MTG Salvation

First, I would like to thank Magnus Magicus for his Atogatog list, which is where just about all of my choices for this deck originated. This deck will probably just look like an updated version of his.

Second, Atog was my favorite card back in the day, and I love the art (and of course, he's my avatar!), and I always wanted to use him whenever I could. But ever since I scrapped a deck featuring him, Dwarven Warriors, and a ton of cheap/free artifacts, I haven't had him in a deck. I actually never heard of Atogatog until I searched the keyword "atog" in the multiplayer commander decklists forum. Pow!

Third, my more competitive 5c EDH deck is slivers. But whenever I pull them out, people tend to hate on slivers. I'm choosing this as a more casual deck, which should make me less of a target. Bonus - I get to (maybe) use my favorite card!

Finally - I appreciate all input, as long as you try do it with as little disrespect as you can. I recognize this deck probably sucks, but with your help, we can make it better!



Cards that I want to include, but have not for reasons of availability or watering down the deck:

• Mycosynth Lattice
• Crucible of Worlds
• Tutors (Demonic, etc)
• Wraths (Of God, Supreme Verdict, etc)
• Spot Removal

Paths to victory:

• Beats with Atogs
• Barren Glory to eat all my permanents.

Paths to defeat:

• Fast decks
• Targeted removal
• Graveyard hate

Check my sig for a slightly similar deck list (less beat down and more combo)

Hi TheEndIsNear, thank you for your feedback. Pretty cool list you have! There are some utility artifacts that I'll consider for this list. As this is going to be a more casual type of deck, I will likely try to avoid pure combos for the most part, but I really appreciate that your list has a lot of card draw through sacrifice effects. I will have to consider more card draw in my current build.

Update:
Added Enduring Renewal and Aluren as a combo with my commander and any other Atog

Riptide Replicator can create arbitrarily large food for your commander.

Quote from Pouncing Kavu

Riptide Replicator can create arbitrarily large food for your commander.

Very cool idea - I think I'll have to pick one up!

Quote from Outcryqq

Update:
Added Enduring Renewal and Aluren as a combo with my commander and any other Atog

those are indeed the key cards for this deck.... it goes in it even before the atogs

you could maybe add vicious shadows and lifeline

i think the enchantment creatures from the actual block are good to include since you can give them to the auratog to eat and they come back with enduring or lifeline

Hi Brunhill, which enchantment creatures are you referring to? Courser of Kruphix and his ilk? I definitely think Eidolon of Blossoms deserves consideration.

Edit: Blossoms is 4 CMC, won't work with Aluren, he still may deserve a slot.

Hey, thanks for the cool ideas! Yeah, I'm definitely worried about chump blockers, so right now trample (through Loxodon Warhammer and Rancor) and unblockable (through Thassa, God of the Sea) are the main ways for me to connect. Maybe I'll add Whispersilk Cloak and Rogue's Passage.

True, steal effects seem pretty good, I just wish I had a better way to take opponents stuff. Hellkite Tyrant isn't bad, neither is Zealous Conscripts, but 1-shotters are risky for me. Every spell I put in takes up a slot that a permanent would take, and I'm hoping for recurrable resources with my permanents and mass recursion. I like the idea though, can you think of even more repeatable steal effects?

Yup, I do like the Lattice, and I also was considering the card that makes all my permanents enchantments (name escapes me right now).

Quote from Outcryqq

Hi Brunhill, which enchantment creatures are you referring to? Courser of Kruphix and his ilk? I definitely think Eidolon of Blossoms deserves consideration.

Edit: Blossoms is 4 CMC, won't work with Aluren, he still may deserve a slot.

I think any of the CC3 and down would do, they are just reccuring food for your tog. Also, you could use fling card type... better than trample...

the lattice and enchanted evening are a good idea, both with the dragon and aura thief

Updates: added Snapcaster Mage as another way for me to get back my game-breaking spells (like Second Sunrise), other artifacts and enchantments.

I'm not sure I'll be getting my hands on a Mycosynth Lattice for a while, so I think I'm doing Enchanted Evening with some targeted hate (Calming Verse and Primeval Light). Do you all think the global killers would be good too? (eg Tranquility). I don't like nuking myself, but I wonder if there are instants that do the same thing that I could put on the stack after putting a mass recursion on the stack.

As always, thanks for feedback!

Note: I got to play this deck's first two games - both wins!...however, they were against an untuned Prosh deck, so take this with a grain of salt. Or pepper.

-Disgusting interaction when I have Nevinyrral's Disk out - I can use it, then use any of my mass recursion spells (Faith's Reward and Second Sunrise). This makes for quick games.
-Chameleon Colossus is nasty in cahoots (sp?) with my commander.
-Foratog is terrible, and is only in here now for flavor.
-I plan on adding more ramp, and more tribal pump cards in order to make my atogs decent threats without using their abilities
-Always looking for more repeatable recursion - any ideas?

Thanks for looking!

Played some more games, the deck is stalling out after 1 or 2 big swings. I'm considering adding Tainted Strike as a cheap way to off a player. Thoughts?

Things I would seriously think about adding: Survival of the Fittest. it's an enchantment, and its a reusable tutor. It's also "on-theme" if you think about it...
Genesis is another card that deserves consideration, for playing nice with your atogs, and survival both. I hear tell that recursion is "good".
I would add either Enlighted tutor, or Idyllic tutor or both.
If you want a version of Eidolon of Blossoms that plays better with Aluren just run Verderan Enchantress...speaking of enchantresses you might consider the somewhat obscure and much overlooked Femerif Enchantress..afterall, if you are sacing enchantments to your atogs anyway, you might as well get some card advantage out of them...

Hi Courtland, thanks for the suggestions!

You're definitely right - Survival of the Fittest would be fantastic in this deck. I'm in the market to pick one up, so hopefully I should have one and plop it into this deck soon

Genesis is pretty solid, but getting back just one of my Atogs, without getting back their food (land, enchantments, artifacts) is just mediocre. If I find myself just needing the Atogs back often (like if people start using their removal on any atog, no questions asked) then I will definitely have to reconsider this one.

Same with Survival, both those tutors are in other decks, so I'll be on the lookout to pick up another copy. They're definitely wonderful in this deck.

I think you're on to something with enchantresses. I could definitely use the card draw. My only concern is that Eidolon of Blossoms can be eaten by a number of my Atogs, while other enchantresses cannot (unless I have Conspiracy out), so their interaction with Aluren won't be very effective unless I have a good way to pitch them. I might just start tutoring Conspiracy first, that would make more enchantresses very beneficial.

Keep the ideas coming and thanks for looking!

I'm considering adding in totem armor, wondering if anyone has any experience with them in a deck like this? For reference Bear Umbra

Well with the new Commander 2014 decks, there are a lot of interesting possibilities to add some fuel to this deck. Specifically, I have played against the red deck feature Daretti, Scrap Savant and found that is has some similarities in how it plays to how this deck plays, which means it sacrifices a lot of its own stuff! Possibilities include Epochrasite, Junk Diver, Wurmcoil Engine, and even Daretti, Scrap Savant himself. All this would mean that my deck would become more artifact-centric, so I might have to switch up with Atogs I use, as I have a lot of them right now that care more about enchantments than artifacts. Any thoughts?

I have been messing around with the idea of a semi casual Atogatog deck for awhile, I enjoy breaking inherently weak generals lol. I was thinking of making an Mycosynth Lattice package (Guardian Beast,Memnarch, vandalblast, Hellkite Tyrant, ect) and an Enchanted Evening package(aura thief,back to nature,Cleansing Meditation, Sigil of the Empty Throne / Aura Shards, ect) both supplementing the Barren Glory Win Condition. On top of that both plans work really Well with atog staples like Open the Vaults, Second Sunrise, and Faith's Reward. and you could def alpha strike with Auratog or Megatog

But balancing both packages plus the proper amount of ramp, removal, counters, and card draw is a daunting task. I'm not use to building 5 colors decks to many options.

Hatsworth,

Yes, I agree that building this deck with both a Mycosynth Lattice package and/or an Enchanted Evening package are the way to go. Right now, because I don't own a Lattice and it's a bit expensive, so I can't justify picking one up for a purely casual deck. Have you tried building this deck?

TBH, the most powerful card I've used in testing is Chameleon Colossus. The ability to double his power a few times, and then eat him with Atogatog, as ended a few games. Still, it's just not consistent enough. I think I almost need to choose go to all enchantments or all artifacts, that way the deck is filled with redundancy instead of tutors. Although artifacts would be my first choice, especially considering the red Commander 2014 deck, I think the enchantment route is more fun, since I get to play with cards like Conspiracy and Cover of Darkness, which I think I'm going to add. Big update coming, I've filled out the decklist, although it won't be optimal.

Always appreciate new ideas or criticisms!

I think it might be worth looking to sub in a bit of undying in the form of Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Cauldron of Souls and even psuedo-undying w/Marchesa, the Black Rose. I like Sun Titan as well. Although they're not on theme, they will help out greatly. I think one thing you may consider is Replenish for your enchantments. If you can get your hands on a Volrath's Stronghold (gold ones go for like a $1) it's a great way to get critters back. As are many of the suggestions of other posters. Other great sources include Victimize, Sheoldred, Whispering One.

I think you're missing out by not including Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, or Martyr's Bond. As often as you'll be sending stuff to the gy, these cards can really shine. I'd consider two of them a must even in a casual deck. I'd also look at a few steal effects, particularly if you're going to run something like Xenograft. If all your critters are Atogs, then everything--even the stuff you steal--is on theme. Also, Dual Nature that'd be nice in here as well.

If you only have limited slots available, I think you might want to piece in some mana fixing. I think in any 5 color deck, Chromatic Lantern and Prismatic Omen are a must. If you can't get a hold of Omen (a bit more expensive) a poor man's version can be found in Pulse of Llanowar. Without a doubt, my favorite deck thinner is Land Tax, but if you're looking to find something decent on budget there's always Oath of Lieges. It's much more political, but its a great way to drop 2 lands each turn, and it wins you some allies at the table. Of course, there are a many green options you could play as well. (like Abundance)

I wouldn't put off some spot removal as well, particularly tuck effects, exile, and polymorph effects.

Also, if you're looking for a way to get damage through, there is nothing better than Akroma's Memorial pair it with something like Pestilence and all the sudden you've got total control of the board. Oh, and now that they've reprinted Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth the deck can really pump out the black mana.

Good luck with the deck, I hope it goes well for you.
Keep us posted
Ely

P.S. you know who would be a boss in this deck--Riku of two reflections

Ely,

Thanks for all the input! I really need to update the original list, quite a few of your recommendations had already found their way into the list (obviously good suggestions!). I have Cauldron of Souls, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Xenograft, Chromatic Lantern, and Replenish in there.

Very interesting ideas in terms of creatures that you have suggested (Marchesa, the Black Rose, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. I like them doubly so because they give me board presence AND the ability to recur sacced 'togs.

In terms of mana fixing, I haven't had too much of an issue, mostly because I had my duals laying around, so I have 10 shocks and 8 duals to help. I am in the market for a Land Tax and agree it'd be a great addition!

Riku of Two Reflections - interesting idea, I might have to look into it!

So you inspired me to give an atog deck a shot, I've been playing around with it for the last couple days and I've had some mixed results. In 1v1 I haven't been able to fix mana fast enough to be a credible threat, and in multiplayer I'm having a bit of trouble getting to the cards I think I need to make things work. Right now, my version has some great synergy between random cards, but like an old mentor of mine used to say...

"it's easy to make a deck where X card + Y card is good, but hard to make one where X and Y come together. The best decks are where X interacts favorably with Y,Z,A,and B."

With this in mind, I mixed a few other cards in there that I thought would help me move things along. First, was Captain Sisay as almost all of the cards I want that aren't Atogs are Legends. Second, I put in Teferi's Puzzle Box which helps us cycle through the deck and disrupts the hands of opponents. Right now, I'm working to smooth out some of the inconsistencies in cards.

Here's my deck as of right now...

I like the list, Ely! Let me know how it plays.

I got in quite a few games this weekend, though they were 1v1, and I knew this deck would be a bit slow out of the gate. Thoughts:

• The deck performed quite well, and after experiencing Enchanted Evening and Eidolon of Blossoms on the table together, I'll have to rethink my tutor targets!
• Cover of Darkness was very good.
• Kessig Wolf Run was also good.
• Most of the time, all I needed was a few more cards...anything to feed to my atogs. I need to find a few more sources of card draw that are enchantments. Dictate of Kruphix was good, but I'll need some more. In the past I've enjoyed Rhystic Study but I think that might be too slow. Maybe Mystic Remora?

Updated list, didn't bother to list my mana base yet, but that's what I've been running so far.

My suggestions:

Font of Fortunes --> Hatching Plans/Mind Unbound/Thought Reflection
Font of Return --> Tortured Existence or Oversold Cemetery
Font of Fertility --> Sylvan Library/Mirri's Guile/Exploration

I used to play an Atogatog deck that was built around Wild Pair; you might want to try it.