MTG Salvation

With the upcoming release of Commander 2016, I find myself interested in trying my hand at one of the 4-colour legends.
I haven't really seen Saskia the Unyielding get a whole lot of love yet, she fills a couple colour combination holes I have in my current collection of decks, and nobody in my group has started building her.

After sticking everything I thought I may even want in the deck, I ended up with about 160 cards. I went through a few rounds of cuts, and this is what I ended up with.
This list has not yet been played, so I have no idea how well it'll work. All I've done is drawn a few hands. I do think there's a lot of potential here.

To quote myself from another thread:

Quote from ZenN »

I've been tinkering with a Saskia the Unyielding list, and I actually think the best way to go about it is a mix of the two [in reference to hate bears vs. effective beaters], plus a couple other things.

1) A high threat density, with a lot of cheap and efficient aggressors like Hero of Bladehold, Bloodbraid Elf, etc.
2) A smattering of hate bears to slow down/mess with opponents' plans. Especially ones like Gaddock Teeg, Thalia, Heretic Cathar, and Spirit of the Labyrinth that make it hard for opponents to find answers.
3) A handful of methods of either preventing or recovering from a wrath, up to preference. (ie. Boros Charm, Archangel Avacyn, Selfless Spirit, Dauntless Escort, Living Death, etc.)
4) As Saskia just wants the whole team to get in there every turn, a number of ways to make sure that combat always works in your favour (ie. Iroas, God of Victory, Ankle Shanker, Brutal Hordechief, Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant, etc).

Put all that together, along with a super solid Sunforger package, and I think this deck has some very real power behind it.

With that in mind, here's what I've come up with as a first draft. I'd very much appreciate thoughts/questions/comments/concerns/suggestions.

EDIT: Onto the second draft, now. Sitting at 102 cards, need to make a couple cuts. Want to get the list to a place where I'm feeling happy about it before C16 release on Friday.

EDIT: Third draft, now. Finally jammed some games with it, made changes based on first impressions. More will follow after I play it some more.

Couldn't agree more with the analyzation. I was trying this idea in Queen Marchea for a multiplayer themed deck, but all of it came out for more appropriate cards. Adding green to the sun-forger package would give so many more options than I had in Mardu, and the hate-bear options are far better. I'll come back with my list, it'll probably be easy to just convert my Marchesa list. One thing I can remember off the top of my head is Panharmonicon which should be a lot of fun. I wish it was more efficent to run more ways to abuse his ability, but I think that's it. Ordric, Lunarch Marshal is a pet card I really wanna see work here too- I'll probably keep that and Queen Marchesa in mine, even if Monarch could be pretty counter-intuitive. My list will probably end up a bit more casual, but with so many different things happening at once it doesn't hurt to have someone testing out cards you wouldn't normally run.

What about the equipment-base card draw, like Mask of Memory. You have a few sources of draw, but more never hurts

Master Warcraft is another good card for decks like this because it's so versatile. It can help you get threats through, you can play politics by casting it on other players' combat steps, it can effectively be a fog if you just want someone to stop attacking. Plus it fits into your sunforger package.

Have you thought about adding more sources of double strike. DS just seems so great with Saskia's triggered ability. Rage Reflection is a little pricey at 4RR, but it'll mean if you swing with 10 power, you'll hit the chosen player for 20. There's also Fireshrieker for less mana. Similarly, extra combat steps go really far. I'm a fan of Aurelia, the Warleader, though she might be too color-intensive for a 4-color deck.

Quote from Welgo »

Couldn't agree more with the analyzation. I was trying this idea in Queen Marchea for a multiplayer themed deck, but all of it came out for more appropriate cards. Adding green to the sun-forger package would give so many more options than I had in Mardu, and the hate-bear options are far better. I'll come back with my list, it'll probably be easy to just convert my Marchesa list. One thing I can remember off the top of my head is Panharmonicon which should be a lot of fun. I wish it was more efficent to run more ways to abuse his ability, but I think that's it. Ordric, Lunarch Marshal is a pet card I really wanna see work here too- I'll probably keep that and Queen Marchesa in mine, even if Monarch could be pretty counter-intuitive. My list will probably end up a bit more casual, but with so many different things happening at once it doesn't hurt to have someone testing out cards you wouldn't normally run.

Odric, Lunarch Marshal has potential. Sask herself, along with many other creatures in here, have some great keyword abilities. It'll go on the maybe list.
Queen Marchesa, on the other hand, is actually probably definitely worth a slot here. She's pretty aggressive, with haste and deathtouch, and she offers more card draw. On top of that, it's very likely that I'll be leaving myself open a lot, letting other people take the Monarch, getting a token, and then taking back Monarch. I like it. Plus, introducing Monarch into a game just adds a new bit of fun.

Quote from jenncertainty »

What about the equipment-base card draw, like Mask of Memory. You have a few sources of draw, but more never hurts

Master Warcraft is another good card for decks like this because it's so versatile. It can help you get threats through, you can play politics by casting it on other players' combat steps, it can effectively be a fog if you just want someone to stop attacking. Plus it fits into your sunforger package.

Have you thought about adding more sources of double strike. DS just seems so great with Saskia's triggered ability. Rage Reflection is a little pricey at 4RR, but it'll mean if you swing with 10 power, you'll hit the chosen player for 20. There's also Fireshrieker for less mana. Similarly, extra combat steps go really far. I'm a fan of Aurelia, the Warleader, though she might be too color-intensive for a 4-color deck.

I've got Skullclamp in here, and I think the only other card draw equipment I'd be likely to include would be Sword of Fire and Ice. Both it and Sword of Feast and Famine were in the original ~160 I had listed out, but they ended up getting cut. They might end up coming back, though.

Master Warcraft is certainly a good effect to have here, and I love that it's Sunforgerable, but I think the one-off nature makes it less worth it than other options. Brutal Hordechief does almost the same thing, but repeatedly, and while having a decent body and a good ability. Odric, Master Tactician is another one I considered for the same type of effect. Again, it was on the list, didn't make it through rounds of cuts. Still on my list of maybes, though.

I agree entirely that double strike is great with Sask's ability, but I would put True Conviction in long before Rage Reflection. It's a little bit harder to cast, but the effect it has on a board can be so backbreaking for opponents. It's yet another card that didn't make the cut from the original ~160. For extra combat steps, I've currently got Aurelia, the Warleader already in here, along with Godo, Bandit Warlord. With a solid number of Vigilance creatures, including Sask herself, his ability is fantastic. Surprisingly, in the hands I've drawn through it doesn't actually look like colours are going to be that hard. I've got a pretty solid mana base here, with some solid fixing/fetching/ramp, and the deck already has a very heavy white focus, so if I make sure to always get my double white available to me it shouldn't be that big of a deal.

In my version of the deck I am putting together I am wanting to add tainted strike. I figured it would be an easy way to kill off two opponents. But then again I do mainly play multiplayer and running into an issue of killing my commander in order to choose another opponent to target. And by contrast I am also considering Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon.

I'm really liking the concept of hyper aggro in this deck. I like how you added hate bears in there. Saskia shines best in a 5-point star or triple threat games, but you're still able to take on 2 opponents at once. That can make you somewhat of a de facto target and make those two opponents tagteam you, so you do need some solid defense as well. Since you're running weenies and ways to make them pass through the front lines, have you considered Beastmaster Ascension?

Saskia also lends herself to tokens quite easily. Having access to token producers like Assemble the Legion, Elspeth, hornet queen, and Krenko Along side cards like Porphoros, Warstorm Surge, and Doubling Season can get brutal. Add to that the benefits and consistency of Black to get benefits from your tokens to minimize the effects of Wraths... like Blood Artist, Diabolic Intents, Black Market, Dictate of Erebos...

Saskia lends herself quite well to token strategies (oh and Assemble the Legion is so dirty with Doubling Season).

EDIT: oh and Adriana and Grenzo lend themselves to the "going wide" plan while Saskia helps you "go big" vs another player (swing at 3 guys, all your dudes get +3/+3 from Adriana, all of which are going to the target of Saskia xD. And Grenzo ensures enemies will swing at each other)

Oh and 2 enchantments to consider:

Nature's Will and Aggravated Assault

If you have 5 mana, get a single dude through, that is infinite combat steps.

Quote from Mjh107 »

In my version of the deck I am putting together I am wanting to add tainted strike. I figured it would be an easy way to kill off two opponents. But then again I do mainly play multiplayer and running into an issue of killing my commander in order to choose another opponent to target. And by contrast I am also considering Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon.

Generally speaking, I'm not a big fan of using Infect unless the deck is dedicated to it. If you've only got one or two sources of Infect, it's very likely that you'll get someone to 8 or 9 Poison counters and end up never being able to do more.

Quote from DementedKirby »

I'm really liking the concept of hyper aggro in this deck. I like how you added hate bears in there. Saskia shines best in a 5-point star or triple threat games, but you're still able to take on 2 opponents at once. That can make you somewhat of a de facto target and make those two opponents tagteam you, so you do need some solid defense as well. Since you're running weenies and ways to make them pass through the front lines, have you considered Beastmaster Ascension?

I'm personally not a huge fan of Beastmaster Ascension. I've generally found that whenever I've played it, I get at most one attack step with it turned on before it gets blown up, and it doesn't always do something right away. Also, I agree that being able to get two people at once may lead to being targeted. It's one of the reasons for having a amount of Lifelink in the list, along with a decent number of Vigilance creatures.

Quote from SnowBunny »

Saskia also lends herself to tokens quite easily. Having access to token producers like Assemble the Legion, Elspeth, hornet queen, and Krenko Along side cards like Porphoros, Warstorm Surge, and Doubling Season can get brutal. Add to that the benefits and consistency of Black to get benefits from your tokens to minimize the effects of Wraths... like Blood Artist, Diabolic Intents, Black Market, Dictate of Erebos...

Saskia lends herself quite well to token strategies (oh and Assemble the Legion is so dirty with Doubling Season).

EDIT: oh and Adriana and Grenzo lend themselves to the "going wide" plan while Saskia helps you "go big" vs another player (swing at 3 guys, all your dudes get +3/+3 from Adriana, all of which are going to the target of Saskia xD. And Grenzo ensures enemies will swing at each other)

I agree that Sask could do tokens pretty well, but I'm actually looking at building this as a replacement for my Ghave, Guru of Spores deck, which I've grown bored of, so going in a token direction doesn't really appeal to me right now. I can see it being a pretty solid way to build it, though. All that said, Elspeth, Sun's Champion and Assemble the Legion were both on my initial list of ~160, and just ended up getting cut, largely because I tried to slim down as much as I could on cards that get turned off by Gaddock Teeg.

Quote from SnowBunny »

Oh and 2 enchantments to consider:

Nature's Will and Aggravated Assault

If you have 5 mana, get a single dude through, that is infinite combat steps.

Having a backup combo in the list isn't a bad idea, it may happen. Though I'd probably put back in Sword of Feast and Famine or put in Bear Umbra over Nature's Will.

Unrelated, I think I'm going to replace Three Visits with Atarka's Command. It's not always going to be ramp, but it can be ramp, it's Sunforgerable, and it can also be very aggressive.
I may also try to fit in Advent of the Wurm and/or Ready // Willing as additional solidly aggressive Sunforger targets.

Additionally, I'm fairly convinced that I want to find slots in here for both Queen Marchesa and Anafenza the Foremost. And MAYBE Siege Rhino and/or Dryad Militant. Might be hard finding cuts.

I came here hoping for Stigma Lasher, Hypnotic Specter, Avenging Druid, Hunting Cheetah, Soltari Visionary, Odylic Wraith, Order of Yawgmoth, Wei Knight Raiders, Abyssal Specter, and/or Charnelhoard Wurm.

I'm disappointed.

(I know those cards cards aren't necessarily good enough on their own, but the synergy with Saskia amuses me.)

Quote from Incanur »

I came here hoping for Stigma Lasher, Hypnotic Specter, Avenging Druid, Hunting Cheetah, Soltari Visionary, Odylic Wraith, Order of Yawgmoth, Wei Knight Raiders, Abyssal Specter, and/or Charnelhoard Wurm.

I'm disappointed.

(I know those cards cards aren't necessarily good enough on their own, but the synergy with Saskia amuses me.)

You know, when Saskia the Unyielding was first spoiled, those were the first things I thought of. Unfortunately, they're mostly not great cards. Most of the best on damage ability specifically call out combat damage, otherwise I'd've been all over that.

Quote from ZenN »

Quote from Incanur »

I came here hoping for Stigma Lasher, Hypnotic Specter, Avenging Druid, Hunting Cheetah, Soltari Visionary, Odylic Wraith, Order of Yawgmoth, Wei Knight Raiders, Abyssal Specter, and/or Charnelhoard Wurm.

I'm disappointed.

(I know those cards cards aren't necessarily good enough on their own, but the synergy with Saskia amuses me.)

You know, when Saskia the Unyielding was first spoiled, those were the first things I thought of. Unfortunately, they're mostly not great cards. Most of the best on damage ability specifically call out combat damage, otherwise I'd've been all over that.

Actually, I think those cards aren't limited to combat damage, just plain ol' damage.

Those specific cards, yes. My statement was that those cards aren't great, and most of the best "on damage" effects DO specifically say "deals combat damage".

Unrelated, it occurs to me that with Sask and several other creatures here already having haste, I may want to replace Lightning Greaves with something a little more effectual. Maybe put one of the Swords back, or a Champion's Helm.

Quote from ZenN »

Those specific cards, yes. My statement was that those cards aren't great, and most of the best "on damage" effects DO specifically say "deals combat damage".

Unrelated, it occurs to me that with Sask and several other creatures here already having haste, I may want to replace Lightning Greaves with something a little more effectual. Maybe put one of the Swords back, or a Champion's Helm.

Yeah, Champion's Helm is a good replacement since you can cast it before Saskia and then in one more turn cast her then equip her with it.

Decided to swap out Wild Ricochet for Advent of the Wurm.

While Ricochet is hilarious to have around as a Sunforger target, it's dead a little too often for my liking. And, since I didn't really want to up my count of cards turned off by Gaddock Teeg, this seemed like a reasonable switch. I think Advent will be a nice ace to have in the hole.

Additionally, I did decide to make the swap of Three Visits for Atarka's Command. I like the versatility and the extra Sunforger target. I still haven't actually sleeved this deck up and played it yet, so I have no idea how well it'll work out. This is all just in preparation for the release, at which point I'll actually sleeve it up and see how it goes.

I've made a couple more changes and updated the list accordingly. It's currently sitting at 102 cards, so I'm going to need to pare it down. I'm open to suggestions.

I'd say meta calls, but both Hallowed Moonlight and Monastary Mentor seem out of place.

I feel you want Eldrazi Displacer, this will let you blink general to reset target once one is killed or change mid-game.

HAve you thought about Stuffy Doll? It allows you to choose another opponent to deal damage to, though not as efficient as your general but still can be annoying nonetheless.

Quote from Buffsam89 »

I'd say meta calls, but both Hallowed Moonlight and Monastary Mentor seem out of place.

Hallowed Moonlight is a nice hoser to have lying around, particularly to grab with Sunforger, when there are lots of Living Deaths and such in the group. That said, before I went to bed last night I actually landed on the same card, so it very well may be it that goes. As for Monastery Mentor, though, you might be crazy. It's very easy to threaten an awful lot of damage with him, which is the kind of creature I want here.

Quote from MiffedMoogle »

I feel you want Eldrazi Displacer, this will let you blink general to reset target once one is killed or change mid-game.

Eldrazi Displacer has been mentioned a few times, but the problem is that this is a four colour deck and the last thing I want is to be running a lot of colourless sources. As is, I've only got Sol Ring and a couple lands to make colourless. Definitely not enough to fuel Displacer. Beyond that, I'm not overly concerned about switching targets in that way. I'm pretty positive that Sask is going to die organically quite often enough, and resetting her won't be an issue. If I do ever reach a point where I find I want to be resetting her, I'll likely do it with cards that also answer wraths, such as Eerie Interlude.

Quote from phantalien »

HAve you thought about Stuffy Doll? It allows you to choose another opponent to deal damage to, though not as efficient as your general but still can be annoying nonetheless.

Stuffy Doll is a cute card and all, but really doesn't fit with what I'm trying to do here. It doesn't deal damage in the same way, it's not aggressive, it's overcosted, etc etc.

I've made my own deck since you posted, I think you should consider Birthing Pod, Three Visits and Reclamation Sage.

While Birthing Pod is a fantastic card, it does really mesh with what I'm trying to do here. I'm less playing value creatures and more playing efficient aggressors, so not a lot of stuff I want to be podding away.

Three Visits WAS in here, but as mentioned in an earlier post, I swapped it out for Atarka's Command for the higher versatility and the additional Sunforger Target.

Reclamation Sage is a valid consideration, but I for now I think I'm fine without the additional artifact and enchantment removal. I've already got Anguished Unmaking, Utter End, Rakdos Charm, and Austere Command. I initially had Return to Dust for another sweet Sunforger target, but it ended up getting the boot. Once I actually sleeve up the deck and play it I'll be able to re-evaluate and determine whether or not I feel I need additional pieces of removal for those things.

I'm slotting up something similar when the time comes too. I think this is really exciting because it's going to be a super meta/budget adjustable style. The sunforger package is cheap and powerful and hate bears/aggro has tons of options. I have a few I know aren't here as well as some here I didn't have. I don't think she's the best, but null blue seems its the most exciting to build. My only issue is Sunforger is the guiding card for all my lists that can run it...


Edit: earlier comments on Eldrazi DIsplacer I'm desperate to keep mine in. I'm going to try filter/pain lands, without w/e color combo ends up the weakest. With four colors we end up with a lot of them, and personally if I'm running a deck like this taking 1 damage off tapping lands more frequently probably wont outrace the speed we're coming at the table with.

Post that list! I would love to see what you're doing differently. As this deck is still very much in the ideas phase it's the best time to see how others are going about it.
I agree that Sunforger has a tendency to warp any deck it's in, but I think usually for the better. There aren't any cards here that I'm playing just because they're Sunforger targets (except MAYBE Advent of the Wurm), they're all doing things I want to have cards for, and Sunforger just gives me a sweet way to dig them out.

As for Eldrazi Displacer, I really don't feel that the value he adds is worth hurting the mana base in what is likely to already be a sketchy situation, as far as getting all the colours. The last thing I want is to reduce my likelihood of being able to play Sask as soon as I hit 4 mana.

So, I finally got the chance to play with this list some. I proxied up the new cards and jammed some games with some friends last night, and I've come to some conclusions.

• I had Phyrexian Arena in my hand several times and never once wanted to actually cast it. It's a great card, but it just never fit in with my plans.
• I was super underwhelmed with Brutal Hordechief. He's not a bad card, but I found I never really wanted to spend the 5 mana on his ability, and casting him for 4 often felt clunky. I'm going to cut him for the time being, and if I come to find that I need more control over combat I'll look at reincluding him.
• Hanweir, the Writhing Township is very threatening and aggressive, but it's also a large investment (essentially 9 mana and sac a land), and is just way too susceptible to getting Swords to Plowshares'd before ever actually doing anything for that investment to be justified. As a result, Hanweir Garrison and Hanweir Battlements both get the boot.
• Pretty sure I really need some way to completely reset the board. Maybe Oblivion Stone. When this deck is ahead it's good at staying there, but it has a hard time coming back from being behind.
• I think I want 1-2 more ways of casting Saskia the Unyielding on turn 3. This may be another mana dork, or putting back Three Visits, or an additional mana rock. Not sure yet.
• Fairly certain I want a Cavern of Souls in here, to make sure I can resolve Sask when I want to.
• I think I may want to include a Jund Charm. I had several instances of having a Sunforger on the table and wishing I had something to go for that would clear a bunch of little chump blockers off the table.

Overall, this seemed like a solid first draft, but there's a lot of tuning to be done. There were some holes, and it didn't flow as nicely as I would've liked. There were several times when I ended up feeling like my hand was cluttered with things I didn't want to spend the turns to cast, so I'll have to look into that.

Over the next while I'll be making changes to the list accordingly, as per what I've said above.

Have you tested Hanweir Battlements on its own, without the Garrison plan? I think cutting Garrison makes sense, but I've found that Battlements is really strong on its own as a very-efficient source of haste on a land. Of course, your commander already has haste, and it's a colorless land in a 4-color deck, so I could see why it wouldn't be as good here.