs with him you're not only resetting loyality. Since the PW returns as a new entity you're able to use them again in your post combat main phase. Resetting The Chain Veil on top of that is nuts. Optimal play would be abusing + and - as often as possible until you're able to go for an ult.
I've been playing Brago, King Eternal since August 2014 and can positively tell you it doesn't need a lot to ensure he's safe and connects. I'm running a package of Pentarch Ward, Traveler's Cloak, Unquestioned Authority and Conqueror's Flail. Those are more than enough redundancy, 3/4 draw you cards and the fourth one protects your whole turn too.
Alas he comes with a reputation and if you aren't digging him you propably shouldn't build him anyway.
e.g. GWU grants you access to Doubling Season and has Angus Mackenzie, who's great for superfriends.
While not a fan, in WUBOloro, Ageless Ascetic pillow forts anyway and is a viable option.
If your playgroup is ready for it Narset, Enlightened Master in URW can certainly make for a strong superfriends commander.
I would never understand a superfirends deck without Green. Bant is a thing, grab Rubinia Soulsinger and throw other peoples creatures into blocking for you.
If people are sick of reading about stuff just stop taking part. You have 100% control over what you read. Simic Ascendancy isn't going to get banned just because you didn't tell someone to shut up on the internet.
Isperia: was surprisingly good, for how bad she looks, She is a large flying creature that doesn't seem like much of a threat until she is beating you to death.
GAAIV: you reveal your commander, everyone hates you. He is a hard combo commander as far as I am concerned because playing him makes everyone else miserable and they will kill you just to not to have to deal with him.
Brago: Another very combo centric commander, a million different ways to break him. As such you pain a target on your head. It didn't work for me due to the nature of my deck design but it is certainly a good card. It just seems like using walkers is a waste of his potential when you could be doing things that are much more powerful.
Medomai: Unlike the above two Medomai wont get you killed but it will get medomai killed on sight every game over and over. I felt like I had to add too much into my deck to try to keep him alive and hitting. I eventually switched back to Isperia and my deck seemed to be better... somehow.
Dragonlord Ojutai: In my experience this is the best option for my plainswalker control deck. The trick with control in commander is that you have to have a plan for a quick kill of your opponents. Because unless you are combo control... there is always a higher power.... someone always a bigger haymaker or some insane recursion engine making it almost impossible to exhaust your opponent of resources. I learnt this trying to play the smaller UW generals and its why Isperia actually works at all as a commander.
Dragonlord Ojutai is both a quick clock and a card advantage engine. You do have to invest some cards into giving him vigilance but a lot of them a great cards on their own. e.g Batterskull, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Heliod, god of the sun and Ajani steadfast. The other trick is that if an opponent wants to get rid of him they have to wrath the board, which you as a planeswalker deck want to happen.
Ojutai is threat, card draw and forces your opponent to answer in a way that helps with your other plans.
Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
I suppose I’ll reply to the “why not run G too” crowd collectively. Of course PWs and Doubling Season effects are bonkers allowing for many ults as soon as you cast ‘em (I’ve sat across from enough Atraxa decks to know that rodeo), but seems pretty boring to me. If there’s general consensus that all superfriends decks should include green, mainly for Season, then where’s the creativity and variety in that? Some don’t like the limitation of two color without green, but I think putting some soft restrictions on oneself makes part of the fun in a challenge, and makes for more unique decks. Yeah, I can cram all the PW goodstuffs together, all the OP walkers and all the Doubling Season stuff together and call it a day, but then it looks a lot like every other Atraxa or 3-color friends deck. I like to be a little different and challenge my imagination a little more than that. I think WU can make a great walker shell strategy without the need for tutors or Season. Plus, it’s been my experience that PW decks that just mash out the Season, etc., and starts ultimating walkers around gets hated at tables really quick and players remember that and preemptively go at the walker deck early in subsequent games fearing the out of control ultimates and emblems. Eventually, and I’ve seen this on more than one occasion with Atraxa decks with that strategy, the superfriends deck gets hated on and the deck owner gets frustrated because they put all the time and money into “playing with all their good walkers” and they end up not actually getting a good chance to play with them at all because of the hate that has developed after a game or two. I figure a walker deck that’s a bit different and isn’t abusing Season to “cheat” in a ridiculously OP emblem wouldn’t be as threatening and actually get to stick around longer than those decks that do.
I’m liking Brago, King Eternal more with the feedback on him. For some reason I read his ability as returning the exiled permanents at the end step, which is why I was just thinking of it resetting loyalty for the next turn. Yeah, using the walker’s abilities a second time on second main phase seems really good now, almost like taking an extra turn, and with enough mana rocks it could basically be like that.
I had initially considered Medomai the Ageless as a way to activate walkers twice in one “round” of turns, but at 6 CMC I feel like I’d rather play Brago instead for the similar effect at least as far as activating walkers multiple times.
@ Narvuntien, I agree with you on using Brago and GAA IV and I’ve felt that way myself at a table facing against them: kill that player on sight ASAP, which is what I’m trying to avoid of course to live long enough to actually play the walkers and have some fun. I know my regular playgroup has voiced the same opinions of these two as commanders, which is why I was initially leaning away from them and more toward an Isperia, Supreme Judge or Raff Capashen, Ship’s Mage build.
I hadn’t considered Dragonlord Ojutai and always viewed him as a usual Voltron commander, but I think you make excellent points for him. He digs deeper for answers or for more PWs, can adequately protect them and himself. I would imagine that he wouldn’t require too much more support for himself than a Brago deck might need. He doesn’t directly synergize with PWs like Isperia or Raff, but I’m considering him now too. Thanks!
Raff will draw less hate, while drawing you cards and letting you play draw go. Brago is kill on sight. He's the most powerful synergy with walkers, but think about it, your opponents will groan when you reveal him.and get ready to both ensure he never sticks and that you die asap because they don't want to get locked out by Reality Acid and Spine, then you try to explain that your deck doesn't do that, which is how I have to start every game with Prossh tribal kobolds, but unfortunately explaining that your deck is going to be activating multiple PW abilities multpile times a turn isn't going to make your opponents rethink their initial assessment except at competitive tables. I'd definitely recommend him in a meta where that is only going to be the third most threatening strategy at the table, but avoiding him otherwise.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
play Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage, he'll let you play your walkers @ instant speed & not raise too many red flags from the get go. but i'd also play Isperia, Supreme Judge & Azor, the Lawbringer in the deck. Azor, the Lawbringer is the card that has most impressed me from rivals of ixalan in edh & being able to jam him eot to give him pseudo "haste" would be sweet. he's 1 of those cards that you shouldnt lose, if you untap w/ him; kinda like Olivia Voldaren
I don't really see what Raff offers for a PW centric deck. Sure, you can flash 'walkers in EoT, but that means you're missing out on that turn cycle's activation of them, so what's the point?
Brago and Raff seem to be the only guys with any kind of synergy. But any of the legends are fine I think. You won't be building around them that strongly anyways.
Riku of Two Reflections - Copy, then copy again | Shattergang Brothers - Token Sac&Recur | Gahiji, Honored One - Multiple attack steps | Karametra, God of Harvests - Landfall, Creaturefall, Shroud | Ruhan of the Fomori - Stop hitting yourself | Zurgo Helmsmasher - Equipment&Wraths | Crosis, the Purger - Dragon Tribal Reanimator | Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - No stax, just tap and untap fun | Anafenza, the Foremost - Enduring Ideal Enchantress | Sharuum, the Hegemon - Sphinx Tribal Control | Noyan Dar - Spellslinger | The Mimeoplasm - Counterpalooza
Lists can be found here.
Still convinced the guy on Beseech the Queen is wearing a Mitra-type hat. Wake up sheeple!
I would personally use Taigam, Ojutai Master, since none of them really give direct benefits to the walkers themselves I would use Taigam to give bonus to all the spells I am playing around the edges of the walkers in terms of protection, removal, search and draw and then also put Walkers through when the time is right.
Also a lot of the WU walkers incentivize combat which plays into Taigam's rebound.
I don't really see what Raff offers for a PW centric deck. Sure, you can flash 'walkers in EoT, but that means you're missing out on that turn cycle's activation of them, so what's the point?
Letting you hold up mana for interaction, and only spending it on the end step before you untap, is super strong. When you set out to build UW walkers, your setting out to build a control deck that grinds out games. Traditional superfriends is fine with aggressively tapping out to deploy walkers because its trying to drop Doubling season then burying opponents under ultimates. U/W is slower and works off of playing pillowfort and control. Brago wants to go a little more HAM, but even with him I'd like to keep up interaction, because even with double activations you still end up in a position where people can take them out via combat. Raff lets you go heavier control, stopping combos and protecting your walkers once they hit. If you don't need to use your mana on interaction, you then get to deploy your walkers and build your board.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
I don't really see what Raff offers for a PW centric deck. Sure, you can flash 'walkers in EoT, but that means you're missing out on that turn cycle's activation of them, so what's the point?
Holding a walker until EOT to cast it does indeed miss out on the activation as if I played it on my turn, but being able to hold up that 4, 5, or 6 mana that I would've otherwise spent casting the walker to instead hold up instant-speed options to interact with threats and protect my board, like, say, holding onto an Aetherspounts or Aetherize to protect the walkers I already have out from combat damage - basically having more options with what I want to do with my mana is very powerful.
[[EDIT]]
I just realized I wouldn't even have to use the protection, just the threat of a blue player with a bunch of mana open is deterrent enough at some tables.
[[/EDIT]]
If you are going to play UW plainswalkers, I insist you play Graceful Antelope. Its like, too good to pass up.
Well played, sir. I would by the kind of person inclined to do so, justifying it as a worthy target to some walker abilities . . .
Quote from Taleran »
I would personally use Taigam, Ojutai Master, since none of them really give direct benefits to the walkers themselves I would use Taigam to give bonus to all the spells I am playing around the edges of the walkers in terms of protection, removal, search and draw and then also put Walkers through when the time is right.
That's a good idea for someone else thinking about Azorius superfriends, but I already have a Taigam, Ojutai Master spellslinger deck that I really enjoy and don't want to convert it to something else.
Quote from Gutterstorm »
Honestly, with the hinting that thia years commander decks being planeswalker commanders, I would wait until those come out and then try.
Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention: was there anything solid mentioning this? I know it's likely too early for WoTC to make any official announcement, but has there been murmurs from another credible source on this?
Please don't heed this advice. Atraxa is so uninspired.
I mean if you want inspired play Lavinia of the Tenth and go get Venser the Sojourner but if you want a synergistic commander and access to more walkers than a few Jaces, Eslpeths, and Gideon's play Atraxa.
Please don't heed this advice. Atraxa is so uninspired.
Too many people focus on the proliferate. I liked my atraxa bottom deck. She is a 4/4 for 4. With built flying, vigilance, deathtouch and lifelink. Why not run her? I would run her for the 4 colors and great creatures. Proliferate is literally a second cherry on top of the already delicious sundae.
White has a chunk of PW friendly cards like Call the Gatewatch, Deploy the Gatewatch, Oath of Gideon, plus a lot of aggro control by either mass removal board wipes or pillowfort. Blue has the proliferate cards and a giant suite of control effects. Sounds like a good focused combo to me. After perusing some lists and card searches, I took a look at the Azorius Commanders, and there's a handful of good options, in my opinion, for one reason or another. Now, I can't decide on who might helm all the Jaces, Teferis, Vensers, Tamiyos, etc. Here's my thoughts so far:
Brago, King Eternal: seems good to activate PW (-) abilities, hit someone, then blink them to reset loyalty for the next turn. However, the King has a reputation of stax in my parts. Plus, with his damage trigger, I figure I would have to build a little too much around him to ensure he's protected in combat and gets through. Flying is decent evasion, but not the greatest in multiplayer. Not really digging him.
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV: I like casting things for cheaper and GAA IV seems like a good way to slow down opponents and speed up my spells to gain some advantage while dropping PWs quicker too. Teferi, Hero of Dominaria comes down as a 3-drop? Pretty good to me. Ironically, I view GAA IV as a stax commander too, but less so than the King, at least I've played against fewer GAA IV decks.
Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer: comes out early, or cheaply when needed, and neutralizes the biggest threats. I like that he can directly interact with other commanders and has the political angle if so chosen.
Isperia, Supreme Judge: Great synergy with card draw. I'm liking him a lot, almost everything I would want - a decent body to protect against attacks, synergy with walkers, and card draw - but 6 CMC is getting up there for colors that aren't known to ramp, so commander tax starts to add up. Of course adding lots of mana rocks would naturally help this.
Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage: new guy to the fray, but I'm reallllllly liking him. Has flash himself and allows me to cast walkers at instant speed, protecting them by casting at my opponents end steps. Not to mention that he would provide additional synergy with artifacts I'm sure to use a good chunk of like The Chain Veil. Really synergizes with the control "draw-go" philosophy too, being able to hold up mana to cast artifacts or walkers on end steps or hold up for protection like counterspells, Aetherize, etc., not to mention all the mass draw spells in Stroke of Genius, Sphinx's Revelation, Pull from Tomorrow, and Blue Sun's Zenith.
Of course, I can include any and all of these in the 99, but I'm undecided on the captain of the super squad, so I am curious on others' thoughts on which could make for the best value out of the command zone for an Azorius Superfriends deck. I'd love to hear your experience and ideas! Thanks!
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
Personally 4 color or 5 color is the way to go. Of course depends on PWs you have at your disposal, but green adds in cards like doubling season, and red and black add in a platheror of more PWs that can be used and abused. WIth black you also have access to a lot of tutors (Like Demonic and Vampiric tutor) red and black allows you to access Nicol Bolas PWs U/W can also allow for pillowfort but i feel adding in G or B can make that pillowfort better. plsu with more focus on more PWs card like Humility is a good idea. Dueling Grounds, Crawlspace. Sphere of Safety is a great card with a few extra enchantments as well. You also have green cards that make killing PWS very difficult. (Such as damage reduction and fog effects.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
If you blink PWs with him you're not only resetting loyality. Since the PW returns as a new entity you're able to use them again in your post combat main phase. Resetting The Chain Veil on top of that is nuts. Optimal play would be abusing + and - as often as possible until you're able to go for an ult.
I've been playing Brago, King Eternal since August 2014 and can positively tell you it doesn't need a lot to ensure he's safe and connects. I'm running a package of Pentarch Ward, Traveler's Cloak, Unquestioned Authority and Conqueror's Flail. Those are more than enough redundancy, 3/4 draw you cards and the fourth one protects your whole turn too.
Alas he comes with a reputation and if you aren't digging him you propably shouldn't build him anyway.
Of the (W/U) options i'd clearly go for Brago, King Eternal first, then Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage and Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. The question is, why not add another color (just don't do boring Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, pls)?
e.g. GWU grants you access to Doubling Season and has Angus Mackenzie, who's great for superfriends.
While not a fan, in WUB Oloro, Ageless Ascetic pillow forts anyway and is a viable option.
If your playgroup is ready for it Narset, Enlightened Master in URW can certainly make for a strong superfriends commander.
I went through a whole bunch of UW commanders trying to find the right choice for my UW plainswalker control deck. Including Isperia, Supreme judge, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, Brago, King eternal and Medomai the ageless.
Isperia: was surprisingly good, for how bad she looks, She is a large flying creature that doesn't seem like much of a threat until she is beating you to death.
GAAIV: you reveal your commander, everyone hates you. He is a hard combo commander as far as I am concerned because playing him makes everyone else miserable and they will kill you just to not to have to deal with him.
Brago: Another very combo centric commander, a million different ways to break him. As such you pain a target on your head. It didn't work for me due to the nature of my deck design but it is certainly a good card. It just seems like using walkers is a waste of his potential when you could be doing things that are much more powerful.
Medomai: Unlike the above two Medomai wont get you killed but it will get medomai killed on sight every game over and over. I felt like I had to add too much into my deck to try to keep him alive and hitting. I eventually switched back to Isperia and my deck seemed to be better... somehow.
Dragonlord Ojutai: In my experience this is the best option for my plainswalker control deck. The trick with control in commander is that you have to have a plan for a quick kill of your opponents. Because unless you are combo control... there is always a higher power.... someone always a bigger haymaker or some insane recursion engine making it almost impossible to exhaust your opponent of resources. I learnt this trying to play the smaller UW generals and its why Isperia actually works at all as a commander.
Dragonlord Ojutai is both a quick clock and a card advantage engine. You do have to invest some cards into giving him vigilance but a lot of them a great cards on their own. e.g Batterskull, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Heliod, god of the sun and Ajani steadfast. The other trick is that if an opponent wants to get rid of him they have to wrath the board, which you as a planeswalker deck want to happen.
Ojutai is threat, card draw and forces your opponent to answer in a way that helps with your other plans.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
I've never even thought of two-color superfriends, though. I mean, adding G lets you get Angus Mackenzie or Derevi, Empyrial Tactician. Adding B gets you Oloro, Ageless Ascetic for a nice pillowfort. Adding BG gives you Atraxa, Praetors' Voice.
And of course, each of them adds their own cards as well, including their own planeswalkers. Liliana of the Veil, Garruk Wildspeaker, Sorin Markov. I'm sure red adds something.
On phasing:
I’m liking Brago, King Eternal more with the feedback on him. For some reason I read his ability as returning the exiled permanents at the end step, which is why I was just thinking of it resetting loyalty for the next turn. Yeah, using the walker’s abilities a second time on second main phase seems really good now, almost like taking an extra turn, and with enough mana rocks it could basically be like that.
I had initially considered Medomai the Ageless as a way to activate walkers twice in one “round” of turns, but at 6 CMC I feel like I’d rather play Brago instead for the similar effect at least as far as activating walkers multiple times.
@ Narvuntien, I agree with you on using Brago and GAA IV and I’ve felt that way myself at a table facing against them: kill that player on sight ASAP, which is what I’m trying to avoid of course to live long enough to actually play the walkers and have some fun. I know my regular playgroup has voiced the same opinions of these two as commanders, which is why I was initially leaning away from them and more toward an Isperia, Supreme Judge or Raff Capashen, Ship’s Mage build.
I hadn’t considered Dragonlord Ojutai and always viewed him as a usual Voltron commander, but I think you make excellent points for him. He digs deeper for answers or for more PWs, can adequately protect them and himself. I would imagine that he wouldn’t require too much more support for himself than a Brago deck might need. He doesn’t directly synergize with PWs like Isperia or Raff, but I’m considering him now too. Thanks!
EDIT:
Just realized that while Dragonlor Ojutai doesn’t directly affect walkers, there’s great walkers than can synergize with him like Ajani, Caller of the Pride’s +1, Ajani Goldmane’s -1, Ajani Steadfast’s +1, Gideon, Martial Paragon’s +2, Gideon, Battle-Forged’s +1, Jace, Ingenious Mind-Mage’s +1, Teferi, Temporal Archmage’s -1, Teferi, Timebender’s +2, and Venser, the Sojourner’s +2. Wow!
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Tamanoa - Welcome to the Jungle
Lists can be found here.
Also a lot of the WU walkers incentivize combat which plays into Taigam's rebound.
Letting you hold up mana for interaction, and only spending it on the end step before you untap, is super strong. When you set out to build UW walkers, your setting out to build a control deck that grinds out games. Traditional superfriends is fine with aggressively tapping out to deploy walkers because its trying to drop Doubling season then burying opponents under ultimates. U/W is slower and works off of playing pillowfort and control. Brago wants to go a little more HAM, but even with him I'd like to keep up interaction, because even with double activations you still end up in a position where people can take them out via combat. Raff lets you go heavier control, stopping combos and protecting your walkers once they hit. If you don't need to use your mana on interaction, you then get to deploy your walkers and build your board.
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Essentially exactly what Onering said.
Holding a walker until EOT to cast it does indeed miss out on the activation as if I played it on my turn, but being able to hold up that 4, 5, or 6 mana that I would've otherwise spent casting the walker to instead hold up instant-speed options to interact with threats and protect my board, like, say, holding onto an Aetherspounts or Aetherize to protect the walkers I already have out from combat damage - basically having more options with what I want to do with my mana is very powerful.
[[EDIT]]
I just realized I wouldn't even have to use the protection, just the threat of a blue player with a bunch of mana open is deterrent enough at some tables.
[[/EDIT]]
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage since he can flash in legendary creatures too like Arcanis the Omnipotent, Commander Eesha for a surprise flying blocker, Djeru, with Eyes Open as instant-speed PW tutor, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Empress Galina, etc., not to mention any artifacts that would be in the deck (I imagine at least a handful to many).
Well played, sir. I would by the kind of person inclined to do so, justifying it as a worthy target to some walker abilities . . .
That's a good idea for someone else thinking about Azorius superfriends, but I already have a Taigam, Ojutai Master spellslinger deck that I really enjoy and don't want to convert it to something else.
Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention: was there anything solid mentioning this? I know it's likely too early for WoTC to make any official announcement, but has there been murmurs from another credible source on this?
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/Commander-2018
But honestly, reading it again I think its more than just a hint.
Otherwise I dont understand why you would limit yourself to UW for a superfriends deck. Why not just play Atraxa?
Please don't heed this advice. Atraxa is so uninspired.
I mean if you want inspired play Lavinia of the Tenth and go get Venser the Sojourner but if you want a synergistic commander and access to more walkers than a few Jaces, Eslpeths, and Gideon's play Atraxa.
Too many people focus on the proliferate. I liked my atraxa bottom deck. She is a 4/4 for 4. With built flying, vigilance, deathtouch and lifelink. Why not run her? I would run her for the 4 colors and great creatures. Proliferate is literally a second cherry on top of the already delicious sundae.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist