I really want to focuse on beating an opponent during one or two combat phases without leaving myself vulnerable. I also have couple of cards that I think would do really well in this deck:
Definitely invest in a Sunforger and cut a bunch of your creatures. I don't know the odds, but I'll bet you're going to whiff a lot of Narset's combat triggers with 24 creatures in the deck. I'd recommend running a lean 10, including Godo, Bandit Warlord, Aurelia, the Warleader and Snapcaster Mage.
Cutting too many creature would kinda defeat the point of the deck (not mention make it really ineffective) and having lots of extra attack phase effect is really boring to play against. Snapcaster mage costs more than the current deck.
When I started building my Narset deck it looked close to yours, after 3 weeks of playing it I'm down to 10 creatures, there is nothing worse then wasting Narset's attack trigger on exiling 2-4 creatures, I packed every deck manipulation I had (Soothsaying, Brainstorm, Ponder & Dream Cache.
Seconding these two things in particular. I wanted to run creatures too, but running too many directly contradicts the general you've chosen to play. Sorry man, her rules. The only creatures I run are creatures that help get her out, either by ramping (Generator Servant, August IV) or hindering counterspells. Competitively speaking those might not be worth running over Proteus Staff, but I play pretty casual and personally I think staffing your entire deck is cheesy as duck.
Any index or tutor spell that lets you plant cards on top of library or your hand is absolutely bonkers. Dream Cache and Brainstorm are easily the best index spells since they let you put expensive cards from your hand on top of your library right before you attack, and Mystical Tutor and Enlightened Tutor are also incredibly powerful plays right before an attack.
If you're happen to go just slightly voltronesque, I like enchantments and artifacts that boost Narset and aren't auras that fall off if she dies or equipment that has to be paid to equip. We're talking Akroma's Memorial, True Conviction, Gratuitous Violence and friends. Note how those last two stack for quadruple damage There are also some board wipes that she sits through, like Mass Calcify, Inundate and any damage based wipes after you've slapped some boost auras on her, like Wildfire. If you go low on creatures, you'll also find token generators useful to avoid edict effects. I also liked running equipment that can double as creatures in a pinch, such as living end equipment, Haunted Plate Mail and that dragon equipment thing from Kamigawa, so that you have cards that give you a body without making Narset whiff.
I realize that this post might not contribute to the exact deck you're trying to build. Take what you like and leave the rest.
These let you chain together Narset activations, which when paired with things that pump her or trigger on her attacking can give you massive advantage in short order.
In addition to the tutor spells mentioned above, I would also suggest Long-Term Plans, as a Narset attack can call whatever card was tutored for out right away.
These let you chain together Narset activations, which when paired with things that pump her or trigger on her attacking can give you massive advantage in short order.
For the sake of math, if you include these 13 cards in your deck, and you manage to get Narset out and swinging by turn five, you have about a 60% chance to hit one, provided you haven't drawn one. The chance decreases marginally on each subsequent attack. That's not bad.
Cards like Mystical Tutor, Scroll Rack, and Brainstorm can help you manipulate the odds or provide an out if you draw too many. Copy spells like Reverberate (and honorable mention to Howl of the Horde here because damn that card is swell with Narset) don't really increase your chances but they certainly do help you chain.
I'm a pretty big fan of the idea of a "You Only Swing Once" Narset deck.
Sword of Feast and Famine alongside Aggravated Assault is a good combo as well. Any of the Swords of X and Y are really good with Narset. I get a ton of mileage out of them, and they'd be even better for a deck running more creatures, especially Sword of Light and Shadow.
To the OP, specifically...
I think you'd get way more mileage out of Aqueous Form than Sigiled Skink. Really, accepting that you want a more creature-heavy Narset build, I'd still cut the heroic creatures and keep the focus on guys with Prowess (or functional prowess). Really, the deck is going to run into problems with a high creature count. Make the creatures you do play count more.
Looking at your list, there are quite a few cards I'm not a fan of: Melek, Izzet Paragon - Narset sends the cards to exile before casting them, so there isn't really a good interaction between the two. Seeing the top card of your deck is nice, but since Melek probably isn't a creature you're going to be swinging with, I'd replace him with Future Sight, since Narset can cheat it out. Guttersnipe - Again, in a combat-themed deck, it's not really... on theme. You have a good number of instants and sorceries, but with as many creatures and enchantments as you have, I don't think he's going to get a lot of mileage in here. Hypersonic Dragon - while cool, would probably be better as a Leyline of Anticipation. Leyline can get put into play with Narset, can help you play Narset and other creatures while dodging board wipes, and lets you play your enchantments as combat tricks as well. Rakavolver - Flying and Lifelink is okay, but both the kickers are going to make him cost a lot and you'll probably get more value out of your prowess creatures anyway. Sage of the Inward Eye - while he's nice to play with Narset from a flavor point of view, he doesn't have prowess and lifelink is overall a mediocre ability in EDH. He's not bad, but there are better creatures out there. Aerial Formation and Ajani's Presence - Strive is expensive for these cards, and you still have to pay Strive even if you're playing them with Narset. Compare to Bathe in Light, which gives a chunk of your team evasion for only two mana (or free). Brawl and Shoving Match- Unless you're giving your guys vigilance, and frequently, this seems out of place in a combat-focused deck. Fury Charm - There are better ways to push your damage through than trample. Leap of Flame and Rouse the Mob - again, get really expensive even if they're cast with Narset. There are better options for a full team buff. Martial Glory - Underwhelming. Swift Kick - A lot of your creatures won't survive the fight. You can use something like Path to Exile or even an Unsummon variant for removal and still trigger prowess. Noble Purpose - I've already said how I feel about lifelink, and you can't even put this into play in time for combat if you flip it with Narset. Spellweaver Volute - While I love this card, eight sorceries is not enough to trigger it reliably. Arc Blade - Really underwhelming. Desperate Stand - Again with the strive. Being on a sorcery makes it even weaker. Erratic Explosion - A lot of your creatures are relatively cheap, as are your combat tricks. This won't often deal a lot of damage.
Stopping there would make me seem overly critical. Let's see if we can find some good replacements for those cards.
First of all, see if you can't try out some of the creatures I mentioned above. I think they'd fit your theme and provide solid value for your deck. Additionally, Sun Quan, Lord of Wu.
Now, let's try and upgrade some of these combat tricks...
Dictate of Heliod and Dictate of the Twin Gods - Enchantments with Flash so you can use them as a surprise or cast them as soon as Narset flips them. Big team-wide buffs. Ride Down - I think this is going to be superior to that Fury Charm pretty much always. Temporal Isolation - Has Flash. You can put it on Narset (she doesn't have prowess, so preventing her damage is negligible) to make her unblockable, or you can use it on an opponent's creature to keep it from blocking. Akroma's Blessing - Upgrade from some of the Strive cards, gives your whole team protection from a color. Can also be cycled for card draw. Gods Willing or Redeem the Lost - protection for one of your creatures that also lets you set up your topdeck. Rootborn Defenses - You can't really populate anything, but it is a team-wide indestructible buff. Costs less in the long run than strive. Deluge - If you cast this between the declare attackers and declare blockers step, you can tap down a lot of your opponent's potential blockers. You can also use it as a pseudo-fog. Assault Strobe and Double Cleave or Phalanx Formation - Double strike will make some of your creatures very lethal, very quickly. Or you can use first strike to save one of your guys. Phalanx Formation is a strive card I might actually use in the deck, because a single-target double-strike is still worth considering, and it has the option to scale. Azorius Charm - Another functional copy of Jeskai Charm, and since it can draw, I think it's a little better. Savage Beating - I understand if you don't want to use too many extra combat cards for the sake of fun, but this card really is a savage beating.
On the whole, I think you'd benefit from having more mana rocks than just the Jeskai banner (Sol Ring should be cheap since it's in every EDH pre-con, things like Mind Stone and Darksteel Ingot as well). You'll also probably want some more draw power to keep chaining spells to buff your guys. I recommend Treasure Cruise (either free from Narset or cheap from Delve), Keep Watch, and Recurring Insight as a starting point.
I see where you were going with the strive spells and heroic creatures, but strive just plays really poorly with Narset. My advice, overall, would be to focus more on prowess (and prowess effects like Wee Dragonauts) and cut some of the weaker heroic creatures for some better dudes and the strive cards for some better tricks. Not to say you have to cut them all, but look at the mileage you're getting out of each. The Heroic guys that only pump themselves aren't as good as Anax and Cymede. The radiance spells are still great ways to trigger heroic in your deck.
Hopefully those suggestions are helpful in improving the deck while staying true to its intended purpose.
I really like Fatal Frenzy in my Narset list. With multiple combat steps it makes for SOO much beats. I actually run Jeskai Ascendancy and March of the Machines to make my mana rocks into an army that can go infinite with Assault.
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For Lists, Click Here EDH: GW: Selvala, Let us help YOU. UB: Mirko Vosk, when outmatched cheat BW: Vish Kal, The Arbiter of Reanimation UG: Prime Speaker Zegana, the science of sorcery RB: Malfegor, Traitor's Haven UW: Daxos, Control-Fort-Tron BG: Pharika, Goddess of Stax RW: Gisela, Boros Control RG: Ruric Thar, a Primal Surge deck RU: Niv-Mizzet the Firemind, Spellslinger?!?! B:(Pauper) Mikaeus the Unhallowed R: Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient: The Power of Engineering
I went for a super friends style narset deck, where I basically used extra turns/attack steps to hit more planeswalkers. It has no creatures outside of narset. You don't need creatures to abuse extra attacks, you just need narset herself.
If you really want a beatdown deck, you could just go voltron and run expensive but powerful enchantments/equips.
I thought about Enduring Ideal, but my deck is much more reactive. I have little to no actual non-combo win conditions. Relying on opponents kindof sucks, but these cards are like the ultimate charms. They basically give me everything, all the time. Sure, you have to be a little more political and knowledgeable about the game, but that is part of the fun =).
and I feel that some cards really don't work with the deck namely the hondens and illusionist's gambit.
I really want to focuse on beating an opponent during one or two combat phases without leaving myself vulnerable. I also have couple of cards that I think would do really well in this deck:
Kiln fiend
Sunforger
Sigiled skink
Any ideas?
World at War
Waves of Aggression
Relentless Assault
Aggravated Assault
Fury of the Horde
Psychotic Fury
Definitely invest in a Sunforger and cut a bunch of your creatures. I don't know the odds, but I'll bet you're going to whiff a lot of Narset's combat triggers with 24 creatures in the deck. I'd recommend running a lean 10, including Godo, Bandit Warlord, Aurelia, the Warleader and Snapcaster Mage.
GBW Ghave - BWR Kaalia - UBG Mineoplasm - URG Riku - GRW Uril - GBR Prossh, I need food - BWU Oloro Lock - UGW Derevi Blink - RBU Nekusar, the Wheeler - UBRWG Progenitus - BR Lyzolda - UB Gisa & Geralf Zombies - UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest +1 Counters matter - W Lin Sivvi - BWU Sydri Artifact Control - RWU Narset, the Attacker - GRW Mayael, the Cheater - RWUG Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis Landfall - GBW Doran, I like Big Butts - UR Mizzix Buyback BWR Edgar and his Vamps
Any index or tutor spell that lets you plant cards on top of library or your hand is absolutely bonkers. Dream Cache and Brainstorm are easily the best index spells since they let you put expensive cards from your hand on top of your library right before you attack, and Mystical Tutor and Enlightened Tutor are also incredibly powerful plays right before an attack.
If you're happen to go just slightly voltronesque, I like enchantments and artifacts that boost Narset and aren't auras that fall off if she dies or equipment that has to be paid to equip. We're talking Akroma's Memorial, True Conviction, Gratuitous Violence and friends. Note how those last two stack for quadruple damage There are also some board wipes that she sits through, like Mass Calcify, Inundate and any damage based wipes after you've slapped some boost auras on her, like Wildfire. If you go low on creatures, you'll also find token generators useful to avoid edict effects. I also liked running equipment that can double as creatures in a pinch, such as living end equipment, Haunted Plate Mail and that dragon equipment thing from Kamigawa, so that you have cards that give you a body without making Narset whiff.
I realize that this post might not contribute to the exact deck you're trying to build. Take what you like and leave the rest.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
GBW Ghave - BWR Kaalia - UBG Mineoplasm - URG Riku - GRW Uril - GBR Prossh, I need food - BWU Oloro Lock - UGW Derevi Blink - RBU Nekusar, the Wheeler - UBRWG Progenitus - BR Lyzolda - UB Gisa & Geralf Zombies - UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest +1 Counters matter - W Lin Sivvi - BWU Sydri Artifact Control - RWU Narset, the Attacker - GRW Mayael, the Cheater - RWUG Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis Landfall - GBW Doran, I like Big Butts - UR Mizzix Buyback BWR Edgar and his Vamps
It's only theory crafting but I noticed this thread.
Tons of ways to build Narset, such a cool commander.
Additional Combat Phase Spells: Fury of the Horde, Relentless Assault, Savage Beating, Seize the Day, Waves of Aggression, World at War
These let you chain together Narset activations, which when paired with things that pump her or trigger on her attacking can give you massive advantage in short order.
RGWMayael the AnimaRGW
UBRMarchesa, the Black RoseUBR
Modern Decks
RGWNaya BurnRGW
This makes me moist. Also makes me want to build creatureless Narset. I'd love to see your deck list.
Thraximundar Control voltron
Darien, King of Dudes The swarm
Karador, Ghost ChieftainJunk graveyard
Erebos, God of the DeadMy BIG BLACK.......deck
Zedruu the kindhearted My take on Pristaxcontrombmodruu!
Roon of the Hidden Realm Bounce house
there are plenty of sorcery/instant that produces creatures. Storm Herd i once flipped, Storm Herd, Fervor and Breath of Fury
I'm a different person, but I also have a Narset deck list with 0 creatures that runs proteus staff.
narsetifactsRight here
Here you go: My Narset Deck.
For the sake of math, if you include these 13 cards in your deck, and you manage to get Narset out and swinging by turn five, you have about a 60% chance to hit one, provided you haven't drawn one. The chance decreases marginally on each subsequent attack. That's not bad.
Cards like Mystical Tutor, Scroll Rack, and Brainstorm can help you manipulate the odds or provide an out if you draw too many. Copy spells like Reverberate (and honorable mention to Howl of the Horde here because damn that card is swell with Narset) don't really increase your chances but they certainly do help you chain.
I'm a pretty big fan of the idea of a "You Only Swing Once" Narset deck.
Sword of Feast and Famine alongside Aggravated Assault is a good combo as well. Any of the Swords of X and Y are really good with Narset. I get a ton of mileage out of them, and they'd be even better for a deck running more creatures, especially Sword of Light and Shadow.
To the OP, specifically...
I think you'd get way more mileage out of Aqueous Form than Sigiled Skink. Really, accepting that you want a more creature-heavy Narset build, I'd still cut the heroic creatures and keep the focus on guys with Prowess (or functional prowess). Really, the deck is going to run into problems with a high creature count. Make the creatures you do play count more.
Aurelia, the Warleader, Scourge of the Throne, and Hellkite Charger are other creatures you might look into if you find some other cuts to make.
Looking at your list, there are quite a few cards I'm not a fan of:
Melek, Izzet Paragon - Narset sends the cards to exile before casting them, so there isn't really a good interaction between the two. Seeing the top card of your deck is nice, but since Melek probably isn't a creature you're going to be swinging with, I'd replace him with Future Sight, since Narset can cheat it out.
Guttersnipe - Again, in a combat-themed deck, it's not really... on theme. You have a good number of instants and sorceries, but with as many creatures and enchantments as you have, I don't think he's going to get a lot of mileage in here.
Hypersonic Dragon - while cool, would probably be better as a Leyline of Anticipation. Leyline can get put into play with Narset, can help you play Narset and other creatures while dodging board wipes, and lets you play your enchantments as combat tricks as well.
Rakavolver - Flying and Lifelink is okay, but both the kickers are going to make him cost a lot and you'll probably get more value out of your prowess creatures anyway.
Sage of the Inward Eye - while he's nice to play with Narset from a flavor point of view, he doesn't have prowess and lifelink is overall a mediocre ability in EDH. He's not bad, but there are better creatures out there.
Aerial Formation and Ajani's Presence - Strive is expensive for these cards, and you still have to pay Strive even if you're playing them with Narset. Compare to Bathe in Light, which gives a chunk of your team evasion for only two mana (or free).
Brawl and Shoving Match- Unless you're giving your guys vigilance, and frequently, this seems out of place in a combat-focused deck.
Fury Charm - There are better ways to push your damage through than trample.
Leap of Flame and Rouse the Mob - again, get really expensive even if they're cast with Narset. There are better options for a full team buff.
Martial Glory - Underwhelming.
Swift Kick - A lot of your creatures won't survive the fight. You can use something like Path to Exile or even an Unsummon variant for removal and still trigger prowess.
Noble Purpose - I've already said how I feel about lifelink, and you can't even put this into play in time for combat if you flip it with Narset.
Spellweaver Volute - While I love this card, eight sorceries is not enough to trigger it reliably.
Arc Blade - Really underwhelming.
Desperate Stand - Again with the strive. Being on a sorcery makes it even weaker.
Erratic Explosion - A lot of your creatures are relatively cheap, as are your combat tricks. This won't often deal a lot of damage.
Stopping there would make me seem overly critical. Let's see if we can find some good replacements for those cards.
First of all, see if you can't try out some of the creatures I mentioned above. I think they'd fit your theme and provide solid value for your deck. Additionally, Sun Quan, Lord of Wu.
Now, let's try and upgrade some of these combat tricks...
Dictate of Heliod and Dictate of the Twin Gods - Enchantments with Flash so you can use them as a surprise or cast them as soon as Narset flips them. Big team-wide buffs.
Ride Down - I think this is going to be superior to that Fury Charm pretty much always.
Temporal Isolation - Has Flash. You can put it on Narset (she doesn't have prowess, so preventing her damage is negligible) to make her unblockable, or you can use it on an opponent's creature to keep it from blocking.
Akroma's Blessing - Upgrade from some of the Strive cards, gives your whole team protection from a color. Can also be cycled for card draw.
Gods Willing or Redeem the Lost - protection for one of your creatures that also lets you set up your topdeck.
Rootborn Defenses - You can't really populate anything, but it is a team-wide indestructible buff. Costs less in the long run than strive.
Deluge - If you cast this between the declare attackers and declare blockers step, you can tap down a lot of your opponent's potential blockers. You can also use it as a pseudo-fog.
Assault Strobe and Double Cleave or Phalanx Formation - Double strike will make some of your creatures very lethal, very quickly. Or you can use first strike to save one of your guys. Phalanx Formation is a strive card I might actually use in the deck, because a single-target double-strike is still worth considering, and it has the option to scale.
Azorius Charm - Another functional copy of Jeskai Charm, and since it can draw, I think it's a little better.
Savage Beating - I understand if you don't want to use too many extra combat cards for the sake of fun, but this card really is a savage beating.
On the whole, I think you'd benefit from having more mana rocks than just the Jeskai banner (Sol Ring should be cheap since it's in every EDH pre-con, things like Mind Stone and Darksteel Ingot as well). You'll also probably want some more draw power to keep chaining spells to buff your guys. I recommend Treasure Cruise (either free from Narset or cheap from Delve), Keep Watch, and Recurring Insight as a starting point.
I see where you were going with the strive spells and heroic creatures, but strive just plays really poorly with Narset. My advice, overall, would be to focus more on prowess (and prowess effects like Wee Dragonauts) and cut some of the weaker heroic creatures for some better dudes and the strive cards for some better tricks. Not to say you have to cut them all, but look at the mileage you're getting out of each. The Heroic guys that only pump themselves aren't as good as Anax and Cymede. The radiance spells are still great ways to trigger heroic in your deck.
Hopefully those suggestions are helpful in improving the deck while staying true to its intended purpose.
Draft my Peasant Cube.
For Lists, Click Here
EDH:
GW: Selvala, Let us help YOU.
UB: Mirko Vosk, when outmatched cheat
BW: Vish Kal, The Arbiter of Reanimation
UG: Prime Speaker Zegana, the science of sorcery
RB: Malfegor, Traitor's Haven
UW: Daxos, Control-Fort-Tron
BG: Pharika, Goddess of Stax
RW: Gisela, Boros Control
RG: Ruric Thar, a Primal Surge deck
RU: Niv-Mizzet the Firemind, Spellslinger?!?!
B:(Pauper) Mikaeus the Unhallowed
R: Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient: The Power of Engineering
If you really want a beatdown deck, you could just go voltron and run expensive but powerful enchantments/equips.
Sunder, Armageddon, and Wildfire are all extremely powerful here.
Also, Omniscience + Armageddon on a Narset attack is devastating.
My personal favorite win condition is Howl of the Horde + Reiterate + Eternal Dominion. 5x Uber Bribery every turn until you win.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
I like Enduring Ideal because you can set up a hard lock much much easier with it.
RRRAshling, the PilgrimRRR
UUUThadda Adel, AcquisitorUUU
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
Also, Enduring Ideal eats up precious slots in my deck, where Eternal Dominion only uses one. The CMC of 10 isn't so bad in this deck because of all the mana rocks and Narset, Enlightened Master can cast it for free.