Some Backstory: There's a few EDH players in the local circuit that are poisonous to the format in our shop. They sit down to play and just are unpleasant people... They have cool decks and are inviting, but once you begin doing anything in opposition to them, they begin with the namecalling, trash talking and teaming up to crush the person, whether or not they are the threat.
(One is a guy that has accused me of being an unintelligent netdecker and tried to call a judge to get me a warning for cheating for having an altered mana leak in my deck [because "it makes it weighted" and I played it both games of standard])
So while at SCG Atlanta this weekend, I was purchasing cards for my Modern deck and ended with 1.75 left in credit. While looking for something to spend the rest on, I came across Hokori, Dust Drinker... and the evil, awful person inside of me started plotting.
I wanted to make a commander deck solely for playing with this group that will, for a lack of a better term, troll them.
However, the more I thought about it, the more it interested me in more than a troll fashion. This could be a fairly decent EDH Stax type deck.
I'm still a little hazy on where I want to go with it... but...
Clearly I want some mana producing artifacts, as well as some win conditions... but its a start.
Any thoughts or advice for this type of deck? I am on quite a low budget, so the expensive cards are good to now, but budget alternatives for them are also valuable to me.
Thanks!
It's hard to do a budget version of stax... how budget? You really need to play the best stax cards, because otherwise, people will fight through it.
This might not be true if you were, say, Bant or WUR stax, you could run whatever you felt like, but in mono white? You really need the staples.
Tangle Wire is pretty important to drop after your dust drinker.
If you want to play WG stax with dust drinker, Captain Sisay is a very good greifer/stax general.
If you want to play with dust drinker as your commander, you can't play seedborn muse because it is green.
As for the stax archetype, both of those muses are awesome in it.
Essentially, whatever you're forcing people to tap, make sure you can hit enough of it.
Whatever you're forcing people to sac permanents, you either want a way to produce cheap permanents, or some kind of personal exemption.
For example, if you're going to name creature with world queller, you want some token producers.
Nuisance Engine and Myr Turbine are pretty good in white stax, because it makes artifact creatures to sac or tap.
Private Mod Note
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I'll be sad if people don't start calling The Chain Veil "Fleetwood Mac."
What about Portcullis? Seems like a nice slow down type card.
Also, would Erratic Portal be worth it? Be nice to bounce Hokori end of my opponent's turn so I get my untap phase. Fetchable with Enlightened Tutor (and I'm sure any number of other tutors.)
Thalia (the new spoiled Legend), Glowrider, and Lodestone Golem all up the taxes. It might be funny to use some white counterspells such as Lapse of Certainty and Mana Tithe. They think they can finally play something, then BAM. Just following your troll theme
Thalia (the new spoiled Legend), Glowrider, and Lodestone Golem all up the taxes. It might be funny to use some white counterspells such as Lapse of Certainty and Mana Tithe. They think they can finally play something, then BAM. Just following your troll theme
I'd say Reverence - another way to stop cheap drops from killing you in multi if you end up casting Hokori and draw all the hate (and this WILL happen 99,9% of the time).
Kjeldoran Outpost is a decent token maker to feed your Stax effects.
Could use some grave hate, perhaps. Grafdigger's Cage seems like the perfect troll card for that, but I might suggest the ore permanent solution of Tormod's Crypt.
1 Hokori, Dust Drinker
TAX
2 Windborn Muse
3 Glowrider
4 Lodestone Golem
5 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
6 Loxodon Gatekeeper
7 Magus of the Tabernacle
8 Leonin Arbiter
9 Ghostly Prison
10 Aura of Silence
11 Suppression Field
12 Kismet
13 Reverence
14 Portcullis
15 Ensnaring Bridge
16 Crawlspace
17 Thorn of Amethyst
18 Tangle Wire
19 Meekstone
CONTROL
20 Ethersworn Canonist
21 Leonin Abunas
22 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
23 Angelic Arbiter
24 Aven Mindcensor
25 Grand Abolisher
26 Lapse of Certainty
27 Mana Tithe
28 Rule of Law
29 Leyline of Sanctity
30 Sigil of the Empty Throne
31 Greater Auramancy
32 Luminarch Ascension
REMOVAL
33 World Queller
34 Archon of Justice
35 Path To Exile
36 Oblation
37 Condemn
38 Wrath of God
39 Austere Command
40 Planar Cleansing
41 Hallowed Burial
42 Oblivion Ring
MANA ARTIFACTS
43 Chrome Mox
44 Sol Ring
45 Darksteel Ingot
46 Sisay's Ring
47 Everflowing Chalice
48 Ur-Golem's Eye
49 Thran Dynamo
50 Felwar Stone
UTILITY ARTIFACTS
51 Unwinding Clock
52 Mind's Eye
53 Pearl Medallion
54 Erratic Portal
55 Sun Titan
56 Replenish
57 Open the Vaults
TUTOR: 3
58 Academy Rector
59 Enlightened Tutor
60 Idyllic Tutor
PLANESWALKERS: 3
61 Gideon Jura
62 Elspeth Knight-Errant
63 Ajani Goldmane
NON-BASIC LAND: 12
64 Rishadan Port
65 Forbidding Watchtower
66 Mistveil Plains
67 Mikokoru, Center of the Sea
68 Reliquary Tower
69 Mystifying Maze
70 Strip Mine
71 Tectonic Edge
72 Eiganjo Castle
73 Buried Ruin
74 Homeward Path
BASIC LAND: 26
75 Plains
.
.
100 Plains
Vorel of the Hull Clade
Reki, the History of Kamigawa (MTGO)
Lavinia of the Tenth (MTGO)
It's hard to do a budget version of stax... how budget? You really need to play the best stax cards, because otherwise, people will fight through it.
This might not be true if you were, say, Bant or WUR stax, you could run whatever you felt like, but in mono white? You really need the staples.
Tangle Wire is pretty important to drop after your dust drinker.
Smokestack itself is, of course, very good.
Did you mean seedborn muse or windborn muse?
If you want to play WG stax with dust drinker, Captain Sisay is a very good greifer/stax general.
If you want to play with dust drinker as your commander, you can't play seedborn muse because it is green.
As for the stax archetype, both of those muses are awesome in it.
Essentially, whatever you're forcing people to tap, make sure you can hit enough of it.
Whatever you're forcing people to sac permanents, you either want a way to produce cheap permanents, or some kind of personal exemption.
For example, if you're going to name creature with world queller, you want some token producers.
Nuisance Engine and Myr Turbine are pretty good in white stax, because it makes artifact creatures to sac or tap.
Vorel of the Hull Clade
Reki, the History of Kamigawa (MTGO)
Lavinia of the Tenth (MTGO)
Ah, I wasn't sure, because seedborn muse is really good with dust drinker.
You could always build captain sisay. It gets to dusk drinker when it wants to, the general is a tutor.
Also, since it's a toolbox deck, you can -choose- to run it as griefer stax or you can try to, you know, do whatever else you want.
White Sun's Zenith is also a card that I wouldn't leave out of any mono-white edh deck.
What about Portcullis? Seems like a nice slow down type card.
Also, would Erratic Portal be worth it? Be nice to bounce Hokori end of my opponent's turn so I get my untap phase. Fetchable with Enlightened Tutor (and I'm sure any number of other tutors.)
How about Replenish and Open the Vaults?
Vorel of the Hull Clade
Reki, the History of Kamigawa (MTGO)
Lavinia of the Tenth (MTGO)
UR [PRIMER] Flash of the Firemind (Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind) RU
BG Death and Staxes: FireStorm4056's Competitive Meren Stax List GB
W Avacyn Angel of Hope W
R Akroma, Angel of (Your Opponent's) Fury R
R 99-Mountain Ashling R
Blue supports artifacts so well. And while we are in white too, let's tutor up some Propaganda, War Tax, and Collective Restraint.
W/U Stax/Prison isn't going to go find Hokori, Dust Drinker, but he'll definitely have a good home in there.
Modern
RBig RedR
GMean GreenG
WWW AlliesW
BGScavengeBG
WUVenser SilenceWU
EDH
RWAurelia 1 vs 1RW
GWURoonGWU
GWSaffiGW
I figure I'll need a ton of artifact mana
And what about Unwinding Clock to keep the
spicemana flowing?Suppression Field would work nicely as well.
EDIT: Will also need some repeatable way to draw cards... Mind's Eye may work.
EDIT 2: Ethersworn Canonist is so going in.
EDIT 3: I was just given a Pearl Medallion to encourage finishing this deck.
Vorel of the Hull Clade
Reki, the History of Kamigawa (MTGO)
Lavinia of the Tenth (MTGO)
And theres always Scepter-Chant.
Sold! The trolling of the Stax is on!
First Post Updated with current deck list.
Vorel of the Hull Clade
Reki, the History of Kamigawa (MTGO)
Lavinia of the Tenth (MTGO)
Oh, I like that a lot. Great suggestion.
Vorel of the Hull Clade
Reki, the History of Kamigawa (MTGO)
Lavinia of the Tenth (MTGO)
I'll second Mindcensor and Leonin Arbiter, as well. Maybe even Grand Abolisher?
Edit: Nothing more griefer than Tuck. Condemn and maybe Hallowed Burial? Also: Where is your Academy Rector? So many enchantments!
Actually this whole thing is a wish list that I'll just piece together... so she's added!
Vorel of the Hull Clade
Reki, the History of Kamigawa (MTGO)
Lavinia of the Tenth (MTGO)
To help with the taxation, consider adding Spelltithe Enforcer and Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker.
Finally, one of the best bounce effects for Hokori, Dust Drinker is Tawnos's Coffin.
(Thanks everyone for your help so far!)
Vorel of the Hull Clade
Reki, the History of Kamigawa (MTGO)
Lavinia of the Tenth (MTGO)
Kor Haven, almost as good as Maze of Ith, definitely better than Mystifying Maze.
Kjeldoran Outpost is a decent token maker to feed your Stax effects.
Could use some grave hate, perhaps. Grafdigger's Cage seems like the perfect troll card for that, but I might suggest the ore permanent solution of Tormod's Crypt.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin is great in monO white.
Maybe Mangara of Corondor? Or Porypyry Nodes?
Sword of Feast and Famine will help you untag your lands.
You've only got a couple of enchantments, so maybe Presence of the Master can help you maintain control.
Stony Silence / Null Rod can help you totally lock out people, but I'm at a loss how to make this deck assymetrical. =(