I managed to nab a copy of Gauntlet of Might from an Ebay auction so I plan on assembling this deck soon. Let me know if there are any good cuts/additions you all would make! The only blatant cut in that I wish I could cram in is Blightsteel Colossus but after the dragons I had a hard time finding a good place for him. My only concerns with the deck right now is lack of late game steam (in gold fishing the deck hitting a land feels REAL bad) and I'm considering dropping the haste enabling lands barring Hall of the Bandit Lord. Let me hear what you guys think of this guy!
This Commander plays a lot like Narset, Enlightened Master, where if you actually get to attack, you'll be odds on favorite, but if you don't then your deck does almost nothing.
Treasure Map is another Scry card which has a really nice land later on.
Holy ***** I forgot about Library of Leng's synergy with looting effects. I considered wheels in the preliminary stages of deck building but they didn't do too much of what I liked. This seems VERY promising and dammit now I'm gonna have to figure out how to get a looting package into this deck. Thank you for your words!!
Once you've got Etali, Primal Storm in play, you don't really need to be casting spells from your hand, as the general will get you 2-3 each turn for free on average. So why let anyone cast spells? Static Orb, Winter OrbWildfire, Boom // Bust etc. go great with him.
As far as late game gas goes, the new Arch of Orazca seems like a good include. I've also grown really fond of Conqueror's Galleon because it offers so much relevant abilities at so little opportunity cost for the late game.
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The secret to enjoyable Commander games is not winning first, but losing last.
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
One card that kind of stuck out to me is Dragonstorm. I count a total of four dragons in your list, and I'm not sure any of them are worth the heavy setup cost of this card.
I'm also not a fan of one-time ritual effects (Geosurge, Seething Song, etc) when you have numerous more permanent options available. Mana Geyser could be an exception if it consistently nets you 10+ mana, but even then I don't think it's worth a card in your hand. If Etali's trigger was an ETB instead of an attack trigger, it might make more sense to use these to recast him over and over again, but that just isn't the case.
Finally, you have a ton of Mountains, so why not get some free value with Valakut? Maybe throw in a Vesuva as well?
While I've not seen an Etali deck in action, one of the guys in my playgroup has a Neheb, the Eternal deck, which has a similar overall idea - a mono R deck that generates tons of value from getting the general out and swinging - and the rituals are hugely powerful in said deck. Getting a general like this out a couple of turns early can make a massive impact on how the game plays out (assuming he doesn't die, that's an average of about 5 free spells for two turns of extra attacks). There are few permanent ramp spells that can match this level of acceleration (Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Grim Monolith and Basalt Monolith are the only guaranteed ones off the top of my head, and three of those are effectively rituals), and you don't need the mana to stick around as much as most other decks, as you're casting stuff for free off of Etali. And if you draw them after you've cast Etali, so what? You have a major source of card advantage in play, you can live with having a couple of dead draws.
In fact, I would say that Mana Geyser is the one big ritual I might not run in a deck like this. Going from 4-6 mana nets you your general 2 turns early. Going from 5 to 12 or however many you're getting does...not much...
One card that kind of stuck out to me is Dragonstorm. I count a total of four dragons in your list, and I'm not sure any of them are worth the heavy setup cost of this card.
I quite like Dragonstorm in this deck, the idea is that if you hit it off Etali, and get another bunch of spells off opponents then you can stack so that you are going for the full value. If a board wipe doesn't follow it will probably take over the game. However on its own, sure probably uncastable.
1x Caged Sun
1x Commander's Sphere
1x Explorer's Scope
1x Fellwar Stone
1x Fire Diamond
1x Gauntlet of Might
1x Gauntlet of Power
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Hedron Archive
1x Iron Myr
1x Mana Vault
1x Metalworker
1x Mind Stone
1x Palladium Myr
1x Ruby Medallion
1x Sol Ring
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Thran Dynamo
Etali Love (9)
1x Champion's Helm
1x Command Beacon
1x Darksteel Plate
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Otepec Huntmaster
1x Strionic Resonator
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x The Immortal Sun
More Combat (7)
1x Aggravated Assault
1x Fury of the Horde
1x Hellkite Charger
1x Relentless Assault
1x Scourge of the Throne
1x Seize the Day
1x World at War
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Combustible Gearhulk
1x Emrakul, the Promised End
1x Hellkite Charger
1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion
1x Magmatic Force
1x Myr Battlesphere
1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1x Utvara Hellkite
Land (35)
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Command Beacon
1x Flamekin Village
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x Hanweir Battlements
1x Homeward Path
1x Madblind Mountain
26x Mountain
1x Myriad Landscape
1x Rogue's Passage
Removal (8)
1x All Is Dust
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Chaos Warp
1x Magmatic Force
1x Oblivion Stone
1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1x Vandalblast
Topdeck Manipulation (4)
1x Crystal Ball
1x Explorer's Scope
1x Scroll Rack
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Dragonstorm
1x Red Elemental Blast
1x Reverberate
Draw (10)
1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1x Combustible Gearhulk
1x Hedron Archive
1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion
1x Mind Stone
1x Mind's Eye
1x Sandstone Oracle
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x The Immortal Sun
Haste (9)
1x Fervor
1x Flamekin Village
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x Hammer of Purphoros
1x Hanweir Battlements
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Otepec Huntmaster
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Urabrask the Hidden
Spell Ramp (6)
1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1x Geosurge
1x Koth of the Hammer
1x Mana Geyser
1x Neheb, the Eternal
1x Seething Song
I managed to nab a copy of Gauntlet of Might from an Ebay auction so I plan on assembling this deck soon. Let me know if there are any good cuts/additions you all would make! The only blatant cut in that I wish I could cram in is Blightsteel Colossus but after the dragons I had a hard time finding a good place for him. My only concerns with the deck right now is lack of late game steam (in gold fishing the deck hitting a land feels REAL bad) and I'm considering dropping the haste enabling lands barring Hall of the Bandit Lord. Let me hear what you guys think of this guy!
Treasure Map is another Scry card which has a really nice land later on.
Generator Servant is another haster, which has the benefit over Otepec Huntmaster that it works with any of your creatures.
I'd look for some card quality filtering. Faithless Looting, Tormenting Voice, Cathartic Reunion, Wild Guess are all cards that allow you to pitch your un-castable big cards in hand, which happens a lot with this archetype. You can even loot Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre or Kozilek, Butcher of Truth to get graveyard cards back into the top deck equation. I just thought about this now but Library of Leng could be used to setup your top cards.
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Dream Pillager seems very on theme, both a top deck master and a Dragon!
Orcish Librarian helps with your top deck.
Widespread Panic if used with fetch lands can really be used to setup top of library
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
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
I'm also not a fan of one-time ritual effects (Geosurge, Seething Song, etc) when you have numerous more permanent options available. Mana Geyser could be an exception if it consistently nets you 10+ mana, but even then I don't think it's worth a card in your hand. If Etali's trigger was an ETB instead of an attack trigger, it might make more sense to use these to recast him over and over again, but that just isn't the case.
Finally, you have a ton of Mountains, so why not get some free value with Valakut? Maybe throw in a Vesuva as well?
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
In fact, I would say that Mana Geyser is the one big ritual I might not run in a deck like this. Going from 4-6 mana nets you your general 2 turns early. Going from 5 to 12 or however many you're getting does...not much...
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