I think I would have liked this card more if it's ability read "Each opponent loses 1 life, and you gain that much life.". It's kind of lackluster as an 0/3. Not quite up to par imo.
So I finally came around to a Duel-Commander list I like, am incredibly confident towards, and am ready to share because I'd play this in any 1v1 format.
If, when it entered the battlefield you chose a color from among Legends/PWs you control and it taps for just that color from then on, it would have been really good.
First time poster.. I was thinking about trying to fit in Ankle Shanker(wrong tribe, I know) into this deck. Seems like another high impact 5 mana drop. It all but guarantees your opponent won't block any incoming damage and around turn 5 I'm attempting to hit for ~20 health consistently. The deck is extremely strong in small groups and beautifully constructed I might add. 1-2 opponents and it always performs well for me. If there's more than that I become a big early target. So I was wondering if anyone has had any success in tweaking this deck for bigger groups? Anyone try Ankle Shanker in this deck before?
The thing is we already can get first strike from Stromkirk Captain so I'm not sure Ankle Shanker is really worth the deck slot, mana cost or being out-of-tribe. Not to mention also being a blanket effect for 3cmc vs. an attack trigger for 5cmc.
As far as "big groups" go I've got a personal no more than 5+ per table policy, but I prefer 4 players per table. Four seems to be a very good fit for multiplayer Commander.
Yeah so back to my Yawgmoth's Will observations and how it interacts with Edgar:
You need about 6 mana to make it worthwhile as a recovery option on average. However, in my hyper-competitive meta whenever I look at my graveyard I usually see the same things: A bunch of my Vamps who got board wiped and things like Skullclamp or Grave Pact or sac outlets. So to get the deck going again and fully recover, YawWill is a mana sink in a deck where we don't usually generate a lot of mana (especially when Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx requires you to have devotion...which you won't have if your board has been wiped).
Kinda frustrating. I got to thinking last night it might be time to consider Teferi's Protection or things like Scapegoat that ISB has been trying and other people have suggested.
Now, please tell me which good replacements you have for Rhystic study, help me think out of the box
Mystic Remora is a pretty decent replacement in a pinch.
No is not, it is a good card but it is not 10% as good as Rhystic
1st. Your opponent needs to cast a non-creature spell, so you won't be getting cards for creature spells
2nd. The cumulative upkeep is a real downer, you would not have it (normaly) for more than 2 turns, we are playing control, we need the mana to cast the cards, so we can't just pay 3,4,5,6 mana for the upkeep
To abuse the remora you need sheninanigans like Sun titan or Solemnity or other stuff while rhystic does all the work by itself
I am not saying the card is bad, the card IS GOOD, I just say that it is not near to be a replacement for rhystic study
In my Azami, Lady of Scrolls deck I actually run Remora over Rhystic. In a 4 or 5 player game over the course of two turns it either nets card advantage or slows down my opponents enough for me to push over and take the lead.
we certainly need more staples re-printed, personally if a card is around the 10 dollar point, I'll probably get another for another deck (don't always take them all with me), if it's much higher than that I'd proxy it, but folks in my playgroup tend to know what I own, don't like proxying but I'm not buying another doubling season for instance.
This.
If it's $10 or under, buy another copy if you need another for a different deck. If it's over, proxy it. If anyone ever gives you a hassle over using a proxy of doubling season, simply whip out the real copy. If you don't have the real one with you, you simply say "the real copy is in another deck". It's a casual format. Unless it's a EDH tournament, proxy away.
I've recently cut it from the list I run for this deck. I finally acquired a Yawgmoth's Will via a trade yesterday and I'm interested to see if it is a viable recovery option.
Has anyone tried it out? Experiences with running it in Edgar?
I too ran Athreos, God of Passage in my build but like ISB I had issues where several turns it would sit and do nothing. This is a huge tempo deck, we need to make each turn count; every bit of mana squeezed into killing threats (opponents) as quickly and efficiently as possible.
And lastly, lately I've noticed that as long as we have draw going we can recover very quickly from a wrath effect. Many people in my playgroup comment on how resilient the deck seems to be; as long as there is draw to keep the pedal to the metal.
You've got a pretty decent start, if rough around the edges. You're a bit unfocused. Might I direct you toward my Primer for optimization goals? Before you buy into the deck, I mean. Might as well start off right.
I am almost about to throw the towell on Kaalia for multiplayer, I get always being the focus of my playgroup, I will give her a couple of more trys making her full stax, so maybe I will survive to live to turn 8-9 and maybe I will be able to play my game.
Maybe I am just a bad Kaalia player, in 1v1 I get a ton of fun but in multi I just get deleted by turn 6 or earlier because my playgroup is just too afraid of her even when I do not run a single combo (and they know it)
It makes me sad because I have invested a lot of time and money in the deck and because I like her, I like some of my "pet cards" such as Utvara Hellkite and others and thats why I keep trying to me her better, but really it is very hard to be always the "archenemy" while not having blue in the deck.
Yeah I do not play Kaalia in multiplayer. I even built a 10 card multiplayer sideboard to sideboard out the hand disruption and it's not enough.
I just put together a very competitive combo-intensive Azami, Lady of Scrolls deck together to be my multiplayer competitive deck. It's the primer from the multiplayer forums and even though ComboZami is well known, I still feel like that if there was a Kaalia of the Vast player and I was playing my Azami, Lady of Scrolls deck it wouldn't be hard to convince the table to eliminate the Kaalia player while I setup my board state and hopefully combo out. It's getting to the point where even in 1v1 I need to find room for Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast just so Kaalia gets a little bit more advantage over our worst matchup decktype.
He has potential in a deck focused heavily on creatures like Animar or something. He triggers Kefnet's Monument and Animar, Soul of Elements, even though he benefits from neither.
Yup forgot about the Spiketail cycle. I like them because they don't need to tap to activate. Very useful. The others that need to tap to counter as part of their own activation cost have a niche somewhere I'm sure but I don't run any of those because of the aforementioned tap activation cost.
I find it amusing that Balance and Griselbrand are legal in the french duel commander format.
This.
The thing is we already can get first strike from Stromkirk Captain so I'm not sure Ankle Shanker is really worth the deck slot, mana cost or being out-of-tribe. Not to mention also being a blanket effect for 3cmc vs. an attack trigger for 5cmc.
As far as "big groups" go I've got a personal no more than 5+ per table policy, but I prefer 4 players per table. Four seems to be a very good fit for multiplayer Commander.
You need about 6 mana to make it worthwhile as a recovery option on average. However, in my hyper-competitive meta whenever I look at my graveyard I usually see the same things: A bunch of my Vamps who got board wiped and things like Skullclamp or Grave Pact or sac outlets. So to get the deck going again and fully recover, YawWill is a mana sink in a deck where we don't usually generate a lot of mana (especially when Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx requires you to have devotion...which you won't have if your board has been wiped).
Kinda frustrating. I got to thinking last night it might be time to consider Teferi's Protection or things like Scapegoat that ISB has been trying and other people have suggested.
In my Azami, Lady of Scrolls deck I actually run Remora over Rhystic. In a 4 or 5 player game over the course of two turns it either nets card advantage or slows down my opponents enough for me to push over and take the lead.
This.
If it's $10 or under, buy another copy if you need another for a different deck. If it's over, proxy it. If anyone ever gives you a hassle over using a proxy of doubling season, simply whip out the real copy. If you don't have the real one with you, you simply say "the real copy is in another deck". It's a casual format. Unless it's a EDH tournament, proxy away.
I've recently cut it from the list I run for this deck. I finally acquired a Yawgmoth's Will via a trade yesterday and I'm interested to see if it is a viable recovery option.
Has anyone tried it out? Experiences with running it in Edgar?
thanks,
theCreecH
Unbelievable. It's like Rewind, Frantic Search and Snap got a new friend in pauper.
Also Edgar Markov got a bunch of new toys in Legion Lieutenant, Dusk Legion Zealot, Twilight Prophet and Champion of Dusk. Cuts had to be made.
And lastly, lately I've noticed that as long as we have draw going we can recover very quickly from a wrath effect. Many people in my playgroup comment on how resilient the deck seems to be; as long as there is draw to keep the pedal to the metal.
Sage advice
Yeah I do not play Kaalia in multiplayer. I even built a 10 card multiplayer sideboard to sideboard out the hand disruption and it's not enough.
I just put together a very competitive combo-intensive Azami, Lady of Scrolls deck together to be my multiplayer competitive deck. It's the primer from the multiplayer forums and even though ComboZami is well known, I still feel like that if there was a Kaalia of the Vast player and I was playing my Azami, Lady of Scrolls deck it wouldn't be hard to convince the table to eliminate the Kaalia player while I setup my board state and hopefully combo out. It's getting to the point where even in 1v1 I need to find room for Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast just so Kaalia gets a little bit more advantage over our worst matchup decktype.
Mmm Sun Titan test.