Hi, very, very new to MTG. Got the Exquisite Inventions Commander deck. Have played it many times now. Did a Goog search for and upgrade to it. Got a page on WoTC. There are a LOT of "upgrade this deck" postings, web pages and advice. It there some advice that is better than other? I figured that WoTC would be good advice and it was not "keep 5 cards and rebuild the rest of the deck," yes I've seen that now more often than not. WoTC advice was to replace about 7 cards. I do not want to rebuild my deck, I can't afford that right now. Where do you go for Upgrade Deck advice?
Thanks from a total Newbie.
You could post in the commander/EDH subforum on this site and ask for help there, though I imagine this thread will get moved there by a moderator shortly.
Anyway, looking at lists here on MTGsal might be a good start. Here's the link to find several lists from forum users: Decklists
Mtggoldfish might have some neat decklists for Saheeli in the user-submitted decklists section as well.
The big question re: upgrading the deck is, what do you want to do with it? Saheeli II is a very powerful and versatile commander who can be built around in a variety of different ways, since artifacts are themselves so versatile. You can just strengthen the deck in general by swapping out a few less optimal cards for some better ones, or you can fine-tune it around a specific strategy.
Either way, since you will still be focusing on artifacts, I strongly recommend including Jhoira, Weatherlight Commander. Card draw is usually a good thing.
I generally start with EDHRecs.com - I look at what other people are adding to their decks. If you look at Saheeli's page, most of the cards are already in the deck, as most people keep the list fairly stock. So what stands out as major additions to the deck?
Storm the Vault: This card is a great one since it ties into BOTH strategies Saheeli supports - it rewards you for going wide with tokens by generating treasure, and the treasure (and eventually, the flipped Vault of Catlacan) help you power out ridiculous high-cost bombs. I'd imagine it's the single best investment you can find for the deck.
Sai, Master Thopterist and Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain - I lump them in together because they are both "payoffs" for casting artifact spells. Saheeli generally rewards casting ONE BIG GIANT card instead of lots of small ones, but both strategies work and are great and these two cards can be a big reason why.
Commander's Sphere is a fine rock. For 3 cmc rocks, I also like Darksteel Ingot and Coalition Relic. For 2 cmc rocks, there's also Mind Stone and the cycle of diamonds from Mirage.
Commander's Sphere is a fine rock. For 3 drop rocks, I also like Darksteel Ingot and Coalition Relic. For 2 drop rocks, there's also Mind Stone and the cycle of diamonds from Mirage.
I like Sphere, Relic, and Chromatic Lantern just fine, but tend to prefer them in 3 CMC decks with 5+ CMC commanders. I think they're a bad fit for Saheeli, the Gifted specifically because you really want to ramp her out ASAP and because you rarely want to sacrifice your artifacts.
Mind Stone should already be in the base deck, but yeah in this case Fire Diamond and Sapphire Diamond are also worth a look although I personally find them worse than Fellwar Stone (enters untapped), Coldsteel Heart (a "diamond" that is whatever you want) and Everflowing Chalice (sick with Saheeli's second ability - a good curve could mean easily powering this out with 4-5 counters on turn four or five). You can also cut lands (possibly going down to 36) if you add enough 1, 2, and 3-mana rocks.
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Commander - Currently Playing: RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G) RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B) WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
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Thanks from a total Newbie.
Anyway, looking at lists here on MTGsal might be a good start. Here's the link to find several lists from forum users: Decklists
Mtggoldfish might have some neat decklists for Saheeli in the user-submitted decklists section as well.
BGGRock
Modern
BRGJund
BBGRock
Either way, since you will still be focusing on artifacts, I strongly recommend including Jhoira, Weatherlight Commander. Card draw is usually a good thing.
Storm the Vault: This card is a great one since it ties into BOTH strategies Saheeli supports - it rewards you for going wide with tokens by generating treasure, and the treasure (and eventually, the flipped Vault of Catlacan) help you power out ridiculous high-cost bombs. I'd imagine it's the single best investment you can find for the deck.
Sai, Master Thopterist and Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain - I lump them in together because they are both "payoffs" for casting artifact spells. Saheeli generally rewards casting ONE BIG GIANT card instead of lots of small ones, but both strategies work and are great and these two cards can be a big reason why.
I'll let you pour over the rest of the list, but one thing I think is generally the most important upgrade for Saheeli: replace as many of the 3 and 4 mana artifacts that make mana with 1 and 2 mana artifacts as humanly possible. The more cheap mana rocks you have, the faster you get to power out Saheeli herself and the more explosive your turns afterwards when you start using her middle ability. I think it's crucial that you replace stuff like Unstable Obelisk, Commander's Sphere, and Vessel of Endless Rest as quickly as possible. If budget allowed, you'd replace them with Mana Vault, Mana Crypt, Mox Amber, Grim Monolith, and/or Mox Opal. More realistically, you'll be replacing them with Fellwar Stone, Everflowing Chalice, and Coldsteel Heart.I'd also look to replace more expensive rocks (Dreamstone Hedron, Hedron Archive, Coveted Jewel) with rocks that are cheaper and/or more powerful like Astral Cornucopia, Thran Dynamo, Basalt Monolith, and Gilded Lotus.
RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR
WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG
GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG
GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G)
RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW
UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B)
WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
Bruse Tarl & Kraum, Ludevic's Opus
Mayael the Anima
I like Sphere, Relic, and Chromatic Lantern just fine, but tend to prefer them in 3 CMC decks with 5+ CMC commanders. I think they're a bad fit for Saheeli, the Gifted specifically because you really want to ramp her out ASAP and because you rarely want to sacrifice your artifacts.
Mind Stone should already be in the base deck, but yeah in this case Fire Diamond and Sapphire Diamond are also worth a look although I personally find them worse than Fellwar Stone (enters untapped), Coldsteel Heart (a "diamond" that is whatever you want) and Everflowing Chalice (sick with Saheeli's second ability - a good curve could mean easily powering this out with 4-5 counters on turn four or five). You can also cut lands (possibly going down to 36) if you add enough 1, 2, and 3-mana rocks.
RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR
WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG
GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG
GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G)
RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW
UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B)
WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG