Hey, are you still playing this deck? There are some new blue morphs in Khans and C14 that look exciting. And I wonder if there are any additional cards from the past couple years worth including.
Hey, are you still playing this deck? There are some new blue morphs in Khans and C14 that look exciting. And I wonder if there are any additional cards from the past couple years worth including.
I haven't played this deck in the longest time. However, now that Khans is bringing back morph, I may make it again just for fun. I updated the list with some of the morph creatures I felt are strong and some other generally good cards. When I played this deck before, I was on a tight budget and was defending my card choices with reasons that were not that concrete. I swapped out some of the bad cards for their overall better versions. You can find the primer write up in the spoiler, but I will work on a new one later. Come back sometime soon when I add some new thoughts on Ixidor.
EDIT: Also, Carlos Gutierrez feature my list in his article you can find here. That was very awesome of him and I featured the link in the Extras portion of my build.
I might be building a deck similar to this, I'm hesitating between Ixidor and Kami. Kami only costs UU and lets everyone draw.
Overall I just want to build a mono-U deck that plays differently, a little bit like I play Norin actually. I would be interested to see updates in your list and how your different matchups usually go if you decide to update the list. I'm just worried about the deck being slow overall.
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
I might be building a deck similar to this, I'm hesitating between Ixidor and Kami. Kami only costs UU and lets everyone draw.
Overall I just want to build a mono-U deck that plays differently, a little bit like I play Norin actually. I would be interested to see updates in your list and how your different matchups usually go if you decide to update the list. I'm just worried about the deck being slow overall.
Ixidor is the deck for you if you want to play mono-blue differently. Kami isn't that off for blue. People know him and know what kind of deck he is. No one has any idea about Ixidor. And he isn't that slow. I mean, you can average a creature on the board turn 2 (turn one sometimes) and Ixidor himself only comes out when you have a morph army. Ixidor allows you to play a really dynamic deck has a lot of moving pieces. Kami is a one trick pony, honestly. I would run Ixidor if you want a really awesome experience.
But aren't turn 3 or turn 4 morph creatures just getting removed on sight? Or you play Zoetic Cavern and such creatures to try to make your opponent waste their spot removal on it before you have 5-6 mana to be able to play a morph creature and have mana open to flip it? Yeah, that looks fun. I mean, I'd have to playtest it to see how it really works out, the overall speed of the deck and how your opponents actually react to the deck. The new morph creatures recently released are amazing and really help making this deck good I think and this is something that really matters for me too.
Also, most morph creatures are wizards, any reason not to run Vedalken Æthermage? It looks to me like the best tutor your deck could have, it's an instant blocker and can bounce a changeling creature in the worst case scenario. You could even add Trinket Mage with it. Azami looks particularly strong too but at 5 mana and with the hate he could bring, I guess you better not playing it.
Tezzeret looks really strong here. What about Phyrexian Metamorph, Clever Impersonator and Sakashima the Impostor? The last one is a second Ixidor, which can't be bad. The first 2 can copy artifacts, Tezzeret can get Metamorph and Impersonator... well, it copies anything, I was so excited for EDH when I saw this card printed.
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
But aren't turn 3 or turn 4 morph creatures just getting removed on sight? Or you play Zoetic Cavern and such creatures to try to make your opponent waste their spot removal on it before you have 5-6 mana to be able to play a morph creature and have mana open to flip it? Yeah, that looks fun. I mean, I'd have to playtest it to see how it really works out, the overall speed of the deck and how your opponents actually react to the deck. The new morph creatures recently released are amazing and really help making this deck good I think and this is something that really matters for me too.
Also, most morph creatures are wizards, any reason not to run Vedalken Æthermage? It looks to me like the best tutor your deck could have, it's an instant blocker and can bounce a changeling creature in the worst case scenario. You could even add Trinket Mage with it. Azami looks particularly strong too but at 5 mana and with the hate he could bring, I guess you better not playing it.
Tezzeret looks really strong here. What about Phyrexian Metamorph, Clever Impersonator and Sakashima the Impostor? The last one is a second Ixidor, which can't be bad. The first 2 can copy artifacts, Tezzeret can get Metamorph and Impersonator... well, it copies anything, I was so excited for EDH when I saw this card printed.
Not really. If you had a removal in had, would your rather kill a turn three morph creature, or a turn three reanimated Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur? There are just bigger threats than morph creatures. Besides, you can protect them with Eldrazi Monument and other cards. Usually, a smart opponent knows the first wave of morph creatures are threatening rather than the ones when you have more mana and resources. Its all a game of chance honestly.
The Aethermage would be pretty good. Like I said, I haven't played this deck in a while. This thing about the mage is that it reveals the morph creature you search for, which is a little unfortunate. Its a weak play to search for a Voidmage Apprentice, then play a face down creature and hope no one kills it. When your opponents have that knowledge, all morph creatures are fair game until the Voidmage is killed. See, there is a whole power dynamic when playing morph creatures. I will write up about this further when I have time.
Metamorph AND impersonator would be great additions. This deck use to run Sakashima, but she eventually was taken out for better support.
Sometimes the fact that they know you have Willbender is just playing politics. It's really less tempting to spot remove it if your opponents know they will get 2 for 1'd. And that's assuming you don't have any other morph creature in your hand, I mean it could just be a bluff, isn't it? You play the creature you tutored like 2 turns later and they think you played it before and kill the wrong one.
I can see Sakashima as not that good but the 2 other clones look to good to pass on.
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
I am curious too as to what you feed the hungry Eldrazi monument. I like the new spell jack on a morph creature. I do have a question, if you flicker something with a face down morph creaure... do u get the benefits of a morph creatures face up ability? Or is it strictly morph only?
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I am curious too as to what you feed the hungry Eldrazi monument. I like the new spell jack on a morph creature. I do have a question, if you flicker something with a face down morph creaure... do u get the benefits of a morph creatures face up ability? Or is it strictly morph only?
No you don't. Morphing a creature is a special action. If the creature enters the battlefield face-up (like it is the case when you blink it), it doesn't trigger any triggered ability linked to the creature being turned face-up, since it's not actually turned face-up, it just enters already face-up.
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
I am curious too as to what you feed the hungry Eldrazi monument. I like the new spell jack on a morph creature. I do have a question, if you flicker something with a face down morph creaure... do u get the benefits of a morph creatures face up ability? Or is it strictly morph only?
Morph abilities are only when it is flipped face up (some cases, face down). But no, flickering wouldn't do any good. Thats why the deck values bounce effects much more.
No you don't. Morphing a creature is a special action. If the creature enters the battlefield face-up (like it is the case when you blink it), it doesn't trigger any triggered ability linked to the creature being turned face-up, since it's not actually turned face-up, it just enters already face-up.
How important is Jace in your list? You have nothing to tutor it and the only abilities you are probably using are his -2 and his 0, which are obviously good/versatile but is it worth the $100 slot?
Tezzeret can tutor nearly any artifact of the deck so I think he's better overall (and 7x times cheaper too), his +1 can help to ramp a turn too. Maybe the new Teferi could be playable too as a cheaper option (untapping 4 permanents is huge in a deck that plays doubling-mana effects and big mana rocks), although it would sit at the top of the curve.
Jace and FoW are mostly the only cards making this list over $100. I'm not sure FoW is that much needed either, if I was going for big blue cards like that, Mana Drain looks better to me for the purpose of this deck since you don't tend to have that much card advantage but you do get use of lots of mana (except for BSZ and Stroke of Genius).
Personally, I wouldn't play FoW, Drain or Jace but that's just because I want the deck to be casual and those are more competitive cards that don't really help the gameplan that much.
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
How important is Jace in your list? You have nothing to tutor it and the only abilities you are probably using are his -2 and his 0, which are obviously good/versatile but is it worth the $100 slot?
Tezzeret can tutor nearly any artifact of the deck so I think he's better overall (and 7x times cheaper too), his +1 can help to ramp a turn too. Maybe the new Teferi could be playable too as a cheaper option (untapping 4 permanents is huge in a deck that plays doubling-mana effects and big mana rocks), although it would sit at the top of the curve.
Jace and FoW are mostly the only cards making this list over $100. I'm not sure FoW is that much needed either, if I was going for big blue cards like that, Mana Drain looks better to me for the purpose of this deck since you don't tend to have that much card advantage but you do get use of lots of mana (except for BSZ and Stroke of Genius).
Personally, I wouldn't play FoW, Drain or Jace but that's just because I want the deck to be casual and those are more competitive cards that don't really help the gameplan that much.
Meh, Brainstorming every turn is pretty advantageous. Is he worth the 100$ slot? No. Do players need him to play? No. If you cannot afford him, then you don't have to play him. There are other cards you can run in his slot. I use to run Jace, Architect of Thought because it would save me from aggro decks that came down earlier than my morph creatures. The thing about these builds is if you don't want to play a card, no one is forcing you to. You can always run alternatives and discuss alternatives with the player. This build use to be very budget, and still is. There are a number of cards you can afford not running for the sake of your wallet. Over time, I sold a lot of my bulk rares and was able to buy better cards. If your deck is much more casual, then by all means, don't run the expensive cards. For example, I don't run Mana Drain because it is a 200 dollar card, and I cannot afford that. Jace I got through trading, and FoW I found at a yard sale. The point is, if you personally don't want to run them, then don't.
The new Teferi could be a thing. I have to test him out.
If you're looking for an Alternative to Jace, it will have to be a card engine. Staff of Nin or Jace Beleren could be alternatives. For Force of Will, run Foil. If you don't want another counterspell, then add something else. Cards like that are negotiable. There are core cards, however, that are not. When I do my write up, I will go over the core more.
I want to thank you for your enthusiasm with this build. Please, don't hesitate to ask more questions about the build. I'd love to work with you building your own Ixidor deck.
I started building a list, I will post is as soon as it is more advanced. Adding the morph creatures to the list isn't too hard, I'm now debating with myself a bit more about the ramp slots and the bounce slots. Planeswalkers and clones and instants and sorceries too, we have a lot of choice in blue.
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
I'd like more 1-CMC spells but I don't feel like Preordain, Ponder and Brainstorm are that good in the format.
I'm thinking about BSZ and Stroke but I'm not sure, I feel like this is slow but I don't see really good alternatives besides maybe Deep Analysis...
I think I need more Evacuation and less Capsize. About counter magic, I just have the Wizards right now. Spell Crumple and Hinder are the only ones I'd really consider at the moment. I don't think we care that much about what the opponent is doing, we just try to play his own cards against him in some aspect with all the Willbender effects and clones.
I'm thinking about not playing the Swords because I'd then need Jitte too and I want to keep this casual and those card brings a lot of hate. There must be something better at pumping multiple attackers, a blue version of Beastmaster Ascension. Akroma's Memorial is too expansive and the Gauntlets don't work with face down creatures.
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
I'd like more 1-CMC spells but I don't feel like Preordain, Ponder and Brainstorm are that good in the format.
I'm thinking about BSZ and Stroke but I'm not sure, I feel like this is slow but I don't see really good alternatives besides maybe Deep Analysis...
I think I need more Evacuation and less Capsize. About counter magic, I just have the Wizards right now. Spell Crumple and Hinder are the only ones I'd really consider at the moment. I don't think we care that much about what the opponent is doing, we just try to play his own cards against him in some aspect with all the Willbender effects and clones.
I'm thinking about not playing the Swords because I'd then need Jitte too and I want to keep this casual and those card brings a lot of hate. There must be something better at pumping multiple attackers, a blue version of Beastmaster Ascension. Akroma's Memorial is too expansive and the Gauntlets don't work with face down creatures.
Shackles is a good catch.
You don't need Jitte if you run the swords. There isn't really any reason. FaF give you some extra fuel for your turn, and FaI give you some removal and draw. Gauntlet is meant for the mana, not for the pump. Akroma's Memorial is too expensive, but we're in a big mana deck, so we can afford it. There really isn't anything else to pump and army of colorless dudes. Honestly, I think you're worrying too much about the creatures when they're face down. Ixidor pumps them to 3/3's, and people actually don't really care about removing morph creatures. The abilities in here are too small to focus hate on. Have you played Ixidor yet? Players don't spot removal our dudes just because it isn't worth the gamble. Morph creatures usually die to random board wipes if anything. And also, they don't remain face down for a while. I usually have mana to flip them face up when I play them. I only have two-three morph dudes out at once if any. NEVER over extend with your guys because it is hard to recover from board wipes. So play with the deck in an actually meta and get a feel for it.
And again, if you want to keep it casual and don't want to run some of the cards I have, by all means.
Could All is Dust be playable too, since morph creatures are colorless and we play a lot of artifacts overall? I mean, this is as good as removal will get in blue besides Cyclonic Rift and this is the same cost (minus the instant effect).
I prefer Snapcaster over Archeomancer, just for the instant surprise effect. Also, with you playing Cloudstone Curio, flash creatures like Snapcaster and Vedalken AEthermage can save any of your creature (although you would have to reveal any face-down creature that you bounce). Good with Equilibrium too.
Cavern of Souls seems like a must include (why not), Darksteel Citadel because of Tezzeret and if you decide to play the Wizardcycling dude with Trinket Make too (and then maybe Relic of Progenitus, Wayfarer's Bubble and such, it gives you a pretty solid tutor package loop if you it the Wizardcycler). I added Azami too. It's a Wizard (so Vedalken Æthermage will be used mostly for Azami, Trinket or Snapc maybe). There are too many Wizards honestly and it's better than all the other draw spells in the deck yet.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx seems like a fairly good addition to the list (why not here again, we are mono-color, no drawback). With Trinket Mage, Expedition Map could get some use, especially if we add Tolaria West and then Pact of Negation. It's like I said, it's like a big loop of tutors. With Training Grounds (that I'm not sure to play since there are only 1 creature besides the general making use of it), Dizzy Spell could be good too (assuming you are adding a couple of 1-drops). Personally, I'm not going into tapped lands too much, but Trinket Mage with a couple of 1-mana artifacts isn't bad (and you always have Darksteel Citadel, I mean at the end it's card advantage and even more if you get Azami out). Blue isn't black when it comes down to tutors, but it's hands down the second best color for tutoring and with some considerations, it is possible to make any card in the deck tutorable in some way once you enter what I call the "tutor cycle" or "tutor loop" (draw any tutor that will eventually get you another tutor to get the exact card you really want; that may be mana intensive but we have mana, right?).
83 cards for now, I will keep you updated. I removed the Swords and Jace, just to keep the cost lower and because those cards feel too competitive to me even if the deck isn't competitive overall (I know some of my friends will argue about Jace and take their Hermit Druid deck to play against this, which I don't want).
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
I personally don't like combo but I guess this is a really good approach if you are into that. It gives you infinite mana assuming you have more than the 8 mana the combo needs (or 6 if you have Training Grounds).
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
Could All is Dust be playable too, since morph creatures are colorless and we play a lot of artifacts overall? I mean, this is as good as removal will get in blue besides Cyclonic Rift and this is the same cost (minus the instant effect).
I prefer Snapcaster over Archeomancer, just for the instant surprise effect. Also, with you playing Cloudstone Curio, flash creatures like Snapcaster and Vedalken AEthermage can save any of your creature (although you would have to reveal any face-down creature that you bounce). Good with Equilibrium too.
Cavern of Souls seems like a must include (why not), Darksteel Citadel because of Tezzeret and if you decide to play the Wizardcycling dude with Trinket Make too (and then maybe Relic of Progenitus, Wayfarer's Bubble and such, it gives you a pretty solid tutor package loop if you it the Wizardcycler). I added Azami too. It's a Wizard (so Vedalken Æthermage will be used mostly for Azami, Trinket or Snapc maybe). There are too many Wizards honestly and it's better than all the other draw spells in the deck yet.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx seems like a fairly good addition to the list (why not here again, we are mono-color, no drawback). With Trinket Mage, Expedition Map could get some use, especially if we add Tolaria West and then Pact of Negation. It's like I said, it's like a big loop of tutors. With Training Grounds (that I'm not sure to play since there are only 1 creature besides the general making use of it), Dizzy Spell could be good too (assuming you are adding a couple of 1-drops). Personally, I'm not going into tapped lands too much, but Trinket Mage with a couple of 1-mana artifacts isn't bad (and you always have Darksteel Citadel, I mean at the end it's card advantage and even more if you get Azami out). Blue isn't black when it comes down to tutors, but it's hands down the second best color for tutoring and with some considerations, it is possible to make any card in the deck tutorable in some way once you enter what I call the "tutor cycle" or "tutor loop" (draw any tutor that will eventually get you another tutor to get the exact card you really want; that may be mana intensive but we have mana, right?).
83 cards for now, I will keep you updated. I removed the Swords and Jace, just to keep the cost lower and because those cards feel too competitive to me even if the deck isn't competitive overall (I know some of my friends will argue about Jace and take their Hermit Druid deck to play against this, which I don't want).
I just updated the list. I haven't had time to do a write up cause I'm neck deep in school work. I have updated the list and posted a draft of the deck so you can check it out. I added in new cards and took out some old cards. Overall, I am making the build very creature-centric with counter support to some degree.
I like how you support Snapcaster Mage over Archaeomancer, but still don't run a lot fo cards because they're not "casual". Just an observation.
Cavern of Souls isn't that great (I mean, we could just name Wizards), but Moprh creatures don't have a creature type, therefor can't be used with it... which I guess is okay, no one has ever countered a morph dude in my experience. I will test it out this weekend.
Your feedback is really awesome. You should check out my other decks below in my signature.
No problem. Yeah, Cavern doesn't have that many upsides, but it makes Ixidor, Snapc and Azami uncounterabled and few others.
Also, you could name Shapeshifter depending on your hand. Illusion for Ixidron could be really important too. I mean, there isn't that many downsides with nearly 28 Islands out of ~35-36 lands anyway. It's not like we are missing any blue lands, even when playing the morphed Gush.
Snapcaster is more for the curve actually because I'm trying to bring it down a bit (I'd love to be under 3 but that won't happen, it's at 3.24 right now with 86 cards and I don't think the last cards I'm adding will be cheap). I won't be playing Cloudstone Curio, Equilibrium and Crystal Shard are good enough with mass bounce like Evacuation and I do prefer that strategy a little bit.
Disruptive Pitmage is not on your list, yet it is so good in 1v1. I mean, Force Spike and Daze are both played in competitive EDH (just as an example) and we all tend to tap out (when we are not playing blue) to play our spells. Also, Echo Tracer is good too, it's not the best but it does bounce any creature. Not sure why you are not playing Shaper Parasite. This is really as good as creature removal will get in mono-blue. Even without the versatility, that would be good. But you get some extra versatily by choosing between 2 effects... so awesome, this card is solid. Fledgling Mawcor is the other little dude removal and he's awesome too, really good against red and green, it kills Goblin Welder and that's enough for me to be nearly an auto-include.
You play a couple of other morph that I'm not sure yet, I'll see. Quicksilver Dragon is kinda expansive and his ability is really underwhelming compared to Willbender and Mischievous Quanar. But it is a 5/5 flyer beater and even a dragon. I will need some more thoughts about it.
I love your addition of Glen Elendra and Patron Wizard, I will definitely add those too. It gives a really great defense to the deck without having to spend to many extra slots.
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
So when I read the little intro, I disagreed with basically everything you said. After seeing the decklist though, I think I might build this deck. Incredible job!
No problem. Yeah, Cavern doesn't have that many upsides, but it makes Ixidor, Snapc and Azami uncounterabled and few others.
Also, you could name Shapeshifter depending on your hand. Illusion for Ixidron could be really important too. I mean, there isn't that many downsides with nearly 28 Islands out of ~35-36 lands anyway. It's not like we are missing any blue lands, even when playing the morphed Gush.
Snapcaster is more for the curve actually because I'm trying to bring it down a bit (I'd love to be under 3 but that won't happen, it's at 3.24 right now with 86 cards and I don't think the last cards I'm adding will be cheap). I won't be playing Cloudstone Curio, Equilibrium and Crystal Shard are good enough with mass bounce like Evacuation and I do prefer that strategy a little bit.
Disruptive Pitmage is not on your list, yet it is so good in 1v1. I mean, Force Spike and Daze are both played in competitive EDH (just as an example) and we all tend to tap out (when we are not playing blue) to play our spells. Also, Echo Tracer is good too, it's not the best but it does bounce any creature. Not sure why you are not playing Shaper Parasite. This is really as good as creature removal will get in mono-blue. Even without the versatility, that would be good. But you get some extra versatily by choosing between 2 effects... so awesome, this card is solid. Fledgling Mawcor is the other little dude removal and he's awesome too, really good against red and green, it kills Goblin Welder and that's enough for me to be nearly an auto-include.
You play a couple of other morph that I'm not sure yet, I'll see. Quicksilver Dragon is kinda expansive and his ability is really underwhelming compared to Willbender and Mischievous Quanar. But it is a 5/5 flyer beater and even a dragon. I will need some more thoughts about it.
I love your addition of Glen Elendra and Patron Wizard, I will definitely add those too. It gives a really great defense to the deck without having to spend to many extra slots.
So I agree with Cavern.
I don't like that you're not running Curio and the other bounce effects. Those are the main engines. Evacuation is a one trick pony by these engines give a little more boost to your deck. If you don't run them, your deck will be very clunky.
I have tested every single morph card. Disruptive Pitmage, trust me, is not that good. There are some rare moments where he is cute, but I'd rather run a honest counter spell rather that play him. Echo Tracer and Shaper Parasite are out for some odd reason but I threw them back in. Fledgling Mawcor was okay. His ability was just too small. I always just shot tokens with it and never hit valued targets. Not worth the slot in my opinion.
So when I read the little intro, I disagreed with basically everything you said. After seeing the decklist though, I think I might build this deck. Incredible job!
Told you I would make you believe. I don't even have a write up yet Welcome fellow Reality Sculptor. And thank you for your kind words. Come with me with any questions you have while building him, I'll do my best to try and help you.
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
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Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
I haven't played this deck in the longest time. However, now that Khans is bringing back morph, I may make it again just for fun. I updated the list with some of the morph creatures I felt are strong and some other generally good cards. When I played this deck before, I was on a tight budget and was defending my card choices with reasons that were not that concrete. I swapped out some of the bad cards for their overall better versions. You can find the primer write up in the spoiler, but I will work on a new one later. Come back sometime soon when I add some new thoughts on Ixidor.
EDIT: Also, Carlos Gutierrez feature my list in his article you can find here. That was very awesome of him and I featured the link in the Extras portion of my build.
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Overall I just want to build a mono-U deck that plays differently, a little bit like I play Norin actually. I would be interested to see updates in your list and how your different matchups usually go if you decide to update the list. I'm just worried about the deck being slow overall.
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Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
Ixidor is the deck for you if you want to play mono-blue differently. Kami isn't that off for blue. People know him and know what kind of deck he is. No one has any idea about Ixidor. And he isn't that slow. I mean, you can average a creature on the board turn 2 (turn one sometimes) and Ixidor himself only comes out when you have a morph army. Ixidor allows you to play a really dynamic deck has a lot of moving pieces. Kami is a one trick pony, honestly. I would run Ixidor if you want a really awesome experience.
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Also, most morph creatures are wizards, any reason not to run Vedalken Æthermage? It looks to me like the best tutor your deck could have, it's an instant blocker and can bounce a changeling creature in the worst case scenario. You could even add Trinket Mage with it. Azami looks particularly strong too but at 5 mana and with the hate he could bring, I guess you better not playing it.
Tezzeret looks really strong here. What about Phyrexian Metamorph, Clever Impersonator and Sakashima the Impostor? The last one is a second Ixidor, which can't be bad. The first 2 can copy artifacts, Tezzeret can get Metamorph and Impersonator... well, it copies anything, I was so excited for EDH when I saw this card printed.
Rules Advisor
Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
Not really. If you had a removal in had, would your rather kill a turn three morph creature, or a turn three reanimated Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur? There are just bigger threats than morph creatures. Besides, you can protect them with Eldrazi Monument and other cards. Usually, a smart opponent knows the first wave of morph creatures are threatening rather than the ones when you have more mana and resources. Its all a game of chance honestly.
The Aethermage would be pretty good. Like I said, I haven't played this deck in a while. This thing about the mage is that it reveals the morph creature you search for, which is a little unfortunate. Its a weak play to search for a Voidmage Apprentice, then play a face down creature and hope no one kills it. When your opponents have that knowledge, all morph creatures are fair game until the Voidmage is killed. See, there is a whole power dynamic when playing morph creatures. I will write up about this further when I have time.
Metamorph AND impersonator would be great additions. This deck use to run Sakashima, but she eventually was taken out for better support.
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
I can see Sakashima as not that good but the 2 other clones look to good to pass on.
What do you sac to Eldrazi Monument?
Rules Advisor
Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY8h2vp5Xis
No you don't. Morphing a creature is a special action. If the creature enters the battlefield face-up (like it is the case when you blink it), it doesn't trigger any triggered ability linked to the creature being turned face-up, since it's not actually turned face-up, it just enters already face-up.
Rules Advisor
Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
Morph creatures
I agree, Kheru Spellsnatcher is a really strong card.
Morph abilities are only when it is flipped face up (some cases, face down). But no, flickering wouldn't do any good. Thats why the deck values bounce effects much more.
What he said.
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Tezzeret can tutor nearly any artifact of the deck so I think he's better overall (and 7x times cheaper too), his +1 can help to ramp a turn too. Maybe the new Teferi could be playable too as a cheaper option (untapping 4 permanents is huge in a deck that plays doubling-mana effects and big mana rocks), although it would sit at the top of the curve.
Jace and FoW are mostly the only cards making this list over $100. I'm not sure FoW is that much needed either, if I was going for big blue cards like that, Mana Drain looks better to me for the purpose of this deck since you don't tend to have that much card advantage but you do get use of lots of mana (except for BSZ and Stroke of Genius).
Personally, I wouldn't play FoW, Drain or Jace but that's just because I want the deck to be casual and those are more competitive cards that don't really help the gameplan that much.
Rules Advisor
Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
Meh, Brainstorming every turn is pretty advantageous. Is he worth the 100$ slot? No. Do players need him to play? No. If you cannot afford him, then you don't have to play him. There are other cards you can run in his slot. I use to run Jace, Architect of Thought because it would save me from aggro decks that came down earlier than my morph creatures. The thing about these builds is if you don't want to play a card, no one is forcing you to. You can always run alternatives and discuss alternatives with the player. This build use to be very budget, and still is. There are a number of cards you can afford not running for the sake of your wallet. Over time, I sold a lot of my bulk rares and was able to buy better cards. If your deck is much more casual, then by all means, don't run the expensive cards. For example, I don't run Mana Drain because it is a 200 dollar card, and I cannot afford that. Jace I got through trading, and FoW I found at a yard sale. The point is, if you personally don't want to run them, then don't.
The new Teferi could be a thing. I have to test him out.
If you're looking for an Alternative to Jace, it will have to be a card engine. Staff of Nin or Jace Beleren could be alternatives. For Force of Will, run Foil. If you don't want another counterspell, then add something else. Cards like that are negotiable. There are core cards, however, that are not. When I do my write up, I will go over the core more.
I want to thank you for your enthusiasm with this build. Please, don't hesitate to ask more questions about the build. I'd love to work with you building your own Ixidor deck.
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Rules Advisor
Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
http://decks.deckedbuilder.com/d/14828
I'd like more 1-CMC spells but I don't feel like Preordain, Ponder and Brainstorm are that good in the format.
I'm thinking about BSZ and Stroke but I'm not sure, I feel like this is slow but I don't see really good alternatives besides maybe Deep Analysis...
I think I need more Evacuation and less Capsize. About counter magic, I just have the Wizards right now. Spell Crumple and Hinder are the only ones I'd really consider at the moment. I don't think we care that much about what the opponent is doing, we just try to play his own cards against him in some aspect with all the Willbender effects and clones.
We definitely want Vedalken Shackles.
I'm thinking about not playing the Swords because I'd then need Jitte too and I want to keep this casual and those card brings a lot of hate. There must be something better at pumping multiple attackers, a blue version of Beastmaster Ascension. Akroma's Memorial is too expansive and the Gauntlets don't work with face down creatures.
Rules Advisor
Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
Shackles is a good catch.
You don't need Jitte if you run the swords. There isn't really any reason. FaF give you some extra fuel for your turn, and FaI give you some removal and draw. Gauntlet is meant for the mana, not for the pump. Akroma's Memorial is too expensive, but we're in a big mana deck, so we can afford it. There really isn't anything else to pump and army of colorless dudes. Honestly, I think you're worrying too much about the creatures when they're face down. Ixidor pumps them to 3/3's, and people actually don't really care about removing morph creatures. The abilities in here are too small to focus hate on. Have you played Ixidor yet? Players don't spot removal our dudes just because it isn't worth the gamble. Morph creatures usually die to random board wipes if anything. And also, they don't remain face down for a while. I usually have mana to flip them face up when I play them. I only have two-three morph dudes out at once if any. NEVER over extend with your guys because it is hard to recover from board wipes. So play with the deck in an actually meta and get a feel for it.
And again, if you want to keep it casual and don't want to run some of the cards I have, by all means.
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
I prefer Snapcaster over Archeomancer, just for the instant surprise effect. Also, with you playing Cloudstone Curio, flash creatures like Snapcaster and Vedalken AEthermage can save any of your creature (although you would have to reveal any face-down creature that you bounce). Good with Equilibrium too.
Bident of Thassa is strictly superior to Coastal Piracy. Evacuation looks really good. Not sure about Wash Out though, but blue doesn't have a lot of board wipes (thus All is Dust).
Cavern of Souls seems like a must include (why not), Darksteel Citadel because of Tezzeret and if you decide to play the Wizardcycling dude with Trinket Make too (and then maybe Relic of Progenitus, Wayfarer's Bubble and such, it gives you a pretty solid tutor package loop if you it the Wizardcycler). I added Azami too. It's a Wizard (so Vedalken Æthermage will be used mostly for Azami, Trinket or Snapc maybe). There are too many Wizards honestly and it's better than all the other draw spells in the deck yet.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx seems like a fairly good addition to the list (why not here again, we are mono-color, no drawback). With Trinket Mage, Expedition Map could get some use, especially if we add Tolaria West and then Pact of Negation. It's like I said, it's like a big loop of tutors. With Training Grounds (that I'm not sure to play since there are only 1 creature besides the general making use of it), Dizzy Spell could be good too (assuming you are adding a couple of 1-drops). Personally, I'm not going into tapped lands too much, but Trinket Mage with a couple of 1-mana artifacts isn't bad (and you always have Darksteel Citadel, I mean at the end it's card advantage and even more if you get Azami out). Blue isn't black when it comes down to tutors, but it's hands down the second best color for tutoring and with some considerations, it is possible to make any card in the deck tutorable in some way once you enter what I call the "tutor cycle" or "tutor loop" (draw any tutor that will eventually get you another tutor to get the exact card you really want; that may be mana intensive but we have mana, right?).
83 cards for now, I will keep you updated. I removed the Swords and Jace, just to keep the cost lower and because those cards feel too competitive to me even if the deck isn't competitive overall (I know some of my friends will argue about Jace and take their Hermit Druid deck to play against this, which I don't want).
Rules Advisor
Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
Here's the link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/autocardanywhere/eobkhgkgoejnjaiofdmphhkemmomfabg?hl=en
Mischievous Quanar
(just for the tags, I don't know all the cards by heart ;p)
Rules Advisor
Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
Rules Advisor
Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
I just updated the list. I haven't had time to do a write up cause I'm neck deep in school work. I have updated the list and posted a draft of the deck so you can check it out. I added in new cards and took out some old cards. Overall, I am making the build very creature-centric with counter support to some degree.
I like how you support Snapcaster Mage over Archaeomancer, but still don't run a lot fo cards because they're not "casual". Just an observation.
Cavern of Souls isn't that great (I mean, we could just name Wizards), but Moprh creatures don't have a creature type, therefor can't be used with it... which I guess is okay, no one has ever countered a morph dude in my experience. I will test it out this weekend.
Your feedback is really awesome. You should check out my other decks below in my signature.
I feel like Turnabout needs more support to be viable in this build besides the Quanar.
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Also, you could name Shapeshifter depending on your hand. Illusion for Ixidron could be really important too. I mean, there isn't that many downsides with nearly 28 Islands out of ~35-36 lands anyway. It's not like we are missing any blue lands, even when playing the morphed Gush.
Snapcaster is more for the curve actually because I'm trying to bring it down a bit (I'd love to be under 3 but that won't happen, it's at 3.24 right now with 86 cards and I don't think the last cards I'm adding will be cheap). I won't be playing Cloudstone Curio, Equilibrium and Crystal Shard are good enough with mass bounce like Evacuation and I do prefer that strategy a little bit.
Counterspells.. I added Crumple and Hinder. No vanilla Counterspell because I'll feel that this is a strictly worst Mana Drain and will want to play that one since I like to have the most optimical available cards for a particular spot (like I play Gauntlet of Might in Norin for example over Gauntlet of Power (well I actually play both but anyway)). But I feel pretty solid with Crumple/Hinder because we have Voidmage Apprentice, Voidmage Prodigy (definitely a 5-star in the deck), Willbender, Disruptive Pitmage and Kheru Spellsnatcher.
Disruptive Pitmage is not on your list, yet it is so good in 1v1. I mean, Force Spike and Daze are both played in competitive EDH (just as an example) and we all tend to tap out (when we are not playing blue) to play our spells. Also, Echo Tracer is good too, it's not the best but it does bounce any creature. Not sure why you are not playing Shaper Parasite. This is really as good as creature removal will get in mono-blue. Even without the versatility, that would be good. But you get some extra versatily by choosing between 2 effects... so awesome, this card is solid. Fledgling Mawcor is the other little dude removal and he's awesome too, really good against red and green, it kills Goblin Welder and that's enough for me to be nearly an auto-include.
You play a couple of other morph that I'm not sure yet, I'll see. Quicksilver Dragon is kinda expansive and his ability is really underwhelming compared to Willbender and Mischievous Quanar. But it is a 5/5 flyer beater and even a dragon. I will need some more thoughts about it.
I love your addition of Glen Elendra and Patron Wizard, I will definitely add those too. It gives a really great defense to the deck without having to spend to many extra slots.
Rules Advisor
Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
So I agree with Cavern.
I don't like that you're not running Curio and the other bounce effects. Those are the main engines. Evacuation is a one trick pony by these engines give a little more boost to your deck. If you don't run them, your deck will be very clunky.
I have tested every single morph card. Disruptive Pitmage, trust me, is not that good. There are some rare moments where he is cute, but I'd rather run a honest counter spell rather that play him. Echo Tracer and Shaper Parasite are out for some odd reason but I threw them back in. Fledgling Mawcor was okay. His ability was just too small. I always just shot tokens with it and never hit valued targets. Not worth the slot in my opinion.
The dragon is a beast. The dragon stays.
I agree sir! Absolutely.
Told you I would make you believe. I don't even have a write up yet Welcome fellow Reality Sculptor. And thank you for your kind words. Come with me with any questions you have while building him, I'll do my best to try and help you.
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Mutavault is a Wizard. Added to my list. [Added to. 37 lands now. List edited.
97 cards total for now.
Maze of Ith and Buried Ruin considered (faster than Academy Ruins but one-time only).
Actually, I'll add Maze for now.
Rules Advisor
Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.