Which commander are you playing? The deck appears to have a good base, but if your not playing Anje, you may need to swap out more cards because the madness cards loose their flair without Anje.
I didn't look through all the cards, but good additions might include:
Pre-con decks can be slow. I can't say for sure since I haven't played one in years, though having a good ramp package and some draw spells are important no mater what else is in the deck, and some cheap 2 cmc rocks will be a minimal investment that will grow with the deck. Don't forget some card draw! Magus of the Wheel should be really good in that.deck.
In my opinion they definitely make sub-optimal plays. Some of them probably on purpose for the sake of better content. They want games to be entertaining for the audience, and they want games to develop in a certain way. Many threats just go unanswered for WAY too long in my opinion. It does seem sometimes they play cards "just because" instead of holding them back for maximum impact.
One thing I have noticed with many commander game play channels is the lack of removal. Overall things don't get killed very often, which leads to crowded board states. But watching those board states breakdown in spectacular fashion can be entertaining. Game play is not as fun to watch when every threat gets answered in 1 turn rotation, but my games never play out like theirs. Maybe because I am the one packing larger removal suites? I don't like to get blown out by a single card.
In a recent CMZ Josh copied a Selvala and it remained for almost the entirety of the game making 6+ mana every turn. No one felt obliged to target it with anything.
A point made above is that all their table talk and politicing does probably distract from perfect lines of play. I know when I want to play serious, conversation is at a minimum, and politics change the dynamic of the game where the "optimal" play may not be the "right" one.
Palu has the same ability as the phantoms from Judgement, meaning that you can make him nearly immortal. and with access to green, buffing is not a big deal (aside from end of turn things like giant growth, you can use things like Blanchwood armor.)
To me it reads like the prevention only takes place if there are any counters on him. So if he is artificially buffed, he will stay alive once. Then you have to put more counters on him to get the damage prevention reset. This can be done easily in green, but there are still extra steps to keeping him alive once he is out of counters.
I think the RB Giant could be a good Voltron/Control commander. He comes out early(ish) and limits your opponents hand size so they have more trouble interacting with you. Add some looting, equipment, extra combat, and double strike and he can come out repeatedly and really put a hurt on opponents available cards while swinging for commander damage. Control decks like cycling through cards, and with your commander only ever costing 4 mana, plenty of open mana for action and looting.
I do not have a blue artifact deck, but I am sure there are some Urza deck lists around that you can use for inspiration. Many cards that work well with Urza's abilities have increased in price dramatically, however some may still be affordable depending on what you want to do.
It sounds like you are looking to do some storm synergies, in which case all you really need is cheap mana rocks and some artifact bounce. There is a blue card that will let you bounce any number of permenents and draw a card for each one.
For big storm counts, typically it involves the premium mana rocks that tap for more mana than they cost. This allows you to bounce and replay multiple times and build a large storm count. With Urza in play, all you need is artifacts that cost 1 so they can replace their cost with Urza tap ability and be recast. The Fast mana also would help here if you already own it.
Brain Freeze can finish off the last opponent if you get a big storm. Unlikely to kill the table without infinite storm.
The new Cavellier's from M20 have both ETB and Death triggers. Black one is Great, Red is Good, Blue is meh.
The legendary Spirit dragons are must haves, listed below.
Other cards that may be worth a look. They don't all trigger on death, but many benefit from going to the graveyard, or being reanimated. Or help get other things in the graveyard.
Your creature count seems a bit low. I guess you are planning on spamming your commander for all the token value, however with less than 20 creatures, you may still fall behind in the early game when you don't have much to get on the battlefield.
With three blink effects printed this year so far, Trostani's Summoner gets a huge boost. I would still add some more creatures to help finish off the game. A couple of equipment to grant evasion is always good too.
Completed. Mostly I left everything alone. Some changes I voted for.
BRING BACK THE TUCK RULE. Deck building becomes so lazy when everyone knows their Commander is safe and can go to the command zone with any zone change. Yes it may create more tutoring, but players need to now how to build a deck that will function without the commander on the battlefield the entire game.
I voted to unban Gifts as well. It wasn't on my radar until someone here reminded me its still banned. The format may have progressed enough to allow this card to come off. If Protean Hulk can get unbanned, Gifts should not be far behind.
I voted to Ban Flash, Expropriate, and Blightsteel Colossus. Flash because I have never once seen it in a casual game, so the casual impact should be near zero. Although its not the only instant "I win" card in the format, so I understand completely if we don't want to open that can of worms. Expropriate and Blightsteel because the exist solely to ruin casual games of Commander.
Over all I am extremely satisfied with the format as a whole, with minimal changes over the last 10 years and the ban list remaining manageable. I will not be upset if none of my changes are made.
Please NO more eminence. Anything that works from the command zone needs to be looked at very carefully. The command zone and commander tax is there for a reason. Making those two things not matter is detrimental to the format. Cost reducers are one thing, since commander tax still applies, however alternate ways to cheat commanders from the zone, or having abilities that don't even need to be on the battlefield make interaction with the Commander impossible.
There are more creative ways to make commanders useful even when the commander tax gets high, but please don't give them static abilities from the command zone or cheat the commander tax for a flat rate. Eminence is like having a planeswalker emblem turn 0 that you don't have to spend any mana or resources to acquire.
Great card for that Reclamation Sage looking for a target.
Always eats removal before I get anything good attached to it. Haven't played it in years.
Still a good card if you meta is removal-light.
I relent to the above. If you want hard core control, then Vilis will be more splashy if you want your commander to be a win con. Once you get a critical mass of mana, Vilis will come down mid/late and dominate the field with mass draw.
Yawgmoth may be quite a bit more grindy, and you will probably have to add wincons into your deck that are facilitated by Yawg. It will draw many cards, but will need to be facilitated by other cards in the deck more than just "loose life".
Personally Yawg speaks to me much more than giant card drawing Demon. In that instance, Razaketh would likely be the "BEST" MBC commander.
I thrive off synergies, and Yawg has much potential for synergy plays vs goodstuff control.
I like Yawgmoth better for MBC because of the mana cost and the large list of abilities. He can be cast 3 times from the command zone before matching the cost of Vilis and does very similar things with -1/-1 and draw.
Proliferate is a good second ability to have if you want an infect backup win con, or like using planeswalkers. Easy to ULT any walker after making a single turn cycle, or even on ETB if you have the mana and cards. He may end up drawing less cards overall, but the flexibility and lower cost make him my favorite.
The both require some specific deck building constraints, so it depends on what you would like playing more. I like the token synergies with Yawgmoth, and sacing creatures is what black does best, so there are plenty of cards that support that theme. You do not have to lean too heavily on token production, as just sacing your incidental creatures should keep the fuel coming as long as Yawgmoth is in play.
I will be building a Yawgmoth deck. Just wish I had more mono-black planeswalkers to put in it right now. They are on the wish list.
Lots of excellent comments above. I will mostly reiterate some of the choices I have seen already mentioned.
False Prophet is an excellent board wipe on a stick, though you may want to pack another sac outlet or two as described above. If the Altar's are too combo-y for you, there is Viscera Seer, Martyr's Cause, and Carrion Feeder.
Corpse Augur has been one of my top tutor targets in Karador. Draws at least 3-4 cards, and the best I have done is to draw 17 off my own graveyard to win the game after self-milling with Altar of Dementia.
If you want a huge shot in the arm to your graveyard, Doom Whisperer is showing much promise in my testing.
Necromancy can be cast at instant speed to bring back a surprise blocker, ETB, LTB, or any useful creature in a Flash. But its not a creature :frown:.
Cavalier of Flame is nasty for red/x lands decks. Haste enabler, ETB card quality, LTB damage to opponents and Planeswalkers. This card does so much. Really good card for red. 2RRR casting cost is harsh though.
Wakeroot Elemental, because we needed another thing to make infinite mana with Gaea's Cradle. Now I have to fight the urge to slot it into Titania, Protector of Argoth because infinite mana would be so easy there. Besides that though the rest of the card isn't all that good. Would mainly be a combo piece for mana engines.
I play Tower in Talrand, Sky Summoner draw go, and an never unhappy to see it. I easily get above 7 cards in hand and like to keep options open for permision. Also when I start chaining Time Warps I do not want to be discarding down every time. I want to keep building a critical mass of spells and drakes to win the game. One of the better lands in my deck. Utility slots are at less of a premium in mono-color.
All my other decks do not draw enough cards to warrant the slot. It is a niche lands in draw decks, but has lost much appeal every year more awesome utility lands are released. It is not a bad land, its just not very good most of the time.
Out of my 5 decks, only Talrand really want it. I see examples of other decks that also want it, but those are specialized, not your average control shell.
I didn't look through all the cards, but good additions might include:
Grab a soul-guide lantern, Bojuka Bog, maybe a withered wretch, a few cheap artifact ramp like mind stone, wayfarer's bauble, and maybe expedition map to tutor the bojuka bog and others. Maybe another land finding creature like Skittering surveyor or Pilgrim's eye. Eew, map is $3. Maybe get a Rakdos Signet for $1.
Pre-con decks can be slow. I can't say for sure since I haven't played one in years, though having a good ramp package and some draw spells are important no mater what else is in the deck, and some cheap 2 cmc rocks will be a minimal investment that will grow with the deck. Don't forget some card draw! Magus of the Wheel should be really good in that.deck.
One thing I have noticed with many commander game play channels is the lack of removal. Overall things don't get killed very often, which leads to crowded board states. But watching those board states breakdown in spectacular fashion can be entertaining. Game play is not as fun to watch when every threat gets answered in 1 turn rotation, but my games never play out like theirs. Maybe because I am the one packing larger removal suites? I don't like to get blown out by a single card.
In a recent CMZ Josh copied a Selvala and it remained for almost the entirety of the game making 6+ mana every turn. No one felt obliged to target it with anything.
A point made above is that all their table talk and politicing does probably distract from perfect lines of play. I know when I want to play serious, conversation is at a minimum, and politics change the dynamic of the game where the "optimal" play may not be the "right" one.
To me it reads like the prevention only takes place if there are any counters on him. So if he is artificially buffed, he will stay alive once. Then you have to put more counters on him to get the damage prevention reset. This can be done easily in green, but there are still extra steps to keeping him alive once he is out of counters.
I think the RB Giant could be a good Voltron/Control commander. He comes out early(ish) and limits your opponents hand size so they have more trouble interacting with you. Add some looting, equipment, extra combat, and double strike and he can come out repeatedly and really put a hurt on opponents available cards while swinging for commander damage. Control decks like cycling through cards, and with your commander only ever costing 4 mana, plenty of open mana for action and looting.
Dralnu, Lich Lord
Spelltwine
Diluvian Primordial
It sounds like you are looking to do some storm synergies, in which case all you really need is cheap mana rocks and some artifact bounce. There is a blue card that will let you bounce any number of permenents and draw a card for each one.
For big storm counts, typically it involves the premium mana rocks that tap for more mana than they cost. This allows you to bounce and replay multiple times and build a large storm count. With Urza in play, all you need is artifacts that cost 1 so they can replace their cost with Urza tap ability and be recast. The Fast mana also would help here if you already own it.
Brain Freeze can finish off the last opponent if you get a big storm. Unlikely to kill the table without infinite storm.
The legendary Spirit dragons are must haves, listed below.
Other cards that may be worth a look. They don't all trigger on death, but many benefit from going to the graveyard, or being reanimated. Or help get other things in the graveyard.
With three blink effects printed this year so far, Trostani's Summoner gets a huge boost. I would still add some more creatures to help finish off the game. A couple of equipment to grant evasion is always good too.
Nice list.
BRING BACK THE TUCK RULE. Deck building becomes so lazy when everyone knows their Commander is safe and can go to the command zone with any zone change. Yes it may create more tutoring, but players need to now how to build a deck that will function without the commander on the battlefield the entire game.
I voted to unban Gifts as well. It wasn't on my radar until someone here reminded me its still banned. The format may have progressed enough to allow this card to come off. If Protean Hulk can get unbanned, Gifts should not be far behind.
I voted to Ban Flash, Expropriate, and Blightsteel Colossus. Flash because I have never once seen it in a casual game, so the casual impact should be near zero. Although its not the only instant "I win" card in the format, so I understand completely if we don't want to open that can of worms. Expropriate and Blightsteel because the exist solely to ruin casual games of Commander.
Over all I am extremely satisfied with the format as a whole, with minimal changes over the last 10 years and the ban list remaining manageable. I will not be upset if none of my changes are made.
There are more creative ways to make commanders useful even when the commander tax gets high, but please don't give them static abilities from the command zone or cheat the commander tax for a flat rate. Eminence is like having a planeswalker emblem turn 0 that you don't have to spend any mana or resources to acquire.
Always eats removal before I get anything good attached to it. Haven't played it in years.
Still a good card if you meta is removal-light.
Yawgmoth may be quite a bit more grindy, and you will probably have to add wincons into your deck that are facilitated by Yawg. It will draw many cards, but will need to be facilitated by other cards in the deck more than just "loose life".
Personally Yawg speaks to me much more than giant card drawing Demon. In that instance, Razaketh would likely be the "BEST" MBC commander.
I thrive off synergies, and Yawg has much potential for synergy plays vs goodstuff control.
Proliferate is a good second ability to have if you want an infect backup win con, or like using planeswalkers. Easy to ULT any walker after making a single turn cycle, or even on ETB if you have the mana and cards. He may end up drawing less cards overall, but the flexibility and lower cost make him my favorite.
The both require some specific deck building constraints, so it depends on what you would like playing more. I like the token synergies with Yawgmoth, and sacing creatures is what black does best, so there are plenty of cards that support that theme. You do not have to lean too heavily on token production, as just sacing your incidental creatures should keep the fuel coming as long as Yawgmoth is in play.
I will be building a Yawgmoth deck. Just wish I had more mono-black planeswalkers to put in it right now. They are on the wish list.
False Prophet is an excellent board wipe on a stick, though you may want to pack another sac outlet or two as described above. If the Altar's are too combo-y for you, there is Viscera Seer, Martyr's Cause, and Carrion Feeder.
I also play Saffi Eriksdotter, Reveilark, and Nim Deathmantle, which were already mentioned and I like them very much. Yosei, the Morning Star and Kokusho, the Evening Star are finishers for me that don't require combat damage.
Corpse Augur has been one of my top tutor targets in Karador. Draws at least 3-4 cards, and the best I have done is to draw 17 off my own graveyard to win the game after self-milling with Altar of Dementia.
If you want a huge shot in the arm to your graveyard, Doom Whisperer is showing much promise in my testing.
Necromancy can be cast at instant speed to bring back a surprise blocker, ETB, LTB, or any useful creature in a Flash. But its not a creature :frown:.
Wakeroot Elemental, because we needed another thing to make infinite mana with Gaea's Cradle. Now I have to fight the urge to slot it into Titania, Protector of Argoth because infinite mana would be so easy there. Besides that though the rest of the card isn't all that good. Would mainly be a combo piece for mana engines.
I also played it in Riku, of Two Reflections, but it did not do much work there. I have both Stroke of Genius and Blue Sun's Zenith for big draw and I want to keep all the cards. It is not very impressive here.
All my other decks do not draw enough cards to warrant the slot. It is a niche lands in draw decks, but has lost much appeal every year more awesome utility lands are released. It is not a bad land, its just not very good most of the time.
Out of my 5 decks, only Talrand really want it. I see examples of other decks that also want it, but those are specialized, not your average control shell.