This deck represents the culmination of my search for a mono-red commander that avoids the common pitfalls of other mono-red generals, namely linear and non-interactive gameplay, and instead produces compelling board states and novel interactions.
Krenko, Mob Boss was my very first commander, but, in addition to drawing a lot of hate from the table, my LSG's points system disincentivises the infinite combos that make Krenko so strong. I tried Heartless Hidetsugu, which, while fun and challenging to pilot, often ended commander games far too early, win or lose. Purphoros, God of the Forge was both consistent and consistently dull, with games boiling down to resolving 1-2 spells a turn and waiting 15+ minutes while the rest of the table played Magic. Neheb, the Eternal was actually a lot of fun to build and pilot, but again, the end game felt too similar to other mono-red commanders. Blowing out the whole table from out of nowhere has its charms, but it gets old over time.
Unlike the other top mono-red commanders which rely heavily on direct damage and combo wins, Etali, Primal Stormthrives in the attack step. Her unique ability to basically Mind's Dilation the table lets us play with our opponent's cards, leading to some truely weird looking boardstates and creating oppotunities for novel lines of play.
STRATEGY:
Pretty simple to start with, our goal is to ramp and hopefully set up a haste effect and/or card filter for when we drop Etail. Obviously you'll want to avoid running her out without either a haste effect or a way to protect her. So if your opponents are repesenting counter magic or instant speed removal, playing out other creatures, putting pressure on them, and biding your time is the best option. It usually only takes 1-2 attacks to really cause problems for the table, so finding the right window to play and attack with Etali is key.
The best case senario is to drop Etali with a haste effect in play, get your attack trigger, and have Relentless Assault or something similar in hand to follow up with in your second main phase. The best part is, with global haste effects like Fervor or Hammer of Purphoros, if you do flip some creatures with your first attack, they too can join in on any subsequent attack phases.
Sensei's Divining Top, et al - Manipulating the top of our deck with Top and Scry effects ensures getting maximum value from Etali's trigger.
Relentless Assault and friends - If attacking with Etali once was good value, attacking multiple times in a turn often produces an overwhelming advantage. Note that these specify "this main phase" and cannot be cast off Etali's trigger. They are still so strong in this deck that playing them is well worth the occasional brick.
Dolmen Gate - We're already attacking. Why not make sure Etali is still around post-combat.
Berserkers' Onslaught - Just crazy good with multiple attack steps, and also makes Etali a two turn clock.
Chromatic Lantern - Your opponent's cards often come with potentially useful acivated abilities. Chromatic Lantern helps you do just that.
Sword of Feast and Famine, and additional equipment - There are other pieces of equipment that could help protect Etali or profit from the additional attack steps. If you go in this direction, Godo, Bandit Warlord would be a logical addition.
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and other Eldrazi - Another likely addition, though I don't really know whether its worth maxing out on these. Playing another big creature post-combat in addition to our Etali flips is a nice way to apply maximum pressure to our opponents while reserving resources in case of a wrath. I find six and seven drops to be better than ten or eleven drops for this purpose. This and you don't always have the Scry effect to flip something otherwise uncastable off the top.
I wasn't sure on Ruby Medallion when I first sleeved this up, given the number of artifacts it doesn't help ramp. But I've found getting Etail out 1-2 turns early is a huge boon to the deck. Plus, mid to late game, playing multiple spells post combat may put things over the top.
I'll probably trade out Mind Stone for now and see how it plays.
I would argue that on-color Medallions are always worth it in mono-colored decks.
Also, I would add a Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. You don't have to go crazy with Expedition Maps or anything, but if you happen to have it, a free Bolt every turn is nothing to sneeze at.
Turns out I was short a card for this list so I added in Hour of Devastation. I also wanted to try out the Godo/Helm combo as both sides are good in this deck on their own.
Updates after a few months of testing. I found a need for more interaction, especially early, so I added a few more sweepers and removal. I wanted to try pressing the deck's identity a bit more so I'm testing out both Mirage Mirror and Stolen Strategy. Also, turns out Isolated Watchtower is as good as advertised in mono-colored decks and even better in a deck that places a premium on Scry effects.
INTRODUCTION:
This deck represents the culmination of my search for a mono-red commander that avoids the common pitfalls of other mono-red generals, namely linear and non-interactive gameplay, and instead produces compelling board states and novel interactions.
Krenko, Mob Boss was my very first commander, but, in addition to drawing a lot of hate from the table, my LSG's points system disincentivises the infinite combos that make Krenko so strong. I tried Heartless Hidetsugu, which, while fun and challenging to pilot, often ended commander games far too early, win or lose. Purphoros, God of the Forge was both consistent and consistently dull, with games boiling down to resolving 1-2 spells a turn and waiting 15+ minutes while the rest of the table played Magic. Neheb, the Eternal was actually a lot of fun to build and pilot, but again, the end game felt too similar to other mono-red commanders. Blowing out the whole table from out of nowhere has its charms, but it gets old over time.
Unlike the other top mono-red commanders which rely heavily on direct damage and combo wins, Etali, Primal Stormthrives in the attack step. Her unique ability to basically Mind's Dilation the table lets us play with our opponent's cards, leading to some truely weird looking boardstates and creating oppotunities for novel lines of play.
STRATEGY:
Pretty simple to start with, our goal is to ramp and hopefully set up a haste effect and/or card filter for when we drop Etail. Obviously you'll want to avoid running her out without either a haste effect or a way to protect her. So if your opponents are repesenting counter magic or instant speed removal, playing out other creatures, putting pressure on them, and biding your time is the best option. It usually only takes 1-2 attacks to really cause problems for the table, so finding the right window to play and attack with Etali is key.
The best case senario is to drop Etali with a haste effect in play, get your attack trigger, and have Relentless Assault or something similar in hand to follow up with in your second main phase. The best part is, with global haste effects like Fervor or Hammer of Purphoros, if you do flip some creatures with your first attack, they too can join in on any subsequent attack phases.
1 Etali, Primal Storm
CREATURES (15)
1 Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
1 Generator Servant
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Combat Celebrant
1 Magus of the Wheel
1 Bloodsworn Steward
1 Neheb, the Eternal
1 Urabrask the Hidden
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Hellkite Charger
1 Godo, Bandit Warlord
1 Inferno Titan
1 Balefire Dragon
1 Void Winnower
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
ARTIFACT (21)
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Mind Stone
1 Ruby Medallion
1 Grim Monolith
1 Coalition Relic
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Caged Sun
1 Strionic Resonator
1 Dolmen Gate
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Scroll Rack
1 Mirage Mirror
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Darksteel Plate
1 Helm of the Host
1 Hammer of Purphoros
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Perilous Vault
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
ENCHANTMENT (5)
1 Aggravated Assault
1 Fervor
1 Pyrohemia
1 Stolen Strategy
1 Sunbird's Invocation
INSTANT (1)
1 Chaos Warp
SORCERY (18)
1 Ruination
1 Boom // Bust
1 Vandalblast
1 Mizzium Mortars
1 Slagstorm
1 Fiery Confluence
1 Chandra's Ignition
1 Reiterate
1 Gamble
1 Faithless Looting
1 Wheel of Fate
1 Cathartic Reunion
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Fury of the Horde
1 Relentless Assault
1 Seize the Day
1 World at War
1 Savage Beating
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Hanweir Battlements
1 Nyxthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Isolated Watchtower
1 Flamekin Village
1 Emergence Zone
30 Mountain
NOTABLE CARDS:
CONSIDERATIONS:
Changelog
Adds:
Savage Beating
Disrupt Decorum
Scroll Rack
Darksteel Plate
Swiftfoot Boots
Ruby Medallion
Fellwar Stone
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Scour from Existence
Cuts:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Pyreheart Wolf
Fire Diamond
Seer's Lantern
Sword of the Animist
Price of Glory
Myriad Landscape
Hanweir Garrison
Dragon Mage
Crystal Ball
Adds:
Grim Monolith
Coalition Relic
Mirage Mirror
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Stolen Strategy
Boom // Bust
Mizzium Mortars
Slagstorm
Chandra's Ignition
Reiterate
Wheel of Fate
Cathartic Reunion
Isolated Watchtower
Flamekin Village
Drops:
Harsh Metor
Prophetic Flamespeaker
Ogre Battledriver
Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
Artizan of Kozilek
Unstable Obelisk
Chromatic Lantern
Worn Powerstone
Mind's Eye
Scour From Existence
Disrupt Decorum
Hour of Devastation
Etali, Primal Storm EDH
Currently Playing:
Multiplayer EDH Lists (click italics for a link to the thread!)
[Primer] Lord of Tresserhorn - Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do[Primer] Roon of the Hidden Realm - Rhino Blink
5 Color Tribal Guide (Slivers, Atogs, Allies, Spirits)
Also Playing (most decklists can be found on my profile)
MarathGeistKamahlGrenzoBolasThassaGitrog
PiratesZurVial Smasher&ThrasiosYennettJhoira(cEDH)Strix(Pauper)
Legacy: Maverick
Modern:
Melira PodRIP 1/19/15GWHatebearsI'll probably trade out Mind Stone for now and see how it plays.
Thanks
Etali, Primal Storm EDH
I would argue that on-color Medallions are always worth it in mono-colored decks.
Also, I would add a Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. You don't have to go crazy with Expedition Maps or anything, but if you happen to have it, a free Bolt every turn is nothing to sneeze at.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
After some additional play testing I found a need for more Etali protection, hence the Darksteel Plate and Swiftfoot Boots, and I also wanted another piece of spot removal so I added in Scour from Existence to try out. Crystal Ball was cut for Scroll Rack and Seer's Lantern was dropped in favor of Fellwar Stone; while Scrying away land was nice, I only very rarely spent the full 3 mana to Scry with the lantern (2 to pay and another foregone by tapping the Lantern itself). Fellwar Stone is an additional Chromatic Lantern effect. I debating whether to include Exotic Orchard, perhaps over Forgotten Cave. I also took the advice on Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and Ruby Medallion.
Adds:
Savage Beating
Disrupt Decorum
Scroll Rack
Darksteel Plate
Swiftfoot Boots
Ruby Medallion
Fellwar Stone
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Scour from Existence
Cuts:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Pyreheart Wolf
Fire Diamond
Seer's Lantern
Sword of the Animist
Price of Glory
Myriad Landscape
Hanweir Garrison
Dragon Mage
Crystal Ball
Etali, Primal Storm EDH
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Turns out I was short a card for this list so I added in Hour of Devastation. I also wanted to try out the Godo/Helm combo as both sides are good in this deck on their own.
Adds:
Helm of the Host
Godo, Bandit Warlord
Hour of Devastation
Cuts:
Hellkite Tyrant
Berserkers' Onslaught
Etali, Primal Storm EDH
Updates after a few months of testing. I found a need for more interaction, especially early, so I added a few more sweepers and removal. I wanted to try pressing the deck's identity a bit more so I'm testing out both Mirage Mirror and Stolen Strategy. Also, turns out Isolated Watchtower is as good as advertised in mono-colored decks and even better in a deck that places a premium on Scry effects.
Suggestions for testing welcome. Thanks.
Adds:
Grim Monolith
Coalition Relic
Mirage Mirror
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Stolen Strategy
Boom // Bust
Mizzium Mortars
Slagstorm
Chandra's Ignition
Reiterate
Wheel of Fate
Cathartic Reunion
Isolated Watchtower
Flamekin Village
Drops:
Harsh Metor
Prophetic Flamespeaker
Ogre Battledriver
Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
Artizan of Kozilek
Unstable Obelisk
Chromatic Lantern
Worn Powerstone
Mind's Eye
Scour From Existence
Disrupt Decorum
Hour of Devastation
Etali, Primal Storm EDH