Glissa. Traitor of Mirrodin. Champion of Vorinclex. Former latent Planeswalker.
"If it were fit to survive, it wouldn't have been so easily put down."
"Why Glissa?"
Glissa is a notable General for a number of reasons.
1. Her CMC is 3. For a 3/3 Deathtouch First Strike creature, that's a pretty good deal.
2. As noted above, Deathtouch and First Strike. Hello, beautiful. Do you like killing your opponent's biggest threats with ease? I certainly do.
3. Her non-keyworded ability allows for some nasty Artifact recursion, and aided by her ability to kill anything she touches with ease, well, this one seems pretty easy to abuse.
4. B and G are great colors, especially together. You get all the benefit of G's ramp and fatties, as well as B's removal and tempo control. Combine the two, and your deck is almost certainly bound to be faster than those of your opponents.
5. If you like overrunning your opponents with creatures that can fell an Eldrazi Titan with the gentlest caress, this is the deck for you.
"Why not (other Black/Green General)?"
Why not Iname? CMC of 12. Gross. Plus its abilities only work when it's entering or leaving the battlefield, which means you have to blink it to get maximum effectiveness out of it; not terribly easy when you're in BG.
Why not Jarad? Sure, Jarad's a decent General...if you like keeping your creatures in the graveyard. Wouldn't you rather have them in play, killing the opposing army?
Why not Mazirek? Another reasonable choice, but better for a deck focused on building up an army of fatties. With Glissa, all we need is a quick poke and anything short of an Ulamog dies.
Why not Meren? Meren is a cute card, but lacks the removal aspect pertinent to being the head of a vicious army of Deathtouch creatures.
Why not Nath? Nath is better-oriented for a deck where our primary focus is generating tokens. While we see that in this Glissa build, it's by no means the only trick up her sleeve!
Why not Pharika? While yes, Pharika makes creatures suited to the theme, Pharika simply lacks the punch that Glissa has. Additionally, she isn't a creature until you have devotion, and while she's okay at generating Deathtouchers for you, she'd be better as a complement to our lovely Glissa were we to run her.
Why not Savra? When you're building around a sac outlet, this seems like an okay control General. However, that's not what we're going for, here!
Why not Stone Sisters? CMC 8 is a lot, and while the Sisters are good, 14 mana to invest in the control of a single creature seems like a lot. Additionally, yes, you could simply attack -> exile blocker creature, but for all that effort, we can simply cast Doom Blade for less mana and then swing for 7 damage.
Why not Skullbriar? Skullbriar is one of those cards that works best when you build a deck specifically around spamming it. Skullbriar is like Skithiryx but without Infect meaning the rest of your playgroup won't hate you so hard for playing it!
Why not Varolz? Blah blah graveyard full of creatures blah. Is there an echo in here?
Why not Vhati? I believe "rofl" adequately sums up my opinion on this.
Why SHOULDN'T I play Glissa?
If you like decks that draw a lot of cards or that control the board with counterspells, Glissa is not for you. If you like burn or pumping your creatures into monstrous OHK fliers, Glissa is not for you. If you like to use a bunch of Enchantments, Glissa is not for you. If you don't like winning with creatures, Glissa is not for you.
I used to play Magic when I was a teenager. I started in the original Ravnica block, and played up until Lorwyn. My sister stopped going to events around this time and neither of us really liked Lorwyn, and all of my rares got stolen at an event, so we both stopped playing. I picked it up again a few years ago when two of my friends displayed an interest in playing Magic with me. They played for a little bit and then both quit, so I was left with a few decks and nothing to do with them. Fast forward to the end of last year; I moved to a new state and my roommate said, "Hey, you play Magic, right? Have you tried Commander, yet?" Well, I had played Commander Cube earlier in the year, and then a game or two of Commander afterwards, but I had never attempted to get into it before. Well, my roommate knew that from my Time Spiral days, that Slivers were my favorite, and bought me a Sliver Overlord and Sliver Hivelord as birthday presents towards building my first Commander deck. I still had Sliver Legion from my Time Spiral block drafts (fortunately, my Slivers were in a binder at the time my rare stack was stolen) and shortly thereafter, I found a relatively cheap Sliver Queen. After some testing, I finalized my build, and my first Commander deck was completed. However, I noticed that Slivers drew a lot of hate, and I didn't want to be the only person in my playgroup (as my co-workers also played) with just one deck. I started researching Legendary creatures in Gatherer, and Glissa was one of the possibilities that really caught my eye. A couple of weeks later, and I had placed an order for her online, along with a few other Generals I wanted to build around.
My progression through Magic has been interesting, and as I've grown as a player, I've found that B is my favorite color to play, with G as a close second. (My favorite keywords are Deathtouch, Infect, and Annihilator, if that tells you anything.) So I thought, "Well, how can I make the most of this?" I realized it would be silly to try to cram all 3 into a single deck, so I started off the build with a myriad of Deathtouch and Infect creatures, thinking to myself, "Well, if my opponent has no creatures to defend with, it will be easier to win with Infect, right?" However, as my search for cards for Glissa went on, I realized that Infect definitely needed its own unique build, and I separated the list I had created for Glissa and for Infect support into two files - EDH Glissa, the Traitor.dek and EDH Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon.dek.
As my research continued, I went through every single Deathtouch creature available in Magic. I tried to even out my mana curve without getting into hardcore number crunching, and also looked for cards with synergy with the whole "kill your opponent's army" ideal behind this particular Glissa build. I also realized that Deathtouch wasn't going to cut it for certain cards, and that I had no answers for Indestructible creatures. I quickly found some good fits for the deck, and everything ended up looking reasonably okay.
I initially went into the design phase with the assumption that most people primarily used Glissa for her second ability, but I didn't want that to be the shining star of the deck. Eventually, I decided that while I didn't have to make it the focus of the build, it would be unwise to make my General into a simple beatstick, and I opted to include at least a decent rotation of artifacts that could benefit from Glissa's ability and that would fit the rest of the deck. I had read an article on the existence of the combo known as "The Great Machine" and thought it would be cool to include the pieces of that combo in with Glissa, as they are artifacts and are fueled by artifacts. This deck has been through many small revisions, and I'm still looking to optimize certain choices for certain match-ups, but I'd say this build is pretty close to as good as it's going to get. Recommendations are still welcome, however!
Now, let's talk about the build and some more common match-ups! So, upon close inspection, we can see that our mana curve has a strong beginning and a strong end. If you can establish your board and maintain some level of threat throughout the game, trimming your opponents' fields as necessary, you're almost certain to win with Glissa.
It's pretty easy to get the Hate Machine up and running - most opponents are terrified of Deathtouch, because lots of people use their creatures to win. Oftentimes, your army will go unchecked, provided you leave enough blockers open along with your swing. Cards like Ulamog are the bane of this deck, which is why there are also a number of cards that make your opponent sacrifice creatures, such as Sheoldred, Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, and Butcher.
"But wait, how do I MAKE my creatures die?" Well, that's easy enough. If your opponent has a fatty like Ulamog coming at you, they're not gonna care about your 1/1 Deathtoucher. They'll start to care a lot more if you put out Grave Pact or something similar, which is why timing is imperative; otherwise, when Ulamog comes out, your control engine is hosed! Skullwinder is invaluable in situations where your hate has been milled, discarded, or otherwise destroyed. Blasting Station is another outlet to get rid of your own creatures, which should be no problem if you have a token engine like Pharika or Ogre Slumlord out. If you have Sidisi in hand or in grave and you can get her out, you can easily fetch any of your hate. Wurmcoil Engine is always good tribute for things like Sidisi and Blasting Station, and Sylvok Replica sacrifices himself for more removal! He's also recurrable with your general.
Playing against control builds might be tricky, but creatures are bountiful in this deck, and you're bound to get one out that can thrash your opponent eventually. There are only so many counterspells! Perseverance, patience, and timing are essential in these match-ups. They likely won't counter your mana rocks, which makes Golgari Keyrune a good way to sneak a creature out. Mill and hand control are easy prey, though, with the amount of creatures and recursion that this build offers.
Burn is a tough match-up. Not only can burn put out all of your creatures faster than you can amass them, the deck has no interaction with burn cards. My advice is to just keep throwing cards out there until something sticks, and plow through, if you can.
Token decks can also get pretty tricky, as they can easily get out of hand. Your smaller Deathtouchers aren't going to be very imposing when your opponent has a field full of chump blockers! This is where your flying creatures and fatties come through. Dread is a great deterrent against your opponent swinging with armies, especially if you have Platinum Emperion or Platinum Angel out. If you can break Phage through, you're golden.
Glissa has no ability to interact with decks that exile everything you control. Good luck in this type of match-up!
All-Stars
Every deck has a win condition, right? "No"? Well, you're right - but this one does! Here are some of the bigger baddies of Glissa's army and the ones that make it possible for them to stomp your way to victory:
Glissa, the Traitor: Duh. Do I even need to explain why she's amazing for this deck?
Hythonia, the Cruel: With one other Gorgon in the deck, you'd think that making Hythonia Monstrous wouldn't be that great, right? Wrong! Wrath effects are great, and I personally love it when they're built into creatures. Plus, she has Deathtouch! What's not to love?
It That Betrays: As the card with the highest CMC in the deck, unless you discard it and then reanimate it, you probably won't be seeing this guy hit the field too often - but damn if he doesn't do his job when he's out. Between Sheoldred, Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, Butcher, and Phyrexian Obliterator, there's more than enough extra sacrificing going on for this card to pull its weight - not to mention, it fuels its own mind control! And speaking of fuel...
Phyrexian Obliterator: This guy pretty much has his way with any opponent's life total because he eats any chump-blockers and then some, and if he's not dying, he's not worth the effort of your opponent giving up nearly their board presence on T5 just to not take 5 damage. Expect some hate your way when you drop this guy.
Dread: Basically the soulmate of Phyrexian Obliterator - a great deterrent to prevent people from attacking you. What else is that if you sacrifice him to get any of your well-oiled Hate Machine chugging along is that he'll be back! It's just a matter of how long until you draw him or fetch him with Sidisi.
Sheoldred, Whispering One: Sheoldred is an amazing way to single-handedly make your opponent despair about which of their creatures they need to keep and how many you're accumulating! She's an excellent way to abuse Sidisi or to fuel your sacrifices. She also worked beautifully when I ran Birthing Pod in the deck, so again, if that's your thing, go for it!
Wurmcoil Engine: This card is just flat-out great on its own, and with the ability to recur it with Glissa and Sheoldred, it's part of the Hate Machine that never says "die". Well, except to your opponents.
Platinum Angel: "What's your life total?" "Platinum Angel." And it can be reanimated countless times between Glissa and all of our other recursion cards. It's a perfect fit for a deck that exemplifies the cyclical nature of life and death...by stagnating that cycle when it inconveniences you.
Xathrid Gorgon: Can't break a fatty like Ulamog or need to get rid of an ability that's terrorizing your board, such as Kozilek's? This gal not only survives Hythonia's Wrath ability, she shuts down your opponent's creatures that you can't contend with, more often than not. An invaluable ability when coupled with the fact that she has Deathtouch.
Soul of Innistrad: Ugh, your opponent just dumped your hand and milled you for 20! Never fear, Soul of Innistrad is here! Not only does it fit our Deathtouch theme wonderfully, it's one of our creature recyclers! Sure, its ability is a bit costly - but it's well worth it to slam cards like Phage back on the field after your opponent thought they were rid of her! And speaking of Phage...
Phage the Untouchable: One of the most menacing cards in the deck. I have had people target her as soon as she hit the field just because she's that good. Nobody wants a "you lose the game" creature up in their grill.
Vraska, the Unseen: Similarly, most opponents won't let Vraska's ultimate see the light of day. Fortunately, she has a built-in Dread as her +1, so even if your opponent spends some time wiping out Vraska, you still get the removal that a Deathtouch creature would afford you.
Thornbite Staff: Attach to Deathtouch creature. Ping opponent's creature. Untap Deathtouch creature. Repeat until their field is gone. Voila! Also a way to activate Hornet Nest if you're that desperate for a creature with Flying.
Mindslaver: The beauty of Mindslaver in this deck is that if you have 10 mana and Glissa on the board, and your opponent has an unstoppable army of creatures (that don't have flying or Indestructible, or this unfortunately doesn't work), you can spam Mindslaver to have your opponent's creatures ram into Glissa for instant shanking. It's a nice way to clear a board in 1v1, and in multiplayer, the other people at your table being terrorized by the person with the army will pat you on the back for being a giant dillwaffle to the person you are repeatedly Mindslavering.
Plague Boiler: "Why not run a traditional Wrath?" Well, why would I do that when I can hold this one over my opponents' heads as long as I need to? Yeah, it costs mana to keep it from blowing its load, but when you're trying to prevent someone from doing something bad, they'll eventually either get impatient enough and just do it, or you can slowly build an army to take them out with. Of course, if their threat gets bigger than yours, that's when you pop Plague Boiler - but if you want everyone else to slow waaay down, drop it on the field and watch the magic unfold. I personally prefer it to Nevinyrral's Disk because if you have enough mana, you can make Plague Boiler go boom on the turn you drop it, and it's really easy to bluff opponents into doing nothing by rapidly and maliciously accelerating Plague Boiler and then on the next turn removing all of its counters. It's all psychological, yo.
Grimoire of the Dead: Okay, I know what you're thinking - yes, it's really slow. Yes, there are better reanimator cards - even ones that give you every creature from every graveyard. However, most of those cards are not artifacts, and most of those cards don't pitch things into your graveyard for you to revive. Not only can you re-use Grimoire endlessly with Glissa out and killing everything, you can keep throwing things away. That's right, you can pitch your entire hand of creatures for 5 turns to bring them all back. Yes, artifact removal is prominent. But I guarantee that you can get more artifacts back than they can destroy eventually, and when you do, this card is a hell of a doozy to go off. Just make sure you don't have Phage skulking about your grave with this card out, unless you also have Platinum Angel buried along with her!
Wombo Combos
Part of the fun of Glissa is the synergy that the cards have with each other. As far as creature-centric decks are concerned, Glissa is very much about control - especially tempo control.
Here are some of the meaner combos that may make your opponents pull their hair out in frustration!
Well, as stated I went through the entire database of Deathtouch creatures, and wanted a well-rounded curve - so if it has Deathtouch and you don't see it in here, that's by design!
Tormod's Crypt is a great card for artifact recursion, and it's especially good in EDH where graveyard hate is almost necessary. However, I haven't really found a spot for it, yet, and it's definitely a non-bo with Grimoire of the Dead.
For 2 mana, I'd rather just have another Deathtouch creature. Sure, it goes along nicely with Slumlord, Butcher, and It That Betrays, but for a smaller creature, I would rather control when my opponent will be attacking me and benefitting from that accordingly, such as with Sedge Scorpion or Venom Sliver.
It feels too situational; what if my opponent isn't creature-heavy? And then I still have to wait until the end of the turn for it to go off. Sheoldred is much better suited for this purpose, I think.
Unfortunately, Glissa, herself, draws a lot of hate - so there's no guarantee you'd be able to keep her out to make use of his ability. Glissa's army should be able to conquer the land well enough on its own!
It just feels underwhelming for what it does. Sure, you either get a flyer or removal, but most opponents will say, "Okay, instead of sacrificing my creature or letting you have a big flyer, I'm going to play (removal spell)."
"Why aren't you running any of the Spellbombs?"
Personal preference, I guess. I don't feel like they synergize well with what the build has going on and I'm not at all concerned about card advantage; Sidisi + Sheoldred + Skullwinder and any of the sac outlets (including Birthing Pod) the deck has offer plenty of tutorability. Expedition Map is great, too.
Four reasons: It's much easier to psych people out with Plague Boiler (even though it costs more mana to maintain), Plague Boiler only costs {3} to play initially and can be activated on the turn you play it if you have enough mana, Disk doesn't hit Planeswalkers, and there's already enough removal in the deck that another Wrath would be silly.
While Evolutionary Leap might potentially be better than Birthing Pod in this deck, I can't recur it with Glissa and it only gets the card to our hand.
I don't wanna sacrifice my creatures if not for a good reason!
If you have any more questions about why I'm not running something specific, or why I'm running any of the choices that I do have in the deck, let me know!
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
What about Triangle of War? It's a beast in any glissa deck, and should be even moreso in one with so many deathtouchers. Why wait for an Eldrazi to attack into you, potentially incurring annihilation triggers, when you can take them out on your own terms and then get the card right back again.
I considered Triangle last night, but the chump damage really adds up when you're swinging at them with the little guys and they're not ready to block. And once they are ready, Glissa usually has a trick up her sleeve to keep the board in her favor. I feel like Mindslaver suits the purpose better.
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
Your list looks a lot like mine did when I first built it with a deathtouch focus a lots of inefficient mana rocks, but years of work and some $$ has polished the deck up a treat.
Thoughts about your deck.
You mana rocks are pretty bad, I am only playing the ones I can use/sack later in the game for advantage, although my curve is a little lower (and only 35 lands) they really aren't worth the slots they would be the first place I would go to improve the deck.
"combos" you are missing Viridian longbow, you need this.. it goes infinite with thornbite staff and is still useful without it.
I have Ashnod's altar + Nim Deathmantle as my major combo, makes infinite dudes with wurmcoil.
I have Pharika, god of affliction and forbidden orchard that give my opponents 1/1 creatures, this allows me to use Curse of death's hold to cause a death trigger whenever I want to. Pharika also makes deathtouchers and with your large number of non artifact creatures you can use her to produce more deathtouchers.
I am assuming you are playing against a lot of creature based decks since that is where this kind of thing would work. I had to be somewhat more proactive or I lose to some combo deck.
"I am Craterhoof behemoth, ender of games, look on my board state, ye mighty, and despair"
With so many creatures I would have trouble not using Birthing pod, if birthing pod stays on the field for more than one turn you should win the game. I guess too many of your creatures are vanilla, to stick with the theme, and not abusing ETB and death triggers, which is the real use of the card not just ramping to your 7 drops.
Personal taste is part of the deck commander deck building process so, I wont press my particular style on you, rather I'll just say you have a lot lower power than is possible in green black and artifacts, perhaps that is what is best in your meta and trying to power up might start an arms race.
I do prefer to keep my mana rocks in play so I don't have to spend mana to re-cast them, but I use the Ramos rocks and Command Sphere for recursive purposes.
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
Ok, first of all, I love this deck. Though I have to ask: why are you running mana rocks over mana rampers? So, I get that Glissa can return artifacts, and I can see the argument for some of the mana rocks that have added utility (Golgari Keyrune, Commander's Sphere, etc.), but I think it's just entirely more efficient to run, say, Wood Elves over Spectral Searchlight or Manalith. Your thoughts?
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EDH WURRuhan of the Fomori[Primer] | WGR Marath, Will of the Wild | WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician | WUB Sharuum, the Hegemon | WBGR Tymna the Weaver / Tana, the Bloodsower | BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots | BUG Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
You'd think so, but there's just too many times it doesn't work. For starters, you can't tap it for mana short of having Urborg out, so it hurts your mana generation early. Second 3 mana plus the Arena to activate is a lot to maybe kill your opponent's worst create and possibly lose one of yours in the process. I've tried it multiple times in my Glissa deathtouch tribal deck, and for every one time it worked there were five it actively hurt me. Maybe someone else would have better luck with it, but I'm just having a hard time envisioning the math where that's true.
Ok, first of all, I love this deck. Though I have to ask: why are you running mana rocks over mana rampers? So, I get that Glissa can return artifacts, and I can see the argument for some of the mana rocks that have added utility (Golgari Keyrune, Commander's Sphere, etc.), but I think it's just entirely more efficient to run, say, Wood Elves over Spectral Searchlight or Manalith. Your thoughts?
I can't answer for the OP, but I'll say for me it's because Wood Elves don't have deathtouch, and that at least to me building/playing decks with a self-imposed set of rules and restricts breeds creativity and lends itself to a lot more satisfying wins than does just slotting in generic goodstuff cards that might be slightly more efficient.
To the OP I'll say that 36 dudes in a deck without some specific reason to do so seems like a way to either overextend into a board wipe to keep draw dudes that don't help when you really need to draw answers. Generally speaking you can only safely play so many creatures simultaneously anyway, so I'd rather have more draw. You'll still generally get the same amount of guys onto the field but you'll also have a lot more options in hand. Deathreap Ritual almost always draws like a boss in Glissa, and I've had games where I've draw half a dozen cars off a single Urza's Bauble or Mishra's Bauble.
Ok, first of all, I love this deck. Though I have to ask: why are you running mana rocks over mana rampers? So, I get that Glissa can return artifacts, and I can see the argument for some of the mana rocks that have added utility (Golgari Keyrune, Commander's Sphere, etc.), but I think it's just entirely more efficient to run, say, Wood Elves over Spectral Searchlight or Manalith. Your thoughts?
Ok, first of all, I love this deck. Though I have to ask: why are you running mana rocks over mana rampers? So, I get that Glissa can return artifacts, and I can see the argument for some of the mana rocks that have added utility (Golgari Keyrune, Commander's Sphere, etc.), but I think it's just entirely more efficient to run, say, Wood Elves over Spectral Searchlight or Manalith. Your thoughts?
I can't answer for the OP, but I'll say for me it's because Wood Elves don't have deathtouch, and that at least to me building/playing decks with a self-imposed set of rules and restricts breeds creativity and lends itself to a lot more satisfying wins than does just slotting in generic goodstuff cards that might be slightly more efficient.
^ What this guy said. It feels incorrect for it to be in the deck. Plus when Plague Boiler pops, I can easily grab my mana rocks back, which will accelerate my creature output rate.
To the OP I'll say that 36 dudes in a deck without some specific reason to do so seems like a way to either overextend into a board wipe to keep draw dudes that don't help when you really need to draw answers. Generally speaking you can only safely play so many creatures simultaneously anyway, so I'd rather have more draw. You'll still generally get the same amount of guys onto the field but you'll also have a lot more options in hand. Deathreap Ritual almost always draws like a boss in Glissa, and I've had games where I've draw half a dozen cars off a single Urza's Bauble or Mishra's Bauble.
Hmm. Deathreap seems like a good fit. The number of creatures seems fine, though, based on testing I've seen so far. Thanks for the recommendations!
Edit: I think I'm gonna take out Pharika for Deathreap. She doesn't synergize well with all of the creature recursion I have.
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
I decided to drop the Slivers in favor of Birthing Pod (again) and Wasteland Viper. Viper is strictly better than Venom Sliver (as I very rarely, if ever, face against anyone else that plays Slivers) and I usually have other things I would rather play than Toxin Sliver - Pod, included. It's also really helpful to have the sac outlet if I need to activate Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, Deathreap Ritual, or Butcher, and getting bigger creatures is usually not a bad thing for me - especially when I can recur my fodder with Sheoldred and Grimoire easily.
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
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Glissa. Traitor of Mirrodin. Champion of Vorinclex. Former latent Planeswalker.
"If it were fit to survive, it wouldn't have been so easily put down."
"Why Glissa?"
Glissa is a notable General for a number of reasons.
1. Her CMC is 3. For a 3/3 Deathtouch First Strike creature, that's a pretty good deal.
2. As noted above, Deathtouch and First Strike. Hello, beautiful. Do you like killing your opponent's biggest threats with ease? I certainly do.
3. Her non-keyworded ability allows for some nasty Artifact recursion, and aided by her ability to kill anything she touches with ease, well, this one seems pretty easy to abuse.
4. B and G are great colors, especially together. You get all the benefit of G's ramp and fatties, as well as B's removal and tempo control. Combine the two, and your deck is almost certainly bound to be faster than those of your opponents.
5. If you like overrunning your opponents with creatures that can fell an Eldrazi Titan with the gentlest caress, this is the deck for you.
Why not Iname? CMC of 12. Gross. Plus its abilities only work when it's entering or leaving the battlefield, which means you have to blink it to get maximum effectiveness out of it; not terribly easy when you're in BG.
Why not Jarad? Sure, Jarad's a decent General...if you like keeping your creatures in the graveyard. Wouldn't you rather have them in play, killing the opposing army?
Why not Mazirek? Another reasonable choice, but better for a deck focused on building up an army of fatties. With Glissa, all we need is a quick poke and anything short of an Ulamog dies.
Why not Meren? Meren is a cute card, but lacks the removal aspect pertinent to being the head of a vicious army of Deathtouch creatures.
Why not Nath? Nath is better-oriented for a deck where our primary focus is generating tokens. While we see that in this Glissa build, it's by no means the only trick up her sleeve!
Why not Pharika? While yes, Pharika makes creatures suited to the theme, Pharika simply lacks the punch that Glissa has. Additionally, she isn't a creature until you have devotion, and while she's okay at generating Deathtouchers for you, she'd be better as a complement to our lovely Glissa were we to run her.
Why not Sapling? What is this, Spider Tribal?
Why not Savra? When you're building around a sac outlet, this seems like an okay control General. However, that's not what we're going for, here!
Why not Stone Sisters? CMC 8 is a lot, and while the Sisters are good, 14 mana to invest in the control of a single creature seems like a lot. Additionally, yes, you could simply attack -> exile blocker creature, but for all that effort, we can simply cast Doom Blade for less mana and then swing for 7 damage.
Why not Skullbriar? Skullbriar is one of those cards that works best when you build a deck specifically around spamming it. Skullbriar is like Skithiryx but without Infect meaning the rest of your playgroup won't hate you so hard for playing it!
Why not Varolz? Blah blah graveyard full of creatures blah. Is there an echo in here?
Why not Vhati? I believe "rofl" adequately sums up my opinion on this.
If you like decks that draw a lot of cards or that control the board with counterspells, Glissa is not for you. If you like burn or pumping your creatures into monstrous OHK fliers, Glissa is not for you. If you like to use a bunch of Enchantments, Glissa is not for you. If you don't like winning with creatures, Glissa is not for you.
My progression through Magic has been interesting, and as I've grown as a player, I've found that B is my favorite color to play, with G as a close second. (My favorite keywords are Deathtouch, Infect, and Annihilator, if that tells you anything.) So I thought, "Well, how can I make the most of this?" I realized it would be silly to try to cram all 3 into a single deck, so I started off the build with a myriad of Deathtouch and Infect creatures, thinking to myself, "Well, if my opponent has no creatures to defend with, it will be easier to win with Infect, right?" However, as my search for cards for Glissa went on, I realized that Infect definitely needed its own unique build, and I separated the list I had created for Glissa and for Infect support into two files - EDH Glissa, the Traitor.dek and EDH Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon.dek.
As my research continued, I went through every single Deathtouch creature available in Magic. I tried to even out my mana curve without getting into hardcore number crunching, and also looked for cards with synergy with the whole "kill your opponent's army" ideal behind this particular Glissa build. I also realized that Deathtouch wasn't going to cut it for certain cards, and that I had no answers for Indestructible creatures. I quickly found some good fits for the deck, and everything ended up looking reasonably okay.
I initially went into the design phase with the assumption that most people primarily used Glissa for her second ability, but I didn't want that to be the shining star of the deck. Eventually, I decided that while I didn't have to make it the focus of the build, it would be unwise to make my General into a simple beatstick, and I opted to include at least a decent rotation of artifacts that could benefit from Glissa's ability and that would fit the rest of the deck. I had read an article on the existence of the combo known as "The Great Machine" and thought it would be cool to include the pieces of that combo in with Glissa, as they are artifacts and are fueled by artifacts. This deck has been through many small revisions, and I'm still looking to optimize certain choices for certain match-ups, but I'd say this build is pretty close to as good as it's going to get. Recommendations are still welcome, however!
So, here's our list:
3 Glissa, the Traitor
Creatures:
1 Sedge Scorpion
1 Pharika's Chosen
1 Typhoid Rats
1 Wasteland Viper
2 Ambush Viper
2 Thornweald Archer
3 Hornet Nest
3 Deathgaze Cockatrice
3 Malakir Familiar
3 Nirkana Cutthroat
3 Ophiomancer
3 Skullwinder
3 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Sylvok Replica
4 Liliana's Reaver
4 Phyrexian Obliterator
5 Acidic Slime
5 Ogre Slumlord
5 Raving Dead
5 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
6 Dread
6 Grave Titan
6 Harvester of Souls
6 Hythonia the Cruel
6 Soul of Innistrad
6 Xathrid Gorgon
6 Wurmcoil Engine
7 Phage the Untouchable
7 Hornet Queen
7 Butcher of Malakir
7 Sheoldred, Whispering One
7 Platinum Angel
8 Platinum Emperion
12 It That Betrays
5 Vraska the Unseen
Enchantments:
4 Deathreap Ritual
4 Grave Pact
5 Dictate of Erebos
Utility Artifacts:
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Viridian Longbow
2 Thornbite Staff
2 Grinding Station
3 Blasting Station
3 Plague Boiler
4 Birthing Pod
4 Grimoire of the Dead
6 Mindslaver
6 Salvaging Station
7 Summoning Station
Ramp/Mana Artifacts:
1 Expedition Map
1 Sol Ring
3 Chromatic Lantern
3 Coalition Relic
3 Commander's Sphere
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Golgari Cluestone
3 Golgari Signet
3 Golgari Keyrune
3 Horn of Ramos
3 Skull of Ramos
3 Manalith
3 Spectral Searchlight
0 Golgari Rot Farm
0 Jungle Hollow
0 Llanowar Wastes
0 Overgrown Tomb
0 Tainted Wood
0 Temple of Malady
0 Twilight Mire
0 Woodland Cemetery
0 Command Tower
0 Hissing Quagmire
14 Forest
14 Swamp
Now, let's talk about the build and some more common match-ups! So, upon close inspection, we can see that our mana curve has a strong beginning and a strong end. If you can establish your board and maintain some level of threat throughout the game, trimming your opponents' fields as necessary, you're almost certain to win with Glissa.
It's pretty easy to get the Hate Machine up and running - most opponents are terrified of Deathtouch, because lots of people use their creatures to win. Oftentimes, your army will go unchecked, provided you leave enough blockers open along with your swing. Cards like Ulamog are the bane of this deck, which is why there are also a number of cards that make your opponent sacrifice creatures, such as Sheoldred, Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, and Butcher.
"But wait, how do I MAKE my creatures die?" Well, that's easy enough. If your opponent has a fatty like Ulamog coming at you, they're not gonna care about your 1/1 Deathtoucher. They'll start to care a lot more if you put out Grave Pact or something similar, which is why timing is imperative; otherwise, when Ulamog comes out, your control engine is hosed! Skullwinder is invaluable in situations where your hate has been milled, discarded, or otherwise destroyed. Blasting Station is another outlet to get rid of your own creatures, which should be no problem if you have a token engine like Pharika or Ogre Slumlord out. If you have Sidisi in hand or in grave and you can get her out, you can easily fetch any of your hate. Wurmcoil Engine is always good tribute for things like Sidisi and Blasting Station, and Sylvok Replica sacrifices himself for more removal! He's also recurrable with your general.
This deck fares very well against creature-centric decks. Flying gives a bit of trouble, which is why we have our lovely Deathgaze Cockatrice, Thornweald Archer, Vampire Nighthawk, Malakir Familiar, and other such fun stuff that your opponents will roll their eyes at! Sorry, Nicol Bolas - you're going nowhere.
Playing against control builds might be tricky, but creatures are bountiful in this deck, and you're bound to get one out that can thrash your opponent eventually. There are only so many counterspells! Perseverance, patience, and timing are essential in these match-ups. They likely won't counter your mana rocks, which makes Golgari Keyrune a good way to sneak a creature out. Mill and hand control are easy prey, though, with the amount of creatures and recursion that this build offers.
Burn is a tough match-up. Not only can burn put out all of your creatures faster than you can amass them, the deck has no interaction with burn cards. My advice is to just keep throwing cards out there until something sticks, and plow through, if you can.
Token decks can also get pretty tricky, as they can easily get out of hand. Your smaller Deathtouchers aren't going to be very imposing when your opponent has a field full of chump blockers! This is where your flying creatures and fatties come through. Dread is a great deterrent against your opponent swinging with armies, especially if you have Platinum Emperion or Platinum Angel out. If you can break Phage through, you're golden.
Glissa has no ability to interact with decks that exile everything you control. Good luck in this type of match-up!
Every deck has a win condition, right? "No"? Well, you're right - but this one does! Here are some of the bigger baddies of Glissa's army and the ones that make it possible for them to stomp your way to victory:
Glissa, the Traitor: Duh. Do I even need to explain why she's amazing for this deck?
Hythonia, the Cruel: With one other Gorgon in the deck, you'd think that making Hythonia Monstrous wouldn't be that great, right? Wrong! Wrath effects are great, and I personally love it when they're built into creatures. Plus, she has Deathtouch! What's not to love?
It That Betrays: As the card with the highest CMC in the deck, unless you discard it and then reanimate it, you probably won't be seeing this guy hit the field too often - but damn if he doesn't do his job when he's out. Between Sheoldred, Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, Butcher, and Phyrexian Obliterator, there's more than enough extra sacrificing going on for this card to pull its weight - not to mention, it fuels its own mind control! And speaking of fuel...
Phyrexian Obliterator: This guy pretty much has his way with any opponent's life total because he eats any chump-blockers and then some, and if he's not dying, he's not worth the effort of your opponent giving up nearly their board presence on T5 just to not take 5 damage. Expect some hate your way when you drop this guy.
Dread: Basically the soulmate of Phyrexian Obliterator - a great deterrent to prevent people from attacking you. What else is that if you sacrifice him to get any of your well-oiled Hate Machine chugging along is that he'll be back! It's just a matter of how long until you draw him or fetch him with Sidisi.
Sheoldred, Whispering One: Sheoldred is an amazing way to single-handedly make your opponent despair about which of their creatures they need to keep and how many you're accumulating! She's an excellent way to abuse Sidisi or to fuel your sacrifices. She also worked beautifully when I ran Birthing Pod in the deck, so again, if that's your thing, go for it!
Wurmcoil Engine: This card is just flat-out great on its own, and with the ability to recur it with Glissa and Sheoldred, it's part of the Hate Machine that never says "die". Well, except to your opponents.
Platinum Angel: "What's your life total?" "Platinum Angel." And it can be reanimated countless times between Glissa and all of our other recursion cards. It's a perfect fit for a deck that exemplifies the cyclical nature of life and death...by stagnating that cycle when it inconveniences you.
Xathrid Gorgon: Can't break a fatty like Ulamog or need to get rid of an ability that's terrorizing your board, such as Kozilek's? This gal not only survives Hythonia's Wrath ability, she shuts down your opponent's creatures that you can't contend with, more often than not. An invaluable ability when coupled with the fact that she has Deathtouch.
Soul of Innistrad: Ugh, your opponent just dumped your hand and milled you for 20! Never fear, Soul of Innistrad is here! Not only does it fit our Deathtouch theme wonderfully, it's one of our creature recyclers! Sure, its ability is a bit costly - but it's well worth it to slam cards like Phage back on the field after your opponent thought they were rid of her! And speaking of Phage...
Phage the Untouchable: One of the most menacing cards in the deck. I have had people target her as soon as she hit the field just because she's that good. Nobody wants a "you lose the game" creature up in their grill.
Vraska, the Unseen: Similarly, most opponents won't let Vraska's ultimate see the light of day. Fortunately, she has a built-in Dread as her +1, so even if your opponent spends some time wiping out Vraska, you still get the removal that a Deathtouch creature would afford you.
Thornbite Staff: Attach to Deathtouch creature. Ping opponent's creature. Untap Deathtouch creature. Repeat until their field is gone. Voila! Also a way to activate Hornet Nest if you're that desperate for a creature with Flying.
Mindslaver: The beauty of Mindslaver in this deck is that if you have 10 mana and Glissa on the board, and your opponent has an unstoppable army of creatures (that don't have flying or Indestructible, or this unfortunately doesn't work), you can spam Mindslaver to have your opponent's creatures ram into Glissa for instant shanking. It's a nice way to clear a board in 1v1, and in multiplayer, the other people at your table being terrorized by the person with the army will pat you on the back for being a giant dillwaffle to the person you are repeatedly Mindslavering.
Plague Boiler: "Why not run a traditional Wrath?" Well, why would I do that when I can hold this one over my opponents' heads as long as I need to? Yeah, it costs mana to keep it from blowing its load, but when you're trying to prevent someone from doing something bad, they'll eventually either get impatient enough and just do it, or you can slowly build an army to take them out with. Of course, if their threat gets bigger than yours, that's when you pop Plague Boiler - but if you want everyone else to slow waaay down, drop it on the field and watch the magic unfold. I personally prefer it to Nevinyrral's Disk because if you have enough mana, you can make Plague Boiler go boom on the turn you drop it, and it's really easy to bluff opponents into doing nothing by rapidly and maliciously accelerating Plague Boiler and then on the next turn removing all of its counters. It's all psychological, yo.
Grimoire of the Dead: Okay, I know what you're thinking - yes, it's really slow. Yes, there are better reanimator cards - even ones that give you every creature from every graveyard. However, most of those cards are not artifacts, and most of those cards don't pitch things into your graveyard for you to revive. Not only can you re-use Grimoire endlessly with Glissa out and killing everything, you can keep throwing things away. That's right, you can pitch your entire hand of creatures for 5 turns to bring them all back. Yes, artifact removal is prominent. But I guarantee that you can get more artifacts back than they can destroy eventually, and when you do, this card is a hell of a doozy to go off. Just make sure you don't have Phage skulking about your grave with this card out, unless you also have Platinum Angel buried along with her!
Part of the fun of Glissa is the synergy that the cards have with each other. As far as creature-centric decks are concerned, Glissa is very much about control - especially tempo control.
Here are some of the meaner combos that may make your opponents pull their hair out in frustration!
Glissa, the Traitor (or any Deathtouch creature!) + Thornbite Staff
Blasting Station + Salvaging Station + Grinding Station + Summoning Station + Expedition Map or Sol Ring
Grave Pact/Dictate of Erebos/Butcher of Malakir + Ogre Slumlord + Blasting Station + It That Betrays
Sheoldred, Whispering One + Skullwinder/Sidisi, Undead Vizier + Blasting Station
Hornet Nest + Thornbite Staff (to ping itself!)
Wurmcoil Engine + Blasting Station + Glissa, the Traitor
"Why aren't you running (X Deathtouch creature)?"
Well, as stated I went through the entire database of Deathtouch creatures, and wanted a well-rounded curve - so if it has Deathtouch and you don't see it in here, that's by design!
"Why aren't you running Tormod's Crypt?"
Tormod's Crypt is a great card for artifact recursion, and it's especially good in EDH where graveyard hate is almost necessary. However, I haven't really found a spot for it, yet, and it's definitely a non-bo with Grimoire of the Dead.
"Why aren't you running Curse of the Cabal?"
It's not really suited for multiplayer games, as it only hits one player at a time. Additionally, I just can't justify the mana cost for what it does.
"Why aren't you running Abyssal Gatekeeper?"
For 2 mana, I'd rather just have another Deathtouch creature. Sure, it goes along nicely with Slumlord, Butcher, and It That Betrays, but for a smaller creature, I would rather control when my opponent will be attacking me and benefitting from that accordingly, such as with Sedge Scorpion or Venom Sliver.
"Why aren't you running Anowon, Archdemon of Unx, or Call to the Grave?"
Again, they synergize well with the aforementioned lot, but they're a pretty dead draw if I don't have one of my token generators.
"Why aren't you running Serpent Generator?"
Too expensive for what it does. Plus, I have Ophiomancer.
"Why aren't you running Archfiend of Depravity?"
It feels too situational; what if my opponent isn't creature-heavy? And then I still have to wait until the end of the turn for it to go off. Sheoldred is much better suited for this purpose, I think.
"Why aren't you running Ashling?"
Because then my opponents would block him, and not my creatures with Deathtouch.
"Why aren't you running Champion of Stray Souls?"
Grimoire is just better, both for being able to get ALL creatures from EVERY graveyard, and for being an artifact to recur with Glissa.
"Why aren't you running Defense of the Heart?"
If you're piloting Glissa correctly, your opponent should never have enough creatures to get the trigger.
"Why aren't you running Demon of Wailing Agonies?"
Unfortunately, Glissa, herself, draws a lot of hate - so there's no guarantee you'd be able to keep her out to make use of his ability. Glissa's army should be able to conquer the land well enough on its own!
"Why aren't you running Desecration Demon?"
It just feels underwhelming for what it does. Sure, you either get a flyer or removal, but most opponents will say, "Okay, instead of sacrificing my creature or letting you have a big flyer, I'm going to play (removal spell)."
"Why aren't you running any of the Spellbombs?"
Personal preference, I guess. I don't feel like they synergize well with what the build has going on and I'm not at all concerned about card advantage; Sidisi + Sheoldred + Skullwinder and any of the sac outlets (including Birthing Pod) the deck has offer plenty of tutorability. Expedition Map is great, too.
"Why aren't you running Wanderer's Twig?"
Expedition Map is better.
"Why aren't you running Nevinyrral's Disk?"
Four reasons: It's much easier to psych people out with Plague Boiler (even though it costs more mana to maintain), Plague Boiler only costs {3} to play initially and can be activated on the turn you play it if you have enough mana, Disk doesn't hit Planeswalkers, and there's already enough removal in the deck that another Wrath would be silly.
"Why aren't you running Evolutionary Leap?"
While Evolutionary Leap might potentially be better than Birthing Pod in this deck, I can't recur it with Glissa and it only gets the card to our hand.
"Why aren't you running Fleshbag Marauder?"
I don't wanna sacrifice my creatures if not for a good reason!
If you have any more questions about why I'm not running something specific, or why I'm running any of the choices that I do have in the deck, let me know!
Golgari Guildgate -> Expedition Map
Acid-Spewer Dragon -> Sheoldred, Whispering One
Graveblade Marauder -> Sylvok Replica
Vengeful Pharaoh -> Mindslaver
Gilt-Leaf Palace -> Thornbite Staff
Birthing Pod -> Grave Pact
Avatar of Woe -> Dictate of Erebos
Swamp -> Executioner's Capsule
Forest -> Viridian Longbow
Pharika, God of Affliction -> Deathreap Ritual
Toxin Sliver -> Birthing Pod
Venom Sliver -> Wasteland Viper
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
| Omnath | Zada | Alesha | Scion |
| Mazirek | Animar |
Modern
UR Storm RU
UBRG Dredge GRBU
Standard
UR Thermo-Thing RU
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
0 Hangarback walker
2 Myr retriever
3 Fierce empath
3 Vampire nighthawk
3 Junk diver
3 Moriok Replica
3 Sylvok Replica
3 Burnished Hart
3 Pharika, god of Affliction
4 Solemn simulacrum
4 Meren of clan Nel Toth
4 Archbound reclaimer
5 Acidic slime
5 Precursor golem
6 Wurmcoil engine
6 Soul of new phyrexia
6 Duclicant
6 Steel hellkite
6 Grave titan
6 Massacre Wurm
7 Sheoldred the whispering one
7 Myr battlesphere
8 Craterhoof behemoth
Enchantments
3 Pernicious Deed
5 Curse of death's hold
5 Dictate of Erabos
Artifacts
0 Mishra's bauble
1 Sol ring
1 Pithing needle
1 Nihil spellbomb
1 Viridian longbow
1 expedition map
1 Skullclamp
1 Codex shredder
1 Conjurer's bauble
1 Chormatic star
1 Wayfarer's bauble
1 Execution's capsule
2 Strionic resonator
2 Swiftfoot boots
2 Mind stone
2 Nim deathmantle
2 Thornbite staff
3 Oblivion stone
3 Mimic vat
3 Golgari keyrune
3 Ashnod's altar
3 Unstable Obelisk
4 Hedron Archive
4 Jester's cap
4 Trading post
4 Birthing Pod
4 Nevinyrral's Disk
5 Battlerskull
6 Salvaging station
6 Mindslaver
3 Putrefy
3 Krosan grip
Sorceries
2 Life from the loam
2 Profane command
3 Ashes to Ashes
5 Crux of fate
8 decree of pain
Lands
1 Arcane lighthouse
2 Ghost Quarter
3 Reliquary tower
4 Buried ruin
5 Phyrexia's core
6 Hissing quagmire
7 Darksteel citadel
8 Blighted woodland
9 Blighted fen
10 Evolving wilds
11 Terramorphic expanse
12 Verdant Catacombs
13 Forbidden Orchard
14 Tranquil thicket
15 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
16 Bojuka bog
17 Mortuary mire
18 Barren moor
19 Vault of whispers
20 Woodland cemetery
21 Temple of malady
22 Golgari rotfarm
23 Golgari guildgate
24 Jungle hollow
25 Llanowar wastes
26 Overgrown tomb
Your list looks a lot like mine did when I first built it with a deathtouch focus a lots of inefficient mana rocks, but years of work and some $$ has polished the deck up a treat.
Thoughts about your deck.
You mana rocks are pretty bad, I am only playing the ones I can use/sack later in the game for advantage, although my curve is a little lower (and only 35 lands) they really aren't worth the slots they would be the first place I would go to improve the deck.
"combos" you are missing
Viridian longbow, you need this.. it goes infinite with thornbite staff and is still useful without it.
I have Ashnod's altar + Nim Deathmantle as my major combo, makes infinite dudes with wurmcoil.
I have Pharika, god of affliction and forbidden orchard that give my opponents 1/1 creatures, this allows me to use Curse of death's hold to cause a death trigger whenever I want to. Pharika also makes deathtouchers and with your large number of non artifact creatures you can use her to produce more deathtouchers.
I am assuming you are playing against a lot of creature based decks since that is where this kind of thing would work. I had to be somewhat more proactive or I lose to some combo deck.
"I am Craterhoof behemoth, ender of games, look on my board state, ye mighty, and despair"
With so many creatures I would have trouble not using Birthing pod, if birthing pod stays on the field for more than one turn you should win the game. I guess too many of your creatures are vanilla, to stick with the theme, and not abusing ETB and death triggers, which is the real use of the card not just ramping to your 7 drops.
Personal taste is part of the deck commander deck building process so, I wont press my particular style on you, rather I'll just say you have a lot lower power than is possible in green black and artifacts, perhaps that is what is best in your meta and trying to power up might start an arms race.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
I'm thinking of trying out Executioner's Capsule. I should add Viridian Longbow, yeah.
I do prefer to keep my mana rocks in play so I don't have to spend mana to re-cast them, but I use the Ramos rocks and Command Sphere for recursive purposes.
Thanks for the suggestions!
Now to figure out what to take out...
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
WUR Ruhan of the Fomori [Primer] | WGR Marath, Will of the Wild | WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician | WUB Sharuum, the Hegemon | WBGR Tymna the Weaver / Tana, the Bloodsower | BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots | BUG Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
You'd think so, but there's just too many times it doesn't work. For starters, you can't tap it for mana short of having Urborg out, so it hurts your mana generation early. Second 3 mana plus the Arena to activate is a lot to maybe kill your opponent's worst create and possibly lose one of yours in the process. I've tried it multiple times in my Glissa deathtouch tribal deck, and for every one time it worked there were five it actively hurt me. Maybe someone else would have better luck with it, but I'm just having a hard time envisioning the math where that's true.
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
I can't answer for the OP, but I'll say for me it's because Wood Elves don't have deathtouch, and that at least to me building/playing decks with a self-imposed set of rules and restricts breeds creativity and lends itself to a lot more satisfying wins than does just slotting in generic goodstuff cards that might be slightly more efficient.
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
^ What this guy said. It feels incorrect for it to be in the deck. Plus when Plague Boiler pops, I can easily grab my mana rocks back, which will accelerate my creature output rate.
Hmm. Deathreap seems like a good fit. The number of creatures seems fine, though, based on testing I've seen so far. Thanks for the recommendations!
Edit: I think I'm gonna take out Pharika for Deathreap. She doesn't synergize well with all of the creature recursion I have.
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
| Omnath | Zada | Alesha | Scion |
| Mazirek | Animar |
Modern
UR Storm RU
UBRG Dredge GRBU
Standard
UR Thermo-Thing RU
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
Edit: I still haven't gotten to play It That Betrays, yet. Next time I draw it, if I can't play it, that's probably what's gonna go for the slot.
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player