Hello everyone, and thank you for taking a look at my iteration of the Sidar/Tymna pairing!
When I set out to build this deck, there were a few goals I had in mind
Win through combat
Have an answer in the deck for everything
Leverage Sidar's ability to connect cool "on-hit" creatures with my opponent's face
Don't depend too heavily on ETB effects, graveyard, or artifacts/enchantments
The deck more or less meets all of my initial goals, with a few exceptions that I'll discuss in sections below.
This deck's gameplan is to get Tymna on the board as quickly as possible and start drawing cards, set up relevant disruption for what your opponent's deck is doing, and play protection pieces to prevent your opponent from clearing your important pieces. Sidar comes down as necessary do prevent your opponent from blocking. The deck wins usually through a huge combat turn with one of the anthem effects(usually activated after blocks to remain unblockable, except in the case of Craterhoof), or simply by stopping your opponent from doing what their deck is meant to do through a strong hate/lock piece.
A major part of this deck's development has been choosing cards that don't get shut off by our own hate effects. For the most part, I believe that we can't 100% "play around" our own hate. That is to say, I'm ok with a certain amount of "nonbo" in the deck, but I try to keep it to a minimum. Below I've listed our cards that get shut off by our own hate, in order of most concerning to least concerning.
Hushwing Gryff - Leonin Relic-Warder, Mentor of the Meek, Manglehorn, Recruiter of the Guard, Reclamation Sage, Sin Collector, Karmic Guide, Sun Titan, Bane of Progress, Craterhoof Behemoth
Leonin Arbiter - Recruiter of the Guard, Worldly Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Eldritch Evolution, Green Sun's Zenith, Fetchlands
Bane of Progress - Meekstone, Sol Ring, Stony Silence, Rest in Peace, Blind Obedience, Ghostly Prison, Birthing Pod
Containment Priest - Karmic Guide, Sun Titan, Birthing Pod, Green Sun's Zenith, Eldritch Evolution
Meekstone/Retribution of the Meek - Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Odric, Master Tactician, Jazal Goldmane, Odric, Lunarch Marshal, Archangel of Thune, Bane of Progress
Rest in Peace - Karmic Guide, Sun Titan, Dusk//Dawn, Driven//Despair
Gaddock Teeg - Dusk//Dawn, Birthing Pod, Green Sun's Zenith
Hushwing Gryff is far and away the worst offender. The rest of our hate cards are much less painful to us. It's possible that the deck should be reworked a little bit to accomodate for Hushwing, and I'll talk about it a little more in the section for future updates.
Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim - Ayli doesn't really do any one thing well, but can do a lot of different things. Her deathtouch makes her a good blocker in a pinch. Her sacrifice ability is mostly used to protect my creatures from exile effects (for potential recursion). It also can sacrifice fiend hunter with it's trigger on the stack to permanently exile a creature. Her last ability is rarely used, but sometimes gets made active when Odric, Lunarch Marshal gives our team lifelink from Tymna. Ayli has been generally ok. I don't dislike drawing it, but I might not miss it if I cut it from the deck.
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Hapatra is rapidly becoming one of my favorite creatures in the deck. Sidar lets her connect (usually) to kill mana dorks, kill utility creatures, and put -1/-1 counters on persist creatures. The deathtouch snake is also a nice blocker.
Silverchase Fox - This card is solely meant for Theros gods. Before adding this card, Leonin Relic-Warder was my only out to cards like Purphuros or Keranos. It's also nice that he still works under Torpor Orb effects, and can benefit from Sidar's granted unblockable effect.
Archange of Thune/Spike Feeder - I needed a way to deal with decks gaining infinite life. It's a little clunky, and is broken up by removal, but those are manageable when the alternative was just auto-lose to infinite life combos. The combo plan also comes in if I'm playing against a deck that is looking to goldfish me, but I can't reasonably slow down with a hate piece (mostly green decks, or decks with tons of fliers).
Custodi Soulcaller - The card is interesting, but I misread this one, and it's just terrible in the deck
Nature's Will - Felt too "win more". It's awesome when it's going off, and you just get to constantly dump your hand, but there are other things I'd rather be casting I think. This may deserve a second chance.
Natural Order - This was only ever getting Craterhoof Behemoth. It's kind of awkward because the deck is mostly white, and it gets shut off by our search hate and Gadock Teeg.
Reveillark - It made the deck more graveyard dependent, which I wasn't happy with. I generally just didn't want to draw it.
Crop Rotation - I found that I was usually getting bojuka bog (which was great) or sejiri steppe (since cut), and there are just other ways I'd prefer to protect my creatures.
Deathrite Shaman - I mostly cared about him making mana, and he wasn't reliable like my other dorks. However, his graveyard hate is relevant, so he may make it back in the deck in the future.
Restoration Angel - Meant it as an effect to save my creatures, but with torpor orb effects, and purposely reducing ETB effects in my deck, the card was terrible.
Eidolon of Rhetoric - Not enough storm in my meta, plus I usually want to cast multiple cards per turn since my avg cmc is so low.
Renegade Rallier - Power 3 (doesn't benefit from Sidar/Meekstone effects), ETB reliant, GY reliant. No.
Coalition Honor Guard - Generally underwhelming. I like having this kind of effect, but I want it to be cheaper. It's possible that I want the effect spread among my curve for Birthing Pod reasons, so that could be a reason to reconsider him.
Cards I'd Like to Test
Mother of Runes - The card is obviously great, it's just been in other decks and I haven't tried it yet
Throat Slitter - Not sure if this is good enough, but it might be fun
Sapling of Colfenor - This seems expensive, but another repeatable card draw effect would be nice. It also benefits from Sidar, and is indestructible to boot.
Blinding Angel - Doesn't get any better from Sidar, and I'm not sure how many decks care about this card. But it would be great against any deck trying to race me in combat.
Glare of Subdual - This card seems bananas. I'm not sure that I'd really be utilizing it to it's full potential, but I'd like to at least take it for a spin once or twice.
Grim Flayer - Actually very interested in this one. Yes, it can get out of Sidar unblockable range, but filtering some cards away before we draw with Tymna is appealing. It's also possible that even if he becomes a 4/4 that that's just big enough for him to keep connecting.
Enlightened Tutor - This should just be in the deck. The deck needs to find the right hate piece early, and this does it better than most cards in the game.
The Torpor Orb Adjustment - (Looking for Creatures that don't rely on ETB to do their job)
Harmonic Sliver - Rec sage should probably be this, if only for the synergy with necrotic sliver. This at least has a chance to do something under torpor orb if it could gain other sliver abilities.
The two commanders looks really interesting to me, they seems to synergize pretty well, but I never had the chance to try.
Have you had the opportunity to playtest yet?
By the way from the post I was not able to get which is the format, I suppose it is the mtgo 1 vs 1 variant. (Here in Italy Leviathan and duel commander are fair more popular though). In this case you have to keep off the sol ring, since is banned, and also the spellskite because it doesn't respect the color identity of your commanders.
So said I like your concept of deck and most of the cards, except for few of them:
Kataki, War's Wage is a bit overrated in commander, while most of the time it will be just a 2/1 with no effect or it will arrive too late when the opponent could choose to pay a bunch of mana or just spend a removal for him!
Silverchase Fox is not worth in my opinion, just go for Kami of Ancient Law so you will not need to keep the two mana open in any moment. Yeah it is true, you loose the option of removing a God but I don't think the meta justify this choice.
Then I suggest you to focus more on creatures with low converted mana cost ( <= 2), because basically you always want to cast Tymna, the Weaver on turn 3 and attack at least with one creature on that turn. Also, you could exploit the black discard to constantly have information about the opponent's hand and remove threats directly from there! Tidehollow Sculler is a must
When I set out to build this deck, there were a few goals I had in mind
- Win through combat
- Have an answer in the deck for everything
- Leverage Sidar's ability to connect cool "on-hit" creatures with my opponent's face
- Don't depend too heavily on ETB effects, graveyard, or artifacts/enchantments
The deck more or less meets all of my initial goals, with a few exceptions that I'll discuss in sections below.This deck's gameplan is to get Tymna on the board as quickly as possible and start drawing cards, set up relevant disruption for what your opponent's deck is doing, and play protection pieces to prevent your opponent from clearing your important pieces. Sidar comes down as necessary do prevent your opponent from blocking. The deck wins usually through a huge combat turn with one of the anthem effects(usually activated after blocks to remain unblockable, except in the case of Craterhoof), or simply by stopping your opponent from doing what their deck is meant to do through a strong hate/lock piece.
1 Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa
1 Tymna, the Weaver
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Elves of Deep Shadow
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Arbor Elf
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
1 Spellskite
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Leonin Arbiter
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Silverchase Fox
1 Containment Priest
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1 Mentor of the Meek
1 Manglehorn
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Mirror Entity
1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1 Recruiter of the Guard
1 Hushwing Gryff
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Necrotic Sliver
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Spike Feeder
1 Sin Collector
1 Windborn Muse
1 Odric, Lunarch Marshal
1 Jazal Goldmane
1 Odric, Master Tactician
1 Karmic Guide
1 Archangel of Thune
1 Sun Titan
1 Bane of Progress
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
Artifact
1 Meekstone
1 Sol Ring
1 Birthing Pod
Enchantment
1 Stony Silence
1 Rest in Peace
1 Blind Obedience
1 Ghostly Prison
Instants/Sorceries
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Driven//Despair
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Retribution of the Meek
1 Eldritch Evolution
1 Dusk//Dawn
1 Green Sun's Zenith
Lands
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Polluted Delta
1 Windswept Heath
1 Marsh Flats
1 Flooded Strand
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
1 Savannah
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
1 Canopy Vista
1 Concealed Courtyard
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Brushland
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Windbrisk Heights
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Temple of Plenty
1 Command Tower
1 Murmering Bosk
4 Plains
5 Forest
1 Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa
1 Tymna, the Weaver
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Elves of Deep Shadow
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Arbor Elf
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Sol Ring
Protect Creatures
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Spellskite
1 Selfless Spirit
Artifact/Enchantment Removal
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Silverchase Fox
1 Manglehorn
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Bane of Progress
Hate/Disruption
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Leonin Arbiter
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Containment Priest
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1 Hushwing Gryff
1 Sin Collector
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Stony Silence
1 Rest in Peace
1 Blind Obedience
1 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons
1 Necrotic Sliver
1 Mentor of the Meek
1 Odric, Lunarch Marshal
1 Driven//Despair
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Karmic Guide
1 Sun Titan
Tutor
1 Recruiter of the Guard
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Eldritch Evolution
1 Birthing Pod
1 Green Sun's Zenith
Combat Control
1 Mirror Entity
1 Jazal Goldmane
1 Odric, Master Tactician
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
Combo
1 Spike Feeder
1 Archangel of Thune
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
Defense
1 Windborn Muse
1 Ghostly Prison
Punish Power
1 Meekstone
1 Retribution of the Meek
1 Dusk//Dawn
A major part of this deck's development has been choosing cards that don't get shut off by our own hate effects. For the most part, I believe that we can't 100% "play around" our own hate. That is to say, I'm ok with a certain amount of "nonbo" in the deck, but I try to keep it to a minimum. Below I've listed our cards that get shut off by our own hate, in order of most concerning to least concerning.
Hushwing Gryff is far and away the worst offender. The rest of our hate cards are much less painful to us. It's possible that the deck should be reworked a little bit to accomodate for Hushwing, and I'll talk about it a little more in the section for future updates.
Cards I'd Like to Test
The Torpor Orb Adjustment - (Looking for Creatures that don't rely on ETB to do their job)
The two commanders looks really interesting to me, they seems to synergize pretty well, but I never had the chance to try.
Have you had the opportunity to playtest yet?
By the way from the post I was not able to get which is the format, I suppose it is the mtgo 1 vs 1 variant. (Here in Italy Leviathan and duel commander are fair more popular though). In this case you have to keep off the sol ring, since is banned, and also the spellskite because it doesn't respect the color identity of your commanders.
So said I like your concept of deck and most of the cards, except for few of them:
Kataki, War's Wage is a bit overrated in commander, while most of the time it will be just a 2/1 with no effect or it will arrive too late when the opponent could choose to pay a bunch of mana or just spend a removal for him!
Silverchase Fox is not worth in my opinion, just go for Kami of Ancient Law so you will not need to keep the two mana open in any moment. Yeah it is true, you loose the option of removing a God but I don't think the meta justify this choice.
Then I suggest you to focus more on creatures with low converted mana cost ( <= 2), because basically you always want to cast Tymna, the Weaver on turn 3 and attack at least with one creature on that turn. Also, you could exploit the black discard to constantly have information about the opponent's hand and remove threats directly from there! Tidehollow Sculler is a must
Let me know if you upgraded the list!