This is my take on a spellslinging UW Grand Arbiter Augustin IV build. Why go spellslinger with this you might ask? Well I like the ability to spin up more spells for less mana while slowing down my opponents. This is kind of a token based spellslinger deck so you will see that spellcasting is high on my list of things I try to play with and then I run a lot of support creatures and enchantments to try to support that. I noticed a few interesting interactions with some cost lowered draw effects and the prowess triggers I wanted to see where it could go.
REMOVAL: Ætherspouts - defensive wrath at instant speed. Ætherize - defensive wrath at instant speed. Capsize - useful removal but it really needs big mana or a lot of untaps to abuse it well. Cost reducing it by 1 mana is nice but to really spam this I would need a lot which is not the build I am going for offhand.
SPELLSLINGING EFFECTS: Bösium Strip - similar ish to Mirari but you can break it up for another time. Its better with counterspells and wraths but worse in that its harder to control. Mirari - Its nice in spellslinger but again, it adds a lot of overhead to spells and I am trying to cost reduce and do more rather than get more value from big splashy things.
CREATURES: Thing in the Ice - it acts as a tempo wrath + big creature. Medomai the Ageless - its a strong effect but other than being a 4/4 for 4 flying that probably dies before it gets there I dont know much of what it gives me. Pristine Skywise - it turns into a 6/4 for 4 with flying that can vigilantly attack and block for me while deterring spot removal on it and red sweepers. Ojutai, Soul of Winter - big flyer who doesnt bring down too much hate on itself and it cost reduces to 5 mana with my commander in play while giving me some offense + defense.
TAX / HATEBEAR: Crystal Shard - it can be used with the taxation of my commander to really harass people or defend the creatures I do run. Suppression Field - it adds quite a bit to the taxation of the commander. It doesnt really add much to the spellslinging though. Damping Matrix - adds a lot to the taxation feel of the deck. I dont have much for activated abilities on artifacts or creatures either. Torpor Orb - I dont have much for ETB effects. Hushwing Gryff - I dont have much for ETB effects. Containment Priest - a good hatebear effect and costing just a single white mana is nice. Null Rod - I dont use much for artifacts. Stony Silence - I dont use much for artifacts.
TOKENS / TOKEN SUPPORT: Opposition - the deck went a bit more token based than I had originally expected it to. I like the effect and it works well with my commander who I dont really intend to attack in with as well.
FLASHBACK: Quiet Speculation - it can go get me 3 spells which is sort of cool especially if I buff up my targets. I already run Think Twice and Deep Analysis. What I love about this idea is that I get a draw 3 cards for 4 mana and 3 life already with 3 spellcasts triggered here. Really if I can come up with one more flashback card I like for this deck it feels like it would be enough. The best part of this is that its really not susceptible to graveyard hate as you can cast it then once it resolves your next move can be to flashback Deep Analysis with the instant speed of Think Twice also up. Divine Reckoning - I am not super interested in it other than having the toolbox of a flashback card that I could get with the Quiet Speculation. This is like an idea of beyond adding Quiet Speculation this could be interesting to have in the toolbox. It keeps my commander alive as well which is useful. Feeling of Dread - I like that I can cast it for 1 mana on both its cast and flashback. Its a nice little defensive spell but you can play with it as people accidentally shortcut things you can rewind them to declaring attacks. Its also 2x noncreature spellcasts for 2 mana while screwing with attackers / blockers. Momentary Blink - it can protect from spot removal but I dont know how much of that I am going to attract. Its good if you expect to get targeted by spot removal though and it seems decent off of Quiet Speculation but otherwise I am not super huge on it.
I started off by thinking to myself what if I focused on cheap spells that cost 2-3 mana and focus on the fact that I can really multi task them well with this commander. I really liked the idea of single mana Impulse effects and then generating value on top of the fact that they were so cheap to cast.
Archaeomancer - I did consider it. I have always considered this card to be a little more expensive than I want it to be considering Eternal Witness is a 3 mana recover anything I have a harder time paying 4 mana at sorcery speed to pick up a selective card type. With the cost reduction from the commander it does improve some but I dont have a lot of creature abuse in here or things to encourage creatures specifically. Running it with Ghostway and or Eerie Interlude would improve it obviously as it would give me a 2 mana flicker all of my creatures repeatedly but at the same time I dont have a lot of creatures I would run a mass flicker for so I feel like while this could be an option its something a little better run in decks where running ETB creatures as it really doesnt do much but wrath protection unless you introduce additional creatures with ETB effects. It seems like fun with this commander but I felt it would require a little different build to really justify offhand.
Jace's Ingenuity - I did consider this kind of card as well as cards like Blue Sun's Zenith, Think Twice, and Concentrate in here. I ended up when I first built this with something like 120 cards in deck so I had to do a lot of cuts to get to 100 cards.
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy - I would like to consider him but at his current price tag I have been hesitant to test him in this format (not because I cant spend that kind of money but because I dont feel his price tag will stay where it is). If he drops after he rotates out of standard I will consider picking up a copy but I think I remember someone saying he sees some legacy or modern play but I cant really back that up as I dont know. If he drops in price I will see if I cant get a single copy but I feel like the price tag is a little high for me to pick him up as it stands.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
It's card disadvantage, but if the plan is to sling spells and reduce their cost then it seems like Frantic Search would be good here.
That could work but it would really put more of an emphasis on how much you value the actual trigger of a spell being cast more in my mind or be more of a dig to combo tactic. Because of the cost reduction that my commander already gives I felt like I was somewhat getting a portion of that effect on all of my spells already so I valued it a little less. I think it comes down to how much you value just the act of casting a spell as to how valuable it is. Its certainly possible that I may increase my assessment of the spellcast trigger but as it stands right now I felt it was not important enough. I would more likely consider a card advantage draw right now to filter because of that. It is amusing that it serves as filter + ramp though. It becomes more possible if I consider adding Crucible of Worlds for instance as I could discard lands and play them. Its possible I may consider this but right now I felt it wasn't high enough on my list of effects needed.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I started off by thinking to myself what if I focused on cheap spells that cost 2-3 mana and focus on the fact that I can really multi task them well with this commander. I really liked the idea of single mana Impulse effects and then generating value on top of the fact that they were so cheap to cast.
Archaeomancer - I did consider it. I have always considered this card to be a little more expensive than I want it to be considering Eternal Witness is a 3 mana recover anything I have a harder time paying 4 mana at sorcery speed to pick up a selective card type. With the cost reduction from the commander it does improve some but I dont have a lot of creature abuse in here or things to encourage creatures specifically. Running it with Ghostway and or Eerie Interlude would improve it obviously as it would give me a 2 mana flicker all of my creatures repeatedly but at the same time I dont have a lot of creatures I would run a mass flicker for so I feel like while this could be an option its something a little better run in decks where running ETB creatures as it really doesnt do much but wrath protection unless you introduce additional creatures with ETB effects. It seems like fun with this commander but I felt it would require a little different build to really justify offhand.
Jace's Ingenuity - I did consider this kind of card as well as cards like Blue Sun's Zenith, Think Twice, and Concentrate in here. I ended up when I first built this with something like 120 cards in deck so I had to do a lot of cuts to get to 100 cards.
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy - I would like to consider him but at his current price tag I have been hesitant to test him in this format (not because I cant spend that kind of money but because I dont feel his price tag will stay where it is). If he drops after he rotates out of standard I will consider picking up a copy but I think I remember someone saying he sees some legacy or modern play but I cant really back that up as I dont know. If he drops in price I will see if I cant get a single copy but I feel like the price tag is a little high for me to pick him up as it stands.
Did you playtest the deck at all? How about in grindy multiplayer decks? That's why I insist on Archaeomancer and a flicker effect. Since the deck runs many nonpermanents he could be useful when you want to get that instant to save your ass or win the game. I know it's kinda situational but I've been in that position with U noncombo decks numerous times
Additionally, Rewind with GAAIV can get you an extra land untapped, Aetherize can save you from aggro swarms and Fiend Hunter for two W sounds like value to me.
I am surprised that you only had 120 cards to choose, I am checking stuff for your deck now and GAAIV's cost reduction makes so many cards much more useful.
Did you playtest the deck at all? How about in grindy multiplayer decks? That's why I insist on Archaeomancer and a flicker effect. Since the deck runs many nonpermanents he could be useful when you want to get that instant to save your ass or win the game. I know it's kinda situational but I've been in that position with U noncombo decks numerous times
Additionally, Rewind with GAAIV can get you an extra land untapped, Aetherize can save you from aggro swarms and Fiend Hunter for two W sounds like value to me.
I am surprised that you only had 120 cards to choose, I am checking stuff for your deck now and GAAIV's cost reduction makes so many cards much more useful.
Playtesting - nope its so far 100% theorycraft. I have some interest in following up on it as it seems like an interesting build but I have no actual time spent piloting it thus far.
Archaeomancer - I think its a fine add if you want to run him. I just felt that there wasnt a lot of value in the creature part of his effect given I didnt really plan to abuse creatures so the question in my mind is why run him over say Call to Mind where you can shave off a mana. The answer if you ask me is that if you run creature abuse you can generate additional value in some way or another. Because I didn't plan to play creature abuse I had a harder time justifying it. I also believe that to some larger degree its safer to draw more cards than it is to resort to graveyard tricks when you have the option because graveyard hate is far more common than any sort of hate on card drawing. If you are early in a game its possible to not have targets as well. It can be a powerful effect but at the same time tutors / draw / redundancy can also work just fine.
Rewind - I did look at it briefly but honestly even with it generating mana I would still generally rather pay a single mana for a counter when given the option or opening up to additional value through means of increased options. I think its probably ok if you want to run it but personally I would rather run Remand which was on my list until some of the last cuts over rewind as a Remand + the commander's taxation seems really rough considering you pay a single blue mana and draw a card from it. Rewind can get you ready to do another action but it has a higher cost to cast and I feel like its probably stronger to just go with a cheaper effect than to worry about the untap potential.
Ætherspouts / Ætherize - both are effects I considered for some time. I decided in the end to run Angel of the Dire Hour in part because I felt it was unlikely that I would need this effect early on and the removal is superior / comes with a threat of its own. I think I would run Ætherspouts over Ætherize still but I think all have good merits to them and some good potential. I was also considering Reins of Power at one point as well for this type of effect. In the end I cut it back some but I think they all have some good in being considered.
Fiend Hunter - ehhhh I would probably just run Swords to Plowshares over this. I like this effect in sacrifice based decks but it has too much liability outside of that type of deck type if you ask me.
Pieces of the Puzzle - Keep in mind that generally speaking only 1/4 of a deck will be instant / sorcery even when running a heavy count of them which means that on average it will get one effect but you will not have any choice in picking it. I try not to run these selective draws in commander often because of how diverse decks tend to be its generally stronger to not have limitations on what you can take in these kind of draw effects.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I have been putting this together over the last few days and I wanted to make a few adjustments. I think there is a lot of room to play with things still and I have my eye on a few cards I want added potentially yet as well as some that I am sort of still on the fence with. For now I will do the following:
DECK CHANGE:
Venser, Shaper Savant -> Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Venser is a great creature dont get me wrong. The problem is that I dont really have any way in which I plan to interact with him beyond the fact that he is a remand who can also serve as a Boomerang. I like Venser but I like him more in a deck with some creature abuse outlets. Jace, Vryn's Prodigy on the other hand fits a deck like this very well as it can cycle cards plus grant me flashback. I dont have a Jace right now but I will probably proxy test and see how I like him while at the same time waiting for his price drop as he gets closer to rotating from standard.
Sphinx-Bone Wand -> Comeuppance I like the idea of Sphinx-Bone Wand but in all practicality, its super expensive, I am not cost reducing casting it, and it needs to stay in play for a while to add up. I always want this card to work but suspect its not worth the time. On the other hand, I like that Comeuppance seems rather versatile in how it works and its a strong counter to a big push haymaker effect / swarm of creatures.
Idyllic Tutor -> Think Twice I felt like I couldn't really identify a lot of times in which there was a enchantment that I needed out of this deck. The closest I could come up with is that Treachery seems always fairly good but short of that I felt like I wanted to push more on the "noncreature spellcast" trigger and I liked Think Twice in that it cheaply gave me a few draws and spellcasts.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion -> Ætherspouts overall it will take some effort to defend Elspeth and while I think she does fit its kind of loosely. Mostly I was thinking that her wrath doesn't catch my board but I think at the same time I can have Ætherspouts instead and function a little more on the instant speed area of the game. There is some issue that Propaganda effects dont naturally protect planeswalkers and it seems like a lot of work to actively try to protect her when she is a value over time walker.
There are still a lot of things I am trying to pack in here. I keep expanding my consideration list and I will try to give some feedback on how it goes when I do get to play it.
I am new to Grandy but I like a mix of weird big splashy spells and some staxx effects. The only difference is i don't play many creatures. The only ones I play are Medomai and trinket mage. Instead i play weird huge spells like dream halls, omniscience, and extra turn effects, creature swapping like reins of power and cultural exchange, lots of draw power, some planeswalkers, especially Narset since i play more spell heavy and removal. The one card i wish i had was Peacekeeper though.
So, I ended up going 3/3 last night and I used this deck for 2/3 of those games. The two games in which I played with this deck I was playing 3 player games as the first one went fast and we had more people show up as the night went on.
I ended up toying with a Think Twice as we opened the game. I curved into my commander this game while going first.
Alesha started oddly and for some reason did not want to play his commander on curve. He dropped an Imperial Recruiter and I think he fetched up a Serra Ascendant or something with it on turn 3. After I played my commander he dropped an Attrition but had to tap out to do so. I dropped an Aura of Silence on my turn after the Attrition which pushed Odric off of his turn. At the end of Odric's turn I popped the Attrition that I had to assume he was going to shoot up my commander with.
Alesha drops his Serra Ascendant and gets ready to do some beating. I drop a Sunscorch Regent to hopefully outpace the Serra Ascendant in the long run. Odcric is hurting in the corner not doing a lot for whatever reason. Alesha does some attacking and manages a Turn 7 Sun Titan rezing his Attrition.
Game 2: 3 player FFA against the same opponents but the Odric player switches to Sidisi, Brood Tyrant.
This game goes really poorly for me. I have 3 lands in my opener and my Anticipate / draws see no lands at least 8-9 cards down into my deck so my 3 lands get me a lot less than I want. I did start with a Gemstone Caverns but the lack of follow up on it kind of hurt. When I do finally find my 4th land of course it is Prairie Stream with only one basic....
So, I play the politics game and mostly escape any major smiting in the early game. Sidisi gets set up with some tokens and is hitting his ramp very well while Alesha is using Land Tax + Phyrexian Arena to good use. I finally get into the game with my commander as I am at like... 32 or so life. Luckily for me Alesha had mulliganned to 5 cards and did not have a fast start. I see Sidisi play with a Fleshbag Marauder with his Phyrexian Reclamation but doesn't have the mana for it so I quickly play a clone of his Sidisi hoping to hit some extra tokens off of it just to keep me from having a problem (of course my deck contains very few creatures so that really doesnt pan out well).
Sidisi plays an Akroma's Memorial and swings at Alesha some. I find this amusing as I am sitting on a Clever Impersonator so when it comes to my turn I join in the fun and I am the only one not running black or red in my colors so it seems good for me. I also play a Blind Obedience which cuts into Sidisi's fun with haste (he was about to hit us with a Pathbreaker Ibex).
We kind of go around for a few turns of Alesha just kind of mad because he cant nicely attack us right now. Alesha eventually sets up a Homura, Human Ascendant and flips him to join the all flying party but several of his minions are still black or red keeping him in a somewhat awkward spot but he does have a flipped Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant as well so he can block well with his white creatures.
I toy with a Dragonlord Ojutai who manages to bring me from 4 to 6 lands very slowly (man I really hurt for lands this game). Sidisi got a Mesmeric Orb out and manages to get several tokens in off of it but he is getting low on life and the tokens are coming in tapped thanks to my Blind Obedience. Sidisi plays an Opposition trying to keep some of my creatures in check as he cant block them due to the protection from black.
I end up extorting for 1 off of an end of turn Dismantling Blow and swinging for 5 with Ojuti whom he cant tap or block who kills him. I follow up with an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite who completely wrecks Alesha's board with the exception of a Sun Titan who lives. Alesha on his next turn puts like 2 equipment onto his Sun Titan and swings back at me for 10 damage with lifelink. I follow that turn up by swinging back for 15 and playing a Disciple of the Ring + tapping his Sun Titan down on his turn. He scoops.
So.... I will probably add Land Tax and possibly consider some 2 mana or less ramp. My landbase might also be too heavy on non colored mana considering the cost reduction ends up with me a lot more mana hungry for colored mana than I anticipated. I will think on things a bit more but some of it might have just come down to first games and my deck possibly not being as shuffled as it could have been.
I am new to Grandy but I like a mix of weird big splashy spells and some staxx effects. The only difference is i don't play many creatures. The only ones I play are Medomai and trinket mage. Instead i play weird huge spells like dream halls, omniscience, and extra turn effects, creature swapping like reins of power and cultural exchange, lots of draw power, some planeswalkers, especially Narset since i play more spell heavy and removal. The one card i wish i had was Peacekeeper though.
I did consider going lighter on the creatures but I dont really want to do the traditional taxation grand arbiter not to mention my meta would be mad if I actually moved to Stax[/card] / MLD / Stasis effects.
Peacekeeper might be something I consider adding but it has the downside that they cant kill each other when its out. Someone played a Peacekeeper in the third game of the night and it did get me thinking about it again in here. I might also consider going further on my propaganda effects too as that also could be an interaction that works with the commander.
I don't do too much staxx effects mainly static orb, icy manipulator, voltaic key and mana web. I mostly play weird enchantments. I might squeeze in sigil of the empty throne alongside luminarch ascension though or an entreat the angels. Since i dont own peacekeeper i play things like island sanctuary and some board wipes. Ill prolly add deadeye, i try and avoid it typically but infinite turns via him and archaeomancer is just too good. I may add a Baneslayer Angel, she is pretty dope in general. Precognition has been a house for me and sphere of safety as insurance. Since Im spell heavy Narset walker really helps, and even with just the tiniest staxx element teferi walker is sweet.
I just dont really expect to use the colonade creature activate portion so it comes down to how much I value a ETB tapped land that provides both colors. I would say that offhand I feel like I would get as much if not more out of Temple of Enlightenment just from the expectation to really never bother using the creature activate portion of colonade. Given that I have a strong dislike for ETB tapped lands and my low expectation on the creature animation side of things I just dont really see much of a reason to run colonade.
Cast Through Time - I cant comment on it much as I have not gotten to really draw it much. I will keep an eye on it though. I like that it interacts well with what this deck is trying to do though generally speaking. It is possible that its too big of a threat and or that I would not get to stick it for the turn I need to generate additional value form it. Its hard to say offhand.
I did play a game of 3 team 2HG last night which I did win. I ended up with a Mystic Remora until turn 4 drawing me a good 4+ cards hitting my commander on curve with a turn 5 Bribery with Negate backup for an Elesh Norn that whiped my opponents fields. My teammate was playing Aurelia, the Warleader so between him swinging with that + a Hero of Bladehold we ended up winning by like turn 7-8 with me having something like 3x counterspell backup to keep our field moving while he just super murdered them and I taxed them with my commander plus Elesh Norn (I had another Elesh Norn in hand lol).
EDIT: I think I ended up cutting Jace, Vryn's Prodigy and Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest recently but I cant remember what exact change I made offhand. I will see if I cant figure out what change I made.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
The last two weeks I have had some better performance from this deck.
Last Week:
I was playing a 6 player 3 team 2 headed giant game with my partner being Aurelia, the Warleader. I opened with a turn 1 Mystic Remora that I maintained through turn 3 and dropped when it came to casting my commander. It netted me something like 4-6 cards in all in that time which gave me some good card selection.
Turn 4 was my commander. This turn stalled my opponents who didnt get a lot out right now.
Turn 5 I drop a Bribery on the BW player to get an Elesh Norn who literally kills every creature my opponents have out including 2 commanders and several bitterblossom tokens. Its a delicious play that shuts down a krenko deck as well. I happen to have 3 counterspells in hand and the single blue up for a negate as well. My ally drops a hero of bladehold.
Turn 6 my partner drops his commander and swings twice at the team I stole the elesh norn from. I swing my elesh norn + commander at the other team. I just pass turn with full defenses up as we have a strong board right now.
Something like 2-3 turns later we have everyone dead to the hero of bladehold + aurelia + elesh norn tatics. The counterspells were not really needed but gave us that extra backing.
This Week:
I mostly slow play my way into the game but I drop my commander and draw some cards. I have a Sunscorch Regent on turn 5 and I just keep him back on defense because Aurelia, the Warleader is coming soon.
Turn 6 I put out a Cast Through Time because I am not really being pressed on right now. Aurelia casts his commander thanks to some ramp and does some more punching but not at me (thanks Sunscorch Regent).
From here there are a few more jabs at people and I think the 5 color deck dies next. I am in a good position and another player decides to scoop which kind of makes cascading scoops and I win via people wanting to get in on the next game which is about to form.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I went back and forth for a bit on if I was going to keep playing this deck because a lot of people have a lot of hate for being taxed. In the end though the tax is not what this deck is about and with all of the new toys coming out I really want to keep playing him so for the time being, I am just going to not care about how much people hate GAAIV and keep playing him.
DECK CHANGES:
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy -> Recruiter of the Guard Jace I always had an issue with that his flashback didnt feel like it mattered enough because a lot of my stuff is low cost. I also could not control if and when he flipped which made him feel more awkward as sometimes I just wanted the loot. It felt too questionable I guess. Recruiter can go and get me a Talrand, Monastery Mentor, clone, or snapcaster mage. That might not be a huge list of options but I like that all of them are very impactful for me.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest -> Torrential Gearhulk - I think I actually cut Shu Yun a while back but I dont remember what for so I will just update it now. The gearhulk has a lot of great targets and it comes with a very solid body as well which I like. It can add a lot of good tricksyness.
Skywise Teachings -> Metallurgic Summonings - just trading up in token generation. They might not fly but otherwise the tokens are much better and do not take mana on casting things to generate which seems great to me.
Rite of Replication -> Darksteel Plate - I was always kind of let down by rite of replication probably in part because I dont actually have a lot of ramp and my deck more functions based on casting cheap spells and cost reducing them further. The plate should hopefully give me a little more elasticity because I draw a lot of hate to my commander.
Citadel Siege -> Niblis of Frost - its a very similar effect but I like that the creature sticks to my theme a little more. I can also burn resources to lock up more things in one go. It is also a cool flyer I guess. I question a little bit adding more and more of these creatures but I like this one's trigger. I might in the end question my count on these type of effects but for now I want to just jam another in :D.
Blind Obedience -> Mind Games - Other than Blind Obedience being cheap for me to cast, I dont think it fits as well as I want with what I am doing. Mind Games gives me that spell cast trigger and it does it very very cheaply as I cost reduce it. With a lot of this deck its about that spellcast trigger.
Isochron Scepter -> Mystic Speculation - I found myself having a harder time ever using the Isochron than I had anticipated. I might consider it again in the future but for now I just want more things to trigger my effects with. I like that the speculation is something I could do every turn as a spellcast trigger and I could do it multiple times if I wanted. It gives me a very cheap trigger effect for my on spellcast effects.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I have been meaning to make some changes here for a while. Its been hard for me to nail down some of the changes and a few of them I am still a bit skeptical on but in general I have wanted to cut some of the more expensive things and focus more on things that have good synergy. I havent been able to test much lately in part because I knew I had another wave of changes that I have just had a hard time nailing down for a bit now.
DECK CHANGES:
Quiet Contemplation -> Sapphire Medallion so, I like Quet Contemplation because its an enchantment so its harder to remove but at the same time its been a huge pain in the ass trying to pay one more when casting spells. I want cheap spells and I want them to chain better as what I do so paying one more is something I often do not want to do. I also added some buyback cards which have been doing some great work. My deck is much heavier blue so it makes more sense to use the blue medallion here especially since I have some blue buyback spells which this really enables.
Cast Through Time -> Manifold Insights I love the idea of Cast through Time but its mana and sorcery speed were both unwieldly. I think its a very cool and flavorful effect but I just couldnt spend the time to cast it because of its high cost. My commander's cost reducing really shines when I am chaining cheap spells rather than trying to mash big expensive cards into play. Manifold Insights is a new card and one I find interesting in that this deck really just needs to chain its card advantage and I really dont run "bad" cards in here so even though my opponents get to chose, I get 3 cards that are non lands to my hand for 2 mana. That still sounds like good card advantage even with my opponents choosing.
Angel of the Dire Hour -> Selfless Squire I feel like the Angel is stronger vs random creatures and the Selfless is stronger vs tokens. Overall, Selfless seems like a much better threat and potential to turn a big turn back on someone. Its also less mana to cast so I was sold on it. I think there are situations that the Angel is better for but at the same time I wanted the cheaper option. I could see myself going back and trying the angel again but for now lets go with the cheaper option.
Honor the Fallen -> Purify the Grave I am honestly rarely casting Honor for any real lifegain. I am also really not very frequently catching multiple cards in a meaningful way so I think the ability to get two casts out of it might be better for me. This also makes Quiet Speculation a lot better because it pushes me to have 3 flashback cards. I had a LOT of cards in my consideration list this time though so I opted not to follow through with that for now. I couldn't bring myself to run less grave hate so it was just a question of what effect to consider and I like my on spellcast triggers and so a cheap flashback card that fills one of my needs seems good.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite -> Mystical Tutor I love Elesh Norn but too often it seemed underwhelming to me here. I run a lot of great defenses and this is sorcery speed and often tapped me down too far. I found myself wanting more tutors so I am bringing in some tutors in its place. I was originally trying to focus on things I could reduce the cost of as well as card advantage but even with the card disadvantage of tutoring to topdeck the selection options are worth it in my mind.
Recruiter of the Guard -> Enlightened Tutor I looked through my deck and the Guard gives me the option of a clone, snapcaster, token production, or Selfless Squire. I felt that the tutor options of Enlightened Tutor were just far superior. There is the card disadvantage aspect of the tutor but at the same time the targeting options are so much better I feel its justified.
1 Plains -> Land Tax I have been sometimes finding myself needing to get a land from some of my Impulse like cards. I figure its worth having a little card advantage that gets me those lands so I dont have to spend good resources doing that. With adding Enlightened Tutor it also seems good to add Land Tax to the deck. Going to 37 lands seems acceptable to me for a land count still.
Cards Considered:
Quiet Speculation - I increased my flashback count to 3 so yea, its still on my mind.
Muddle the Mixture - its an ok counterspell but it also has a LOT of good targets. If I could transmute at instant speed this wouldnt even be really a problem but considering transmute is an ability and is not cost reduced plus its sorcery speed it keeps me second guessing it.
Faerie Artisans - It looks like good value but it also looks like something that would get super spot removed. I dont really have much for synergy with creatures so I would just be hoping for opponents ETB effects. I just dont see much synergy with what I am doing here even though it looks like a cool new card.
Crystal Shard - tax + bounce options seem like it would intensify my commander's tax. I like what it does but other than being a jerk with more tax I dont see myself really doing much with it.
Opposition - I like what it does and I am a token deck of sorts.
Tithe - This card is never bad but I somehow always have a hard time making room for it. This is even a spellslinger deck so it could get some extra value here. I just have a hard time cutting other cards for it I guess.
Overall, I cut a LOT of mana costs with these latest changes. I cut something like 16 mana off with these changes which is kind of a big deal. I would rather the deck chain together though than to be casting big splashy cards so I will try to keep working on that moving forward.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I really loved this deck but sadly everyone at my meta had sort of a huge thing out for me when I would play this deck. I may put it back together at some point but it was to the point that people would like tap out on their own turns to spot remove GAAIV on their own turns knowing I would replay him on my turn as to how frustrated some people were with the deck. Its something I never really understood given that most of what people NORMALLY hate about GAAIV is the bringing up of the tax count or playing it as a tempo deck of which I wasn't really doing either aspect.
I might give it another run through at some point but for right now this moment I have retired him for now. He was very very fun to play and pilot though I can assure you as a spellslinger and the only reasons I did put him down was because of the complaints I received from my meta.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I understand being picked on at the table. I run a very tuned Nekusar deck, yes I'm that guy lol, and I get focused on the whole time. Your deck intrigues me because its not a traditional stax like I see with this commander. I really want to put this list together and see how it takes in my meta.
I understand being picked on at the table. I run a very tuned Nekusar deck, yes I'm that guy lol, and I get focused on the whole time. Your deck intrigues me because its not a traditional stax like I see with this commander. I really want to put this list together and see how it takes in my meta.
I know that stax is the normal way he is played. I was more curious as to how valuable it was to cast a lot of 2-4 mana spells at a reduced cost. The spells at 2-3 mana are the biggest impact to lower their cost generally speaking. Its a very fun deck to pilot but I hear its not so fun to play against lol.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I'm gonna sleeve it up and see what happens. Also, I'm trying to figure out a Thalia, Heretic Cathar deck. Trying to go tax effects and maybe pillowfort into a life gain win con? I'm kinda stuck at the moment cause I like all the Kismet effects, but I don't know if I drop the artifacts for lockdown. Don't think I can break parity with too much tax out there.
1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
CREATURES (15)
1 Gilded Drake
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Monastery Mentor
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Niblis of Frost
1 Ojutai Exemplars
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Selfless Squire
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
1 Disciple of the Ring
1 Dragonlord Ojutai
1 Sunscorch Regent
1 Sun Titan
1 Torrential Gearhulk
ARTIFACT (3)
1 Sol Ring
1 Sapphire Medallion
1 Darksteel Plate
ENCHANTMENT (9)
1 Land Tax
1 Mystic Remora
1 Aura of Silence
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Propaganda
1 Rhystic Study
1 Sacred Mesa
1 Metallurgic Summonings
1 Treachery
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Mind Games
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Purify the Grave
1 Anticipate
1 Arcane Denial
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Hallowed Moonlight
1 Impulse
1 Mana Drain
1 Negate
1 Telling Time
1 Think Twice
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Valorous Stance
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Comeuppance
1 Cryptic Command
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Return to Dust
1 Vanish into Memory
1 Ætherspouts
1 Desertion
1 Mystic Confluence
1 Dig Through Time
SORCERY (9)
1 Mystic Speculation
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Manifold Insights
1 Deep Analysis
1 Bribery
1 Tragic Arrogance
1 Austere Command
1 Recurring Insight
1 Blatant Thievery
1 Arid Mesa
1 Command Tower
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Flooded Strand
1 Gemstone Caverns
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
8 Island
1 Kor Haven
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mystic Gate
1 Mystifying Maze
9 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Prairie Stream
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Strip Mine
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Tundra
1 Winding Canyons
1 Windswept Heath
Potential List:
REMOVAL:
Ætherspouts - defensive wrath at instant speed.
Ætherize - defensive wrath at instant speed.
Capsize - useful removal but it really needs big mana or a lot of untaps to abuse it well. Cost reducing it by 1 mana is nice but to really spam this I would need a lot which is not the build I am going for offhand.
SPELLSLINGING EFFECTS:
Bösium Strip - similar ish to Mirari but you can break it up for another time. Its better with counterspells and wraths but worse in that its harder to control.
Mirari - Its nice in spellslinger but again, it adds a lot of overhead to spells and I am trying to cost reduce and do more rather than get more value from big splashy things.
CREATURES:
Thing in the Ice - it acts as a tempo wrath + big creature.
Medomai the Ageless - its a strong effect but other than being a 4/4 for 4 flying that probably dies before it gets there I dont know much of what it gives me.
Pristine Skywise - it turns into a 6/4 for 4 with flying that can vigilantly attack and block for me while deterring spot removal on it and red sweepers.
Ojutai, Soul of Winter - big flyer who doesnt bring down too much hate on itself and it cost reduces to 5 mana with my commander in play while giving me some offense + defense.
TAX / HATEBEAR:
Crystal Shard - it can be used with the taxation of my commander to really harass people or defend the creatures I do run.
Suppression Field - it adds quite a bit to the taxation of the commander. It doesnt really add much to the spellslinging though.
Damping Matrix - adds a lot to the taxation feel of the deck. I dont have much for activated abilities on artifacts or creatures either.
Torpor Orb - I dont have much for ETB effects.
Hushwing Gryff - I dont have much for ETB effects.
Containment Priest - a good hatebear effect and costing just a single white mana is nice.
Null Rod - I dont use much for artifacts.
Stony Silence - I dont use much for artifacts.
TOKENS / TOKEN SUPPORT:
Opposition - the deck went a bit more token based than I had originally expected it to. I like the effect and it works well with my commander who I dont really intend to attack in with as well.
FLASHBACK:
Quiet Speculation - it can go get me 3 spells which is sort of cool especially if I buff up my targets. I already run Think Twice and Deep Analysis. What I love about this idea is that I get a draw 3 cards for 4 mana and 3 life already with 3 spellcasts triggered here. Really if I can come up with one more flashback card I like for this deck it feels like it would be enough. The best part of this is that its really not susceptible to graveyard hate as you can cast it then once it resolves your next move can be to flashback Deep Analysis with the instant speed of Think Twice also up.
Divine Reckoning - I am not super interested in it other than having the toolbox of a flashback card that I could get with the Quiet Speculation. This is like an idea of beyond adding Quiet Speculation this could be interesting to have in the toolbox. It keeps my commander alive as well which is useful.
Feeling of Dread - I like that I can cast it for 1 mana on both its cast and flashback. Its a nice little defensive spell but you can play with it as people accidentally shortcut things you can rewind them to declaring attacks. Its also 2x noncreature spellcasts for 2 mana while screwing with attackers / blockers.
Momentary Blink - it can protect from spot removal but I dont know how much of that I am going to attract. Its good if you expect to get targeted by spot removal though and it seems decent off of Quiet Speculation but otherwise I am not super huge on it.
OTHERS:
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
Did you consider putting Archaeomancer and/or Ghostway and Eerie Interlude for some EoT recurring? Also, you could add more card draw like Jace's Ingenuity. I am tempted to try this
EDIT: JVP would be sweet in this deck as well.
Marath, Will of the Wild
Friendly Kess Twin Combo
Tatyova - Sir Bounce A Lot
Gonti's Luxury Pie
Prime (Eldrazi) Speaker Zegana (Retired)
Thanks
I started off by thinking to myself what if I focused on cheap spells that cost 2-3 mana and focus on the fact that I can really multi task them well with this commander. I really liked the idea of single mana Impulse effects and then generating value on top of the fact that they were so cheap to cast.
Archaeomancer - I did consider it. I have always considered this card to be a little more expensive than I want it to be considering Eternal Witness is a 3 mana recover anything I have a harder time paying 4 mana at sorcery speed to pick up a selective card type. With the cost reduction from the commander it does improve some but I dont have a lot of creature abuse in here or things to encourage creatures specifically. Running it with Ghostway and or Eerie Interlude would improve it obviously as it would give me a 2 mana flicker all of my creatures repeatedly but at the same time I dont have a lot of creatures I would run a mass flicker for so I feel like while this could be an option its something a little better run in decks where running ETB creatures as it really doesnt do much but wrath protection unless you introduce additional creatures with ETB effects. It seems like fun with this commander but I felt it would require a little different build to really justify offhand.
Jace's Ingenuity - I did consider this kind of card as well as cards like Blue Sun's Zenith, Think Twice, and Concentrate in here. I ended up when I first built this with something like 120 cards in deck so I had to do a lot of cuts to get to 100 cards.
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy - I would like to consider him but at his current price tag I have been hesitant to test him in this format (not because I cant spend that kind of money but because I dont feel his price tag will stay where it is). If he drops after he rotates out of standard I will consider picking up a copy but I think I remember someone saying he sees some legacy or modern play but I cant really back that up as I dont know. If he drops in price I will see if I cant get a single copy but I feel like the price tag is a little high for me to pick him up as it stands.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
That could work but it would really put more of an emphasis on how much you value the actual trigger of a spell being cast more in my mind or be more of a dig to combo tactic. Because of the cost reduction that my commander already gives I felt like I was somewhat getting a portion of that effect on all of my spells already so I valued it a little less. I think it comes down to how much you value just the act of casting a spell as to how valuable it is. Its certainly possible that I may increase my assessment of the spellcast trigger but as it stands right now I felt it was not important enough. I would more likely consider a card advantage draw right now to filter because of that. It is amusing that it serves as filter + ramp though. It becomes more possible if I consider adding Crucible of Worlds for instance as I could discard lands and play them. Its possible I may consider this but right now I felt it wasn't high enough on my list of effects needed.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
Did you playtest the deck at all? How about in grindy multiplayer decks? That's why I insist on Archaeomancer and a flicker effect. Since the deck runs many nonpermanents he could be useful when you want to get that instant to save your ass or win the game. I know it's kinda situational but I've been in that position with U noncombo decks numerous times
Additionally, Rewind with GAAIV can get you an extra land untapped, Aetherize can save you from aggro swarms and Fiend Hunter for two W sounds like value to me.
I am surprised that you only had 120 cards to choose, I am checking stuff for your deck now and GAAIV's cost reduction makes so many cards much more useful.
EDIT: What about Pieces of the Puzzle ?
Marath, Will of the Wild
Friendly Kess Twin Combo
Tatyova - Sir Bounce A Lot
Gonti's Luxury Pie
Prime (Eldrazi) Speaker Zegana (Retired)
Playtesting - nope its so far 100% theorycraft. I have some interest in following up on it as it seems like an interesting build but I have no actual time spent piloting it thus far.
Archaeomancer - I think its a fine add if you want to run him. I just felt that there wasnt a lot of value in the creature part of his effect given I didnt really plan to abuse creatures so the question in my mind is why run him over say Call to Mind where you can shave off a mana. The answer if you ask me is that if you run creature abuse you can generate additional value in some way or another. Because I didn't plan to play creature abuse I had a harder time justifying it. I also believe that to some larger degree its safer to draw more cards than it is to resort to graveyard tricks when you have the option because graveyard hate is far more common than any sort of hate on card drawing. If you are early in a game its possible to not have targets as well. It can be a powerful effect but at the same time tutors / draw / redundancy can also work just fine.
Rewind - I did look at it briefly but honestly even with it generating mana I would still generally rather pay a single mana for a counter when given the option or opening up to additional value through means of increased options. I think its probably ok if you want to run it but personally I would rather run Remand which was on my list until some of the last cuts over rewind as a Remand + the commander's taxation seems really rough considering you pay a single blue mana and draw a card from it. Rewind can get you ready to do another action but it has a higher cost to cast and I feel like its probably stronger to just go with a cheaper effect than to worry about the untap potential.
Ætherspouts / Ætherize - both are effects I considered for some time. I decided in the end to run Angel of the Dire Hour in part because I felt it was unlikely that I would need this effect early on and the removal is superior / comes with a threat of its own. I think I would run Ætherspouts over Ætherize still but I think all have good merits to them and some good potential. I was also considering Reins of Power at one point as well for this type of effect. In the end I cut it back some but I think they all have some good in being considered.
Fiend Hunter - ehhhh I would probably just run Swords to Plowshares over this. I like this effect in sacrifice based decks but it has too much liability outside of that type of deck type if you ask me.
Pieces of the Puzzle - Keep in mind that generally speaking only 1/4 of a deck will be instant / sorcery even when running a heavy count of them which means that on average it will get one effect but you will not have any choice in picking it. I try not to run these selective draws in commander often because of how diverse decks tend to be its generally stronger to not have limitations on what you can take in these kind of draw effects.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
DECK CHANGE:
Venser, Shaper Savant -> Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Venser is a great creature dont get me wrong. The problem is that I dont really have any way in which I plan to interact with him beyond the fact that he is a remand who can also serve as a Boomerang. I like Venser but I like him more in a deck with some creature abuse outlets. Jace, Vryn's Prodigy on the other hand fits a deck like this very well as it can cycle cards plus grant me flashback. I dont have a Jace right now but I will probably proxy test and see how I like him while at the same time waiting for his price drop as he gets closer to rotating from standard.
Sphinx-Bone Wand -> Comeuppance I like the idea of Sphinx-Bone Wand but in all practicality, its super expensive, I am not cost reducing casting it, and it needs to stay in play for a while to add up. I always want this card to work but suspect its not worth the time. On the other hand, I like that Comeuppance seems rather versatile in how it works and its a strong counter to a big push haymaker effect / swarm of creatures.
Idyllic Tutor -> Think Twice I felt like I couldn't really identify a lot of times in which there was a enchantment that I needed out of this deck. The closest I could come up with is that Treachery seems always fairly good but short of that I felt like I wanted to push more on the "noncreature spellcast" trigger and I liked Think Twice in that it cheaply gave me a few draws and spellcasts.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion -> Ætherspouts overall it will take some effort to defend Elspeth and while I think she does fit its kind of loosely. Mostly I was thinking that her wrath doesn't catch my board but I think at the same time I can have Ætherspouts instead and function a little more on the instant speed area of the game. There is some issue that Propaganda effects dont naturally protect planeswalkers and it seems like a lot of work to actively try to protect her when she is a value over time walker.
There are still a lot of things I am trying to pack in here. I keep expanding my consideration list and I will try to give some feedback on how it goes when I do get to play it.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
Game 1: Opponents were Odric, Lunarch Marshal and Alesha, Who Smiles at Death.
I ended up toying with a Think Twice as we opened the game. I curved into my commander this game while going first.
Alesha started oddly and for some reason did not want to play his commander on curve. He dropped an Imperial Recruiter and I think he fetched up a Serra Ascendant or something with it on turn 3. After I played my commander he dropped an Attrition but had to tap out to do so. I dropped an Aura of Silence on my turn after the Attrition which pushed Odric off of his turn. At the end of Odric's turn I popped the Attrition that I had to assume he was going to shoot up my commander with.
Alesha drops his Serra Ascendant and gets ready to do some beating. I drop a Sunscorch Regent to hopefully outpace the Serra Ascendant in the long run. Odcric is hurting in the corner not doing a lot for whatever reason. Alesha does some attacking and manages a Turn 7 Sun Titan rezing his Attrition.
I turn 8 drop a Gilded Drake, steal the Sun Titan, and then Clever Impersonator the Sun Titan rezing the Aura of Silence and wreck his Attrition again lol. Alesha scoops and Odric who is doing less good doesnt want to take me on 1 on 1 and scoops too.
Game 2: 3 player FFA against the same opponents but the Odric player switches to Sidisi, Brood Tyrant.
This game goes really poorly for me. I have 3 lands in my opener and my Anticipate / draws see no lands at least 8-9 cards down into my deck so my 3 lands get me a lot less than I want. I did start with a Gemstone Caverns but the lack of follow up on it kind of hurt. When I do finally find my 4th land of course it is Prairie Stream with only one basic....
So, I play the politics game and mostly escape any major smiting in the early game. Sidisi gets set up with some tokens and is hitting his ramp very well while Alesha is using Land Tax + Phyrexian Arena to good use. I finally get into the game with my commander as I am at like... 32 or so life. Luckily for me Alesha had mulliganned to 5 cards and did not have a fast start. I see Sidisi play with a Fleshbag Marauder with his Phyrexian Reclamation but doesn't have the mana for it so I quickly play a clone of his Sidisi hoping to hit some extra tokens off of it just to keep me from having a problem (of course my deck contains very few creatures so that really doesnt pan out well).
Sidisi plays an Akroma's Memorial and swings at Alesha some. I find this amusing as I am sitting on a Clever Impersonator so when it comes to my turn I join in the fun and I am the only one not running black or red in my colors so it seems good for me. I also play a Blind Obedience which cuts into Sidisi's fun with haste (he was about to hit us with a Pathbreaker Ibex).
We kind of go around for a few turns of Alesha just kind of mad because he cant nicely attack us right now. Alesha eventually sets up a Homura, Human Ascendant and flips him to join the all flying party but several of his minions are still black or red keeping him in a somewhat awkward spot but he does have a flipped Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant as well so he can block well with his white creatures.
I toy with a Dragonlord Ojutai who manages to bring me from 4 to 6 lands very slowly (man I really hurt for lands this game). Sidisi got a Mesmeric Orb out and manages to get several tokens in off of it but he is getting low on life and the tokens are coming in tapped thanks to my Blind Obedience. Sidisi plays an Opposition trying to keep some of my creatures in check as he cant block them due to the protection from black.
I end up extorting for 1 off of an end of turn Dismantling Blow and swinging for 5 with Ojuti whom he cant tap or block who kills him. I follow up with an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite who completely wrecks Alesha's board with the exception of a Sun Titan who lives. Alesha on his next turn puts like 2 equipment onto his Sun Titan and swings back at me for 10 damage with lifelink. I follow that turn up by swinging back for 15 and playing a Disciple of the Ring + tapping his Sun Titan down on his turn. He scoops.
So.... I will probably add Land Tax and possibly consider some 2 mana or less ramp. My landbase might also be too heavy on non colored mana considering the cost reduction ends up with me a lot more mana hungry for colored mana than I anticipated. I will think on things a bit more but some of it might have just come down to first games and my deck possibly not being as shuffled as it could have been.
I did consider going lighter on the creatures but I dont really want to do the traditional taxation grand arbiter not to mention my meta would be mad if I actually moved to Stax[/card] / MLD / Stasis effects.
Peacekeeper might be something I consider adding but it has the downside that they cant kill each other when its out. Someone played a Peacekeeper in the third game of the night and it did get me thinking about it again in here. I might also consider going further on my propaganda effects too as that also could be an interaction that works with the commander.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
I just dont really expect to use the colonade creature activate portion so it comes down to how much I value a ETB tapped land that provides both colors. I would say that offhand I feel like I would get as much if not more out of Temple of Enlightenment just from the expectation to really never bother using the creature activate portion of colonade. Given that I have a strong dislike for ETB tapped lands and my low expectation on the creature animation side of things I just dont really see much of a reason to run colonade.
Cast Through Time - I cant comment on it much as I have not gotten to really draw it much. I will keep an eye on it though. I like that it interacts well with what this deck is trying to do though generally speaking. It is possible that its too big of a threat and or that I would not get to stick it for the turn I need to generate additional value form it. Its hard to say offhand.
I did play a game of 3 team 2HG last night which I did win. I ended up with a Mystic Remora until turn 4 drawing me a good 4+ cards hitting my commander on curve with a turn 5 Bribery with Negate backup for an Elesh Norn that whiped my opponents fields. My teammate was playing Aurelia, the Warleader so between him swinging with that + a Hero of Bladehold we ended up winning by like turn 7-8 with me having something like 3x counterspell backup to keep our field moving while he just super murdered them and I taxed them with my commander plus Elesh Norn (I had another Elesh Norn in hand lol).
EDIT: I think I ended up cutting Jace, Vryn's Prodigy and Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest recently but I cant remember what exact change I made offhand. I will see if I cant figure out what change I made.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
Last Week:
I was playing a 6 player 3 team 2 headed giant game with my partner being Aurelia, the Warleader. I opened with a turn 1 Mystic Remora that I maintained through turn 3 and dropped when it came to casting my commander. It netted me something like 4-6 cards in all in that time which gave me some good card selection.
Turn 4 was my commander. This turn stalled my opponents who didnt get a lot out right now.
Turn 5 I drop a Bribery on the BW player to get an Elesh Norn who literally kills every creature my opponents have out including 2 commanders and several bitterblossom tokens. Its a delicious play that shuts down a krenko deck as well. I happen to have 3 counterspells in hand and the single blue up for a negate as well. My ally drops a hero of bladehold.
Turn 6 my partner drops his commander and swings twice at the team I stole the elesh norn from. I swing my elesh norn + commander at the other team. I just pass turn with full defenses up as we have a strong board right now.
Something like 2-3 turns later we have everyone dead to the hero of bladehold + aurelia + elesh norn tatics. The counterspells were not really needed but gave us that extra backing.
This Week:
I mostly slow play my way into the game but I drop my commander and draw some cards. I have a Sunscorch Regent on turn 5 and I just keep him back on defense because Aurelia, the Warleader is coming soon.
Turn 6 I put out a Cast Through Time because I am not really being pressed on right now. Aurelia casts his commander thanks to some ramp and does some more punching but not at me (thanks Sunscorch Regent).
Turn 7 I flashback a Think Twice as my graveyand dwindles from pokes from a Relic of Progenitus. Aurelia drops an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite and the next player plays a Grand Melee which is a little awkward as now I will need to attack with my 15 powered Sunscorch Regent that I was using on defense. I end of turn cast a Fact or Fiction which then rebounds and I pick up crazy value.
Turn 8 I Gilded Drake for Aurelia, the Warleader, I then play a Phyrexian Metamorph of Gilded Drake and steal Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. Aurelia scoops before I can attack annoyingly. I attack the other boros deck which is forcing me to do attacks for the 15+ from my Sunscorch Regent.
From here there are a few more jabs at people and I think the 5 color deck dies next. I am in a good position and another player decides to scoop which kind of makes cascading scoops and I win via people wanting to get in on the next game which is about to form.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
DECK CHANGES:
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
DECK CHANGES:
Cards Considered:
Overall, I cut a LOT of mana costs with these latest changes. I cut something like 16 mana off with these changes which is kind of a big deal. I would rather the deck chain together though than to be casting big splashy cards so I will try to keep working on that moving forward.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
GVorinclex, Voice of HungerG
WUBMerieke Ri BeritWUB
UBRNekusar, the MindrazerUBR
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' VoiceGWUB
I really loved this deck but sadly everyone at my meta had sort of a huge thing out for me when I would play this deck. I may put it back together at some point but it was to the point that people would like tap out on their own turns to spot remove GAAIV on their own turns knowing I would replay him on my turn as to how frustrated some people were with the deck. Its something I never really understood given that most of what people NORMALLY hate about GAAIV is the bringing up of the tax count or playing it as a tempo deck of which I wasn't really doing either aspect.
I might give it another run through at some point but for right now this moment I have retired him for now. He was very very fun to play and pilot though I can assure you as a spellslinger and the only reasons I did put him down was because of the complaints I received from my meta.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
GVorinclex, Voice of HungerG
WUBMerieke Ri BeritWUB
UBRNekusar, the MindrazerUBR
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' VoiceGWUB
I know that stax is the normal way he is played. I was more curious as to how valuable it was to cast a lot of 2-4 mana spells at a reduced cost. The spells at 2-3 mana are the biggest impact to lower their cost generally speaking. Its a very fun deck to pilot but I hear its not so fun to play against lol.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
GVorinclex, Voice of HungerG
WUBMerieke Ri BeritWUB
UBRNekusar, the MindrazerUBR
GWUBAtraxa, Praetors' VoiceGWUB