Hi Everyone!
I'm really loving this primer of sorts and am super into this deck. Just bought a bunch of the cards that I don't already have to put together a version of my own! I haven't played with the deck at all yet so please excuse my ignorance.
It seems to me that a couple cards that are used are win-more cards. All of the other +1/+1 counter cards ( Hardened Scales, corpsejack menace and kalonian hydra, plus animation module and armorcraft judge) don't really do much until you've got Mazirek out and you're saccing creatures. Of course, they make things move a lot more quickly for you once that is happening, but it seems like you would want to focus on playing cards that are useful any time. Tooth and Nail or Defense of the heart could be game over if they can resolve. Even chord of calling or green sun's zenith. Also, if you're adding a little combo package, throwing aerie ouphes isn't a bad idea at all, since you just need to have that and mazirek out. Then, if there are any creatures with flying out, they're all dead. Or, if there are none, you just need another creature to benefit from the saccing (zulaport cutthroat) and then you can target mazirek an infinite number of times.
I guess my overall question is how often does it feel like the deck is stalling, or do you feel like you're already drawing enough cards and producing enough mana so that you can play a few of those win-more cards?
Thanks for the interest!
I'm just gonna get Aerie Ouphes out of the way first: it needs to have a target for you to use it's ability. When it resolves, it's gonna eventually kill Mazirek if that's your only target so you can't use it to go infinite. The only persist creatures worth anything for this deck are Puppeteer Clique and Woodfall Primus. Going infinite with those is definitely game over.
Yeah, I have been considering swapping out Primal Vigor at least but not Hardened Scales or Corpsejack Menace. They're cheaper than Mazirek so if I get them out first, they're already producing value once Mazirek hits the battlefield. Doubling Season isn't just for the +1/+1 counters but it also doubles the amount of loyalty counters when my planeswalkers enter the battlefield and it doubles the amount of tokens I produce. That is paramount because it reduces the time needed to both amass an army and pump them to go for the kill. Out of all of these, Kalonian Hydra is independent of Mazirek because it doubles the counters already on the creatures; it's not a substitution ability like the other ones, so it doesn't rely on Mazirek's triggered ability.
I am currently working on making the first post in primer fashion where I address all strategies and synergies with Mazirek regardless if I use them or not. In the last post where I show the latest decklists, I already made the changes I said I was testing. So the persist package is back in and Zulaport Cutthroat & Blood Artist are in, as well. People are wising up to all the different ways I can win with my deck so I needed more. I was hesitant at force because infinite loops are usually frowned upon. But these are so convoluted and require so many cards, I don't really get hated off the table when I pull them off. So I put them back. The kill card that should definitely find a place in the deck is Bitter Ordeal. This can defeat any deck so long as you're able to go off with a healthy amount of sacrifice triggers - preferably infinite, lol.
Thanks for your suggestions, and I have taken them into consideration as my deck has evolved because many players have brought them up. Again, I hope to address them all with the massive update. Again, thanks for the interest!
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
I'm just gonna get Aerie Ouphes out of the way first: it needs to have a target for you to use it's ability. When it resolves, it's gonna eventually kill Mazirek if that's your only target so you can't use it to go infinite.
Sorry, I didn't mean going infinite in terms of +1/+1 counters on Mazirek or the ouphes. I believe that you can stack the ouphes sacrifice ability an infinite number of times in response to itself before Mazirek would be killed when it resolves. Once the ouphes returns from persist and gets a +1/+1 counter from Mazirek, you can respond to the original sacrifice with another sacrifice. Meaning, you could still get an infinite number of sacrifice triggers (+1/+1 counters on another creature or death triggers from blood artist); Mazirek would die if he's the target, but if you're winning the game right there, that's not such a hard price to pay. It still might not be worth it compared to the other persist creatures, but thought I'd bring it up.
Thanks for your thoughts on hardened scales and corpsejack menace. I definitely understand your reasoning and it makes sense that they would make a huge impact on the game once Mazirek is up and running. I wasn't sure if they may slow you down too much before Mazirek is out, but hardened scales is quite cheap and corpsejack menace is still a very efficient creature besides having a powerful effect.
I appreciate you reporting all of your findings and making budget versions of your decks. Thank you for all of the playtesting and time you've put into these posts. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the Kaladesh cards.
I'm just gonna get Aerie Ouphes out of the way first: it needs to have a target for you to use it's ability. When it resolves, it's gonna eventually kill Mazirek if that's your only target so you can't use it to go infinite.
Sorry, I didn't mean going infinite in terms of +1/+1 counters on Mazirek or the ouphes. I believe that you can stack the ouphes sacrifice ability an infinite number of times in response to itself before Mazirek would be killed when it resolves. Once the ouphes returns from persist and gets a +1/+1 counter from Mazirek, you can respond to the original sacrifice with another sacrifice. Meaning, you could still get an infinite number of sacrifice triggers (+1/+1 counters on another creature or death triggers from blood artist); Mazirek would die if he's the target, but if you're winning the game right there, that's not such a hard price to pay. It still might not be worth it compared to the other persist creatures, but thought I'd bring it up.
Thanks for your thoughts on hardened scales and corpsejack menace. I definitely understand your reasoning and it makes sense that they would make a huge impact on the game once Mazirek is up and running. I wasn't sure if they may slow you down too much before Mazirek is out, but hardened scales is quite cheap and corpsejack menace is still a very efficient creature besides having a powerful effect.
I appreciate you reporting all of your findings and making budget versions of your decks. Thank you for all of the playtesting and time you've put into these posts. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the Kaladesh cards.
Yeah, I don't think the ouphes work like that. You can't respond to sacrificing itself with sacrificing itself indefinitely, so you can't stack it's sacrificing ability. Sacrificing is part of the cost so you can only sacrifice it to its own ability once.
As for Kaladesh, my thoughts have been strewn throughout the thread but they will definitely be organized into the primer hopeful when done. I have lots of hope for energy counters because this deck is able to produce infinite energy counters with the few cards shown so far. Let's see what happens with Aether Revolt! Hopefully I'll finish by the end of the next weekend (am currently too busy to be doing anything else). I am currently 30% done on the reorganization of the first post. So stay tuned!
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Whoops, misspoke, I meant responding to the damage on Mazirek. A couple websites mentioned the combo, but perhaps they were wrong. Have a great day!
Yeah, they'd have to be wrong because you can no longer respond to damage because damage doesn't go on the stack. Damage stopped going on the stack since Mogg Fanatic almost broke the game in 1997. Persist creatures do go infinite though with Mazirek and a sac outlet. The way it works is that when the creature with persist comes back, the +1/+1 counter cancels the -1/-1 counter so the persist can activate all over again.
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Whoops, misspoke, I meant responding to the damage on Mazirek. A couple websites mentioned the combo, but perhaps they were wrong. Have a great day!
The way you described the combo works. You put the ability on the stack then pay costs. This triggers both persist and Mazireks ability and you can decide which order they resolve in. Choose persist to resolve first which brings it back and then Mazirek's resolves getting rid of the -1/-1 counter with the original ability still on the stack. Then you can repeat this infinitely for infinite death triggers or infinitely large creatures. Mazirek will always die though.
Yeah, that's why the the artifact deck isn't the max competitive version at all, there's even easier routes. I guess the way to look at it is that your deck is heavily devoted to Maz while mine runs something that he just happens to be unquestionably the best leader for. GB artifacts has been something I've always loved, but from an opponent's prespective. Glissa was in one of my very first roommate table top meta and I've always wanted to suit it up but with something new.
Yes, BG is practically an archetype so having Mazirek at the helm provides some unique piloting and deckbuilding options to make te most of things. While designing the update to the main post I am showcasing the creature heavy build as my main build but I will post my artifact build as the secondary one. Additionally, I'm gonna discuss every available strategy even if I don't run them in the builds.
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Commander decks only have 99 cards but I'm gonna have to take it to 199 because the amount of cards being released for Mazirek is too damn high!
EDIT:
I should note that Crystalline Crawler is a strictly better version of Workhorse, so it's good to get another creature that does that and so much better, too.
I don't know if I'll be able to finish my massive overhaul of Mazirek by the end of the weekend (have finals next week) but I should be able get back on track next week. Once I'm through with finals I'm gonna finish this thing come rain or shine. With the reveal of the super awesome BG legend, I'm dying to finish it in time for the C16 spoilers to be completely done (including reprints). So many new goodies for Mazirek when it already had so many amazing goodies to begin with! Joy! I know that Skullbriar, the Walking Grave loves that guy as well. Just ridiculous.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Without enough dedication to artifacts or eggs, the value just wasn't there. These changes are just as cheap and made the deck more consistent. So the Budget Build is just a budget version of the Creatures Matter Build.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Finally got around to sprucing up the OP. In the Change Log section I will eventually explain in greater detail why finding a balance between all strategies was futile. In the Appendix section I will compile every possible infinite combo viable to Mazirek. Additionally, I will make lists of cards following certain archetypes in the Appendix section so as to make it easier for people to know what to test with. Again, I wanted to be as encompassing as possible since Mazirek has so many viable strategies in various different combinations. That way, people can mix and match how they'd want to play their deck. So you'll notice that there will be sections explaining strategies that I'm not currently running. Also, I evaluate dozens of cards that I've considered, tested, and/or cut (not just the ones I'm running). When Oracle updates Cockatrice I will be able to test the two cards from Commander 2016 that really tickled my fancy. I know that they'll more than likely find a permanent home within the three different builds.
I feel that I did enough testing and research in the year I've been playing this deck. Even though I haven't posted 100% of what I want the OP to look like, it's still about 85% done. I also want to provide an outlet to the community. That way, any suggestions that fit into what I want to achieve with Mazirek could be aggregated to the appendix. Given sufficient free time (which I hardly have), by the weekend I will probably get it to 99% of what I want.
I hope these changes has been helpful to everyone! Again, any comments are welcome and appreciated!
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
The thing with Mazirek is that it's so overwhelming because there's simply so many things to test for it. It can be pretty daunting. Even with everything I've tested, I know there's going to be a lot more to test simply due to the color combination and it's ability that goes so well with its colors. If ever there were a commander designed to perfection to its colors, Mazirek would be it.
Fortunately, Innistrad Block #2 provided me with a lot of goodies for Mazirek and Sidisi so I was able to test them out a lot. Ever since Zada came out in Zendikar Block #2, I was able to test that one constantly since every block has brought some goodies. Since a lot of material hasn't appeared for my other decks, I was able to reduce testing down to Mazirek and Zada so I was able to finally getting around to writing their primers. Since Polukranos is monocolored, it's easier to test cards for it so I was able to spruce it up as well for the primer. Sidisi has been on the backburner since after Eldritch Moon due to no worthy cards being released (that and the list is super tight as it is). Hopefully with the release of more sets I'm able to test the other decks that are longing for some attention, too. But I know that if Kaladesh gave a lot of goodies for Mazirek, no doubt Aether Revolt will do the same. Mazirek is so easy to build around that I'm never at a shortage of old cards to test as well.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Wow, what an elaborate primer-prep, I love it. Appreciate the shoutout, look forward to contributing more :]
Thanks! Yeah, keep them ideas coming!
I finally have the weekend to myself before the next trimester starts so I'm gonna try and compile what's left of the OP in order to have it how I ultimately want to have it.
From some of your choices I gather that budget is not an obstacle. If not, you could possibly make some more efficient cuts as well. However, if those cards are included for certain reasons, and you simply want to find a slot for Splendid Reclamation, you could add it in for Khalni Heart Expedition.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
From some of your choices I gather that budget is not an obstacle. If not, you could possibly make some more efficient cuts as well. However, if those cards are included for certain reasons, and you simply want to find a slot for Splendid Reclamation, you could add it in for Khalni Heart Expedition.
Thanks, I will try that cut and see how it works out. The original reason Khalni was in there was for the synergy with fetchlands and that it sacs itself, but I am sure I can live without it.
I am quite interested in other cuts/subs would you recommend in order to make this more efficient. I've been running this list for about a year now, and would appreciate some outside perspective on how to make this deck even better!
From some of your choices I gather that budget is not an obstacle. If not, you could possibly make some more efficient cuts as well. However, if those cards are included for certain reasons, and you simply want to find a slot for Splendid Reclamation, you could add it in for Khalni Heart Expedition.
Thanks, I will try that cut and see how it works out. The original reason Khalni was in there was for the synergy with fetchlands and that it sacs itself, but I am sure I can live without it.
I am quite interested in other cuts/subs would you recommend in order to make this more efficient. I've been running this list for about a year now, and would appreciate some outside perspective on how to make this deck even better!
I know that your overall strategy is lands matter because of what you mentioned but I don't really see a lot of support for lands in the deck - particularly due to the absence of The Gitrog Monster. These are the cuts I would make:
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I know that your overall strategy is lands matter because of what you mentioned but I don't really see a lot of support for lands in the deck - particularly due to the absence of The Gitrog Monster.
Sorry for the confusion, but my overall strategy does not revolve around lands matter specifically; I just wanted to have a small subtheme in the deck.
I don't want to make too many changes until I see how these cards play out, but I will probably sub Lotus Boom for Lotus Vale. One of my fears is that there are not enough lands in the deck to dedicate myself to more of a land based strat without changing the deck composition drastically, hence I see it hard to include Asuza.
Birthing Pod is a bit too good to cut, my curve has specifically been designed around it. I also can't see myself getting rid of Top and Necropotence as these cards provide too much value.
This deck likes playing out of the GY so cutting Yawgmoth's Will is also out of the question.
Ok, I understand now some of your choices - that's ok because you're piloting your own deck. You could add in Lotus Vale and not worry too much about it. You can also recur lands (and using it with The Gitrog Monster in play is awesome).
I suggested Necropotence to be cut because it's difficult to cast and you can add other methods of card draw that synergize better with the deck. Same goes for Sensei's Divining Top. Manipulating the top 3 cards is pretty useless if you're drawing more than 3 cards at a time per turn. It's just my opinion, but I base value on synergy as well as independent use. Only independent use is not enough for me. It has to have some degree of independent use but also combine with other things.
You'll see how evident those slight changes were in bettering the overall performance of your deck. Hopefully you'll be able to add the other changes and continue polishing it.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Played a triple threat last night against someone testing out Atraxa Superfriends (Atraxa, Praetors' Voice and Deepglow Skate were proxied - which was okay since they're coming out on Friday) and Child of Alara Lands. That game against Child was too brutal. Child is literally one of the most degenerate commanders in the format. With so much land it kept blowing up and blowing up. Since they can't regenerate, Wrap in Vigor and Golgari Charm were useless. I couldn't use any of my stax effects because Child was the only creature in play for that player. Inspiring Call can't be the only thing to provide my creatures indestructible. So I swapped out Deathreap Ritual in favor of Eldrazi Monument. It'll be destroyed due to child, but at least I can recur it from the graveyard. Had I used the Artifact Build maybe it wouldn't've been a problem. But against creatureless decks (Oloro, Ageless Ascetic being another infamous one) the constant wraths are too much to deal with. Atraxa was also wrathing quite a bit during the game but was never able to get Elspeth, Knight-Errant's emblem or Tamiyo, the Moon Sage's emblem online to bypass Child's consistent wrathing. Child is too broken, lol.
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Thanks for the interest!
I'm just gonna get Aerie Ouphes out of the way first: it needs to have a target for you to use it's ability. When it resolves, it's gonna eventually kill Mazirek if that's your only target so you can't use it to go infinite. The only persist creatures worth anything for this deck are Puppeteer Clique and Woodfall Primus. Going infinite with those is definitely game over.
Yeah, I have been considering swapping out Primal Vigor at least but not Hardened Scales or Corpsejack Menace. They're cheaper than Mazirek so if I get them out first, they're already producing value once Mazirek hits the battlefield. Doubling Season isn't just for the +1/+1 counters but it also doubles the amount of loyalty counters when my planeswalkers enter the battlefield and it doubles the amount of tokens I produce. That is paramount because it reduces the time needed to both amass an army and pump them to go for the kill. Out of all of these, Kalonian Hydra is independent of Mazirek because it doubles the counters already on the creatures; it's not a substitution ability like the other ones, so it doesn't rely on Mazirek's triggered ability.
I am currently working on making the first post in primer fashion where I address all strategies and synergies with Mazirek regardless if I use them or not. In the last post where I show the latest decklists, I already made the changes I said I was testing. So the persist package is back in and Zulaport Cutthroat & Blood Artist are in, as well. People are wising up to all the different ways I can win with my deck so I needed more. I was hesitant at force because infinite loops are usually frowned upon. But these are so convoluted and require so many cards, I don't really get hated off the table when I pull them off. So I put them back. The kill card that should definitely find a place in the deck is Bitter Ordeal. This can defeat any deck so long as you're able to go off with a healthy amount of sacrifice triggers - preferably infinite, lol.
Thanks for your suggestions, and I have taken them into consideration as my deck has evolved because many players have brought them up. Again, I hope to address them all with the massive update. Again, thanks for the interest!
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Sorry, I didn't mean going infinite in terms of +1/+1 counters on Mazirek or the ouphes. I believe that you can stack the ouphes sacrifice ability an infinite number of times in response to itself before Mazirek would be killed when it resolves. Once the ouphes returns from persist and gets a +1/+1 counter from Mazirek, you can respond to the original sacrifice with another sacrifice. Meaning, you could still get an infinite number of sacrifice triggers (+1/+1 counters on another creature or death triggers from blood artist); Mazirek would die if he's the target, but if you're winning the game right there, that's not such a hard price to pay. It still might not be worth it compared to the other persist creatures, but thought I'd bring it up.
Thanks for your thoughts on hardened scales and corpsejack menace. I definitely understand your reasoning and it makes sense that they would make a huge impact on the game once Mazirek is up and running. I wasn't sure if they may slow you down too much before Mazirek is out, but hardened scales is quite cheap and corpsejack menace is still a very efficient creature besides having a powerful effect.
I appreciate you reporting all of your findings and making budget versions of your decks. Thank you for all of the playtesting and time you've put into these posts. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the Kaladesh cards.
Yeah, I don't think the ouphes work like that. You can't respond to sacrificing itself with sacrificing itself indefinitely, so you can't stack it's sacrificing ability. Sacrificing is part of the cost so you can only sacrifice it to its own ability once.
As for Kaladesh, my thoughts have been strewn throughout the thread but they will definitely be organized into the primer hopeful when done. I have lots of hope for energy counters because this deck is able to produce infinite energy counters with the few cards shown so far. Let's see what happens with Aether Revolt! Hopefully I'll finish by the end of the next weekend (am currently too busy to be doing anything else). I am currently 30% done on the reorganization of the first post. So stay tuned!
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Yeah, they'd have to be wrong because you can no longer respond to damage because damage doesn't go on the stack. Damage stopped going on the stack since Mogg Fanatic almost broke the game in 1997. Persist creatures do go infinite though with Mazirek and a sac outlet. The way it works is that when the creature with persist comes back, the +1/+1 counter cancels the -1/-1 counter so the persist can activate all over again.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
The way you described the combo works. You put the ability on the stack then pay costs. This triggers both persist and Mazireks ability and you can decide which order they resolve in. Choose persist to resolve first which brings it back and then Mazirek's resolves getting rid of the -1/-1 counter with the original ability still on the stack. Then you can repeat this infinitely for infinite death triggers or infinitely large creatures. Mazirek will always die though.
URXSurf's Up, Mizz Magnus!XRU
URGWKynaios and Tiro's Multiplayer MenagerieWGRU
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
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and uhh, the GB legend...
URXSurf's Up, Mizz Magnus!XRU
URGWKynaios and Tiro's Multiplayer MenagerieWGRU
Dost mine eyes deceive me? Is that guy for real??
In the wise words of Ric Flair: "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
Oh snap! Just saw this one:
Commander decks only have 99 cards but I'm gonna have to take it to 199 because the amount of cards being released for Mazirek is too damn high!
EDIT:
I should note that Crystalline Crawler is a strictly better version of Workhorse, so it's good to get another creature that does that and so much better, too.
I don't know if I'll be able to finish my massive overhaul of Mazirek by the end of the weekend (have finals next week) but I should be able get back on track next week. Once I'm through with finals I'm gonna finish this thing come rain or shine. With the reveal of the super awesome BG legend, I'm dying to finish it in time for the C16 spoilers to be completely done (including reprints). So many new goodies for Mazirek when it already had so many amazing goodies to begin with! Joy! I know that Skullbriar, the Walking Grave loves that guy as well. Just ridiculous.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
1 Conjurer's Bauble
1 Lifespark Spellbomb
1 Necrogen Spellbomb
1 Phyrexian Furnace
1 Salvaging Station
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Reprocess
1 Marionette Master
1 Mortician Beetle
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Wild-Field Scarecrow
1 Throne of the High City
Without enough dedication to artifacts or eggs, the value just wasn't there. These changes are just as cheap and made the deck more consistent. So the Budget Build is just a budget version of the Creatures Matter Build.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
1 Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
Creatures
1 Abhorrent Overlord
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Butcher of Malakir
1 Corpsejack Menace
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Eater of Hope
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Harvester of Souls
1 It That Betrays
1 Merciless Executioner
1 Mycoloth
1 Pawn of Ulamog
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Sadistic Hypnotist
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1 Skullmulcher
1 Slum Reaper
1 Smothering Abomination
1 The Gitrog Monster
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
1 Viscera Seer
1 World Breaker
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Zulaport Cutthroat
1 Crop Rotation
1 Krosan Grip
1 Tragic Slip
Planeswalker
1 Vraska the Unseen
Enchantment
1 Concordant Crossroads
1 Dictate of Erebos
1 Mind Slash
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Primal Vigor
1 Ulvenwald Mysteries
1 Vampiric Rites
Artifact
1 Altar of Dementia
1 Barbed Sextant
1 Birthing Pod
1 Carnage Altar
1 Commander's Sphere
1 Culling Dais
1 Expedition Map
1 Golgari Cluestone
1 Golgari Signet
1 Mind Stone
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Sol Ring
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Trading Post
1 Whispersilk Cloak
Sorcery
1 Farseek
1 Innocent Blood
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Life's Legacy
1 Scapeshift
1 Sylvan Scrying
1 Syphon Flesh
1 Syphon Mind
1 Worm Harvest
1 Blighted Woodland
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Bojuka Bog
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Encroaching Wastes
1 Evolving Wilds
4 Forest
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Grim Backwoods
1 High Market
1 Hissing Quagmire
1 Jund Panorama
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Mana Confluence
1 Mirrorpool
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Reflecting Pool
9 Swamp
1 Tainted Wood
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Warped Landscape
1 Woodland Cemetery
This deck is a lot of fun to play!
WU Bruna UW | R Kiki-Jiki R | RB New Chainer BR
Legacy - Burn | Pauper - Reanimator | Aristocrats | Burn
@votechainer2016
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
It does need a bit more focus, probably. The whole deck is in the play-until-you-decide-what-you're-doing phase.
WU Bruna UW | R Kiki-Jiki R | RB New Chainer BR
Legacy - Burn | Pauper - Reanimator | Aristocrats | Burn
@votechainer2016
I feel that I did enough testing and research in the year I've been playing this deck. Even though I haven't posted 100% of what I want the OP to look like, it's still about 85% done. I also want to provide an outlet to the community. That way, any suggestions that fit into what I want to achieve with Mazirek could be aggregated to the appendix. Given sufficient free time (which I hardly have), by the weekend I will probably get it to 99% of what I want.
I hope these changes has been helpful to everyone! Again, any comments are welcome and appreciated!
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Have so many decks that im not playing with Mazirek enough. Still yet to get the cards from Karladesh.
Thanks!
Yeah, I have a whole bunch of decks, too. My primary decks are
The thing with Mazirek is that it's so overwhelming because there's simply so many things to test for it. It can be pretty daunting. Even with everything I've tested, I know there's going to be a lot more to test simply due to the color combination and it's ability that goes so well with its colors. If ever there were a commander designed to perfection to its colors, Mazirek would be it.
Fortunately, Innistrad Block #2 provided me with a lot of goodies for Mazirek and Sidisi so I was able to test them out a lot. Ever since Zada came out in Zendikar Block #2, I was able to test that one constantly since every block has brought some goodies. Since a lot of material hasn't appeared for my other decks, I was able to reduce testing down to Mazirek and Zada so I was able to finally getting around to writing their primers. Since Polukranos is monocolored, it's easier to test cards for it so I was able to spruce it up as well for the primer. Sidisi has been on the backburner since after Eldritch Moon due to no worthy cards being released (that and the list is super tight as it is). Hopefully with the release of more sets I'm able to test the other decks that are longing for some attention, too. But I know that if Kaladesh gave a lot of goodies for Mazirek, no doubt Aether Revolt will do the same. Mazirek is so easy to build around that I'm never at a shortage of old cards to test as well.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
URXSurf's Up, Mizz Magnus!XRU
URGWKynaios and Tiro's Multiplayer MenagerieWGRU
I've been following this thread for quite some time, Maz has so many different build options!
I would like some critique and feedback on this list, I've decided to add a bit of a land package:
1 Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
Artifacts (10)
1 Lotus Bloom
1 Mana Vault
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Birthing Pod
Creatures (24)
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Blood Artist
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Burnished Hart
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Wood Elves
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
1 Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
1 Puppeteer Clique
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
1 Bane of Progress
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Bitterblossom
1 Evolutionary Leap
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Sylvan Library
1 Awakening Zone
1 Necropotence
1 Grave Pact
1 Greater Good
Sorceries (15)
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Reanimate
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Smallpox
1 Sylvan Scrying
1 Death Cloud
1 Eldritch Evolution
1 Genesis Wave
1 Pox
1 Search for Tomorrow
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Damnation
1 Scapeshift
1 Tempt with Discovery
Instants (5)
1 Crop Rotation
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Chord of Calling
1 Krosan Grip
1 Snuff Out
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Bayou
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Command Beacon
1 Command Tower
1 Deserted Temple
1 Dryad Arbor
7 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 High Market
1 Lake of the Dead
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Petrified Field
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Polluted Delta
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Strip Mine
6 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Yavimaya Hollow
Would really like to find room for Splendid Reclamation
Thanks!
Thanks! Yeah, keep them ideas coming!
I finally have the weekend to myself before the next trimester starts so I'm gonna try and compile what's left of the OP in order to have it how I ultimately want to have it.
Welcome to the forums! Thanks for the interest!
From some of your choices I gather that budget is not an obstacle. If not, you could possibly make some more efficient cuts as well. However, if those cards are included for certain reasons, and you simply want to find a slot for Splendid Reclamation, you could add it in for Khalni Heart Expedition.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Thanks, I will try that cut and see how it works out. The original reason Khalni was in there was for the synergy with fetchlands and that it sacs itself, but I am sure I can live without it.
I am quite interested in other cuts/subs would you recommend in order to make this more efficient. I've been running this list for about a year now, and would appreciate some outside perspective on how to make this deck even better!
I know that your overall strategy is lands matter because of what you mentioned but I don't really see a lot of support for lands in the deck - particularly due to the absence of The Gitrog Monster. These are the cuts I would make:
If you want to take advantage of playing around with lands you should definitely consider:
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Sorry for the confusion, but my overall strategy does not revolve around lands matter specifically; I just wanted to have a small subtheme in the deck.
However:
The Gitrog Monster
Fantastic recommendation! This is exactly what this deck needed, as it provides something that it had been lacking: card draw. I've taken out Endrek Sahr and Burnished Hart and threw in Gitrog as well as Life From the Loam. I also took out Khalni Heart Expedition and threw in Splendid Reclamation.
I don't want to make too many changes until I see how these cards play out, but I will probably sub Lotus Boom for Lotus Vale. One of my fears is that there are not enough lands in the deck to dedicate myself to more of a land based strat without changing the deck composition drastically, hence I see it hard to include Asuza.
Birthing Pod is a bit too good to cut, my curve has specifically been designed around it. I also can't see myself getting rid of Top and Necropotence as these cards provide too much value.
This deck likes playing out of the GY so cutting Yawgmoth's Will is also out of the question.
Search for Tomorrow was included to have something to do t1, but may be dropped for Harrow. Need to find room for Burgeoning and Exploration as they become especially brutal with Crucible of Worlds and Gitrog.
If I have some time, I would like to post a bit of a puzzle for those who are planning to use the Combo of Maz + Woodfall Primus + sac outlet.
Once again, thanks for all the help!
Ok, I understand now some of your choices - that's ok because you're piloting your own deck. You could add in Lotus Vale and not worry too much about it. You can also recur lands (and using it with The Gitrog Monster in play is awesome).
I suggested Necropotence to be cut because it's difficult to cast and you can add other methods of card draw that synergize better with the deck. Same goes for Sensei's Divining Top. Manipulating the top 3 cards is pretty useless if you're drawing more than 3 cards at a time per turn. It's just my opinion, but I base value on synergy as well as independent use. Only independent use is not enough for me. It has to have some degree of independent use but also combine with other things.
Life from the Loam is a great addition. It works well on it's own and can potentially combo with The Gitrog Monster.
You'll see how evident those slight changes were in bettering the overall performance of your deck. Hopefully you'll be able to add the other changes and continue polishing it.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!