Zetalpa, Primal Dawn is the sort of commander that just builds itself - oh look, double strike and a decent body, let's go for some good equipment. Oh look, indestructible, let's ram in Worldslayer and a bunch of wraths. Oh look, keyword soup, let's spread it to the team with Odric, Lunarch Marshal. Oh look, 8cmc, better run every rock ever invented. Maybe this is why I'm the first one posting a list on here?
This list is quite early in development, so the proportions can be off. The name of the game is doing what white does best - kneecap everyone and bring the playing field to its own gimped state, plus equipment. One works okay with the other as a lot of the hatebears fly, so they can carry the various sword like objects into battle easily. The list is, well, mono white that isn't Sram. It runs out of gas quite easily a lot of the time, but can often be unpleasant enough to the rest of the board before it happens for it to not be an immediate death sentence. Any feedback/ideas you may have would be greatly appreciated.
If I were to build this I would go a similar voltron route but I'd try and be able to take advantage of its haste and have it kill someone the moment it enters the battlefield. I do like how you're clearing/controlling the board. I do that but to like the nth degree with RWB Zurgo. I pretty much have every kind of mass destruction spell in the deck to ensure my victory. Then again Zurgo is 3 colors and only costs 5 for 7 power. So he is easier to cast that a monoW 8CMC legend.
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Thanks for your feedback! As mentioned, this is early days stuff, there are still quite a few bits and pieces left to iron out. Some of the pieces aren't there just for the Zetalpa - white has a horrible time drawing cards, so slapping the Skullclamp on random debris has proven to be beneficial. Same for the Trailblazer's Boots/Rogue's Passage - Zetalpa isn't always around to punch people for maximum value, so you may have to help your other weaponry-wielding derps connect a little. Good call on the haste though, I'll try to work that in.
I think you need Endless Horizons, it's one of the few ways you have to help make sure you draw nothing but gas. If it gets removed early it will suck but you do have a lot of ramp and you don't HAVE to grab all your lands.
Sigil of Distinction seems good here. If you play it the turn before Zetalpa, that gives +6/+6 by itsef. Then you just need 1 more damage increase to instant kill.
Puffer Extract could be good too. The fact the creature is destroyed matters not for Zetalpa, but going for lethal if you untap with this and Zetalpa is extremely easy.
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For best results, apply instagibs when you have a swing-ready Zetalpa available. As such, play the Sigil the turn after Zetalpa. That's a good one though, a real nice one. The Extract is worse than Hedron Matrix, and I'm already not running that. The stacking of small voltron effects approach is actually heavy on the diminishing returns, my very first EDH build posted to these boards was a Skittles list with tons of equipment, including all the auto-equips that existed at the time, and it was trivial to get him to two-hit range, but one-shotting was a whole different story. As such, the voltron'y stuff easily takes Zetalpa to two-shot range, the strongest options lead to instagibs, and Inquisitor's Flail stacks very well. That's why I run it in my Tromokratis list.
For formality's sake, some swaps that got carried out:
Tried to marginally decrease rock reliance by adding Endless Horizons and Kor Cartographer. Angel of Jubilation fits because of the hatebear'y nature more than the marginal pump, but eh. Grafted Exoskeleton is good one-shot, Hall of the Bandit Lord is the best haste I wasn't running by a long margin. I'm getting a bit leery towards the deck, it's getting a horrid reception and it has heavy wrath crawl inclinations. I bomb the board, my big dumb sworded beatstick lives, all your crap is dead. Hilarious and original.
It's not quite that soul-destroying, as the only thing natively granted wrath immunity is a gigantic evasive double striking dino that wields swords like a superbeast. You can't mindlessly spam Nevdisk or do all the other asymmetric nonsense Avacyn is known for quite to the same extent over here. But hey, more value from swords. And trample. But yeah, still pretty "what am I doing with my life" as far as decks go.
But yeah, still pretty "what am I doing with my life" as far as decks go.
You are venturing into the realm of the very few, who try to make a mono-white commander deck.
You do have a Commander who cost 8 mana, and 20 creatures in the deck. The equipment is going to a bit inconsistent with what I'd consider to be a low creature count. I have a lot of experience with equipment archetype decks, and you can find yourself playing out equipment and not being able to use them because creature counts are low.
Don't get me wrong I like the deck configuration, its just that you'll be leaning hard on artifact mana like Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, etc
'd put in Knight of the White Orchid, Mother of Runes, Thaumatic Compass, Treasure Map. I've been really impressed with the flip lands in colors which don't offer much land ramp, like white and blue. I basically treat them like a mid-game Rampant Growth for those colors But they have a really excellent upside. Having 2 more early play creatures for a potential "equip" will really help.
I'd remove Loxodon Warhammer as it not the best to get value out of, compared to your other equipment. Sram, Senior Edificer is probably only going to net you maybe one card, and on average just replace himself. At least Puresteel Paladin gives you potential free equip cost.
I've found both the equipment/creature proportion and Sram to perform well. As you say, mono white blows, so some reliable draw is much appreciated. 20 creatures is also by far the most in any of my decks, and my other deck running equipment has... 5? And that's fine too, so by contrast this place is swarming with bodies. Usually you'll have something, so that Hushwing Gryff can milk some sword value until Zetalpa shows up. And on the off-chance there's nothing, you play out equipment, you get out Zetalpa, you put the equipment on the Zetalpa and you're good. And yes, it does lean hard on artifact mana, an issue that I've stressed in here already, and which I tried to partially address with the previous update. Your flip land suggestion is actually very good. Warhammer may be near the lower tier of the equipment included but it has won me a few games already which no other option would have managed, and it's not like there's tons of stuff I've left out that would be better.
And the "what am I doing with my life" is due to how mind-numbing wrath crawl dot dec is.
What can i say, the strategy is indeed very linear. Another way to approach this deck is to make a different mono-white deck that just happens to run a few P/T increasers, then use Zetalpa as commander as a sort of transformational plan B. Could be a mono-white Approach of the Second Sun deck that just beats face with Zetalpa in case the AotSS plan doesn't pan out. Or just lifegain. You can run a perfectly viable mono-white lifegain deck without having a specific commander. It will run lifelinking creatures so some buffing equipment fits anyway.
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This list is quite early in development, so the proportions can be off. The name of the game is doing what white does best - kneecap everyone and bring the playing field to its own gimped state, plus equipment. One works okay with the other as a lot of the hatebears fly, so they can carry the various sword like objects into battle easily. The list is, well, mono white that isn't Sram. It runs out of gas quite easily a lot of the time, but can often be unpleasant enough to the rest of the board before it happens for it to not be an immediate death sentence. Any feedback/ideas you may have would be greatly appreciated.
1 Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
Ramp City
1 Burnished Hart
1 Commander's Sphere
1 Endless Horizons
1 Expedition Map
1 Grim Monolith
1 Kor Cartographer
1 Land Tax
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mind Stone
1 Sol Ring
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Worn Powerstone
Assorted Weaponry
1 Grafted Exoskeleton
1 Inquisitor's Flail
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Mask of Memory
1 Rogue's Gloves
1 Strata Scythe
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Worldslayer
1 Angel of Jubilation
1 Aura of Silence
1 Austere Command
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Containment Priest
1 Council's Judgment
1 Darksteel Mutation
1 Day of Judgment
1 Dispatch
1 Grasp of Fate
1 Hushwing Gryff
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Path to Exile
1 Return to Dust
1 Rout
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Tragic Arrogance
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
1 Wrath of God
Utility/Recursion/Protection
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Emeria Shepherd
1 Frontline Medic
1 Indomitable Archangel
1 Odric, Lunarch Marshal
1 Puresteel Paladin
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Sigarda's Aid
1 Sram, Senior Edificer
1 Sun Titan
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Open the Armory
1 Recruiter of the Guard
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Stonehewer Giant
Lands.dec
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Buried Ruin
1 Drifting Meadow
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Inventors' Fair
1 Myriad Landscape
25 Plains
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Secluded Steppe
1 Strip Mine
1 Hedron Archive
1 Plains
1 Skullclamp
1 Steelshaper's Gift
1 Thought Vessel
1 Trailblazer's Boots
1 Angel of Jubilation
1 Endless Horizons
1 Grafted Exoskeleton
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Inquisitor's Flail
1 Kor Cartographer
Hero's Blade, Sai of the Shinobi, Ronin Warclub, Stormrider Rig - free equip when the pterodactyl enters the battlefield.
Nightmare Lash - "free" to equip and it's a surprise combo (but the brutal kind of janky) if you have Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in play. That's some awesome hidden technique.
Always Watching, Angel of Jubilation, Bastion Protector, Day of Destiny, Dictate of Heliod, etc. - for that extra pump.
If I were to build this I would go a similar voltron route but I'd try and be able to take advantage of its haste and have it kill someone the moment it enters the battlefield. I do like how you're clearing/controlling the board. I do that but to like the nth degree with RWB Zurgo. I pretty much have every kind of mass destruction spell in the deck to ensure my victory. Then again Zurgo is 3 colors and only costs 5 for 7 power. So he is easier to cast that a monoW 8CMC legend.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
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The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
I'd look to get some more impact equipment to really play on that doublestrike and trample. Grafted Exoskeleton, Hedron Matrix, Inquisitor's Flail
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Puffer Extract could be good too. The fact the creature is destroyed matters not for Zetalpa, but going for lethal if you untap with this and Zetalpa is extremely easy.
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
For formality's sake, some swaps that got carried out:
1 Hedron Archive
1 Plains
1 Skullclamp
1 Steelshaper's Gift
1 Thought Vessel
1 Trailblazer's Boots
1 Angel of Jubilation
1 Endless Horizons
1 Grafted Exoskeleton
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Inquisitor's Flail
1 Kor Cartographer
Tried to marginally decrease rock reliance by adding Endless Horizons and Kor Cartographer. Angel of Jubilation fits because of the hatebear'y nature more than the marginal pump, but eh. Grafted Exoskeleton is good one-shot, Hall of the Bandit Lord is the best haste I wasn't running by a long margin. I'm getting a bit leery towards the deck, it's getting a horrid reception and it has heavy wrath crawl inclinations. I bomb the board, my big dumb sworded beatstick lives, all your crap is dead. Hilarious and original.
You do have a Commander who cost 8 mana, and 20 creatures in the deck. The equipment is going to a bit inconsistent with what I'd consider to be a low creature count. I have a lot of experience with equipment archetype decks, and you can find yourself playing out equipment and not being able to use them because creature counts are low.
Don't get me wrong I like the deck configuration, its just that you'll be leaning hard on artifact mana like Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, etc
'd put in Knight of the White Orchid, Mother of Runes, Thaumatic Compass, Treasure Map. I've been really impressed with the flip lands in colors which don't offer much land ramp, like white and blue. I basically treat them like a mid-game Rampant Growth for those colors But they have a really excellent upside. Having 2 more early play creatures for a potential "equip" will really help.
I'd remove Loxodon Warhammer as it not the best to get value out of, compared to your other equipment.
Sram, Senior Edificer is probably only going to net you maybe one card, and on average just replace himself. At least Puresteel Paladin gives you potential free equip cost.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
And the "what am I doing with my life" is due to how mind-numbing wrath crawl dot dec is.
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.