MTG Salvation

INTRODUCTION

O-Kagachi Rattlesnake is a Control deck at its core. By buying time and managing not only the board, but also your opponents, you can plant O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami onto the battlefield and encourage them to start slugging each other. Counterspells allow you to protect the board, yourself, and O-Kagachi. Combat tricks allow you to ensure that O-Kagachi can start killing opponents instead of you. Tutor effects allow you to search for various tools and plan ahead. The deck features multiple ways to help unfold your battle plan, from disruption to recursion - O-Kagachi Rattlesnake can spice up your multiplayer games in a fun and interactive way.

The goal of this thread is to foster an ongoing discussion around the deck and, over time, optimize the list as much as possible as the Commander format evolves I encourage anyone interested in the deck, to join in the discussion and share their experiences!

IS O-KAGACHI RATTLESNAKE FOR ME?

You will enjoy playing O-Kagachi Rattlesnake if:

• You enjoy reactive play
• You enjoy table talk
• You enjoy winning games in quirky ways
• You enjoy tool box decks

You will NOT enjoy playing O-Kagachi Rattlesnake if:

• You enjoy playing Combo
• You enjoy attacking with lots of creatures
• You enjoy proactive / linear game play

Alternatively, O-Kagachi Rattlesnake may not be for your play group if you are often a primary target regardless of what commander you play. The deck may be great for those play groups that often have a player who can be quite vindictive towards others as you lurk in the shadows.

DECK HISTORY
O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami is one of the most interesting generals I have seen. Back when Commander 2013 launched, I was particularly interested in Ruhan of the Fomori. I have always liked Voltron themes in Commander, and once was particularly keen on Uril, the Miststalker in the earlier days of the format. Commander 2017 has brought a pretty neat option in 5-colors, but also in a unique way. O-Kagachi offers a somewhat political approach where Ruhan was slash and smash and Uril was a general base kit. So let's break down O-Kagachi Rattlesnake!

DECKLISTS

JuiceBOX's O-Kagachi RattlesnakeMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards

Commander (1) 1x O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami Creature (4) 1x Consecrated Sphinx 1x Eternal Witness 1x Perplexing Chimera 1x Snapcaster Mage Planeswalker (3) 1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor 1x Narset Transcendent 1x Venser, the Sojourner Instant (35) 1x Anguished Unmaking 1x Arcane Denial 1x Assassin's Trophy 1x Comeuppance 1x Commandeer 1x Counterflux 1x Counterspell 1x Crackling Doom 1x Cyclonic Rift 1x Desertion 1x Dig Through Time 1x Disallow 1x Doom Blade 1x Enlightened Tutor 1x Go for the Throat 1x Illusionist's Gambit 1x Impulse 1x Intellectual Offering 1x Mana Drain 1x Mission Briefing 1x Mystical Tutor 1x Path to Exile 1x Perplex 1x Plasm Capture 1x Reins of Power 1x Rewind 1x Settle the Wreckage 1x Silumgar's Command 1x Split Decision 1x Swords to Plowshares 1x Teferi's Protection 1x Ultimate Price 1x Vampiric Tutor 1x Voidslime 1x Windgrace's Judgement

Sorcery (12) 1x Damnation 1x Pir's Whim 1x Demonic Tutor 1x Disrupt Decorum 1x Fractured Identity 1x Gamble 1x Insurrection 1x Tempt with Discovery 1x Praetor's Counsel 1x Regrowth 1x Seasons Past 1x Supreme Verdict Enchantment (2) 1x Sylvan Library 1x Gift of Immortality Artifact (6) 1x Assault Suit 1x Chromatic Lantern 1x Coalition Relic 1x Oblivion Stone 1x Mindslaver 1x Sol Ring Land (37) 1x Academy Ruins 1x Alchemist's Refuge 1x Bayou 1x Breeding Pool 1x Command Tower 1x Drowned Catacomb 1x Exotic Orchard 1x Forbidden Orchard 1x Forest 1x Glacial Fortress 1x Godless Shrine 1x Hall of the Bandit Lord 1x Hallowed Fountain 1x Hinterland Harbor 1x Island 1x Isolated Chapel 1x Luxury Suite 1x Maze of Ith 1x Misty Rainforest 1x Morphic Pool 1x Mountain 1x Overgrown Tomb 1x Plains 1x Plateau 1x Polluted Delta 1x Reflecting Pool 1x Savannah 1x Scalding Tarn 1x Scrubland 1x Sea of Clouds 1x Steam Vents 1x Swamp 1x Taiga 1x Tropical Island 1x Verdant Catacombs 1x Volrath's Stronghold 1x Watery Grave

CARD OPTIONS

This is one of the more narrow sections, in terms of disrupting combat when it is happening. Overall, the decks ability to interfere with combat can really be broken down into 3 sections:

• Disruption
• Spot Removal
• Mass Removal

So when it comes to simply disrupting combat, you have a few great tools and each can also double as a potential kill card on their own. Comeuppance is probably the most apparent kill cards in that while it does fog damage for the turn, in a situation where the game has come down to heads up, Comeuppance can often kill them on the back of a greedy swing at you with your own O-kagachi, Vengeful Kami if their overall life total is higher than what they are swinging for. This card is probably best kept until the end of the game, but with recursion options, you can use it opportunistically throughout the game. White also gives you a defensive tool in Teferi's Protection, and while it cannot kill anyone like Comeuppance, it can save you or some of your permanents in a pinch.

Reins of Power and Illusionist's Gambit are your blue disruption options. Both can also provide you with potential kills, but Reins of Power is probably more likely to provide this avenue to you. Illusionist's Gambit is less likely to provide you with player kills because often times the weakest player will be attacked in combat anyways. Both can also double as defensive tools should someone try to kill you.

Red really shines here with the Goad mechanic that Disrupt Decorum brings to the table. This spell can straight up kill someone out of nowhere, but also can initiate a bit of bad blood between two other players if you plan on handing of O-Kagachi. An important thing to note about this card, is that you can tap a player out if you want them to die to a player taking a turn after they are forced to attack. This can also open up table talk routes to allow O-Kagachi through. Finally, red also allows you Insurrection, a card that may not disrupt combat but is important to keep in mind if you plan on having someone openly swing creatures into another player with Disrupt Decorum.

Your counterspell options are almost endless when you have access to blue, but also getting access to the other 4 colors opens up for some awesome utility to go alongside your counterspell suite. From uncounterable Counterflux, stifling Voidslime, and punishing Perplex to additional vlaue like Absorb and Undermine. Out of all your options, perhaps the most interesting is Perplex. Transmute allows your to toss it in the yard for later use if you need it, and fetch something of use. Be it a different counter option with utility, or early mana fixing in Chromatic Lantern. Additionally, you can always fetch up a Oblivion Stone which is nice.

There are plenty of other great 3 mana options out there depending on your needs, but you also have access to the usual 2 mana power counters like Mana Drain, Counterspell, Arcane Denial and plenty of others. As you move up the mana curve, you get into other great options like Rewind if you need extra coverage but are short on mana. Silumgar's Command, Cryptic Command, and Mystic Confluence if you want great modal options. Even Desertion and Commandeer if you like what your opponent has and want it for yourself.

White and black have historically offered the best spot removal. This day and age, most of the auto includes are self explanatory, but where it gets interesting is when you start moving beyond the 2 mana spells. Being a multiplayer format, you can get excellent value out of options like Windgrace's Judgement, Crackling Doom, and Fractured Identity.

Perhaps the smallest, yet most powerful selection of cards you can run in multiplayer commander. There are tons of great 4 mana options these days. Wrath of God, Day of Judgment, Damnation, Supreme Verdict, and Kaya's Wrath would be at the top of my list, but Settle the Wreckage is absolutely fantastic if you are looking to bait a sweep on a single player. Cyclonic Rift is one of the most powerful sweepers in the format and can double as a way to pick up your O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami if you need it back for some reason. Oblivion Stone is perhaps your most versatile sweeper, allowing you to play the politics game and trade fate counters for favors. You can also drop a counter on your O-Kagachi if you have handed it off with a Assault Suit. You can tutor it up with Perplex and you can recur it with Academy Ruins

The deck does not leave much to be desired if you are a player that likes tool box mechanics and land utility. Your mana base gives you artifact recursion with Academy Ruins, creature recursion with Volrath's Stronghold, and enables an O-Kagachi snapback attack on a player with Hall of the Bandit Lord. Additionally, you can get occasional flash value with Alchemist's Refuge. You can tutor up Perplexing Chimera with Enlightened Tutor, and start getting additional value out of it with Venser, the Sojourner. Speaking of Venser, he lets you get back O-Kagachi, recur spells with Eternal Witness and Snapcaster Mage too! Your late game power house cards are definitely going to be Seasons Past and Praetor's Counsel, meaning you can almost never run out of gas and outlast your opponents over the course of a game.

STRATEGY

The rattlesnake strategy comes from the deck's primary buff card, Assault Suit. The deck primarily plays a heavy control game, casting disruption spells to maintain the board state or change the direction of various attackers. The general strategy also incorporates political elements and table talk is strongly encouraged to leverage your spells for your opponent's creature power. Once O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami is in play, your goal is to suit it up with Assault Suit and start passing it off to other players.

The important thing to remember, is that players are not required to attack with your O-kagachi. You will have to encourage attacks through table talk, spells, and even abilities. Goad cards can be particularly useful when opponents are being stubborn and unwilling to attack each other. Disrupt Decorum can be used to break heavy stalemates and get combat going, but remember that it can often draw hate back on to you. In events where your opponents try to lay the heat on your, be sure to save spells like Illusionist's Gambit, Reins of Power and Comeuppance for potential kills. You have other options like Settle the Wreckage, Teferi's Protection, and others that can help you protect yourself.

O-Kagachi Rattlesnake is a deck that is not meant to deal 40+ damage to a player. You only need to do 21 damage to any given player, and you can continuously deal the damage (potentially) on everyone else's turn. In essence, the early game is spent securing resources like Assault Suit, draw power, and perhaps a Vow or two. The mid game is spent protecting yourself and encouraging your opponents to attack each other. The late game is spent recurring resources with cards like Eternal Witness + Volrath's Stronghold, Academy Ruins, Seasons Past and Praetor's Counsel

CHANGE LOG

None as of yet, but looking at exploring Voltron packages in one iteration and blink packages in another. Stay tuned!