A friend of mine plays it heavy control theme with creature removal, counter magic, creature control magic, and card draw. Just like a very hardcore police who can pick sides.
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Decks: WUG Jenara, Asura of War WR Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas WU Lavinia of the Tenth UR Mizzix of the Izmagnus
bolas was my first EDH deck (like 6 years ago), and he was a nightmare for my group back then. i played him as a finisher in a grixis-goodstuff control list and it worked wonders.
i would say start off with something like that until you see what you like and works for your group then make cuts and revisions as needed.
As Bolas's discard ability triggers regardless of how damage is dealt, so if you can find any means by which to have him deal points of damage to players you can easily send discards around the table. The trick will be being able to do this. As your general will likely be part of your win con (or an alternate one) it may be wise to keep the relative CMC of the rest of the deck pretty low.
However there isn't necessarily a right or wrong way to build a deck like this. If you want to go combo you will want plenty of tutors for your pieces. You can throw in things like extra turns, board wipes, card draw, hand discard, nicol bolas planeswalker is always good fun, everyone loves themselves a cruel ultimatum, crosis charm is pretty good, slave of bolas is neat.
I mean it really depends if you're looking to go aggro, aggro / control with CIP creatures, straight control with fewer creatures and more of a direct damage approach, or mass control - stealing things - with combo. Which would you enjoy the most?!
First of all, which Bolas? The Ravager or the one from legends?
If you're playing the latter, I recommend going discard. Waste Not, Geth's Grimoire, and Liliana's Caress get monstrous when you begin emptying peoples hands with Bolas's touch of insanity. Ramp will help you get your commander out faster, especially Black Market, which keeps up with your commander's ever growing mana cost, as he is doomed to be targeted by removal. (No one likes discarding their hand, trust me)
If you're playing the former, I recommend playing control. You want to get Nicol Bolas flipped as soon as possible, and you want to keep him alive until then. I recommend playing cards like Supernatural Stamina and Teferi's Time Twist, which not only keep Bolas safe from any removal coming his way, but flicker him as well, making you opponents discard another round of cards as he enters the battlefield. Walls are great to use, as they keep you safe, and you'll want plenty of removal for creatures too big to block. One of my favorite interactions that synergizes with Bolas is Profaner of the Dead and any wall with high toughness. You play profaner of the dead, sacrifice your wall, watch your opponents groan as they return their creatures to their hand, then you play Bolas and make them discard their creatures. The Hour of Devastation Gods also have great synergy with Bolas. Scarab God eternalizes the discarded creatures, the locust God creates hundreds of little defenders of Nicol Bolas, the Arisen when he uses his +2 ability, and the Scorpion God can weaken you opponents creatures without losing you cards. Commander is often played in multiplayer, so be ready to have to use Nicol Bolas, the Arisen's Ultimate multiple times. Inexorable Tide, Flux Channeler, and other cards that proliferate are great for boosting Bolas's loyalty to you, and are great when paired with the Scorpion God.
Both of these need a strong mana base. The shock lands and the check lands in Grixis, as well as the reveal lands and battle lands, should help you out if you get Mana Screwed.
Good Luck!
If it's OG Bolas, keep in mind that he triggers off any damage, not just combat damage. That means Chandra's Ignition practically clears the board and hand of every opponent. Viridian Longbow and Thornbite Staff snipe opponent's hands. Dragon Tempest is an all-star, allowing him to snipe one opponent on entry and then swing at a second opponent immediately. Scourge of Valkas offers some redundancy on the damage trigger. This Bolas is, however, fairly expensive, costing eight mana the first time plus three mana every upkeep. You're going to need to ramp hard.
If it's the Ravager, you have more options. You can lean into discard, either with the nastiest cards or something obnoxious yet silly like tribal Specters. You can build a Grixis blink deck (blue for blink effects, black and red for stuff with nasty ETB triggers). I personally went for tribal Bolas and had every version of him, then I leaned into the Archenemy aspect and built it as a heavy control deck with lots of hate cards (and build an accompanying Archenemy scheme deck to play with him). You can see some of the cards brainstormed for the deck here.
Keep in mind that people really dislike losing their hands, so you will receive some hate if you go for a discard route. You'll need plenty of control.
EDIT - And I just realized I fell for a necro. Seriously, man, this thread hadn't been active in 8.5 years. Pretty sure they're not still looking for an answer...
Some things I have considered:
Dragons tribal
Reanimator
I do play in a mixed casual and comp enviorment I want to stand up to that level of play.
Thanks!!!
Decks:
WUG Jenara, Asura of War
WR Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas
WU Lavinia of the Tenth
UR Mizzix of the Izmagnus
i would say start off with something like that until you see what you like and works for your group then make cuts and revisions as needed.
However there isn't necessarily a right or wrong way to build a deck like this. If you want to go combo you will want plenty of tutors for your pieces. You can throw in things like extra turns, board wipes, card draw, hand discard, nicol bolas planeswalker is always good fun, everyone loves themselves a cruel ultimatum, crosis charm is pretty good, slave of bolas is neat.
I mean it really depends if you're looking to go aggro, aggro / control with CIP creatures, straight control with fewer creatures and more of a direct damage approach, or mass control - stealing things - with combo. Which would you enjoy the most?!
If you're playing the latter, I recommend going discard. Waste Not, Geth's Grimoire, and Liliana's Caress get monstrous when you begin emptying peoples hands with Bolas's touch of insanity. Ramp will help you get your commander out faster, especially Black Market, which keeps up with your commander's ever growing mana cost, as he is doomed to be targeted by removal. (No one likes discarding their hand, trust me)
If you're playing the former, I recommend playing control. You want to get Nicol Bolas flipped as soon as possible, and you want to keep him alive until then. I recommend playing cards like Supernatural Stamina and Teferi's Time Twist, which not only keep Bolas safe from any removal coming his way, but flicker him as well, making you opponents discard another round of cards as he enters the battlefield. Walls are great to use, as they keep you safe, and you'll want plenty of removal for creatures too big to block. One of my favorite interactions that synergizes with Bolas is Profaner of the Dead and any wall with high toughness. You play profaner of the dead, sacrifice your wall, watch your opponents groan as they return their creatures to their hand, then you play Bolas and make them discard their creatures. The Hour of Devastation Gods also have great synergy with Bolas. Scarab God eternalizes the discarded creatures, the locust God creates hundreds of little defenders of Nicol Bolas, the Arisen when he uses his +2 ability, and the Scorpion God can weaken you opponents creatures without losing you cards. Commander is often played in multiplayer, so be ready to have to use Nicol Bolas, the Arisen's Ultimate multiple times. Inexorable Tide, Flux Channeler, and other cards that proliferate are great for boosting Bolas's loyalty to you, and are great when paired with the Scorpion God.
Both of these need a strong mana base. The shock lands and the check lands in Grixis, as well as the reveal lands and battle lands, should help you out if you get Mana Screwed.
Good Luck!
If it's OG Bolas, keep in mind that he triggers off any damage, not just combat damage. That means Chandra's Ignition practically clears the board and hand of every opponent. Viridian Longbow and Thornbite Staff snipe opponent's hands. Dragon Tempest is an all-star, allowing him to snipe one opponent on entry and then swing at a second opponent immediately. Scourge of Valkas offers some redundancy on the damage trigger. This Bolas is, however, fairly expensive, costing eight mana the first time plus three mana every upkeep. You're going to need to ramp hard.
If it's the Ravager, you have more options. You can lean into discard, either with the nastiest cards or something obnoxious yet silly like tribal Specters. You can build a Grixis blink deck (blue for blink effects, black and red for stuff with nasty ETB triggers). I personally went for tribal Bolas and had every version of him, then I leaned into the Archenemy aspect and built it as a heavy control deck with lots of hate cards (and build an accompanying Archenemy scheme deck to play with him). You can see some of the cards brainstormed for the deck here.
Keep in mind that people really dislike losing their hands, so you will receive some hate if you go for a discard route. You'll need plenty of control.
EDIT - And I just realized I fell for a necro. Seriously, man, this thread hadn't been active in 8.5 years. Pretty sure they're not still looking for an answer...
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
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