So, upon seeing Ishkanah in the spoilers, i'm really excited about making a Spider Tribal deck with it, but GB isn't my strong suit, i'm more WB control, not BG Spiders. a friend told me about this old 2 drop spider that makes spider tokens for every creature in your graveyard that sounds perfect for Delerium synergy and the life loss ability, but he failed to mention a name. any suggestions on what spiders to choose?
The card he was talking about is Spider Spawning, which sadly isn't quite a 2-drop. There aren't many 2-drop spiders to begin with and none of them make tokens.
The problem with Spiders is that not many of them are really EDH-capable, to be honest. There's a few with good tricks - Silklash Spider is a favorite of mine - but most are kind of "meh" at best. Still, if you intend to abuse Ishkanah, your best bet is just to run a good 30 or so of them, a few changelings (Cairn Wanderer, Chameleon Colossus) and a few tribal specific cards such as Descendants' Path, Coat of Arms and Brass Herald.
One all-star will be Assault Formation which turns your Spiders (Who usually have much higher toughness) into powerful beatsticks. You also have access to Patriarch's Bidding to be a great "Surprise Spiders!" card.
Finally, if you get an infinite mana combo going, Ishkanah will win you the game on the spot. I don't know if that's something you want, but BG offers many infinite mana combos you could look into. It might not be your cup of tea though, depending on how your playgroup reacts to it.
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras. Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power. Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza. Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall. Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana. Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die. Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
I was thinking maybe that SOI 2 drop enchantment that says creatures tap for any mana of your choice, and pairing that with Helix Pinnacle, hide behind a wall of Fat bottom spiders and build my counters to victory. it'll also make it easier to bring out Ishkanah faster since both it, and it's ability is so expensive.
Also though, i was thinking of grabbing some dredge, never worked with the mechanic before, but i don't know how well madness will work with this and i need some way of graveyard manipulation to really get the best out of that Delirium if i manage to cast it early game
Hello fellow advocate of spider tribal! I recently made a list for this commander that you can find in the link in my signature
We may have differing play styles and strategies, but it still might help give you ideas for your own deck construction. I also went pretty deep on the spider tribal aspect because that's like half of the fun
If you are going to be self-milling, and trying to get multiple card types in the yard, The Gitrog Monster, Glissa, the Traitor, Pharika and Jarad seem like possible things to build into the deck.
This is what i've picked out so far, I have 3 win-cons.
Swarm the enemy with spiders (Who are augmented with Assault Formation)
kill them with life loss with Ishkanah
Use Cryptolith Wright to generate the mana necessary to quickly fill up Helix Pinnacle and win automatically.
In either situation, hide behind the wall of fat-bottom spiders, use sac and self-mill effects to generate delirium, and ramp as hard as I can.
Cryptolith Rites is a worse Earthcraft, as you can use Earthcraft the moment your creatures enter the battlefield.
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras. Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power. Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza. Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall. Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana. Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die. Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Cryptolith Rites is a worse Earthcraft, as you can use Earthcraft the moment your creatures enter the battlefield.
how? what if I have more creatures than lands? or have a bunch of nonbasic lands? Sac-lands are a great way to get delirium
Lets say you have 20 spiders and 1 land. Tap the land. Use a creature to untap that land. Tap that land. Use Spider #2 to untap that land again. Rinse and repeat. You only need 1 forest and 1 swamp in order to get the most out of Earthcraft.
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras. Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power. Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza. Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall. Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana. Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die. Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Cryptolith Rites is a worse Earthcraft, as you can use Earthcraft the moment your creatures enter the battlefield.
how? what if I have more creatures than lands? or have a bunch of nonbasic lands? Sac-lands are a great way to get delirium
Lets say you have 20 spiders and 1 land. Tap the land. Use a creature to untap that land. Tap that land. Use Spider #2 to untap that land again. Rinse and repeat. You only need 1 forest and 1 swamp in order to get the most out of Earthcraft.
fair enough, i guess you're right. plus an old common will be a lot cheaper than a new rare
Cryptolith Rites is a worse Earthcraft, as you can use Earthcraft the moment your creatures enter the battlefield.
how? what if I have more creatures than lands? or have a bunch of nonbasic lands? Sac-lands are a great way to get delirium
Lets say you have 20 spiders and 1 land. Tap the land. Use a creature to untap that land. Tap that land. Use Spider #2 to untap that land again. Rinse and repeat. You only need 1 forest and 1 swamp in order to get the most out of Earthcraft.
fair enough, i guess you're right. plus an old common will be a lot cheaper than a new rare
Just to stand corrected, Earthcraft is rare and going for $20-$30 due to it being crazy powerful. The fact that your creatures don't have to actually gain the ability to "{tap}:" they can immediately tap even with summoning sickness. Not adding mana and instead untapping a land can also generate more mana in the case of having a Crypt Ghast and a swamp out for example. If you can get an Earthcraft, it is definitely the choice you would rather have.
Cryptolith Rites is a worse Earthcraft, as you can use Earthcraft the moment your creatures enter the battlefield.
how? what if I have more creatures than lands? or have a bunch of nonbasic lands? Sac-lands are a great way to get delirium
Lets say you have 20 spiders and 1 land. Tap the land. Use a creature to untap that land. Tap that land. Use Spider #2 to untap that land again. Rinse and repeat. You only need 1 forest and 1 swamp in order to get the most out of Earthcraft.
fair enough, i guess you're right. plus an old common will be a lot cheaper than a new rare
Just to stand corrected, Earthcraft is rare and going for $20-$30 due to it being crazy powerful. The fact that your creatures don't have to actually gain the ability to "{tap}:" they can immediately tap even with summoning sickness. Not adding mana and instead untapping a land can also generate more mana in the case of having a Crypt Ghast and a swamp out for example. If you can get an Earthcraft, it is definitely the choice you would rather have.
fair enough, though at 20 bucks, i think i'll put this in the maybe drawer and try to grab Cryptolith for now
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The problem with Spiders is that not many of them are really EDH-capable, to be honest. There's a few with good tricks - Silklash Spider is a favorite of mine - but most are kind of "meh" at best. Still, if you intend to abuse Ishkanah, your best bet is just to run a good 30 or so of them, a few changelings (Cairn Wanderer, Chameleon Colossus) and a few tribal specific cards such as Descendants' Path, Coat of Arms and Brass Herald.
One all-star will be Assault Formation which turns your Spiders (Who usually have much higher toughness) into powerful beatsticks. You also have access to Patriarch's Bidding to be a great "Surprise Spiders!" card.
Finally, if you get an infinite mana combo going, Ishkanah will win you the game on the spot. I don't know if that's something you want, but BG offers many infinite mana combos you could look into. It might not be your cup of tea though, depending on how your playgroup reacts to it.
Having a Doubling Season on the field as well is an obvious staple for this, if only for Spider Spawning.
Also though, i was thinking of grabbing some dredge, never worked with the mechanic before, but i don't know how well madness will work with this and i need some way of graveyard manipulation to really get the best out of that Delirium if i manage to cast it early game
We may have differing play styles and strategies, but it still might help give you ideas for your own deck construction. I also went pretty deep on the spider tribal aspect because that's like half of the fun
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls - Knowledge is Power U [Primer]
R Heartless Hidetsugu - The Art of Ending Games R
GB Ishkanah, Grafwidow - The Cluster HungersBG
Dredge Cards that will help would be Life from the Loam, Stinkweed Imp, or Golgari Grave-Troll among the better options.
Cards to help with Delirium are Commune with the Gods, Mulch, Grisly Salvage, Jarad's Orders, Entomb, Harrow, Crop Rotation, etc. All of these will help the delirium count go up.
Recuring your Spider Spawning and Arachnogenesis is crucial as well. Eternal Witness, Regrowth, or large scale Creeping Renaissance would work.
Hope this helps.
WBR Alesha's Death Brigade WBR
WWW Brigid the Battlefield Saboteur WWW
UB Wydwen, the Biting Gale UB
I think you will want Conjurer's Closet.
If you are going to be self-milling, and trying to get multiple card types in the yard, The Gitrog Monster, Glissa, the Traitor, Pharika and Jarad seem like possible things to build into the deck.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
This is what i've picked out so far, I have 3 win-cons.
Swarm the enemy with spiders (Who are augmented with Assault Formation)
kill them with life loss with Ishkanah
Use Cryptolith Wright to generate the mana necessary to quickly fill up Helix Pinnacle and win automatically.
In either situation, hide behind the wall of fat-bottom spiders, use sac and self-mill effects to generate delirium, and ramp as hard as I can.
what do you think?
how? what if I have more creatures than lands? or have a bunch of nonbasic lands? Sac-lands are a great way to get delirium
Lets say you have 20 spiders and 1 land. Tap the land. Use a creature to untap that land. Tap that land. Use Spider #2 to untap that land again. Rinse and repeat. You only need 1 forest and 1 swamp in order to get the most out of Earthcraft.
fair enough, i guess you're right. plus an old common will be a lot cheaper than a new rare
Just to stand corrected, Earthcraft is rare and going for $20-$30 due to it being crazy powerful. The fact that your creatures don't have to actually gain the ability to "{tap}:" they can immediately tap even with summoning sickness. Not adding mana and instead untapping a land can also generate more mana in the case of having a Crypt Ghast and a swamp out for example. If you can get an Earthcraft, it is definitely the choice you would rather have.
WBR Alesha's Death Brigade WBR
WWW Brigid the Battlefield Saboteur WWW
UB Wydwen, the Biting Gale UB
fair enough, though at 20 bucks, i think i'll put this in the maybe drawer and try to grab Cryptolith for now