Most of my decks are pretty solid and do well in my local meta, but I have never yet attempted to make a deck that was truly oppressive, jerkish, and utterly no-fun-allowed. A deck whose victory condition is to drive my enemies before it that I may hear the lamentations of their women.
My deck project built around Ertai, the Corrupted is turning into this sort of deck and I love it. What I'm looking for are ideas to make it worse.
The deck started off as a basic Esper control deck using big blue fatties and Ertai to help control the board. In its current state its a card drawing pillowfort deck sporting Lab Maniac and Near-death Experience as wincons.
Among other tricks it uses mass untappers with Ertai to counter everything, lots of damage nulling effects like Delaying Shield, Meishin, the Mind Cage, and Thought Lash, which quickly became a favorite because Lab Maniac, lots of life gain and protection effects like War Tax also. My regular group has nicknamed it "The Iron Box."
I want to make people even more miserable with it though, and see how far I can push it. I already added the Decree of Silence / Hex Parasite combo, Torpor Orb, Static Orb, and Arcane Laboratory and its cousin. When Ertai lands he's a counterspell machine with Thornbite staff, which protects me from board wipes and most removal.
And anything else that anyone here might suggest. Stuff with counters or cumulative upkeep is good because I want to get more value out of Hex Parasite also.
Isn't Sen Triplets usually used for this kind of thing?
Or Zur to tutor the cheaper enchantments like Stasis.
Or GAAIV.
Personally, I prefer the new Teferi PW for Stasis decks. His untap ability gives you all the advantage. He doesn't sweat Winter Orb and Stasis. Plus he has all sorts of ways to combo out.
But yeah...if you really want to stay Esper, Zur or Triplets is the way to go. Maybe Oloro. Ertai is really the 4th option.
It is, but Sen's ability only lets you butthurt one player at a time, and only really if they share colors with you. Souped up Ertai oppresses the whole table by countering freaking EVERYTHING for 1U. His sac effect is also perfect with Dictate of Erebos. Not only do I counter their spell, but I make everybody sac a creature.
The only thing that can stop him really, is Stifle or a Pithing Needle. And they have to CAST it first. Ertai is just a douche commander. I'm honestly amazed more people don't run him. I always like my commanders to be a little unique and he fits to a T.
It is, but Sen's ability only lets you butthurt one player at a time, and only really if they share colors with you. Souped up Ertai oppresses the whole table by countering freaking EVERYTHING for 1U. His sac effect is also perfect with Dictate of Erebos. Not only do I counter their spell, but I make everybody sac a creature.
The only thing that can stop him really, is Stifle or a Pithing Needle. And they have to CAST it first. Ertai is just a douche commander. I'm honestly amazed more people don't run him. I always like my commanders to be a little unique and he fits to a T.
Well he's not run more because his ability requires a tap, so without help he's a recurrent single counter per orbit, assuming you have a consistent stream of "food". That doesn't make him bad, per se, but the brokenness of Zur and the stability of Oloro put them ahead of him on the "Esper totem pole". I'd even rank Sharuum above Ertai for this strategy as she'd leave you with combo outs or enhance an artifact based lock down (e.g. lattice + forge + disk).
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"I think EDH would be more fun for the majority of participants if players just showed eachother their decks rather than actually playing games out."
It is, but Sen's ability only lets you butthurt one player at a time, and only really if they share colors with you. Souped up Ertai oppresses the whole table by countering freaking EVERYTHING for 1U. His sac effect is also perfect with Dictate of Erebos. Not only do I counter their spell, but I make everybody sac a creature.
The only thing that can stop him really, is Stifle or a Pithing Needle. And they have to CAST it first. Ertai is just a douche commander. I'm honestly amazed more people don't run him. I always like my commanders to be a little unique and he fits to a T.
Ertai isn't bad, but I would still use a bunch of commanders over him. He has a decently high CMC and a deck like you said you want to make usually needs to play fast. He relies on having fuel for his ability. Which means you are wasting spots on junk enchantments or creatures. In an ideal world you have some token engine for him but setting that up diverts you from actually setting up a truly oppressive situation.
In the end, his ability is either pointlessly redundant or actually harmful to your goals. It's usually more benificial to just pack a ton of STAX cards you never want to sacrifice and a ton of actual counterspells. Along with a substantial removal package. Trying to play to his ability will usually just slow you down.
Why bother countering spells when you can remove their ability to cast those spells in the first place? It is a much faster and more efficient philosophy than countering everything with Ertai.
Zur is a better option because he comes down fast and quickly tutors essential cards. Triplets are better because they allow you to sort of play two decks and often work uninterrupted during your turn. GAAIV is better because he comes out faster and is both a tax effect and reduction effect himself. Oloro might be better because he can give you value from the CZ. The new Teferi PW is amazing because he is usually "free" (or even a ritual) to cast. He also mitigates the damage of all the STAX cards on your own board state. He also is a combo machine.
Yeah I forgot about Zur. Zur is a dick. After a couple turns he's tutored up like Bitterblossom + Contamination, then slowly deals with anything else that might stop him, then wins.
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EDH playing competitive Magic cast away
Current Decks GTitania midrange RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Hahaha Dick? Your ertai setup plan is pretty tame. As people have said here even oloro sitting in his chair doing nothing is dicker than ertai. Try having a zur attack on the 3rd turn grabbing things like mana vortex (on mobile so no card tagging). Ertai is great but he's not on the mount Rushmore of dick espers.
I chime in on Zur. He's so oppressive that not even our stax/control player wanted to build a deck with him. It depends on your budget though. If we're talkin' about all the goodies it gets nasty. Stuff like Moxen, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Stip mine, Wasteland, The Tabernacle at Pendlehaven, Bazaar of Baghdad etc. At that point if you start to search up stuff like Solitary Confinment and Stasis then i'm sure you won't have alot of friends at the table (anymore)
Then you want best-in-slot mana rocks like those mentioned but also Talismans, Signets, Gilded Lotus and Grim Monolith. And the rest is just pure control-deck goodies: CA, deck manipulation, boardwipes, counters, tutors and Snapcaster Mage. There's also a Voltron variant possible, but i'm not sure how well that one plays out in a multiplayer round. Lockdowns are probably easier to achieve.
I vote for a more spell-based and less permanent, prison/lock/tax/stax/etc based version. It's just more functionally oppressive. Stop people from doing anything that matters with counters and put people under some sort of repeatable board wipe with Ruins plus OStone or Riptide Laboratory plus Magus of the Disk. Win at your own leisure with something huge. Amassing some 4-5 permanent grid of defensive permanents may be indeed oppressive when it happens but it's fragility city.
Yeah I forgot about Zur. Zur is a dick. After a couple turns he's tutored up like Bitterblossom + Contamination, then slowly deals with anything else that might stop him, then wins.
That doesn't sound like something Zur would do....
*Looks over at his Zur deck*
Not at all.
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Oath of the Gatewatch; the set that caused the competitive community to freak out over Basic Lands.
I have an oppressive Esper deck that can lock the game up using using a different commander than any of the ones mentioned here so far, and I'm compelled to share. My Esper commander of choice is..Merieke Ri Berit!
Every time she untaps the creature she stole dies, so with enough ways to untap her repeatedly you have a machine gun that steals you creatures.
My deck has three kinds of cards that combo to create prison like board states-
1. Creatures like my commander that tap to do something awesome without spending a lot of mana if possible like Azami, Arcanis, Cao Cao, both Ertai, Bloodline Keeper, Demonic Hordes, etc.
2. Ways to get multiple uses out of those creatures each turn like Crab Umbra, Teferi planeswalker, Fatestitcher, Staff of Domination, Umbral Mantle, etc.
3. Good protection and control cards like Cryptic Command, Last Word, Councils Judgement, Swiftfoot Boots, Sphinx Revelation, etc.
The deck can seem non threatening to the uninformed. At first I will just play some mana rocks and dorky looking creatures that can tap or untap another creature (they are more useful than the untap only ones). Then once no body is expecting much from me, I cast a haste granting equipment and start owning everything real fast. The deck is full of permanents but is fairly resilient to board wipes with things like Volrath's Stronghold, Sun Titan, Darksteel Plate, Coffin Queen, a bunch of counter magic, etc.
It's lots of fun being in charge and winning and everything, but I have had the game end because everyone else wss having no fun and wanted to start a new game without me because they were afraid I would use this deck again. What is the point then? I don't know... Esper is a color combination for spikes, but, it's only within the context of the metagame and preferences of an edh play group that a specific deck or card can be oppressive. Maybe the deck was just too much for those guys because they were lame.
Besides if I really want to be a dick I will simply bust out my Animar deck and win by turn 5. I just don't very often because no body wants to play against a dick.
Every time she untaps the creature she stole dies, so with enough ways to untap her repeatedly you have a machine gun that steals you creatures.
add blink effects & you can keep them , just saying
OP -------- merieke ri berit would be a good fit to your existing deck, as you already run the untappers & require sac fodder for Ertai
Humility is easily the most toxic card you could play. Also Knowledge Pool + Arcane Laboratory effects = Nobody can cast spells. Win by having everyone either concede or deck out
The tl;dr is: If they want to attack you, they have to pay for the Propagandas. If they want to play spells, they have to pay for Augustin. None of which anyone gives a **** about, since they don't have any lands.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Most of my decks are pretty solid and do well in my local meta, but I have never yet attempted to make a deck that was truly oppressive, jerkish, and utterly no-fun-allowed. A deck whose victory condition is to drive my enemies before it that I may hear the lamentations of their women.
My deck project built around Ertai, the Corrupted is turning into this sort of deck and I love it. What I'm looking for are ideas to make it worse.
The deck started off as a basic Esper control deck using big blue fatties and Ertai to help control the board. In its current state its a card drawing pillowfort deck sporting Lab Maniac and Near-death Experience as wincons.
Among other tricks it uses mass untappers with Ertai to counter everything, lots of damage nulling effects like Delaying Shield, Meishin, the Mind Cage, and Thought Lash, which quickly became a favorite because Lab Maniac, lots of life gain and protection effects like War Tax also. My regular group has nicknamed it "The Iron Box."
I want to make people even more miserable with it though, and see how far I can push it. I already added the Decree of Silence / Hex Parasite combo, Torpor Orb, Static Orb, and Arcane Laboratory and its cousin. When Ertai lands he's a counterspell machine with Thornbite staff, which protects me from board wipes and most removal.
Cards I'm thinking of adding:
Infernal Darkness
Armageddon
Isochron Scepter/Counterspell
Platinum Angel
And anything else that anyone here might suggest. Stuff with counters or cumulative upkeep is good because I want to get more value out of Hex Parasite also.
Nicol Bolas Dragon Dick
Hanna, Ship's Navigator Heart-attack Stax
Oona, Queen of the Fae Fairy Dance
Vhati Il-Dal Tree of Woe
Scion of the Ur-Dragon Durgensturm
Jolrael, Empress of Beasts Jamuraa's Army
Liliana, Heretical Healer Rise from your Graves and Proliferate
Tariel, Reckoner of Souls Angelic Judgment [
Also recommend:
replenish and starfield of nyx
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Or Zur to tutor the cheaper enchantments like Stasis.
Or GAAIV.
Personally, I prefer the new Teferi PW for Stasis decks. His untap ability gives you all the advantage. He doesn't sweat Winter Orb and Stasis. Plus he has all sorts of ways to combo out.
But yeah...if you really want to stay Esper, Zur or Triplets is the way to go. Maybe Oloro. Ertai is really the 4th option.
EDH Decks:
WUBOloro, Combo ControlWUB
UBOona Reanimator ComboUB
BRGProssh, Eater of the Blue MageBRG
UBRGrixis StormUBR
Rebuilding Jenara (stealyourstuff.dec)
Pauper Deck:
UBInspired SirenUB
The only thing that can stop him really, is Stifle or a Pithing Needle. And they have to CAST it first. Ertai is just a douche commander. I'm honestly amazed more people don't run him. I always like my commanders to be a little unique and he fits to a T.
Nicol Bolas Dragon Dick
Hanna, Ship's Navigator Heart-attack Stax
Oona, Queen of the Fae Fairy Dance
Vhati Il-Dal Tree of Woe
Scion of the Ur-Dragon Durgensturm
Jolrael, Empress of Beasts Jamuraa's Army
Liliana, Heretical Healer Rise from your Graves and Proliferate
Tariel, Reckoner of Souls Angelic Judgment [
Well he's not run more because his ability requires a tap, so without help he's a recurrent single counter per orbit, assuming you have a consistent stream of "food". That doesn't make him bad, per se, but the brokenness of Zur and the stability of Oloro put them ahead of him on the "Esper totem pole". I'd even rank Sharuum above Ertai for this strategy as she'd leave you with combo outs or enhance an artifact based lock down (e.g. lattice + forge + disk).
Ertai isn't bad, but I would still use a bunch of commanders over him. He has a decently high CMC and a deck like you said you want to make usually needs to play fast. He relies on having fuel for his ability. Which means you are wasting spots on junk enchantments or creatures. In an ideal world you have some token engine for him but setting that up diverts you from actually setting up a truly oppressive situation.
In the end, his ability is either pointlessly redundant or actually harmful to your goals. It's usually more benificial to just pack a ton of STAX cards you never want to sacrifice and a ton of actual counterspells. Along with a substantial removal package. Trying to play to his ability will usually just slow you down.
Why bother countering spells when you can remove their ability to cast those spells in the first place? It is a much faster and more efficient philosophy than countering everything with Ertai.
Zur is a better option because he comes down fast and quickly tutors essential cards. Triplets are better because they allow you to sort of play two decks and often work uninterrupted during your turn. GAAIV is better because he comes out faster and is both a tax effect and reduction effect himself. Oloro might be better because he can give you value from the CZ. The new Teferi PW is amazing because he is usually "free" (or even a ritual) to cast. He also mitigates the damage of all the STAX cards on your own board state. He also is a combo machine.
EDH Decks:
WUBOloro, Combo ControlWUB
UBOona Reanimator ComboUB
BRGProssh, Eater of the Blue MageBRG
UBRGrixis StormUBR
Rebuilding Jenara (stealyourstuff.dec)
Pauper Deck:
UBInspired SirenUB
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Even though Zur searches up Enchantments you should only run the really important ones: Solitary Confinment and Stasis as already mentioned and then: Necropotence, Bitterblossom, Contamination, Land Tax, Phyrexian Arena, Rest in Peace, Aura of Silence.
Then you want best-in-slot mana rocks like those mentioned but also Talismans, Signets, Gilded Lotus and Grim Monolith. And the rest is just pure control-deck goodies: CA, deck manipulation, boardwipes, counters, tutors and Snapcaster Mage. There's also a Voltron variant possible, but i'm not sure how well that one plays out in a multiplayer round. Lockdowns are probably easier to achieve.
That doesn't sound like something Zur would do....
*Looks over at his Zur deck*
Not at all.
Every time she untaps the creature she stole dies, so with enough ways to untap her repeatedly you have a machine gun that steals you creatures.
My deck has three kinds of cards that combo to create prison like board states-
1. Creatures like my commander that tap to do something awesome without spending a lot of mana if possible like Azami, Arcanis, Cao Cao, both Ertai, Bloodline Keeper, Demonic Hordes, etc.
2. Ways to get multiple uses out of those creatures each turn like Crab Umbra, Teferi planeswalker, Fatestitcher, Staff of Domination, Umbral Mantle, etc.
3. Good protection and control cards like Cryptic Command, Last Word, Councils Judgement, Swiftfoot Boots, Sphinx Revelation, etc.
The deck can seem non threatening to the uninformed. At first I will just play some mana rocks and dorky looking creatures that can tap or untap another creature (they are more useful than the untap only ones). Then once no body is expecting much from me, I cast a haste granting equipment and start owning everything real fast. The deck is full of permanents but is fairly resilient to board wipes with things like Volrath's Stronghold, Sun Titan, Darksteel Plate, Coffin Queen, a bunch of counter magic, etc.
It's lots of fun being in charge and winning and everything, but I have had the game end because everyone else wss having no fun and wanted to start a new game without me because they were afraid I would use this deck again. What is the point then? I don't know... Esper is a color combination for spikes, but, it's only within the context of the metagame and preferences of an edh play group that a specific deck or card can be oppressive. Maybe the deck was just too much for those guys because they were lame.
Besides if I really want to be a dick I will simply bust out my Animar deck and win by turn 5. I just don't very often because no body wants to play against a dick.
Every time she untaps the creature she stole dies, so with enough ways to untap her repeatedly you have a machine gun that steals you creatures.
add blink effects & you can keep them , just saying
OP -------- merieke ri berit would be a good fit to your existing deck, as you already run the untappers & require sac fodder for Ertai
arena of the ancients beguiler of wills can work well in a deck full of untapers
ixidron quicksilver elemental ?????
aphetto alchemist / tidewater minion & illusionist's bracers combos fit well with the hearty untapping mechanic
An enigma as vexing as life itself.
WUBRG Reaper King - Elf Tribal WUBRG | Tribal Fun
WRG Gishath, Sun's Avatar - Dinosaur Tribal WRG | Rawr!!!
WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Enchantress Tactics WUG | Enchantments Focused
GBG The Gitrog Monster - Land Shenanigans GBG | Lands/Mill Focused
WBW Kambal, Consul of Life Allocation Matters WBW | Life Gain/Loss focused
UBR Kess, Dissident Mage of the Lotus UBR | Spellslinger
BGB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Counters & Tokens BGB | -1/-1 counters focused
Bitterblossom/Contamination
Hex Parasite/Infernal Darkness
Necropotence/Chains of Mephistopheles/Teferi's Puzzle Box
BGGRock
Modern
BRGJund
BBGRock
The tl;dr is: If they want to attack you, they have to pay for the Propagandas. If they want to play spells, they have to pay for Augustin. None of which anyone gives a **** about, since they don't have any lands.
On phasing: