So, since they originally spoiled Gisela, the Broken Blade + Bruna, the Fading Light I have been asking myself how I can make these into a deck. These cards did not left my mind as far as deckbuilding since they were spoiled. I originally tried making a Bruna deck but I had originally thought her on cast ability was an on ETB which I ended up making a flicker / rez deck built around her which quickly became a derp moment when someone pointed out she was on cast.
So, that brings me up to now, I decided that the stat efficiency of Gisela, the Broken Blade is actually quite good. She gives a lot of things to do in the early parts of the game and she can totally threaten to commander damage people out while buying us extra life and keeping us with a cheap to recast commander that does need to be dealt with for opponents. I added a lot of cards that generate value from her as well as alternate threats that can help close out the game.
Some of my own favorite interactions of hers are:
Vigilance - Heliod, God of the Sun / Akroma's Memorial / Avarice Amulet. Getting vigilance lets me attack and defend. It further makes my options against life pressuring decks better. I had considered more cards such as Always Watching and Brave the Sands but in the end the lifegain mostly matters vs aggro and red zone based decks. It is still strong to gain life but its much harder to fight against control decks with this type of deck than it is aggro decks.
Archangel of Thune - lifegain on my commander plus it curves nicely. It felt like a nice one, two sort of beater plan to me. Both pick up power somewhat quickly when you consider having a consistent source of lifegain on my commander. Archangel also has an amazing interaction with Sunscorch Regent as every opponent spellcast adds a counter to all of our creatures then.
Bruna, the Fading Light - obviously it has synergy with Gisela. I have a good number of humans and angels as well so her on cast trigger generates value plus her own stats are great even on her own.
Sword of the Animist - with a low cost evasive commander it seems like a great pickup especially when my late game plan is big fatties.
Mask of Memory - Its a very strong card draw tool to pair with an evasive commander. This equipment is so powerful its kind of actually a little crazy. Being able to draw 2 and discard 1 still means your overall handsize increases. This effect honestly is in a lot of cases stronger than the effect of Sword of Fire and Ice (except when that 2 damage removal is super important).
Sword of Fire and Ice - it curves well with Gisela and it opens up some draw, spot removal, and commander pump.
Well of Lost Dreams - lifegain on my commander makes this a good card draw option.
Angelic Accord - it just makes a 4/4 flyer per turn but given that you can drop it after you connect that first turn its a fast production and it fits really well where our commander is for power and cost. It has potential to consistently make a few good creatures and I dont think it brings the level of hate that something like Luminarch Ascension does.
Crested Sunmare - makes good tokens and it curves well with Gisela. Its nice in that you can drop it in after you hit someone for your turn and its curve is great with the commander. Its also cool that it gives some evasion vs wraths for the tokens.
Citadel Siege - Normally speaking I dont go up against that many voltron decks but its mode to add two counters every combat brings Gisela up to speed as a clock very quickly. This effect is fast acting in that its effect adds on for the attack you do that turn.
Cradle of Vitality - it gives me the option to double the stats of my commander every turn which seems like a fun thing to attempt. It might attract some hate but opponents will need to clear it + my commander likely so I think it has potential.
Duelist's Heritage - this card curves very well with Gisela but beyond that it doubles your clock, gives you a larger lifegain buffer, and it double triggers a lot of equipment triggers. This card is also funny because you can incentives attacks on other opponents from your opponents because they can hit twice as hard if its not on you with their beatstick.
Umezawa's Jitte - being that this is a voltron deck, utilizing the counters of jitte are very useful for clearing through flyingtokens with the -/- ability or even just harrass utility commanders and creatures. The +/+ ability of the Jitte can cause opportunities to burst opponents down. In most decks the lifegain function of this card is really bad and normally with a lifegain commander it probably still would be but we have a plethora of effects that care about gaining life such as Archangel of Thune, Crested Sunmare, Well of Lost Dreams, Angelic Accord, amd last but probably least Cradle of Vitality. That isn't to say that every time you are going to want to consider gaining life but adding some functionality to when you might consider that option is cool too.
***NOTE*** I deliberately do not run Felidar Sovereign, Test of Endurance, or Aetherflux Reservoir in my list due to personal reasons. I feel that the first two are often slow to function and unlikely to work and the last I think would be a little lame even if it did work for me. I thought I would point them out for those interested in trying such tactics as they do have some natural synergy with the commander.
Maybe its just a bad habit of mine but anytime I even think of using Heliod I automatically include Skullclamp. While you dont have a ton of targets for it, even giving it to bruna for 1 extra damage or life point isnt terrible since the first strike. just a thought, could replace Mask of Memory maybe.
also since you have a bunch of tutors maybe a Mistveil Plains could serve a purpose.
I feel like there's a little more reward available for building with Bruna as Commander, making a reanimator deck using artifact self-mill and maybe Anvil of Bogardan-type effects. It's much easier to assemble Brisela that way, in any case, if that's what you're going for.
Maybe its just a bad habit of mine but anytime I even think of using Heliod I automatically include Skullclamp. While you dont have a ton of targets for it, even giving it to bruna for 1 extra damage or life point isnt terrible since the first strike. just a thought, could replace Mask of Memory maybe.
also since you have a bunch of tutors maybe a Mistveil Plains could serve a purpose.
I considered Skullclamp but I agree that I probably have too few targets that would benefit from Skullclamp correctly. I originally was going to consider a few more token generators such as Sacred Mesa but in the end I just dont have much of any synergy with them. I think the Heliod / Skullclamp synergy is.... ok but not good enough for me to really want to build into it. Heliod feels good enough in the list as he is but skullclamp seems too dependant on a few cards from the list.
Mistveil Plains - I have never understood people's love for this card. I have run it for some time in my rebels deck and I dont think I have activated it more than 1-2 times in a number of years. Its just not something I ever find myself saying man I wish that was back in my deck. Its possible that it could be like some means of avoiding a rez from someone else but it just seems like it has been lackluster for me. Entering tapped has been far more of a detriment than its utility has ever given me.
Honestly, I have yet to see Eldrazi Displacer ever used. It seems..... maybe ok. Its expensive to use and I dont have a ton of ETB creatures is more of where I am coming from here but given the mixed versatility with flickering opposing attackers it might be good enough. I remember playing with Mistmeadow Witch kind of a ways back and it always felt lacking to me and while this is one less mana it still feels clunky considering you cant jump wraths with it. I guess I can see some appeal in it, I just have yet to see it ever used I guess.
I feel like there's a little more reward available for building with Bruna as Commander, making a reanimator deck using artifact self-mill and maybe Anvil of Bogardan-type effects. It's much easier to assemble Brisela that way, in any case, if that's what you're going for.
There is a big difference in playstyles. With Bruna, you would be building around her a lot more and pushing her as a major plan and wincon where as with Gisela, you have a more subtle early game commander who can be recast more. Its an argument between building arround your commander a lot vs using a commander who intends to stand alone. I am not saying that I intend to not assist Gisela but at the same time I am not building a lot of focus in how to abuse her because in part she is there to distract, buy time, defend, and attack. She could be my wincon given a few of the effects I pack but at the same time my list is less focused on her as my wincon and focus.
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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.
Quick update, I got a bunch of cards for this in the mail today so I am in the process of putting it together. I am excited for this deck dispite it being mono white so thats a good sign it will probably get at least finished and at least show up for some games. I noticed that one of my counts was off in my decklist which actually put me to 100 cards so I didnt have to just outright cut anything else. I did however come up with some late adjustments.
DECK CHANGES:
1 Plains -> Ancient Tomb because my commander gives me lifegain I am even less worried about the usual small draw backs of the tomb. It also curves nicely to a turn 3 commander which seems nice.
1 Eiganjo Castle -> Temple of the False God Overall, the utility of the castle was unlikely to really be used. The temple can be awkward if I get it in my opening hand as I cant use it into my commander in any real way. Overall though I think its an ok add though as it should give me a little jump up in mana so in some ways I am adding more of the mid game ramp to my landbase.
Defy Death -> Cataclysmic Gearhulk I think that Defy Death is a flavorful card rather than being a strong one. Being a sorcery speed Resurection for one more mana with a minor advantage if its an angel seems too small to me now looking back. It was a little more cute when I had a higher angel count but its timing and cost are still a little unrealistic. I was hoping to have a little more wrath options and I am interested to see how the Gearhulk performs. I am not sold on it yet but I wanted to bolster my wrath count by another card and the card interests me.
I will have to keep an eye on how my colored mana vs colorless mana goes as I am a little heavy on non basics right now but I am willing to tight rope that line with mono colored usually.
Is there a reason why you are not running Eye of Ugin? Gives you a way (expensive though) to tutor you eldrazi creatures.
It depends a little on how much you value tutoring for them. I think they are powerful but they are also not my only threats of the deck. It has a lot of draw back being a land drop that does not under normal circumstances produce mana. I did briefly consider Eldrazi Temple from the perspective that it always gives me mana and it can give me two mana selectively but I decided instead that Temple of the False Gods was probably a better fit. Both have pros and cons considering the Temple is bad in the first 4 land drops but considering this is commander and its more likely I will see it not in the first four drops than in the first four I drop I felt that it more consistantly gave me the bigger mana for other things and that its drawback was mitigated to some degree.
even if the number were to go up I think its still a little questionable. I also have a Kozilek deck which I do run it in but the difference between your commander being cost reduced and a few cards in deck being reduced is still kind of significant.
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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.
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The deck looks pretty cool! I've also been finding a way to get a consistent Brisela, Voice of Nightmares in play as my commander.
Have you been able to test it at all?
Likewise
When they spoiled them I was just trying to juggle how to make it happen. I have not gotten any games out of it yet but I am in the process of putting it together. I am hoping that on Wednesday I get to play it.
EDIT: I have a few more changes and it hasnt been 48 hours since this post so here they are.
Darksteel Plate -> Lightning Greaves I am getting a little more value on each attack as I look at things more I want to keep mazes off my back. My meta plays plenty of mazes which is in part why I am running so many strip mine effects. The boots also give me haste for faster value and will be better in an opening hand. I am less worried about Gisela dying also due to her low starting costs. The haste should be an improvement for the eldrazi and putting boots on an Avacyn is always good stuff. I like that the plate defends itself but as far as effects go I think the boots better fit what I want to be picking up right now.
Survival Cache -> Sword of Fire and Ice moving my draw around a little. I like that the sword is a nice curve with my commander and it has more potential for value than the cache does. The sword draws a lot more attention which is a little concerning but usually the first trigger is fairly easy to get to happen. The mana cost between the two is close but the lifegain on the Cache is mostly moot where as the shocks from the sword seem good.
Cavern of Souls -> Hall of the Bandit Lord I got to thinking about both of these cards. Its unlikely anyone will really counter my commander in a deck like this. Picking eldrazi as the uncounterable is also a little odd given that there are just 3 of them in my list offhand. It felt a lot less neccessary the more I thought about it. The Hall will be offset by my commander and can give my commander or an eldrazi the ability to get in sooner which seems good. I am normally more concerned about the life loss of the Hall but with the lifegain I have I think I should be fine.
Ok, its been a while but I had not been able to show up for magic the last two weeks and the games before that were inconclusive to say the least. The first week I played this deck I had some odd games where one game I got a turn 1 Serra Ascendant who never got removed so thats kind of an outlier game. I had a more interesting game last night though so I thought I would give some feedback on it.
T1: I see sol ring start from Teferi and Kemba. I am first on the slight upside though. Lyzolda is slow with me and last. T2: I topdeck Open the Armory so I search up Sword of the Animist. Teferi plays a Guard Gomazoa. Kemba plays his commander. T3: I play my commander off of Ancient Tomb. Teferi has a Guard Gomazoa for me but he is worrying about the tokens so he plays Imprisoned in the Moon on kemba (ohhhh the flavor win with me playing Emrakul but he played it too soon ). Kemba plays a Crovax, Ascendant Hero off all his ramp. Lyzolda looks super bummed and has no way to interact. T4: I play my Sword of the Animist and equip and swing at Kemba because I want the lifegain. Teferi plays his commander I think. Kemba Faith's Fetters Teferi and durdles with Chrovax and I thin he plays another creature. Lyzolda looks still very annoyed and sad about Chrovax. T5: I play my Mask of Memory and keep it swinging at Kemba because I still feel bad for Lyzolda and cant connect with Teferi. Teferi bounces his commander and replays him. T6:Akroma's Memorial and I get in for a little damage on Teferi's commander with my trample. Teferi does a Rite of Replication kicked on his Guard Gomazoa. Kemba plays an Emeria Shepherd and flips his Faith's Fetters out on my commander. T7: I am in a tight spot and my answers are like... Cataclysmic Gearhulk & Tragic Arrogance. I am in a pinch because I have no other creatures to drop my commander to off of either effect and Kemba has no other enchantments for me to make him sacrifice. If I Gearhulk it has the problem that I cant remove the Emeria Shepherd and I am back to in a pinch again very quickly. I opt to Tragic Arrogance even though I could not kill Faith's Fetters or my commander with it because if I did not remove the Emeria Shepherd it was going to be the same problem for me every turn.
From here the turns get a little rougher to remember on a turn by turn so I will break it down by important things.
I manage to get out of the Faith's Fetters after a few turns (I think Teferi for some reason helped me out of it). After a few turns though the Teferi player plays Dismiss into Dream and starts spot removing things. I use Akroma's Memorial for haste to keep on him though. I cast Thalia's Lancers fetching up Bruna, the Fading Light to hand. I spend a few turns doing little as I ahve the life total that its not too concerning that I am easily removed but I try to keep my commander from being cast too much.
I finally stumble my way into an Austere Command and I take out the flying chump blockers as well as enchantments with it. I recast my commander. I dont really remember what my opponents do immediately after this but then the next turn I dropped Eldrazi Conscription and swing at the Teferi player. I wanted to go for it right here because he was tapped down for the most part and so I got to send like 14 damage in here. On his turn he bounces my commander to hand. On my next turn I dropped my commander + Bruna, the Fading Light rezing Thalia's Lancers who retrieved for me Emrakul, the Promised End.
Teferi Clones my Brisela, Voice of Nightmares, draws some cards, and somewhat of passes back to me as I have cut him off from casting several cards. Kemba does some small scale things but ultimately doesnt do much right now as he has been getting heavily removed with other removal that has been flying arround.
Its back to my turn and I cant connect to Teferi as he has a copy of my commander as well. I swing and kill Kemba as he has 12 commander damage from earlier. I then play my Emrakul, the Promised End and hijack Teferi's next play.
I move to Teferi's turn and his hand is kind of gross being he has: Omniscience, Frost Titan, Stolen Identity, Recurring Insight, and a few other things in hand. I drop his Omniscience and draw some cards off the Insight (I have 2 cards in hand). I realize that I am in just a better situation combat wise than he is so I have him swing his 5/5 shroud sphinx + his own cloned Brisela, Voice of Nightmares at me and I block Brisela with Emrakul and his sphinx with my commander. I drop in his Frost Titan and lock itself up with its own trigger. I drop his Stolen Identity on something irrelevant and dont cipher it. I pass his turn back to him. He does a little digging and fails to be able to defend himself from the next attack which is for lethal.
Overall, the game went well. The early game equipment were huge and overall I felt that the deck is looking fairly well. I really was not impressed with Cataclysmic Gearhulk to be honest. I also felt like Emeria Shepherd may be worth considering considering how hard it is to draw cards here its fast value especially given how heavy I am on plains here.
The deck is doing fairly well. I have been surprised at how much work a 4 mana 4 powered flyer who gives me life each swing can really do. This game was somewhat of a good matchup for me so to some degree it might not be great data but I will give a game report anyways.
GAME REPORT:
3 player FFA game, my opponents are Lovisa Coldeyes and Kyanios and Tiro of Meletis (out of the box) - like I said... I was kind of favored this game but I will report regardless.
My opening hand has 2 lands, Worn Powerstone, Thran Dynamo, Relic of Progenitus, Lightning Greaves, and Sword of Fire and Ice. One of my lands is colorless but I figure as long as I get another white generating land I am more or less set. We roll and I am first. I wont mention as much about the Kyanios player because he mostly has tricks this game rather than pro active cards.
T1: I topdeck a Land Tax.... ***** im first.... I drop a land, Relic of Progenitus (getting ready to pop it if need be to draw more. T2: I draw a nonland. I drop Wall of Omens as it seems like a better play than popping the relic right now. I draw Emeria, the Sky Ruin >_< stupid ETBT land... T3: I drop Emeria in tapped and then drop a Lightning Greaves. I am going a little risky here in that I might not draw a land in my next few draws so I figure its better to have haste than it is to draw a land here given I have a 3 mana stone at the worst case. Having the haste outlet in some ways guarentees me faster use of my commander. Lovissa plays an Imperial Recruiter and gets a Markov Blademaster. T4: I topdeck a plains and play, equip my commander and start swinging. Lovissa drops Markov Blademaster. T5: no land draw here, I chain the Thran Dynamo + Worn Powerstone this turn and just swing again. Lovisa player plays his commander and swings his Markov Blademaster at Kyanios for 7 damage. Kyanios gets a little worried about the growing Blademaster and burns a Oblation on it on his next turn. T6: I drop a Sword of Fire and Ice, move the Lightning Greaves to the Wall of Omens to juggle the equipment around, drop Land Tax + Ghostly Prison. I keep swinging (mostly going back and forth to be fair since I have a good matchup here it felt mean to focus fire the Lovisa player). Lovisa plays some additonal beaters but is having trouble playing lots of creatures and attacking us. Kyanios plays the 5 mana Ghostly Prison that taxes for the number of enchants (lazy and dont want to look it up offhand lol). T7: I get more lands from my land tax. I draw and drop an Archangel of Thune. For some reason I dont think about putting the greaves on it and I just attack with my commander. Lovisa drops a Cyclops Gladiator and punches my thune in the face. I block with my Wall of Omens who has gained 2 counters now given the fight happens before defense so I trade that off with the gladiator. T8: I notice that Kyanios passed turn without spending any mana so I smell tricks. I swing at Lovisa instead opting to get value over possibly not. I poke the sword trigger at Kyanios which brings him to 8. I have an Akroma in hand but I keep feeling like some big trick is coming as Kyanios is keeping like 7 mana up. I drop an Expedition Map and just move some small things given my expectations of what Kyanios is up to. Lovisa attacks me with a Gratuitous Violence in play and pulls off like 16 life. I am not really worried as I had gotten up to like 70ish life by now. Kyanios end step does a Sylvan Reclamation hitting my Lightning Greaves + Sword of Fire and Ice. Kyanios then does something small on his turn and passes with lots of mana up again. I end step tutor for a Strip Mine. T9: I drop and Strip Mine a ravnica bounce land as it will put him off of two of his mana in the combat step. I am gambling that he has something he wants to do in the combat step and I dont know the precon decklists like at all so I dont know if there is like an Aetherspouts or something so I go for depriving him of overall mana and blue mana at this point. I attack Lovisa for what would be lethal commander damage. Kyanios still has 4 lands in play and does a Entrapment Maneuver. I almost deprived this option from him but sadly he didnt do much on his turn. I play an Akroma, Angel of Wrath as I get the feeling that Kyanios doesn't have a lot more play options and I want to keep Lovisa from having easy attack options. Lovisa does have a 8/8 flyer at this point but not much else so he cant really get in for good damage given the Ghostly Prison + my protection from red creature. Lovisa plays a Spellshock + Sulfuric Vortex (I think he was trying to cut off my lifegain and I think the spellshock was an attempt to pressure Kyanios out of the game). Kyanios casts a spell and goes to 4 life. He does some sort of a scry effect and sees Reverse the Sands on top which is super ironic as he goes to 4 life when he scrys it. T10: For some reason I feel like killing Kyanios which is an odd thing as he has no way to play into the game any longer. I swing Akroma there and then cast my commander with 2 counters on it thanks to Opal Palace. It looks like next land drop from Lovisa will be an active Valakut so I need the counters to not get ganked from that. Lovisa plays a Furystoke Giant and taps some creatures with his Gratuitous Violence to kill Gisela. T11: I swing with Akroma on Lovisa bringing him low. I drop an Akroma's Memorial but I dont have the mana to drop another creature. My commander costs 8 right now and I have an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite in hand but I cant afford to cast either with the Memorial right now. I dont want to give him targets to punch though given I dont think he can finish me this turn I want to guarantee I kill him next turn. Lovisa goes all in with as many creatures as he can and does like 24ish damage which brings me to about 20. He has only like 6-8 life left though and has no way to defend himself so he dies.
So, from this game I goofed when I didnt put Lightning Greaves on the Archangel of Thune and I was overly generous in that I was spreading out my attacks where both players had the same commander damage until right at the end when I was trying to push to kill Lovissa. That said, things went well. I am thinking about possibly pushing with a little more equipment offhand given how much work Gisela has been doing for me.
DECK CHANGES:
Cataclysmic Gearhulk -> Emeria Shepherd I have not been really liking the Gearhulk in part because of how many good artifacts I have. It just has not been as good as I have wanted it to be. The Shepherd looks strong in a mono white deck expecially since I have a lot of big powerful creatures and effects it could rez.
Knight of the White Orchid -> Avarice Amulet The knight ramps me at the wrong point. Generally speaking I need to not be first and then it can be dropped on turn 3 which is too slow as its not ramping me into my commander and this is not a creature abuse deck so the 2/2 body it comes with is somewhat of a low priority. The Amulet gives me vigilance which means I can defend myself with my commander, I also have first strike with my commander so more power is more important usually than more toughness. So long as I put it on my commander and do not put my commander in grave it also does not trade itself off. So I get draw, power, and vigilance from one card which seems good here.
Worn Powerstone -> Everflowing Chalice The powerstone is ok but I cant ramp into my commander and it cant turn into a big stone later. I think the Chalice just fits better for what my commander is as well as scaling better later into the game. When dropped as a 4 mana stone, it still net costs less than the powerstone so since it does not ramp me into my commander properly, it seems like a better call to run the chalice.
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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.
let us know how the Avarice Amulet feels, its a card ive been meaning to try out but always forget about it.
also, any thoughts on Chromatic Lantern? It doesn't ramp as hard as the Everflowing Chalice, but it turns almost all of your non-basics into color, which is nice. I know you don't need a ton of white to operate, but it could make some plays down the road a little easier to manage.
let us know how the Avarice Amulet feels, its a card ive been meaning to try out but always forget about it.
also, any thoughts on Chromatic Lantern? It doesn't ramp as hard as the Everflowing Chalice, but it turns almost all of your non-basics into color, which is nice. I know you don't need a ton of white to operate, but it could make some plays down the road a little easier to manage.
I will try to keep playing and giving game reports. This deck actually turned out better than I had expected and the flavor of the deck is somewhat high which I like. I have some high hopes for the Avarice Amulet but I have a few decks in the meta that give me some concerns about a power only buff. Something like an active Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle could punish me yet but overall, I think a three toughness is usually strong enough to survive most effects in commander.
Chromatic Lantern - I normally wouldn't worry much about this stone in a deck like this. If I have issues with not having the white to run then the answer is more likely to cut back on my colorless mana lands. Given this is a mono colored deck, the balancing of the landbase is mostly around having enough utility vs having enough colored mana by the time I can normally curve my cards. If I were running more lands that didn't tap for mana or if I needed a budget color fix I could see it but given I dont think it fits either of those needs here I dont think so. It also doesn't ramp into the commander very nicely so I am not too keen on it. When it comes to the lantern, outside of a budget fixer I think the one time it feels right is when you run a high abundance of lands that dont tap for mana and while I have a few its not been a big enough concern yet for me to bother with it. I think my Kozilek deck is the only place I have run the lantern and liked it.
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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.
also i know you are running pillowfort so threats are not too bad but do you think you are a little light on removal?
Thanks for the interest in my list. I will do my best to give my take on the cards you mentioned.
Quicksilver Amulet - So, I think there are times it would be great. Some of the problems that it has are that it also costs 4 mana as does our commander so it overlaps a little there which can get messy and if you look into dropping it after the commander you are messing with any of the equipment you might follow up the commander with. Most of my eldrazi have very strong on cast triggers which are part of why I run them so realy where I would like this is generally the 6-8 mana creatures in my list. I could totally see a flash play Avacyn being strong but at the same time, its very much a pain to drop and use in one turn. If you see a lot of wraths or a lot of counterspells I think this is a little more justifiable but as it is I feel like it would be clunky to play given it falls in the same mana cost as our commander and it consumes a few turns afterwards if you drop it after. Its just easier to play ramp in my mind and ramp helps play other effects easier than this. I love the flavor as I remember way back in the day seeing some casual decks my friends had who would use this card to put big wurms into play.
Righteous Aura - In my mind it comes down to how big of hits you are expecting and or how much voltron is in your meta. If you see a lot of voltron or big hits then I think it can be decent. My meta has gotten to the nickle and diming life out of people which is why I dont run it as usually I am only taking up to 6 damage at a time from any one source. I think you need to see voltron and or lots of big hits for it to really be worth it.
Lightmine Field - I have some problems with it in that they can mass pump before their attacks. While it could work against swarm it seems a little too easy for them to game what it does to me. Ghostly Prison is harder to attack in mass at but it also protects you from even just one to two attacks in a lot of cases as it causes them to slow down their turns to attack you.
Silent Arbiter - Its an option. I do often end up with 1-3 attackers though so it wasnt my go to. Its also a creature + artifact which means its on both of the most used removal types. Its alright if you need more token defense but I think white has a lot of options for token defense. I was looking at Eye of Singularity early on because it blows up the tokens on entering as well as over time too plus its funny against 3 color decks as it screws with their landbases assuming more than one player is playing the same colors.
Serene Steward - Its not bad but its a little light to justify a whole card for. Creatures are a little fragile in general. Its also after my attack and for a small bit of pump. Its a cool effect but it might be a little too light on its impact.
Seraph of the Sword - Its not bad. I have been seeing a lot more Fog Bank in my meta in the last 6 months or so and it reminds me of that but the downside is that it costs twice as much but I dont feel that its that much better. A 3/3 Fog Bank vs a 0/2 is not much of a step up. Its possible it kills what it blocks but if it does I am not that worried about that creature in the first place.
Lone Rider - its decent stats but it requires Gisela first so its really more of a 5 drop. Its not bad in combat but then again its rare that I would want just some random decent in combat creature. When considering it a 5 drop I think its probably not that great for this format. Its cool, but strict beaters who are not the commander are hard to justify.
Archangel of Tithes - You could, I just think its still a much worse Ghostly Prison being that its half as much taxing. Sure it can be offense or defense but honestly I would rather it be stronger at one or the other. I think Windborn Muse is probably stronger given this.
Removal - One of the biggest concerns when running mono white is card draw. While spot removal is very very good especially when you time it correctly and stop someone from killing you or wrecking your board, it is also negative card advantage to 1 for 1 remove something. Mono white has a lot of issues with drawing cards so when considering removaly you should run some good spot removal and sweepers but if you get carried away you will have just answers and no draw. I think I counted something like 20 removal like cards in my deck (counting some that function like removal or prevention). In a lot of cases you sometimes need to just go around a problem or push it somewhere else than to use something like Swords to Plowshares on everything which is part of why I run things like Moat, Magus of the Moat, Kor Haven, and Mystifying Maze. When it comes to mono white you want your answers to prevent multiple issues if possible which comes to how multi function your answers are as well as what else they can do for you. I can use a maze as a mana and I need lands anyways so I get both a land drop and a potential utility if I need it with them. You could use a Wrath of God to stop a token swarm or you could try to just push them somewhere else with a Ghostly Prison. Sometimes this can backfire as someone could remove your defense but at the same time, not dropping that Wrath of God means your commander and creatures can continue to attack while you hopefully cut off your opposition.
Hopefully I am not ranting here but in a nut shell, 1 for 1 removal is a fast way to run out of cards in mono white. Try for multi function removal when you run it and its usually better to be proactive when you can than responsive when playing mono white. One of the worst matchups for mono white tends to be heavy control and or attrition based decks. Sweepers are fine because you normally like 4+ for 1 with them but they have a diminishing return to get multiple in hand at once and with the low quantity of draw in mono white sometimes you get all or nothing with them.
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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.
Righteous Aura - In my mind it comes down to how big of hits you are expecting and or how much voltron is in your meta. If you see a lot of voltron or big hits then I think it can be decent. My meta has gotten to the nickle and diming life out of people which is why I dont run it as usually I am only taking up to 6 damage at a time from any one source. I think you need to see voltron and or lots of big hits for it to really be worth it.
If you did need this for voltron metas, i prefer Delaying Shield since it completely nullifies commander damage without having to pay and works great with flicker effects
There hasnt been too much new for this deck for now. I made a few more decks so I still try to get games in with this one when I can. I played a game a few weeks back where I ran into a Mystifying Maze + Tower of the Magistrate from one player and I seemed to not be able to dig Strip Mine effects that game. Other than that though I cant recall much for new things. I will try to get some more games here in the near future just so I can see if I have any other changes.
It might be worth my time to pick up a wasteland for this deck as a random side note.
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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 played another interesting game of Gisela last night and since I was asked for updates recently I will give a game report on it. We ended up with 6 players last night and we opted to play some 3 team 2 headed giant games. Its kind of a thing we made up in our meta but its kind of interesting as it moves the games along a little faster by sharing the turns but it keeps the idea of free for all commander still in that there are three teams and a free for all mentality to it still.
My opener was comprised of lands, mind stone, and a stoneforge mystic primarily. Based on the roll we were the last team to go.
I opened with a turn 2 Mind Stone. Kynaios managed to ramp his commander into play on turn 3 thanks to a signet or something of the sort which I played an extra land off of. I got a turn 3 Sol Ring draw so I played it as well as my commander + stoneforge mystic (got a Sword of Fire and Ice given all the red decks).
The hug decks start putting up Propaganda effects to which I pay for a time or two but struggle to do things and attack them so some of my attacks end up against the boros team. The boros decks have some trouble even with a Serra Ascendant that Kalemne tutored for with a recruiter given I was attacking for 6+ with first strike.
The hug decks eventually get Righteous Aura into play which I try to Disenchant soon after but I eat a counterspell. The boros decks and I trade some hits as we are both having a hard time with the hug decks but cant really direct things at them. My partner and Zedruu both ended up somewhat land deprived in the early games which leads to a little less activity from them.
After trading some blows, my partner Vampiric Tutors for an Oblivion Stone. The hug decks are onto us though and they try to chaos warp him before he can draw. Luckily he has a Sensei's Divining Top which I point out and he taps it to draw his card. We reset the board and I recast my commander.
There is more back and forth and I eat an Inferno Titan on my Gisela once or twice. I end up finally getting Bruna in play and combine them with having rezed a Magus of the Moat off of Bruna (I tutored her a little earlier with Thalia's Lancers).
The boros decks sort of surge up. The hug decks are mostly tapped down with few blockers. Kalemne plays a Thunder Dragon which is traded for with the Perplexing Chimera but it comes in tapped and kills the Chimera. The boros decks move to attack the 20 life hug decks and a trade is made beforehand with a Djinn of Infinite Deceits to try to get a Serra Ascendant from the boros players (it was still alive thanks to a darksteel plate it wore all game). I hit my Homeward Path to ensure the boros players could kill them this turn.
From here, my partner cleaned up all of the creatures with an Austere Command and we were back to setting back up. I dropped an Unexpectedly Absent on the Darksteel Plate before it went through to catch the Serra Ascendant too. I set up an Akroma's Memorial to try to ready a few eldrazi I had in hand.
Kalemne hit me back with an Austere Command for artifacts. And then it happened, Iroas played a Crovax, Ascendant Hero. It came back to our turn and I calmly played my Emrakul, the Promised End targeting the Iroas player. They dont see what I see and so they end up Swords to Plowshare a creature my ally has given the protection from instants that Emrakul has. I take control of his turn and I mass purge their life total to bounce Crovax, Ascendant Hero back to their hand.
That ends my game report for now. I felt a little cheap ending the game in such a way. Technically speaking they were at an odd life total so I believe they remained at one life. They did however concede though when I started doing things.
Overall, it was a very grindy game that took over 2 hours so I am sorry if some of my recap was a little vague. It was a lot of defenses to overcome and a very drawn out conclusion. When I hit my opponents with the Emrakul FTW they still had like 70+ life given the life they had gained but I suppose they did also have 15 commander damage from me. I guess I do have one change to mention but it wasnt really in response to this so much as something I finally pulled the trigger on.
DECK CHANGE:
1 Plains -> Wasteland it became obvious I might need to step up a little on hate for mazes and such. It shouldn't be a big change but I ordered one recently since it dropped in price so much so I added it in here.
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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 see its been a while since I did changes. I have had some I wanted to push around for a bit so I guess I can do some maintenance.
DECK CHANGES:
Akroma, Angel of Wrath -> Angel of the Dire Hour Akroma has been a long time pet card of mine. Given my life gain I tend to need more defense from swarms especially of tokens rather than single attacking defense. I like that Dire Hour is a very strong removal effect that also keeps my own board going. I considered some other options like Comeuppance but I preferred the effect of the angel as it stands.
Reconnaissance -> Erratic Portal I like vigilance as I can defend myself decently but to be honest with the lifegain its not really been a huge issue. I want some defensive measures as well as ways to re engage with some ETB creatures. Things like clones and theft have also been a pain in the ass so I feel like being able to bounce out with my very few good threats could be useful.
Oblivion Stone -> Ugin, the Spirit Dragon in a lot of cases my own equipment have been too painful to shatter. I also like that ugin can be scaled and controlled a little more. I can for instance use ugin to kill off token armies or utility commanders without potentially killing Gisela which is great. I just think that the scalability here will be useful over the removal of artifacts that O Stone gives which has often been too painful for my own deck.
Disenchant -> Forsake the Worldly its a similar effect but I gain exile for very little speed lost. I also like that Forsake has the cycling option as its possible that disenchant is not the topdeck draw that I need and that cycling could be useful to me.
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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.
Well hello there.... Where have you been my whole life. Curving a pair of 5/5s for 5 mana behind Gisela sounds.... nice.... I dont often find things I think that Gisela will use well but this was a great surprise for me.
I guess I will mention I managed to get Gisela + Archangel of Thune + Sunscorch Regent assembled recently. It didnt last long but it was long enough to add a few counts to Gisela who then was able to lethal one of my opponents thanks to the added reach.
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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.
Just a few updates with the new set coming out. I played the deck a few games this weekend with nothing super noteworthy. The deck is a lot of fun given the stats for the mana of the commander starting and the interactions with lifegain are really fun.
DECK CHANGES:
Recruiter of the Guard -> Magus of the Tabernacle Honestly I dont have that many targets for this deck for recruiter and I dont feel that any of the ones that I do have are all that central to what I want to be doing here. I like some defense vs swarms though and another copy of Tabernacle should do the trick.
Crovax, Ascendant Hero -> Crested Sunmare Chrovax has been letting me down lately in that all too often the tokens I want to kill have been white. I also like the idea of taking a reactive card and turning it into a proactive card. I love the idea of just curving Gisela into a Sunmare and spinning up my own army of horses. I feel like the Magus pickup above offsets and probably gives me a little less situational defense vs swarm and token decks.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx -> Scavenger Grounds I dont really swarm the field with this deck and my devotion is never that great. I would rather pick up a better utility effect given this and I think another grave hate that doesn't eat up a card slot sounds great.
Its been a while since I made many changes here. On paper my top end creature mana curve looks crazy but I haven't really been having any issues with it given Whites normal issues drawing cards. Getting my commander out early and getting some card advantage equipment up and going has been my primary focus for the most part. Mask of Memory and Sword of the Animist make for amazing starts. I will see how these changes go and keep trucking. I love Moat based MWC as its just so much fun to play.
I have also been contemplating picking up a Crucible of Worlds + Fetchland + Rings of Brighthearth package for this deck. Card advantage is something that white is always kind of after and I think it could be nice to be able to pick up utility lands again. I dont know if I could justify the Rings of Brighthearth offhand but its something to think about at least...
So, since they originally spoiled Gisela, the Broken Blade + Bruna, the Fading Light I have been asking myself how I can make these into a deck. These cards did not left my mind as far as deckbuilding since they were spoiled. I originally tried making a Bruna deck but I had originally thought her on cast ability was an on ETB which I ended up making a flicker / rez deck built around her which quickly became a derp moment when someone pointed out she was on cast.
So, that brings me up to now, I decided that the stat efficiency of Gisela, the Broken Blade is actually quite good. She gives a lot of things to do in the early parts of the game and she can totally threaten to commander damage people out while buying us extra life and keeping us with a cheap to recast commander that does need to be dealt with for opponents. I added a lot of cards that generate value from her as well as alternate threats that can help close out the game.
Some of my own favorite interactions of hers are:
***NOTE*** I deliberately do not run Felidar Sovereign, Test of Endurance, or Aetherflux Reservoir in my list due to personal reasons. I feel that the first two are often slow to function and unlikely to work and the last I think would be a little lame even if it did work for me. I thought I would point them out for those interested in trying such tactics as they do have some natural synergy with the commander.
1 Gisela, the Broken Blade
CREATURES (16)
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Bastion Protector
1 Resplendent Angel
1 Magus of the Moat
1 Magus of the Tabernacle
1 Archangel of Thune
1 Crested Sunmare
1 Stonehewer Giant
1 Thalia's Lancers
1 Sun Titan
1 Bruna, the Fading Light
1 Emeria Shepherd
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Kozilek, the Great Distortion
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
ARTIFACT (22)
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Mana Crypt
1 Expedition Map
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Scrabbling Claws
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Azor's Gateway
1 Blackblade Reforged
1 Endless Atlas
1 Mask of Memory
1 Mind Stone
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Fireshrieker
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Transmogrifying Wand
1 Avarice Amulet
1 Hammer of Nazahn
1 Well of Lost Dreams
1 Mind's Eye
1 The Immortal Sun
1 Land Tax
1 Dawn of Hope
1 Aura of Silence
1 Duelist's Heritage
1 Angelic Accord
1 Citadel Siege
1 Cradle of Vitality
1 Moat
INSTANT (9)
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Tithe
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Valorous Stance
1 Forsake the Worldly
1 Teferi's Protection
1 Comeuppance
1 Crush Contraband
1 Return to Dust
SORCERY (5)
1 Steelshaper's Gift
1 Open the Armory
1 Survival Cache
1 Tragic Arrogance
1 Austere Command
PLANESWALKER (1)
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
LAND (38)
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Arch of Orazca
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Dust Bowl
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Forge of Heroes
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Homeward Path
1 Kor Haven
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Opal Palace
19 Plains
1 Scavenger Grounds
1 Strip Mine
1 Tectonic Edge
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1 Wasteland
1 Winding Canyons
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[Modern] Allies
also since you have a bunch of tutors maybe a Mistveil Plains could serve a purpose.
[EDH In Development] Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Queen Marchesa | Ruhan of the Fomori | Yahenni, Undying Partisan
[EDH Retired] Ertai, The Corrupted | Sigarda, Host of Herons | Tariel, Reckoner of Souls | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
[Modern] Stuffy Doll Combo Burn | Demigod of Revenge
[EDH In Development] Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Queen Marchesa | Ruhan of the Fomori | Yahenni, Undying Partisan
[EDH Retired] Ertai, The Corrupted | Sigarda, Host of Herons | Tariel, Reckoner of Souls | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
[Modern] Stuffy Doll Combo Burn | Demigod of Revenge
I considered Skullclamp but I agree that I probably have too few targets that would benefit from Skullclamp correctly. I originally was going to consider a few more token generators such as Sacred Mesa but in the end I just dont have much of any synergy with them. I think the Heliod / Skullclamp synergy is.... ok but not good enough for me to really want to build into it. Heliod feels good enough in the list as he is but skullclamp seems too dependant on a few cards from the list.
Mistveil Plains - I have never understood people's love for this card. I have run it for some time in my rebels deck and I dont think I have activated it more than 1-2 times in a number of years. Its just not something I ever find myself saying man I wish that was back in my deck. Its possible that it could be like some means of avoiding a rez from someone else but it just seems like it has been lackluster for me. Entering tapped has been far more of a detriment than its utility has ever given me.
Honestly, I have yet to see Eldrazi Displacer ever used. It seems..... maybe ok. Its expensive to use and I dont have a ton of ETB creatures is more of where I am coming from here but given the mixed versatility with flickering opposing attackers it might be good enough. I remember playing with Mistmeadow Witch kind of a ways back and it always felt lacking to me and while this is one less mana it still feels clunky considering you cant jump wraths with it. I guess I can see some appeal in it, I just have yet to see it ever used I guess.
There is a big difference in playstyles. With Bruna, you would be building around her a lot more and pushing her as a major plan and wincon where as with Gisela, you have a more subtle early game commander who can be recast more. Its an argument between building arround your commander a lot vs using a commander who intends to stand alone. I am not saying that I intend to not assist Gisela but at the same time I am not building a lot of focus in how to abuse her because in part she is there to distract, buy time, defend, and attack. She could be my wincon given a few of the effects I pack but at the same time my list is less focused on her as my wincon and focus.
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[Modern] Allies
DECK CHANGES:
I will have to keep an eye on how my colored mana vs colorless mana goes as I am a little heavy on non basics right now but I am willing to tight rope that line with mono colored usually.
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[Modern] Allies
Is there a reason why you are not running Eye of Ugin? Gives you a way (expensive though) to tutor you eldrazi creatures.
With only 3 Eldrazi I don't think its worth it.
It depends a little on how much you value tutoring for them. I think they are powerful but they are also not my only threats of the deck. It has a lot of draw back being a land drop that does not under normal circumstances produce mana. I did briefly consider Eldrazi Temple from the perspective that it always gives me mana and it can give me two mana selectively but I decided instead that Temple of the False Gods was probably a better fit. Both have pros and cons considering the Temple is bad in the first 4 land drops but considering this is commander and its more likely I will see it not in the first four drops than in the first four I drop I felt that it more consistantly gave me the bigger mana for other things and that its drawback was mitigated to some degree.
even if the number were to go up I think its still a little questionable. I also have a Kozilek deck which I do run it in but the difference between your commander being cost reduced and a few cards in deck being reduced is still kind of significant.
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[Modern] Allies
Have you been able to test it at all?
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
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When they spoiled them I was just trying to juggle how to make it happen. I have not gotten any games out of it yet but I am in the process of putting it together. I am hoping that on Wednesday I get to play it.
EDIT: I have a few more changes and it hasnt been 48 hours since this post so here they are.
Darksteel Plate -> Lightning Greaves I am getting a little more value on each attack as I look at things more I want to keep mazes off my back. My meta plays plenty of mazes which is in part why I am running so many strip mine effects. The boots also give me haste for faster value and will be better in an opening hand. I am less worried about Gisela dying also due to her low starting costs. The haste should be an improvement for the eldrazi and putting boots on an Avacyn is always good stuff. I like that the plate defends itself but as far as effects go I think the boots better fit what I want to be picking up right now.
Survival Cache -> Sword of Fire and Ice moving my draw around a little. I like that the sword is a nice curve with my commander and it has more potential for value than the cache does. The sword draws a lot more attention which is a little concerning but usually the first trigger is fairly easy to get to happen. The mana cost between the two is close but the lifegain on the Cache is mostly moot where as the shocks from the sword seem good.
Cavern of Souls -> Hall of the Bandit Lord I got to thinking about both of these cards. Its unlikely anyone will really counter my commander in a deck like this. Picking eldrazi as the uncounterable is also a little odd given that there are just 3 of them in my list offhand. It felt a lot less neccessary the more I thought about it. The Hall will be offset by my commander and can give my commander or an eldrazi the ability to get in sooner which seems good. I am normally more concerned about the life loss of the Hall but with the lifegain I have I think I should be fine.
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[Modern] Allies
Game Report:
4 player free for all, opponents were Teferi, Temporal Archmage, Kemba, Kha Regent and Lyzolda, the Blood Witch.
My opening hand is 2 plains, Ancient Tomb, Mask of Memory, Cataclysmic Gearhulk, Eldrazi Conscription, and Akroma's Memorial. Considering I have a ramp start with mask I like my opener so I keep it.
T1: I see sol ring start from Teferi and Kemba. I am first on the slight upside though. Lyzolda is slow with me and last.
T2: I topdeck Open the Armory so I search up Sword of the Animist. Teferi plays a Guard Gomazoa. Kemba plays his commander.
T3: I play my commander off of Ancient Tomb. Teferi has a Guard Gomazoa for me but he is worrying about the tokens so he plays Imprisoned in the Moon on kemba (ohhhh the flavor win with me playing Emrakul but he played it too soon ). Kemba plays a Crovax, Ascendant Hero off all his ramp. Lyzolda looks super bummed and has no way to interact.
T4: I play my Sword of the Animist and equip and swing at Kemba because I want the lifegain. Teferi plays his commander I think. Kemba Faith's Fetters Teferi and durdles with Chrovax and I thin he plays another creature. Lyzolda looks still very annoyed and sad about Chrovax.
T5: I play my Mask of Memory and keep it swinging at Kemba because I still feel bad for Lyzolda and cant connect with Teferi. Teferi bounces his commander and replays him.
T6: Akroma's Memorial and I get in for a little damage on Teferi's commander with my trample. Teferi does a Rite of Replication kicked on his Guard Gomazoa. Kemba plays an Emeria Shepherd and flips his Faith's Fetters out on my commander.
T7: I am in a tight spot and my answers are like... Cataclysmic Gearhulk & Tragic Arrogance. I am in a pinch because I have no other creatures to drop my commander to off of either effect and Kemba has no other enchantments for me to make him sacrifice. If I Gearhulk it has the problem that I cant remove the Emeria Shepherd and I am back to in a pinch again very quickly. I opt to Tragic Arrogance even though I could not kill Faith's Fetters or my commander with it because if I did not remove the Emeria Shepherd it was going to be the same problem for me every turn.
From here the turns get a little rougher to remember on a turn by turn so I will break it down by important things.
I manage to get out of the Faith's Fetters after a few turns (I think Teferi for some reason helped me out of it). After a few turns though the Teferi player plays Dismiss into Dream and starts spot removing things. I use Akroma's Memorial for haste to keep on him though. I cast Thalia's Lancers fetching up Bruna, the Fading Light to hand. I spend a few turns doing little as I ahve the life total that its not too concerning that I am easily removed but I try to keep my commander from being cast too much.
I finally stumble my way into an Austere Command and I take out the flying chump blockers as well as enchantments with it. I recast my commander. I dont really remember what my opponents do immediately after this but then the next turn I dropped Eldrazi Conscription and swing at the Teferi player. I wanted to go for it right here because he was tapped down for the most part and so I got to send like 14 damage in here. On his turn he bounces my commander to hand. On my next turn I dropped my commander + Bruna, the Fading Light rezing Thalia's Lancers who retrieved for me Emrakul, the Promised End.
Teferi Clones my Brisela, Voice of Nightmares, draws some cards, and somewhat of passes back to me as I have cut him off from casting several cards. Kemba does some small scale things but ultimately doesnt do much right now as he has been getting heavily removed with other removal that has been flying arround.
Its back to my turn and I cant connect to Teferi as he has a copy of my commander as well. I swing and kill Kemba as he has 12 commander damage from earlier. I then play my Emrakul, the Promised End and hijack Teferi's next play.
I move to Teferi's turn and his hand is kind of gross being he has: Omniscience, Frost Titan, Stolen Identity, Recurring Insight, and a few other things in hand. I drop his Omniscience and draw some cards off the Insight (I have 2 cards in hand). I realize that I am in just a better situation combat wise than he is so I have him swing his 5/5 shroud sphinx + his own cloned Brisela, Voice of Nightmares at me and I block Brisela with Emrakul and his sphinx with my commander. I drop in his Frost Titan and lock itself up with its own trigger. I drop his Stolen Identity on something irrelevant and dont cipher it. I pass his turn back to him. He does a little digging and fails to be able to defend himself from the next attack which is for lethal.
Overall, the game went well. The early game equipment were huge and overall I felt that the deck is looking fairly well. I really was not impressed with Cataclysmic Gearhulk to be honest. I also felt like Emeria Shepherd may be worth considering considering how hard it is to draw cards here its fast value especially given how heavy I am on plains here.
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[Modern] Allies
GAME REPORT:
3 player FFA game, my opponents are Lovisa Coldeyes and Kyanios and Tiro of Meletis (out of the box) - like I said... I was kind of favored this game but I will report regardless.
My opening hand has 2 lands, Worn Powerstone, Thran Dynamo, Relic of Progenitus, Lightning Greaves, and Sword of Fire and Ice. One of my lands is colorless but I figure as long as I get another white generating land I am more or less set. We roll and I am first. I wont mention as much about the Kyanios player because he mostly has tricks this game rather than pro active cards.
T1: I topdeck a Land Tax.... ***** im first.... I drop a land, Relic of Progenitus (getting ready to pop it if need be to draw more.
T2: I draw a nonland. I drop Wall of Omens as it seems like a better play than popping the relic right now. I draw Emeria, the Sky Ruin >_< stupid ETBT land...
T3: I drop Emeria in tapped and then drop a Lightning Greaves. I am going a little risky here in that I might not draw a land in my next few draws so I figure its better to have haste than it is to draw a land here given I have a 3 mana stone at the worst case. Having the haste outlet in some ways guarentees me faster use of my commander. Lovissa plays an Imperial Recruiter and gets a Markov Blademaster.
T4: I topdeck a plains and play, equip my commander and start swinging. Lovissa drops Markov Blademaster.
T5: no land draw here, I chain the Thran Dynamo + Worn Powerstone this turn and just swing again. Lovisa player plays his commander and swings his Markov Blademaster at Kyanios for 7 damage. Kyanios gets a little worried about the growing Blademaster and burns a Oblation on it on his next turn.
T6: I drop a Sword of Fire and Ice, move the Lightning Greaves to the Wall of Omens to juggle the equipment around, drop Land Tax + Ghostly Prison. I keep swinging (mostly going back and forth to be fair since I have a good matchup here it felt mean to focus fire the Lovisa player). Lovisa plays some additonal beaters but is having trouble playing lots of creatures and attacking us. Kyanios plays the 5 mana Ghostly Prison that taxes for the number of enchants (lazy and dont want to look it up offhand lol).
T7: I get more lands from my land tax. I draw and drop an Archangel of Thune. For some reason I dont think about putting the greaves on it and I just attack with my commander. Lovisa drops a Cyclops Gladiator and punches my thune in the face. I block with my Wall of Omens who has gained 2 counters now given the fight happens before defense so I trade that off with the gladiator.
T8: I notice that Kyanios passed turn without spending any mana so I smell tricks. I swing at Lovisa instead opting to get value over possibly not. I poke the sword trigger at Kyanios which brings him to 8. I have an Akroma in hand but I keep feeling like some big trick is coming as Kyanios is keeping like 7 mana up. I drop an Expedition Map and just move some small things given my expectations of what Kyanios is up to. Lovisa attacks me with a Gratuitous Violence in play and pulls off like 16 life. I am not really worried as I had gotten up to like 70ish life by now. Kyanios end step does a Sylvan Reclamation hitting my Lightning Greaves + Sword of Fire and Ice. Kyanios then does something small on his turn and passes with lots of mana up again. I end step tutor for a Strip Mine.
T9: I drop and Strip Mine a ravnica bounce land as it will put him off of two of his mana in the combat step. I am gambling that he has something he wants to do in the combat step and I dont know the precon decklists like at all so I dont know if there is like an Aetherspouts or something so I go for depriving him of overall mana and blue mana at this point. I attack Lovisa for what would be lethal commander damage. Kyanios still has 4 lands in play and does a Entrapment Maneuver. I almost deprived this option from him but sadly he didnt do much on his turn. I play an Akroma, Angel of Wrath as I get the feeling that Kyanios doesn't have a lot more play options and I want to keep Lovisa from having easy attack options. Lovisa does have a 8/8 flyer at this point but not much else so he cant really get in for good damage given the Ghostly Prison + my protection from red creature. Lovisa plays a Spellshock + Sulfuric Vortex (I think he was trying to cut off my lifegain and I think the spellshock was an attempt to pressure Kyanios out of the game). Kyanios casts a spell and goes to 4 life. He does some sort of a scry effect and sees Reverse the Sands on top which is super ironic as he goes to 4 life when he scrys it.
T10: For some reason I feel like killing Kyanios which is an odd thing as he has no way to play into the game any longer. I swing Akroma there and then cast my commander with 2 counters on it thanks to Opal Palace. It looks like next land drop from Lovisa will be an active Valakut so I need the counters to not get ganked from that. Lovisa plays a Furystoke Giant and taps some creatures with his Gratuitous Violence to kill Gisela.
T11: I swing with Akroma on Lovisa bringing him low. I drop an Akroma's Memorial but I dont have the mana to drop another creature. My commander costs 8 right now and I have an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite in hand but I cant afford to cast either with the Memorial right now. I dont want to give him targets to punch though given I dont think he can finish me this turn I want to guarantee I kill him next turn. Lovisa goes all in with as many creatures as he can and does like 24ish damage which brings me to about 20. He has only like 6-8 life left though and has no way to defend himself so he dies.
So, from this game I goofed when I didnt put Lightning Greaves on the Archangel of Thune and I was overly generous in that I was spreading out my attacks where both players had the same commander damage until right at the end when I was trying to push to kill Lovissa. That said, things went well. I am thinking about possibly pushing with a little more equipment offhand given how much work Gisela has been doing for me.
DECK CHANGES:
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[Modern] Allies
also, any thoughts on Chromatic Lantern? It doesn't ramp as hard as the Everflowing Chalice, but it turns almost all of your non-basics into color, which is nice. I know you don't need a ton of white to operate, but it could make some plays down the road a little easier to manage.
[EDH In Development] Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Queen Marchesa | Ruhan of the Fomori | Yahenni, Undying Partisan
[EDH Retired] Ertai, The Corrupted | Sigarda, Host of Herons | Tariel, Reckoner of Souls | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
[Modern] Stuffy Doll Combo Burn | Demigod of Revenge
I will try to keep playing and giving game reports. This deck actually turned out better than I had expected and the flavor of the deck is somewhat high which I like. I have some high hopes for the Avarice Amulet but I have a few decks in the meta that give me some concerns about a power only buff. Something like an active Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle could punish me yet but overall, I think a three toughness is usually strong enough to survive most effects in commander.
Chromatic Lantern - I normally wouldn't worry much about this stone in a deck like this. If I have issues with not having the white to run then the answer is more likely to cut back on my colorless mana lands. Given this is a mono colored deck, the balancing of the landbase is mostly around having enough utility vs having enough colored mana by the time I can normally curve my cards. If I were running more lands that didn't tap for mana or if I needed a budget color fix I could see it but given I dont think it fits either of those needs here I dont think so. It also doesn't ramp into the commander very nicely so I am not too keen on it. When it comes to the lantern, outside of a budget fixer I think the one time it feels right is when you run a high abundance of lands that dont tap for mana and while I have a few its not been a big enough concern yet for me to bother with it. I think my Kozilek deck is the only place I have run the lantern and liked it.
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[Modern] Allies
- Quicksilver Amulet - quick option to get out fatties
- Righteous Aura - a use for your extra life
- Lightmine Field - seems like your not attacking with too many creatures at the same time (Meta call maybe)
- Silent Arbiter - seems like your not attacking with too many creatures at the same time (Meta call maybe)
- Serene Steward - cheep budget/2nd option of Cradle of Vitality
- Seraph of the Sword - Angel pillow Fort
- Lone Rider - on flavor and easy to flip
- Archangel of Tithes - angel pillow fort
also i know you are running pillowfort so threats are not too bad but do you think you are a little light on removal?
Thanks for the interest in my list. I will do my best to give my take on the cards you mentioned.
Removal - One of the biggest concerns when running mono white is card draw. While spot removal is very very good especially when you time it correctly and stop someone from killing you or wrecking your board, it is also negative card advantage to 1 for 1 remove something. Mono white has a lot of issues with drawing cards so when considering removaly you should run some good spot removal and sweepers but if you get carried away you will have just answers and no draw. I think I counted something like 20 removal like cards in my deck (counting some that function like removal or prevention). In a lot of cases you sometimes need to just go around a problem or push it somewhere else than to use something like Swords to Plowshares on everything which is part of why I run things like Moat, Magus of the Moat, Kor Haven, and Mystifying Maze. When it comes to mono white you want your answers to prevent multiple issues if possible which comes to how multi function your answers are as well as what else they can do for you. I can use a maze as a mana and I need lands anyways so I get both a land drop and a potential utility if I need it with them. You could use a Wrath of God to stop a token swarm or you could try to just push them somewhere else with a Ghostly Prison. Sometimes this can backfire as someone could remove your defense but at the same time, not dropping that Wrath of God means your commander and creatures can continue to attack while you hopefully cut off your opposition.
Hopefully I am not ranting here but in a nut shell, 1 for 1 removal is a fast way to run out of cards in mono white. Try for multi function removal when you run it and its usually better to be proactive when you can than responsive when playing mono white. One of the worst matchups for mono white tends to be heavy control and or attrition based decks. Sweepers are fine because you normally like 4+ for 1 with them but they have a diminishing return to get multiple in hand at once and with the low quantity of draw in mono white sometimes you get all or nothing with them.
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[Modern] Allies
If you did need this for voltron metas, i prefer Delaying Shield since it completely nullifies commander damage without having to pay and works great with flicker effects
[EDH In Development] Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Queen Marchesa | Ruhan of the Fomori | Yahenni, Undying Partisan
[EDH Retired] Ertai, The Corrupted | Sigarda, Host of Herons | Tariel, Reckoner of Souls | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
[Modern] Stuffy Doll Combo Burn | Demigod of Revenge
[center][color=Blue]
Edric Spy and die
Azami the lady of the draw
Naya Zoo
Past decks
Orloro
sharuum the hegemond
Mono black control
splinter twin
There hasnt been too much new for this deck for now. I made a few more decks so I still try to get games in with this one when I can. I played a game a few weeks back where I ran into a Mystifying Maze + Tower of the Magistrate from one player and I seemed to not be able to dig Strip Mine effects that game. Other than that though I cant recall much for new things. I will try to get some more games here in the near future just so I can see if I have any other changes.
It might be worth my time to pick up a wasteland for this deck as a random side note.
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[Modern] Allies
Game Report:
As I mentioned, it was a six player, three team, team Two Headed Giant game. My own team was myself playing Gisela, the Broken Blade and my partner playing Breya, Etherium Shaper. Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas and Iroas, God of Victory as a team, and the final team was Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis and Zedruu the Greathearted.
My opener was comprised of lands, mind stone, and a stoneforge mystic primarily. Based on the roll we were the last team to go.
I opened with a turn 2 Mind Stone. Kynaios managed to ramp his commander into play on turn 3 thanks to a signet or something of the sort which I played an extra land off of. I got a turn 3 Sol Ring draw so I played it as well as my commander + stoneforge mystic (got a Sword of Fire and Ice given all the red decks).
The hug decks start putting up Propaganda effects to which I pay for a time or two but struggle to do things and attack them so some of my attacks end up against the boros team. The boros decks have some trouble even with a Serra Ascendant that Kalemne tutored for with a recruiter given I was attacking for 6+ with first strike.
The hug decks eventually get Righteous Aura into play which I try to Disenchant soon after but I eat a counterspell. The boros decks and I trade some hits as we are both having a hard time with the hug decks but cant really direct things at them. My partner and Zedruu both ended up somewhat land deprived in the early games which leads to a little less activity from them.
After trading some blows, my partner Vampiric Tutors for an Oblivion Stone. The hug decks are onto us though and they try to chaos warp him before he can draw. Luckily he has a Sensei's Divining Top which I point out and he taps it to draw his card. We reset the board and I recast my commander.
There is more back and forth and I eat an Inferno Titan on my Gisela once or twice. I end up finally getting Bruna in play and combine them with having rezed a Magus of the Moat off of Bruna (I tutored her a little earlier with Thalia's Lancers).
The hug decks clone Brisela, Voice of Nightmares with a Phyrexian Metamorph and then exile mine with Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. Luckily both come in tapped due to an Urabrask that was played by Kalemne the turn before. The hug decks also drop a Perplexing Chimera which cuts me off from most of my plays.
The boros decks sort of surge up. The hug decks are mostly tapped down with few blockers. Kalemne plays a Thunder Dragon which is traded for with the Perplexing Chimera but it comes in tapped and kills the Chimera. The boros decks move to attack the 20 life hug decks and a trade is made beforehand with a Djinn of Infinite Deceits to try to get a Serra Ascendant from the boros players (it was still alive thanks to a darksteel plate it wore all game). I hit my Homeward Path to ensure the boros players could kill them this turn.
From here, my partner cleaned up all of the creatures with an Austere Command and we were back to setting back up. I dropped an Unexpectedly Absent on the Darksteel Plate before it went through to catch the Serra Ascendant too. I set up an Akroma's Memorial to try to ready a few eldrazi I had in hand.
Kalemne hit me back with an Austere Command for artifacts. And then it happened, Iroas played a Crovax, Ascendant Hero. It came back to our turn and I calmly played my Emrakul, the Promised End targeting the Iroas player. They dont see what I see and so they end up Swords to Plowshare a creature my ally has given the protection from instants that Emrakul has. I take control of his turn and I mass purge their life total to bounce Crovax, Ascendant Hero back to their hand.
That ends my game report for now. I felt a little cheap ending the game in such a way. Technically speaking they were at an odd life total so I believe they remained at one life. They did however concede though when I started doing things.
Overall, it was a very grindy game that took over 2 hours so I am sorry if some of my recap was a little vague. It was a lot of defenses to overcome and a very drawn out conclusion. When I hit my opponents with the Emrakul FTW they still had like 70+ life given the life they had gained but I suppose they did also have 15 commander damage from me. I guess I do have one change to mention but it wasnt really in response to this so much as something I finally pulled the trigger on.
DECK CHANGE:
1 Plains -> Wasteland it became obvious I might need to step up a little on hate for mazes and such. It shouldn't be a big change but I ordered one recently since it dropped in price so much so I added it in here.
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[Modern] Allies
DECK CHANGES:
Akroma, Angel of Wrath -> Angel of the Dire Hour Akroma has been a long time pet card of mine. Given my life gain I tend to need more defense from swarms especially of tokens rather than single attacking defense. I like that Dire Hour is a very strong removal effect that also keeps my own board going. I considered some other options like Comeuppance but I preferred the effect of the angel as it stands.
Reconnaissance -> Erratic Portal I like vigilance as I can defend myself decently but to be honest with the lifegain its not really been a huge issue. I want some defensive measures as well as ways to re engage with some ETB creatures. Things like clones and theft have also been a pain in the ass so I feel like being able to bounce out with my very few good threats could be useful.
Oblivion Stone -> Ugin, the Spirit Dragon in a lot of cases my own equipment have been too painful to shatter. I also like that ugin can be scaled and controlled a little more. I can for instance use ugin to kill off token armies or utility commanders without potentially killing Gisela which is great. I just think that the scalability here will be useful over the removal of artifacts that O Stone gives which has often been too painful for my own deck.
Disenchant -> Forsake the Worldly its a similar effect but I gain exile for very little speed lost. I also like that Forsake has the cycling option as its possible that disenchant is not the topdeck draw that I need and that cycling could be useful to me.
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[Modern] Allies
Well hello there.... Where have you been my whole life. Curving a pair of 5/5s for 5 mana behind Gisela sounds.... nice.... I dont often find things I think that Gisela will use well but this was a great surprise for me.
I guess I will mention I managed to get Gisela + Archangel of Thune + Sunscorch Regent assembled recently. It didnt last long but it was long enough to add a few counts to Gisela who then was able to lethal one of my opponents thanks to the added reach.
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[Modern] Allies
DECK CHANGES:
Recruiter of the Guard -> Magus of the Tabernacle Honestly I dont have that many targets for this deck for recruiter and I dont feel that any of the ones that I do have are all that central to what I want to be doing here. I like some defense vs swarms though and another copy of Tabernacle should do the trick.
Crovax, Ascendant Hero -> Crested Sunmare Chrovax has been letting me down lately in that all too often the tokens I want to kill have been white. I also like the idea of taking a reactive card and turning it into a proactive card. I love the idea of just curving Gisela into a Sunmare and spinning up my own army of horses. I feel like the Magus pickup above offsets and probably gives me a little less situational defense vs swarm and token decks.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx -> Scavenger Grounds I dont really swarm the field with this deck and my devotion is never that great. I would rather pick up a better utility effect given this and I think another grave hate that doesn't eat up a card slot sounds great.
Its been a while since I made many changes here. On paper my top end creature mana curve looks crazy but I haven't really been having any issues with it given Whites normal issues drawing cards. Getting my commander out early and getting some card advantage equipment up and going has been my primary focus for the most part. Mask of Memory and Sword of the Animist make for amazing starts. I will see how these changes go and keep trucking. I love Moat based MWC as its just so much fun to play.
I have also been contemplating picking up a Crucible of Worlds + Fetchland + Rings of Brighthearth package for this deck. Card advantage is something that white is always kind of after and I think it could be nice to be able to pick up utility lands again. I dont know if I could justify the Rings of Brighthearth offhand but its something to think about at least...
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[Modern] Allies