MTG Salvation

Hi all.

A short bit of background: Before the most recent standard rotation I was the Heroic guy. I had returned to magic after a 15+ year break by purchasing the Theros Event Deck and tweaked it over time. Needless to say I am saddened that heroic is no longer a part of Standard and have since thought about how I could keep it living in a commander deck. The thing is, all-in attack isn't great in a multiplayer format, so I'm hoping to turn here for advice.

Here is what I currently have:



The central concept is to land double-striking creatures who benefit most from Anax and Cymede's heroic trigger of +1/+1 and trample. Secondary to this is a go-wide plan that utilises A&C as a pump spell.

My experience of playing this deck is that it can have some dynamic early turns that kill players before they know it (21 Commander damage is very easy to achieve in this build). However, my more successful games generally involve sitting back and accumulating resources whilst the table focuses on others with more classic threats. Once they've attritioned each other out this deck then pounces.

The challenge with this build, and what I'm hoping to get advice on, is that it can feel very Jeckyl & Hyde. Meaning, most of my resources are single shot in their utility. Instants will come and go for a sudden boost, but when the dust settles I'm the guy bringing 2/2s to a 6/6 party. When I have a couple of nice cards, then suddenly I've brought the 30/30, but there are times when I have to sit through extremely anaemic draws.

I've recently added Zada, Hedron Grinder and switched over some of my pump spells to cantrips to try and accommodate for this. I realise that the Magic Christmas Land moments of drawing 5+ cards from Zada are rare, but I think the cantripping is worth it just to help me find what I need more consistently. To this end I've also decided to run a couple of cheap cycling lands at the expense of untapped basics and am considering Scry 1 instants like Titan's Strength and Gods Willing. This is also why I run Magus of the Wheel and Reforge the Soul, this deck just needs to replenish.


Any thoughts out there? Anything major that I'm missing. I recognise that this is never going to be a hyper competitive build, but my goal is to take the philosophy of the Heroic mechanic and try to represent that as well as possible on the commander table. So any thoughts are all appreciated.

Change History

you can run more return enchantments to your hand like Crown of Flames. i ran a buyback package with Memory Crystal.it was pretty fun. cards like Crimson Wisps, accelerate can supplement cqrd draw as well while feeding the heroic triggers

Some really interesting thoughts,

Thanks guys.

It doesn't seem like there are enough buyback cards in RW for me to want to make buyback a subtheme and build around Memory Crystal although I like the recursive value of Crown of Flames, its basically a second Ghitu Firebreathing which is a card I've always been happy to draw.

I'm trying to be careful with permaments that enter the battlefield without any immediate impact, I realise this isn't as significant as it is in 1v1 but its the reason Hammer of Purphoros is on the shortlist to be cut for me. So whilst Gratuitous Violence, Dolmen Gate and Brave the Sands look tempting, I'm cautious. The point of Vigilance is take though, there's a minor Ally subtheme which, to be frank is more a creature with an instant effect attached in this build, but I can see Makindi Patrol possibly having a role to play.

Concerted Effort is a cool card I never knew existed. I'm just worried of how low the floor is if a sweeper hit. I'm most interested in the extra evasion that flying offers although that's kind of the premise with A&Cs commander ability providing trample.

Mirror Entity seems pretty sweet as a mana sink.

A few of the other suggestions are already in my list, glad we're on the same page.

If the new Chandra leak is accurate then I'd imagine she'd fit in perfectly too. Gallantry and other more defensive cards are on the chopping block to make way.

The more I think the more I like Scroll of the Masters too. It turns all of my instants into +1/+1 buffs waiting to happen. It definitely got me wondering if Myth Realized could play a role in this deck too

Zada, hedron grinder could be interesting, but I think you're missing some very nasty cards in here that can swing the game in your favor, or make being small not such a bad thing. Incidentally, if you go this route, then you really really want vigilance enablers, as seize the day becomes absolutely absurd with this.

You've got austere command, but what about::

• crackdown
  
• meekstone
  
• marble titan
  
• elspeth, sun's champion
  
• retribution of the meek
  

If you're looking for cards that return to hand for another recast, then you might consider mark of fury.

Size matters? That's a cool angle.

So if I want to head in that direction then the universal vigilance enables that are interesting would be: Akroma's Memorial, Brave the Sands, Heliod, God of the Sun, Oathsworn Giant, Serra's Blessing.

Equally, if I think about integrating 4 power matters effects like Retribution of the Meek and Elspeth, Sun's Champion then Eidolon of Countless Battles, Fabled Hero, Markov Blademaster Ajani, Caller of the Pride & Balefire Liege would be on the chopping block. I'm not sure if its worth the cost of losing some of the most potent double strikers in the deck. Definitely worth testing.

It's true that akroma's memorial offers vigilance, but I wouldn't play it. Pro-red is a bad ability to have when you're trying to abuse zada once in a while. Nah, I wouldn't cut the blademaster, fabled hero, or balefire liege. You don't really have a ton of creatures that they affect in a way that would make the wrath tech necessary even if it does offer some dyssinergy. If you've connected enough times that the blademaster or hero are big enough, you probably don't need to wrath in the first place.

Yeah I'm on a pretty similar page, it seems to cost a large part of the essence of the deck.

I think having Crackdown and/or Meekstone makes for a very surprising and potent asymmetrical quasi-wrath effect, but I don't think it'll be a central focus to build around. Doing so moves away too much from that central hope of creating a heroic deck too, where the central idea is the relationship between pump spells and creatures who disproportionately benefit from them.

Ok so the changes I'm going to test next are:

My only real opposition to scroll of the masters is that it doesn't trigger heroic. I should have mentioned earlier that I would run brave the sands and heliod, god of the sun. Heliod on his own is a win condition, and is especially good, if slow, with cards like mentor of the meek. Brave the sands allows for non tramplers to be chumped easily, costing you less in the long run. Now that I think about it, it may not be a bad idea to run break through the line. Most of your stuff is small and having it connect once can be painful for opponents. Hearth charm also has possibilities.

Yeah I reckon you've got a point with Heliod, God of the Sun, especially so if Crackdown looks good in testing. He'll go straight on the shortlist.

I feel like I'm ok with Scroll of the Masters not triggering heroic. The reality is whilst I call this a heroic deck, it integrates prowess under the heroic banner. This is more an EDH deck that explores combat tricks, of which heroic is the most noteworthy mechanic, than pure heroic. In particular, I like the longevity that the scroll provides in still conferring +X/+X after I've burnt through X spells. However this is said in theory, I haven't had a chance to test it and I imagine time will tell.

I'm still not sold on the enchantments, I feel like I'd prefer to have my effects on a body. Whilst creature-based effects are definitely more vulnerable to removal, I prefer to know I'm getting some kind of value out of every card. Hence why I like Heliod, God of the Sun so much, he's difficult to remove and a mana-sync. Even in the worst case scenario of a top deck post-board wipe, I'd be happy to draw him as I can quickly start to rebuild plus get the vigilance benefit. The enchantments, not so much.

How about Brilliant Halo? I like how it can be returned back to hand when the creature dies.

What are your thoughts on Flickering Ward?

Here's a link to my list: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/214394-300-gorgo-leonidas-anax-and-cymede

I went for a token strategy instead, backed up with mass land removal.