Ok, this might slightly resemble a Blue Thrun lol. I really don't like most of the traditional mono blue commanders though so I thought I might build something a little different. Lu Xun looks sort of cool and I could see myself enjoying her/his (yikes) playstyle. The trade off here is that he/she is really small starting power but she has built in evasion and draw. Blue is also better at just saying no to bad things that would screw me over so it will be interesting to have some counters. Extra turns here turn into lots of profit as I can get some beats in, and draw additional cards.
I have no idea though if I will follow through on this one though. Jenara enchantress is the next thing I have been itching to try but this looks like it could definitely be some fun.
I love that you decided to use a unique general. I am so tired of seeing the same generals over and over.
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**** this site. I'd delete this account but that doesn't seem to be an option. The mods here are ******* useless ********s who ban people for simple ass normal words. **** them and **** this site.
Well, I am still interested in putting this together. I even have a lead on someone who has Lu Xun that is willing to trade it sounds like. My biggest concern at the moment is probably getting tucked as I have seen plenty of tucking of late but not a lot of good solutions to get around it. I have plenty of shroud like equipment but that doesnt stop everything that I need so counterspells are still high on my list of hopes for deterring it.
DECK CHANGES:
Stupefying Touch -> Diluvian Primordial I thought that Stupefying Touch was a cool card and it is but I think I need a way to possibly tutor my commander back up so I am playing with the idea of Primordial digging and opponents tutor.
Consecrated Sphinx -> Recurring Insight I am not really a creature heavy deck so I think just fire and forget card draw over something that can be spot removed.
Empyrial Plate -> Muddle the Mixture most of the things I want to counterspell are probably tuck spells so I like Muddle here. It also transmutes into a TON of useful things for the deck.
Mask of Memory -> Winter Orb the mask is nice but it doesn't add damage or do anything really new. When my commander is working I already have draw going.
Zephid's Embrace -> Drift of Phantasms I am not overly fond of Shroud and Drift can transmute into a lot of useful things as well. I still have Champion's Helm which gives the protection without it being shroud which is problematic. I like the fact that the Vedalken Shackles and Back to Basics are targets for the transmute here.
Terrain Generator -> Tolaria West the generator is only really nice because of the fact that I draw a lot. Tolaria gets me another card I need and considering how much opponents nonbasic lands could be a problem it seems useful. It also can tutor for Pact of Negation which is really nice. In a pinch I can tutor for Expedition Map with an artifact tutor, then tutor for the West and transmute to have Pact up as an option lol.
I feel like you'd have to be crazy not to run 4/5 swords. sowap will gain you crazy life with lu, and solas will give you recurring snapcasters and the like.
jankier, but sigil of sleep seems annoying, and REALLY strong with the drake. obviously wait until you've got some good protection on him. too bad it's such a nonbo with SoFaI though.
I feel like you'd have to be crazy not to run 4/5 swords. sowap will gain you crazy life with lu, and solas will give you recurring snapcasters and the like.
jankier, but sigil of sleep seems annoying, and REALLY strong with the drake. obviously wait until you've got some good protection on him. too bad it's such a nonbo with SoFaI though.
I could possibly be talked into swapping the warhammer out for WaP. They function on very similar roles. I think I would have a hard time including LaS though without a higher number of creatures but it could be enough... I usually had a hard time with it though when running mid 20s on creatures though and I dont think including it for the protections alone is enough.
sigil of sleep seems really silly especially if you can set up a Winter Orb lock up. Still, I always have a hard time with including auras into a voltron commander who doesn't have hexproof / shroud.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
If you're worried about tucks, could Vanishing be a thing? I know you dont like auras, an it could clash with your swords. But its an option.
Its already in there
I used to play it in a Teferi deck and its probably my favorite aura of all times.
It feels a little bit like making any creature I want into an Aetherling.
DECK CHANGE:
Eel Umbra -> Negate I have been thinking more and more about this Umbra and while I want it to work, I am trying to use it as a bad counterspell. It seems like I should just break down and use an actual counter.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I used to play it in a Teferi deck and its probably my favorite aura of all times.
It feels a little bit like making any creature I want into an Aetherling.
DECK CHANGE:
Eel Umbra -> Negate I have been thinking more and more about this Umbra and while I want it to work, I am trying to use it as a bad counterspell. It seems like I should just break down and use an actual counter.
I feel like you'd have to be crazy not to run 4/5 swords. sowap will gain you crazy life with lu, and solas will give you recurring snapcasters and the like.
jankier, but sigil of sleep seems annoying, and REALLY strong with the drake. obviously wait until you've got some good protection on him. too bad it's such a nonbo with SoFaI though.
Thinking further on your suggestion I think I will actually bring in War and Peace.
Deck Change:
Loxodon Warhammer -> Sword of War and Peace the big difference is that generally speaking the warhammer gives evasion where evasion from white and red can be somewhat limiting. In this situation I don't need the evasions so the protections from spot removal and spot tuck are actually fairly strong here on the sword. There is still a buff to size and lifegain involved with it. Overall there will be some slight commander damage loss here but its also cheaper to drop and equip making for a nice follow up turn to my commander potentially which I have found to be awkward before with Thrun as a 4 drop.
Walk the Aeons -> Sky Diamond I felt like my extra turn package was slightly heavy at 4 of them. I really like them but I also think that cutting into the curve a little for another piece of ramp is probably a good move. Especially with the move to add Winter Orb to the deck I would like another mana stone that taps for colored mana.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Thinking further on your suggestion I think I will actually bring in War and Peace.
Deck Change:
Loxodon Warhammer -> Sword of War and Peace the big difference is that generally speaking the warhammer gives evasion where evasion from white and red can be somewhat limiting. In this situation I don't need the evasions so the protections from spot removal and spot tuck are actually fairly strong here on the sword. There is still a buff to size and lifegain involved with it. Overall there will be some slight commander damage loss here but its also cheaper to drop and equip making for a nice follow up turn to my commander potentially which I have found to be awkward before with Thrun as a 4 drop.
Walk the Aeons -> Sky Diamond I felt like my extra turn package was slightly heavy at 4 of them. I really like them but I also think that cutting into the curve a little for another piece of ramp is probably a good move. Especially with the move to add Winter Orb to the deck I would like another mana stone that taps for colored mana.
Man, I have a hard time believing walk the aeons isn't a killer finisher, but it's your call. I think I'd take something like fellwar stone over sky diamond - are you really having a hard time getting blue mana in monocolor o_O?
I really think you should include SoLaS. The protections are arguably the best for protecting from removal, which is mainly what you care about, although they're also nice if you need a chumper. +2/+2 is not insubstantial. and 3 life ain't bad either. Even with just those - great protection, solid boost, and lifegain - I think it'd be worth it. Compare to lox (which isn't bad) - the lifegain will often be comparable, the boost is nearly as good, and the protections are huge - and it costs less to equip too. The return-a-creature doesn't have to always be relevant. But it's insane to recur drift of phantasms, or the drake, or archmage, or venser, or trinket mage, etc etc. Any of those recurred repeatedly is crazy value. And the equipment is very playable without any of them.
I am hesitant to draw too much ire I guess with extra turns. I run three of them in my Jenara deck and they have done good work so I was just a bit worried about excessive extra turns in general. Also, the addition of Winter Orb to the list has made me want to cut back on some of the expensive spells and add more ramp.
fellwar stone - I suppose I could probably run it in place of the Sky Diamond. I just wanted to get a 2 mana stone that gave me colored mana. In my Thrun deck I passed up on it due to running Ritual of Subdual but due to the fact that I don't run anything like that here... I suppose I could get away with running it. Ok, I will do the swap.
I am still incredibly hesitant on Light and Shadow. I ran it in my Jenara deck for some time early on and I just hated it when it wasn't triggering to recover creatures. My creature count is just so low that even with some amazing targets I feel like it would be really surprising to ever get something back. I am also less worried about the black spot removal in general because I still run a good number of hexproof / shroud equipment and still have a pro black sword in here. Black also doesn't run any tuck removal so occasionally eating a Go for the Throat isn't really too worrisome for me at the moment.
So, I should have my copy of Lu Xun somewhere in the mail (theoretically by now lol). I am just kicking a few ideas arround my list and looking at it a little closer.
Diluvian Primordial -> Citanul Flute: honestly the primordial was in as sort of a recovery plan but the more I thought about it the worse an idea it really was lol. I have good means to tutor for and recur artifacts though if needed and I think it makes the Flute the ideal recovery plan. Its not a very impressive card but I am putting it in for emergency uses more than anything and this deck has the best access to tutor for artifacts of anything.
EDIT: brb, I think I am going to cut 2 lands for stones.
EDIT 2: 1 Island -> Guardian Idol: I decided to cut a single land after noticing that I was running 39 lands with Tabernacle in list so that leaves me with 38. I usually like to start a little high on my land count but seeing how I am doing a little bit of land disruption and run a somewhat low curve I wanted to bump a stone in for a land. I like that the Idol can give me an attacker or blocker in a pinch. It also gives me something to sacrifice to random Edict effects.
EDIT 3:Venser, Shaper Savant is currently on my possible cut board. I like him when I am abusing creature or am pushing a flash theme but in here I am a little worried about him considering I run Torpor Orb and like no ways to abuse creatures. I am thinking about cutting him and will likely decide on something in the near future that I would rather have than him.
I have no idea though if I will follow through on this one though. Jenara enchantress is the next thing I have been itching to try but this looks like it could definitely be some fun.
1 Lu Xun, Scholar General
CREATURES (10)
1 Gilded Drake
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Drift of Phantasms
1 Tandem Lookout
1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1 Trinket Mage
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Body Double
ARTIFACT (22)
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Mana Crypt
1 Expedition Map
1 Mana Vault
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mind Stone
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Torpor Orb
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Winter Orb
1 Fireshrieker
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Champion's Helm
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Citanul Flute
1 Vanishing
1 Spreading Seas
1 Back to Basics
1 Rising Waters
INSTANT (14)
1 Pact of Negation
1 Pongify
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Mana Drain
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Negate
1 Hinder
1 Spell Crumple
1 Cryptic Command
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Force of Will
SORCERY (9)
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Fabricate
1 Acquire
1 Bribery
1 Capture Of Jingzhou
1 Recurring Insight
1 Temporal Manipulation
1 Time Warp
1 Knowledge Exploitation
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
LAND (39)
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Buried Ruin
1 Cathedral of War
1 Cavern of Souls
1 High Market
1 Mouth of Ronom
1 Mystifying Maze
25 Snow-Covered Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Tectonic Edge
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Tolaria West
1 Tower of the Magistrate
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looks suspicious.....
you sure? lol
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[Modern] Allies
Pretty sure he's right; I think it's just the art style.
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
DECK CHANGES:
Stupefying Touch -> Diluvian Primordial I thought that Stupefying Touch was a cool card and it is but I think I need a way to possibly tutor my commander back up so I am playing with the idea of Primordial digging and opponents tutor.
Consecrated Sphinx -> Recurring Insight I am not really a creature heavy deck so I think just fire and forget card draw over something that can be spot removed.
Empyrial Plate -> Muddle the Mixture most of the things I want to counterspell are probably tuck spells so I like Muddle here. It also transmutes into a TON of useful things for the deck.
Mask of Memory -> Winter Orb the mask is nice but it doesn't add damage or do anything really new. When my commander is working I already have draw going.
Zephid's Embrace -> Drift of Phantasms I am not overly fond of Shroud and Drift can transmute into a lot of useful things as well. I still have Champion's Helm which gives the protection without it being shroud which is problematic. I like the fact that the Vedalken Shackles and Back to Basics are targets for the transmute here.
Terrain Generator -> Tolaria West the generator is only really nice because of the fact that I draw a lot. Tolaria gets me another card I need and considering how much opponents nonbasic lands could be a problem it seems useful. It also can tutor for Pact of Negation which is really nice. In a pinch I can tutor for Expedition Map with an artifact tutor, then tutor for the West and transmute to have Pact up as an option lol.
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I feel like you'd have to be crazy not to run 4/5 swords. sowap will gain you crazy life with lu, and solas will give you recurring snapcasters and the like.
jankier, but sigil of sleep seems annoying, and REALLY strong with the drake. obviously wait until you've got some good protection on him. too bad it's such a nonbo with SoFaI though.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
I could possibly be talked into swapping the warhammer out for WaP. They function on very similar roles. I think I would have a hard time including LaS though without a higher number of creatures but it could be enough... I usually had a hard time with it though when running mid 20s on creatures though and I dont think including it for the protections alone is enough.
sigil of sleep seems really silly especially if you can set up a Winter Orb lock up. Still, I always have a hard time with including auras into a voltron commander who doesn't have hexproof / shroud.
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[Modern] Allies
Its already in there
I used to play it in a Teferi deck and its probably my favorite aura of all times.
It feels a little bit like making any creature I want into an Aetherling.
DECK CHANGE:
Eel Umbra -> Negate I have been thinking more and more about this Umbra and while I want it to work, I am trying to use it as a bad counterspell. It seems like I should just break down and use an actual counter.
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[Modern] Allies
Listen >:|.
Thinking further on your suggestion I think I will actually bring in War and Peace.
Deck Change:
Loxodon Warhammer -> Sword of War and Peace the big difference is that generally speaking the warhammer gives evasion where evasion from white and red can be somewhat limiting. In this situation I don't need the evasions so the protections from spot removal and spot tuck are actually fairly strong here on the sword. There is still a buff to size and lifegain involved with it. Overall there will be some slight commander damage loss here but its also cheaper to drop and equip making for a nice follow up turn to my commander potentially which I have found to be awkward before with Thrun as a 4 drop.
Walk the Aeons -> Sky Diamond I felt like my extra turn package was slightly heavy at 4 of them. I really like them but I also think that cutting into the curve a little for another piece of ramp is probably a good move. Especially with the move to add Winter Orb to the deck I would like another mana stone that taps for colored mana.
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[Modern] Allies
Man, I have a hard time believing walk the aeons isn't a killer finisher, but it's your call. I think I'd take something like fellwar stone over sky diamond - are you really having a hard time getting blue mana in monocolor o_O?
I really think you should include SoLaS. The protections are arguably the best for protecting from removal, which is mainly what you care about, although they're also nice if you need a chumper. +2/+2 is not insubstantial. and 3 life ain't bad either. Even with just those - great protection, solid boost, and lifegain - I think it'd be worth it. Compare to lox (which isn't bad) - the lifegain will often be comparable, the boost is nearly as good, and the protections are huge - and it costs less to equip too. The return-a-creature doesn't have to always be relevant. But it's insane to recur drift of phantasms, or the drake, or archmage, or venser, or trinket mage, etc etc. Any of those recurred repeatedly is crazy value. And the equipment is very playable without any of them.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
fellwar stone - I suppose I could probably run it in place of the Sky Diamond. I just wanted to get a 2 mana stone that gave me colored mana. In my Thrun deck I passed up on it due to running Ritual of Subdual but due to the fact that I don't run anything like that here... I suppose I could get away with running it. Ok, I will do the swap.
I am still incredibly hesitant on Light and Shadow. I ran it in my Jenara deck for some time early on and I just hated it when it wasn't triggering to recover creatures. My creature count is just so low that even with some amazing targets I feel like it would be really surprising to ever get something back. I am also less worried about the black spot removal in general because I still run a good number of hexproof / shroud equipment and still have a pro black sword in here. Black also doesn't run any tuck removal so occasionally eating a Go for the Throat isn't really too worrisome for me at the moment.
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DECK CHANGE:
Treachery -> Rising Waters: Treachery was just sort of a random cool fun tool add. I think Rising Waters gives me something I actually want to play with more though.
Diluvian Primordial -> Citanul Flute: honestly the primordial was in as sort of a recovery plan but the more I thought about it the worse an idea it really was lol. I have good means to tutor for and recur artifacts though if needed and I think it makes the Flute the ideal recovery plan. Its not a very impressive card but I am putting it in for emergency uses more than anything and this deck has the best access to tutor for artifacts of anything.
EDIT: brb, I think I am going to cut 2 lands for stones.EDIT 2: 1 Island -> Guardian Idol: I decided to cut a single land after noticing that I was running 39 lands with Tabernacle in list so that leaves me with 38. I usually like to start a little high on my land count but seeing how I am doing a little bit of land disruption and run a somewhat low curve I wanted to bump a stone in for a land. I like that the Idol can give me an attacker or blocker in a pinch. It also gives me something to sacrifice to random Edict effects.
EDIT 3: Venser, Shaper Savant is currently on my possible cut board. I like him when I am abusing creature or am pushing a flash theme but in here I am a little worried about him considering I run Torpor Orb and like no ways to abuse creatures. I am thinking about cutting him and will likely decide on something in the near future that I would rather have than him.
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