I came across Edric, Spymaster of Trest a while back and really wanted to make a deck with him (that's not Commander, love the format but my friends don't have Commander).
I haven't gotten much feedback and it's a bit hard testing this out since it's oriented for multiplayer, but I've been told that I'm trying to do too much, but didn't get any tips on what I should do next. Should I cut out a lot of my control and instead focus on spamming Elves? If so, can I still make it a support deck? I don't need it to be exclusively support, but I wanted to throw in some cards that could help out a Teammate here and there, whilst not compromising my own survivability.
Thanks everyone for the help! I really appreciate it.
This is one of my all-time favorites archetypes given how unique that the deck plays out. It's always looking to curve three 1 drops on turns 1 and 2 into an Edric, Spymaster of Trest on turn 3 in order to immediately draw 3 cards. Then you'll want to jam Notorious Throng/Coastal Piracy/Bident of Thassa on turn 4 to double your power/card draw straight into a Time Warp on turn 5. From that point on you're drawing more than enough cards to hit a "Time Walk" every turn (read Notorious Throng's Prowl) in order to close the game out in short order.
Note that extra turn effects are especially brutal in 2HG since it's your entire team that takes the extra turn as opposed to just you. As such they're monstrously degenerate in practice. Moreover, please remember that Cloud of Faeries can untap anyone's lands which means that they can enable your ally to cast 4 drops on turn 2. Yes, that's just as brutal as it sounds :).
The disruptive threats and cheap permission are there to hinder mass removal since you typically only need to buy a few turns before it becomes obsolete. By the time that people can afford to pay the extra 1-2 it's already too late.
If you want to run additional cheap permission I highly recommend Swan Song, Counterspell, Spiketail Hatchling and/or Foil for budget options. Cursecatcher and Flusterstorm are fantastic but quite expensive by comparison. I'm obviously assuming that you're someone like me who doesn't own + can't afford things like Mana Drain and Force of Will. Neither Misdirection nor Commandeer protect you against sweepers (which tend to be your primary concern) but if you're only worried about spot removal they definitely get the job done. Free spells (namely Foil) are key since your mana for the first 6 turns is already spoken for.
I've played the deck cutting Edric, Spymaster of Trest for Chart a Course/Military Intelligence and it still works but you clearly lose a lot of power. The current variation "goes off" about 75% of the time (and the math supports those figures) and switching over to MI was a noticeable downgrade. That being said fielding MI reduces the cost of the deck by a substantial amount since you get to run 22x island and 0x Edric. That being said Edric is *THE* reason to build and play the deck and it would be a crying shame to omit him.
So far I have something like this:
1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
1 Selvala, Explorer Returned
4 Immaculate Magistrate
4 Glistener Elf
4 Thornweald Archer
Instants:
2 Split Decision
4 Counterspell
2 Sundering Growth
Artifacts:
4 Spectral Searchlight
1 Bow of Nylea
4 Viridian Longbow
Enchantments:
2 Imperial Mask
3 Pariah
6 Forest
4 Seaside Citadel
4 Rogue's Passage
2 Plains
2 Island
1 Elfhame Palace
1 Prahv, Spires of Order
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
2 Throne of the High City
4 Ajani's Mantra
4 Sun Droplet
1 Pariah
4 Nevermore
4 Banishing Light
2 Split Decision
4 Overwhelming Denial
4 Fog
4 Rest for the Weary
4 Elvish Mystic
2 Sundering Growth
4 Entourage of Trest
2 Graypelt Refuge
2 Thornwood Falls
4 Hankyu
2 Time Reversal
2 Plea for Power
1 Utopia Sprawl
4 Elvish Archdruid
Tapped Out: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/elven-support/?cb=1524283431
I haven't gotten much feedback and it's a bit hard testing this out since it's oriented for multiplayer, but I've been told that I'm trying to do too much, but didn't get any tips on what I should do next. Should I cut out a lot of my control and instead focus on spamming Elves? If so, can I still make it a support deck? I don't need it to be exclusively support, but I wanted to throw in some cards that could help out a Teammate here and there, whilst not compromising my own survivability.
Thanks everyone for the help! I really appreciate it.
10x Island
4x Breeding Pool
4x Hinterland Harbor
4x Yavimaya Coast
Creatures (24)
4x Slither Blade
4x Triton Shorestalker
4x Mausoleum Wanderer
4x Judge's Familiar
4x Cloud of Faeries
4x Edric, Spymaster of Trest
4x Spell Pierce
4x Notorious Throng
1x Coastal Piracy
1x Bident of Thassa
4x Time Warp
This is one of my all-time favorites archetypes given how unique that the deck plays out. It's always looking to curve three 1 drops on turns 1 and 2 into an Edric, Spymaster of Trest on turn 3 in order to immediately draw 3 cards. Then you'll want to jam Notorious Throng/Coastal Piracy/Bident of Thassa on turn 4 to double your power/card draw straight into a Time Warp on turn 5. From that point on you're drawing more than enough cards to hit a "Time Walk" every turn (read Notorious Throng's Prowl) in order to close the game out in short order.
Note that extra turn effects are especially brutal in 2HG since it's your entire team that takes the extra turn as opposed to just you. As such they're monstrously degenerate in practice. Moreover, please remember that Cloud of Faeries can untap anyone's lands which means that they can enable your ally to cast 4 drops on turn 2. Yes, that's just as brutal as it sounds :).
The disruptive threats and cheap permission are there to hinder mass removal since you typically only need to buy a few turns before it becomes obsolete. By the time that people can afford to pay the extra 1-2 it's already too late.
If you want to run additional cheap permission I highly recommend Swan Song, Counterspell, Spiketail Hatchling and/or Foil for budget options. Cursecatcher and Flusterstorm are fantastic but quite expensive by comparison. I'm obviously assuming that you're someone like me who doesn't own + can't afford things like Mana Drain and Force of Will. Neither Misdirection nor Commandeer protect you against sweepers (which tend to be your primary concern) but if you're only worried about spot removal they definitely get the job done. Free spells (namely Foil) are key since your mana for the first 6 turns is already spoken for.
I've played the deck cutting Edric, Spymaster of Trest for Chart a Course/Military Intelligence and it still works but you clearly lose a lot of power. The current variation "goes off" about 75% of the time (and the math supports those figures) and switching over to MI was a noticeable downgrade. That being said fielding MI reduces the cost of the deck by a substantial amount since you get to run 22x island and 0x Edric. That being said Edric is *THE* reason to build and play the deck and it would be a crying shame to omit him.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
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