An adventure in tempo control with a splash of Voltron.
Introduction
Geist of Saint Traft is a fun and powerful general, in great colors for a low-curve tempo-control deck. This deck is all about efficient and effective control, even in a multiplayer setting. While it can mostly play as a draw-go deck, it has some other elements to it, and is one of the decks that I have worked on the longest of any deck I have ever owned.
Why play this commander?
Pros: Hexproof: Geist's ability to avoid removal is quite terrifying. Low mana cost: At three mana, getting Geist out reliably in the early game can be a piece of cake. With counter-magic support, even more so. Colors: White and blue are arguably the two best colors for control. While black has some nice tools, it is mostly about 2-cmc-plus creature removal, and dealing with threats ahead of time. Blue deals with everything in a variety of mostly 2 mana or less (at least for the best of options) countermagic, and white has a suite of non-temporary removal that laughs at black's puny attempts to control the board. Red and Green do not even come close. Power: Attacking one player for 2 commander damage and another player for 4 flying angel damage is nothing to be scoffed at. When you consider the number of nifty options for Voltroning up Geist… Competitiveness: This list is very able to hold its own in competitive fields.
Cons: Not all removal is alike: Geist dies to wraths and sacrifice effects very easily. Countermagic/Blue: This is not everybody's favorite strategy. Expense (maybe): I have put a lot of time and money into making this deck look nice and play well. Not all of that has to be put in by everybody (especially the deck pimping), but it can be a concern for some. Ubiquity: I do not know if this is still a problem, but at times I have pulled out Geist and immediately gotten a negative reaction. Never on the scale of generals like Rafiq, Nekusar, or Narset, but certainly present and a potential concern for some. Competitiveness: This can be a turn-off for people.
Similar Generals: With Hexproof: Lazav, Dimir Mastermind is a general which could be done similarly, though I wouldd prefer to include some subthemes of mill as well. He is notably harder to cast, though, too. Narset, Enlightened Master presents some interesting potential, but I do not like her relatively high cost for either voltron or tempo. Sigarda, Host of Herons has a similarly high cost, but she is also a powerhouse. However, she loses blue. While she is a good general, she also makes for a very different deck. Silumgar, the Drifting Death is a very efficient hexproof control general. But unfortunately with a higher cost and less efficient body. Thrun, the Last Troll is solid for mono-green Voltron. Though he does also lose blue… Uril, the Miststalker both used to be the best and still is one of the best commanders for Voltron. Despite being a powerhouse, he is still a 5-mana non-blue general, which makes for a very different deck.
In the Same Colors: Bruna, Light of Alabaster is a beatstick with an aura bonus. If only she had hexproof… Dragonlord Ojutai is a less-effective general than Geist with some interesting applicability, but more hoops to jump through. Ephara, God of the Polis makes for a fantastic creature-based tempo deck. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is beautiful for either proactive or static control. That said, he does not quite fit the tempo/voltron sides of the deck. Sygg, River Guide: A more mana-intensive and tribal form of the deck, Sygg is cool, but not quite what I am going for. Taigam, Ojutai Master: It is unfortunate that the rebound part of this card does so little for a countermagic-heavy deck. But Taigam has some value, still, as a WU non-tempo, non-draw-go control general.
There are some other similar, but different, options in alternative color combinations in tempo-control, many of which are quite decent to very good.
Deck History:
This deck started back in late 2011 when I looked at some of the Kirin Spirits from Kamigawa and said "Wow, these would make interesting generals." However, they are all mono-colored, and if I was going to go for Spirit tribal, I really wanted to make a multicolored deck to include a wider spectrum of cards. So then I looked at multicolored Legendary Spirits, which amounted to Geist of Saint Traft, Ghost Council of Orzhova, Iname as One, and Karador, Ghost Chieftain. I considered Karador, Ghost Chieftain, but decided that too many people in my playgroup at the time were running it already. I was not interested enough in Ghost Council of Orzhova, and a good friend had the deck built at the time. Iname as One is not very good as a general, so I went with Geist of Saint Traft. Since then, the deck has steadily gotten better, first in terms of the creatures, and then in terms of the mana base, which shifted heavier and heavier on nonbasic lands. The deck picked up Auras as a subtheme, but then, over the past two years, it became more and more about tempo-control, eventually losing both the spirit subtheme and most of the auras. It gained inspiration from both Duel Commander decks and Multiplayer Commander decks, and became a tempo-control deck to fear in most groups that I have participated in over the past few years.
While I like Moorland Haunt, it has a very distinct purpose from the reason why Prairie Stream is going in. It will continue to be a contender for a land spot, but I am not certain if or when it will actually replace another card.
Lands: Adarkar Wastes, City of Brass: These lands come into play untapped and tap for W or U at the small cost of 1 life. Adarkar Wastes even has the option of not hurting you, and City of Brass allows you to stack a life gain spell around its effect if you are at 1 life.
Cavern of Souls: While the lack of the spirit theme makes this not as good as it used to be, setting it to Wizards, or more notably, using it to cast an uncounterable Geist, are both still very valid uses that earn it a place.
Celestial Colonnade: In case Geist is not available, the Colonnade makes for a solid beater in the longer, more controlly games.
Hallowed Fountain, Irrigated Farmland, Prairie Stream, Tundra: The fetchable duals are all excellent land drops, and the fact that fetching them just before my turn means they do not even have to come into play untapped is just another added bonus.
Island, Plains, Snow-Covered Island, Snow-Covered Plains: It is almost always good to include a few basic lands in your deck. You never know when someone might hate on your nonbasics, or when you absolutely will need to get that Prairie Stream in untapped. Oh, and the Snow-Covered basics are gorgeous in foil.
Maze of Ith: A blocker on a land is a welcome method of survival. Too bad it does not tap for mana, but at least it is not that broken… or something like that.
Minamo, School at Water's Edge: Interesting utility, often just serves as a land that taps for blue, but sometimes give Geist very necessary vigilance, or has other cool effects.
Serra's Sanctum: While the enchantment theme of the deck has been severely decreased, Serra's Sanctum still proves at least as good as a Plains if not better most of the time.
Temple of Enlightenment: Scry is a welcome ability for this deck. Otherwise, this is one of the weaker lands present. But they cannot all be winners, can they?
Artifacts: Sensei's Divining Top: While I am not someone who says this belongs in any deck, it is pretty good in a deck with a decent amount of shuffling and draw. Top has saved my hide many times in Geist, and knowing how to use it well is important.
Sol Ring: Getting yourself online a turn or two sooner makes this pretty dang good. That said, the card is not always as relevant as one might hope. I may start running Mana Crypt as well or instead if the life loss does not prove to be too much of an issue.
Sword of Feast and Famine: Between relevant protections, buff and untapping my lands for countermagic, this card rocks. The discard is an added bonus.
Sword of Fire and Ice: Like its brother Sword of Feast and Famine, this card has its very relevant protections, buff, and major function (drawing a card), and then adds on a bonus of 2 damage to whatever I feel like targeting.
Umezawa's Jitte: While I no longer run cards which give Geist double strike, Jitte still provides for serious utility, between creature removal, buff of Geist, and, every once in a blue moon, life gain.
Instants: Boomerang: Besides its crippling early game use on lands, Boomerang also can make waves by bouncing cards which I can now counter, and other similar uses. Oh, and I can bounce my own permanents and have shenanigans ensue.
Counterspell, Delay, Mana Drain, Mana Leak: While the effects on these are slightly different, they all boil down to pay 2 mana to counter a spell. Mana Drain has the added bonus of accelerating me on my next turn.
Cryptic Command: If I am going to run a 4-mana counterspell, I want it to have utility. Cryptic Command provides that and more, sometimes going as far to be an instant-speed Time Warp for 1UUU.
Cyclonic Rift: One of the weaker removal options in the deck, but still a reasonable option for targeted or mass nonland permanent returning.
Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise: The delve draw spells are great in a deck that throws a lot of cards into its graveyard. Dig Through Time can also often provide the instant speed countermagic or removal desperately needed to swing the game in this deck's favor.
Disallow is a fantastic 3-mana counterspell in that it hits basically anything. Sign me up!
Dovin's Veto: Uncounterable Negate? 2 mana uncounterable counterspell is very good.
Fact or Fiction: Albeit not one of the strongest draw spells in the deck, Fact or Fiction still pulls its weight often enough to warrant its inclusion. It is on the edge, though. If I find a spell that I would rather include, it may be cut.
Force of Negation, Force of Will: Sometimes you just gotta have that counterspell, even if you are tapped out. While these spells generally puts us behind from a card advantage point of view, it is still a very important inclusion for those risky (and early game) circumstances. Besides, countering Sol Ring first turn with a free counterspell feels great.
Impulse: Amazing instant-speed draw is hard to come by. Impulse fills this role much better than other options.
Interdict, Squelch, Stifle, Trickbind: It turns out countering abilities is amazing in this format. Countering abilities and drawing a card can be even better.
Intuition: One of the best tutors ever printed. The versatility of forcing an option or deceiving your opponent into giving you the card best for you is huge, and the fact that the other cards go to the graveyard makes this ripe for abuse.
Mental Misstep: Between countering certain pesky turn 1 artifacts and still having use as a hard counter for 1 drops later on, Mental Misstep is incredible.
Negate: Some of the counterspells one runs have to be slightly less good. Thankfully, Negate exists to fill that spot and still be quite solid.
Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares: Did I mention that white creature removal is really good? 1 mana exiling is very helpful, in addition to potential gains by targeting the angel with these spells.
Remand: Pure tempo, Remand can act anywhere from a counterspell to a Time Warp-esque effect. Replacing itself is just disgustingly strong.
Spell Snare, Steel Sabotage: There are more than enough threatening 2 drops and problematic artifacts to make these cards serious players at 1 mana.
Teferi's Protection: Often just Time Walk, effectively. And with one of my favorite mechanics. I love this card.
Sorceries: Ancestral Vision: Despite having to wait, the Ancestral Recall effect is still quite valuable. Although one must be careful for people being tricksy with their redirection spells and the like.
Armageddon, Cataclysm, Ravages of War: Playing these is all about timing. Generally, if you play them correctly, they will win you the game in a few turns, or at the very least stop you from losing.
Council's Judgment: This recent white removal effect is very good when it hits one permanent, let alone multiple.
Day's Undoing, Timetwister: Refreshing your hand is quintessential to keeping yourself relevant. Day's Undoing's disadvantage proves mostly irrelevant when practically a third of your deck has flash.
Supreme Verdict: If you are going to have a creature wrath, it has to be able to get there. Supreme Verdict succeeds where others fail. That said, it is the only slot open specifically just for a creature wrath. This may change in the future, but at the moment, it is pretty good for me. I have only been screwed over by the restrictive color cost about 1-2 times.
Planeswalkers:
Narset, Parter of Veils: Narset is an interesting engine. She may not stay in the deck, but for the time being she's worth it.
Enchantments: Angelic Destiny: Serious pump and evasion. A devastating bomb with Geist. I cannot emphasize enough how powerful this card is here.
Copy Artifact: Hits any of the 6 artifacts in the deck well, and also hits opponents mana rocks and tricksy hobbit cards.
Land Tax: Beyond its shuffling potential, it also helps magnificently to set up Armageddon and Cataclysm plays. It also means that I am considering Scroll Rack.
Prison Term: There exists a selection of generals (and quite a few non-generals too) for which this card is hugely relevant. It has generally continued to pull its weight as a removal spell over time.
Search for Azcanta takes a draw effect this deck likes a lot and makes it cheap and easily accessible.
Steel of the Godhead: Giving Geist +2/+2, lifelink, and unblockable for 3 mana? I am sold.
Creatures: Aven Mindcensor: Due to the amount of search in the format, Aven Mindcensor is a great hate-card fit from a tempo or a static control perspective.
Baral, Chief of Compliance: Cost reduction on my most common type of spell AND looting, all on a Wizard? Sign me up!
Monastery Mentor: This card is a powerhouse… With so many non-creature spells in the deck, this card just screams value. Those tokens are terrifying, too.
Recruiter of the Guard: This searches up a majority of creatures in the deck. A versatile tool for locating the card you need at nearly any time.
Snapcaster Mage: Well, of course we need ways to recur our instants and sorceries… No card quite like this, even with Jace, Vryn's Prodigy out there. Not to mention the crazy potential of this with Crystal Shard.
Vendilion Clique: The Clique serves a large variety of functions, from draw spell to flying beatstick to disruption. It is also amazing with Crystal Shard.
Strategy:
When playing Geist, the questions to ask yourself are always “How big a threat is the card my opponent is playing?” and “How effective is this spell at this time?” Once you have those down, you can focus in on more subtle machinations such as “Ooh, this would be a fun combination of cards! I should do this!”
The basic game plan for Geist is to stop the bare minimum of necessary opponent threats while playing out Geist, suiting Geist up with the bare minimum of necessary evasion and pump, and beating face.
Strengths:
Geist is really hard to kill. Hold on. That was not loud enough. Geist is REALLY hard to kill. Add on a hefty suite of countermagic, loads of value in control, and solid resource acquisition and you have a tough beast to fight. A pumped-up, evasive Geist is the deck's biggest threat, but Monastery Mentor and even just a small creature presence like Vendilion Clique or what have you provide for back-up plans if keeping Geist out goes awry.
Weaknesses:
Wraths and sacrifice effects hurt. These are some of the first things you should consider countering or removing as applicable. Liliana of the Veil is particularly not your friend. If you can stop her or her ability (targeting you when you do not have anything besides Geist to sacrifice) from resolving, do so immediately. Fast combo decks can also be a problem, but most of the time you have enough countermagic to at least slow them down so that they are no longer the biggest threat at the table. Stax shifts you more towards control; you must be careful to use your counterspells and removal wisely against it. Nonbasic land-hate sucks, but it is pretty easy to save countermagic for it, unless a deck is heavy on it. What to counter very much depends on your meta.
Opening Hands:
An ideal opening hand is three lands, at least two of which produce blue (or fetch a card which produces blue), Force of Will, another counterspell or stifle effect, and two other nonland cards, at least one of which is blue. If you cannot cast 2 cards in your hand by turn 4 assuming you draw only one land, you should be considering a mulligan. Force of Will and Mental Misstep are two of the best cards that you can have in your opening hand, or Steel Sabotage if you are going first. The impact of crushing someone's dreams when they try to play a turn 1 Sol Ring is beautiful. You generally want to mulligan away cards that you will have less chance of casting in the first three to five turns. Primarily, these include the delve cards and cards with CMC 4, but you also generally do not want more than one Aura or Equipment, and mulligans to get control cards instead of Auras and Equipments are not unreasonable.
Early Game:
Early game is when you ideally want to be setting up Geist but you have to be careful not to jump the gun. Geist should almost always be able to be cast turn 3, but a lot of the time, it is better to wait, sit back, and instead control the game with removal/countermagic a little longer. You can sometimes use your early turns to drop Umezawa's Jitte or a Sword, to set yourself up for a later Geist. Keep in mind that the earlier Geist starts swinging, the earlier you can take out a player. All that said, this is a deck with a heavy control suite, and depending on your opponent, you may need to focus more on control and less on Geist. Do not be surprised if you do not play Geist until the mid to late game.
Mid-Game:
Geist still does not absolutely need to come down here, but you need to start thinking hard about how you plan to kill off players. Hopefully at least one player is seriously impaired by now. At this point, you should probably be starting to focus somewhat less on dealing with threats and more on putting out your own. Deal with the most extreme cards that will be back-breaking, but let the small stuff slide. Start to aggro in as soon as you can. You want at least one player to die in the midgame, though it need not be by your hand.
Late Game:
Your opponents threats will have gotten bigger and scarier. Use your control wisely. Focus on keeping the game under your control and ending the game for your opponents. Laying down Geist or other creature aggro is essential here to secure the victory. You will probably have to get one or two serious threats out, be it Geist with multiple equipments, or Geist plus another creature or two. Monastery Mentor is great at this point in time, as are Cataclysm and Armageddon.
I really dislike 4 mana counterspells. They have to be pretty good to feel worth it (Cryptic Command, Rewind). That said, Ojutai's Command is more than just that. So, let's go over that:
Return target creature card cmc 2 or less: This mode is not very helpful to the deck. I have 4 targets in the deck, two of which I'd not be likely to want to spend a 4-mana spell on.
You gain 4 life: I think you can understand how this isn't very impressive.
That leaves "Counter target creature spell. Draw a card." At which point I'd rather run Dismiss.
My thought on the spirits in this deck is... they're okay. I used to run the spirit theme, and I think I did actually test all of these cards. In the current build, with my low curve focus and general lack of a spirit theme, Tallowisp is really the only one that I would consider (except for Swans of Bryn Argoll, because that card is terribleawesome), and even that is questionable.
Blade of Selves: Interesting interactions with some of the tempo creatures, but I'm pretty sure the cost is too high on that equip. We'll see.
Command Beacon: I think that this card fits very well into decks with generals of CMC 4 or higher, and decks with generals that go away a lot. I'm unenthused with it for Geist, though that may change in the future.
Do you typically play multiplayer EDH? I play Geist extensively in French EDH, and do fairly well, but the few times I've tried it in multiplayer, I found myself getting steamrolled - I'd attack with Geist, take chunks out of people, and then sit back and get batted around like a kitten's toy. And although your list has some slight differences between what I'd expect for a "typical" French Geist Tempo deck, this is pretty close.
Anyway, Mystic Confluence has been bonkers in testing, make sure you test it out, I have a feeling you'll be leaning towards yes!
Finally, Timetwister - gorgeous! I've never gotten my hands on one, but always wanted to. Have you owned it long?
Do you typically play multiplayer EDH? I play Geist extensively in French EDH, and do fairly well, but the few times I've tried it in multiplayer, I found myself getting steamrolled - I'd attack with Geist, take chunks out of people, and then sit back and get batted around like a kitten's toy. And although your list has some slight differences between what I'd expect for a "typical" French Geist Tempo deck, this is pretty close.
Anyway, Mystic Confluence has been bonkers in testing, make sure you test it out, I have a feeling you'll be leaning towards yes!
Finally, Timetwister - gorgeous! I've never gotten my hands on one, but always wanted to. Have you owned it long?
Hi. Sorry about the wait for a response; my work schedule has been... hefty.
I typically play multiplayer, but I dabble in French here and there. Geist in French is pretty dang good. Geist in Multiplayer works better than one might think, as long as you are able to play to the table decently well. I used to play Geist very aggressively, but at this point, sitting around as more of a control-focused deck and getting in hits here and there has been working to my advantage. Not to boast, but it's also possible that I get a lot out of just politicking like a boss.
Overwhelming Denial: Nice. I’ll at least test this. If its surge ability goes off often enough, it’ll slot in well. Otherwise, it’ll disappear.
Reflector Mage: If only it had flash… As is, I’m dubious, but maybe. If I shift this more towards French, or more towards Wizards, I’ll definitely check it out.
Mirrorpool: Ooh. I like this. I may play around with this a bit. If only it didn’t come into play tapped…
Sea Gate Wreckage: I’m probably going to play with this card in a couple decks; it seems very good for EDH…
Overwhelming Denial: Nice. I’ll at least test this. If its surge ability goes off often enough, it’ll slot in well. Otherwise, it’ll disappear.
Reflector Mage: If only it had flash… As is, I’m dubious, but maybe. If I shift this more towards French, or more towards Wizards, I’ll definitely check it out.
Mirrorpool: Ooh. I like this. I may play around with this a bit. If only it didn’t come into play tapped…
Sea Gate Wreckage: I’m probably going to play with this card in a couple decks; it seems very good for EDH…
On second thought... Rule 4 being eliminated removes much of my interest in those lands.
Bygone Bishop: While this has potential, the cost on investigate is really just too high.
Gryff's Boon: Definitely some potential here. I may test this, though I'm not expecting it to be amazing. I'm steadily shifting auras out of the deck anyways.
Open the Armory: Perfect card for nearly any deck with voltron elements.
Engulf the Shore: Not enough lands with Island as a type in the deck.
Unsubstantiate: I like this card a lot. This will slot right in as a tempo counterspell/bounce spell.
Spell Queller: I think I need to change my pants. This card is amazing. O-Ring for spells? Count me in.
Geier Reach Sanitarium: Definitely a consideration. But the fact that this hits each player is probably the killer for it. Otherwise we'd be running Mikokoro…
Conspiracy 2 Set Review:
Custodi Soulcaller: Not quite enough attacks going through, but otherwise…
Recruiter of the Guard: YES, PLEASE! This card goes in this deck like cheese on a pizza.
Sanctum Prelate: A little too likely to hit me. But otherwise, a very nice static control card.
Stunt Double: Almost. If I was less worried about its cost and having good targets for it…
Kaladesh Set Review:
Cataclysmic Gearhulk: I like this a lot, but it will probably not make it based on mana cost…
Ceremonious Rejection: Oh hey, another counterspell for Sol Ring. Unfortunately, this almost certainly doesn't do enough.
Epiphany at the Drownyard and Gryff's Boon are in testing. I'm not super enthused by them. All the others appear to be very solid cards for the deck, though time will tell best.
This is my short-list for cuts. Azorius Chancery is one of those cards that is very good, unless it gets destroyed. I am not sure if I will keep it around or not. Epiphany at the Drownyard is so-so. I have yet to see it in play much, so I'm holding out hope, but it is definitely not quite top-notch. Aqueous Form and Gryff's Boon are two of the last Auras to leave, and Aqueous Form at least may stay in the deck. Gryff's Boon requires more testing, but I'm not super enthused about it from the start. Prison Term and Meddling Mage have both been okay, but have missed a lot more than they've gotten there.
Grip of Phyresis: Very meta-dependant, but could be good. Definitely will have as a potential option for the future.
Manifold Insights: I want to test this. I imagine it won't be as good as I'd hope for it to be due to differing numbers of opponents and rational opponents always choosing the worst option for me, but we'll see... EDIT: This card is garbage, don't run it.
Conqueror's Flail: Very interesting... This may get a place, though it is likely not quite effective enough.
Thopter Arrest: Unfortunately, not quite effective enough given other choices, but it's a decent backup card choice as far as Oblivion Ring variants go.
Baral, Chief of Compliance: Yes, please. Draw engine, Wizard, and it lowers mana costs for my spells? Seems legit.
Disallow: Mono-blue Voidslime slots right in. Perfect card for this deck.
Metallic Rebuke: If you have at least 10 non-tap-ability artifacts in your deck, this is worth considering. Otherwise, let it be.
I cut Epiphany at the Drownyard for Copy Artifact. My own deck runs 6 artifacts that are all good targets, and it is rare to find games in which none of the other players have targets. It's cutting it very tight, but should be okay. Prison Term has been acting like a boss as of late, so...
Angel of Sanctions: This Angel is just behind curve… If it cost 1 less mana or was a 4/4, I'd at least test it. I'm not happy with it in its current form.
Cast Out: I like this card, but I'm happier with the selection of Oblivion Ring effects that I'm currently running. Very solid choice, though.
As Foretold: Ooh. Sexy. I like this card very much. Free counterspells, and eventually 1 free spell a turn? Sign me up, Santa, baby.
Irrigated Farmland: That is beautiful. I cannot emphasize how fantastic this is enough. ETB tapped is a little annoying, but the card itself far makes up for that by being both fetchable and cyclable.
Still need to pick up that dratted Baral. Disallow we will see about... I still like the card, but I am less certain on it.
First off, I really like your deck. I've been wanting to build a blue/white deck for a while, but it's been hard to find a general not very linear, overdone or one that players just outright hate (Grand Arbiter Augustin IV). You're list seems fun just because you're getting away with playing the worst countermagic EDH has to offer. And the little activated ability/trigger hate theme seems like an interactive and weird way to play the game.
Noticing you play a lot of cards that can be useless considering situations in the game, looting effects might be really fitting in the deck starting with Baral, Chief of Compliance like you mentioned. You could also make better use of cards like Foil or Forbid in the same mindset.
I like the low mana curve to your deck so your Armageddon effects don't really hurt you much. A card to add to that is Global Ruin, but a Chrome Mox or Talisman of Progress seems like it would help you stay ahead if you happen to fire those off.
I've considered Retribution of the Meek. One thing is that creature-only wrath effects are actually pretty bad in the deck. But Retribution of the Meek might be manageable. It really depends on the meta.
Noticing you play a lot of cards that can be useless considering situations in the game, looting effects might be really fitting in the deck starting with Baral, Chief of Compliance like you mentioned. You could also make better use of cards like Foil or Forbid in the same mindset.
Foil and Forbid are both rather underwhelming. But there are some other looting effects I could consider. That said, I think I'd be more likely to run straight draw effects in those slots.
I like the low mana curve to your deck so your Armageddon effects don't really hurt you much. A card to add to that is Global Ruin, but a Chrome Mox or Talisman of Progress seems like it would help you stay ahead if you happen to fire those off.
Global Ruin is pretty underwhelming at 5 mana... I've considered Talisman of Progress and a couple other manafacts. For the most part, they end up rather unnecessary. I can't remember the last time that I Armageddon'd when it actually became a problem.
Not trying to just burst your bubble here, though.
First off, I really like your deck. I've been wanting to build a blue/white deck for a while, but it's been hard to find a general not very linear, overdone or one that players just outright hate (Grand Arbiter Augustin IV). You're list seems fun just because you're getting away with playing the worst countermagic EDH has to offer. And the little activated ability/trigger hate theme seems like an interactive and weird way to play the game.
Worst as in oppressive or worst as in not very powerful? Because I can think of a large variety in the second category...
Worst as in oppressive or worst as in not very powerful? Because I can think of a large variety in the second category...
My bad, I meant that much of your countermagic is considered terrible for the format, but it's cool how this deck makes it work. This deck doesn't seem oppressive in a multiplayer game, but it does seem like it messes with some really powerful interactions people love to abuse. that being said, Nix? I can already imagine how many times I drew that card and wished it was something else, but that would be too cool to finally get to use it.
Thanks for the feedback, I was just seeing your thoughts on a lot of those cards if I ever get around to building a version of this deck.
My bad, I meant that much of your countermagic is considered terrible for the format, but it's cool how this deck makes it work.
Ah, yes. In part I came to the realization just how relevant a lot of the countermagic can be, given how common certain cards, situations, and strategies are. In that vein, if Sol Ring got banned, I'd probably consider not running Mental Misstep, as the number of times that I'd face against an early 1 drop would likely decrease drastically.
This deck doesn't seem oppressive in a multiplayer game, but it does seem like it messes with some really powerful interactions people love to abuse.
It's actually rather effective. That said, despite functioning a lot of the time as a draw-go deck, it is one of my more "interactive" decks in some peoples' eyes...
that being said, Nix? I can already imagine how many times I drew that card and wished it was something else, but that would be too cool to finally get to use it.
Nix is pretty bad in EDH. I'd consider it if the moxen and Black Lotus were legal and prevalent in the format, though.
Thanks for the feedback, I was just seeing your thoughts on a lot of those cards if I ever get around to building a version of this deck.
Cool! I always like seeing other people inspired, as well as hearing of card ideas that I might not have thought as hard about for some reason or other (the reason is generally that the cards are too high in mana cost or that they don't do enough for their cost, in some way, but sometimes I'm surprised).
And... Finally ebayed up cards from Aether Revolt and Amonkhet.
I'm immensely looking forward to Nimble Obstructionist, from Hour of Devastation. That card looks fantastic.
As for the rest of Hour of Devastation, I'm also liking Supreme Will, though we'll see if I actually end up running that or not. The set looks pretty cool, though as usual I'm being selective about what I want to test/run and therefore not seeing much.
An adventure in tempo control with a splash of Voltron.
Hexproof: Geist's ability to avoid removal is quite terrifying.
Low mana cost: At three mana, getting Geist out reliably in the early game can be a piece of cake. With counter-magic support, even more so.
Colors: White and blue are arguably the two best colors for control. While black has some nice tools, it is mostly about 2-cmc-plus creature removal, and dealing with threats ahead of time. Blue deals with everything in a variety of mostly 2 mana or less (at least for the best of options) countermagic, and white has a suite of non-temporary removal that laughs at black's puny attempts to control the board. Red and Green do not even come close.
Power: Attacking one player for 2 commander damage and another player for 4 flying angel damage is nothing to be scoffed at. When you consider the number of nifty options for Voltroning up Geist…
Competitiveness: This list is very able to hold its own in competitive fields.
Cons:
Not all removal is alike: Geist dies to wraths and sacrifice effects very easily.
Countermagic/Blue: This is not everybody's favorite strategy.
Expense (maybe): I have put a lot of time and money into making this deck look nice and play well. Not all of that has to be put in by everybody (especially the deck pimping), but it can be a concern for some.
Ubiquity: I do not know if this is still a problem, but at times I have pulled out Geist and immediately gotten a negative reaction. Never on the scale of generals like Rafiq, Nekusar, or Narset, but certainly present and a potential concern for some.
Competitiveness: This can be a turn-off for people.
Similar Generals:
With Hexproof:
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind is a general which could be done similarly, though I wouldd prefer to include some subthemes of mill as well. He is notably harder to cast, though, too.
Narset, Enlightened Master presents some interesting potential, but I do not like her relatively high cost for either voltron or tempo.
Sigarda, Host of Herons has a similarly high cost, but she is also a powerhouse. However, she loses blue. While she is a good general, she also makes for a very different deck.
Silumgar, the Drifting Death is a very efficient hexproof control general. But unfortunately with a higher cost and less efficient body.
Thrun, the Last Troll is solid for mono-green Voltron. Though he does also lose blue…
Uril, the Miststalker both used to be the best and still is one of the best commanders for Voltron. Despite being a powerhouse, he is still a 5-mana non-blue general, which makes for a very different deck.
In the Same Colors:
Bruna, Light of Alabaster is a beatstick with an aura bonus. If only she had hexproof…
Dragonlord Ojutai is a less-effective general than Geist with some interesting applicability, but more hoops to jump through.
Ephara, God of the Polis makes for a fantastic creature-based tempo deck.
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is beautiful for either proactive or static control. That said, he does not quite fit the tempo/voltron sides of the deck.
Sygg, River Guide: A more mana-intensive and tribal form of the deck, Sygg is cool, but not quite what I am going for.
Taigam, Ojutai Master: It is unfortunate that the rebound part of this card does so little for a countermagic-heavy deck. But Taigam has some value, still, as a WU non-tempo, non-draw-go control general.
There are some other similar, but different, options in alternative color combinations in tempo-control, many of which are quite decent to very good.
1 Geist of Saint Traft
Land (34):
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Flooded Strand
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Irrigated Farmland
2 Island
1 Marsh Flats
1 Maze of Ith
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mystical Gate
1 Nimbus Maze
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
2 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Port Town
1 Prairie Stream
1 Prismatic Vista
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Serra's Sanctum
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Tundra
1 Windswept Heath
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Umezawa's Jitte
Instant (32):
1 Boomerang
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Delay
1 Dig Through Time
1 Disallow
1 Dovin's Veto
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Failure // Comply
1 Force of Negation
1 Force of Will
1 Impulse
1 Interdict
1 Intuition
1 Mana Drain
1 Mana Leak
1 Mental Misstep
1 Mission Briefing
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Mystic Confluence
1 Negate
1 Path to Exile
1 Remand
1 Spell Snare
1 Squelch
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Stifle
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Teferi's Protection
1 Trickbind
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Armageddon
1 Cataclysm
1 Council's Judgment
1 Day's Undoing
1 Ravages of War
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Timetwister
1 Treasure Cruise
Planeswalker (1):
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
Enchantment (11):
1 Angelic Destiny
1 Banishing Light
1 Copy Artifact
1 Detention Sphere
1 Grasp of Fate
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Land Tax
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Prison Term
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Steel of the Godhead
Creature (7):
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Baral, Chief of Compliance
1 Gilded Drake
1 Monastery Mentor
1 Recruiter of the Guard
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
De-Spiriting:
Kor Spiritdancer
Eidolon of Countless Battles
Dungeon Geists
Swans of Bryn Argoll (sadly… it is one of my favorite cards in Magic)
Keiga, the Tide Star
Yosei, the Morning Star
Sovereigns of Lost Alara
Drogskol Captain
Drogskol Reaver
Fettergeist
Latch Seeker
Mirror-Mad Phantasm
Kataki, War's Wage
And shifting focus away from enchantments:
Tallowisp
Idyllic Tutor
Replenish
Retether
Three Dreams
Winds of Rath
Ethereal Armor
Hyena Umbra
Honor of the Pure
Battle Mastery
Griffin Guide
Pariah
Vow of Flight
Ardent Plea
Auramancer's Guise
Drake Umbra
Eldrazi Conscription
Aura of Silence
Infiltrator's Magemark
Spirit Loop
And getting rid of cards that were not pulling their weight, or at least got slotted out:
Brainstorm
Swan Song
Ertai's Meddling
Deprive
Hinder
Spell Crumple
Return to Dust
Wrath of God
Austere Command
Sundial of the Infinite
Darksteel Plate
Ajani, Caller of the Pride
Jace Beleren
Azorius Guildgate
Boreal Shelf
Coastal Tower
Sejiri Refuge
Skycloud Expanse
Wanderwine Hub
Elixir of Immortality (I think this was a meta-choice)
Reliquary Tower
Windbrisk Heights
Hindering Light
Revoke Existence
There have definitely been some missed cards in these lists, which I will try to add if I remember them or they otherwise come up.
10/3/15:
-Moorland Haunt
+Prairie Stream
While I like Moorland Haunt, it has a very distinct purpose from the reason why Prairie Stream is going in. It will continue to be a contender for a land spot, but I am not certain if or when it will actually replace another card.
10/12/16:
See here.
10/16/16:
See here.
1/30/17:
See here.
8/10/17:
See here.
1/13/18:
See here.
Lands:
Adarkar Wastes, City of Brass: These lands come into play untapped and tap for W or U at the small cost of 1 life. Adarkar Wastes even has the option of not hurting you, and City of Brass allows you to stack a life gain spell around its effect if you are at 1 life.
Cavern of Souls: While the lack of the spirit theme makes this not as good as it used to be, setting it to Wizards, or more notably, using it to cast an uncounterable Geist, are both still very valid uses that earn it a place.
Celestial Colonnade: In case Geist is not available, the Colonnade makes for a solid beater in the longer, more controlly games.
Command Tower, Glacial Fortress, Mystic Gate, Nimbus Maze, Port Town, Reflecting Pool, Seachrome Coast: As nontyped dual lands that will most of the time come into play untapped, these are all great cards for a landbase that can reliably push out Geist early.
Flagstones of Trokair, Oboro, Palace in the Clouds: Lands that come into play untapped and work well with Armageddon and Cataclysm are nice upgrades to basic lands.
Flooded Strand, Marsh Flats, Misty Rainforest, Polluted Delta, Scalding Tarn, Windswept Heath, Prismatic Vista: While I am not going full ham and using Rings of Brighthearth with these, the fetches contribute to delve, regularly shuffle (supporting draw and Sensei's Divining Top), and fix my mana for the small price of 1 life.
Hallowed Fountain, Irrigated Farmland, Prairie Stream, Tundra: The fetchable duals are all excellent land drops, and the fact that fetching them just before my turn means they do not even have to come into play untapped is just another added bonus.
Island, Plains, Snow-Covered Island, Snow-Covered Plains: It is almost always good to include a few basic lands in your deck. You never know when someone might hate on your nonbasics, or when you absolutely will need to get that Prairie Stream in untapped. Oh, and the Snow-Covered basics are gorgeous in foil.
Maze of Ith: A blocker on a land is a welcome method of survival. Too bad it does not tap for mana, but at least it is not that broken… or something like that.
Minamo, School at Water's Edge: Interesting utility, often just serves as a land that taps for blue, but sometimes give Geist very necessary vigilance, or has other cool effects.
Serra's Sanctum: While the enchantment theme of the deck has been severely decreased, Serra's Sanctum still proves at least as good as a Plains if not better most of the time.
Temple of Enlightenment: Scry is a welcome ability for this deck. Otherwise, this is one of the weaker lands present. But they cannot all be winners, can they?
Artifacts:
Sensei's Divining Top: While I am not someone who says this belongs in any deck, it is pretty good in a deck with a decent amount of shuffling and draw. Top has saved my hide many times in Geist, and knowing how to use it well is important.
Sol Ring: Getting yourself online a turn or two sooner makes this pretty dang good. That said, the card is not always as relevant as one might hope. I may start running Mana Crypt as well or instead if the life loss does not prove to be too much of an issue.
Sword of Feast and Famine: Between relevant protections, buff and untapping my lands for countermagic, this card rocks. The discard is an added bonus.
Sword of Fire and Ice: Like its brother Sword of Feast and Famine, this card has its very relevant protections, buff, and major function (drawing a card), and then adds on a bonus of 2 damage to whatever I feel like targeting.
Umezawa's Jitte: While I no longer run cards which give Geist double strike, Jitte still provides for serious utility, between creature removal, buff of Geist, and, every once in a blue moon, life gain.
Instants:
Boomerang: Besides its crippling early game use on lands, Boomerang also can make waves by bouncing cards which I can now counter, and other similar uses. Oh, and I can bounce my own permanents and have shenanigans ensue.
Counterspell, Delay, Mana Drain, Mana Leak: While the effects on these are slightly different, they all boil down to pay 2 mana to counter a spell. Mana Drain has the added bonus of accelerating me on my next turn.
Cryptic Command: If I am going to run a 4-mana counterspell, I want it to have utility. Cryptic Command provides that and more, sometimes going as far to be an instant-speed Time Warp for 1UUU.
Cyclonic Rift: One of the weaker removal options in the deck, but still a reasonable option for targeted or mass nonland permanent returning.
Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise: The delve draw spells are great in a deck that throws a lot of cards into its graveyard. Dig Through Time can also often provide the instant speed countermagic or removal desperately needed to swing the game in this deck's favor.
Disallow is a fantastic 3-mana counterspell in that it hits basically anything. Sign me up!
Dovin's Veto: Uncounterable Negate? 2 mana uncounterable counterspell is very good.
Enlightened Tutor, Mystical Tutor: There are 22 artifacts or enchantments in the deck. There are 33 instants or sorceries other than Mystical Tutor. Most, if not all of them are worth tutoring. Enlightened Tutor and Mystical Tutor definitely earn their spots.
Fact or Fiction: Albeit not one of the strongest draw spells in the deck, Fact or Fiction still pulls its weight often enough to warrant its inclusion. It is on the edge, though. If I find a spell that I would rather include, it may be cut.
Failure // Comply: Failure, like Unsubstantiate, is a good tempo counterspell. Comply is basically just icing on the cake.
Force of Negation, Force of Will: Sometimes you just gotta have that counterspell, even if you are tapped out. While these spells generally puts us behind from a card advantage point of view, it is still a very important inclusion for those risky (and early game) circumstances. Besides, countering Sol Ring first turn with a free counterspell feels great.
Impulse: Amazing instant-speed draw is hard to come by. Impulse fills this role much better than other options.
Interdict, Squelch, Stifle, Trickbind: It turns out countering abilities is amazing in this format. Countering abilities and drawing a card can be even better.
Intuition: One of the best tutors ever printed. The versatility of forcing an option or deceiving your opponent into giving you the card best for you is huge, and the fact that the other cards go to the graveyard makes this ripe for abuse.
Mental Misstep: Between countering certain pesky turn 1 artifacts and still having use as a hard counter for 1 drops later on, Mental Misstep is incredible.
Mission Briefing: As a backup Snapcaster Mage, this card
Mystic Confluence: A lot of the same potential as Cryptic Command, with a less intense cost. Five mana kinda hurts, but being able to Mana Leak, Unsummon, and draw a card makes it quite powerful.
Negate: Some of the counterspells one runs have to be slightly less good. Thankfully, Negate exists to fill that spot and still be quite solid.
Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares: Did I mention that white creature removal is really good? 1 mana exiling is very helpful, in addition to potential gains by targeting the angel with these spells.
Remand: Pure tempo, Remand can act anywhere from a counterspell to a Time Warp-esque effect. Replacing itself is just disgustingly strong.
Spell Snare, Steel Sabotage: There are more than enough threatening 2 drops and problematic artifacts to make these cards serious players at 1 mana.
Teferi's Protection: Often just Time Walk, effectively. And with one of my favorite mechanics. I love this card.
Sorceries:
Ancestral Vision: Despite having to wait, the Ancestral Recall effect is still quite valuable. Although one must be careful for people being tricksy with their redirection spells and the like.
Armageddon, Cataclysm, Ravages of War: Playing these is all about timing. Generally, if you play them correctly, they will win you the game in a few turns, or at the very least stop you from losing.
Council's Judgment: This recent white removal effect is very good when it hits one permanent, let alone multiple.
Day's Undoing, Timetwister: Refreshing your hand is quintessential to keeping yourself relevant. Day's Undoing's disadvantage proves mostly irrelevant when practically a third of your deck has flash.
Supreme Verdict: If you are going to have a creature wrath, it has to be able to get there. Supreme Verdict succeeds where others fail. That said, it is the only slot open specifically just for a creature wrath. This may change in the future, but at the moment, it is pretty good for me. I have only been screwed over by the restrictive color cost about 1-2 times.
Planeswalkers:
Narset, Parter of Veils: Narset is an interesting engine. She may not stay in the deck, but for the time being she's worth it.
Enchantments:
Angelic Destiny: Serious pump and evasion. A devastating bomb with Geist. I cannot emphasize enough how powerful this card is here.
Banishing Light, Detention Sphere, Grasp of Fate, Journey to Nowhere, Oblivion Ring: Low-cost enchantment-based nonland permanent removal is some of the best on-board removal options for WU. Some of them also cause shenanigans with Boomerang. These also are good ways to rack up Serra's Sanctum count.
Copy Artifact: Hits any of the 6 artifacts in the deck well, and also hits opponents mana rocks and tricksy hobbit cards.
Land Tax: Beyond its shuffling potential, it also helps magnificently to set up Armageddon and Cataclysm plays. It also means that I am considering Scroll Rack.
Prison Term: There exists a selection of generals (and quite a few non-generals too) for which this card is hugely relevant. It has generally continued to pull its weight as a removal spell over time.
Search for Azcanta takes a draw effect this deck likes a lot and makes it cheap and easily accessible.
Steel of the Godhead: Giving Geist +2/+2, lifelink, and unblockable for 3 mana? I am sold.
Creatures:
Aven Mindcensor: Due to the amount of search in the format, Aven Mindcensor is a great hate-card fit from a tempo or a static control perspective.
Baral, Chief of Compliance: Cost reduction on my most common type of spell AND looting, all on a Wizard? Sign me up!
Gilded Drake: A cheap Mind Control effect which is also absurd with Crystal Shard.
Monastery Mentor: This card is a powerhouse… With so many non-creature spells in the deck, this card just screams value. Those tokens are terrifying, too.
Recruiter of the Guard: This searches up a majority of creatures in the deck. A versatile tool for locating the card you need at nearly any time.
Snapcaster Mage: Well, of course we need ways to recur our instants and sorceries… No card quite like this, even with Jace, Vryn's Prodigy out there. Not to mention the crazy potential of this with Crystal Shard.
Vendilion Clique: The Clique serves a large variety of functions, from draw spell to flying beatstick to disruption. It is also amazing with Crystal Shard.
When playing Geist, the questions to ask yourself are always “How big a threat is the card my opponent is playing?” and “How effective is this spell at this time?” Once you have those down, you can focus in on more subtle machinations such as “Ooh, this would be a fun combination of cards! I should do this!”
The basic game plan for Geist is to stop the bare minimum of necessary opponent threats while playing out Geist, suiting Geist up with the bare minimum of necessary evasion and pump, and beating face.
Strengths:
Geist is really hard to kill. Hold on. That was not loud enough. Geist is REALLY hard to kill. Add on a hefty suite of countermagic, loads of value in control, and solid resource acquisition and you have a tough beast to fight. A pumped-up, evasive Geist is the deck's biggest threat, but Monastery Mentor and even just a small creature presence like Vendilion Clique or what have you provide for back-up plans if keeping Geist out goes awry.
Weaknesses:
Wraths and sacrifice effects hurt. These are some of the first things you should consider countering or removing as applicable. Liliana of the Veil is particularly not your friend. If you can stop her or her ability (targeting you when you do not have anything besides Geist to sacrifice) from resolving, do so immediately. Fast combo decks can also be a problem, but most of the time you have enough countermagic to at least slow them down so that they are no longer the biggest threat at the table. Stax shifts you more towards control; you must be careful to use your counterspells and removal wisely against it. Nonbasic land-hate sucks, but it is pretty easy to save countermagic for it, unless a deck is heavy on it. What to counter very much depends on your meta.
Opening Hands:
An ideal opening hand is three lands, at least two of which produce blue (or fetch a card which produces blue), Force of Will, another counterspell or stifle effect, and two other nonland cards, at least one of which is blue. If you cannot cast 2 cards in your hand by turn 4 assuming you draw only one land, you should be considering a mulligan. Force of Will and Mental Misstep are two of the best cards that you can have in your opening hand, or Steel Sabotage if you are going first. The impact of crushing someone's dreams when they try to play a turn 1 Sol Ring is beautiful. You generally want to mulligan away cards that you will have less chance of casting in the first three to five turns. Primarily, these include the delve cards and cards with CMC 4, but you also generally do not want more than one Aura or Equipment, and mulligans to get control cards instead of Auras and Equipments are not unreasonable.
Early Game:
Early game is when you ideally want to be setting up Geist but you have to be careful not to jump the gun. Geist should almost always be able to be cast turn 3, but a lot of the time, it is better to wait, sit back, and instead control the game with removal/countermagic a little longer. You can sometimes use your early turns to drop Umezawa's Jitte or a Sword, to set yourself up for a later Geist. Keep in mind that the earlier Geist starts swinging, the earlier you can take out a player. All that said, this is a deck with a heavy control suite, and depending on your opponent, you may need to focus more on control and less on Geist. Do not be surprised if you do not play Geist until the mid to late game.
Mid-Game:
Geist still does not absolutely need to come down here, but you need to start thinking hard about how you plan to kill off players. Hopefully at least one player is seriously impaired by now. At this point, you should probably be starting to focus somewhat less on dealing with threats and more on putting out your own. Deal with the most extreme cards that will be back-breaking, but let the small stuff slide. Start to aggro in as soon as you can. You want at least one player to die in the midgame, though it need not be by your hand.
Late Game:
Your opponents threats will have gotten bigger and scarier. Use your control wisely. Focus on keeping the game under your control and ending the game for your opponents. Laying down Geist or other creature aggro is essential here to secure the victory. You will probably have to get one or two serious threats out, be it Geist with multiple equipments, or Geist plus another creature or two. Monastery Mentor is great at this point in time, as are Cataclysm and Armageddon.
Magical Christmasland:
A selection of some plays that are quite nice:
Critical cards:
Given the amount of redundancy, few cards are truly more critical than others. However, some of the best options are as follows:
Countermagic: Mana Drain, Force of Will, Trickbind, Remand
Draw/Tutor Spells: Timetwister, Dig Through Time, Intuition, Enlightened Tutor, Recruiter of the Guard
Removal: Path to Exile, Council's Judgment, Oblivion Ring
Buffs: Angelic Destiny, Umezawa's Jitte, Steel of the Godhead
A few other cards of note: Cataclysm, Armageddon, Mental Misstep
Interesting Strategy Questions:
What do I do with Cavern of Souls? I normally name Wizard, but if I absolutely need it for Geist, Spirit or Cleric can be legitimate.
Thanks to Gaka and others for their work on Geist in Duel Commander.
Thanks to members of my various playgroups who have continued to endure playing against what most of them call an oppressive control deck.
10/18/15: Posted this list.
10/31/16: Updated original post to current primer standards.
08/10/17: Small updates, especially to the strategy section.
05/17/19: Small updates, mainly clearing a card out of the strategy section that didn't belong there.
Also Im curious if you have thought about adding a bit of spirit tribal base for this as you have cards such as:
Spirit en-Dal: Giving Shadow to giest seems fairly powerful
Tallowisp: Allows you to cast giest and grab some auras
Sovereigns of Lost Alara: Allows you to search out more auras
Drogskol Reaver: A gaint beater to give you some tempo.
And if you decided to go tribal or add more tribal base card like Angel of Flight Alabaster and Celestial Kirin become really good.
I really dislike 4 mana counterspells. They have to be pretty good to feel worth it (Cryptic Command, Rewind). That said, Ojutai's Command is more than just that. So, let's go over that:
That leaves "Counter target creature spell. Draw a card." At which point I'd rather run Dismiss.
My thought on the spirits in this deck is... they're okay. I used to run the spirit theme, and I think I did actually test all of these cards. In the current build, with my low curve focus and general lack of a spirit theme, Tallowisp is really the only one that I would consider (except for Swans of Bryn Argoll, because that card is
terribleawesome), and even that is questionable.EDIT: Included Mystic Confluence and Grasp of Fate.
Do you typically play multiplayer EDH? I play Geist extensively in French EDH, and do fairly well, but the few times I've tried it in multiplayer, I found myself getting steamrolled - I'd attack with Geist, take chunks out of people, and then sit back and get batted around like a kitten's toy. And although your list has some slight differences between what I'd expect for a "typical" French Geist Tempo deck, this is pretty close.
Anyway, Mystic Confluence has been bonkers in testing, make sure you test it out, I have a feeling you'll be leaning towards yes!
Finally, Timetwister - gorgeous! I've never gotten my hands on one, but always wanted to. Have you owned it long?
Currently Playing:
Multiplayer EDH Lists (click italics for a link to the thread!)
[Primer] Lord of Tresserhorn - Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do[Primer] Roon of the Hidden Realm - Rhino Blink
5 Color Tribal Guide (Slivers, Atogs, Allies, Spirits)
Also Playing (most decklists can be found on my profile)
MarathGeistKamahlGrenzoBolasThassaGitrog
PiratesZurVial Smasher&ThrasiosYennettJhoira(cEDH)Strix(Pauper)
Legacy: Maverick
Modern:
Melira PodRIP 1/19/15GWHatebearsHi. Sorry about the wait for a response; my work schedule has been... hefty.
I typically play multiplayer, but I dabble in French here and there. Geist in French is pretty dang good. Geist in Multiplayer works better than one might think, as long as you are able to play to the table decently well. I used to play Geist very aggressively, but at this point, sitting around as more of a control-focused deck and getting in hits here and there has been working to my advantage. Not to boast, but it's also possible that I get a lot out of just politicking like a boss.
EDIT: Overwhelming Denial received my overwhelming denial.
On second thought... Rule 4 being eliminated removes much of my interest in those lands.
Eldritch Moon Set Review:
Conspiracy 2 Set Review:
Kaladesh Set Review:
I tested that at one point and found it didn't do enough on its own. But it is a very cool interaction.
Changes to the deck since the list was last updated:
1 Dissipate
1 Copy Enchantment
1 Daybreak Coronet
1 Invoke Prejudice
1 Spectral Flight
1 Spirit Mantle
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Voidmage Husher
Runechanter's Pike, Dissipate, Invoke Prejudice, Eidolon of Rhetoric, and Voidmage Husher were underwhelming at best, overcosted at worst. Copy Enchantment, Daybreak Coronet, Spectral Flight, and Spirit Mantle are all being shifted out in a general shift away from Auras. At this point, I'm not running enough enchantments that I definitely want to copy with Copy Enchantment, and I definitely needed the slot, but that certainly may change once more.
1 Mystic Confluence
1 Unsubstantiate
1 Open the Armory
1 Grasp of Fate
1 Gryff's Boon
1 Imprisoned in the Moon
1 Recruiter of the Guard
1 Spell Queller
Epiphany at the Drownyard and Gryff's Boon are in testing. I'm not super enthused by them. All the others appear to be very solid cards for the deck, though time will tell best.
1 Epiphany at the Drownyard
1 Aqueous Form
1 Gryff's Boon
1 Prison Term
1 Meddling Mage
This is my short-list for cuts. Azorius Chancery is one of those cards that is very good, unless it gets destroyed. I am not sure if I will keep it around or not. Epiphany at the Drownyard is so-so. I have yet to see it in play much, so I'm holding out hope, but it is definitely not quite top-notch. Aqueous Form and Gryff's Boon are two of the last Auras to leave, and Aqueous Form at least may stay in the deck. Gryff's Boon requires more testing, but I'm not super enthused about it from the start. Prison Term and Meddling Mage have both been okay, but have missed a lot more than they've gotten there.
Commander 2016 Review:
I cut Epiphany at the Drownyard for Copy Artifact. My own deck runs 6 artifacts that are all good targets, and it is rare to find games in which none of the other players have targets. It's cutting it very tight, but should be okay. Prison Term has been acting like a boss as of late, so...
1 Containment Priest
1 Meddling Mage
Still need to pick up that dratted Baral. Disallow we will see about... I still like the card, but I am less certain on it.
Have you ever considered Talrand, Sky Summoner? Isn't he basically just a Monastery Mentor number 2?
Seeing how you have a very low power curve on your creatures, Dusk // Dawn and Retribution of the Meek seem like they could be decent.
Noticing you play a lot of cards that can be useless considering situations in the game, looting effects might be really fitting in the deck starting with Baral, Chief of Compliance like you mentioned. You could also make better use of cards like Foil or Forbid in the same mindset.
I like the low mana curve to your deck so your Armageddon effects don't really hurt you much. A card to add to that is Global Ruin, but a Chrome Mox or Talisman of Progress seems like it would help you stay ahead if you happen to fire those off.
Ehh. The difference between ≤3 and ≥4 mana is much more than any other difference in the deck. But he is a consideration.
I've considered Retribution of the Meek. One thing is that creature-only wrath effects are actually pretty bad in the deck. But Retribution of the Meek might be manageable. It really depends on the meta.
Foil and Forbid are both rather underwhelming. But there are some other looting effects I could consider. That said, I think I'd be more likely to run straight draw effects in those slots.
Global Ruin is pretty underwhelming at 5 mana... I've considered Talisman of Progress and a couple other manafacts. For the most part, they end up rather unnecessary. I can't remember the last time that I Armageddon'd when it actually became a problem.
Not trying to just burst your bubble here, though.
Worst as in oppressive or worst as in not very powerful? Because I can think of a large variety in the second category...
That said, thanks for the compliments.
Stifle effects are surprisingly strong in the format. Oh, as are Mental Misstep and Steel Sabotage.
My bad, I meant that much of your countermagic is considered terrible for the format, but it's cool how this deck makes it work. This deck doesn't seem oppressive in a multiplayer game, but it does seem like it messes with some really powerful interactions people love to abuse. that being said, Nix? I can already imagine how many times I drew that card and wished it was something else, but that would be too cool to finally get to use it.
Thanks for the feedback, I was just seeing your thoughts on a lot of those cards if I ever get around to building a version of this deck.
Ah, yes. In part I came to the realization just how relevant a lot of the countermagic can be, given how common certain cards, situations, and strategies are. In that vein, if Sol Ring got banned, I'd probably consider not running Mental Misstep, as the number of times that I'd face against an early 1 drop would likely decrease drastically.
It's actually rather effective. That said, despite functioning a lot of the time as a draw-go deck, it is one of my more "interactive" decks in some peoples' eyes...
Nix is pretty bad in EDH. I'd consider it if the moxen and Black Lotus were legal and prevalent in the format, though.
Cool! I always like seeing other people inspired, as well as hearing of card ideas that I might not have thought as hard about for some reason or other (the reason is generally that the cards are too high in mana cost or that they don't do enough for their cost, in some way, but sometimes I'm surprised).
I'm immensely looking forward to Nimble Obstructionist, from Hour of Devastation. That card looks fantastic.
As for the rest of Hour of Devastation, I'm also liking Supreme Will, though we'll see if I actually end up running that or not. The set looks pretty cool, though as usual I'm being selective about what I want to test/run and therefore not seeing much.
I have had a similar deck for quite some time and refer to the threat from time to time for new cards to try in my playgroup.
Yeah, Solemnity is an incredibly solid meta card. But you should be careful if you run into Dark Depths in your meta.
That is a valid statement, though I am unsure if someone would even run that card, unless they too have the Solemnity.
Either way, it would be meta dependent, and right now its just combos and token decks. Not many + or - counters.